In what ways have relations between China and Japan developed since Essay

In what ways have relations between China and Japan developed since 1949 - Essay Example However, the most notable facet in their relationship is their strategic involvement in the administration of their Asia Pacific multilateral cooperation, and more largely those of East Asia as a whole. Thus, the aim of this paper is to evaluate ways in which the relations between China and Japan have developed since 1949. From early 1940s, China has continuously expressed its displeasure in every actions that it perceived Japan was trying to chart an autonomous role for itself (Sutter, 2012, p. 175). China also harbored a mixed view of Japan being a potential threat, while at the same time Japan being a host to a huge US military presence aimed at countering China influence and push. Such apprehensions o led China to sign treaties aimed at countering Japan, such as the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship with the intention of defending it against any perceived Japanese invasion (Sutter, 2012, p. 271). From 1949 all through to end of 1950s, China formulated policies that sought to sway Japan through trade, in what was referred to as people’s diplomacy (Sutter, 2012, p. 4). Such engagements were conducted in conjunction with establishing acquaintances with Japan opposition political organizations, coupled with the exertion of pressure on Japan to sever ties with Taiwan. Hence, relations between Chi na and Japan deteriorated during late 1950s, especially, when Chinese mounted their pressure. However, following the collapse of Sino-Soviet relations, economic inevitability resulted in China communist government to reassess and rejuvenate its trade relations with Japan (Jian & Drew, 2009, ch 4). During the 1960 in what became the Cultural Revolution, China-Japan relations declined again due to Japan increasingly strength and self-rule from US (Saunders, 2008, p. 128). The communist government became concerned that, Japan will eventually re-militarize, so as to compensate for US condensed military presence across Asia under President Richard Nixon policies.

Social Work with couples and families Reflective paper Article

Social Work with couples and families Reflective paper - Article Example The author in this case starts by pointing out that in the contemporary American society this sort of family setup is one, which is associated with the middleclass families in most cases. It is of the essence to note that in such a family setting, several generations of individuals may find themselves living together in the same house. Say a grandmother and a child may end up under the same roof. This is something, which brings about the question of parenting. In the aforementioned example, when the grandmother lives with the child and at the same time the child’s parents are also there, who is parenting the child? It is important to note that with this revelation, the child may grow up facing various situations, which are influenced by the person who was around it when it was growing up. There are also families that are associated with a stepparent, a single parent and what not. All these are issues, which are of significant influence on the individuals who are in the family itself. A person who is looking into the happenings in families that take up such a setting may take great interest in knowing how the various members of the family are handling the situations that are being exhibited by such families. The author of this article is of the opinion that the various family environments have far-reaching effects on the parties involved. To a greater extent some of these may be negative. I do believe that some of the members of these families might have foreseen such happenings. For this reason, they might have come up with measures to cushion the effects when they happen. Take a case example of psychosomatic families. These are the families, which are highlighted as those where the people get involved with each other only during certain times say when one is sick. This is not to say that this is always the case. Such families might have identified that this is a problem when it happens once or twice. After this, they might find probable ways of addressi ng the issue and prevent it from happening again. There are various tools, which therapists use when it comes to seeking deeper understanding of families. One of the ways through which this is achieved is through the use of genograms which are meant to depict the members of the families and some of the characteristics which are prevalent in the family. The information, which is collected for the genogram, is one, which is achieved through assessments of the members of the various members of the family involved, and once it is complete, it helps the therapist get significantly understanding of the family, which is in question. It is also of importance to look at some of the ways that are used to examine the various members of the family. The information of the family is scanned vertically and horizontally on the genogram. Examining the horizontal aspect of the genogram enables the therapist to get an understanding of how the members of the family are connected to each other. Through such an assessment, the strengths and the weaknesses that are exhibited by the family can be highlighted. After the analysis of the genogram, there are some probable predictions and conclusions, which can be reached by the person who is analyzing them. This is then what will be used to advise the members of the family accordingly. The author of the article points out that this information is what can be used to model some probable patterns of the family and provide any relevant information

