Parable - Definition and Examples of Parables

A story, usually short and simple, that illustrates a lesson. The parable is related to the exemplum in classical rhetoric. Parables And The New Testament Some of the best known parables are those in the New Testament. Certain longer works of modern literature--such as Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad and the fiction of Franz Kafka--are sometimes regarded as secular parables. Biblical Parables The legs of the lame are not equal: so is a parable in the mouth of fools.(Proverbs 26:7, The Bible) Secular Parables The Blind Men and the Elephant by John Godfrey Saxe There were six men of Hindustan,to learning much inclined,Who went to see an elephant,though all of them were blind,That each by observationmight satisfy his mind.The first approached the elephant,and happening to fallAgainst his broad and sturdy side,at once began to bawl,This mystery of an elephantis very like a wall.The second, feeling of the tusk,cried, Ho, what have we here,So very round and smooth and sharp?To me ’tis mighty clear,This wonder of an elephantis very like a spear.The third approached the elephant,and happening to takeThe squirming trunk within his hands,thus boldly up and spake,I see, quoth he,the elephant is very like a snake.The fourth reached out an eager hand,and felt above the knee,What this most wondrous beastis like is very plain, said he.Tis clear enough the elephantis very like a tree.The fifth who chanced to touch the earsaid, E’en the blindest manCan tell what this resembles most;deny the fact who can;This marvel of an elephantis very like a fan.The sixth no sooner had begunabout the beast to grope,Than seizing on the swinging tailthat fell within his scope;I see, said he, the elephantis very like a rope.So six blind men of Hindustandisputed loud and long,Each in his own opinionexceeding stiff and strong;Though each was partly in the right,they all were in the wrong!br/>MORAL:So oft in theologic wars,The disputants, I ween,Rail on in utter ignoranceOf what each other mean,And prate about an ElephantNot one of them has seen! The Invention of Letters SOCRATES: I heard, then, that at Naucratis, in Egypt, was one of the ancient gods of that country, the one whose sacred bird is called the ibis, and the name of the god himself was Theuth. He it was who invented numbers and arithmetic and geometry and astronomy, also draughts and dice, and, most important of all, letters. Now the king of all Egypt at that time was the god Thamus, who lived in the great city of the upper region, which the Greeks call the Egyptian Thebes, and they call the god himself Ammon. To him came Theuth to show his inventions, saying that they ought to be imparted to the other Egyptians. But Thamus asked what use there was in each, and as Theuth enumerated their uses, expressed praise or blame, according as he approved or disapproved. The story goes that Thamus said many things to Theuth in praise or blame of the various arts, which it would take too long to repeat; but when they came to the letters, This invention, O king, said Theuth, will make the Egyptians w iser and will improve their memories; for it is an elixir of memory and wisdom that I have discovered. But Thamus replied, Most ingenious Theuth, one man has the ability to beget arts, but the ability to judge of their usefulness or harmfulness to their users belongs to another; and now you, who are the father of letters, have been led by your affection to ascribe to them a power the opposite of that which they really possess. For this invention will produce forgetfulness in the minds of those who learn to use it, because they will not practice their memory. Their trust in writing, produced by external characters which are no part of themselves, will discourage the use of their own memory within them. You have invented an elixir not of memory, but of reminding; and you offer your pupils the appearance of wisdom, not true wisdom, for they will read many things without instruction and will therefore seem to know many things, when they are for the most part ignorant and hard to get along with, since they are not wise, but only appear wise. PHAEDRUS: Socrates, you easily make up stories o f Egypt or any country you please. (Plato, Phaedrus, translated by H. N. Fowler) Parable of the Scorpion Theres a story I heard as a child, a parable, and I never forgot it. A scorpion was walking along the bank of a river, wondering how to get to the other side. Suddenly he saw a fox. He asked the fox to take him on his back across the river.The fox said, No. If I do that, youll sting me, and Ill drown.The scorpion assured him, If I did that, wed both drown.The fox thought about it, finally agreed. So the scorpion climbed up on his back, and the fox began to swim. But halfway across the river, the scorpion stung him.As the poison filled his veins, the fox turned to the scorpion and said, Why did you do that? Now youll drown, too. I couldnt help it, said the scorpion. Its my nature.