Monday, September 30, 2019

Critical Reflection Essay Essay

Upon reflective exploration of my 16 week journey regarding the overall critical reflection of Nursing 5403 also referred to as Organizational Theory or Administration I, I find that I have a more sound and in depth theoretical understanding of key leadership and nursing administrative concepts and processes. This course has increased my knowledge base in regards to organizational design, augmented my awareness of healthcare administrative concepts, and strengthened my understanding of management concepts and processes. This educational experience has revealed imperative and insightful examples and practices used to become a more efficient, effective and formative leader. I have increased my usage of many of these concepts to improve my leadership skills and practice, to â€Å"walk the walk†, in my daily work /life regimen. I will examine, evaluate, and reflect on the core information covered in this course by dividing the methods of delivery into three main presentation categ ories: written, oral, and online. The written presentation format was used to deliver the five discussion board questions and leadership instrument paper results. The discussion board allowed the opportunity to explore management concepts and practices from various perspectives. The leadership instrument paper allowed in depth exploration of variety of traits, theories, and practices important to leaders. I found both of these learning experiences very enlightening and beneficial to my overall managerial acumen. Northhouse (2013), explained on the sixteen types and styles of leadership, which had a major impact on my overall viewpoints regarding humans and management in our administrative worlds today. I was able to identify and relate the diverse leadership styles and types in a positive way and glean insightful understanding of different people and their leadership potential. The discussion board gave me free range to strengthen my self-expressive abilities and interact with my peers. The leadership instrument pape r allowed for self-analysis with specific references to key leadership ideals and concepts. I feel both assignments gave me insight into my leadership strengths, weaknesses, foci, and desires which will in turn assist me in  becoming a successful consistent leader. Oral presentations were used by both the students and the professor to teach assigned lessons. The dyad presentations were completed within the professor assigned groups. The organizational culture assignment was individually completed by each student. Dr. Junious, our professor, presented multiple management and leadership topics during the 16-week timeframe of our course work. The dyad group assignments allowed the students to work as a team, increase/ improve communication skills, and strengthen public speaking skills. The organizational culture assignment enriched my understanding of my department’s culture and fostered a new understanding and more tolerable acceptance of the different personalities which shapes my department and company. The professor guided topics allowed me to glean current knowledge on trends in nursing leadership and introduced new variables regarding emotional intelligence. One of the crucial components from our main source, Roussell (2013) which I have used on a consistent basis are the power listing tools known as, â€Å"AMPP†, which stands for: ask, mirror, paraphrase, and prime. Consistent usage of these tools has empowered my ability to extract important information in a judicious manner, which has resulted in workflow improvement and increased productivity in my current position. The online method was used to complete our online certificate training for the Institute of Healthcare Improvement (IHI) leadership and quality courses. Both of these certificate online courses were very informative and educational. I gained excellent training from these online courses. The information presented in this online self-study gave illuminating examples, and reinforced positive and evidence based methods of leadership and analytical procedures. My goal is to complete at least eight of the other courses listed on this website to strengthen my inner self to produce stronger leadership abilities and increase process awareness. Overall, the knowledge, skills, and experience gleaned from my enrollment and participation in this class has enhanced my understanding of organizational processes and essential, effective leadership traits. I truly enjoyed my time in this course, it was interesting and informative.  The educational experience has stimulated and supported both professional and personal growth in my life. The traits and theoretical evidence based practices illustrated within our resources reinforced my thoughts that great leaders are formed and not born. References Northhouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks: Sage. Roussel, L. (2013). Management and Leadership for Nurse Administrators. Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Workplace Safety

Workplace Safety Andrew J. Burns CIS 111 Section 043 University of Kentucky Bad things happen to millions of people every single day. It could be physical, emotional, financial, psychological; sometimes permanent damage is done, sometimes the damage can be fixed. Sadly, millions of people are permanently wounded at their work yearly in the United States, and thousands of those people will die because of that incident. Imagine how your loved ones would feel if they received word that you had been killed on the job.Imagine being permanently injured from your work because someone didn’t care enough to test and make sure your position was safe, and losing your ability to hear, see, or move properly, or if one of these things happened to one of your own loved ones. You might think this is unlikely, but it happens quite regularly, and to a great number of people. As I said before, tons of people everywhere are affected by work related safety issues, and it is a big deal. Surveys are taken every year to calculate how many injuries and deaths occur in the United States due to safety problems at the workplace.The survey taken in 2011 revealed that 4609 work related fatalities occurred that year (U. S. Department of Labor). Hilda Solis, the United States Secretary of Labor, stated that â€Å"Every day in America, 13 people go to work and never come home. Every year in America, nearly 4 million people suffer a work place injury from which some may never recover. † Those are huge numbers, and should definitely not go unnoticed by the public. I witnessed first-hand the unsafe environment of working in a factory for a few months.While I was working there, there were tons of forklifts always driving around the factory at pretty fast speeds, and if you weren’t paying attention, you could easily get hit by one. They also put out a large amount of emissions. As soon as you walked into the factory, you could instantly smell their emissions, and there’s no way they were good for the lungs, especially if you have to work there year round like the regular employees. Complicated, unguarded machines were another major hazard. There were many machines at the factory making plastic and styrofoam that could easily burn you if you just barely touched it.One of the guys I worked with accidentally brushed his arm up against one of the ovens melting plastic and he was burned really badly. His skin bubbled up right after and it later left a nasty scar on his arm. Also, with the factory being in a closed space, the sound waves that the machines produced would have no efficient way of leaving the building, rendering you very vulnerable to permanent hearing loss. According to the Department of Health, â€Å"Excessive noise levels over a long period of time will gradually and painlessly permanently damage your hearing. It was for sure as loud, if not louder than heavy traffic in there. I’m convinced I lost a little of my hearing from just working there in the summer. I find myself saying â€Å"what? † a lot more to people now. Also, don’t count yourself out just because you think you work in a safe are behind a desk all day. Unnoticeable things like loud A/C units and certain emissions from various materials in the room can still cause significant health problems if exposed to them over enough time. A perfect example of this would be the infamous asbestos issue.Asbestos is a mineral that was used in making insulation, ceiling tiles, drywall, and things of that nature. Before it was banned in 1980, businesses and builders used it heavily in the materials they used (Garcia). Little did people know that fibers would break off of the asbestos and would eventually be inhaled by the people working in the building. Eventually, this would lead to be a major cause of lung cancer across the nation. Asbestos was not rigorously inspected and tested enough before it was put in use. Consider the common things we use nowadays that we think are completely harmless.These things could be messing our bodies up pretty badly without us even knowing it, only to discover decades later that is was a significant factor in putting us on our death beds. These problems given to people caused by the workplace affect everyone around them, too, not only them. You may have not been close to the injured or killed worker, but they impact the entire society as a whole. â€Å"What happens to the coal miner or construction or steel worker is very much in the public’s interest. When a worker is hurt or killed, all of us all of us end up paying part of the bill through higher product prices and increased taxes.More importantly, we lose because society fails to receive a full return on its investment in the lives of people it has schooled and prepared for work† (Kinney 46) . The entire public ends up paying the raised taxes that have resulted from inflating workers’ compensation. All of that money could be going to so many other things that could be helping our economy, but instead we are paying a large price for the lazy safety inspectors and regulation writers in the United States. People’s safety should be highly regarded, especially when they’re working for that company.It seems like a lot could be done to increase the safety of workplaces. It’s obvious that job safety regulations aren’t being enforced, and many bad accidents could be easily avoided with just a few adjustments. Despite the statistics and dangers, I did come out in one piece. However, I did witness many other people get hurt around me, and I could’ve just as easily been in their position. Something needs to be done to better protect the hard workers of the United States. References Garcia, A. III. (2009, October 15). End Date for Asbestos. Constructiondeal. com.Retrieved February 11, 2013 from http://www. constructiondeal. com/blogs/is-1980-an-appropriate- end-date-for-as bestos-use. 258. Kinney, J. A. (1991, May 21). Why should we Care about Job Safety? USA Today. Social Sciences Premium Collection. Retrieved February 11, 2013 from http://search. proquest. com/docview/214620137. OSHA. (2011). Commonly Used Statistics. US Department of Labor. Retrieved February 12, 2013 from http://www. osha. gov/oshstats/commonstats. html. US Dept. of Health. (November, 2011). Workplace Safety – Noise Pollution. US Department of Health.Retrieved February 11, 2013 from http://www. betterhealth. vic. gov. au/bhcv2/bhcarticles. nsf/pages/Workplace_safety_noise_ pollution. Annotated Bibliography Annual Statistical Supplement. (2011). Workers' Compensation Program and Legislative History. United States Social Security Administration. Retrieved February 13, 2013 from http://www. ssa. gov/policy/docs/statcomps/supplement/2011/workerscomp. html. I checked out this site to see what kind of damage had been done to our economy from workers’ compensation. It turns out that in 2009 124. million employees were claimed injured on the job and were covered by workers’ compensation. The overall wages it took to cover these workers was 5. 7 trillion dollars. Kinney, J. A. (1991, May 21). Why should we Care about Job Safety? USA Today. Social Sciences Premium Collection. Retrieved February 11, 2013 from http://search. proquest. com/docview/214620137. Even though this article was old, it still made a lot of sense with how society works and what happens when an employee is killed on the job. He goes in detail about how the economy pays greatly when an employee is lost.I thought it was interesting where he talks about how the biggest issue when losing an employee was that society fails to receive a refund. Tidwell, A. (2003, July 12). Ethics, Safety and Managers. Business and Professional Ethics Journal. Retrieved February 11, 2013 from http://www. jstor. org/stable/27801233? seq=5. Tidwell goes into depth on how to solve the problem of workplac e deaths and accidents. He created a list of simple and cost-free objectives a company could follow to greatly reduce accidents. Since money is the main concern when increasing the safety of something, these guidelines could be incredibly usefulWatson, G. W. (2005, May 2). Dimensions of Interpersonal Relationships and Safety in the Steel Industry. Journal of Business and Psychology. Retrieved February 10, 2013 from http://www. jstor. org/stable/25092904. Watson writes about how work related accidents are a growing issue with newer, more dangerous technologies. He also notes that the greatest danger to employees are the employees themselves. He says that employees aren’t being trained the way they should, and are creating a very unsafe environment for themselves and their co-workers. Widjaya, I. (November 22, 2012).Most Common Work Related Accidents. Global Legal Resources. Retrieved February 9, 2013 from http://bx. businessweek. com/workplace- safety/view? url=http%3A%2F%2Fww w. noobpreneur. com%2F2012%2F11%2F22%2Fto p-ten-work-related-accidents%2F In this article, the most common work related accidents are described. The first few are actually just accidents caused by the employees themselves, like overexertion. Then the later ones seem to be more equipment and machine related. Both can definitely be prevented by better job training and more thorough equipment inspections though.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Biodiversity Loss and Extinction

