Ronald Takakati Essay Example

Ronald Takakati Essay Ronald Takakati, born in 1939, perched himself as one of the best historians and scholar of Ethnic Studies dispelling all the myths surrounding the Asian American minorities. By pondering into the slave trade and ethnic diversity that predominated the American culture in 16th and 17th century, he went onto raise the question of the society’s future and answered the questions; how and why scenario in America has become ethnically and racially diverse? The history of slavery goes as far back in the civilizations of Sumer and was found in Ancient Egypt, the Akkadian Empire, Assyria, Greece, Rome, parts of the Roman Empire and the Islamic Caliphat. But in Virginia slavery entered in the 16th century, yet there are several arguments regarding the exact preoccupation of slavery in Virginia. In his Different Mirror, Ronald Takakati made the readers delve into the history of slavery in America by bringing out the fact that although the slave codes were not enacted in Virginia until the 1660`s, a form of `de facto` slavery already existed there? The   first forced migration of African laborers to America occurred in 1616 when Africans entered into the land of Jamestown by the Dutch slave trader who exchanged his cargo of Africans for food. Slowly and slowly slavery spread to all the parts of America due to the increase in plantations, but the slavery code was enacted in Virgina in 1660 and much after the Bacon’s rebellion in 1676, which resulted in the white’s solidarity and fanned racism against the Indians which led slavery to become an obsessed order of the day among the planters Takaki discusses that the racial inferiority and slave codes were empirically prevalent before the North America was colonized. The accounts from the English travel documents in the 16th century reveal the amount of racial discrimination and prejudice that marked the African slavery.   The English travelers termed Africans as apes, and disparaged their social practice of unbridled sexuality and unchristian behavior. Even Jordan argued that African residents of Virginia were always considered as distinct and inferior group. Still even more than half a century after the colonies were established, slavery did not attain that dominant position, as both white and black laborers in the plantations were indentured servants. These Indentured servants were young white men basically English Irish who were supposed to work for a planter master for fixed term. They get room to but no pay and were not allowed to leave work for another planter. And were forced to serve the full term, after which they could acquire some land for themselves. These Indentured laborers were brought to Virgina as farm laborers, and their impo rtance of slavery can been seen by the fact that in 1618, the colony gave incentives when they offer a headright, a grant of 50 acres per servant, and an incentive to planters to import more servants from England. The reason behind the indentured laborers goes to Tobacco farmers who hold the view that tobacco farming did not remain a profitable venture for planters, as they could not afford to attend 1670 case. The second reason is due to the non-prevention of alliance between the poor and white slaves and superior position of whites in the social hierarchy. We will write a custom essay sample on Ronald Takakati specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Ronald Takakati specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Ronald Takakati specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The indented servants were brought to Virgina as Farm laborers and it was the rule that practically every servant before leaving the British Isles cannot return the contract, but around 75 per cent of the population came under indenture. Many of the Virginia slaves were imported from the Caribbean islands. As acting governor of Virgina said in 1680, that Negroes were brought to Virginia were imported generally from Barbados as very rare Negro ship use to come to Virginia directly from Africa. When the civil war was over many of the Southern plantation owners tried to change African American laborers with Chinese According to some historians, the plant owners of the tobacco farming did not add for any additional cost of slaves until 1670s.   The laws of Virgina legislature, which was designed to contact slaves and poor whites, laid more emphasis on the superior position of whites in the social hierarchy. In this whole the exploited lot were Africans because they were already discriminated along cultural differences. This incident allowed the landowners to keep Africans slaves and render them powerless. Africans began to regarded as threat to their arms and assembly because of the different culture and appearance, subsequently Slavery enabled planters to develop a disfranchisement† This led the landowners to enslave Africans and render them powerless. The gentry took an advantage of already existing cultural disparities to prevent a class conflict. In the colonies the indigenous population were invited to labor. But the Indians refused to be become servants to the English. They resisted being forced to work, and they escaped into the surrounding area, which, after all, they knew far better. The conquerors could not quit neither work in   plantation.   