Job motivating potential = (Q1 + Q2 + Q3) x Q4 x Q5 divided by 3

THE JOB CHARACTERISTICS MODEL TEST

Studies indicate that jobs that score high on motivating potential are likely to stimulate motivation, high performance, and high satisfaction. Additionally, high scores are associated with reduced absenteeism and turnover. The higher your score, the higher your job’s motivating potential. Scores can range from 1 – 343, with the average score being 128.

1. How much variety is there in your job? That is, to what extent does the job require you to do many different things at work, using a variety of your skills and talents?

2. To what extent does your job involve doing a ‘whole’ and identifiable piece of work? That is, is the job a complete piece of work that has an obvious beginning and end, or is it only a small part of the overall piece of work, which is finished by other people or machines?

3. In general, how significant or important is your job? That is, are the results of your work likely to significantly affect the lives or well-being of other people?

4. How much freedom is there in your job? That is, to what extent does your job permit you to decide on your own how to go about doing the work?

5. To what extent does doing the job itself provide you with information about your work performance? That is, does the actual work itself provide clues about how well you are doing – aside from any feedback co-workers or supervisors may provide?

Please tell us briefly about your experience with the University/ Programme:

I found a remarkable difference from my previous studies in Bangladesh, with the education I have experienced with ULSM. Definitely the University of Leicester holds a name not only in the UK but in the world stage for its research excellence and in the management field specially, critical management studies which is crucial in this fast changing business world. The fundamental difference between other education providers around the world with the University of Leicester, is simply that “I’m able to teach fellow students or anybody else the subjects I was taught”. I learned the lessons in a mannerism that I never can forget the information, but rather can explore further with much more refined thought of different management subject areas.

Please tell us briefly about your experience with Stafford Associates:

I have clearly mentioned in my dissertation acknowledgement section and in my statement of purpose for my PhD application that I was waiting to pursue my higher education for over 10 years. After I first arrived in Saudi Arabia I attended Stafford Associates’ presentation on the University of Leicester MBA, which was the turning point of my career and life. Many people think that university agents work just for commission, I do not agree with this statement as what I have experiences and the support provided by Stafford did not make me feel that I am a distance learner. In addition, many tutors were simply geniuses and capable enough to tackle professionally and theoretically informed knowledgeable students. I attended some of the MBA presentations to testify about Stafford Associates and the University of Leicester more so after I attended the summer school on the University of Leicester campus during 2009.

Please tell us briefly about your experience with the University/ Programme:

I had very wonderful experience with the University and Stafford. I had perhaps millions of questions during the study and all tutors and admin staffs were absolutely professional, caring and patient in entertaining all my requests. They made this experience very pleasant journey and all challenges which seemed sometimes insurmountable turned into the very manageable and even easy tasks. Blackboard facility offered by the University is an amazing tool and helps in working on all assignments and dissertation. Tutors on Blackboard are very professional and only because of their help I could complete my study in minimal times with good results. I strongly recommend to anyone to embark on this beautiful journey. It is worth it!!!!

Please tell us briefly about your experience with Stafford Associates:

From the very first day back in December of 2008 I had been taken care of by the very caring and nice people – staff of Stafford Associates. They never lost their patience, were always available and entertained all requests with professionalism and in a very friendly way. Join the University of Leicester’s programmes and these guys will take care of you and will turn your study into the very pleasant and unforgettable experience!!!

- Refaat Kazoun

Leadership, what a word.
The concept of leadership and that of leaders themselves is a ranging academic debate with different definitions, theories and concepts.

We all know successful business leaders, don’t we?
Everybody has heard of Lee Iacocca, the larger than life leader of The Chrysler Corporation.
I am sure you have heard of Jack Welsh and Richard Branson also.

But have you heard of Darwin Smith, Colman Mockler, George Cain, Charles Walgreen III and Joseph Cullman III? If not, read on.

Before introducing you to these business leaders, you have to ask yourself what constitutes a good leader. Do you prefer a larger than life egotistic personality or someone who quietly builds a company that outperforms the market for 15 – 20 years?

Darwin Smith: CEO of Kimberly-Clark
Colman Mockler: CEO of Gillette
George Cain: CEO of Abbott Laboratories
Charles Walgreen III: CEO of Walgreens
Joseph Cullman III: CEO of Philip Morris

You have heard of the companies. Why haven’t you heard of these leaders?
These people amongst few others are leaders of companies that made the shift from good companies to great companies who were also blessed with extreme personal humility with intense professional will.
From a more important business perspective, they achieved beyond great results for their companies outperforming the market for long periods and made sure their companies did not crumble after they retired.

