The Inequality Of The Math And Science - 873 Words

Many people in society place a gender with almost every career field there is. For example, many people feel that there should only be males in both the math and science fields, or they associate males with a math or science career. Many women are not choosing to go into these fields such as physics or biology, because there are also not enough mentors encouraging women to go into the math and science fields. Society has built this culture to make girls not want to go into math and science because females are not hired in those fields as frequently as males are. Although society may feel that women shouldn’t have a career in the math and science fields, I personally feel that women shouldn’t go by what society says and not follow the societal norm or fit in this â€Å"mold† that society puts women in. According to learning.blogs.nytimes.com, â€Å"Women earned 37 percent of computer science degrees in 1985, but there were only 18 percent earned in 2010† (Gonchar 4). Some studies show that the problem really starts at childhood because many women are not encouraged by teachers nor their parents to become engineers or biochemists. The discouragement that they receive ultimately makes some women not even want to attempt the harder science classes throughout college, which are required in order to have a career in the science field. According to abc.net.au, some girls are opting out to take advance science and math courses during their final years of high school. Sedghi also states thatShow MoreRelatedGender Inequalities And Gender Inequality922 Words   |  4 PagesGender Inequalities in Education Judge Sonia Sotomayor states, â€Å"Until we get equality in education, we won t have an equal society. That quote resonates throughout the world because of gender inequality in education. Researchers believe gender inequality still exists in the 21st century. Through research, controversial opinions exist about inequality in schools and what has been done to address this situation. What is gender equality? Gender inequality refers to disproportionate dealing or assessmentsRead MoreThe Dilemma Of Masculinity Versus Career Paths1702 Words   |  7 Pagesfemale role models for young girls to look up to. The more female representation in the STEM field, the more likely young girls are to eventually go into the STEM field. Introduction STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. There is a bias that 8 GENDER INEQUALITY IN THE STEM FIELD any career in the STEM field is male fields whereas humanities and arts careers are primarily female fields. 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The Oxford Dictionary of Sports Science Medicine defines gender inequality as â€Å"Social process by which people are treated differently and disadvantageously, under similar circumstances, on the basis of gender† (Kent). This inequality is deeply related to the social view of the gender and inherent biological factors. According to Jay Mcsherry in his paper The Gender Divide, he claims that gender inequality can be seen from differencesRead MoreThe Female Advantage For Education877 Words   |  4 Pagesperformance and attainment exceed that of men’s on average, their low representation in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, disadvantage beyond the educational realm, and the overall gender inequality in the society persist. Ridgeway and Correll posit that the hegemonic gender beliefs, reinforced by the social relational contexts of gender, produce and reproduce gender inequality in the larger society. 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Using the sociological perspectives of functionalist, conflict, feminist, and interactionist, we can see how each perspective views how this inequality becomes prevalent and how social, as well as economic inequalities of society are inherited through education. Functionalist define a social problem by looking for the functions andRead MoreNew Hispanic American Honors Track Essay898 Words   |  4 PagesHigh School, who arrived to the United states from Peru a couple of months ago, and after complaining for three months, Christine Burrows, my guidance counselor, decided to change my Algebra class by a â€Å"higher† level math. â€Å"I took Geometry and Trigonometry already; is there other math I can take?† I said to my guidance counselor. â€Å"I will make an ‘exception’ and I will enroll you in pre calculus† She responded. 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Building the Emotional Intelligence of Groups Free Essays

80 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW By now, most executives have accepted that emotional intelligence is as critical as IQ to an individual’s effectiveness. But much of the important work in organizations is done in teams. New research uncovers what emotional intelligence at the group level looks like-and how to achieve it Building the Emotioncil Intelligence of Groups W by Vanessa Urch Druskat and Steven B. We will write a custom essay sample on Building the Emotional Intelligence of Groups or any similar topic only for you Order Now Wolff HEN MANAGERS EIRST STARTED HEARING ABOUT the concept of emotional intelligence in the 1990s, scales fell from their eyes. The basic message, that effectiveness in organizations is at least as much about EQ as IQ, resonated deeply; it was something that people knew in their guts but that had never before been so well articulated. Most important, the idea held the potential for positive change. Instead of being stuck with the hand they’d been dealt, people could take steps to enhance their emotional intelligence and make themselves more effective in their work and personal lives. Indeed, the concept of emotional intelligence had real impact. The only problem is that so far emotional intelligence has been viewed only as an individual competency, when the reality is that most work in organizations is done by teams. And if managers have one pressing need today, it’s to find ways to make teams work better. MARCH 2001 81 Building the Emotional Intelligence of Groups It is with real excitement, therefore, that we share these findingsfromour research: individual emotional intelligence has a group analog, and it is just as critical to groups’ effectiveness. Teams can develop greater emotional intelligence and, in so doing, boost their overall performance. Why Should Teams Build Their Emotional Intelligence? No one would dispute the importance of making teams work more effectively. But most research about how to do so has focused on identifying the task processes that distinguish the most successftil teams-that is, specifying the need for cooperation, participation, commitment to goals, and so forth. The assumption seems to be that, once identified, these processes can simply be imitated by other teams, with similar effect. It’s not true. By analogy, think of it this way: a piano student can be taught to play Minuet in G, but he won’t become a modem-day Bach without knowing music theory and being able to play with heart. Similarly, the real source of a great team’s success lies in the fundamental conditions that allow effective task processes to emerge-and that cause members to engage in them wholeheartedly. Our research tells us that three conditions are essential to a group’s effectiveness: trust among members, a sense of group identity, and a sense of group efficacy. When these conditions are absent, going through the motions of cooperating and participating is still possible. But the team will not be as effective as it could be, because members will choose to hold back rather than fully engage. To be most effective, the team needs to create emotionally intelligent norms -the attitudes and behaviors that eventually become habits-that support behaviors for building trust, group identity, and group efficacy. The outcome is complete engagement in tasks. {For more on how emotional intelligence infiuences these conditions, see the sidebar â€Å"A Model of Team Effectiveness. ) at more levels. To understand the differences, let’s first look at the concept of individual emotional intelligence as defined by Daniel Goleman. In his definitive book Emotional Intelligence, Goleman explains the chief characteristics of someone with high El; he or she is aware of emotions and able to regulate them-and this awareness and regulation are directed both inw ard, to one’s self, and outward, to others. â€Å"Personal competence,† in Goleman’s words, comes from being aware of and regulating one’s own emotions. Social competence†is awareness and regulation of others’ emotions. A