Archive for the ‘Behaviour’ Category

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Power and empowerment

April 30, 2011

Edmund Burke 1729-1797

“Do the thing and you will have the power. But they that do not the thing – had not the power”.

In the style of  Michel Foucault building on Niccolò Machiavelli, I take social power to be the state of an individual which can be applied to enable the mobilisation of actions. It can be taken to be similar to the state of energy of a material which enables, by its release, the doing of work.

  • Social power is the ability to mobilise actions.
  • The exercise of power is the mobilisation of actions.
  • The proper exercise of power is the mobilisation of the necessary and sufficient actions for a particular purpose.  

Empowerment then is not merely the delegating of authority. It is the increasing of the ability of the receiver to mobilise actions in his turn and may include some delegation of authority.

Empowerment then consists of actions to increase one or other of the states of human condition which confer power on his subject (knowledge, skill, social status, wealth or authority for example), so as to enhance the subject’s capability for mobilising actions.

But whether empowerment of others is needed or beneficial is a different matter. It should not be done merely for the sake of empowerment. It needs to be done for the sake of enhancing the ability of others to mobilise actions for some defined purpose.

Empowerment carries risk.

Empowering the incompetent is putting a loaded gun in the hands of a chimpanzee.

From Essence of a Manager: Chapter 2

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Here come the health-fascists – now an obesity tax!!

April 28, 2011

The world is full of “do-gooders” who in the name of the good of the majority indulge in introducing new and wonderful ways of oppressing the minority. The environmental and health fascists who use coercive means – usually taxes and the banning of substances and even the behaviour  of others – have converted the oppression of those who don’t think as they do into a fine art.

The two latest health-fascists are members of a so-called expert group, Dan Andersson and Anna Fransson who want to tax people for being fat – for their own good and the good of society of course.

And to rub salt into the wound,  tax-payer’s money is used to generate this rubbish.

Svenska Dagbladet reports:

To stop the runaway cost of Swedish obesity a “fat tax” should be introduced,  according to a new report “Calories Cost” released by the Expert Group on Public Finance (ESO) on Thursday and written by Dan Andersson and Anna Fransson

They estimate that the cost to the public sector, in terms of healthcare and social insurance due to obesity was 15 billion kronor in 2003, a figure that could rise by between 40 and about 80 percent by 2020, according to the report.

 The authors consider that there are good reasons for the government to do something about the weight trap. “Fat taxes” could be invested in, for example, bike lanes and general public health surveys of adults.

Health costs could be minimised further by introducing a birth tax and perhaps with the tax increasing for every year of survival. This could even encourage people to commit suicide once they retire and their  economic burden becomes too heavy – for the good of the majority of course. It would solve the pensions problem and the ageing problem as well.

Perhaps it is time to introduce legislation prohibiting the fascism of “do-gooders” and banning all expert groups.

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Parrakeet to be eliminated from the wild: So much for bio-diversity

April 25, 2011

A case of alarmism vs. alarmism.

That the clamour for protection of biodiversity is just so much alarmist nonsense becomes obvious from this report. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds apparently supports this action to eliminate a species from the wild even though it has not yet caused any damage!

Bio-diversity alarm always takes second place if any species poses even the slightest threat – real or perceived – to the human species. 

From the BBC:

Monk parakeet

A species of parakeet that threatens wildlife and crops is to be removed from the wild, the government has said. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said the monk parakeet, originally from South America, was an invasive species.

It announced control measures to either rehouse the birds, remove their nests, or – as a last resort – shoot them. Defra estimates there are around 100 of the green-and-yellow birds in the UK, mainly in the south east of England. 

Although the species had not yet caused any damage, Defra said they had the potential to threaten “national infrastructure”. It said extensive damage to crops had been reported in both North and South America, and the birds could cause power cuts when their nests were built on electricity pylons, particularly when they become wet from rain.

…..

A spokesman for the RSPB, the bird conservation group, said: “Our understanding is that they are going to be brought into captivity; we don’t see it’s necessary for them to be culled. “We’re happy action is taking place in that they’re being removed from the wild.

“It’s a small population at large, as the birds are colonial and are concentrated in one or two sites, so it will be possible to deal with as we think it could be a problem.”


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Jail time coming for Anil Ambani?

