"Managing Organizational Change"  a discussion by M.Azim Ulfati

• Describe a major organizational change you would like to see at your current place of work (or school) and the specific steps you would take to manage that change. Provide specific examples to support your response.

In the past few decades there has been lot of technological changes, growth, development, progress and achievments within technology system.

The recent changes and growth of technology has been remarkable success to the people of planet.

For instance, international telephone traffic has more than doubled, number of sophisticated computers and other electronics worldwide has doubled to use, using geographic system like GPS has increased, computing power of a single computer chip has increased, wireless technology has increased to the remote locations.

Many companies have been able to use technology towards dealing and monitoring with pollution and waste to keep the environment healthy and safe.

E-books and e-papers started to improve and make electronic media easier to read and to perhaps replace papers and books, which runs in the offices and libraries and occupies huge space.

Telecommuting and video conferencing has been very useful to the public people and businessmen and it has reduced transportation needs. It has prevented miles and miles of commuting all over the world and has saved tons of carbon dioxide and gallons of gas, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and nitrous oxide.

Today we see that telecommuting technology has inspired people to live farther apart and to do online shopping and online study through Internet from your personal computer. It has not only saved you time but also money.

Today technology is merely an element of development and a condition for the viability.

"Cultivating Organizational Culture" a discussion by M.Azim Ulfati

Determine ways your current (or future) employer could leverage organizational culture to improve productivity and employee satisfaction. Provide specific examples to support your response.

Businessmen use the newest technology system in their daily work for the progress, development and improvement of their business within their companies.

There are times and opportunities for companies which they are committed to growth and taking action to leverage within corporate culture for enhancement in the market and the upturn and growth of their market.

Few years ago, I was employed by a company in Afghanistan where there has been limited technology service for the lack of improvements and developments of information technology in that country and they were not able to perform their plans in the best possible way for the lack of an improved and developed technology but this has changed by passing time and efforts of the Afghan citizens and the help of international community and the USA. Within the past 11 years Afghanistan has developed and improved its technology sector.

Now 85% of Afghans have access to phone communication services and 50 % of the populations have access to new information technology system like computer, Internet and media all over Afghanistan.

Information bank presenting progress since 2006 and the banks have started e-banking system in the past few years and it is still in progress and improvement from Kabul to all other provinces of Afghanistan.

Afghanistan which is characterized by low literacy levels, poor infrastructure, and an unstable security environment, a multitude of mediums, from radio and television, to the more recent adoption of mobile (Voice/SMS/IVR) and Internet technology helps accelerate access to information for ordinary citizens and the companies who work for rebuilding of Afghanistan.

Communications in this country has grown considerably in the last decade, and has embarked on wireless companies, Internet, radio stations and television channels. The Afghan Ministry of Communication signed a $64.5 agreement in 2006 with China's ZTE on the establishment of a countrywide optical fiber cable network. The project was intended to improve telephone; Internet, television and radio broadcast services throughout the country.

This country was given legal control of the ".af" domain in 2003, and the Afghanistan Network Information Center (AFGNIC) was established to administer domain names. As of 2010, at least 46 Internet service provider (ISPs) in the country.

By having this developed technology not only the company in which I worked but also other companies can extend its strategic business plans for rebuilding and helping Afghanistan in a better way. This development and improvement of technology not only affects Afghan people in a positive way but it also leads the whole country to an economical prosperity.

"Organizational Design"a discussion by M.Azim Ulfati

Consider a company you have worked for in the past, evaluate its organizational design at your time of employment, and make at least three recommendations for improvement.
 

I used to work as an editor in chief of a publication called Payam-e Jawan in Afghanistan Youth Civil and Cultural Association prior moving to the United States of America.

One area of operations that Afghanistan Youth Civil and Cultural Association could have improved was having enough employees for marketing purposes in the bazaar. If the technology was available to have done marketing through Internet, it would have facilitated a lot of work and would have saved and managed time and money.

The second area of operation that Afghanistan Youth Civil and Cultural Association would have improved was to better help and serve customer ability in order to anticipate, manage and respond to changes to the market.

And the third thing that they needed to do was identifying business, document, analyze and measure the process for improvement.

"Managerial Decision Making” a discussion by M.Azim Ulfati

Discuss what management may have done differently (with a focus on the process of managerial decision making) to avoid the difficulties they encountered.

One of the companies that come in to my mind is A123 System, Inc.

This company used to develop and manufacture advanced lithium-ion (Lithium Iron Phosphate) batteries and its system for the purpose of transportation, electric grid and commercial markets. I guess it has had a lasting effect on the economy of the employees and whole country.

The company got US$249 million grant from the DoE for building battery production facilities. As of June 2012, $129M of the grant has been used to build the 550 MWh Livonia plant and the Romulus plant. Remaining untapped $120M grant's expiry date has been extended from end of 2012 to end of 2014. This company laid off more than hundred workers at the end of last year 2011. Recently this company filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11, Title 11, and United States Code.

It is put in auction now but the recent news, which I heard about this company that China government has given its approval to automotive technology giant Wanxiang’s plan to buy this company outright in a week or two.

I believe that there were lots of management difficulties within the process and as well as technical problems to have been avoided by the management team.

For instance it ran in to unspecified technical problems and some of the batteries produced for Fisker were found to be potentially unsafe because hose clamps in the batteries’ cooling systems weren’t aligned properly.