Although they could not give surprise, there were prisoners, convicted of petty crimes in Britain, or convicted of being troublemakers in Britains first colony, Ireland. Many were kidnapped on the streets of Liverpool or Manchester and put on ships to the New World. Some voluntarily became servants, hoping to start farms after they fulfilled their obligations to their masters. There is another problem with Indented servants because planters did not like, the servants insolence. Although Takakti argued that in the 17th century there were very few laws, which defined slavery the people could earn or save enough money to purchase own freedom. On the one hand indentured servants worked under temporary conditions, the life expectancy of slaves were very low. It is a matter of debate among the historians that whether the racism that is ensued among the blacks came before the date when legal system was adopted in support of the life time slavery in Virgina or it is the trend of slavery that led to the start of the racists attitudes against the blacks. But it is   historically true that in earlier colonial days, Blacks were not considered as direct slaves. Many of them owned property, led a married life and raise families and were not bonded in the salvage of slavery laws.   In the year 1660 only, government formed a law, which designate services according to color. Every year between the years 1667 to 1672, the General Assembly used to define the status on any Virginian based on color. These laws continued all through the 1680, 1682 and 1686, but as and as in the final decade of the seventeenth century and it seemed to be emergent as the most important characteristic in the eighteenth century. The slave trade was rampant all over the British colonies for 200 years, until the year 1808, when under Article 1, Section 9 of the US Constitution it was totally abolished. There were around 300 Africans living in Virginia, which came to around 1% of an estimated 30,000 population. These were not slaves and many of them got their freedom but each were granted 50 acres of land when freed from their indentures. Soon the slaves began to be more preferred, and could be punished in any way and with any weapon. These slaves never have right to food and shelter and were forced to work until their death. The Sugar planters kept on bringing more and more slaves even though they were too costly and they were forced to work until death, while indentured servants could quit when they chose to.   By the year 1661, Barbados framed the first slave code   in all his Caribbean colonies   which gave slaves more respectable treatment and made it mandatory for the slave owners to provide clothing for their slaves, but this  new slave code removed all of the slaves’ legal rights protected under English Common Law and slave owners attain an absolute control over the slaves. Masters got all rights to abuse, assault and even kill their slaves. Immediately after the Bacons Rebellion, the realization dawned on the plantation class that there would be danger if we depend on a white laboring class who owned the right and freedom to assemble and keep arms, therefore the owners of plantations made the decision to keep enslaved African labor rather than white indentured servants.   These African slaves did not have any right to assemble or keep any arms. By 1740, the black population in Virginia rose from 5 to 40 percent. This was the time when slavery became an institution. These Black African laborers were thought to be more valuable in the fields than white indentured servants. This is because Africans were able to adopt themselves to the hot arid climate and could work in a more efficient way than indentured servants and another reason was that these slaves could be made laborers for whole life but indentured servants could be made to work as laborers only for few years in order to gain their freedom and thirdly because the future generations of slaves were also automatically bounded to the same owner. This was the reason that the slaves were considered as most expensive than other type of laborer.   This socio and cultural fabric that marked the slavery led to the emergence of different ethnic groups who have made their contribution felt in building the new American Economy which even Walt Whitman said, a vast, surging, hopeful army of workers. Initially the reason for the origin of slave trade was more of economic but not racial; it was more because of the cheaper rates of the labor rather than color of the laborer. But later after 1660 it took the turn of racism, which Ronald Takaki explored with great depth. He says that race had always been inscribed in the social fabric which had been historically segregated the racial minorities from European immigrant groups and went to reflect in the book the multicultural, multiracial, and multiethnic character of American culture.

