Based on the above understanding it can be said that leadership is about influence, and to influence, a leader must have followers and the process of influencing occurs in a context towards some kinds of goals. In order to achieve that a visionary leader should  be able to use any effective approaches to influence others.

One of the approaches is through self development as this blog perceive it as an effective tool for leadership development. Self-development is taking personal responsibility for one’s own learning and development through a process of assessment, reflection, and taking action.

It is a process by which an individual improves his body and mind through a conscious effort. In the process, an individual knows himself better, mentally and emotionally.

The main purposes of self development are to continually update skills and remain relevant and the other one is to determine future career direction. Every individual can take steps to improve either on their own or take the help of someone who can act as their mentor. However, one should be very careful in deciding the mentor. This is very crucial in self-development. It has to be a person with whom the individual is comfortable with and that person must definitely have a positive frame of mind with an optimistic outlook towards life.

Normally the process of self development needs support from the surrounding and society a person live in, this is where the word ‘mentor’ comes in. According to The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a mentor is considered as “a trusted counselor or guide”.

A mentor is an individual, usually older, always more experienced, who helps and guides another individual’s development. This guidance is not done for personal gain. One of the most valuable assets your career can have is a good mentor. At the same time mentor-ship can be referred as a developmental relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps a less experienced or less knowledgeable person to develop in a specified capacity.

As a matter of fact the idea of self development is in accordance with John C. Maxwell’s potential leader’s qualities. Maxwell (1995) in his book “Developing the Leaders Around You”, mentioned that it takes a leader with vision to see the future leader within the person. Leaders must have the same kind of vision when viewing potential leaders.

Therefore this blog personally believe that self development is the most practical and effective way to develop leadership skills and ability among people, especially in generating future leaders.

References and suggested readings:
1.  Abu Daud Silong, Zaharah Hassan (2009). Effective Leadership: Malaysian Cases And Practices. Leadership and Management Development Stream. Working paper.
2. Maxwell, John C (1995). Developing The Leaders Among You. How To Help Others Reach Their Full Potential. Tennessee. INJOY, Inc;

The International Development Research Center (IDRC) had explained that the general objective of a research states what researchers expect to achieve by the study in general terms. It is about what the researcher anticipate by his/her research. It is possible and advisable to break down a general objective into smaller, logically connected parts. These are normally referred to as specific objectives.

The specific objectives should systematically address the various aspects of the problem as defined under the ‘statement of the problem’ and the key factors that are assumed to influence or cause the problem. They should specify what the researcher will do in his/her study, where and for what purpose.

IRDC further explained that the research objectives should be clearly developed since it will help researcher to:

(i) Focus the study by narrowing it down to essentials;

(ii) Avoid the collection of data which are not strictly necessary for understanding and solving the problem you have identified; and

(iii) Organize the study in clearly defined parts or phases.

In another approach Bryman & Bell (n.d) discussed that the research objective also is the steps the researcher is going to take to answer his/her research questions or a specific list of tasks needed to accomplish the goals of the project. It should emphasize how aims are to be accomplished. At the same time must be highly focused and feasible and address the more immediate project outcomes.

In addition to that the objective also should be able to make accurate use of concepts and be sensible and precisely described and lastly are usually numbered so that each objective reads as an ‘individual’ statement to convey researcher’s intentions.

References and further reading:

1. The International Development Research Center (IDRC). Article on Formulation Of Research  Objectives Retrieved on January 26, 2010 from  http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-56599-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html; and

2. Bryman & Bell. Article on Research Project Guide, Formulating research aims and objectives. Oxford University Press. Retrieved on January 26, 2010 from http://www.oup.com/uk/orc/bin/9780199259380/01student/research_project_guide/rpg/page_11.htm#formulating

To begin with, In Islamic perspective, the state of marriage is part of one’s adherence to the Sunna and an exalted state of life indeed. Therefore marriage must be approached with utmost seriousness, entered with the purest intent, and cultivated religiously as it does not come cheaply and it carries immense reward.

