Communication Strategies

Throughout evolution the roles of women and men have been predetermined. Men are generally the financial and physical security providers while women are suppose to take care of their homes and children. Even cartoons that depict prehistoric lifestyles, for example The Flintstones, portray the same image. But times are changing. Men are not the only ones who have to go out and earn now.(kishore, 2008) Working parents is becoming the norm these days. So has this affected the image of women as better parents in our society
Why are women considered better parents The most logical conclusion that we all jump to be is that, its the woman who bears the child in her womb. Thus the time that the child is inside the mother she forms a very emotional and strong bond with the fetus. The process of delivery is another form of sacrifice that a mother makes for her child. The nursing period is also a time when the newborn is completely dependent on the mother. Women have developed a natural instinct which allows them to sense the needs of their children even when they cannot verbally communicate them. This is why they say that a mother has a sixth sense about her childs needs until the child moves on into another relationship in which he or she can find someone to take care of them.  Motherhood is no more an easy task. The challenges that the mother has to face today are much greater.

Handling jobs and the responsibility of managing a house and not letting the children come under the corruptive influences of the media and peer pressure. This is why if you look at some polls today, people consider the fathers of today to be doing a better job than the mothers.(Publications, 2007)
Another reason why a mother is linked to her children is due to the greater fitness ceiling of a father. Fitness ceiling means how well an individual can do reproductively.  Moulay Ismail who was the last Sharifian emperor of Morocco had the greatest number of children ever recorded, one thousand and forty-two to be more precise. The greatest number of children that a woman has ever had is sixty-nine. She was the wife of a Russian peasant in the eighteenth century(Folkard, 2004). The reason that this was possible was because she never had any single births and all but two of her children survived till adulthood. All these facts prove one thing. The man has a greater power to reproduce then the woman. If a woman has had 6 pregnancies till she is forty and none of the children survive she has lost all her chances of passing off her genes to the next generation. A forty year old man can go on to reproduce all his life. This means that since he has a greater chance of passing off his genes he thus has lesser attachment to each child. The mother also has lesser chances of abandoning her children and this is another reason why the father becomes more reckless. He expects the mother to always be there for the child.

The father also has a very major role to play in a childs life. He is usually the earner and provider of the family (Gorgan, 2009). Defends and provides security.(writefix)  The father normally also provides the stricter discipline. Thus the children with a short-tempered father are more unlikely to become disobedient since they fear the wrath that this might bring on. Since the time that he spends with the children is more limited the children tend to respect and stay in awe of his position for a greater period of time. With the mother they know how much nagging it will take to convince her for something. Religion and society also sets this role onto the male species. If the father does a commendable job at parenting he can also be considered a good role model for the male child to look up to. The female child will also have a clearer idea about what kind of men they should associate with. It is generally in the fathers nature to be protective to the childs physical security. Unlike the fathers of the eighteenth century, the dads of today have much more time to spend with their children. Where as a farmer of the previous century would be up and off to work at dawn break, thus getting much less and limited time to spend with his children, the dad of today on average has a more lenient schedule and thus is more involved in his childrens life.(Diemer, 1949)

In the end this whole argument boils down to the fact that which parent is fulfilling their responsibilities. Even though a mother is normally considered the better parent many facts can work against her. If she is an alcoholic or does any other form of drug abuse, leaves the child alone or with someone unfit to provide care.(Alandlord., 2010) If she cannot tackle the childs health issues or provide a security, be it physical or psychological, she will be deemed a bad parent. With the number of both working parents climbing each day we cannot just base our judgment of the better parent by the role that society assigns to us. The only way to determine who the better parent is is to see who takes better care of the needs of the child because parenthood is only about how well the child is cared for.

It is discomforting for some people, particularly the former prisoners of war and combatants who experienced and witnessed first hand the hostilities and extreme cruelty of their enemies, to see that their government has entered into a security agreement with a former enemy nation.  This is what happened a few years ago in Australia when Prime Minister John Howard signed a historic security pact with Japan, a former enemy in the last World War, to allow Japanese troops to train jointly on Australian soil (Bright 2007). Yet there were some people who argued that it was now time to move on and forget what happened in the past for the sake of economic prosperity and cooperation.

It is a given fact that history cannot be rewritten. It would be an act of treason for a government to enter into a non-beneficial diplomatic, economic or any agreement with a former enemy. However, it would be impractical to ignore the economic benefits of a diplomatic agreement, particularly if it significantly impacts the countrys economy and its future. A governments action or decision must be weighed according to its costs or benefits, advantages or disadvantages. Thus when a nation enters into a diplomatic or military deal, one must consider the following question Are we not giving up our sovereignty or independence to a signatory nation

Every issue has its pros and cons. In regard to Australias controversial security pact with Japan, the following two articles present the pros and cons of this particular issue Pact With Japan Must be Welcomed published by the Courier Mail (2007 36) and For Some, Wounds Will Never Heal written by a former prisoner of war, Max Venables (2007 42). These two contrasting article argue whether Prime Minister Howard made a mistake in signing a security pact with the Japanese government. In order to weigh the pros and cons of this issue and to critique the contents and arguments of the two articles, it is important to apply Aristotles three rhetorical proofs ethos, pathos, and logos (Garver 1994).