Award-Winning Singer, Norah Jones essays

Award-Winning Singer, Norah Jones essays I find it remarkable that Norah Jones, a piano-playing, female, jazz musician, with soft, romantic, feel-good lyrics, could, in this day and age, rack up 5 Grammys, including best album of the year, record of the year and song of the year. No one thought that sweet Norah would be able to compete with the 4 million plus album sales attributed in 2002 to big-timers such as Nelly, Avril Lavigne, and Eminem. Well, think again! She's sold over 6 million albums worldwide for her debut Come Away With Me. At a time when the recording industry is in turmoil, to sell 6 million albums is almost unfeasible, especially for a new and emerging artist. So, who is this fresh, new, jazz musician, anyway? The 23 year-old Norah Jones was born on March 30, 1979 in New York City. When she was just 4 years old she moved with her mom to Grapevine, TX, a suburb of Dallas. She began her singing in church choirs at the age of 5. Two years later Norah began her ultimate success – the piano. Norah, at the age of 15, moved to Dallas's inner city where she started Booker T. Washington High School for Performing and Visual Arts. Her first gig was at the young age of 16, at an open-mic coffeehouse. In 1996, still during her high school years, Norah won the Down Beat Student Music Award for best jazz vocalist and best original composition. In 1997, yet once more, she still won the SMA for best jazz vocalist. During her time in high school, she, as well, played for the band Laszlo, performing what she describes as "dark, jazzy, rock." Norah went onto the University of North Texas, nationally acclaimed for its phenomenal music program, where she majored in jazz piano. In 1999, she moved back to New York where she appeared constantly with the band Wax Poetic, which are now signed to the Atlantic label. But, Norah was determined to have her own group. A couple months later her dream was born with band members Lee Alexander (Bassist), Dan Reiser (drummer), Jesse ...

How to Say Thank You in Latin

How to Say Thank You in Latin The people of the ancient Roman Empire, who spoke Latin, expressed the concept of thank you in multiple ways. A formal thank you was commonly said as gratias tibi ago.  A less formal thank-you was simply benigne. Thank You in Latin Gratias tibi ago literally means Thanks to you I give.  The singular of gratias is gratia,  which means  gratitude, esteem, obligation. So it makes sense that the plural would mean thanks. If you were thanking more than one person (thanks to you all I give), you would change the singular indirect pronoun tibi  to the plural vobis, like this:  Gratias vobis ago.   If more than one person is thanking someone, the singular verb  ago (I give)  becomes the plural  agimus  (we give):  Gratias tibi/vobis  agimus. The Grammar Behind the Phrase Using the idiom gratias ago  or some equivalent  was the typical way that Latin speakers formally thanked each other. Notice that both forms of you are in the dative case because this pronoun is the indirect object of the verb  ago. Tu is the dative singular form, while the dative plural form is  vobis.  The verb ago  is in the first-person singular present active indicative form. Agimus is the first-person plural. Latin didnt typically use the subject pronoun, thus we dont spell out the first-person  singular nominative pronoun  ego  or the first-person plural nos.  Gratias is in the accusative (direct object of ago) plural form of  gratia, a first-declension feminine noun.   Latin sentences typically follow the subject-object-verb word order, but this can change depending on what the speaker wants to emphasize, with the stressed word coming first. For instance, the usual I give thanks to you would employ the standard gratias tibi ago  order. To emphasize the person being thanked, use tibi/vobis gratias ago. To emphasize the person giving the thanks, use ago gratias tibi/vobis. Expressions Thank you very much. Gratias maximas (tibi ago). /  Gratias ago tibi valde.   Thanks be to God. Deo gratias. Thank you for something. The preferred way to express this is to use the preposition  pro with the noun (ablative case) referring to what youre thanking someone for.  Instead of pro, use propter with the noun as a gerund in the accusative case for a less idiomatic version. Form the  gerund by adding -ndum to the stem. I want to thank you for your kindness.   Gratias tibi propter misericordiam volo. We thank you for good friends. Tibi gratias agimus  pro amicitia. I thank you for food. Tibi gratias ago  pro cibo. We thank you for wine.   Tibi gratias agimus a vino.  Ã‚   Thank you for the gift.   Tibi gratias ago pro dono. Thank someone for something they did:  Ã‚  After pro, use a gerund in the ablative case.   Thank you for saving me. Tibi gratias ago pro me servando. Less Formal Latin for Thank You There are other ways of thanking that are less formal and seem more like the modern English thanks or its equivalents in Romance languages, such as the French  merci. To say thanks or no, thanks, just use the adverb  benigne (generously, kindly). Whether its an acceptance or a polite rejection depends on how you express it. For example: Benigne! Thank you! (Roughly How generous of you or How kind of you) Benigne ades.   Nice of you to come. Benigne dicis.   Nice of you to say so, which is an appropriate way to accept a compliment.   Source The Dative Case. The Ohio State University, Columbus OH.

