The Effect of Leadership in Project Management

Introduction All organisations design and implement projects of varying magnitudes. The need to execute projects within fixed timelines with limited resources has seen many organisations demand people who are experienced in the field of project management to take over the leadership of projects within the organisations.Advertising We will write a custom dissertation sample on The Effect of Leadership in Project Management specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This has made project management evolve over the last five decades as an independent body of knowledge as opposed to being an additional skill required for organisational professionals. The growing emphasis of the importance of cute management of people in the effort to yield organisational success has also made organisations resort to developing their management approaches from the contexts of organisational leadership as opposed to organisational administration. The role of lead ership in enhancing organisational performance is highly studied in organisations, thus leading to the emergence of a large scholarly body of knowledge that discusses the effectiveness of various leadership styles. The aim of this paper is to draw knowledge from both disciplines of project management and leadership separately and then merge them to prescribe the roles of leadership within the field of project management. Leaders who operate as project managers deploy leadership characteristics, which are similar to leaders within functional and operational organisations. However, projects are constrained in terms of time and resources. This means that leaders in project-based organisations condense their leadership roles to assume temporary functions in the effort to guarantee the achievement of results for a project team. Some project management scholars emphasise that projects needs to be managed by managers rather than leaders. However, this paper argues that enhancing the succes s of projects using people working in a teamwork environment requires the people in charge of projects leadership to have various skills that enhance motivation, commitment to various project tasks, and/or foster knowledge sharing between work groups. Leadership is important in project management. In the effort to justify this hypothetical proposition, the paper attempts to provide a clear understanding of the concept of leadership in project management by proposing the most important leadership skills that project managers should have.Advertising Looking for dissertation on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It also demonstrates how to use leadership skills to deal with problems in a real project management practice. Finally, it offers suggestions on how to gain leadership skills. Leadership in Project Management Leadership is important in all areas involving the use of people to achieve certain results by f ollowing particular processes. According to Kedharnath (2011), leadership is important in every aspect of life including politics, business environments, religion, and social networks among other scenarios (p.8). A leader is a person who plans, controls, direct, and/or guides other people towards attaining a common mutual objective and goals. Leadership occurs through interaction of three main contexts. These are leaders, followers, and situations, which prompt the deployment of leadership skills (Atchison 2003, p.45; Higgs 2003 p.273). In the context of project management, the project itself provides the situation, which brings together leaders and followers for the achievement of a common mutual goal, which is the completion of the project within the stipulated timeframes and within the provided limited monetary resources. The goal of the leader in such a setting is to facilitate the realisation of the project’s concerns by enhancing integration of various project facets to ensure that tasks do not derail from the preset project execution plan. Scholarly findings on how various components of projects need to be controlled and planned provide evidence of the role of leadership in project management as the arm that plans and controls the project. For instance, clear plans and means of controlling projects are required during scope management (Kjorstad 2010, p.19). Scope management encompasses all processes and procedures that are required in ensuring that a project takes into incorporation the required set of tasks to complete it successfully and within the stipulated time constraints. It constitutes scope initiation, scope planning, scope definition, scope verification, and change control of the scope (Tolbert 2008).Advertising We will write a custom dissertation sample on The Effect of Leadership in Project Management specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Hence, scope planning helps in guiding the proce ss of allocating time and monetary values to the project. Scope definition refers to the subdivision of all major deliverables of the project into small manageable deliverables. All these aspects require the contribution of leadership. Leaders analyse the skill bases of the work team members. They also design and allocate various job fragments based on the skills identified to ensure that people are engaged in the tasks with which they are acquitted (Mumford, Campion Morgeson 2007 p.157). This helps in the minimisation of time wastage in learning new skills and procedures of work. Consequently, attaining the concerns of a project as enumerated in the project scope definition calls for consideration of people’s skills and abilities. Leaders have the capacity to provide this information. The link between leadership and project management is evident by consideration of the manner in which projects are executed in contemplation of various leadership schools of thought. Leadershi p is one of the most studied disciplines within an organisation (Pearce Conger 2003, p.8). Daft (2005) supports the importance of leadership in an organisation by claiming, â€Å"There have been several attempts to provide a description and analysis of the essential facets defining effective leadership† (p.56). Although themes of leadership are ingrained in the works of Plato and Confucius, scholarship in the discipline of leadership in the 20th century began with the introduction of the trait theory school of thought. Mumford, Campion, and Morgeson note that theoretical constructs in leadership studies initiated by researching certain inheritable attributes so that it becomes possible to differentiate people who can lead and those who cannot lead (2007, p.159). This marked the initiation of the trait theory in leadership approaches deployed by organisations. Trait leadership claims that certain personality that defines different people is indicative of one’s leadersh ip abilities. This implies that not all people can effectively lead projects to attain their goals, objectives, and aims in the discipline of project management.Advertising Looking for dissertation on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In the process of evolution of the trait leadership theory, various skills and personality characteristics together with certain demographic characteristics that may describe and/or predict one’s capability to lead have been defined and developed (Mumford, Campion and Morgeson 2007, p.157). Such characteristics include extraversion and self-confidence. Trait theory raises the question of the possibility of determination of particular leadership traits, which can help to resolve common challenges, which are encountered in the field of project management. According to Benator and Thumann, project management encounters the challenges of inadequate resources, poor teamwork commitment, insufficient planning, breakdown in communication, and the need to respond to the changing goals and resources in the process of project execution (2006, p.13). The cognition of these problems has made project managers resort to seeking various mechanisms of providing a response to these challenges besides seeking mechanisms of obtaining skills and knowledge that are required to address them. Struggles