Superfund Recordkeeping

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, (CERCLA), as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, (SARA), provides for the identification, investigation and cleanup of Superfund, hazardous waste sites. Under these Acts, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to recover its response costs from responsible parties after participating in the investigation, cleanup, oversight, enforcement and other required administrative provisions. State agencies which spend CERCLA funds must account for and document all response costs to permit recovery of these costs from responsible parties by EPA and the State. Funds may also be provided to the State by EPA under a grant system to undertake Superfund related response activities. State agencies which spend CERCLA grant funds must account for and document all State costs. This manual outlines procedures involved with the expenditure of funds by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) for CERCLA activities. It sets forth financial management and recordkeeping requirements for Superfund sites and for CERCLA related activities covered by EPA grants. Many of the principles and procedures covered by this manual serve as guidance for non-CERCLA sites, as well, which have the potential for future cost recovery actions. This manual will continue to be updated as new procedures are developed. Documentation procedures involve complex financial management and recordkeeping policies that must be followed to assure cost recovery. These policies are based on regulations and guidance, in part, set forth in: – Code of Federal Regulations, (CFR), Title 40, Part 31, Part 33 and Part 35, Subpart â€Å"O†. – â€Å"State Superfund Financial Management and Recordkeeping Guidance†, 1987, EPA. – OMB Circular No. A-87, † Cost Principles for State and Local Governments†. – Code of Maryland Regulations, (COMAR), Title 21. Key features of the Superfund financial management and recordkeeping policies which are set forth in detail herein in Section D, include: – Documentation of all expenses involved with response or grant-specified activities. – Recovery of â€Å"reasonable and necessary† costs only. – Identification of financial documents, and all other cost related records or agreements which may serve as the basis for determining or authorizing response costs, with the phrase – â€Å"SUPERFUND – DO NOT DESTROY†. – Maintaining timesheets and other financial document originals without alteration after approvals. – Maintenance of a unique file or set of files, either containing hard copies, or electronic images shall be maintained for each Superfund site which shall be identified by a project cost account (PCA) code to permit timely access to site records. Record categories within these files shall be organized in a consistent manner. – Maintenance of additional files, containing backup documentation which provide background and serve as a basis or authorization for costs, should also be maintained. These general files may contain information that is not necessarily site-specific. – Retain original documents for each site, OU or activity. – Electronic records may be acceptable for cost recovery if approved by EPA or Attorney General's office. – Submitting cost documentation, in response to requests from attorneys or EPA only after, expense related records are reconciled with the cost summary. – Retention of records stamped with the phrase – â€Å"SUPERFUND – DO NOT DESTROY† for at least 10 years following submission of the final Financial Status Report, (FSR), unless otherwise directed by EPA. Records are to be retained longer than 10 years if litigation, claim, cost recovery or other associated action takes place before the end of the 10-year period. – EPA must approve destruction of documents that were required to be saved. Establish Superfund and EPA grant financial management and recordkeeping procedures which: – enable the State to meet legal responsibilities and EPA audit requirements; – document expense related records in a legally acceptable manner; – facilitate accountability and cost recovery; and – provide timely access to site, operable unit and activity related expense information. 1. ERRP – (Environmental, Restoration and Redevelopment Program) ERRP conducts and oversees CERCLA response activities within the Waste Management Administration, (WAS). Its areas of responsibilities cover: – Pre-remedial, remedial, removal and operation & maintenance phases. – Response activities which include, but are not limited to, investigations, review and comment on reports, oversight and implementation of response actions, and enforcement actions, and CERCLA activities may be funded under EPA grants/ Cooperative Agreements (CAs). The terms of these grants are negotiated between EPA and the State. The State also uses its own funds in engaging in response activities. Trained staff conduct technical activities associated with investigation, assessment and cleanup, including related activities such as training, travel, and Program development and the like. These employees shall submit timesheets for further processing and record keeping. Time devoted to various response activities is distributed to a number of unique PCA codes within the timesheets, thereby permitting assignment of costs to appropriate sites, OUs and activities. In addition, the technical staff may initiate requisitions such as purchase and travel requests and other financial documents associated with response activities. PCA codes are also used to assign costs for these and other activities as well. Clerical and administrative staff may assist the technical staff in fiscal, timekeeping, purchase requisitions, travel vouchers and record keeping matters. This staff also serves as liaison with other divisions in processing time accountability documents and other requisitions. The Program Administrator of ERRP manages ERRP Program and technical activities and approves all ERRP requisitions. Originators of requisitions must justify the necessity of items requested before approval and must satisfy terms of the grants. Approval, or sign off, by the Program Administrator may be via electronic signature where the Advanced Purchasing Inventory Control System (ADPICS), or a similar system, is used with the Financial Management Information System (FMIS) to process the requisition. FMIS is the computerized statewide accounting system which tracks costs by site, OU and activity, and by grant level.