Ethos
The first rhetorical proof first introduced by Aristotle is Ethos, an ethical appeal that establishes the authors or writers credibility or good character (Hyde 2004). Venables, the author of the article entitled For Some, Wounds Will Never Heal, was a former prisoner of war at Changi in Singapore. One interesting point about Venables credibility or good character is that he was not part of Australias circle of intellectuals when he wrote his article he was simply sharing his personal thoughts regarding the security pact between Australia and Japan by virtue of his reputation as a well-respected war veteran.

The title of Venables article itself states nothing could ever make him forget his first hand experiences in the hands of his Japanese captors during the Second World War that claimed the lives of his fellow combatants. Venables said that Australias Prime Minister Howards signing of the security agreement revived old memories. He stated that the Japanese soldiers who ran the Changi POW camp took his health, his dignity and his youth. He also spoke about his painful experiences as a former prisoner of war.

Venables was against the military agreement for several reasons. First, he argued that more than 60 years ago, the Japanese were enemies of Australia. He said that despite the normalization of Japan more than half a century since the Second World War, he could still see, hear, and smell a different Japan, a country that he couldnt trust. Venables banked on his credibility as a former Australian combatant who suffered in the hands of the Japanese soldiers. He described how his captors treated them as slaves for months. As prisoners of wars, Venables and his fellow prisoners worked on Singapore Islands at various jobs. They were forced to build the Changi airport and dig foxholes. At the age 21, he nearly died of starvation and sickness. He also mentioned that in 1943, 3500 men were on the brink of death due to famine and slave labor.

Venables message is that veterans like him who lived during the war and who suffered in the hands of their cruel Japanese captors were not yet ready to see their country dealing with a former enemy. This is the reason why veterans in Australia wanted an apology from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2007 over Japanese war crimes (Taylor 2007).

The other article entitled Pact With Japan Must Be Welcomed was published by the Courier Mail (2007 36), one of the leading newspapers in Australia. The article seems to display a veneer of authority and relevance since it was written and published by a giant Australian newspaper company. Unlike Venables personal account, this article presents the position of a news organization that favored Australias signing of the controversial security deal with Japan. As an organization, Courier Mail detailed its arguments favoring the deal. It states that while the Australia-Japan security agreement could be discomforting for many Australias veterans, it should however be welcomed because it was just another step in the long normalization of Canberra-Tokyo relations.

There was nothing to fear, resist or resent, the Courier Mail claimed. To justify its position, it argued that the security deal was no more radical a step than the creation of mutual embassies in the early 1950s. It argued that the pact must be welcomed because it was simply like the Basic Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation established in 1976, or the Australian-Japan Partnership signed in 1995. It also spoke on the point of view of a news organization that Australia must be open to mutual agreements with other nations for the sake of economic cooperation and diplomatic relations.

Pathos
Another type of rhetorical proof is Pathos, which is used to persuade readers or listeners by appealing to their emotions (Rorty 1996 79). One of the most effective ways to convince or persuade other people is to appeal to their emotions (Rozakis 2004 166). In his article, Venables merely spoke about his first hand experiences as a former prisoner of war at Changi. His thoughts and views regarding the Australia-Japan military pact were confined to his painful memories as a Japanese captive more than fifty years ago.

Venables appeal to emotion is very obvious and dramatic. He was against the security agreement because he believed Australia was dealing with a former enemy that killed and enslaved his fellow World Ward II combatants. To appeal to his readers emotions, Venables recounted how the Japanese soldiers treated them. He mentioned about the cruelty, callousness and indifference he and his fellow combatants suffered in the hands of their Japanese captors.

We were starved, bashed, and very sick, Venables said. This, in essence, describes the vicious treatment they received from the Japanese soldiers. He also recounted how the more than 3,000 Australian combatants starved to death and how a Japanese soldier, who told him that if Singapore were invaded they would simply shoot them in the slit trench, ruthlessly treated him.

However, it would be unfair to accuse Venables of intentionally appealing to his readers emotions by simply recounting his painful experiences during the war. In fact, many Australian veterans shared their unforgettable stories about how the Japanese armies viciously treated their prisoners (Dodd and Richmond 1999 813 Logan, Logan and Reeves 2009112-113).

But Venables was not merely appealing to his readers emotions to make them understand how the veterans suffered in the hands of the Japanese soldiers, but to Prime Minister Howard as well. He said that he was not in favor of the idea of giving his country to anyone. He appealed to the Prime Minister, saying Australia can be a friend to any country without giving its heart away.

The author effectively made his case against the Australia-Japan security pact by appealing to his readers emotions. Who would not feel for the suffering of the families and the people who lost their loved ones in the Second World War As a former prisoner of war, Venables reminded the young Australians of the painful memories more than fifty years ago, and he did this by means of telling his personal story.

