Saturday, October 31, 2009

Meles Ought to Resign with Dignity


Since coming to power in Ethiopia in the early nineties, Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia's Prime Minister, has done more harm than good to the people of the Horn of Africa. Meles Zenawi went to war with Eritrea over Badme and Zalambesa-two dusty towns located between the two nation's borders. Hundreds of thousands died on both sides by the time the war ended. Under Meles Zenawi political parties remain suppressed and supporters either exiled, killed, or given long-term torturous sentences in dirty dungeons manned by Tigreyans-his clansmen.

Meles Zenawi had armed conflict with the nation of Sudan during his tenure of power. Under Meles Zenawi Ethiopian army invaded neighboring Somalia with the pretext of fighting Islamists who took over power. After a humiliating defeat by the Islamists who fought guerilla-style street fights, the Ethiopian army suddenly left Somali soil altogether. Thousands of Ethiopian Army soldiers remain unaccounted for in Somalia's conflict as the dead remain concealed from the public for political reasons.

There are a score of liberation movements fighting for separation from Ethiopia. The Ogaden and the Oromo Liberation fronts are fighting devastating wars to overcome Ethiopian government's colonialist designs. In the altercation between the guerrilla armies and the Ethiopian armed force, innocent civilians are caught in the quagmires. The scarcity of food, medicine, shelter, and water adds to the miseries of the poor of Oromia and Ogadenia.

Grinding poverty coupled with a devastating drought that is sweeping all corners of Ethiopia is taking a heavy toll. There is much suffering in the entire country and the much-awaited election in 2010 will not alleviate the problems the country now faces. There is a feeling in the public the coming election will be rigged giving the ruling party the upper hand. Just as in the rest of Africa, Ethiopia's case is no exception. The best Meles Zenawi can do for his people is to resign with dignity to save his people and his country from further disintegration,

Kenya Must Eradicate Corruption to Flourish


The major factor hindering development in Kenya is the widespread corruption visible in every sector of the economy. Corruption is so prevalent in this East African nation such that it has become an eyesore that refuses to heal because government officials remain behind its proliferation. Transparency International regards Kenya to be in the top list of the most corrupt countries in the world. Kenya's Economic Freedom Index (EFI) is also at its lowest ebb. The Kenya Human Rights Commission and the Anti-Corruption arm have voiced concern at how corruption is eating away the vital fibers of the economy. Kenya's poorly paid police are at the forefront of spreading corruption.

The most eye-catching incident involved the arrest of traffic police officers caught in the act of receiving bribes from motorists. The men and women who took the oath of allegiance to the constitution to maintain law and order fell to the dragnet after being caught red handed soliciting bribes on major highways. Some of these officers were caught on tape and are now awaiting sentencing before a court of law.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Al-shabaab Bans Wearing of Bra

Recent developments in Somalia have been part amusing and part dehumanizing. Al-shabaab, Somalia's extremist group that evolved after the departure of the Ethiopian army has come up with a decree that is causing much harm to the women of Mogadishu. Any woman found to show a bust of flesh on her chest risks harassment, humiliation, and even whipping in public. While women accused of witchcraft in India risk being forcefully fed with human excrement or animal culae, those of Somalia suffer novel fatwas issued by zealots whose agendas remain a mystery.

The fatwas of Al-shabaab have become so agonizing that it is the residents of Mogadishu who mostly bear the brunt of every new decree. Recently, the extremist group ordered all women to wear a specially designed hijab available from select stores or else suffer the consequences. The stores where these types of veils are available are owned by Al-shabaab businessmen and obviously there is a brisk hijab business.

Often women find themselves stopped along alleyways, in the markets, in public transportation, even within the vicinity of their own premises by masked men serving as Al-shabaab's law enforcers. They find themselves humiliated in front of their brothers, children, fathers, and even husbands without just cause. The crimes Somali women commit today has nothing to do with felony or misdemeanor. It always has to do with mode of dress and nothing else.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Kenya: Time is Ripe to Bring Election Culprits to Book

The election fiasco that brought President Mwai Kibaki to power in 2007 remains one of the worst unsolved political injustices in Kenya's recent history. Despite the intervention of the international community, the final judgment is yet to come. The disgraceful election fraud that brought Mwai Kibaki to power saw the slaughter of 1000 innocent civilians-a vicious war instigated by big fishes currently in the Kenya cabinet. Surprisingly, these killers are unknowingly awaiting indictment by the International Court of Justice.

