Barriers to Communication Essay Example for Free

Barriers to Communication Essay Organisational communication relates to the way organisations adapt themselves to changing environments, externally and internally. The focus is on interaction with stakeholders and within the organisation and with co-workers. In these interactions different perceptions (in meanings and interests) must be dealt with to create common ground. Barriers to communication refers to any kind or form of communication impediment within an organization such as noise, bureaucracy and semantic differences. The organisation that I used to work for is SIRDC and it is primarily involved in scientific research and innovation. It is located around 15kilometres away from town in the Hatcliffe Extension area. The barriers to communication in the organisation include the following: Semantic barriers Did you hear what I meant for you to hear? This has been a frequent statement in the boardrooms! With todays increasingly diverse workforce, it is easy to believe you have conveyed information to someone, but you are not aware that they interpreted you differently than you intended. Unfortunately, you wont be aware of this problem until a major problem or issue arises out of the confusion. This usually arises due to the interpretation of different words. Due to the diverse educational and cultural backgrounds [http://www.ntsearch.com/search.php?q=backgrounds%3Bv=56] in my organisation, semantics acts as a hindrance to effective communication as people [http://www.ntsearch.com/search.php?q=people%3Bv=56] would argue that we agreed to pursue another option in the last meeting when it was not the case. This is usually prevalent when the business [http://www.ntsearch.com/search.php?q=business%3Bv=56] people [http://www.ntsearch.com/search.php?q=people%3Bv=56] in the organisation are discussing issues with the scientists on the viability of their innovations. The organisation has chemists, engineers, marketing [http://www.ntsearch.com/search.php?q=marketing%3Bv=56] personnel, financial analysts, nutritionists, electricians, biotechnologists among many  others. Bureaucracy When organizations are just getting started, their leaders can often prize themselves on not being burdened with what seems as bureaucratic overhead, that is, as extensive written policies and procedures. Writing [http://www.ntsearch.com/search.php?q=Writing%3Bv=56] something down can be seen as a sign of bureaucracy and to be avoided. As the organization grows, it needs more communications and feedback to remain healthy, but this communication is not valued. As a result, increasing confusion ensues unless management [http://www.ntsearch.com/search.php?q=management%3Bv=56] matures and realizes the need for increased, reliable communications. This was the case when the department that I was under was at its infancy level and this was done to have confidence of other institutes within the organisation, since our department was mainly support in nature. Organisational Structure However, at the organizational level, authority tends to be centralised at the top and this usually results in information taking too long to reach all the employees. The Director-General has the final say in the all the organizational decision making process. The Public relations department is responsible for all the organizational communication even on technical aspects unless the technical people [http://www.ntsearch.com/search.php?q=people%3Bv=56] are given the authority to talk to the media. Assumed Knowledge If I know it, then everyone must know it. Perhaps the most common communications problem is managements (leaders and managers) assumption that because they are aware of some piece of information, than everyone else is, too. Usually staff are not aware unless management  [http://www.ntsearch.com/search.php?q=management%3Bv=56] makes a deliberate attempt to carefully convey information. This has been the case especially on the technical fields where the managers think that every employee is aware of the basics in the related field. Sometimes, employees will be scared to ask because the boss has already assumed that everyone knows the principles. The result is that the job [http://www.ntsearch.com/search.php?q=job%3Bv=56] is not done properly and incompetence is labeled to the subordinates. Information Ownership Some people [http://www.ntsearch.com/search.php?q=people%3Bv=56] within the organisation would not want to share information with others and this has been termed HITES Holding Information To Enhance Status. This is usually the case in fields such as information technology (IT) where a person is solely employed because of the knowledge of a particular program. If he is to teach others the he loses his expert power and negotiating power within the organisation. Such group of people [http://www.ntsearch.com/search.php?q=people%3Bv=56] can make the organisation be at ransom if their demands are not met. Ethnocentricity This is mainly to do with judging people [http://www.ntsearch.com/search.php?q=people%3Bv=56] according to ones culture and thinking. This is a result of diverse cultures and different levels of education [http://www.ntsearch.com/search.php?q=education%3Bv=56] within the organisation. Camps within an organization Camps are usually created based on political persuasion, religious beliefs, as well as on tribal grounds. Since my organization is a parastatal and it is in the Presidents Office  [http://www.ntsearch.com/search.php?q=Office%3Bv=56], it is expected that