Leadership is Essential to the DevelopmentEthical Decision Making

Question: Is leadership Essential to the Development of Ethical Decision making in Modern Organisations? Answer: Introduction The role of a leader is to guide their subordinates not only in terms of acquiring the business knowledge but also help them to develop their knowledge and skills both for professionally and personally. However, leader follow four basic decision-making styles- commanding style, collaborative styles, consensus decision making style and convenience style (Ferrell and Fraedrich 2015). Apart from the decision making, an effective leader also pays a crucial role as a communicator, strategic thinker, team-builder and image builder for an organization. However, Thiel et al. (2012) argues that ethical thinking of a person allows them to work ethically in every aspect of their work and these people have the potential to be an ethical leader. In this assessment the role of leadership in developing ethical decision making in contemporary organizations will be illustrated. Discussion Ford and Richardson (2013) portrays that in terms of accomplishing programs, policies and decisions for the business in a standard and correct way, formulation of code of ethics is necessary. It is the liability of the leader to develop an ethical organizational culture. Some ethical aspects in a workplace are- leadership ethics, employee ethics and ethical organizational culture. Kuntz et al. (2013) stated that all these aspects have to be considered in an organization by a leader. However, these aspects depend on the characteristics of the leaders. Cianci et al. (2014) depicts that an ethical leader make ethics as a first priority of their agendas and they set standard and hold every subordinate accountable for following those standards. In addition to that, Ford and Richardson (2013) affirms by stating that these leaders work ethically and do hard work through recruiting, training, and performance management systems by following all the code of ethics so that efficient and ethical people can be selected, who can follow their business objectives. Craft (2013) on the other hand argues that having top-level managers and supervisory level managing authorities in the contemporary organization have a positive impact for flourishing the lower-level ethical leaders; however, the major problems is in the attitude of the mid-level managers as these people often associated with unethical working approaches. Thus, managing authorities are responsible for regular communication with these mid level managers and evaluate their performance and guiding styles so that problems in their approach can be evaluated and diminished Crossan et al. (2013).Moreover, managing authorities or leaders of an organization have to consider four aspects for taking effective decision making. These managers have to judge between ethical and legal situation, ethical but illegal situation, unethical but legal situations, unethical and illegal situation (Phipps 2012). Image 1: Situational Ethical Dilemmas in Contemporary Organization (Source: Phipps 2012) Hartman et al. (2014) mentioned that the traits of ethical consideration in an individual came from their environment in which they belong but on the other hand, Craft (2013) argue by depicting that with proper training and evidences of ethical procedure, sense of ethics can be developed. These training allow a person to get aware about the business areas of anti-bribery and corruption, data protection, economic sanctions, anti-money laundering, market misconduct, fraud and collusion. However, Johnson (2013) expostulate the above perception by stating that leader may gain knowledge on ethical business decision but traits of treating everyone equally and ethically cannot be taught by training. Taken for instance, in context of an organization named Enron, two leaders Enron's Jeff Skilling and Kenneth Lay were found guilty for the bankruptcy of the entire organization. The major reasons for the insolvency of the company are due to accounting frauds, inappropriate corporate culture, imp roper trade practices and especially the unethical business approaches (BBC News 2002). In the accounting frauds, actual revenues were shown more by couple of billion than the actual balance sheet (BBC News 2002). Even the partnerships formulated in their annual report are unreal and are done for hide huge debt and heavy losses in their utility trading business (BBC News 2002). On the other hand, one of the most effective and ethical leaders in todays contemporary world is Tony HseihofZappos.com, who follows the ethics of equality in their workplace.He uses the same cubicle as other employees. The major thing that this leader follows is making their employees happy and develops an informal business culture within the workplace (Kopelman et al. 2012). The ethical consideration that Tony Hseihmaintains is to celebrate each persons individuality apart from their working capabilities and competencies by following all the organizational and governing legislations regarding the online business. Zappos.com utilizes the concept of recycling and reusing things for their packaging materials as a part of their going green initiatives. This leader also encourages their employee to take noble steps to helping people in