The Decisional Role of a Manager

Introduction

Within the organizational environment, the manager should undertake the process of not only making decisions, but also solving problems. Under such circumstances, it is essential for the manager to make sure that he has knowledge concerning the problems and potential problems, as well as the promotion of means through which to come to decisions that have a positive effect on the work environment. it is also necessary for the manager to make sure that the decisions that he makes are relevant to the issue being resolved in order to bring about a situation where there is the achievement of organizational goals. This paper focuses on the decisional role of the manager and the manner through which he can be able to achieve effectiveness in his role.

Literature Review

When it comes to the decisional role of the manager, it is essential for them to ensure that they are able to undertake the role of entrepreneur (Horlacher & Hess, 2016). This is a highly critical responsibility because it involves a process where they are required to make sure that there is a constant improvement of the units under their jurisdiction. The process of improvement can be considered essential because it involves the promotion of a situation where the organization ends up being highly equipped when it comes to handling a diversity of technological challenges. Managers under such circumstances have to make sure that they are constantly looking out for new ideas that can help them ensure that their products are improved and value added to them (Laitinen, 2017; Ollila & Yström, 2017). The role of the manager when making decisions should also include the initiation of feasibility studies that seek to determine the path toward which the organization is heading. It is also necessary to make sure that necessary arrangements are made for the acquisition of capital for the development of new products, as well as undertaking to gain suggestions from employees concerning the various ways that the organization can be improved (Verboncu & Zeininger, 2015). All of these processes can be easily achieved through the holding of strategy meetings with the project managers and using suggestion boxes, as in the case of other employees.

Decisional management is one that also considers the role of the manager as an arbiter of conflicts within the work environment (Karanja & Rosso, 2017; Kumar, 2015). This is a highly pertinent role because it involves a process where the manager takes on the role of arbiter in conflicts between subordinates. A similar case arises when it comes to conflicts between the management of the organization and employees. These conflicts might come about because of a variety of reasons, which include agitation for an increase in wages or a major client of the organization going bankrupt, which might end up leading to a situation where its financial future is left uncertain. Therefore, managers should be able to anticipate such issues and take preventative action whenever it is possible. It is also necessary for the manager to sometimes take corrective action in situations where problems have arisen (Thomas, Lorange, & Sheth, 2015). Among the problems that might arise include complaints from customers, machine breakdowns, labor disputes, and interpersonal conflicts, which have the potential of interfering with the activities of the organization. The role of the manager under such circumstances can therefore be considered critical, because it involves a process where individuals have to be managed in a manner where they view the manager as the final arbiter to issues involving them. Through this process, the manager takes on a pivotal role within the organization in a way that ensures the achievement of its mission.

Another role that has to be undertaken by the manager within the organizational setting is that of being able to allocate resources (Sule & Wahyuningtyas, 2017). This is an extremely important role because it involves a process where the manager has to establish priorities concerning which tasks are the most critical for the organization and how many resources have to be allocated to each. The different activities within the organization that require budgetary allocation receive it based on their importance to its objectives, meaning that it is essential for the manager to determine those with the highest priority (de Oliveira, Escrivão, Nagano, Ferraudo, & Rosim, 2015). It is also their role to make sure that the necessary personnel are assigned to the various tasks at hand, and this is aimed at bringing about a situation where the most qualified individuals are given the tasks to which they are most suited. This ensures that there is the establishment of means through which to bring about greater efficiency in the workplace (Cohen, Rozenes, & Faccio, 2016). Furthermore, in conjunction with giving tasks to those best suited for them, it is necessary for the manager to make sure that there is the establishment of effective means of allocating their own time to different activities in a manner that ensures that they are seen to be on the lead by all the teams involved in the process.

The manager also has a pertinent role to play as a negotiator on behalf of the organization (Laud, Arevalo, & Johnson, 2016). This is an extremely important role because it involves a process where the manager plays an active role in the negotiation of deals that are favorable for the organization. These deals are necessary because they make sure that there is the achievement of agreements aimed at making the activities taking place both within and outside the organization smoother (Liew, Talib, & Jacobs, 2016). Furthermore, they promote the development of guidelines through which the organization is able to interact with other organizations as well as stakeholders in society. Such guidelines make it possible for the organization to have an effective action plan that can be developed and implemented in a manner that enhances its role within its industry. Negotiation skills on the part of the manager are also critical in bringing about the achievement of the goal of promoting the interests of the organization when it comes to negotiations of contracts with unions, as well as the negotiation of prices with major customers (Soltwisch & Krahnke, 2017). Therefore, the ability of managers to recognize their role and undertake them appropriately ensures that there is the promotion of means through which they not only enhance their efficiency within the organization, but their overall effectiveness ensures that there can be an assessment of how well their role as decision makers is performed.

Conclusion

For a manager at a decisional capacity, it is necessary to make sure that there is the promotion of a situation where there is a tight rein on all agreements that have been made within the team. This means that all the rules and agreements concerning the conduct of members of the team have to be respected at all times. There is also a need to make sure that there is the promotion of means through which there is the promotion of result orientation within the team, because the manager is therefore able to ensure that the team achieves all the intended results and targets. As seen above, the clarification of targets is a critical means of making sure that there is the promotion of the integrity of the work that is conducted by the team; meaning that the manager has a critical role in determining the direction towards which his team is heading. Double checking for mistakes and errors within the team context it critical in bringing about a situation where exemplary work is created; meaning that decisional management can have a positive effect on the way that the team functions, since the leader is able to ensure greater efficiency among its members.

References

Cohen, Y., Rozenes, S., & Faccio, M. (2016). Modeling a Manager’s Work as a Service Activity. Paper presented at the International Conference on Exploring Services Science.

de Oliveira, J., Escrivão, E., Nagano, M. S., Ferraudo, A. S., & Rosim, D. (2015). What do small business owner-managers do? A managerial work perspective. Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, 5(1), 19.

Horlacher, A., & Hess, T. (2016). What does a Chief Digital Officer do? Managerial tasks and roles of a new C-level position in the context of digital transformation. Paper presented at the 2016 49th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS).

Karanja, E., & Rosso, M. A. (2017). The Chief Risk Officer: a study of roles and responsibilities. Risk Management, 19(2), 103-130.

Kumar, P. (2015). An Analytical study on Mintzberg’s Framework: Managerial Roles. International Journal of Research in Management & Business Studies (IJRMBS), 2, 12-18.

Laitinen, E. K. (2017). Managerial work, importance of information and corporate profitability: evidence from Finland. International Journal of Accounting and Finance, 7(4), 301-334.

Laud, R., Arevalo, J., & Johnson, M. (2016). The changing nature of managerial skills, mindsets and roles: Advancing theory and relevancy for contemporary managers. Journal of Management & Organization, 22(4), 435-456.

Liew, C., Talib, A. A., & Jacobs, R. (2016). Malaysian aviation technologist promotion to managerial role: an empirical overview. Paper presented at the IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering.

Ollila, S., & Yström, A. (2017). An investigation into the roles of open innovation collaboration managers. R&D Management, 47(2), 236-252.

Soltwisch, B. W., & Krahnke, K. (2017). Maximizing Decision Making Style and Managerial Effectiveness: Understanding How Maximizing and Locus of Control Impact Managers' Performance on the Job. Managing Global Transitions, 15(3), 215-230.