"Negotiating Effectively" a discussion of M.Azim Ulfati

• Create a strategy for negotiating with a counterpart from the country of your choosing. Provide specific examples to support your response

I would like to choose business strategies of Afghanistan with the biggest counterpart of Afghanistan, which is the United States of America.
When I look at the history of negotiations with the administrations, I find that the Barack Obama administration's policy on Afghanistan negotiations differs from that of its predecessor in that it is open to greater discussion of prospects and issues, and it senses that an effort at the proper time might have an effective and positive impact.
There are few points that are considered in negotiations between these two countries.
And they are the answers to these questions about negotiations in Afghanistan.
Should negotiations be undertaken, and if so, when? What should be the scope of the problems to be resolved? How should the process be started, maintained, and concluded? Also examined were the questions of who should lead and participate, and how these delicate relationships among parties should be addressed. In these negotiations are part of an overall U.S. strategy of stabilization for Afghanistan. Furthermore, U.S. leadership in the negotiation process is essential, with Pakistan and other regional neighbors as key participants.
It is not easy to anticipate whether these negotiations between Afghanistan and the United States of America will succeed and will deliver an outcome or not. If the situations remains uncertain, I guess there are ways forward. Negotiations provide a great opportunity to success and it needs to be part of an overall strategy that would lead Afghanistan to a safe, stable and secure Afghanistan. I tend to be a western thinker and with holding that, I will try my best and will be very mindful to indicate in action to the Afghanistan people that we are very respectful and know about the language, culture, traditions and religion of people in Afghanistan and the region so that we can help and achieve an outcome from our negotiations and performances.
The Afghanistan people are very sensitive to their religions, traditions, culture and the way of their behaviors.
We are not still 100 % sure if negotiations can succeed us but we try our best. I guess if we observe and have enough knowledge and know well about culture, traditions, religion of Afghanistan people and its neighbors like Pakistan and practice them to the right way and do not make lots of mistakes then for sure there is going to be success and peace in that country. We have the capacity to make a serious effort in this direction. There is a lot of chances for negotiations to happen and work.
As a western thinker, I guess all wars may end with political consequences. It will be for our interest (USA) to put an effort to shape those political outcomes including reducing forces and exit strategy. To do all this, we need a strong negotiations with Afghans and as well as Pakistan government who interferes in Afghanistan.

Developing and Leading Teams" discussion of M.Azim Ulfati

Communication is the most important key in a virtual team. Today many business, contracts, negotiations are done through remote face to face technology like Skype video calls, conferences for instance, employees are hired through exchanging of emails, telephone, all in a virtual environment.

In an organization it is important for the employers to hire people who are well acquainted with technology and can be a great virtual team member and it is important for the employees to use their technology skills for the best quality, improvement and success of work within related department.

Frequent communication is very critical for the success, managing and negotiating business globally with a global team.

If there is frequency communication, it helps and creates a sense of supportiveness, participation, openness, trust and assistance among group or virtual team.

Leaders need to be considerate with time and as well as cultural and religious differences. For example if one of the teams is working in Afghanistan or Saudia Arabia, we need to make sure to set our video conferences in a specific time and also respect their praying time.

A successful leader is the one who will be cautious and mindful of all those mentioned differences.

"Leadership Effectiveness"  a discussion by M.Azim Ulfati

• Determine which leadership style best describes the person you researched and how you could incorporate elements of that style into your current (or future) role at work.

The leader I selected is the founder and leader of SAIC. SAIC is a big International Corporation, which is dedicated to delivery of quality scientific and technical products and services contributing to the security and well being of community in the world.

This company had been successful by 35 years of Visionary leadership of it’s founder and leader, J. Robert Beyster, Ph.D., His commitment to employee ownership and his passion for entrepreneurship led him to establish the foundation for Enterprise Development and helps governments and private organization use entrepreneurial employee ownership as an effective social and economic strategy. He tried his best within the company to perpetually have superb customer service and employees having a real stake in their company, ethics, innovation, and technical competence. He started the company with a few dollars and a good idea in 1969 . Small offices, with rented desks and typewriters and people furiously started working nights and days in the sleepy village of LA Jolla, CA and eventually he increased the value of the company from few dollar to 11.1 billion USD. In some ways he mad the company to become a company of entrepreneurs. Not just one or two at the top but a company in which those who are motivated and capable can organize, manage, and assume the risks of different aspects of the company. In return the employees not only receive salary but they have the ownership of the company as well.

I would emulate his leadership and directions in order to approach to greatness, success, achievement and ownership within the company.

"Motivation, Stress, and Communication" a discussion paper by M.Azim Ulfati

Introduction

First of all I would like to define that a job description is a written statement of what the staff or employee actually works, how does he/she do it, and what the job’s working situations are. Many job descriptions consists of the following sections:

  1. Job Identification

  2. Job summary

  3. Responsibilities and duties

  4. Relationship

  5. Standards of Performance

Described will be ways that goal setting could be used to motivate performance after filling a position. In the paper analyzed will be the reactions to situations and discussed will be the steps that can be taken to manage the stress associated with the new position. Presented will be how to address nonverbal and cultural barriers to communication. The company researched will be a linguistics Company which is  global professional human-capital solutions services provider to government and corporate clients.

The company is leading provider of linguists, cultural advisers, intelligence, training and technical supporters with thousands of personnel in 13 countries across the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe.

Discuss ways that goal setting could be used to motivate your performance after you fill the position.

I would like to define goal before I discuss the ways that goal setting could be used to motivate my performance after I fill the linguistic position. ("Office of research,”)

Goals are the output, conclusions, or results that a person intends to get in a specified period of time. Goals usually need to be put in line step by step in order to be successfully achievable to an individual. If the goals are not set well step-by-step, it consequently leads to failure. It is better for the goal setter to read, review and think about improvement and better ways of achieving and accomplishing those goals in order to be able to fulfill it effectively and successfully. I will try my best to be on top of things and remove barriers that I may face a head of my job. I will start to make decisions and plan actions and will have a positive attitude towards my goals.