April 23, 2011

As an “anti-corruption” wave sweeps through the normally long-suffering and silent majority in India, Tihar Jail in Delhi is filling up with the rich and the famous now being caught up in the wake of the Satyam scams, the 2G scam and the pig-troughs surrounding the Delhi Commonwealth Games.

And about time too.

If this wave becomes a tsunami Tihar will soon need a new wing.

The 2G scam was based on the underpricing of 2G spectrum by the Telecom Ministry of India, resulting in a loss to the exchequer of some $40 billion and with a corresponding benefit to the companies being allocated the 2G licences. The former Minister and a number of other players are all currently in jail though a trial and convictions are still a long way away.

Back in February Tehelka reported:

THE 2G spectrum scam is getting murkier by the day. A well-known Maharashtra politician and a Delhi- based real estate group have now come under the probe agencies’ scanner for their suspected role in the scam.

This new revelation takes the probe to the doorsteps of political parties other than the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). Over the past week, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has interrogated at length senior officials of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) and Amit Sarin, the Delhi-based billionaire and real estate tycoon, asking them to explain a string of suspicious transactions, particularly one where Rs. 100 crore was transferred to Mumbai billionaire Shahid Balwa a day after he applied for a telecom licence.

The CBI has unearthed a money trail of Rs. 100 crore that starts from the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, goes through the Delhi-based real estate company Anant Raj Group and Balwa, and finally ends with a company associated with the influential Maharashtra politician.

Now evidence is forthcoming from the banks involved in the jungle of transactions  involving the menagerie of companies controlled by Anil Ambani’s ADAG Group and which confirms that Anil Ambani was central to the games being played:

Anil Ambani and wife Tina were the only two individuals with unlimited powers to transfer money and make payments for the sevenAnil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) companies that are now under CBI investigation for their links to the 2G scam-linked Swan Telecom, according to the testimony of Amit Khot, deputy branch manager of ICICI Bank’s Nariman Point branch, where these seven companies have their accounts. 

From Tehelka again:

Swan, Tiger, Parrot, Zebra, Penguin, Giraffe: A corporate menagerie
The CBI believes that the conspiracy behind the Swan Telecom was hatched in early 2006 when ADAG created a web of newly formed companies named after animals.

The following six companies were incorporated between March and July 2006:
1. Swan Infonet (later renamed Parrot Contelesultants); incorporated on 17 March 2006
2. Penguin International Ventures Pvt Ltd (later renamed Reliance Utility Engineers) on 26 June 2006 
3. Swan Advisory Services Pvt Ltd (later renamed Zebra Consultants Pvt Ltd) on 21 March 2006
4. Giraffe Consultancy Pvt Ltd (later renamed Sidhartha Consultancy) on 27 June 2006 
5. Tiger Traders on 20 March 2006, and
6. Swan Capital Pvt Ltd (later renamed as Swan Telecom) on 13 July 2006

All these companies were incorporated with an initial share capital of 1 lakh each. Even these few lakhs allegedly came from the bank accounts of top ADAG officials. Besides, either an ADAG company or directors of ADAG owned equity in these companies. The addresses provided in the incorporation documents were those of the registered office of ADAG.

The ADAG Menagerie: Tehelka

Tina and Anil Ambani with friend

It would seem to be just a matter of time before Anil Ambani is taken in for questioning about the 2G scam but whether he spends any jail time remains to be seen. (Commentary removed – October 2014)

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The Art of Motivation

April 21, 2011

I have been conducting a workshop on motivation in the work place as part of an exercise to establish a performance based incentive scheme for a company trying to change from being a family run enterprise to one which can be floated on the stock exchange in a year or two.

Praise Loudly, Blame Softly

In human behaviour, motivation can be considered to be a force. It is brought to bear when performing actions. Where actions have no purpose motivation is undefined. Where there is purpose I take it to be without doubt that the purpose is better served when the required actions are carried out by people who are motivated rather than by people who are indifferent.

