Life is a yearn to reside, and better still a desire to reside joyously. As we strive to satisfy this yearns, we encounter obstacles that perplex or frustrate our efforts. This difficulty or annoyance allowances to pain because it stands in the way of satisfaction.

Wisdom is designed to help us contend with this suffering. It is an adaptive product of cause in the face of strong circumstances. Thanks to it, joyfulness is conceivable and achievable in spite of everything. It is thus the supreme good.

Actually, religion is a good that numerous grade equally high, since it serves the identical reason as wisdom, if distinctly. The difference lies in the way belief and wisdom depict suffering and characterize the meaning of life.

From the perspective of religion, pain betrays a state of worldly imperfection that is in contradiction with the human yearn for perfect joyfulness. Consequently, life here underneath – where humans are condemned to suffer – is absurd in itself. Or rather, life is significant strictly in terms of means to a fantastic end in the large after: A life of virtue organizes the way for an afterlife of bliss. The religious accept as true this in agreement with the teachings of an motivated religious foremost, who assertions to know the transcendental environment of the hereafter.

While personally I cast a skeptical eye on these teachings, I keep my brain open. They are highly doubtful, but the transcendental environment of their object places them after the come to of any discredit founded on conclusive clues.

anyhow, as I glimpse it, wisdom is independent of belief, though it can complement the latter. According to it, life in itself has significance, regardless of its imperfection that people can discover to accept. Better still, they can discover to worth this imperfection as they recognize that perfection, contrary to well liked conviction, is not infinitely attractive.

Indeed, flawless happiness leaves certain thing to be desired. By delineation, it omits pain and therefore all forms of complication or frustration. It supposes that attenuating factors are wholeheartedly favorable – that is, not strong in any way. Thus, no effort is essential while every dream is likely. At first glimpse, this noise like the most magnificent position imaginable, and yet taking another gaze at it will dispel this illusion.

What odd whim, in the annals of humankind, has compelled persons from every stroll of life to depart their cozy dwelling and embark on risky projects? Perhaps this whim is not so odd after all. A multitude of conquests have been made for the sheer joy of conquering against large odds. The operative phrase is pride, accompanied by exhilaration. To conquest-minded persons the infinite alleviate of heaven entails infinite boredom. To them life – simultaneously with the struggle that is integral to it – is the very thing that flawless happiness departs to be desired. It is an opportunity to verify courageous and victorious, though it is furthermore a risk of falling short painfully.

Joyfulness is about grasping this opportunity with bravery and profiting a victory over the obstacles that stand between us and achievement in all the activities that most issue to us. This victory is often strenuous and always restricted, precarious, and transitory, and we are bound to lose the battle in the end; but that makes the triumph all the more prized and worthy of savoring.

When endeavoring to characterize the undertakings in which we most care to do well, we are compelled to study our environment to know our reason. Our growing shrewd depends on this study and this information, leading to this definition. It begins with a perception of our animal will to endure, as survival is the base on which life, in the truly human sense, is constructed. The awareness of life in this sense follows. It takes into account both our humanity and our individuality, as constituents of society with specific flavors and abilities to which a broad variety of undertakings are matched.

The clearer we are about our reason, the more we can live our lives with conclusion and passion, and so with a larger possibility of doing well and accomplishing happiness. The reverse is equally factual. It thus stands to cause that in striving after wisdom we lay the groundwork for achievement and happiness.

Introduction

Policy makers in many countries base their codes of ethics on certain Religious and Ethical Systems.   Widely varying cultures and ways of looking at the worlds make it difficult, if not impossible, to find a common ethical system from which to operate.  While one individual may have certain values they hold dear, how they’re able to hold their company to a religious paradigm is always a hot topic.  In the points below, the different systems are explained and hopefully will provide a clearer understanding as to the basis of decision making.

The Idea in a Nutshell

Humans base their values either on what rules they value, what consequences arise from their actions, what society says is right or whether they are simply a moral person.  Explaining each system works best when contrasted with the others.  For example, Deontology is concerned with duty and what rules to follow while consequentialism is merely concerned with the outcome of the actions.  A deontologist would never condone lying while a consequentialist would allow it if lying caused no harm.  Pragmatic Ethics would consider lying to be okay if society allowed it while Virtue Ethics would consider it harmful because it runs contrary to a person’s innate goodness.  The Divine Command Theory says lying is wrong because God says so, while Natural Law says humans have the right to lie.  Righteous Moralism would allow lying if the home country allowed lying, Cultural Relativism, while maybe not condoning lying, would allow it if the host culture thought nothing of it.  Kantian Ethics would only allow lying if human rights were respected and the Friedman Doctrine wouldn’t care if one lied as long as it was legal and benefited the company.

The 10 Things You Need to Know About Religious and Ethical Systems

1.    Deontological Ethics is a philosophy based on what an individual has a duty to do.  They are not based on the results of the duties or rules, but rather on the rules themselves.  Individuals holding to a deontological ethical system would never break one of his/her rules in order to bring about a greater good (Alexander, 2007).  A business involved in deontological practices would adhere strictly to the letter of the law by doing exactly what it said, even if it resulted in negative consequences for the business and the employees.
2.    Consequentialism differs from deontology by focusing on the outcome of actions, rather than on any particular rule set.  A consequentialist does not worry about whether the actions themselves are particularly harmful, but rather what the result of those actions will be.  A business believing primarily in this theory would not have qualms about using child labor, unless using child labor effected the company more negatively than positively.    In other words, anything is permissible as long as it is beneficial.
3.    Society is held as the ultimate moral compass in Pragmatic Ethics.  Pragmatism is generally the philosophy of ethics to which science adheres.  Science recognizes that what is true and relevant today may cease to be true tomorrow.  Dissident is considered valuable, because it keeps society on a path towards greater truth.  In other words, if we have been properly taught by societal values, then we are moral people (LaFollette, 2000).  Judged by pragmatism, a slave trader would have been perfectly ethical to his time period, but unethical in a modern society which values humanity and freedom above station in life.
4.    Virtue Ethics is different from the other ethical systems in that they depend on the character of the individual for their basis of the “good”.  The morality of a person is based on their intrinsic function as humans or more on “being” than on “doing”.  A human attains values by being correctly taught and then continues being their moral selves.  According to Annas, a virtuous human would do “the right thing for the right reason without serious internal opposition, as a matter of character”.
5.    Divine Command Theory equates “good” with the adherence to that which a deity proscribes.  Some view this to mean an action is not good because there is intrinsic benefit to the action, but rather it is good because the deity has commanded it to be done.  Samuel Wheeler, however, supposes that because God’s intentions are good, He would not proscribe an action without it at first being a good action.  