Loss of biodiversity and loss of extinction Biodiversity can cause extinction and harm to human lives. We are responsible for environmental consideration. We introduced a machine that destroys the environment and destroys the life of animals. We need to limit the land and resources we consume. There are several major problems that cause seeds to die out and cause our way of life to be compromised. Other animals may also affect the change in the food chain. Many of the problems of biodiversity loss are due to the interaction between humans and the environment. Statements concerning animal agriculture as a major factor in the loss of biodiversity and the extinction of species have received numerous discussions and interviews with the major authors and scientists working on the Convention on Biological Diversity and IUCN and the Millennium Ecosystem Support of publications on current biodiversity assessment proposed in the evaluation. , IUCN Red List, and prospects for global environmen t and biodiversity. As of August 2012, the assessment of world species in 2004 is the latest empirical data on global extinction rates based on birds, mammals and amphibians. Dr. Oppenlander and Dr. Simon Stuart, Interview with the International Committee Chair for Conservation of Nature Conservation Species: Main factors of loss of biodiversity: threat to cause loss of biodiversity / cause evolution of biodiversity loss / natural process of species / aging of ecosystem natural climate change / global warming invasive species / biodiversity of driver The loss is beyond its initial distribution range. Explanation of loss of biodiversity due to overfishing / abuse pollution / inadequate nutrient loading of ecosystems Direct cause direct explanation Explain the cause of basic biodiversity loss with indirect dynamics / Background rate of loss of biodiversity / where is the intruder responsible for reducing the historical proportion of species extinction? Invasive invasive range of invas ive alien species in your country

Friday, September 27, 2019

You can choose Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

You can choose - Essay Example One would say that the most impressive of Chen’s paintings, which can be considered the centerpiece of her exhibition at the White Lotus Gallery, is Turtles Marching, put on display on July 27, 1997. Seemingly based on a variety of impressively designed, individual black and white colors can be said to be extremely exquisite and this is mainly because of the fact that it appears, from a distance, to have been made of wood block. One look at Turtles Marching and one comes to the conclusion that the painter is an accomplished ink painter who has specialized in two media, namely woodcuts and ink painting, and this can be seen to have become inextricably linked within the painting. What can be considered to be one of the best known artworks in the modern world is Chen Haiyan’s Turtles Marching. It can be said to be a depiction of how the ideal world would be; where human life and nature would coexist in harmony. This painting is deemed to be one of Chen’s supreme masterpieces whose proper meaning can be considered to be subject to speculation. While it can be said to be just a regular painting, there also seems to be a deeper meaning behind it, perhaps even a criticism of the way in which the China (being the artist’s home country) handles its environmental issues. The topic of the painting, namely the turtles, leaves the impression on the observer of struggling to get to their destination, namely, the water. It shows the sheer determination which the turtles have to make sure that they get to the water; the image of a man watching them is perhaps a symbol of how man interferes in the set course of nature. This scene can keep people intere sted in the painting for a long time, as each attempt to decipher its true meaning. Turtles Marching is a union of traditional elite artistic qualities with a uneven local quality,

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Personal experience with mental illness and treatment Essay

Personal experience with mental illness and treatment - Essay Example As a young baby, he seldom played with any of us, and preferred to play with his toys. None of us thought anything of it. When he turned 3, and still didn’t utter a single word, our parents became concerned and consulted a few doctors and psychotherapists. Initially my brother was misdiagnosed with Down’s syndrome. A chromosomal disorder, in which individuals range from mild to profoundly mentally disabled. His speech therapy started when he was 3 years old with minimum results and no results whatsoever in trying to get him to socialize with other children. Our parents thought the doctors were not doing their job properly and kept changing schools and doctors, speech therapists and other professionals. People who came in contact with my brother did not realize he had some sort of disability till they tried to interact with him. After which they tried to socialize but getting no response from my brother, left him alone. We continued to treat him according to what the doctor initially diagnosed as Down’s syndrome, not understanding why he wouldn’t talk and why he wouldn’t socialize. It is characteristic of a Down’s syndrome child to be friendly, and have some form of speech, where as my brother had very limited, 2-3 word sentence speech and hardly any friends. He was most friendly with his nanny and both me and my elder sister, and managed to communicate with us. Mostly the speech therapy sessions were very discouraging and had no results to show. My brother refused to interact with the therapist and every kind of therapy he tried, ended in vain. On a conference on autism and its types, I went through the symptoms of ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) and realized my brother did not have Down’s syndrome, but Autism. This explained all his primary behaviors, which were all characteristic of ASD, such as not having developed

Managing financials in the Canadian Public sector Case Study

Managing financials in the Canadian Public sector - Case Study Example In other approach, contracting these services would create room for specialization; the companies will use the best janitors/ janitresses in the job to enhance quality and efficiency thus cutting down on extra costs for the same job, and employees will have ample time to serve the members of the public assuming that these companies will be doing their tasks efficiently and on timely manner (Frey, 2005). Further, outsourcing these services to other companies has a financial merit in the long run; apart from one time severance payment the ministry will cut off the recurrent expenditure in the subsequent years, these companies will dedicate their skills and expertise to offer quality services with hope of license renewal after five years, with which the surplus can be channeled in other sectors/ ministries. Externalities such as injuries to employees while doing the janitorial services in a rush to get started for the day’s work will be ruled out once the contracting process is c omplete. Retaining in-house services on the other hand might be profitable in the short run as the employees are engaged in other creative activities but it is costly to the financiers or the exchequer in the long run. Contracting route on the other hand is faced by legal and other challenges which can socially and /or economically tumble the wellbeing of the country and the public confidence towards the ministry. For instance, depending with the government’s provision for public contracts, a 35% requirement (Graham & Q.U, 2005) would mean that the favorite bidder would be Adanac Cleaners who despite their costly service of $440000 a year have a greater chance of approval from the government. The major problem for the management will be the decision making process on which company to award the contract factoring in issues of cost, performance and the public policies by the government. Question 2: The major external control factors to be considered in

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Marketing Management and Strategy Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Marketing Management and Strategy - Case Study Example The five factors include: The Fulham Football Club has been a well known club since the last decade or so. The club came in the limelight when it was bought by an Egyptian businessman Mohammad Al-Fayed in 1997. The millionaire owner of the club gave Fulham FC a new identity in the world of football, following its acquisition the club went on to secure a place in the Premier League Division 1 (Fulhamfc.com). The club has been facing intense rivalry and competition since its promotion into the Division1 of the Premier League. Fulham FC’s microenvironment can be analyzed with the use of Porter’s Five Forces Analysis. The threat of having potential entrants in the football industry for Fulham FC seems to be minimal. The initial investment to launch a football club acts as a possible barrier for new entrant to enter into the football industry. The initial costs of launching a football club are very high and there is a very low chance that a football club may emerge and directly affect the business of Fulham FC. The other barrier of entry is the Premiership structure the division style. No new club can enter directly into the division 1 of the English Premier League. A new club entering into the football industry would have to start from scratch i.e. by playing well and getting promoted through the different divisions till its reaches the Division 1 of the Premier League to challenge the business of Fulham FC. The only threat of new entrant can be from low division clubs such as Brentford FC, QPR, etc. If any of these teams gets promoted into Division 1 of the Premier League, they can affect the bu siness of Fulham FC because of the intense rivalry between the clubs. This intense rivalry can lead to a shift of supporters from Fulham FC to any of the other newly promoted clubs if they were to play better football than Fulham FC. The customers of Fulham FC are

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

OM8021 Literture review concept map Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

OM8021 Literture review concept map - Essay Example research, he has used group, organization and industry levels of analysis whereby he has focused on groups of people in poor regions and isolated areas, organizations and companies, and industries such as farming, fishing and banking. The author states that mobile communication is the technology that has the greatest effect on the development of society and can be a major step towards industrialization in developing countries. He points out various implications of mobiles in the developing countries: The applications within mobile banking overcome the challenges posed by large geographic distances and infrastructure deficiencies for local business people and enhance safe transfer of funds. This reduces the risks involved in handling large sums of cash. Applications in the areas of education and information are also beneficial in third world countries. Mobiles also improve relations where family members and friends in the city and rural areas communicate and exchange information thereby overcoming the â€Å"major social problem†. He also notes that mobile phones create improved conditions for companies, which in turn creates better economic and social conditions thus raising living standards. One limitation that the author identifies is that the services and applications offered in third world countries are low-tech as this is what all parties ranging from operators to individuals in rural areas would afford. The author identifies a number of recommendations in the paper. He notes that mobile applications could be invaluable in helping health professionals and care providers get vital information, for instance, on HIV/AIDS and malaria to people living in isolated areas while access to obituary information via a mobile phone could make life easier. He also points out that provision of mobile phones to people in poor regions could significantly hasten development and that offering voice and sms services is the best way to raise living standards in Tanzania, an