So for hubbies out there, the list of 60 Islamic ways to get and keep your wife’s love forever goes here:

1. Make her feel secure; (sakina- tranquillity) QUIT BEING AGGRESSIVE

2. When you go home say ‘Assalmualikum. ‘ (Greetings) It kicks the shaitaan out of your home!

3. Prophet (Sallal lahu alaihy Wasallam) described the wife as a fragile vessel and said to take care of this vessel that’s fragile. Remember that there is goodness in this vessel so treat it gently.

4. When you advise her, do so in privacy, in a peaceful environment. NOT IN PUBLIC as it’s a type of slandering.

5. Be generous to your wife- it keeps her LOVED

6. Move and let her have your seat. It will warm her heart.

7. AVIOD ANGER. HOW? Keep your wudu at all times. Prophet Sallal lahu alaihi Wasallam said if you are angry, sit down, if you’re sitting, then lie down. Follow the sunnah!

8. Look good and smell great for your wife. IT keeps the LOVE!

9. Don’t be rigid. It will break you. Prophet Mohammed – Sallal lahu Aleihi Wasallam (SAW means “May the blessings and the peace of Allah be upon him” (Muhammad).) said ‘I am the best amongst you and I am the best to my wife’. Being rigid and harsh will not bring you close to Allah and neither does it make you more of a man.

10. Listen to your wife-BE a GOOD LISTENER

11. YES to flattering NO to arguing. Arguing is like poison in a marriage. Al zawai said ‘When Allah (swt) wants evil for people He will leave them to argue amongst themselves’.

12. Prophet (Sallal lahu alaihy Wasallam) said to call your wives with the best name, any name she loves to hear. Prophet Mohammed (Sallal lahu alaihy Wasallam) called Aisha ‘ya Aish’ as an endearment.

13. Give her a pleasant surprise. I.e. if she loves watermelon, bring her one out of the blue. It will grow the love in her heart.

14. Preserve your tongue! Prophet (Sallal lahu alaihy Wasallam) said the tongue will throw people in the hell fire so watch what you say and how you say it!

15. All of us have shortcoming. Accept her shortcoming and Allah (swt) will put barakath in your marriage.

16. TELL her you appreciate her. SHOW her you appreciate her.

17. Encourage her to keep good relation with her relative, her mum and dad etc.

18. Speak with her with a topic of HER interest.

19. In front of her relative praise her. Confirm/ realize that she is wonderful, and that she is a good person in front of her family.

20. Give each other gifts. You will love each other more. Prophet (Sallal lahu alaihy Wasallam) said gifts increases love.

21. Get rid of the routine once in a while, surprise her with something, it will get rid of the rust and polish it!

22. Husnul zaan- We have a demand from Allah (swt) that we have to think good of people. Think good of your spouse.

23. Ignore some of her mistakes- pretend you did not see/hear some of her small mistakes. It was a practise of Ali (RA). It’s like putting a hole in your memory. Don’t save it in your memory!

24. Increase the drops of patience, especially when she is pregnant or when she is on her monthly period.

25. Expect and respect her jealousy. Even Aisha (ra) used to get jealous.

26. Be humble. If your profession is good, respect that she is looking after your children, she is much more than you, she is the leader at home, her strength is your strength, and her success is your successes.

27. Don’t put your friends above your wife.

28. Help your wife at home. Prophet (Sallal lahu alaihy Wasallam) used to help his wives at home and he was the best of creation. He used to sew his own clothes.

29. Help her respect your parents, you can’t force her to love them, but she can be helped to gradually love them.

30. Show your wife she is the ideal wife.

31. Remember your wife in your duaas. It will increase the love and protect it.

32. Leave the past. It brings nothing but pain and grief. It’s not your business. The past is for Allah (swt).

33. Don’t try to show her that you are doing her a favour by doing something, like buying food for the house, because in reality we are the courier of sustenance, not the providers, as Allah is the provider. It’s also a way of being humble and thankful to Allah (swt)

34. Shaitaan is your enemy, not your wife. Sometime when husband and wife are talking a fight breaks out, then shaitaan is present there as a third person so he is the real enemy. It is not enough to hate the shaitaan, but you have to see him as an enemy as Allah has commanded. Shaitaan loves divorce. HE comes everyday and sits office and asks the devils what they have done, some say i have made a person steal, or i have made someone drink etc. And one devil will say i have made a man divorce his wife, and he is crowned as the one who has done the best job.