6.    One of the most famous American proponents of natural rights or Natural Law was Thomas Jefferson.  He interpreted natural law to mean that human have intrinsic rights simply because we are human.  Because we have the ability to make moral judgments and discern between good and evil, we have rights that no human law system can ever take away.  The Declaration of Independence refers to a “separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them” and by merely being human, we have “certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Jefferson, 1776).
7.    Righteous Moralism subscribes to the belief that the standards of ethics from a corporation’s home country are the correct standards to follow in foreign countries.  For example, McGraw Hill’s International Business tells of an American accountant who went to Italy and found them under-reporting earnings.  He was upset, but came to discover that Italy compensates for under-reporting by assuming everyone is under-reporting.  Because the foreign national wanted to correctly report the earnings, he was costing the company more than what it actually should be paying in taxes.  As a result, we learn that not every situation can be given the same ethical treatment we would give it in our home country.
8.    Cultural or Ethical Relativism is the philosophy that all ethics are relative to the culture in which one finds oneself.   A business model applying ethical relativism would find it acceptable to bribe officials if that country which considered bribes acceptable.  A multinational corporation would hold different countries accountable for different things and would not look badly on a division which could justify their actions culturally.  Currently, however, this theory is not widely held by many corporations and is severely frowned upon due to its inability to hold up under closer scrutiny.
9.    Kantian Ethics holds that individual rights should be viewed as all important and not merely as road signs along the path. The ultimate goal of society should be to treat people with respect and dignity.  In a negative sense, it limits the behavior of an individual.  For example, if an individual’s primary goal is self-preservation, then sky-diving would appear to limit one’s actions (Johnson, 2010).
10.    In 1970, Milton Friedman wrote a paper outlining his belief that a business exists solely to maximize profits as long as it does it legally.  The Friedman Doctrine, as it has come to be known, does not advocate any action unless it is explicitly required to be done by law or unless it benefits the bottom line of a business.  For example, Friedman wouldn’t advocate Starbucks’ mission to be socially responsible by educating coffee laborers in foreign countries unless it increased their profits as well.  Participating in an activity merely because it is the right thing to do is not enough.

The Video Lounge

Joseph R. DesJardins believes that Ethics is an attempt to answer the question, “How should we live?”  Different philosophical approaches to this question answer the question in different ways.  If one decides to live life the way the culture wants, then the individual has to rationally decide whether the way the culture wants us to live is right or whether it is right because the culture wants us to live this way.  We shouldn’t just take any ethical system at face value, but should always be active in examining our own morality.

My Take

Instilling ethics in the workplace is such a tricky situation.  How one decides which philosophy to follow or which rules to put in place may be second guessed by everyone.  I truly believe each individual has the right and the responsibility to discover the truth for themselves and hold themselves accountable to a high ethical standard.  Many of the aforementioned philosophies depend on the culture around them to tell them how to live their lives.  The question then becomes, “Who exactly is the culture?”  We are our culture. Our core values must therefore be formed apart from our culture and based on solid and universal truths.    If we form our culture from our beliefs which are taken from our culture, then our moral foundation is very weak and liable to crack.  

References

Alexander, Larry and Michael Moore (2007, November 21). Deontological Ethics. Retrieved from http://Plato.Stanford.edu/entries/ethics-deontological/

Annas, Julia. (2002). Virtue Ethics.  Retrieved from http://www.u.Arizona.edu/~jannas/forth/coppvirtue.htm

DesJardins, Joseph R. (2011, June 15). What is Ethics?. Retrieved from http://youtu.be/3fMLIMaPw0I

Jefferson, Thomas. (1776, July 4). The Declaration of Independence. Retrieved from http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/

Johnson, Robert. (2010, Summer). Kant’s Moral Philosophy. Retrieved from http://Plato.Stanford.edu/cgi-bin/encyclopedia/archinfo.cgi?entry=Kant-moral

LaFollette, Hugh. (2000). Pragmatic Ethics in Blackwell Guide to Ethical Theory. Retrieved from http://www.hughlafollette.com/papers/pragmati.htm

Pragmatic ethics. (2012, January 10). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 16, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pragmatic_ethics&oldid=470584920

Wheeler, Samuel. (2002, January). A Defense of the Divine Command Theory.  Retrieved from http://www.philosophy.uconn.edu/department/wheeler/divine.pdf

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Contact Information

To contact the author of “The Top Ten Management Primer on Religious and Ethical Systems,” please email Christina Read at Christina.read@gmail.com.

About the Publisher  

David C. Wyld (dwyld.kwu@gmail.com) is the Robert Maurin Professor of Management at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. He is a management consultant, researcher/writer, and executive educator. His blog, Wyld About Management, can be viewed at http://wyldaboutmanagement.blogspot.com/. He also serves as the Director of the Reverse Auction Research Center (http://reverseauctionresearch.com/), a hub of research and news in the expanding world of competitive bidding. Dr. Wyld also maintains compilations of his student’s publications regarding:

• management concepts (http://toptenmanagement.blogspot.com/)
• book reviews (http://wyld-about-books.blogspot.com/) and
• international foods  (http://wyld-about-food.blogspot.com/)                                         

Introduction

Corruption conduct as defined by the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988 is unlawful activity done intentionally.  Corruption is also the act of people committing or engaging in corruption (whether they are a public official or not) that could or badly affect a person’s integrity by practicing several criminal actions willingly or unwillingly within an organization.  Several examples not limited to but include fraudulent dealings in the office such as policies and procedures not visibly available for employees to access.  Also employees developing close associations with outside sources to solicit monetary gifts, employee training is inadequate, and not to mention public officials wasted resources of public money.  All these conditions affect the world today in employment practices and require immediate attention since most public and private organizations are affected by this behavior.

The Idea in a Nutshell

The situations surrounding corruption happens worldwide and affects many different ethnic groups and businesses.  Corruption can take many forms and occurs almost undetected throughout the judicial system.  This behavior is practiced in many forms and people use it for all types of reasons whether it involves their job or the political structure.  The Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988 has been implemented to help protect the administrative operations and offices within organizations and guard them against fraud. This Act has the power to issue legal investigations into any reports of corruption whether it is acknowledge or suspected.  Basically, in today’s society this crime exists and several measures can be taken to lessen its consequence as it involves employment practices.

The 10 Things You Need to Know About Employment Practices/Corruption

1.    Bribery is accepting gifts from outside persons as a form of appreciation for recognition, gratitude, or favors.  This behavior is an unethical conduct that causes employees to seek a reward from people doing business with the organization.  These gratuities can be used as special treatment for employees who overlook policies and procedures within private companies, or public offices to help their external resources in illegal practices.   Eventually, the employee conducts this performance regularly with the person giving the gift naturally causing them to participate in activities willingly and unwillingly that questions their integrity.