group, however, must attend to yet another level of awareness and regulation. It must be mindful of the emotions of its members, its own group emotions or moods, and the emotions of other groups and individuals outside its boundaries. In this article, we’ll explore how emotional incompetence at any of these levels can cause dysfunction. We’ll also show how establishing specific group norms that create awareness and regulation of emotion at these three levels can lead to better outcomes. First, we’ll focus on the individual level-how emotionally intelligent groups work with their individual members’ emotions. Next, we’ll focus on the group level. Andfinally,we’ll look at the cross-boimdary level. Working with Individuals’ Emotions /(†¢// Kasper, head ofher company’s customer service department, is naturally tapped tojoin a new cross-functional team focused on enhancing the customer experience: she has extensive experience in and a real passion for customer service. But her teammatesfind she brings little more than a bad attitude to the table. At an early brainstorming session, Jill sits silent, arms crossed, rolling her eyes. Whenever the team starts to get energized about an idea, she launches into a detailed account of how a similar idea went nowhere in the past. The group is confused: this is the customer service star they’ve been hearing about? Little do they realize shefeels insulted by the very formation of the team. To her, it implies she hasn’t done her job well enough. Three Levels of Emotional Interaction Make no mistake: a team with emotionally intelligent members does not necessarily make for an emotionally intelligent group. A team, like any social group, takes on its own character. So creating an upward, self-reinforcing spiral of trust, group identity, and group efficacy requires more than a few members who exhibit emotionally intelligent behavior. It requires a team atmosphere in which the norms build emotional capacity (the ability to respond constructively in emotionally uncomfortable situations) and influence emotions in constructive ways. Team emotional intelligence is more complicated than individual emotional intelligence because teams interact 82 When a member is not on the same emotional wavelength as the rest, a team needs to be emotionally intelligent vis-ci-vis that individual. In part, that simply means being aware of the problem. Having a norm that encourages interpersonal understanding might facilitate an awareness that Jill is acting out of defensiveness. And picking up on this defensiveness is necessary if the team Vanessa Urch Druskat is an assistant professor of organizational behavior at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. Steven B. Wolff is an assistant professor of management at the School of Management at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York. HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW Building the Emotional Intelligence of Croups A Model of Team Effectiveness better decisions, more creative solutions, higher productivity study after study has shown that teams are more creative and productive when they can achieve high levels of participation, cooperation, and collaboration among members. But interactive behaviors (ike these aren’t easy to legislate. Our work shows that tbree basic conditions need to be present before such behaviors can occur: mutual trust among members, a sense of group identity (a feeling among members that they belong to a unique and worthwhile group), and a sense of group efficacy (the beliefthat the team can perform well and that group members are more effective working together than apart). At the heart of these three conditions are emotions. Trust, a sense of identity, and a feeling of efficacy arise in environments where emotion is well handled, so groups stand to benefit by building their emotional intelligence. Group emotional intelligence isn’t a question of dealing with a necessary evil-catching emotions as they bubble up and promptly suppressing them. Far from it. It’s about bringing emotions deliberately to the surface and understanding how they affect the team’s work. It’s also about behaving in ways that build relationships both inside and outside the team and that strengthen tbe team’s ability to face challenges. Emotional intelligence means exploring, embracing, and ultimately relying on emotion in work that is, at the end ofthe day, deeply human. articipation, cooperation, collaboration trust, identity, efficacy group emotional intelligence wants to make her imderstand its desire to amplify her good work, not negate it. Some teams seem to be able to do this naturally. At Hewlett-Packard, for instance, we learned of a team that was attempting to cross-train its members. The idea was that if each member could pinch-hit on everyone else’s job, the team could deploy efforts to whatever task required the most attention. But one member seemed very uncomfortable with learning new skills and tasks; accustomed to being a top producer in his own job, he hated not knowing how to do a job perfectly. Luckily, his teammates recognized his discomfort, and rather than being annoyed, they redoubled their efforts to support him. This team benefited from a group norm it had established over time emphasizing interpersonal understanding. The norm had grown out of the group’s realization that working to accurately hear and understand one another’s feelings and concerns improved member morale and a willingness to cooperate. Many teams build high emotional intelligence by taking pains to consider matters from an individual member’s perspective. Think of a situation where a team of four must reach a decision; three favor one direction and the fourth favors another. In the interest of expedience, many teams in this situation would move directly to a maMARCH 2001 jority vote. But a more emotionally intelligent group would pausefirstto hear out the objection. It would also ask if everyone were completely behind the decision, even if there appeared to be consensus. Such groups would ask, â€Å"Are there any perspectives we haven’t heard yet or thought through completely? † Perspective taking is a team behavior that teamwork experts discuss often – but not in terms of its emotional consequence. Many teams are trained to use perspectivetaking techniques to make decisions or solve problems (a common tool is affinity diagramming). But these techniques may or may not improve a group’s emotional intelligence. The problem is that many of these techniques consciously attempt to remove emotion from the process by collecting and combining perspectives in a mechanical way. A more effective approach to perspective taking is to ensure that team members see one another making the effort to grapple with perspectives; that way, the team has a better chance of creating the kind of trust that leads to greater participation among members. An executive team at the Hay Group, a consulting firm, engages in the kind of deep perspective taking we’re describing. The team has done role-playing exercises in which members adopt others’opinions and styles of interaction. It has also used a â€Å"storyboarding† technique, in 83 Building ttie Emotional Intelligence of Croups which each member creates a small poster representing his or her ideas. As team members will attest, these methods and others have helped the group build trust and increase participation. Regulating Individuals’Emotions Interpersonal understanding and perspective taking are two ways that groups can become more aware of their members’ perspectives and feelings. But just as important as awareness is the ability to regulate those emotions-to have a positive impact on how they are expressed and even on how individual team members feel. We’re not talking about imposing groupthink or some other form of manipulation here-clearly, the goal must be to balance the team’s cohesion with members’ individuality. We’re simply acknowledging that people take their emotional cues from those around them. Something that seems upsetting initially can seem not so bad – o r ten times worse depending on whether one’s colleagues are inclined to smooth feathers or fan flames. The most constructive way of regulating team members’emotions is hy establishing norms in the group for both confrontation and caring. in a meeting where one team member arrived angry because the time and place of the meeting was very inconvenient for him. When another member announced the sacrifice the man had made to be there, and thanked him, the man’s attitude turned around 180 degrees. In general, a caring orientation includes