National initiative Unit

For the scenario I am investigating there are a number of laws and regulations that have to be considered and adhered too, they are as follows: European convention on human rights and fundamental freedoms (1950) This piece of legislation was introduced after the Second World War and relates to the human rights every individual can expect whilst living and working in the European Union. The act was necessary as so many people had, had their human rights violated during the war years. Following this many individual acts were passed to ensure that discrimination was against the law.In 1 998 the human rights act was the document that updated previous legislation and importantly made sure that any citizen had the right to take legal action against any person or organization that disrespected their human rights. This included all health and social care services. Collectively, human rights legislation is a powerful tool to ensure that those who are more vulnerable in society have the backin g of the law in relation to their rights. In the residential care home it is important that we recognize the diversity of needs of our clientele and are aware of their needs and preferences.The sex scrimp nation act (1975) This act was introduced to protect both men and women against discrimination or harassment in relation to their gender. This included employment, education, advertising or in the provision of housing, goods, services or facilities. In the main it was to address the discrimination that was mainly taking place against women. Employers would often reject a potential female employee in favor of a man as they felt a male would be more reliable as women both have children and care for them.In more recent years the equal pay act has defined clearer guidelines in relation to pay truce. In nursing the pay scale does not discriminate and care staff are employed for their capacity to do the job and men and women receive the same remuneration. In the care home there are both male and female workers who are employed for their skills and ability to address the complex needs of the clients. There is training provided and pay is linked to qualifications and job roles regardless of gender. In addition, we have both male and female clients and we provide for their needs appropriately.The mental health act The mental health act was introduced initially in 1983 and has had a number f changes in the years up until 2006 (see appendices 2). The purpose of this act was to make sure that the appropriate action could be taken when people displaying mental health or learning difficulties got the help, care and treatment they needed both for their own health or safety and the protection of others. This was an important step because those with these problems were often not given the care and support that there condition required.In the I-J, there were large mental hospitals which catered for a variety of conditions and needs but gave little thought to the needs of the i ndividual. It was a case of the individual fitting into the programmer offered whereas today we appreciate the needs of the individual and how important it is to tailor care to need. The large hospitals and institutions were closed down as it was decided that people were better off living in smaller units or being cared for in the community. However, there was still not enough legislation to provide the necessary protection.In 2005 the mental capacity act was introduced which provided a frame work that empowered and protected vulnerable people who are unable to make their own decisions. The act States army who can take decisions in various situations and how things should be carried out. For example, two doctors now need to sign a sectioning order for a patient to be detained because of their mental health. Prior to this, there have been cases where people have been sectioned with no right to complain. This act states very clearly those people that have the power to make decisions.I t enables people to plan ahead for a time when they might lose their mental capacity. This act was seen as important as so many people are now suffering with some form of dementia in their later years. It meant hat health care professionals such as doctors and social workers had a professional duty to work with the most vulnerable, in their best interests and to empower them to make their own decisions. There is still much to be done with mental health care which is sometimes referred to as the Cinderella of the health service.New initiatives in relation to mental health have been introduced as it was clear in some areas that care of the community was not working as well as it should. Northern Ireland has similar legal frameworks to England but under the Northern Ireland assembly they can have variations. Legislation related to children Two pieces of legislation were passed in 1989, one the convention on the rights of a child' and the other ‘the children's act'. The first was issued by EUNICE and it provided a framework for the rights of the child.It specifically highlighted children's rights in international law and included the principles and standards for the treatment of the children's workforce. The children's act concerns the UK only and is designed to protect the child from significant harm and to keep them safe and cared for by setting standards. Organizations working with children have to provide policies and procedures n relation to how they are promoting the children's act in their environment. An example of this is the safe guarding procedures that are in place in schools.Every school has to have its own safe guarding policy which outlines all procedures and highlights training. This is an extremely important document and in schools every member of staff needs to know who the child protection officer is and to have read the safe guarding policy. In the school attend every member of staff has a summarized copy included in their handbook and th e full copy is available in the staff room and online. Every Taft member has to sign this at the beginning of each academic year to show that they understand what they have to do should they become concerned about any safe guarding issue.Training is given to key professionals and the policy is revised every year in relation to new legislation. The children's act was revised in 2004 in relation to improving children's lives in a broader sense. The aim of this was to encourage better services and provision for all aspects of children's welfare and health. It also covered making sure children had access to the services they needed including additional needs. An example is my own school where there are policies and procedures in place to ensure that all children are treated fairly and offer the opportunities they need on a personal level.Children's educational needs are investigated and the appropriate intervention is put in place. Am currently working with this department as part of th eir literacy strategy offering one to one instruction to children below the reading age expected for their chronological years. Children have been evident in the media recently because of historic abuse cases and this has raised everyone's awareness in relation to how vulnerable hey are. There is now greater emphasis on all policies and procedures that relate to children. Race relations There has been a great deal of legislation in relation to people of a different race living in the KICK.In my notes already have highlighted the benefits of a diverse multicultural society. People have been making their home in the UK since the sass's when Jews arrived from Russia and Poland and people from Ireland were driven out by the potato famine. The race relations amendment act was passed in the year 2000. Its main principle is to protect racially quality and ensure that no person is discriminated against on the grounds of their race. Britain today is truly multicultural and the act ensures th at it promotes good relationships between people from different ethnic backgrounds.If a person faces discrimination because of their race the law protects them and gives redress. I have watched a number of video clips that illustrate how distressing racial discrimination can be and also how people can have stereotyped ideas and opinions. Race relations are linked to equal opportunities and the human rights act. Disability discrimination act (DAD) The DAD ensures that people with disabilities have their civil rights protected and do not face discrimination. It was passed in 1 995 and encouraged organizations and health authorities to overcome barriers and make reasonable adjustments to ensure full accessibility.Clearly this act did not go far enough and was updated in 2005 to apply to the public sector and to promote equality of opportunity for people with disabilities and to eliminate discrimination. At this time it was also seen as necessary to include people with HIVE. It stated t hat public bodies must promote disability equality and reduce action plans to show how they intend to fulfill their duties and to renew the progress annually. Schools, colleges and universities were all told to make reasonable changes to their premises to make them user friendly for Britain's students with disabilities.In my school all doorways were fitted with ramps as well as having a lift installed. In addition, a fitted disabled bathroom was installed and money set aside for any student's specific needs. This was particularly important for wheelchair users. Making all public buildings, apart from those with a listed status was a huge undertaking and the government catered in three years to bring this into place. It meant that all public bodies and authorities had to review their policies, practices, procedures and services to make sure they did not discriminate against anyone with a disability.Huge advances have been made to accommodate those with disabilities culminating in the successful Paralytics. This was televised across the world and opened everyone's eyes to how important it is to be accepted in society despite their disability. The human rights act (1998) This act covers all human rights and ensures civil rights for people enabling hem to take legal action against any person or organization, including HAS, which disrespects their human rights. This act has been used when people feel their rights have been violated.Recently a female worker for British airways was told she could no longer wear a cross around her neck whilst at work. She felt that this violated her human rights and so took her case to the European courts where she won her case. This is just one example and there have been many particularly in relation to same sex marriages and counseling services. A homosexual couple went to relate which is an organization that helps relationships through the use of counseling.The counselor rejected the homosexual couple and did not wish to help them so the couple took their case to the human rights where they won their case and the counselor had no right to reject them. Data protection act This act covers the way information about people is kept and used and protected and kept secure. It is necessary for every organization to hold personal data on employees but this has to be kept secure and it is extremely important in any health and social care sector. All organizations have policies ND procedures that employees have to be made aware of and they need to follow correct procedure.In school data is held on every student and this is confidential and can only be viewed on a need to know basis and must not be passed on outside of the school environment. All confidential information has to be shredded. Nursing and residential care homes regulations This act was passed in 1984 and was amended in 2002 and applies to all nursing and residential care homes. Every residential care home has to have a license to operate which is issued by their local council. This license regulates how they practice. If the homes do not meet regulations they face prosecution and sometimes closure.This act works closely with the care standards act that was passed in 2000. This piece of legislation covered individuals in all care settings including domiciliary. Again, standards have to be met and the individual must receive appropriate care. This act also covers fostering and family care. Every care home has to have policies and procedures in place that reflect national legislation. These are open to inspection. Age discrimination act (2006) This act was passed to make it unlawful for employers and others to criminate against a person on the basis of their age. This applies to jobs, promotion, training and employment.Legislation is being updated and changed all the time and in particular when political parties are in control. In health and social care all professionals must stay up to date with current legislation. The legislation I h ave researched is used by health and social care organizations to produce policies and procedures that outline the roles, rights and responsibilities involved in the service they are working for. Legislation indicates what those using the services expect in the way of support and behavior. Most health and social care organizations and professions have a charter or code of practice and procedures that has to be followed.I have researched the code of conduct published by the NC which outlines the standards of conduct, performance and ethics for nurses and midwives and have included this as an example of how legislation is applied. The general social care council (SIC) registers all social care workers and regulates both training and conduct. Codes of practice are needed as when services are inspected or audited they will be judged upon the level of service they are roving. Any professional role will be overseen by the SIC and staff in training will be made aware of the code of practic e and charters they have to work to.Charters inform staff and those using the service about what they can expect. The care quality commission (ICQ) regulates the standards on behalf of the government. This is often done with inspections. Every organization has to produce its own policies and procedures that respect all aspects of equality, diversity and rights in health and social care. Managers have to guide professionals in their employment to ensure they are observing reoccurred. This can be seen in all areas of HAS by looking at notice boards in the hall way, reception or staff rooms.In addition, charters are put online where they can be viewed by the public. All staff should receive a handbook when being inducted into a new post or role and care workers should have frequent training and updating on any changes. If this is followed the individual's rights are promoted in a positive way. There are many people who are too ill or too frail to speak for themselves or who do not know their rights. There are many vulnerable people who may not even be aware of their sights and need a person to make sure they've received what they are entitled too.A trained person will speak on their behalf and this is referred to as an advocate. The advocate can be a professional worker or a friend or relative but must always realism that they are speaking on behalf of the individual and not expressing their own view. Every health and social care setting must have policies and procedures firmly in place and ensure that staff know about these by putting up notices and providing training. If this is done properly staff are sure of what they should be doing and if they fail to comply capillary action or dismissal may occur.Staff development and training are vital if staff are to be kept up to date with changes, policies and procedures, as well as legislation and technology. Technology changes rapidly so there is a need for continual professional development. Quality of care and expe rience is constantly improving by being reviewed and developing equality, diversity and rights. It is important that work place or organizations keep up to date with all changes. Sometimes large organizations will appoint managers who will ensure that things are followed correctly and there is regular training for Taft.Every organization must have a complaints procedure by law and these will be inspected when settings are audited. If Someone complains they have the right to have their complaint dealt with efficiently and investigated. They need to know the outcome of the investigation and if they are not happy take it to the independent parliamentary and health service ombudsman if they are not satisfied with the way there complaint has been dealt with. Sometimes people will make a complaint if they think they have been directly affected by an unlawful act or a decision in relation to care issues.If they have en harmed they may receive compensation. Affirmative action sometimes call ed positive discrimination or action means when one individual is favoring another because of their ethnicity. Although seen as discriminatory it may be legal if it benefits the local community. For example, appointing someone who speaks a certain language because that's what the area needs. Laws relating to anti-harassment relate to issues such as bullying, sexuality, race, ethnicity, gender, beliefs, sexual orientation, marital status or disability. It can cause stress, humiliation and depression and needs to be sorted out immediately.

Information System and League Tables Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Information System and League Tables - Essay Example Public administration is a complex and difficult process. Before a public service is delivered, it most likely has passed through several stages and agencies that composed the bureaucracy before it is delivered to the end user. Leslie Budd (2009) provided a specific benefit when she explained that e-government is primarily implemented in order to achieve economic efficiency, as information and communications technologies such as the IS can reduce the amount of bureaucratic procedures in public administrations. (p74) Traunmuller (2004), for his part, pointed out that bureaucracy imposes on its environment its rules, its operating modes and it transfers the management of complexity to the end user that is why, in the effort of governments to modernize, a transition towards end-user oriented approach is adopted. (p82) Crucial to this initiative is the solution for the problem of interoperability that characterizes bureaucracies. The issue about making public service easier to the public is a daunting task when services involve numerous agencies with their own respective mini bureaucracies. IS solved this dilemma. According to Traunmuller, this is achieved in the three stages that are crucial for the concept of e-government. To cite these stages:Anytime, Anywhere: the first of the process in electronic administration that involves the linking of different information held by different actors. IS solves this dilemma by providing the application by which the complex information system can be collected.