On the other hand, Courier Mails article did not appeal to the readers emotions in order to make a point. Instead this news organization used the power of reasoning to construct its own argument in favor of the Canberra-Tokyo deal.

This journalistic treatment by Courier Mail of the issue is understandable because the security deal is both political and diplomatic issue. The primary question this news organization addressed is the following Is it economically beneficial for Australia to enter into a security deal with Japan Hence, Courier Mail mainly argued the practicality of the agreement, which was beneficial to Australias economy and national security.

Logos
The third rhetorical proof is Logos, which appeals to objectivity, logic, math, and statistics to construct an argument (Kaufer and Butler 1996 83). Venables article mainly appeals to his readers emotions and not to logic, math, statistics, and objectivity to establish his opposition to the security deal.

This is the fundamental weakness of Venables argument, as he failed to support his disagreement with the Australia-Japan deal by employing a logical approach or argumentation instead of appealing to fear, pity and compassion. However, it is safe and fair to assume that the primary literary goal of Venables in writing his article is to remind Australia and Prime Minister Howard of the war crimes of Japan over half a century ago.
Furthermore, Venables neither used inductive nor deductive reasoning to validate his opposition to the bilateral security agreement. By employing either inductive reasoning (Nisbett 1993 70), which uses examples, and deductive reasoning (Schaeken 20001), which uses generally accepted propositions, to draw his conclusions, Venables would have been able to explain why there was a need for Australia to reject the deal. But this is not the case, as his built his entire argument around his first-hand experiences as a prisoner of war.

Meanwhile, Courier Mail used inductive reasoning by presenting historical examples, statistics, logic, and objectivity order to derive its conclusion that Australia must welcome the security agreement with Japan. While Courier Mail sympathized with the veterans, it held that the agreement would benefit Australia in the long run. It then mentioned historical examples in order to prove that the agreement was not a radical step that would surrender Australias sovereignty or nationhood to another country.

These historical examples include the creation of mutual embassies more than 50 years ago, the landmark Agreement on Commerce it signed with Japan, the Basic Treaty of Friendship, and the Australian-Japan Partnership it signed more than a decade ago. Courier Mail also argued that these diplomatic steps had greatly contributed to the development of Australia-Japan multi-layered diplomatic partnership centered on economic trade and cultural exchanges.

Courier Mail also gave mathematical and statistical examples in order to support its claim that the security deal would benefit Australia economically. It stated that Japan is the largest importer of Australian products. For example, Japan imported about 20 percent of all Australian products, which amounted to over 35 billion, in 2006 alone. It also reasoned out that Australias trading relationship with Japan is worth 54 billion annually. Thus this means that for more than 50 years since the Second World War, Japan played an important role in Australias economy.

Another logical and objective reason adduced by the Courier Mail was the need to maintain its peacekeeping efforts with Japan, which is a key Asian ally in the global fight against transnational terrorism. Most importantly, it explained that the real enemy in the last world war was not racial but ideological. It is true that the last global conflict was primarily motivated by differing ideologies. This is because ideology became the key component feeding the clashing nations and causing eternal hostilities (Kaldor 2000 53).
The fundamental message of the Courier Mail in favoring the security pact is for Australia to move forward. It argued that more than half a century since the last global conflict, both Australia and Japan have come to share common western values tolerance, pluralism, democracy and freedom.

Critique 
History has it that the Empire of Japan was one of the key players in the last world war (Finger 2002 99 Reiber and Spencer 2008 173). However, history also has it that Japan lost two of its main citiesHiroshima and Nagasakiafter the United States decided to use its secret weapon atomic bomb (Kort 2007 199 Large 1998 141). Also after the war, Japan paid for its war crimes in terms of massive reparations and peace treaties (Li 2003 16). Hence, there is a need to understand that the last world war was ideological, which was clearly pointed out by Courier Mail.

The fundamental flaw of Venables reasoning is that he regarded the last global conflict as something that was primarily motivated by race, and this is the reason why he still considered Japan as Australias enemy. But this was clearly addressed by the article of Courier Mail, which argued that the war was motivated by an evil ideology. After it was defeated, along with Germany and Italy, Japan paid dearly for its war crimes and learned how to cooperate and deal with other nations like Australia. Both Australia and Japan became economic allies from 1952 up to the present, and this relationship was bolstered by the signing of the security deal in 2007 (Rix 1999 99 Medeiros 2008 44).

Courier Mails article substantially provided logical reasoning to its claim that there was a need to embrace the Australia-Japan security agreement. On the other hand, Venables simply relied on emotional appeal to persuade his readers that Australia should not deal with a former enemy. There is no doubt that Venables had the credibility to speak about the atrocities of the Japanese Empire, but logic tells us the Japanese people of today should not be blamed for the mistakes and crimes of their ancestors.