displaying positive regard, appreciation, and respect for group members through behaviors such as support, validation, and compassion. Interpersonal understanding, perspective taking, confrontation, caring-these norms build trust and a sense of group identity among members. And all of them can be established in teams where they don’t arise naturally. You may ask, But is it really worth all the effort? Does it make sense to spend managerial time fostering new norms to accommodate a few prickly personalities? Of course it does. Teams are at the very foundation of an organization, and they won’t work effectively without mutual trust and a common commitment to goals. Working with Group Emotions Chris couldn’t believe it, but he was requesting a reassignment The team he was on was doing good work, staying on budget, and hitting all its deadlines – though not always eleIt may seem illogical to suggest that an emotionally gantly. Its leader, Stan Evans, just got a promotion. So why intelligent group must engage in confrontation, but it’s was being on the team such a downer? At the last major stanot. Inevitably, a team member will indulge in behavior tus meeting, they should have been serving champagne -so that crosses the line, and the team must feel comfortable much had been achieved. Instead, everyone was thoroughly calling the foul. In one manufacturing team we studied, dispirited over a setback they hadn’t foreseen, which turned a member told us about the day she selfishly decided to out later to be no big deal. It seemed no matter what hapextend her break. Before long, one of her teammates pened, the group griped. The team even saw Stan’s promostormed into the break room, saying, â€Å"What are you dotion in a negative light: â€Å"Oh, so I guess management wants ing in here? Get back out on the floor-your team needs to keep a closer eye on us† and â€Å"I hear Stan’s new boss you! The woman had overstepped tbe bounds, and doesn’t back this project. † Chris she got called on it. There were had a friend on another team no hard feelings, because the woman knew the group valued Inevitably, a team member will who was happy to put in a good word for him. The work was inher contributions. indulge in behavior that crosses he rently less interesting – but hey, Some teams also find that a at least they were having fun. little bumor helps when pointing out errant behavior. Teasing Some teams suffer because someone who is habitually late they aren’t aware of emotions comfortable calling the foul. or meetings, for instance, can at the group level. Chris’s team, make that person aware of how for instance, isn’t aware of all it has achieved, and it doesn’t acknowledge that it has fallen important timeliness is to the group. Done right, coninto a malaise. !n our study of effective teams, we’ve frontation can be seen in a positive light; it’s a way for found tbat having norms for group self-awareness-of the group to say, â€Å"We want you in-we need your conemotional states, strengths and weaknesses, modes of intribution. And it’s especially important when a team teraction, and task processes-is a critical part of group must work together on a long-term as signment. Without emotional intelligence tbat facilitates group efficacy. confrontation, disruptive behavior can fester and erode Teams gain it both through self-evaluation and by solicita sense of trust in a team. ing feedback from others. Establishing norms that reinforce caring behavior is often not very difficult and usually a matter of concenSelf-evaluation can take tbe form of a formal event trating on little things. When an individual is upset, for or a constant activity. At Sberwin Williams, a group of example, it may make all the difference to have group managers was starting a new initiative that would require members acknowledge that person’s feelings. We saw this higher levels of teamwork. Group members hired a con- the line, and the team mustfeel 84 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW Building the Emotional Intelligence of Croups sultant, but before the consultant arrived, they met to assess their strengths and weaknesses as a team. They found that merely articulating the issues was an important step toward building their capabilities. A far less formal method of raising group emotional awareness is through the kind of activity we saw at the Veterans Health Administration’s Center for Leadership and Development. Managers there have developed a norm in which they are encouraged to speak up when they feel the group is not being productive. For example, if there’s a post-lunch lull and people on the team are low on energy, someone might say, â€Å"Don’t we look like a bunch of sad sacks? With attention called to it, the group makes an effort to refocus. Emotionally competent teams don’t wear blinders; they have the emotional capacity to face potentially difficult information and actively seek opinions on their task processes, progress, and performance from the outside. For some teams, feedback may come directly from customers. Others look to colleagues within the company, to suppliers, or to professional peers. A group of designers we studied routinely posts its work in progress on walls throughout the building, with invitations to comment and critique. Similarly, many advertising agencies see annual industry competitions as a valuable source of feedback on their creative teams’ work. Croups are most creative when their members collaborate unreservedly. People stop holding back when there is mutual trust, rooted in emotionally intelligent interactions. Regulating Group Emotions Many teams make conscious efforts to build team spirit. Team-building outings, whether purely social or Outward Bound-style physical challenges, are popular methods for building this sense of collective enthusiasm. What’s going on here is that teams and their leaders recognize they can improve a team’s overall attitude-that is, they are regulating group-level emotion. And while the focus of a team-building exercise is often not directly related to a group’s actual work, the benefits are highly relevant: teams come away with higher emotional capacity and thus a greater ability to respond to emotional challenges. The most effective teams we have studied go far beyond the occasional â€Å"ropes and rocks† off-site. They have established norms that strengthen their ability to respond MARCH 2001 ffectively to the kind of emotional challenges a group confronts on a daily basis. The norms they favor accomplish three main things: they create resources for working with emotions, foster an affirmative environment, and encourage proactive problem solving. Teams need resources that all members can draw on to deal with group emotions. One important resource is a common vocabulary . To use an example, a group member at the Veterans Health Administration picked up on another member’s bad mood and told him that he was just â€Å"cranky† today. The â€Å"cranky† term stuck and became the group’s gentle way of letting someone know that their negativity was having a bad effect on the group. Other resources may include helpful ways to vent frustrations. One executive team leader we interviewed described his team’s practice of making time for a â€Å"wailing wall† – a few minutes of whining and moaning about some setback. Releasing and acknowledging those negative emotions, 85 Building the Emotional Intelligence of Croups the leader says, allows the group to refocus its attention on the parts of the situation it can control and channel its energy in a positive direction. But sometimes, venting takes more than words. We’ve seen more than one intense workplace outfitted with toys – like soft projectile shooters-that have been used in games of cube warfare. Perhaps the most obvious way to build emotional capacity through regulating team-level emotion is simply to create an affirmative environment. Everyone values a team that, when faced with a challenge, responds with a can-do attitude. Again, it’s a question of having the right group norms-in this case, favoring optimism, and positive images and interpretations over negative ones. This doesn’t always come naturally to a team, as one executive we interviewed at the Hay Group knows. When external conditions create a cycle of negativity among group members, he takes it upon himself to change the atmosphere of the group. He consciously resists the temptation to join the complaining and blaming and instead tries to reverse the cycle with a positive, constructive note. One of the most powerful norms we have seen for building a group’s ability to respond to emotionally