35. Take the food and put it in her mouth. Prophet (Sallal lahu alaihy Wasallam) taught us this. It’s a blessing. The food doesn’t just go to her stomach, but straight to her heart. It increases the love and mercy between you.

36. Protect your wife from the evil of the shaitaan and mankind. She is like a precious pearl that needs protecting from the envy of human devils and shitaan.

37. Show her your smile. Smile at your wife. IT’S A CHARITY.

38. Small problems/ challenges can become a big problem. Or if there is small thing she didn’t like and you keep repeating them anyway, it will create a wall between you. Don’t ignore them as it can become big.

39. Avoid being harsh hearted and moody. Allah said of prophet (saw) ‘if you were harsh hearted they (the companions) would have left you.’ It confirms prophet (Sallal lahu alaihy Wasallam) was not harsh hearted, so GET RID OF IT.

40. Respect her thinking. It’s strength for you. Show you like her thoughts and suggestions.

41. Help her to achieve her potential and help her to dig and find success within as her success is your success.

42. Respect the intimate relationship and its boundaries. Prophet (Sallal lahu alaihy Wasallam) said she is like a fragile vessel and she needs to be treated tenderly. Sometime she may not be feeling well; you must respect and appreciate that feeling.

43. Help her to take care of the children. Some men think it makes them appear less of a man but in fact it makes you appear a bigger man and more respected, especially in the sight of Allah (swt).

44. Use the gifts of the tongue and sweet talk her. Tell her she looks great, be an artist. Pick and choose gifts of the tongue.

45. Sit down and eat with her and share food with her.

46. Let her know you are travelling. Don’t tell her out of the blue as it’s against Islam. Tell her the date/ time of when you are coming back also.

47. Don’t leave the house as soon as trouble brews.

48. The house has privacy and secrecy. Once you take this privacy and secrecy to your friends and family you are in danger of putting a serious hole in your marriage. This secrecy stays home. Islam is against leaving them out like a garage sale for anyone to come and pick and choose.

49. Encourage each other for ibadah, i.e. plan a trip for hajj or umrah together. It increases and strengthens the love when you help each other perform a good deeds together i.e, do tahajuud together,or go to a dars together etc.

50. Know her rights, not only written in paper but engraved in your heart and engraved in your conscious.

51. Allah( swt) said ‘live with your wives in kindness.’ Treat them with kindness and goodness. It means in happy times and in sadness treat her with goodness and fairness.

52. Prophet (Sallal lahu alaihy Wasallam) showed that at the time of intimacy. Don’t jump on your wife like an animal!

53. When you have a dispute with your wife don’t tell everyone. It’s like leaving your wounds open to germs so be careful who you share your problems and disputes with.

54. Show your wife you really care for her health. Good health of your wife is your good health. To care for her health shows her that you love her.

55. Don’t think you are always right. No matter how good you are you have shortcomings. You are not perfect as the only one who was perfect in character was prophet (Sallal lahu alaihy Wasallam). Get rid of this disease.

56. Share your problems, your happiness, and your sadness with her.

57. Have mercy on her weakness. Have mercy when she is weak or strong as she is the fragile vessel. Prophet (Sallal lahu alaihy Wasallam) said that your wife is a trust in your hand.

58. Remember you are her strength, someone to lean on in times of hardship.

59. Accept her as she is. Prophet (Sallal lahu alaihy Wasallam) said that women are created from the rib which is bent. If you try to straighten her you will break her (divorce). Prophet (Sallal lahu alaihy Wasallam) said that you may dislike one habit in her but you will like another manner in her so accept her as she is.