the community. In addition to that, in recent times, the example of unethical proceedings example can be illustrated from Donald Trumps leadership style. The concerned leader of the United States not only generates an immigration ban on the entry of Muslims in their nation but also accept emoluments from many foreign ministers against the legislation of Article I, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution (D'Antonio 2015). These activities are the evidence regarding the corruption of the President's loyalty to the U.S. It is also apparent that followers follow the leaders approaches and hence a leader has to be ethical regarding their business activities. In this case, banning some facilities for some individuals based on their cultural differences is not legal as well as ethical. Donald Trump follows authoritative leadership styles and considered his principles are right and everyone must adhere to his principles; whereas leaders in contemporary world should follow situational leadership styles (Sung 2014). Thus, a leader take decision depending on the demand of the situation by following basic ethics like not harming any subordinates and all the legislation governing their business procedures. In contemporary organizations there are some ethical dilemmas that a leader has to consider- accomplishing organizational values and objectives, maintaining individuals emotion and diminishing internal conflicts (Eisenbeiss 2012). Bello (2012) furthermore highlight that contemporary managing authorities also emphasizes on the corporate social responsibility as a part of ethical business procedure. Phipps (2012) argues that organization consider this fact in order to attain competitive advantage compared to other organization whereas in reality there are very less organization that follows an ethical procedure. Craft (2013) highlighted that maintain trust, integrity, effective interpersonal relation and transparency are the key elements of ethical decision making approach. Mangers in recent times make their subordinates understand the rules and principles for right and wrong conduct so that their business growth can be ensured. Jackson et al. (2013) also explains that an effective lea der encourages their subordinates for assessing three major points- act of an individual, procedure for structuring of an organization and approaches for structuring the society. These attitudes among the leaders can be developed through models like- utilitarian model, moral right model and justice model (Hassan et al. 2013). In utilitarian model, the managers emphasizes on making ethical decisions for a happy employees and outcome of a business procedure; whereas in moral right model, leader protects and respects individual liberties and privileges. Lastly, there are some managing authorities in recent times, which impose and enforce rules impartially and fairly for effective business procedures. Thus, leadership plays a crucial role in making employees understand the benefits of following best and ethical approach within their workplace. These leaders focus on formulating a code of ethics in order to overcome the dilemmas in decision-making. Kligyte et al. (2013) also mentioned th at these leaders communicate those codes of ethics regularly with their subordinates regarding its implementation in their decision. In addition to that, these ethical leaders punish an employee for breaching these codes of ethics so they can be an ideal example for everyone. Taken for instance, other ethical consideration that should be followed by the leader is the concept of equal pay and abolishing discrimination within the workplace. Thus, if an employee is witnessed to harass other employees based on their gender, race, ethnicity, culture and traditional differences, the leader of the organization must take appropriate steps for overcoming the conflicting situation. Kuntz et al. (2013) also stated that these leaders should punish the employee according to both the organizational and legal legislation so that victims can get proper justice. In Singapore, there are legal working principles for adopting fair employment practices like recruitment based on merits, fair and respectful behaviors with colleagues, provision of equal opportunity, training and development along with the opportunities, rewarding eligibl e employees and abiding Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices and all the labor laws based on The Employment Act (Cap. 91) (Fair employment practices 2017). Resick et al. (2013) compared these legislation with that of the Australia that the latter country have legislation on every ethical right of the organization in every aspects like Fair Work Act 2009, Sex Discrimination Act, Racial Discrimination Act and Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999 (Cth) (Fairwork.gov.au 2017). These separate legislation also denotes that Australian leader considered the ethics of their residing people effectively in all possible direction so that they can get proper justice. In addition to that every organizational leader also abides these rules for treating their employee fairly. Morales-Snchez and Cabello-Medina (2013) on the other hand analyses that managers must provide a good role model by being honest and ethical all the times, maintain transparency not only