with this scholarly question lead to the establishment of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), which identifies nine major knowledge areas of concern in project management (Duncan 1996, p.23; Haughey 2012, p.5). They are â€Å"procurement management, scope management, cost management, risk management, integration management, time management, and communication management† (IEEE 2008, p.11). Applying traits leadership theory or any other theory of leadership in project management requires the definition of the appropriate traits that can enhance leaders’ capacity to address these nine knowledge areas proactively and effectively. The traits leadership theory may be deployed in project management to identify a set of characteristics, which may enhance the performance of project management roles. Ng, Ang, and Chan (2008) identify these traits as â€Å"prob lems solving skills, self-confidence, energy and initiative, perspective, communication, results orientations and negotiating abilities† (p.735). These are intrinsic personality traits, which respond to the main challenges encountered in the project management. Possession of the traits identified by Ng, Ang and Chan (2008) are also consistent with the main concerns of project management enumerated by the PMBOK. However, there emerge problems in the application of the leadership trait theory to describe the contribution of leadership in projects management. The theory suggests that leaders are born and not made in any way. Opposed to the above assertion, studies done by Kouzes (2007), Tayler (2006), and Lewis (2007) provide evidence that better capacity to lead a project can be enhanced by experience and sharing of knowledge developed through involvement in active roles in managing different projects in the past. This opposes the arguments developed by trait leadership theory t hat leaders are born, but not created. According to Ng, Ang, and Chan (2008), trait leadership theory suffers from reliability and validity challenges since not all people possessing qualities of effective leadership identified by the theory make great leaders. This criticism poses an interrogative on the evidence of the capacity of the trait leadership theory to provide a reliable explanation of leadership roles in project management. In fact, according to Ng, Ang, and Chan (2008), many people who possess personality traits described by trait leadership theories as constituting essential requirements for effective leaders do not necessarily depict the essential traits of great leaders. The challenges of the use of the trait leadership school of thought to explain organisational leadership led to the emergence of other leadership schools of thought such as situational and contingency leadership theories. Contingency leadership theories focus on particular factors defining an environ ment, which help in the determination of an effective leadership style. According to Peretomode (2012), examples of contingency theories of leadership include the theory of effective leadership advanced by Fielder, strategic contingency theory, and cognitive resource theory (p.106). For example, with regard to Fielder’s contingency theory, leadership style, which yields outstanding results in one environment, does not necessarily work in another. The theory considers various facets, which determine the capacity of a leader to take control of a given situation. Such facets encompass task control, the ability to enhance teamwork relations, and the capacity to possess positioning powers. Furthermore, according to the contingency theory, leaders can be classified based on whether they are task or relationship-oriented. Task-oriented leaders perform better in work environments that are characterised by well-structured surroundings and good relationships between members and leaders . The leader also works and realises results in settings where he or she has a strong or even weak power of positioning decisions (Peretomode 2012, p.51). A project has the problem of poor motivation of team members (Tayler 2006, p.14). Contingency leadership theory can help in influencing motivational skills of a leader by providing explanations on how leaders can analyse various situations, which result in low motivation and commitment. This can help a project manager to turn around the problems that constantly recur in the field of project management. Opposed to the contingency leadership theory, situational leadership theories argue that leaders determine the most appropriate mechanisms of conducting leadership roles subject to the variables comprising the current situation within an organisation. This means that situational leaders in project management can help in the resolution of the challenges of occurrence of any incidences of changing goals and processes in the due proces s of project execution. The contribution of situational leadership theory in explaining the roles of leadership in project management is also evident by appreciating that particular scenarios requiring making of decisions call for different forms of leadership styles (Dye 2010, p.109). For instance, when leaders possess a high experience and knowledge on the most effective ways of driving organisational success, authoritarian leadership style is the most preferred (Higgs 2003, p.275). Conversely, where employees or subjects possess high skill levels on their areas of specialisations, deployment of the democratic form of leadership is the most appropriate in the effort to drive the success of projects. Another theoretical paradigm for explaining leadership is the charismatic school of thought. According to Lussier and Achua, this school of thought â€Å"inherited situational leadership theory and distilled it into either transactional or transformational leadership styles† (20 04, p.91). The distinction between transformational and transactional leadership is based on the central concerns of each styles. These concerns are on operational leadership, the processes of situational leadership changes, and the relationship existing among leadership styles (Schaubroeck, Lam Cha 2007, p.1022). Projects mainly focus on bringing about changes. Hence, the focus of the charismatic school of thought in relation to project management dwells on transformational leadership. Goleman (1995) introduced the concept of emotional intelligence as developed by Goleman (1998). Schaubroeck, Lam, and Cha (2007) discuss the concept of emotional intelligence as a success factor for effective leadership in an organisation. These schools of thought describe four main theoretical constructs that constitute an emotional intelligent leader. These are â€Å"self awareness, self management, social awareness and relationship management† (Schaubroeck, Lam Cha 2007, p.1025). Research ers such as Kerr et al. (2006), Leban and Zulauf (2004), and Lowe and Kroeck (1996) found a positive correlation between these four traits and leaders’ emotional intelligence and with the success of organisation that the studied leaders were in charge of leading. The emotional intelligence school of thought suggests that various leaders who want to resolve various problems emerging in an organisation can learn, observe, and/or develop emotional intelligence skills (Cote et al. 2010, p.497; Dulewicz 2003, p.194). The competency school of thought developed through the competency model of leadership binds various theories of leadership. This way, the competency model provides a detailed and holistic approach of studying organisational leadership. Hoffman et al. (B 2011) state, â€Å"The competency school reflects the traits, behaviours, visionary, situational, and emotional intelligence facets of the other schools to present a robust description of a leader† (p.354). Proj ects are complex in nature. For instance, various components of project management approaches entail managing different project elements. For example, project procurement constitutes an integral part of the process of project management in which various services or products are bought through a myriad of external sources outside the employees’ base. These products and services are used to complete the