within the organization we should be pro-government. However, some people [http://www.ntsearch.com/search.php?q=people%3Bv=56] are known to support other parties, so communication tends to be hindered as one is not so sure how to respond to certain issues raised. Tribal issues tend to hinder communication in my organization as some people [http://www.ntsearch.com/search.php?q=people%3Bv=56] feel one tribe is getting the attention of the senior executive in the organization. This has been further worsened in the recruitment exercise for senior posts. Managers failure to recognize the efforts of subordinates If I need your opinion, I will tell it to you. Communications problems can arise when management [http://www.ntsearch.com/search.php?q=management%3Bv=56] simply sees no value whatsoever in communicating with subordinates, believing subordinates should shut up and do their jobs [http://www.ntsearch.com/search.php?q=jobs%3Bv=56] as assigned. This kind of attitude discourages the subordinates and might force them to just leave the mistakes that their superior has done which might be detrimental to the organizational objectives and goals. The attitude of I know everything has retarded the learning [http://www.ntsearch.com/search.php?q=learning%3Bv=56] process in the organization. Inexperienced managers are usually the culprits in this regard as they find no need to communicate with subordinates. So whats to talk about? Communications problems can arise when inexperienced management [http://www.ntsearch.com/search.php?q=management%3Bv=56] interprets its job [http://www.ntsearch.com/search.php?q=job%3Bv=56] to be solving problems and if they are no problems/crises, then there is nothing that needs to be communicated. Conclusion Effective internal communications start with effective skills in communications, including basic skills in listening, speaking, questioning  and sharing feedback These can developed with some concerted review and practice. Perhaps the most important outcome from these skills is conveying that you value hearing from others and their hearing from you. Sound meeting management [http://www.ntsearch.com/search.php?q=management%3Bv=56] skills go a long way toward ensuring effective communications, too. A key ingredient to developing effective communications in any organization is each person taking responsibility to assert when they dont understand a communication or to suggest when and how someone could communicate more effectively.

The Educational Curriculum In The Philippines Education Essay

The Educational Curriculum In The Philippines Education Essay The educational curriculum in the Philippines is low compared to other countries. Other countries are able to learn more advanced subjects and they are able to learn them properly. The reason why other countries are ahead of us in the educational aspect is because of the K12. K12 is a prolonged educational program that allows the students to learn more advanced subjects. Adding K12 to the curriculum will enhance the education of the country because schools will not need to quicken the learning process of the students, will learn more advanced subjects and will provide greater employment options. This essay will tackle the impact of changing the curriculum to K12. This essay will show why the Philippines is in need of a better curriculum. This essay will also discuss how K12 will affect the learning capabilities of the students, will tackle the advantages of K12 and the effects of it to the students and to the country. Naturally, the known definition of K12 is a 13-year educational program from kindergarten until high school. Recently, it has been proposed to be used. By changing our curriculum, students will surely have a higher standard of education. DepEd proposed this program to enhance the learning capabilities of the students. K12 provides students, as well as the country, many privileges with more time for students to study and understand their lessons; they will be able to do better in their exams. The students will be able to attain better education that will give them more job opportunities. Another reason why the Philippines has one of the lowest qualities of education in the world is because students are not given the right amount of time to understand their lessons. This change in our education will provide the country with a better economy. It only takes us 11-12 years to graduate from high school. K12 provides us with an extra year for teachers to teach more advanced subjects that students will take up only when they are in college. This will shorten the time of students stay in college. Surely without K12, the quality of education in the Philippines is low. Even other countries with low economy in Asia have better quality of education than the Philippines. Some high school graduates do not have what it takes in working for an international kind of work. Without this kind of quality education, Filipinos will not be able to compete with a high-end job abroad. K12 will give the Philippines a chance to be a better country by starting with changing our curriculum. Almost all of the countries in the world are having k12 as their basic education program. As a result, all of them have better education that we, Filipinos, might not have been able to acquire if the proposal that was not made by the DepEd. In fact, the Philippines was ranked one of the lowest in education last year. Students need time for them to properly understand a lesson. K12 provides students to have more time understanding the lessons, not