(Robert Beltran as Commander Chakotay in Scorpion. Star Trek: Voyager, 1997) David Foster Wallaces Fish Story There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, Morning, boys, hows the water? And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, What the hell is water? . . .None of this is about morality, or religion, or dogma, or big fancy questions of life after death. The capital-T Truth is about life before death. It is about making it to 30, or maybe 50, without wanting to shoot yourself in the head. It is about simple awareness--awareness of what is so real and essential, so hidden in plain sight all around us, that we have to keep reminding ourselves, over and over: This is water, this is water.(David Foster Wallace, commencement speech at Kenyon College, Ohio. The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2006, ed. by Dave Eggers. Mariner Books, 2006) Parables in Politics Right now, as [Elizabeth] Warren and [Scott] Brown meet voters, they are telling their stories as political parables, loaded with ideas about opportunity versus just deserts, social investment versus making your own way, fairness versus the free market. The ordinary Massachusetts voter--the kind who doesn’t tune in until the last minute--will have to choose between two story lines. They will talk about it this way: he’s a small-town Wrentham boy who solves problems based on facts, while she’s a leftist ideologue from Harvard. Or they will talk about it this way: he’s a lightweight with a pretty face and a truck; she’s a real person who will fight off the banks and others trying to ruin the middle class. They will assess which one is more likable and sincere. They will (or won’t) be pulled to the polls by more politically motivated neighbors. In such haphazard ways, Massachusetts independents will decide one of the most closely watched and pos sibly most expensive races of the 2012 campaign, outside the presidency.(E.J. Graff, Elizabeth Warren: Yes She Can? The Nation, April 23, 2012) Etymology From the Greek, to compare Also see: AllegoryAnecdoteExemplumFableHomileticsThe Little Girl in Lavender Spats by Don MarquisNarration  and  NarrativeVignetteThe Whistle by Benjamin Franklin   Pronunciation: PAR-uh-bul Also Known As: exemplum, fable

Steve Jobs Leadership Style and Analysis - 1645 Words

Whether you loved Steve Jobs or hated him, whether you are a Mac or a PC user, whether you are an iPhone or an Android owner, there is one thing that there’s little doubt about: Steve Jobs was an amazing leader who expected and got the most out of those who worked for him. With his recent passing and the release of his biography, other leaders have gotten a chance to take a closer look at how Steve Jobs lived, thought, and ran his company. It’s an interesting opportunity to look at the inner workings of one of the tech world’s most private men. So what lessons can leaders glean from Steve Jobs? There are too many to choose but here are five of the critical lessons one can learn from Steve Jobs’ life and success. 1. Have strong opinions,†¦show more content†¦That, in turn, is the best succession plan of all. In the end, Jobs was a man driven by his own mortality, long before he was ill. He reminded himself of his mortality so he could focus his energy doing the things that mattered, instead of worrying about failure or the expectations of others. He was driven and dedicated almost to the point of insanity, and that, combined with his attention to detail and obsession with perfection, enabled him to drive Apple not only to become the powerhouse it is, but also to make some of the best-loved products on the market. Love him or hate him, Steve Jobs is proof that one person can make a huge difference and impact the entire world in a very big way. Who do you feel has had a similarly large impact on the leaders around the world? Let us know in the comments. This guest post is written by Lior Levin, a marketing consultant for a company that offers the best psd to xhtml service, and who also works for a neon sign store that provides custom made neon and LED signs. NSPIRATIONAL APPROACHES TO LEADERSHIP In this article, we present two contemporary leadership theories with a common theme. They view leaders as individuals who inspire followers through their words, ideas, and behaviors. These theories are charismatic leadership and transformational leadership Charismatic Leadership: John F Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr, Bill Clinton, Indira Gandhi, AtalShow MoreRelatedSteve Jobs Leadership Style and Analysis1631 Words   |  7 PagesWhether you loved Steve Jobs or hated him, whether you are a Mac or a PC user, whether you are an iPhone or an Android owner, there is one thing that there’s little doubt about: Steve Jobs was an amazing leader who expected and got the most out of those who worked for him. With his recent passing and the release of his biography, other leaders have gotten a chance to take a closer look at how Steve Jobs lived, thought, and ran his company. It’s an interesting opportunity to look at the inner workingsRead MoreSteve Jobs as a Visionary and Transformational Leader1165 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿Introduction Steve Jobs unique approach to leadership and visionary approach to creating, producing and selling innovative products, combined with his innate ability to orchestrate increasingly complex companies have earned him many accolades. Fortune Magazine named him the best leader of the Decade and countless other publications, colleges and universities have given him many accolades and honorary degrees. All these external measures of success reflect who Steve Jobs is on a daily basis,Read MoreSteve Jobs1617 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction The leadership plays a vital role in the success of any organization. In the telecom industry, leadership plays a vital role for transformation and trust among the customers and the company (Dowling, S. 2010). The main role is the leadership styles of various leaders in the mobile industry. 