Sule, E. T., & Wahyuningtyas, R. (2017). Managerial Roles in a Dynamic Environment. Advanced Science Letters, 23(1), 656-659.

Thomas, H., Lorange, P., & Sheth, J. (2015). Dynamic capabilities and the business school of the future EFMD Insights into Business Education: case studies from business schools worldwide. Volume 2 (Vol. 1, pp. 1-6): European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) in association with GSE Research.

Verboncu, I., & Zeininger, L. (2015). The Manager and the Managerial Tools: Job Description. Review of International Comparative Management/Revista de Management Comparat International, 16(5).

Operation Management at Costco

The management of the operations within an organization is extremely essential in bringing about its success. This is especially the case considering that for the most part, organizations in the business world are increasingly getting involved in competition with each other in order to remain competitive. Costco is one of the organizations that seek to bring about the best quality in their services through making sure that its employees are satisfied and this is achieved through the advancement of their interests both within and outside the company. In this way, Costco has been able to develop a good reputation based on its need to promote its image through its employees while at the same time providing the best services possible to its customers.

One of the most fundamental aspects of Costco’s operations is that is seeks to promote the efficiency of their employees. This is especially considering that it seeks to create an environment within which its employees are able to do their best for the sake of the company through the advancement of their interests within it. A good working environment where employees are provided with free reign on how to handle customers on a more personalized basis has made it possible for employees to feel empowered in their work. Taking competitive advantage into consideration is another aspect of management that can ensure Costco’s success (Heizer and Render 71). This has been achieved through the provision of benefits and higher wages to employees for the sake of advancing their quality of life which has in turn made them more loyal to the company. The result is that Costco has allowed for the advancement of its workforce in a manner that brings about the best in them for the sake of promoting its own interests in the market. Moreover, the empowerment of employees can also be considered to be a sound strategy especially considering that other companies tend to deny their employees the right to do what they think is best for the sake of promoting the products that they are selling. The result is that there is a loss of morale among employees who come to believe that they are not valued enough by management to independently bring in customers. This is not the case with Costco which has put employee empowerment at the forefront of its strategy because it has made employees the biggest promoters of its image.

Another aspect of Costco’s operations that can be considered to be important to its success is employment stability. This has been achieved through the promotion of benefits for its employees which include job security as well as benefits in case of disability as well as when suffering from any ailments (Heizer and Render 435). This is an extremely sound strategy because it ensures that employees are completely focused on their work instead of seeking more stable work elsewhere. Works schedules that put into consideration the need to take case of the welfare of employees have also been put in place. This, in addition to the higher wages that they receive when compared to rival companies, has allowed for an increase in motivation to work among employees to such an extent that they give their best to their work. The various constraints to its human resource strategy, such as the need to control the expenditure that it places on its employees when compared to other companies, have been smoothed over by Costco through its making sure that the potential financial problems it might face are outweighed by its excellent performance in the market. This has been to such an extent that a significant number of employees have ended up doing their best in their work in the comfort of knowledge that they will be compensated.

Healthcare benefits are some of the most important aspects of the success of any company because the more generous they are, the more likely that employees will be motivated to increase their performance. This is a lesson that Costco’s management seems to have taken to heart because it has provided extremely generous medical and dental benefits to its employees that have allowed for the advancement of the health of these individuals. Moreover, the extension of these benefits to dependents has made it possible for individuals that work at Costco to increase their output because of the motivation that they have based on the belief that the company cares for their welfare and that of their loved ones. The generous benefits that the Costco has advanced its employees are essential because it has become a major contributor to the success of its operations. The generous incentive system that has been put in place by the company is important because it allows employees to be self-directed in their work (Heizer and Render 438). This means that they are better able to make sure that they work with minimal supervision, which helps the company save both time and money when it comes to dealing with issues concerning employs. Thus, productivity remains high while at the same time making sure that the interests of employees are secured in a manner that advances the interests of the company.

By competing through the advancement of its employees’ interests, Costco has the potential of attracting some of the best individuals in the industry to work for it. The pro-employee policies that it has adopted can be considered to be essential for promoting not only its image as a viable employer, but also shows potential employees that unlike its rivals, it is a generous employer. In this way, it becomes possible to make sure that there is a large pool of potential employees to choose from when the time comes for recruitment. However, while it has the best possible number of potential recruits, there is need for the company to make sure that it only employs those individuals who display the highest ethical standards possible (Heizer and Render 455). This is because when companies in the contemporary world conduct their operations, it is essential for them to observe ethics at all fronts or risk ending up getting their reputations damaged and in turn ending up losing their market share. Therefore, in order to make sure that all operations run smoothly, it is important that Costco, when staffing its operations, is able to advance the highest ethical standards possible so that it can maintain and advance its market share. It is important for there to be an effort to observe ethical standards while at the same time promoting continuous improvement because it is one of the most fundamental ways through which employee commitment to the company can be ensured while at the same time promoting the competitiveness of the company in a way that allows for the creation of better market opportunities than it already possesses.

In conclusion, it is essential for Costco to make sure that it continues to promote the interests of its employees through providing them with incentive packages as well as better working conditions than its competitors. This is one of the most fundamental ways through which it will be able to continue performing well in the market while at the same time attracting the best talent possible to help run its operations. Making employees the center of its operations management is essential because it is these who are the driving force behind their success while at the same time advancing the good name of the company through their efforts to make it a success. It is, therefore, essential for the interests of employees to be protected as a means of making sure that there is a proper means through which operations can be advanced without any glitches as a result of lack of motivation.

Work Cited

Heizer, Jay and Render, Barry. Operations Management: Sustainability and Supply Chain Management. 11th Edition. New York: Pearson, 2013.

Governance Networks

Within the last decades of the twentieth century, the concept of governance developed within political studies and the fields related to it. This concept is one that seeks to promote the idea that there is a wide variety of approaches that are required to make sure that there is an understanding of the world and the changing nature of the role of the state within the international system. Furthermore, there is the rise of the belief that governance can be used to promote the idea that the contemporary world is where individuals live in a world where there are a diversity of coexisting networks that are aimed at safeguarding the lives of individuals as well as society in general (Bush, Oosterveer, Bailey, & Mol, 2015). These networks have developed in such a way that ensures that there is the creation of a better understanding of the massive urbanization, globalization, and a diversity of other societal demands that have come about because of the considerable participation of the civil society in everyday life (Fung, 2015). This new knowledge is essential in bringing about an understanding of the way that the world is developing because it allows for the inclusion of the manner that new concepts such as the participation of the civic society has been able to establish a strong public voice in decision making. In this paper, there will be a discussion and analysis of the concept of the governance network and the manner through which it has been able to affect the world.