challenging situations is an emphasis on proactive problem solving. We saw a lot of this going on in a manufacturing team we observed at AMP Corporation. Much of what this team needed to hit its targets was out of its strict control. But rather than sit back and point fingers, the team worked hard to get what it needed from others, and in some cases, took matters into its own hands. In one instance, an alignment problem in a key machine was creating faulty products. The team studied the problem and approached the engineering group with its own suggested design for a part tbat might correct the problem. The device worked, and the number of defective products decreased significantly. Building Norms for Three Levels of Group Emotional Intelligence Group emotional intelligence is about the small acts that make a big difference. It is not about a team member working all night to meet a deadline; it is about saying thank you for doir)g so. It is not about in-depth discussion of ideas; it is about asking a quiet member for his thoughts. It is not about harmony, lack of tension, and all members liking each other; it is about acknowledging when harmony is false, tension is unexpressed, and treating others witb respect. The following sidebar outlines some of the small things tbat groups can do to establisb tbe norms that build group emotional intelligence. take them down a notch. And what was with that name, anyway? Some kind ofinsidejoke, Jim guessed. Too bad nobody else got it The last kind of emotional intelligence any high-performing team should have relates to cross-boundary relationships, just as individuals should be mindful of their own emotions and others’, groups should look both inward and outward emotionally. In the case of the Bugs, This kind of problem solving is valuable for many reathe team is acting like a clique – creating close emotional sons. It obviously serves the company by removing one ties within but ignoring the feelings, needs, and conmore obstacle to profitability. But, to the point of our cerns of important individuals and teams in the broader work, it also shows a team in control of its own emotions. organization. It refused to feel powerless and was eager to take charge. Some teams have developed norms that are particularly helpful in making them aware of the broader organizational context. One practice is to have various team members act as liaisons to important constituencies. Many Jim sighed. The â€Å"Bugs† team was at it agair. Didn’t they see teams are already made up of members drawn from different parts of an organization, so a cross-boundary perthat while they were high-fiving one another over their impressive productivity, the rest of the organization was paying spective comes naturally. Others need to work a little harder. One team we studied reahzed it would be imfor it? This time, in their self-managed wisdom, they’d deportant to understand the perspective of its labor union. ided to make a three months’supply of one component. No Consequently, a team member from HR went to some changeover meant no machine downtime and a record low lengths to discover the right channels for having a union cost per unit But now the group downstream was swamped with inventory it didn’t need and worried about shortages of member appointed to the group. A cross-boundary perspective is especially important in situations where a something else. Jim braced himself for his visit to the floor. eam’s work will have significant impact on others in The Bugs didn’t take criticism well; they seemed to think they were flawless and that everyone else was just trying to the organization – for example, where a team is asked to Working with Emotions Outside the Group 86 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW Building the Emotional Intelligence of Groups Individual Interpersonal Understanding 1. Take time away from group tasks to get to know one another. 2. Have a â€Å"check in† at the beginning of the meeting – that is, ask how everyone is doing. 3. Assume that undesirable behavior takes place for a reason. Find out what that reason is. Ask questions and listen. Avoid negative attributions. 4. Tell your teammates what you’re thinking and how you’re feeling. Perspective Taking 1. Ask whether everyone agrees with a decision. 2. Ask quiet members what they think. 3. Question decisions that come too quickly. 4. Appoint a devil’s advocate. Group Team Self-Evaluation 1. Schedule time to examine team effectiveness. 2. Create measurable task and process objectives and then measure them. 3. Acknowledge and discuss group moods. 4. Communicateyour sense of what is transpiring in the team. 5. Allow members to call a â€Å"process check. (For instance, a team member might say, â€Å"Process check: is this the most effective use of our time right now? â€Å") Seeking Feedback 1. Askyour†customers†howyou are doing. 2. Post your work and invite comments. 3. Benchmark your processes. Cross-Boundary Organizational Understanding 1. Find out the concerns and needs of oth ers in the organization. 2. Consider who can influence the team’s ability to accomplish its goals. 3. Discuss the culture and politics inthe organization. 4. Ask whether proposed team actions are congruent with the organization’s culture and politics. Norms That Create Awareness of Emotions Norms That Help Regulate Emotions† Confrortting 1. Set ground rules and use them to point out errant behavior. 2. Call members on errant behavior. 3. Create playful devices for pointing out such behavior. These often emerge from the group spontaneously. Reinforce them. Caring 1. Support members: volunteer to help them if they need it, be flexible, and provide emotional support. 2. Validate members’ contributions. Let members know they are valued. 3. Protect members from attack. 4. Respect individuality and differences in perspectives. Listen. 3. Never be derogatory or demeaning. Creating Resources for Working with Emotion 1. Make time to discuss difficult issues, and address the emotions that surround them. 2. Find creative, shorthand ways to acknowledge and express the emotion in the group. 3. Create fun ways to acknowledge and relieve stress and tension. 4. Express acceptance of members’ emotions. Creating an Affirmative Environment 1. Reinforce that the team can meet a challenge. Be optimistic. For example, say things like, â€Å"We can get through this† or†Nothing will stop us† 2. Focus on what you can control. 3. Remind members of the group’s important and positive mission. 4. Remind the group how it solved a similar problem before. 5. Focus on problem solving, not blaming. Solving Problems Proactively 1. Anticipate problems and address them before they happen. 2. Take the initiative to understand and get what you need to be effective. 3. Do ityourself if others aren’t responding. Rely on yourself, not others. Building External Relationships 1. Create opportunities for networking and interaction. 2. Ask about the needs of other teams. 3. Provide support for other teams. 4. Invite others to team meetings if they might have a stake in what you are doing. MARCH 2001 87 Building the Emotional Intelligence of Groups design an intranet to serve everyone’s needs. We’ve seen gaining the confidence of outsiders, adopting an ambasmany situations in which a team is so enamored of its so- sadorial role instead of an isolationist one. lution that it is caught completely by surprise when othA manufacturing team we saw at KoSa displayed very ers in the company don’t share its enthusiasm. high social skills in working with its maintenance team. It recognized that, when problems occurred in the plant, Some of the most emotionally intelligent teams we the maintenance team often had many activities on its have seen are so attuned to their broader organizational plate. All things being equal, what would make the maincontext that it affects how they frame and communicate tenance team consider this particular manufacturing their own needs and accomplishments. A team at the group a high priority? Knowing a good relationship chemical-processing company KoSa, for example, felt it would be a factor, the manufacturing team worked hard needed a new piece of manufacturing equipment, but seto build good ties with the maintenance people. At one nior management wasn’t so sure the purchase was a pripoint, for instance, the manufacturing team showed its ority. Aware that the decision makers were still on the appreciation by nominating the maintenance team for fence, the team decided to emphasize the employee safety â€Å"Team of the Quarter† recognition-and then doing all benefits of the new machine-just one