stipulated tasks making up the project (Duncan 1996). Under the stipulations of PMBOK, project planning management also entails â€Å"a variety of tasks including the planning process where it is decided on what to acquire and how it will be done† (Duncan1996). In this complex process, different leadership skills and styles are required. Leadership Skills Possessed by Project Managers General managerial literature and leadership practices provide an important starting point of evaluating important leadership skills that are required by project managers. Positive relations hip between leadership and organisational success is well documented. While developing this relationship, Turner and Muller (2006) provide details of effects of project management in enhancing the success of projects (pp.23-39). Based on the literature review conducted by Turner and Muller (2005), leadership qualities possessed by project managers have a direct implication on the success of a project in achieving its goals and objectives (p. 221). Direct implications include enhancement of motivation and development of positive perceptions of the success of the project (Smith 2009, p.75). Indirect impacts of leadership skills possessed by project managers include leading of project work teams with the chief focus being on gaining success. In particular, Turner and Muller (2005) point out, â€Å"the project managers’ personal characteristics including leadership style and emotional intelligence make a contribution to project success† (p.49). Positive correlation between project leadership and the success of projects receives additional support from many other researchers. For instance, Pinto and Trailer (2005) reckon, â€Å"projects often fall short of achieving their anticipated results, not due to the lack of project management, but rather from the lack of project leadership† (p.15). However, despite this support of the contribution of leadership in enhancing projects’ success, Turner and Muller (2006), and Pinto and Trailer (2005) do not identify various leadership skills that are the most important to form project management knowledge repositories. Different projects have different needs. Leadership skills that are considered the most important for project managers vary from industry to industry. Mike (2005) identifies transactional and transformational leadership behaviours as the most important behaviours for project managers in the IT industry projects (p.37). Bass (1995) insists that one leader can display such qualities simu ltaneously. For effective project management, project leaders have to deploy appropriate mix of the two leadership skills to meet the projects’ needs depending on various situations. Conger (1999) confirms the importance of transactional and transformational leadership skills for project managers claiming, â€Å"Transformational leadership augments followers’ effort and performance over and beyond the performance produced by transactional leadership alone† (p.167). Thite (2000) also found such augmentation as crucial and significant for the success of projects (p.237). One of the major challenges of project management is how to enhance performance through fostering commitment of the work team members to the project’s goals and objectives coupled with enhancing their motivation. Possession of transactional leadership skills helps to resolve these challenges. â€Å"Transactional project leaders motivate followers by engaging in transactional or exchange re lationships in which they exchange rewards for performance† (Mike 2005, p.38). Transactional leaders deploy motivation approaches to increase task accomplishment anticipations by emphasising that specific performance in project tasks allocated to them would lead to the attainment of a specific level of output, which forms the basis of rewards. Transactional project management leaders are smart enough to deploy project leadership behaviours such as management by exemption and/or contingent rewards (Mike 2005, p.38). The contingent rewards encompass the attempts to motivate organisational followers through clear and well-defined tasks, which are then rewarded accordingly upon their successful completion to meet quality standards. This implies that projects’ work team members work hard while paying attention to projects’ quality standards in the quest to gain the monetary rewards. This ensures that projects are completed within the slotted period. Transformational l eadership skills enable project managers to frame various issues associated with project tasks in a manner that stimulates followers in the effort to motivate them. This helps the followers to articulate the work of the project with their personal values. To achieve this goal, project managers exhibit behaviours such as â€Å"idealised influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualised considerations† (Bass et al. 1993, p.39). Idealised influence capacitates project leaders to act as role models for portrayal of capabilities that are exceptional with reference to enhancing convictions of followers to a particular vision together with the behaviours that the project leaders want the followers to portray. Inspiration is essential in enabling followers to develop compelling visions together with helping them to handle the challenges encountered in the work place through the provision of a clear meaning and the desired goals of the specific tasks al located to them. This strategy is critical in enabling work members to identify themselves with their groups’ collective commitments to the achievement of tasks expectations by gaining self-confidence. This move is incredibly important in helping project leaders to stimulate â€Å"followers to be innovative and creative by encouraging them to approach familiar situations in new ways† (Mike 2005, p.39). Such an effort is important in leading a project from the paradigm of building knowledge-based projects. The capacity to foster knowledge sharing is yet another important skill of effective project leaders. Petty groups the leadership skill for top performers leaders in project management into â€Å"strategic awareness, executive presence, leadership maturity, and executive orientation† (2009, p.9). Leadership maturity refers to the understanding of project managers on their roles as leaders coupled with the behaviours that they are supposed to display to influenc e other people performing various tasks constituting the project. Leadership maturity is an essential set of skills possessed by project managers. Project managers need to have the ability to lead by formal directions or authority. They should have the capacity to communicate effectively with various stakeholders to enhance team development (Palmer et al. 2001, p.7). Petty (2009) argues that some organisations fail to educate their project managers to become strategic decision makers (p.11). Within some organisations, projects are internal components. Hence, strategic awareness is an important skill that enables project managers to link the project under their control and monitoring to the general needs of customers. Leadership entails working in a teamwork environment to influence other people in the effort to have things done in the right way. Petty (2009) insists that project managers need to have the â€Å"ability to work outside the project team with broader organisations and functional leaders to get things done† (p.10). This ability defines the skills of execution orientation. As sources of effective knowledge repository, leaders should encourage the sharing of this knowledge between various work groups to ensure coherence of various tasks comprising the entire project once they are finally linked up together. The capacity to lead a project as a knowledge-based temporary organisation has attracted the attention of many scholars in the field of project management. For instance, in the 21st century, which is a century characterised by sophisticated information tools, a major argument is that organisations that would succeed in realising constant productivity are the ones, which have innovative leadership abilities. Consistent with this proposition, Zahidul et