How Employees Affect Consumer Behavior :: essays research papers

How Employees Affect Consumer Behavior Summary   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I am going to discuss how employees affect consumer behavior and what I believe are the best ways to improve their effectiveness. I will be drawing upon my experiences as a consumer and working in a retail environment. Comments   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  No one fulfills your corporate philosophy or promotes your products and services more than your employees. They are like ambassadors representing the United States when the president can not be there in person. You need them to act on your behalf when dealing with customers. If the customers aren't treated well once in your store or business, what good does it do to use marketing to get them into your store or business. You also have the problem of each customer who was treated poorly, telling other people about their bad experience with your company. This might not seem like a big deal, but it is and it's even worse when people are telling others how great your competitor treated them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I've had a few experiences where I have felt that I haven't been treated properly or fairly by store employees. Most of the time I've been able to find another person to help solve my problem and I was able to walk away a satisfied customer. There are some instances when I have consciously went to a competing business, because of the way I was treated. I know I am not the only person who does this, so I feel it is very important to have a work force that helps market your products, by being friendly and knowledgeable. This will prevent customers from turning away from your products and services. Ask your workers if they would recommend your product or service to their family and friends. If your people lack confidence in your company, you need to find out why and fix it. You want them to be proud to use your product or service so they can convey this feeling to the customers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some of the things that turn off consumers are long lines and employees who don't pay attention or just go through the motions. Rudeness, impatience, and judgmental remarks are very damaging to your company image. Workers who are poorly trained or don't know about your product or service serve no purpose and let down customers. Lies, dishonesty, and promises that are broken cost companies a lot of business when you look at the long run. Ask your workers if they would recommend your product or service to their family and friends. If your people lack confidence in your company, you need to find out why and fix it.

Congresss Presidental Conquest :: essays research papers

Congress’s Presidential Conquest   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"I am sworn to uphold the Constitution as Andy Johnson understands it and interprets it.† This is a simple quote from a simple man. 17th President of the United States, Andrew Johnson, and Congress had a sharp conflict about the way the South should be â€Å"re-constructed† in the wake of the just finished Civil War. The interpretation of this period of US history has been that Johnson was railroaded by radical Republicans and did not deserve to be impeached. Johnson wanted reconciliation with the former rebel states of the South, and that radical Republicans were out to humiliate the South and force a radical reconstruction program on them. The impeachment of President Andrew Johnson was unjust and primarily driven by radical members of the Congress who held different views on Reconstruction and how it should be accomplished.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Andrew Johnson was born to a poor family in Raleigh, North Carolina. He was never formally educated but until the age of 16, he was apprenticed to a tailor. At 16, he ran away to Greeneville, Tennessee where he opened his own tailor shop. He would eventually marry Eliza McCardle who helped to improve on his reading, writing, and math. Because his tailor business was doing so well, he was able to save up and buy a few slaves of his own. The two would have five children together. In 1829 Johnson was elected councilman and mayor of Greenville. During this, Johnson discovered a chic for public speaking. He made a rapid rise within the ladder of political offices. In 1835 he was sent to the state general assembly. Running as a Democrat, he was elected to the state senate and then two years later the House of Representatives which he served in until 1853. While in Congress, Johnson was notorious for his advocacy of cheap western land for the homesteaders and support for the Mexican War. He was elected twice as governor of Tennessee in 1853 and 1855. In 1857, he was in the U.S. Senate and he again tried to struggle for the homestead bill. Unfortunately the measure was vetoed by President James Buchanan. One of the biggest jumps in his political career came in 1862 when Lincoln appointed him military governor of Tennessee. He took up his post at the state capital. In effort to win votes from the Democrats and to balance Lincoln’s Union ticket with Southern Democrat, the Republicans nominated Johnson for vice-president.

