Category: Motivation

Introduction

• Human resources management is required to ensure that resources are well managed in a project; project management is the process through which projects are initiated, implemented, managed, and controlled for a successful project goals and objectives attainment; the process has time and costs framework that it must meet.
• To fulfill the frameworks of project management, human resources are required at managerial and project members level. They need to be managed effectively and motivated to work for the benefit of the project.

An effective project must undergoes a full cycle of project management which are planning, organizing, securing and managing resource; the cycle is the same in different projects but follow each other in a chronological order. Developing an efficient team is the role of management that starts from planning human resources all the way to appraisal, motivation, rewards and ends with termination of the employment contract.

Human resources management in project

A successful project requires to have able, well trained employees, they should have the experience, the professional knowledge as well as the right attitude to see the project successes.

An organisations human resources has the role of extending their services to project management however project leaders have the main role of motivating project employees (Lewis, 2004).

When developing a project management team, the managers must look for the right combination of people who have the mandate of seeing the project a success, the right combination is in the form of experiences, age, professionalisms, capacity and attitude.

After coming up with the team, the next crucial thing is to ensure that the team has been motivated to operate in the right way, there should be a combination of motivation that need to be implemented (Lewis, 2004).

Motivation in Project Management

• Motivation is the inner drive an individual has; it makes him persevere to attain set goals either in life or in an organization. People have different personalities and so are they motivated by different things.
• Team members should be motivated to facilitate their attainment of the project goals and objectives, the motivation in the case of project is special in that it should be different form the normal motivation adopted across the company.
• An effective human resources management ensures that there are motivational policies set in their company, the main aim of having these policies is to ensure that the organisation has the human capital willing to produce results.
• to motivate a project team effectively, the human resources manager should work in close collaboration with project managers, they should come-up with policies that improve the enthusiasm of project workers.
• The most common method that motivates employees is provision of good working environment as well as paying the employees effectively. Issues of how much the employee will be paid can be handled by the human resources however project managers have a wider role of creating a favorable working environment.
• When employees are motivated, their outputs is increased.

Motivation is a continuous process; attainment of one goal leads to another goal and a different motivational system. A motivation system/process is a combination of variable with the expected end result as an increased enthusiasm and morale in once work. Human resource department is mandated with this task, however, it spans more that human resources.

A motivation system/process is a combination of variable with the expected end result as an increased enthusiasm and morale in once work. Human resource department is mandated with this task; however, it spans more that human resources. The way an organization is structured, the kind of organization culture adopted, power distribution and employees relations are variable of motivations. Employees may be motivated by internal and external stimulus.

The way an organization is structured, the kind of organization culture that an organization has, power distribution and employees relations are all variable of motivations. Employees may be motivated by internal and external stimulus. Motivation can be said to be an altruistic approach to respecting human dignity, but more are the benefits that accrue to an organization. research has shown that a well motivated team lead to high employee productivity and an increased customer satisfaction. Job performance is considered as a function of motivation and ability.

Project management team

• To effectively manage and implement a project, there is need to have a team of experienced and motivated team.
• Team that is motivated is creative and willing to come up with ways that can be used to meet the objectives of the project. Managers when in the planning stage have the role of coming up with the right combination in the terms of age, attitude, experience and the professionalism.

For an effective operation, organizations, whether in service, products, public or private entities, need physical and human resources; scholars in strategic business management have agreed that human resources are the greatest asset that an organization can have; without which no business transaction can take place; thus they need to be motivated to give satisfying results.

Theories of motivation

• Scholars in human resources have developed different theories of motivation, none of the theory work in isolation however they all have some elements of each other.
• In project management, the human resources and the project leader have the role of establishing the best approach they can use. The theories include:

Traditional Theories X and Y

• Traditional theory X was developed by Sigmund Freud; in the theory the philosopher stated that people are generally lazy, they hate working. In the theory the assumption is that people only want security and if they have to work, they have to be rewarded. Rewarding must be appropriate to meet the peoples need.
• To attain the goals of project, measures are supposed to be put in place to enhance working of employees, if the employees are left on their free will, they are likely not to work.
• Theory Y which was developed by Douglas McGregor, is in contrast with Sigmunds theory. He was of the opinion that people generally are hard working and enjoy to earn a living through working hard. In this theory the drive that people have in internal, they have a self drive, self motivated and are creative to make better ways of making their work easy.
• The theory give project managers the role of understanding their teams wells an ensure that those people who have self drive are given the chance to exercise the drive, they should be given,
• Tasks that need less supervision as their self drive is the source of power.
• In the case of a team that has people who tend to be more on theory X, then management has the role of ensuring that at all times, the employees are kept on their toes to ensure they perform.

Abrahams Marlow

• Abraham Marlow (1908-1970), developed a motivational theory called Hierarchy of Needs. Robbins and Coulter (1998), generalised the hierarchy of need as brought about by Marlow theory into five levels;
• Psychological needs; these are the basic needs that a person should have they are food, shelter, health and clothing.
• Safety need; after one has been satisfied of his psychological needs, he feels insecure with life. He realizes that he needs protection.
• Social / Belonging; this is the sense of belonging, a person need to feel as a man of the people and recognised with a certain group.
• Esteem; after the above has been attained, the next stage self love. This is called self esteem.
• Actualisation this is the point that one is more concerned about how the outside world is seeing him, he is more contented with what he has attained in life.

Depending with the need of project staffs, the human resources should fulfil the needs.

In the efforts of understanding what motivates employees, there are different theories developed. The start point of all theories is to understand how human mind react. What stimulates an individual. Despite that human beings have different personalities, all theories are in the view that there are similar attributes that make human kind and if an organization management understand these attributes, motivating its employees is easy.

Leaders have a role to play in motivation, they should create a good working environment that all employees will feel comfortable and willing to work in. decisions made in an organization determines the direction of the organization, the quality of decision will be of essence in motivation in the organization. Motivation is a continuous process; attainment of one goal leads to another goal and a different motivational system. A motivation system/process is a combination of variable with the expected result as an increased enthusiasm and morale in once work.

Managers in such a society that tend to have character of theory Y only need to monitor but not control employees. Creativity and innovation is facilitated by creating a better working environment. Reward system is seen as an additional motivator to a person perform his/ her duty.

Theory x although among the oldest is still applicable in todays organization to certain degree. People can be trusted with certain tasks although control should be injected to ensure that they dont surpass the mandate and powers they are given. For example in a computerized organization, managers should give rights of access to the system; however the rights should be limited.

When the two theories are combine together, they result to an organisation that have elements of either the theory, they bring aboard different issues;

Theory x + Maslows = need for motivation + meeting ones needs according to the level

Theory Y + Maslows = self motivation + meeting of ones needs

In the lower stages of Maslows theory, the main motivator is money. This goes in line with the general believe of theory X which is of the opinion that a person must be given an external push to perform.

Combining the two theories will thus give rise to an organization that is sensitive to ones needs (employer is sensitive of the need of employees, and employees are sensitive of the needs of employer).Good Motivational system leads to positive organizational behavior; employer and employee find each other as partners. They are responsible of each other and wok for mutual benefit. Change, innovation and creativity are encouraged and working environment is favorable.

Common Motivators

• There are a number of motivators that an a project leader can apply to motivate its staffs they include:
  • Good salaries.
  • Flexible working times.
  • Involvement in decision making.
  • Creating a favourable working environment.
  • Delegation and.
  • Use of conflict resolution strategies.

The choice of motivation tools that a company adopts depends with the team that a project has, it is the role of management and the team leader to understand his team and ensure he knows the best motivating method that can be effective for the team.

Sometimes the manager may be called to negotiate terms on behalf of the staffs.

Advantages of motivated team

• Its manages resources effectively making the final cost of a project fair and cost effective.
• Ensures that projects are completed with and within the time and costs allocated.
• Leads to attainment of project goals and objectives.
• Mobilizes resources and improves motivation among team members and staffs (Stephen and Timothy, 2010).

In managing a project, an organization needs dedicated and goal-oriented human resources, they need people who can support the project in different aspects for the good of the organization. An orchestrate team is developed when people with diverse knowledge, experiences, and profession (Stephen and Timothy, 2010).

Conclusion

• Projects require both human and physical resources for their completion in time using the allocated resources. Team leaders should ensure they understand their team so that they can have responsive motivational policies and strategies.
• When a team is motivated, then the attainment of the projects goals and objectives is facilitated.