Monday, September 23, 2019

Gernal Motors Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Gernal Motors - Term Paper Example The backdrop behind the inception of the company was the New York Auto Show of the year 1900, which was immensely successful in garnering a lot of positive attention from the masses. Before foraying into the automobile sector through the foundation of General Motors, the founder was highly successful in the manufacturing business of horse driven vehicles in the United States. Talking in regards to the strategy implemented by General Motors, for attaining business growth in the automobile market that provided extremely strong business opportunities as of the early days of automobile manufacturing, it needs to be mentioned that the company focused on growing through acquisition. Though in the very beginning, General Motors was holding only the Buick Motor Company, yet in a very short time the company has acquired Cadillac, Oldsmobile as well as Oakland, which is the modern day Pontiac. The company also focused on strategic acquisition of Opel, which concentrated on the entering the aut omobile market with their basic patent in the year 1899 (General Motors -1, 2013). Though the company’s core business offering is the automobile sector but the company has diversified in the recent years. As of the recent times, the company has transformed itself in to a global conglomerate, with offering in a wide range of sectors. It needs to be mentioned that GM at present has around 396 facilities all over the world (General Motors -2, 2013). The company has its footprints spread across multiple continents like North America, Europe, Asia as well as South America. Talking in regards to annual sales of the company, it needs to be mentioned that as of March 2013, the company sold around 245,950 units. This resulted in a spike of around 6 percent in annual sales in regards to the previous year (General Motors -3, 2013). While discussing on the lines of annual dollar sales, the data from various newspaper articles highlight that the company booked a profit of over 7.5 billion USD as of the year 2011 (Roberson, 2012). Section B: Products Marketed It is of considerable importance to say that the company General Motors has a highly diversified product portfolio. It needs to be mentioned that the company’s product portfolio for the multiple continents comprises of cars, crossovers as well as trucks. Discussing in a more specific manner, it can be highlighted that the product offerings extends from mini cars and electric vehicles to mega sized trucks, convertibles as well as monocabs. Talking in regards to the brands marketed by the largest automobile company on the lines of product volume, it can be said that the brands of General Motors are made available at around 120 countries across the globe. The popular brands of General Motors comprise of Buick, Chevrolet, GMC, Baojun, Cadillac, Holden, Jiefang, Isuzu, Vauxhall, Wuling and Opel. Also, since, the company has considerable amount of stakes in multiple joint ventures in China, it also holds some c redit for some of the Chinese automobile brands and models (General Motors -2, 2013). While discussing about product packaging, it needs to be highlighted that the product that is being discussed in this particular case belongs to the automobile se

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Frederick Winslow Taylor Essay Example for Free

