Brian Lawson
Mrs. Jochim
Entrepreneurship Book Review
12/1/05
About the Author David Maister is a world-wide management consultant to professional service forms. He consults to lawyers, accountants, and other services. Has consulted globally for over 2 decades. David provides firms with different ideas, strategies, and designs, but ultimately the firm usually makes an internal committee to make the strategy. His areas of expertise are strategy, marketing, human resources, organization, compensation, reward systems, and profitability improvement. David believes that it is better for firms to make their own decisions under the guidance of his counseling, but always presents to companies that have specific goals in mind to
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The book also talks about the life of a professional. It talks about how life for professionals has gotten harder with recent business. Small business professionals have to fend off big businesses that don't care for their customers or care about fair business. Unprofessionalism is commonly found in bigger business that don't have a strong bond between customers and the staff. Big business just shuffles people in and out of the store, selling their goods and not caring if it is what the customer really needs. True Professionals care about their customers, they care about their situation, and what they like and dislike. The book talks about incentives and rewards programs. Some businesses use cash rewards given to employees for good work, sort of like commission. What businesses don't realize is that having employees motivate themselves to achieve incentives can only last a little while. Employees need more motivation. Motivation from employers doesn't have to be rewards or incentives, but a simple "Good job." Or "Keep up the good work." Can keep employees happy. Incentives are a good thing to have and use, but there has to be more to it. The book says that you should act helpful from the beginning, not once you get paid. Be helpful from the beginning. Since you are a professional and that is your business, you are obligated to help a customer who generally knows much less then you do about the topic.
“Incentives are the cornerstone of modern life”(Levitt and Dubner 12). Levitt and Dubner once mentioned in their book “Freakonomics”. According to Oxford dictionary, incentives are something tends to incite to action or greater effort, as a reward offered for increased productivity (“incentives”). In business field, incentives are something given by bosses to encourage their employees to endeavour in bringing benefits to their business. For a simple example, the employee who hits the monthly or year sales target will get cash or prizes as incentives. Apparently, these incentives are something that motivates employees maintains their great performance and also to motivate other employee, whoever wants to get the incentives, work harder.
In the article “The Power of Being Professional” by Gerald A.J. de Montigny, the author states that the social workers allowed to have the authority to determine the fate of their clients due to the authority social workers have received based the documentation and record keeping that they do within their job. The social worker has the power to investigate, to intervene in the client’s personal life, apprehend a child, and to revoke client’s parole. These exercises of power can be used to both negatively and positively influence their client’s lives. All of the record and documentations are based on the worker’s perception of the experience and situation, not the child or the guardian’s. As the author points that the authority allows social
There is a great importance put on business leadership, this is directly due to how a business not only functions but in how fruitful the company can become. A great leader essentially can take a business plan that is weak yet turn it into a success, whereas a poor leader stands a higher chance of ruining the best of business plans. That is why it is essential to develop effective leadership throughout a companies entire management program at all levels. How does one develop or retain strong leadership? Companies must be focused on hiring strategies that encompass very specific parameters, building from within whilst creating a strong foundation for employee development and succession planning. Leadership is essential in any organization. The style and theory embraced determines whether the company will or will not achieve their goals. in all cases theory must be embraced, as a companies theory, style, and strategy is greatly dependent on the industry the company is in (Sadler, 2014). “The behavioral theory is one of the widely used theories of management. It suggests that leaders are made and not born. It gives room for training to install leadership traits in leaders at the expense of denying them a chance. There are various leadership styles embraced by companies (Cyert, & March, 2005).” This paper takes a look at the management styles of two specific
They explained that: “Changes in incentives influence human behavior in predictable ways”. The main point of this concept is that the more attractive an option is the more likely an individual to choose it. Another point that they also focused on was the fact that if a particular product more costly, the more unappealing it will become to the consumer. They used examples such as employees will worker harder if they feel that they will be greatly rewarded or a student will study material that they feel will be on an
Professionalism is an adherence to a set of values comprising both a formally agreed-upon code of conduct and the informal expectations of colleagues, clients and society. The key values include acting in a patient's interest, responsiveness to the health needs of society, maintaining the highest standards of excellence in the practice of medicine and in the generation and dissemination of knowledge. In addition to medical knowledge and skills, medical professionals should present psychosocial and humanistic qualities such as caring, empathy, humility and compassion, as well as social responsibility and sensitivity to people's culture and beliefs. All these qualities are expected of members of highly trained professions.