I will divide my time to various parts or sections of life, such as career, personal development, family, friends, finances, health and wellness, leisure time, physical environment, and spirituality. Goals can also span a variety of time periods. Some goals can be long-term: 3 to 5 or more years. Others are midterm: 1 to 3 years. Still others are more immediate and short-term: 1 to 12 months.

I will create goals to provide me structure and purpose for my personal college (academic) and professional activities.

I will put in writing all my tasks and duties based on a series of steps before taking any actions and will review it and make sure that I can do it if I go through series of steps if not I will fail. In this case I need motivation therefore I need to motivate myself through one type of motivation within myself and that can be my belief system and that belief system must be motivated by myself in order to move myself toward the goal which I already set.

In order to get to my goals, I need to have a specific, attainable, tangible, measurable and realistic goal. As I said it can be done through developing my plans through the rewards, which I may get every three months or every six months. Sometimes I know it can be hard for me to bring changes in my behavior from USA life to Afghan life but it can be done only if I have a clear and positive attitude towards my goals, which I set the very first time.

When I will work on my goals, I will put in the best effort and work harder. ("Managing your emotions,”)

I regularly set goals and objectives to achieve my vision for my life.

I use happy reward time (and consequences) to keep myself concentrated. For instance, if I complete my report on time, I will take a coffee break.

I will believe that if I work good and hard and apply my abilities and talents, I will be successful

I worry about deadlines and getting things done, which causes stress and anxiety.

When an unexpected event threatens or jeopardizes my goal, I can tend to walk away, set a different goal, and move in a new direction.

I tend to do the minimum amount of work necessary to keep my boss and my team satisfied.

The last thing I will focus and concentrate in my surroundings to the people and resources that are available and remind myself of my goals to help my internal motivation. These can be all external factors that aid me to motivate myself from the outside.

. I will also try to do the following:

Look for teamwork opportunities. Working in a team makes me accountable to others.

Ask my boss for specific targets and objectives to help me measure my success..

Set up some goals that I can easily achieve. Quick wins are great for getting me motivated.

Buddy up with people whom I trust to be supportive, and ask them to help keep me accountable.

Try not to work by myself too much. Balance the amount of time I work from home with time spent working with others.

When I start my self-motivation program, I may tend to rely heavily on

All of the above mentioned external factors will help me a lot and as I get more comfortable and confident with my self-motivation, I'll probably use them only as needed, and for a little extra help.

If I had set and use effective goal setting strategies, I may experience less stress or may be no stress and anxiety and will perform, concentrate better and will be very happy and satisfied in my daily lives.

To achieve more, I need to increase the factors of motivations.

Analyze your own reactions to stressful situations and discuss the steps you could take to manage the stress associated with your new position.

If I am faced with a stressful situation at my new job, I will react and would take the following steps to be able to manage the stress associated with my new position.

The first thing I would do to make sure to make a new schedule and time table in order to manage my one year or two years contract of the company the new position. And there are a variety of steps I can take to manage both my overall stress levels and the stress I find associated with my new job. These include the following.

I need to take responsibility for betterment of my physical and emotional well being.

I need to Avoid pitfalls by recognizing knee jerk habits and negative behaviors that add to the stress at work.

I need to Learn better communication skills in order to ease and improve relation with colleagues and friends. (Don & John W, 2012)

I would have to identify warning signs of stress at work

If I find out that I feel overwhelmed at work, I may lose confidence and may become irritable or withdrawn. This can make me reduce productivity and effectiveness in my job, and make the work seem less rewarding. If I reject the warning signs of work stress, they can lead to major difficulties and challenges. Beyond interfering with job performance and satisfaction, chronic or intense stress can also lead to physical and emotional health problems.

I would have to manage job stress by not neglecting about my self

As soon as I find out that stress is interfering at work with my abilities to do in my task and work and well manage my personal life then I decide and take actions. I will focus and won’t neglect to my physical and emotional health. Once I found out that I am good and well taken care of then I will be better and ready to manage stress and fight with it and will not be overwhelmed.

Taking care of my self-taking steps toward a positive lifestyle will reduce stress level both at work and at home.

I will start moving to do some great and regular exercise that can relieve my stress and I will do that one as the last thing in my schedule.

I will try to get enough sleep

Stress and worry usually causes insomnia and not having enough sleep causes problems, harms and stress. I would try to rest good and improve the quality of my sleep by managing and keeping a good time table. I will try to sleep about 8 hours a night.

Manage and reduce job stress by prioritizing and organizing

I guess workplace stress may threaten and overwhelm me then I will take the following steps in order to reduce job stress by prioritizing and organizing my responsibilities as the following.

I will manage my time.

I will create a good balanced schedule. I will think and set my schedule, daily responsibilities, tasks and will balance my schedule between work and family life, social activities, responsibilities and downtime.

I won’t over-commit myself.

I will prevent from the crowd and lots of loads all in one day work in my schedule. I will estimate or make sure how long do I need for doing each task. I will focus and do those task that are most important than the ones that are least important and will rethink if things or tasks that are not important at all I will remove or eliminate them from my schedule.

I will try to leave early in the morning or evening based on the shift of my job. I would always leave home 10-15 minutes early in case if I would stuck in the rush hour. I would make sure to have enough time to ease in to my day and won’t add any stress on my by running late.

I will decide and plan to have regular breaks, like 5 to 10 minutes after every 3 hours. I will plan time for lunch break and would step a way, relax and recharge my self by having good food and drinks.

I will manage my task and will prioritize tasks, break projects into small steps, delegate responsibility, be willing to compromise.

I will manage and reduce job stress by improving emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence is the ability to manage and use your emotions in positive and constructive ways. When it comes to satisfaction and success at work, emotional intelligence matters just as much as intellectual ability.