aspect of its desirthe letter writing and behind-the-scenes praising that ability to them, but an issue of paramount importance to management. At a plant safety meeting attended by high- would ultimately help the maintenance team win. In turn, the manufacturing team’s good relationship with level managers, they made the case that the equipment maintenance helped it become one of the highest prothey were seeking would greatly reduce the risk of injury ducers in the plant. to workers. A few weeks later they got it. Sometimes, a team must be particularly aware of the needs and feelings of another group witbiin the organizaA Model for Group Emotional tion. We worked with an information technology comIntelligence pany where the hardware engineers worked separately from the software engineers to achieve the same goalWe’ve been discussing the need for teams to learn to faster processing and fewer crashes. Each could achieve channel emotion effectively at the three levels of human only so much independently. When finally a hardware interaction important to them: team to individual memteam leader went out of bis way to build relationships ber, team to itself, and team to outside entities. Together, with the software people, the two teams began to coopthe norms we’ve been exploring help groups work with erate – and together, they achieved 20% to 40% higher per- emotions productively and intelligently. Often, groups formance than had been targeted. with emotionally intelligent members have norms like these in place, but it’s unlikely any group would unconThis kind of positive outcome can be facilitated by sciously come up with all the norms we have outhned. norms that encourage a group to recognize the feelIn other words, this is a model for group emotional intelings and needs of other groups. We saw effective norms ligence that any work team for interteam awareness at a could benefit from by applying division of AMP, where each it deliberately. Nee seen many situations manufacturing team is responsible for a step in the manufacWhat would the ultimate in which a team is so enamored emotionally intelligent team turing process and they need one another to complete the look like? Closest to the ideal of its solution that it is caught product on time. Team leaders are some of the teams we’ve there meet in the morning to completely by surprise when seen at IDEO, the celebrated understand the needs, resources, industrial design firm. IDEO’s and schedules of each team. If others in the company don’t creative teams are responsible one team is ahead and another for the look and feel of products share its enthusiasm. is behind, they reallocate relike Apple’s first mouse, the sources. Members of the faster Crest toothpaste tube, and the team help the team that’s behind and do so in a friendly Palm V personal digital assistant. Thefirmroutinely wins way that empathizes with their situation and builds the competitions for the form and function of its designs and relationship. even has a business that teaches creative problem-solving techniques to other companies. Most of the examples we’ve been citing show teams that are not only aware of but also able to influence outThe nature of IDEO’s work calls for high group emosiders’ needs and perspectives. This ability to regulate tional intelligence. Under pressure of client deadlines and emotion at the cross-boundary level is a group’s version of budget estimates, the company must deliver innovative, the â€Å"social skills† so critical to individual emotional intel- aesthetic solutions that balance human needs with engiligence. It involves developing external relationships and neering realities. It’s a deep philosophical belief at IDEO 88 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW Building ttie Emotional Intelligence of Croups that great design is best accomplished through the crerelationships with those individuals and groups. On disative friction of diverse teams and not the solitary pursuit play at IDEO is a curious model: a toy truck with plastic of brilliant individuals, so it’s imperative that the teams at pieces on springs that pop out of the bed of the truck IDEO click. In our study of those teams, we found group when a button is pressed. It turns out the model comnorms supporting emotional intelligence at all three levmemorates an incident that taught a variety of lessons. ls ofour model. The story centers on a design team that had been working for three weeks on a very complex plastic enclosure First, the teams at IDEO are very aware of individual for a product. Unfortunately, on team members’ emotions, and the Thursday before a Monday they are adept at regulating A team can have everything client deadline, when an engithem. For example, an IDEO deneer was taking it to be painted, signer became very frustrated going for it-the brightest and it slipped from his pickup bed because someone from marketand exploded on ing was insisting a logo be apmost qualified people, access to 70 mph. The team the road at was willing plied to the designer’s product, to work through the weekend to which he felt would ruin it visuresources, a clear mission – but rebuild the part but couldn’t finally. At a meeting about the prodish it without the help of the still fail because it lacks group uct, the team’s project leader outside fabricator it had used picked up on the fact that someemotional intelligence. on the original. Because they thing was wrong. The designer had taken the time to build a was sitting off by himself, and things â€Å"didn’t look right. The project leader looked into the situation and then initiated a negotiation that led to a mutual solution. IDEO team members also confront one another when they break norms. This is common during brainstorming sessions, where the rule is that people must defer judgment and avoid shooting down ideas. If someone breaks that norm, the team comes down on him in a playful yet forceful way {imagine being pelted by foam toys). Or if someone is out of line, the norm is to stand up and call her on it immediately. If a client is in the room, the confrontation is subtler- perhaps a kick under the chair. Teams at IDEO also demonstrate strengths in groupfocused emotional intelligence. To ensure they have a high level of self-awareness, teams constantly seek feedback from both inside and outside the organization. Most important, they work very closely with customers. If a design is not meeting customer expectations, the team finds out quickly and takes steps to modify it. Regulating group emotion at IDEO often means providing outlets for stress. This is a company that believes in playing and having fun. Several hundred finger blasters (a toy that shoots soft projectiles) have been placed around the building for employees to pick up and start shooting when they’re frustrated. Indeed, the design firm’s culture welcomes the expression of emotions, so it’s not uncommon for someone – whether happy or angryto stand up and yell. IDEO has even created fun office projects that people can work on ifthey need a break. For example, they might have a project to design the company holiday card or to design the â€Å"tourist stop† displays seen by visitors. Finally, IDEO teams also have norms to ensure they are aware of the needs and concerns of people outside their boundaries and that they use that awareness to develop tWARCH 2 0 0 1 good relationship with the fabricator, its people were willing to go above and beyond the call of duty. The lighthearted display was a way for teammates to show the engineer that all was forgiven-and a reminder to the rest of the organization of how a team in crisis can get by with a little help from its friends. Where Do Norms Come From? Not every company is as dependent on teams and their emotional intelligence as IDEO. But now more than ever, we see companies depending on teams for decisions and tasks that, in another time, would have been the work of individuals. And unfortunately, we also see them discovering that a team can have everything going for it-the brightest and most qualified people, access to resources, a clear mission-but still fail because it lacks group emotional intelligence. Norms that build trust, group identity, and group efficacy are the key to making teams click. They allow an otherwise highly skilled and resourced team to fulfill its potential, and they can help a team faced with substantial challenges achieve surprising victories. So how do norms as powerful as the ones we’ve described in this article come about? In our research, we saw them being introduced from any of five basic directions: by formal team leaders, by