Communication within groups Essay -- essays research papers

There are many different kinds of groups that exist between college students that deal with communication they range from sports teams to many community or social groups. The type of organizations that are mostly found in many colleges today are Greek letter organizations. In this paper I will exploring communication within the realm of sororities. First, I am going to start with the history of Sororities, then I am going to write about how important it communication is during what sororities call the pledge process. Furthermore I am going to tell about the different things that sororities have, such as the symbols, colors and different things that may deal with communication. Even though all sororities have different representations for their symbols and colors, they all have them and they mean certain things. Before sororities came about they only had fraternities which dated back the colonial times then later in the mid 19th century so rorities came about due to the decrease in popularity (Encarta). During that period, colleges focused almost exclusively on teaching the classics (Greek and Latin literature) and promoting religious piety, rather than liberal arts (science, history, and literature) or applications of learning such as engineering and agriculture. In response, students created their own outlets to debate the intellectual and political ideas of their time. The early debating societies took on names that reflected classical thinkers or ideas( Encarta). Until the 20th century, most fraternities and sororities excluded African American students. The movement to create organizations for African American students began in 1906 with the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity at Cornell University. Two years later, the first sorority for African American women, Alpha Kappa Alpha, was established at Howard University. Members of African American Greek-letter organizations sought to help other black students develop to the... ...e so they have what we have to say. Back then it was a way of saying their pain so they wouldn’t get in trouble. They couldn’t’ say anything negative so it was a kind of a code that they had used( www.dailybruin.ucla.edu).† In conclusion sororities like other groups have communication which is important for them to survive. Throught communication sororities are able to continue the legacy and reaffirm the goals set forth by their founders, as well as help the organization to grow. In this paper I have talked about sororities history of how they started and also the things that they do as forms of communication in order to survive in the group. "Fraternities and Sororities," Microsoft ® Encarta ® Online Encyclopedia 2004 http://encarta.msn.com  © 1997-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved Values and Organizations. Chicago: Rand Mcnally & Company, 1965. 92-93. Top of Form 3 Bottom of Form 3 Top of Form 4 Bottom of Form 4

Management and Supply Flow Project: VWoA Case

Matulovic, the new CIO, has two primary concerns at VWoA: defining governance and establishing development process directives. However, Matulovic is in a difficult situation; he faces inadequate funding, new business architecture and increasing pressure from his peers. His circumstances are predictable given the history of IT consideration, by VWoA, as a source of overhead and the highly unpredictable U.S. market for Volkswagen Group. Matulovic’s biggest hurdle is in regards to the capped funding that has been determined by the parent company (Volkswagen Audi Group). VWAG allotted VWoA only $60 million, out of the requested $210 million, for IT projects.Given the scope of VWoA initiatives, the amount is far from adequate. However, at the time, there were no additional funds available. The procedure for deciding which projects will receive funding is streamlined by a new prioritization process. This process for managing IT priorities is part of a new business architecture desig ned to align organizational activity with corporate goals and strategy. During the first few years of any new policy or procedure there are bound to be unforeseen complications. The largest glitch was how the new process did not account for â€Å"behind the curtain† programs such as the intercontinental Supply Flow Project.The Supply Flow Project should absolutely receive funding. The cost should not come entirely from VWoA, but allocated amongst the global Volkswagen group of companies. This project is critical to Volkswagen’s global supply chain management and their goals. Successful global integration not only promises company wide savings, but plays an underlying role in customer satisfaction and loyalty, the number one corporate goal. This Supply Flow Project is already underway and needs additional funding for a timely completion. The new funding prioritization process overlooked such programs as this, primarily because the benefits achieved were at the global le vel. Because of the widespread benefits, all global constituents should contribute to the project’s financing.Matulovic, along with the supply flow group in Germany, should combine forces and present their case to VWAG for separate and additional funding for the Supply Flow Project. Due to situations like the Supply Flow Project’s lacking â€Å"qualifications† to receive adequate funding, opponents claim the new system is â€Å"too theoretical† and may not be conducive to VWoA operations.True or not, this cannot be properly determined in the first year of the prioritization process implementation. Furthermore, with a capped spending amount, there are bound to be a few disgruntled individuals whose project did not receive the proper funding. These discontented members of the Executive Leadership Team may not agree, but must realize it is a part of doing business. Furthermore, it is a way of doing business that they all previously agreed to. Matulovic shoul d proceed as formerly agreed, with the business architecture output â€Å"blueprint† which plays a vital role in formalizing governance and prioritization processes.1. Who controls the budgets from which IT projects are funded at Volkswagen of America? The budgets for IT projects were controlled through a process that involves several organizational entities that establish priorities. There were four specific teams that were involved in this process: the ELT (Executive Leadership Team), the ITSC (IT Steering Committee), the PMO (Project Management Office), and the DBC (Digital Business Council.)The ELT was responsible for executing the NRG (Next Round of Growth) strategy in which the IT governance is a part. The ITSC consisted of business and IT managers and was responsible for guiding and approving the process of IT project selection and prioritization. The PMO administered the project proposal and approval process. The DBC was responsible for the project filtering process w hich decided which projects were most in line with the companies business strategy.2. What is your assessment of the new process for managing priorities at Volkswagen of America? Are the criticisms justified? Is it an improvement over the old process? The new IT priority management process was driven by the new IT budget constraint given to VWoA by the parent company VWAG. If the new budgetary constraint was not initiated, it is likely that elements of the former less organized and less centralized method would be maintained.In the end, this may benefit the individual business units, but be detrimental to the business as a whole. In creating the new process, Matulovic enabled the business unit managers to work together to make the  decisions that would effect their departments using the overall company strategy as the driving element. In doing this, he succeeded in involving all of the managers that would be affected by the prioritization system while maintaining the executive lea dership team’s strategic goals. This new system was a substantial improvement over the former system.3. On page 8 we see that $16 million of the $60 budget is for SIB projects, under the spending direction of Matulovic; on page 1 we see that some people consider this unfair – is it? Should budget be â€Å"set aside† for IT projects? Why? The budget allocated for the SIB (Stay in Business) projects (business continuity and legal) should receive the highest priority.As denoted by the name, if any of these projects are incomplete or fail, the risk to the business is substantial compared to business unit priorities. However, the amount budgeted may be a point that could be questioned. Instead of predetermining the amount required, he should have submitted the SIB to the same process as all of the other projects which would have reduced or eliminated the business unit manager’s perception that Matulovic was trying to control company strategy.4. How should Matu lovic respond to his fellow executives who are calling to ask him for special treatment outside the new priority management system? What should Matulovic do about the unfunded Supply Flow project? Matulovic created a well organized system that focused on company goals. His fellow executives were involved in the IT priority decision making and the company expectation is that business unit managers also support company goals.If they think that these goals in relation to their requests does not make sense, then they had the opportunity in this process to voice their concerns to the one of the process teams (the ELT,ITSC,PMO, and/or the DBC), not to Matulovic himself. Because the Supply Flow project is tied into global strategy, Matulovic should propose that the funding for this project come from VWAG.5. In general, what characteristics should a process for deciding about funding of IT projects have? General characteristics that an IT funding process should have: – Involve all of those who will be affected by the funding decisions in the process. – Align IT funding priorities with company strategy.– Enable communication between business units depending on the funding and between those units and executive management.

