jlcox2 tag:www.cicsworld.org,2008:/blogs/jlcox2/258 2008-04-24T18:05:40Z Movable Type 3.2 Management Vs. Leadership: Going Back to the Beginning tag:www.cicsworld.org,2008:/blogs/jlcox2//258.3222 2008-04-24T17:57:47Z 2008-04-24T18:05:40Z I stumbled upon the quote from Stephen Covey. “Management works in the system; Leadership works on the system.” This goes back to the beginning of the semester but what better time to look back than the end. I think this... Joshua Cox I stumbled upon the quote from Stephen Covey.

“Management works in the system; Leadership works on the system.”

This goes back to the beginning of the semester but what better time to look back than the end. I think this quote really summarizes our many discourses on the management vs. leadership topic. I don't want to spoil anyones own thoughts by writing my own right away. But I thought it would be interesting if anyone else see this quote the way I do.

Quotes is from: http://thinkexist.com/quotes/stephen_r._covey/

]]> Competitive Intelligence Strategies tag:www.cicsworld.org,2008:/blogs/jlcox2//258.3221 2008-04-24T17:55:17Z 2008-04-24T17:57:29Z Works Cited Bleckenhorn, D., & Fleisher, C. (2005). Competitive Intelligence and Global Business. Westport, CT: Praeger. Prescott, J., & Miller, J. (2001). Proven Strategies in Competitive Intelligence: Lessons From The Trenches. New York: John Wiley & Son. Joshua Cox The book, Proven Strategies in Competitive Intelligence, by Prescott and Miller is lead off with a section committed to case studies. Each new chapter is devoted to a specific company or organization’s personal story about competitive intelligence (CI). The chapters are in depth and special because they are told through a leader of that organization through past speeches. For example, the first chapter is John Pepper, chairman of Procter & Gamble, giving a keynote to the CEO Roundtable of Procter & Gamble in 1999.

During his speech to the roundtable Pepper stated that now is the time to be talking to be talking about competitive intelligence because a business needs it to have a successful strategy. Pepper goes on to talk about how the company has adapted and changed over time but still held on to the values that were born with the company. With that positive note Pepper moved toward the future saying that changes need to be made because Procter and Gamble is not changing fast enough. (Pepper pg. 24, 2001)

Pepper goes on about change and moving the company in a move productive direction when he brings up something a London P & G employee once said to him, “It won’t be the big that eats the small; it will be the fast that eat the slow” (Pepper pg. 25, 2001). This statement can find relevance on many levels, not only CI but also any information industry could benefit with an understanding of that sentence.
I believe that everyone can benefit from the statement made by Michael Allen the P & G employee from London. Now more than every with the information age booming all around us can we especially (professionals or soon-to-be professionals) take light from this statement and apply it to your lives.
The statement is so profound; it has foresight into the future. Pepper also believed this because to roughly based new ideas for P & G around it. Pepper wanted speed to be an attribute of his company. Quickness would separate them from the rest. But, why would a company need to be fast? The company itself does not need to be fast but it needs to operate on a global scale quickly. Everything from product manufacturing, product updating, shipping, billing, every aspect of the business needs to happen faster to stay ahead of the competition. How does the company know where the competition lies? Competitive Intelligence.

The second section of Proven Strategies in Competitive Intelligence that I examined was the chapter on Competitive Intelligence at Lexis-Nexis. This chapter is a keynote speech by the company’s president and CEO Han Gieskes. In his speech Gieskes talks about how important CI is and how it has affected the company. This chapter gives an interesting look at CI and how it can take place. Lexis-Nexis is an information provider. They supply users with legal and business news and documents. The interesting part about Lexis-Nexis is that their competitors can use their services to do CI research for themselves.
At Lexis-Nexis CI is used for strategic planning and development. Some of the benefits that CI gives the company include: alerts the business to competitive plays, explores growth and market opportunities, underscores product/market strengths, identifies product development ideas, provides support for alliances and acquisitions, reduces financial risks, and keeps employees smart. (Gieskes pg. 71, 2001).

Gieskes states, “If CI isn’t part of a corporation’s strategy, then it’s just an interesting exercise. In my organization, nobody has time just for interesting exercises” (Gieskes pg. 69, 2001). This comment only proves to the listeners of Gieskes speech how serious he takes CI. The list above goes to show that at Lexis-Nexis CI plays are large role in other branches of the company.

From what I have gathered from the few sections of Proven Strategies in Competitive Intelligence I have read is that CI is largely about keeping a lookout for your company by looking out for other companies. This doesn’t mean your direct competitor, but the unconventional IT companies that could be developing a technology that could greatly advance your company. I believe CI is a must have for any organization that wants to move forward and be know for their success.
KITs and Their Purpose

KITs, no not the black car with the red light from Knight Rider, Key Intelligence Topics are a fairly new organizational strategy. In the book, Competitive Intelligence and Global Business, the article author Meera Mody explains the purpose and reasoning behind the new term.

Mody explains that CI is an ever-changing process with many different areas that need to researched and studied (Mody pg. 18, 2005). With many of the world’s companies finding it easier to go global they is no shock that competition is a growing business factor. With globalization a fairly easy task, CI is a must have for companies (the above section explains why is to be true). However, like I stated earlier, going global is not a high hurdle for many companies creating a very large number of fish in a sea that does not grow. The number of companies and new technologies that need to be researched are overwhelming CI professionals. This is where KITs come into the plan.