Frederick Winslow Taylor Essay Frederick Winslow Taylor (March 20, 1856 – March 21, 1915) was an American mechanical engineer who sought to improve industrial efficiency.[1] He is regarded as the father of scientific management and was one of the first management consultants.[2] Taylor was one of the intellectual leaders of the Efficiency Movement and his ideas, broadly conceived, were highly influential in the Progressive Era. or passed the Harvard entrance examinations with honors. However, due allegedly to rapidly deteriorating eyesight, Taylor chose quite a different path. Instead of attending Harvard, Taylor became an apprentice patternmaker and machinist, gaining shop-floor experience at Enterprise Hydraulic Works in Philadelphia (a pump-manufacturing company whose proprietors were friends of the Taylor family). He left his apprenticeship for six months and represented a group of New England machine-tool manufacturers at Philadelphias centennial exposition. Taylor finished his four-year apprenticeship and in 1878 became a machine-shop laborer at Midvale Steel Works. At Midvale, he was quickly promoted to time clerk, journeyman machinist, gang boss over the lathe hands, machine shop foreman, research director, and finally chief engineer of the works (while maintaining his position as machine shop foreman). Taylors fast promotions probably reflected not only his talent but also his familys relationship with Edward Clark, part owner of Midvale Steel. (Edward Clarks son Clarence Clark, who was also a manager at Midvale Steel, married Taylors sister.) Early on at Midvale, working as a laborer and machinist, Taylor recognized that workmen were not working their machines, or themselves, nearly as hard as they could (which at the time was called soldiering) and that this resulted in high labor costs for the company. When he became a foreman he expected more output from the workmen and in order to determine how much work should properly be expec ted he began to study and analyze the productivity of both the men and the machines (although the word productivity was not used at the time, and the applied science of productivity had not yet been developed). His focus on the human component of production eventually became Scientific Management, while the focus on the machine component led to his famous metal-cutting and materials innovations. While Taylor worked at Midvale, he and Clarence Clark won the first tennis doubles tournament in the 1881 US National Championships, the precursor of the US Open.[1] Taylor became a student of Stevens Institute of Technology, studying via correspondence[5] and obtaining a degree in mechanical engineering in 1883. On May 3, 1884, he married Louise M. Spooner of Philadelphia. From 1890 until 1893 Taylor worked as a general manager and a consulting engineer to management for the Manufacturing Investment Company of Philadelphia, a company that operated large paper mills in Maine and Wisconsin. He spent time as a plant manager in Maine. In 1893, Taylor opened an independent consulting practice in Philadelphia. His business card read Consulting Engineer Systematizing Shop Management and Manufacturing Costs a Specialty. Through these consulting experiences, Taylor perfected his management system. In 1898 he joined Bethlehem Steel in order to solve an expensive machine-shop capacity problem. As a result, he and Maunsel White, with a team of assistants, developed high speed steel, paving the way for greatly increased mass production. Taylor was forced to leave Bethlehem Steel in 1901 after discord with other managers. After leaving Bethlehem Steel, Taylor focused the rest of his career on publicly promoting his management and machining methods through lecturing, writing, and consulting. In 1910, owing to the Eastern Rate Case, Frederick Winslow Taylor and his Scientific Management methodologies become famous worldwide. In 1911, Taylor introduced his The Principles of Scientific Management paper to the American mechanical engineering society, eight years after his Shop Management paper. On October 19, 1906, Taylor was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Science by the University of Pennsylvania.[6] Taylor eventually became a professor at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.[7] In early spring of 1915 Taylor caught pneumonia and died, one day after his fifty-ninth birthday, on March 21, 1915. He was buried in West Laurel Hill Cemetery, in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. Work Taylor was a mechanical engineer who sought to improve industrial efficiency. Taylor is regarded as the father of scientific management, and was one of the first management consultants and director of a famous firm. In Peter Druckers description, Frederick W. Taylor was the first man in recorded history who deemed work deserving of systematic observation and study. On Taylors scientific management rests, above all, the tremendous surge of affluence in the last seventy-five years which has lifted the working masses in the developed countries well above any level recorded before, even for the well-to-do. Taylor, though the Isaac Newton (or perhaps the Archimedes) of the science of work, laid only first foundations, however. Not much has been added to them since – even though he has been dead all of sixty years.[8] Taylors scientific management consisted of four principles: 1.Replace rule-of-thumb work methods with methods based on a scientific study of the tasks. 2.Scientifically select, train, and develop each employee rather than passively leaving them to train themselves. 3.Provide Detailed instruction and supervision of each worker in the performance of that workers discrete task (Montgomery 1997: 250). 4.Divide work nearly equally between managers and workers, so that the managers apply scientific management principles to planning the work and the workers actually perform the tasks. Future US Supreme Court justice Louis Brandeis coined the term scientific management in the course of his argument for the Eastern Rate Case before the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1910. Brandeis argued that railroads, when governed according to Taylors principles, did not need to raise rates to increase wages. Taylor used Brandeiss term in the title of his monograph The Principles of Scientific Management, published in 1911. The Eastern Rate Case propelled Taylors ideas to the forefront of the management agenda. Taylor wrote to Brandeis I have rarely seen a new movement started with such great momentum as you have given this one. Taylors approach is also often referred to as Taylors Principles, or, frequently disparagingly, as Taylorism. Managers and workers Taylor had very precise ideas about how to introduce his system: It is only through enforced standardization of methods, enforced adoption of the best implements and working conditions, and enforced cooperation that this faster work can be assured. And the duty of enforcing the adoption of standards and enforcing this cooperation rests with management alone.[9] Workers were supposed to be incapable of understanding what they were doing. According to Taylor this was true even for rather simple tasks. I can say, without the slightest hesitation, Taylor told a congressional committee, that the science of handling pig-iron is so great that the man who is physically able to handle pig-iron and is sufficiently phlegmatic and stupid to choose this for his occupation is rarely able to comprehend the science of handling pig-iron.[10] Taylor believed in transferring control from workers to management. He set out to increase the distinction between mental (planning work) and manual labor (executing work). Detailed plans specifying the job, and how it was to be done, were to be formulated by management and communicated to the workers.[11] The introduction of his system was often resented by workers and provoked numerous strikes. The strike at Watertown Arsenal led to the congressional investigation in 1912. Taylor believed the laborer was worthy of his hire, and pay was linked to productivity. His workers were able to earn substantially more than those under conventional management,[12] and this earned him enemies among the owners of factories where scientific management was not in use. Propaganda techniques Taylor promised to reconcile labor and capital. With the triumph of scientific management, unions would have nothing left to do, and they would have been cleansed of their most evil feature: the restriction of output. To underscore this idea, Taylor fashioned the myth that there has never been a strike of men working under scientific management, trying to give it credibility by constant repetition. In similar fashion he incessantly linked his proposals to shorter hours of work, without bothering to produce evidence of Taylorized firms that reduced working hours, and he revised his famous tale of Schmidt carrying pig iron at Bethlehem Steel at least three times, obscuring some aspects of his study and stressing others, so that each successive version made Schmidts exertions more impressive, more voluntary and more rewarding to him than the last. Unlike [Harrington] Emerson, Taylor was not a charlatan, but his ideological message required the suppression of all evidence of workers dissent, of coercion, or of any human motives or asp irations other than those his vision of progress could encompass.[13] Management theory Taylor thought that by analyzing work, the One Best Way to do it would be found. He is most remembered for developing the stopwatch time study, which combined with Frank Gilbreths motion study methods later becomes the field of time and motion study. He would break a job into its component parts and measure each to the hundredth of a minute. One of his most famous studies involved shovels. He noticed that workers used the same shovel for all materials. He determined that the most effective load was 21 ½ lb, and found or designed shovels that for each material would scoop up that amount. He was generally unsuccessful in getting his concepts applied and was dismissed from Bethlehem Steel. Nevertheless, Taylor was able to convince workers who used shovels and whose compensation was tied to how much they produced to adopt his advice about the optimum way to shovel by breaking the movements down into their component elements and recommending better ways to perform these movements. It was largely through the efforts of his disciples (most notably H.L. Gantt) that industry came to implement his ideas. Moreover, the book he wrote after parting company with Bethlehem Steel, Shop Management, sold well. Relations with ASME Taylors own written works were designed for presentation to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). These include Notes on Belting (1894), A Piece-Rate System (1895), Shop Management (1903), Art of Cutting Metals (1906), and The Principles of Scientific Management (1911). Taylor was president of the ASME from 1906 to 1907. While president, he tried to implement his system into the management of the ASME but was met with much resistance. He was only able to reorganize the publications department and then only partially. He also forced out the ASMEs long-time secretary, Morris L. Cooke, and replaced him with Calvin W. Rice. His tenure as president was trouble-ridden and marked the beginning of a period of internal dissension within the ASME during the Progressive Age.[14] In 1911, Taylor collected a number of his articles into a book-length manuscript which he submitted to the ASME for publication. The ASME formed an ad hoc committee to review the text. The committee included Taylor allies such as James Mapes Dodge and Henry R. Towne. The committee delegated the report to the editor of the American Machinist, Leon P. Alford. Alford was a critic of the Taylor system and the report was negative. The committee modified the report slightly, but accepted Alfords recommendation not to publish Taylors book. Taylor angrily withdrew the book and published Principles without ASME approval.[15] Taylor published the trade book himself in 1912. Patents Taylor authored 42 patents.[16] Taylors influence United States One of Carl G. Barths speed-and-feed slide rules. A Gantt chart. †¢Carl G. Barth helped Taylor to develop speed-and-feed-calculating slide rules to a previously unknown level of usefulness. Similar aids are still used in machine shops today. Barth became an early consultant on scientific management and later taught at Harvard. †¢H. L. Gantt developed the Gantt chart, a visual aid for scheduling tasks and displaying the flow of work. †¢Harrington Emerson introduced scientific management to the railroad industry, and proposed the dichotomy of staff versus line employees, with the former advising the latter. †¢Morris Cooke adapted scientific management to educational and municipal organizations. †¢Hugo Mà ¼nsterberg created industrial psychology. †¢Lillian Gilbreth introduced psychology to management studies. †¢Frank Gilbreth (husband of Lillian) discovered scientific management while working in the construction industry, eventually developing motion studies independently of Taylor. These logically complemented Taylors time studies, as time and motion are two sides of the efficiency improvement coin. The two fields eventually became time and motion study. †¢Harvard University, one of the first American universities to offer a graduate degree in business management in 1908, based its first-year curriculum on Taylors scientific management. †¢Harlow S. Person, as dean of Dartmouths Amos Tuck School of Administration and Finance, promoted the teaching of scientific management. †¢James O. McKinsey, professor of accounting at the University of Chicago and founder of the consulting firm bearing his name, advocated budgets as a means of assuring accountability and of measuring performance. France In France, Le Chatelier translated Taylors work and introduced scientific management throughout government owned plants during World War I. This influenced the French theorist Henri Fayol, whose 1916 Administration Industrielle et Gà ©nà ©rale emphasized organizational structure in management. In the classic General and Industrial Management Fayol wrote that Taylors approach differs from the one we have outlined in that he examines the firm from the bottom up. he starts with the most elemental units of activity – the workers actions – then studies the effects of their actions on productivity, devises new methods for making them more efficient, and applies what he learns at lower levels to the hierarchy[17] He suggests that Taylor has staff analysts and advisors working with individuals at lower levels of the organization to identify the ways to improve efficiency. According to Fayol, the approach results in a negation of the principle of unity of command.[18] Fayol criticized Taylors functional management in this way: In Shop Management, Taylor said[19]  « the most marked outward characteristics of functional management lies in the fact that each workman, instead of coming in direct contact with the management at one point only, receives his daily orders and help from eight different bosses these eight were (1) route clerks, (2) instruction card men, (3) cost and time clerks, (4) gang bosses, (5) speed bosses, (6) inspectors, (7) repair bosses, and the (8) shop disciplinarian.  »[19] This, Fayol said, was an unworkable situation, and that Taylor must have somehow reconciled the dichotomy in some way not described in Taylors works. Switzerland In Switzerland, the American Edward Albert Filene established the International Management Institute to spread information about management techniques. USSR In the Soviet Union, Vladimir Lenin was very impressed by Taylorism, which he and Joseph Stalin sought to incorporate into Soviet manufacturing. Taylorism and the mass production methods of Henry Ford thus became highly influential during the early years of the Soviet Union. Nevertheless [] Frederick Taylors methods have never really taken root in the Soviet Union.[20] The voluntaristic approach of the Stakhanovite movement in the 1930s of setting individual records was diametrically opposed to Taylors systematic approach and proved to be counter-productive.[21] The stop-and-go of the production process – workers having nothing to do at the beginning of a month and storming during illegal extra shifts at the end of the month – which prevailed even in the 1980s had nothing to do with the successfully taylorized plant s e.g., of Toyota which are characterized by continuous production processes (heijunka) which are continuously improved (kaizen).[22] The easy availability of replacement labor, which allowed Taylor to choose only first-class men, was an important condition for his systems success.[23] The situation in the Soviet Union was very different. Because work is so unrhythmic, the rational manager will hire more workers than he would need if supplies were even in order to have enough for storming. Because of the continuing labor shortage, managers are happy to pay needed workers more than the norm, either by issuing false job orders, assigning them to higher skill grades than they deserve on merit criteria, giving them loose piece rates, or making what is supposed to be incentive pay, premia for good work, effectively part of the normal wage. As Mary Mc Auley has suggested under these circumstances piece rates are not an incentive wage, but a way of justifying giving workers whatever they should be getting, no matter what their pay is supposed to be according to the official norms.[24] Taylor and his theories are also refe renced (and put to practice) in the 1921 dystopian novel We by Yevgeny Zamyatin. Canada In the early 1920s, the Canadian textile industry was re-organized according to scientific management principles. In 1928, workers at Canada Cotton Ltd. in Hamilton, Ontario went on strike against newly introduced Taylorist work methods. Also, Henry Gantt, who was a close associate of Taylor, re-organized the Canadian Pacific Railway.[25] With the prevalence of US branch plants in Canada and close economic and cultural ties between the two countries, the sharing of business practices, including Taylorism, has been common. Criticism of Taylor Management theorist Henry Mintzberg is highly critical of Taylor’s methods. Mintzberg states that an obsession with efficiency allows measureable benefits to overshadow less quantifiable social benefits completely, and social values get left behind.[26] Harry Bravermans work, Labor and Monopoly Capital: The Degradation of Work in the Twentieth Century, published in 1974 was critical of scientific management. This work pioneered the field of Labor Process Theory. Taylors methods have also been challenged by socialist intellectuals. The argument put forward relates to progressive defanging of workers in the workplace and the subsequent degradation of work as management, powered by capital, uses Taylors methods to render work repeatable, precise yet monotonous and skill-reducing.[27] James W. Rinehart argued that Taylors methods of transferring control over production from workers to management, and the division of labor into simple tasks, intensified the alienation of workers that had begun with the factory system of production around 1870-1890.[28] Tennis accomplishments Taylor was also an accomplished tennis player. Together with Clarence Clark he won the inaugural United States National tennis doubles championship at Newport Casino in 1881 defeating Alexander Van Rensselaer and Arthur Newbold in straight sets.[1]

