A Critical Review of Leadership Research Development Essay Example

A Critical Review of Leadership Research Development Essay International Journal of Business and Management August, 2006 A Critical Review of Leadership Research Development Jun Liu Business School, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China Xiaoyu Liu School of Labor Relations Human Resources, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China Abstract Leadership research has gone through several phases of development in the past 80 years or so. The paper identifies the major theories in each phase, and investigates the strengths and weaknesses of the research. Among those theories, transformational/charismatic leadership and leader-member exchange (LMX) are heavily discussed. The paper also discusses the future trend of research in leadership areas. Keywords: Review, Transformational Leadership, LMX Leadership can be defined as a process that an individual influences a group of individuals to implement strategies and achieve the collective goals (Yukl, 2002). Research in the area seeks to find out what types of leaders are likely to be successful and what factors determine leadership effectiveness. Generally, leadership research has gone though four paradigms: trait approach, behavioral approach, situational approach, and the contemporary theories of leadership. The paradigms of leadership theories shift with the progress from static to dynamic view of leadership with the trait and behavioral theories reflecting a personal, the situational theories an interpersonal, and the contemporary theories a relational approach to conceptualizing leadership. That is to say leadership has been examined as intrapersonal competencies, interpersonal processes, and relational dynamics. We will write a custom essay sample on A Critical Review of Leadership Research Development specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on A Critical Review of Leadership Research Development specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on A Critical Review of Leadership Research Development specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer More specifically, I review those approaches, their strengths and weaknesses as followed: The trait approach The trait theories assumed that leaders were born, not made. In the literature, Stogdill (1948, 1974) completed two comprehensive reviews by synthesizing more than 200 studies of the trait approach. His two surveys identified a group of traits that were positively associated with leadership such as intelligence, self-confidence, initiative, and persistence. However, Stogdill concluded that no combination of traits would guarantee leadership effectiveness. An individual does not become a leader solely because he or she possessed certain traits. Rather, the traits have to be relevant to situations in which the leader is functioning, thus situation should also be a part of leadership. Moreover, his studies showed that leadership was not a passive and static state but resulted from a working relationship between the leader and other group members. In essence, Stogdill’s research invoked the development of the later leadership approaches. The behavioral approach Behavioral theories focus on leader behaviors and assume that effective leaders are common in their behavior modes. Most of behavioral theories relied on the Ohio and Michigan’s studies (Stogdill, 1948), which described leadership styles based on the two dimensions of initiating structure (concern jobs and tasks, often called task-oriented behavior) and considerations (concern people and interpersonal relationships, often called relation-oriented behavior). The simple two-factor model provided a good starting point and basis for later researchers to conceptualize leadership. For example, Blake and Mouton (1964) joined the two dimensions in a model called â€Å"Leadership Grid† to describe various leadership styles. To enrich the two-factor model, later theorists also identified some supplementary leader 3 International Journal of Business and Management August, 2006 behaviors, for example, the participative behavior involving power sharing, delegating, and empowering (Lewin, Lippitt, and White, 1939; Miller and Monge, 1986). A key research issue in the behavioral approach is the influence of the two behavioral dimensions on organizational outcomes. Task-oriented behavior is found positively associated with subordinate performance, whereas relation-oriented behavior is related to subordinate satisfaction. Relation-oriented behavior has a moderating effect on the relationship between task-oriented behavior and performance. For example, Schriesheim and Murphy (1976) reported that task-oriented leadership without personal attention to group members might have negative effects on satisfaction and even on performance. Theorists generally agree that the two behavioral dimensions have additive effects on outcomes and â€Å"high-high† leaders who concern for both tasks and relations were expected to be more effective, though the statement has received support from only a few studies (e. . Misumi, 1985). Critique to the trait and behavioral approach The trait and behavioral approach are drawn from a personal construct perspective, which assumes that leadership occurs when a leader â€Å"express leadership† towards followers. The trait approach believes that leadership is mainly a personal attribute, better leadership results from developing the personal competencies of leaders (D ay, 2000). The behavioral approach extends the perspective by focusing on what leaders do rather than simply telling who the leaders are. The significance of the two approaches should not be underestimated because they are intuitively appealing and, with a great deal of research validating the bases of these perspectives, the approaches provide an in-depth understanding of the leader components in the leadership process (Bass, 1985). There are obvious limits with the two approaches. For example, trait approach is criticized to not provide very useful implications for training and developing leadership due to the nature of traits (Bass, 1985). Furthermore, as stated above, situation influences leadership. It is thus difficult to identify a universal set of leader traits for various contexts. Even some traits can help differentiate leaders from non-leaders, it is theoretically difficult to link traits to leadership outcomes such as follower motivation and group productivity (Yukl and Van Fleet, 1992). For the weaknesses of the behavioral approach, one criticism is that the two types of behaviors are too abstract to describe complex leadership styles; another refers to the inconsistent link between task- and relation-oriented behavior and outcomes such as morale, job satisfaction, and productivity. It is not clear how leaders’ styles are associated with performance outcomes (Bryman, 1992). The third criticism, being shared with the trait approach, is that the approaches pay too much attention to the leader perspective without considering followers and situations in which leaders exhibit their qualities and behaviors. It seems that leadership effectiveness can not be well