These leaders are called Level 5 Leaders and they were discovered by a research conducted by Jim Collins. Collins studied 1,435 Fortune 500 companies out of which only 11 sustained greatness garnering stock returns at least three times the market’s for 15 years after a major transition period.

All these companies had 1 thing in common. You guessed it.
A level 5 Leader.

You want to know more?
Follow the following link?http://www.tree4health.org/

The ECB has now joined the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England in embracing quantitative easing (creating money) as a way to reflate the economy. Another 1 trillion euro lending facility (even more if required) will be offered by the ECB later this February to Europe’s moribund banks in the hope they will finally be able to transmit this cash injection to the real economy in the form of commercial and personal loans.

What this means for investors is that central banks will do whatever it takes to inflate the debt away by debasing their currencies. This is the only solution to the debt problem, as deficit reductions are neither politically nor economically acceptable.

For savers and pensioners this spells disaster as their income and purchasing power will be eaten away by inflation, as all safe investments are now offering negative inflation adjusted yields. Investors will therefore attempt to escape this financial repression be moving their cash into riskier securities offering higher yields. The January surge in most stock markets valuations is proof that this reaction is already under way.

Another more perverse consequence of the ECB’s intervention is that it promotes the renationalisation of the European debt. Today, French banks own a lot of Greek and Italian bonds. If Greece or Italy were to default, French banks would collapse and have to be nationalised. Thankfully, the ECB facility now available allows them to offload their “toxic” Italian and Greek bonds and re-invest in French government bonds; thus re-nationalising their bond holdings.

But if European banks own mainly bonds issued by their own governments, then a breakup of the Eurozone becomes much less dangerous (lesser risk of contagion) and therefore far more likely…

With hard work, I am pleased to inform you that I have got an “A” mark on my dissertation which was submitted to Leicester on June, 2011. In this connection, I would like to express my sincere thanks to you and all the team members of Stafford Associates for their continuous and constant support throughout all the phases of my Master degree program.

As you may very well know, getting an “A” on a dissertation for the University of Leicester is not an easy task. However, with dedication and hard work the impossible turns to possible particularly if accompanied by support from dedicated and experienced people like the Stafford Associates team.

To say the truth, as a working professional seeking to enroll in a Master degree program through distance learning, I have done a market survey on all the locally available universities in Dubai with four determinant attributes in mind: Accreditation, Cost, Convenience and Support. I have got 3 acceptances from 3 different universities, namely University of Liverpool, Harriot & Watt, and U21 Global (Singapore) as they were the only universities I applied to. However, none of them has met my perceived determinants.

Luckily, during the Access MBA exhibition which was held in April 8, 2008 in Dubai, I met you and found out that my determinants were highly met by the University of Leicester through their representative office in Dubai (Stafford). Immediately, my decision was taken to enroll in the very next in-take of November 2008 and thanks GOD my MBA journey has finished.

It is worth mentioning that what Stafford Associates is doing in terms of services, assistance, workshops and local support for its students is really amazing and outstanding. Had I utilized those services in full I would have guaranteed an “A” in all the modules, however my goal then was just to pass without adding burdens to anyone.

When things commenced, I worked with other students from Jamaica through the university of Leicester blackboard and helped them sit for the exams in accounting and corporate finance modules. This is in addition to 3 other existing students at Leicester who had some difficulty in grasping the core concepts and lacked the confidence to sit for the exams. To this end, I am also pleased to inform you that one of those students has got an “A” in corporate finance module exam lately. You probably know that when a student of Leicester, teaches another one, it is very effective as he would know all the pain and could identify what exactly the university is looking after.

With this in mind, I do believe I owe you and Stafford members a big thank you and I am obliged to say that I am at your service and you can consider me a team member of Stafford Associates in Abu Dhabi. Finally, if I can be of any help or assistance of any kind, please do not hesitate to contact me anytime.

Sincerely yours

Nehmat Ayyash

- Dr. Antoine Eid

Were you ever talking to an elderly with hearing problems and had to speak loud to make him listen, then were surprised that suddenly he heard a low noise in the other room? He must have developed selective hearing.