Revealing the names of those involved in the massacre of innocent civilians is like opening a can of worms. The man who will preside over the indictment of these criminals is Luis Moreno-Ocampo of the International Court of Justice. He is a man who played a great role in putting behind bars the generals who wrecked havoc in his native country of Argentina when that nation was held hostage by a pathetic military regime.

Obviously, it will be great news for Kenya and the rest of the world when the names of Kenya's killers are revealed and a sigh of relief for the relatives of those who suffered the unjustified and unsolved brutality and massacre. Just as the Killers of Sarajevo and Kigali have been apprehended with some behind bars and others awaiting trial, it is time the Kenya government brought to book the much anticipated killers on the loose. Since Luis Moreno-Ocampo is expected to be in Kenya next week, all eyes and ears will turn to how events unfold thereafter.

Criticism Advances a Nations Interests

Criticism is a healthy way of correcting things. In healthy democracies, there are people called critics. These people keep an eye on every single negative action of the government and its sectors. There are government critics, book critics, movie critics, corporate critics and so on. The reason these people are there is to put a cap on the wrongs being committed. Wrongs can mean election irregularities, embezzlement or emptying of state coffers, corruption of all kinds, bribery and other unethical and immoral acts that are a handicap to a nation's interests. The work of a critic is to uncover a wrong so it may be corrected before things get out of hand. But please remember, men like ex-president Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, General Mohamed Farah Aideed, and Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess were rebels instead.

One of Somalia's most critical opponent of the regime headed by Siyad Barre was the novelist Nurudin Farah who is regarded as one of the best novelist of our time. The junta gave him a hard time because of the wrongs he wanted corrected. The end result was his voluntary exile. Besides Nurudin many other critics of Somali origin became victims of the ruling junta. Some ended up getting extended jail terms. Somali academics who left three decades and over ago still remain in exile. It is nonsensical that someones life is put in danger because of having different views? Thus, it is important for our readers to differentiate who is a rebel and who is a critic.

The irony is that many African governments don't entertain criticisms and healthy debates. Adopting a watch and see policy while inhuman acts like massacres or genocide, corruption and theft, arbitrary arrests without valid reasons are committed in front of your eyes without saying a word is against human conscience. If you see a woman being raped without commenting then wait until your sister, your mother, your aunt or a female relative of yours becomes the next victim. Those who stand by the sidelines without raising a word while having a clear picture of the ills and gravity of crimes committed against innocent civilians has no iota of mercy and thus belongs to the dogs.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Managing Effectively while Inculcating Equality

All cruel people describe themselves as paragons of frankness-Tennessee Williams
We now learn from the scientific and biological fraternity that all humans are a product of X and Y chromosomes. Geneticists can now reveal to us that there are 35,000 genes in the human DNA and 3 billion chemical base pairs in the human DNA. This is a testament to human equality. Overemphasizing differences hides prejudices that are disgracefully inappropriate in context. Overemphasizing similarities is the best tool to attaining accomplishments in the workplace. The belief that “all men are created equal” should be the best applicable emphasis.

The first thing to have in a modern workplace is a balanced culture, if not code of regulations to be equally observed by all regardless of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, political affiliation or sex. Rules that call for tolerance and harmony in the workplace must be applied to ensure tranquility and serendipity. A good leader is the one who discourages negative behaviors like incivility and other detrimental actions that are appalling in perspective.