understood unless interactions among leaders, followers and situations are studied. The situational approach Incorporating findings obtained from the previous studies, the situational approach assumes that there is no one best way that is transcendent across all situations, and further, the approach tries to discover the situational moderating variables that influence the effects of leader behaviors. The situational leadership model (Hersey and Blanchard, 1982), the contingency model (Fiedler, 1967), and the path-goal theory (House and Mitchell, 1974) are the representative situational theories. The theories have somewhat different emphases regarding their basic arguments. Specifically, situational theory emphasizes leadership flexibility – leaders should find out about their subordinates’ maturity (job and psychological) and task characteristic and then adapt their styles accordingly (Hersey and Blanchard, 1982). In the contingency model, however, leader behaviors are much more consistent and less flexible. Leadership effectiveness is 4 International Journal of Business and Management August, 2006 rimarily determined by selecting the right leader for a certain situation (characterized by assessing leader-member relations, task structure, and position power; Fiedler, 1967) or by changing the situation to fit the particular leader’s style. House’s path-goal model, being more complex than the other two, assumes that leadership styles vary not only with different subordinates but also with the same subordinates in different situations. On the other h and, the theories clearly share some common points. First, all the theories contain situational moderating variables. Second, they implicitly assume that leaders can properly assess pivotal follower and situational factors. Third, leaders make their behaviors contingent on the followers and the situation. Compared to the former approaches, situational models conceptualize leadership as an interpersonal process, concern with follower, task, and situational variables rather than focus only on the leader perspective. By addressing all the factors involving the leadership process, the approach provides a more comprehensive picture of the nature of effective leadership. The models share a number of weaknesses that limit their implications. First, the theories contain situational moderator variables, but the variables are often defined too ambiguously to operationalize. For example, in the situational leadership model, it is even unclear how â€Å"subordinate commitment† is combined with â€Å"competence† to form four distinct levels of â€Å"subordinate development† (Hughes, Ginnett, and Curphy, 1996). Similarly, task structure and task complexity have been ambiguously defined and measured in different ways. As a consequence, researchers could hardly generate specific and testable hypotheses. Second, the theories assume that leaders can properly identify the characteristics of followers and situation. However, the assumption is not realistic and it is very likely that different leaders in the same situation may conclude distinctively in regard to followers’ level of knowledge, maturity, leader-follower relationships, the degree of task structure, or the level of role ambiguity being experienced by followers (Vroom and Jago, 1995). These differences in leader perception could, in turn, cause the leaders to take very different actions in response to the same situation. Third, the approach tends to view leadership as an interpersonal process, but it lacks specific analyses on the dynamics of the influence process. Rather, they tend to view leadership as a â€Å"passive† process, leadership styles have to â€Å"fit† the followers and situations to obtain effectiveness. Leadership substitutes theory (Kerr and Jermier, 1978), being unique in its conceptualization, severely questions the conventional leadership wisdom by describing two types of variables (substitutes and neutralizers) that reduce the importance of formal leaders in organizations. Substitutes make formal leader unnecessary and redundant, and neutralizers prevent a leader from acting in a specified way or nullify the effects of the leader’s actions. Theorists tend to classify the theory into situational approach due to its focus on the factors (subordinate, task, and organizational characteristics) concerned by situational theories. On the other hand, Jermier and Kerr (1997) contend that the framework of leadership substitutes should be less viewed as a situational model, which calls for treating the traditional context as the independent variable to explain individual and group effectiveness. It can be believe that such efforts will complement our understanding of leadership functioning and its effectiveness. Contemporary leadership theories Unlike traditional approaches that view followers as unchanged or part of the situation, contemporary leadership theories treat followers as the counterpart of the leader and seek for positive transformation, dynamic relationships, and relational association with followers. The models try to provide insights into leadership effectiveness and implications to leadership development as well. Of the many contemporary theories, transformational/charismatic leadership and leader-member exchange (LMX) have been most heavily studied. 5 International Journal of Business and Management August, 2006 The transformational/charismatic theory Rather than concerns with all levels of supervisors in the organization, the transformational/charismatic theory shifts its concern to the upper leaders by separating transformational leadership (leaders) from transactional leadership (managers) (Burns, 1978). In the past twenty years, the stream of research generated large numbers of both conceptual and empirically studies with several major research issues having been addressed: First, specific leader behaviors reported by followers are used in this approach to define the transformational/charismatic leadership. In other words, the theories seem to rely heavily on the assumption of â€Å"one best way† by seeking transcendent leadership styles. For example, the four I’s (idealized influence, individualized consideration, inspirational motivation) have been most frequently examined in this stream of research. Furthermore, being different from traditional view, charisma is also conceptualized as one dimension of leader behavior, which is based on followers’ perceptions, although some dissenting opinions exist regarding the definition (Trice and Beyer, 1986). Second, the new approach argues that leaders, being different from managers, have to motivate followers rather than arbitrarily impose leader behaviors on followers or passively fit leadership styles to followers and situations. The new leadership seeks to achieve high level of motivational outcomes by transforming/changing follower self-concepts. For example, House and his colleagues (House and Shamir, 1993; Shamir, Zakay, Breinin, and Popper, 1998) proposed mechanisms that leaders use to transform follower self-concepts, which includes offering an appealing vision; making task and mission meaningful; developing a collective identity; and heightening both individual and