David Alfaro Siqueiros: The Activist Artist Essay

David Alfaro Siqueiros was a social realist painter known for his large murals in fresco. He was born in Chihuahua City in 1896 and by age fifteen David was already involved in artistic studies and political activism. Siqueiros was involved in direct political action more than most other artists. He was a sophisticated political ideologist who was involved in the political conflicts of the Mexican Revolution serving as a protestor, demonstrator, soldier and leader of an assassination squad. The type of art he produces are murals; he believed art should be public, educational, and ideological. He went probably the furthest of all the muralists in his attempts to combine his political views and aesthetic ideals with modern technical means to create a truly â€Å"public art†. Siqueiros was an activist in many different ways, controversy lies in his work, and he has many meanings of his work. In 1911 Siqueiros led a student strike at San Carlos Academy, one designed to force changes in teaching methods, this strike lasted six months and ended in complete victory for students. Through his fellows, he soon became familiar with communist and anarchist writings, embittering him further against the upper middle class to which he himself belonged. Following that in 1913 he joined the anti-Huerta Constitutionalist movement and contributed to its newspaper, La Vanguardia. After serving four years as an active combatant during the Revolution, he attained the rank of a captain. Siqueiros than organized a group called Congress of Soldier Artists in 1918. He then published a magazine called Vida Americana in 1921. These play the roles of him being an activist because he is reporting his issues. In 1924, Siqueiros finished work on The Burial of the Martyred Worker, also in the National Preparatory School, taking the bold step of painting a hammer-and-sickle on the coffin. This provoked outrage on the part of the students at the School, then, as prior to the Revolution, representing the conservative element in society. There were several clashes, and the muralists took to carrying firearms to defend themselves. At one point, a battalion of Yaqui Indians, all devout supporters of the Revolution marched into the school to defend the murals. A short while later, the artists received a major blow when Vasconcelos resigned from his post as Minister of Public Education. Quite soon, the government issued an ultimatum; either the painters had to abandon their Union, or they would be fired from the government payroll. The painters refused. When Diego Rivera adopted a more conciliatory tone, they voted to expel him from the Union. As a result, within a short period of time, he was the only muralist still allowed to work. In response, Siqueiros turned to political activism. Leaving Mexico City, he traveled to the state of Jalisco, where he helped organize trade unions for the silver miners there. He was so successful that by 1927 he was head of the United Syndicate Confederation of Mexico, a national trade union organization that brought together miners, peasants, factory and railroad workers, school teachers and other professional groups. He quickly was harassed and detained several times by the police.