One of the most significant aspects of the governance network is that it has led to the argument that societies are increasingly becoming fragmented. This is mainly because of the belief that the new demands that are being made on governments has led them towards a shift from the more traditional bureaucratic order to one that is more responsive to the demands of society (Wiesel & Modell, 2014). Such interactive governments have the potential of leading towards the fragmentation of society because it involves a process where there is greater devolution of power in such a way that promotes the achievement of more efficiency when it comes to service delivery. Governance networks have also become critical when it comes to policymaking because the individuals involved in the latter tend to consult with the diverse stakeholders in society before any decisions are made (Bovaird, Stoker, Jones, Loeffler, & Pinilla Roncancio, 2016). The arbitrary decision making processes that was an essential aspect of the bureaucratic forms of government are increasingly being abandoned in favour of more open ones where there is need to seek to achieve the approval of stakeholders before policies are implemented (Denis, Ferlie, & Van Gestel, 2015; Greve, 2015). Furthermore, there has also been an increasing role of the private sector in those aspects of government that were previously the strict domain of the public sector (O'Toole, 2015). Thus, governance networks have become essential means through which to bring about a form of governmental devolution that seeks to enhance service delivery in the most efficient way possible while at the same time reducing the role of government in the process. It has also ensured that the role of government in society has essentially become blurred because the institutions involved in service delivery have their roles increasingly being taken by more specialized entities from the private sector.

The latter collaborative arrangements have made it possible for governments to undertake their tasks in a manner that is more supervisory than active. Governance networks have ensured that there is an increase in the proliferation of governance arrangements either with the private sector or other governments with the aim of bringing about a more efficient achievement of goals (Page, Stone, Bryson, & Crosby, 2015). This is especially the case considering that there are some governance networks which have developed between a local government, other governments, as well as the private sector with the aim of seeking to achieve the best possible results when it comes to undertaking their functions. These new collaborations have essentially made it possible for governance networks to become more common in the contemporary world to such an extent that they have become the norm. It is currently normal for individuals to expect that network arrangements will bring them the services that they need without a complete reliance on their governments to provide the services (Vangen, Hayes, & Cornforth, 2015). Governments have ended up becoming facilitators and guarantors rather than the actual providers of services; meaning that there has developed a necessity that there is the establishment of newer networks to increase efficiency. It has also become possible for a new layer of governance to appear within local governments, with these layers playing a significant role when it comes to the development of strong initiatives aimed at enhancing efficiency while at the same time reducing the role of government (Kapucu, Hu, & Khosa, 2017). The various stakeholders in society have also come to have a say in the management of their own governments and how services are delivered. However, despite this being the case, it is essential to approach governance networks with caution because despite their being widespread, they have not been as widely adopted as expected.

Governance networks have brought about a greater understanding of the role that networks can play in enhancing the role of governments. This is because it involves an understanding of the manner through which the complexity of the multi-governmental landscape has become a necessity in the contemporary world (De Vries, Bekkers, & Tummers, 2016). It is necessary to consider that governance networks have essentially made it possible for there to be the creation of means through which to bring about the interaction between a diversity of actors in society in such a way that promotes the interests of all involved because there is devolution of functions (Borg, Toikka, & Primmer, 2015). Furthermore, it has become possible for these actors to come to terms with each other’s capabilities in such a way that helps to bring about the achievement of means through which to promote the diversification of functions towards the achievement of common goals. Thus, it can be argued that politicians and administrators have become the main actors when it comes to the promotion of societal interests and this has been in such a way that they have come to be seen as the guarantors of public services (Bryson, Crosby, & Bloomberg, 2014; Head & Alford, 2015). However, despite the achievement of this objective, it has become essential to consider that these individuals have gained considerable power over a diversity of functions. This is especially the case considering that these individuals might end up abusing their power to ensure that they serve the interests of their respective organizations or lobbies that sponsored them towards attaining their positions (Howlett & Ramesh, 2016). Therefore, there should be a process where there is the development of awareness concerning the relationships between the actors in various governance networks so that it can be possible to bring about the achievement of greater transparency in the processes that are undertaken.

The term governance network implies that there is a convergence when it comes to a diversity of issues concerning government and the manner through which it is operated. It is necessary to consider that this convergence is one that has taken place in order to meet the needs of society while at the same time promoting a situation where there is the achievement of common goals in as efficient a manner as possible (Lecy, Mergel, & Schmitz, 2014). While there has been considerable debate concerning what exactly governance networks mean, it is pertinent to consider that it is a reality in the contemporary world and has to be understood as such. A body of knowledge and concepts concerning governance networks has grown over the years and this has led to the establishment of means through which an understanding of the term can be understood. One of the most important factors concerning governance networks is that is involves a situation where service delivery and policy are developed and implemented through networks that involve actors that are essentially interdependent. The interdependency between the various actors can be considered to be an essential aspect of promoting the development of the networks that are involved in service delivery (Bryson, Crosby, & Stone, 2015). It is also necessary to stress that it is the actors who make choices concerning the strategies that they have to use in order to find and make solutions to various problems. There are also instances where there is a complexity of interactions and negotiating partners that come about because of the interdependencies that occur between actors (Skelcher & Smith, 2015). Therefore, the different governance networks tend to be quite diverse in their make up because each of them is developed to satisfy a large number of unique needs (Van den Hurk & Verhoest, 2015). The variety of perceptions and strategies that they have to implement requires that there is the achievement of unique problem solving, service delivery and policy implementation initiatives at all times to ensure efficiency.

In conclusion, the governance network approach is one that stresses the need to consider the outcomes of the implementation of different policies and service delivery. A consideration of the outcomes ensures that there are initiatives aimed at promoting the development of the most pertinent policies possible while at the same time including the most qualified actors to undertake the diverse tasks involved in bringing about the achievement of results. The development of an understanding of needs is critical for the creation of institutionalization of the relationships that come about between the different actors. These create patterns that are necessary for the promotion of effective working relationships between actors that make it possible to bring about strong service delivery initiatives. The relationships involved are those that ensure that there is the establishment of social networks that are necessary for not only bringing about better service delivery, but also ensures that there is the establishment of a basis upon which the various actors can work together in other networks. Finally, the relationships between the various actors ensures that there is the emergence of rules that promote the regulation of the behaviour within networks; making it possible for actors to explore new content that might enhance their efficiency while at the same time helping in enhancing the quality of services being delivered.

References

Borg, R., Toikka, A., & Primmer, E. (2015). Social capital and governance: a social network analysis of forest biodiversity collaboration in Central Finland. Forest Policy and Economics, 50, 90-97.

Bovaird, T., Stoker, G., Jones, T., Loeffler, E., & Pinilla Roncancio, M. (2016). Activating collective co-production of public services: influencing citizens to participate in complex governance mechanisms in the UK. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 82(1), 47-68.

Bryson, J. M., Crosby, B. C., & Bloomberg, L. (2014). Public value governance: Moving beyond traditional public administration and the new public management. Public administration review, 74(4), 445-456.

Bryson, J. M., Crosby, B. C., & Stone, M. M. (2015). Designing and implementing cross‐sector collaborations: Needed and challenging. Public administration review, 75(5), 647-663.

Bush, S. R., Oosterveer, P., Bailey, M., & Mol, A. P. (2015). Sustainability governance of chains and networks: a review and future outlook. Journal of Cleaner Production, 107, 8-19.

De Vries, H., Bekkers, V., & Tummers, L. (2016). Innovation in the public sector: A systematic review and future research agenda. Public Administration, 94(1), 146-166.

Denis, J. L., Ferlie, E., & Van Gestel, N. (2015). Understanding hybridity in public organizations. Public Administration, 93(2), 273-289.