According to Mody a senior manager is responsible to identify and communicate to the CI processionals on which key areas to focus their research on. This way the CI is not wasting valuable time researching lost causes or dead ends. The upper management can point the company in a direction. Then the senior managers can relate that information to the CI team so they can directly assist in the change. (Mody pg. 18, 2005)

In my opinion KITs have most likely existed ever since the first CI professional, they probably just didn’t call them that. A CI professional will not waste the company’s time and money researching useless information. The key to a CI professional is the word professional. I am positive that if a CI professional does his or her job then they are fully aware of which way the company is headed and is focused on that particular area of business. I do however like the fact that someone has given this narrowing of topics a name. Now other companies can benefit and start using KITs and make sure that their CI professional’s time is being best used for the company.

]]> Competitive Intelligence and Knowledge Management: Two Key Factors to Successful Leadership tag:www.cicsworld.org,2008:/blogs/jlcox2//258.3220 2008-04-24T17:53:22Z 2008-04-24T17:54:29Z Works Cited Cox, Joshua. (2008). Competitive Intelligence and It’s Uses and A Leadership Theory. Muncie, IN: CICS Deering, B.J. (2001). Knowledge Managment: Strategy and Technology, KM for competitive advantage: mining diverse sources for marketing intelligence. Norwood, MA: Artech House Inc. Joshua Cox Throughout the semester I have focus mainly on the relationship between the leader and the follower. I have created my own personal theory of leadership that contains a situation in which the follower and leader must communicate. I have not done a tremendous amount of research on competitive intelligence (CI) or knowledge management (KM). The following is an essay that focuses on both CI and KM as attributes of a well-rounded leader.

]]> A Well-Rounded Leader
A leader must be able to handle multiple tasks simultaneously, they must be able to ‘wear multiple hats’ at the same time. A good leader can delegate and give clear instructions to her followers. She uses the tools available to make well thought out decision that will better herself and her organization. CI and KM are just those, tools that can be used by leaders to make better decisions.

CI as a Tool
As I have said before competitive intelligence is a must have for any organization that wants to move forward and be know for their success (Cox, pg. 4, 2008). CI is the act of gathering information and using that information to further your organizations interests. The information that might be gathers could include competitors, advertising schemes, industry breakthroughs, and technology news. Any information that can be used to help your organization compete with other companies is CI.
A leader must know how to use CI correctly to help guide his teams. He must also be able to give clear instructions to his CI team. If his vision is moving the company global, he must be able to communicate that goal to his CI teams so they can focus their research on globalization and not other facets of business that may waste time and money.

KM as a Tool
Knowledge management sounds like a very complicated idea to grasp. Knowledge alone is something that many people have difficult defining. With that in mind the fact that certain people can manage knowledge is outstanding. However, in today’s ever–changing world, for an organization to be successful they must have a leader that knows how to be a great knowledge manager.
The knowledge can come from many different places within a company. B.J. Deering writes, “…effective KM requires seeking diverse data about customer and competitor activities and capitalizing on these data (pg. 182, 2001). CI is an example of a means to gather knowledge. As Deering says, diverse data is important. It will give a great idea of what your competitors and customers are doing. Also, Deering hits on a large point when she states that KM “requires…capitalizing on these data” (pg. 182, 2001). A good leader sees the opportunity given and can capitalize on it, pushing her company forward.

Conclusion
In my opinion I feel that competitive intelligence is a part of the bigger idea that is knowledge management. KM is using the information that was provided by CI and using it in cohesion with the leader’s vision to help a company succeed.
Deering’s statement about KM really sums up my whole idea on how a leader should use CI to obtain information and then manage that information in a way that is helpful to their appropriate task. A good leader uses both competitive intelligence and knowledge management as everyday tools to strengthen themselves as leaders and to obtain goals for their company.

]]> My Four Part Theory of Leadership tag:www.cicsworld.org,2008:/blogs/jlcox2//258.3219 2008-04-24T17:00:26Z 2008-04-24T17:04:48Z Joshua Cox My theory of leadership breaks down into four main parts. Leadership only exists when these four aspects are present: a leader, a follower, a situation, and communication. I will begin the essay by stating my personal definition of leadership then explain each of the four parts of my leadership theory.

]]>
Leadership Defined and The Leader

Leadership is the ability to have followers accomplish goals because of their belief in the leader, the act of responsibility (not only for oneself but also for a group of people), creating ideas, and having vision. Leadership is also taking responsibility for ones actions, good or bad. Creating ideas and vision are must have characteristics of a leader. The following is a list of words that I feel describes a leader and/or leadership.

1. Visionary
2. Encouragement
3. Welcomes change
4. Utilizes conflict positively
5. Responsible

For leadership to take place two parties must be present, a leader and a follower. The two parties must coincide in the same situation and must also have some type of communication.


The Situation

What do a CEO of Coca-Cola and an owner of a small car wash have in common? They are both leaders of their respective companies. They both sit at the top of the company’s “food chain,” in respects to the executive board of Coca-Cola and, of course, if the owner of the car wash’s wife or husband likes to be involved in the family business. Which person is more important to their business? Which one is more involved? What I am trying to explain is that it all depends on the situation at hand. The CEO of Coca-Cola is in charge of a multi-billion dollar a year company; the car wash owner deals with maybe couple hundred thousand dollars a year. Coca-Cola has thousands of employees where as the car wash may have ten to fifteen. The CEO of Coca-Cola has to take on a larger leadership role than the car wash owner. Each person still has management issues at each level, however, the car wash owner will work closer with those issues than the CEO. The following are graphical representation of situational leadership.


The amount of leadership is related to the amount of management due to the situation that the leader is in. The CEO of Coca-Cola is in a role that needs more leadership than management; the car wash owner is in a role that needs more management than leadership. In both situations, however, neither leadership nor management totally disappears.

The Follower

All leaders must have followers, that is what makes them a leader. I feel that the relationship between the two is similar to a scale with weights on each side. Each side is the exact same size as the other, meaning they are both as important to the overall equation as the other. The scale must be balanced for the relationship to work; if unbalanced, the other side falls off as well.

