Saturday, August 31, 2019

A report on cultural audit of Mott Macdonald Group Limited

A study on cultural audit of com/aaimagestore/essays/1762371.001.jpg"/> Presented by: Presented to: Date:Contentss 1.Organizational civilization defined 1.1.Cultural Audit and its importance 2.Methodology for cultural Audit 3.Findings 3.1.Weak apprehension of organisational strategic aims 3.2.Evaluations non used at policy doing degree 4.Conclusion 5.Recommendation 6.Appendices 6.1.Vision & A ; Mission 6.2.Strategic planning & A ; rating 6.3.Community engagement 6.4.Marketing 6.5.Financial planning, Monitoring & A ; coverage 6.6.Governance 6.7.Management 6.8.Human resources1. Organizational civilization definedOrganizational civilization plays a critical function in determining behaviour in organisations, there is little agreement on what organisational civilization really is, ne'er mind how it affects behavior and whether it is something leaders can alter. Without recognizing a proper definition for organisational civilization, links to other elements of concern with organisational civilization can non be understood. There is no unambiguous compact on the definition of organisational civilization but it is normally interpreted as â€Å"the manner we do things around here† ( Lilley, 2014 ) . Professor Gerry Johnson, writer of the cultural web, refers to organisational civilization as â€Å"the taken for-granted premises and behaviours that make sense of people’s organisational context and hence contributes to how groups of people respond and act in relation to issues they face† . He goes on to state that, as a consequence, civilization has of import influences on the development and alteration of organisational scheme. In other words, civilization binds scheme to outcomes British anthropologist Edward Tyler ( Tharp, 2012 ) is widely credited with the first ( 1871 ) â€Å"modern† definition of civilization: â€Å"that complex whole which includes cognition, belief, humanistic disciplines, ethical motives, jurisprudence, usage, and any other capablenesss and wonts acquired by adult male as a member of society. Similarly, in May 1, 2013, Michael Watkins ( Watkins, 2013 ) , Co-founder of Genesis advisors, started a treatment on LinkedIn raising a inquiry to specify organisational civilization. More than 300 responses were received including varied position and sentiments on organisational civilization. After reexamining the responses, Watkins concluded that organisational civilizations are dynamic. They shift, incrementally and invariably, in response to external and internal alterations. So, seeking to measure organisational civilization is complicated by the world that you are seeking to hit a traveling mark. But it besides opens the possibility that civilization alteration can be managed as a uninterrupted procedure instead than through large displacements ( frequently in response to crises ) . Finally, a definition by Edgar Schein ( Tharp, 2013 ) of MIT’s Sloan School of Management though general but seems appropriate that organisational civilization is â€Å"a form of shared basic premises that the group learned as it solved its jobs of external version and internal integrating, that has worked good plenty to be considered valid and, hence, to be taught to new members as the right manner to comprehend, believe, and experience in relation to those jobs†1.1. Cultural Audit and its importanceCultural audit can be explained as independent scrutiny of overall values and beliefs on which an organisation is runing. A civilization audit helps find the civilization that presently exists within a company. An effectual workplace civilization audit determines the overall working environment, identifies the unwritten norms and regulations regulating employee interactions and workplace patterns, high spots possible barriers to effectual work patterns and communicating and makes recommendations for turn toing jobs identified. Not merely willit aid retain top performing artists, it provides a design of what attributes to look for in appliers. Culture Audit has become of import after recent dirts in different corporate sector companies. On June 2014, Chartered institute of internal hearers published a study â€Å"Culture and function of internal audit† , in the executive sum-up of the study, Roy Lilley, wellness author and observer mentioned the organisational civilization as affair of public concern. He mentioned the hapless organisational civilization as the root cause of dirts in wellness, fiscal and nutrient sectors among others which have been at a great cost to persons, organisations and states every bit good. He stressed that Board and internal audit would necessitate to concentrate on the hazards that civilization nowadayss.2. Methodology for cultural AuditThe supreme method for carry oning a civilization audit is the desquamation of an executive squad and organisational development research worker. This theoretical account was presented by Mark R. Testa and Lori J. Sipe from San Diego State University, San Diego, USA in their article published in unfastened diary of leading ( Testa, 2013 ) . The singularity of the proposed theoretical account is the ability to associate theory and pattern in a really experiential manner. While the executive squad can prosecute in much of the informations aggregation, the research worker can steer their attempts, minimise prejudice and guarantee the generated consequences are valid. A five-step theoretical account was developed for execution of the civilization audit with this executive team-researcher tandem in head. These stairss include:Designation of the organization’s vision, mission, values, and strategic ends ;A brief narrative on the coveted civilization ;Choice of the audit squad ;Data aggregation ;Interpretation and coverageQuestionnaire was used for understanding the civilization of MottMacdonald group. Questions were prepared as per the guidelines provided by the Mass cultural council ( Council, 2012 ) for appraisal of organisational civilization. Following major cultural countries of MottMacdonald were identified and reviewed as portion of cultural audit.Mission and visionStrategic planning & A ; ratingCommunity engagementPublic dealingssSellingFiscal