60. Have good intention for your wife all the time, Allah monitors your intention and your heart at all times. Allah (s.w.t) said Among His Signs is that He created for you wives from among yourselves, that you may find repose in them, and He has put between you affection and mercy. Verily, in that are indeed signs for a people who reflect.

May Allah fill our homes and heart with tranquillity, love and Mercy. AMEEN .

Credit and thanks to WaRda ‘Sepet’ Belwael of FB.

For wordpress users, I’ve found two interesting plugins that have been recently developed using that technique, the Digg digg wordpress plugin developed by mkyong.com and Sharebar wordpress plugin previously created by devgrow.com.  For me both plugins are really great, make life easier for others.

I’ve downloaded and tried the plugins and both of them worked nicely. There is nothing wrong  with the plugin, but the only problem that I’ve found is that the Google Buzz Counter button is somehow looked like in conflicts with my Alexa traffic ranking widget.

The reason I say that is because whenever I used Google Buzz button with counter on my single page, my Alexa traffic ranking widget suddenly disappeared, but then it will appear again if I’m on main page since I’m not using Google Buzz counter on my main page.

I’ve tested so many times and the result still the same, But when I used Google Buzz button without counter, there wasn’t any problem,  the Alexa traffic ranking widget which I put on my sidebar appeared normally. I’m no expert in this technical issue but that is what I’ve actually experienced.

Since I want to use both Google Buzz Button and Alexa widget on my single page,  I’ve to use Buzz button without counter to avoid that conflict. At the same time I’ve left a message to sharebar plugin developer if they know how to fix the issue.

By the way the floating social bookmarking widget that I’m using right now is not using any plugin, but created by using simple jquery script and CSS styling technique, after reading thoroughly from others tutorials. It is still under trial and closely supervised. Gonna make a tutorial on how to do it when everything works fine.

So what is Leadership all about? and what it has to do with quality improvement?.  There are many definitions and explanations the term leadership, for this article we simply use:

“The ability to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organizations of which they are members.”

House, R. J. (2004). Culture, Leadership, and Organizations: The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies, SAGE Publications, Thousand Oaks.

Leadership relates to quality improvement. When implementing quality improvement program, several fundamental activities must be accomplished by the senior management team. These senior managers bear ultimate responsibility for the success of the organization and, by virtue of their positions, have the authority to set direction, establish policy, allocate resources, and select the markets in which the firm will participate. These individuals are responsible to their customers, their employees, and ultimately their shareholders for the success of the enterprise.

As a matter of fact quality management requires skills in both leadership and management. The difference between these two skills sets is stated succinctly by Warren Bennis:

“Leaders are people who do the right things, managers are people who do things right ….many are under-led and over-managed. They do not pay enough attention to doing the right things, while paying too much attention to doing things right.”

The distinction between management and leadership is that leadership is setting a new direction or vision for a group that they follow, for example a leader is the spearhead for that new direction while the management controls or directs people and resources in a group according to principles or values that have already been established.

In other words, leaders lead the way for quality improvement while managers organize the path for to ensure its on the right track. There is no doubt that leadership involvement is much needed. Leaders build commitment. They assure that everyone understands the organization’s mission, vision, values, and goals. They inspire confidence to the people in actively participate in the quality improvement process.

Some 10,000 free nasi lemak will also be provided to visitors.  Its free man!, The event is from 10.00 a.m to 10.00 p.m and the location is at Tapak Pasar Malam Putrajaya, Precint 2,…as the usual place for events and fest in this government administrative center. Just opposite the putrajaya’s millenium monument.

Other activities include karaoke and 1 Malaysia dance competitions as well as appearances of celebrity chefs, performances by local artistes and sales booths.

The event is organized by Sri Warisan Event Management with support from The  Ministry of Information, Communication & Culture and Perbadanan Putrajaya.

So…feel free to taste the free 1malaysia nasi lemak there…

Interesting, well planned and nicely prepared. For further info you can navigate Here.