Cross-cultural,moral, ethic, and environmental issues of hospitality Essay

Cross-cultural,moral, ethic, and environmental issues of hospitality organization - Essay Example The forms are in relation to the hospital and physician, and each occurs at different integration stages. Hospital leadership often uses the stakeholders’ capability of management to understand, analyze and transact business in order to achieve the required goals for cooperates wellbeing. Internal and external stakeholders’ interests can be identified and managed by understanding the organization’s engagements, analysis, management, influences and partnership. Health system views the management of organizational culture as an important part of reforms today. The latest reforms in United Kingdom were based on major cultural transformation on the organization that should be secured on considerations of procedural and structural changes. This will help in the delivery of the required improvements in performance and quality services. Key factors that impede change of culture across a wide range of sectors include inappropriate leadership, professional allegiances and external stakeholders imposing constraints. There are effects that come with subcultural diversity and lack of ownership mentality. Cultural competency is important for potential strategy in eliminating ethnic or racial disparity and increase quality in the health care sector. The approach has taken varies depending on the influential sphere, goal and mission. Cultural competence has a multilevel nature in line with the key informants. Stakeholders are mainly interested in the organizational basis of the hospital. This is pivotal as it help in management of hospitals in order to maintain a good profitable organization. â€Å"Stake holders are mainly interested in the economic progress of the health facilities.† (Maybery & Nicewander, 103-119) The aspect revolves around creating employment training programs and zoning regulations. They are interested in social change, in efforts of racial harmony improvement. Involving workers in decision making

Homeostasis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Homeostasis - Essay Example The term homeostasis was first used by Walter Cannon in 1932 to illustrate the â€Å"maintenance of body’s dynamic constancy†. Homeostasis is a key concept in human physiology which represents the regulatory processes of the body for its optimum functioning mediated by several biochemical and physiological pathways. According to Gilbert, on a cellular level it is a practice through which a relatively constant electrical, chemical, osmotic and internal environment is maintained against a background of extensive range of metabolic demand, intake and loss. Maintenance of homeostasis is vital for the body as seen during exercise. The elevated cardiac and respiratory rates in response to increased CO2 and blood acidity must be readjusted later to meet the demand of lower metabolic rate. If this service is not done the body conditions lead to disease and ultimately death. Homeostasis is maintained by stimulus identification at tissue level with the help of sensors present in skin and sensory organs. These signals are then sent to peripheral sensory nerves and later to spinal cord and brain where depending on the type of stimulus a chain of physiological reaction is set off to maintain homeostasis in the body which may involve survive mechanism, stability in autonomic functions and immunological responses (Lawton, 2003). These responses are carried out by effectors such as muscles and glands. In some cases the responses to a stimulus are particularly elicited by either nervous or endocrine system however, in some cases it is a combination of both (Farabee, 2006). The process through which a constant internal environment (homeostasis) is maintained is known as homeostatic mechanism. Homeostatic control in the body is achieved through feed-back system which may be negative feed-back loop or positive feed-back loops. Negative feed-back loops (employed by most of the body’s systems) turns off the response to a particular stimulus thereby maintaining m ost of homeostatic activities while positive feed-back loop intensifies the effect of the particular response (Farabee, 2006). Positive feed-back intensifies the effects of change and therefore does not play a vital role in maintaining homeostasis. Stimulus? Sensor?Integrator? Effector Negative feed-back loop Systems involved in homeostasis: In a healthy body homeostatic maintenance is done by collaborative efforts of central systems of the body such as nervous, endocrine, circulatory, digestive and lymphatic. The balancing responses of these systems to a stimulus tend to maintain a proper homeostasis in body (Lawton, 2003). Major homeostatic controllers of the body are nervous and endocrine systems which constitute extrinsic control system. However, local or intrinsic control system usually involves an organ or a tissue e.g. dilation of blood vessels in reaction to higher levels of carbon dioxide and lower oxygen levels (Farabee, 2006).  

Globalization and the maritime world in the twentieth century Essay

Globalization and the maritime world in the twentieth century - Essay Example Marc indicates that cargo ships were the major systems of transport and were used load and offload goods (166). The goods in this context had different destinations throughout the world. This concept simply explains that globalization was taking place as the goods were sent to different places. The world was soon becoming smaller thanks to the development in the maritime industry. Marc explains that the shipping lines ordered for larger ships that would be used transport the aluminum boxes that were the standard containers (202-21). Additionally, the development of the maritime industry saw the modernization of port cities to accommodate the larger ships (Marc 191-201). The author also argues that in the 1980s computers ventured in as well, that led to a containerized system (Marc 125). A closer analysis of this fact would be said to have shaped the global economy through innovations in the maritime industry. Miller backs the work of Marc by arguing that globalization is historical and can be rooted to the reality of shipping and trading. The maritime world, in his thought, was the major reason behind the global interconnectedness (Miller 11). In the twentieth century, for example, there were a lot of Eurocentric exchanges in the sea. There was the existence of a global maritime system where European ports were constructed, shipping lines as well as partial networks (Miller 12). This commercial maritime world played a huge role in shipping the present day world of business. The Europeans were the principal operators of the global trading and transport systems up to the 1960s. Just like Marc, Miller would argue that there is a great link between containerization, trade, de-colonization and economic growth thanks to the maritime industry and its developments. Through the works, the close correlation between the maritime world in the 20th century and globalization is evident. The process of globalization clearly went through progressions that saw the

General Motors -- Consumer Market Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

General Motors -- Consumer Market - Assignment Example It also seeks to target the posh market by growing its sales for Cadillac and increase its growth in the Chinese market through its joint ventures. Its investments in China reach $14 billion expected to improve production and manufacturing between 2014 and 2018 (Rama, 2013). With every market, GM realizes that it has a different target and a new challenge to create a car that will suit the customer profile. To understand the market, the company has to create products that make it easier to fit into the customer’s profile. The goal is to ensure that the customer expectations are met and even exceeded. To do this, the customers range from low-income earners to the high-income earners, with each class given an affordable car pricewise and comfortable to the drivers (Falter, 2013). Despite the class, the comfort is a guarantee. The company has a proactive approach towards meeting customer profile needs and demands by starting from the design process so as to be in accord with the customer. This allows the improvement of any process to be in line with the needs noted from the customers (Kurtz, 2010). To attain its goals, GM has resulted to the use of the values that have held it together all along. The aim is to establish a vision they can meet by allowing customers to be their sole determinants of what to manufacture. This has made the company use its resources to market those cars that have maintained steady growth over the years to create a platform that revolves around the mission of growing the value that GM has attained over time (Falter, 2013). This is coupled with increased objectives of satisfying their markets and ensuring they have quality products to satisfy their customers and eventually improve its financial results. In fact, boosting the company’s profit has become one of the important objectives of its marketing goals because of the years that reduced its profitability and led to its bankruptcy. With the urge to create, connect and compete, GM

Royal Mail Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Royal Mail - Assignment Example Concept of Diversity Management 7 5.1. Royal Mail’s Action to Maintain gender Balance 8 6. Concept of a Competency Framework 8 6.1. Five Competencies of a successful Royal Mail Manager: 8 7. References 10 1. Introduction Global business management is a dynamic process at it always changing with the time. By virtue of global business management organizations across the world are now able to operate in more than one country and able to expand their product and service services to the people across the globe. The global business management process is enterprising as a business leader carries out new innovations for the benefit of the end users. With that they are able to exploit the market as well as able to bring down the production cost to ensure more operating profit for the organizations. According to Adekola & Sergi(2012), globalization was started more than 3000 years ago as the roots of it went back to the formation of state communities in the European countries way back i n the fourteenth century. The rapid expansion was started from the seventeenth century onwards. (Adekola & Sergi, 2012, p.1). In this discussion our main focus is on the management strategies taken by the Royal Mail Chief Executive in order to change to outlooks as well as functioning process of the organization when everyone was considering that Royal Mail might not be able to regain its market position. 2. Definition of Leadership Leadership characteristics of Royal Mail Chief Executive: 2.1. Leadership: Definition and characteristics: The success of any organization has been always dependent on how good the top management is on their decision making, strategy development, motivating people and overall management of the organization itself. According to Dubrin(2012), leadership can be defined as a the principal dynamic force which motivates and coordinates the people of any organization to achieve its objective. (Dubrin, 2012, p.4) According to Weth (2007), leaders have to tolerat e a certain amount of chaos in the organization and also have to effectively solve those. On the other hand, managers are there to ensure that there are stability and control in the organization or in different departments. (Weth, 2007, p.5). According to Gosling, Sutherland, Jones (2012); there are few important theories which are essential in order to understand the specific traits or characteristics that a leader should have. Some of the key theories are trait theories, behaviorist theories, Situational leadership, transformational and contingency theory. According to them, there are several leadership traits which are associated with particular skills. Adapting to the situation, Assertiveness, Decisive, cooperative, energetic, result orientation is few traits to name about (Gosling, Sutherland, Jones, 2012, pp.18-20). 2.2. Leadership characteristics of Royal Mail Chief Executive: Moya Greene was appointed as the CEO of Royal Mail in the year 2010. Before taking the charge of Roy al Mail she has been in charge at Canada Post since 2005. She was the first lady to get appointed in the top most position of Royal Mail. (BBC News, 2010). When she took charge of the organization, Britain’s centuries-old state-owned postal service was over-involved in trouble: it faced a rapid de-growth revenue from letters, a large deficit in pension ; opposition to government proposal for privatization from the staff union, and a most importantly unworkable regulatory framework that prevented the business