History of the Collapse of the Soviet Union

History of the Collapse of the Soviet Union How can one explain the disintegration and eventual collapse of the Soviet Union and its sphere of influence? The disintegration and collapse of the Soviet Union was the result of a complex combination of internal and external pressures which had been building for decades. Economic decline, strong currents of indigenous nationalism, corruption and the systematic deligitimization of the central authority and Communist ideology all contributed to an environment of internal pressure, doubt and cynicism. Externally, the Soviet Union’s foreign policy had led it into a tense and costly confrontation with the West, both socially and militarily. The combination of these internal and external pressures forced the Soviet Union into an untenable position, no longer able to maintain control through a sense of legitimacy and lacking the will to exact it through force. Many were surprised not only at the speed with which the USSR unraveled, but also at how quickly nationalist movements and organizations were able to move forward with popular support and structure in such a short amount of time. The pressures that had been building show the collapse of the Soviet Union to have been more akin to a dam breaking, releasing pent up pressure and momentum that had been merely held back. What made the disintegration and collapse of the Soviet Union so remarkable was not just the convergence of so many complex factors to necessitate its failure, but the means and manner in which its broken parts responded. It must be remembered that the Soviet Union was an empire. As Gerhard Simon Points out in Aussenpolitik, it was the first of its kind, held together by a party and a committment to ideology. As a result â€Å"The Soviet Union was not perceived in the context of the other empires which had fallen apart in Europe The USSR, on the other hand, ranked in the West as a ‘normal’ state The Soviet Union, however, was simply not a normal state.† (Simon, 2000) It was based upon the legitimacy of its party and its ideology. The systematic deterioration of this legitimacy served as one of the main factors in its disintegration and collapse. It was the weakening of the dam itself, so to speak. The actions of its satellite states represent the impulses of newly freed captives, not the heartless abandonment of their mother-state. The pressures against the dam, however, reach back into the early 20th century. Simon identifies the Bolshevik revolution of 1917 as an effective reassertion of the Russian empire following the First World War. Furthermore, he argues that it arrested the nationalistic movements taking shape among the recently freed peoples’ of post-imperial Russia. These nationalist movements, of major ethnic and cultural signficance for many, were not stamped out under the Soviet system of control and oppression. They were merely pushed underground. They spent the better part of the 20th century building momentum from within the Soviet system until the internal pressures, exerted in so many directions and ways, could no longer be contained. (Simon, 2000) This explains how quickly and eagerly the different sattelite states declared independence and moved toward Western models of government and economy. â€Å"The causes for the downfall are rooted, on the one hand, in the design errors of the Soviet system and, on the other hand, in the process of degeneration which had been undermining stability for decades.† (Simin, 2000) The currents of nationalism within the Soviet Union were intensified and gained strength as Stalin’s controls were gradually loosened and the legitimacy of the Communist Party began to suffer in public view as information began to flow more freely. Nationalist sentiment coincided with social events in the 50’s and 60’s where labororers from the Soviet Gulag returned home and began to talk with long-lost friends and relatives about what had happened to them. (Hosking, 1991) This began to affect public perceptions and attitudes for the first time. People of like mind began meeting privately in their homes to talk and listen to Western radio. Eventually, the dissemination of unofficial literature, known as Samizdat, began. A culture of covert associations and hidden groups emerged. They began to grow covertly in response to the systematic persecution of intellectuals and dissidents. These groups and associations eventually began operating openly in the late 80â€⠄¢s, only to add to the tremendously diverse pressures pulling at the Soviet Union. (Hosking, 1991) As nationalist sentiments began to gain strength from such a ‘social awakening’, they quickly learned that their energies were best spent organizing within the Soviet system. Different national movements had gained strength and led to uprisings in Hungaria in 1956 and in Czechoslovakia in 1968. The Soviets put them down quickly and brutally. (Fowkes, 1993) â€Å"[The] party leadership had no qualms about forcibly helping their ideological presumptions become reality† (Simon, 2000) Combined with the ‘social awakening’, and the currents of nationalism running through the USSR, was the systematic deligitimisation of its sytem. â€Å"During the 1950’s the Soviet middle class became increasingly optimistic about the performance of the Soviet system and about its own prospects for material betterment In the 1970’s it has given way to pessimism. The rise and decline of middle-class optimism can be linked in part to political developments, but the crucial determinant has been the changing perception of Soviet economic performance.