I would like to look at not characteristics of leaders but how followers respond to their leaders. Dr. Edwin Hollander has being doing research on this topic for years. He has found idiosyncrasies related to certain types of leader/follower relationships. The research by Dr. Hollander is based on his Idiosyncrasy Credit Model, where the follower’s perception and evaluation of the leader is where the majority of his work has been done. Hollander has this to about the leader/follower relationship.

“Leadership is not just about a leader. Studying leadership properly needs attention to how followers perceive and respond to a leader…The overreaching point here is that the leadership process involves more than the leader’s qualities alone; it also involves those of followers and their mutual situation,” (Hollander, 2006, pg. 293).


Hollander agrees with three out of four parts of my leadership theory in this quote. He too believes that leaders cannot lead without followers and that a situation must be present for the relationship to work.
A leader must understand the role of his or her followers. Max DePree, a well-known leadership author wrote, “One obvious requirement for doing good work as a leader is to learn the perspective of followers” (DePree pg. 198, 1993). If a leader can understand how her followers truly view her, then she can use that knowledge to persuade the followers or perhaps gain new ones.
Followers are not born to follow. They must be in a position to become followers but they still have a choice on who they want to lead them. “Followership, It’s Personal, Too,” is an article in the Harvard Business Review by Robert Goffee and Gareth Jones about what followers want from their leaders. The article explains that followers “seek, admire, and respect…leaders that produce within them three emotional responses.” (Goffee and Jones, 2001, pg. 148)
The first is significance. People want to feel like they are important. They want a pat on the back and “good job” after a hard days work. If a leader treats his followers with respect and kindness, followers will more than likely go to the ends of the earth for them.
The second emotional response is community; a sense of being part of something. Goffee and Jones define community as,” when people feel a unity of purpose around work and, simultaneously, a willingness to relate to one another as human beings.” (Goffee and Jones, 2001, pg. 148) The go on to say that it is very difficult to create such an environment, but when someone does the followers will call that person their leader.
The third is excitement. Followers want to be engaged and energized by the presence of their leader. This does mean that the leader needs to have some characteristics themselves, like a good public speaker. Goffee and Jones say that followers will quickly begin to feel the presence of leadership from people who are energetic and extroverted.
The relationship between a follower and a leader is an ever-changing one. The leader must understand the position of the follower and give the follower the necessary support and feedback to keep them following. The follower must feel that the leader is someone worthwhile and appropriate to follow. They must buy-in to the leader’s ideas and adopt them as their own.

The Communication
As of now, I have explained that leadership can exist only if a leader and follower have a relationship within a situation. However, without communication the relationship would not create leadership. A leader must be able to communicate with his followers and followers must be able to communicate back to the leader. Communication is essential to transmit information from one to the other. The leader must be able to tell the follower what needs to be done, and the follower must be able to tell the leader when the task is complete. It becomes a two-way street of information. This communication can take place in many forms; E-Mails, memos, personal meetings and even through other people. However the most important aspect of communication within leadership is that it does take place.

Conclusion

My theory of leadership is a four part “all or nothing” idea. A leader is only a leader when she has a follower. The leader and follower must be part of the same situation and within that situation the leader and follower must communicate back and forth. Each section of my theory is a stand only idea that can function unaided, however, when put together they create leadership.


]]> Theory of Leadership tag:www.cicsworld.org,2008:/blogs/jlcox2//258.3124 2008-02-28T13:37:55Z 2008-02-28T13:39:27Z Joshua Cox Analysis of “Information is Knowledge in Motion”
and
Leadership/Followership Theories

]]> Abstract

This article consists of four parts: Leaders and Followers, Followership, Analysis of Information in a Scale of Knowledge (Gillette, 2000, pg 7), and My Theory of Leadership. The second section of this article focuses on Chapter 29 of The Leader’s Companion. More specifically the article, “Leaders and Followers,” by John W. Gardner. The author relates his thoughts to other authors on the topic of the relationship between leaders and followers. The third section is an analysis of table created by Jay E. Gillette that examines the connection between information and knowledge. In the last section, I have revised and continued on my personal theory of leadership using other theories and articles as well as formulating my own.
Leaders and Followers – John W. Gardner

In The Leader’s Companion, by J. Thomas Wren chapter 29 is written by John W. Gardner. The title of the Chapter is “Leaders and Followers.” Gardner confesses that he has only been studying leadership for a few months, but the chapter preface states that Gardner has served under six United States presidents.
The first, and in my opinion the most profound, statement that Gardner makes is, “Leaders are almost never as much in charge as they are pictured to be, and followers almost never are as submissive as one might imagine.” (Gardner, 1995, pg. 185) This thought can ring very loud in many people’s minds. When people perceive leaders they might think of a supervisor that controls everything around them. When a follower is thought of people may think weak, docile, or even submissive. Both of these assumptions could be correct, however I feel the relationship between leader and follower when studied closely proves differently.
Gardner goes on to talk about Georg Simmel an author that influenced his own thoughts on leadership. He states that Simmel said that, “followers have about as much influence on their leaders as leaders have on their followers.” (Gardner, 1995, pg. 186) Simmel also wrote, “Leaders cannot maintain authority unless followers are prepared to believe in that authority.” (Simmel, 1995, pg. 186) The first quote agrees with my personal theory of leadership in respect to the relationship of the leader and follower. One cannot exist without the other, giving each side an equal amount of power in the relationship. For example visually, two circles that are same size on opposite sides of scale. When one is removed the other falls off as well. The second quote sound like a golden rule of leadership followership relations. If the follower does not want to be lead then he or she cannot be lead. In other words, you cannot sell something to someone if they do not want to buy it.
I believe that different circumstances and situations will play a role into Simmel’s second quote about followers believing in authority. Is he talking about political or professional leadership? Or how about leadership on the football field? I believe that Simmel’s statement fits very well within a political ideology. The authority of our elected government is exactly that, elected. We the people choose (popular vote) who represents us. We believe in it, because we had a hand in choosing it and we have all been reared in the United States surrounded by democracy.
I would like to wrap us the summary of the “Leader and Follower” section with another quote from Gardner. He simply states, “A following must be earned.” (Gardner, 1995, pg. 186) A person may be appointed to a position of authority and misconstrue it as a leadership role. Because someone has subordinates does not mean that they have followers, and to be a leader you must have followers. (Gardner, 1995, pg. 186)
Followership – Robert Goffee and Gareth Jones