Questions and Answers

• Is there likelihood that the role of a project manager will contradict the roles of human resources in project team management?
  • No, the roles are Clearly defined; its worth to note that one attribute of a leader is to be able to manage, lead, and motivate his teams, on the ground, he will be the one responsible for creating an environment favorable for a highly motivated staffs; his roles are distinct from those of human resources
• What are major course of de-motivated project management team?
  • The main cause of de-motivation in a team is ineffective human resources management, anytime that personnel team and the project management fail to collaborate to improve the welfare of staffs, then the team is likely to be de-motivated.

Although in literature of motivation, the role is more inclined to be a role of the human resources team, its important to note that the manager on the ground has the role of creating an enabling environment, the environment will be the one that human resources build on. Human resources have the role of looking into pays, pensions and the like.

References

Lewis, P.,2004. Team-Based Project Management. Washington: Beard Books.

Stephen P. and Timothy, A.,2010. Essentials of Organizational Behavior. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Introduction

• Human resources management is required to ensure that resources are well managed in a project; project management is the process through which projects are initiated, implemented, managed, and controlled for a successful project goals and objectives attainment; the process has time and costs framework that it must meet.
• To fulfill the frameworks of project management, human resources are required at managerial and project members level. They need to be managed effectively and motivated to work for the benefit of the project.

An effective project must undergoes a full cycle of project management which are planning, organizing, securing and managing resource; the cycle is the same in different projects but follow each other in a chronological order. Developing an efficient team is the role of management that starts from planning human resources all the way to appraisal, motivation, rewards and ends with termination of the employment contract.

Human resources management in project

A successful project requires to have able, well trained employees, they should have the experience, the professional knowledge as well as the right attitude to see the project successes.

An organisations human resources has the role of extending their services to project management however project leaders have the main role of motivating project employees (Lewis, 2004).

When developing a project management team, the managers must look for the right combination of people who have the mandate of seeing the project a success, the right combination is in the form of experiences, age, professionalisms, capacity and attitude.

After coming up with the team, the next crucial thing is to ensure that the team has been motivated to operate in the right way, there should be a combination of motivation that need to be implemented (Lewis, 2004).

Motivation in Project Management

• Motivation is the inner drive an individual has; it makes him persevere to attain set goals either in life or in an organization. People have different personalities and so are they motivated by different things.
• Team members should be motivated to facilitate their attainment of the project goals and objectives, the motivation in the case of project is special in that it should be different form the normal motivation adopted across the company.
• An effective human resources management ensures that there are motivational policies set in their company, the main aim of having these policies is to ensure that the organisation has the human capital willing to produce results.
• to motivate a project team effectively, the human resources manager should work in close collaboration with project managers, they should come-up with policies that improve the enthusiasm of project workers.
• The most common method that motivates employees is provision of good working environment as well as paying the employees effectively. Issues of how much the employee will be paid can be handled by the human resources however project managers have a wider role of creating a favorable working environment.
• When employees are motivated, their outputs is increased.

Motivation is a continuous process; attainment of one goal leads to another goal and a different motivational system. A motivation system/process is a combination of variable with the expected end result as an increased enthusiasm and morale in once work. Human resource department is mandated with this task, however, it spans more that human resources.

A motivation system/process is a combination of variable with the expected end result as an increased enthusiasm and morale in once work. Human resource department is mandated with this task; however, it spans more that human resources. The way an organization is structured, the kind of organization culture adopted, power distribution and employees relations are variable of motivations. Employees may be motivated by internal and external stimulus.

The way an organization is structured, the kind of organization culture that an organization has, power distribution and employees relations are all variable of motivations. Employees may be motivated by internal and external stimulus. Motivation can be said to be an altruistic approach to respecting human dignity, but more are the benefits that accrue to an organization. research has shown that a well motivated team lead to high employee productivity and an increased customer satisfaction. Job performance is considered as a function of motivation and ability.

Project management team

• To effectively manage and implement a project, there is need to have a team of experienced and motivated team.
• Team that is motivated is creative and willing to come up with ways that can be used to meet the objectives of the project. Managers when in the planning stage have the role of coming up with the right combination in the terms of age, attitude, experience and the professionalism.

For an effective operation, organizations, whether in service, products, public or private entities, need physical and human resources; scholars in strategic business management have agreed that human resources are the greatest asset that an organization can have; without which no business transaction can take place; thus they need to be motivated to give satisfying results.

Theories of motivation

• Scholars in human resources have developed different theories of motivation, none of the theory work in isolation however they all have some elements of each other.
• In project management, the human resources and the project leader have the role of establishing the best approach they can use. The theories include:

Traditional Theories X and Y

• Traditional theory X was developed by Sigmund Freud; in the theory the philosopher stated that people are generally lazy, they hate working. In the theory the assumption is that people only want security and if they have to work, they have to be rewarded. Rewarding must be appropriate to meet the peoples need.
• To attain the goals of project, measures are supposed to be put in place to enhance working of employees, if the employees are left on their free will, they are likely not to work.
• Theory Y which was developed by Douglas McGregor, is in contrast with Sigmunds theory. He was of the opinion that people generally are hard working and enjoy to earn a living through working hard. In this theory the drive that people have in internal, they have a self drive, self motivated and are creative to make better ways of making their work easy.
• The theory give project managers the role of understanding their teams wells an ensure that those people who have self drive are given the chance to exercise the drive, they should be given,
• Tasks that need less supervision as their self drive is the source of power.
• In the case of a team that has people who tend to be more on theory X, then management has the role of ensuring that at all times, the employees are kept on their toes to ensure they perform.

Abrahams Marlow

• Abraham Marlow (1908-1970), developed a motivational theory called Hierarchy of Needs. Robbins and Coulter (1998), generalised the hierarchy of need as brought about by Marlow theory into five levels;
• Psychological needs; these are the basic needs that a person should have they are food, shelter, health and clothing.
• Safety need; after one has been satisfied of his psychological needs, he feels insecure with life. He realizes that he needs protection.
• Social / Belonging; this is the sense of belonging, a person need to feel as a man of the people and recognised with a certain group.
• Esteem; after the above has been attained, the next stage self love. This is called self esteem.
• Actualisation this is the point that one is more concerned about how the outside world is seeing him, he is more contented with what he has attained in life.

Depending with the need of project staffs, the human resources should fulfil the needs.

In the efforts of understanding what motivates employees, there are different theories developed. The start point of all theories is to understand how human mind react. What stimulates an individual. Despite that human beings have different personalities, all theories are in the view that there are similar attributes that make human kind and if an organization management understand these attributes, motivating its employees is easy.

Leaders have a role to play in motivation, they should create a good working environment that all employees will feel comfortable and willing to work in. decisions made in an organization determines the direction of the organization, the quality of decision will be of essence in motivation in the organization. Motivation is a continuous process; attainment of one goal leads to another goal and a different motivational system. A motivation system/process is a combination of variable with the expected result as an increased enthusiasm and morale in once work.

Managers in such a society that tend to have character of theory Y only need to monitor but not control employees. Creativity and innovation is facilitated by creating a better working environment. Reward system is seen as an additional motivator to a person perform his/ her duty.

Theory x although among the oldest is still applicable in todays organization to certain degree. People can be trusted with certain tasks although control should be injected to ensure that they dont surpass the mandate and powers they are given. For example in a computerized organization, managers should give rights of access to the system; however the rights should be limited.

When the two theories are combine together, they result to an organisation that have elements of either the theory, they bring aboard different issues;

Theory x + Maslows = need for motivation + meeting ones needs according to the level

Theory Y + Maslows = self motivation + meeting of ones needs

In the lower stages of Maslows theory, the main motivator is money. This goes in line with the general believe of theory X which is of the opinion that a person must be given an external push to perform.

Combining the two theories will thus give rise to an organization that is sensitive to ones needs (employer is sensitive of the need of employees, and employees are sensitive of the needs of employer).Good Motivational system leads to positive organizational behavior; employer and employee find each other as partners. They are responsible of each other and wok for mutual benefit. Change, innovation and creativity are encouraged and working environment is favorable.

Common Motivators

• There are a number of motivators that an a project leader can apply to motivate its staffs they include:
  • Good salaries.
  • Flexible working times.
  • Involvement in decision making.
  • Creating a favourable working environment.
  • Delegation and.
  • Use of conflict resolution strategies.

The choice of motivation tools that a company adopts depends with the team that a project has, it is the role of management and the team leader to understand his team and ensure he knows the best motivating method that can be effective for the team.