The Global Hepatitis B Situation Health And Social Care Essay

Hepatitis B virus infection is one of the most frequent viral infections around the universe showing a major planetary public wellness job. Nowadays, viral hepatitis is the most prima cause of liver malignant neoplastic disease and the most common ground for liver organ transplant. An estimated 4.4million Americans are populating with chronic hepatitis and largely they do non cognize their infection position. About 80,000 new infections occur each and every twelvemonth [ 1 ] . HBV infection is the tenth prima cause of decease worldwide being resulted in 500 000 to 1.2 million deceases per twelvemonth caused by chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma ; the last histories for 320 000 deceases per twelvemonth [ 2, 3 ] . Round about 15-40 % of septic people have to develop cirrhosis, liver failure, or hepatocellular carcinoma ( HCC ) [ 4 ] . The incidence of HCC has increased worldwide, and now it is the fifth most frequent malignant neoplastic disease histories for ki lling 300 000-500 000 people each twelvemonth [ 5 ] . Because of the high morbidity and mortality associated with end-stage liver disease, the economic load of hepatitis B infection is well high. Harmonizing to one US-based survey of New England wellness attention databases, patients with CHB accounted for an norm of $ 40 512 in costs over 2 old ages for wellness attention services and medicine [ 7, 8 ] . Both direct medical costs and indirect costs from work lost as serious liver jobs develop over a figure of old ages. To cut down planetary HBV-related morbidity and mortality, community base control plan, mass immunisation undertakings and efficacious interventions are indispensable. Although the World Health Organization recommended the executions of mass immunisation plans, since 1991, that decreased the incidence of HBV infection, the prevalence of disease in less developed county among babies, kids, and striplings are still need to take history [ 2 ] . The hepatitis B virus is 50 to 100 times more infective than HIV and an of import occupational jeopardy for wellness workers.Hepatitis B in AsiaThe prevalence of HBV infection is well high in South-East Asia and Sub-Saharan state it is assumed that 90 % of 360 million bearers of the virus globally are constituted in lesser developed states. Of the worldaa‚Â ¬a„?s bearers, 75 % are from the Asiatic continent, where between 8 % and 15 % of the population carry the virus. 8-15 % of the Asiatic continent carries the virus which accounts for 75 % of the worldaa‚Â ¬a„?s bearers [ 9 ] . The highest HBV infection among the universe is Asia-Pacific part is, and chronic HBV infection in most of the states of that part is high ( & gt ; 10 % prevalence ) [ 10 ] . The infection rates in babies are really high in Thailand, China and Senegal with the prevalence of HBs Ag in serum may transcend 25 % . About 70-90 % of the population of South-east Asia part becomes HBV infected before the age of 40 and bearers are 8 to 20 % [ 11 ] .Hepatitis B in ThailandHBV infection is hyper-endemic in Thailand and there are estimated 5 million bearers, 1 in every 20 people. Because of the deficiency of consciousness the infection rate is so high and merely 15 % of those bearer people are being treated for the virus. Cancer is the major cause of decease among the Thai population and in 2006 entirely, 62000 deceases were reported [ 12 ] . Harmonizing to one survey conducted in 1986 shows the prevalence of HBV markers in general population varies from 40-60 % and estimated 10-20 % of kids between the ages 1-5 old ages have serologic grounds of HBV infection and this prevalence increases with age making a tableland of 40-60 % by age 20. Approximately 75 % of the babes born to HBsAg & A ; HBeAg positive female parents become HBsAg positive at within three months after bringing. The prevalence of chronic bearer varies from 5-10 % and is highest among age groups 10-30 old ages. Primary hepatocellular carcinoma is the first and 3rd most common malignant neoplastic disease among Thai citizens [ 13 ] . One ethno-epidemiological study for the HBV and HCV infections among seven minorities in a multi-ethnic centre, Northern Thailand ( 2002 ) studied for the prevalence of HBV and HCV infections by the usage of atom agglutination trials shows that overall prevalence of HBs-Ag, anti-HBs and anti-HCV in the seven groups was 10.3, 33.0 and 3.8 % , severally. By look intoing the prevalence of HBV and HCV infection in Thai cultural minorities and demonstrated that HBV was a more common infective agent found in these populations than HCV that showed that HBV and HCV infection are widely spread in rural cultural populations of northern Thailand. A countrywide but community-based epidemiological study is required for the public wellness planning to command their related serious diseases was recommended in this survey [ 14 ] . A cross-sectional survey was conducted for school-age kids who had no history of HBV inoculation in a low socioeconomic community of Din-Daeng, Bangkok, to look into factors associated with the positiveness of HBV seromarkers. The consequences of this survey expressed the prevalence of HBV seromarkers was 24.85 % , the HBsAg bearer rate was 3.64 % , the anti-HBs positive rate was 15.15 % , and the prevalence of merely anti-HBc was 6.06 % . The consequences revealed the associated factors with HBV positiveness