collective self-efficacy. In the literature, the vision advocated by leaders received a large amount of attention (e. . , Bass, 1996; Shamir et al. , 1993). Third, compared to the above-mentioned approaches, the new approach better describes the underlying influence process. For example, Bass and Avolio (1993) proposed an influence process that transformational leaders evoke and meet followers’ high-order needs, which in turn promote commitment and performance. Shamir and associates’ (1993) research explained the reciprocal nat ure of mutual influence, in which leaders choose a vision that is congruent with followers’ values and identities. Reciprocally, followers select the individuals as their leaders who would like to espouse their values. Empirically, many studies have included psychological intervening variables (i. e. , psychological empowerment, social identification, role characteristics) between leader behaviors and outcome variables to examine the dynamics of influence (e. g. , Kark, Shamir, and Chen, 2003; Mackenzie et al. , 2001). Fourth, the new leadership is more change-oriented. Transformational/charismatic leaders are likely to emerge from crisis environment and they serve as change agents in organizations. Using data from 48 Fortune 500 firms, Waldman et al. (2001) illustrated a clear picture that charismatic leadership can predict performance under conditions with level of environmental uncertainty. Weaknesses and future directions of the approach Accordingly, the transformational/charismatic approach has some problems left for future research to resolve: First, the approach is criticized to regress back to the â€Å"one best way† of leadership with too much attention on leader behaviors (sometimes traits) but very little on contextual variables (Beyer, 1999). Although transformational/charismatic leadership has been examined to be applicable in various contexts, further attention should be paid to identify situational factors that facilitate or limit the effects of transformational/charismatic leadership. On the other hand, the consequences of transformational/charismatic leadership do not always appear positive; rather, some researchers have 6 International Journal of Business and Management August, 2006 identified the â€Å"dark side† of the new leadership (e. g. , Conger and Kanungo, 1998). For example, charismatic leadership tends to make more risky decisions that can result in serious failure. The future empirical studies should seek to identify more specific factors (i. e. , situations, leader qualities, task and follower characteristics) that induce the negative consequences. Second, the approach emphasizes the role the vision (articulated by the leader) plays in motivating followers. The underlying mechanism, however, is rather ambiguous (Conger, 1999). Simple identification and an attractive vision do not fully explain follower commitment and motivation. Moreover, the structure and content of leadership vision are also only partially understood (Conger, 1999). To resolve these problems, leadership values and the value interexchange between the leader and the follower should be incorporated in the models (Shamir et al. , 1993). Several recently emerged leadership theories (e. g. , Servant leadership, Graham, 1991; Ethical leadership, Ciulla, 1998; Value-based leadership, Fu et al. , 2002), though at the early stage of development and receiving little empirical support, provide solid rationale for remedying the deficiencies through the value viewpoint. For example, ethical leadership regards that values play a central role in the leadership process; servant leadership (Graham, 1991) argues that leadership values provide a system of rules or principles that guide the pondering, formulating, and communicating of the vision. Future studies should try to develop pragmatic models and empirically examine the effects of leadership values on leader behavior, leader-member relationship, influence process, follower behavioral and attitudinal outcomes, and leadership succession. Third, the approach has to extend its level of analysis for future development of the theories. As discussed above, transformational/charismatic leadership theories have specified the dynamic of influence process, but only at the individual or dyadic level. Although the specification helps to explain individual behavioral or attitudinal outcomes, it does not adequately address group and organizational processes (Yukl, 2002). The analysis also results in a less consideration of contextual factors involving the leadership process and the suggestion of a â€Å"universal† form of leadership. Future studies should seek to explain leadership’s effects on the interacting group including collective efficiency, group identification, etc. , and influence on the firm including culture, organizational change and so on. Finally, since the theories have addressed much about the role leaders play in organizational change, future models should include more change-related variables. For example, Yukl (2002) identifies a new behavioral dimension, change-oriented, to enrich the two factor model. Future studies should specify the real impact of the leader behavior on followers at the dyadic level, units at the group level, as well as companies at the organization level. Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory Being different from other leadership theories in which a leader treats followers in a collective way (Average Leadership Style, ALS), LMX theory takes a quite different approach and makes the dyadic relationship between the leader and each follower the focal point of the leadership process. Overall, the development of LMX theory has three stages: In the early studies of LMX, a leader’s relationship to the overall work unit comprises a series of vertical dyads categorized as being of in-group (high LMX relationship) and out-group (low LMX relationship). Subordinates who get well along with the leader and are willing to expand their role responsibilities become in-group members, whereas those who maintain only formal hierarchical relationships with their leader become out-group members. Subsequent studies of LMX concerned with the relationship between LMX and organizational outcomes. Researchers found that high-quality exchanges between leaders and followers produced multiple positive outcomes (e. g. , less employee turnover, greater organizational commitment, and more OCBs). In general, 7 International Journal of Business and Management August, 2006 researchers determined that good LMX resulted in followers feeling better, accomplishing more, and helping the organization prosper (Graen, Liden, and Hoel, 1982). The most recent emphasis in LMX research has been on leadership making, which emphasizes that leaders should try to transform the relationship into mutual trust, respect, and obligation to each other. Leadership making develops over time and involves different phases: a stranger phase, acquaintance phase, and partner phase, with the last phase generating the highest LMX quality. By taking on and fulfilling new role responsibilities, followers move through theses three phases to develop mature partnerships with their leaders. According