Sometimes the manager may be called to negotiate terms on behalf of the staffs.

Advantages of motivated team

• Its manages resources effectively making the final cost of a project fair and cost effective.
• Ensures that projects are completed with and within the time and costs allocated.
• Leads to attainment of project goals and objectives.
• Mobilizes resources and improves motivation among team members and staffs (Stephen and Timothy, 2010).

In managing a project, an organization needs dedicated and goal-oriented human resources, they need people who can support the project in different aspects for the good of the organization. An orchestrate team is developed when people with diverse knowledge, experiences, and profession (Stephen and Timothy, 2010).

Conclusion

• Projects require both human and physical resources for their completion in time using the allocated resources. Team leaders should ensure they understand their team so that they can have responsive motivational policies and strategies.
• When a team is motivated, then the attainment of the projects goals and objectives is facilitated.

Questions and Answers

• Is there likelihood that the role of a project manager will contradict the roles of human resources in project team management?
  • No, the roles are Clearly defined; its worth to note that one attribute of a leader is to be able to manage, lead, and motivate his teams, on the ground, he will be the one responsible for creating an environment favorable for a highly motivated staffs; his roles are distinct from those of human resources
• What are major course of de-motivated project management team?
  • The main cause of de-motivation in a team is ineffective human resources management, anytime that personnel team and the project management fail to collaborate to improve the welfare of staffs, then the team is likely to be de-motivated.

Although in literature of motivation, the role is more inclined to be a role of the human resources team, its important to note that the manager on the ground has the role of creating an enabling environment, the environment will be the one that human resources build on. Human resources have the role of looking into pays, pensions and the like.

References

Lewis, P.,2004. Team-Based Project Management. Washington: Beard Books.

Stephen P. and Timothy, A.,2010. Essentials of Organizational Behavior. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Helping others without trying to withdraw benefits for oneself raises many debates. Different opinions on whether a person can voluntarily do something good for another human being without pursuing personal interests exist. The assumption about pure altruism is that the only motive for giving is the utility derived from the charitys output (Ottoni-Wilhelm, Vesterlund, & Xie, 2017, p. 3617).

The positive feelings and emotions that individual experiences after helping others or doing a morally good deed can also be considered as satisfaction and advantages that a person gets. Consequently, it is challenging to say that pure altruism exists. The purpose of this paper is to argue that perfect altruism does not exist and that peoples motivation to help is always driven by personal feelings of satisfaction, although sometimes unconscious ones.

Around the globe, many people continue to do good for society and other individuals through such acts as charity, volunteering, donations, or simple acts like helping a friend. Still, all those actions are impurely altruistic because individuals receive some benefit not only from improvement in a public good but also from the act of giving itself (Simon, 2016, p. 372). Thus, pure altruism implies a complete absence of a self-worth feeling or satisfaction. Instead, the concept of impure altruism does exist when an individual chooses to act in a way that benefits others to feel pride (Saito, 2015).

Thus, it does not follow the theory that altruism is pure when it focuses on total utility (Galperti & Strulovici, 2017). In other words, those who give selflessly still have a conscious or unconscious gratification for their actions and are motivated by personal preferences. Such motivations as the feeling of being needed, selfishness, or even happiness from helping those who are in need, often drive people to be altruistic.

In conclusion, altruism exists among societies, which can be seen starting from large charitable events and not-for-profit organizations. However, pure altruism implies a total absence of any moral benefits for an individual, which leads to the thought that altruistic actions taking place are impure. Untrue altruism is also referred to as prosocial behavior driven by self-centered motives or even by narrow self-interest (Wittek & Bekkers, 2017, p. 579). The fact that people have a specific motivation already implies that altruism is imperfect.

References

Galperti, S., & Strulovici, B. (2017). A theory of intergenerational altruism. Econometrica, 85(4), 1175-1218.

Ottoni-Wilhelm, M., Vesterlund, L., & Xie, H. (2017). Why do people give? Testing pure and impure altruism. American Economic Review, 107(11), 3617-3633.

Saito, K. (2015). Impure altruism and impure selfishness. Journal of Economic Theory, 158, 336-370.

Simon, J. (2016). On the existence of altruistic value and utility functions. Theory and Decision, 81(3), 371-391.

Wittek, R., & Bekkers, R. (2015). Altruism and prosocial behavior, sociology of. In J. D. Wright (Ed.), International encyclopedia of the social & behavioral sciences (pp. 579-583). Oxford, UK: Elsevier.

Sweetness and Power is one of the most popular works by Sydney Mintz, where the author makes a wonderful attempt to evaluate the role of sugar in our world, in human past, and future.

In fact, his approach to evaluate human history by means of analyzing sugar industry may seem not that clear to every reader; however, if several facts from Sydney Mintzs life and career are taken into consideration, many unclear things become more understandable for people. First of all, it is necessary to admit that Sydney Mintz was an anthropologist. His profession implied a thorough analysis of people, their history, and its impact on their future.

It was not that interesting just to evaluate conditions, under which people lived and developed; however, if social and economic aspects are evaluated through a certain industry and with the help of particular examples, such approach should attract many readers. Mintzs major purpose in this work was to clear up the changes, which took place on social and economic arenas. He compared social and economic aspects with peoples consumption, and underlined the necessity of sugar use for each Englishmens diets.

So, in Sweetness and Power, the main intention of Sydney Mintz was to pay readers attention on how capitalism may control human lives even in their eating process and impose the use of sugar as something really important and even crucial.

A topical question arises from the very beginning: if common people consume sugar without a slightest idea of its importance for society, what could motivate the author of the book to start his unique research and to produce this book as a result of it? The answer is in the question: Mintz has managed to prove that he is not only efficient scientist, but a skillful writer and psychologist, who is able to conduct a unique research, prove its importance and create a new attitude towards conventional matter.

In the book he is trying to persuade the reader that the role of sugar in the world system can scarcely be overestimated, and he tries to explain this role. The authors main ambition was to reveal the complex way in which sugar production was connected to the development and organization of slavery and capitalist expansion (Kuever par. 8).

Facts from Mintzs Biography Play a Very Important Role

While writing Sweetness and Power, much was depended on the authors personal live and his connections. It would be really difficult to find a person, who could cope with the task to analyze human history from the pure anthropological perspective better than it was done by Sydney Mintz. To prove this, it is necessary to say that due to his work he is considered to be foremost scholar on sweetness (Kuever par.1).

His professional experience of fifty years of work as an anthropologist is also a convincing argument. One more fact that is worth mentioning is that the scientist belongs to left-leaning anthropologists and he works within Marxist framework (Barnard and Spencer 33). He presented a view of peasant community as integrated in national economic and political relations on the basis of unequal terms: that peasants were both dependent and exploited (Barnard and Spencer 33).

Thus, the scientists susceptibility towards those who lived in colonies, and suffer from poverty and from being oppressed and exploited was the factor that helped to find the ground for his research. What is more, Sydney Mintz cannot be regarded as mere theorist, because had practical basis for his research, as he went to Puerto Rico in 1948 to live among people who worked on sugar plantations.

He lived in one dwelling with a young sugar cane worker, and he got an opportunity to get all information he needed from the primary source: peasant Puerto Rican community. This fact of his biography accounts for his fascination with sugar. The fact that the writer was on friendly terms with the inhabitants of colonies has dubious meaning.

On the one hand, it means that the scientist had realistic basis for his analysis, but, on the other hand, it means that he was almost sure to have a bias in favor of the inhabitants of the colonies. However, a cultured reader should consider both assumptions and interpret the book accordingly.

Main Ideas of the Chapters

In the book under consideration, there are several major points, which have to be considered. First of all, Mintz admits that human make food out of just about everything (1). For a modern person, it is hard to comprehend why people pay so much attention to what they eat, and divide their preferences not according to their interests and preferences, but according to their ethnicity and nationality. People should eat only the food that is available for their environment.

As the subject analyzed in the book is presented in historical perspective, all chapters present certain importance for the complex understanding of the work. Still, because of the length limits of the work, the most important parts of the book will be analyzed right now.

In the introduction, Mintz prepares a favorable ground for perception of the arguments, saying that

A single source of satisfaction sucrose extracted from sugar cane for what appears to be widespread, perhaps even universal, human liking for sweetness became established in European taste preferences at a time when European power, military might, and economic initiative were transforming the world (xxv).