informal team leaders, by courageous followers, through training, or ft-om the larger organizational culture. (For more on how to establish the norms described in this article, see the sidebar†Building Norms for Three Levels of Group Emotional Intelligence. â€Å") At the Hay Group, for example, it was the deliberate action of a team leader that helped one group see the importance of emotions to the group’s overall effectiveness. Because this particular group was composed of managers 89 Building ttie Emotional Intelligence of Groups from many different cultures, its leader knew he couldn’t assume all the members possessed a high level of interpersonal understanding. To establish that norm, he introduced novelties like having a meeting without a tahle, using smaller groups, and conducting an inventory of team members’various learning styles. Interventions like these can probably be done only by a formal team leader. The ways informal leaders or other team members enhance emotional intelligence are typically more subtle, though often just as powerful. Anyone might advance the cause, for example, by speaking up if the group appears to be ignoring an important perspective or feeling-or simply by doing his or her part to create an affirmative environment. Training courses can also go a long way toward increasing emotional awareness and showing people how to regulate emotions. We know of many companies that now focus on emotional issues in leadership development courses, negotiation and communication workshops, and employee-assistance programs like those for stress management. These training programs can sensitize team members to the importance of establishing emotionally intelligent norms. Finally, perhaps more than anything, a team can be influenced by a broader organizational culture that recognizes and celebrates employee emotion. This is clearly the case at IDEO and, we believe, at many of the companies creating the greatest value in the new economy. Unfortu- nately, it’s the most difficult piece ofthe puzzle to put in place at companies that don’t already have it. For organizations with long histories of employees checking their emotions at the door, change will occur, if at all, one team at a time. Becoming Intelligent About Emotion The research presented in this article arosefromone simple imperative: in an era of teamwork, it’s essential to figure out what makes teams work. Our research shows that, just like individuals, the most effective teams are emotionally intelligent ones-and that any team can attain emotional intelligence. In this article, we’ve attempted to lay out a model for positive change, containing the most important t3’pes of norms a group can create to enhance its emotional intelligence. Teams, like all groups, operate according to such norms. By working to establish norms for emotional awareness and regulation at all levels of interaction, teams can build the solid foundation of trust, group identity, and group efficacy they need for true cooperation and collaboration-and high performance overall. 9 Reprint R0103E To order reprints, see the last page of Executive Summaries. To further explore the topic of this article, go to www. hbr. org/explore. (A^^l^ j-iywi 1 â€Å"I’m in a rut They throw the ball, I bring it back. They throw it again, I bring it back again. What’s the point of it ail? † 90 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW How to cite Building the Emotional Intelligence of Groups, Essay examples

Sylvia Plath Essay Research Paper The Life free essay sample

Sylvia Plath Essay, Research Paper The Life of Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath+s life, like her frenzied depression, invariably jumped between Heaven and Hell. Her apparently perfect exterior hid a turbulent and profoundly troubled spirit. A closer expression at her childhood and personal experiences removes some component of enigma from her Hagiographas. One cardinal character to Sylvia Plath+s verse form is her male parent, Professor Otto Emile Plath. Otto Plath was diabetic and refused to remain off from nutrients restricted by his physician. As a consequence, he developed a sore on his left pes. Professor Plath ignored the sore, and finally the pes was overcome with sphacelus. The pes and so the full left leg were amputated in an attempt to salvage his life, but he died in November of 1940, when Sylvia was merely eight old ages old. The fact that her male parent could hold prevented his decease left Sylvia Plath with a feeling of deliberate treachery. We will write a custom essay sample on Sylvia Plath Essay Research Paper The Life or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Alternatively of making out to other people for comfort, she isolated herself with composing as her lone expressive mercantile establishment, and unusually had a verse form published when she was merely eight. Plath continued fecund composing through high school and won a scholarship to Smith College in 1950 where she met her friend Anne Sexton. Sexton frequently joined Plath for martinis at the Ritz where they shared poesy and intellectualized treatments about decease. Although they were friends, there was besides an component of competition between Sexton and Plath. Sylvia Plath+s verse form |DaddyX was perchance a response to Anne Sexton+s |My Friend, My Friend.X It was as if Plath was noticing that her authorship accomplishments were merely a spot better than Sexton+s. Sexton often would show to Robert Lowell in his poesy category her dissatisfaction with Plath+s composing. She said that Plath |dodges the point in her poesy and hadn+t yet found the signifier that belonged to her.X The competitory nature of their relationship continued to the really terminal. To all appearences, Plath appeared normal, her societal life similar to other in-between category coeds.Many were attracted to Plath+s brilliant head, but few were cognizant of the interior torture that drove her to compose, estranging her from the remainder of society. Madamoiselle magazine awarded Plath a place as invitee editor the summer following her junior twelvemonth at Smith. Friends and household were stunned at her self-destruction effort when she returned to college, most believing she had suffered a nervous dislocation due to the emphasis at the magazine. Her intervention was considered the best the medical universe could offer and included electro-shock and psychotherapeuticss. Plath tells her side of the narrative in the verse form Lady Lazarus where she likens her experience to a victim of the Holocaust. But her evident recovery enabled her to return to graduate summa semen laude the undermentioned twelvemonth. Ted Hughes met and fell in love with the author while she continued her surveies at Cambridge on a Fulbright grant. Hughes was besides a pupil at Cambridge, and a fellow poet. The twosome married four old ages subsequently, and after a sh ort stay in the States, returned to England. After returning to London, Plath+s foremost book of poesy, Colossus, was published in 1960. Plath+s best known work, The Bell Jar was published following the birth of their 2nd kid. ( Ted Hughes, 52-66 ) The novel is semi-autobiographical, depicting a immature woman+s tragic coming of age. The cardinal character, a schoolgirl prodigy, Esther Greenwood, makes her manner to adulthood in malice of periodic mental dislocations. The Bell Jar is peculiarly affecting when Esther desrcibes her lunacy as | †¦a bell jar, smothering and airless that descends without warning†¦X Not long after the publication of The Bell Jar in1963, Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath split up. Plath was left caring for two kids in a low-income country of London during one of the coldest Novembers in centuries. She worked between four and eight in the forenoon. Apparently being inspired by adversity, Plath sometimes finished a poem every twenty-four hours. In her last verse form, decease is given a cruel and physical temptingness and hurting becomes tangiible. Leaving some nutrient and milk at the kitchen tabular array for her kids, she gassed herself to decease. Ironically, the adult female Ted Hughes left Sylvia Plath for another adult female that would perpetrate self-destruction by gas. Posthumous Publications include: Ariel, published in 1965, inspired a cult following. The verse forms were less unvarying and more emotional than those published in Colossus. Other volumes are: Traversing the Water ( 1971 ) , Winter Trees ( 1971 ) , Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams ( 1977 ) , and The Collected Poems ( 1981 ) , which was edited by Ted