“Followership, It’s Personal, Too,” is an article in the Harvard Business Review by Robert Goffee and Gareth Jones. The article focuses on the concept of leadership and followership and a duality, without one the other does not exist. The article explains that followers “seek, admire, and respect…leaders that produce within them three emotional responses.” (Goffee and Jones, 2001, pg. 148)
The first is significance. People want to feel like they are important. They want a pat on the back and “good job” after a hard days work. If a leader treats his followers with respect and kindness, followers will more than likely go to the ends of the earth for them.
The second emotional response is community, a sense of being part of something. Goffee and Jones define community as,” when people feel a unity of purpose around work and, simultaneously, a willingness to relate to one another as human beings.” (Goffee and Jones, 2001, pg. 148) The go on to say that it is very difficult to create such an environment, but when someone does the followers will call that person their leader.
The third is excitement. Followers want to be engaged and energized by the presence of their leader. This does mean that the leader needs to have some characteristics themselves. Goffee and Jones say that followers will feel leadership soon from people who are energetic and extroverted.
The authors conclude saying that some traditional theories of leadership view the followers as an “empty vessel waiting to be led.” (Goffee and Jones, 2001, pg. 148) They disagree with those theories stating that a follower needs significance, community, and excitement from their leaders for they refuse to follow.
Information in a Scale of Knowledge – A table by Jay E. Gillette

I first examined the “Information in a Scale of Knowledge,” table by Jay E. Gillette before reading any related material within the chapter. I then tried to in my own mind connect the words. This is the conclusion I reached. Phenomena is any event that has every existed. Facts are a witness to the phenomena. Data is a record or storage of the witness. Information is the transmission of that record. Understanding is explaining the phenomena. Wisdom emerges from understanding when someone fully comprehends the phenomena and how it occurs.
My thought process took me in a complete circular pattern. Yes, I do believe and understand knowledge as a scale, however my mind looped wisdom back to phenomena. The concept of moving back and forth through the scale still works but now since the circular pattern, it is ever going.
After reading the section on “Information on a Scale of Knowledge” I somewhat understand the ideology behind the table. The individual break down of the table was very helpful to me. I enjoyed the definitions that were given by Gillette. They did not give too much away to the reader allowing them to create and establish their own “points of departure” for Information Knowledge.
My Personal Theory of Leadership – Joshua L. Cox

My theory of leadership will be broken down into three sections. The first section will be my definition of leadership. The second section will be focused on situational leadership and the third will not be about leaders but their followers and the relationship they share.
Leadership Defined
Leadership to me is the ability to have followers accomplish goals because of their belief of the leader, the act of responsibility (not only for oneself but also for a group of people), creating ideas and vision as well as having followers.
Above is my definition of leadership. To me, leadership is nothing without followers, followers that take the leaders vision and make it possible. Leadership is also taking responsibility for ones actions, good or bad. Creating ideas and vision are must have characteristics of a leader. The following is a list of words that I feel describe a leader and leadership.
1. Visionary
2. Encouragement
3. Welcomes change
4. Utilizes conflict positively
5. Responsible

Hopefully I have created a solid definition of leadership. From here I will move further into my own theory of leadership.
Situational Theory
What do a CEO of Coca-Cola and an owner of a small car wash have in common? They are both the leader of their respective companies. They both sit at the top of the companies “food chain,” in respects to the executive board of Coca-Cola and, of course, if the owner of the car wash’s wife or husband likes to be involved in the family business. Which person is more important to their business? Which one is more involved? What I am trying to get across is that it all depends on the situation at hand. The CEO of Coca-Cola is in charge of a multi-billion dollar a year company; the car wash owner deals with maybe one hundred thousand a year. Coca-Cola has thousands of employees where as the car wash may have ten to fifteen.
The CEO of Coca-Cola has to take on a larger leadership role than the car wash owner. Each person still has management issues at each level. However, the car wash owner will work closer with those issues than the CEO. The following are graphical representation of situational leadership.

The amount of leadership is related to the amount of management due to the situation that the leader is in. The CEO of Coca-Cola is in a role that needs more leadership than management; the car wash owner is in a role that needs more management than leadership. In both situations, however, neither leadership nor management totally disappears.
Followers
All leaders must have followers; that is what makes them a leader. They do not exist without the other. Like I have said above (in the Leaders and Followers section) I feel that the relationship between the two is similar to a scale with weights on each side. Each side is the exact same size as the other, meaning they are both as important to the equation as the other. The scale must be balanced for the relationship to work, if unbalanced then the other side falls off as well.