At the beginning of the first chapter, he stresses the importance of nutrition for human beings: Nutrition & is more fundamental than sex (3). Thus, the author justifies the importance of food for anthropology. In the same chapter the anthologist dwells on the variety of attitudes to sweetness and establishes the border between human likeness of sweetness and the supposed English sweet tooth (Mintz 16).

The second chapter, Production, suggests the idea that Jamaica and other British colonies were precursors of factory system of modern capitalism, despite the fact that they were based on slavery and not on wage labor. He gives the description of strict discipline and the division of labor on the plantations:

The specialization by skill and jobs, and the division of labor by age, gender, and condition into crews, shifts and gangs, together with the stress upon punctuality and discipline, are features associated more with industry than agriculture  at least in the sixteenth century (Mintz 45).

Mintz gives detailed evolution of sugar and its changing reputation. Though its roots come from the East, in Europe the sugar market was established only about 1800. However, earlier well-to-do people were main consumers of sugar.

There were times, when to own sugar meant to own gold, it was considered a sign of luxury and wealth. It is evident that the working class had no access to this treasure, and sugar became a monopoly of a privileged minority (Mills 43). M. Gadsby says that for enslaved people sugar meant exploitation, abuse, theft of bodies, and of course death (42).

Overall, in the course of time the attitude towards sugar passed through several stages: at first it was treated as medicine, later turned into a spice and condiment; there was time when people treated it as decorative material and a preservative. Finally, it gained a reputation of sweetener and the status of food (Mintz 112).

Personal Evaluation of the Book

On reading the book, it can be stated that the author has managed to fulfill his task successfully. Now, it is known for sure that he has a right to be called foremost scholar on sweetness, as it was mentioned above (Kuever par.1).

His picture of the history of sugar is so multidimensional and full, that it turns out to be a bit difficult to find out any shortcoming in his work. It can be proved by the fact that the scientist has even managed to analyze the meaning of sugar in literature and speech (Mintz 158). The choice of historical perspective was, probably the most successful choice the author could make.

He has managed to shed light on all spheres of society connected with sugar. Perhaps, the only weak point of the book is a bit complicated language, but as this book deals with anthropology, so the author has made it as accessible to non-specialists as he could. In general, the authors intentions to represent the role of capitalists in ordinary peoples lives were rather successful, and his idea to concentrate on the sugar industry may be justified, because sweets will be always interesting to people.

Role of Sugar in History Is not about Sweets only

Overall, the anthropologist Sydney Mintz has managed to show that sugar can make life not sweet, but very bitter, as it happened to the slaves, who worked on sugar plantations. It was because of sugar and its popularity that capitalists needed to find sources of cheap labor for the cane fields, leading to the enslavement of Africans in the Caribbean (Kuever par.8).

The book about sugar has made the reader think about slavery and unfairness of the leading classes towards the exploited ones. This book should be read by everyone, as it is may teach the readers many lessons, starting with history of humanity and finishing with moral and ethical conclusions.

Almost each reader may learn one important lesson from this book: even those things, which may seem trivial and of minor importance, in fact, may rule the history. Sugar has proved to be as fatal as gold. For a long period of time, it was impossible to imagine that sugar was the main cause of peoples exploitation and slavery.

What is more, it is evident now that sugar bears certain responsibility for underdevelopment of the Caribbean. The work by Barnard and Spencer proves this with the help of the example of Henry Wolf (Barnard and Spencer 33). Meredith Gadsby said: We (Caribbean women) have made a lasting contribution to the British economy and we have paid for it with our blood, our sweat and out tears (73).

This citation may be used, when speaking about sugar that is a very unique substance in all senses, as it turned out to be. In general, people should not be very careful when they evaluate this or that thing, because time has such unbelievable powers, which allow to change the essence of any thing and to make it crucially important for people.

Works Cited

Barnard, Alan and Spencer, Jonathan. Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology. London: Taylor & Francis, 1996.

Gadsby, Meredith. Sucking Salt: Caribbean Women Writers, Migration, and Survival. Missouri: University of Missouri Press, 2006.

Kuever, Erika. Sidney Mintz. 2006. Web.

Mintz, Sidney W. Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History. NY: Penguin Books, 1986.

Introduction

Motivation is one of the most important character traits. Motivation is used in various contexts both formal and informal in order to facilitate the achievement of certain ends. But, what is the meaning of definition? This question has been answered differently by different people depending on varied perception of what it constitutes.

However, the rationale for motivation has remained relatively the same universally. Psychologically, motivation has been defined as the psychosomatic feature that provokes a certain organism to work towards the achievements of desired goals and objectives. Motivation can be said to be the energy or power within that pushes an individual towards performing certain actions and achievement (Wiseman, 2008, p.43).

Motivation actually has a lot to do with yearning and ambition; this implies that in the absence of both desire and ambition, there cannot be motivation.

In most cases, individuals nurse the desire and ambition to have something achieved in line with personally set goals and objectives, whether for personal or group gains. In this case, when an individual does not have the push, the willingness and initiative to act, then it means such an individual lacks the necessary motivation coupled with the inner drive to succeed with the desire (Hawkins, 2009, p.144).

Motivation gives strengths to ambition, offers direction and increases ones initiative and energizes one to work even harder; besides, it encourages and gives an individual the persistence to work towards achieving ones set goals and desires. Motivation as a trait is one of the most significant success indicators.

When an individual or group of individuals lacks motivation, no result is achievable; however, in the case where results are achieved, they are highly likely not to be desirable and may be mediocre results or outcomes. Meanwhile, wherever there is motivation and drive within each individual, great and high quality results are achievable and success is inevitable for both an individual and groups of individuals (Booth, 1977, p.72).

Motivation is not always positive in terms of outcomes. There are individuals who may be to perpetually commit crime. For instance, those who commit burglary have their own personal motivators; even those who commit suicide or murder are motivated by certain things. For the purposes of this paper, motivation is considered on its ability to spur positive change and help an individual or groups of individuals to purse their goals and objectives to the end.

Motivating others

It is important to note that being able to motivate others is a great asset in itself. Motivation comes from within. However, there are individuals who lack motivation from within and hence need motivation from others (Hagger & Chatzisarantis, 2007, p.256). This is where motivational individuals come to fill in the gap.

Motivation is a personal skill and it can come from rational people irrespective of age, occupation or social or economic status. Nonetheless, it is good to point out that motivation can take place in the context of socially approved context and in a context that is anti-social.

It therefore implies that not everybody can give motivation to others, especially those whose self-images are not good within the public domain.

For one to be able to successfully motivate others, one needs to have reputation, be respected by those he or she intends to motivate; he or she should understand the socio-economic and cultural background of those intended for motivation and respect their viewpoints. Motivation can also take place at corporate level (Hagger & Chatzisarantis, 2007, p.289).

It can take place in a business context where corporate leaders get to motivate employees and businessmen and businesswomen. Again, to be a successful motivator, it is crucial to understand motivational factors and the appropriate scenarios to offer motivation.

De-motivation is necessitated by lack of motivation in an individual or groups of individuals. There are several literatures that have discussed motivation from various perspectives. Some of these literatures have discussed how to tell that individual or groups of people lack motivation; they have also examined what might make people to be de-motivated.

According to available information, the indicators of lack of motivation amongst employees in an organization or company include increased sicknesses some of which are feigned to escape responsibilities, increased employee absenteeism, lateness during arrival at the work place, employees leave the office either before closing time or immediately the time reaches, lack of communication, poor attitude at work place expression of frustration.

A question may be asked, Why do individual feel or get frustrated? there are many reasons or factors that may make an individual to get frustrated and hence lack motivation.

Some of these factors include lack of motivation either from within or others around, boredom with what one is pursuing either on personal grounds or as a duty at work place, when one is not getting the attention of others in terms of listening, lack of encouragement, lack of or poor training, absence of work delegation, being criticized instead of being helped to overcome or correct mistakes and being given too much wok.

These are just but few amongst the major causes of frustration leading to lack of motivation. It is important to know what makes particular individuals to feel the lack of motivation before attempting to come up with ways and strategies to motivate them. This may involve listening to them as they explain what makes them feel frustrated and lack the willpower to undertake tasks. The information acquired from them can be used to design appropriate ways to motivate them.

Different literatures have come up with ways through which one can motivate others; motivation comes in different forms. For instance, as a parent one may want to encourage children to achieve their best both at home and in school. In most of such cases where one is faced with the responsibility of motivating others, inspiration by example is one of the best options to get people motivated. According to the available literature, motivating others has several implications.