Trying to pin down exactly what makes a documentary such has always been a difficult topic and is subject to the same problems faced in wider genre studies, whereby a combination of subjective elements which are constantly in play and never fixed come to be commonly associated with the form. For this essay I shall be looking at two texts I personally would deem documentaries from the Cutting Edge series shown on channel four. All of the documentaries which were produced as part of this television series share the same common elements, those being a capturing of genuine events, a voice of God impartial narration and an unbiased view point to enhance the real life situation and real characters. According to Nichols definition of the six dominant types of documentary, these films therefore fit into the observatory documentary sub genre.

According to Nichols (2001) the observatory documentary is signified by its capturing of real life events. As opposed to the expository documentary a film makers opinion does not skew the production of the documentary, rather a more naturalistic approach is taken to capture genuine events and reveal to the audience human characters in a ordinary setting. Key conventions of this sub genre according to Nicholas is an eschewed voice over commentary and post synchronized dialogue and music, two elements which both My Big Gay Prom and Too Poor for Posh School possess. However, even though the two documentaries I have selected are from the same documentary sub genre I intend to argue throughout the body of my essay that through their use of the communication devices of culture and self concept, they are able to portray different messages about culture, namely gay culture and masshigh culture. Following this, their use of the communication device of self concept is able to evoke similar reactions of reassurance in the viewer and I shall be comparing and contrasting the effectiveness of these communication devices in delivering the intended message to the viewer in my conclusion.

A communication device which both of these television documentaries effectively use, although in contrasting ways, is culture. Within My Big Gay Prom the dominant theme running throughout is gay culture and how this is addressed both in the USA and the United Kingdom. On the other hand, Too Poor for Posh School addresses the issue of class and income in relation to the education a child is given the opportunity to receive, highlighting dichotomy between mass culture and high culture and the bridges which exist between these two extremes.

As Jack Ellis and Betsy McLane argue within A New History of Documentary Film the documentary form has been one of the key ways in which queer cinema has made advances, and gay and lesbian culture has come to be represented more proportionally. It has permitted an underrepresented sub group to make films which addressed their own specific concerns and My Big Gay Prom similarly achieves this as it documents the process of five adolescent homosexuals attempting to create the first British Gay Prom to allow homosexual adolescents to have a similar high school and coming of age experience to that of their straight peers.

As previously mentioned a convention of an expositionary documentary is to present natural events to the audience in an unbiased way, therefore this communication device of culture is informing as opposed to convincing the audience of the message that these individuals believe that gay adolescents deserve to have the same teenage experience as straight adolescents, and for gay adolescents there are more barriers to this happening. I believe this message is communicated through the way in which one adolescent female talks of her experience of secondary school, informing the viewer that she was routinely taunted not only for her sexuality, but also her weight, hair cut and style of dress. This message, as the individual comes across to be upset by her experiences at secondary school, places the viewer in a position whereby they are likely to agree with the idea that gay adolescents should have the opportunity to attend a prom where they wont be singled out and made to feel uncomfortable because of their sexuality.

Conversely, in terms of Too Poor for Posh School and the communication device of culture, the idea which seems to be represented is that children who come from less privileged backgrounds and posses intelligence which means that they are unlikely to achieve their full potential in mainstream schooling deserve the opportunity to be taught in an environment where they can excel. It seems to point out the injustice of extremely intelligent children who would benefit from the standard of education at Harrow being unable to afford the fees to attend a school which would be better able to nurture their intelligence and make the most of their potential. One particular way in which this injustice is communicated is when we see one particular boy and his parent show their disappointment upon hearing the news that he has not received a scholarship. His parent talks of his childs need to try harder in the future to excel, however from the childs dejected body language, he plays with his fingers and looks down whilst his parent talks to the interviewer, his upset and disappointment is evident.

Throughout the documentary we have seen evidence of this particular boys intelligence, as his plays the violin to a high standard, reads books which are far above the expected reading level of an eleven year old and talks with a much more sophisticated vocabulary than a typical boy of his age. Therefore the system whereby only the privileged are able to afford an education a Harrow, where annual fees are 28,000 and the narrator informs us only 3 of the population are able to afford this, is represented as being un democratic and the significant divide between high culture and masspopular culture is critiqued.

The next communication device I will be looking at is self concept. Self concept is what an individual deems himself to be worth and their own opinion of who they are and who they ought to become. In terms of documentary and self concept, the way the characters in the documentary display their own opinion of themselves seems to be a very relevant topic. For example, in My Big Gay Prom the character of Ben displays behaviour which provides evidence that he has unresolved issues in his past relating to his homosexuality which have resulted in a need for attention or to create controversy merely for the sake of doing so. This is evident in the way he refuses to wear a tuxedo to the American Gay Prom they attend, his non attendance and storming out of a press conference he was planned to be interviewed at and his admittance to his enjoyment of creating controversy. Through this characterisation the message appears to be that as a result of his treatment at school he has been left with a chip on his shoulder about who he is and his self worth, giving off an outward attitude of not being concerned with others opinions of him, however under the surface he appears to be extremely insecure with who he is and his sexuality specifically.