were ( a ) kid factors such as kid ‘s age, sex, ear piercing in female, sharing blade during haircutting, contact lesion from other individuals, utilizing wares with other individuals, seeking things in refuse, and ( B ) household factors such as older parent, parentsaa‚Â ¬a„? low instruction position, low household income, low parent ‘s cognition and attitude about HBV infection and inoculation, ( P & lt ; 0.05 ) [ 15 ] .Migrant Workers in ThailandA rec ent molecular epidemiological survey tried to measure the seroprevalence of HBV and its familial variableness among migratory workers in Thailand from Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar. The survey was conducted to prove HBs Ag and sera were collected from 1,119 Kampuchean, 787 Laotian, and 1,103 Myanmar workers.The consequence of the survey showed the prevalence of HBsAg among migratory workers from Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar was 10.8 % , 6.9 % , and 9.7 % , severally. This survey besides revealed that high prevalence of HBV infection ( about 7-11 % ) was found among migratory workers from Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar, which may reflect the current seroprevalence in their several states [ 16 ] .Hepatitis B Situation in MyanmarMyanmar is besides regarded as a state with a high endemicity of HBV infection which is considered as an of import wellness issue by studies carried out among different population groups revealed HBsAg bearer rate of 10-12 % . In Myanmar, although there is possibilit y of horizontal transmittal through sharing of toothbrushes and razors and iatrogenic transmittal, the perpendicular path of transmittal might be the commonest path by research surveies [ 17 ] . A big graduated table field survey carried out in the whole state showed the magnitude of hepatitis B infection that 10.4 % of the survey population were constituted by seropositive to hepatitis B surface antigen ( HBs Ag ) [ 18 ] . HBsAg bearer rate of 10-12 % was revealed by subsequent survey conducted among different population groups [ 19 ] .1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Hepatitis B virus: A comprehensive scheme for extinguishing transmittal in the United States through cosmopolitan childhood inoculation: recommendations of the immunisation patterns consultative commission ( ACIP ) . Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 1991. 40, 1-19. 2. World Health Organization: The World Health Report, 1997, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland. 3. World Health Organization. Hepatitis B. World Health Organization Fact Sheet 204. ( Revised October 2000 ) . 4. Lok, A. , Chronic hepatitis B. N Engl J Med, 2002. 346 ( 22 ) : p. 1682-1683. 5. Parkin, D. , et al. , Estimating the universe malignant neoplastic disease load: Globocan 2000. Int J Cancer, 2001. 94 ( 2 ) : p. 153-156. 6. Prevalence Statistics for Types of Hepatitis B. Available from: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.wrongdiagnosis.com/h/hepatitis_b/prevalence-types.htm 7. Brooks, E. , et al. , Economic rating of 3TC compared with interferon-alpha in the intervention of chronic hepatitis B in the United States. Am J Manag Care, 2001. 7 ( 7 ) : p. 677-682. 8. Rosenberg, D. , S. Cook, and S.E.e. Al, The epidemiology, intervention forms and resource use of hepatitis B patients in a big insured New England population. Pharmcoepidmiol Drug Saf 1998. 7 ( Suppl. 2 ) : p. S132. 9. BF, I.H. , et al. , Global impact of Hepatitis A virus infection. Proceedings of the 1990 International Symposium on Viral Hepatitis and Liver Diseases. HADLER SC, 1991: p. 14-20, 94-97. 10. Core Working Party for Asia-Pacific Consensus on Hepatitis B and C. Consensus statements on the bar and direction of hepatitis B and hepatitis C in the Asia-Pacific part. J Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 2000. 15: p. 825-841. 11. Hollinger FB, Liang TJ. Hepatitis B Virus. In: Knipe DM at el. , explosive detection systems. Field Virology. 4th edition erectile dysfunction. 2001, Lippincott William and Wilkins: Philadelphia. 2971-3036. 12. Jason and U. Ratchathani Hepatitis B, non plenty being done. Jun 29 2008. 13. Pramoolsinsap, C. , S. Pukrittayakamee, and V. Desakorn, Hepatitis B job in Thailand. Southeast Asiatic J Trop Med Public Health, 1986. 17 ( 2 ) : p. 219-28. 14. Prevalence of hepatitis B and C virus infection in rural cultural populations of Northern Thailand. Journal of Clinical Virology, 2002 February. 24 ( 1 ) : p. 31-35. 15. Luksamijarulkul, P. , P. Maneesri, and L. Kittigul, Hepatitis B Sero-prevalence and Risk Factors Among School-age Children in a Low Socioeconomic Community, Bangkok. Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health, 1995, July. 8 ( 3 ) : p. 158-161. 16. Sa-Nguanmoo, P. , et al. , Molecular epidemiological survey of hepatitis B virus among migratory workers from Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar to Thailand. Journal of medical virology, 2010 Aug ; 82 ( 8 ) : . 82 ( 8 ) : p. 1341-9. 17. Khin, M. , Control of Hepatitis B Virus Infection in Myanmar: Public Health Issues. Regional Health Forum WHO South-East Asia Region, 2006. 6 ( 2 ) . 18. Tin, K.M. , T. Htut, and H.M.T. Khin, Prevalence of hepatitis A and B in Burma. Proceedings of the First Conference of Medical Specialities. , 1981: p. 26-31. 19. Khin-Pyone-Kyi and Khin-Maung-Win. . DMR Bulletin, Viral Hepatitis in Myanmar. 1995. 9 ( 2 ) : p. 1-31.