2.    Embezzlement is also a corrupt practice within a company which involves pilfering of their assets swindled by employees.  These finances can be taken by people who are representing a public office intended for community purposes.  Although embezzlement is considered as thieving, it does not involve the public as a whole.   Many foreign countries experience the clash of this crime due to common practices internally among organizations.  Sometimes countries practice another form of embezzlement known as “straddling” which illustrates the power some business have and only allow family members and unmitigated communities to  become a component of them.  Since this act mainly consist of taking money and not personal possessions it would be hard for government officials in the judicial system to eradicate such a crime.

3.    Favoritism involves specifically choosing close relatives and associates for personal acknowledgment due to close affiliations.  Leaders who choose to exercise this treatment toward individuals they feel deserve special consideration is causing other co-workers to feel disregarded by management.  The executives tend to show preference to individuals of favor regardless of their abilities or position.  Many employees start to feel to feel left out and less favorable for their work.  According to others this behavior may be conceived as the administration basing work ethnic on personal likeness to certain people within the organization rather than noticeable abilities to do the job resulting in discriminative actions against management.

4.    Fraud is a deliberate act to con officials into performing fraudulent activities between members of politics and society in order to acquire undisclosed funds.  It is an act of manipulation to gain substance from the other individual.  Fraud covers a huge area of illegal acts to deceive and collect payment for misleading actions in government and state officials.  Fraud can also be described as gathering knowledge of information in exchange for favors.  Unfortunately, this is a crime that causes state and political agents to participate in other improper conduct such as illegal foreign trade and distortion.

5.    Extortion is threatening to impose bodily harm to an individual for money.  Most scandalous mobs use this form of blackmail to attain free money without earning it.  This form of extortion is practiced by criminals demanding money through the intentional actions of persecution, terrorising, and dangerous pursuits of violence.  State officials are also capable of imposing this corrupt act on businesses and communities.  Some private companies receive threats to persuade them to accept faulty dealings by becoming involved in money laundering.  Nevertheless, extortion causes people to perform dirty deeds as a way to receive money they did not earn honestly.       

6.    Nepotism is the act of choosing ones individual family members for a particular job.  These individuals must be close kin and a part of the immediate family.  Managers who are in high positions often try to appoint their close relatives to offices that may not be the appropriate occupation for them. However, since the manager is the leader that constitutes for work skills and experience.      

7.    Businesses can influence collaboration of these crimes by encouraging employees to tell if they suspect or discover any type of corruption within the company.  Managers should make their staff feel comfortable enough to disagree with authority and report an act of distrust being performed within the organization.  The supervisors must support employees and investigate any alleged discrepancies of illegal activity they feel inappropriate behavior in the department.

8.    The corporate overhead should consider appointing an ethnics officer in the company educated in ethnics laws and policies.  This officer would be better equipped to suggest different alternatives to handling issues with unprofessional conduct regardless to which area it involves.  Most employees feel contented while addressing problems regarding corrupt practices with an official who has knowledge and training with these types of work ethnic issues.     

9.    Managers can implement strategic goals and expectations on the performance of employees to reward them for their hard work individually.   Some workers who feel neglected and overlooked for pay raises or promotions will start to steal if necessary to compensate for the pay they deserve.  Personnel tend to create dishonest strategies to get the manager attention if their hard work is not noticed and rewarded according to personal tasks.  

10.    Although corruption is common in employment practices there are ways it can be exposed such as contacting state agencies.  The Project on Government Oversight Agency is available to take reports on any suspicious activities noted by employees.  The act of reporting corruption to external entities without the knowledge of internal management is known as whistle blowing.  Most employees fear this type of approach due to fear of revenge from upper superiors within the department or office.  So to eliminate being targeted by others with threats or intimidation tactics, a person must remain anonymous and provide only facts and documentation that relates to the incident to back up the allegations.

The Video Lounge

• The first video shows private citizens offering bribes to public employees to keep sewer contracts in Florida in exchange for gifts

• The second video is demonstrating a statistical fact of bribery among people in India which involves police, city officials, and society as a whole.

My Take

My take on corruption is that this crime continues to affect all aspects of employment practices.  There are different forms of illegal practices occurring in private businesses and companies.  Most illegal activities remain unreported for fear of harm allowing the perpetrators to continue this trend of destruction among honest working people.  If someone suspects this activity in their job management should be notified immediately to launch an investigation into the matter.

References

1. What is Corrupt Conduct? (January 31, 2012). Retrieved from http://www.icac.NSW.gov.au/.
2. Herald, Deccan. (February 12, 2012). Dealing With Favoritism at the Workplace. Retrieved from http://www.deccanherald.com/content/173905/dealing-favouritism-workplace.html
3. Bergen, Oslo. (December 2000). “Research on Corruption. A Policy Oriented Survey”. Chapter 2. Section2.3.page14. Accessed February 10, 2012
4. Ethnics Rules and conflicts of Interest. (February 2, 2012). Section 6.5.1.Acceptance of Gifts. Retrieved from. http://www.ictregulationtoolkit.org/en/Section.2049.html
5. Project on Government Oversight. Report Corruption. Retrieved from http://www.pogo.org/report-corruption/.

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Contact Information

To contact the author of “The Top Ten Management Primer on Employment Practices/Corruption,” please email Debra.tucker@selu.edu  and – if you wish – Debra.tucker85@yahoo.com.

About the Publisher  

David C. Wyld (dwyld.kwu@gmail.com) is the Robert Maurin Professor of Management at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. He is a management consultant, researcher/writer, and executive educator. His blog, Wyld About Management, can be viewed at http://wyldaboutmanagement.blogspot.com/. He also serves as the Director of the Reverse Auction Research Center (http://reverseauctionresearch.com/), a hub of research and news in the expanding world of competitive bidding. Dr. Wyld also maintains compilations of his student’s publications regarding:

• management concepts (http://toptenmanagement.blogspot.com/)
• book reviews (http://wyld-about-books.blogspot.com/) and
• international foods  (http://wyld-about-food.blogspot.com/)                                         

Introduction

Body languages are nonverbal cues which you give, whether to one person, to a group of people, and even when you think no one is watching.  Being mindful of the unspoken messages you may be sending can be just as important as what you are saying.  We should be sure to learn more about this subject as many situations in our lives can be affected.  I’m not just talking about our personal relationships, but professional relationships, too.  When you are interviewing trying to get a job, there are certain ways you can behave to help you in getting that job.   If you are presenting, you should learn the best behaviors to use in getting your message across.  Be sure, though, to pay attention to the group you speaking to and adjust your behaviors accordingly.   