al. (2011) argues, â€Å"Sharing of knowledge between employees and departments in the organisation is necessary to transfer individual and group knowledge into organisational knowledge, whic h leads to effective management of knowledge† (p.1900). However, in project-based organisations, a challenge is established in the attempt to manage and integrate individual knowledge facets into one body of knowledge leading to optimal utilisation of the available limited resources to achieve project requirements. In this context, Alekseev (2010) argues, â€Å"the problem, which might be not so important for a singular project becomes a significant issue for organisations that use projects on a regular basis for delivering their strategic objectives† (p.4). This problem is articulated to memory losses in a project. Leading information systems in a project implies that the knowledge developed during the project execution process cease from being relevant in a new project development when the project is completed. Such developments would entail coming up with completely new knowledge bases coupled with methodologies to enhance the success of the project at hand so that i t meets the technological requirements at the particular time of the project implementation. Consequently, the existing information on the experiences of an organisation in implementation of previous projects would appear largely not influential in evaluating the new projects. The main concern here is that individual projects would increase the probability of replication of similar mistakes. Zahidul et al. (2011) support this criticism by further adding, â€Å"When individuals share organisationally relevant experiences and information with one another, it significantly increases the resources of an organisation and decreases the time wasted in trial-and error† (p.1900). Although sharing of knowledge as an essential skill for project managers plays the role of making project implementers competitive and innovative, projects have peculiar challenges, which often create friction to the realisation of the advantages of development of a knowledge base. One of such challenges aris es from the characteristics of a project particularly its trait of being a time-bound endeavour. In any project, various specialists join hands to perform various innovative and complicated tasks within some stipulated amount of time. When they are through with the tasks, disbandment of the work teams takes place. If such a similar project be demanded in the future, chances are that the previous members of work teams would not come together to execute the future project. Even though this may help in limiting the impacts of the previous experiences on influencing or limiting the levels of innovation in the future projects, chances also exist that similar mistakes made in the previous project would be repeated. Additionally, since there is the tendency of creating a likelihood for project teams to be made of different persons every time a need to execute a similar project comes up, â€Å"managing knowledge in the context of project work encounters specific cultural and organising cha llenges such as forming work groups† (Alekseev 2010, p.5). This means that sharing and dissemination of knowledge also becomes challenged. However, the fact that projects exhibit opportunities for different people to interact in the execution of time-bound tasks, opportunities also exist for fostering multiculturalism within an organisation. The capacity to deal with people from different cultures and other diversities is an important skill for project management leaders. Another essential leadership skill for project managers is the call for putting in place leadership styles that focus on the manner in which people can improve their performance in projects. Followers want leaders who can help them grow professionally to become independent actors within an organisation (Atchison, 2003). This move is a major milestone in the adoption of participatory leadership, which is crucial for motivation of employees. In this regard, Pearce and Conger (2003) argue that an effective leade r designs his or her leadership styles around the perspectives of followership theories. He or she needs to discuss with followers about â€Å"the importance of quality work, the need for renewed commitment to high standards, and a reiteration of personal and group accountability† (p.123). In this context, it sounds imperative to infer that followers welcome openness to any new idea that may enhance their performance together with confidence in the manner in which a work group can create positive changes that would benefit them. This aspect is vital in the development of effective leadership skills in project leadership. Using Leadership Skills to deal with Problems in Real Project Management Practices Any project is often constrained by time, resources, and the need to lead processes to meet the desires goals and objectives. Another major challenge in the project execution processes is the challenge of orienting people to the desired outcomes. Projects involve bringing about change. In their natural state, people are normally reluctant to embrace change. Various leadership skills are required to deal with these problems and many others that are encountered in the daily routines of a project manager. To deal with the problems encountered in projects, Petty (2009) emphasises that project managers should utilise their strategic awareness skills. These skills are applied in practice by developing awareness with the project strategic environment. Focusing on strategic awareness to resolve the challenges encountered during project execution process implies that projects are subject to market dynamics. Such dynamics include time compressions, complexities in project execution strategies, and the rising need for employing people having high knowledge levels to help in meeting the increasing calls for projects to deliver high quality outcomes. This means that successful project managers are those who execute their roles through strategic priorities. People exec ute tasks that form a project when clarity is provided on the mission and objective of the tasks allocated to them in the context of the realisation of the objectives of the entire project. Strategic awareness offers a complete tool kit that may lack in a project (Petty 2009, p.14). For instance, a project manager may recognise poor motivation as the main contributor to the failure of the work group members to meet deadlines for completion of their work. Through strategic awareness skills, the project managers or the leader would focus on the strategy of seeking ways of enhancing motivation through the deployment of other skills such as transactional and transformational leadership skills (Mike 2005). Resolving a problem that may derail the capacity to complete a project within the required times lines requires a project leader to deploy skills that aid in the creation of high performance work teams. This calls for the evaluation of situations in the project to determine the requisi te leadership skills to recall from the set of leadership skills possessed by a project manager. Hence, situational and contingency leadership skills are crucial in resolution of the problems experienced in projects. Evidence on the applicability of situational leadership skills in the resolution of the problems encountered in projects rests on the platforms of the changing leadership styles to suit the changing projects’ needs. Addressing the issue of situational dynamics, Pearce and Conger argue that there exists no single style of leadership, which would fit all situations since leadership is essentially grounded on the relevance of tasks requiring leadership (2003, p.105). Hence, successful project leaders are those who adapt their leadership styles and grow them to maturity depending on the situation under which they execute their project management functions. Apart from the consideration of the tasks in the formulation of the necessary leadership style, situational lead ership skills help project managers to consider the characteristics of people being led in the determination of an