Friday, September 20, 2019

Social Impacts of Cruise Tourism

Social Impacts of Cruise Tourism The social impact of the cruise industry on the destination has a few positive effects. When cruise tourists arrive at ports of destination, interactions between local residents and cruise tourists benefits both parties. The cruise tourists can gain knowledge of the destinations lifestyle and culture. This is the same respect to the inhabitants. Locals can gain knowledge from people around the world. Residents can learn about lifestyles of their guest from around the world. However, a high interaction level between residents and cruise tourists has drawbacks by limiting the personal space of residents due to the high population of cruise tourists. Eventually, high interactions between cruise tourist and inhabitants would change their unique lifestyles. This brings the point of social damage in mind where social and cultural damage is one of the main arguments against tourism. In context of tourism, cruise tourists are evidently wealthier than locals from popular cruise destinations. This evidently creates social problems because it creates hierarchy which leads to tension between cruise tourists and locals. Furthermore, interactions between cruise tourists and residents show further negative impacts because new, unusual ideas brought in cruise tourists can make locals envious and would desire to copy the nature of tourists who seems so rich and stylish. Further social damage caused by the cruise industry can be supported by the idea of competition of space. This is triggered when large amounts of cruise tourists, usually two or three cruise ships arrive at small ports. When large amounts of cruise ships arrive, the number of cruise tourists ratio to locals is large. According to Espinal, 2005, Bahamas has 11 cruise guests to 1 local; Aruba has 8 cruise guests to 1 local; Antigua and Barbuda, 7 to 1; and Dominica, 5 to 1. However, this ratio is only true to small parts. Large cities such as Miami, Barcelona, and European countries differ. In fact, highly populated cities have the opposite effect, because cruise tourist numbers are rather small compared to on-land tourists or residents. The competition of space enhances through the fight for cruise ships by neighbouring ports to attract cruise ships for economic benefits. The fight continues between the cruise ship industry and the cargo shipping industry to gain port space. Another d ilemma of space continues between on land tourist and cruise tourists. When cruise tourist arrive at destinations, on land tourist are forced to wait in line for attractions such as monuments and museums, and they wonder why it is overcrowded at the beach. Finally, the idea of competition of space limits the transportation benefits, what hurts the transportation the most is when large amounts of cruise tourists arrive at destinations which cause volatile in the demand for taxis. Environmental Impact of the Cruise Industry The cruise industry is the fastest growing industry in the travel industry. With enormous growth in the number of passengers, the number of cruise ships at sea, and the increased variety of destinations, followed by bigger and more luxurious cruise ships to keep up with the increase of demand; the substantial growth in the industry follows with increasing impact on the environment. Like many hospitality and travel industries, the negative impacts on the environment outweigh the positive impacts. Even though the cruise industry is relatively small compared to the airline industry, cruise ships and their passengers generate more volume of waste and pollutant emissions while travelling and docked in port. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, a one week voyage generates more than 50 tonnes of garbage. During that same week 3.785 million litres of waste water is produced. That is water that is harmful to the ocean life and cannot be dumped back into the ocean wi thout it being treated. Furthermore, 794,850 litres of sewage, 95,000 litres of oil contaminated water, and 568 litres of hazardous waste is produced. These numbers are multiplied by more than 200 cruise ships sailing the world 365 days a year. In comparison to other travel industries, a cruise ship such as Queen Mary 2 emits 0.43 kg of Carbon dioxide per passenger mile, compared to 0.257 kg for a long-haul flight (Climate Care). In comparison to on-land tourists, cruise ship passengers generate 3.5 kg of garbage while 0.8 kg of garbage is generated by on-land tourists. (http://www.uneptie.org/pc/tourism/sust-tourism/env-3main.htm). In addition to pollution, coral reefs are taking a significant damage. According to ocean planet, there are 109 countries with coral reefs. In 90 of them, reefs are being damaged by cruise ship anchors and sewage. It is said 70% of cruise destinations are in these biodiversity hot spots. However, it is not the amount of pollution and damages generated by cruise ships that most are concerned, but rather, the way cruise ships dispose their waste. Cruise ship waste disposal is highly unregulated, where waste can be dumped a few short miles off shore, which is later brought back to shore due to ocean currents. In the past, discharge from cruise ships exceeds the water quality standards set by National Authorities in relations to bacteria level, metals, and hydrocarbons and plastic. In most cases, there was no monitoring, no enforcements and no deprivation from local authorities if cruise ships violated the pollution standards. The cruise industry continues to promote itself as environmentally friendly, the truth is, there are many instances of cruise ships breaking the law. A single cruise company can accumulate hundreds of pollution violations, which have results in payments of millions of dollars in environmental fines. However, in some cases, environmental incidents h as been accidental, due to simple human and mechanical error, such as fuel discharge from cruise ship loading fuel at ports Since the increased harmful effects on the environment has come to light, cruse industries has done their part by improving their efforts in processing waste onboard. As technology increases, their ability to become more eco-friendly becomes a priority. Holland American Line has invested $1.5 million into a program called Seawater Scrubber Pilot. This program looks for opportunities to reduce engine emission on its ships. The Sea Water Scrubber system uses the natural chemistry of seawater to remove all sulphur oxide. The seawater is then treated to remove harmful components before dumping it overboard (world cruise industry review). Even though recycling and using green materials is only a small step, it makes a big difference. Take Crystal Cruises for example. They are introducing 100% recyclable coat hangers, which eliminates 9 billion wire and plastic hangers sent to landfills each year. They are also using washable and reusable garment bags instead of plastic laundry bags (world cruise industry review). On the major scale, most cruise ship companies are taking step to map out global routes where waste discharge will cause the least damage to delicate ecosystems. Other major efforts that some cruise ship companies are implementing are scheduling their arrival and departure time so cruise ships use less fuel while docking. Princess Cruises has invested $4.5 million to implement a cold-ironing program in Alaska. This is when ships plug into a ports electricity supply while docked in order to get hydroelectric power on board. This is the same concept as a hybrid car. The cost of equipping each ship is $500,000 where the benefits outweigh the costs. In California, 70% of cancer risk is due to the toxic air contaminants created by diesel. The biggest contribution to these toxins is cargo-handling equipment and the ships use of diesel engines while at port. With the use of the cold-ironing program, ships will not create this harmful pollutant that cause many envi ronmental problems. Companies are taking the next step to keep their ships as cool as possible to eliminate excessive stress on air conditioners in addition to maintaining speeds at fuel efficient speeds. Crystal cruises has begun auditing it ships lighting and energy consumption. They are saving more than 960,000 kW/h, which is equivalent to nearly 200 tonnes of fuel a year.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Essay --

Mouse remains the most reliable species of choice to study the mechanism underlying in mammalian species. It is because they breed quickly, and their genetics are well understood. Aim: The principal aim of first research paper is to study the over expression level of miRNA -27b that induces cardiac hypertrophy and dysfunction in mice. The primary aim of the second research paper is to show how miRNA -212 and miR-132 expression regulates cardiac hypertrophy and cardiac myocyte autophagy. Methods: A 500bp genomic fragment comprising the miR-27b control region was amplified by PCR and ligated into adenoviral vector to generate Ad-miR-27b using 293A cells for cloning and expression of miRNAs. Transgenic mouse was created by amplifying the fragment flanking miR-27b which is then subcloned into an expression vector comprising human growth hormone poly A signal and ÃŽ ±-MHC promoter. Genotyping of the mouse is done by isolating genomic DNA from mouse tail by biosepsis followed by its amplification by PCR using specific primers. Western blotting is carried out on myocardial isolates and cardiac function was determined by echocardiography. All the statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software. Primary cardiomycetes were generated from neonatal mice/rat using a standard protocol. By cloning the whole miR-212/132 genomic locus (3.4kb) downstream of cytomegalovirus promoter within the pTARGET vector, an expression construct is generated which was used for the transfection of H9c2 cell lines. Transgenic mice showing the overexpression levels of miR-212/132 was generated by cloning 486bp genome encoding the hairpin stem loop downstream to 3rd exon sequence of ÃŽ ±-MHC gene and upstream of hGH poly A signal sequence. TAC was performe... ...analyzed for the over expression levels of miR 212 and miR 132 in heart tissue by reverse transcription PCR (fig.2b). However, the mouse were born normally but their life expectancy was reduced to 84 and 119 for Fam23 and Fam43 respectively (fig 2c). Their heart to body weight ratio has shown significant increase in heart mass at different ages. The upregulation of miR-212 and miR-132 witnessed the increased expression level of cardiac stress markers ANP and BNP ultimately resulting in the development of heart failure (fig. s3 bc). Evaluation of cardiac function in both transgenic and wild type mice is done by echocardiography, where end systolic and end diastolic of LV dilation was significantly observed in transgenic mice. Further, hemodynamic analysis confirmed impaired function of heart in transgenic mice. MiR-212 and miR-132 directly regulate FoxO3 expression:

The Down to Earth Challenges of Space Exploration :: Space Exploration Essays

The Down to Earth Challenges of Space Exploration Humans have dreamed of leaving the earth and traveling space for many years, and up to this day they have taken many steps in the right direction. Yet, with every new frontier they approach, new problems loom over the horizon. All problems involved with space exploration may not directly involve space itself. Many of those problems surface right here on Earth. Some of the easier issues have been resolved, such as escaping the forces of gravity to reach outer space. More of these problems are far more arduous and the solutions need more time to be worked out properly. In â€Å"The Coming Schism† by James E. and Alcestis R. Oberg, humans have already begun colonizing space, yet there are still new problems arising. Major problems such as financing, communication and culture conflicts are important in the journey to space, because they all have the potential to disrupt progress. When people think of troubles that are related to space, they tend to overlook one of the most obvious and most important problems, financing. Money may prevent humans from leaving the very earth we stand on in the first place. Money can easily be the solution to a problem or the cause of one. In the supporting film, Stationed in the Stars, it was mentioned that in 1992, NASA spent 8 billion dollars without building a single piece of material. The money was spent on other things such as payroll and international conferences. The film also brought up the fact that every pound of water needed would cost up to 10 thousand dollars; therefore, 100 lbs. of water would cost 1 million dollars. This problem was later solved with the help of Russia in the creation of the closed loop system. But Russia has not always been so helpful. While Russia was working with NASA to help build a service module, they purposely delayed their efforts in order to receive more money from NASA, until NASA had enough and gave them a deadline to comply with. There are times when financing may prevent a project from being ventured into completely without even spending the money. For example, further servicing of the International Space Station would have cost upwards of 100 billion dollars. That is why that project is still uncompleted.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

American History X Essay -- Film Movies

American History X American History X (1998) illustrates how segregation is aggravated by missing father figures as well as the herd mentality of the characters in the film. German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s concept of the herd mentality states that people need a concept or a worldview to adopt in order to give meaning to their lives. This herding of people who choose to adopt this certain ideal or ideals in effect causes the stifling of individual thoughts or creativity because everyone chooses to think a certain way (Floyd). This mindset that people are attracted to is not always chosen or forced but is rather seen as an obligation because of loyalties certain people have to others.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Derek Vinyard, played by Edward Norton, starts to adopt this racist mindset that all races other than white are the downfall of society in a flashback scene where he is speaking with his father about school and his father tells him not to listen to the â€Å"nigger bullshit† of his black Social Studies teacher, Dr. Bob Sweeney played by Avery Brooks. Derek’s obvious interest in Dr. Sweeney’s lessons fades almost immediately upon hearing these words from his father and Derek begins to agree with his father’s statements. Derek is not forced by his father to feel this way; however, he took it upon himself to feel this way because he looks up to his father. His individual thoughts are stifled because he wants to be more like his father. The racism instilled in Derek from his father is not enough to bring him to the violent lifestyle he starts on to lead, but it does teach him to stay away from black kids from an early age. This herd mentali ty to stay only with white people has been brought to another level when Derek Vinyard’s father dies. His father is shot and killed by blacks while fighting a fire in a black neighborhood. Derek immediately places the blame on black people, not just a single black person but all black people. After his father’s death, Derek joins forces with Cameron Alexander, played by Stacy Keach. Cameron is an older man who is a Neo-Nazi and he uses Derek to recruit young adults into a new gang called the Disciples of Christ (D.O.C.). The creation of the D.O.C. provides all the white youth of Venice Beach, California to feel a sense of belonging. Just like the young black males were a part of, and protected by, the Crips, the young white ki... ... is the brutality of hate and racism. The emotions running high in the movie makes it powerful and moving and the death of Derek’s younger brother Danny Vinyard is shocking enough to bring tears to many viewers’ eyes. The movie ends with Danny’s voice reading his paper out loud and he ends his paper with a very important quote by Abraham Lincoln. This quote shows how Danny’s, as well as Derek’s, mindset changed from the beginning of the movie to the end. When hearing this quote it leaves the viewers in awe that Danny finally started to look past his hateful ideologies but ends up dead because of the lifestyle him and his brother decided to lead. â€Å"We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained we must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be by the better angels of our nature†. Works Cited American History X. Dir. Tony Kaye. Perf. Edward Norton, Edward Furlong, Avery Brooks, and Beverly D’angelo. 1998. DVD. New Line Home Entertainment, 2004. Floyd, Brandon. â€Å"American Nihilism Organization.† American Nihilism Organization. 24 Aug. 2004. 19 Oct. 2004 .