† (Dallin Laepidus, 1995) Ruled by ideology, the failure to meet economic goals and expectations constituted a signigicant crisis of confidence for many and a serious blow to the legitimacy of collectivist economic philoophy. The political developments that contributed to the deterioration of Soviet legitimacy had to do with a dissonance between ideology and practice. The conflicts of Krushchev’s ‘de-Stalinisation’ gave way to political rifts which exposed key divisions in government. This dis-unity was damaging to public confidence and to Soviet political legitimacy. It became a habit for the new Soviet leader to deal with his problems by casting blame and criticism upon his predecessor. â€Å"All successors have dissociated themselves along similar lines from their respective predecessors, declared them to be unpersons, and thus contributed considerably to the delegitimation of the Soviet system.† (Simon, 2000) The establishment of this practice had an extremely detrimental effect upon the public perception, resulting in a more entrenched cynicism toward politics in general and political leadership. Furthermore, this cynicism became even more deeply rooted in the social and political culture as Brezhnev’s Soviet Union saw the spread of corruption invade almost every corner of Soviet life. â€Å"The Soviet Union is infected from top to bottom with corruption – from the worker who gives the storeman a bottle of vodka to get the best job, to the politburo candidate Mzhavanadze who takes hundreds of thousands of rubles for protecting underground millionaires; from the street prostitute, who pays the policeman ten rubles so that he won’t prevent her from soliciting clients, to the former member of the Politburo Ekaterina Furtseva, who built a luxurious suburban villa at the government’s expense – each and everyone is afflicted with corruption.† (Dallin Laepidus, 1995) The lack of legitimacy by itself was not enough to dissolve the Soviet Union, as no single issue probably could have been, but it was enough to make everyone look to themselves. Public cynicism combined with deep graft and corruption at all levels made for a political system held together simply by control. Within this system the communal ideal was effectively dead. Everyone looked to cut corners, everyone looked for a bigger piece of a zero-sum pie. The Soviet Union saw the development of competing interests within itself rooted in a system of corruption. Combined with the currents of nationalism, who were cut short in their bid for self-determination, and the social underground harboring forbidden ideas and conversations and publications, this in-fighting proved to be the final element of a political picture which had lost its fundamental integrity. From a foreign policy point of view, this is also when the Soviet Union came to be known as the ‘Evil Empire’. With the gradual relaxation of Stalin’s controls came an increased flow of uncontrolled information between the Soviet Union and the West. The turning of international sentiment against the Soviet Union in the late 70’s and early 80’s, as the truths of their social and political system made their way into the international mainstream, only served to heighten the moral legitimacy of the West in confronting Soviet Ambitions abroad. Before that, the American political spectrum remained solidly divided over how best to engage the USSR. After the moral clarity issued by the facts of such an indictment, the West was far less sympathetic and much more aggressive in applying all the external pressure it could. The socialist/communist intelligentsia in the West lost credibility and standing, while the political mainstream in both America and Europe b oth saw thwarting Soviet ambitions as a strategic, and more importantly, a moral imperative. With a moral mandate to challenge Soviet interests across the globe, the Americans committed fully to maintaining their military and technological advantage, and dealt with little opposition from within their own political system. At the height of the arms race, it is estimated that the Soviet Union allocated anywhere from â€Å"at least 15 percent† (Dallin Laepidus, 1995) to 25 percent (Simon, 2000) of their budget to defense spending. This represented huge external pressure to an already struggling Soviet economy beign outperformed by its Western counterparts. The economic difficulties of the Soviet system were masked initially as steady growth in the 1950’s led to a sense of optimism. From that point onward, Soviet growth continued to decline. â€Å"One reason was that earlier on, inputs-capital, labor, energy-had been ample and cheap. By the 1970’s this was no longer so† (Dallin Laepidus, 1995) Furthermore, Dallin and Laepidus note that â€Å"productivity was low, and the system failed to provide adequate incentives for harder work of for technological innovation.† So in addition to the economic circumstances of declining growth, the Soviet system had no way of increasing the productivity of its workers or the creativity of its technology industry. â€Å"Above all, the motivating effect of the market, competition and profit could not be replaced by any system of allocation and control, regardless of how sophisticated it may have been. Initiative, creativity and the striving for profit maximisation drifted in to the shadow economy and corruption after the disciplining and deterrent effects of Stalinist terror had ceased to be effective.