planning, monitoring and coverageAdministrationManagementHuman Resources3. FindingssBased on the consequences of study, few deficits were observed in organisational civilization of MottMacdonald Group Limited. However, these observations are non of the serious nature which can adversely impact the image and good will of the group but these demands to be considered carefully by the direction of MottMacdonald group. Detailed study questionnaire along with aggregative responses have been given in appendices 6.1 to 6.8 below. The observations which need direction attending are as below ;3.1. Weak apprehension of organisational strategic aimsAlthough, the staff at higher degree places was good cognizant of the organisational aims and ends, but our study revealed that these ends and aims were non clearly communicated to staff at lower degree, resultantly, input taken by these staff in puting strategic aim would non be much beneficial for both the employees and MottMacdonald group.3.2. Evaluations non used at policy doing degreeIt was observed that ratings for effectual planning have been conducted by the MottMacdonald group but these were non used when doing policies. A reappraisal of few policies of the group and consequences of the study conducted by the cultural audit squad revealed the fact that rating consequences were non used in policy and scheme devising.4. DecisionBased on the consequences of study and reappraisal of policies and fiscal statements of MottMacdonald group limited, the overall organisational civilization of the group is rated asâ€Å"GOOD with Risk degree at LOW† However, the direction needs to clearly reexamine the consequences of the study conducted by cultural audit squad in order to input the responses of employees to be used for scheme devising and planning intents.5. RecommendationCultural audit squad urge the direction to reexamine the preparation policies and a clear system of communicating should be introduced in such a manner that employees at lowest degree should understand the aim and ends of the group. Employees at each degree of hierarchy are of import for the organisation and they are the primary trade name embassador of the group hence, they must clearly be known the ends and aims of the group.6. Appendixs6.1. Vision & A ; MissionQuestionStrongly holdAgreeDisagreeStrongly differMission statement is clear, concise and best shows the ground for being of MottMacdonaldvVision statement is so persuasive that it clearly depicts the dreams of MottMacdonald yet to be accomplishedvA proper system is in topographic point to track a chievements with regard to mission and visionvAll the staff including top direction are really clear about mission and vision of MottMacdonaldvDirectors and Board members are good able to show mission and vision of the groupv6.2. Strategic planning & A ; ratingQuestionStrongly holdAgreeDisagreeStrongly differA chiseled strategic program tied to mission and vision is in topographic pointvA formal strategic program is being prepared after regular intervals affecting both board and staffvA formal system of reappraisal is in topographic point for strategic program is in topographic point to get by the changing fortunesvStrategic ends and aims are set in a manner that they are accomplishable and mensurable with clip framesvA SWOT analysis is being on a regular basis conducted to see the bing place of MottMacdonaldvIt is ensured that short term operational programs are linked with strategic program and aims and MottMacdonaldvStrategic ends and aims are understood throughout the organ isation.vA system of regular rating is in topographic point for every operation and planvEvaluations are being used in every phase and type of planningvA system dwelling of appropriate quantitative and qualitative informations aggregation techniques like observation, interviews, written studies, focal point group etc. , is in topographic point to mensurate impact of plansv6.3. Community engagementQuestionStrongly holdAgreeDisagreeStrongly differMottMacdonalds clearly understands the impact of different stakeholders’ perceptual experiences and experiences along with any barriers they encounter and this is used for planning intentsvSchemes are in topographic point to actuate current participants’ to increase the degree of engagement and chances are provided to take more involved function in the MottMacdonaldvMotivating schemes and programs exists to pull farther people to take part in scheme devisingvSchemes are made to make perspective audience including multi-cultural audiences, immature blood and seniorsvPotential and prospective mark audience have been identifies maintaining in position the current resources and other restrictionsvResources have been prioritized based on demands and diverseness of audiencevIt is clear and understood committedness to include all degree of audience in the communityvMottMacdonald is holding a scheme to organize partnership at all degrees to increase engagement in its plansvSurveies, focal point groups and interviews and other rating tools are being used to acquire input from mark communityvA program is in topographic point to get by with all the barriers including cultural, economic, chance and tome restraints and to take the barriers for mark audiencesvChanging demographics and concentrate demands of audiences are being considered on a regular basis and scheme shapers are good informed about the changing demandsv6.4. SellingQuestionStrongly holdAgreeDisagreeStrongly differA well drafted and written one-year selli ng program is in topographic point which has been made in audience with other sectionsvA database has been maintained to track ex-clients, prospective clients and forms of client purchasingvActual gross revenues are being monitored and compared with the selling events and tendenciesvDatabase of mailing and contact list is updated on a regular basisvMottMacdonald is good cognizant of its current strategic place in the market and place and tendencies of full marketvSelling stuffs are good drafted, good designed and aim oriented to specific mark audiencevSelling stuffs are produced for specific audience maintaining in position their cultural normsvWeb site and electronic mailing lists are