To draw on the argument of Erika Suderburg, this representation of self concept from a young homosexual may well resonance amongst other members of this under represented sub group. Through viewing Bens attitude as a young gay male, others of a similar demographic will see a mirror to themselves which receives very little media attention through other modes. In this sense, representing a gay teens sense of self concept as such may very well cause a similar viewer to relate to Bens attitude, they may see themselves in Ben and realise it isnt an adaptive way to live the remainder of your life, or believe themselves to be an antithesis of Ben, seeing the flaws he possesses and the error of his ways and thus becoming more understanding of his predicament. In such a way the communication device of self concept is particularly useful when addressing similar gay youths, it may hold up a mirror to themselves they would not have seen otherwise, or it may result in a them noting the error of Bens ways and understanding why they may see others with a similar attitude, communicating a message of reassurance and understanding.

Similarly, the way in which messages about self concept are displayed in Too Poor for Posh School may well resonate amongst audience members who are similarly unable to afford the school fees at Harrow, which would be 97 of the population. By giving an exclusive look at the goings on within the confines of Harrow, something which does not receive a great deal, if any, media attention bar tabloid scandals (see September 5th 2003 headline from the Daily Mail, Harrow School head boy forced to leave after taking cocaine on Easter holiday) those who may feel that the prestige of Harrow justifies the high entrance fees and see it as being out of the reach of someone ordinary like themselves may well feel reassured about their own self worth.

Whilst the boys spend lots of their free time studying and preparing for their entrance exams to be awarded the scholarship, as one parent tells us, after school she takes her child to a sports class and a trumpet class, and when he returns home he is to sit an exam she herself will mark the following morning, the viewer may regard the time their child spends simply having fun and forming relationships with his peers outside of class as a much more worthwhile use of time. The message communicated is therefore that because someone is not able to make the very high standards set to gain entry into Harrow, they arent necessarily worse off as the children we see in the documentaries lose out on fundamental elements of growing up, playing outside without the goal of getting into Harrow looming over them, similarly to My Big Gay Prom, providing the viewer with a message of reassurance about their own self concept.

In conclusion, the effectiveness of these communication devices varies between both documentaries. Personally, I found it a great deal easier to relate to the messages conveyed within Too Poor for Posh School and the sense of being different to everyone else, and not fitting in with the mainstream as communicated by those in My Big Gay Prom did not resonate as heavily with me as I did not face these issues growing up. In addition, the characterisation of Ben, whilst I was able to empathise with the difficulties he must have faced, the resulting attitude did not elicit a supportive or understanding reaction rather it left me questioning as to why all people who faced problems with bullying at school do not similarly display such acts of attention seeking. In addition, the emotions shown from the young children who were not accepted onto the scholarship were conveyed in a far more empathetic way than the problems of the young homosexuals, as the hard work they had put in to working for their scholarship and the delicate age of the candidates caused a more emotional reaction, resulting in agreement that the private school system is unjust.

Concerns with current evaluation form
The evaluation is not taking into consideration professional parameters for appraising the employee. The focus is only on personality traits and relationship with co-workers. Although these are important too, they still cannot undermine the technical know-how of the person, and the manner in which he deals with his work.

There is a lack of objectivity in the ratings being given. The individual is being rated for his seeming behavior, and not on hard facts. The manager feels a certain way about him, and is also biased with the employees reaction to his appraisal last year.

The appraisal so far is not clear and specific. For example, it is vague as to what sort of attitude it intends to measure, and hence it needs to be more specific. The attitude being measured could be for anything from work or deadlines to attitude towards criticism.

The value of common sets of evaluation criteria
There is immense value in having common sets of evaluation criteria, since it automatically ingrains objectivity into the process. Also, all employees are rated on the same factors, and hence the chances of a personal bias get minimized. Having said that though, it should be kept in mind that there would always be evaluation criteria specific to a particular job description, and these should be considered too. Also, having all common criteria could lead to a central tendency of giving average ratings to all.

Advantages of a 360-degree appraisal
The 360-degree appraisal incorporates feedback from the supervisor, peers and also the sub-ordinates of a manager. The biggest advantage of such an appraisal is that it is multi-centered, which means that the feedback comes from various sources, hence ensuring a greater level of objectivity and fairness. Also, it takes the sole onus of evaluation from the manager and distributes it to the others in the team, ensuring that manager biases get negated. This also promotes a sense of involvement in the system, and sets a foundation for a participative culture in the organization. Another important aspect is that it is often felt that the leadership abilities of an employee can be most accurately evaluated by the people who work under him, and hence they should be a part of the evaluation to make it more comprehensive.

Disadvantages of a 360-degree appraisal
Despite the above mentioned points, the 360-degree appraisal has met with mixed responses since its inception. The biggest issue that is noticed is that the chances of getting clear concise feedback get reduced. A number of peers and co-workers might not be in a position to evaluate the person due to lack of technical knowledge on his work and not knowing where his core competencies lie. Also, it is questionable whether subordinates can be entirely objective about their bosses, and not let any bias affect their ratings. Finally, the system makes sense only if it is linked to personal goals of the individual, so that he knows what he needs to change, and how he should go about doing it.