Bonds, which tie people to the places they live Essay

Bonds, which tie people to the places they live - Essay Example It is often in the midst of an environment that is foreign to them that people tend to have a feeling of nostalgia for their previous lives, which was their comfort zone, and actually regret the cutting of those bonds, which tied them to their previous lives. It can be said that severing old ties or bonds is a necessary part of an attempt to gain one’s freedom from cultures, which have only a one-dimensional view of the world, and learning about other cultures. In this way, people end up being more cosmopolitan and by being cosmopolitan; it encourages them to have a more focused view of the world, free of the prejudices, which often make people very narrow-minded. The question that one should ask himself is whether they made the right choice in severing their old bonds or whether they should have kept these ties. One of the most important bonds that human beings have is the bond to family. This is the bond that one does not choose to have, and is instead born into and it is th e closest bond an individual can have. Family is very important thing to the human being and it is the first society that he experiences. Not only is it the first socializing factor in one’s life, but it is also the most influential considering the fact that the parents often raise their children to be responsible and successful people in society and to do this, they instill in them the virtues which are considered desirable by the rest of the society. The bonds, which tie one to one’s family are often very strong, even though one does not choose which families they belong to, these bonds are permanent. The only way through which one can break the family bonds is perhaps through the death of all of one’s family, and this is a very rare thing. However, there are times when even the bonds of family can be broken. A good example of this is in Adichie’s Headstrong Historian where Anikwenwa rejects everything concerning his mother once he is converted to Chris tianity. Not only does the bond, which tied him to his mother, get broken, but also Anikwenwa ends up losing the virtues, which his mother had taught him since childhood, and instead, he adopts those from another culture. This severance of bonds is permanent, and mother and son do not look eye to eye on matters again until the former’s death (Adiche 212). In addition, another bond, which is also very hard to break, is the bond of origins. A person’s origins are very important to him and many people often display a sense of pride in it. When people immigrate to a new country, for example, they often take with them fond memories of their countries of origin and tend to compare their progress in their new home to that of their old one. Many carry the customs and practices of their old country to their new one and they continue practicing them due to their belief that the culture in which they were born is better than the one they have come to live within. Not only do they continue to practice this culture, but they also have great pride in it. However, there is often a great bitterness among the first generation immigrants to a new culture when their children and grandchildren adopt the culture of their adopted country instead of continuing with the culture of the old country. The younger generation