just cramming them for a latter exam and forgetting them when the exams are over. K12 gives them a chance to learn more, to enjoy learning in a calm and enjoyable manner, and understand them better. Students will be able to do a better job in their exams and will be able to attain a better education if they understand the lessons taught. In other countries, they have an extended year for the students to study and learn. Here in the Philippines, students are forced to cram for a test because of the less time given to education here. K12 does not only provide time for students to study. It also offers more subjects in which students can take during their high school years. In other countries, they study calculus and other advance subjects in their high school years, giving them lesser time in college. They need not quicken their learning paces because they have the time to follow the pace they currently have. Here in the Philippines, high schools are only given a short amount of time thats why they cant put any of the advanced subjects. Because of K12, students in the Philippines will have a better education. The United States (US) and the Philippines both have proper education for their students, but US provides greater employment options because of their K12 while the Philippines does not have great employment options due to the lack of knowledge given in the high schools. They both have the just right standard of education for their students. US, with K12 in their curriculum, provide better education, thus providing better employment options. Studying requires time for students to completely understand what they need to learn. Better education is attained by them because of the prolonged time of studying. They are able to understand and execute what they have learned properly in the business world. The students afterwards are able to get better employment options because they have studied well. US have better colleges than the best university in the Philippines. They are able to mould their future leaders properly. Being able to study in a prestigious university in US, students have the opportunity to be accepted by any corporation or firm in the world. The Philippines on the other hand has a lower education compared to US. We are even one of the lowest in Asia. Filipinos, who are going abroad for work, are most likely to land on a low-end job because of the low quality of education. OFWs are most likely to be caretakers or janitors abroad. (Other countries offer low employment options for Filipinos because the standard of education in the Philippines is low compared to the others.) They take employees from US or other countries that have a high education who are fit for the job. Only 25% of Filipinos get a high-end job abroad when they are against Americans. From what has been discussed in the earlier paragraphs, the Philippines, as well as the citizens will have a better education and a better future by adding K12 to the educational curriculum. Students will lead our future. With a better quality of education, students will be able to obtain this kind of future. The economy of the Philippines will rise as our labor force attains better education. With this kind of educational curriculum, students will be able to understand their lessons well and will be able to execute what they have learned properly. K12 will be of good use to the students and it might bring forth a new beginning for the country.

Argumentative Essay on universities lecturing systems

Argumentative Essay on universities lecturing systems Recently, the use of lecturing system in universities is being questioned for its efficiency. The dilemma is that should lecturing system in University be replaced with small classes. Small classes, as described by David Daniels in his article College Lectures: Is Anybody Listening? emphasis on having lesser students in a class. This encourages more interaction between lecturer and students, aiming to build active learners and the enable lectures to be sure of the progress of their students. He also stated that students now are lacking of listening skills meaning that lecturing system is no longer effective for them, showing the need of change to small classes system in educating students. Lecturing system on the other hand is a traditional way of teaching used in tertiary studies. The number of students handled by a lecturer is much more compared to small class system. We should continue using lecturing system as it show more advantages than using small classes in the sense of being more cost effective, building more independent students, decreasing absentees and by being fair in grading students. First, usually the numbers of students in universities are massive which small class system will not be able to fit in all students. However, if lecturing system is replaced by small classes in universities, it would be very costly seeing that more classes need to be opened for lessons to be conducted. An excellent example is more manpower is needed to operate. According to the former president of United States, he states that an average of 1.7 billion dollars is needed to train more lecturers to conduct small classes nationwide yearly (Viadero, 1998). Many universities are lacking of lecturers and using small classes will need the university to hire more lecturers to facilitate lectures. This means universities will have to fork out a lot of money to overcome the shortage of manpower. Electric bills will shoot up too as teaching aid such as projectors and computers as well