in terms of business regulations but also in their communication, celebrating failure by admitting the faults and shows ways for overcoming those failures, develops ethical symbols, stories and slogans for sharing ethical values in the workplace, motivate people for proceeding ethical approaches and lastly protecting people, who raise unethical issues in public but make them understand with proper example regarding the consequence of those unethical approaches and highlights the positive impact of the alternative ethical procedures. All these aspects make the subordinates realize that their leaders are effective and they should adhere their ways to attain success in the future. Resick et al. (2013) highlight that following these procedures allows an organization to get success in their business terms and maintaining good brand recognition in the community. It is also evident that subordinate employees can sense of satisfaction and happiness by working in an ethical environment and this allows them to adopt ethical motive for their decision making ability. In this way, it can be said that a leader plays a very crucial role not only for taking ethical decision making themselves but also guide other to take ethical decisions. Ford and Richardson (2013) on the other hand summarize the effective procedure for the role of the leader in decision making that is ethical and effective. Image 2: Process for Ethical Decision Making Adopted by Leaders (Source: Created by Author) These leaders follow the first step of recognizing the need for taking a decision based on a situation. The second step that they emphasize is the framing of the problem on which decision have to be taken; while the third step is to generate and assess alternative decisions that is appropriate for the considered situation (Yidong and Xinxin 2013). The fourth step is choosing the best suitable and ethical decision among the all listed alternatives and then implements the decision, which is the fifth step. The sixth and the final step are to evaluate the outcome of the decision by taking feedback from the employees. In this way, not only the managerial decision is considered but the employees also get a chance to participate in the decision making procedure, which on the other hand signifies the ethics of equality among the members of the organization (Shin 2012). Conclusion Thus, from the discussion it can be concluded that leadership plays an essential role to the development of ethical decision making in modern organizations. The primary reason behind this is followers adopt the procedure followed by their leaders and hence the leaders have to take every decision ethically. It is also concluded that this ethics can be measured in terms of following legal obligations and organizational regulations. Providing equal chances to every subordinate based on skills and competencies and not on favoritism and guide the employees to follow such actions ensures the business growth. Thus, these aspects can only be fulfilled if the leader of the organization makes ethical decision making. References: BBC News | Business | Enron scandal at-a-glance., 2002. [online] News.bbc.co.uk. Available at: https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/1780075.stm [Accessed 23 Feb. 2017]. Bello, S.M., 2012. Impact of ethical leadership on employee job performance.International Journal of Business and Social Science,3(11). Cianci, A.M., Hannah, S.T., Roberts, R.P. and Tsakumis, G.T., 2014. The effects of authentic leadership on followers' ethical decision-making in the face of temptation: An experimental study.The Leadership Quarterly,25(3), pp.581-594. Craft, J.L., 2013. A review of the empirical ethical decision-making literature: 20042011.Journal of Business Ethics,117(2), pp.221-259. Crossan, M., Mazutis, D. and Seijts, G., 2013. In search of virtue: The role of virtues, values and character strengths in ethical decision making.Journal of Business Ethics,113(4), pp.567-581. D'Antonio, M., 2015.Never Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success. Macmillan. Eisenbeiss, S.A., 2012. Re-thinking ethical leadership: An interdisciplinary integrative approach.The Leadership Quarterly,23(5), pp.791-808. Fair employment practices., 2017. [online] Ministry of Manpower Singapore. Available at: https://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practices/good-work-practices/fair-employment-practices [Accessed 23 Feb. 2017]. Fairwork.gov.au., 2017, Welcome to the Fair Work Ombudsman website. [online] Fair Work Ombudsman. Available at: https://www.fairwork.gov.au/about-us/legislation [Accessed 23 Feb. 2017]. Ferrell, O.C. and Fraedrich, J., 2015.Business ethics: Ethical decision making cases. Nelson Education. Ford, R.C. and Richardson, W.D., 2013. Ethical decision making: A review of the empirical literature. InCitation classics from the Journal of Business Ethics(pp. 19-44). Springer Netherlands. Hartman, L.P., DesJardins, J.R., MacDonald, C. and Hartman, L.P., 2014.Business ethics: Decision making for personal integrity and social responsibility. New York: McGraw-Hill. Hassan, S., Mahsud, R., Yukl, G. and Prussia, G.E., 2013. Ethical and empowering leadership and leader effectiveness.Journal of Managerial Psychology,28(2), pp.133-146. Jackson, R.W., Wood, C.M. and Zboja, J.J., 2013. The dissolution