appropriate leadership style in an attempt to build high performance work teams. Leadership skills can help project manager to handle the challenge of creating high performance work teams in various ways. For instance, emotional intelligence skills enable them to create contexts that are fertile for the development of the work group members. In support of this assertion, Petty (2009) maintains, â€Å"high performance project managers work to ensure that their team members can connect the project and their contributions and organisational goals† (p.30). Success of such an effort requires the deployment of motivational leadership skills. Projects’ stakeholders work homogenously when they have a collective understanding of the relevance of the project. The applicability of leadership skills in helping to resolve the challenges encountered in projects akin to motivational problems are endorsed by the theories of workforce motivation, which maintain that people are productive in an organisation when they consider themselves useful, meaningful, and important to an organisation. Suggestions on how to gain Leadership Skills Upon consideration of the leadership needs that are critical in fostering successful completion of projects within the usual constraints of time and financial resource challenges, the traits leadership theory’s claims that leaders are not created, but are born. In fact, scholarly studies in leadership studies contend that certain skills, which make project managers successful in their work, can be learned. For instance, according to Pinto and Trailer (2005), winning the confidence of the people implementing a project can be achieved by an effort to cultivate credibility (p.23). Petty (2009) stated that project managers with exemplary leadership skills recognise that people follow directions if such directions emana te from the people they perceive to be credible and reliable. This means that leadership skills can be developed if project managers have the zeal and internal drive to develop leadership credibility through strategies such as treating people with optimal fairness, ensuring that they communicate openly, and focusing on resolving problems affecting people. Developing the skills of emotional intelligence requires leaders to curtail from engaging in any situations, which may truncate into questioning the integrity and the motivations of a given leader by followers. Interpersonal and intrapersonal communication skills are key success skills for project managers. After identification of various situations, which may impair the capacity of the work members to toil effectively, communication of the mechanisms of countering such situations is vital. Upon identification of requisite motivational strategies, communication is also important in aligning employees to the strategies. This claim s uggests that communication is an important skill that binds various leadership skills that enhance performance of employees in projects. The leadership skills of effective communication may be developed in a myriad of ways. Petty (2009) argues that communication skills can be developed by allowing people to know and understand that the project managers’ role is to enable them succeed (p.23). He further considers this role best realised when communication is done through actions and in words. In search of directions to meet the goals of the project, people would resort to meeting the leader for clarifications, guidance, and help. In this process, it becomes possible to articulate various issues that project managers consider necessary for alteration to facilitate the achievement of project’s goals and objectives. Application of different leadership skills, which suit different situations, requires leaders to analyse situations to determine when to communicate with asser tiveness and/or when to avoid over communication. When rapid changes are required in the project execution process, over communication is dangerous (Mike 2005, p.21). This means that determination of the appropriate leadership skills to apply in a given situation is determined by the projects’ strategy. Expertise is developed through learning and practice to gain experience. To gain leadership skills, coaching is necessary. Consequently, it is important for project managers seeking to gain leadership skills that are effective in project management to get aid and mentorship from persons having the skills that one wants to develop. The decision on the requisite skills to develop has to be based on the observation and analysis of the project environment needs such as the problems that derail the project from accomplishing its objectives. For instance, project tasks may be falling out of time due to lack of commitment of people in charge of implementing them. Consequently, the pr oject manager needs to develop leadership skills for workforce motivation. Such skills can be developed through the study of the existing benchmarks. Conclusion Projects are executed with the help of people who are mandated to carry out various tasks that constitute a project. While management skills are required by the project managers to ensure compliance with the set project execution procedures within fixed timelines and under limited resources, the involvement of people in the implementation of projects requires project managers to have good leadership skills. The evaluation of the necessary leadership skills in project management was considered in the paper from the theoretical paradigms of the trait leadership theories, contingency, situational, competency, and emotional intelligence theories. Each of these theories has its contribution in the generation of effective leadership skills for successful execution of projects. Thus, an integrated approach to the study of leadershi p skills that are necessary for development by project managers is important. Project managers need to be influencers, transformational, and transactional leaders who possess a high degree of emotional intelligence to aid them in determining various situations that require different leadership skills. References Alekseev, A 2010, Knowledge Management In Project-Based Organisations: The Success Criteria And Best Practice, Master Thesis, Chalmers University Of Technology, Northumbria. Atchison, T 2003, Followership: Practical Guide to Aligning Leaders and Followers, Health Administration Press, New York, NY. Bass, M Avolio, B 1993, Transformational leadership: A response to critiques. In M. M. Chemmers R. Ayman (Eds.), Leadership theory and research: Perspectives and directions (pp. 49-88), Academic Press, San Diego. Bass, M 1995, Leadership and Performance beyond Expectations, Free Press, New York. Benator, B Thumann, A 2006, Project Management Leadership Skills for Engineering Construction Projects, Fairmont Press, London. Conger, J1999, ‘Charismatic and transformational leadership in organisations: an insider’s perspective on these developing streams of research’, The Leadership Quarterly, vol.10 no.2, pp. 145-179. Cote, S, Lopes, P, Salovey, P Miners, C 2010, ‘Emotional intelligence and leadership emergence in small groups’, The leadership quarterly, vol. 21 no. 3, pp. 496-508. Daft, R 2005, The Leadership Experience, Southwestern, Toronto. Dulewicz, V 2003, ‘Leadership at the top: the need for emotional intelligence’, International Journal of Organisational Analysis, vol. 11 no. 3, pp. 193-210. Duncan, W 1996, A Guide To The Project Management Body Of Knowledge, Project Management Institute, Newtown Square. Dye, C 2010, Leadership in Healthcare: Essential Values and Skill, Health Administration Press, New York, NY. Goleman, D 1995, Emotional intelligence: why it can matter more than IQ for character health and lifelong achievement, Bantam Books, New York, NY. Goleman, D 1998, Working With Emotional Intelligence, Bantam Books, New York, NY. Haughey, D 2012, The project management body of knowledge (PMBOK), https://www.projectsmart.co.uk/pmbok.php. Higgs, M 2003, ‘Developments in leadership thinking’, Leadership and Organisational Development Journal, vol. 24 no. 5, pp. 273-284. Hoffman, J, Woehr, D, Maldagen-Youngjohn, R Lyons, B 2011, ‘Great man or great