The Concept of Health Literacy in Promoting and Maintaining Adolescent Essay

The Concept of Health Literacy in Promoting and Maintaining Adolescent Health - Essay Example Factors affecting the concept of health literacy in adolescents are discussed. Recommendations to develop and enhance adolescent health literacy are included. Keywords: health literacy, adolescent, health promotion. The Concept of Health Literacy in Promoting and Maintaining Adolescent Health A young diabetic man, aged 14, learns about a new clinical trial on a new diabetic medicine. He goes to the study site to learn more about the trial. The adolescent is asked to sign an informed consent form; he must also have this form signed by his parents. However, once his mother sees the informed consent form, she realizes that her son’s participation in the trial will put him at high risks of health complications, since his current medicines and health state are in conflict with what is required for and being tested during the trial. This is a routine situation that exposes the role of health literacy for promoting and maintaining adolescent health. Adolescents must be able to read a nd understand health information. They should be able to use this information in ways that empower them to take proper health decisions. It goes without saying, that the adolescent health literacy is affected and mediated by a multitude of internal and external factors. In this sense, the concept of health literacy in adolescents can be defined as the degree to which young people are capable of accessing, reading, processing, and comprehending health information and use this information to take proper health decisions, promote and maintain their health, based on continuous interactions with their social and cultural environments. Literacy and Health Literacy among Australians Health promotion has long been one of the primary goals of health care; yet, it was not before the 1990s that the importance of health literacy was officially recognized. In the early 1990s health literacy was included in Australia’s health targets and goals (Keleher & Hagger, 2007). These goals and targ ets include improving language skills, population literacy, and public knowledge of health and health literacy, to ensure that individuals have the information and knowledge required to take informed health decisions (Keleher & Hagger, 2007; Borzekowski & Rickert, 2001). Unfortunately, less than one-fifth of Australians have high levels of literacy, which impedes the development and implementation of health promotion policies (Keleher & Hagger, 2007). Only every third Australian possesses functional literacy to cope with their everyday tasks (Jorm et al., 2006). Thus, just about one half of all Australians have the skills and potential to affect health decisions and promote their own health. This raises the question of bringing up health literacy from a young age. Why care about health literacy among adolescents? The answer is simple: there is no health without health literacy. Limited health literacy is associated with increased utilization of health care services (Keleher & Hagger , 2007). Poor health outcomes are direct results of low health literacy (Farrer et al., 2008; Keleher & Hagger, 2007). Low health literacy predicts poor verbal communication with health care providers and poor medication compliance (Keleher & Hagger, 2007). Therefore, it is imperative that adolescents have the level of health literacy needed to promote and maintain their health. Undoubtedly, superior health literacy is one of the foundational elements of improved health in adolescents and adulthood. The long-term effects of literacy on

Walking a Difficult Line: Taking a Look at Borderline Personality Disor

Walking a Difficult Line: Taking a Look at Borderline Personality Disorder Individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) live a difficult existence. These are people for whom maintaining normal interpersonal relationships, controlling anger, suffer from extreme self-doubt and drastic mood swings, among other symptoms. They comprise only 2% of the population, but have a disorder which the psychiatric and scientific communities have trouble acknowledging, and great difficulty treating. (4) Individuals suffering from BPD suffer a range of symptoms which include the following: dramatic mood changes, depression, irritability, uncontrollable anger, negative impulsiveness (which includes reckless sex, substance abuse, binging), suicidal feelings, self-mutilation, extreme self-doubt about one’s capabilities. (6)(3) They also experience a kind of heightened awareness of their environment and thus are overly stimulated by it. (1) In addition to these and other symptoms, individuals with BPD often suffer from other mental disorders – such as depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders – as well, making their BPD difficult to diagnose. (4) There is a great mystery surrounding the causes of all mental disorders, and this is also the case with BPD. Psychologists and scientists believe that it is both a biological and psychological disease, and that BPD as an illness is closely related to depression more than schizophrenia, which had been the previous thoug h. Experts have also believe that attention-deficit disorders could be a cause factor, as well as childhood abuse or neglect. (6) Many people suffering from BPD experience very strong feelings of abandonment by parents, family and friends, that can be triggered by an inci... ...lineresearch.org/ 4) National Institute of Mental Health, BPD article "Raising Questions, Finding Answers" http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/bpd.cfm 5) National Institute of Mental Health , BPD article "Concept for Borderline Personality Disorder Initiative in FY 2003" research initiative http://www.nimh.nih.gov/council/cncptcuthbert_901.cfm 6) National Alliance for the Mentally Ill site on BPD http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=By_Illness&Template=/TaggedPage/TaggedPageDisplay.cfm&TPLID=54&ContentID=23040 7) Dr. Linehan’s DBT course of treatment ("A Promising Treatment...") http://www.mclean.harvard.edu/psychupdate/psyupI-3.htm More Information: 8) More basic information on BPD http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?id=476&type=doc&cn=Personality%20Disorders 9) More information on DBT (treatment) http://www.priory.com/dbt.htm