In my theory of leadership I would like to look at not characteristics of leaders but how followers respond to their leaders and the relationship that they have with one another. Dr. Edwin Hollander has being doing research on this topic for years. He has found idiosyncrasies related to certain types of leader/follower relationships. The research by Dr. Hollander is based on his Idiosyncrasy Credit Model, where the follower’s perception and evaluation of the leader is where the majority of the study has been done.
I find the relationship between the leader and follower very interesting and will continue research on the subject. I feel you can learn a lot about a leader by the way their followers perceive them.
Conclusion
The Leader’s Companion chapter by John W. Gardner proves that leaders must have followers and vice versa. Gardner gives the reader profound leader/follower relationship quotes from himself and other authors that have inspired him.
In Followership, It’s Personal Too, by Goffee and Jones, we’ve learned about the three emotional responses followers receive from a true leader. They are significance, community, and excitement. We also know that traditional theories of leadership view the followers with low respect.
In the analysis of the Information in a Scale of Knowledge table Gillette has shown the reader a way to place information in a hierarchy of knowledge but also how each step can connect to each other. This essay will be a good starting point for anyone that is interested in Information Knowledge.
The ever-changing fourth section of this article is my personal theory of leadership. I have incorporated my definition of leadership, situational leadership, looking at leaders through their followers and the relationship they share. I will continue to update and refine my theory as I progress through my research.

]]> Leadership Part 2 tag:www.cicsworld.org,2008:/blogs/jlcox2//258.3122 2008-02-21T22:16:45Z 2008-02-26T22:19:59Z Works Cited Wren, J. Thomas, (1995), The Leader’s Companion, The Free Press, New York. The Historical and Contemporary Context of Leadership: A Conceptual Model, Wren and Swatez Joshua Cox My theory of leadership will be broken down into three sections. The first section will be my definition of leadership. The second section will be focused on situational leadership and the third will not be about leaders but their followers.

]]> Leadership Defined
Leadership to me is the ability to have followers accomplish goals because of their belief of the leader, the act of responsibility (not only for oneself but also for a group of people), creating ideas and vision as well as having followers.
Above is my definition of leadership. To me, leadership is nothing without followers, followers that take the leaders vision and make it possible. Leadership is also taking responsibility for ones actions, good or bad. Creating ideas and vision are must have characteristics of a leader. The following is a list of words that I feel describe a leader and leadership.
1. Visionary
2. Encouragement
3. Welcomes change
4. Utilizes conflict positively
5. Charismatic
6. Responsible

Hopefully I have created a solid definition of leadership. From here I will move further into my own theory of leadership.

Situational Theory
What do a CEO of Coca-Cola and an owner of a small car wash have in common? They are both the leader of their respective companies. They both sit at the top of the companies “food chain,” in respects to the executive board of Coca-Cola and, of course, if the owner of the car wash’s wife or husband likes to be involved in the family business. Which person is more important to their business? Which one is more involved? What I am trying to get across is that it all depends on the situation at hand. The CEO of Coca-Cola is in charge of a multi-billion dollar a year company; the car wash owner deals with maybe one hundred thousand a year. Coca-Cola has thousands of employees where as the car wash may have ten to fifteen. The CEO of Coca-Cola has to take on a larger leadership role than the car wash owner. Each person still has management issues at each level, however, the car wash owner will work closer with those issues than the CEO. The following are graphical representation of situational leadership.

The amount of leadership is related to the amount of management due to the situation that the leader is in. The CEO of Coca-Cola is in a role that needs more leadership than management; the car wash owner is in a role that needs more management than leadership. In both situations, however, neither leadership nor management totally disappears.

Followers
All leaders must have followers; that is what makes them a leader. In my personal theory of leadership I would like to look at not characteristics of leaders but how followers respond to their leaders. Dr. Edwin Hollander has being doing research on this topic for years. He has found idiosyncrasies related to certain types of leader/follower relationships. The research by Dr. Hollander is based on his Idiosyncrasy Credit Model, where the follower’s perception and evaluation of the leader is where the majority of the study has been done.

I find the relationship between the leader and follower very interesting and will continue research on the subject. I feel you can learn a lot about a leader by the way their followers perceive them.
Conclusion
Words like Access, Retrieval, and Storage can be broken down and giving personifying qualities related to leadership/management. I feel like I have placed the Primary Category words in appropriate groups given my explanations
In “The Historical and Contemporary Context of Leadership: A Conceptual Model,” Wren states how different people perceive leaders depending on their time period, situation, and many other varying factors.
The ever-changing third section of this article is my personal theory of leadership. I have incorporated my definition of leadership, situational leadership, and looking at leaders through their followers. I will continue to update and refine my theory as I progress through my research.


]]> Leadership Part 1 tag:www.cicsworld.org,2008:/blogs/jlcox2//258.3100 2008-01-23T23:33:50Z 2008-01-23T23:35:51Z Joshua Cox Introduction

In this essay, I will discuss and summarize a section of the, The Leader’s Companion; Insights on Leadership Through the Ages, by J. Thomas Wren. The ladder part of the essay will include summarization and highlights of the January 15 leadership seminar and the beginning synthesis of my own personal theory of leadership.

The Beginnings

Leadership is an attribute that does not start or stop on certain days, however I believe that the amount of leadership bestowed upon a person rapidly increases once he or she enters the working world. May graduation is quickly approaching with weeks soaring by with little notice. I decided to focus this portion of the essay on chapter nine, Concepts of Leadership: The Beginnings, because soon I will enter the world as a new graduate looking for leadership opportunities.
This chapter by Bernard M. Bass focuses on the first recorded forms and attributes of leaders. Bass begins by citing prophets, chiefs, and kings as leadership symbols used in the Bible, a book with well-known credibility. From there he moves to mythologies, mentioning the Odyssey and Beowolf. Bass believes power, mortality, and effectiveness are characteristics of leadership in myths. Bass then moves to 5,000 B.C. and cites hieroglyphics, which prove the idea of a leader or leadership has been around for thousands of years. Other characteristics that Bass ties with leaders of the past, even functional leaders include; justice, judgment, wisdom, counsel, even shrewdness and cunning. He then states that shrewdness and cunning are not as highly looked upon as they once were.
I believe Bass’ input on early forms and attributes of leadership was very informative and fairly spot on. I specifically enjoyed the leadership qualities of shrewdness and cunning which he stated as time progressed those characteristics faded. The idea behind those specific traits interests me because those words can describe a tyrant, which we all know to be a malicious leader. Even though those words are not labeled “good” words they still can illustrate an image a leadership.