 I will communicate with others in the ways that draw people to me, overcome differences, repair wounded feelings, and defuse tensions and stress.

I will consider the following emotional intelligence in the workplace:

Self-awareness 

Self-management 

Social awareness 

Relationship management (A Trusted None Profit Resource)

I will manage and reduce job stress by breaking bad habits 

Based on the experience which I gain from every day work life, I would learn to manage stress and improve my work relationships, I will control my abilities and deeply think to do good and break the bad habits which are not acceptable in work place and environment and will change negative thinking to positive thinking.

I will take time away. When stress is mounting at work, I will try to take a quick break and move away from the stressful situation. I will take a stroll outside the workplace if possible, or spend a few minutes meditating in the break room. Physical movement or finding a quiet place to regain my balance can quickly reduce stress.

I will talk it over with someone. In some situations, simply sharing my thoughts and feelings with someone I trust that can help reduces stress. Talking over a problem with someone who is both supportive and empathetic can be a great way to let off steam and relieve stress.

I will connect with others at work. I will develop friendships with some of my co-workers who can help buffer me from the negative effects of stress. Remember to listen to them and offer support when they are in need as well.

I will look for humor in the situation when used appropriately, humor is a better way to relieve stress at work. When I or those around me  begin getting things too seriously, find a way to lighten the mood by sharing a joke or funny story.

I will improve communication

Share information with employees to reduce uncertainty about their jobs and futures.

Clearly define employees’ roles and responsibilities.

Make communication friendly and efficient, not mean-spirited or petty.

I will cultivate a friendly social climate to provide opportunities for social interaction among employees set a zero-tolerance policy for harassment. (A Trusted None Profit Resource)

Imagining yourself in the position you have described, discuss how you would address nonverbal and cultural barriers to communication.

For instance, If I filled a linguistic position and deployed to Afghanistan, I would say that I can help a lot to the people of Afghanistan, USA and international community with my linguistic skills and the rich cultural knowledge that I have about Afghanistan. I have seen a lot of problems in Afghanistan mostly resulting from the inability of people in today’s working environment to penetrate barriers.  If I use my linguistic skills and well communicate and interpret on my part that can reduce cultural barriers. As we all know that communication is like a linking function (bridge) between one, two or more people. People can talk and do all businesses through this link path with feelings, ideas, thoughts, values, facts, sympathy,  and so on.

As we all know cultural differences can cause lots of problems in a society if it is not well respected and practiced.  If a person does not know the language of a country, it can be extremely difficult for he/she to communicate with different culture through gestures, hand signals and so on. The other thing for instance religious issues in a society is very sensitive and that can be a barrier, if it is not well respected.

Conclusions

Goal setting is so much important in a job. Goals usually require to be put in line step by step in order to be successfully achievable to an individual. If the goals are not set well step-by-step, it consequently leads to failure. It is better for the goal setter to read, review and think about improvement and better ways of achieving and accomplishing those goals in order to be able to fulfill it effectively and successfully.

And there are a variety of steps that can be taken to manage overall stress levels and the stress, which can be associated with the new job. If the steps are well taken then the stress won’t affect lives.

There are many challenges and problems that we face in our environment due to the inability of people in the work environment that has been caused by the cultural barriers.

It is important to manage our communication and cultural awareness and remove the barriers and work in an environment with less stress or no stress.

Communication functions as a bridge that links people to people/person to persons or person. Thus if all the above-mentioned subjects are well taken care of, there is going to be less stress or no stress and not cultural barriers.

References

(n.d.). Office or research and assessment, syracus university. Defining Goals and Objectives, Retrieved from https://oira.syr.edu/Assessment/AssessPP/Define.htm

(n.d.). Managing your emotions at work. Controlling Your Feelings.. Before They Control You, Retrieved from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCDV_41.htm

A Trusted None Profit Resource, H. (n.d.). Stress at work. TIPS TO REDUCE AND MANAGE JOB AND WORKPLACE STRESS, Retrieved from http://www.helpguide.org/mental/work_stress_management.htm

Don, H., & John W, S. (2012). Organizational behavior. Interpersonal Communication in Organization,

"Leadership Assessment"a discussion by M.Azim Ulfati

• "Assess your own leadership potential using one of the models of leaderships and discuss the steps you could take to become a truly exceptional leader".

I believe that there are many factors and things that make me a great leader either at home, at work or being in-group of friends, best friends and relatives.

I always try to be an example for others to follow me. I always keep a positive attitude based on the situation. In worst-case situations or scenarios, if I get angry then I don’t really talk that much with people around me but try to find the solution ways. My anger and rage is quietness. I am very passionate about the things I plan in my daily life either at work or at home and that is how my team and the ones who are around me will become passionate. I strive for a better future every day and night and am enthusiastic and optimistic and that is how the people around me pick up the same attitude.

I am always honest, accountable, respectful, polite and modest person and assure my self to be that way and think to more effective with strong character traits.

I take a pride and hope for the best at work or at home and pay attention to macro management and micro management some times to have a high standard of excellence.

When I am at home, I try to be best friend with my brother, father, mother, sisters, girlfriend but when I am at work I try to be friendly with employees but not their best friend. I don’t want rumors of favoritism to happen around at my work for being best friend to employees and the friendship which I will keep with them will be very quite. I try to be very sensitive with being friend and best friend. If a leader should not keep the balance between these two, I guess he/she loses respect. I have taken risks in my life to be an exceptional leader and taking necessary changes I have changed the situation to a better one either at work or at home.

I have always taken the opinions of others in doing a business and have asked for suggestions and comments and have been able to take criticisms for improvement and betterment of daily work and life. When faced with criticism I have tried to hold my emotions and stay cool and have listened and analyzed the criticism and I have imaginary put my self in other shoes and later on I have decided for a positive and rational change.