efficaciously used as selling toolsvA suited sum has been budgeted for sellingvMarketing section is good staffed and appropriate mix of qualified and experient staff is in posted in itvMarketing staff is motivated and a clear coordination and good working relationships exist within themvShort and long term income ends are being set and monitored on a regular basis and progress towards accomplishment is being measured continuouslyvSpecific demands of mark audiences are being targeted to acquire lucifer of demands with the servicesv6.5. Financial planning, Monitoring & A ; coverageQuestionStrongly holdAgreeDisagreeStrongly differAppropriate accounting policies as per the by and large accepted accounting rules are being used while describingvFiscal statements including Statement of fiscal place and income statement are on a regular basis preparedvAnnual operating budget is prepared including all expected grosss and expected disbursals aligned with the schemesvAppropriate accounting package is used for clerking and fiscal coveragevPeriodic reappraisal of income and disbursals is being conducted in the signifier of monthly or quarterly fiscal statements and mid-course accommodationsvCash flows place is being monitored and maintained aligned with the projection of hard currencyvA ll hard currency histories are reconciled monthly.vHistories receivable are being monitored and a system of effectual and timely recovery is in topographic pointvAuthority wise fiscal bounds have been assigned at each and every degree and signers are clear about their boundsvInternal controls and conformity policies are good drafted and documented and communicated at each and every degreevInventory direction system is good equipped to get by with the menace of larceny and abuse of stock listvApplicable Torahs and ordinances are being adhered when fixing paysheet of employeesvEmployees are employed maintaining in position all the relevant Torahs and regulating rules and record maintaining is maintained as per the local and international record maintaining guidelinesvAll the statutory demands of filing of statutory returns, tax write-off from rewards and all applicable revenue enhancements are being adhered as per the applicable jurisprudencevFiscal statements are being prepared by ce rtified and qualified professional comptrollers and are being reviewed by an independent hearer topic to the demands of local jurisprudencevOrg. reviews capital demands and establishes capital precedences yearly at leastvAppropriate insurance coverage is available for all the possible hazards and other controls are available for extenuation of those hazardsv6.6. AdministrationQuestionStrongly holdAgreeDisagreeStrongly differFunctions of board and executive managers are clearly defined and executive managers are being delegated the overall direction and supervising of the companyvLocal applicable Torahs and rules are being adhered in carry oning board and stockholders run intoing along with continuance of director’s offices and elections, re-election, expiration and surrendervBoard has formed commissions and sub-committees with clearly defined duties and governmentsvNewly fall ining board member are given a thorough orientation sing operations, organisation and duties of the m anagersvAttendance regulations for board meeting every bit adheres as per the applicable ordinancesvAppropriate accomplishments and making exists within the BoardvNominations in the board should guarantee appropriate mix and diverseness in signifier of civilization, gender, making and ethnicityvBoard is good cognizant of community and altering demands of the targeted community.vBoard members attend organization’s plans and eventsvBoard members use their other professional links to drive concern towards MottMacdonaldvBoard have appropriate cognition of industry in which MottMacdonald operatesvBoard sets the marks and ends for executive managers and direction squad and help them to accomplish that endsvAll board members give a meaningful fiscal part to the organisation yearlyv6.7. ManagementQuestionStrongly holdAgreeDisagreeStrongly differAttainable and accomplishable competitory ends are being set for the directorsvStaff is being provided with uninterrupted support and prepara tion by the directorsvAppropriate degree of managerial accomplishments exist for the directors and preparations are imparted to them as portion of occupationvBusiness is conducted by the directors in clear and concise affairvDirectors work good as a squadvHigh degree direction works in such a manner that they have become a function theoretical account for their subsidiariesvHigh winner staff is being awarded by the direction and hapless public presentation are good addressed by the directorsvA proper communicating and effectual coordination exists between the staffv6.8. Human resourcesQuestionStrongly holdAgreeDisagreeStrongly differPolices have been formulated for enlisting of employees and all procedures are good defined for the enlisting of best endowmentvHiring procedure is designed in such a manner that it attracts the major parts of the communityvHuman resources are managed by the well qualified persons who are clear about their dutiesvHuman resources policy is in topographic point which covers all the facets of human resources in best suited modevBest suited preparation program is in topographic point for staff and voluntaries every bit goodvStaff is clearly cognizant of what benefits and allowances are available to themvClear occupation descriptions of every staff member is available, updated and communicated to relevant staff and voluntaryvReporting lines are clear and defined and each employee is good cognizant of his coverage seniorvEmployee public presentations are being reviewed and documented after periodic intervals and at least yearlyvCompensation to employees are being paid in conformity with the applicable ordinances and benefits are paid as per the jurisprudencevLocal Torahs about minimal compensation are being adhered in the payments of all staffvVolunteers are being extremely appreciated and be appreciated in a respectful mode for their committednesssvEmployees are being extremely appreciated and considered in sequence planning for higher degree placesv