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Policing in Kelsey Essay

The Police Department currently has an annual budget of $16,177,678. With the 15% budget cut, the mayor is requesting from the Police Department, that leaves a new annual budget of $14,235,356, a decrease of $1,941,322. The major change the will affect the fiscal cycle of this budget year is the decrease in the hiring of police officers. The City of Kelsey was in the process of hiring 10 new police officials to fill the 10 positions that were open, due to several retiring police officers and few police officers finding other employment. Now with the 15% budget cut, the City will not be filling those open positions, because saving the City $1,200,000. New maintenance and vehicle cost will also decrease, since not hiring the new officers. The last fiscal year the City manager allotted $150,000 for 5 new maintenance and vehicles cost for the hiring of the new police officers. As a budget director, I requested a 10% deduction through Police Union in wages or freeze the wages until the ne xt fiscal year, because saving $300,000. In addition, cutting 16 paid holidays a year will save the City a total of $400,000. The Police Union Committee advised the Union has only agreed to a 1% pay cut within the next fiscal year, which will save the City $30,000. The Committee has also agreed to 10 paid holidays a year instead of 16. This will save the City an annual $150,000 a year. The Chief of Police has agreed to cut the training by 80%. The City will save an annual budget of $125,000. With these cuts alone, the City will save $1,655,000 alone. Another proposal will cut community events/programs within the Since the City of Kelsey has an increase amount of criminal activity, it is the responsibility of the city to ensure that its citizens are safe. Kelsey should put this as the top  priority of every person on this board to ensure there is additional funding found so that additional police officer can be hired and trained. Police officers from lower crime areas can be moved to the higher crime areas but the police d epartment must ensure there is not an increase of crime in those areas with fewer police officers.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Six Sigma Class Intro and Ppt

INTRODUCTION TO SIX SIGMA CONTENT FLOW†¦ ? Understanding Six Sigma ? Definition ? World at Six Sigma examples ? Six Sigma Scale ? Why Six Sigma ? Six Sigma Methodologies & Tools ? Define ? Measure ? Analyze ? Improve ? Control WHAT’S IN A NAME? Sigma is the Greek letter representing the standard deviation of a population of data. ? Sigma is a measure of standard deviation (the data spread) ? ? ? SIX SIGMA IS †¦ ? A statistical concept that measures a process in terms of defects – at the six sigma level, there 3. 4 defects per million opportunities ?A defect is anything that results in customer dissatisfaction Six Sigma is a methodology and a symbol of quality ? HOW OFTEN ARE WE DELIVERING ON TIME? ? If the target time is 30 Mins, the graphs below show two curves with average at 25 Mins 30 mins 30 mins s s 0 10 x 30 2 sigma 20 40 50 0 10 20 x 30 4 sigma 40 50 ? ? How many standard deviations can you â€Å"fit† within customer expectations? Managing by th e average doesn’t tell the whole story. The average and the variation together show what’s happening. MANAGING UP THE SIGMA SCALE Sigma 1 2 3 4 5 6 % Good % Bad 30. 9% 69. % 93. 3% DPMO 691,462 308,538 66,807 69. 1% 30. 9% 6. 7% 99. 38% 99. 977% 0. 62% 0. 023% 6,210 233 3. 4 99. 9997% 0. 00034% EXAMPLES OF THE SIGMA SCALE In a world at 3 sigma. . . ? In a world at 6 sigma. . . ? There are 964 U. S. flight cancellations per day. The police make 7 false arrests every 4 minutes. 1 U. S. flight is cancelled every 3 weeks. There are fewer than 4 false arrests per month. ? ? ? In one hour, 47,283 international long distance calls are accidentally disconnected. ? It would take more than 2 years to see the same number of dropped international calls.WHY SIX SIGMA? †¢ At GE, Six Sigma added more than $ 2 billion to the bottom line in 1999 alone †¢ Motorola saved more than $ 15 billion in the first 10 years of its Six Sigma effort AlliedSignal reports saving $ 1,5 billi on through Six Sigma. †¢ †¢ Six Sigma is about practices that help you eliminate defects and always deliver products and services that meet customer specifications How are these savings realized? cost of scrap? cost of rework? cost of excessive cycle times and delays? Benefits of added capacity and man-hoursDMAIC – THE IMPROVEMENT METHODOLOGY Define Objective: DEFINE the opportunity Measure Analyze Improve Control Objective: Objective: Objective: MEASURE current ANALYZE the root IMPROVE the performance causes of problems process to eliminate root causes Key Measure Tools: †¢ Critical to Quality Requirements (CTQs) †¢ Sample Plan †¢ Capability Analysis †¢ Failure Modes and Effect Analysis (FMEA) Key Analyze Tools: †¢ Histograms, Boxplots, MultiVari Charts, etc. †¢ Hypothesis Tests †¢ Regression Analysis Objective: CONTROL the process to sustain the gains.Key Define Tools: †¢ Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ) †¢ Voice of the Stak eholder (VOS) †¢ Project Charter †¢ As-Is Process Map(s) †¢ Primary Metric (Y) Key Improve Key Control Tools: Tools: †¢ Solution Selection †¢ Control Charts Matrix †¢ Contingency †¢ To-Be Process and/or Action Map(s) Plan(s) DEFINE – DMAIC PROJECT WHAT IS THE PROJECT? $ Project Charter Cost of Poor Quality Stakeholders Voice of the Stakeholde r Six Sigma What is the problem? The â€Å"problem† is the Output ? What is the cost of this problem ? Who are the stake holders / decision makers ?Align resources and expectations ? DEFINE – CUSTOMER REQUIREMENTS WHAT ARE THE CTQS? WHAT MOTIVATES CUSTOMER? SECONDARY RESEARCH Market Data THE Voice of the Customer Key Customer Issue Critical to Quality Listening Posts Industry Intel Industry Benchmarking Customer Service Customer Correspondence PRIMARY RESEARCH Survey s OTM Observations Focus Groups MEASURE – BASELINES AND CAPABILITY WHAT IS OUR CURRENT LEVEL Sample some data / not a ll data Current Process actuals measured against the Customer expectation OF PERFORMANCE?Descriptive Statistics Variable: 2003 Output Anderson-Darling Normality Test A-Squared: P-Value: Mean StDev Variance Skewness Kurtosis N Minimum 1st Quartile Median 3rd Quartile Maximum 0. 211 0. 854 23. 1692 10. 2152 104. 349 0. 238483 0. 240771 100 0. 2156 16. 4134 23. 1475 29. 6100 55. 2907 ? ? ? What is the chance that we will succeed at this level every time? 0 10 20 30 40 50 95% Confidence Interval for Mu 95% Confidence Interval for Mu 21. 1423 19. 5 20. 5 21. 5 22. 5 23. 5 24. 5 25. 5 26. 5 25. 1961 95% Confidence Interval for Sigma 8. 690 11. 8667 95% Confidence Interval for Median 95% Confidence Interval for Median 19. 7313 26. 0572 ANALYZE – VALIDATED ROOT CAUSES WHAT ARE THE KEY ROOT CAUSES? Experimental Design Data Stratification Regression Analysis Process Simulatio n Six Sigma y = f (x1, x2, x3 . . . xn) Critical Xs IMPROVE – POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS HOW CAN WE ADDRESS THE ROOT CAUSES IDENTIFIED? ? WE Address the causes, not the symptoms. Generate Evaluate Clarify Decision y = f (x1, x2, x3 . . . xn) Critical Xs Divergent | Convergent IMPROVE – SOLUTION SELECTIONHOW DO WE CHOOSE THE BEST SOLUTION? Solution Selection Matrix Qualit y Solution Sigma Time CBA Other Score Time Cost Six Sigma Solution Right Wrong Implementation Good Bad O Nice Idea Nice Try X Solution Implementatio n Plan CONTROL – SUSTAINABLE BENEFITS HOW DO WE †HOLD THE GAINS† OF OUR NEW PROCESS? ? ? Some variation is normal and OK How High and Low can an â€Å"X† go yet not materially impact the â€Å"Y† Pre-plan approach for control exceptions Direct Process Customer: CCR: Date: Measuring and Monitoring Loan Service Manager ? Process Owner: Process Description:Process Control System (Business Process Framework) Flowchart Customer Sales Processing Branch Manager Key Measure ments P1 – activity duration, min. Specs &/or Targets Measures (Too ls) Responsibility Contingency Where & (Who) (Quick Fix) Frequency 35 Remarks UCL=33. 48 Review appliation for completeness P2 – # of incomplete loan applications Individual Value Apply for loan 1. 1 Application & Review 25 Complete meeting information Mean=24. 35 No Application Complete? 1. 2 Processing 1. 3 Credit review 15 0 10 20 30 LCL=15. 21 1. 5 Disclosure 1. 4 Review Observation Number