I have never tried to lose temper, be late at work or any appointments and I have tried to leave late when going home regularly and also try not to gossip, be goofy or joke around too much because doing these lose moral, respect, dignity and credibility of a leader.

When I am at work I try to act very professionally and take break when needed because I don’t want to mix out side business with my professional work and when I am tired, I don’t want to feel stressed or overwhelmed and do take a break in that case. I try not to be frustrated with stress and challenges that I face but I try to be emotionally stable and fight with it.

I never talk negative about people around me at home, friends, colleagues or customers and try to be a leader both at work and outside of the work place

"Leadership Model" a discussion by M.Azim Ulfati

•  "Please develop a short ideal leadership profile for the industry you select and determine which leadership model best suits that specific industry. Provide an example to it".

I would like to choose the military industry and also like to talk about one of the most legendary military commander, Alexander the great who was born into an era of pretty tyrants and brutality. Alexander the Great used the exceptional education he received – from, among others, Aristole – and used it to marshal his forces in nearly impossible battles.

Alexander the great was using from the various leadership style and that included visionary leadership style. He knew that visionary leadership is an effective leadership style because it is possible to communicate with people a sense of common goal and resonate with the hearts and emotions of people.

I guess the visionary leadership style that he chose it was well suited to the military industry of that era. As a leader he was able to tap into the wishes and dreams of people and subordinates and create destination that not only inspires but also challenges them to be better and find their place in furthering the vision. He was creating an environment where he did not have to be there but his people were free to innovate, challenge, experiment, take calculated risks and empowered to act. The visionary leadership was not working well in all situations and he was also using other styles of leadership. He was moving from one style to other one that would allow him to be the great leader.

Therefore I would say that Alexander the great was not only a transformational leader but also he had a Theory Y Style of leadership. He was listening to his subordinates during the battle or before the battle.

"Workplace Stress and Aggression” a discussion by M.Azim Ulfati

The stressors employees might experience as a result of the under- performing economy and current retraction of business, and  how almost any leader or manager could help 

mitigate those stressors. 

 

 There are many factors and causes that lead people to stress

Stress is the feeling of a person’s body in a way that reacts to any kinds of demands. There are many causes that affect a person’s body, it can be good or bad experience and there are many different types of stress that human face at home in the workplace or environment and I would like to discuss about them a bit.

There are several things that can cause stress and some lead to conflicts for instance physical cause, I would say that fear of some thing dangerous or emotional like worry about family or work.

When a person faces with stress, it is very important to find out the cause of the stress first in order to find ways to deal with it. There can be so many sources for these stresses and I would like to mention few of them here.

Survival Stress– This one can be used when a person feel or face with a danger of human or animal. As soon as a person scares of some thing and feel that he is threaten to death or physically he will be killed or hurt by an external factor, then the body naturally reacts to the threat or danger with the abilities that have in his body in order to survive. The body fights or finds a solutions way to get rid of that threat or danger. This can be called survival stress.

Environmental Stress– This stress causes from the environmental phenomena that happens around us, like noise, bullying, long distance commute in heavy traffic, crowding, no work, work and family pressure.

Fatigue and Overwork- Fatigue and overwork is caused by long hours of work, work load, downsizing, career developing, transferring, failure to promote or advance to higher position at work or home and as well as not knowing how to well manage time and keep enough time for rest, relaxation and other hobbies.

Relationship stress

Bouts of relationship and family stress are almost inevitable. Financial concerns, work pressures, time pressures, and housework and sex life cause relationship stress.  Stresses from outside the home can impact on relationships inside of it.

 It is important for every one to understand and to well fight with stress otherwise it would affect both body and mind.

If a person is affected by stress then he/she gets tired, sick, lose life and unable to focus and think logically and clearly and some times it may lead you to suffer mental breakdowns.

There are many ways to reduce, prevent and cope with stress. It may be difficult and impossible to stop relationship stress, fatigue and work stress, environmental and survival stress but there is nothing to be impossible. If you think deeply you have more control than you think and you are in control of your life. All you need is to take charge of your thoughts, emotions, schedule and the way you deal with problems. Identify the cause and sources of stress first; look at your habits, attitudes and excuses. Learn how to say no in certain situations, avoid people who stress you out, take control of your environment, avoid hot button topics, pare down your to do list, don’t keep your feelings, express them, be willing to compromise, be very assertive, manage your time, look at the big picture, focus on the positive points, share your feelings, learn to forgive, don’t try to control things that are not controllable. Spend your time with friends, call them and go for a walk, listen to music, watch songs, movies, tv shows, comedy, help others who need help. There are many more ways to manage and reduce stress.

I would like to say the story of a friend of mine who used to be in a relationship for like a year and was severely suffering from the relationship stress.

I had an old colleague who met a girl one day in a bar and started dating with her for a while. The girl used to be a student at one of the colleges in the USA and the boy used to work in construction projects and some times used to work in restaurants. The girl was a Jew and the boy was Muslim. These two got acquainted with each other within few weeks and they were very happy for few months. The girl fell in love and started to love the boy. The boy was laid off from work after few months of dating and he faced with financial problems. The boy looked to find a job within that state for few months but could not find any jobs and finally he decided to join the US Army. He spoke with his girlfriend that he would join the US Army due to financial problems, he joined the US Army and he had to go through trainings to be a solider and was a way from home and girlfriend for a while but the girl thought that the boy lies and he wants to break up. A gap of distrust created here. She told her boyfriend that she is pregnant. The boy was facing on one hand with financial problem and on the other hand when he heard that his girlfriend is pregnant. He passed out.

My colleague trusted me so much and I was the only one that he used to disclose his relationship stories with. He called me and told me the entire story so just in case if any thing would happen to him I should be a ware of to tell his family.