Compare and contrast at least three common performance evaluation methods

Confidential report
A largely outdated method of evaluation, the confidential report is a descriptive document which is handed over to the employee at the end of the year which details out his work the whole year, and areas of strengths and weaknesses. This is a confidential document which is not shared with the public, and is for the consumption of only the appraised. There is no scope of a feedback from the appraised and he is often left to wonder the reasons for what is written about him. Also, it is not possible for him to have a conversation about it and seek any sort of improvement.

Behaviorally anchored rating scales
A relatively modern appraisal method, this technique uses several parameters key to the performance of an employee, and then develops a rating scale which is then used to evaluate the employee. For example, being punctual could be a key parameter to be evaluated, and then a scale is developed to measure the employees performance on that parameter. The good part of this technique is that it clearly offers an opportunity for improvement, and its quantitative nature helps in getting specific feedback on performance. However, it is considered fairly time consuming, and also leads to a bias of central tendency wherein the manager tends to give average rating for several parameters due to his inability to take an extreme stand.

Management by objectives (MBO)
The most evolved form of appraisal is the management by objectives technique. This works at an organization level, and that is its biggest strength. The company decides on the larger goals that it needs to achieve, and then these goals are broken down to smaller goals in line with the various work profiles of the employees. The employee is then evaluated on this basis of his performance vis--vis preset goals. The best part of this appraisal technique is that it is highly participative, and it helps quantify the actual involvement each individual has in achieving the objectives of an organization. It is also forward looking, and recognizes specific achievements that the person might have made to reach closer to his goals.

Biases that impact performance evaluation accuracy
The Halo effect
One of the most common appraisal errors is the Halo effect. The Halo effect is the tendency to rate the overall performance of a person on the basis of his performance in a few parameters.  This could work both positively and negatively, and leads to a clear bias in the appraisal. For example, an employee might be extremely hard working, but incompetent in the work required of him. Still, he could end up with good ratings due to the Halo effect.

Central Tendency
Another common appraisal bias is the tendency of managers to give an average rating to several employees, and across several parameters. This is called the central tendency. It is extremely damaging bias since it impacts the accuracy, and does not provide the employee with adequate feedback on his strengths and weaknesses.

Recency Bias
The recency bias creeps in when managers evaluate their juniors on the basis of their most recent work accomplishments. This is what is fresh in the managers memory and he forms a judgment basis this. It leads to an inaccurate evaluation since past work gets ignored.

Leniency bias
The leniency bias occurs when the manager has a general tendency to be lax about giving a bad appraisal, and fears that it will not be taken in the right spirit by his subordinate. So he gives higher ratings on parameters where actually a lower rating is deserved.

Appropriate changes in the current appraisal system
The current appraisal method is in urgent need of a revamp. It has glaring inconsistencies, and if continued will not only bring down the confidence levels in this person, but also eventually lead to his resignation. For starters, it needs to be made more systematic, clear, objective and constructive. The 360-degree evaluation doesnt seem to be a very good idea here since this particular employee has not been really liked by his co-workers. There is a high possibility that he will be given a very subjective and biased appraisal.

My recommendation for him would be the management by objectives (MBO) appraisal method. He is clearly a very valuable resource for the factory and possesses skills that no one else does. In that sense it is not possible to evaluate him on his technical competencies, unless a specialist is also made a part of the process. But what his manager can evaluate him on are his contributions to the business (in terms of cost savings) and also his ability to meet his deadlines always. The management by business objective will help link his personal goals with the goals of the company, and hence be more holistic. Also, he will get an accurate picture of his contribution to company growth, and pride in his work will increase.

Regarding his seeming attitude towards co-workers, it could come from a sense of superiority or it could be instigated by them due to a difference in personalities. Whatever is the case, this is clearly an issue, and the manager needs to look into this. Constructive feedback and improvement on his relationship management will make this a complete and comprehensive appraisal.

The specific goals in an organization are greatly strengthened by leaders with the use of power. Leadership is therefore involved with influencing people in an organization to do what they hesitate to do and want to do, in order to accomplish the goals and objectives of a company (Yammarino, 2009). Therefore, proper use of power can have a positive outcome on an organizations performance as well as on the lives of the workers, hence making the company more competitive.

The five Basis of power demonstrated in an Organization
Legitimate power This is the acquiring of leadership position power, which happens when the leader influences the structure of the job in way involving the use of rules and regulations, which are stipulated by the management (Yammarino, 2009). Legitimate power can be demonstrated in a scenario where a leader stating in his rule that it is mandatory for a marketer to work for 40 hours a week and for an accountant to work for 4 days in a week.

Reward Power In this base of power, a reward is used in order to enhance compliance to the rules of organizations(Yammarino, 2009).This is done by giving workers more benefits, valued rewards or increased pay. An example is in a scenario where the marketing manager encourages employees to work beyond the requisite 40 hours a week by reminding them of their yearly bonus for receiving a superior rating on their next evaluation.