A Narrative Inquiry on the Life History of Betty Siegel

Known for her outstanding achievement in educational policy, Dr. Betty Lentz Siegel was the longest serving female president at Kennesaw State University. In 1981, she assumed the position at Kennesaw State University, which then was a four-year college institution with 4,000 students and 15 baccalaureate degree programs. Under her tutelage, Kennesaw State University achieved its university status with more than 18,000 student enrollees and 55 undergraduate and graduate degree programs (online Golden Key International Honour Society International).It was her vision and leadership that brought the educational institution to its current university status focusing on teamwork through the creation of strong administrative teams and group interaction. With her guidance, the institution implemented several initiatives and high profile activities that created opportunities and recognition of the institution in the local and state communities. In the book Searching for Academic Excellence: T wenty Colleges and Universities on the Move and their Leaders, Dr.Siegel was in a limelight in her accomplishment for Kennesaw State University (online Golden Key International Honour Society International). In her 25 years of service in the institution, Kennesaw State University received numerous recognition and awards for its outstanding achievements (online Golden Key International Honour Society International). Its awards are as follows: †¢ 1987, chosen as one of the top three college colleges and universities in its nationwide competition focusing on â€Å"The President and the Public† by the Council of Advancement and Support of Education (CASE)†¢ 1989 – 1991, Kennesaw State also caught public attention as the US News and World Report acknowledges Kennesaw State’s exemplary programs in minority recruitment and retention, leadership programs for faculty, staff, administrators and students, and international initiatives. US News and World Report di stinguishes Kennesaw State as the country’s â€Å"up and comers† and â€Å"rising stars† in the South’s regional institutions. †¢ 2003, KSU received recognition to become one of twelve founding institution included in the program entitled Foundation of Excellence in the First College Year of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.In addition, this recognition also gave KSU the needed funding to pursue the projects of the RTM Institute for Leadership, Ethics Characters, which Dr. Siegel is the Endowed Chair. †¢ 2006, US News and World Report ranked KSU as number one among the 25 educational institution known for their learning community programs. In addition, the magazine highlights the school’s first year freshman experience program. Academic Background Behind the outstanding accomplishment of KSU is Dr. Siegel’s utmost leadership, dedication, and commitment to education. Dr. Siegel’s academic areas of e xpertise include child psychology and administration.Her outstanding academic achievement also marks her commitment for continuous learning. She received her Ph. D from Florida State University, A Masters in Education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a B. A. n English and History from Wake Forest University and an Associate of Arts from Cumberland College. She also has received her two-year post-doctoral study in Clinical Child Psychology at Indiana University. She holds honorary doctorates from Cumberland College in Kentucky, Miami University in Ohio, Eastern Kentucky University, Lynchburg College, Morehead State University, and Southern Connecticut State University.Professional accomplishments Dr. Siegel had been an accomplished educational administrator even before coming to Kennesaw State. She started as a faculty member for several universities such as Indiana University and Lenoir-Rhyne College. And in 1967, she taught at the University of Florida. In 1971 , she became the first woman Dean of Academic Affairs for Continuing Education at the University of Florida. She moved to Western Carolina University in the School of Education and Psychology in 1976 and was also the first woman to hold the position of academic dean for the University.In 1981, she came to Kennesaw State where she has started several programs and later became the first female president. Dr. Siegel was also co-founded and co-directed a non-profit organization chartered in North Carolina since 1982. She worked with an esteemed colleague Dr. William Purkey in establishing International Alliance for Invitational Education. The organization currently has more than 12,000 members of different professionals from over twelve countries, who seek to apply the concepts of invitational education to their personal and professional lives (online International Alliance of Invitational Education).In 1999, the Center for Invitational Leadership was created to advance the model of inv itational education by offering opportunities for professional to participate in leadership development programs. Its mission is to â€Å"to enhance lifelong learning, to promote positive change in organizations, to cultivate the personal and professional growth and satisfaction of educators and allied professionals, and to enrich the lives of human beings, personally and professionally. † (online Radford University’s Center for Invitation Leadership). Moreover, with the high-regards to the accomplishments of Dr.Siegel, she has delivered keynote addresses at hundreds of national, regional, and state conferences throughout United States, Puerto Rico and ten other foreign countries and has lectured for over 120 colleges and universities around the world. She is an internationally- and nationally-known lecturer and motivational speaker on leadership, educational issues, and the concerns of women. She has also served as a consultant to a wide range of businesses such as ed ucational institutions, businesses, non-profit organizations, health-care services, government and socio-civic groups (online Golden Key International Honour Society International).Public Service Dr. Siegel has also worked in community improvement programs of the government. In 1997, Governor Zell Miller appointed Dr. Siegel to represent the State of Georgia on the Southern Growth Policies Board’s 1998 Commission on the Future of the South. Prior to that, she also represented Governor Miller at the Presidents’ Summit of America’s Future held at Philadelphia in 1997. Currently, she has been appointed as to serve as member of Governor Perdue’s Commission for a New Georgia.Her work in the commission was largely publicized as she was the driving force behind the establishment of the Cobb Education Consortium. The Cobb Education Consortium was created to form a collaborative organization among the public educational institution â€Å"to combine the resources, energies, and talents of the member institutions to address areas of common concern in moving public education in Cobb Country from its current level of excellence to the exemplary level which will be needed to prepare students to become responsible leaders, capable workers, and well-rounded human beings.