Analysis of Issue - 4

“Of all the manifestations* of power, restraint in the use of that power impresses people most.”

*manifestations: apparent signs or indicators

Explain what you think this quotation means and discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with it. Develop your position with reasons and/or specific examples drawn from history, current events, or your own experience, observations, or reading. 

My take: 

There are many examples set since time immemorial which show that concentration of power in the hands of a select group or individual is uncalled for. This is because absolute power corrupts. There are umpteen examples in the history which prove that possession of absolute power leads to a conceited behavior and makes the beholder act in an irresponsible, undemocratic and exploitative manner. 

Restraint in the use of power shows the existence of an all encompassing understanding. It proves that the beholder is respectful of the wishes of the masses and realizes the responsibility that comes with the power. With such kind of understanding and considerate nature exhibited by the beholder of the power people feel ensured about their future and feel confident about the decisions of the beholder. This elicits the respect for the beholder of the power. 

In the field of politics the verity of the fact that restraint in the use of power impresses people most is amply demonstrated. The ideology and agenda of all the political parties are driven by the concerns of the masses. Any ideology or agenda that does not confirm to the concerns of the people does not find enough support and eventually a political party with such ideology does not get elected to power. Even after the conferment of the power in the hands of a particular political party its operations are controlled by the coalition parties forming the government or the opposition parties. This also proves that restraint gets enforced on the use of power. 

In a nutshell, restraint in the use of power for the betterment of the majority is the inherent desire of people. Hence such manifestation of power definitely impresses people.

Analysis of Issue - 3

“Corporations and other businesses should try to eliminate the many ranks and salary grades that classify employees according to their experience and expertise. A ‘flat’ organizational structure is more likely to encourage collegiality and cooperation among employees.”

Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion stated above. Support your views with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

 My take:

 Collegiality, which vests authority equally among the colleagues, and cooperation are essential for team work leading to high productivity of the organization. From my point of view maintaining these two important attributes in any organization/company does not have a typical solution which can fit to all types of organization. Factors such as the domain the company operates in, size of company, number of functions in the company and number of skills that contribute to the final product of the company influence the overall structure of the company. So eliminating the ranks and salary grades for achieving synergy in the employees might work for one type of company and fail for some other type.

 A flat organizational structure will prove to be more synergistic for a small company with limited number of functions. Division of the work force into two to three groups with well defined responsibilities will help in achieving the right productivity in the operations. For such an organization a multi tiered structure will be serve to add undesirable complexities.

 In case of an organization with a final product requiring value addition through application of many skills at various levels, an elaborate organizational structure will better foster the cooperation in the employees. For example in a fairly big company operating in Information Technology services sector where the final product needs to be worked upon by teams from marketing, account management, business analysis, development and testing divisions proper coordination is of utmost importance. This can be achieved by creating a multi tiered structure with groups having well defined responsibilities and each one of them following its own processes. Also with many skills contributing to the final product it is important to relatively grade and compensate the employees possessing those skills. Such kind of elaborate structure will help in proper work flow and will encourage the employees to give their best ensuring a qualitative product.

 So a flat organizational structure is not fit-to-all solution. A proper modularization of the work force into various units with easily traceable accountability helps in case of large organizations and a minimal division of work force ensures high productivity in case of small organizations.

Analysis of Issue - 2

“It is unrealistic to expect individual nations to make, independently, the sacrifices necessary to conserve energy. International leadership and worldwide cooperation are essential if we expect to protect the world’s energy resources for future generations.”

Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion stated above. Support your views with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading. 

My Take: 

Today almost every sector is dependent on energy for its operations. For sectors like agriculture, manufacturing, transport and construction which are the drivers of every country’s economy energy plays the role of a lifeline. So energy can now be considered to be the part of the list of most basic human needs i.e. food, shelter and clothing. With such importance attached to energy and its resources it becomes the responsibility of every section of society to strive for its longevity. 

The way increased pollution in any particular part of the world has an impact on the climate across the globe similarly over consumption or wastage of energy resources in any specific country leads to the imbalance which has a global impact. Any decision taken by the Oil and Petroleum exporting countries regarding the increase or decrease in the production of crude sends all the stock markets, indicators of the country’s economic health, into a volatile state. This explains that the responsibility related to energy resources should be globally shared. 

The technologies related to use of unconventional energy resources have not yet fully developed to lessen the dependency on the limited conventional energy resources. In such a case cooperation between countries with respect to exchange of technology which helps in judicious use of conventional energy resources is important. Also, exchange of advanced technologies like nuclear power generation can help in conserving the conventional energy resources. 

Energy being the prerequisite for the development in every industry, global cooperation in management of energy needs will have ripple effect on all the allied industries. A well controlled energy sector will eventually mean a control on the basic commodity prices, control on the inflation across the globe and a balanced global economy.

Analysis of Issue - 1

“In some countries, television and radio programs are carefully censored for offensive language and behavior. In other countries, there is little or no censorship.”

In your view, to what extent should government or any other group be able to censor television or radio programs?

Explain, giving relevant reasons and/or examples to support your position.

My take:

Television and radio are still the most dominant channels of information propagators in the current age witnessing the exponential growth of connectivity through internet. This is because the penetration power of these two channels is much larger when compared to any other medium. So a careful sifting of the programs delivered on television and radio is important to ensure that the right kind of message reaches to the people.

Television and radio programs like news programs, serials based on mythological stories, etc play an important role in shaping up the understanding of the viewers. These play a role of a window to the outer world for people so a proper selection and moderation of these programs play a profound impact in shaping up the visions of people. Programs which are broadcast during the time witnessing highest viewers should therefore be carefully selected and moderated to send the right message across to the people.

Technology advancements have made the easy delivery of the content of television and radio possible in cheap and widely available electronic devices like mobile phones and radio devices. Such electronic devices are used across a broad range of age group. For example students who have accessibility to devices like mobile phone for most of the time are most vulnerable if the broadcast content is not carefully censored. Also, with the increasingly busy lives of the people it is not possible to monitor what content is being watched by the younger members of the house. In such cases the deliverable content to such devices can be limited or moderated with proper consideration.

At the same time, the extent of censorship should be such that it does not end up twisting or stifling the real conditions from reaching the masses. It is important to convey the truth, however harsh that may be, about the happenings around the world because this has a bearing on the decisions and initiatives taken by people to try to contribute to their immediate surroundings in whatever way they can. It is also important that the needs of every age group of viewers are sufficiently met. So an extreme position on cenorship which limits the available content to a great extent is also not desirable. People with good discretional power can use various options provided by cable operators to select the content that is delivered to their television sets and thus can ensure right food for their though process.