Although the management and leadership were quite dry subjects, but the training consultant had made the learning throughout the course so enjoyable and full of fun experience. The consultant greeted and invited the participant to give their personal ideas and version of management and leadership, he creatively encouraged participants to express their managerial experience and share that experience with the rest of the participant. He wisely appreciated the participants’ ideas and suggestions. Throughout the course, participants talked much than him and the learning atmosphere was so good.

The training supposed to be very formal but the consultant had made it very casual and made every participant felt so good and appreciated, at the end of the session he nicely summed up the course and discussed with the participant what he had taught and what he had learned from the participant. He was very good in communication and interaction skills.

The Worst – On the other hand, I’ve also ran though the worst learning experience when attended a short course on Financial Procedure Management at Malacca in 2008. My previous office had asked officers involved in financial procedure to attend the course. The course supposed to be simple and straight forward since it has to follow the  financial circulars, but the trainer had made the course so stressful and irritating. He distributed the 50 objective questions quiz to be answered by participants in 1 hour period to test the knowledge of all participants. Then he made his assumption based on the outcome of the quiz. He started the courses assuming all 30 participants had at least made one mistake in dealing with procurement and financial procedures.

The trainer also likes to make comparison among participant and sometime couldn’t accept participants’ ideas and suggestion. Throughout the course there was no joke, the atmosphere was tense and seems like the participants were to solve the world’s problem. The trainer also limited questions for only 3 for each session. At the end of the course he did mentioned that the participant must not committed any mistake since the course already explained the all the do’s and don’ts in managing financial procedures. Although I like the financial procedure course but the trainer made me lost my motivation throughout the course.

The Analysis – For my case, both the best and the worst learning experiences occur due to one major factor; the role of the instructors involved, or the strategies that had been used by facilitator to assist adult learning processes. In the first case although the management and leadership are considered dry subjects but the trainer managed to create good surrounding in the classroom as compared with the second case. Financial procedure is one of my favorite interests but the way the trainer handled the course had decrease my interest.

For other factors that can affect adult’s learning process such as context, personal motivation and right timing can be creatively manipulated by the trainer to make the learning process interesting. Most of the adults enter into classroom with various experiences and information, if the trainer failed to recognize or tend to ignore those experiences and treated them like normal primary school student, the trainer had done serious mistake and destroy adults’ interest to learn.

From my observation essential communication skills and interaction abilities are the most important factor that can give huge impact on adults’ leaning process. The trainer must know how to communicate and guide the particular adults to achieve their learning objective.

An adult learner is an active, dynamic person who seeks learning to solve problems he encounters, to meet his needs and interest. This means that adults’ leaning objective is very clear, to solve his problem, meet his need and interest. As a trainer with core function is to facilitate learning process, a trainer supposes to find the right way to keep adults highly motivate to learn rather than provoking or insulting their intelligence.

Merriam, Caffarella and Baumgartner (2007, p.84) discussed about how Knowles (1968) suggested in his andragogy assumption that the readiness of an adult to learn is closely related to the developmental tasks of his or her social life. This means that adults ready to learn due to certain fulfilling certain needs and demand from their life. For my cases, career advancement and commitment for greater office responsibilities are the main factors that made me ready to learn. Therefore I’m fully enjoyed the learning activities in my best learning event case since it will benefit my future development.

However in the worst learning event, although I knew the course will benefit my career and increase my understanding regarding the subject, the way the trainer handled the course had decrease my readiness to learn and affect my concentration, thus preventing me to gain full knowledge on that subject. As a result I’ve to attend another course for that similar subject but with different trainer in order to fulfill my need for that particular knowledge.

Further reading :

Merriam, Sharan B., Caffarella, Rosemary S. and Baumgartner, Lisa M. (2007). Learning In Adulthood. A Comprehensive Guide. Third Edition; San Francisco; California. A Wiley Imprint.

The worker has the right to know about the accusation.
The employee in whatever situation has the absolute right to know what accusation has been made to them in writing and it is the responsibility of the employer to inform and brief the affected employee the details and information about the accusation. There shouldn’t be any silent or hidden accusation against the affected employee.