Friday, August 30, 2019

How to Write an Analytical Essay

1In the first paragraph really explain what it is about. Ads by Google Technical Writing ToolsTechnical Communicators Resource. TCS 2 Includes FrameMaker, RoboHelp www. Adobe. com 2Start to plot out what you want to write. Do this underneath your introduction. 3Come up with a main idea for each paragraph. Explain your main idea; maybe throw in a quote that will help to explain it in better detail. 4Back up your ideas with examples. If you're writing a descriptive essay, consider a personal example. Otherwise, find an objective example to support your analysis. 5Follow these procedures for each paragraph that you need to write. 6State your conclusion. Restate your introduction and leave the readers thinking. Make your conclusion something very brief and to the point that anyone could read. Ads by Google Resume Writing ResultsJob-Winning Resume Writing Services Personalized & High Quality Resumes resumes. FINS. com Company brochuresYoung Zeck Image Communications creates high-impact brochures www. youngzeck. com dit TipsBeginnings and endings are good places to use quotes, metaphors, and repetition, for effect, because introductions and conclusions should not have any details or in-depth analysis; that is what your body paragraphs are there for. Ads by Google Paper RaterFree Online Grammar Check, Writing Analysis, and More www. PaperRater. com If you are writing a formal analysis or critique, then avoid using colloquial writing. Though informal language may bring some color to a paper, you do not want to risk weakening your argument by influencing it with verbal slang. Ask yourself â€Å"What am I trying to prove? † The answer should be in your thesis. If not, go back and fix it. edit WarningsAvoid making your essay too tacky by using too few quotations. Remember that you want to incorporate others' ideas, too. Don't try to add useless sentences to make an analytical essay longer; it is better to leave it short and to the point. Make each sentence count. edit Things You'll NeedPaper Pen/pencil Spell checker (if using a computer) Thesaurus Microsoft Word (if using a computer) Articles for You to Write

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Franz Kafka and being an outsider in the society Essay