Fung, A. (2015). Putting the public back into governance: The challenges of citizen participation and its future. Public administration review, 75(4), 513-522.

Greve, C. (2015). Ideas in public management reform for the 2010s. Digitalization, value creation and involvement. Public Organization Review, 15(1), 49-65.

Head, B. W., & Alford, J. (2015). Wicked problems: Implications for public policy and management. Administration & Society, 47(6), 711-739.

Howlett, M., & Ramesh, M. (2016). Achilles' heels of governance: Critical capacity deficits and their role in governance failures. Regulation & Governance, 10(4), 301-313.

Kapucu, N., Hu, Q., & Khosa, S. (2017). The state of network research in public administration. Administration & Society, 49(8), 1087-1120.

Lecy, J. D., Mergel, I. A., & Schmitz, H. P. (2014). Networks in public administration: current scholarship in review. Public Management Review, 16(5), 643-665.

O'Toole, L. J. (2015). Networks and networking: The public administrative agendas. Public administration review, 75(3), 361-371.

Page, S. B., Stone, M. M., Bryson, J. M., & Crosby, B. C. (2015). Public Value Creation by Cross‐Sector Collaborations: A Framework and Challenges of Assessment. Public Administration, 93(3), 715-732.

Skelcher, C., & Smith, S. R. (2015). Theorizing hybridity: Institutional logics, complex organizations, and actor identities: The case of nonprofits. Public Administration, 93(2), 433-448.

Van den Hurk, M., & Verhoest, K. (2015). The governance of public–private partnerships in sports infrastructure: Interfering complexities in Belgium. International Journal of Project Management, 33(1), 201-211.

Vangen, S., Hayes, J. P., & Cornforth, C. (2015). Governing cross-sector, inter-organizational collaborations. Public Management Review, 17(9), 1237-1260.

Wiesel, F., & Modell, S. (2014). From new public management to new public governance? Hybridization and implications for public sector consumerism. Financial Accountability & Management, 30(2), 175-205.

Leadership Styles of Baby boomers and Millennials

The economic recession that has in the last few years come to affect the United States has had a huge impact in the lives of many Americans today. This impact has not only been on the economy, but it has also come to affect the working environment of people all over the nation. The economic recession hit the United States at a time when the Baby Boomer generation was on its way to retirement. Many of the members of this generation were not prepared for such an occurrence and this left them without any savings or a means to support themselves after retirement. This created a situation where many baby boomers had no choice other than to continue on with their current employment, and for those who had retired, to look for jobs in order to make a living. The workplace therefore came to be filled with people who would, under normal circumstances, have retired, creating a potential for conflict with the younger generation of employees. The fact that many baby boomers are currently still in the job market has created plenty of competition between them and the current young generation, the millennials. The millennials are those who are currently between the ages of eighteen and their early thirties, and as the most youthful generation, they are finding it much harder than their predecessors to either find jobs and to keep them. In addition, even after they get these jobs, their style of doing their work is much different from the way the baby boomers did things. This has come to raise questions concerning the attitudes towards work that is displayed by the baby boomer and the millennial generations.

It is a fact that the leadership styles of the baby boomers and the millennials in the workplace are quite different from each other. Each of these generations tends to have different ways of dealing with situations which enable them to achieve the goals set by the organization for which they work. The baby boomer generation tends to be completely obsessed with the achievement of results no matter the cost incurred. Since most organizations are headed by baby boomers, the main drive of these institutions tends to be the making of a profit and this has led to conflict with the millennial generation, which is more conscious of the social responsibilities of the organizations for which they work. In matters of leadership, the baby boomers and the millennials tend to have a conflict when it comes to matters concerning integrity and ethics at the workplace. Many millennials believe that when the leadership of an organization ceases to implement the original goals of an organization and instead concentrates only at making a profit at any cost, then this leadership has ceased to be ethical and steps should be take to have such leadership removed. In order to be effective, the leadership of an organization has to have integrity and this means that they have to stick by what they regard to be ethically necessary or worthwhile. It is therefore necessary for an organization’s leadership to have certain coherence in matters of ethics, either between ethical values over time or between values and behavior. Millennials believe that leaders should ensure that their goals or objectives are harmonious with those of the organizations that they lead so that matters concerning ethics do not arise in the day to day running of the organization. Without leadership integrity in an organization, there can be no ethical leadership and this is because integrity and ethics are things which are inseparable especially when one is considering the running of an organization whose reputation depends on how its leadership is running it. While this is a fact, many millennials often find that their workplace is frustrating because many of the baby boomer managers tend not to show any sort of integrity at the workplace, often keeping the millennials in the background where they cannot be able to make their ideas heard or implemented.

Most organizations tend to have a corporate culture whose purpose is to govern the ways through which the people who work within the organization work, interact with one another, and work together towards the achievement of its goals. Furthermore, this culture is heavily influenced by the signs and symbols which an organization is recognized by and this determines the way the people who work within this organization behave, thus they are the embodiment of the organization’s culture. While this is the case, there has been a swift shift in the corporate culture of many organizations as the millennial generation has started going up the ranks of leadership in different organizations. While in the baby boomer generation, corporate culture was based on the formal interaction between employees, the millennial generation has influenced the introduction of a more informal atmosphere at the workplace. While there is still a shared language in many organizations, which is very important in the development of a corporate culture because language is the adhesive that holds a society together and without a common means of communication within the organization, then it would collapse, the way this language is communicated seem to have changed. It is a fact that each generation has its way of expressing itself and this is true of the baby boomer and millennial generations at the workplace, where the latter tend to express themselves in a way that many of the latter do not understand, and the reverse is also true. Furthermore, while the corporate culture in many organizations run by bloomers tends to separate work from their personal lives, in those run by millennials, the opposite is often the case. Millennials prefer working in an informal environment and this has enabled them to bring their work and personal lives together. It is therefore not a strange thing to find that most millennials prefer working from home than at the office. In most instances one will find that it is the baby boomers that prefer working at the office, since this favor keeping their work away from home. Although it is a very difficult thing to happen, the culture of a particular organization is subject to change and this has often come about because of the generational conflict between the millennial and the baby boomer generation. While this change does not come easily, it comes about when more of the latter generation retires and more of the millennial generation takes its place. This has caused the development of a culture where individuals are more attached to their work than previous generations. Millennials, despite their high attachment to their work are also quite strict concerning having time to themselves. Unlike the baby boomers, who would work long hours without going for breaks, millennials prefer working for a certain time and then afterwards do something else which is not work related.