Sunday, September 15, 2019

The American National Anthem

The National Anthem is a familiar tune to everybody. It is known as the Star Spangled Banner. Today, the American National anthem is sung before many different events. Some of those events include sporting events and presidential campaigns. The Star Spangled Banner is also notorious for its confusing and almost impossible to sing lyrics. The Star Spangled Banner was written by a second rate lawyer named Francis Scott Key. During the war of 1812 Francis Scott Key was taken hostage on a British ship.He was held captive there during the Battle of Fort McHenry where the British ships were barraging the fort with rockets and artillery throughout the night. But when the sun rose the next morning, Key found the American flag, which only had 15 stars at the time, still standing on the Fort. That even inspired him to write the Star Spangled Banner which became our national anthem in 1931 when congress made it official. The National Anthem is very commonly used today. But not all of these inst ances are positive.For example before President Barack Obama became the president of the United States, He once refused to put his right hand over his heart before the playing of the Star Spangled Banner. As a defense he stated â€Å"There are a lot of people in the world to whom the American flag is a symbol of oppression. And the anthem itself conveys a war-like message. You know, the bombs bursting in air and all. † The bombs bursting in air is a part of the Star Spangled Banner lyrics. This represented the survival of Fort McHenry during the Battle of 1812.This is an interesting part of our history because Barack Obama later became our president. But because of this one event he will be known as our president that refused to stand and honor the playing of the National Anthem. During nation wide sporting events the National Anthem is played before the game. This is seen when people go to a baseball game, they play the national anthem before they begin the game. The Nationa l Anthem started first started to play during the 1918 World Series. It was a game between The Cubs and the Red Sox.The band started to play the National Anthem during the seventh-inning and both teams faced the centerfield flag pole and stood at attention. From that day on sporting events from all over the country started using the National Anthem. But it is now most commonly played before the event not during. The National Anthem is considered a very difficult song to sing. Many professional and amateur singers mess up when they sing the Star Spangled Banner. For instance during the super bowl of 2011, Christina Aguilera was requested to sing the national anthem before the game.During her performance she mixed up the lines and stirred frenzy amongst the crowd. Christina Aguilera is a famous pop singer in America so this proves that even professional singers can mess up singing the national anthem. The National Anthem is America’s song. The National Anthem is used very widel y among people of our country. It can be heard from sporting events to presidential campaigns. Although the Star Spangled Banner is a difficult song to sing it is still sung by many people young or old. This is our National Anthem.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

The Less You Burn, the More You Earn

Outline Thesis: In order to save money and cut costs, it is imperative that one uses different kinds of energy-efficient lights. * Light Fixtures * Light fixtures are the devices that hold the light bulbs you use * In order to have a light in your house you have to have a light fixture to hold it. * Since there are many different types of light bulbs there must be different light fixtures * I. e. , fluorescent, LED, and your basic incandescent, etc. * Light Bulbs * Light bulbs are what give you that wonderful emission of light. Light bulbs vary from different sizes to different shapes and different colors * They also are rated different wattage and voltage * Depending on the bulb these key factors could jeopardize your energy bills * Types of Light Bulbs * There are several types of light bulbs that are used for different reasons * Incandescent Bulbs- these are the standard bulbs that most people are familiar with. Incandescent bulbs work by using electricity to heat a tungsten filam ent in the bulb until it glows. The filament is either in a vacuum or in a mixture of argon/nitrogen gas. Halogen Bulbs- halogen bulbs are a variation of incandescent bulb technology. These bulbs work by passing electricity through a tungsten filament, which is enclosed in a tube containing halogen gas. This halogen gas causes a chemical reaction to take place which removes the tungsten from the wall of the glass and deposits it back onto the filament. This extends the life of the bulb. * Fluorescent Bulbs- These bulbs work by passing a current through a tube filled with argon gas and mercury. This produces ultraviolet radiation that bombards the phosphorous coating causing it to emit light.Bulb life is very long – 10,000 to 20,000 hours * Compact Fluorescent Lamps- compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) are a modern type of light bulbs, that work like fluorescent bulbs, but in a much smaller package. Similar to regular fluorescent bulbs, they produce little heat and are very effic ient. They are available to fit screw type base fittings and pin type (snap-in). Most CFLs either consist of a number of short glass sticks, or two or three small tubular loops. * High-Intensity Discharge Lamps- High Pressure Sodium (HPS), Metal Halide, Mercury Vapor and Self-Ballasted Mercury Lamps are all high intensity discharge lamps (HID).With the exception of self-ballasted lamps, auxiliary equipment such as ballasts and starters must be provided for proper starting and operation of each type bulb. Compared to fluorescent and incandescent lamps, HID lamps produce a large quantity of light from a relatively small bulb. * Low-Pressure Sodium Lamps- Low-pressure sodium lamps have the highest efficacy of all commercially available lighting sources. Even though they emit a yellow light, a low-pressure sodium lamp shouldn't be confused with a standard high-pressure sodium lamp.Low-pressure sodium lamps operate much like a fluorescent lamp and require ballast. * LED (Light Emitting D iodes)- Light Emitting Diodes (LED) are bulbs without a filament, that are low in power consumption and have a long life span. LEDs are just starting to rival conventional lighting, but unfortunately they just don't have the output (lumen) needed to completely replace incandescent, and other type, bulbs just yet. Never the less, technology is advancing everyday, and it will not be long until the LED bulb will be the bulb of choice for most applications in the home and work place.Different Lights Can Save Energy and Cut Costs Different lighting can attack someone’s budget, both positively and negatively; positive is what we aim for. There are a variety of bulbs, or lamps, that save people money. There are LED’s, CFL’s and many more. Budgeting a person’s lighting in their home can save individuals money to explore other fun activities on their off time, like going to the beach, or buying a new car or investing in a top notch lighting system for their home. All possibilities when one simply switches a bulb.Let's first take a look at a typical home fixture for general lighting. â€Å"Let's say consumers currently have 60-watt incandescent bulbs and are used six hours a day. The average U. S. home electricity price is 12 cents per kilowatt-hour the kilowatt-hour (symbolized kWh) is a unit of energy equivalent to one kilowatt (1 kW) of power expended for one hour (1 h) of time, according to the most recent data from the U. S. Energy Information Administration. So if consumers pay 12 cents per kWh, and that light bulb uses 60 watts x 6 hours x 365 = 131. 4 kWh a year, that's costing them $16 a year. (Kremer) In order to save money and cut costs, it is imperative that consumers use different kinds of energy-efficient lights. It may be confusing but everyone should know what happens to their electrical bill when they have certain lights. In fact, the average household should know what kinds of light bulbs and how much money they are spendin g on this utility. There are different types of lights and they each have different characteristics, which you should take notice and research accordingly. Light bulbs branch in different directions, whether it is bar lighting, to household lighting, or supermarket lighting to club lights.But these lights have to be carefully selected to save money. Light bulbs come in various shapes, sizes, and even colors. Given what size of light bulb you have also judges what wattage and voltage you have on your lights, which in turn will make those kilowatt-hours go up. There are several kinds of light bulbs, and different companies make them. They are incandescent, halogen, fluorescent, compact fluorescent lamps, high-intensity discharge lamps, low-pressure sodium lamps, and LED (Light Emitting Diodes). Depending on what light bulbs you prefer you may not get the right energy saving light bulbs you cry out for.Incandescent, these are the regular bulbs that most people are familiar with. Incand escent bulbs work by using electricity to heat a tungsten filament in the bulb until it glows. The filament is either in a vacuum or in a mixture of argon or nitrogen gas. Most of the energy spent by the bulb is given off as heat, causing its lumens per watt performance to be low. Because of the filament's high temperature, the tungsten tends to disappear and move to the sides of the light bulb. The natural faultiness in the filament causes it to become thinner quickly.When a bulb is turned on, the sudden flow of energy can cause the other areas to heat up faster than the rest of the bulb, which in turn causes the filament to break and the bulb to burn out. A regular incandescent bulb can last up to 1000 hours. (West) Halogen bulbs are a variation of the incandescent bulb. These bulbs also use a tungsten filament, which is enclosed in a tube containing halogen gas. This halogen gas causes a chemical reaction to take place which removes the tungsten from the wall of the glass and dep osits it back onto the filament. This extends the life of the bulb.In order for the bulbs reaction to create the bulb needs to be hotter than the regular incandescent bulb. The bad news is that the hotter the bulb, the quicker your throwing that bad boy away. â€Å"Care must be taken not to touch the glass part of the bulb with our fingers. The oils from our fingers will weaken the glass and shorten the bulb’s life. Many times this causes the bulb to burst when the filament finally burns out. † (Kremer) Fluorescent lamps are also used in household environments as well as commercial. These lamps work by passing a current through a tube filled with argon gas and mercury.These bulbs also last quite some time up to almost 20,000 hours of light. (West) Fluorescent lamps are also very efficient, producing very little heat, unlike halogen or incandescent bulbs. Fluorescent lamps require a ballast to stabilize the current through the lamp, and to provide the initial striking v oltage required to start the arc discharge. This increases the cost of fluorescent light fixtures, even though one ballast is shared between two or more lamps. A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor chip that emits light when conducting current. LED’s are very useful due to their ability to emit nearly all varieties of light.This has led to their use as a light source for a wide range of applications from: status indicator lights to traffic signals. LED’s are the most bizarre and energy-saving lights you can have that produce the same amount of light as any other incandescent or fluorescent lights. Although, LED’s that produce a spectrum of visible light have been under constant development since the 1960’s, only recently have LED’s seen mass production for household products, making the energy-saving idea more serious. (Energy Star) Retrofitting, the process of changing lights from old to new, is a big part of the electrical business.When doing retro fit work, there are many opportunities for replacing obsolete lamps with newer cost-efficient lamps. This will not only result in reduced energy costs, but usually provides equal- or better-quality lighting. Energy Star, the leading program in energy efficiency and environmental safety, is a branch of the U. S EPA and the DoE. In 1992 the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) introduced Energy Star as a voluntary labeling program designed to identify and promote energy-efficient products to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Computers and monitors were the first labeled products.In 1995 they slowly started to move towards heating and cooling equipment. In 1996 they partnered with the DoE to focus on more particular product categories. Through 2011, nearly 20,000 organizations have partnered with EPA, improved efficiency, and realized significant financial and environmental benefits. Americans, with the help of Energy Star, prevented 210 million metric tons of greenhous e gas emissions in 2011 alone, equivalent to the total emissions of 41 million vehicles, and reduced their utility bills by $23 billion. (Energy Star) In 2008, U. S. Secretary of Energy Samuel W.Bodman introduced the joint of the Department of Energy and Defense campaign to challenge military bases nationwide to change their incandescent light bulbs to energy efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) in on-base housing. (Energy Star) The Energy Star campaign, called Operation Change Out, will help bases across the country increase energy efficiency, save money and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. As of today they have saved millions of dollars in electricity costs and they save an average of 12% electricity each year. (Scoggins) The most important part of the equation is the money.On average you buy a box of 20 incandescent light bulbs for about $3. 56. So if you pay your electricity bill and add in the total for the bulbs you’re paying around $2268. 84 a year. Thatâ⠂¬â„¢s with buying bulbs every month. Now let’s say for instance you upgrade to a more energy-efficient bulb, for instance a Philips (60-W) A19 LED Bright White light bulb. These bulbs go for at least $15, but have a lifespan of 18. 3 years, based on 3 hour usage. Now if one uses these bulbs, your electric bill that was once $90 a month, may now seem more like $80.Based on average you could save anywhere from $10-$25 a month just by switching a bulb. Not only that, if you turn your original switch into a dimmer you could be saving hundreds of dollars a year. Just one 100 watt bulb produces about 2 watts of light and 98 watts of heat. The heat is what is boosting your electric bill. The incandescent bulb takes 100 watts but half of that is heat. (Scoggins) The more bulbs one has the more your bill will be. The most cost efficient way to roll these days is to buy LED lights or CFL (Compact Fluorescent Lights). Most electricians will tell one to go with LED’s because of t heir cost-efficiency.One incandescent bulb uses up to 100 watts of electricity, whereas a LED typically uses 2-17 watts. Even though CFL’s are energy saving and cost efficient, they are not as good as LED’s but provide just about the same, CFL’s put off about 6-25 watts. If one switches their incandescent with CFL’s one can dim their switch and save electricity and money. Energy saving has become a big issue over the years. Energy Star has expressed their utmost concern on the ideal way to efficiently light one’s home. Over 200 gigawatts of energy are wasted annually in America each year. Kraemer) Over the span of time since LED’s have been placed on the market, consumers have decided that these are the best, although expensive. With the advances in technology and the research that is taking place, in a matter of years consumers could be, should be, using lights that save them money. Works Cited . â€Å"CFL Key Product Criteria. † Ene rgy Star. U. S Enviromental Protection Agency, 02 2011. Web. 8 Nov 2012. . . â€Å"Energy Efficient Lighting. † Eartheasy: Solutions for Sustainable Living. Eartheasy. com, 10 2011. Web. 0 Dec 2012. . â€Å"Energy Savings Calculator. † Lutron. Lutron Electronics Co. , 12 2012. Web. 18 Dec 2012.