As the oldest child, after the deaths of his older brothers, Franz Kafka, however, has never reached the dominance and leadership character and failed to live a normal, human life – after his birth he had doubted in his human nature and grew as an outsider inside the community. His father, a successful shopkeeper with giant managing abilities and patriarchal, yet tyrannical, personality, had no other goals, except material stability and social recognition. It was him, who made Franz fail to live, who made him family-limited, unable to create his own household. Indeed, his father, Hermann Kafka, was the one, who broke his nature and drove him into literature. All of the pain, pressure, struggle and aspiration, Franz Kafka described in his writing, some of them depict the struggle between father and son, other between two worlds, yet, in any story, especially in the â€Å"Letter to His Father† (1919) and â€Å"The Metamorphosis† (1915), we can find incomprehension and longing for normal living. His earliest poems were published by Brod in 1908 in Hyperion. His first novel Der Prozess (â€Å"The Trial†) was written after another failure – he broke off an engagement with Felice Bauer – and has started it with the words of somebody’s false accusation against Josef K. Maurice Blanchot has observed that Kafka’s works are â€Å"not always only literary. Salvation is an enormous preoccupation with him, all the stronger because it is hopeless, and all the more hopeless because it is totally uncompromising. †(Banville, 2004). Most of his literary characters were animals: mole, mouse, beetle; seems like Franz was no other than a formless being, who was looking for a way out of tough obstacles, yet is ready to be tortured, punished, destroyed. His characters are seeking for salvation, but they realize how disgusting, insignificant, unimportant they are, along with their problems and hardships. â€Å"The Judgement† is viewed by Herbert Tauber as a â€Å"vital existence in which probability and reservation rule †¦ in which every step has an incalculable importance because it is taken â€Å"Franz Kafka and being an outsider in the society† â€Å"Page #2† under the horizon of an absolute summons to the road† (Tauber, 1948). For him, it is the clash of two worlds, which existed in total isolation from each other and have no points of contacts. That is why the conflict leads to destruction. On the other hand, this conflict between father and son can be considered as a general social state that degrades with every step forward. An early story â€Å"Description of a Struggle† â€Å"is not usually considered one of Kafka’s better works and it is often dismissed by critics turned off by its fragmentary nature and lack of polish† (Pawel, 1984), highlights Ernst Pawel in his â€Å"Nightmare of Reason†; this work will not attract the new reader, yet those, who dive in the philosophy of Kafka’s readings will be encouraged to read it. The character of this three-chapter work is a symbol of discrepancy and contrast of the single community. Franz Kafka’s helplessness to negotiate or get used to the community’s lifestyle is noted in his four stories in â€Å"A Hunger Artist†. Michael Lowy, the Research Director of the National Center for Scientific Research, has viewed Kafka’s symbolism as libertarian socialism or anarchical ideology. â€Å"The libertarian inspiration is inscribed into the heart of Kafka’s novels †¦ [The] state is an impersonal system of domination which crushes, suffocates, or kills individuals, where unfreedom prevails† (Lowy, 1997). The center of the story is a paradoxical notion – artist, who accepts his profession as honor, yet practices fasting, which has an artistic aspect. The system (i. e. people) refuse to recognize him, therefore, refuse to see the reality and truthfulness of life (Dorothy W. , 2006). There is nothing but emptiness in the world. â€Å"The Stoker†, â€Å"The Man Who Disappeared† (â€Å"Der Verschollene†), or â€Å"Amerika† was an American novel for Kafka himself. The variety of names shows the complexity and differences of the novel. It is the state, where â€Å"workers are not on the side of the authorities† (Kafka, 1956). In rather humorous style, Kafka represents the Statue of Liberty with a sword; American democracy, with a shadow of authoritarian policies, is combined with bureaucratic injustice and poverty. â€Å"Franz Kafka and being an outsider in the society† â€Å"Page #3† The fiction â€Å"The Great Wall of China† â€Å"deals (duplicitously) with an other-as-self from an inside which is really an outside† (Kelen). This is another Kafka’s work that deals with symbols and metaphors, internal and external struggle and his own life of an outsider. The wall is a symbol of fear, yet, the end of empire represents the erasure of boundaries between the Western and Chinese worlds. Kafka is using his technique of the narrator to describe relation to one another and what is happening nearby. â€Å"In â€Å"Country Doctor† we witness a second type of infiltration of literary production by theories or methods schooled on Freudian psychoanalysis† (Lecture Notes, conclusion). The work is filled with doubled words (horses, carriages, patent examinations, children songs, homes), and words that have different meanings (dilemma – problem or solution, shame, information’s and people’s mislaying). â€Å"The Castle†, a philosophical novel, depicts the castle’s authorities, bureaucratic attitude and man’s struggle against the existing system. â€Å"The novel’s aesthetic and interpretive complexity, it will be seen, underlines the multi-layered meaning of salvation itself, in a modern world in which salvation is not necessarily one of divine grace, of deliverance from sin and damnation† (Panichas, 2004). The totalitarian authorities, impersonal system that is built in hierarchical order are shown as apparatus that rules over the lay people, who must be subordinated to this machine. It is manipulation and control that is obvious in any modern society and the procedures it governs and inevitable for every citizen. â€Å"K. gains through her personality some insight into a possible solution of his quest, and, when he speaks of her with affection, he seems himself to be breaking through his sense of isolation† (Encyclopedia Britannica). Kafka, as a living example of outsider, who had made his way to live in the community, all through his works has depicted the world of contrasts, where everyone lives in isolation, trying, at the same time, to find his place in the community. Works Cited: 1. Banville J. (October, 2004). The Human Stain. The Nation. October 18 issue. 2. Dorothy W. Franz Kafka’s â€Å"A Hunger Artist† December 15, 2006 Retrieved from the website â€Å"Of Books and Bicycles† on February 25, 2008 http://ofbooksandbikes. blogspot. com/2006/12/franz-kafkas-hunger-artist. html 3. Encyclopedia Britannica. Franz Kafka. Works. Retrieved on February 25, 2008 from http://www. britannica. com/eb/article-3813/Franz-Kafka 4. Humanitas, G. (March, 2004). Kafka’s afflicted vision: a literary-theological critique. (Franz Kafka). Humanitas. 5. F. Kafka. (1956). Amerika. Frankfurt: Fischer Publishing House. pp. 15, 161. 6. Kelen, C. The Great Wall of China and Kafka’s Limitless Tropology. Queen: a journal of rhetoric and power. Vol. 2. 1. Power and Recolonization. 7. Lecture Notes: Franz Kafka, â€Å"A Country Doctor†. Washington Courses. Retrieved on February 25, 2008 from http://courses. washington. edu/freudlit/Doctor. Notes. html 8. Lowy, M. (1997). Franz Kafka and Libertarian Socialism. New Politics. Vol. 6. no. 3. 9. Pawel, Ernst (1984). The Nightmare of Reason: A Life of Franz Kafka. New York: Farrar-Straus-Giroux, p. 160-163. 10. Tauber, Herbert. (1948). Franz Kafka: An interpretation of his works. Yale University Press.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Enviromental Science - Water Quality Parameters Movie Review