All workplaces have many subcultures which interact with one another for the sake of the running of the achievement of the goals that have been set for the employees. Despite the fact that baby boomers and the millennials sometimes work within the same environment, these two generations do not always see eye to eye on many issues concerning work. Although this is the case in most instances, the two generations have been, out of necessity, forced to work together. Each of these generations have created its own characteristics and sense of identity and an example of this is within the workplace where employees can easily classify themselves socially according to their areas of specialization, membership in a particular union, and age. Although these generations may be diverse, each of them is developed for the purpose of furthering the goals of the organization through different means. In the baby boomer generation, people tended to have mentors in the workplace that would inspire and guide them through their careers. The millennial generation, on the other hand, tends to be extremely independent, preferring to navigate their own way through their career paths. They often see any advice from their bosses, who are more often than not, baby boomers, as being too paternalistic and unwanted. The workplace culture is slowly changing as the baby boomer generation is giving way, grudgingly, to the millennial generation and this is ensuring that the formal workplace environment is becoming informal. While many millennials, just like the baby boomers take their work extremely seriously, this seriousness tends to be accompanied by an informality which many baby boomers would find uncomfortable to work in. Baby boomers tend to take their work so seriously that everything that they do has to be done formally. In such instances where meetings are needed to clarify different things at the workplace, while baby boomers would prefer meeting in a boardroom for a fact to fact consultation, millennials prefer the use of technology to achieve the same goal. The latter have adopted new means of communication, such as social networking, and adapted to them so well that they have become a permanent part of their lives.

The baby boomers are a generation who were taught to function more as individuals than as teams at the workplace. They prefer working in a strictly structured environment with as little feedback as possible coming to them. This is in direct contrast to the millennial generations, who not only prefers working in teams, for greater efficiency, but also has a need for constant consultation with their managers. In order to better manage their workplaces, many of the baby boomer generation, to their credit, have come to adopt teamwork in order to be able to interact more with the millennial generation. This ensures that the employees are able to function as a team to achieve the aims of the organization. Working in teams is a means through which closer ties can be developed between the top management of an organization, who are often bay boomers, with its employees of the millennial generation. The close ties that are developed between these teams help in the reinforcement of the skills of the workforce in such areas as attitude, and knowledge. While previously, many baby boomers and millennials were wary of each other in the workplace, with the former feeling threatened by the possibility of being replaced, while the latter felt resentful because they felt that the baby boomers were not allowing them to advance at a pace which was suitable. It has come to be found that for the two generations to be able to work together there are certain factors, such as corporate culture and policy, the working environment and professional activities, which should not be seen as justifiable in the determination of the effectiveness of the task and responsibility. This has created the need for team building to ensure that the gap between the two generations has been bridged, so that each of them can be able to teach the other about what they know, to the benefit of both of them in doing their work. Team building between members of the baby boomer and the millennial generations at the workplace should be enforced entirely so that it can be incorporated as one of the compulsory norms and values of the institution's corporate culture. Furthermore, there has been the revelation that the skills such as communication skills, the ability to handle crisis and problems in the workplace, the traits of information sharing and motivation amongst workers between the two generations can be extremely helpful in making the workplace more efficient.

Leadership in the workplace is one of the areas where the baby boomers and the millennials have both major differences and similarities about. Both of these generations believe in strong leadership in the workplace to ensure that all the employees are able to effectively implement what their leader wants. This enables the employees within an organization to know exactly what their leader wants and exactly how that leader wants it done and these employees are able to completely focus on the achievement of their leader’s vision. It is a common belief among workers of both generations that the leader that shows integrity in his work and in his vision will definitely inspire his subordinates to follow his example in their own work and this will ensure that a high level of ethics are practiced within an organization because of the ethical leadership inspired by the integrity of the organization’s leader. However, the difference comes not on the area of strength but on how the leader is to present himself to the workers. Baby boomers believe that for a leader to be more effective, he or she has to not only show strength of character towards the workers, but should also remain aloof so that the latter can have the opportunity to do their own work properly. Furthermore, baby boomers in the workplace today believe that they are being overworked and are shown very little appreciation by their leaders. This has created a situation where many have become disgruntled and only continue to work not because they love the job, but because they need an income to maintain themselves. Millennials on the other hand believe in more interaction between the leader and the other workers in the workplace. Millennials have been raised in a culture where there is need to have employment which has meaning to an individual and this has encouraged them to seek more interaction with their supervisors at work. The need to have meaning in work has ensured that many millennials do not stay on one job for too long because of their endeavor to seek meaning and fulfillment, something that is often elusive if one is not determined to find it. It has therefore become a culture among millennials to be constantly learning from their superiors in the workplace in a bid to not only create a path for their own advancement, but also for the purpose of creating space for themselves in the management positions which are currently dominated by the baby boomer generation.

In conclusion, it can be said that while the baby boomers and the millennials may have different attitudes concerning work and the workplace, both of these generations’ attitudes have been formed from the environment within which they were raised. In fact, while the baby boomers may feel differently from the millennials, when it comes to work, it is a fact that a large majority of the millennials was raised by the baby boomers, and it is this environment which has formed their attitudes. Moreover, one would say that these two generations are not as different as many think because of the fact that one generation raised the other. This means that the attitude towards work that is displayed by the millennials, is in fact, the very same attitude that is held by many of the baby boomer generation, only the former are more open about these ideas than the latter. One would further go on to say that the only major difference between these generations is age, and the other differences would not be there had there not been an economic recession which forced both generations to compete for work.

Performance Appraisal

Performance Appraisal is the estimation of how the employees of an organization have performed over a certain period as well as to gain an understanding of how these employees work. It is a process through which an organization’s employees are assessed to ensure that they work in conformity with its goals. The appraisal is conducted as part of the performance management process of the organization because how it is handled is what determines whether the organization is able to achieve its goals or not. It can further be said that a performance appraisal is an assessment and discussion of how an employee has performed in his or her work and this assessment is based purely on performance and not on the characteristics that a re displayed by the individual employee. This process helps in the measurement of the skills that have been displayed and the things which an employee has accomplished with as much accuracy and uniformity as possible.

The understanding that is developed by the employee’s supervisor enables him to determine the abilities of individual employees and this ensures that they are placed in positions within the organization which will further its growth and achievement of its goals. Furthermore, it is designed to help the employers determine the areas whose performance needs to be enhanced as well as ensuring that the employees are provided with the opportunities that are necessary for the promotion of their professional growth. This process is done in methodical ways which gives the supervisors the opportunity to measure the payments that are made to their employees in comparison to the aims and objectives of the organization. Performance appraisal also gives the supervisors the opportunity to make an analysis of the factors that determine how the employees perform over a certain period. It is a system which helps the management of an organization to be in a position where it is able to provide guidance to its employees towards a path which will lead to their performing better in their jobs.

While performance appraisal can be considered to be an immensely important tool for that can be used by supervisors to gain an understanding of the people who work under them, it is not necessarily the only one. This process has to be augmented by the supervisors ensuring that there are open lines of communication available to employees throughout that ensure that there is an understanding which helps in the determination of a good and effective working relationship. When conducting a performance appraisal, the supervisor must ensure that each employee is given an appraisal that is thoughtful and careful so that an accurate assessment can be made. In order for a performance appraisal to be successful, the supervisor must display a willingness to conduct an appraisal that is both constructive and objective. In addition, the employee must display a willingness to take positively all the suggestions that are made to him or her, and to be able to work with the supervisor to achieve the goals of their organization.

A performance appraisal is a process that is conducted once every year by a supervisor to evaluate the performance of all the employees that work under him. There might arise cases where an employee may have changed jobs within the period before the appraisal and in such cases, both of the supervisors of this employee during his period have to make a submission of his or her performance so that a fair appraisal can be made. During this process, the most up to date job description of the employee on file is evaluated by the employee and their supervisor and if it is found to be necessary, this description can be revised. The process also involves a review of the salary increase to which each employee is entitled and this tends to be subject to the approval of the administration. The basis upon which this increment is allocated is that of the merit of the employee’s performance and its aim is to reward the top performers within the organization as a match for their contributions. 