Organizational Profile of UT Bank Ghana Ltd Essay

The Chief Executive Officer of UT Bank has been Mr. Prince K. Amoabeng since its establishment. The bank has 24 banking halls nationwide, 2 loan centers and 16 ATM outlets. Kumasi Branches which are the focus have 40 staff members which comprise of 2 Management Staff, 25 Senior Staff and 13 Junior Staff. The branch has four departments namely; Banking (Operations), Wholesale Banking and Investor Relations, Retail Banking and Administration (UT Bank, 2011). Organizational culture Basically, culture is defined as â€Å"the way we do things around here† (Deal & Kennedy, 2000) or â€Å"the way we think about things around here† (Maull, Brown & Cliffe, 2001). Deal and Kennedy (1982) argue that culture is the single most important factor accounting for success or failure in organizations. They identified four key dimensions of culture: 1. Values – the beliefs that lie at the heart of the corporate culture. 2. Heroes – the people who embody values. 3. Rites and rituals – routines of interaction that have strong symbolic qualities. 4.  The culture network – the informal communication system or hidden hierarchy of power in the organization. Groeschl and Doherty (2000) pointed out that culture consists of several elements- implicit and otherwise. Most often these elements are explained by terms such as behaviour, values, norms and basic assumptions. According to Schein (1996), culture may be studied at its most visible level through the examination of its artefacts and creations, which include physical space, technology, art, symbols, language, mottoes, and overt behaviour are the values espoused by individuals as the organisation faces and deals with new situations. These represent â€Å"what ought to be, as distinct from what is†. The culture of an organization develops through the course of social interactions rather than being imposed, and creates system of shared meanings to mobilize members of the organization in pursuit of the desired aims and objectives. Morgan (1997) focuses on the whole organization, the cultivation of harmonious relations at all levels, the merging of individual with common goals and a reliance on worker responsibility (Japanese approaches) as success factors in organizational culture. Successful organizations build cohesive cultures around common set of norms, values, and ideas that create a focus for doing business. Organizations are socially created and exist as much in the minds of their members as they exist in concrete structures, rules and relations. Organizational culture facilitates the acceptable solutions for knowing the problems, which members learn, feel and set the principles, expectations, behaviour, patterns, and norms that promote a high level of achievement (Marcoulides & Heck, 1993; Schein, 1992). Analysis of the culture of the organization based on observation The observation was made on the basis of the artefact, norms, values and, the assumptions and beliefs within the organisation. The observation followed through the working periods of the organisation: the observer was as objective as much as possible. Artefacts From the observation, every office and employee had stickers of â€Å"Loan in less than 48hours† and crests embossed to their breasts respectively. Also, each branch had the missions and vision of the bank hanged on the walls of the banking halls. The bank’s physical arrangement is a well-planned architecture of the office which shows clearly the various departments. Also, it was observed that the office design is one that fit the organisation and what it does. It has offices for various departmental heads and that of a shared office for the other employees which enhanced communication. There is no specific dress code for the employees, but the employees are also smart and formal in appearance. However, on Friday, employees wear prints made of the colours and descriptions of the bank. Employees spoke a corporate language which is English; but also intermittently spoke Twi when attending to the illiterate clients as well as casual conversations among staff. Values and Norms From the observations, the values of the bank are not only visibly seen on their walls, but also clearly evident in the behaviours of the employees. It was observed that, the general demeanours of the employees exude respect, integrity and high level professionalism. Workers reported to work as early as 06:00 GMT, and left the office as late as 21:00 GMT. Workers were willing to go the extra mile to keep the customers happy. According to Hunt, Boal and Sorenson (1990), leadership is a process involving the leader, task and situation and indeed. Most of the leadership literature confuses the definition of effective leadership by failing to make clear distinctions in some definitions, such as between leaders and non-leaders, effective and ineffective leaders, as well as overlooking the definition of the levels of leadership (Bennis, 1998; Bergsteiner, 2005; House and Aditya, 1997) Leaders are often