Enviromental Science - Water Quality Parameters - Movie Review Example However, group 3 found a turbidity value of 30 downstream and group 4 found a turbidity value of 40 upstream. Temperature – the temperature of the water in the stream is within the normal temperature range. Water is cooler upstream than downstream meaning that metabolism activities in the stream are in the normal range. Temperature also affects reproductive activities in the stream and life cycles in general. Dissolved oxygen – it is the mass of oxygen present in the water, and its units are parts per million (ppm) or milliliter per Liter. The average dissolved oxygen of 7ppm means that the mass of oxygen in the water is within the required range for aquatic life. The values of 5.6 ppm and 5.2 ppm for dissolved oxygen upstream and downstream respectively shows that oxygen levels are lower than average. The amount of dissolved oxygen may be affected by temperature, flow of water, aquatic plants and altitude. Percentage Saturation – the percentage saturation is 62.2% upstream and 59% down stream. This is an indication of high metabolic activities in the stream that result in the production of by-products that increase the saturation of salts in water. This is a key parameter that lowers the water quality in the stream. PH – the pH of water in the stream is extremely crucial. It affects the ecosystem and toxicity of the water. The average pH of water in a stream is 6 – 7. The pH of water in the stream is 8.05 upstream and 7.9 downstream. This pH levels are suitable for aquatic life in the stream. Phosphate (ppm) - phosphate is a limiting nutrient which means that it is in short supply compared to nitrogen. The stream has low phosphate values of 1.6 and 1.4 for upstream and downstream

Policies to Reduce Unemployment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Policies to Reduce Unemployment - Essay Example It's with this in mind that the government of the UK has to change tactic in order to enable companies to remain in business and create job opportunities despite the economic recession The number of people in full time employment fell drastically between 2007 and 2009 (Arnold 2001). The rate of loosing jobs is alarming. About the same number of jobs lost the previous year were lost in just four months last year from October 2008 to the beginning of the year 2009. it better to make the assumption that those who lost their jobs were those who were being paid well from their professional expertise and could still be living on their bonuses. The number of people unemployed but actively seeking employment has increased by about one million, other people appears to have opted for part time jobs and as a result the number of part-time employees has increased by almost 1.3 million. Some people have already given up (Gilbody 1998). By the beginning of the new millennium, (the year 2000) the world was very different from the way it was in the 1900s. The United Kingdom underwent a massive change. The labour party of United Kingdom had won its second term to serve again in office. In the beginning of the year 2001, the government wanted to have enough money to be spent on public services especially the national health services which was being under funded by then (Arnold 2001). The economic growth rates have been quite stable operating at about 2-3% since the beginning of the millennium. Inflation has not been a problem to the economy of the British government. The bank of England has been able to regulate the interest rates therefore managing to stabilize the economy of Britain. The pound has maintained a stable increase in value reaching a minimum rate of 1.37 dollars against the US dollar in 2001 and rising again to about a rate of one pound going for two dollars (Arnold 2001). With the emergence of the current economic recession, the number of people loosing jobs has caused a serious setback or rather it's an impediment to the banks lending, prevention of debt deflation strategies to be implemented and to renew output growth (Gilbody 1998). There has also been a wave of rising defaults all concentrating in the riskier parts of the banks loaning documents; buy to let loans, subprine mortgages and lending money to private equity enterprise as well as the management of financial asset acquisition among other activities, Europa Publications Staff (2003). Intervention to Support Economy It's very correct to stick to the conventional parts of lending schemes as advised by senior bankers since they have been performing well till now. The problems have only emerged on the financing side of bank's balance sheets and other particular aspects of the lending side. In other parts, the process of risk management on the ability to lend has performed convincingly fine. The amount of loss encountered rose in regions where systems for management of risks and credit control schemes are purposively overridden by senior managers anxious to take over the market share or produce mortgages for the packaging as a section of the model known as

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

First group Bus Travel Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

First group Bus Travel - Research Paper Example Use of private transportation modes leads to air pollution, traffic congestion and poor health condition of the riders due to lack of exercise. If the final goal is to reduce carbon footprint and improve the overall quality of environment and living standards, then it is very important to reduce the use of private transportation (Nillson and KÃ ¼ller, 2000). Various researchers suggest that certain behavior is exhibited by individuals because of others’ attitude towards that particular behavior and perceived norms. Assumptions suggest that behavioral pattern of using personal vehicle is discretionary in nature and can be influenced by providing the right information. With appropriate information, individuals are likely to make sustainable choices and decisions. There is evidence that signifies that willingness of people towards preferring private/public transportation mode is affected by their own assumptions as well as that of others. Certain behaviors such as choice of tran sport mode, do get influenced by altruistic attitude; that is, people can use their personal vehicle lesser if they perceive that to have a good impact on their future generation, community, and environment (The Psychologist, 2012). According to authors, people are aware of the harmful impact of excessive use of a personal vehicle on health and environment. Yet, they hardly act on it. Statistics suggest that on an average, people spend around 230 hours in a car and as little as 70 hours walking every year.

