Locus of Control

August 1, 2011 1 Comment

Locus of control is an indicator of the individual’s sense of control over their successes and failures (Navahandi, 2006). Individuals’ beliefs that events they are experiences are due to luck, fate, or their own behavior (Scott et al., 2010). Individuals with strong internal locus of control believe that their success and failures are caused their actions. Individuals’ with strong external locus of control believe that what is happening to them is the result of chance, luck, or fate (Navahandi, 2006; Scott et al., 2010). Navahandi (2006) stated that leaders with strong internal locus of control are more likely to lead their teams better than leaders with internal locus of control. Managers and leaders with external locus of control believe that external threats are unmanageable, but the ones with internal locus of control believe they can cope with stress and handle their future (Scott et al., 2010).

References:

Navahandi, A. (2006). The art and science of leadership (4 ed.). New York: Prentice Hall.

Scott, S. L., Carper, T. M., Middleton, M., White, R., Renk, K., & Grills-Taquechel, A. (2010). Relationships among locus of control, coping behaviors, and levels of worry following exposure to hurricanes. Journal of Loss & Trauma, 15(2), 123-137. doi: 10.1080/15325020902925985

Wood, A. M., Saylor, C., & Cohen, J. (2009). Locus of control and academic success among ethnically diverse baccalaureate nursing students. Nursing Education Perspectives, 30(5), 290-294.

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Technical Position Training

July 21, 2011 Leave a Comment

Technical employees need intensive technical training but also need managerial and leadership training to advance in their jobs. Some organizations start the administrative and managerial training too late which make the technical employees struggle in approving and implementing their ideas.


Technical Position Training Model

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Kids have the best sound filter

July 9, 2011 1 Comment

I am on vacation with the family and had good time with them. I discovered that kids have excellent sound filter to remove the noise and undesired sounds. I found that they can filter phrases like “I am talking to you”, “Finish your food first!”, “Slowly … slowly … no need to run”, “We will be there soon”, “I do not have money with me now!”. But the kids can hear other phrases even if you whisper them in the other room. The phrases they will always hear and acknowledge are “Pizza”, “Ice cream”, “Yes I will buy it for you”, “OK…OK… I will take you there tomorrow!”

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Live Without TV

November 21, 2010 4 Comments

Listen to this postMany people like TV and the entertainments it deliver to our homes, but recently, most of the entertainments are targeted to attract the audience attention than entertain them. The best entertainment for me is documentaries and scientific programs. By watching these program I would be educated if not entertained and I would not be stressed or sad like if I watched the drama or reality TV. The new shows are encouraging us to vote by sending an SMS message that cost the price of a good meal!?
Last week was a long holiday in Kuwait and most of the people either traveled out of Kuwait or stayed and enjoyed the nice weather in the outdoors. My relatives were in the chalet for most of the holiday. I noticed that most of the teenagers were spending their time in the outdoors. They enter the chalet only for the basic necessities. They had so much fun by socializing, walking and talking. They enjoyed relaxing peacefully and watch the sea and nobody was watching the TV? But before the long holidays they were addicted to the TV and were wasting most of their valuable time watching unimportant programs. I guess they are now back to watching the  TV although they discovered how unimportant it was!

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Sugar Coating

November 17, 2010 6 Comments


Listen to this postYesterday was my anniversary at work. I have been with the same employer for the past 30 years and I enjoyed most of the days I worked there. Now I am managing more that 700 employees and I have tried to be fair with them while meeting most of their needs, requests and demands. One of the best tactics the employees use for their complains is “Sugar Coating”. I am not saying that the complain is true or not, but the way it is presented to me is sometimes strange.

For example, an employee would take an appointment to see my Boss and then start his discussion by saying “This is not a complain, I just wanted to say…” and then he or she would exaggerate every negativity they experienced in the last 3 years! Another example is when the employee send an official complain to HR or my Boss, but then catch me walking by and start by saying “I wanted to talk with you about an issue I have … do you have a minute do discuss it?“

We all make mistakes and we should take our responsibilities to admit the mistakes and correct them. But using different ways to discuss the complain is not the best start to resolve any issue. Through my years at work I followed a good philosophy that goes something like this “Do not explain…and Do not complain” and it made my life very simple and peaceful. I am sure that my boss does not want me to explain to him why I made the mistake (or delay in an assignment). And I am very sure that nobody would like to set and listen to my complains. When I make a mistake I would admit it and do my best to correct it. If I have a complain or an issue with somebody, I would meet him or her and discus the issue face-to-face with them. Other than this … life is very simple.

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Going to the Movies

October 2, 2010 2 Comments

Listen to this postI do not spend much time enjoying the entertainment most of the people do, or at least not the same way they did. I listen to music from my PC or iPad while I working or studying and using the Internet. I usually listen to Smooth Jazz music on one of the Internet radio channels. I do not watch TV! In a full week I would spend about one hour watching TV only because it was switched on one by somebody else. For example the TV is now switch on one of those 24 hours cartoon channels and I am now typing this post thinking that I am spending quality time with the kids! I entertain myself by spending time chatting with my wife or drinking tea with my mother. I do that almost everyday. I do not go out to coffee shops, restaurants, theaters or other public functions, but I enjoy going to the movies. Every weekend, and sometime weekdays, I would dress up and take my wife to the movies. I like sci-fi, adventure, and drama. I only chose movies which are ranked 6.5/10 or above. I usually buy nachos with cheese and jalapeño. Every time I eat the jalapeño I wake up the next day with a troubled stomach, but again, I would have the same Nachos and jalapeño next time I go to a movie. I consider the weekly movie as major entertainment that break my busy weakly routines. I wonder what other busy people do to entertain themselves?