of ethical decision-making in organizations: A comprehensive review and model.Journal of Business Ethics,116(2), pp.233-250. Johnson, C.E., 2013.Meeting the ethical challenges of leadership: Casting light or shadow. Sage Publications. Kligyte, V., Connelly, S., Thiel, C. and Devenport, L., 2013. The influence of anger, fear, and emotion regulation on ethical decision making.Human Performance,26(4), pp.297-326. Kopelman, R.E., Chiou, A.Y., Lipani, L.J. and Zhu, Z., 2012. Interpreting the success of Zappos. com, Four Seasons, and Nordstrom: Customer centricity is but one?third of the job.Global Business and Organizational Excellence,31(5), pp.20-35. Kuntz, J.R.C., Kuntz, J.R., Elenkov, D. and Nabirukhina, A., 2013. Characterizing ethical cases: A cross-cultural investigation of individual differences, organisational climate, and leadership on ethical decision-making.Journal of Business Ethics,113(2), pp.317-331. Morales-Snchez, R. and Cabello-Medina, C., 2013. The role of four universal moral competencies in ethical decision-making.Journal of Business Ethics,116(4), pp.717-734. Phipps, K.A., 2012. Spirituality and strategic leadership: The influence of spiritual beliefs on strategic decision making.Journal of business ethics,106(2), pp.177-189. Resick, C.J., Hargis, M.B., Shao, P. and Dust, S.B., 2013. Ethical leadership, moral equity judgments, and discretionary workplace behavior.Human Relations,66(7), pp.951-972. Shin, Y., 2012. CEO ethical leadership, ethical climate, climate strength, and collective organizational citizenship behavior.Journal of Business Ethics,108(3), pp.299-312. Sung, C.C.M., 2014. Media representations of gender and leadership: From a discourse perspective.Brno studies in English,39(1). Thiel, C.E., Bagdasarov, Z., Harkrider, L., Johnson, J.F. and Mumford, M.D., 2012. Leader ethical decision-making in organizations: Strategies for sensemaking.Journal of Business Ethics,107(1), pp.49-64. Yidong, T. and Xinxin, L., 2013. How ethical leadership influence employees innovative work behavior: A perspective of intrinsic motivation.Journal of Business Ethics,116(2), pp.441-455.

General Psychology Essay Example For Students

General Psychology Essay General psychology examines the psychics of a normal adult person, his perception and behavior, memory and attention, will, character and personality in general. This science also explores how these psychics were processing and their further development. In the system of psychology, science should be given a special place for the following reasons. Firstly, this is a very hard science that is known to mankind. After all, the psychics are the property of highly organized stuff. If we mean the psychics, then the word highly organized stuff should add the word itself: the brain is the most highly organized stuff known to us. Secondly, psychology is in a special position because it seems to merge the object and subject of cognition. My university lecturer has taught me a lot about all these issues and made me highly aware of general psychology. How are the psychics processing? What ways does psychologist penetrate into the mysterious world of the human soul and learns to control the body? What mechanisms are the basis of precepting reality? How to learn not only to memorize but to forget? Why do we notice some things and do not see others? What perceptible and unconscious motives determine the behavior of people? What is the mechanism of processing creativity and imagination? What are the regularities of communication in the world of people and animals? How to master your emotions and be acquainted with your body? The course of general psychology has taught me the information how to answer most of these questions and to talk about interesting issues about the difference between what we see and what is really happening. But what are the main goals of psychology? There are four main goals of psychology: they are to describe, explain, predict and change the process of behavior. Why do we need to know these issues and the difference between them? That can help us to expand our understanding about a certain process in the human body and learn more information about our behavior. Psychological science solves three groups of objectives: research, diagnostic, correctional. Research objective includes the study of the object of science at various levels. For example, at the level of general laws and factors of development, the following tasks are solved: a study of age dynamics of individual psychophysiological functions, processing, properties; the identification of individual relationships of the psychics throughout the human life cycle, considering their activities. Diagnostic objective aims to: recognize and assess the level of the human psychics, the degree of maturity of individual and social characteristics of a person at different stages; estimate deviations in mental development in comparison with age and experience; determine the potential for mental development; obtain scientific data to improve and predict the development of an individual. Performing diagnostic objective in psychology involves identifying a specific task, processing appropriate methods for data collection, analyzing the data collected and interpreting them, establishing a diagnosis, formulating a prognosis from the psychologist. The