First, it is important to recognize that motivation is the only reason individuals engage in achieving certain ends. With respect to this, it is good to note that some individuals derive motivation intrinsically while others get it extrinsically. People who are intrinsically motivated derive their motivation from deep within themselves and may not require the motivation of others; meanwhile, those who derive motivation extrinsically derive their motivation from others and may not achieve desired results if not motivated.

Available literature also indicates that the first step in motivating others is having a sense of purpose. The motivator must make the people he or she is motivating to understand the work or goals they are pursuing are of great purpose.

When they lose hope and no longer see the need to pursue the goals or task, showing them the purpose of such may offer them the necessary motivation to continue to the end; this implies that while one may not actually be aware of how significant the task is performing is, making him or her to realize the purpose may lead to a very successful outcome.

Other ways of motivating others include assuring them of how they are likely to benefit, offering the necessarily needed support and encouragement in performing a given task and creating a sense of importance in an individuals or groups of people; people always want to feel important and regarding them as search could be a great motivation to them.

Theoretical perspectives of motivation

There are a number of theories that relate to the subject of motivation. One amongst the main theories that relate to the subject is the Maslows Hierarchy needs. The theory recognizes that individuals have certain needs that they want fulfilled. A need is something we need either personally or as a group; however, the Maslows theory tends to be biased towards individual needs.

These needs give the desire and drives which motivate individuals get ways of satisfying such needs. In this case, being able to satisfy these needs is the main goal. Maslows theory of motivation is referred to as the hierarchy of needs. According to Maslsow, individuals have five major needs ranked according to their importance starting from the most important to least. The first in the hierarchy is the physiological needs in which an individual has the need to eat, drink, work, sleep and reproduce.

The second is the safety needs which entails the needs for shelter and feel secure. The third need is the belonging needs whereby a person desires to feel part of a group and be accepted. Fourth is self esteem need; here an individual need the good feelings about themselves and be recognized by others for their achievements.

The last but not least amongst the hierarchical needs is the need to self-realization; in this hierarchy of needs individuals need to achieve personal fulfillment and grow and develop themselves. Maslow believes that individuals would only move down the list in order to be motivated by the next set of needs only after they have satisfied their previous needs (Maslow, 1943, pp.369-397).

Moreover, there is another theory by Alderfer which is related to Maslows hierarchical theory. Alderfers theory put the needs into three categories which include existence needs, relatedness needs and growth needs. This theory applies mostly to work environment where managers and or leaders require comprehending the theory if they are to motivate their employees.

This theory argues that managers and organizational leaders to realize that some people simply come to earn money and will only be concerned with existence needs and hence will not bother about getting on with other; which is related to relatedness needs. Also, others come to work in order to meet others and have a personal challenge and some sense of achievements; this is related to growth needs.

But, for the rest, they may be driven by all the desires. According to Alderfer, motivating people with existence needs requires that they are paid enough, given a safe and good work place, offered incentives; set reasonable targets and that people should be treated as individuals (Zepeda, 2007, p.214).

Furthermore, Alderfers theory argues that motivating people with relatedness needs include showing them respect, giving responsibilities, offering recognition for good performance, communicating with them appropriately, involving them in decision making processes, encouraging them to freely give their ideas, praising them whenever they achieve goals and objectives of the organization, offering chance for team building and some days out of office and celebrating success with them.

Motivating people with growth needs requires that individuals are offered with necessary support in order to complete their tasks; staff members are given challenges at the work place, work is made to be as interesting as it can be, people are encouraged to be innovative and think for themselves, individuals are kept informed on the necessary activities going on within an organization, people are stretched with new work and appropriate and necessary trainings are offered to the people (Borkowski, 2009, p.122).

Another prominent supposition is Vrooms theory, which is based on the credence that effort by a worker yields performance, alternately, performance leads to rewards (which may turn out to be either positive or negative). The theory posits that the motivation and rewards goes hand in hand.

Equally, the more the negative rewards, the less motivated the employee becomes. In other words, Vroom came up with the proposition that for an individual to feel motivated there must be an established link amongst effort, performance and the motivation itself. To account for such a scenario, he proposes three distinctive variables: Valence, Expectancy and Instrumentality.

He explains that Expectancy represents the credence that increased level of effort leads to rise in the level of performance. Of course, he posits that the success of this is dependent on the availability of right resources, possessing the right skills to perform on the job and getting the essential support that will ensure the job is accomplished.

According Vroom, instrumentality is the principle that if one has a good performance on the job, he for she will receive a valued outcome; that is, there is something for the performer in every good job done; and this is influenced by such factors as comprehensible understanding of the link between the desired outcome and the performance, trust in the individual who is to make the decision of the who should get a given outcome and transparency in the process of deciding how individuals should share in the outcome (Vroom, 1964, pp.128-137).

In his last variable, Valence, Vroom argues that individuals place some level of importance on a given outcome. The perception of the individuals on whether or not increased effort will increase performance, increased performance will increase rewards for individuals and rewards on offer is of value determines whether the individuals are motivated or not.

This implies that achievements within an organization are not necessarily the causes for individuals motivation; it starts from their perceptions as they perform their duties as employees of the organization (Vroom, 1964, pp.140-168).

Improving skill proficiency in motivation

There is one most important means through which skills on motivation can be improved for its effectiveness. This can be done through learning and attending seminars on motivations. There are several individuals whose career profession is motivational speaking. Through attending such seminars and listening to motivational speakers a manager is most likely to learn new ways of doing motivation.

There are also varied literature materials that discuss various techniques of doing motivations. It therefore means that as much as one might not have been naturally born a motivator, he or she can still gain sufficient knowledge on how to help a team or individuals to achieve high successes through motivations (Ojewale, 2008, p. 201).

There are many other ways through which an individual can improve his or her motivation skills. Most of them are through experience which involves knowing what has worked in the past and what have not in the motivation process. One of the ways through which one can improve on motivation skills is by knowing how to communicate consequences to the people being motivated.

What this means is that the motivator is aware of what can hurt the emotions of the individuals; it is important the motivator communicates the consequences of not undertaking a particular task or achieving a particular goal in such a way that is not likely to sound or appear as a threat to the subjects.

People being motivated should be told of the possible consequences; to successfully achieve this, the motivator must be armed with extra skills that will enable him or her to communicate effectively without harming the feelings of those being motivated. Otherwise, the people may turn against the motivators and hence lose his or her influence (Ojewale, 208, p. 207).

Again, it is important to note that people like doing what gives them pleasure. It is imperative that the motivator is able to determine what makes the people feel pleasure. It may not be necessary that the motivator only provide jobs, tasks or set goals that only give pleasure, but great skills are required to make the people find pleasure in what they are already doing.

Moreover, being able to give detailed instruction one of the best motivation skill a motivator can ever posses. Some times poor instructions may make individuals not to be confident and therefore not motivated in performing a given task. Therefore, the motivator needs to be enlightened on how the people take in instructions and how they follow those instructions.

During the implementation process, the motivator should set the subjects free to express their thoughts and what they believe the instructions should have been in order to perform as they are required (Ojewale, 2008, p.157).

Meeting long term goals may not be motivating as there are possibilities that the employees of individuals behind their achievements may lose motivation in the process. The managers require having techniques of keeping them focused until the goals are achieved as desired.

Available literature indicates that in order to keep the employees motivated to the end, the managers should adopt the strategies of setting short-term goals that are monitored throughout the process; after achievement of every short term goal, they workers should be appreciated for great work done before getting into the pursuit of the succeeding short-term goals.

Besides, it is also stated that in order to keep people motivated, the motivators or the managers should keep in mind that the individual workers have concerns for their personal stakes in the tasks being performed. In this case, the managers should be aware of what the workers of the stakeholders need in the undertaking process (Ojewale, 2008, p.157).

According to other writers, motivating people does not really mean setting goals and instructing them on how to go about it throughout. It is crucial that the managers trust the ability of those working on the desired tasks or goals and set them free to successfully achieve the goals. In the process of performing tasks, those involved may make some mistakes and therefore may need to be criticized or corrected. While doing the criticism, the supervisors and or managers should do it constructively.

This will serve to help them solve the mistake and still remain motivated; otherwise, motivation coupled with destructive criticism may lower the morale of individuals thereby making them to lack the necessary motivation to successful accomplish the task ahead. In the long run, the managers may not achieve desired organizational performance.