as air conditioning to keep the temperature in room favorable temperature will need large electric consumption. All these factors will contribute in a larger operating cost. What do universities do to cover the cost? Increasing fees charged on students! This will cause education to be costly and unaffordable for those families earning lower income. The consequence of this issue will be chances of financially poor students getting higher education to be slimmer. Worse though, if the management chooses to hire non experienced part time lecturers to reduce the operating cost, small class will as well be meaningless. Lecturing system will save on this problem as this system enables a lecturer to handle more students. This will also solve the problem for universities where spaces are very limited as a hall will be enough to fit in all students for one lecture. Thus, continue using lecturing system not only provide a more affordable education for students but enable the campus to generate more profit as operating cost is reduced and student intakes are increased due to the better organizing of spa ce. Next, lecturing system will build more independent students. David Daniel claims that small classes enable lecturers know the progress of their students and help them improve. Yet, this situation causes students to rely on lecturers. What are they, the students without their lecturers? Will they be able to survive in the harsh life in work when they are graduated their studies? This is especially an issue among Malaysian students. They tend to blame lecturers for low grades. However, is the problem with the student or education system itself? Malaysian students are introduced to at least 11 years of small classes system before proceeding to pursue their higher education. If this issue occurs, this simply means there is a critical error in the system. Students are used to be spoon-fed with whatever they need to know and not by discovering with their own effort. Demolishing small class students used to have for their higher education will be painful for them but students must start to realize that they are actually responsible for their own studies. The duty of lecturers is just to guide them in tertiary level education. Only then students whom are used to be spoon-fed will be forced to look for additional information from various sources for their subjects. Teaching a man to fish is better than giving him a fish every day. Indirectly, it might shape more knowledgeable student as they will be exposed to irrelevant facts which seems to be not useful in the progress of looking what they want. Who knows if the information is applicable someday? Hence, lecturing system will be able to shape more quality students whom can independently improve themselves in their field of study. Furthermore, lecturing system is useful is decreasing absentees in class. David Daniels proposes that question and answer section in small classes can help to shape more active students. However, is this method applicable to all students? Intrinsic students who do not like to voice out will not feel comfortable being asked and pressured by questions from lecturers. However, these groups of students are being paid most attention by lecturers as they are too quiet and these lead more questions to be directed to them. The discomfort might cause them feel afraid to enter class. In lecturing system quiet students will instead get the sense of security because the large group of student does not allow lecturers to question students individually but as a group instead. The same situation applies to weaker students. Lecturers tend to emphasis their questions on them in small classes. It is true that lecturers are trying to help them as what David Daniels says to improve their analytical skil l, but students at this age are egocentric. How would they feel if they do not know how to answer a question in front of their classmates? They might feel ashamed for the rest of the period and their emotion will keep them away from concentrating. Worse still, they might fear being asked questions again. Involved students might be stressed out and try to escape from the threatening situation. Furthermore, students studying in universities are basically at their teenage age. This is the stage where they are most attracted by the opposite sex psychologically. In lecturing system, a larger crowd provides more targets for them to prey on. Such situation might motivate them to attend class more frequently as they might want to keep a good image in front of someone they are attracted to. Besides, they might work hard in order to get good results to be proud of. Eventually, lecturing system not only decrease absentees rate but lead students to a higher achievement as well. Moving on, lecturers teaching in lecture system are fairer in grading coursework compared to lecturers from small classes. According to David Daniels, small classes allow professors to discover who knows what before final examinations. However, what is the purpose of doing so? Allowing the lecturers to set questions according to what their students know? This will not help the students but give them an illusion of the marks they get. They thought they know a lot from the high grade they achieve but the fact is just the opposite. Since students result reflect on lecturers reputation, we cannot deny that there will be some irresponsible lecturers that would use this way to help students get better grades so they might be proud too. A win-win situation? In lecturing system, lecturers