Self-reliance Criterion
Having close affinity to employees of like racial group sets a bad precedent as it is a harbinger for discrimination and favoritisms. Here is a parable of two managers: One would always speak in his native tongue to some select employees he/she shared cultural background with while the other discouraged speaking in his native mother tongue. The later is the kind of leader ripe for multicultural leadership. Organizations can discourage leaders not to rely solely on self-reliance criterion when making strategic decisions by acknowledging the cultural backgrounds of individuals and groups by first using the golden rule that states: “do unto others as they would have them do unto them.” It is equally important to empower the leader to learn contrasting cultures even though the implied cultures may disagree with one’s values. Leaders must instill social justice, harmony, and moral development and also have contact with different cultural groups so as to create a healthy atmosphere through a succession of cultural exchanges.

The Monitor Role

The monitor role has long appeared less interesting to many people because of their futile beliefs that it entailed keeping a watchful over other people’s daily activities or mode of operations. But to a leader or manager with modern thoughts and processes, it carries much weight in “maintaining high performance in both individuals and groups (Quinn, Faerman, Thompson, and McGrath, and St. Clair, 2006, p.113).”

The Mentor Role
The mentor and facilitator roles are the two most important key managerial leadership roles as they are tasked with establishing effective relationships. The mentor role, also called the concerned human role, is reflected in the science of caring and empathy where the manager is supposed to be thoughtful, selfless, and responsive and open to discussions and not shunning ideas, be friendly, openhearted, and reasonable. A mentor is a good listener who attracts new ideas, is appreciative, rewarding, and influences employee actions by motivating. Failure to observe the mentoring role leads to derailment, pseudo-transformational leadership, dictatorship, arrogance, and intolerance. Understanding self-worth opens the door for understanding others. Delegating effectively and developing employees is part of mentoring. In the real sense of the word, the remark “mentor” has its meaning rooted in Greek, which may mean trusted counselor, coach or guide and therefore derives its true meaning from The Odyssey, a poem written by Homer and addressed to Odysseus asking him to tutor his son Telemachus. Understanding the keys to effective delegation involves conscientiousness, influence, and answerability. Thus, the mentor role is about understanding self and others, communicating effectively, and developing employees.

The Facilitator Role
The Facilitator role rests on three important pillars namely: building teams, using participative decision making, and managing conflict-all part of the organizational improvement process. Furthermore, group work means having a commitment to a common goal or purpose, having a concrete sense of mutual responsibility, sharing information and having common communication structure, and setting clear roles and responsibilities that are equally interdependent in outlook. Roles are sets of expectations relevant to the individual and others in a given situation. With role clarity implying the absence of two demanding conditions notably role ambiguity and role conflict-role ambiguity entails interacting with others while role clarity leads to inconsistency or contradiction of information. Sending conflicting information is cause for role conflict. The facilitator role requires knowledge of the levels, sources, and stages of conflict. Differences in values, attitudes, beliefs, needs, or perceptions have been shown to cause conflicts.

Handling Communication Overloads
Ironically, the flow of information has transformed tremendously over the years and taken major leaps and bounds since the discovery of microchips and other technological advancements such as nanotechnology. Our capability to store and retrieve information through optical scanning and “data compression” and our ability to do research without resorting to the olden ways of searching through library shelves, is a clear testimony of how we have advanced “two steps forward” and “one step back” though we have heavy responsibilities of “taming the electronic tiger” as we advance towards new innovations and immeasurable outputs. Thus, it is imperative for today’s managers to grasp the importance of modern office keeping by observing the TRAF system-which connotes to mean Toss, Refer, Act, and File-a novel way of overseeing the predicted modern paperless office.

On the other hand, recurrent work interruptions and overloads caused by excessive messages such as telephone calls, voice mails, cell phones, Personal Digital Assistants or PDAs, faxes, the intranet and internet, and e-mails should not instill fear or cause alarm but rather create challenges and enhanced momentum if effective management is to be observed in the workplace. Today’s managers are emboldened by their fervent desire to exploit the universally accepted sets of procedures known by the acronym OABC which stands for Opening, Agenda, Body, and Closing-four valuable tools for deciphering written messages regardless of whether they are in the form of a memo, circular or other regular correspondences. Likewise, face-to-face meetings are as essential as other forms of communication and should not be taken off the table. Teleconferencing, a contemporary hi-tech inclusion invented as result of human necessity, has been found to be in conformity with the international superhighway. Monitoring demands analyzing core processes, monitoring the value chain and output like judgments and opinions given, resources allocated, decisions made, mistakes detected, products planned, commitments negotiated, and courses taught.