Have you tried talking to your 6 year old daughter and noticed that she wasn’t listening to everything you’re saying? Children too develop selective hearing at that age.
But have you noticed that you’ve developed the same when your staff talks to you?

Let me go back with you in time to those first two weeks when you hired a new employee. You invited him to your office and spent time listening to what he had to say. Carefully listening… probably.
Back then you thought that he was “listening-worthy”. Slowly you started listening less to what he’s got to say. Today, you look at him and nod, but don’t really listen to any of what he’s saying. You’re just thinking of what to say when he’s talking.

If that’s the case with most of your employees, you have developed selective hearing. I’ve been observing the “average” manager for a while and let me tell you, most of them fall in the same trap.

Your staff knows when you’re listening for the sake of giving them motivation. They also detect your fake attention. If you’re going to do this, you’d be wasting precious time, where talking can be more valuable.
I understand that for some managers the case is, you’ve tried listening and gave them their fair chance to talk, then realized that they were not saying much. So you stopped listening.

If nothing they say is worth hearing, why are they still your employees? Either get rid of them or go back to listening to them more.

Everyone has something worthy to say. That is why you hired them in the first place. That’s true even if you don’t believe it. I’ll even say more. Most of the time they have a much more valid point than you do.

So, practice this for the coming week:

• Listen more and talk less
• Try not to be the last to end a sentence or a conversation
• Try not to start any of your sentences with the word “I”

Try this and you’ll realize how challenging this is and how bad is the habit you’ve developed. Good luck and good job. If you do listen, you’ll make a better team, and will eventually get better results.

Good luck, Tune in to the newsletter next month for another interesting episode of Business 1001.

Recommended books and movies for this month: Listening: the forgotten skill by Madelyn Burley Allen, The boiler room movie (1990)

Full Name: Roy Winfield

Designation: Principle security Advisor, Kuwait Oil Company

Company: G4S Risk Management

Name of the Programme: MSc Security and Crime Risk Management – University of Leicester

Date of intake (Date of Joining): Aug 98

Status: Alumni

I studied for an MSc in Security and Crime Risk Management, distance learning starting in 1998 and the course was for two years duration. I was able to complete this course despite a very demanding job mainly because of the help I received from the University who completely understood the pressures of fitting study in with full time work. The course provided an interesting departure from the real time job and opened up a completely new way of thinking. I was able to develop a better understanding of the role and purpose of security within the commercial world and feel that I have benefitted greatly from the assignments that I undertook as part of the course.

The University of Leicester could not have been more helpful, the staff were all willing to provide advice and wherever possible help source study material. At the time of doing my course the internet was still being developed and was of little assistance so I relied heavily on the University and the British Libraries, nevertheless, although there was some delay in obtaining books this did not greatly affect my studies.

All in all studying for an MSc at Leicester was a very positive experience and one that I would recommend to anyone.

Brochure Application Form About The University

Link to the University

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Benefits:

The University of Wales MBA programme is validated and awarded by the University of Wales, and is recognised worldwide. This Online MBA is designed to equip you with essential modern management skills and knowledge and prepare you with an enterprising spirit grounded on solid business practices. The MBA provides you with analytical and decision making capabilities in order to face different kinds of new challenges resulting from the rapid changes seen in today’s business environment. You will study tools and techniques that will help you develop and manage products, services and people that will be internationally competitive.

Title: Master of Business Administration (Maritime Management)

Awarding Body: University of Wales

This scheme is validated and awarded by the University of Wales. For further details regarding the University and its validation services, please visit www.wales.ac.uk/validation.

Mode: Online distance learning

Duration: The University of Wales MBA is normally studied over a 24-month period, but this may be extended to suit your individual needs for up to a maximum of four years.

Entry requirements:

• First degree from an approved university equivalent to at least UK second class honours, or a corresponding professional qualification.
• At least two years’ relevant full-time work experience.
• English ability equivalent to an IELTS score of 6.5, where the medium of undergraduate study was not English.
• Candidates without a first degree will be eligible for entry if they can demonstrate a minimum of five years managerial experience.

MBA (General)

MBA (Project Management)

MBA (Human Resource Management)

MBA (Management Consultancy)

MBA (Law)

MBA (Finance)

MBA (Service Excellence)

Please call us on +971 4 3901685, email us on info@stafford.ae, or browse details of the programme in our brochure