correctional objective is aimed at correcting defects in mental progress, eliminating the causes that lead to such defects, the special organization of educational experiment and psychological training, elaboration of recommendations on the life way, taking into consideration the age and individuality of a person. These issues are performed by the work of a psychologist in specialist institutions, and practical work of another psychologist, who work in school, industry, sports, etc. Psychologist, in particular, provides people with appropriate information, helps them to choose a specialty, a job that is in line with his interests and abilities, and aids in the process of adaptation. The psycho-correction is understood by experts as activity related to the correction of those features of mental progress, which according to the usual system of criteria does not meet the established norm. In psychology, the methods of correction have a big difference. .ue602d30309b0dcea9cebe4f27e3acc23 , .ue602d30309b0dcea9cebe4f27e3acc23 .postImageUrl , .ue602d30309b0dcea9cebe4f27e3acc23 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ue602d30309b0dcea9cebe4f27e3acc23 , .ue602d30309b0dcea9cebe4f27e3acc23:hover , .ue602d30309b0dcea9cebe4f27e3acc23:visited , .ue602d30309b0dcea9cebe4f27e3acc23:active { border:0!important; } .ue602d30309b0dcea9cebe4f27e3acc23 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ue602d30309b0dcea9cebe4f27e3acc23 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ue602d30309b0dcea9cebe4f27e3acc23:active , .ue602d30309b0dcea9cebe4f27e3acc23:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ue602d30309b0dcea9cebe4f27e3acc23 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ue602d30309b0dcea9cebe4f27e3acc23 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ue602d30309b0dcea9cebe4f27e3acc23 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ue602d30309b0dcea9cebe4f27e3acc23 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ue602d30309b0dcea9cebe4f27e3acc23:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ue602d30309b0dcea9cebe4f27e3acc23 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ue602d30309b0dcea9cebe4f27e3acc23 .ue602d30309b0dcea9cebe4f27e3acc23-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ue602d30309b0dcea9cebe4f27e3acc23:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Human Rights EssayThe psychics are the brains ability to reflect the environment and regulate human behavior and activities. The body of the psychics is the brain. The brain works reflexively. Reflex is the response of a living organism to one effect or another, which is carried out through the nervous system, the central organ of which is the brain. Responding to external influences, the body adapts to the outside world. In psychology lessons professor also has taught me some information about the brainstem and the main process which is rendered by it. This process is non-verbal memory and learning. Neurons of brainstem create cores that form the most important nerve centers of life support: respiratory, cardiovascular, digestive, as well as the process of muscle tone regulation, reflex maintenance and restoration of posture, tentative reflex on visual and hearing irritants. Manifestations of the work of the centers of the brainstem are processing of reflexes of inhalation and exhalation, cardiac, vascular, swallowing, chewing, spasmodic. From the brainstem egress 12 pairs of craniocerebral nerves, the largest of which is the vagus nerve. A sensory feeling in psychology is the reflection of individual properties of objects and phenomena with the direct action of stimulating on the sensory organs. With the help of sensation, the people open colors and sounds, taste, weight, heat or cold of things that surround them. In addition, sensory organs give information on changes in our own body: a person feels a violation of the functioning of the internal organs, the position, and movement of his body and its individual parts. Sensation as an image, reflecting the individual properties of objects, arise during the activity of any sensory organs. For example, when a person is shown a thing for not a very long time, she sees a spot in a certain color but is not able to say what exactly it was. The concept of perception has a difference from the sensation. Knowledge about the surrounding reality is received not only through sensory organs but also through the perception. Sensation shows only certain properties of objects, such as their smell, color, hardness, etc., whereas in perception all these properties are reflected in their totality and connection. Perception is the reflection in the human consciousness of objects and phenomena of reality with their direct influence on the senses. The result of perception is the integral image of the object. For example, by taking a new book, we reflect the color of its pages, the weight, the smell of the printing ink, and so on. All these visual, tactile, olfactory and other sensory properties, combined, give the image of the book. When I was talking to my psychologist, he has taught me the main goals of psychology, and I understood that this science is extremely tough, so if you want to be good at psychology science, you need to work really hard and be aware of all the processes of the human brain.