 He told me that he does not like the girl and is not interested and he is too young to have a baby and on the other hand he told me that his girlfriend is not Muslim and he had never thought about this when he started dating. He said that now if my family finds out my parents will never agree with this and would kick me out forever from the family and would never let me to see them and be part of that family. He said that he would be embarrassed among all of his Muslim brothers and sisters, relatives and friends for having a baby from none Muslim girl.

Any way the boy was not happy with the baby and his girl friend and he was asking his girlfriend for abortion but the girl was asking money for abortion. He got loans from friends and sent to the girl to get rid of the baby but the girl was saying lies to the boy. She told that she did abortion but it may be infected because she does not have money to get medicine. After a month she calls her boy friend and says that the abortion did not work because it was infected for the lack of medicine. The boy started suffering all day and was not able to do his training. He was kicked out from the training and I think that he found a kind of mental problem within few months of suffering this relationship.

The girl was never a pregnant. She was trying to have the boy back with her because she was madly in love with him. The girl was never able to have the boy back and she lied and told her boy friend that she was attacked by him and she would go to the police and will report it as sexual harassment.

This boy was never interested to go and see her for like 11 months but he was suffering from this stress each and every minute. This relationship had a very bad impact in whole his life that he he was not able to eat enough food and he hated females and never tried to associate with females. He was getting weak and weaker every day. He disconnected his phone; changed email and mailing addresses and traveled a way to another state and wanted to escape but never had the chance to do so.

He faced with mental problem and after 11 months the girl mails a letter in the old mailing address and the boy receives it through forwarding mails system and reads the mail that her girlfriend has stated in a letter that I am so sorry, I have given you hard time. I hope you forgive me. I love you and I want you. I am yours and want to be yours until the last breath of life. Please come back to me and I am so sorry that I lied to you. I lied to you to have you in my life and I want you to forget what ever I have told you. I want to convert to Islam because I love you and I want you to teach me about your religion and culture but the boy already was suffering from the stress of this relationship and was not mentally feeling good.

He rejected the girl and asked her not to contact or mail her some thing other wise she would face with serious court issues.  The boy traveled back to his country and married a beautiful girl whom he loves now and they both live happily.

Any way it is so important for the, head of the families and managers not to neglect but to save lives and find the causes of stress and problems of one employee who faces with problems in his/her life and try their best to mitigate, reduce and manage stress through control and management of stress by the related departments.

"Goal Setting and Reward Programs” a discussion of M.Azim Ulfati

Talk about a rewards program you believe would be especially effective at your current (or future) place of work. Provide evidence that supports that your program would likely be effective (successful). 

 There are many types of reward programs that companies use in order to motivate employees. How ever motivating employees is not easy like paying the staff more. Contributing factors that motivate people can be happiness, career aspirations, money, stress, and challenges. We can find an optimal level of arousal that can be key to motivate people and those are through employee recognition, dialogue with employees, good relationship with employees and supervisor, Paid time off (PTO), insurance and so on.

It is so much important to value more incentive, reward and recognition programs than the past. Careful design must make allowance for the many different ways in which workers are motivated.

There are contingent rewards that the employers should use in regards to performance goals rather than accomplishing or solving few problems. Rewards should be given based on the types of worker or employee and their scope of duty. 

I started working with an international company few years ago. Things that I liked and motivated me to work hard to the best of my knowledge were the great reward programs that the company provided to me and all other employees.

One of their reward program was paid time off. I had 25 days paid time off within one year and I was able to divide that and use it in every season (every three months) or every six months. I had also another reward program for the birth of a baby where I could take 7 days paid time off, if my wife was giving birth. We also had employee recognition reward, which was done by our retention department. The company was giving either money or paid time off plus a great certificate for the best employee of the month.

Furthermore every employee who was working at least six months successfully with the company, the employee was eligible to receive two thousand US Dollar reward to use it only for the purpose of plane tickets on PTO. The company had a great insurance package program, which included dental, health, vision and supplemental Aflac insurances not only for the employee but also for the wife and young kids of the employees. Besides insurance we had retirement plan where the company helped us with that one in every paycheck we received.

All the above-mentioned reward programs attracted me to work for the interest of the company. I think if companies continue to do like this, they can increase the flexibility, improve recruitment and retention, reduce labor cost and turnover and they can make huge profits in all other aspects of company where employees would work honestly and lead the company to success and competition in the world market.

"Motivating Employees” a discussion of M.Azim Ulfati

 Determine how you could best motivate employees (or students) in an environment that suffers from economic distress. Provide specific examples leveraging the concepts and the expected resultant benefits to support your response.

There are many ways to motivate employees, as we all know all human are different from the perspective of likes, dislikes, pros and cons and there can be many factors that can contribute to their level of job or education. It can be satisfaction, happiness, career aspiration, challenges, money and stress. An employee of a company who suffers from economic stress, it is possible to motivate him/her through employee coaching, incentive money, healthy relationship with bosses and co-workers, rising of his/her wage, stress management and a great leadership roles based on the situation of the person.

I guess all of the above subjects play its own role based on the situation or mode of a person in his/her life.

For example, I had a friend who was married with two kids. For the first time when he moved to the USA, he had lots of problems, he got his Green Card and he started working in a restaurant. He was not able to pay all his bills, feed and well take care of his family to the best possible way. He was suffering due to economical distress. He needed lots of help in order to support his family and he came to me one day to help and find him a better job. I advised and encouraged him to deploy overseas and get a job as a linguist and use his linguistic skills in order to get rid of this economical stress. He was not interested to deploy overseas but when I told him about the great incentive money or bonuses he decided to make a decision and deploy overseas. I referred him to one of the recruiters to process his paper work and give him a job. Any way, he got a job. He was very happy and excited to get the first bonus within the few month of deployment and later on he started to get incentive money after every six months. He worked hard and did an excellent job to get the bonuses. After working for a while he forgot economical stress, he became rich and he faced with family relationship stress for being a way from his wife and kids and at the same time he faced with stress due to hazard, and hardship at the front line of war and he suffered a lot. The company started to give advise and support his family in the USA to keep their relationship healthy and at the same time he had to go to some stress control and anger management classes but that did not help

The company finally was not also be able to keep the relationship of this person healthy with his family in a good way and then this guy had to quit his job and return back to family to rebuild his relationship with his family. Thus there are many factors that can motivate human and affect once life.