to Graen and Uhl-Bien (1991), the third phase corresponds to transformational leadership, whereas the first phase corresponds to transactional leadership. Weaknesses and future directions of the approach In correspondence with the above three major stages of LMX theory, the following weaknesses are likely to exist in the literature and future directions emerge for addressing the inadequacies: First, by suggesting that some members of the work unit receive special attention and the others do not, LMX theory provide negative implications to organizational justice (McClane, 1991; Scandura, 1999). The perceived inequalities between in-group and out-group can have a devastating impact on the feelings, attitudes, and behavior of out-group members. For example, McClane (1991) pointed out the existence of in-group and out-group has undesirable effects on the group as a whole no matter whether the leader actually treats the members fairly or not. Scandura (1999) provided a comprehensive framework for future empirical examining the nature of the relationship through integrating organizational justice and LMX. Second, given a plethora of empirical studies on its antecedents and consequences, LMX is regarded as a universal theory with little concern for situational variables that may affect the exchange process (Green et al, 1996). An exception is Dunegan, Duchon, and Uhl-Bien’s (1992) work on the role of task analyzability and task variety as moderating the effects of LMX on subordinate performance. They found that the relationship between LMX and performance was significant when tasks have low analyzability/high variety and high analyzability/low variety, whereas the relationship became insignificant in the â€Å"low-low† and â€Å"high-high† situations. Such kinds of effort are still desired in LMX research in order to recognize the possible contingency. Third, LMX theory emphasizes the importance of leader-member exchanges, but fails to explain how high-quality relationship is established. Although the recent models highlighted the importance of role making (Graen and Uhl-Bien, 1991), mentoring (Scandura and Schriesheim, 1994), incremental influence, and type of reciprocity, the theory is still criticized for not explaining how the evolution of relationship actually occurred and how mature partnerships are built. On the other hand, the vertical relationships are likely to horizontally interact with each other. Future work needs to elaborate more about how the differentiated relationships and the interaction among LMXs evolve over time. Finally, there are questions regarding research methodologies, for instance, questions whether the principal measure of LMX theory is sufficiently refined to measure the complexities of the relationship (Garen and Uhl-Bien, 1995), and whether appropriate level of analysis and data-analytic techniques are specified and employed (Schriesheim, et al. 2002). Overall, more rigorous operationalization of the model is called for improving its validity. Conclusion Leadership is a complex process in which the leader, followers, and the situation interact with each other. Theorists have attempted to discover what traits, abilities, behaviors, relationships between leader and 8 International Journal of Business and Management August, 2006 follower, and/or aspects of the s ituation determine how well a leader is able to influence followers and accomplish collective goals. Based on my reviews, I have summarized the characteristics of the major theories in each of the four major paradigms and briefly discussed major findings, key research issues, strengths, weaknesses and possible future directions in regard to those theories. The two contemporary theories, namely transformational/charismatic leadership and LMX, are discussed in detail. Summarily, I would like to emphasize the following issues that should receive careful concerns in future studies: Clearly specifying the key components of theories. For transformational/charismatic leadership, theorists should clarify the nature of charisma, identify specific factors that induce possible negative consequences, set clear boundary for its behavioral dimensions, and the vision’s motivational influence on followers. LMX theory should minimize the inconsistence of defining leader-member relationship, offer clearly defined and reliable constructs, and clarify the exchange process. Extending theories by incorporating contextual factors. It has concluded that leadership is a complex process and there is no one best way to lead. Thus future studies should seek to adopt more contextual moderating variables and establish contingent model for providing specific implications for the particular situation. Effects of situational factors such as task, follower, work environment, and organizational variables should be systematically investigated in the leadership process. Clarifying the level of analysis. A good theory should include a clear and proper treatment of its level of analysis, which requires a valid and reliable measurement of the construct and choice of analytical methods. Leadership is a process involving multiple levels of factors and its effects occur at the all levels: individual, dyadic, group, and organization. Analyzing the phenomenon in a framework with clear levels and specification within- and cross-level relationships will definitely help us understand the influence process and the dynamics of leadership. The contemporary theories, however, appear to be rather obtuse to this issue. For example, transformational/charismatic leadership has not explicitly formulated its enquiring level with some appearing to be strictly at individual level (e. . , individualized consideration; Bass, 1985) while others being at higher levels (e. g. , leader behaviors that foster the acceptance of group goals; Podsakoff et al. , 1990). On the other hand, LMX research has been criticized to be fundamentally uninformative about the LMX process because its analysis is totally confused in terms of levels (Schriesheim, et al. , 2002). Future research on leadership sho uld pay special attention to the issue. References Bass, B. M. and B. Avolio, (1993), â€Å"Transformational leadership: a response to critiques,† In M. M. Chemers and R. Ayman (eds. ), Leadership Theory and Research: Perspectives and Directions (pp. 49-80), New York: Academic Press. Bass, B. M. , (1985), Leadership and performance beyond expectations. New York: Free Press. Bass, B. M. , (1996), A new paradigm of leadership: An inquiry into transformational leadership. Alexandria, VA: U. S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences. Beyer, J. M. , (1999), â€Å"Taming and promoting charisma to change organizations,† Leadership Quarterly, 10(2), 307-330. Blake, R. R. and J. S. Mouton, (1964), The Managerial Grid. Houston: Golf Publishing. Bryman, A. , (1992), Charisma and Leadership in Organizations. London: SAGE. Burns, J. M. , (1978), Leadership. New York: Harper Row. Ciulla, J. B. , (1998), Ethics, the Heart of Leadership. Westport, CT: Greenwood. 