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Giving Feedback: Positive or Negative

September 28, 2010 4 Comments

Listen to this postGiving feedback or confronting employees is one of the most difficult social task we face in our lives. Giving positive feedback is sometimes called motivation or encouragement, and many of us are sometimes doing it wrongly by generalizing the feedback by saying “you have done a good job”. A good feedback should be specific like saying “Your report has listed the major critical points that we did not notice before, thank you for reporting them to us.” We do similar or even worse mistakes when we give negative feedbacks. Sometimes our negative feedback has more destructive effect than the constructive change we hoped for. Reading the following pages will help you understand the types of feedbacks you may use at work or at home. Some valuable examples are given at the end for your reference.

Giving feedback or confronting employees is one of the most difficult social task we face in our lives.Giving positive feedback is sometimes called motivation or encouragement, and many of us are sometimes doing it wrongly by generalizing the feed back by saying “you have done a good job”. Agood feedback should be specific like saying “Your report has listed the major critical points that we did not notice before, thank you for reporting them to us.”We do similar or even worse mistakes when we give negative feedbacks. Sometimes our negative feedback has more destructive effect than the constructive change we hoped for. Reading the following pages will help you understand the types of feedbacks you may use at work or at home. Some valuable examples are given at the end for your reference. Read more …

Click here to download the full material as PDF file.

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Explicit or Implicit Knowledge

September 27, 2010 Leave a Comment

Listen to this postDyer and Hatch (2004) stated that knowledge is two types, explicit and implicit. The explicit knowledge can be recorded and shared easily without losing its value during the transfer (Dyer & Hatch, 2004). An example of the explicit knowledge would be the market’s facts and figures that make most of the general information shared by any trade. The implicit knowledge is the pragmatic and complex knowledge that results from experience or experimental learning (Dyer & Hatch, 2004). Implicit knowledge is the hidden and most people do not know that they have it in them. An example of the implicit knowledge would be the required know-how to change and organization culture. The culture change would be done mostly by unfelt skills and knowledge. Implicit knowledge is difficult to imitate and considered as a competitive advantage for the organization over its rivals. Implicit knowledge is thought to be the base for innovative products and processes. One of Dells implicit knowledge examples is the technology that mixes mass customization; just-in-time and customer focus in one strategy and executes it flawlessly (Magretta, 1998).

References:

Dyer, J., & Hatch, N. (2004). Using supplier networks to learn faster. MIT Sloan Management Review, 45(3), 57-63.

Magretta, J. (1998). The power of virtual integration: An interview with dell computer’s Michael Dell. Harvard Business Review, 76(2), 72-84.

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Wasta

September 21, 2010 8 Comments

Listen to this postWasta is a small city in south Dakota with a population of 75 people. But “Wasta” is whom you know in Kuwait or how strong is your social network. The equivalent of wasta in English would be “Cronyism”. In Cuba it is known to be “Sociolismo” but in Russia it is called “Blat” and in China called “Guanxi” and finally in Germany has a longer word that I can not even pronounce “Vetternwirtschaft”.  So what is “Wasta”? Wasta is your social network and how you can maximize the use of your relationships. Wast is calling somebody you know to do you a favor that you have to repay back sooner or later. It is a way to overcome bureaucracy and unnecessary delays in the routine work. But like everything useful in life, you can misuse wasta to get what you are not entitled for. You have to “Pull some strings” sometimes to get what you deserve, but some people pull “stronger” strings to get what you deserve before you. Some of my friends says that they use wasta just to make sure that they are getting what they should get. But the question is: how did they know that whatever they got by wasta was meant for them?

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The Personnel Policy

September 18, 2010 2 Comments

Listen to this postMost of the medium and large organizations has a written personnel policy. The size and effectiveness of such policy depend on the organization size and culture. The bigger the organization the more detailed is its policy. The policy start small and simple but grow up and get more complicated with time. New procedures or rules are written frequently to cover the organizational needs. Expansions and new ventures require new rules and regulations; however, most of the new procedures are written to regulate or organize new situations that led to or going to lead to a problem. This fact explain why most of the personnel polices are complexed and confusing. The personnel policy was written in a reactive (or firefighting) mode. Some of the rules in policy are not applicable now or could cause more damage that it can regular and prevent. Some internet sites offer a ready-made “cookie cutter” policy that the starting companies can use with some customization. I doubt that a policy written for specific culture in a specific industry would be useful for anther culture and industry, but unfortunately, sometimes this happens! The best way to write a personnel policy is to have a specialist in Organizational Behavior to study the organizations culture and nature of work then write the full policy. The policy would be updated as needed but the specialist or consultant should be called whenever the organization anticipate change at work. The policy would need periodic revisions to rewrite or drop some of the old rules and regulations.

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