Expert Power This kind of power is based on the knowledge level of the leader in relation to the knowledge and experience level of the workers (Yammarino, 2009). An example can be based on a scenario where a marketer has worked in the marketing department a long period and has an experience of 12 years.

Referent Power This is power due to a strong relationship with the subordinates, which is based on the leader attractive personality such as charisma and interpersonal skills resulting to sense of personal satisfaction (Yammarino, 2009). This power shows that an ideal communication strategy in an organization is based on relational communication therefore leaders can use personal appeal to influence others members while faced with difficult situations. This can be demonstrated in a scenario is where a leader has just worked for little over a year, whereas most employees in the sales department have been with the company for three years or more. The leader has influenced others employees by being very charismatic and positive, hence making people seem to be naturally drawn to his personality.

Coercive Power This is power based on involvement of reciprocity or bargaining power. (Yammarino, 2009). An example of this is found in a scenario where a marketer who has worked in the marketing department receives a payment based on performance evaluation.

Relationship between Bases of Power and Dependency 
 Proper transformation of power is necessary in an organization as this enables achievement of the desired results. Bases of power come from capacity that brings in resources that can be distributed as rewards or information to others (Yammarino, 2009).Therefore, people are more responsive to the people who look like they can get more from an organization. Hence, there is a tendency of complying with wishes of another, as this results to creating dependency.

The power dependence is proportional to the work done by each member of the organization. The work done must be measured and controlled, and the leader must desire the output. The dependence of the work is determined by the output of the job, and controlled by being in the right place at right time, and getting a favorable bonus or pay rise. An example from a scenario where the marketing manager encourages employees to work beyond the requisite 40 hours a week by reminding them of the yearly bonus for receiving a superior rating on their next evaluation.

Leadership style is the manner and approach of providing direction, implementing plans and motivating people (Jim Collins. Good to Great. 2001). Organization leaders practice several leadership styles.  Some of these styles are based on leaders behaviors, decisions making etc.  Some of the styles fit very well in specific organization e.g. in a firm where rules and regulations need to be followed strictly. A compromise of the laid down procedures may lead to a big loss to the organization or organization to be faced out of business. The best style to be practice in this scenario can be autocratic leadership style.  

Executive A
Executive A practices level 5 style of leadership, in this kind of leadership leaders transform the organization from low states to greater height.  From the context of Executive A, an Executive A became CEO several years ago, the company was losing more than two million dollars a year, and its stock had plummeted to 23 a share. During Executive As tenure the stock has risen 128, and the company posted a profit during the second quarter after Executive A became CEO. Level 5 leaders are termed as timid and ferocious, shy and fearless, modest, with fierce, unwavering commitments to high standard.  The above mentioned characters of leaders in level 5 leadership style are revealed vividly in Executive A leadership style.  For instance, the media has been quoted saying that Executive A is the person behind corporations success.

Level 5 leaders channel their ego needs away from themselves and into the larger goal of building a great company. Its not that Level 5 leaders have no ego or self-interest. Indeed, they are incredibly ambitious - but their ambition is first and foremost for the institution, not themselves. - Jim Collins. Good to Great. 2001.
 Executive A shies away from the attention and often gives credit for the companys success to other leaders in the organization. This is also another example that convinced that Executive A really practices level 5 leadership styles. Furthermore, level 5 leadership style states that leaders or managers, who practice this style, accept responsibility for mistakes and poor results of the organization.  From the scenario, Executive A is quick to accept responsibility for mistakes and poor results and takes pride in developing strong leaders within the company.  The above points clearly shows beyond any reasonable doubts that Executive A practices level 5 leadership styles.

Leader B practices transactional leadership styles, in this style leaders motivate subordinate by rewarding them.  Transactional leaders works through creating clear structures whereby it is clear what is required of their subordinates, and rewards them for their efforts. Punishment are always stated and well understood that subordinate staffs should held accountable for their deeds.  Transactional leaders allocate work to the team members, they are considered to be fully responsible. To support this, leader B establishes clear goals by clarifying role and task requirements and continually guiding subordinates in the direction of these goals.  This is one of the examples that make leader B qualify to be transactional leaders.  From the above, transactional leaders ensures that there is clear definition of duties and responsibility of every staff members.  From the scenario, Leader B establishes clear goals by clarifying role and task requirements and continually guiding subordinates in the direction of these goals.  In transactional leadership styles, leaders are expected to reward their team members by recognizing their input and as well as ensuring staff members are held account on their deeds.  Leader B from the given scenario believes in a clear chain of command and in rewarding good performance and recognizing employee accomplishments.  Also leader B believes that when a task is delegated to a subordinate, the subordinate is fully responsible for that task and incase of a fault he or she should held accountable and be ready to face the consequences.