Hughes. At the funeral of Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton said in a eulogium that she and Plath had | talked decease with burned-up strength, both of us drawn to it like moths to an electric visible radiation bulb.X Ever since the 1700+s, self-destruction has been thought of, in some circles, a romantic manner to decease ( i.e. Romeo and Juliet ) . Some persons besides think that to take your ain life will add to your artistic reputation.Johann Wolfgang von Goethe+s novel The Sorrows of Weather suggested that self-destruction is accepted from those with artistic disposition because creative persons are purportedly more prone to drug usage, isolation, self-destruction, etc # 8230 ; Every trip to the exultant high points of Sylvia Plath+s life was followed by a long stay in the bowels of Hell. Hell for Sylvia Plath was her ain phantasy resort area that was demolished at a immature and tender age. Possibly if her gift were better known when she was alive, her life would hold been more fulfilling, but at least she is now at peace. Hughes, Ted, and Fredrick McCullough. The Journals Of Sylvia Plath. London: Simon and Schuster, 1983. Butscher, Edward. Sylvia Plath: Method and Madness. New York: The Seabury Press, 1976. | The Bell Jar | . Grolier+s Multimedia Encyclopedia. Grolier Electronic Publishing, 1995. | Suicide | . Grolier+s Multimedia Encyclopedia. Grolier Electronic Publishing, 1995. Gilson, William.Sylvia Plath Bio. hypertext transfer protocol: //home.interlynx.net/ hecate/pbio.html

Bus 310 Assisgnment Essay

Bus 310 Assisgnment Essay Bus 310 Assisgnment Essay There are millions of companies in the world today. Some of these are small, while some are global and large in nature. The company I have chosen to research is Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is a multinational corporation specializing in retail that operates a chain of department and warehouse stores. (Wal-Mart. Our Story. http://corporate.walmart.com/our-story. Walmart’s customer base is pretty much made up of everyone. However, according to Brenden Gallagher’s article, there are types of people that frequent these stores. The first type is the wild animals, the loners one would say. They are the ones that you see in school but never wanted to talk or have any interaction with them. Then you have the shoplifting teens, these customers are there just to cause trouble, then you have the dads that don’t normally do the shopping, but have been asked to go get something. They are the ones lost, wondering around the store searching helplessly to find that one item that he has been asked to bring home. Next you have the drug users, the stoners. These customers are there because of the vast variety of muchies available to them at all hours of the night. There is also the bored elderly couples that are just there to walk around the store just to get them out of the house, the middle aged divorce that could only be there to either sulk or look for the next husband. Let’s hope it’s the sulking not the latter. Then of course, you have to have the town gossiper there to see what he/she can find to spread around town, because we all know this is where everyone goes! I know I can’t go to Wal-Mart without having to stop and talk to someone I know. Next comes the t-shirt junkies, these customers are there to buy the lame slogan t-shirts that they can get for little money. Lastly, you have the college kid that is home visiting that the parents have talked into running their errands for them. Why else would college kids want to hang out at Wal- Mart, it’s not the mall! Wal-Mart is the world’s largest corporation and can usually be found just about anywhere! Every company both small and large has a mission statement that the business operates for and from. Wal-Mart’s mission statement is â€Å"We save people money, so they can live better†. (Farfan, Barbara. Company Mission Statements-Complete list of World’s Largest Retail Missions. Retrieved from http://retailindustry.about.com/od/retailbestpractices/ig/Company-Mission-Statements/Wal-Mart-Mission-Statement.html. According to Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart, the company’s purpose is to work together to lower cost of living for everyone. (Farfan, Barbara. Company Mission Statements-Complete list of World’s Largest Retail Missions. Retrieved from http://retailindustry.about.com/od/retailbestpractices/ig/Company-Mission-Statements/Wal-Mart-Mission-Statement.html. Wal-Mart uses their Human Resource department to unders tand the connection between fitting the right person the right job to motivate the employees to feel capable of successfully accomplishing the daily operations. With every business you will find issues that derive from human resource. Some of these examples are turn-over rate, low wages, and unskilled employees. Well surprise, Wal-Mart isn’t any different. There are several thousand stores around the world and they each have their own human resource issues, the one that I feel is the biggest issue is the unskilled workers let me explain why. If Wal-Mart human resource implemented a series of test to determine the persons personality, attitude, demeanor, and skills will assist in hiring better skilled workers. These test will be able to evaluate how a person can handle customers that are irate, or co-workers who are lazy and want to have someone do everything for them. If these test

Honest Numbers about an Amazon Indie Ebook Giveaway

Honest Numbers about an Amazon Indie Ebook Giveaway One problem facing indie authors is the lack of honest sales figures. Self-reporting is often vague or exaggerated. While Hugh Howey’s Author Earnings page is a good source, more data are needed. I recently did a five-day free promotion on Amazon and would like to share my results. I’m writing a series of post-apocalyptic novels titled the Toxic World. Book One, Radio Hope, came out in February. In March I published a 10,000-word short story titled The Scavenger. The series is in the KDP Select program so I can take advantage of free giveaways and countdown deals. The Scavenger is priced at 99 cents. It’s not intended to make money, but to advertise the series, so I use my free days. I get five days to offer it for free every ninety-day period. My first promotion was from Friday, April 4 through Tuesday, April 8. I did little promotion. I mentioned it on my blog and several times on my Twitter feed. Several blogger buddies mentioned it. A few nice people tweeted. Here’s the daily breakdown, with the number of downloads for each country in parentheses. Friday, April 4: US (79), UK (13), Spain (5), Germany (2), Canada (3), India (1). Total: 103. Saturday, April 5: US (82), UK (9), Germany (1), Canada (1), Australia (1). Total: 94. Sunday, April 6: US (58), UK (2), Germany (1), Canada (3), Australia (1). Total: 65. Monday, April 7: US (61), UK (11), Australia (1). Total: 73. Tuesday, April 8: US (47), UK (8), Spain (1). Total: 56. Grand Total: US (327), UK (43), Canada (7), Spain (6), Germany (4), Australia (3), India (1). Grand Total for all markets: 391. The giveaway numbers mirror my sales - the U.S. is My first day was my biggest. Fridays and Saturdays are good sales days as people look for weekend reading. There’s a severe drop off at the beginning of the week. This was reflected in my giveaway numbers. That good first day got me into the top 20 in the Post-Apocalyptic and Dystopian categories on Amazon UK and into the top 20 â€Å"Kindle Short Reads† on Amazon US. This increased visibility and encouraged more downloads, creating a positive feedback loop and getting the attention of some â€Å"free ebook† websites and Twitter feeds, which presumably helped keep numbers up. Reader reaction was prompt. While the giveaway was still on, someone added The Scavenger to Goodreads and I got three reviews. What about sales of Radio Hope? During the giveaway I sold six, twice what I sold in the same five-day period a week earlier. I have since had several sales of Radio Hope to people who said they’d been pulled in So what did I learn? Don’t expect astronomical numbers. As a little-known author in a flooded genre, you won’t hit number one. The friend factor only goes so far. Few downloads were The first day is essential. Getting those numbers up quickly makes you visible. This encourages more downloads that will keep you visible. Weekends are better. Split it across two weekends instead of a single five-day block. You’re building a tower, not launching a rocket. While this giveaway didn’t get me lots of sales, it did get my series onto nearly 400 Kindles. That’s a start.