9 International Journal of Business and Management August, 2006 Conger, J. A. , (1999), â€Å"Charismatic and transformational leadership in organizations: An insider’s perspective on these developing streams on research,† Leadership Quarterly, 10(2), 145-179. Conger, J. A. and R. N. Kanungo, (1998), Charismatic Leadership in Organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. Day, D. V. , (2000), â€Å"Leadership development: A review in context,† Leadership Quarterly, 11(4), 581-613. Dunegan, K. J. , D. Duchon, and M. Uhl-Bien, (1992), â€Å"Examining the link between leader-member exchange and subordinate performance: The role of task analyzability and variety as moderators,† Journal of Man agement, 18(1), 59-79. Fiedler, F. E. , (1967), A theory of leadership effectiveness. New York: McGraw-Hill. Fu, P. P. , R. J. House, J. Liu, et al. (2002), â€Å"Study of Chinese business Executives: A value-based approach,† Paper presented at the 62nd annual meeting of the Academy of Management, Denver, Colorado, August 9-14, 2002. Graen, G. , R. C. Liden, and W. Hoel, (1982), â€Å"The role of leadership in the employee withdrawal process,† Journal of Applied Psychology, 67(6), 868–872. Graen, G. B. and M. Ulh-Bien, (1991), â€Å"The transformation of professionals into self-managing and partially self-designing contributions: Toward a theory of leader-making,† Journal of Management Systems, 3(3), 33-48. Graen, G. B. , and M. Ulh-Bien, (1995), â€Å"Relationship-based approach to leadership: Development of leader-member exchange (LMX) theory of leadership over 25 years: Applying a multi-level multi-domain perspective,† Leadership Quarterly, 6(2), 219-247. Graham, J. W. , (1991), â€Å"Servant-leadership in organizations: Inspirational and moral,† Leadership Quarterly, 2(2), 105-119. Green, S. G. , S. E. Anderson, and S. L. Shivers, (1996), â€Å"Demographic and organizational influences on leader-member exchange and related work attitudes,† Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 66(2), 203-214. Hersey, P. , and K. Blanchard, (1982), Management of organizational behavior: Utilizing human resources. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. House, R. J. , and B. Shamir, (1993), â€Å"Toward the integration of transformational, charismatic and visionary theories of leadership,† In M. C. R. Ayman (eds. ) Leadership Theory and Research: Perspectives and directions. New York: Academic Press. House, R. J. , and R. R. Mitchell, (1974), â€Å"Path-goal theory of leadership,† Journal of Contemporary Business, 3, 81-97. Hughes, R. L. , R. C. Ginnett, and G. J. Curphy, (1996), Leadership: Enhancing the Lessons of Experience. Chicago: Irwin. Jermier, J. M. , and S. Kerr, (1997), â€Å"Substitutes for leadership: their meaning and measurement contextual recollections and current observations,† Leader

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How the Colonists Defeated the British essays How the Colonists Defeated the British In 1770s to the 1780s the thirteen original colonies with loosely formed militias managed to defeat one of the greatest empires in history, the British Empire. How were they able to do this? I will examine the elements that resulted in America gaining independence from Britain against all odds. There are several factors that enabled the colonists to achieve independence from England. I think the deciding factor was the help that the colonist got from the French and Admiral De Grasse toward the end of the war. I dont think that the colonists would have been as successful or possibly successful at all with out the help of their French allies. But the French help came near the end of the war and the colonists had defeated the British in many battles that the French had no part in. One of the reasons that they were successful was their knowledge of the terrain and their incorporation of that knowledge in their fighting style. The colonists were heavily outnumbered and they knew this. If they had fought in battles using the traditional line method they surely would have been defeated. But their advantage was that they knew the land they knew that they could trap their enemy and use the features of the terrain against the British. Then they could fight them while they w ere unprepared with a more guerrilla warfare style that the British werent used to. Another factor that helped the colonists was the fact that the British were far from home. It took weeks to ship troops, supplies and news to England from America. The British troops were pretty much stuck with what they had and in an unfamiliar place. The last reason the colonists were so successful is give me liberty or give me death! The colonists were defending their homes and their way of life. The British had nothing to lose, but the colonists had everything to lose. The colonists had less troops, less...

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CRM - Research Paper Example Company can market its product worldwide at nominal price through e–business. In addition, e-business ensures good and superior customer service which can encourage buyers to know more about any particular product of a company. Customers can make online payment and the products are delivered in their house. E–Business in Pharmaceutical Industry E–business strongly influences the strategies of pharmaceutical companies. Online sales and detailing can influence the sales of pharmaceutical company. Through e–business, pharmaceutical company develops branding, forecast sales, place & trace customer orders and influence supply chain management. Pharmaceutical company had developed website where information about doctors and medicines can be reviewed. Through e–business forum, people are able to share information and feedback about any drug or medicine. Many pharmaceutical companies had developed front end and back end e-business formation to trade their p roducts to business partners, customers, wholesalers and distributors. Custom e-business application is effective while ordering drugs and medicine products and requires extensive prescription data. E-business ordering, selling can be implemented using application which allows pharmaceutical company to draft complicated order over website (Qayyum, â€Å"eBusiness Technologies and Trends in the Pharmaceutical industry†). E–Business at Hanmi Hanmi had developed professional website for e–business solution. The website of Hanmi provides strong communication atmosphere and it is a good system for medical practitioners such as doctors, chemists or pharmacists. Through their website they can gain useful information. Hanmi Medical Portal (HMP) had accomplished sustainable development and became a major specialized medical website for many domestic doctors. HMP consists of intern, occupant and medical school students. It provides several essential services such as medic al information service, medical related social service, prerequisite for professional service and many allied & differentiated service. HMP is seeking to become the next generation growth technology of Hanmi Pharmaceutical Company and conquer the International Medical Portal Standard (Hanmi IT, â€Å"HMP†). Analytic Data Value In today’s competitive world, analytic collection of data has been widely used. Organization collects data from a wide range of source before extracting meaningful information from them. This is the challenge for every organization to deploy analytics and generate information from customer data. Many organizations are unsuccessful to achieve complete benefit of their customer data because of fault within the analytics capacity. The customer data analytic helps organizations to improve customer experience, sales and service. Hanmi had successfully developed software to properly manage customer data and derive important information from it. Hanmiâ €™s software solution helps to draw business results from customer data. It can provide dashboards, trend reports and pivot tables which can indicate key performance indicator of market and help company to measure the success factors. ubi – SFA technology Hanmi had implemented ubi-SFA approach