The Subject of Human Rights as Treated in Blood Diamond Movie Review

The Subject of Human Rights as Treated in Blood Diamond - Movie Review Example It is through the application of this theory in the concrete conditions of the people of Sierra Leone that it would be proven that the idealist concept of human rights is insufficient in resolving the social issues of the country. The film Blood Diamond highlights the domestic conflict that occurred in Sierra Leone. The country is deeply divided by a civil war between rebel groups that fight an unstable national government with an army which includes a sizable number of children that have been kidnapped and forcibly conscripted. In the film, the political causes of the conflict were not discussed much. What are presented quite well though were the effects of the civil war on the non-combatants and the children. It is apparent that the rebel groups do not seem to distinguish the civilians from the fighters, which, as insinuated, actually refer to the fact that the civil war in Sierra Leone was genocidal. There are basically two points in the war that is the film’s setting that that creates a very profound impact on the audience, especially for those who are educated on the subject of human rights. First of all, the rebel group headed by Captain Poison does not mind about any human rights of civilians for as long as it is able to achieve its goal which is to free the country of a regime that it considers as oppressive. Secondly, the Revolutionary United Front, which is the rebel group that is fighting the Sierra Leonean government, is portrayed as insurgent force that employs child soldiers who were actually made up of children abducted in the course of the genocidal war. The UDHR stands on the premise that all men are born equal. It is with this concept that the definitions of human rights are created and agreed upon by the signatory countries. However, it is also clear that this concept could hardly be justified or proven correct in the case of the human rights violations committed in Sierra Leone. In the movie Blood Diamond, it was obvious that men are not born with equal privileges and this could be ascertained in the field of politics and economics. Of the main characters in the film, Solomon Vandy represents those who were not born in a family or social group that possesses political and economic clout. It is under this circumstance that he, his family and tribe were subjected to different forms ofhuman rights violations. Vandy personifies the sufferings of the Mende tribe, which was victimized by the RUF. His family was massacred and his son was taken away from him turned into a child soldier by the rebels. Even as Vandy manages to isolate himself and his family from social issues and the war, he cannot avoid witnessing the inequalities among peoples. When he tells his son Dia to study hard and that â€Å"English boys don’t go to school every day,† he articulates that the black African must go to school in order to succeed in life while the white European does not have to do so. Vandy’s articulation essent ially challenges the premise of the UDHR that all men are born equal. In this respect, the fundamental principle of the universality of human rights cam be argued against by people like Vandy, whose concept of the absence of rights is related with the reality that there is no equality in their society. Article III of the

Preschool pros and cons Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Preschool pros and cons - Research Paper Example The supporters of preschool education are of the view that preschool education has an integral role in children’s learning and development. They could find out certain other features that are truly helping the children to expand their learning experience. But many others strongly disagree with the prospect of preschools and remark that they are nothing more than glorified babysitters that cannot provide individual attention to each child. This paper explores the pros and cons of the preschools and identifies that preschools have an elite role in molding the character and behavior of students and they are essential for preparing them for elementary school. Preschools have certain good qualities that really help the children to be confident, enthusiastic and eager learners. Preschools provide students the opportunity to do as many things by themselves. This independent learning will increase their confidence to put on their dress themselves or keeping or arranging their toys as they wish. Preschools let the children to have their own preferences than prescribing things for them. Encouraging children to engage in games with their friends, relatives and others will also have the same effect. Preschools help the children to get acquainted with friends and family and they are taken to the new realm of education as well as knowledge. The combined endeavor of the parents and the teachers can ensure the all-round development of the children. Laurie Edwards in the article, ‘Building Self-Esteem in Preschool’ makes an assessment about the role of preschools in creating self esteem among the children. The author also agrees with the fact that â€Å"self-esteem begins in infancy, and by the time they reach the preschool years children already have the foundation for their self-esteem. However, parents and preschool teachers can do many things to build on that base so that your child retains a sense of self-esteem throughout his growth

Internet Jurisdiction Essay Example for Free

Internet Jurisdiction Essay In his article, Wolf (1999) explained how jurisdiction may be acquired through over persons who operate and use internet websites. By applying the rules enumerated in Wolf’s article to a popular bit torrent search engine based in Sweden called â€Å"thepiratebay. org†, we see that no jurisdiction may be acquired over the users or the operators of the website because 1) there is a minimal level of interactivity among the users; 2) the users and operators of the website do not engage in commercial activities; and 3) the website does not provide contact details that would allow future business transactions to take place. Personal jurisdiction is an issue because it allows the court to prosecute any criminal activity that occurs because of the use of the website. It also allows the court to impose civil liabilities on any user operator who might have caused damage to a resident of place where the court exercises jurisdiction. In ordinary procedure, personal jurisdiction is acquired by either the arrest of the culprit in criminal cases or the service of summons on the defendant in civil cases. In special cases where culprits are not residents of the forum state, the court would have to use this long-arm jurisdiction in order to punish those responsible for the illegal activity. The interactive-passive use test states that courts have to look into the nature of the transactions made by the users of the website. If the website allows users to have a â€Å"two-way online communication which fosters an ongoing business relationship†, the court may acquire personal jurisdiction over the operators of the website. However, is the website merely provides information without any other interaction, the court may not exercise jurisdiction. The key question to be asked would be: is the website operator doing business in the forum state? If yes, then the court has jurisdiction over the operator. Based on his analysis of Cybersell, Inc. v. Cybersell, Inc. , 130 F. 3d 414 (9th Cir. 1997), Wolf mentions that mere advertising is not enough to give the court jurisdiction over the operators of the website. It has to be shown that the operators â€Å"actually sold their products in the forum state†. Once again, we see that actual business must be performed before the court can claim jurisdiction over the website operator. This is because it is only the act of engaging in actual business where the website operator is deemed to purposely avail of or submit himself to the jurisdiction of the forum state.