In many organizations, the performance appraisal is part of the annual activities that have to be conducted. However, in many cases, the role that is given to the supervisor as judge tends not to be taken lightly and it is in fact heartily disliked by many supervisors. This is due to the fact that many of the supervisors involved tend to hold the fate of their employees in their hands during this process, something which can be disastrous for both parties involved. Many of the supervisors who conduct the performance appraisal tend to be influenced more by the recent actions of the employees than that of the entire period of the appraisal. Since most of the information gathered by the supervisor is based on recent memory, it is often difficult to create a true picture of an employee’s performance. One would go as far as to say that the appraisal process is flawed because it lacks the objectivity needed to judge the employees fairly.

It is common practice in many organizations for the supervisors to put off conducting performance appraisals for their employees because of their discomfort over being the judge of the level of their employees’ performance. This, in the process, ensures that many of the performance appraisals are often long overdue and this creates a situation where the employees become resentful of their supervisors. Many employees often feel that their supervisors are denying them the right of receiving a well deserved pay increment since the annual pay rises of the employees tend to be tied to how well they performed in their appraisals. The performance appraisal is subject to many complications some of which include inaccuracy of the information concerning employees. This is because of the fact that many of the decisions made by the supervisors as judges is often from recent memory and it fails to put into account the performance of individual employees throughout the period, usually a year. To avoid any conflict with the employees, supervisors end up assessing them favorably and not according to their real performance, ensuring that there is a flaw in the day to day running of the organization.

Understanding the Global Community - Liberalism/Neoliberalism

Eat Drink Man Woman (1994)

This is a movie whose plot is set to address the ongoing issues, in Taiwan, concerning the changing ways of the people or society from the traditional Chinese to the more western ways. The plot of the movie is unique, because the conflict in the change is centered on food. It is a story of a retired chef who lives with his three single daughters until the time comes when they meet the loves of their lives. One of the daughters loves cooking like her father and it is her secret desire to become a chef like him. However, this is a challenge for her because it is rare for women to be allowed into the profession, which is male dominated. Despite the fact that the daughters look upon their father’s cooking for them as being too traditional, the meals they share serves to bring their family together, something which is extremely rare indeed in the modern society. Another daughter shows a lot of cynicism towards men until such a time as she meets a volleyball coach to who she is attracted. This daughter completely breaks with tradition by actively pursuing the man that she desires. The youngest daughter is a college student who is quite sexually adventurous and her escapades result in her getting pregnant. The chef’s wife has passed away sixteen years prior to the plot of the movie, and the lack of a mother in the household is something which is realized throughout the film. Had there been a mother’s presence in the family’s life, then the troubles which this family is undergoing would be nonexistent, or minimal.

One of the major themes of this movie is one of self sacrifice as seen when Jia-Jen decides to stay at home and look after her father and her sisters. She lives a single life because of this selflessness on her part and it can be said that she fills the role of the mother in the household. Her sister, Jia-Chien, is the direct opposite of her sister due to her selfish nature; not wanting to be bothered by the affairs of the family as long as all her needs are fulfilled. Jia-Ning, the youngest sister, lives a very carefree life and it can be said that this is because of the lack of guidance that she would have received from her mother had she been alive. Chu, their father, is a well meaning man who has chosen not to remarry for the sake of taking care of his daughters himself. He is a man who, despite the fact that his daughters have grown up and are supposed to move out of the home, continues to live with them. This is a sign of a caring father who, instead of choosing the modern way of letting his children go, decides to follow the traditional way of letting his daughters stay at home until such a time as they get married. The fact that his adult daughters are still living at home creates a lot of tension between them; a conflict that can be considered to be one between traditionalism and modernism.

This is an emotional film to watch because it does not have any action but it instead deals with the emotional aspects of the people within it. It has a powerful plot which curiously creates an environment that displays the day to day lives of the characters. It is similar to the the scenes that are increasingly becoming common in Taiwan, where the traditional way of life is coming into conflict with the modern ways. While some people are trying hard to retain their culture, the younger generation seems to be moving away from it. When one watches this movie, one comes to the conclusion that the old ways are losing out and that the best way to handle this transition should not be resistance, but acceptance. In addition, Chu’s slow loss of his sense of taste, something which he depends on to earn a living, is highly symbolic. The sense of taste can be said to be a symbol of the traditional way of life and the way that it is inevitably going to come to an end. The film itself is not boring because of the heavy drama which is involved in every scene. The camera work is done so well that this film can be considered to be a rare phenomenon in the Asian film industry, because the films from this region tend to have very little camera movement. In conclusion, it can be said that this film is highly revelatory of the way of life, and the dilemmas it brings with it, in modern Taiwan.

Infernal Affairs (2002)

Infernal Affairs is one of the best films to have come out of Hong Kong in recent times, and its success has been so well noted that it has helped to revive the Chinese film industry, which until the making of this film, was considered to have been lacking in creativity. The production of Infernal Affairs proved the critics of the Hong Kong film industry wrong, and illustrated the fact that China does indeed have what it takes to produce successful films. The success of Infernal Affairs and the wave of interest it generated inspired the creation of a prequel and a sequel to the film. Before its official release, this film generated a lot of interest among the prospective audience because of the difference in concept to the other films that had recently come from Hong Kong. It can be said that the concept, upon which the film is based, is highly unique and extraordinarily few films have been created using the same concept. This film employs a vibrating abruptness that is usually found in the work of the writer and director Michael Mann. The theme of this film uses the techniques which Mann used in the film Heat and this theme can be seen almost to the last detail. It has the same cold bloodedness that was displayed in the latter film and this, indeed, makes it one of a kind. When the film was released, it did not disappoint those who had expected it to have the qualities that were unique, fun, and at the same time made the film a serious picture to watch. It looks at the relationship between the police and the criminal underworld in a new perspective that many would consider impossible. It set a new record which many Hong Kong films of the same genre from that time on have been trying to reach. This film is, therefore, worthy of the adoration that many of its fans have had, and continue to have, for it.

The film gives the viewer a glance into the criminal underworld, that is dominated by the Triad, where criminal mastermind Hon Sam believes that he can make his gang live outside the law. To achieve this feat, he sends a group of young men to join the police academy so that when they become police officers, they will be able to keep any attention from his activities from the police. The main aim is to keep ahead of the police, by getting to know what moves the police are planning against him before those plans can be executed. In this way, he will be able to run his operations safely without any fear of getting caught. Unknown to Hon, the police are planning almost the exact thing against him. They want to place a mole within his organization so that the mole can tell them the moves that Hon makes, hence ensuring that he is caught red-handed. Under the supervision of Superintendent Wong, Chan is chosen to become the mole in Hon’s triad organization, and to achieve this, there is a public demonstration where Chan gets kicked out of the Academy despite being the best student. This leads him to enter the criminal underworld as an undercover cop, with only two people in the police department knowing his true identity. The duty, which has been assigned to Chan, is a perilous one indeed because he is tasked to remain with the triads until such a time as they are brought down, no matter how long it takes. Within the same academy as Chan is one Lau, who is a Triad mole tasked with keeping Hon up to date about the police movement against him.