myth? A quantitative review of the relationship between individual differences and leader effectiveness’, Journal of Occupational and Organisational Psychology, vol. 84 no. 2, pp. 347-381. IEEE 2008, A Guide To The Project Management Body Of Knowledge, Project Management Institute, New York, NY. Kedharnath, U 2011, ‘The influence of leaders’ implicit followership theories on employee outcomes’, Organisational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes, vol. 7 no. 5, pp. 1-24. Kerr, B et al. 2006, ‘Emotional intelligence and leadership effectiveness’, Leadership and Organisation Development Journal, vol. 27 no. 6, pp. 65–79. Kjorstad, J 2010, ‘Featured Global Projects’, Infrastructure Journal, vol. 1 no. 2, pp. 1-80. Kouzes J 2007, The Leadership Challenge: How to Keep Getting Extraordinary Things Done in Organisations, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Leban, W Zulauf, C 2004, ‘Linking emotional intelligence abilities and transformational leadership styles’, Leadership and Organisation Development Journal, vol. 25 no. 3, pp. 554–564. Lewis, P 2007, ‘Fundamentals of Project Management’, Journal of Project Management, vol. 2 no. 1, pp. 128-130. Lowe, K, Kroeck, K 1996, ‘Effectiveness correlates of transformational and transactional leadership: a meta-analytic review’, Leadership Quarterly, vol. 7 no. 3, pp. 385-426. Lussier, R Achua, C 2004, Leadership Theory, Application, Skill Development. Minnesota, Southwestern. Mike, E 2005, ‘Impact of Project Leadership on User Participation and User Involvement’, Journal of Management Systems, vo. 17, no. 1, pp. 35-43. Mumford, V, Campion, A Morgeson, P 2007, ‘The leadership skills strataplex: Leadership skill requirements across organisational levels’, Leadership Quarterly, vol. 18 no. 7, pp. 154–166. Ng, K, Ang, S Chan, K 2008, ‘Personality and leader effectiveness: A moderated mediation model of leadership self-efficacy, job demands, and job autonomy’, Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 93 no. 4, pp. 733-743. Palmer, B et al. 2001, ‘Emotional intelligence and effective leadership’, Leadership and Organisation Development Journal, vol. 22 no. 2, pp. 5–10. Pearce, C Conger, J 2003, Shared leadership: Reframing the hows and whys of leadership, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA. Peretomode, V 2012, Theories of management: Implications for educational adminis tration, Justice Jeco Publishing Global, Benin City. Petty, A 2009, Leadership and the Project Managers: Developing Skills That Fuel High Performance, https://artpetty.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/ldrshipandprojmgrfinal.pdf. Pinto, J Trailer, J 2005, Leadership Skills for Project Managers, Project Management Institute Inc., New York, NY. Schaubroeck, J, Lam, S Cha, E 2007, ‘Embracing transformational leadership: Team values and the impact of leader behaviour on team performance’, Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 92 no. 4, pp. 1020-1030. Smith G 2009, ‘Project Leadership: Why Project Management Alone Doesn’t Work’, Hospital Materiel Management Quarterly, vol. 21 no. 1, pp. 71- 92. Tayler, J 2006, A Survival Guide for Project Management, Project Management Institute Inc., New York, NY. Thite, M 2000, ‘Leadership styles in information technology projects’, International Journal of Project Management, vol. 18 no. 4, pp. 235-241. Tolber t, L 2008, ‘Nine knowledge areas’, Journal of community academy, vol. 2 no. 2, pp. 56-59. Turner, J Mà ¼ller, R 2005, ‘The Project Manager’s Leadership Style as a Success Factor on Projects: A Literature Review’, Project Management Journal, vol. 7 no. 3, pp. 219-234. Turner, J Mà ¼ller, R 2006, Choosing Appropriate Project Managers: Matching Their Leadership Style to the Type of Project, Project Management Institute Inc., New York, NY. Zahidul, I, Sylvana, M, Hassan, A Sarwar, U 2011, ‘Organisational culture and knowledge sharing: Empirical evidence from service organisations’, African Journal of Business Management, vol. 5 no.14, pp. 5900-5909. This dissertation on The Effect of Leadership in Project Management was written and submitted by user Braden Olsen to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Free Essays on The Butterfly

Everyone has something that they value let it be achievement, beauty, justice, or wealth. The late Manly Hall once said that "a man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world" because without standing for anything or having any values a man is lost within himself, so how can he function properly in the world. In " The Butterfly" by James Hanley, value plays a key role in the backdrop of the plot. The two main characters in this short story have different values which is why a conflict arises between them. In the world today, many people have differences and society as a whole needs to start accepting the differences in people and learn from them. The main characters have no similarities in what they value while Brother Timothy values the religious faith, Cassidy values aesthetics. The way Brother Timothy puts his religious faith on such a high pedestal gives the reader the idea that he believes that "religion is the sole technique for the validating of values". Allen Tate, the author of this quotation, describes how strongly Brother Timothy feels about religion. In the very beginning of the story, the reader finds out that Brother Timothy obviously is a priest because as he " strode up and down the passage" his " cassock made a peculiar swishing noise" ( 1,1,1). Since this is so, the reader can infer that Brother Timothy dedicates his life to the Catholic church, and to do that it must be of great value to him. Beyond that, Brother Timothy also displays his value of religion when he tells Cassidy that because he misses mass that he has " no right to be happy or anything else" ( 2,13,1). The reader can infer from this quote that Brother Timothy believes so strongly about religion that he doesn’t even want Cassidy to be happy just because he m isses one day of mass. Finally, the reader can conclude that Brother Timothy values the religious faith because of the way he punishes Cassidy at the end of the story. S... Free Essays on The Butterfly Free Essays on The Butterfly Everyone has something that they value let it be achievement, beauty, justice, or wealth. The late Manly Hall once said that "a man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world" because without standing for anything or having any values a man is lost within himself, so how can he function properly in the world. In " The Butterfly" by James Hanley, value plays a key role in the backdrop of the plot. The two main characters in this short story have different values which is why a conflict arises between them. In the world today, many people have differences and society as a whole needs to start accepting the differences in people and learn from them. The main characters have no similarities in what they value while Brother Timothy values the religious faith, Cassidy values aesthetics. The way Brother Timothy puts his religious faith on such a high pedestal gives the reader the idea that he believes that "religion is the sole technique for the validating of values". Allen Tate, the author of this quotation, describes how strongly Brother Timothy feels about religion. In the very beginning of the story, the reader finds out that Brother Timothy obviously is a priest because as he " strode up and down the passage" his " cassock made a peculiar swishing noise" ( 1,1,1). Since this is so, the reader can infer that Brother Timothy dedicates his life to the Catholic church, and to do that it must be of great value to him. Beyond that, Brother Timothy also displays his value of religion when he tells Cassidy that because he misses mass that he has " no right to be happy or anything else" ( 2,13,1). The reader can infer from this quote that Brother Timothy believes so strongly about religion that he doesn’t even want Cassidy to be happy just because he m isses one day of mass. Finally, the reader can conclude that Brother Timothy values the religious faith because of the way he punishes Cassidy at the end of the story. S...