In a working environment, employees are always worried about the security of their jobs and professional careers. Hence, it is prudent that the employers use such a situation as a motivation point; the employees should be assured of their job security so that they should not in be in fear that they would lose their jobs should their performance go below the required level, especially where retrenchment is considered as one of the available alternatives to cutting the cost of operations. This will give the employees the morale to work hard towards achieving their goals and objectives.

One important thing to note is that motivational issues at the work place are as a result of the employees faults. It is argued that some of the factors contributing to motivational issue; these factors may include personality conflict, lack of the knowledge on how a given behavioral traits affects others, pressure in the families and personal problems amongst others. All these factors, amongst others, may cause employees to lack motivation.

So, when something is realized to have gone wrong, and the employees are no longer motivated to work in the organization, the employers or responsible individual should not just look at the symptoms of the outcome.

He or she should go beyond that and look for the likely causes, come up with alternative solutions and course of actions and implement instead of witch hunting which may cause further deterioration in the morale of already demoralized employees.

According professionals, the worst thing a given leader can ever do is to have the facts wrong; such a leader cannot positively impact on employees by giving motivations (Ojewale, 2008, p.276).

Besides, finding out what makes an employee to lack motivation should start by first collecting the information on what the employees should be doing and whether they are doing them or not. In the process of monitoring the employees as they perform their tasks, it is also important that there past performance records should be examined and compared to the current performance.

This way, the employer or supervisor is able to find out what really frustrates the employees or individuals being observed; it will also help in the process of finding appropriate means of motivation. This should involve working together with the employees. The whole process will help the managers to learn the various things that make employees to lack motivation to perform as they may be required.

The implication of conducting a thorough study of the causes of the problems is to establish ways in which the individuals can be motivated, especially when current motivational techniques are no longer effective or are counterproductive when used with the people.

Conclusion

Motivation is a psychosomatic process that gives an individuals behavioral traits a purpose. It is a predisposition to perform in a purposive way in order to achieve a certain end; the end constitutes a set of desired needs that an individual seeks to satisfy (Burrows, et al 1980, p. 326).

For one to be motivated, he or she must have the will to act towards satisfying the desired needs. Motivation is, in other words, the drive within an individual that makes him or her to accomplish personal and or organizational goals and objectives. It is important to note that motivate employees will always work hard to sustain an organization and help it achieve its goals as may be outlined in strategic plans; the employees are more productive when they feel motivated.

In order to be effective, it is imperative that the managers should deeply understand what are likely to lower the morale of the employees and what motivates them to give their best at work taking into account the context within the employees perform their tasks. It is acknowledged that motivating employees and other individuals is one of the most complex tasks performed by managers and other leaders; this is due to the fact that motivating factors vary and change with time.

Several theories have been advanced to explain the concept of motivation and how they different impact of the performance of employees and any other individual in an organization. These theories are the Maslows theory of motivation which ranks and individuals needs in five ranks starting from the most important to the least: physiological, safety, belonging, self esteem, and self-realization needs.

According to Maslow, an individual must satisfy lower needs must be met first before the next level of motivation is sort by the individuals. Another prominent supposition is Vrooms theory, which is based on the credence that effort by a worker yields performance. In this case rewards may either be positive or negative. The theory argues that the more positive the reward the more the individuals will increase their commitment and performance and the more the rewards are negative the less the employees will perform.

There is also the Alderfers theory on motivation which is a revision of Maslows theory. Instead of Maslows five levels of needs, Alderfers theory reduced them to just three. The fist one is existence in which an individual is more concerned with the fundamental existence of material motivational factors. The second one is Relatedness; here an individual derives motivation by maintaining interpersonal relationship with others. The last one is Growth which refers the inherent desire by an individual to achieve some level of personal growth.

It is important to note that in order to motivate others, an individual must be motivated first. It will be practically impossible to motivate others when one cannot realize the willpower that lies deep within him or her. Moreover, motivating others requires deeper understanding of what makes others feel frustrated and things and situations in which an individual may feel motivated. With such an understanding, the motivator will be able to know varied ways of motivating others, especially in a working environment.

References List

Booth, K 1977, Navies and foreign policy, New York, Taylor & Francis.

Borkowski, N 2009, Organizational Behavior in Health Care, New Jersey, Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Brown, R 2003, Social Psychology, 2nd Edition, New York, Simon & Schuster.

Burrows, DG, et al 1980, Handbook of hypnosis and psychosomatic medicine, Elsevier/North-Holland Biomedical Press, Holland.

Hagger, M & Chatzisarantis, N 2007, Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in exercise and sport, New York, Human Kinetics.

Hawkins, M 2009, Activating Your Ambition: A Guide to Coaching the Best Out of Yourself and Others, New York, Mike Hawkins.

Maslow, AH 1943, A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, July 1943, U.S.

Ojewale, O 2008, Success Motivation and Life Skills, New York, Civility Press.

Vroom, VH 1964, Work and motivation. New York, Wiley.

Wiseman, D 2008, Best Practice in Motivation and Management in the Classroom, New York, Charles C Thomas Publisher.

Zepeda, S 2007, Instructional supervision: applying tools and concepts, Eye on Education, U.S.

Looking for new perspectives on improving my leadership skills, I found a great motivational book Eat That Frog! by the Canadian personal development speaker Brian Tracy. This book is a set of simple methods which can help arrange ones work. Eat That Frog! is a perfect example of how to stop procrastinating and start getting positive results. The practical value of this book for our program consists of a simple presentation of the key aspects which motivate us to achieve better results.

First of all, this book tells us that goals are the fuel in the furnace of success (Eat That Frog! 2002, p. 68). The key aspect: you just have to go ahead and do your work. Just eat that frog. Dont try to find the reasons explaining why you dont want or dont have to work. Just go and do this work. And soon you will get amazing results. You have to identify your goal and go ahead.

The second important key to success is the ability to concentrate on the most important part of the task, to do it right, and to complete your job. From time to time, it is complicated work to choose the main part among all the components. The worst waste of time is doing something good and understanding that you didnt have to do it at all. However, when you realize it you start turning your life from a waste of time to victory.

Thirdly, you always have to continue learning. It is the major requirement for success in any field of your activity. By doing your homework, you will get the new possibility of a quick achievement (Eat That Frog! 2002, p. 52). That means you should be prepared for the future result. Productivity is impossible without learning and preparation.

Besides, you always should remember that difficulties come not to obstruct, but to instruct (Fight or Flight). Let your problems and doubts feed your desire to achieve success. Release your fears.

The last important key, according to Tracy, is a decision. Tracy says that it is really sad that people are poor only because they have not decided yet to be rich. They are overweight and in a bad physical condition because they have not decided to be healthy and athletic. People waste time because they have not decided to spend it productively (Stop Wasting Time).

I recommend this book because I am sure of its practical importance for our program. The simple explanations of this book can help us to get more results. Besides, it is extremely important to know how to stop procrastinating and get more results in the short term. Also, Tracy emphasizes self-assertion as the key aspect of success. 21 Great Ways of Tracy gives us obvious examples of how to get easy positive results. Eat That Frog! inspired me, and I am sure that this book can come in handy for everyone. According to Trace, changing our way of thinking, we are changing our lives. Regularly eating our fogs, we can develop new habits to get more results; we can accomplish more than we expect (Seven Steps to Developing a New Habit).

Perhaps, you can say that reading this book is a waste of time because of its simple way of narration and even more simple advice. However, I think that the simple way of writing is not a case of objection. This way of description makes the book more clear and understandable.

Eat That Frog as a metaphor of taking any kind of work helps to clarify the most important keys to success. This book motivates and inspires me to learn more, to work harder, and improve my leadership skills.

Reference List

Tracy, B. (2002). Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Way to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.

Tracy, B. (2010). Fight or Flight: Overcoming Your Fears.

Tracy, B. (2011). Seven Steps to Developing a New Habit.

Tracy, B. (2011). Stop Wasting Time: Find the Right Job For YOU!

Human behavior and attitude are directed by internal processes and more specifically, persons will to change something in their proximity. Motivation is one of the key factors that play a significant role in how people act and what they reach in their life. Motivation is defined as needs and wants to action, a process where a person dynamically develops a plan and it becomes framed by the things that someone does. Some of the key characteristics of motivations are direction, determination, activity, patience and human ability to satisfy what must be accomplished.