The Myers-Briggs Type Inventory
The Myers-Briggs Type Inventory which is based on Carl Jung’s works highlights the five-factor model or basic tendencies with each factor named for one of two ends of a continuum namely neuroticism, extraversion, open to new experiences, agreeableness and conscientiousness. Agreeableness and extraversion are interrelated in that with no explicit leadership, the one who emerges with extraversion, agreeableness, and emotionality emerges the informal leader.

Johari Window
Named after Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham, the Johari window is another exemplary framework that helps increase one’s self-awareness. The Johari window is divided into four compartments namely: open, blind, hidden, and unknown. Hidden inconsistencies and hypocrisies including hiding, rebuffing, and evading learning about themselves, has been found to be a common attribute of many people. Sadly though, popular television shows, movies, and books are acted in such a way that the end results, because of concealment of true feelings or lack of self-awareness, characters may end up skeptical or tolerant.


Effective Interpersonal Communication

With acute logjam to effective interpersonal communication evolving as a result of inarticulateness, hidden agendas, status meant to impress and not offend, hostility due to lack of trust, and differences in communication styles, Chris Argyris of the Harvard Business School implemented what became known as “the left-hand column issues” which implies “what is thought” and “the right-hand column” in reference to “what is said” so that “discussables” can be differentiated from “undiscussables”.
The golden saying, “nature has given men one tongue but two ears that we may hear from others twice as much as we speak”, as noted by the Stoic philosopher Epictetus, is a superior contemplation in the real sense which requires that we understand what is being said by others. The use of reflective listening helps us understand what others are saying and instills empathy in our inner souls.

Understanding Conflict Resolution
Understanding conflict resolution in the intrapersonal and interorganizational levels could be an added advantage. Avoiding approaches, accommodating approaches, competing approaches, compromising approaches, and collaborating approaches are some of the dimensions used in conflict management strategies. However, there are advantages and disadvantages of conflict management approaches. Also, as research has shown, allowing some degree of conflict could propel new ideas, innovation, and change. Conflicts can be stimulated and agreements managed by introducing guidelines for advocacy groups.

Team Building Strategies
There are informal approaches to team building and barriers to team building. Team building is an ongoing process and not an event. One approach to team building is for the team members to understand each other and have the willingness to observe each other consistently so as to generate substantial results. Social interaction among members like sharing a meal after work, holding annual holiday celebrations, and other important events opens a plethora of opportunities and other out of the ordinary accomplishments. Ironically, barriers to team building resurface due to not having the knowledge or experience of team building. One major factor that hinders team building is the lack of planning and coordination. Creating incentives to reward employees with exceptional performance emboldens employee resolve and attitude, increases social and economic standings, and lowers tardiness and the impervious “free will” attitude. Autocratic, consultative, and group decision making are some of the strategies used to define who should participate and when.

Effective Meeting Management
Meetings may be horrifying and end in disasters because of poor facilitation or they may be well managed, heartening, and all-inclusive. Understanding the rules of effective meeting management, coming up with the required tools, and setting the stage with certain objectives in mind is a prerequisite for modern management. Understanding the meeting objective, creating appropriate participation, selecting the time and place of the session, and preparing and distributing the agenda in advance is a requirement if pitfalls are to be avoided. However, running the meeting with sets of priorities in mind is a good way of giving the attendants a new lease of life. For a meeting to be professional it is essential to have someone take the minutes; the leader should review the agenda; make certain participants know each other; do not diverge from the agenda; ease interruptions; promote overall membership; and bring to a close the meeting by reviewing decisions reached.