Writing and Researching Skills Self-Assessment Essay - 3

Writing and Researching Skills Self-Assessment - Essay Example In this regard, the aim of the writing and researching skills assessment is to proffer pertinent details that one has learned about oneself in terms of the skills developed for writing and research through the completion of these activities. The course has given one ample opportunities to write three-page articles and the required research paper where pages ranged between eight to ten pages. At the onset, the number of pages to be written seemed to be an ominous task. As one received appropriate instructions on the writing techniques and guidelines for effective writing, confidence is slowly developed. The skills in selecting an appropriate topic for discussion, choosing the most effective authoritative references, and developing a cohesive paper were progressively honed. Due to the need for regular proofreading and reviewing the written drafts, one likewise developed proofreading skills and the chance to enhanced one’s vocabulary. There was recognition for the need to use synonyms and expand comprehensive abilities through searching on meanings of unfamiliar terms that were encountered in secondary sources. Further, there was emphasis on adhering to literary form and structure through the observance of grammatic al rules and tips for effective essay writing. One developed the skills in research through discerning authoritative and academic sources of information and the need to acknowledge other research through proper citation and referencing. Also, given the magnanimity of information available from diverse sources, one was able to discern which references to use and which ones would be most beneficial for the identified research study. The skills of introspection were thereby aptly developed through the writing and research experiences throughout the course. Despite the number of articles and research paper written, one strongly believes that there is still a need to further develop both skills

Effect of Density on Growth Condition of Climbing Perch

Effect of Density on Growth Condition of Climbing Perch The Effect of Density on Growth Condition of  Anabas Testudineus YUSLINDA BINTI MAT YUNUS CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY Climbing perch or ikan puyu or betuk (Anabas Testudineus) (Bloch, 1792) is a freshwater species that is commonly found in paddy fields, wells, irrigation channels and in drains. Climbing perches are fishes that are able to travel short distances across the land in search of new water sources or food. Although Thai Climbing Perch has been described as omnivorous, it has a tendency toward carnivorousness (Besra, 2000). Climbing perches are kept for consumption and also for companion animals. This study is to study the effect of stocking density on the growth condition of the climbing perch (Anabas Testudineus) and the best stocking density suitable to maximize the growth of the climbing perch (Anabas Testudineus). To get the exact growth rate of climbing perch, several densities are used, such as 2 fishes/tank, 4 fishes/tank, 6 fishes/tank and 8 fishes/tank. The future extension of this study is the researcher hypothesized that a standardized stocking density of Anabas Testudineus can be used to maximize the growth rate of the Anabas Testudineus thus increasing the quality of the currently available Anabas Testudineus in Malaysia. Climbing perch can become a backbone to the increasingly aquaculture industry as one of the main sources of protein to the human consumption as the tilapia and carp are currently ranked top of the most fishes cultured in Malaysia. 1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT Since climbing perch are not being cultured and reared commercially in Malaysia, the optimum stocking density of climbing perch is remain unknown for human consumption. Therefore, the rearing of climbing perch under different stocking density is the most suitable method to investigate the most optimum density that the climbing perch can gain most weight on the shortest duration. One of the concerns and issues related to the climbing perch is the availability of the climbing perch for commercial consumption in Malaysia. The climbing perch are not deemed as one of the favourites for the consumption due to its acquired taste and also small in size. 1.3  OBJECTIVES The objectives of the experiment are as follows: To study the effect of different stocking densities on the growth condition of climbing perch (Anabas Testudineus) from different aspects such as from the live weight, survival rate and appearances. To examine the best stocking densities suitable to maximize the growth of climbing perch (Anabas Testudineus) HYPOTHESIS OF THE STUDY H0 = There will be a decrease in the growth condition of climbing perch as the stocking density increase. 1.4  SCOPES OF THE STUDY The scope of the research is as follows: Only local species ikan puyu (Anabas Testudineus) will be studied in the laboratory. Only one commercial feed were given to the fishes without any additional supplements will be given The research will be conducted in 2 months’ time. 1.5  LIMITATIONS OF STUDY Since the culturing of the Anabas Testudineus from the hatching is quite consuming, the Anabas Testudineus on juvenile stage and forward will be used in the research. Other limitations of the study are that the difficulty of observing the fishes due to its behaviour and size. To solve the limitations, aquaculture tanks will be used instead of ponds so that the fishes can be observed more carefully and more precise results can be obtained. 1.6  SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY Overall, this research can be used for the determination of the optimum density suitable for rearing the climbing perch (Anabas testudineus) that have the maximum growth rate. Other than that, this research can be used as an aspect in determining the standardization of the density required to rear the climbing perch at optimum rate and size. In the future study, this research can be used to rear the climbing perch on larger and commercial scale that can produce and harvest a larger amount of fish that can ultimately support the current consumption of the climbing perch. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1  NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF CLIMBING PERCH According to Wimalasema et.al (1995), climbing perch has edible flesh of approximately of 40.1 ±9.4 grams from its overall weight of 140 grams, moisture content of 70 grams, carbohydrate percentage of 4.4 %, lipid percentage of 8.8 %, protein content of 14.8 %, ash percentage of 0.7 ± 0.4 %, potassium content (mg/g%) of 272.2 mg/g%  ± 57.8 mg/g%, sodium content (mg/g%) of 60.5 mg/g%  ± 8.5 mg/g%, calcium content (mg/g%) of 410 mg/g%, phosphorus content (mg/g%) 390 mg/g% and iron content (mg/g%) of 1.4 mg/g%. The moisture, carbohydrates, proteins, lipids and ash contents of marine fish are reported as 66 – 84 %, 0 2.9 %, 15 – 20 %, 0.1 – 20 % and 0.8 – 2 % respectively (Wimalasema et.al, 1995). When the data is compared, climbing perch has quite high percentage of moisture, carbohydrates, proteins, lipids and ash contents. This can be used to substitute or replace the demand of marine fish and may provide better nutrient value for money spent. 2.2  TAXONOMY OF CLIMBING PERCH Anabas Testudineus The classification order of the climbing perch genus, Anabas Testudineus are as follows: Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Perciformes Family: Anabantiade Genus: Anabas Species: Anabas testudineus (Bloch, 1792) Figure 1: Taxonomy of climbing perch 2. 3  EFFECTS OF NUMBERS OF CLIMBING PERCH Anabas Testudineus According to the Khatune et. al (2012), stocking density is related to the volume of water or surface area per fish. Increase in stocking density results in increasing stress, which leads to higher energy requirements, causing a reduction in growth in growth rate and food utilization. It is directly related with the competition for food and space (Rahman et al. 2008d, 2010; Rahman Verdegem 2010). Generally, fish needs to compete less for food and space in lower stocking density than the higher stocking density. The present study provides empirical evidence on the effects of Thai climbing perch stocking density on its growth and survival, where they (growth and survival) were higher in ponds with lower stocking density than the ponds with higher stocking density. There are no previous studies comparing the effects of Thai climbing perch density on its growth and survival in aquaculture ponds. However, Suresh Lin (1992) reported decreasing growth of tilapia Oreochromis niloticus (Lin naeus 1758) with increasing stocking density. Similar effects of stocking density on survival and growth observed in a wide variety of fish species (Huang Chiu 1997; Imsland et al. 2003; Irwin et al. 1999; Rahman 2006; Rahman Verdegem 2007; Rahman et al. 2008a). According to Khatune et.al (2012), the harvesting weight of climbing perch of 350, 400, and 550 individuals per decimals are 90.03 ±0.04 grams, 87.73 ±0.95 grams and 84.15 ±0.49 grams respectively. The harvesting length of climbing perch of 350, 400, and 550 individuals per decimals are 14.95 ±0.07 cm, 14.30 ±0.28 cm, and 13.55 ±0.0 cm respectively. 2.4  CULTURING CLIMBING PERCH (Anabas Testudineus) WITH OTHER BREED OF FISH Mondal et. al (2010) found that Thai Climbing Perch can be cultured along with other fishes such as tilapia and still showed a high survival rate and growth rate. It is suitable to kept Thai Climbing Perch in cage and other fishes outside the cage compared to the conventional mixed culture system in the same pond without the cage. This is due in the conventional culture system, interspecies and intra-specific competition occurred for food between Tilapia and Thai Climbing Perch that resulted lower growth of Thai Climbing Perch. Culturing Thai Climbing Perch with other species in caged perch system is also more beneficial as it reduces the overall operational cost and increases the net return even though the initial cost for cage is high due its small size, followed by mixed culture and lowest net profit for caged Tilapia. 2.5  CULTURING OF CLIMBING PERCH UNDER DIFFERENT CULTURE SYSTEMS According to Kumar et.al (2013), A. testudineus was found to be highest in pond compared to cage and tank, indicating fastest growth under pond environment, although no significant variation was observed among the different systems. The slopes in all the culture systems were found to be significantly lower than critical isometric value, indicating negative allometric growth; the species becomes leaner as the length increases. Kumar et. al (2013) also noted that environmental factors highly influence the growth performance of an organism. 2.6  IDENTIFICATION OF MALE AND FEMALE OF CLIMBING PERCH (Anabas Testudineus) According to Perera et. al (2013), they noted that the sexual dimorphism in Anabas testiduneus does not distinctly appear, however, it is practically possible during the breeding season. The identification of male and female can be done on the basis of some external features. Male climbing perch are body coloured and darker while females have slightly brighter body colour. Males are slender in appearance while female have swollen abdomen or girth that is distended with the ovary development. When the males are pressed gently on the abdomen, they eject milt while female eject yellowish eggs. Female have greater distance between the base of the pectoral fins than the length of ithmus compare to the male which has lesser length. In the breeding season, the female exhibits a prominent bulge at the vent that resembling genital papilla where the male lack such appearance. 2.7  BREEDING BEHAVIOUR OF CLIMBING PERCH (Anabas Testudineus) Bhuyan et. al (2014) cited that the adults of Anabas testudineus are solitary and aggressive. In nature, the eggs are scattered in open water at the onset of the rains without any nest. The male wraps itself in the female body, fertilizing the eggs as they are laid. Each time 200 colourless eggs are released until about 5000 numbers are laid. The fecundity varies from 5000-35000 numbers. The eggs rise to the surface and float. The eggs hatch in 24 hrs and the fry are about 2-3 mm long. They are free swimming within two days of hatching. In case of artificial breeding with pituitary or synthetic hormone, a single dose of injection for both the male and female spawning actively and courtship behaviour starts after 6 hrs of injection. The water temperature to be maintained is at 280C + 10C. Fertilized eggs float in the surface of water. It takes 18-19 hours for hatching after spawning and newly hatches larvae measures 1.9-2.0 mm in length without any movement. Yolk sac completely absorbs on third day after hatching and settles at the bottom. Egg custard, plankton and Artemia are supplied as artificial feed for those fries up to 20-25 days. The survivability varies from 70-75%. 