might not know the progress of their students but this enable them to set exam questions based on what students should know and not what students already know. If students did badly in their examination, it serves them right for not studying hard enough. They will eventually learn from their mistake and do better next time. It will always be better than pampering the students by helping them through examinations. Another good example will be the rate of grade inflation. Based on the statistic provided by The New York Times, the rate of grade inflation in private colleges using small class system is 38 percent higher than public colleges using lecturing system. Corresponding to this, we can say that the good relationship built between lecturers and students in small class system affect the judging ability of lecturers to grade fairly. Human are by nature emotional. Philosophically, emotion overrides the rationality part of a human. Thus, very often lecturers gave marks higher than what the student deserves especially for those who are closer and have a better relationship with the lecturer. On the other hand, lecturing system can avoid this situation from happening. The large crowd a l ecturer is handling will build a barrier between the student and lecturer. Saving on the relationship part, lecturer will be able to judge students coursework fairly. The larger number of coursework submitted also enable lecturers to compare the work and give marks accordingly. Therefore, those who really put in effort to do their assignment will deserve a better grade and be motivated to keep on with their hard work. Finally, lecturing system should not be replaced by small class system in universities as it obviously show more advantage by being more cost effective and beneficial to students. However, there are improvements that can be done for the system to be more effective. Universities should make sure hired lecturers are up to certain requirements and are able to facilitate the lesson effectively. While for the problem of student lacking listening skills and concentration as proposed by David Daniels, actions such as giving short breaks at certain time and projecting some short clips featuring jokes from subject of students interest can be taken. This can help to regain students concentration. Based on the reasons proposed, lecturing system is still the better way to be used in universities compared to small class system.

Special Education Reflection Essay example -- essays research papers

Running Head: REFLECTION PAPER Reflection Paper En Tseh Wang Lehigh University   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Special Education 332 (Education and Inclusion of Individuals with Special Needs) has been enlightening for me as a secondary mathematics educator. In the beginning of the semester, my feelings towards special education were those of apathy and insensitivity. I now understand that my feelings were due to my lack of knowledge and my judgment based on stereotypes. I always knew that making fun of students with learning disabilities was wrong. However, I never felt that inclusion of special education students in general education classes was plausible or made sense. I felt that special education students belonged in their own classrooms; and that is why we have special education educators. As a prospective secondary mathematics educator, I felt that it was unfair that I would have special education students in my classes. I would rationalize my attitude by saying that I signed up to teach â€Å"normal† students, and that the special education students were not my problem or responsibility. I did not want to deal with them. I did not see them as individuals who seek meaning through learning. As a constructivist, my goal as an educator is to provide students with meaning by imparting knowledge. As I reflect on my feelings towards special education students, I ask myself why do I not see them in the same way. If they are students as well, why do I discriminate against them? Why is it, when I think about teaching students with learning disabilities, I get uncomfortable? It is due to my lack of knowledge of students with learning disabilities. It was not until I saw the movie (before our class) â€Å"I Am Sam†, my thoughts about people with learning disabilities started to change. The movie changed my perception that mentally challenged individuals are strange by nature because they do not seem to understand when people talk to them and is different from myself. The movie showed me that they do comprehend information, have feelings as I do, and most importantly, that I have wrongly stereotyped their differences. This course not only gave me the knowledge I needed to understand students with learning disabilities, I was also able to empathize with these students through active participation in the sensitivity activities. Participating ... ...ities and that I have done a complete one-eighty in my view of these students. There was several times where I caught myself using the term retarded, in describing something that was unintelligent. I must understand that my advocacy towards this issue will only grow if I continue to find out more about learning disabilities, to watch what I say, and to be careful when trying to teach others to change their views.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Overall, I must admit that I have been blessed from taking this course. I feel that I have grown throughout the course of the class, where I once stereotyped students with learning disabilities to understanding students with disabilities. Many people judge and classify what they do not understand, and through that ignorance is birthed. I am thankful that I have taken this class as I have become aware of my ignorance and have a deeper understanding and acceptance of those with learning disabilities, inside and outside of the classroom. References Turnbull, R., Turnbull, A., Shank, M., Smith, S.J. (2004). Exceptional Lives: Special   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Education in Today's Schools. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: Movie and Book Essay -- Movie Film co