The entire movie is based on the parallel lives which Lau and Chan live as moles in each other’s organizations and how these lives come to profoundly affect them personally. There is a sense, around the main characters of the film, of being disconnected and alienated and this helps to increase the excitement that one feels when watching it. This feeling keeps one wondering what is going to happen next, ensuring that one fully concentrates on the film, so the latter scenes are not missed out. These two characters are, unknowingly, brought together at the beginning of the film, each not having a hint of how interconnected their lives truly are. Both of these men have to deal with not getting too close to the people around them for fear that they might be found out for who they actually are. This situation keeps them alien in their new environment as they are not able to form the bonds of friendship, with the people around them, as would happen had they been in a normal situation. The mental torture these two men undergo in their adopted environments is further examined in the film through the study of the women who have been in their lives, both in the past and present. One woman, Lau’s girlfriend is a novelist who is not able to decide whether a character she is writing about and has modeled on her boyfriend should be good or evil. She does not realize how close to the truth her fictional character is to the reality of her boyfriend’s life. On the other hand, there is an ex-girlfriend who chooses to hide the existence of her daughter from her father for fear that he might be a destructive influence. Finally, there is a therapist, who has conflicting emotions concerning her patient, on one hand desiring him while, on the other, she knows that he might not be the man for her on account of his being a gangster. Chan also has feelings for his therapists, and it is only in her presence that he feels secure enough to be able to sleep. When not in her presence, Chan has insomnia, due to the burden which he has had to carry in the ten years in which he has been a mole within the Triad organization. The use of these three women in the film is done to show the various complications which the two main characters have to go through in their daily lives. They further provide an insight on the individual characters of these two men, and what inspires these women to behave towards them as they do.

This film dares its audience to decide who the hero and the villain is because even those women, with whom these men are involved, do not know exactly what they are about. Despite the fact that they work hand in hand with their coworkers on a daily basis, none of these coworkers even has an inkling that these men are moles in their respective organizations. They accept these two characters as they are with no questions being asked, their enigmatic behavior being taken for granted. The film helps to show just how alluring the life of the underworld can be, and how one can be tempted to go in and never want to leave it again. What makes this film special is not its plot, but the way the two leads starring in it portray the characters. Lau is shown to be a man who would have made a different choice in life had the responsibility of being a mole for the Triads, among the police, not been thrust upon him when he was younger. Lau is seen as a tortured man whose life has been chosen for him, and there is no way for him to get out of this purgatory. The character of Chan, on the other hand, is made to be the mirror reflection of Lau, whose duties as a mole among the Triads have been placed on him at a young age. Chan is also shown to undergo mental torture as he struggles with the temptation of forgetting himself and getting absorbed into the underworld. The lives of these two moles are seen as a form of torture for both of them, and it is this shared torture that makes them so similar. Their motivation is to do the best they can in order to survive in situations which the fates have thrust upon them. Both of these men have done extremely well in the situations within which they have been placed. Lau quickly rises through the ranks of the police, while Chan also rises among the Triads to become one of the most trusted lieutenants of Hon, the Triad boss. Therefore, neither of these men can be described as being either good or evil, and instead, they can be said to be surviving.

Since the film is in Cantonese with English subtitles, there are certain aspects of the film which are lost in translation. This is because it is difficult to translate certain idioms, which are humorous in one language, to another language, as in most cases, the humor tends to be lost. Despite this fact, however, the movie can be said to be excellent, and perhaps may encourage those who would like to get the whole picture of the movie to want to learn Cantonese, the language in which it was made. This is indeed a bold film which deals with the lives of two men whose lives are going in a way which they did not expect. It focuses on their desire to break away from the chains that are holding them back, despite the fact that if they do so, then it might lead to their destruction. One can also say that the film is a tragedy because when the truth about the two men comes to light, it is too late for either to redeem himself. Although Chan accomplishes his mission within the Triad organization by helping in the destruction of Hon, he still ends up getting killed by one of the moles planted by Hon in the police. Moreover, despite the fact that both men strive to redeem themselves through the destruction of the Triad organization, none of them gets the redemption because Chan gets killed while Lau ends up getting arrested when it is found out that he was the mole among the police for all the years that Chan was undercover. It can, therefore, be said that this film manages to capture the different aspects of human life. It shows the audience the futility of some of the actions that people take in their lives, teaching that one does not always get what they want. It is a film of revelation, as the two characters get to assess their lives in different situations and come to find what it is they desire in their lives. The plot, as well as the skills displayed by the actors, has made the film one of the best to come out of Hong Kong.

Factors that Determine Regime Stability

Introduction

Political stability is a concept that is often discussed as an extremely valued condition because it brings about a situation where there is good political development. Instability, on the other hand, is considered to come about because of a lack of political development on the part of the state involved. This project presents a case study of the determinants of regime stability with specific reference to the Middle Eastern countries of Egypt and Iran, on one hand, and Mexico on the other.

Hypothesis

Most definitions of regime stability tend to be based on the prominence of regularity which has a positive effect on the system of government involved, and fail to consider that stability depends on the unique circumstances facing each regime.

Definition of key concepts

Regime – a government, especially one that is considered authoritarian.

Stability – the state of being stable, in this case political or concerning government.

The justification for dependent variable: positive representations of regime stability

A considerable number of studies present regime stability as the having a positive effect on the system of government involved. It is a means through which governments are assessed by internal actors and brings about a situation where there is the advancement of policies towards such regimes by external actors.

The justification for independent variable

Regime stability is dependent on the prevailing political conditions at home. Some regimes might seem to be highly stable yet prove to be quite vulnerable in the long run. Moreover, those that are seen as being highly volatile end up proving more durable.

Other significant variables

Lack of democratic space: despite the relative stability of a regime, there are instances where the population might end up revolting because they do not participate in politics.

Slow move towards change: the world is rapidly changing and this process has also come into politics. Lack of political reforms could lead to regime instability.

Influence from external actors: there might develop a situation where external actors seek to influence internal events, leading to considerable instability.

Review of Studies on the Topic

The belief in political stability is one that has for the most part promoted the policies of most countries towards others. This is because stability tends to be given more prominence than any other aspect of politics because it enables the achievement of goals that would otherwise be extremely difficult to bring about. Therefore, there is a constant need by countries, especially those that are international players, to ensure that they bring about the maintenance of regime stability in order to serve their own interests (Game III, 2011). Under such circumstances, predicting abrupt political change is often an extremely difficult task because it is often influenced by the way that political analysts conceptualize regime stability. Countries such as the United States and those that make up the EU have pursued varying policies in the Middle East with the aim of promoting a situation where their interests are based on the stability of the non-democratic regimes in the region. A consequence has been that whenever political changes have taken place, they have happened in such a way that has caught them by surprise. Therefore, there is a need to ensure that there is the advancement of greater efforts aimed at bringing about a greater understanding of the stability of regimes in the Middle East and other parts of the world in order to help in the development of more effective policies. There seems to have been a failure in the foreign policies of both the United States and the EU when it comes to understanding the determinants of regime stability in the Middle East and this has been an extremely costly mistake as seen with the events of the Arab Spring and their aftermath.