The motivated state can then be described as that biological, emotional or cognitive condition which generates a force – variously called incentive, enthusiasm, inspiration, drive, desire, impetus or commitment – which can be applied to a person’s actions. The difference between a motivated person and an unmotivated person lies in the force they bring to bear when performing the same action. It follows that motivation is that particular force within a person which infuses dynamism into his actions or his behaviour towards a particular purpose. The art of motivation then lies in the manner of generating such a force of engagement in people when acting towards a particular purpose.  It is the influencing of human desires and drives by addressing their needs and deficiencies such that they have a vested interest in achieving the purpose. ……

It is a universal and well established observation that when some dissatisfaction is acute, all other drives and actions are subordinated to the alleviation of the acute dissatisfaction. …

What constitutes satisfaction or dissatisfaction varies from one individual to the next. What levels of these are considered acute or tolerable or acceptable or unacceptable or mild satisfaction or ecstasy, also vary with the individual. To what extent and with what velocity a change of state will drive an individual towards reaching a different state of satisfaction or dissatisfaction also depends upon the individual. With this level of variation, and with this dependence upon the individual, motivating people is in the realm of art and is still a long way from being an exact science. The use of rewards and penalties to achieve the actions chosen to be elicited from specific individuals is the art of motivation. 

….. To be able to consciously engage in motivation, which is a necessary task for a manager, it is vital that some assessment be made of the current status of satisfaction or dissatisfaction of the subject. This in turn determines whether some other state of satisfaction or reduced dissatisfaction will be sufficiently separated from the current state for any motivation to be feasible. This applies irrespective of whether the subject is a subordinate, a superior or a complete stranger. Without such an assessment the drive actually generated by any motivator that is applied, will be nothing more than a guess. The objective is of course, to intentionally provide sufficient drive to the subject such that the desired action results and is carried out forcefully. In a few cases the manager will have sufficient information to be able to make a fairly accurate assessment. In most cases however, he will only have partial information. Nevertheless, the starting point must be an assessment of the current status. 

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Ryanair fails the ethics test

April 18, 2011

It is what passes for civilised behaviour which is the true test of whether we are truly developing as homo sapiens .

Ryanair lost this case but will still appeal the £1750 fine. They even offered more to settle and suppress their behaviour. But they seem to have forgotten – if ever they knew it – that ethics is more than a matter of law.

Terminal U

A disabled woman has successfully sued Ryanair after her husband resorted to carrying her onto a plane when the airline failed to provide boarding assistance. 

Jo Heath, who suffers from multiple sclerosis and is wheelchair-bound, spoke of her “humiliation” when her husband felt he had no choice but to carry her onto the plane at Luton airport, after being told their flight to Brest Brittany would leave without them. Northampton Country Court heard how the couple were left waiting by the plane for over half an hour, when a hydraulic airlift that they had requested at the time of booking didn’t arrive. Airline staff then allegedly refused to offer any boarding assistance for health and safety reasons. Mrs Heath says they proceeded to prepare the plane for departure. “They treated me like an inconvenience, not a passenger. I was made to feel like it was my fault,” Mrs Heath said. “When I was carried onto the plane, everyone was looking over their seats to see what was happening.”

The court forced Ryanair to pay the couple £1,750 compensation for its breach of contract and breaking disability discrimination laws. Mr Heath said: “We feel vindicated because we have had to fight to get where we are.”

“I don’t think Ryanair will learn from this because they tried to brush us under the carpet. The airline actually offered us more money [out of court] than we eventually received [in court], but we refused it because they wanted us to sign a confidentiality clause. But we wanted open justice.” The ruling Judge in the case, Paul McHale said: “She is a disabled person and she made arrangements with the airline to avoid humiliation in embarking the plane. The defendant did not provide that service.

“All Ryanair was interested in was getting the plane airborne in time”. The court heard how Ryanair staff, including the plane’s pilot, had said that it was their policy to leave disabled passengers behind if they could not be boarded in time for the flight – a point that Ryanair did not dispute in court, the Northampton Herald & Post reports.

Ryanair is appealing the court’s decision, blaming what happened on Luton airport.

A spokesman for the airline said: ‘Under EU law airports, and not airlines, are responsible for the provision of special assistance to passengers. ‘This service is paid for by Ryanair and the failure of Luton Airport’s service provider to assist Mr and Mrs Health in this case was not the responsibility of Ryanair.’

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zu Googleberg lives on: Guttenberg wants to suppress investigation results:

April 9, 2011

Guttenberg’s plagiarism was apparently quite deliberate and he is now trying to prevent publication of the investigation report!!!!

Deutsche Welle reports:

The University of Bayreuth has nearly finished its investigation into the plagiarism allegations that cost Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg his job as defense minister. He doesn’t want the university to publish its findings.