Seminar Summary

The January 15th seminar was extremely helpful to me in beginning my own theory of leadership. We utilized all of the whiteboards creating list and graphs that could help us explain our personal thoughts and feelings on the topics of leadership. Here are some of the words and phrases that I agree with the most and will most likely use in my final theory:
Leadership – visionary, encourage, welcome change, utilizes conflict
Management – organizes, directs, welcomes stability, avoids conflict
These words, in my mind, are a great start to my personal theory of leadership. The discourse in class was insightful to say the least. We have different people from different backgrounds, American and Indian. We have people in different stages of their lives, young adults, working professionals, and even a seasoned manager with multiple degrees. With this in mind myself and others tried to focus some of our personal questions towards the classmates who perhaps have actually “lived and learned” through specific situations. For example, in the seminar, we reviewed the hierarchy of management from the prior class. The seasoned classmate disagreed with the chart and gave us his personal insight. We then kept the questions rolling towards our classmate because we felt like we could learn from him. I can honestly say it was good to hear a real life example of how an educated person worked his way up to where he is now.

My Theory Begins

Other than creating word list we drew out graphs that we felt could describe our theory of leadership. I know in previous classes we have discussed the box theory, where management fits into leadership or vice versa. However, I feel that another theory best fits my outlook on leadership and management.
The graphical theory that I want to use is the Venn diagram with overlapping circles. One circle will be leadership the other management. The special aspect of my Venn diagram is that the circles will vary in size depending on the position that is being described. For example, a CEO of a Fortune 500 would have a larger leadership circle and a smaller management circle.

]]> The Information Age(less) tag:www.cicsworld.org,2007:/blogs/jlcox2//258.2956 2007-12-06T18:14:02Z 2007-12-06T18:28:52Z Technology is said to doulbe itself in 18 months. So in a year and a half from now there will be computers that will be twice as powerful as the most powerful computer of today. With this in mind, are... Joshua Cox Technology is said to doulbe itself in 18 months. So in a year and a half from now there will be computers that will be twice as powerful as the most powerful computer of today. With this in mind, are people that shocked that a four year old can check their own email. Or the fact that this years hot toy is a radio controlled mini helicopter that only weights only ounces. Technology is smaller and faster than ever...but theres always tomorrow.

]]> http://www.silverlit-flyingclub.com/picooz.htm

]]> Leo the Renaissance Man tag:www.cicsworld.org,2007:/blogs/jlcox2//258.2952 2007-12-06T16:41:55Z 2007-12-06T18:13:09Z Leonardo da Vinci was a strong factor of the European Renaissance. His paintings, sculptures, and drawings are still ideas of wonder in today's world. Some facts about da Vinci include: his mother was a peasant girl, he had 17 step... Joshua Cox Leonardo da Vinci was a strong factor of the European Renaissance. His paintings, sculptures, and drawings are still ideas of wonder in today's world. Some facts about da Vinci include: his mother was a peasant girl, he had 17 step brothers and sisters, he was 15 when his father sent him to apprentice a painter, after painting an angel for his master, his master, out of a amazement, allegedly vowelled never to paint agian. da Vinci designed weapons including tanks and submarines. da Vinci is creator of the Mona Lisa, one of the most famous and talked about paintings. Many people believe the Mona Lisa is famous because of the asthetics but others feel the painting is famous because it is unlike any other paintings of that time.

]]> http://www.mos.org/leonardo/bio.html
http://www.mos.org/leonardo/bio.html

]]> Information Renaissance: Video Games tag:www.cicsworld.org,2007:/blogs/jlcox2//258.2903 2007-12-04T21:29:43Z 2007-12-04T21:32:11Z Video games are a billion dollar a year industry that is only getting bigger. In the last twenty years video games have come leaps and bounds in terms of technological advances and they way are accepted in society. The first... Joshua Cox Video games are a billion dollar a year industry that is only getting bigger. In the last twenty years video games have come leaps and bounds in terms of technological advances and they way are accepted in society. The first video game was a simple bouncing square that was nothing more than that. Today’s video games are anything but simple. Storylines exist that take the user anywhere imaginable.
The reason for such a growth in video games, in my opinion, is escapism. The user wants to stop thinking about his or her everyday life and become some else, or go places they wouldn’t be able to go without the game. This is where my thought on a video game field study stems. If people play video games to “get away” then give them the option of playing the game out of their normal environment. I’m not suggesting putting the TV in the kitchen and battling monsters from the counter tops. I’m suggesting that you take the player out of the real world and put them into the video game. Obviously, we can’t put someone in to a game but we can let him or her play the game in a environment that represents the game. Possible a room designed like the setting in the game, even dimming the lights would be an option. This is only for research of course but we could see the effects and differences someone has when they play a game in a totally white room, a normal living room set up, or the game environment. This might help us understand the concept of the person’s environment inside and outside the game. For example, the game Guitar Hero, the object of the game is to play notes on a miniature guitar and try to sound like the real song. If you play the song well the crowd screams and applauds, if you play it poorly they boo. The game setup could be a stage with huge speakers, instruments lying around, possibly a live crowd. This would make the player feel like they were actually playing a concert, taking them out of the living room. Question would be asked after the test. How did you feel when the crowd started booing you? Did it make you want to play better? Worse? At which setting was your intensity at the highest? At which setting was the game more fun? Another example could be a combat game set in the jungle. The game setup would be a room with lavish plants. I would expect the intensity of a shooting game to be much higher than a music game. Testing the players surrounding like this and asking specific question could allow a greater understanding of how the story’s setting (narrative) affects video game playing.