Understanding Four Dimensions of Leadership
Influencing others depends on having a concrete understanding of the values, assumptions, beliefs, and expectations (VABEs) of the people involved. Having the feeling that it is a God-given responsibility to change how others feel and believe leads to underestimation of those under your command. Those endowed with authority should grasp the benefits of morality, ethics, legality, and cultural context. Individually determining what’s right and wrong is known as morality; ethics is a body of knowledge and established and conventional guiding principles of conduct created for groups of people or organizations; legality implies acting upon the established laws of humanity; while cultural context refers to observing the cultural values of others in the workplace. In public and professional conduct it is best to apply ethics and in private and for personal values wrap yourself around the garb of morality. When dealing with those under your authority, always keep in mind that what goes around comes around. It was Charles Grodin who once said, “It always surprises me that otherwise intelligent people don’t realize that if you treat people badly, it will eventually come back to you”. To give you an example of what goes around comes around, it is worth looking back what history has to tell us. “In the year 260 C.E., the Roman Emperor Valerian fell captive to Sasanid forces. He spent his last years at the Sassanid court in Ctesiphon, where his captors forced him to stoop and serve as a mounting stool when the Sasanid king wanted to ride his horse. (After his death, the Sasanids preserved Valerian’s skin as a memento of their victory over the Romans), (Jerry H. Bentley and Herbert F. Ziegler ). One’s leadership qualities should not be repugnant to justice and to the subjects providing essential services or else there could be serious ramifications resulting in the dissolution of the entire enterprise. For example, a medial law stated that “if two persons fell under suspicion of crime, the uglier or more deformed was to be regarded as more probably guilty” (Wilson and Hernstein, 1985).

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Fifty-two Years Later


After bitter struggles with the manipulative and intoxicating political, social, and economic concoctions spread and sprinkled over Africa by the callous forces of imperialism and colonialism, Ghana and Libya proclaimed independence in 1957 from Britain and Italy respectively. Thereafter, a succession of African colonies felt a sigh of relief after being released from the shackles of bondage and indignity. The major European powers responsible for Africa's demise included Britain, France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and Portugal who collectively depopulated Africa's human population and also emptied its natural resources. Upon vacating the disastrously misused continent, the European powers embarked on a new form of mental subjugation that continue to bite the poor continent to the core to this very day. The harrowing legacies of imperialism and colonialism and the misguided principles espoused by Africa's apprentice leaders culminated in the creation of utterly misguided leadership qualities that ultimately displaced the authority and institutions known inherent in Africa since time immemorial. The aftermath saw the mighty continent plunge into protracted corruption spearheaded by kleptomaniacs, dictators, and outrageous kings.

Historically, emerging empires or classical societies copied nations that preceded them in mode of governance, in specialization of labor, in agriculture, and in techniques related to better trade and commerce. They did so so they could apply and inculcate new governing styles that would be acceptable to those under their domains. "The greatest asset of any nation is the spirit of its people, and the greatest danger that can menace any nation is the breakdown of that spirit" (George B. Courtelyou). Alas, not a single African leader went a step ahead of his comrades to try to emulate European governing styles. On the contrary, the continent underwent drastic changes with the creation of 'presidents-for-life' who ruled until the pangs of death caught up with them as was the case of Omar Bongo of Gabon, Hastings Kamuzu Banda of Malawi, and Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire to mention but a few. The absence of constitutional compromises, the denial of the minority to have a voice in the government, unbalanced land distribution, and failure to create political and economic development impede Africa's solidarity with the rest of the international community.

While African leaders fight each other to death over flimsy election irregularities in this 21st century, in 509 B.C.E., the Roman Republic witnessed similar political altercations between the ruling Patricians and the common people who were known as Plebeians. Amazingly, the Patricians granted Plebeians the right to elect officials who were known as tribunes. Why can't African leaders learn to compromise by borrowing a leaf from history? The principle that defendants remain innocent until proven guilty has been copied from the Twelve Tables promulgated by the Romans in the era known as Pax Romana ("Roman peace") corresponding to the time of Augustus.

Africa is lacking philosophers to guide it to its right course. What's good for Africa is good for its people, and what's good for the people is good for Africa. "It may be argued that peoples for whom philosophers legislate are always prosperous"-Aristotle. Perhaps, the greatest danger to Africa today is the combination of poor leadership and massive brain drain.