Criminology Essays Drug Crime Assessment

Criminology Essays Drug Crime Assessment A Critical Assessment of the Supposed Relationship Between Drug Use and Crime. Introduction In the United Kingdom and many other countries statistics show that there is a significant relationship between recreational drug use and crime (Bean, 2004). What is unclear, however, is the nature of the relationship between drug use and crime and this has resulted in much discussion. In particular the relationship between crime and the use of illegal drugs, such as heroin and cocaine has been a major area of research and debate. Therefore, this report will concentrate on the link between illicit drug use and crime. The definition of drug-related crime excludes violations of drug laws and includes acts of crimes that are committed by people who are using drugs or in the course of buying drugs or selling (Stevens, 2005). Several theories have been developed which attempt to establish what the relationship is between drug use and crime and these will be discussed. Drug use leads to crime This idea is based on the notion that drug use leads to and crime. Goldstien (1985) proposed the relationship between violent crime and drug use can be classified into three categories. Firstly, psycho-pharmacological i.e., the physical properties of the drug affect the users mind in a way that leads to violent behaviour. Secondly, systemic i.e., violent behaviour is the normal and expected behaviour of the drug scene culture. Finally, economic-compulsive i.e., the addictive nature of the drug leads the user to engage in violent behaviour to steal items in order to resell them to fund their drug habit. This is probably the most widely accepted link between drug use and crime (Stevens, 2005). Research used to support that drug use leads to crime relies on the assumption that a lot of crime is committed by people who are drug users. The research invariably falls into two types. Firstly, offenders who have been caught are tested for drug use. This scheme, called The Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) programme, has been implemented in England and Wales and in at least eight other countries (Stevens et al, 2005). The findings of ADAM show that a high proportion of people arrested tested positive for illegal drugs. For example, in 1998/9, 740 people arrested in England and Wales were tested for drug use and 69% of them tested positive, (Taylor, 2002). In addition, Ahmad and Mwenda (2004) state that 113,500 people in 2002 were dealt with by means of a caution or conviction for drug use. The second line of evidence to support the notion that drug use leads to crime is obtained from treatment studies. These studies assess the criminal activity of drug users who are undergoing treatment for their drug-use problem. For example, Best et al (2001) interviewed 100 dependent drug users who were receiving treatment and found 56% of the drug users engaged in acquisition crime. Both the above methods of research have been heavily criticised. Bean (2004), for example, points out that not all offenders use illicit drugs or are dependent on drugs. Also, not all dependent offenders commit crime. In addition, measures used to assess drug use can produce misleading results. One example is that urinalysis compares different drugs that are detectable in the urine for different lengths of time and this could bias the results obtained from such studies. Treatment studies have been criticised because they rely on self-assessment of offenders. This runs the risk of offenders exaggerating or minimising their use of drugs. In addition, treatment studies such as Best et al (2001) have failed to establish the sequence of the two events of drug use and crime. Knowing whether individuals committed crime before or after they started being involved in drug use is crucial in helping to establish whether drug use leads to crime. Allen (2005) addressed this issue by using sequence studies. Sequencing studies set out to establish the pattern of drug use and crime behaviour in the individuals receiving treatment for drug use. Allen (2005) found that out of a sample of 26 individuals that 23 had been arrested for criminal offending before using drugs and therefore there was no evidence that drug use leads to crime. Also, in another study Nurco (1987) found that criminals sometimes continue to commit crime after they have stopped using drugs. Allen (2005) also investigated why people became drug dependent. It was found that the development of dependency was partly because of both the normality of the crime and the use of drugs and partly because of important traumatic events that occurred in their lives, such as sexual abuse or bereavement. It was also found that many drug addicts attempted to successfully manage their drug habit without resorting to crime, such as gaining money by begging. Moreover, when they resorted to crime it was likely to be non-personal crimes such as shoplifting. In Allens view people exist within subcultures in which crime is acceptable and then at critical moments in their lives they become dependent on drugs. If drug use leads to crime then it has important implications because reducing drug use would in turn reduce the level of crime. It is also an extremely popular idea and in 2002 the UK government underlined their view that drug use does indeed lead to crime. The government implemented the Street Crime Initiative, which included making drug treatment available within 24hours for drug users who were arrested for street crime offences. The assumption was that treating offenders for their drug problem would break the link between drug use and street crime and therefore stop the cycle of re-offending. However, in light of the discussed criticisms the effectiveness of such crime prevention is highly questionable. Crime leads to drug use Just as there are views that drug use leads to crime there is also a view that crime leads to drug use. If such a relationship exists then this would also have important implications in the development of any polices: if crime leads to drug use then reducing drug use would not reduce crime, whereas reducing crime would reduce drug use. Three models exist to support that crime leads to drug use (Bean, 2004). Firstly, there is the subcultural theory, which suggests that individuals who are involved in criminal subcultures are more likely to participate in criminal and antisocial behaviour including drug use. Secondly, situational control theory suggests that crime allows the promotion of unrestricted conduct. Thirdly, self-medication suggests that individuals can have an underlying problem that is responsible for their criminal actions so therefore they take drugs to deal with the problem. The theory that crime leads to drug use, as with the view that drug use leads to crime, appears too simplistic. The evidence reviewed so far does not support the unidirectional causal relationship between drug use and crime. This has led to the development of an alternative theory that views the link between drug use and crime as a complex interaction between many causal events. The causal web theory The causal web view rejects the idea that crime leads to drug use and vice versa. Instead, the theory views the relationship between drug use and crime to be interconnected or both elements are affected by alternative variables. Bean (2004) suggests there are four types of theory related to the causal web model. Firstly, common origin theory suggests that drug use and crime develop from the same source, such as anti-social syndrome (Farrington 1997). Secondly, the reciprocal model where the relationship between drug use and crime are viewed as bi-directional i.e., both are dependent on each other and therefore mutually reinforced. Thirdly, the spurious or co-morbidity model that posits that drug use and crime occur in unison but this is by chance. Lastly, the policy model suggests that the link between drug use and crime is a result of the impact of the criminal justice policy. Many studies have failed to show any general link between drugs and crime (see da Agra, 2002, Byquist Olsen 1998). This supports the notion that there is a complex system of interactions between drugs and crime. The causal web theory, therefore, seems the best way to view the relationship between drugs and crime. The causal web theory recognises that many people who commit crime do use drugs but views the relationship between the two as extremely complex. Conclusion Recent findings suggest that theories supporting a unidirectional causal relationship between drug use and crime are over-simplistic. In contrast, the evidence strongly suggests that the relationship between drug use and crime is a complex one involving many interactions. This complexity must be considered if polices aimed at reducing drug-related crime are to be implemented effectively. Polices that only focus on one part of the drug-crime link are unlikely to succeed if another part is ignored. Future research is essential in teasing out the specific interactions between the relationship of drug use and crime and this will help in the development of effective strategies to deal with the issue. References Ahmad, M. Mwenda, L. (2004) Drug Seizure and Offender Statistics, United Kingdom, 2001 2002, Home Office Statistical Bulletin August. London: Home Office. Allen, J. Komy, E.L., Lovbakke, J. Roy, H. (2005) policing and the criminal Justice System-public confidence and perceptions: findings from the 2003/4 British Crime Survey. Home Office On-line Report 31/05. London: Home office. http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs05/bcs0304tech1.pdf Bean, P (2004) Drugs and Crime. Cullompton Willan Second edition. Best, D., Sidwell, C., Gossop, M., Harris, J. and Strang, J. (2001) Crime and Expenditure Among Polydrug Misusers Seeking Treatment. British Journal of Criminology, 41, p. 119 126. Bur, A (1987) Chasing the Dragon: Heroin Misuse, Dependency and Crime in the context of South London Culture. The British Journal of Criminology, 27 (4), 333-357. da Agra, C. (2002). The complex structures, processes and meanings of the drug/crime relationship. In S. Brochu, Cda Agra, M Cousineau (Eds). Drugs and Crime Deviant Pathways. Aldershot. Ashgate. Farrington, D (1997) Human Development and Criminal Careers in Maguire, M et al. The oxford Handbook of Criminology. Oxford. Goldstein, P (1985) The drug-violence nexus; a tripartite framework. Journal of Drug Issues (Fall), 493-506. Hayes, P (1993) a view from the probation service in Russell, J (ed) Alcohol Hayes, P Russell, J (ed) Alcohol and Crime, London: Mental Health Foundation. Nurco, D.W (1987) Drug addiction and crime: A complicated issue. British Journal of Addictions, 82, 7-9. Stevens A, Trace, M and Bewley-Taylor.D (2005) Reducing drug related crime: an overview of the global evidence. Beckley Foundation Drug Policy Programme. http://www.internationaldrugpolicy.net/reports/BeckleyFoundation_Report_05.pdf Taylor, (2002). I-ADAM in Eight Countries: Approaches and Challenges. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs.

Nursing Reflection Essay Skills Assessment

Nursing Reflection Essay Skills Assessment According to the New Collins International Dictionary of the English language, a reflection is to reflect or to be in the state of reflection. (Collins Brash, 1983) In this essay, I aim to give a brief description of the skills assessment that I underwent, the thoughts and feelings it provoked, the evaluation and analysis of it ,conclusion and lastly my action plan. REFLECTION OF THE SKILLS ASSESSMENT 2.1 Description As part of the Fundamentals of Nursing (FON) skills assessment, I had to attend a test on week seven. Wound dressing and vital signs were the two subjects of this assessment. I had to draw lots to choose which room and subject I got and then proceed to sit outside the room to read the case scenario within the allocated five minutes. Once the case scenario of taking vital signs was clear to me, I was allowed to enter the evaluation room to perform the necessary procedure on the patient within twenty minutes. During the course of the procedure, all the vital signs such as pulse rate, respiration rate, blood pressure and temperature were recorded on a clinical chart. The entire procedure was then assessed and graded by an assessor, who was observing my nursing skills. 2.2 Thoughts and Feelings I felt really nervous and anxious before the skills assessment as I was seated outside the assessment room. When the time came for me to read and digest the background information, I felt overwhelmed as at that point in time, remembering the information on the sheet provided was just exhausting. As I was about to enter the room and the previous student came out crying, I felt even more nervous as that gave me an intuition that the assessment might be a challenging one . Despite that, I mustered all my confidence and proceeded with the nursing procedure when my turn came. I carried out the procedure in a calm and smooth manner. After my task was complete, I felt satisfied with my performance and happy with myself for having prepared well for the assessment before-hand as it turned out to be a good experience. 2.3 Evaluation On the whole, the skills assessment was a memorable experience for me as I felt that I had carried out the nursing procedure efficiently, keeping in mind all the protocols that had to be followed. Also, the six domains namely critical thinking, communication, technical skills, management of care, safe practice and professional and ethical practice were carried out to my ability in many instances. Then again, I could have done better in certain areas. For instance under the critical thinking component, I could have planned my working area carefully. Instead, I was immediately involved in attending to the patient and completing the procedure within the time limit which should not have been the case. As a result I had to move around quite a bit which could have been minimized with careful area planning. On the part of communication, I tried my level best to re-assure the patient and addressed his anxiety to a large extent. This skill I believe I portrayed well. In terms of technical skills, I was unsure about my readings for the systolic and diastolic blood pressures and I had to repeat the procedure twice in order to double check my first reading. Even then, I experienced some level of uncertainty with the readings. Thus, I have to improve my skills in this domain to become a better healthcare professional. To add on, I managed the patients care relatively well as I made it a point to ensure that he was feeling comfortable throughout the procedure. Keeping in mind the importance of understanding the emotions of the patient (Matsumoto Hwang, 2011), I took note of the changes in his facial expressions to make sure he was receiving good care and was not in any kind of stress. To ensure safe practice I had carried out good hand hygiene however ,I almost had forgotten to clean the ear plugs of the stethoscope, thereby downplaying on safe clinical practice on protecting myself. Furthermore, I had also plotted the readings on the wrong column which was an unacceptable mistake. Lastly, on the part of professionalism and ethical practice, I believe I had done a commendable job. I kept the patient informed on the risks he was taking by undergoing the cataract surgery. Also, I kept the staff nurse informed of his concerns and his rash that he had developed. Apart from these, all the procedures during the assessment were within the terms of ethical practice. 2.4 Analysis For in-depth examination, I have analyzed my skills in each of the above mentioned six domains. Critical thinking is defined as the disciplined, intellectual process of applying skillful reasoning as a guide to belief or action (Paul, 1990). In nursing, critical thinking for clinical decision-making is the potential to think in a organized and sensible manner with the readiness to question and think carefully about the reasoning process used to ensure safe nursing practice and good care. (Heaslip, 1993) In the nursing profession, it is important to plan carefully to save valuable time while attending to the patient. During my practical assessment, I could have placed the hand sanitizer on the same table as I had placed the other medical requisites on. This would have prevented me from constantly shifting to the table close by to perform my hand rubs, saving time. As mentioned by Mr. Tan during lab sessions, area planning is very important. Nurses also need to apply their intellectual skills for sound reasoning. (Heaslip, 1993) Having noticed rashes on one of the patients arm, I chose to take blood pressure from the arm with no rashes as placing the non-sterile cuff on the affected hand could have worsened the rash. As for communication skills, I believe I played a good role as a nurse by clearly explaining the risks involved in the cataract surgery to the patient. As pointed out by Crow et. al, it is paramount for a patient to be aware of his/her medical condition and develop a better understanding of the procedures involved. (Crow, et al., 1999) To add on, I informed him of his various readings to ensure his awareness of his medical status. In terms of technical skills, I could not distinctively identify the Korotkoff sounds hence had to repeat the blood pressure measurement. When I re-took the blood pressure however, I found it hard to release the pressure as I had turned the valve a little too much making it too tight to be released. It is mandatory for nurses to be fluent in the procedures. (Rennie, 2009) Hence, I should keep in mind not to turn the valve too much to allow easy release of the valve in future. During the procedure, I constantly made an effort to ensure that the patient was feeling comfortable by questioning him frequently instead of just carrying out the nursing procedure silently. Reference to Bensing, reveals that it is important for nurses to communicate at an emotional level so that the patient feels cared for and also helps disclose his concerns which he might otherwise not reveal. (Bensing, 1991). Also, I addressed the presence of the rash on his left arm and questioned him on how it originated instead of only taking note of his vital signs. These actions I hope would have sent across the message to the patient that I cared for him well. In terms of ensuring safe practice, I kept the staff nurse informed about the rash the patient had developed on his arm and what medication he had previously consumed which might have led to the allergy. However, I had not plotted the readings taken on the correct column onto the clinical chart. I was unaware of this mistake until I read the remarks on the assessment sheet. Therefore, I have to strictly avoid such a mistake in the future as it may lead to further misinterpretations. My professionalism and ethical practice was portrayed rather well as I maintained a steady and confident poise which I trust would have also allowed the patient to place his trust in me to carry out the nursing procedure safely and effectively. Butts has given a detailed description of the ethics that needs to be followed in the nursing profession (Butts). Not only that, I ensured that the patient was aware of the side effects and risks involved in the surgery so as to maintain ethical practice. 2.5 Conclusion All in all, this reflection has helped me better identify my mistakes in this skills assessment and how I can further improve myself in the near future. Not only that, it has also aided me in the pursuit of realizing the importance of the six different domains that we were assessed on. This assessment was also a good platform for us to reflect upon ourselves and further improve our nursing competencies bringing our skills to a whole new level. At the end of the day, such assessments are the ones that mould us into trustworthy and reliable healthcare professionals. 2.6 Action Plan In similar situations in the future, first and foremost, I would quickly run through area planning in my mind so as to maintain minimal movement to save time when I am carrying out my nursing procedure. Then, when I am taking the patients blood pressure, I will remind myself not to turn the valve too hard so that it will be easier to release the pressure from the cuff when I am recording the blood pressure readings. Most importantly, I would ensure that I record my findings accurately onto the clinical chart. I hope all these precautions will help me carry out my duty as a nurse efficiently in years to come.