The worker has the right to speak in his own defense.
Since the affected employee has been informed and noticed about the accusation against him, then he must be given fair opportunity and chance to speak for his own defense before the employer. Failure in giving the affected employee his right to be heard will make the dismissal procedure null and void.

The worker must be given enough time to reply for the accusations.
While the affected employee has been given opportunity to defense himself, an appropriate time frame should be given for him to prepare all the relevant information and details as well as evidence that might secure him from disciplinary actions.

The inquiry must be conducted by an unbiased party.
To ensure any conflict of interest during the inquiry’s process, the panel of domestic inquiry must be from any unbiased parties

While Idid, S. Ahmad (1997) outlined the domestic inquiry procedures as must consist of these elements:

a)    The complaint
Disciplinary action against employee emanate from a complaint against him for misconduct or inefficiency or contravention of any of the rules and regulation of the company

b)    Investigation
The departmental head upon hearing the complaint must immediately carry out investigation to find and establish a prima facie case toward the affected employee.

c)    Unjust complaint
If, after due investigation, it is found that the complaint is frivolous, unjustified or false then the case should be closed.

d)    Letter of allegation
If there is a prima facie case against the employee, the company must issue a letter of allegation to the employee and details of the allegation made against him.

e)    Service of the letter of allegation
The letter containing the allegation must be served on the workman against whom the allegation is made and the workman concerned must be made to acknowledge the service.

f)    Letter of explanation from the workman
The employee concerned then may admit, submit his explanation or neglect to reply to the letter.

g)    Minor misconduct and punishment
If the investigation discloses that the workman against whom the complaint is made has committed misconduct, the departmental head then will consider the type of punishment whether to be verbal warning, written warning, or major punishment like suspension without pay, demotion or dismissal.

h)    Suspension pending query
The employee may be suspended from entering company’s premises during inquiry procedures for a maximum of two weeks with half basic salary.

i)    Notice of inquiry
Upon receipt or failure of receipt of the letter of explanation, after having sufficient evidence in hand, commence to frame proper charge against employee concerned and issues notice of inquiry.

j)    Panel of inquiry
The panel of inquiry shall be nominated by head of personnel in consultation with the divisional or departmental heads concerned. The member must be properly nominated and avoid any conflict of interest.

k)    Presentation of the management case
The case of the company must be presented by an officer appointed by the head of personnel in consultation with divisional head or departmental heads concerned.

l)    Preparation for the presentation of the case
The officer representing the company shall prepare the case thoroughly for presentation at the inquiry and has sufficient fact as well as briefing the company’s witnesses.

References:

Ayadurai, Dunston (1998), Industrial Relation In Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia Law Journal Sdn Bhd

Idid, S. Ahmad (1997). The Law of Domestic Inquiries and Dismissals. Selangor. Pelanduk Publication (M) Sdn Bhd

“Non-formal Education” is popularly used worldwide to refer to organized learning activities that take place outside the “Formal Education System”. Activities serve several clientele such as NGO’s, Community Based Learning, Private Organization in informal settings. “Training” strongly associated with  learning in workplace by referring to all workshops, seminars, classes and On Job Training designed to improve one’s work related performance

What Purpose Does It Serve?
The overall goals and purposes of adults education are shaped by the historical, cultural and social conditions present in the context and theses purposes shift over time. Although the purposes of adults education by context varies worldwide but there are some goals that are commons to most countries.  Titmus (1989) has identified four goals that are commonly used:

1. Second chance education, which offers adults who missed it the kind of education obtainable in the initial education system.  This may range from basic literacy to mature entrance to university;
2. Role education, which is education for social function (outside employment) and includes social role education (as citizen member of an association) and personal role education (as parent, spouse, retired person);
3. Vocational education, that is education in the skills and knowledge required in employment (such as IKBN, JTM etc.); and
4. Personal Enrichment Education or education intended to develop the individual without regard to his or her social or economic function which neither includes, in effect, anything nor covered by the other headings.