The Idea in a Nutshell

Charles Darwin was the first to conduct a scientific study of nonverbal communication. His argument was that all mammals show their emotion on their faces.  The study on human emotions was done seventy years later.  Body movement analysis was later studied.  However, Anthropologist Ray Birdwhistell pioneered the original study of nonverbal communication—what he called ‘kinesics.’   (“Nonverbal Communication:  History”)

The 10 Things You Need to Know About What Your Body Language Says

1.    Body language speaks volumes when your mouth does not.  Author Ajit Kulkarni wrote an article for Hpathy Ezine (also known as Homeopathy) in May 2008 entitled “The Unspoken Language.”  In his article, he quoted Past Maclean who said, “Emotional feelings, instead of finding expression and discharge in the symbolic use of words and appropriate behavior must be conceived as being translated into a kind of “organ language” (“The Unspoken Language”).   

2.    Your posture, the way you sit, the way you stand, the way you walk, the way you move, all reveal to other people the way you view yourself.  Whether you are self confident or nervous, can be expressed with the way your body moves.  Being aware of your movements can express to others confidence when in fact you can be nervous (“The Unspoken Language”).

3.    The Power of Body Language by Joe Navarro.  When Joe Navarro was 23 years old and working as a police officer, he was approached by the FBI to work with them.  Not many people are approached by the FBI, but he was.  He accepted their offer and became one of the youngest agents to work for the FBI.  He was there for 25 years working as an agent and supervisor.  He trained agents and the intelligence community and has vast knowledge in reading body language.  He retired in 2003 and now dedicates his time to speaking and consulting with major corporations worldwide.  He is recognized as one of the world’s foremost authorities on reading non-verbal communications (“The Nonverbal Expert”).

     Here is a clip on Joe Navarro on body language.

4.      Other types of body language include hand signals.  For example, the American-style ‘OK’ sign made with your hand is actually a rude gesture in some cultures, notably Latin America, Germany and the Middle East.  In Arab countries the thumbs up gesture is considered rude (“Body Language in Different Cultures”).  Remember to take other cultures into consideration and learn about them if you are in a situation where you will be before a group from another country.

5.    When on a job interview, do not sit with your arms crossed in front of you.  It sends the signal that you are guarding yourself and not open.  Sitting with your hands on your lap and slightly leaning forward shows that you are interested.  This suggests that you are involved in the conversation and positive.

6.    Mimicking the person you are having a conversation with is also a means of unspoken language.  When that person leans forward, you can lean forward, too.  When that person leans back, you can lean back.  Take care though to not do this in a copycat manner, but in an engaging manner.  If you do it in a copycat manner, it could be perceived as insulting.

7.    The eyes also send many signals; including the eye brows.  We know that furrowing the eyebrows can mean that we don’t understand and need additional information.  A wink could mean, “I like you,” or as a signal that what you said was in jest, and it could also mean “I’ve got your back.”

8.    This brings us to eye contact.  Avoiding making eye contact could be interpreted as though you have something to hide.   In these types of situations, presenting before a group of people, making eye contact with individuals in the room can help win the trust of people to whom you are speaking and they feel acknowledged (“Learn Some Important Basics on Body Language”).

9.    Body language for men and women is viewed differently.   There was a case study involving business school students wherein a man and a woman were posing as venture capitalists and used the same body language during their presentation.  The students they presented to viewed them differently.  They viewed the woman as being less genuine, less humble, less kind, and more power hungry.   This is because our own culture views women differently.  We prefer women at behave in nurturing, warm ways as opposed to dominant ways.  So, if we want to be liked when presenting, we need to keep this in mind (“For Women Leaders, Body Language Matters”).  

10.    Of course, it’s not only in business where the unspoken language is important; in matters of love and relationships, being able to read someone’s body language is very important.  This is how we communicate an interest in each other.  This can also be how we express annoyance with our loved ones.  Today is Valentine’s Day.  Did you guys get a card for your sweethearts?  Just a piece of ‘nurturing’ advice, don’t ever let a Valentine’s Day pass without at the very least getting a card for the woman in your life.   Not acknowledging that she is important could get you some unspoken language of the unwanted kind.

My Take

    This is certainly a concept which should be taken seriously if we expect to advance in our careers, or in any other aspect of our lives.  This is very relevant in business today considering that many companies function on a global basis.  We need to learn about different cultures so as not to offend anyone we want to do business with.  If we are working in Human Resources, we need to have the skills needed to be able to read behaviors of the people we are interviewing.

References

Abedi, Abbas, “Learn Some Important Basics Of Body Language” 2/11/12

“Body Language in Different Cultures” 2/11/12

Cooper, Marianne, “For Women Leaders, Body Language Matters,” 11/15/10,

http://www.Stanford.edu/group/gender/cgi-bin/wordpressblog/2010/11/for-women-leaders-body-language-matters/

Kulkari, Ajit  “The Unspoken Language” 2/11/12  

papers/the-unspoken-language/>

Navarro, Joe, “The Nonverbal Expert” 2/11/12
“Nonverbal Communication:  History”, 2/11/12
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Contact Information

To contact the author of “The Top Ten Management Primer on What Your Body Language Says,” please email Gwyndolen Mendez at Gwyndolen.Mendez@selu.edu and gwynmendez@yahoo.com.

About the Publisher  

David C. Wyld (dwyld.kwu@gmail.com) is the Robert Maurin Professor of Management at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. He is a management consultant, researcher/writer, and executive educator. His blog, Wyld About Management, can be viewed at http://wyldaboutmanagement.blogspot.com/. He also serves as the Director of the Reverse Auction Research Center (http://reverseauctionresearch.com/), a hub of research and news in the expanding world of competitive bidding. Dr. Wyld also maintains compilations of his student’s publications regarding:

• management concepts (http://toptenmanagement.blogspot.com/)
• book reviews (http://wyld-about-books.blogspot.com/) and
• international foods  (http://wyld-about-food.blogspot.com/)                                         

Introduction

Values and Norms are the foundation on which you present yourself to the world.  Values and Norms can be based on a variety of things.  It can include things such as individual freedom all the way to topics such as love and marriage.  Values and Norms vary in a many different ways.  People base their values on where they are at the time.  Values and Norms can range from personal at home values to work values.  Furthermore, values differ across many cultures and countries.  Without values and norms there wouldn’t be a foundation to put yourself on to build who you are today.

The Idea in a Nutshell

Values and Norms are all about how and why people act.  They differ from place to place and person to person and all across cultures.  Without values and norms all people would act the same and do the same as the person besides them.  Values and Norms provide that variety to make each person and culture unique.  Values and Norms provide insight to many unique cultures.  They help people answer the main question—Why?

The 10 Things You Need to Know About Values and Norms

1.    Values and Norms date back to the first man and woman.  Values and Norms don’t have one specific place that they came from.  They developed as time passed on.  Many cultures have developed the unique values and norms that many people follow today.  Values and Norms are based on where you live and what you believe in.  In America, we base our values on freedom and the law.  Other societies base their values on a wide variety of things including Gods and other justice systems.  