Monday, August 26, 2019

Nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 12

Nursing - Essay Example Notably, nursing practice entails numerous responsibilities and workers need time for adequate rest because of the nature of the job. Moreover, there is a need for a proper compensation for the services in terms of a decent pay (Snow, 2008). However, my current employer does not seem to realize that the organization has not considered salary increment for over 6 years now. During this period, the responsibilities accorded to workers have increased immensely. With many workers expressing their discontent concerning the poor labor practices, there is a need to address the issue promptly. This paper will describe the most appropriate approach to solving the problem. The best approach for addressing the ensuing problem of being overworked and underpaid is by tabling down an outline of all the grievances of the nurses at the health center. In this outline, the nurses will indicate the number of hours they put in on a daily basis, the numerous tasks they are expected to handle each day, and outline the pay they receive for such work. In addition to such an outline, the nurses will also indicate the number of additional staff required to take up some of the responsibilities in an effort to ease the overworking (Snow, 2008). The outline will also indicate the expected pay, compensation, and benefits that each nurse deserves for the work they do. In an effort to ascertain that being overworked and underpaid is a threat to the performance of the health center, the nurses will describe the negative effects resulting from the poor labor practices. There is evidence that many of the nurses are suffering from depression due to work related causes. In addi tion, the nurses are discouraged, and they have been registering numerous eras in their work because of the depression and lack of motivation (‘US nurses overworked, underpaid-and in demand’, 2012). Moreover, the outline presented will also indicate

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Creating an Organizational Culture Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Creating an Organizational Culture - Article Example Different experts have tried to explain its influence on an organization according to their experiences, theories, and their point of views. In this regard, we will try to define, discuss, and analyze different perspectives of an organizational culture, and will try to understand different steps that are carried out for its creation, amendment, and maintenance, in order to influence collective effort in an organization or institution. Different experts have given a lot of importance to the culture and cultural perspectives in an organization. According to an author, specific environment and conditions are coming up with the help of development of an organizational culture in an organization. Today, many complex issues and problems are confronted by organizational leaders, when the organizational achievement is attempted by them in a number of different environments, such as VUCA environments. In this regard, it has been suggested that it is very necessary and important to define and understand the term of organizational culture properly, which plays a vital role in the success of an organization, as well as, its leaders. Therefore, it has been notified that organizational culture is, and has become an important part and factor of an organization’s success. In this regard, different multinational companies, as well as, small industries are trying to implement the organizational culture in their sectors, in o rder to provide opportunities to their employees for a successful future and prosperity. In addition, the inability of understanding organizational culture was traced out to be the reason of problems and complex issues that are being confronted by the leaders and managers in different companies. Failure has been also been observed in different and various business and marketing strategies that oppose the organizational culture and seems to be inconsistent with it. Therefore, creation of new strategies and their implementation also requires

Saturday, August 24, 2019

JC Penney - When did the Giant Retailer make the change and why Term Paper

JC Penney - When did the Giant Retailer make the change and why... Myron Ullman vs Ron Johnson leadership styles - Term Paper Example The company’s stated goal is to build deeper, more enduring relationships with its customers, increase associate engagement and retention and deliver industry-leading financial performance for its shareholders. As a business strategy, J.C. Penney intends to become a growth leader in retail industry.   The retailer strives to achieve excellence in style authority, customer interactions, digital experiences, and operational effectiveness (JCPenney, 2013). James Cash Penney  opened the first J.C. Penny store in Kemmerer, Wyoming in 1902. In 1907, he purchased â€Å"The Golden Rule Stores† chain of stores where he was a partner. In 1913, the company changed its name to the J. C. Penney Company and adopted the business principles that would guide the company to conduct its business. By 1922, the J.C. Penney operated 371 stores located in 27 different states. J.C. Penney went public in 1929. In 1951 the company introduced credit sales and in 1953 it began catalogue sales. The company advertised on the national television for the first time in the 1970s. In the 1990s, the J.C. Penney stores became ‘anchors’ for the malls that came up across the United States. In 1994, J.C. Penny launched its e-commerce website  www.jcp.com. In 2005, the online sales exceed $1 billion. A year later, the retailer unveiled Sephora, the store-within-a-store concept. The company launched its customer loyalty program, jcp Rewards, and its Customer FIRST initiative in 2008 (JCPenney, 2013). The retail industry in United States clocks more than $3.8 trillion in  retail  sales on an annual basis (Business Wire, 2013). The ongoing recessionary conditions have thwarted the industry from registering rapid sales growth in recent times. The retail industry in the United States is undergoing a change. There has been a transformation in consumer buying habits especially in the wake of the recession of 2008. Numerous retailers have reported lukewarm