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: Movie and Book The novel, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", by Maya Angelou is the first series of five autobiographical novels. This novel tells about her life in rural Stamps, Arkansas with her religious grandmother and St. Louis, Missouri, where her worldly and glamorous mother resides. At the age of three Maya and her four-year old brother, Bailey, are turned over to the care of their paternal grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. Southern life in Stamps, Arkansas was filled with humiliation, violation, and displacement. These actions were exemplified for blacks by the fear of the Ku Klux Klan, racial separation of the town, and the many incidents in belittling blacks. Maya knows that to be black and female is to be faced with violence and violation. This is brought into focus when she goes to live with her mother and is raped by her mother’s boyfriend. When Maya is faced with this catastrophe, tells who did this to her, and the man is killed, she believes her voice killed him. She withdraws into herself and vows never to speak again. Her mother feeling that she has done everything in her power to make Maya talk, but can cannot reach her, sends Maya and her brother back to Stamps. After Maya returns to Stamps and with the help of her Teacher-Ms. Flowers she begins to speak again. The culmination of the novel is when Maya describes her eighth grade graduation. Angelou, her classmates, and parents listen to the condescending and racist manner in which the guest speaker talks. After listening to his insults, Maya realizes "she is the master of her fate" which was expressed in the valedictory address given by her classmate. Maya becomes a single parent at the age of eighteen, bu... ..., the film portrayed the kids being overly whelmed with hatred when they received gifts from their parents. It was like they never knew their parents existed. Another example of the difference between the book and the movie is Mr. Freeman (mother’s boyfriend) was presented as being very reserved with the children. In the movie he was seen as warm, talkative, and friendly towards Maya and her brother. The film also showed Mr. Freeman’s manly behavior by confronting Vivian (Maya’s mother) at her job. However, in the book Mr. Freeman never left the house, he always sat and waited at home for her. Although reality involves a vast supply of details and you can not select them all. Many writers, directors, and artists, emphasis with this information and diminish other information in order to make the novels, movies, plays and etc. more vivid to our imagination.

Fiction and Literary Works Essay

With that said, it is important to remember that all literary works cannot always be easily classified into a single genre. Moreover, literary works which might be classified as belonging to one genre might possess many qualities more typical of other genres. For example, Shakespeare’s Macbeth is classified as drama, but in many respects takes the form of poetry. In other words, sometimes the differences between categories like drama, poetry, and the short story are not so easily defined. Often a short story might contain poetic or dramatic qualities, or a poem might include narrative and dramatic features. In your post, summarize the major similarities and differences between the forms of drama, poetry, and the short story. Demonstrate your ideas with textual examples from the course readings. In your response, include at least one example of each literary form. If you wish, you may also point to examples which indicate the blurring of literary genres (e. g. , the poetic qualities of Macbeth or the dramatic elements of Gift of the Magi). There are so much to say when it comes to similarities with drama, poetry and a short story. Personally I see that all three have some subliminal message for the audience whether it is lessons learn or an experience personal to the writer. In literary perspectives, like mentioned above, sometimes a poem or short story can merge with another genre such as drama. An example of a short story that can be drama is perhaps â€Å"The Necklace† because the story is about a lady who borrows and loses something her friend lent her and went through so much trouble to replace it instead of coming clean with the friend. A drama is meant to have characters that perform and we see this is a short story known as â€Å"I’m Going† where we see the characters clearly speaking and also we get narrative information to help the audience understand the plot and setting. Poetry is written in different formats or rhythms but can also tell a story but does not always have a plot. All have some sort of tone to set the seriousness or relax humor of the literary work. â€Å"My Papa’s Waltz† is a poem which tells a story of a father and son yet there are also dramatic features as the story is told.