3.8  SALINITY TOLERANCE OF CLIMBING PERCH (Anabas Testudineus) According to Chotipuntu et.al (2010), they found that eggs successfully hatched in salinities up to 4.5 ppt. In higher salinities hatching dropped and met the lethal median concentration at 5.1 ppt. No hatch was observed in salinities beyond 7.5 ppt. This suggests that a salinity of 4.5 ppt is a threshold concentration for hatching viability of climbing perch eggs. The unsuccessful hatching of freshwater eggs in saline water may result from various factors such as a reduction in activity and viability of sperm due to the inhibition of sperm-activating substances. Salt contained in media may also cause chemical changes in the eggs that triggers releasing of a developmental block or generates irreversible changes that prevent fertilization. Fry of climbing perch were found to tolerate higher salinity than larvae and eggs. Chotipuntu et.al (2010) also found growing the climbing perch in salinity of 6 7 ppt to obtain the best growth. Brackish water ponds of salinities up to proximately 11 ppt are utilizable for climbing perch culture. Brackish water ponds of salinities levels up to proximately 4 ppt are practical for spawning and nursing of climbing perch. CHAPTER 3 MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY 3.1 TYPE OF MATERIALS USED IN THE RESEARCH 90 climbing perch (Anabas testudineus) 15 aquaculture tanks (3 ft. x 3 ft. x 3ft.) 1 weighing scale Commercial feed pallet River water Mesh net Multi-parameter kit 3.2 ORIGIN OF THE CLIMBING PERCH (Anabas testudineus) All the climbing perch (Anabas testudineus) will be obtained and supplied from the cultured climbing perch from the villagers from Cherang Ruku, Pasir Putih, Kelantan. All the fishes will be selected according on their length of the body and stage of production. All the fishes will have the initial range of weight from 16 to 50 grams for both male and female with accepted difference in weight of 10 grams to 20 grams. 3.3  EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN The research will have four different treatments with three replications for each treatment. The treatments will be 2 fishes/tank, 4 fishes/tank, 6 fishes/tank, and 8 fishes/ tank. This will enable the researcher to determine the best density of the climbing perch to gain the most live weight and the largest size on a small scale. The experiment will take two months or eight weeks. The temperature, and light period will be specific during the research period where the designated temperature is at room temperature and light period is 12 hours. The water of the tanks will be changed every week. Kiambang will be placed in the tanks. The tanks also will be closed with lid with a hole made that enable the exchange of gas occurs and also to prevent the climbing perch from escaping. The ammonia level is also regulated. 3.4  EXPERIMENTAL METHOD The climbing perch will be placed in smaller aquaculture tanks according to the predetermined numbers. Juvenile climbing perch will be feed twice a day using formulated feed where the feed had been weighted by the weighing scale where the feed given is 3% of body weight. The climbing perch’s live weight will be measured using weighing scale for two months with interval of one week of each weighing. The live weight and survival rate of the climbing perch will be recorded into the datasheet. The data will be analysed and evaluated. CHAPTER 4 EXPECTED RESULT For the climbing perch, the smallest stocking density will have the largest weight gain. There will be an increase of mortality weight as the stocking density increases. There will be an increase of ammonia level and turbidity level as the stocking density increases. The smallest stocking density will have the longest length in the body measurement while the largest stocking density will have the shortest length in the body measurement. Analysis of the data will be calculated using the SPSS software and the ANOVA will be calculated using the same software. GANTT CHART REFERENCES Pal, M. Chaudhry, S. 2010.Anabas testudineus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.3. www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on24 March 2015. Chotipuntu, P., Avakul, P. (2010). Aquaculture potential of Climbing Perch, Anabas testudineus, in Brackish Water. Walailak J.Sci. Tech., 7(1), 15–21. Kumar, K., Lalrinsanga, P. L., Sahoo, M., Mohanty, U. L., Kumar, R., Sahu, a K. (2013). Length-weight Relationship and Condition Factor of Anabas testudineus and Channa Species under Different Culture Systems, 5(1), 74–78. doi:10.5829/idosi.wjfms.2013.05.01.64201 Mondal, M., Shahin, J., Wahab, M., Asaduzzaman, M., Yang, Y. (2011). Comparison between cage and pond production of Thai Climbing Perch (Anabas testudineus) and Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) under three management systems. Journal of the Bangladesh Agricultural University, 8(2), 313–322. doi:10.3329/jbau.v8i2.7943 Zalina, I., Saad, C. R., Rahim, a. a., Christianus, a., Harmin, S. a. (2011). Breeding Performance and the Effect of Stocking Density on the Growth and Survival of Climbing Perch, Anabas testudineus. Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science. doi:10.3923/jfas.2011.834.839 Perch, C., Bloch, A. (2004). Effect of Different Feed on Larval / Fry Rearing of, 36(1), 13–19. P. A. C. T. Perera, K.A.H. T. Kodithuwakku, T. V. Sundarabarathy U. Edirisinghe (2011), Captive Breeding of Anabas testudineus (Climbing Perch) under Semi-artificial Conditions for the Mass Production of Fish Seed for Conservation and Aquaculture, Insight Ecology Journal, DOI: 10.5567/Ecology-IK.2013.8.14 Sonmoina Bhuyan, Dipanjan Kashyap B. Kalita, Seed production of Climbing perch (Anabas testudineus)through Natural and Induced breeding, Retrieved from http://aquafind.com/articles/Production-of-Anabas-testudineus.php

Review Of John Updikes Review it Was Sad :: essays research papers

Review of John Updike's Review "It Was Sad" I chose to review John Updike's Review â€Å"It Was Sad† from the October 14th issue of â€Å"The New Yorker†. In the review, Updike examines several works concerning the tragedy of the Titanic. He cites these works, I feel, to support his own opinion about the event, and the different accounts of what really happened. Updike spends some time disproving the belief that the upper class male passengers heroically sacrificed their own seats on the lifeboats for those less fortunate than themselves. He even points out, who he feels, are the real heroes in this catastrophe. This shows he is writing from a moral perspective, relating to these works. He definitely takes the position of the lower class of American society as this time in history, and even brings up the topic of racism and sexism in the recall of the event. It seems that the ships crew and the lower class passengers were the most courageous in the eventful two and half hours it took for the ship to totally go under. He provides quotes from the various selections, one being the statistics of death, by class. These statistics show that, in actuality, more of the upper class passengers survived than the lower classes (by both percentage, and total people). Updike also examines, in depth, the cultural effect of the sinking of the Titanic. The thought that a ship declared unsinkable going down on its first voyage was at the very least, shocking to the public. Who could look at invention and progress in the same way? Updike seems to point out that the public at this time is naive and quick to make idealistic judgments. He also refers to the passengers moral standpoints, describing the decisions they made not only during the ship's final hours but also during the whole trip. To further prove his point, he gives the testimony included in one of the books, concerning a Senator who heard the screaming of the suffering passengers but