Leadership Essay -- essays research papers

leadership Getting To Know Yourself What is encouraged in being a good leader? After doing the exercise in the context that dealt with the study of leadership traits and characteristics that was done by Kirkpatrick and Locke, I found some of the importance of leadership traits. Knowing the importance is only one step in getting to know yourself. Its also being able to use the leadership traits in ways that make you more able to lead. Finding what it really takes to be a successful leader may be hard, but I can recall several events in my career as a manager that can make the normal leaders' head spin. Just looking back at what I have done so far as a manager makes me stop and think "what did I do to get me this far?" It is a very competitive environment in any industries ... Leadership Essay -- essays research papers leadership Getting To Know Yourself What is encouraged in being a good leader? After doing the exercise in the context that dealt with the study of leadership traits and characteristics that was done by Kirkpatrick and Locke, I found some of the importance of leadership traits. Knowing the importance is only one step in getting to know yourself. Its also being able to use the leadership traits in ways that make you more able to lead. Finding what it really takes to be a successful leader may be hard, but I can recall several events in my career as a manager that can make the normal leaders' head spin. Just looking back at what I have done so far as a manager makes me stop and think "what did I do to get me this far?" It is a very competitive environment in any industries ...

Comparison of the American and French Revolutions Essay -- American Fr

Comparison of the American and French Revolutions The American and French revolutions both compare and contrast in their origins and outcomes; both revolutions began due to the common peoples need to obtain independence and liberty from an oppressive government. The American Revolution was triggered by the American colonists need for financial independence from the overpowering nation of Great Britain, while the French revolution was a struggle to gain social equality among the masses. Although the American and French Revolutions were fought over the same ideas, the American Revolution is considered more â€Å"conservative† than the French. The intent of the American revolutionaries was not to initiate a revolution, but rather to gain their freedom from a â€Å"long train of abuses,† The French however were trying to cause a true revolution they were not just fighting for freedom but instead to over throw and remove the monarchy. The American revolutionaries had no choice but to defend their liberties; the tactics used by the Americans were not as directly aggressive as those used by the French. The American Revolution, beginning in 1776, was initiated due to the tension that existed between the thirteen American colonies and the island of Great Britain due to the war debt Great Britain had incurred when defending American colonists against the French and Indians. As a solution to the debt the British began passing legislation, which increased the taxation of American colonies, tightening their control over the colonists. One of the regulations that Parliament passed was the Stamp Act of 1765. This taxed all printed documents, including: wills, newspapers, and pamphlets. The colonists felt they were not fairly represented because they held no seat in Britain’s parliament. The rallying cry for the colonists became â€Å"no taxation without representation." After years of boycotting and peaceful protest the American colonists could no longer stand the abuse from Great Britain and decided that they had had enough. In 1775 the British troops and American Militia exchanged first shots of the Revolution. On July 4th, 1776, the Second Continental Congress issued the Declaration of Independence, written mostly by Thomas Jefferson. Due to a decisive American victory at Saratoga, the French agreed to aid the Americans, mainly because of a longstanding hatred between the French... ...g an impartial solution for all. The National Assembly took the Tennis Court Oath, which stated that no one was to leave unless a constitution was enacted for France. On August 26th, the Assembly drew up the Declaration of The Rights of Man and citizen. In contrast to the American Revolution, the French Revolution was more violently approached. Both the American and French revolutions ended with a victory of independence. In the American Revolution, the American colonists gained their independence from Great Britain while the French gained social equality and converted from an overpowering monarchy to a republic. They differed, however, by the means in which each set of revolutionaries went about revolting. The American Revolution was less violent and the Americans had attempted to first establish a compromise with King Louis XIV. The French Revolution was much more aggressive; the storming of the Bastille and massacre of many French nobility are prime examples of the violent tactics used during the revolution. Both revolutions have not only adequately show the importance of individual and universal rights, but also show two different ways of achieving liberty through revolt.

Intelligences and Michael Jordans Career :: Basketball Science Papers

In Creating Minds, by Howard Gardner, three organizing themes are introduced. Gardner proposes that the creative activity of an individual is broken down into relationships: between the child and the master, between an individual and his work, and between an individual and other people. When studying Michael Jordan, three key moments in his life appear to represent these three principles and explain his success. First, proof of his level of dominance should be presented. Michael Jeffrey Jordan has experienced success at the highest level of his domain. Jordan began his career as the National Basketball Association Rookie of the Year in 1984-85. He led his team to six NBA championships, and was named the Finals Most Valuable Player each time. Jordan won ten scoring titles, including seven straight from the 1986-87 to 1992-93 season. He also received the regular season MVP five times. In the year 2001, a panel of sports experts was organized in order to vote for the greatest athlete of the twentieth century. This distinguished 48-member panel voted Michael Jordan number one ahead of such greats as Babe Ruth and Muhammad Ali. What does it take to be the greatest? In order to be a master of any domain, you must possess an added characteristic that your peers do not. There may be another person who can jump as high as you can, or who can run as fast as you, or who can bench press more weight than you. But you can make sure that there is no one who practices more than you. The ability to push yourself to your limit and maybe a bit further is going to give you the advantage over your competitors. This is an aspect of the intrapersonal intelligence discussed by Howard Gardner is his book Creating Minds. I propose that Michael Jordan’s success is not solely due to his athletic ability, but rather to the interaction between his bodily/kinesthetic and intrapersonal intelligences. One without the other would not have allowed him to accomplish all that he has in his career.