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John Sculley former CEO of both PepsiCo amp; Apple states that the differences between leadership and management is; â€Å"Leadership is often confused with other things, specifically management. Management requires an entirely different set of skills. As Sculley sees it, leadership revolves around vision, ideas, direction, and has more to with inspiring people as to direction and goals than with day-to-day implementation†¦One can’t leadRead MoreSteve Jobs And His Leadership Style2256 Words   |  10 Pages The report is about Steve Jobs and his leadership style in the contemporary world. He is the founder of Apple and later again rejoined the company in 1997 and led to the massive turnaround of Apple to become the technology giant. During his tenure, he made the company into the most profitable technology company of the world. Organisations which began their operations before Apple were left behind. This happened due to the charismatic and transformational leadership of Jobs which made the company

Cultural Analysis of Singapore and Australia †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Cultural Analysis of Singapore and Australia. Answer: It is analyzed that there are various factors that impact the overall process of change. There are two factors culture and power that impact the overall process of change in the country. This paper takes into consideration the cultural analysis of Singapore and Australia and its impact on the changes that takes place in the company of that specified country. The emphasis will also be given on how the national culture influences the five bases of power of French and Ravens. The last phase of the paper will discuss about the use of power in the programs related to change. To evaluate the cultural dimensions of the countries, one of the best models that should be taken into consideration is Hofstede model (Kuipers, et al.2014, 1-20). To evaluate the various cultural aspects of the country there are many elements that should be discussed like power distance, individualism, uncertainty avoidance, indulgence, long term orientation and masculinity. By giving focus on Singaporean culture it is seen that it is one of the multi ethnic society with 77 % of the Chinese and total 6 % Indians with 15 % Malay and 2 % expatriates. If focus is given on Australia then it is seen that there are 67 % British origins who are staying there followed by some of the European Ethnicities and there are only 3% Aboriginal natives who are left (Lozano, Nummert, and Ceulemans 2016, 168-188). One of the elements of Hofstede model is power distance which is related to accept the unequal distribution of power among the individuals in the company who have few powerful individuals. In this element the scoring part is states that the score of Singaporean is more in the context and individuals depend on the decisions that are taken by the managers (Power, et al. 2015, 63-100). This is due to majority of the individuals who are Chinese in the country and who believes more in teaching related to Confucian. While Australia has a low score in this perspective which states that in Australia the structure of the companies are flat and also subordinates can interact easily with the top management. Another element related to Hofstede model is individualism which is related with the overall degree of interdependence of the individuals on each other in the society. By considering individualism it is seen that Australia has a high score (Dez-Esteban, et al. 2018, 1-20). This states that the individuals in Australia are more focused on themselves. In companies, the workers are self-reliant whereas if Singapore is considered it is seen that the score is low and this tells that society is collectivist in the Singapore. The individuals focus more on we concept as compared to I. Masculinity is the next element in Hofstede model. This element is related to motivation of the individuals in the country. It is seen that the country which is masculine in nature is more motivated by considering the overall competition level. It is seen that the society which is related to feminine take into consideration the perspective that they do what they like to do. In the society the focus is more on enhancing the quality of lives (Pereira, 2017, 349-367). Australia is considered as masculine society as the score is 61 and it give more focus on competition. Next element is related to uncertainty avoidance in which the emphasis is more on the situations that are unknown in the society. In this it is seen that there are many people who are afraid of the situations that takes place suddenly. The score of Australia is 51 and Singapore score is 8 in this context (Chew 2017, 83-104). This states that Singapore takes into consideration more rules and structures. One of the essential factors is related to long term orientations in which the needs are required to make the analysis of the culture. In this case the score of the Singapore