Leader C is a Transformation leader.                                                            
Transformation leaders always look after initiatives that can add value in an organization. This leaders enthusiasm is frequently passed onto the staff members.  Transformation leaders are exceptionally motivating, inspiring, encourage, support, recognizes good work and peoples and helping people see beyond their self-interests and focus more on team interests and needs. From the scenario, leader C encourages team members to transcend their own self-interest for the good of the organization.  This is one of the above mentioned statements that describe a transformation leadership style, therefore, leader C practices transformation Leadership styles.  In transformation leadership style, leaders inspire their staff members, develop vision and communicate to the staff members.  Leader C believes that people can achieve great success when they are inspired and passionate about a vision.

How Leader B leadership style would affect the corporation if Leader B were appointed as CEO when Executive A retires.

Leader B who is a transactional leader will ensure that corporation has employees who are hard worker, who hands their work very careful to avoid wastage and there is a division labor thus production will go up. Due to a clear chain of command the corporation will have an ideal structure of management thus accountability and transparency can be achieved.  Leader B will ensure that the corporation has a clear leadership hierarchy.

How Leader C leadership style would affect the corporation if Leader C were appointed as CEO when Executive A retires.

Leader C who is a transformation leader will ensure that corporation is transformed by creating vision and communicating to the staff.  This will make subordinate staff to be part and parcel of the organization.
Corporation will have an ideal human resource department because the leader will be wonderful and uplifting.  There will be clear goals, vision and everyone will be working toward a common ground.

The expectancy theory of motivation applies this concept and the relationship between the attitude of an employee, their belief about the possibility of achieving a target and the rewards they expect out of it. The theory states that an employees motivation is dependant on how much a satisfaction a person derives from the reward on offer (valence), the confidence that the expected performance will help achieve the target (expectancy) and the possibility that the performance will result in the reward (instrumentality). So motivation is the product of valence, expectancy and instrumentality. The three key components and relationships in the expectancy theory of motivation

Expectancy is the persons conviction that a certain goal can be achieved. The performance of an employee is based on numerous personal factors such as knowledge, abilities, skill, personality etc. So every employee has different competency level, so the employee must have the conviction that the task set can be achieved if he puts in certain amount of extra effort. A person who is very confident about himself is more likely to feel confident about a job in hand. If an employee feels the probability of achieving the goal is high, then he shall be more motivated to make efforts towards it.

Instrumentality is the confidence that an increased performance will lead to a valuable reward. For this the employee must trust the management and the transparency in the decision making process of the organization. For example, in a sales related job, the salesperson must trust that the incentives for the sales accounted will be fairly calculated. If he feels poorly compensated then he will not be motivated to achieve his targets. Valence considers the emotional aspect every individual is satisfied by different rewards. For example, an employee may feel satisfied by monetary gains while another may value a promotion in rankrecognition over money. Again a person who does not like excess pressure may not want to take up extra responsibilities if he feels that a task will cause him to lose sleep over it. So the attitude and mental composition determine how a person will perceive a reward the more desirable the incentive will be, more motivated the employee shall be. Valence is thereby the expected satisfaction that an employee feels he will attain at the end of the task.

An employee is going to be motivated if these three factors are all aligned together. So an employee will increase his level of effort keeping in accordance with how much value he perceive the reward to bring and the probability that the he associates to efforts and outcomes having a positive correlation. If any of the 3 factors is not accomplished then the employee will not be fully motivated to give his best towards achieving a goal. Thus, according to Vroom motivation is  valenceinstrumentalityexpectancy.

2. Since the employees under supervisor A have not been putting forth sufficient efforts to reach the production goals, sufficient motivation should be provided to the unit. The expectancy theory of motivation can be applied to help encourage the employees to perform better and reach targets more effectively. Firstly the supervisors should communicate the new production process and targets clearly to all the employees, so that they understand their responsibilities, accountability and new individual goals.

The three factors to be considered are
Expectancy The employees feel that the process is complex and needs hand dexterity that they are not capable of providing.  They opine that it is not worth putting extra effort to reach the new goal, so the Expectancy that they can complete the process successfully is low. The management should ensure ways to boost the employees confidence and make them feel that they have the requisite knowledge and abilities to carry the task successfully. If required a training program or a development program should be initiated so that the employees feel more equipped with the right skills to handle the process. the employees should be provided with the right resources such as raw materials and time and the supervisors should provide support throughout to help them perform the job.

Instrumentality The employee feel that the effort put in does not yield significant reward. The salary increase for those who reach the department goal are almost the same as non performers. So the management should structure a plan such that there is clear and fair rewards given to the performers. That is the relation between the rewards and efforts should be made clear. The management should be such that the employees can trust them. The rules and guidelines of the appraisal should be communicated to the employees, so that they know how the rewards are to be distributed and feel more motivated to achieve their goals. This will lead to a confidence that the increased effort will lead to valuable rewards and be instrumental to their growth.

Valence The employees who are performing should be assured that additional efforts shall not go unnoticed the supervisor can compliment employees putting in extra initiatives so that the other employees feel motivated to do the same. The extra money received from the overtime is almost equivalent to the value added from the bonus, so if significant monetary awards cannot be given then non cash incentives can be provided. Recognition along with monetary rewards will help motivate the employees.

So the Vrooms theory of motivation can be applied in such a way to help the employees perform better.