Choose the topic Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Choose the topic - Term Paper Example She studied art from 1905 to 1912, and took up teaching for two years, in the Texas Panhandle, where she found the vast, dry country with heavy winds to be remarkable in its beauty (Goodrich and Bry 9). â€Å"A trip to northern New Mexico renewed a passion for sky, mountains, and magnificent vistas† (Harvey 36) earlier experienced when teaching in west Texas fifteen years ago†. O’Keeffe loved her country America, and its natural beauty in all its manifestations. As an artist, â€Å"the sun and sky; mountains and plains; trees, plants, and flowers were her frequent subjects† (Davidson 62). With great clarity and vibrancy, she revealed these as dynamic, growing forms, and not as stationary objects. Her flower paintings are particularly noteworthy in their sheer numbers, over 200, as well as in their beauty, realistic depictions, magnification to a huge size, and close examination of their form. O’Keeffe did not use the deconstructed, dislocated or fragmented styles of Cubism in her flower paintings. Most of her works in this genre were of single flowers, rarely did she use more than one flower in her art. She enlarged the image of the bloom to fill the frame, crowding out the other parts of the flower and its surrounding environment. For example, her painting of the Black Iris, 1926 is seen at close quarters (Fig.1). As seen in Fig. 1 below, the natural object stood out in the foreground, facing the spectator with a stark, almost frightening nearness. The oil on canvas painting of the Black Iris, 1926 by O’Keeffe is a monumental piece of art, and one of the artist’s masterpieces. She captures the fleeting colours of the springtime flower using a subtle gradation of shades and hues, from â€Å"impenetrable black-purple and deep maroon to soft pinks, grays, and whites† (MetMuseum, 2012). Expanding the petals to over-lifesize proportions, O’Keefe compels the viewer to face that which may otherwise be overlooked, thereby raising the

Analysis the Sprint Nextel Corp Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Analysis the Sprint Nextel Corp - Essay Example In 2001, it became the first company to introduce a wireless Java for networking. Sprint Nextel Corporation offers a range of fixed, mobile, and broadband communications products and services. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies. Internationally, it is known for internet networking and major development in technology. The cost of debt for the company can be computed by analyzing the various components of debts. These include bond issues, treasury bills, loans etc. Sprint Nextel has a variety of bond issues with different maturities (see table 1). This analysis will focus on the head quarter’s debt component analysis only (see table2). The coupons outlined here are three with the respective maturity dates. The value of a similar bond at similar rates is analyzed as having a par value of $1000 for the Canadian debt and $2500 for the unsecured notes. These are used to find the price of each bond. By discounting the annuity and the lump sum at maturity for each bond, the price of each bond is obtained. This method uses trial and error to ascertain the cost of each bond. The assumption made is that similar bonds yield $1000 and $2500 respectively. This is for the purposes of discounting the return of the bond towards a set amount of expected as per today. Further analysis shows that the price of each bond is effective once we added the tax factor. The assumed taxation factor in the United States is 35%. The after tax cost of each bond is obtained by multiplying the cost of bond (pre-tax) with the factor (1-tax rate). Another aspect to consider is that the company is financed by a long term loan. Given the worldwide economic crisis, the cost of repayment of loans has tremendous increased by 5%. An assumption is made that the loan of $166,855 has an interest rate of 16%. This is the cost of this loan. The total cost of debt is the mean of the cost of the loan and the bond issues. Accounting for th is, the cost of debt is obtained as 6.19% The cost of equity: The equity components are ordinary share capital and preference share capital. To obtain the cost of equity, I will include the ordinary capital in this case. This is done by obtaining the dividend payable in the coming year divided by the current market price and then multiplying it by dividend growth. For the last three years, the financial statements indicate no dividend payment made by the firm. This trend is assumed to be continuous in the coming year. Therefore the dividend value per share is zero and the growth is also zero. The current market share value stands at $ 2.74. By doing the necessary computation, the cost of equity is zero. Weighted average cost of capital WACC is obtained by adding weight to the various capital components i.e. debt and equity. Capital is made up of equity and debt in this firm. By summing debt and equity, I get their weights as: the debt has a total weight of 44% and equity has a total weight of 56%. These percentages are then multiplied by the above computation of cost of debt and equity respectively. The two are added giving WACC of 3.45% The firm’s beta The firm’s beta is a measure of risk to the company. This is obtained through the use of the indexes for United States multiplying with the cost of capital. The beta stands at 1.16 which is indicates low risk measure. This can be unlevered by adding tax aspect to obtain 0.61. Debt to equity ratio of Sprint is obtained as 27.7 this indicates low risk to the company. Calculations: Table 1 - combined industry bond issues SECURITY Coupon Amount Maturity Unsecured senior notes 7.625 1650 1/30/11 Unsecured senior