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Written by M.Azim Ulfati

Introduction

In this paper I will write a six to eight (6-8) page paper in which I will argue for the use of Consensual Relationship Agreements (CRAs) in a current (or future) workplace. I will then create a counter argument against the use of CRAs in a current (or future) workplace.

I will discuss the ethical principles involved in the use of CRAs and will ultimately create at least one (1) other option besides CRAs that would address workplace romances.

From the case study I will also focus on none ethical ramification of questions 1 and 2.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are to analyze the relationship between the basic organizational behavior models of individual, group, and organizational processes and the productivity of an organization. Examine how ethical decisions are made within organizations. Explore how individual differences, personality traits, and perspectives impact the productivity of an organization.

1.          Argue for the use of Consensual Relationship Agreements (CRAs) in your current (or future) workplace.

I believe that the main goal from the case study of organizational behavior is to understand the consensual relationship agreement in the work place.

However sexual relations is a private matter and it is not related to the company or the employer but when it comes to the workplace and when the employees want to tie or engage in relations with other employees they would need to obey and accept signing of a consensual relations agreement or contract in order to understand the outcomes and policy of dating or relations in the work environment and bind to it.

This agreement can include all guidelines on how to behave and how to make ethical decisions with staff while in a relationship with a colleague. This contract or agreement may consist of all boundaries on many different situations when you are in an office romance status.

It is good and important for every one that when he/she goes to work they should be focused on productive working not wasting time and money courting. Changing of departments can be a good thing to place in the policies, if a person happens to develop relationship in one office or department with other co-worker, he/she should be changed to other office/ departments or should not be in the same department. 

According to a survey, which was administered by Vault.com, an online career center, 46% of the 1,500 individuals looked at had been engaged in workplace romance, and an additional 18% desired it. Of the ones who developed a romantic relationship, 11% had dated their supervisor or another supervisor within the agency. Consensual Relations Agreements help to shield the company and also the employees who are willing to be in a romantic relationship with other employee or specially the supervisor or manager of the company.

I think four motives can be predicted for employees to endorse a consensual relationships agreement and those are like the following.

It is believed that Consensual relationship agreements reduced the possibilities of sexual harassment, lawsuit, in case the relationship does not work the employees may claim that they were forced to be in a relationship but if there is consensual relationship agreement, it states that the relationship was already both consensual and voluntary.

This can have an affect on other employees and minimizes the numbers of staff for being involved with each other in the workplace and ultimately it will discourage the staff in to display love and affection openly.

2.          Create a counter argument against the use of Consensual Relationship Agreements (CRAs) in your current (or future) workplace.

Based on the critics’ ideas, Consensual Relationship Agreements are too intrusive, not productive, and not essential. They believe that consensual relations agreements can cause more problems than they solve however some evidence shows that productivity actually goes up when love is in bloom. When you have a best friend in the office, you tend to feel better about coming to work. Anything that increases your emotional commitment to work is generally not a bad thing. (Gardner, 2008)

Workplace romances can lead to accusations of poor judgment, breaches of ethics, favoritism, lost productivity, poor employee morale, sexual harassment claims and even workplace violence. (Kathryn, 2008)

For instance I would say that they are intrusive because informing an employer of a relationship is interfering into the personal life of an employee. Consensual relations agreements can be ineffective because once an employee signed it, he/she can break it without the company noticing and when it comes to that point, it can be unnecessary.

From the perspective of an employee, I would deeply think about the details and outcomes of signing this consensual relations agreement and I may not sign that contract with a colleague due to very personal relationship and I would prefer to keep it private. Let’s say for instance if I were to sign the consensual relationship agreements my colleagues and friends out there in the department would always keep an eye on me to find a gap where I would have broken the policy or the rules and that would bother me and would not let me well focus on my daily task.

Let’s define that what is a Consensual Relationship Agreement? Consensual Relationship Agreement is a written contract to protect against employees who are involved in relationships in the workplace. For example, two employees dates for like ten months and then they stop dating, one person may believe that the former partner no longer treats them fairly or ignores them when a promotion should be considered. It is at this point that the less senior employee could claim that a hostile work environment has evolved and pursue litigation against the employer. This concept was displayed eight years ago in the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal.   Former President Clinton allegedly had an affair with then a White House intern Monica Lewinsky. As a result, corporate counsels grew fearful that an affair involving one of their executives could end in a big-bucks liability payout (Ayanna, 2012) thus this is a very sensitive subject when it comes to monitoring employees' personal affairs, but when relationships and matters of the heart are concerned, the line between right and an invasion of privacy can become blurred. There are lots of questions and one is that, to what extent an employer has the rights to intervene in the affairs of their employees are plentiful.   What is definable?   Who makes the call?   Can a relationship even be put on paper and measured as to what extent it may or may not affect working conditions?   What about platonic relationships?   Do they fall under employer scrutiny as well?   Does the employer have an ethical responsibility to protect its employees, or the organization itself?   Many employers have developed and implemented Consensual Relationship Agreements (CRA's) in an effort to get out ahead of being sued.