† (Simon, 2000) And so while the economy declined, the quality of goods and services continued to decline as well. (Notice the conspicuous absence of hsitorical market demand for Soviet goods) The Soviet system had killed off or driven away the very tools it needed to recover. Or from the point of view of Hillel Ticktin, who famously predicted the failure of perestroika and accurately described the long denied economic realities of the then-current Soviet system, they had put themselves in a position (according to Communist ideology) where they needed to â€Å"defeat the working class† and return them to the conditions under which they had been exploited before. (Ticktin, 1992) It is a cruel irony, indeed, that the very pronouncements of the ideology that sustained their political order walked hand in hand with their economic doom. In the late 80’s the sum of all the factors discussed here proved too great. The nationalist movements the Bolshevik revolution had arrested in mid-development were driven underground but ultimately endured within the Soviet system, waiting to release a momentum held back by years of Soviet control. These sentiments found friendly ears in the social underground that developed as information began to flow more freely after the gradual relaxation of Stalin’s controls. This underground only continued to grow as the oppressed and free-thinking individuals of the Soviet Union continually sought refuge in association with one another. These two elements only reinforced the sense of lost legitimacy following the economic setbacks of the mid-20th century and the political divisions that showed the first cracks in the Soviet political system. The the general sense of a loss of legitimacy was a critical blow that aided the widespread proliferation of a deep and contagious corrupt ion which came to partially define and become engrained in the culture. This corruption struck at the heart of all the mechanisms the Soviet Union needed to right itself, but it was at the same time a consequence of the system itself. They had, in the course of their committment to their ideology, abandoned the necesssary tools to successfully recover and advance their economy. The social forces of discontent, the nationalist sentiments and social underground, combined with economic factors to present significant internal difficulties. And as Soviet foreign policy demanded a share of defense spending four times larger than that of the United States (as a percentage of GNP), external pressures combined with internal pressures to literally put the Soviet system in a pressure cooker. By the time Gorbechev’s came through with perestroika, the myriad social and political interests at odds with one another, combined with the deep cynicism and scorn for the Soviet system rooted in the social underground, proved too much. There was no social consensus or any real momentum for support. â€Å"The political and social contiguity of the Soviet political system had been broken long ago. â€Å"For the first time since the revolution of 1917, society, rather than the state, was driving the process of change in Soviet life. But that society was increasingly fragmented, fractious, and polarized, pitting radical democrats against die-hard communists and nationalists of all kinds against Soviet patriots. In this setting Gorbachev found himself reacting to multiple and conflicting pressures in an effort, growing ever more desperate, to hold the country together.† (Strayer, 1998) The final years of the Soviet system were spent with the political leadership desperately trying to hold it together. But it could never survive the collapse of its political order because it was under the very pretext of that political order that the Soviet Union came to power. â€Å"[The] Communist party had reconstituted the empire and developed the instruments of rule, which meant that, following the party’s loss of power, there was no other force to hold the empire together.† (Simin, 2000) Meanwhile, the political alternatives that had been developing and taking shape within the Soviet system itself, the national movements which never came to fruition, provided the impetus to break free from the Soviet system. As new declarations of independence were proclaimed, one after the other, â€Å"the consequence of decades of pent-up energy† (Simon, 2000) ensured that the strugle for nationhood which began after the fall of the first Russian Empire, would continue a fter the second. Bibliography Dallin, A., (1992) â€Å"Causes of the Collapse of the USSR†, Post-Soviet Affairs. Vol. 8, No. 4 Dallin, A., Lapidus, G., (1994), The Soviet System From Crisis to Collapse Westview Press:Cambridge, MA Glenny, M., (1990) The Rebirth of History Penguin:London Fowkes, B., (1993) The Rise and Fall of Communism in Eastern Europe. MacMillan: Chicago Hosking, G., (1991) The Awakening of the Soviet Union. Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA Hosking, G., Et Al., (1992) The Road to Post Communism: independent political movements in the USSR, 1985-91, London/New York Kotz,D., Weir, F., (1997) Revolution from Above. The Demise of the Soviet System. Routledge:New York Miliband, R., Panitch, L., (1991) â€Å"Communist Regimes. The Aftermath† Socialist Register Simon, G., (2000) The End of the Soviet Union: Causes and Relational Contexts Aussenpolitik German Foreign Affairs Review, Vol. 47, No.1 Strayer,R., (1998) Why did the Soviet Union Collapse? M.E Sharpe: Armonk, NY Ticktin, H., (1992) Origins of the Crisis in the USSR. M.E. Sharpe Ltd.:New York