† (online Cobb Education Consortium) In addition, she also served as a chair of subcommittee on post-secondary options for the Georgia P-16 initiative. The initiative aims to a comprehensive and collaborative statewide effort aimed at raising expectations and ensuring student success from pre-school through post-secondary education. The initiative is different than other educational reform efforts because it impacts the entire educational spectrum—not just the parts. (online University System of Georgia)Lastly, she initiated the Northwest Crescent Alliance between the three private colleges and three public institutions. The alliance was formed to develop programs of c ollaboration in economic development, enhancement of the arts, the preservation of Southern/Appalachian culture and history, and the development and promotion of community leadership. (online Northwest Crescent Leadership Alliance) Publications Dr. Siegel has recently co-published with Dr. Purkey entitled Becoming an Invitational Leader. The book offers a fresh and innovative model based on a single theoretical framework.It deviates from the traditional control and dominance model of leadership to one that focuses on connectedness, cooperation and communication. This model has been adopted in the International Alliance for Invitational Education and had been applied in numerous fields including administration, business, nursing, dentistry, counseling, and other professions. Purpose of the Study Successful and well-established teacher on leadership, Dr. Siegel’s life history has been a model for many aspiring leaders. She not only teaches about leadership, but she has embodied what she has taught.Her success has led to many researchers to examine what leadership truly is. Indeed, many have published life-stories and lessons on management’s leadership, but many have looked into it in lens following the theoretical framework of industrial management. The purpose of the study is to examine the perceptions of people surrounding the leadership during the tenure of Dr. Siegel at Kennesaw State University. We will looked at what people think within and outside Kennesaw State University’s phenomenal growth in relation to Dr. Siegel’s leadership.By examining the perceptions of Dr. Siegel in her tenure at Kennesaw State University, trends may emerge regarding leadership attitudes and/or leadership style. In undertaking this study using narrative inquiry, we hope to answer the following questions: 1. What are events and influences that formed Dr. Siegel’s mental model and invitational leadership theory? 2. What are the factors attracted and the perceptions students and alumni with Dr. Siegel’s leadership? 3. What is the value and contribution of Dr. Siegel to the understanding of leadership? Review of Related LiteratureIn the book Telling Women’s Lives: Narrative Inquiries in the history of Women’s Education, Weiler and Middleton (1999) explored the broader questions of gender and power through education. They have in discussing the stories of women as teachers come across on topics of education bureaucracies, material condition of women teachers, and the ways concepts of gender and sexuality have shaped experiences of men and women in the educational state. Indeed, women had not been fairly represented in the leadership of educational institution. Dr. Siegel has been an exception and as our purpose is to understand the success of Dr.Siegel’s, we looked at it in a different lens of leadership framework. We undertake this study using narrative inquiry to understand further the leadership model of Dr. Siegel. General Presupposition on Narrative Inquiry Stories have always been a way to pass on tradition and history of a nation. People love to tell and listen to stories. It is way we communicate and more importantly a way we understand people and events. Hardy (1986) has described narrative as a basic mode of thought, and Brunner (1986) described it as a way of organizing knowledge.Cultures are created and traditions are transferred from generation to generation through narratives. It is through narratives that individuals and society expresses their world views and provide models of identity and agency to their members (Brunner 1996). Narrative inquiry differs from more traditional uses of narrative education, that is, from didactic and strategic uses of narrative. Conle et al. (2000) argues that narrative inquiry retains these qualities in two areas: (1) for research, and (2) for professional development. Narrative in ResearchPolkinghorne (1988) defined narrative as the process that humans use to make sense of their experiences. It is through the application of language and personal reflection that people are able to continually construct and reconstruct significant events in their life and gain a deeper insight of their experiences. Atkinson (1998) argues that people arrange their experiences in a manner that make sense of the events and places the seemingly chaotic world in a coherent order. Thus, narratives are the process by which people make meaning of their own experiences. Denzin (1989) describes narratives as simply stories.Polkinghorne (1988) suggests that these stories convey the organizational scheme used to make meaning out of experiences. Very similar to any story, narratives are thematically organized around a central plot. It in the theme, organization, and the play of language of story that meaning and knowledge is drawn out. That is, we learn and gain insights in the temporal relational nature of the author’s reconstruc tion of events (Polkinghorne 1995). Narratives convey an understanding of environmental and interpersonal context, temporal sequence, and affective domain of the story.Polkinghorne (1995) offered the simple