In Malaysia context, most of the adult education programmes carried out are vocationally oriented; preparing a learner for a first job or a new job and job enrichment (Mazanah and Norhayati, 1997).

Challenges in Adult Learning

1. The structural barriers that limit access are formidable indeed, for instance socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, age, gender and geography all conspire to limit adults accessibility to learning.
2. In some countries, rural and isolated folk, women, minorities, poorer people and older adults are helplessly underrepresented in all forms of adult and continuing education.
3. National policies in some countries were lack of coordination among services providers. Even sometimes there might be an overlap and duplication of efforts by all relevant parties such as government, private, NGO’s and international players.

In Malaysia context, AE refers to learning opportunities undertaken by adults who seek education outside the formal schooling system (Mazanah & Hayati, 1997) Formal schooling started from year 1 (Standard 1) till year 11 (SPM). AE encompasses both formal education beyond year 11 (until SPM) and the non formal system.

The formal system refers to educational activity at an institution of higher learning that leads to a recognized certificate diploma, degree, masters and even doctorate. Whereas non formal education is defined as any organized educational activity outside the established formal education system that is intended to serve identifiable clienteles and specific learning objectives.  Such educational activity is not accredited (Alang et. Al, 1992).

So here they come:

So cool enforcement..

Next time please don’t

Awesome mate…

finally proven?

too adventurous..

message noted, so?

Watch my turn man..

surely not Hollywood stunt..

Another ‘hand of God’ issue here…

beware auntie…

where is the stage manager?…quit already?

somebody please call 911…

is it an ambush?

surely it hurts..

Surely you can..after all you’re exhausted

Need more pics? you can straightly navigate HERE.

Titanic, the ship of dreams or also known as Unsinkable, and it was unsinkable on its departure on April 10th, 1912 but later collided with an iceberg on April 14th, 1912, and then sunk completely in the early morning on April 15th, 1912. Approximately around 1,517 lives had gone during the fatal accident.

Relating The Titanic and Organization Behaviour

Organizational behaviour interprets people-organization relationships in terms of the whole person, whole group, whole organization, and whole social system. Its purpose is to build better relationships by achieving human objectives, organizational objectives and social objectives.

In is also a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structures have on behavior within the organization. This impact works towards improving the organization’s effectiveness. In short words it involves organization, management functions, and management skills.

This article will try to relate how the movie Titanic, released in 1997 can be related to organizational behaviour. The Titanic represents an organization which had clear objective of achieving its target; sailing to America. However the ship failed to achieve its objective due to unexpected coalition with iceberg which can be interpreted as problem in term of normal organization. The organizational structure of the Titanic is also same as normal organization. The captain of the ship represented as CEO of the organization, had several subordinates whom responsibilities were to supervise several departments and crew members as well as the passengers. The same situation happens to a CEO of an organization.

Lessons that can be derived from the Titanic movie in term of current organizational behaviour are:

Failed to tackle the problem correctly

Iceberg as a problem or crisis of a ship but the crisis has been dealt wrongfully. In the movie they perceived that the iceberg was small since they just viewed it on the surface whereas actually it was so huge and endangered the ship. Although the ship had collided with the iceberg but the decision to abandon the ship was not made immediately since the captain and his commanding officers still think that the ship can sail further.

In an organization, whenever there is crisis or issue emerges, the top management shouldn’t look at the problem on the surface only but need to study and investigate in depth to solve the problem from affecting the organization. Immediate remedy and correctional plan should be taken as soon as the crisis arises so that it won’t affect or damage the organization.

Inconsistent instruction and message misinterpreted

In the movie although the instruction from the captain to his commanding officers was very clear on what to do while facing the crisis, but then the instruction was later  misinterpreted and misunderstood by the subordinates and crews due to panic situation. In the movie it has been shown that there were various commands and instructions given to the crews which made them confused.
The above kind of inconsistent instruction also happening in the normal organization. Although the CEO had given clear direction for certain issue but then the messages somehow can be misinterpreted and communicated wrongly to the subordinate who later may bring unwanted result to the organization. In order to avoid that the top management has to ensure the message and instruction should be delivered correctly to the subordinates.