There are several types of motivation that people come in contact with every day. There is external motivation which is not connected with the context of a certain behavior but is characterized by the external relationship of a subject to the circumstance. Internal motivation is the opposite, as it is not connected to the external conditions and is interlinked with the unique nature of the action and wants itself.

As always, there is positive and negative motivation where positive is simply the one based on positive stimuli and negative leads to outcomes that are unwanted and unapproved by the majority. For a long time, the human brain has stayed a mystery and only recently, science started to conceptualize the true potential of the mind. The human brain is an intricate network of cells that work together to deliver personality, ability to communicate and cognition. The way the brain functions determines how motivated a person is and as a result, this will have a direct effect on personality, behavior, and actions of an individual. The brain itself is a physical matter, an organ that regulates the functions of the body.

It determines the most needed actions and sends signals that are responsible for the human organism to stay alive. Motivation can come from several sources. One is cognitive and is entailed in the will power or determination of a person. It is absolutely internal and is based on the personal characteristics of a person. Their unique individuality is what guides the process and can be traced to genetic information contained within cells, more specifically DNA.

It provides unique and never repeated information that makes a person who they are, so the reasons for motivation are very different from one person to the next. It is almost impossible to trace back all the genetic information that went into a persons brain and this leads to every individual having different levels and types of motivation. The manifestation of the wants and needs comes through the ability to develop and create new ways of behavior, and it is only a matter of personal will power and patience in how much a person can achieve (Wong, 2000).

One of the most interesting discoveries was about the communication between brain cells, axons, through their synapses. When a person wants to do something chemicals are being released by one axon and they float to the receptors of the next axon. All the chemicals that are produced, neurotransmitters, are a sort of boats that carry their own information. The more someone wants to take a certain action the more signals there are sent by the brain.

The amount of repetitions of the chemicals being exchanged, determines the strength of the signal. If a person wants something in a minor way, the signal is sent once or twice and the receiving axon does not respond in a major way. But, in case the signal is repeated constantly, the axon is bombarded with chemicals, thus causing a conscious response from a person. This is what determines the motivation of a person. It is still unclear how a persons mind or brain can hold so much information and from where particular desires stem. It has been supposed that a person has unlimited potential, so it is possible to assume that motivation can exist in many forms and physical actions.

It has been established that the surrounding conditions greatly shape the way a person behaves and thinks. This, in turn, leads to the quality of motivation and its strength and persistence. If a person received a specific amount of love, thus leading to an increase in confidence, they will be more determined and motivated to accomplish something. The genes play a role in the way a person is but the environment adds a much greater amount of information and external stimuli that shape and form motivation. It is still uncertain why people like certain things and prefer specific actions to others. The only possible explanation is that the amount of times they were presented with a certain situation or quality determines how much they become used to this sort of concept which makes it necessary to become a part of behavior through action and motivation (Brown, 2007).

But, at the same time, the opposite might be true, as constant repetition might lead to the development of an immune response that will avoid a situation. Here, motivation will be to oppose a specific action or do things that will lead further away from the stimuli. Also, it has been proven that a persons individuality might change if there are changes in the brain. The use of drugs, alcohol or other substances can heighten certain chemicals in the brain that will upset the balance.

This will lead to a reversal in the functioning of different systems and someone who has been a person with a lot of patience, might become irritable and over demanding. Some studies have shown that aggression is a chemical response that is positive and the way someone acts out the changes in the brain is what determines positive actions from negative. Any sort of excitement is considered a type of motivation but it is the manifestation of individuality which makes one response different from another. Aggression influences motivation in a negative way, as does substance abuse, so the interconnected system is very sensitive to both internal and external conditions.

Not only does the brain manifests and makes visible the genetic information that has been passed down through generations, but it also records new understanding and stores it. New information is bounced off the existing knowledge, creating perspectives and opportunities to come into existence. Persons motivational output very much depends on the amount of information about something and their ability to imagine ways to accomplish the set goals. The brain also separates the information that is beneficial or could have a negative consequence. Later, the outcomes that led to positive result are sought out and repeated while those that were negative are avoided. This is the specific process of how a person learns about physical and mental pain (ONeil, 2012).

Even though a brain is still a mysterious place and it is not quite clear why people like or do certain things, motivation plays one of the most important roles in human behavior and life in general.

References

Brown, L. (2007). Psychology of Motivation. New York, United States: Nova Publishers. Web.

ONeil, H. (2012). Motivation: Theory and Research. Hillsdale, United States: Routledge. Web.

Wong, R. (2000). Motivation: A Biobehavioural Approach. New York, United States: Cambridge University Press. Web.

It is generally known that motivation has a positive impact on second language acquisition (SLA); however, it does not guarantee good results (Ormond, 2008).

Several activities of grammar acquisition among ESL may present a distinct basis for instruction. A number of scholars have highlighted the significance of logical linguistic input in acquirement procedure. Some of these concepts include monitor theory; this activity provide a period that enable learners to listen, though they are not allowed to express themselves, as an approach of encouraging grammar acquisition.

The monitor theory shows that a sequence of activities highlighting listening comprehension ought to herald even the simple input activities (Stepp-Greany, 2003). The input processing concept; this activity distinguishes between productions (language the students are exposed to) as well as intake (the actual language that is processed by students). This concept highlights the significance of connecting the structure of phrases to its description.

If applied as a rationale, it would demonstrate that initial production tasks should be easier to understand that require learners to concentrate to one vital aspect and connect structure to description. On the other hand, activities would enlarge from simple to multifaceted along a continuum ranging from identification to simple grammar input to sentence structure and speech in a logical sequence (Ediger, 1996).

Interaction and socio-cultural concept highlights the relevance of social factor of language learning. In addition, these frameworks, grammar is negotiated as well as socially reconciled or even assisted.

Paraphrasing, demands for repetition, clarification requests, authentication and recognition are tasks used by novice students to accomplish proficiency when they interact with an expert speaker. Encouraging social contact through CALL and presenting opportunities for the generation of verbal and written linguistic which can be negotiated would be demonstrated in a design prepared around these concepts.

These concepts may basically mean that the tasks ought to be developed in a manner to ensure that paired as well as categorized-learning opportunities are affordable to all learners (Krantz, 2009).

Content-Based tasks

CALL tasks and activities in grammar teaching provide a planned framework for computer-centered rules. Suitable computer-assisted tasks as well as activities comprises of essentially setting the foundation (through previous understanding to create or solidify skill base), offering input and student engagement providing new learning (material and techniques), guided involvement (tasks that reinforce) and extension (application and creative tasks). Considering that computes are capable of numerous branching and enable learners to provide relational learning sequential grammar acquisition may be suitable (Willoughby, 1993).

In spite of this, task-oriented activities which simulate a real scenario, and innovative extension activities, tend to be significant in the language development. Nonetheless, learners can use skills to recognize the relevance of data or competency obtained and links class knowledge to the actual situations. The guiding query for the instructor is likely to be what the actual importance of this data: as well as techniques students can apply in any give activity.

Blooms classification

This concept is as well important in computer-assisted tasks and activities. This classification categorizes learning activities ranging from simple to multifarious, the most demanding being remembrance, while the most demanding being synthesis and evaluating. Planning as well as cycling rules for CALL via Blooms classification as a basis would illustrate that opportunities be offered for examination, production, assessment and other cognitive abilities in grammar learning and task-oriented function activities (Thornbury, 2001).

Constructivism

Guidelines of constructivist learning assumption in computer can be challenging to conventional perceptions in the development of instructions. Based on this concept, learning takes place through learners exposure to basic sources in a situated perspective and encouraging them to perceive interactions.

The important here is that changes from instructions provided by the educator to construction by the student. Learning take place in an idiosyncratic way since learners use their distinct previous encounters as foundations to acquire new knowledge that develops dissonance is comprehend as new information is acquired. In reacting to students requirements sequencing is not vital because they increase in the milieu of learning process (Warschauer, 1996).

Constructivists handle issues with positivism, result-based empirical techniques to learning. In addition, they highlight that actual learning is not rational or objective rather sequential, reacting to trial and mistakes attempts at comprehending. Task-based instruction where linguistic procedure is influenced by both cultural as well as actual data from genuine books, and not grammar learning for its sakes adequately fits into constructivist concept.