example of the sentence: â€Å"The king died; the price cried. † Taken in isolation, each adequately describes an event. Understood as a narrative story, with a temporal relationship and context, these two sentences describe a son’s response to the loss of his father. They convey emotion and evoke empathy. Conle (2000) describes the two purposes of narratives: (1) to convey meaning to others from unrelated events into a thematic story (Polkinghorne 1995), and (2) to convey norms and values to newcomers on a cultural or community level (Mattingly 1991).Narratives, therefore, are both the process of constructing and reconstructing events into organized schemes and the resulting that conveys the scheme (Polkinghorne 1988). Further, Polkinghorne (1988) explains that nar ratives can be used to either describe or explain an event. Descriptive narrative inquiry reports and interprets existing narratives. Descriptive narrative research describes what underlies the values and assumptions of people within a community by examining several narratives for similarities and themes.Explanatory narratives seek to explain why something happened or to explain an event. It, thus, looks narrative accounts for connections between events and actions that led to a particular occurrence. To put it more succinctly, it looks for casual connection between antecedents and events. Narrative research uses linguistic data in attempt to understand empirical reality from the perspective of the teller. It uses the resulting story to understand the organizational scheme the teller used to make sense of his or her world.In narrative research, then, it is not only the content of the story that helps in understanding the experience, but the way the story is constructed that reveals more about the experience. It therefore looks at the study of ways humans experience the world (Connelly and Clandinin 1990). Thus, narrative research begins with the narrator’s story, but moves the research toward interpretation. Denzin (1989) suggests that interpretation allows researchers to look for and connects patterns of meaning and experience in the respondent’s narratives.Bloom (1998) furthers this discussion by asserting that by connecting patterns and meaning and experiences of respondents, the researcher are able to draw from a wide array of theories to set forth his/her interpretation. Furthermore, Atkinson (1998) advises researchers to examine the respondent’s narratives for ordering of events. Context is revealed by understanding the emotions and values conveyed in the narrative. However, Feldman et al. (1990) cautions researchers on the need to scrutinize the respondent’s use of metaphors, irony, and other rhetorical devices as it may resu lt to misinterpretation.It is therefore, important to understand and gain insight into the mental state of the respondent in order to fully interpret the story. More importantly, the end result should be a synthesis of several stories into one thematic narrative. Interest in the use of narrative research has strong precedents in other fields such as in Psychology, Anthropology, and Educational Research. They use narrative as a medium of data representation and as a guide in the development of methodologies, if they did not want to lose the temporal quality and contextual detail of what they were studying (Fenstermacher 1994).They view narratives as a metaphor for human conduct (Sarbin 1986). Narrative, thus, did not stay confined to data representation, but became an entire mode of inquiry where data analysis and final documents did not have to relinquish their narrative quality. Dewey’s work on time, experience, and sociality had been central for narrative inquiry, which con sists of experiential stories that combine the social and the personal (Dewey 1904).It is these experiential stories without abandoning the particular, the contextual, and the complex events that the inquiry attempts to give voice to tacitly held personal knowledge of the respondents (Polanyi 1966; Schwab 1970). This personal knowledge has practical function or serves as an instrument in order for the researcher to evaluate and explain previously determined outcomes on the subject’s deliberations, intuitive decisions, daily action and moral wisdom. Narrative inquiry, therefore works best in getting such ‘practical knowledge’.In fact, MacIntyre (1981) promotes narratives for the study of practices, of lives and of traditions. The methodology allows the researcher to recover the moral qualities of all aspects of the subject’s contemporary lives, qualities that he sees as practically and theoretically lost. Micheal Connelly’s concept of personal, pract ical knowledge (Connelly and Diennes 1982) combined Polanyi’s sense of the personal with Schwab’s notion of the practical and MacIntyre’s moral intent.Connelly later saw the construction of narrative accounts of experiences as the perfect medium for the study of personal practical knowledge (Connelly and Clandinin 1982). Benefits Narrative Inquiry Conle (1997) notes that the most important contribution that narrative inquiry is a language that implicitly forces the issues of open-ended meanings and of the ‘constitutedness’ of identities, both ethnic and narrator’s identities. Narratives are about temporal events and tell us where and when something happens, in which contexts, who said what to whom, with which feelings and in what mood, and under which moral constraints.Such contextualization on the surface seems to convey facts, but it also potentially subjuntivizes these ‘facts’. If generalization do not accompany the specifics, narrative contextualization limits the factual to the ‘once only’ and to the reliability of observation made by a specific observer at one particular time. If the temporal quality of narrative inquiry is heeded, the tentativeness of conclusions and the open-endedness of stories will prevail. These are much-needed qualities in pluralist societies.It is the open-endedness that allows readers the ability to further interpret and understand the contextual framework of such actions (Conle 2000). Nonetheless, Berstein (1992) cautions that it is equally crucial for a narrative inquiry not to contribute to the rampant relativism, especially more moral relativism and should not deviate against reason. Such relativism can reduce the instrumental rationality of the research and can hinder the ability to draw insights especially in intercultural settings.