2.    Norms are the social rules that govern people’s actions toward one another.  Furthermore, it’s the reason why people act the way they do towards their selves and others.  Norms tell us what is normal in a variety of situations.  It tells us what to wear, eat, think, and so on.  It provides the basis of what we consider normal in our everyday life.  

3.    Norms consists of two forms, which are Folkways and Mores.  Folkways consist of the routine conventions of everyday life.  Folkways have little moral significance.  They consist of things such as proper dress code, correct eating habits, and proper language.  A violation of these will not result in a serious punishment but still play a huge role in why we act they way we do.  Although folkways may not seem as important as other things they are still apart of who we are as an individual.   

4.    The other norm is Mores.  Mores are norms that are seen as central to how a society functions and how people socialize.  A violation of a more can bring great retribution.  Mores consists of things that involve theft, incest, cannibalism, and so on.  Mores will vary from culture to culture and in even some cultures mores have been enacted into law.   

5.    Values are abstract ideas about what a society believes to be good, right, and desirable.  People in a culture all value different things.  In America we value freedom.  In other cultures they may have a different value at the top of their list.  In all, values form the bedrock that each culture evolves around.

6.    Values differ from place to place also.  Values are very prominent in the household.  The head of the household lays down those values, usually consisting of quite of few.  The top family values are belonging, flexibility, respect, honesty, and forgiveness.  These values play an important role in having a harmonized household.  Many families will hold each other accountable to these values and help each other learn from these values.

7.    Also, values take place in the workplace.  These values define the workplace that you work in.  Many businesses set a list of values by which the workforce has to partake in and live by.  Most businesses have zero tolerance for breaking these values.  They believe that these values will bring great harmony between employees and create a positive work environment.  The top values in a workplace are strong work ethic, responsibility, positive attitude, and honesty.  

8.    Like said before, values and norms differ all across culture.  Different cultures will have different takes on what they value and what they consider normal.  This depends on a lot of different aspects such as their economy, government, and politics.  Even in some cultures their values and norms are decided for them.  In America, we decide on what we value and what we think of as normal.  Even though values and norms differ across cultures, it is something that we all can believe in.

9.    Knowing another cultures values and norms can give you a competitive advantage over other people.  It can give you the edge in doing business with foreign investors and companies.  Knowing what others believe in and what they consider normal is shown to be a great sign of respect.  In a lot of situations the person with cultural knowledge will be put ahead of everyone else and land the deal with the foreign investor.  It can also help you understand why another culture acts they way they do.  Having that competitive advantage helps you answer a lot of questions before partaking in foreign business.  It helps you prepare for any situation.

10.    Lastly, values and norms are what makes you, you.  Values and Norms give us that uniqueness that separates us from a lot of other people.  People place different values on things such as family, income, education, and personal appearance.  These vary from person to person depending on when and where you grew up and was raised.  Without the values and norms society would all act the same and there wouldn’t be any cultural diversity.  

The Video Lounge

This clip really does a great job showing what really goes on in the world today.  The world today values comedy and making fun of the social norm.   The video shows what society considers normal like opening the door for someone, and it also shows how society breaks those norms.  The video is definitely right on point on how society acts today and shows how violating a social norm is just as normal as following them.  

My Take

    The concept of values and norms still exist today, but society has made it very acceptable to stray from those values.  The world we live in today has made it very easy to get away from what we consider normal.  Managers today really have to make sure that employees will be loyal to them and their business.  Managers are having to ask employees real extensive question to make sure they are the right person for the job.   The word trust isn’t what it use to be.  Even though, there is a lot of corruption in the world now there are still people who hold their values to a high standard in their life and I really believe that.  In, all values and norms still take great precedent in many peoples life, but there is one thing we have to remember and that is that values differ from person to person and culture to culture.  So, before judging someone learn what their culture is and it will answer a lot of your questions.  

References

Kruger, S. (n.d.). Top 10 essential family values. Retrieved from http://www.zenfamilyhabits.net/2010/02/top-10-essential-family-values/

Loretto, P. (n.d.). The top 10 work values employers look for. Retrieved from http://internships.about.com/od/internshipsuccess/a/workvalues.htm

Sociology Guide. (2011). Social norms. Retrieved from http://www.sociologyguide.com/basic-concepts/Social-Norms.php

Uipurta. (2011, January 21). Meaning of values and norms in the community. Retrieved from http://family.wikinut.com/Meaning-of-Values-and-Norms-in-The-Community/p1a84h5w/

Marini, M. (n.d.). Social values and norms. Retrieved from http://edu.learnsoc.org/Chapters/4 key concepts in sociology/20 social values and norms.htm



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Contact Information

To contact the author of “The Top Ten Management Primer on Values and Norms,” please email Jordan Hymel at Jordan.Hymel@selu.edu.

About the Publisher  

David C. Wyld (dwyld.kwu@gmail.com) is the Robert Maurin Professor of Management at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. He is a management consultant, researcher/writer, and executive educator. His blog, Wyld About Management, can be viewed at http://wyldaboutmanagement.blogspot.com/. He also serves as the Director of the Reverse Auction Research Center (http://reverseauctionresearch.com/), a hub of research and news in the expanding world of competitive bidding. Dr. Wyld also maintains compilations of his student’s publications regarding:

• management concepts (http://toptenmanagement.blogspot.com/)
• book reviews (http://wyld-about-books.blogspot.com/) and
• international foods  (http://wyld-about-food.blogspot.com/)                                         

Introduction

Most western economists would agree that Buddhism and traditional economic objectives are polar opposites. Contrary to the western idea that maximum consumption defines an economy’s prosperity, Buddhist economics embraces the idea of achieving maximum satisfaction using a minimum of resources.

The Idea in a Nutshell

According to the theory of Buddhist economics, consumption is defined as the use of goods and services to fulfill a population’s pleasure. Instead of the west’s economic concept of Gross National Product, Buddhist economics focuses on Gross National Happiness as a means of measuring an economy’s affluence. Buddhist economics claims that the west’s ideas of prosperity are merged with greed and the concept of “self.” According to Buddhist beliefs, there is no such thing as “self”, all life (plants, animals, human beings, etc.) is connected as one.

The 10 Things You Need to Know About Buddhism and It’s Economic Implications

1.     Buddhism is a philosophy or “way of life,” founded by Siddhartha Gautama (known as “the enlightened one”) during the 6th century in India. The 4th largest religion in the world, Buddhism is found mainly in China, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia.

2.    Concepts such as reincarnation, karma, and yoga are associated with Buddhism. Buddhists believe in living a modest life that ultimately leads to Nirvana: the end of suffering through the elimination of craving and desire.