Somalia: Nothing to Celebrate on the 21st of October

Somalia gained independence in 1960 after the former colonies known respectively as British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland united on the 1st of July of that same year to form a single homogeneous nation. The northern part of Somalia was formerly known as British Somaliland and the southern part of the country was referred to as Italian Somaliland. But please remember, no borders existed in the African continent before the European powers divided Africa among themselves.

After the assassination of President Abdirashid Ali Shermarke at Las Anod airstrip, Major General Mohamed Siyad Barre engineered a coup that brought him to power on the 21st of October, 1969 until the breakout of hostilities in 1991 when he was deposed by the United Somali Congress (USC) headed by General Mohamed Farah Aideed. Under Siyad Barre Somalia progressed militarily and many sectors of the economy saw tremendous growth despite bad politics tarnishing the regime's image.

Thus, the 21st of October was a major holiday during the tenure of Siyad as president of the Somali republic. Besides the two Islamic festivities of Eid-ul-fitr and Eid-ul-adha, Somalis have forgotten national celebrations altogether.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Somali Government: Don't Give Asyllum to Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys

Somalia's mass murderer, warlord, and extremist Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys is almost to surrender to the Somali government after a contingent of his militia surrendered to officers stationed at Villa Somalia, Somalia's Presidential Palace.

It all started after the forces of the Sheikh exchanged bitter gunfire with the forces of Al-shabab in the port city of Kismayu located in southern Somalia. Reports from Mogadishu indicate that the Sheikh is in constant contact with some of his clan members currently in the Somali cabinet of ministers so as to be given asyllum.

It is my strongest desire to see the sheikh extradited to the Hague, in the Netherlands, in order to face charges of genocide, rape, and mass murder of innocent Somalis before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Sunday, October 11, 2009

MEASURING PERFORMANCE AND QUALITY


In the past two decades, little did institutions or organizations care about measuring performance and equality until the skyrocketing of technological innovations that saw human beings come up with diverse, state-of-the-art, and reliable measures to counter the threat of work related underperformances and general disproportions. Since every institution, corporation or organization was scrambling for a solution to overcoming huddles in the workplace, researchers in the fields of work management were busy devising plans to stabilize inconsistencies and other hard to crack issues that caused handicaps in the workplace. Looking at a patient’s visit to a medical institution, we find that doctors take some of the most essential measures to bring to light the patient’s overall medical condition like blood pressure monitoring, blood sugar levels, urinalysis, and gynecological procedures to assess pregnancy and also reveal other biological defects in the making before jumping on any sort of prognosis. Likewise, it is equally important for organizations to apply measures that will enforce a healthy environment and a productive workforce not only for the present but for posterity.

Dozens of books have been written on issues pertaining to measuring performance and quality. One such book is John Elkington’s Cannibal with Forks: the Triple Bottom Line of the 21st Century (Norman and McDonald, 2004). Those who support triple bottom line would like financial performance, social/ethical performance, and environmental performance to be on the same road in order to achieve organizational success. Another important book that has captured the hearts and minds of business magnates is the bestseller In Search of Excellence by Peters and Waterman (1982). The authors base their research on top major U.S. corporations of the 1980s that outperformed other business corporations while ripping long-term profitability and continuing innovation. They found eight common themes that attributed to the growth and success of the chosen corporations as outlined below:
1. A bias for action, active decision making - 'getting on with it'.
2. Close to the customer - learning from the people served by the business.
3. Autonomy and entrepreneurship - fostering innovation and nurturing 'champions'.
4. Productivity through people- treating rank and file employees as a source of quality.
5. Hands-on, value-driven - management philosophy that guides everyday practice - management showing its commitment.
6. Stick to the knitting - stay with the business that you know.
7. Simple form, lean staff - some of the best companies have minimal HQ staff.
8. Simultaneous loose-tight properties - autonomy in shop-floor activities plus centralized values. [1]