Former German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, who was forced to resign over allegations that he had plagiarized other authors in his doctoral thesis, does not want a university review into the affair to be made public, according to reports in the German media. Friday’s edition of the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung said Guttenberg’s lawyers would object on the grounds of breach of privacy if the university tried to publish its findings.

The University of Bayreuth, where Guttenberg completed his doctorate in 2008, withdrew his Ph.D. title when it emerged that parts of his thesis had been lifted from other works and incorrectly attributed. The university commission tasked with examining the thesis has now largely completed its work and wants to make its findings available in early May. The Süddeutsche Zeitung suggested the report may reveal that Guttenberg acted deliberately.

University of Bayreuth President Rüdiger Bormann told the daily Tagesspiegel he hoped that Guttenberg would accept the publication of the commission’s findings. “We want to make the conclusions public – they also address the question of whether it was a deliberate act,” Bormann said. “There is a strong public interest in the university’s appraisal of the case.”

The Local reports that

Daily Süddeutsche Zeitung said a commission at the University of Bayreuth determined that the extent and manner of the infringements were such that they could not have been inadvertent.

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Sandstorm in Germany kills 8 on the autobahn!

April 9, 2011

From The Local:

Photo: DPA

Photo: DPA

At least eight people died Friday in a huge blaze on a motorway in eastern Germany after a freak sandstorm caused pile-ups, police said. Strong winds blew sand and earth onto the four-lane A19 autobahn near Rostock in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state, severely hindering visibility for motorists and causing accidents in both directions.

Northbound, three lorries and 17 cars slammed into each other and were engulfed in flames, possibly caused by chemicals on one of the trucks catching fire, police said.

A spokesman said the toll could still rise, as rescue workers were still searching for bodies in the smoking, mangled wreckage.

And after Fukushima and Angela Merkel’s knee-jerk reaction in ordering older German nuclear plants to be shut down, one reader commented:

Interesting – more persons died in a crash on a German highway than have been killed by the nuclear emergency in Japan. Need to close the highways, I think.

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Juholt continues his Stalinesque purge

April 1, 2011
Håkan Juholt continues with his Stalinesque purge of the Swedish Social Democrats. Male social democrats who are out of favour are being replaced on the grounds of being the wrong sex! But sex discrimination in this form is of course politically correct.
Purges continue in the Social Democratic party leader after the change. Now it is the turn  of the assigned group leader in parliament, Sven-Erik Osterberg, who was one of candidates to become the new party leader, to go.
A new leader will be appointed at the parliamentary group meeting on Tuesday next week. Who  the new team leader will be is unclear. According to Rapport’s sources  the new party leader Håkan Juholt plans to fill the post with a woman. He has been in talks with party colleagues and said that it is important to have a woman in the post  to get a reasonably even gender balance in leadership positions in the party.
Sven-Erik Osterberg wanted to remain as leader, but after talks with Håkan Juholt agreed to step down.

Earlier Ibrahim Baylan was forced to quit a Party Secretary to make way for Carin Jämtin. This was necessary since the new Party Leader was a male and had to be “balanced” by a female Party Secretary! And now the unfortunate Osterberg is also apparently of the wrong sex. Sounds as if this is yet another case of  politically correct  sex discrimination being used to implement a political purge.

In the modern Social Democrats, competence is of little value if you are the wrong sex.

Related:  Juholt, the smiling Stalin, begins the purge as the Social Democrats try to relive the past

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A “Culture of Courage” in management — from “Essence of a Manager”

March 31, 2011

“Without fear being present, bravery and courage do not appear on stage.”

From Chapter 7,  Essence of a Manager

Courage is the subordination of fear to purpose.

A manager is perforce required to take risk. Every judgment or selection or decision he takes results in actions with an uncertain outcome. The presence of risk and the uncertainty about results inevitably give rise to apprehensions and fears. It is a manager’s task to subordinate such fears and continue with judiciously chosen actions towards his objectives. Extending his capability for taking actions and stretching the envelope of actions available to him are key elements of his core competence. It is his courage which enables him to operate in new and untried areas which are outside his comfort zone and thereby generate a steady stream of brave actions.

A manager can create a “courage space” around himself and as this expands and grows and meets other spaces of courage a “culture of courage” can develop within an organisation. ……

It has always struck me that super-heroes must be particularly devoid of courage since their fantastic abilities must mean that they have little opportunity to feel any fear. ….

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