]]> Web 2.0 is here but Web 3.0 is Knocking on the Door tag:www.cicsworld.org,2007:/blogs/jlcox2//258.2902 2007-12-04T20:57:55Z 2007-12-04T21:25:07Z Web 2.0 is the use of the internet as an application. Examples being Facebook, Flickr, iGoogle and iMeem.com. Tim O'Reilly coined the phrase Web 2.0 around the year 2004. He stated. Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer... Joshua Cox Web 2.0 is the use of the internet as an application. Examples being Facebook, Flickr, iGoogle and iMeem.com. Tim O'Reilly coined the phrase Web 2.0 around the year 2004. He stated. Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform."1
Web 2.0 has only been around for a few years however talk of a new version has already sprung. The birth of the term Web 3.0 is unknown but the meaning is concrete. Web 3.0 is the use of the internet as parts of application but not through internet browsers. Applications would use the internet to gather information and supply the user instantly. In my opinion an example would be Apple's widgets. They are computer applications that pull information (like weather forecasts and stock quotes) from the internet and visibly display is for the user.
I do not think 3.0 will totally overshadow 2.0 but we should all be on the look out for more Web 3.0 application in the near future.

]]> 1 Tim O'Reilly (2006-12-10). Web 2.0 Compact Definition: Trying Again. Retrieved on 2007-01-20.

]]> "On-Demand" Communication tag:www.cicsworld.org,2007:/blogs/jlcox2//258.2895 2007-12-04T20:52:38Z 2007-12-04T20:54:04Z The tradition concepts of narrative have not been totally changed but modified by the immense revolution in technology over the last twenty years. As the world moved into the digital age, the old steady forms of narrative had no choice... Joshua Cox The tradition concepts of narrative have not been totally changed but modified by the immense revolution in technology over the last twenty years. As the world moved into the digital age, the old steady forms of narrative had no choice but to conform to the newer standards of society. Interactive technologies have affected the narrative, however I feel that the narrative audience has had control over the digital revolution. New generations are being born into a digital world and are use to having an endless amount of information at their fingertips. With keeping this “on-demand” youth in mind and the fact that the narrative has always had a huge cultural base, I believe that in the near future, if not already the audience is going to have quorum control over what forms a narrative will live and die.
Concepts of traditional narrative are timeless standards that don’t change, but are only tailored to fit a certain medium in a certain time. The narrative concepts of a storytelling source and the medium are two that I am considering the focus in the digital world. The new generations are obsessed with the got to have it now approach to information. They don’t care where the information comes from as long as it’s fast. Granted this is not necessarily a good thing but that’s all they know. Usually sources have always needed credibility to be considered worthwhile. My argument here is that credibility gets lost in the right here right now shuffle of the digital world. With so many people being able to publish their every thought on the internet, Google can’t be held responsible if your search results aren’t credible, but does the young population realize this? Newspapers, television, movies, radio, are all on they way to becoming totally digital, it’s inevitable. Each of these mediums has certain characteristics of narrative that are differently affected by digital technology. People want their news quickly and inexpensively. People want to watch their favorite show when it is convenient for them. People want crystal clear radio with no pesky commercials. The news, television, and radio industries have to adapt or cease to exist. So what happens? Newspapers go online, digital recorders are now a five-dollar a month upgrade from cable companies, and satellite radio have been built into cars years for the last few years.
Did the New York Times put their newspaper online because the technology was there and it was “the next step in innovation,” or did they create the website because their audience stopped reading the traditional form? Did the technology create the change or did the audience wanted it? Television has always been a consumer controlled industry and now that HD is here, audiences everywhere want more. Networks can create dozens of shows that they think will be instant hits, but if Mr. Couch Potato and his millions of fellow viewers don’t tune in, the network will be forced to cancel the show.
Media like everything else changes with time. Technology is a driving force in the communication world. So it would make sense for media to embrace technology, but does the media change because it can or because its forced to?

]]> Communication and Persuasion of Cyber Space tag:www.cicsworld.org,2007:/blogs/jlcox2//258.2828 2007-12-03T15:45:32Z 2007-12-03T15:54:53Z In the world we live in today an enormous amount of communication is done across the Internet. However, all of the persuasion sources are meant to be face-to-face communication in a speaker/audience format, unfortunately face-to-face communication doesn’t happen on the... Joshua Cox In the world we live in today an enormous amount of communication is done across the Internet. However, all of the persuasion sources are meant to be face-to-face communication in a speaker/audience format, unfortunately face-to-face communication doesn’t happen on the web. With the millions of daily users, the Internet is too random. Anyone can get on almost every site, no matter age, race, gender or income. Using the aged forms of persuasion, how would a website attract their target audience when there are so many other sites within reach?
One day I’m just browsing the web, not really looking for anything in particular.
Every website that I land on is either going to grab my attention or not. If the website happens to be a commercial website, the company which it represents should have a main target audience. I am a 20-year-old single white male that likes video games and cars. Does the website know this about me? NO! How could it, it is just a bunch of pictures, colors, and words joined together to represent something greater. There is no demographical test, or Nelson rating for the Internet. There is no way to tell who is on any site at any time. This time let’s say that I am trying to buy a book for my mom. I try four or five different websites: Amazon, eBay, Wal-Mart, Kmart, and Barnes & Nobles. Not being able to change who I am, which website will more than likely appeal to me the most? Will it be the website with the trustworthiest visual aspects, or the website with the biggest variety of books? How about the one with the cheapest books? What I am trying to get at is that every single person has his or her own attitude or beliefs. A website with thousands of daily users is likely to lose some due to lack of interest.
Website publishers know not everyone will appreciate and/or use their website; so they have to adapt by producing a website with a certain demographic in mind, or make the website universal. For example the creator of eBay cannot make the website with only one demographic in mind. The audience for eBay.com is too colossal, they would be shutting out millions of dollars. Now consider a webpage totally devoted to videogames, Gamespot.com for instance. When the web designer wants to generate a website geared towards a mainly male teen audience he/she is going to do use different creation methods than the eBay designer.
Wicks wrote about attitude change and how to influence an audience. Wicks wrote, “…manipulating the source, the message, and the channels to provide a desired outcome on the part of the receiver (58).” Referring to the Internet the source would be the publishers of the website, not the company that sponsors the site. The message would be dependant on whatever the website content would be. And the channel of course would be the World Wide Web itself. However, on the Internet, the source and audience seem to be reversed. The audience has too many sources too choose from and in result will choose what they think the best site is for themselves, creating a passive source that cannot direct their audience. Ebay’s website’s main purpose, like any other online company, is to make money. Therefore the creator of the source would want the audience to spend their money as fast as possible without interruptions. That means no music and no flashing advertisements. However, on Gamespot.com, the main purpose is also to make money, but the longer the audiences linger around, theoretically the more money the source will obtain. By having more pictures and videos available to the websites audience, the longer a person will browse the page. Also by buying an “executive membership” an audience can gain access to more pictures and videos.
In conclusion the Internet is probably the hardest form of media to tactfully persuade an audience. The most a website creator could do is to design a site around a message and try to communicate that message to a target audience. However, there is no way to tell who will stumble on any certain website at any certain time, and that is a huge problem when trying to communicate a message to a specific audience.