Friday, September 13, 2019

Electronic nursing documentation and patient safety Essay

Electronic nursing documentation and patient safety - Essay Example A currently happening intensely serious and dangerous nursing shortfall can be meliorated in a number of ways. One method of them is to reduce or extinguish work life dissatisfactory for nurses of which one is the current cumbrous type of nursing documentation of patient care. According to routine or established practice, nurses spend approx 15 to 25% of their working day in documenting patient care, and in some cases this ratio is substantially more than that. This is not an problem as such, but perceptions by nurses that much of this documentation is unneeded or superfluous and above all that it takes away from their ability to deal with direct patient care, have made it a substantial matter for practicing nurses and issues about nursing documentation of patient care important to nurses and consequently to everyone. A recent and popular trend in nursing practice is the institution of electronic documentation. Uptil now, not much is known about this crucial trend or its effects on n ursing documentation subjects (Gugert et al 2007). This purpose of this paper is to illustrate the importance of electronic nursing documentation and the standards developed for them. The majority of healthcare agencies have anticipated implementing some type of electronic health records (EHR) and electronic documentation systems. A model with standards to be used in various EHR demonstration projects has been suggested. Up to now, the EHR model has had many important consequences or implications on the entire healthcare community, ranging from huge enterprises to private practices, with many states forming planning board to formulate or develop strategies regarding how EHRs can be implemented comprehensively. The Health Information and Management Systems Society has formulated a definitional model that details eight properties and crucial requirements for an EHR, from the need for insure records that can be got at in real time to records that can facilitate and support clinical tes ts. All healthcare facilities are anticipated to have EHRs in place in the almost future to assure safety and improved documentation of care. For many reasons, the switch to a paper less healthcare record is an intimidating and costly venture for healthcare agencies, and not everybody is keen to the use of EHRs. Hence, acceptance rates have deviated widely from region to region. Many of the troubles discovered in implementation of EHRs are both behavioral and organizational, and may be assigned to attitudes towards the consumption of electronic technology or failure of the implementers to look for stimulus from potential users (Moody et al 2004). Electronic documentation and health records are believed to better the quality of care and service rendered to hospitalized patients. The use of electronic documentation sources has become extremely relevant for nurses as they can find the majority of essential patient information thereby. Currently the majority of U.S.

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Employment Discrimination Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Employment Discrimination - Assignment Example Due to the fact that the termination was expressly concerned with the fact that his immediate supervisor felt he could not trust a homosexual in such a position, whatever shortcomings or missteps that Tom may have made in the past with regards to the his level of stereotypical manly talk, tough behavior, and/or flirting with female personnel within the organization. This is a likely approach that the organization will seek to put forward as a means of defense; however, it will not work due to the fact that the reason for termination was not stated to be any of these aspects; rather, it was determined to be due to the fact that the employer felt he could no longer trust Tom, he was ultimately terminated from his position. Accordingly, this represents a very clear cut and flagrant violation of EEOC and employment law that the court system should not have any difficulty adjudicating. As such, the final determination that can all but be assured is that the EEOC will rule in Tom’s favor and state that the employer has terminated an employee unlawfully; as such, Tom will have the possibility to either chose to continue his employment with back pay for time last or he can alternatively choose to pursue suit in the case (Marshall et al, 2011). 2. Robin has just graduated with an MS in elementary education. He sends his resume to a number of school boards and one writes back offering an interview for a kindergarten position. When Robin arrives at the interview it is obvious that the interviewers had expected a female. They ask a few general questions and conclude the interview. Two days later he gets a rejection letter. He later finds out that a female applicant with only a Bachelor’s degree was hired. He believes that he has been discriminated against due to sex and he files a complaint with the EEOC. The school district defends by saying that kindergarten teachers are traditionally female and that the parents' preference is for a female to conduct the cl ass. Is the school board justified in their actions and will their defense be effective? One of the difficulties in defining and discussing legality and ethics within the workplace decisions is the differentiation between unethical behavior and ultimate illegality. As such, the case in question illustrates both an unethical and illegal component. Whereas the employer is within its rights to make certain determinations, it is against the law to discriminate upon an individual based upon age, gender, race, sexual orientation, or religious affiliation. Although the school may think that their defense is rock solid due to the fact that they have included another group’s preferences into the decision making process, the fact of the matter is that this defense expressly admits that they had been discriminating upon sex as one of the primal determinants to fulfill the position in question. Moreover, the fact of tradition itself, or the preference of shareholders, has absolutely noth ing to do with the legality of whether or not the ultimate hiring authority had discriminated (McMahon & Hurley, 2008). The school district made a fundamental mistake in first choosing to discriminate based upon gender and a second fundamental mistake in admitting to the fact that they had discriminated; regardless of whatever weak excuse was employed to make up for such an action. As such, the cas

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Construction organisations have adapted themselves to address change Essay

Construction organisations have adapted themselves to address change and the growing complexity of the construction industry.Pre - Essay Example One of the key characteristics of the construction industry is its high complexity; the projects developed across this industry are depended on a series of factors, including technology, climate conditions, suppliers’ and employees’ efficiency and responsibility, local regulation and so on. Therefore, for the firms that operate in the particular industry the full achievement of their goals is a challenging task; in fact, the research on the industry’s characteristics and performance has led to the conclusion that operational and strategic failures are common phenomena in this industry. This issue is discussed in this paper; it is concluded that the above failures can justify the argument that in modern market no single ideal organization can exist. The aspects and the explanation of this argument are presented in this paper referring, as an example, to the challenges and the performance of firms operating in the construction industry. 2. Change and increase of co mplexity in the construction industry - characteristics, responses and consequences - discussion of the premise that there is no single ideal organization. ... The value of the construction industry for economies worldwide cannot be ignored. For example, in USA, one of the most competitive construction markets globally, the value of the construction industry for the domestic product has estimated to 9% - referring to 2005 (Atallah 2006). Despite its size, the construction industry in USA is not well structured – a high fragmentation has been identified; more specifically, most of the industry’s firms are small and operate within their local area – about 2.1 millions of the relevant businesses are self-employed (Atallah 2006). This fact limits the potentials of these firms to face the challenges set by the globalization. The above phenomenon is common in countries worldwide. Firms in the construction industry are usually established and operate in the context of the development of particular construction projects; in many cases, the end of a construction project can set the survival of a construction firm in risk. In oth er words, there is no expansion of the activities or tasks allocated to the employees. Rather, the operation of each construction firm is depended on the successful development of a particular construction project; it is for this reason, that most of firms in this industry are self-employed – the number of employees is low. This trend is reflected in the figures released in the study of Bennett (2003); in accordance with the above study, the construction firms in Italy have been estimated to 482,000 (for 2002), a number extremely high taking into consideration the potential number of construction projects developed across the country/ compared to the country’s size and relevant needs (Bennett 2003). Moreover, in accordance with a