Strategic Hospitality Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Strategic Hospitality Management - Essay Example The year 2007 saw a major restructuring for the Accor group with regard to its hotel businesses. The Sofitel group which was classified under the up-market luxury category repositioned itself as a hotel with a French touch. This could be because Sofitel's origins were in France. (Pouillat and Chabrot). The concept now is that each hotel in the chain will be unique in design and architecture that will be suited to the region where it is run. Two sister brands will be introduced in 2009 namely, Sofitel Legend and So by Sofitel. During the years 2006 Sofitel sold one French hotel and six hotels in the USA to streamline its operations and to improve cash flow. The US hotels were sold off for 370 million USD. In 2007 two more hotels in the US were sold for 225 million USD to a GEM Realty Capital of which Accor was a joint venture partner. (Press Release: Accor Announces Sale and Management Back of Sofitel Hotels in New York and Philadelphia). Earlier that year, thirty Accor properties in UK were sold off for 11 million Euros. "Financially, the transaction will enable Accor to reduce its adjusted net debt by '584 million, of which '172 million will be added to the Group's cash reserves. It will have no impact on EBITDA but will add '7 million to 2007 profit before tax." (Press Release: Accor Sells 30 Hotel Properties in the United Kingdom for '711 Million and Signs a Development Partnership with Land Securities, p.1). These are just examples of the selling spree set about by Accor to decrease its net debt and for its major restructuring strategies for the whole group including Sofitel. Human resources challenge: The major restructuring done at Sofitel has created some challenges in the human resources department. Because the hotel chain has reinvented itself under a French image, the staff will now have to be trained or hired accordingly to suit the tastes of lovers of French cuisine and style. As mentioned earlier the new image will result in each hotel having its unique style and architecture, depending on its location and will be blended with its French image. This will create challenges for employees because of the lack standardization and uniformity across its hotels. As a result the group has revamped its strategies to be brand specific. This will entail in creation of a diversified training program that will fit the needs of each of its hotels. The detailed human resources plan was presented to the Geneva based European Works Council as a part of discussion and approval. In order to support these changes at Sofitel and also other strategic changes in the groups the Accor group had started and training school for its employees called the Accor Academy. Apart from general and on the job training, the groups also have three certification programs for its employees. The first one is a skills certification process which it has just introduced and plans to expand worldwide by the year 2010. The success of any organization depends on its top and middle level leadership. With a long term vision in mind the group has started a program called the "GM Pass personalized career development program to train future hotel general managers." (Intensified Training Initiatives. 2007). The third initiative is a advanced training program for managers and future managers with high potential so that they can be developed further. They also have t he potential to become part of the top management of the company later. There have been two key area of challenge for Sofitel and

The Doctrines of Pythagoras- Doing in Ovids The Metamorphoses Essay

The Doctrines of Pythagoras- Doing in Ovids The Metamorphoses - Essay Example Overall the stories and connected by idea of transformation, starting with the physical changes which created the world, and in the manner in which the gods, in their longing to disrupt with life on the continent, are persistently changing their own presence and form. However, the most famous changes in the book are those remarkable time when a living being is transformed into something else. Many of the stories of transformation are concerned with severe suffering. This grants to practically all them a naturally dramatic superiority because they irregularly focus on a vulnerable and objecting character suffering from godly or human vindictiveness. Further, the main characters are frequently innocent females, trailed by celestial or human rapists. In more simple terms, Metamorphoses is a catalogue of famous Greek and Roma stories, most which deal with violence, phenomenal transformation of appearance and suffering, organized in a loose series. Ovid’s style so frequently change s the relatively simple details of famous legend into convincing, extremely dramatic, and multifaceted tale (Due 12-30). Befitting Ovid’s continual poem, interest in the precise meaning of the Pythagoras’s speech in â€Å"Metamorphoses† 15 has proved to ever be unceasing. ... Since it appears in the final book, we can presume that it has some kind of programmatic function or, as is always is the case with Ovid, numerous functions. With regard to the preceding 14 books, Ovid incredibly regales to us with an enormous assortment of style and genres. Further, it is absolutely clear that this multiplicity as opposed to the analysis in terms of generic restraints, is the actual importance of the function of genre in the† Metamorphoses.† However, there has been the lack of philosophical disquisition until the last book. One of the many reasons, therefore, for Ovid’s insertion of this philosophical boastful bluster is merely to round out his whole virtuoso collection with, yet still, another magnificent piece (Mandelbaum 20-50). Secondly, the selection of Pythagoras was agreeable for that function and numerous others. At his time, Pythagoreanism represented a syncretistic assortment of the teachings of various philosophical schools, pseudo-scie ntific assumption, spirituality, and spiritual and religious dispensations. Accordingly, Ovid’s Pythagoras provides an diverse cause of mixture indebted to all types of philosophical teachings, including his own, Empedocles’, Heraclitus’s, and the Stoics’, alongside irregular insinuation, mostly for the purpose of counterargument, to Epicureans and Lucretius. The process finds its appropriate analogue in Ovid’s consideration of the material for the masterpiece â€Å"Metamorphoses†, which in the same way varies, not dogma, and inconsistency. For this case, Ovid’s poem is amid other things a collection of themes and styles. Meanwhile, Pythagoras speech is a collection of philosophers (Brunauer 40-50). Hardie thus argues that through the

Safety of Larry Essay Example for Free

Safety of Larry Essay Morton resolves to leave the potentially violent playground because he reasons that the other man is very unreasonable and that engaging this man in any further dialogue would yield nothing beneficial. The father also seeks to ensure the safety of Larry his son far from the haughty taunts of the troublesome Joe. After the second reading. What does the narrator know about the wifes thoughts and feelings that is important to understanding the ending? The story’s narrator is aware that the wife senses a debilitating feeling of defeat and inadequacy whenever she faces a situation whereby unreasonable behavior triumphs over sensible behavior. These sentiments make the wife to be unsatisfied with Morton’s act of submissively leaving the troublesome father and child. The wife thus thinks that her husband is inefficient in agitating for his rights. She thus repeats the derisive ‘You and who else? ’ statement that the arrogant man utters in the park. What do you think this incident means to the wife? To the wife, injustice is depicted as trampling over justice according to the events that transpire at the park. Moreover, her husband demonstrates that he is weak and defenseless through is action of choosing to ignore the other man’s taunts. What other things do you notice? After analyzing the actions of the various characters, I have noted that Morton is a sensible and refined man who would not get involved in a physical confrontation just for the sake of it. Rather, he depicts a mature personality that allows him to have adequate patience to put up with the unreasonable mean’s behavior. What questions do you still have? I am not sure whether Morton really avoids being involved in a physical tussle with the other man just because of the silliness of such an action or because he fears being physically hurt by the obviously bigger man. Conversely, the wife’s actions are not clear as to whether she treasures violence or harbors violent tendencies.

The Architecture Studio :: Personal Narrative Writing

The Architecture Studio All my life I had dreamed of this day. I had spent countless hours playing â€Å"architecture firm† and designing various buildings on my â€Å"Home Design 2000† program. Today was the commencement of the fall 2003 semester at State University’s College of Architecture, Planning, and Design (or CAPD for short). I stood in studio #323, affectionately known to architecture majors as the â€Å"Loft Studio.† I felt lucky to get the studio with the coolest layout and the most space, for it was well known that other classes were sure to envy this room. With the best view because of the huge picture window that spanned almost two stories, (the lower level along with the height from the loft) we were able to see the towering evergreen trees just outside the building, and had a great view of the sky (much to our dismay, we often saw the sunrise and sunset and the sunrise again all in the same day). As I lounged in my chair, feeling completely awkward but trying to look like I fit in, my eyes scanned the room full of eager faces that I would soon consider my classmates, and hopefully, friends. Right now though, each of them intimidated me. I couldn’t help but think they had all spend their entire lives preparing for the year, when all I had were dreams and ambition. Katrina Lewis was our professor, and each of us had heard rumors of how picky she was (â€Å"anal retentive† were the exact words, I believe). There were horror stories of her always giving the class busywork, and expecting total perfection, despite our lack of knowledge or experience. I pictured in my head a short spinster who wore horn-rimmed glasses and nothing but black pantsuits, but my eyes widened with surprise as she walked in the room. A tall, thin frame accompanied by short, stylish blonde hair took the place of my gray-haired visions. She couldn’t have been more than 30 years old, and she wore cute plastic-rimmed sunglasses (which, by the way, she wore every day of class†¦and never took them off). She called us over to the area where she taught, and we all grabbed chairs, being careful not to pop anybody’s bubble. She proceeded to lecture the entire three hours of class, while each of use struggled to keep our eyes open. I knew by the end of class that the rumors were true, and this would not be an easy first semester.

