Referee Report on a one of the starred readings Essay

Referee Report on a one of the starred readings - Essay Example mathematical and statistical analysis, the authors explored each of three possible explanations – cohort size, child endowment, or birth plannedness channels – and concluded that birth planning accounted for an extra 0.2 years or two to three months of schooling characteristically enjoyed by children born in auspicious years. The paper is well written. The authors described, with the use of a professional writing style that is simple and easy to understand, the topic and explained the purpose of the research clearly. They likewise were sufficiently objective in describing the limitations of the study, balancing the implications of the results and raising issues for further scientific investigation, such as the pervasiveness of superstition in influencing parental decisions for child bearing. Their grasp of Vietnamese culture is, in the absence of this reviewer’s prior knowledge on the subject, quite comprehensive, informational and fascinating. The diagrammatic approach in outlining the Vietnamese zodiac drives home the point that in Eastern cultures, many life-and-death decisions are determined by the stars. This may not sound scientific, but observing the fast economic growth rates and ongoing business successes of the developing Asian economies, it is easy to fall into the trap of questioning the wisdom of human decisions backed by millennia of experience. Do and Phung attempted to explain in a rational manner what seems like a sophisticated decision-making model based on Vietnamese culture’s reliance on the zodiac and linked this with the finding that large birth cohorts coincided with the auspicious years. They observed that, over the twenty-one years of the sample study, â€Å"auspicious† cohorts were schooled for 0.2 years more than the â€Å"non-auspicious† cohorts. Many economic research studies are based on statistics that researchers hope are reliable. The problem is that in most totalitarian governments, such as Vietnam’s, statistics

The role of the management in organizational Behavior Essay

The role of the management in organizational Behavior - Essay Example A readjustment of work-roles and behavior of employee teams, to cope with new challenges, is the first step to initiating changes in organizational culture. It is this first step that translates into new attitudes. Thus, behavior changes attitudes, and not the reverse; change happens from bottom up, and not top down. And for this to happen effectively, the CEO should be willing to change too, based on the signals received by her from the teams at the grassroots. Additionally she has the task of encouraging these teams to 'lead' the company in the direction required, without herself being directive. Her role is that of a competent doctor assisting childbirth. If the process is going smoothly, the doctor waits and encourages the mother, and provides her all the assistance required. Medical intervention should happen only in an emergency! What is the process that teams go through while resolving business issues Beer et al (p160) state that research has proven that "interfunctional coordination, decision making, work organization and concern for people" are the four indicators of performance-in the long run-and not financial parameters, which in the short term, can spike or recede in response to other factors. These four factors are directly connected with team functioning. Apart from this, they talk of six distinct steps (pp161-164) taken by successful managers to elicit task-related responses-i.e. a response ideally suited to deal with the task at hand. What are these six steps First, mobilizing commitment to change through a joint diagnosis of business issues. Here, the operative word is 'joint'. The participation in this process ensures a commitment to the process of change required to tackle this problem. Second comes the process of drafting a 'shared vision' to organize to cope successfully with the situation. Note, it is not the CEO spelling out the steps to be taken, it is the team ('shared') doing this. In this process, new roles and responsibilities are taken on, but since it does not involve change in titles or remuneration there is less resistance to the steps. Here, cross-functional teams operate-teams from across different departments and at different levels of the hierarchy-the only criterion for the composition of teams being that it is the most conducive to task attainment. Then (third) comes a pro-active fostering of consensus for the new way of functioning, and building competence and cohesion to achieve it. The new way of functioning would require new skills, and employees seek to gain these skills. This process is assisted by the management. Apart from this, if the management sends out a message that team functioning is what is required, then the building of competence and cohesion happens quickly and smoothly. (Fourth) Once team functioning has succeeded in one department, it has to spread to other departments. However, it is likely to fail if it is a top-down effort. Other departments, which would be at various levels of readiness to reorganize themselves into new functional teams, need to work out their own way of attaining this. The management has to stand by and cheer, as it were, without pushing. (Fifth) Once the process of change has more or less spread through most departments, the new roles and team relationships have to be institutionalized, so that the company does not inadvertently slip back to the