Assessing the Dependency of Teamwork Dynamics to Cultural Differences Essay

A debate whether a heterogeneous or a homogeneous team is easier to handle and manage has been going on for years. Companies, firms and even organizations are starting to make teams as the basic unit of their operations. Due to this trend, organizational researchers started to study the correlation between the composition of the team and the teams’ output (Earley & Mosakowski, 2000, p. 26). Organizational composition in terms of the homogeneity and heterogeneity of the team composition is commonly studied through the comparative advantages that each type of composition can give to a working team (Schippers, Hartog, Koopman, & Wienk, 2003, p. 779). This research paper will try to address the issue at hand in the same manner as most organizational researchers do; this research paper will compare homogeneous and heterogeneous team compositions through the advantages they can give to their teams. The hiring structure of most organizations, companies and firm includes a set of qualification that seeks to sift through the applicants not in terms of credentials but also in terms of their backgrounds (Prat, 2000, p. 3). These sets of qualifications are commonly structured in their own ways to create a homogenous or a heterogeneous team, depending on the position of the hiring party in terms of its team composition preference. Before moving on to the advantages of the two-team compositions, it should be noted that the basic differences between the two-team compositions are its team members’ culture. Culture embodies the system of shared meanings (Gibson C. B. , 2004). It can even be said, that culture attributes the different reactions of the team members in different managerial approaches and team objectives (Gibson C. B. , 2004). Furthermore, the probability of success and efficiency in team is dependent to the culture of its team members. Identifying the difference between leading a homogeneous team or a heterogeneous team can be easily discussed through the extent by which team members share a certain culture. In modern day organizational researches, culture sharing is not the only difference. Factors such as efficiency, efficacy of the leading model, output capabilities and even conflict resolution mechanisms are considered in organization researches that address homogeneous and heterogeneous team compositions. Describing the actual leadership process in these two team compositions would lead to the discussions on team cohesiveness. Team cohesiveness is the degree by which members of a group (both hetero and homo) are attracted to the team (Wendt, Euwemab, & Emmerik, 2009, p. 359). It can be said, that team cohesiveness embodies the reasons for joining a team and expected incentives for joining the team (Wendt, Euwemab, & Emmerik, 2009, p. 359). Team cohesiveness is present in both homogeneous and heterogeneous team compositions. However, the burden of insuring that the team would function is not directly related to the team composition; it is also determined by the leadership style in the team. Leading leadership styles such as directive and supportive styles have two very different effects to the team depending on the team composition. The exclusivity of the shared culture in homogeneous teams can work better with directive leadership such as seen in autocratic countries (Wendt, Euwemab, & Emmerik, 2009, p. 360). On the other hand, supportive leadership can work better with heterogeneous team composition since the differences in the shared culture of the team can be compensated for by the support that the leadership style offers (Wendt, Euwemab, & Emmerik, 2009, p. 360). Interchanging the two leadership styles in heterogeneous and homogeneous team compositions can result to high probability of team inefficiency and failure. Following this logic, it can be said that the leadership style would determine the difference between these two team compositions; a certain â€Å"fit† must be properly addressed. After discussing the needed â€Å"fit† in the leadership style and the team composition, advantages in terms of properly leading a homogeneous team or a heterogeneous team can now be established. Having a heterogeneous team implies that a team leader would have members with different recognitions of shared culture. Due to this, the team leader can expect different opinions and a wide range of ideas to be articulated by the team members (Gibson & Vermeulen, 2003, p. 207). This setup is seen in companies that operate on a high technology level. Technology based companies tend to function in a transnational level; this allows the companies to have an experience in having a heterogeneous team to deal with their operations. The diverse pool that the company can easily access to creates a working environment, which is perfect for the creation of cohorts. According to other related researches, team members tend to speak out their idea or opinion if they have at least one team member that supports their idea (Gibson & Vermeulen, 2003, p. 207). This finding is the coined as the cohort formation in workplaces. Following this logic, leading a heterogeneous team