Quality Control

More and more companies are finding it necessary to to achieve high quality, ND consider it a major strategy objective. This essay aims to explain how companies control their organizations to produce high quality products through cases in two completely different sectors, separately service and manufacturing industries. It compares distinct method to improve quality in two company Toyota and American airline. Literature Review Quality Is an often-used concept but yet such a complex term. Many academic researches have been conducted to help us understand what Is quality.From marketing's perspective, it is about how to satisfy customer expectations to the greet extent ( Crooning 1994). Other economics and industrial organization researchers view quality in terms of vertical product differentiation between design and implementation. ( Mayer,C 1 971 ), whereas management researchers study quality in terms of organizational processes such as quality circles and total quality management (P owell,T 1995). Those definitions give a comprehensive understanding of this concept. To attempt to reach high quality, companies monitor the process of production. These actively can be defined as quality control (SQ).As Mayer (1971) said, the term control add the meaning of attempts to Insure that the design was implemented according to the plan. In other words, it is a systematic process through which the targets and standards are set and then actions are taken to correct deviations from actual performance. There are four steps in the control process according to R. Daft (1991) ,namely establish standards, measure actual performance, compare performance to standards and take corrective action. Firstly, establishing standards precisely provides a guide to workers and managers so that they can determine whether the product or service Is on target.Secondly, companies develop various quality agreements which can be observed In a period,for monthly. Thirdly, comparing performance to st andards means relating collected data and reports from actual activities to the target. When performance Is Inconsistent with the standards, inquiring approach should be taken and causes of the problem chancing work activities in order to bring them back to acceptable performance standards. When implementing the four steps above, quality control can focus on events before, during,or after the production process. Quality Control More and more companies are finding it necessary to to achieve high quality, ND consider it a major strategy objective. This essay aims to explain how companies control their organizations to produce high quality products through cases in two completely different sectors, separately service and manufacturing industries. It compares distinct method to improve quality in two company Toyota and American airline. Literature Review Quality Is an often-used concept but yet such a complex term. Many academic researches have been conducted to help us understand what Is quality.From marketing's perspective, it is about how to satisfy customer expectations to the greet extent ( Crooning 1994). Other economics and industrial organization researchers view quality in terms of vertical product differentiation between design and implementation. ( Mayer,C 1 971 ), whereas management researchers study quality in terms of organizational processes such as quality circles and total quality management (P owell,T 1995). Those definitions give a comprehensive understanding of this concept. To attempt to reach high quality, companies monitor the process of production. These actively can be defined as quality control (SQ).As Mayer (1971) said, the term control add the meaning of attempts to Insure that the design was implemented according to the plan. In other words, it is a systematic process through which the targets and standards are set and then actions are taken to correct deviations from actual performance. There are four steps in the control process according to R. Daft (1991) ,namely establish standards, measure actual performance, compare performance to standards and take corrective action. Firstly, establishing standards precisely provides a guide to workers and managers so that they can determine whether the product or service Is on target.Secondly, companies develop various quality agreements which can be observed In a period,for monthly. Thirdly, comparing performance to st andards means relating collected data and reports from actual activities to the target. When performance Is Inconsistent with the standards, inquiring approach should be taken and causes of the problem chancing work activities in order to bring them back to acceptable performance standards. When implementing the four steps above, quality control can focus on events before, during,or after the production process.

Asturias Essay Essay

The concept of Celebrity and Fame are ones that affect relationships both positively and negatively. Fame refers to the state of being known by many people, and Celebrity is the noun for a famous person. The experiences and perspectives of celebrities who have gone through the process of Fame have all had their relationships affected by their status both positively and negatively – whether it is a celebrity’s relationship with corporations, the concept of Fame or their peers and rivals. This statement is supported by Brian Caswell’s novel _Asturias,_ Jay Z and Justin Timberlake’s song _Holy Grail,_ and Donna Rockwell’s article _’Fame is a Dangerous Drug: a phenomenal glimpse of celebrity†_ all showcase these arguments with textual evidence. In brief, textual evidence have been provided to establish the implications Fame present on a celebrity’s relationships. Corporate relationships with a celebrity are professional, but the effects of Fame on these relationships may force the bond to become personal. An example of a positive relationship between celebrities and a corporate figure is demonstrated through Asturias’ relationship with their manager, Max. This is exemplified through the use of comparison in Chapter 22, â€Å"These are people †¦ Kids. They’re not some ‘bottom line’ on a sales-report†. It outlines Max’s personal concern for the band – he overlooks the professional implications on the band’s/his career, worrying more about their well-being. On the contrary, the relationship between Asturias and Symonds, a distant but more powerful figure, is an example of a negative relationship between celebrities and corporate figures. For example, the use of objectification is expressed by Symonds in the same chapter, â€Å"They’re a product, for Christ’s sake! We made them, we can remake them.† This use of objectification takes away the Asturias’ human dignity and conveys Symonds’ negligence on the band’s well-being and emotional state, selfishly focusing on generating quick profit and securing his income and position on the ladder. In summary, the relationship between celebrities and corporations is a relationship that can either be based on nurturing and guiding said celebrity, or harshly exploiting/overworking them for high profits. Another factor that affects a relationship which is influenced by Fame is the  nature of Fame itself, and its connection with the celebrity. Fame has an influential nature that commonly consumes the celebrity ‘s identity; it requires attention at all times and occupies the subjects’ lifestyle, privacy and well-being – the thirst for fame can result in the subject being obsessive and wanting more, after having experienced the perks and benefits of becoming a celebrity. An example of how the implications of fame affect a person negatively is demonstrated through the use of rhetorical question, â€Å"Was he scared? Did he call out to me?† This use of rhetorical question was triggered by the event of Alex leaving Abuelito behind due to his priorities to the band, missing Abuelito’s peaceful demise – he was so caught up with his celebrity priorities that he didn’t even know how Abuelito passed away. In comparison, a positive opinion on this notion is stated through the use of motif, â€Å"The ride was every bit as exciting as they’d promised.† â€Å"The ride† is a motif found throughout the book, and refers to celebrity-hood – this statement expresses that despite the sacrifices in relationships, living famously is as exciting as it is perceived to be. This opinion can drive celebrities (or even non-celebrities) to work harder and be consistent, getting what they want constantly. The article strengthens this argument that albeit being aware of the negative implications of fame on its subject and their relationships, the subject still disregards these implications in order to keep pursuing the perks of Fame. This is exemplified through the use of figurative language, â€Å"the allure of wealth, †¦ keeps the famous person stuck in the perpetual need to keep their fame machine churning.† Through the use of figurative language, the author expresses the obsession of celebrities with fame, and how they tirelessly work through, neglecting their relationships on the way, their way to staying relevant. Therefore, these texts obviously overlook the negative aspect of fame, and focuses on the positive outcomes it may bring to its subject. Finally, through the use of a bridge, Justin Timberlake sings, â€Å"And you take the blade right out my heart, just so you can watch me bleed / And I still don’t know why, why I love you so much.† referring to his addiction with  being a celebrity – he overlooks the deeply negative impacts of Fame, and blindly craves for more which shows a celebrity’s obsessive relationship with Fame. Competition within the celebrity industry also affects relationships positively. These positive results a relationship gains from competition is exemplified through the use of colloquialism, â€Å"Enough sticks, it was time for carrot.† This use of colloquialism comes from working with donkeys, where sticks were used as force to get the donkey moving, whilst carrots were used as motivators to do the same thing: it’s basically referring to whether you use force or threats on someone to get them to do something or persuade and motivate them into doing something. In this case, it portrays Max’s security in his situation – he is so confident about negotiating with his competitor, Symonds, that he started with threatening him but knowing the man, he offered him a better deal that would get him fired meaning his liability would be taken away. Another example is presented in Holy Grail, where the use of personification is expressed, â€Å"Fuck the fame, keep cheating on me, what I do, I took her back.† This use of personification expresses the struggle with staying relevant as a celebrity as if it were an intimate relationship (when he says that Fame â€Å"cheats on him†, he is referring to whenever other celebrities get more attention than him as if Fame favoured them more). Initially a negative statement, he then goes on to say that he takes Fame back, which can be comprehended to mean that he is driven and motivated to success by his competition which makes it a positive statement as to say that he has gotten over the nature of fame, and learnt an effective way to cope with it. However, as celebrities become more immersed and competitive, they also become more jealous and greedy. This is best exemplified in Asturias through the use of the multiple narrators. The use of multiple narrators allows Tim to reflect, â€Å"Everyone shines in their own way, but one child shines brighter. In our â€Å"family†, that one was Alex. And I got to the stage where I couldn’t forgive him for it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Through this quote, it is clearly seen that Tim and Alex’s relationship was deteriorating because of Tim’s thirst for  attention and recognition: something only Fame had inflicted on him. Originally being a friendly person, his ego is slowly fed by his fans which made him envious of Alex’s vitality to the band. The article reinforces the negative effects of jealousy and greed through the use of metaphor, â€Å"I’ve been addicted to almost every substance known to man at one point or another, but the most addictive of them all was fame.† The metaphorical comparison between the concept of fame and illegal drugs suggest that fame evokes an unhealthy addiction within its subject – like how drugs detaches its user from their relationships and lifestyle and into addiction, fame does the same. Thus, these textual evidences outline the notion of fame detaching its subjects from their originally close relationships, through jealousy, thirst and greed. In conclusion, Fame is a concept that affects a celebrity’s relationship both positively and negatively – it merely depends on the situation the celebrity is in. The arguments of fame affecting corporate relationships, relationships with the actual concept of fame and relationships with peers and rivals during the pursuit of becoming famous are all provided with both the positive implications of these arguments, and the negative. These arguments are supported by Textual evidence from varying texts such as a novel, an audio text and an article. Overall, the textual evidence provided clearly demonstrate how Fame affects a celebrity’s relationships with their surroundings.