Should Juvenile Criminals Be Tried as Adults?

February 1, 2013 English 1250 Argument Essay Should Juveniles be tried as Adults? Juveniles are children who fall under the age of eighteen and have committed a crime. Since they are so young it plays a part in the decision of whether they will placed in a trail that an adult will be placed under or not. The age of the person who commits the crime is the reason why juvenile delinquency punishments are less harsh at times then if an adult would’ve committed the same crime. I feel that if a crime is harsh enough than a juvenile should be tried as an adult.Anyone who commits a crime and breaks the law should be held accountable no matter what the age is. We should all be responsible for our own actions. Many people wonder if trying a juvenile in the same way as an adult will turn out to be a better solution to stop crime. I believe if a child is made responsible for his or her actions she will think twice the next time before he or she reacts. People who commit crimes and then go unpunished for what they did are more than likely to commit another crime or duplicate the first crime they committed.If children think they can get away with their actions they will continue to do the same things over and over again. As a criminal justice major I think everyone should pay a price if they decide to break the law. There should be no special treatment no matter what age the defendant is. A crime is a crime no matter where you go or who you are. I know understand that some children who commit crimes a fairly young and people feel like they don’t have the mental ability to understand what they did because they are so young. Children are taught right from wrong from infancy.We guide our children their whole lives until adulthood. Children are more than capable of understanding right from wrong. The problem is we as parents defend our children because we don’t feel like they’re capable of understanding, when the truth is we are merely just handicappi ng our children. As parents don’t underestimate what your child is capable of. These kids need to know there are consequences for their actions. By us not punishing our children we are just letting them know its ok for them to continue in an unruly matter. We are also teaching them it’s ok and there will be no consequences.Parents need to prepare their children for the real world. I stand strong when I say it is the parent’s responsibility to teach their children, I couldn’t agree more. However, what happens when the parents have done all they can? You can bring your child up to the best of your ability and he or she may still go astray. This is why we can’t shield them from the light. Let them know for every action there’s a reaction. Educate on what could possibly happen if they commit a crime. By shielding these kids from reality we make it harder on them when they have to enter into society on their own.It’s imperative that as a p arent we do our jobs but this still doesn’t mean that that they will follow in our footsteps. People say a child can’t remember what he or she did. I totally disagree. I believe that if a child commits a crime and he has to suffer dire consequences will remember if the consequence is as harsh as the crime. I don’t think that kids are too young to remember what they did. I think that’s just an excuse. As we keep making excuses for these children they are tearing society apart with their violence.It shouldn’t matter the age if you commit an adult crime you should you pay just as an adult would. Get these kids off the streets so the kids who are trying to do something to better themselves can stand a chance. It’s ridiculous how kids get away with so much. Everyday it’s getting worse and the majority of crimes that are being committed are from juveniles but yet we continue to want to slap them on the wrist with something easy like a curfe w. That’s crazy! The law is the law and kids are no exception. They are no different from anybody else.If they choose to act in an adult manner then they should be treated as such. The law is not made to be broken. This is why we have rules and laws, they are to be followed and if they are broken then whoever has acted in this situation should pay. Now, in some cases I believe that you can be cut a break. Of course I believe in second chances but not just getting off simply because you’re a child. You should pay for your actions no matter the age. The law is not made to flex around your age. It’s simply made for the type of crime you commit. If you are old enough to act in a rationale matter then take the consequences.Just because a kid commits a crime doesn’t mean that it hasn’t been committed. It definitely doesn’t mean that the victim’s family didn’t suffer either. What about the victim’s family they suffer as well. I know that violent crimes receive the harshest punishment for adults but the same guidelines should be carried out for the juveniles as well. Trying them as adults will make them understand the consequences of their actions and second guess committing any future crimes. This may lower the crime rate in society and make us feel a lot safer in our own homes.This could stand as an example and others will learn from their mistakes. A lot of the times kids are following in another peers footsteps or just simply trying to fit in. no matter what the reason or situation is if a crime is committed then you should suffer the consequence. I think the juvenile should be subject to more severe sentencing, including the life sentence. If you take a life than yours should be shouldn’t be spared. I don’t believe that you should give a child the death sentence but they can definitely spend a life sentence in jail.What good will it do having them out on the streets to commit more crimes . I don’t think you should have the benefit of seeing daylight when you have chosen to take a life. You should suffer just as they are. You have no right to take the life of someone so why shouldn’t you pay for what you did. A lot of kids commit crimes simply because they know the punishment will be easy. Children have gotten away with so much these days they aren’t scared of the law anymore. Kids know when they get in trouble they will be detained for a few months or perhaps just a night.Maybe they will be on house arrest where they can still do what they want they just have to do it at their house. The juvenile system is too easy on kids these days. We have almost lost the battle when it comes to teens and crimes. This is why we need to try them harsher as adults so they will get the message we are trying to put out. You have to punish by crime and not age it’s the only way these kids will learn. In order for society to do better we have to be better at what we do. To allow one person one punishment and another person an alternative for the exact same crime is not fair and highly ridiculous.It destroys the structure of our society. Juveniles who commit murder should be tried in the same matter as an adult. We also need to keep in mind that kids will be more willing to that they know they won’t have consequences for. Let’s not forget the victims or the victim’s family members who suffer. They deserve justice as well. They have suffered a great lost. As a parent we never want to see our children go astray or perhaps follow the wrong footsteps but they choose to take on that responsibility when they decide to disobey.When they commit a crime they have to be punished and yes if the crime is harsh it should be as an adult. You make your bed hard you lay in it. Just as you make people suffer from your actions you should suffer from them as well. Children are old enough to know right from wrong. They can comprehend t hat it is against the law to commit a violent act against another person. I feel very strongly that in the United States juveniles with violent felonies should definitely be tried and treated as adults in the criminal justice system.