If we think from the prospective of the employer, I would say that CRAs are so important and essential. Usually lots of relationships happen at work and it is wise to have rules and policies in place in order to fight the problems and issues that may arise from the relationship on the job in order to keep the company safe and harmless from being sued.

3- Discuss the Ethical principles involved in the use of Consensual Relationship Agreements (CRAs).

As far as I know there has been very positive usage of consensual relationship agreement in my previous workplace environment where there has been the ethical principles involved in and it has reduced sexual harassment litigation risks, and favoritism. It has created a professional environment and has ensured that employees and employers can have relations but on voluntarily and consensual basis which is so called ethical principles in the use of CRAs:

In the company where I used to work there are many different diversities traditions, culture with various backgrounds. It is so important and crucial for the company to have wonderful principles and policies and that is why they have it. This company has created a good environment free of harassments without considering race, color, origin, religion, sex, age, handicaps and marital status. This has been a key of success to the company to distinguish quality of practicing admirable business ethics within the layers of the company. In the workplace, ethical behavior is much

more important to a company than making the employer feel having employees like him/her. It can signify remaining in business, and preventing legal actions. Furthermore, workplace ethics are similar, or even the same, as the ethics you follow every day.

There is a need for the code of ethics to be set to the people to obey and the decision process in some cases is often not very easy because of a persons own values, and what they feel is the right thing to do. There are times that a person’s value may not be good and equal to moral principle, then time comes to ethical principles of consensual relationship agreements to play its role.

This is where one could see a possible issue and come up with a policy to avoid that issue from affecting the company it is best to do so, this can save time, money, and problems in the long run. There may produce ethical issues related to Consensual Relations Agreements. Depending on what the employer outlines in the agreement paper and how the information is used.

There are many other ethical issues in the office about office romance to be aware of  and they are sneaking, lying, favoritism, miss use of relationship to promote in a career.

4- Create at least one other option besides Consensual Relationship Agreements (CRAs) that would address workplace romances.

I think dating and relationship agreement can be another option besides Consensual Relationship Agreements. The agreement one consists of a signature and acknowledgement of harassment free workplace policy by the management office and the employee where both the employer and the employee gives all the information about dating and relationship of parties and also the rules and regulation within the work environment.

As I already mentioned it is very important that the companies should set clear rules, regulation and policies for the office romances. It is also possible that the employer create a no work-dating environment where the employee would need to sign a no dating policy and acknowledge it so that if the employee starts dating in the work environment he/she would lose his/her job. This is a very sensitive matter and the companies need to be very careful dealing with romances. Sexual harassment is a big problem and concern and leads the companies or employees to failure and ultimately jail. There are situations where the companies do not feel accountable if a relationship goes sour or leads to lawsuit and court.

There are few methods to reduce it. A waiver for lawsuits should be put into place and signed if a relationship develops to protect the company and employees should have no option other than to sign it. Include peer-reviewed sources to support your position.

Consensual Relationship Agreements are common among many corporations addressing workplace romance. Some companies find the policy as being beneficial and others find it to be harmful to the dynamics of workplace productivity.

Contemporary managers must necessarily build organizations, both structurally and culturally, in a way that recognizes (and appropriately balances) the economic objectives and social realities of the modern workplace. (Glenn M, James M & James F, 2006)

At the end I would like to mention that Consensual Relationship Agreements are more often a waste of time than being more useful based on the research. The workplace has to be for work not romance and if a relationship is developed it should be kept separate and it must not affect the professional work environment.

Conclusion

Turning to a blind eye to workplace romances can be a risky business. (Mark , 2005)

Workplace romance can be defined as a mutually desired relationship that consists physical attraction between two people from the same department or office.

It depends to the companies; in some workplace romance is consensual and mutually welcomed

Romances are characterized by desiring to be with the other person and feelings of emotional and physical attraction, and that may lead to a sharing of personal information, mutual caring and respect, and quite likely sexual behavior such as touching, kissing and hugging, and sexual intercourse.

    Consensual relationship agreements are a good idea for the workplace. They help ensure that even if a relationship goes bad between a person of authority and a subordinate, no one will be held legally liable.   Signing a consensual relationship agreement does not cause either party to waive all of their rights regarding sexual harassment or other wrongful behavior that might evolve at a later date.   However, it may include an arbitration provision.   If any adversarial action is later contemplated, the matter must be resolved through arbitration proceedings and not the public court system.   This has been an issue many in the past and has led to lawsuits and court because the consensual relationship agreement did not work as they two predicted.

In any workplace I think it is not a good idea to have a relationship with your manager or director.   Such relationships may cast doubt on the objectivity of any supervision and evaluation provided.

It is very important that the companies should set clear rules, regulation and policies for the office romances or the employers create a no work-dating environment where the employee would need to sign a no dating policy and acknowledge it so that if the employee starts dating in the work environment he/she would lose his/her job. This is a very sensitive matter and the companies need to be very careful dealing with romances. Sexual harassment is a big problem and concern and leads the companies or employees to failure and ultimately jail. There are situations where the companies do not feel accountable if a relationship goes sour or leads to lawsuit and court.

References

1- Mark , W. (2005). Turning a blind eye to workplace romances can be a risky business,

Kathryn, T. (2008). Employee relations.

Gardner, M. (2008). Office romance? first, sign a contract. . 100(53), 3.

2- Dr David, H. (2012). Consensual relationship agreements. Introduction: , Retrieved from http://www.studymode.com/essays/Consensual-Relationship-Agreements-924917.html

3-Glenn M, G., James M, O., & James F, M. (2006). The paramour’s advantage: Sexual favoritism and permissibly unfair discrimination. Management challenges,

4- Ayanna, C. (2012). Consensual relationship agreements case study. Retrieved from http://www.studymode.com/essays/What-Is-A-Cra-1002175.html