is 72 and it states that the Singapore society focuses more on long term approaches. The society of Australia has less score and it states that the individuals believe in the approach related to short term and work according to the short term goals. Indulgence is the last element in the Hofstede model which is concerned with the desires and impulses of the individuals and the way their control it. The score of the Australian society is 71 in this perspective and this states that the society is more indulgent in nature. If Singapore is taken into consideration then it is evaluated that the score is 41 which is low and it is difficult to consider the preferences as the overall score is not good. By giving focus on the overall organizational perspective it is seen that there are various types of powers that has been taken into consideration by the leaders and these powers are more influenced by the culture of the place where the company is conducting the operations (Yum, et al. 2015, 100-112). In todays scenario, it is seen that culture is known as one of the major competitive advantage for the organizations. The cross culture is affected by cross culture leadership. In cross cultural management, the behavior related to leadership can be elaborated by the culture and power which influences the leadership to behave in a specified way. The power that is taken into consideration by the leaders makes the behavior of a specified leader. To analyze the overall efficiency of the leader and the way he or she works, it is important to evaluate the sources of power that are taken into consideration by the leaders. Power is the ability of the person to influence or inspire the other person. It can be defined as the attitude and the behavior that person shows at the time of sitting at a particular position or associated with a particular designation. This power has been classified by French and Raven in some of the categories such as reward, legitimate, coercive, expert and referent. Following discussion clearly describes the differences in these power bases and the use of these powers as per the situations and the national culture. Legitimate power can be defined as the power that focuses on giving the responsibility to the people or the followers. In this type of power the individual who follow such power shows the ability to lead and guide the other person by imposing some of the responsibilities to them. This is the power that is linked by the designation and not the person. If the designation is gone, the power also vanishes with it. The top management of the companies generally hold such kind of powers with them. The mangers of the company can provide the responsibility to others but if he is not the manager, the followers do not follow his instructions. After the legitimate power, the next one is coercive power (Barth-Farkas, Faye, and Vera. 2014, 217-232). This is the power that is taken by the people who can punish the other person or can provide them the rewards as per their actions. It is not actually considered as the power because the people only have the right to reward or punish as per the guideli nes and not from the personal concern or decision. Thus, there is no power of taking any of the decision. The next power that can be discussed ere is expert power. As the name suggests, it is the power in which the expert gives the advice to the other people. It is the power of knowledge with the people who holds the information about the particular subject or who have the expertise in the subject (Karkoulian, Silva and Osman 2014). It is the knowledge and the intelligence of the people that provides them the right to have such power. The last power that can be discussed here is the power of referent or the referent power. The famous personalities hold such power because of their charm and personality. The other person who likes them and their charm follows the person. In this, the followers follow the leader with his own choice. Culture is one of the aspects that affect the power followed by the people in that culture. hofstede model has suggested some of the elements of power and power distance is one of them. As discussed in the above section that Singapore is the country where power distance is high and the people are guided with the superiors and follow the guidelines shown by the superiors only. So as per the discussion, it can be justified that legitimate power can be used in this case (Liao 2008,169-182). As far as the case of Australia is concerned, it has been analysed that the power distance is very low. That means the people there cannot take the orders but the advices can be taken by the lower level employees. This suggests that exert power can be used in the organizations at Australia. Australia is the country that follows individualistic nature and believes in taking care of their own and their immediate family members (Smith, 2005, 408-412). This suggests that if the mangers want the employees to work in an Australian organization then it is required by the managers to show them the deal of mutual interest. In contrast to this, Singapore is the country of collectivist people and it has been analyzed that they believe in working with team and also follow the guidelines of their superiors without questioning them. As per this, it has been identified that legitimate power can be used in this