Fail to follow instruction

Although the captain had ordered to all crew members to safe women and children first during the accident, some of the crews did not follow the order and without captain knowledge gave opportunity to the first class passengers to board the lifeboat due to the reason that the first class passengers had paid higher ticket price. The movie also showed how a first class passenger, namely Caledon ‘Cal’ Hockley bribed the crew to allow him boarded the lifeboat. As a result of this dishonest behaviour from the crews many woman and children from the third class passengers died whereas they were supposed to be saved first rather than first class male passengers.

Dishonesty and self-centered attitude within an organization will give negative impact on its performance. In whatever situation there always opportunist individual in the organization that only concern only for his/her personal need without caring about others. This kind of attitude and behaviour should be reduced in any organization if the organization want to succeed in achieving its objective.

Not properly ready for the crisis or disaster

The Titanic has the full capacity of 3,547 passengers but it had only a total lifeboat capacity just for 1,178 people. This means that the ship did not carry enough lifeboats for everyone abroad. When main actress Rose DeWitt Bukater asked Mr. Thomas Andrews about the ship’s safety precaution, the engineer who had designed and built the ship simply responded that there is no need to have too many lifeboat on the ship that won’t sink. This showed that the engineer were over confident with his work and didn’t properly prepare for any crisis or disaster. As a result of this improper emergency plan, 1,517 lives had gone miserably.

In the normal organization there should always several plans prepared for any unexpected situation or crisis. The organization shouldn’t over confident with its reputation since there are various internal and external factors and surroundings that can bring crisis and problem to it.

Stereotyping and human segregation

The movie also shows how human likes to stereotype and segregate people unnecessarily. When the main actor Jack Dawson, a lower class passenger of ordinary people falled in love with Rose Dewitt Bukater, a first class passenger from upper class society. The woman’s family tried their best to separated them and looked down at the man. Rose rebelled against her family arrogance and followed Jack even though she had lost Jack after the accident.

Stereotyping also occurred in normal organization, some individual tend to stereotype people based on their own perception without giving individual concerned opportunity to prove him/herself. The act of stereotyping and segregation will reduce organization efficiency thus affecting its performance.

Blend in organizational culture

The movie showed that when Rose wanted to introduce Jack to her family, she had to teach Jack about the table manner in order to familiarize him with her family’s etiquette and mannerism. In other words she taught Jack how to behave like a upper class culture and lifestyle in order for him to be accepted by her family.

In relation with organizational behaviour, when an individual enter into a new organization, he or she has to blend in into that new organization’s culture and way of doing things, this will make him/her easily accepted by the members or group within that particular organization.

Ignorance of Rules, Regulation and Procedures

During the panic situation while the ship was sinking, the movie had showed that the ships had been built with different compartments to differentiate between the rich and the poor people, the rich passengers were easily moved to the deck while the poor passengers had to wait in vain their turn to go up to the deck. Gates and barriers were placed to separate between the rich and the poor. In fact, most third class passengers had no idea where the lifeboats were, much less any way of getting up to the higher decks where the lifeboats were stowed. The ship actually didn’t follow the safety rules, regulations and procedures for the passenger’s ship.

The organization should always follow whatever laws, rules and regulations stated by the authority while dealing with its daily operations. Failure to follow the rules and regulations will result with disastrous consequences to the organization itself.

Based on the that, it can be concluded that the Titanic accident can be prevented if the concerned individuals play their role and responsibilities accordingly. The captain should made immediate decision after knowing that his ship had collided with iceberg, the ships itself should obey standard procedure to prepare enough lifeboat for every passengers she had, the ship’s design shouldn’t be based on passengers’ social class and etc.

Applying the lessons learned from the Titanic tragedy can be an excellent start for any organization to succeed in achieving its objective. It is obvious that the impact that individuals, groups, and structures have on behavior within the organization can determine how that particular organization will survive.

Note: The article was written based on personal observation according to own understanding and this blog claims no responsibility for any misinterpretation that may occur from the article.