“The last two decades have been marked by the rise of performance-related considerations and a focus on increased efficiency in western societies. Initially these changes seemed not to affect public sector employment. The traditional conception of public sector employment where organizational performance was equated with efficacy (organizational goals were achieved steadily) rather than efficiency (organizational goals were cost effective) theoretically enabled the application of democratic values of meritocracy and social equality.” [2]

The authors whose works I read discussed and devised several factors for measuring performance and quality by having a breakdown of the deciding factors that include:
1. What is right versus what is easy; this pertains to measuring what is easy to measure rather than what is important to measure.
2. Developing a hierarchy of measures; here the authors take a leaf from Walsh’s (2005) comprehensive set indicators that measure progress and achievement by outlining a measurement hierarchy.
3. Tailoring measures to the organization and its mission; they use the balanced scoreboard approach (Kaplan and Norton, 1992) to base their arguments.
“The Balanced Scorecard provides a framework for developing a strategy map for an organization. First, the strategic objectives are organized into four categories:
1. Financial – strategy for growth, profitability, and risk from the shareholder’s point of view.
2. Customer – strategy for creating value and differentiation from the customer’s point of view.
3. Internal business process - strategic priorities for various business processes that create customer and shareholder satisfaction.
4. Learning and growth - priorities that create a climate that supports organizational change, innovation, and growth. The foundation for the strategy.”

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Search_of_Excellence

[2] Journal article by Rita Mano-Negrin; International Journal of Public Administration, Vol. 26, 2003

[3] Kaplan, R. S. and D. P. Norton. 2001. Transforming the balanced scorecard from performance measurement to strategic management: Part I. Accounting Horizons (March): 87-104.

The Homeless Warlord Sheikh

Somalia's once powerful warlord, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, is now a bitter man and a homeless vagabond. Evey night, in the midst of dark ramshackle Mogadishu,the sheikh begs for shelter from various international organizations including television news outlets. Having fallen off with Al-Shabab, southern Somalia's most powerful extremist organization, the sheikh hardly sleeps every night because he fears Al-Shabab may catch him unawares. For now the sheikh has nothing else to fear but fear itself. And going by the old adage, "a coward dies many times before his real death", those pursuing the sheikh should not give much thought because his conscience tells him he is already a dead man.

I don't understand why every communist-trained religious zealot aspires to lead so as to mislead through the use of infected mental faculties. It is idiotic and out of context for someone to support the likes of Al-Shabab and Xizbul Islam who, even when given the reigns of power will ultimately end up stealing state coffers, annihilate multitudes of innocent civilians, and finally leave everything overturned and irremediably beyond repair.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Somalia: Killings that never end


Even after almost twenty years searching for peace for volatile Somalia, extremists continue to amputate limbs in the absence of a unified central government. Shockingly, in southern Somalia, Al-Shabab and Xizbul-Islam are out to finish each other. Hardly a day passes by without gruesome incidents and deadly altercations. Moreover, the men who are holding the banner of war regard themselves as pious Muslims fighting for a just cause yet those caught in the quagmire are unarmed women, children, and the elderly who, besides the bloodshed, suffer the pangs of hunger. Peace, in the real sense, has dissipated from entire southern Somalia.

The government of Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has its hands tied because it is not getting the necessary attention and assistance from the international community. On the other hand, foreign fighters continue to wreck havoc on peace loving innocent Somali civilians. Because these foreign fighters or jihadists are in Somalia at the invitation of Somali extremists, they have no other option but to defend their very existence as they have no homes to return.

I think the bloodshed in Somalia can only be stopped by Somalis themselves with the assistance of the international community. Since all reconciliation efforts have been exhausted, the world must fully arm a reliable party in order to rout the rest who refuse to tow the line.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Sorry for the inconveniences

The author of this blog wishes to apologize to his esteemed readers for the duration the blog remained inactive. However, all is well and rest assured we'll swing into action with more stuff coming soon by the grace of God. Once again, sorry for the inactivity.

The Horrors of Female Genital Mutilation

  By Adan Makina August 5, 2010 * This article contains graphic pictures illustrating the horrors of Female Genital Mutilation. Viewer d...