3.    Western economic ideals are based on the Protestant interpretation of success. They believe that more is more, wealth is happiness, and that there is no limit to success. Buddhist economics focuses on the principle of less is more.

4.    In order for growth and prosperity, Western economic achievement often comes at the expense of the environment. According to Buddhist economics, direct harm to the environment is thought as reckless and contradicts their belief that minimum consumption brings maximum prosperity and happiness.

5.    E.F. Schumacher was an economist in Britain who created a book using his collection of essays titled Small Is Beautiful: Economics As If People Mattered, published in 1973. In the book, Schumacher explains his belief that the western economy is unsustainable. Too many non-renewable resources are being consumed and nature will not resist pollution forever.

Cover via Amazon

6.    In his book, E.F. Schumacher challenges the modern economist’s claim that economics is a science. He argues that ethics must be taken into account when measuring a society’s success. He says, “The substance of man cannot be measured by Gross National Product.”

7.    Frank Dixon, a sustainability advisor, is a critic who challenges the modern idea of Gross National Product.  He says that because GNP only measures things such as production and spending, it fails to measure other things that contribute to a society’s well-being.  

8.    Frank Dixon believes we should be measuring a society’s parenting, volunteering, and happiness. He also believes that we should be measuring the destruction of our non-renewable natural assets (water, trees, oxygen) when determining our success. He says, “What doesn’t get measured, doesn’t get managed.” 

9.    Something to think about: “Fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas, take centuries to form naturally, and crude oil takes millions of years to form. These resources are not infinite and over time, most experts believe they will cease to exist.”    

10.    Buddhist economics challenges our society’s objectives in that it is essentially the opposite of our goals. Being that our country is based on the Protestant philosophy of wealth creation, Buddhist economic ideals would not satisfy what we define as economic success.

The Video Lounge

This is a video of the economist E. F. Schumacher explaining why he thinks Buddhist economics must be implemented in the west. He says that we need to focus on maximizing satisfaction not consumption, and reaching that satisfaction with the least possible consumption.  By highlighting the fact that we are burdened with clutter, Schumacher tells us how the western theory of economics sets us up to be in a “rat race” to maintain that clutter.

My Take

Through my research I’ve become very intrigued by this idea of Buddhist economics. Buddhists believe that unhappiness stems from cravings and desires to have materialistic things. By eliminating the cravings, happiness is then achieved. It makes sense, but the challenge is eliminating the cravings. It’s part of the American culture that success is to work extremely hard to accumulate wealth and therefore happiness.  I do agree with the fact that we have to take more care of our environment, not only for ourselves, but for our future generations. The above video of E.F. Schumacher voicing his concerns for our environment was filmed in 1977. 35 years later, global economic growth has soared. One has to wonder about the state of our environment compared to its state in 1977. Definitely something to think about.

References

Carty, Sue Lynn. (n.d.) Non-Renewable Resources. Retrieved from http://greenliving.lovetoknowcom/non_renewable_resources

Daniels, Peter. (March 2005). Economic Systems and the Buddhist World View: the 21st Century Nexus. Journal of Socio-Economics, Volume 34, Issue 2.  Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053535704000691

Dixon, Frank. (February 2004). Gross National Happiness: Improving Unsustainable Western Economic Systems. Retrieved from www.enlightennext.org/magazine/business/…/Dixon-happiness.doc

Dwyer, John. (n.d.). Protestant vs. Buddhist Economics. Retrieved from
http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma5/provsbudeco.html

Schumacher, E.F. (1973). Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered. London: Blond & Briggs Ltd.

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Contact Information

To contact the author of “The Top Ten Management Primer on Buddhism and its Economic Implications,” please email lauren.Hayes@selu.edu or laurenahc86@gmail.com.

About the Publisher  

David C. Wyld (dwyld.kwu@gmail.com) is the Robert Maurin Professor of Management at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. He is a management consultant, researcher/writer, and executive educator. His blog, Wyld About Management, can be viewed at http://wyldaboutmanagement.blogspot.com/. He also serves as the Director of the Reverse Auction Research Center (http://reverseauctionresearch.com/), a hub of research and news in the expanding world of competitive bidding. Dr. Wyld also maintains compilations of his student’s publications regarding:

• management concepts (http://toptenmanagement.blogspot.com/)
• book reviews (http://wyld-about-books.blogspot.com/) and
• international foods  (http://wyld-about-food.blogspot.com/)                                         

Our greatest glory is not in never failing, 

but in rising up every time we fail.

: o ) Ralph Waldo Emerson

First off it is hard to believe that the great voice of Whitney Houston is gone.  Such power in her voice to inspire, to life our spirits and enthrone us with love in our hears. She will be missed.  She is in the heavens now.  May her angelic voice sing.

Today is also Abraham Lincoln’s birthday.  A president who is found on our penny and on our Five dollar bill. So glad he was our president at that time in our history. So much could be so very different,  he over came so much hardship of his own to make a difference. This video link will attest.  Click here about the many failures of Lincoln.

Never gave up and he never gave in.  As a country we are better for it.

There will be many times in life that we fail.  A failure is nothing more than an education on how not to do that task.  We learn and we try again.   Thats how we should look at failure not at the mess it may have made but at the power we learn by cleaning it up.

The best people who we admire the most have failed. Some for a brief instant almost gave up, some were told to give up.  I have shared this video before but once again it feels right to do so again. Click here about famous failures who never gave in.

Amazing stories, but truth be told they fought through comments and what people said and kept moving forward because what they believed in. They believed in themselves.

Believe in yourself.

Believe in the power of a sincere smile.

Believe in the power of prayer, faith and hope.

Believe and succeed.  : ) Smiles to you this day and everyday.

(NEW) Weekly Affirmation for this week.

My foundations in built upon faith and love. Faith in my abilities and love for the self.  I am a product of perfection and created for giving.  I will not bow to others and words that tear down instead I will replace with words of love and smiles of courage and belief.   I will overcome all obstacles through education, through planning and through failure.   Yes failure happens but it is not what happens to us through failure it is what happens to our spirit when we overcome failure.  Every time I breathe I am successful and growing in life.  I am loved, I am grateful and I am designed to be successful in everything that I put my best efforts towards.  Today I begin and continue my dreams.

Enjoy your week, share a smile, share in some laughter and dream big and love always : ) Smiles to you this day and everyday

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On this day in history

1554 – A year after claiming the throne of England for nine days, Lady Jane Grey is beheaded for treason.

1593 – Japanese invasion of Korea: Approximately 3,000 Joseon defenders led by general Kwon Yul successfully repel more than 30,000 Japanese forces in the Siege of Haengju

1689 – The Convention Parliament declares that the flight to France in 1688 by James II, the last Roman Catholic British monarch, constitutes an abdication.