case to manage the employees at the organization in Singapore (Storey 2010). The overall discussion suggests that power and the national culture of the society or the place is very much linked with each other. If the power is utilized against the culture then it becomes very difficult for the managers to deal with the employees. Apart from nature, it is the contingencies that affect the power that has been used. Sometimes leader or the managers of the organizations have to deal with the situation and make changes in their power and leadership source in order to handle that particular si tuation effectively. The best example is of handling the diversification (Swartz 2012). Most of the organizations these days are diversified in nature and thus it is required by the managers to consider the culture of all the employees at the time of dealing with them. From the discussion carried out in this essay, it can be concluded that the power plays a significant role in business as it affects the decision making process of the organization. Further, it can be articulated that the successful implementation of the change programs depends to a lot extent on the power distribution. However, it should be bore in mind by the people in possession of the power that its use should be in the positive way (Taras, Kirkman, and Steel 2010, 405). The power should be used keeping the culture of the organization in mind so as to realize maximum output. The leader using the power has to bear in mind that the power is used purposefully and its use leads to the optimum utilization of the resources within the organization. It is articulated from the discussion that the leader should analyze different situations on different parameters because analysis of the situations on the same parameters could lead to erroneous decisions (Vigoda-Gadot, Eran, and Beeri 2011, 573-596). Further, analysis of the arguments in the essay depicts that national culture is an important factor that affects the way of power distribution and its use within the organization. Based on the Hofstede model of cultural dimension, it can be concluded that people within the organization comes from different cultures and the same is required to managed properly to control and supervise the activities and conduct the business in the hassle free manner. Discussion of Hofstede in order to analyses the culture of Singapore and Australia has supported the overall study. References: Barth-Farkas, Faye, and Antonio Vera. "Power and transformational leadership in public organizations."International journal of leadership in public services10, no. 4 (2014): 217-232. Chew, Phyllis Ghim-Lian. "Remaking Singapore: Language, culture, and identity in a globalized world." InLanguage policy, culture, and identity in Asian contexts, pp. 83-104. Routledge, 2017. Dez-Esteban, Jos Mara, Jorge Bento Farinha, and Conrado Diego Garca-Gmez. "How does national culture affect corporate risk-taking?."Eurasian Business Review(2018): 1-20. Karkoulian, Silva, and Yasmine Osman. "The effect of French and Raven power on knowledge acquisition, knowledge creation and knowledge sharing: An empirical investigation in Lebanese organizations."Oxford Journal: An International Journal of Business Economics2, no. 1 (2014). Kuipers, Ben S., Malcolm Higgs, Walter Kickert, Lars Tummers, Jolien Grandia, and Joris Van der Voet. "The management of change in public organizations: A literature review."Public administration92, no. 1 (2014): 1-20. Liao, Li-Fen. "Impact of manager's social power on RD employees' knowledge-sharing behaviour."International Journal of Technology Management41, no. 1-2 (2008): 169-182. Lozano, Rodrigo, Benjamin Nummert, and Kim Ceulemans. "Elucidating the relationship between sustainability reporting and organisational change management for sustainability."Journal of cleaner production125 (2016): 168-188. Pereira, Alexius A. "A Colourful Life: Eurasian Contributions to the Arts and Culture in Singapore." InSINGAPORE EURASIANS: Memories, Hopes and Dreams, pp. 349-367. 2017. Power, Damien, Robert Klassen, Thomas J. Kull, and Dayna Simpson. "Competitive goals and plant investment in environment and safety practices: Moderating effect of national culture."Decision Sciences46, no. 1 (2015): 63-100. Smith, Ian. "Achieving readiness for organisational change."Library management26, no. 6/7 (2005): 408-412. Storey, John. Culture and power in cultural studies: The politics of signification. Edinburgh University Press, 2010. Swartz, David. Culture and power: The sociology of Pierre Bourdieu. University of Chicago Press, 2012. Taras, Vas, Bradley L. Kirkman, and Piers Steel. "Examining the impact of culture's consequences: A three-decade, multilevel, meta-analytic review of Hofstede's cultural value dimensions."Journal of Applied Psychology95, no. 3 (2010): 405. Vigoda-Gadot, Eran, and Itai Beeri. "Change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior in public administration: The power of leadership and the cost of organizational politics."Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory22, no. 3 (2011): 573-596. Yum, Young-ok, Daniel J. Canary, and Joyce Baptist. "The roles of culture and fairness in maintaining relationships: A comparison of romantic partners from Malaysia, Singapore, and the United States."International Journal of Intercultural Relations44 (2015): 100-112.