Inception analysis free essay sample

In the midst of the hustle and bustle of everyday life, some people want to escape reality and live out their fantasy. In the movie Inception , people do this by falling into a dream state; a level of consciousness in which they are in complete control of who is involved and what happens. Though, when they wake up, nothing has changed. The main character, Cobb, had this particular experience. He was distracted by the love of his life in his subconscious and was faced with the conflict of staying in limbo for the rest of his life with her, or living out his life â€Å"up top†, in the real world, with his children. In the end I believe he finally figured out where he belonged, that being with his children. This brings me to the conclusion that the ending is in fact reality. â€Å"To wake up from that after years, after decades after wed become old souls thrown back into youth like that I knew something was wrong with her. We will write a custom essay sample on Inception analysis or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page She just wouldnt admit it. Eventually, she told me the truth. She was possessed by an idea, this one, very simple idea, that changed everything. That our world wasnt real. That she needed to wake up to come back to reality, that, in order to get back home, we had to kill ourselves. † As quoted by Cobb in the movie, Inception; he told us that when they woke up from the dream, Mal wanted to get back to that â€Å"reality†. In order to do that, they had to kill themselves. Little did Mal know, they Luers Page 2 actually woke up to their reality. When she gracefully fulfilled her mission by committing suicide when she jumped off the window sill, Cobb was heartbroken knowing they would never meet again unless he put her in his dream. She was no longer real and this is where we begin to realize that Cobb wants to be with the love of his life more than anything. However, because he could not stop her from taking her own life, he had a heavy heart and realized the only way he could be with Mal was if he escaped his reality to visit her in limbo. When you are in limbo, you have the ability to live out your fantasy. It is up to you to decide what happens. In the end, Cobb is with his children but Mal is not in the picture. If Cobb were living out his fantasy, he would not only be with his children but he would also have Mal by his side. When he was dreaming, Cobb would never see the faces of his children because he only wanted to see them when he was on top, meaning when he is in the real world. That poses the question of whether or not he is dreaming. A totem is a personal piece used by each person to determine whether they are dreaming or awake. Each person must create their own totem, unique to them, for this purpose. When you take a closer look, the totem Cobb spins is not his totem; it is in fact Mal’s. We know this because Cobb locked it away, and in doing so, he implanted the idea in her head that her world was not real. When she passed away, he pulled the totem out for himself, and in my opinion, I think he did this for his own sanity. When he spins Mal’s totem, he could be spinning it to see if she is there. Her dream could be his reality. The totem does not topple over at the end because it is Mal’s totem. Mal could be there in spirit because she cannot be there in the physical world.. However, Cobb’s totem is believed to be his wedding ring. This makes sense because when he was in limbo he was still with Mal, and he Luers Page 3 was wearing his ring. However, when he is in the real world, he does not wear his wedding ring because she had passed away. Before Mal committed suicide, she stated that she was seen by three psychiatrists, who declared she was not crazy. She further went on to plant the idea into the heads of Federal agents that Cobb tried to kill her; she leaves him no option but to flee the country. When he was faced with this decision to leave, he had no idea how long he would be gone, nor did he know if he would ever be able to come back. Cobb was in limbo during this time, creating Inception. It only takes five minutes in reality to create an hour in a dream. The further into the limbo state you go, the faster your mind is able to imagine and perceive things. This is why Cobb’s team was able to complete the Fischer job in a flight from Australia to Los Angeles. Therefore, when he came back to the United States, he may not have been gone for very long; which explains the reason that his children have not really changed. Cobb’s children were in fact wearing slightly different clothing. His daughter wore a pink dress with no sleeves in the beginning, and in the end, she added a white shirt on underneath her pink dress. His son had short hair in the beginning and was wearing brown sandals. In the end, his hair was longer and he was wearing white shoes. I think the director, Christopher Nolan, did this to further cause viewers to question whether the end of the movie was part of the dream or reality. Another point of contention regarding the ending of the movie rests in the fact that it is not clear how Cobb travelled from the airport to his home in Los Angeles. We have to remember that this is just a movie and if the director was to show every little detail it would become a never ending story. It is possible that Cobbs father-in-law picked him up from the airport and took him Luers Page 4 to his house to see his children. The producers may have chosen not to add this detail into the movie because it is minimal. Dreamers do not remain in the dream setting once they have woken up. When they are all in the airport at the baggage claim, Cobb walks by each individual. As he does so, the camera pans over the faces of Cobb’s team as if to show the audience that they were each there. Each of these individuals goes through their â€Å"kicks† to come out of their dreams and enter the real world. By showing the team as they wake up in the plane, the director is demonstrating they are really awake. In no other part of the movie does the director allow people the dreamer knows inside the dreams unless of course they are dreaming themselves. The only exception to this theory is Mal because she represents Cobb himself, or his subconscious trying to keep him down in limbo to make it his new reality. Considering all these factors, I believe the ending of the movie, Inception, is reality. Cobb knows Mal is not real; she is nothing but an illusion in his dreams. So, when he finally sees his children’s faces in the end, he is on top because he is not with Mal. He is living out his real world with his children. When Cobb took the offer to leave the country to go to Australia, he was in limbo almost his entire stay. The mind travels much faster while in limbo and can go through years in a matter of minutes in the real world. Therefore, he has not changed much nor have his children because he may have not been gone for very long. In reality you must live through the good and the bad, and in the end, Cobb has both. He will live a life full of vibrant memories with his children and he will be able to watch them grow. In the back of his mind, he will always wonder what it would be like to have his wife by his side experiencing these moments together.