]]> The Rebirth of Intellect tag:www.cicsworld.org,2007:/blogs/jlcox2//258.2669 2007-11-27T15:40:56Z 2007-11-27T16:06:58Z The European Renaissance was a change in culture that occurred during the 14th to the 17th centuries. This renaissance (Italian for rebirth) changed the way many humans lived their lives. Religion, art and science were three ideas that were largely... Joshua Cox The European Renaissance was a change in culture that occurred during the 14th to the 17th centuries. This renaissance (Italian for rebirth) changed the way many humans lived their lives. Religion, art and science were three ideas that were largely changed and further developed during the renaissance.
I would like to focus on the growth of intellect through the time of the European Renaissance. Books, art, politics, and science are some areas of shown interest during the social and cultural transition. It seemed that people were becoming more eager to learn and more eager to interact with each other. Curiosity could have played a factor, people became curious and decided to explore for themselves. Communication became a larger part in society, this is proven because books and arts are forms of communication. In my opinion communication could have been the driving factor that cause the slow but immense change in Europe.

]]> Work In Progress...The Theory Part 2 tag:www.cicsworld.org,2007:/blogs/jlcox2//258.2665 2007-11-27T06:46:57Z 2007-11-27T06:47:21Z Like language and sound have an obvious connection with verbal communication, symbols do with non-verbal. A stop sign is red with white trim. And has the word “stop” written on it. However in Europe a red circle with a white... Joshua Cox Like language and sound have an obvious connection with verbal communication, symbols do with non-verbal. A stop sign is red with white trim. And has the word “stop” written on it. However in Europe a red circle with a white “X” is the symbolic representation of the stop sign. Road signs are great examples of how symbols can be used to simplify more complex ideas. Shapes and colors play a huge role in non-verbal communication. In the United State red usually means stop, warning or hot. Blue usually stands for cold or calm. Shapes are like colors and also hue contain symbol representation. An octagon, especially when red means stop! An upside down triangle tells traffic to beware and yield. Symbolism is an intricate part of communication. Stephan W. Littlejohn, the author of Theories of Human Communication, believes that people should not “ignore the complexities and ambiguities of the communication process,” (Littlejohn, 2005). Noise does not affect non-verbal communication like it does verbal. Even though noise still exists in the non-verbal realm, it has less of an impact. Fog for example could be considered noise in non-verbal communication. This brings me to a paramount point of nonverbal communication. Without sight non-verbal communication cannot exist. There are a few exceptions to this rule. First of the communicators, the sender and receiver cannot be in physical contact. A hug is a form of communication and yes it is still communication if you hug with your eyes closed as long as there is an interaction between two or more people, communication does exist. Sign language is a good example of non-verbal communication. There are, however, people in this world that cannot hear or see. They must communicate through touch. I have personally seen people use sign language to communicate with blind and deaf people. The impaired person will physically put his or her hand on top of the sanders hand and feel the signs giving. This is non-verbal sightless physical communication.
Body language is another form of non-verbal communication. Body language can also be called kinesics (Littlejohn, 1983). In a book title Kinesics and Context, the author Ray Birdwhistell lists seven assumptions on his ideas of body language. Here are few highlights from his list (Birdwhistell, 1970).
• All body movements have potential meaning in communicative contexts. Somebody can always assign meaning to any bodily activity.
• Although bodily activity has biological limitations, the use of bodily motion in interaction is considered to be part of the social systems.
• People are influenced by the visible bodily activity of others
• The ways in which bodily activity functions in communication can be investigated.
These four highlights, I believe, are four major theories behind body language. The body movement can always be classified into meaning and movements of people attract attention and can be studied. Last but not least about body language is the fact that the interaction at body language is part of a social system.
From pre-school to graduate school communication is affecting every word and bodily movement that we make. The interaction that takes place between sender and receiver in my opinion is the heart and soul of the term communication. Interaction is key. The basic model of Shannon-Weaver includes a reply form the receiver to the sender. In verbal communication a verbal reply or a simple head nod is interaction. Even non-verbal communication required interaction. When a car approaches a stop sign and begins to slow down to a stop, interaction exists. Perhaps with non-verbal communication the interaction is less apparent or intrusive but it still exists. As a student that will soon be a professional, I would like to conclude my essay with a quote from a professional about interaction and communication, “…information-sharing, interaction and recognition are required to induce the attitude change and horizontal communication necessary to faster wide spread involvement and commitment.”

]]>