Apart from the Middle East, another area of concern for the United States for decades has been Latin America (Holden & Zolov, 2000). The political instability in Latin America has been represented through the Roosevelt Corollary and the revolutionary movements that pervaded the Central American nations for decades (Ricard, 2006). A sense of urgency to ensure an understanding of the factors that lead to the development of stable political systems, especially when considering the extralegal means through which power has been seized in the history of some South American countries, has been a hallmark of American policy in the region (Hart, 1977). Despite these events, a study of the political development of Mexico can be considered an essential one when it comes to regime stability. This is because despite revolutions taking place in the country, unlike other Latin American countries, Mexico has been able to ensure that it enjoys a relatively stable political environment for more than half a century (De Janvry, Gonzalez-Navarro, & Sadoulet, 2014). Despite considerable pressure having been placed on its political system due to rapid economic growth as well as other challenges, Mexico has been able to ensure that it continues to remain stable. Under such circumstances, Mexico can be considered a country that has remained fairly stable despite facing similar challenges to its Latin American counterparts, which have not fared as well.

Presentation and Justification of Cases

Claude Ake promotes the idea that political stability is essentially the regularity in which there is the flow of political exchanges within a society (Ake, 1975, p. 273). This is especially the case considering that political stability can only come about because of the decision of members of a society to put restrictions on themselves in such a way that they conform to the limits that have been imposed on them through the expectations brought about by political roles. Moreover, there is need to ensure that there is no confusion between political stability and the lack of political change. Ernest Duff and John Mccamant define a stable political system as one that can essentially withstand change, but also within the political structure that has been developed in society (Duff & McCamant, 1968, p. 1125). Leon Hurwitz identifies five approaches to the study of political stability and concludes that the most effective is to study political stability as a multifaceted social attribute. This view sees political stability as systemic stability and is a synthesis or integration of the other approaches (Hurwitz, 1973, p. 449).

Stability is considered to be desirable for a vast number of reasons and these are based on the need to ensure that there is the provision of an advantage to external players when it comes to the predictability of government actions. The predictability of government actions can be considered to be essential in helping in the development of policy because it determines the direction that a government or regime is likely to take at certain times (Rodrik & Zeckhauser, 1988). Under such circumstances, it becomes possible to make sure that there is the advancement of a situation where external players are able to adjust their policies accordingly in order to bring about the achievement of the most advantage to themselves in their dealings with the regime. This is especially considering that dealing with a failing state can be an extremely daunting initiative, because it is often difficult to identify a counterpart that can be interacted with effectively in order to ensure that there is the establishment of strong policy initiatives. It is normal for countries to make use of a diversity of initiatives aimed at ensuring that their counterparts are able to accept their point of view and become influenced towards achieving desirable outcomes. However, in the case of an unstable regime, it becomes troublesome because the latter does not have full control over the state (Aisen & Veiga, 2013). Therefore, it becomes necessary for government to ensure that there are efforts to get as accurate an understanding of regimes and the possible risks surrounding them before undertaking to bring about a threat to their stability. The ramifications of an unstable regime can be catastrophic not only to the said state, but also to the region within which it is situated. There is need to promote the creation of a scenario where there are limited foreign interventions that might end up risking the stability of states, because regimes, especially authoritarian ones, can end up proving to be highly unstable whenever challenges by massive popular discontent.

The concept of regime stability is one that has a diversity of definitions and this creates a situation where they end up becoming quite controversial (Hurwitz, 1973). A broad definition of this concept is that it involves a situation where there is the absence of any sort of domestic civil conflict or widespread violence that might end up marring the functions of the state. Instead, the regime can be considered to be one that has essentially rid itself of instability in such a way that there are no systematic attacks on persons and their assets within the boundaries of the state. Furthermore, there is the advancement of a situation where there is need for the regime to ensure that there is the creation of an environment where it is in full control of the situation and it can enforce its will on its people. However, this definition might prove to be problematic, because there are instances where despite the political situation of a country looking stable at the moment, the entire system of governance can end up collapsing quite quickly. This means that despite there being no systematic attacks on individuals or property, the regime could actually be quite fragile; only awaiting an incident to trigger unrest and show its fragility for what it really is. An example of this situation is President Jimmy Carter in 1977 praising pre-revolutionary Iran as being one of the most stable countries in a region that was extremely troubled (Carter, 1977). At the time he made this statement, little did he know that the entire regime would end up unraveling within two years and that there would be a revolution in Iran that would overthrow the Shah. Thus, regime stability cannot be effectively defined based on the above definition because the signs of stability tend to end up actually being only a veneer that hides the decay that is actually being experienced within the political system.

Another interpretation of regime stability is one that essentially equates regime longevity with stability (Harymawan & Nowland, 2016). This is an extremely challenging definition because it involves the definition of a country that experiences constant changes in government as unstable. There is a failure to consider that there are some countries in the world that have experienced constant changes in government yet have for the most part maintained the same policies as their predecessors. Such states might even have very stable administrative systems that are not adversely affected whenever there is regime change. A country such as Italy, which had over sixty changes in government over a similar number of years, was able to maintain a fairly stable policy throughout this period without undergoing any form of instability that would have made the nation extremely vulnerable (Curini, 2011). Under such circumstances, this definition becomes redundant because there is a lack of consideration for those states that remain stable even when there is regime change. Another example is that of Belgium, which had to undergo over a year without a cabinet and would have ended up being ranked even lower that Egypt when it came to regime instability (Hooghe, 2012). However, these circumstances proved wrong because Belgium was able to ride out the storm through the ability of its institutions to not only weather the political storm, but also keep administrative activities going throughout the period. This can be compared to the uninterrupted thirty year old rule of the Mubarak regime in Egypt, which despite its longevity ended up falling within days of public protests in the country (Shehata, 2011).

Moreover, another approach to regime stability is based on the concept of lack of structural change (Maoz & Russett, 1993). This is an approach that seeks to promote the idea that a stable regime is one that essentially has the absence of internally or externally induced change in its basic configuration; resulting in a situation where it remains stable at all times. While this approach can be considered pertinent when it comes to the discussion of regime stability, it is also quite problematic because it promotes the idea of structural change, which is often quite difficult to define. Furthermore, there are instances where deep changes take place in regimes that despite the changes end up remaining quite strong to such an extent that there is a level of continuity in their economic, social, and constitutional formations (Eckstein, 1988). Therefore, the stability of regimes can be considered to be based on the unique situation of each state because there are instances where change can happen in a positive manner to such an extent that it leads to the advancement of stability rather than a failure of the regime. Furthermore, there are instances where it becomes possible for the progression of strong regimes through the development of locally induced changes that gradually bring about positive shifts in the power structure that enhance rather than break regime stability.

Speculative Conclusion

The review of literature above has shown that there is a diversity of definitions of the determinants of regime stability. This is because each regime has to be considered based on its own unique situation rather than being generalized. A study of the regimes has shown that those that seem to be the most stable could turn out to be extremely vulnerable and vice versa. It is therefore essential to make sure that the stability of each regime is studied based on its own unique development and the manner through which it has been able to develop towards the promotion of its institutions and their durability.

References

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