1733 – Englishman James Oglethorpe founds Georgia, the 13th colony of the Thirteen Colonies, and its first city at Savannah (known as Georgia Day).

1816 – The Teatro di San Carlo, the oldest working opera house in Europe, is destroyed by fire.

1818 – Bernardo O’Higgins formally approved the Chilean Declaration of Independence near Concepción, Chile.

1825 – The Creek cede the last of their lands in Georgia to the United States government by the Treaty of Indian Springs, and migrate west.

1855 – Michigan State University is established.

1894 – Anarchist Émile Henry hurls a bomb into Paris’s Cafe Terminus, killing one and wounding 20.

1909 – The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded.

1909 – New Zealand’s worst maritime disaster of the 20th century happens when the SS Penguin, an inter-island ferry, sinks and explodes at the entrance to Wellington Harbor.

1914 – In Washington, D.C., the first stone of the Lincoln Memorial is put into place.

1934 – The Austrian Civil War begins.

1935 – USS Macon, one of the two largest helium-filled airships ever created, crashes into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California and sinks.

1946 – World War II: Operation Deadlight ends after scuttling 121 of 154 captured U-boats.

1946 – African American United States Army veteran Isaac Woodard is severely beaten by a South Carolina police officer to the point where he loses his vision in both eyes. The incident later galvanizes the Civil Rights Movement and partially inspires Orson Welles’ film Touch of Evil.

1947 – A meteor creates an impact crater in Sikhote-Alin, in the Soviet Union.

1961 – U.S.S.R. launches Venera 1 towards Venus.

1974 – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1970, is exiled from the Soviet Union.

1990 – Carmen Lawrence becomes the first female Premier in Australian history when she becomes Premier of Western Australia.

1994 – Four men break into the National Gallery of Norway and steal Edward Munch’s iconic painting The Scream.

1999 – President Bill Clinton is acquitted by the United States Senate in his impeachment trial.

2001 – NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touchdown in the “saddle” region of 433 Eros becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.

2002 – The trial of former President of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milošević begins at the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague. He dies four years later before its conclusion.

2002 – An Iran Air Tours Tupolev Tu-154 crashes in the mountains outside Khorramabad, Iran while descending for a landing at Khorramabad Airport, killing 119.

2004 – The city of San Francisco, California begins issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in response to a directive from Mayor Gavin Newsom.

2009 – Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashes into a house in Clarence Center, New York while on approach to Buffalo-Niagara International Airport, killing all on board and one on the ground.

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My daily recipe for today.  Hope you enjoy : )  From allrecipes.com

Layered Chicken and Black Bean Enchilada Casserole

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Miserable Failure (Photo credit: dannysullivan)

failure. (Photo credit: Ludovico Sinz [Cane Rosso (busy!)])

Find – The resource to change failure to success. You might not have the skill or knowledge to adequately address the challenge you are addressing. Understand those factors that compose your problem. Know that the answer is out there waiting for you to obtain.

Another – You might be on the right path but wrong course to your goal and objective. Relook at your plan be it written or mental. There is usually more than one way to get from point A to point B.  Try not to limit your solution set be willing to take alternative methods into consideration.

Incentive – You have done a good job reward yourself. Realize the milestone on your way to the problem completion. Depending on how complex the problem it may be necessary to address the issue in smaller steps. Keep an incentive in mind after completion of each job or task.

Learn – This could be a motivation to obtain the accomplishment learn from your mistake. It might assist you when you faced with a similar problem. The only hard problem is the one you have not found the solution.

Utilize – Understand your abilities and skills utilize them to tackle those difficult challenges.

Renew – Your knowledge and continue your quest to understand how to resolve problem. Think outside the desired solution.

Evolve – It is a process like many things are. Be better and evolve into change and the development new skills.

Image by Danny Sullivan on Flickr via CrunchBase

You need a miracle.

Therefore, you must believe in miracles. This is the first rule you have to obey if you want to have the courage to go ahead and triumph. This is very difficult because you cannot believe in anything.

However, I can prove to the world that miracles happen because I found salvation from despair when I was totally lost, depressed, and always angry. I was saved by a miracle.

This is why I’m telling you that you must believe in miracles. Your faith won’t be based on your imagination.

The unconscious mind that produces your dreams is God’s mind. God exists, and He is as saintly and as wise as described by all religions. He helps us in all ways when we obey His guidance in the dream messages. Carl Jung discovered this truth, but he acted like a scientist, and not like a sinner. I, who was a terrible sinner, could easily understand that I was receiving divine grace without deserving it. Thus, I had a religious attitude.

This story looks like a fairy tale, but there is also a tragic part in it, which proves that it is not an invention. There is always something bad in our reality when we discover the truth. This is why we never doubt that there is something bad behind the scenes, or that something bad could happen in the future. However, we are always afraid to trust someone. We cannot believe that we will find something good in the dark future ahead.

The divine unconscious mind is very generous and sends us precious messages in dreams because we are basically demons. We need guidance in order to eliminate all the evilness, the absurdity, the indifference, and the cruelty we have inherited into the biggest part of our brain.

In other words, we are immensely helped in all ways when we learn the dream language and we understand the unconscious guidance in dreams. However, we receive this generous help because we are too far from balance and we cannot find peace without guidance. This is the tragic part of the story.

Dreams are mysterious because the unconscious mind must hide the information it sends to our conscience from our anti-conscience, which is the primitive side of our conscience that didn’t evolve like our human side. We have to study the dream language in order to understand the meaning of dreams.

The anti-conscience will be able to understand the meaning of our dreams when our human conscience will understand their meaning by studying the dream language. However, the anti-conscience won’t be able to distort the meaning of the dream messages because it will learn this meaning after our human conscience does.

On the other hand, the anti-conscience is idiotic. Its intelligence cannot be compared to the intelligence of our human conscience. Our conscience can study and learn many things, while the anti-conscience refuses studying and learning whatever. It is a self-destructive animal.

Therefore, the reason why our dreams are so confusing is the necessity to hide the unconscious messages from our anti-conscience, which would distort their meaning if it could learn it before our conscience would understand these messages and follow the unconscious guidance.

You only have to learn the dream logic and the meaning of the most important dream symbols in order to understand how the dream images are connected. The dream images follow the unconscious logic.

Thus, miracles can happen because God exists and He helps us in all ways by sending us precious guidance in dreams.

You will be immensely helped by following the unconscious guidance, and successfully solve all problems. This guarantee is given to you thanks to my work, after continuing Jung’s research, and discovering the unconscious sanctity.

The unconscious mind will show you how to achieve your goals by giving you many clues, like a good teacher. You have to participate of your psychotherapy and put all the clues together, making your conclusions.