In grammar approach, learners are provided with textbooks or feedbacks or description is simplified with the help of perspective and recycling of speech in several structures. In this case, learners construct innovative skills through synthesizing speech in innovative procedures that consists of trial and mistakes and the incorporated application of language ability. This type of technique considerably contracts sequenced concepts that have conventionally exemplified grammar teaching and technology management (Astleitner, 2004).

Sequencing fails to meet its objectives, nevertheless in reconstruction of the entire and as an opportunity to form description of the components in CALL. Sequenced tasks to aid in meaning development may comprise of recognition tasks such as multiple choices; sentence construction, analysis, synthesis tasks like generating new descriptions of the speech. There exists frequent recycling version of important learning material in several forms via activities that require increasingly elevated cognitive abilities.

Computer-assisted approaches have a high ability to facilitate learning within any given context. It presents the capacities for demonstrating authentic texts contextualized with graphs and images that are important in both trial and mistake attempts in grammar learning, for sequential approach of learning process and recycling learning material in multiple approaches (Jonassen, 1999).

References

Astleitner, H. (2004). Multimedia Elements and Emotional Processes. E-Journal of Instructional Science and Technology, 7(2), 1-11. Web.

Ediger, M. and Rao, D.B. (2007). Administration of schools. New Delhi: Discovery Publishing House.

Ormond, J.E. (2008). Educational Psychology: Developing Learners. Merrill. Pearson Education.

Stepp-Greany, J. (2003). Designing Instructional Technology for Language Learning. Academic Exchange Quarterly, 7(4). Web.

Thornbury, S. (2001). Uncovering Grammar. Oxford: Macmillan Heinemann.

Warschauer, M. (1995). E-Mail for English teaching. Alexandria, VA: TESOL Publications.

Willoughby, S.E. (1993). Card Game Activities Using Grammar-Based Dialogues. (MA thesis. Brattleboro, USA: School for International Training). Web.

Plea deals have become inherent to the American criminal justice system, replacing trial processes to a considerable extent. According to Finkelstein and Levin (2020), the percentage of defendants pleading guilty in court has increased from 63% to 89% since 1975. This sticking growth can be attributed to various factors, most notoriously to the so-called trial penalty.

While refraining from a time-consuming trial has economic benefits, i.e., freeing limited resources for courts, opting to plead guilty has inevitable repercussions. Pleading guilty is often incentivized by proposing a more lenient sentence instead of an overly harsh one (Schneider & Zottoli, 2019). For example, in U.S. v. Stinn, the defendant refused to plead guilty for a fraud committed by his colleagues, but, although the government admitted that Stinn was unaware of the crime, he was ultimately sentenced to 12 years instead of an initially proposed maximum 5-year sentence. In contrast, the actual perpetrators who plead guilty received no jail time and were recommended for parole (National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 2018). Such an approach allows for indirect coercion as it pressures a defendant to hastily concede their right to a trial to avoid a disproportionately longer sentence.

The ungrounded choice to accept a plea bargain can also stem from an imbalance of negotiation power. The prosecutor often has informational leverage on the defendant, as they are not obliged to present information to the latter. (National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 2018). As a result, the defendant and their legal counsel often do not manage to properly assess the prosecutors claim due to the pleas urgency and its disparity with the potential trial sentence.

Overall, though having certain merits, the plea bargaining system poses several ethical problems. The defenders are often presented with a dilemma, being forced to choose between two evils. Fear of a harsher sentence as an incentive is unacceptable as it only punishes the innocent.

References

Finkelstein, M. O., & Levin, B. (2020). Why plea bargains are a bad deal for some. Significance, 17(1), 2025. Web.

National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. (2018). The trial penalty: The Sixth Amendment right to trial on the verge of extinction and how to save it. Web.

Schneider, R. A., & Zottoli, T. M. (2019). Disentangling the effects of plea discount and potential trial sentence on decisions to plead guilty. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 24, 288304. Web.

Introduction

According to the 1897 census, it was established that Russia had the third-largest world population highlighting a wide range of economic, ethnic, linguistic, and religious diversity. It is the largest country globally, which occupies 17 square kilometers. The size and expansion of the nation can be accrued to various events, such as wars in the 18th century. Russia is located on two continents, that is, Northern Asia and Eastern Europe. The region holds more than an eighth of the worlds total land coverage. There are various theories and historical arguments that try to account for the growth and expansion of the region. However, a modernized economy and a strong and well-equipped army during the expansion period in the 18th century are the primary reasons for Russias expansion.

Main body

Numerous wars were fought by various Russian rulers, including Emperor Peter I, who grew an already massive empire into a major European power. Additionally, the golden age presided by Empress Catherine the great oversaw state expansion via conquest, colonization, and diplomacy. Further expansion of Russia to the south, east, and west placed it as one of the most powerful European empires of the time.

There exist different views as to what motivated the Russian geographical expansion. This has led to the question of how historians argued the motivation leading to Russian geographical expansion in the 18th century. Historians have argued that the motivations leading to the expansion included the need to mobilize and access new and prime lands and resources, the acquired literacy level of the Russians as compared to their conquest, the need to carry out trade, and the urge to achieve military domination.

Access to the Black Sea as well as the Baltic Sea, which was blocked by Swedish provinces, led Emperor Peter into an alliance with Denmark and Norway in an attempt to invade Sweden. As soon as Sweden turned their attention to Poland, Peter seized the opportunity to conquer Swedish provinces gaining the much-wanted access to the river Neva. A new fortress was constructed at the mouth of river Neva, and the great city of St Petersburg was founded, where noble families relocated and built palaces. Due to its prime location, St Petersburg was considered an opening window to Europe. Access to the prime Swedish provinces enabled Russia to greatly expand its land.

Additionally, the modernization and westernization of Russia by Peter the Great gave Russians a great advantage in wars over their conquests. This oversaw the restructuring of the recruitment system and the creation of a military fleet, which led to various reforms to supplying the army and navy. Education reforms were implemented to teach Russians the necessary skills in mathematics, science, and navigation, as well as large-scale construction projects. Russians were in possession of strong military personnel and an upper hand in literacy as compared to their conquest. Some historians believed that this accorded an upper hand to Russia in the wars that led to the geographical expansion.

Consequently, historians have it that the need to carry out trades by Russia necessitated the expansion. Russian new economic opportunities were associated with trade contacts and new trade agreements. They resulted in the development of new diplomatic and cultural relations, as well as a tremendous interest in geographic discovery voyages during a given period. One of the trades that was undertaken included the Hindu merchants visiting Central Asian centers.

They also visited new Russian towns established along Russias expanding border of influence. The construction of the Ladoga canal in Russia that facilitated market integration was a result of the Great Northern War victory and the successful removal of forces occupying the Swedish front. The need to partake in trade was a great incentive as it led to great land discoveries leading to the ultimate expansion.

Finally, its need to acquire military domination by Russia over its western enemies proved to be a great incentive that led to its expansion. According to historians views, as Russia emerged victoriously in many wars, it prided itself on dismantling large troops of armies. Due to its strong, knowledgeable forces, a good read on the map of the land, and its strategic alliances, the ability to destabilize various militaries were simple. Concurrently this enabled Russia to gain military superiority over its opponents.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Russia was established as the largest country globally, having the third highest population. Thus, the region accumulates a wide range of diversity, including ethnic, religious, linguistic, and economical. The region underwent several events that resulted in its geographical expansion in the 18th century. Various historians had different arguments as to the Russian motivation for geographical expansion.

Needing access to the Baltic Sea was a great incentive for conquering the Swedish province and acquiring the prime land. Nevertheless, the need to trade necessitated the discovery of new geographical spaces and the development of cultural and diplomatic relations. Additionally, other historical researchers posit that the Russian attempt to modernize and westernize led to the creation of a strong military and reforms in education, giving it a greater advantage in wars over its enemies. Some historians say that the Russians need to assert military dominance over their opponent may have led to the great geographical expansion.

Bibliography

Kemp, P. M. Early Contacts between India and Russia. In The Russian Revolution and India, pp. 152-173. Routledge, 2020. (pp. 152-173). Web.

Korchmina, Elena S., and Paul Sharp. Denmark and Russia: What can we learn from the historical comparison of two great Arctic agricultural empires? Russian Journal of Economics 7 (2020): 105. Web.

Rajesh, V. The Russian Revolution and India. (2020). Web.

Pavlova, Olga, and Anna Ryabova. Geography of Russias Foreign Trade in the 18th and Early 19th Centuries. In Proceedings of Topical Issues in International Political Geography, pp. 44-57. Springer, Cham, 2021.