Why collaboration is so important in decision making in institutions Essay

Why collaboration is so important in decision making in institutions of higher learning - Essay Example It is interesting, for instance, to read Bennis (1959) from the late 1950s; he was speaking of a radical shift in thinking about leadership which we take for granted today. Likewise with Heifetz (1994); his earliest writings contain the seeds of ideas, the beginnings of investigation into a powerful theory on adaptive leadership. Interviews with these thinkers were sought out as primary sources for this essay in order to touch upon what they are saying outside the boundaries of their seminal works (Bielaszka-DuVerney, 2009; Brennan, 1998; Gary, 2005; Kezar, 2008). These two theorists’ ideas dovetail with each other to paint a picture of how leadership fits into the most collaborative â€Å"business† in existence: higher education. Stakeholders, decision makers, and leaders in higher education come from all walks of life and all kinds of experiences. The second part of this paper explores the concept of â€Å"diversity† in depth, and attempts to define what diversity should mean to collaborative groups at institutions of higher learning. Gloria Ladson-Billings’ framework (2006; 2005; 2001; 1996) informs the discussion along with a multitude of others who have opinions on the subject. Both the idea of diversity and the various ways a collaborative group should approach it are fuzzy; encouraging surface diversity is not as effective as demanding deep diversity. Finally, the role of new technologies in forming and maintaining collaborative groups is an important consideration. The third section of this essay touches upon ways Web 2.0 makes life easier (and harder) for groups, and defines some perhaps unfamiliar terms. Technology is automatically out of date when it is released, or a new cutting edge product comes along which seems like the answer to everyone’s prayers. I believe the current suites of collaborative tools are excellent in some ways

High and Law Involvement Buying Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

High and Law Involvement Buying - Essay Example An example can be, when one wants to purchase a product like hair gel, that is from different companies and they have a similarity in price. The consumer has to find a difference to convince them to buy one product and this makes a great impact on the consumer’s decision. On the other hand, a consumer may be confused in purchasing two similar goods but which are different, in terms of quality and price. This also, can be known as ‘high involvement in buying’ and the consumer usually looks for what will be favorable for them financially and the best quality (Groucutt, Leadley , Forsyth (2004). An example could be seen when one may be interested in purchasing a TV and they have to decide between a high quality one that is very expensive versus an average one that is of a much lower price. However, effects of advertisement fall under short persuasion. These effects are not obvious but in order to understand them, there has to be a measure of these effects. To underst and these effects, a beam balance can serve as a good tool. Two brands are put on either side of the beam, it can only take a very small feather to cause a change on the balance when placed on one side of the beam. Feathers can represent balancing effects in this case instead of heavy weights. Examples of items that have a high involvement decision-making are highly priced items like cars, vacations, appliances. There is a great similarity between low-involvement items. In most cases, they are identical. It is never a major concern for customers on which of this products to buy. Advertisement effects are often greater in the low involvement products. With high involvement decisions however, there is more concern about the outcome of the weighing up process, so there is the thought about how much weight is given to each feature (Groucutt, Leadley , Forsyth (2004). This features include, quality, size or power. There are usually both positive and negative aspects involved and the more complex a product is, the more complex the assessment. If a brand is favored by an advertisement, it does not necessarily have to persuade people to buy it. All it does is to raise awareness about the product. Even though it is not easily noticeable, advertisement plays a great role. These is however visible after a significant amount of time. After the process repeating itself, small increments produce major perceived differences between brands. Considering that the making a decision to purchase the newspaper presents no significant challenge and the decision does not impact the buyer’s lifestyle significantly, low involvement buying applies to advertisement 2. This is also reinforced by the fact that people appreciate how low a chance they have at winning the high price given the number of participants that try their lack. In this sense, the potential reader does not take a lot of time deciding whether or not to buy the product. In fact, in most cases, the potential custom er is little influenced by the advert as he/she has a preconditioned mind whether or not to buy the paper with or without the advert. The advert 1 below involves low involvement buying. This is because it not of much concern as it is concerned with entertainment, which has no great impact on a person’