In the end, you’ll become a doctor too. You’ll understand all the process of your psychotherapy and how someone can be cure through dream translation. The unconscious mind gives you many lessons and explanations in dreams.

The unconscious messages will help you believe in salvation because you will see how your problems can be solved. You will feel that you have the privilege to understand many things about yourself and about the world thanks to the unconscious guidance.

The second rule you must respect in order to have the courage to go ahead after facing failure is the fact that you have to accept failure as if it was not the end of the world. Of course, a failure is the end of the world for you. However, the truth is that the world will keep working even after your big failure. The sun will shine again. The birds will sing with all their energy, as if nothing bad had happened to you.

A failure is not the end of the world, even though it seems to be a tragic end. Each failure is another lesson and another step in your journey.

The third rule is related to the second one. You must always stand up after falling, and keep walking. If you’ll keep walking, someday you’ll arrive.

The unconscious mind will help you arrive faster, and without making useless attempts. You will be guided.

You will surely find the courage you need to go ahead and triumph thanks to dream translation. Now that I transformed Carl Jung’s complicated and time consuming method of dream interpretation into a fast method of instant translation, you are able to immediately understand the unconscious guidance, and immediately solve your problems.

Christina Sponias continued Carl Jung’s research into the human psyche, discovering the cure for all mental illnesses, and simplifying the scientific method of dream interpretation that teaches you how to accurately translate the meaning of your dreams, so that you can find health, wisdom and happiness.

Learn more at:

http://www.scientificdreaminterpretation.com

http://www.booksirecommend.com

Introduction

The political system of a country is the backbone of how its government is run and how laws and decisions are made. There are many different systems that may vary slightly or drastically from other systems. There are many reasons and ideas behind each and every political system and no two systems are exactly alike. The culture and religious background of a country usually has in impact on the political system that is in place.

The Idea in a Nutshell

To understand how a country runs and to understand their legal system, we must first understand their political system and the ideas behind it. Although there are many political systems out there, they can generally be broken down by two dimensions. A country’s system either emphasizes socialism or individualism, and the degree to which they are democratic or totalitarian. Although there are many variances and gray areas in between, these are the basics.

The 10 Things You Need to Know About Political Systems

1.    Individualism emphasizes individual freedom in their economy and political system. It concentrates on individual interests over the interest of some collective body. Societies of these countries are expected to look after their self and their immediate family. It concentrates on self-expression and the importance of individual freedom, contrary of collectivism.

2.    Collectivism stresses the idea of interdependence of its citizens. It is more concerned about the well being of a group as a whole rather than the well being of each individual. It is the exact opposite if the individualism system and is impossible to obtain in its purest form.  

3.     The simplest definition of socialism comes from Webster: “a system of society or group living in which there is no private property” or “a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state”. In countries like Vietnam, Cuba and China the government basically controls every move its citizens make. Many countries have attempted this political system only to find failure.  

4.    Karl Marx is the intellectual roots of socialism. Marx was a German-Jewish philosopher who believed that in a capitalized system, the worker’s wages weren’t being appropriately valued. He advocated that the government should own the businesses in order to correct this perceived wrong. This would allow the states to properly and fully compensate workers for their labor. State owned businesses would then benefit the whole society rather than individual capitalists.

5.    Socialists can be broken into two general groups, communists and social democrats. Communists aim to have a society with no classes and goods being community property instead of individually owned. They believe that socialism can only be reached by violent revolutionary means. Social democrats believe in a more peaceful transformation using totalitarian dictatorship to conform to socialism.

6.    Democracy is the political system in which the citizens vote either directly or indirectly for all decisions made. Because it is impractical for a country with tens or hundreds of millions to vote individual on each decision, representative democracy is in place instead. This is the practice of the citizens voting on an individual to represent them and to vote on the decisions instead. Democracy is steadily decreasing around the world.

7.    Totalitarianism is the exact opposite of a democratic system. It denies citizens to the right to have a voice or opinion on the decisions of the government. These countries have no free and fair elections, those who question the ability and choice of rulers are imprisoned (or worse), and the media is heavily censored and monitored. Today, totalitarianism, is broken into four major forms.    

8.    Theocratic totalitarianism occurs when religious beliefs monopolize the political beliefs. In other words, when a group, party, or individual governs based on religious beliefs. This occurs in places such as Iran and Saudi Arabia which are ran based on the Islamic principles.

9.    Tribal totalitarianism exists when one tribe (not always the majority tribe) monopolizes the rules and governing. This type of government has occurred in African countries such as Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Some of these systems still exist in Africa.

10.    Ring-wing totalitarianism restricts individual political freedom that could rise to communism, but allows some individual economic freedoms. These dictatorships are hostile towards socialist or communist ideas. Many of these governments may be run by military officers, because they are backed by the armed forces.

The Video Lounge

Link: http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000061731

This clip is an interview of Laza Kakic, an economist at the EIU. He explains how democracy in the world is on a steady decrease. Although it has varied in past years, it is now decreasing at a steady rate especially in Europe.

My Take

Looking at the different political systems makes me question what the United States considers themselves as. Although we are most like a democracy, we still have totalitarianism aspects at some levels of government. Also, after reviewing the video interview of Laza Kakic, I was frightened to realize that our world is slowly departing from democracy. As I found in my research, no one country can consider themselves to have any “pure” political system. Every country has aspects of multiple systems integrated into their own.

References

Individualism. (11 July 2009). Clearly Cultural. Retrieved from http://www.clearlycultural.com/Geert-Hofstede-cultural-dimensions/individualism/

Collectivism. (n.d.). In The Free Dictionary by Farlex. Retrieved from
http://encyclopedia.Farlex.com/collectivism

Totalitarianism. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved from:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/totalitarianism

Communism. (n.d.) Encyclopedia of Marxism. Retrieved from: http://www.Marxists.org/glossary/terms/c/o.htm

History of the modern world. (n.d.). Retrieved from:
http://www.bcc.cuny.edu/history/his10/course/topic8.htm

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Contact Information

To contact the author of “The Top Ten Management Primer on Political Systems,” please email Lauren Melancon at lauren.Melancon@selu.edu.

About the Publisher  

David C. Wyld (dwyld.kwu@gmail.com) is the Robert Maurin Professor of Management at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. He is a management consultant, researcher/writer, and executive educator. His blog, Wyld About Management, can be viewed at http://wyldaboutmanagement.blogspot.com/. He also serves as the Director of the Reverse Auction Research Center (http://reverseauctionresearch.com/), a hub of research and news in the expanding world of competitive bidding. Dr. Wyld also maintains compilations of his student’s publications regarding:
·      management concepts (http://toptenmanagement.blogspot.com/)
·      book reviews (http://wyld-about-books.blogspot.com/) and
·      international foods  (http://wyld-about-food.blogspot.com/)

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