Free Joy Luck Club Essays - Movie vs Book :: Movie Film comparison compare contrast

The Joy Luck Club: Movie versus Book In the novel, The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, it tells of four Chinese women drawn together in San Francisco to play mah jong, and tell stories of the past. These four women and their families all lived in Chinatown and belong to the First Chinese Baptist Church. They were not necessarily religious, but found They could improve their home China. This is how the woo's, the Hsu's, the Jong's and the St Clair's met in 1949. The first member of the Joy Luck Club to die was Suyuan Woo. Her daughter, Jing-mei "June" Woo, is asked to sit in and take her mother's place at playing mah jong. Memories of the past are shared by the three women left, An-mei Hsu, Lindo Jong and Ying-ying St Clair. June Woo learns of the real secret her mother carried to her grave from her mother's friends. The twin baby girls, her half sisters, Suyuan pushed in a Wheelbarrow as she escaped from the Japanese. Due to sickness, Suyuan can no longer carry her babies, and is forced to leave them on the side of the road. She lives her whole life not knowing if they are alive or dead. In the book, the Woo's left for America to build a better life for themselves. Suyuan Woo wanted to have a daughter like herself, and no one would look down on her. It was important that she speak perfect English and hopefully not share in the same tragedies and sorrows she had known. The movie brought this concept out very vividly. You were able to imagine the time and place and the emotions of the characters. Their anger in the early years, how women and children were treated as possessions. The book spoke of Rose Hsu Jordan, daughter of An-mei Hsu, who had seven brothers and sisters. A very tragic time in her life when her brother Bing drowns at age 1 while she was in charge of watching him. The movie does not touch upon this tragic event and brings out the rich family Rose marries into, and the instant rejection from her boyfriends mother. Rose unhappiness in her marriage with Tod, is similar to the unhappiness her mother had throughout her life. Lindo Jong was a special character in the book , referring to promises she made to her mother as a young girl, and keeping them throughout her life.

Learning and Teaching of Science and Mathematics in English Essay

I would like to voluntarily contribute their thoughts in terms of the Learning and Teaching of Science and Mathematics in English (PPSMI). To ensure that we better understand the issues that in recent cendikawan expressed by many countries, let us turn to the fundamental question of learning and teaching itself. Students to school. They learn in the classroom (or laboratory science or handicraft workshops, etc.. ). Short said students learn, teachers teach. The main basis of learning. As a result of teaching, there will generally be four groups of students. First, there are students who fully understand the teacher. They are the ones that usually appear as a brilliant student and obtain the best results in every test monthly, semester or major examinations like UPSR, SMRA, PMR, SMA, SPM, STPM or other examination until at higher education institutions. They excel because they fully understand almost all the subjects taught by the teacher. Inasmuch as it is an excellent student Azali Azlan (SPM 2007, 21A) does not require additional tuition classes but managed by the school. Nadiah Amira (SPM 2006, 18A) and Nor Amalina Che Bakri (SPM 2004 17A1) just take tuition for Principles of Accounts subject only. Because they fully understand the teachings of the teacher, then they can master a subject better. The second is the group of students who only understand some of what is taught by the teacher. Perhaps out of ten things they can only understand things only six or seven. This moderate student groups. Some subjects fully understood, while others understood some subjects only. For that reason their results covering grades A, B and C as an example. We classify them as medium students. The third group consists of students who can only understand a fraction of hat is being taught by their class teacher. This group of weak students. The average grade earned is C and D only. Rarely do they get a B or A. Maybe for some other subject they failed to continue. Then we have the lowest group, which failed because the students did not understand what was being taught by their teachers. They are the ones who are often in class bekalang. Because not understand what is being taught by the teacher, then they go to school â€Å"just the happenings†. What factors cause they understand or do not understand the teacher? Much!. On the part of students, they are less understood due to inattention in class, playing the teacher teaches, there is no solid foundation mempepalajari a title that was introduced and the like. Next to the teacher about it may be due to less effective teaching. But there is another critical factor that determines the understanding or misunderstanding of teaching students. There are times when students have to focus 100% of the class. They do not play around when the teacher teaches. However, because the language used by the teacher was not understood by the student, it is still difficult for them to understand what is being taught. This is among the main things that cause problems in PPSMI. It becomes more apparent if teachers are able to master the subject of English itself. Or perhaps the efforts of teachers to teach using less become bilingual. In my mother was UNDERSTAND key academic success. If a student understands what is being taught by the teacher, then the chances to score a very good subject. If not, then the chances are very slim indeed. For that reason we see some of the students look as if not study hard compared to her classmates as well as participate in various extra-curricular activities and held several important positions in clubs nd societies, but excel as a student of the school on the day of the award of distinction for outstanding students. His friend was working two times stronger from it, attending tuition classes and participate in extracurricular activities lop school alone, but not more impressive in their studies. What has gone wrong? There is no magic in any of the last outstanding achievers but because he fully understand the teachings of the teacher, while her friend is not so. Meanwhile his friend should take a little time to make revision and homework, he had to struggle for hours to get the same results. The answer, a misunderstanding, and another less or do not understand. Therefore, the mother is the key to success UNDERSTAND what is taught by the teacher. Let me make an analogy to strengthen these arguments. Suppose Mathematics or Science are taught by a teacher from the Middle East in Arabic, or by teachers from Manila in English Tagolog or by a teacher from Pirenza (Florence) in Italian. We ourselves are still groping in Arabic or Tagolog or Italy to follow the teaching. As good as any teacher, surely very difficult for us to understand the lesson. It might be a bit extreme analogy, but that the elements of the problems faced by students who either does not know or weak English language. In a similar situation that, like tutoring program run by the Ministry of Education (tuition vouchers) or Felda (Felda tuition scheme) or other government agencies and non-government about its effectiveness because the basic problem, which does not understand or do not understand the teachings of the teacher as the use of a particular language exists. I still remember my conversation with a teacher from Kota Belud, Sabah when he invites students to writing in English. She asked the students to tell what the word â€Å"introduction† in English. Each essay must begin with â€Å"identity†. He was surprised when a student said (not the purpose of humor) â€Å"IC† For students baeangkali as â€Å"ID card† is often disebaut as â€Å"IC†, then that’s probably worn logic. That’s just one of many examples, and hundreds of â€Å"funnies† in which school teachers, especially in rural areas face in teaching Science and Mathematics in English. This means that students who are weak in English, moreover taught by teachers who are not fully prepared to teach in English Maths and Science to face two levels of problems. The first problem that made them understand teaching in a language they are not comfortable, and they understand the subject matter of science and mathematics itself. Whether justified or not, before this we often hear public complaints about the weakness of Bumiputera students in both subject matter. With memeprkenalkan PPSMI, we not only fail to address this problem, even worse. I strongly agree once we seriously reexamine PPSMI as one of the main reasons is that PPSMI was introduced to strengthen the command of English among students in our country. That’s a noble goal that should not be disputed, but what is the approach through the PPSMI. Why not strengthen the implementation of the teaching and learning of English itself as is often touted by many people. Even assuming the use of English to develop the country there are also arguments reaction. Many countries in the world who do not use English as the main language of success. View Thailand itself as the progress of science and technology is also great actually. Of Japan, Germany, and now the emergence of new economic giant China. My experience in Italy last year quite relevant. On average either on TV, street signs and almost 95% of general conversation in Italian. But it developed. Many Italian brand into the world game. No English.