Abraham Maslow †Hierarchy of Needs Essay

Abraham Maslow is a well-known psychologist for his theory on human motivation, specifically the Hierarchy of needs theory, and for his work with monkeys. Maslow’s theory can also be defined as â€Å"intensity at a task†. This means that greater the motivation, the more constant and intense one will perform s specific task. The basis behind this theory is the knowledge that all behaviour is goal driven, meaning one will do tasks according to what they obtain after the task is complete. Maslow has been a very inspirational figure in personality theories. The Hierarchy of Needs theory has four different levels before one comes to full self-actualizing. These levels are, in order, the psychological needs, safety, love and care and esteem needs. The psychological needs are those one needs to survive, such as food, water, oxygen, shelter and more. Then comes the need for safety and protection for one’s family’ these needs include safe shelter, security, protection from both mental and physical damage, and others. Thirdly is the need for love and care, which is the need for affection, friends and relationships in general. Lastly, the esteem needs. These needs are those that one gets from him or herself. There are two types, low self esteem and a high self esteem. The low self esteem needs include wanting the respect of others, status, fame, recognition and even dominance. The high self-esteem need is to have respect for yourself; this is the higher of the two self-esteems because self-respect is harder to loose than the resp ect of others. See more:  Social Satire in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay Self-actualization is to have all of the needs fulfilled and to be settled with a good job. According to Maslow, a person who is fully self-actualized, have the following character traits. According to his research, e stated that self-actualizers tend to be reality centred, meaning these people can distinguish between what is fake and dishonest from what is real and true. They were problem centred; people treated life’s difficulties as problems demanding solutions, the need for privacy and they were independent of culture and relied on their own experiences and judgments; they were, in the best sense, non conformists. Those who were self-actualized had democratic values; open to ethnic and individual variety, social interest and they enjoyed having intimate personal relationships with a few close friends. Maslow recorded these findings by observing a group of historical figures, which included Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Ghandi, Albert Einstein and others. In his findings, he also stated that self-actualizers have a pacifist sense of humour, which means they would rather tell jokes about themselves or at the world in general rather than at others. These people accepted people for who they were; they didn’t try to change them to what they thought each person should be like and they prefer being themselves than being pretentious or artificial. With all these high-quality traits, there were some flaws with the self-actualizers studied by Maslow. These flaws were that the subjects that were being tested on suffered from anxiety and guilt. Some of them were absentminded, overly kind and, lastly, they had unexpected moments of ruthlessness and a loss of humour. All of these findings of Maslow have created a basic understanding of what things are necessities to humans and which are not. For example, in the 1960’s, this was most important to those who were looking for meaning and purpose in their lives. This theory helped them look for a path to lead their life to success. Maslow’s theory was also inspirational to Mihalyi Csikeszentmihalyi and Douglas McGregor. Mihalyi Csikeszentmihalyi continued Maslow’s concept of â€Å"flow.† This theory helped Douglas McGregor to make his theory of Theory X and Theory Y by being a building block. Without Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, these two people may not have come up with the idea/theory that they did. It is said that Maslow’s hierarchy of needs follows the life cycle of humans. The first stage, psychological needs is a newborn baby’s needs, safety comes as the baby begins to crawl and walk, the social aspect come in when the baby is a toddler, they seek attention by doing something that no one has seen before and amazes the audience. The fourth need, esteem or ego, comes when humans are teenagers; this means when humans are concerned with respect  and popularity and only some humans go on to self-actualizing. Maslow’s theory being related to the development of human’s helps for humans to realize how his theory really does work and how it intertwines with the development of humans. Another way that Maslow’s was inspirational was, for example, the reason why humans wake up in the morning and what motivates us to do so. Maslow’s theory states that by accomplishing goals, people motivate themselves to do even more. When a person is on the rise of success or promotion or an increase in business profits, they are excited and they motivate themselves to get up in the morning and to do more to get more excitement. Lastly, Maslow’s theory was a great importance to education. His theory applies to education because if the teacher wants to maximize the effectiveness of teaching programs around the schools and individual classrooms, the administrators must consider what the children want first. If the students feel that the workload is extremely heavy, then administration staff and teachers should take this into account and either lower the workload or give longer due dates for the students to finish their work. This gives the students encouragement to do their work as they realize the teacher has taken our problem into consideration and has given us what we asked for. Those teachers who know their students needs use this theory and are successful teachers. Both the administration and student body like these teachers; administration is happy that students are doing their work mostly on time and the student body like the teacher because he/she cooperates and listens to what they have to say. Thus Maslow’s theory has had an impact on the teaching styles of teachers in order to cope with the students. In conclusion, Maslow’s theory is inspirational not only to teachings but also to everyday life. His theory helped everyone in society to realize basic needs of life and to spend their money and time where it is most needed and worry about the luxuries after the necessities are complete. Without this inspirational theory created by Maslow, people around the world may not know what the basic needs of life are. For example, the third world  countries and first world countries would have even less in common than what they do today. At least today they have the same basic needs, maybe without this theory even this would be different. Therefore, Abraham Maslow as an inspirational psychologist who has lead us to the right way of spending money and time. Works Cited Abraham Maslow: Understanding Human Motivation 17 Oct 2003 Boeree, Dr. C. George. Abraham Maslow. 16 Oct 2003 Hoffman, Edward. The Right To Be Human. Los Angeles: J.P. Tarcher, 1988. House of Essays: Abraham Maslow http://www.houseofessays.com/viewpaper/9245.html Nancy Benson, Sharon Crosier, Linda Parker. Maslow’s Motivation Theory And Its Application To Education. 16 Oct. 2003

Green Mountain Coffee Case Study Essay

Conscientious capitalism underscores the importance of aligning stakeholders’: employees, customers, shareholders, suppliers, community, and the environment, interests into the company’s decisions by refocusing on purpose instead of profit, which incidentally results in a successful bottom line (Sacks, 2009). The operating philosophy of conscientious capitalism incorporates three assumptions: interconnectedness, holistic wealth, and traversing time through multiple generations. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) has integrated this ethical continuum into their operational strategy, which has led to their current success. Interconnectedness GMCR embodies interconnectedness through their annual summit meetings that employ an Appreciative Inquiry (AI) 4-D model and through their organization’s cultural commitment. At the summit meetings, multiple internal and external company stakeholders convene to strategically plan for the future, assess stakeholder value and contributions to success, as well as reflect on company and industry historical trends, all which promote the positive core of GMCR (Neville, 2008). Interconnectedness is also evident by the embodiment of GMCR’s inaugural five core beliefs: a passion for coffee (recreating Stiller’s first experience of the perfect cup of coffee), financial performance, a destination workplace, ethics, and commitment to social responsibility (Neville, 2008). By engaging the stakeholders, especially with annual trips to the â€Å"origin†, GMCR creates a unified allegiance to social and ethical responsibility that produces positive ethical and financial outcomes for the company. Holistic wealth GMCR epitomizes holistic wealth in the form of value-based management (VBM), which can be defined as an integrated management control system that measures, encourages, and supports the creation of net worth beyond capital accumulation and profit (Beck & Britzelmaier, 2011). One way that GMCR uses VBM to create net worth is through flexible cash flow models provided to coffee farmers. The model entails providing interest-free pecuniary resources to coffee growers preceding the harvest, which secures perpetual payments for the suppliers, invariable income for the farmer’s family, and an uninterrupted coffee flow for GMCR (Neville, 2008). Another example of VBM is GMCR’s utilization of Fair Trade initiatives and family farming contracts that employ direct buying agreements granting farmers fair prices for their crops. By employing these types of social standards as a tradeoff for long-term sustainability, GMCR makes all stakeholders feel valued, which in turn increases their passion for productivity and subsequently GMCR’s bottom line. Traversing time through multiple generations With a global focus on agricultural replenishment and perpetuity, the common emphasis for businesses in this industry has been extending the vivaciousness of crops across multiple generations. Given that 30 coffee trees are required to provide one, three time per day coffee drinker with enough coffee and combined with the fact that the trees have to remain viable for at least 10 years to yield a financially profitable crop, GMCR’s commitment to organic food processes promotes to the concept of multiple generations of time, allowing farmers to pass their crops through generations (Neville, 2008). By trading a traditional business paradigm for one centered on an all-inclusive value-based continuum that encompasses interconnected systems of farmers, stakeholders, land, and visible and invisible time, GMCR is a prime example of how conscientious capitalism can stimulate corporate and financial success.