has an advantage of being able to pool a good number of ideas and opinions due to the different shared cultures among the team members. Practically speaking, a heterogeneous team can come up with more possible solutions needed to address a problem as compared to a team with members that share a uniform culture. Heterogeneous team through its cohorts also has the advantage of creating a workplace, which is more conducive for a more receptive learning behavior (Gibson & Vermeulen, 2003, p. 209). The cohort formation that arises from a heterogeneous team creates subgroups that are more receptive to learning through experimentation; reflective communication and codification (Gibson & Vermeulen, 2003, p. 209). The psychological support provided by team members that share culture allows other team members to learn more (Gibson & Vermeulen, 2003, p. 210). These advantages of heterogeneous teams make many organizations, companies and firms to invest in the creation of a heterogeneous team. This trend is best seen in transnational companies’ attempts to outsource team members from different places around the globe to insure that their team has cohorts to cultivate better brainstorming activities (Earley & Gibson, 2002, pp. 230-232). Unfortunately, the advantages of having a heterogeneous team stop at the cohorts. Heterogeneous team, which is too heterogeneous in the sense that it does not allow the formation of cohorts tends to be counterproductive since its team members without some to share his or her culture with, becomes too protective of their ideas (Gibson & Vermeulen, 2003, pp. 212-213). In this situation, organizational researches recommend the full dismantling of the team or the inclusion of other team members that may allow that formation of cohorts within the heterogeneous team. Advantages in a homogeneous team are the extreme solutions to the disadvantages of a heterogeneous team. The probability that too much heterogeneity can impede team growth and efficiency can be cancelled out by adapting a homogenized team since the shared culture of the whole team will eradicate the cultural diversity that may have started the problems of a too heterogenic team (Mello & Ruckes, 2010, p. 1022). This is the primary advantage of homogeneous team- cohesion. Team cohesion is at its prime state if the subject team is a homogeneous team (WordPress. com, 2009). The strong sense of group cohesion in a homogeneous team allows the whole team to easily accomplish tasks and yield maximum productivity rates (WordPress. com, 2009, p. n. pag. ). The shared culture of a homogeneous team creates a sense of unity among the team members; that translates to achievements that are most probably unattainable for a common heterogeneous group. This is the primary and appears to be the only advantage in a homogeneous group. Unfortunately, it also has its share of disadvantages. The major disadvantage of a homogenous team is that the team is prone to make probable dumb decisions due to the strong sense of groupthink mentality present in this team composition (WordPress. com, 2009). This attributes of homogeneous team composition allows homogeneous teams to be the perfect team composition for productivity and goal oriented organizations, companies and firms. Conclusion: Heterogeneous and homogeneous team compositions have been existing ever since basic groups have been formed. The reason for their existence is the fact that each of this team composition provides a perfect fit for different organizational arrangements (Gamage, 2006, p. 57). The interplay between organizational cultures, team composition and the type of leadership determines the needed fit implied in this research paper. Conclusively, this research paper takes the position that homogeneous team composition is an advantage for organizations, companies and firms that are goal and production oriented, while heterogeneous team composition is an advantage for organizations, companies and firms that seek to provide solutions. The cohesive team culture cultured and enforced in homogeneous team composition allows a consolidated movement of the whole team towards the attainment of their team’s objectives. On the other hand, the differences of the team members of a heterogeneous team allow the utilization of the multi perspective orientations in the advantage of the whole team. The different ideas and cultural inclinations of a heterogeneous team allow the development of holistic solutions. These points when summed up results to a general idea that the team compositions’ effectiveness are dominantly dependent on the factors such as type of leadership and environment such as context of application. Bibliography Adams, S. K. (2007, July 30). Disciplinarily Hetero- and Homogeneous Design Team Convergence:Communication Patterns and Perceptions of Teamwork. Retrieved August 6, 2010, from www. scholar. lib. vt. edu: http://scholar. lib. vt. edu/theses/available/etd-08272007-114555/unrestricted/MastersThesis. pdf Adler, N. (1991). International dimensions of organi-zational behavior (2nd ed. ). Boston: PWS-Kent. Burke, S. , Wilson, K. , & Salas, E. (2010). 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