Implication and conclusion week 7 Essay

What are the most important concepts you have learned this week? I have learned that leadership is essentially the same among countries. The leadership styles of minorities, men and woman remain consistent. What would you recommend to your management/leadership based on these concepts? Last week, I learned that one must be a leader and a manager in order to be effective. A manager must have strong leadership skills in order to motivate his or her group. Likewise, a leader needs to have a rapport with employees, but needs to focus on accomplishing the company’s goals. How will these concepts impact you personally and professionally? In order for leaders to be successful, they need to have good communication skills and they must be able to demonstrate responsibility. A good leader takes the time to make a plan, be consistent in carrying it out, and can motivate his or her employees to follow it. My study of the readings has taught me that my own life experiences have helped me to develop strategies that I use at work to be a strong, effective, charismatic leader. What is the value-added from these concepts, or what differences can these concepts make to your organization? As in previous weeks, the value-added from these concepts are to reduce misunderstandings, mistakes, and miscomputation while increasing respect, good communication, and the motivation of every person. One must understand one’s own leadership characteristics in order to determine whether or not an individual is a natural leader. Describe important references used this week. List the references in proper APA style. Argyris, C. (1976) Increasing Leadership Effectiveness, Wiley, New York, House, R. J. (2004) Culture, Leadership, and Organizations: The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies, SAGE Publications, Thousand Oaks â€Å"In what ways could leadership training and education be improved? † SMeech. net – Tech Ed and Web Design Retrieved on November 5, 2006 from, http://www. smeech. net/2006/03/in-what-ways-could-leadership-training. htm Mercurious, N. (2006, March). Leadership: become a digital-age thinker. Retrieved on November 4, 2006 from, Techlearning. com Newton, L, (2006) Leaders are Born, Not Made Retrieved on November 4, 2006 from, http://www. imakenews. com/masswit/e_article000115018. cfm Torbert, W. (2004) Action Inquiry: the Secret of Timely and Transforming Leadership, San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Warneka, T. (2006). Leading People the Black Belt Way: Conquering the Five Core Problems Facing Leaders Today. Asogomi Publications Intl. Cleveland, Ohio.