A professional is characterized by or conforming to the technical or ethical standards of a profession (2) : exhibiting a courteous, conscientious, and generally businesslike manner in the workplace. Being professional should be a subconscious effort in the fact that it should always be applied. When employees are professional it helps the system run more efficiently and safely. A person must me a certain criteria when being evaluated on professionalism, a person is judged based on the clients; Attitude, Values, Communication techniques, and approachability. Clients who display a committed, dependable attitude will benefit more from work exerted, and overall be rewarded with incentives. Although professionalism may be in the eye of the
Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner's world view that “incentives are the cornerstone of modern life” (Levitt, 12) is a view that I completely agree with. I also believe that, after reading, that this is the key idea to this book. Greed, love, and happiness, along with many others, can all be incentives. Levitt and Dubner show this by expressing that business, whether a street-gang or McDonalds, is like a tournament. They express that everyone “wants to succeed in an extremely competitive field in which, if you reach the top, you are paid a fortune”(Levitt, 102). You can see the tournament as a pyramid, where the bottom is fighting their way to the top. Levitt and Dubner use the example of a crack gang. At the bottom of the pyramid, the members each make $3.30 an hour, while risking not only prison, but their life. Whereas the leaders would be making up to 68 thousand dollars a month. The rules of the tournament are that you have to start at the bottom to make it to the top, you have to be willing, and you have to prove yourself to be above average (Levitt, 104). The incentive is clear: to win the tournament and make the most money. This example complements my world view, where incentives are the backbone of choices. Incentives can
integrating the fictional story of one man's life with the task of teaching the reader about
Everywhere you go and in everything you do, professionalism comes in to account in some way or another. Professionalism has been defined as, “a strict adherence to courtesy, honesty and responsibility when dealing with individuals or other companies in the business environment” (Clarke, 2015). When it comes to the career of nursing, professionalism is taken to a whole other level. Not only does professionalism come in to account with your business professionals and peers, but you have patients with whom professionalism is highly practiced as well. Professionalism in nursing means that you are able to handle all the responsibilities given to you in an efficient and proper way. It means that when you are given an order that needs to be carried out by a doctor or a patient who needs your help, you adhere to what is being expected of you in a timely manner. Physicians put trust into nurses in order to carry out orders that are needed to save patients’ lives. If you’re not looked at as professional and responsible, it is going to be very hard to have a successful career. Responsibility is what nursing is all about. Professionalism in nursing means that along with taking on big responsibilities, you have discipline. Discipline in nursing is crucial to being successful. Not only to keep your patients safe, but so that you personally are on the ball and looked at by others as professional, therefore, making you a great nurse. Professionalism means that you have the
Pay and Rewards – pay and rewards attract, motivate and retain staff. The employment contract which lists rewards, whether it be pay, bonus or benefits, can remove animosity amongst employees and employers. However, recent research reveals that employees are no longer motivated by a financial reward alone, but
The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines professionalism as the conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or a professional person. Yet the White Paper on Pharmacy Student Professionalism says it is displaying values, beliefs and attitudes that put the needs of another about your personal needs. There is still another definition. The Medical Professionalism Project says professionalism is the basis of medicine's contract with society. It demands placing the interests of patients above those of the physician, setting and maintaining standards of competence and integrity, and providing expert advice to society on matters of health. In my opinion, a person's attitude, values, and behaviors
Dr. Mark Lasser’s book “Healing the Wounds of Sexual Addiction” gives insight to those who suffer from sexual addiction and to the families, friends and other people in their lives. Dr. Mark Lasser has chosen to write this book, to share with others his personal struggle and victory with sexual addiction. Dr. Lasser has written this book from a Christian view, to give other individuals hope in a difficult and growing disease, which is taking control and destroying our families. Lasser defines sexual addiction as “a sickness involving any type of uncontrollable sexual activity, and because the addict cannot
Professionalism can be defined as “the conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or a professional person.”(Merriam-webster) My interpretation of this definition is that professionalism is a standard that we must hold ourselves accountable to in order to provide the best service. How do we get from a basic understanding of this definition, to practicing and applying professionalism? Major attributes that lead to professionalism can include accountability, communication and reflective practice. Reflective practice in the healthcare system is when “practitioners engage in a continuous cycle of self-observation and self evaluation in order to understand their own actions and the reactions they prompt in themselves” (becoming a better university teacher…). In the day-to-day life, everyone performs a type of reflection whether it is by unconscious thought or by habit. When it is unintentional it is hard to learn and grow from the knowledge that can potentially be gained. Therefore we need to find a way to effectively incorporate reflective practice into our daily lives, especially as radiation therapy students.
“While Mangers complain about lack of motivation in their workers, they might as well consider the possibility that the reward systems they’ve installed are paying off for the opposite”.
Intro: If you look at the world around you and ask the people you meet daily doing whatever it is that they do. And you ask them what it is that motivates them to wake up and go to work in the mornings. Or you ask them why is it that they remain at their current job and not seek another. The answer is usually because they’re being rewarded enough by their employer for their efforts which makes them want to stay. An employee who doesn’t feel like they’re rewarded fairly for their efforts will most likely not remain in their current position. And rewards from employers can be a lot more than just financial compensation for their efforts.