Final exam paper for management skill Term Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Final exam for management skill - Term Paper Example Notably, one needs to acquire both theoretical and experiential knowledge to acquire the necessary leadership skills and to make sound decisions when the need arises. From this perspective, one should take every opportunity they have to learn and acquire the rights skills that will prepare them to be leaders not only when engaging in personal decisions but also when service a larger population. The formation of leadership begins with setting goals that one wishes to accomplish. Just like organizations have mission statements, a person requires one to ensure that they have a definite direction that they intend to follow while creating their leadership manifesto. Goal setting allows a person to focus on the direction of their progress and to avoid diverging out of step. Therefore, a goal is a target that one puts and gathers all the momentum to follow it. However, goal setting is a point action that requires the right strategies to be accomplished. Setting a goal without designing the strategies is similar to positioning a vehicle without giving it a start; it will never arrive to its destination. Consequently, goal setting must be followed by development of effective strategies that will lead the person towards these goals. Strategy is the vehicle that drives one towards his predesigned destination. The strategy that one adopts depends on the type of leadership that they en d to achieve. On this end, it is clear that transformational leadership is more crucial in modern organizations. A transformational leader is one who induces the right skills and behaviour within those that he or she guides to ensure that they perform in tandem with organizational goals. The process of developing a leadership manifesto requires that a person does self-evaluation to ensure that they know both their strengths and weaknesses. Personal strengths refer

Risk Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Risk Management - Essay Example Previously, the safety culture at BP had presented a cause for concern with the Texas City Refinery explosion and other events presenting an adverse image. Toney Hayward, the former CEO of BP, had tried to enhance safety at BP when he took office at a time when BP faced three criminal investigations. However, it would appear that the managerial decision-making processes at BP remained flawed as managers continued to take risks in efforts directed towards trying to manage costs and delays while neglecting safety. Although it is likely that a blowout preventer with a flawed design contributed to the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster, the managerial emphasis on costs and delays caused BP subcontractors to become negligent. BP managers refused Halliburton recommendations to use twenty-one centralisers and proceeded to cement the well using only six centralisers. Halliburton used cement that did not pass its own laboratory tests to cement the well and this contributed to the flow of hydrocarb ons into the well. Transocean crew did not take adequate notice of the kick in the well that pointed to a loss of well control and proceeded to release gases from the well on to the rig through the mud gas separator instead of diverting the gas away from the rig. In addition, inadequate maintenance of the blowout preventer was to contribute to events. Because bonuses presented to BP project managers depended on completing projects close to budgeted costs and schedule, the wrong emphasis had persisted. It is likely that independent verification of managerial decision-making emphasising safety from a command that is distinct from the project management command at BP under a Chief Safety Officer reporting directly to the CEO at BP will help present the correct emphasis. BP did have a safety director at the time of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster, but it will appear that this safety director lacked powers, a separate chain of command and a capacity for working effectively to give effe ct to his mandate. The new CEO at BP has promised to create a safety division at BP with sweeping powers. BP project managers should now receive bonuses that emphasise correctness of their managerial decision-making for a project instead of receiving rewards for trying to complete a job within budget and schedule while taking risks with safety. In addition, it will make sense for BP to try to contribute towards helping to improve the design and reliability of superior technology for offshore operations, including subsea blowout preventers. Contents Introduction 1 What Went Wrong? An Analysis of BP’s Approach to Risk Management that Influenced the BP Deepwater Horizon Disaster 3 A Reasoned Discussion about How BP Should Progress in the Future with Regard to Risk Management 15 Conclusion 19 Bibliography / References 22 List of Figures Figure 1: Typical Subsea Blowout Preventer Stack 7 Figure 2: Deepwater Drilling with Subsea Blowout Preventer 8 (This page intentionally left bla nk) Introduction The word â€Å"risk† refers to the possibility of loss, injury or harm, and it is unfortunately true that it is not possible to assign absolute certainty to the occurrence of any one event because there will always be some level of uncertainty associated with the outcome of events (Bonham, 2008, Pp. 183 –