tangible images of successful endeavour in organizations, serving as role models and mentors for the more junior and aspiring employees. The evaluation and explanation of leadership is the domain of theorists and researchers who offer organizations a range of approaches or theories, which may be said to evolve from the changing expectations of organizations. Leadership is â€Å"the process wherein an individual member of a group or organisation influences the interpretation of events, the choice of objectives and strategies, the organisation of work activities, the motivation of people to achieve objectives, the maintenance of cooperative relationships, the development of skills and confidence by members, and the enlistment of support and cooperation from people outside the group or organisation† (Yukl, 2002). When leaders are effective the influence they exert over others help a group(s) or organization(s) to achieve its performance goals. On the other hand, if leaders are ineffective, their influence does not contribute to and often detracts from, goal attainment. Leadership depends on the use of power, influence, vision, persuasion and communication skills to coordinate the behaviour of individuals and groups so that their activities and efforts are in harmony. Leaders encourage employees to perform at a high level to achieving targeted oals (Jones et al. 2007). Leadership in UT Bank Ghana Limited, Kumasi Branch UT Bank believes in quality leadership and its management opines that leadership is all about team-building and the expression of selfless work ethics. The leadership is a participatory one and as such it is a rule that all employees irrespective of the management level address one another by the first name. There is a vision for the organization; guiding, training, coaching and motivating employees to work effectively to achieve the organization’s objectives. The trend is to empower employees, give them as much freedom as possible to become self-directed and self-motivated. Often, that means working in teams. Teamwork aids communication, improves cooperation, reduces internal competition and maximizes the talents of all employees on a project. Strength and limitations of UT Bank Ghana Limited, Kumasi branch as organisms Strengths The organisational culture and leadership in the organisation helps develop an understanding between the organization and its environments. This describes the organization as existing in an open system where the environment has a great impact on the way the organization is run. It shows that the management of UT Bank can often be improved through systematic attention to the â€Å"needs† that must be satisfied if the organization is to survive. It emphasizes survival as the main task facing the organization which helps the goals to not be an end in themselves, but media of survival. The leadership in UT Bank shows that there is no best way of managing – thus, the best way of management is determined by the events happening at any point in time. It clearly shows that different approaches to management may be necessary to perform different tasks within the organisation. Limitations A careful look at UT Bank as an organism makes one assume that the organisation is functionally organised which leads to â€Å"functional unity† – interdependence where every element of the system works for all the other elements. However, in organizations, self-interest is a major conflict and also different elements of an organization are usually capable of living separate lives and often do so. Also, the rise in importance of the organic metaphor in UT Bank has undermined the efficiency of bureaucratic organizations. The metaphor leads UT Bank and its environments in a way that is far too concrete. This is because organizations and their environments can be understood as socially constructed phenomena. Their shape and structure is much more fragile and tentative than the material structure of an organism. It is misleading to suggest that UT Bank need to â€Å"adapt† to its environment or that environments â€Å"select† the organizations that are to survive. On the contrary, organizations have a choice as to whether they are to compete or collaborate. Collaborating organizations actions can have an impact on the environment. Conclusion Since an organisation is an organism made up of systems working together, keeping such systems in good and workable conditions is very crucial to the survival and subsequent success of the organisation. Culture and leadership can be seen as effective lubricants to the effective functioning of an organisation. The culture of an organization is many times created by those who lead it. The culture of an organization speaks directly to the beliefs and practices that it holds to be true. When thinking about culture a leader must help define why the organization exists and to lead by example. Thereby satisfying the needs of employees organisations operate more effectively and people truly become the lifeblood of organisations.