Friday, August 23, 2019

Causes & Symptons of Stress Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Causes & Symptons of Stress - Research Paper Example How people react to stress will depend a great deal on their own personal experiences and life conditions. Often, these experiences and conditions are the result of factors beyond their control, such as their age, race or gender. In addition, stress experienced will be different depending upon the factors causing it, whether they are economic/financial, regular life events or periods of great transition. In â€Å"Age and Gender as Determinants of Stress Exposure,† it was discovered that there are some significant differences between the way girls and boys experience stress. Researchers Takeuchi, Williams and Adair investigate â€Å"Economic Stress in the Family and Children’s Emotional and Behavioral Problems† to determine whether children’s behavior is adversely affected by the economic stress levels of the household and whether this effect is increased with persistent as opposed to one-time dependence on social services. Dual-income households have their own set of stressors to face, however, which are explored in Windle and Dumenci’s â€Å"Parental and Occupational Stress as Predictors of Depressive Symptoms among Dual-Income Couples† (1997). ... in helping these older adults deal with stresses caused by life events, but indicated a consistent steady rate of recovery for these individuals in studies such as â€Å"Transitory Impact of Life-Event Stress on Psychological Symptoms in Older Adults† (Norris & Murrell, 1987). Karen Rudolph and Constance Hammen (1999) concluded in their study on how experience and consequences of life stress varied depending upon age and gender differences that there are significant differences between the types of stress experienced between pre-adolescent and adolescent boys and girls. Of the 88 children who participated in their study, it was determined that while adolescent girls experienced the highest levels of interpersonal stress, adolescent boys experienced the highest levels of non-interpersonal stress. Preadolescent girls experienced the highest levels of independent stress and conflict in the family unit. In addition, it was determined that a great deal of this stress was generated by the children themselves. The study was designed to â€Å"examine bidirectional paths between children and stressful events in their environments. In particular, we examined whether a transactional perspective would shed additional light on observed age and gender differences in life stress† (Rudolph & Hammen, 1999, p. 660). The research also had a secondary goal of identifying â€Å"age and gender differences across multiple domains of stress† (Rudolph & Hammen, 1999, p. 660). Relevant areas of life stress research were discussed in the areas of stress exposure versus stress generation, the role of social context and stress reactions vulnerability to depressive outcomes. In discussing stress exposure versus stress generation, the authors stressed the importance of distinguishing between

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Oracle Corporation Essay Example for Free

Oracle Corporation Essay The Central Intelligence Agency had commissioned the project to build a commercial database management system for IBM mainframe computers and code-named it Oracle. Software Development Laboratories took the Oracle name in 1982. After completion of the project, Ellison, Miner, Oates, and Scott had a vision of developing and distributing their database software as a profitable business opportunity. From 1982 to 1986, Oracle had achieved 100% growth. On March 15th, 1986, Oracle went public, one day after Microsoft’s initial public offering. From 1986 to 1989, revenues skyrocketed from $55 million to $584 million, making it one of the largest independent software companies in the world, employing over 4,000 people in 24 countries. The Oracle Corporation’s objective of becoming a profitable database software company had been achieved. Market and industry growth continued until the third quarter of 1990. Oracle suffered a $15 million dollar loss on $240 million in revenues. Between 1988 and 1991, operating margins had plummeted from 23 to 3 percent. During this time, the company’s stock value also fell. Oracle responded by letting go of 400 employees in the United States and reorganizing its senior management team. This business problem was the direct result of something the company simply overlooked. As the company was focusing all of its energies on growth during the late 1980’s, they were losing sight of their internal operations and infrastructure. They also planned their expenses based on the 100% annual growth rate they experienced in the prior years, causing them to lose money. In addition, they delayed the delivery of their latest product, which allowed the competition to draw closer to them. However, the release of their next product would see Oracle quickly rebound and turn things back around. In July of 1991, Oracle was working on a new database software that had the ability to manage text, video, audio, and other data through a set of loosely connected servers. This database software was called Oracle 7, and was one of many IT solutions that would put Oracle ahead of the competition and save the company. 996 saw database sales grow by 20 percent and then to 10 percent in 1997, the year Microsoft released its rival SQL server, which was a cheaper alternative database release with aspirations of stealing Oracle’s market share. During this time, Oracle attempted to expand beyond databases and entered into the two largest application software markets, enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management. Ellison saw this as a lucrative business opportunity, considering the fact that the ERP market was estimated at $20 billion in 1999 and projected to exceed $65 billion by 2003. The CRM market was estimated at $4 billion in 1999 and projected to exceed $16 billion by 2003. Ellison recognized that CEO’s wanted to understand profitability per costumer and to be able to detect dissatisfaction before the customer leaves. He realized that ERP and CRM software would allow CEO’s to do that by turning database information into knowledge about consumers. Ellison’s vision of internet-enabled software began to take shape in 1999 with the release of Oracle8i. It was followed by internet-enabled versions of all the company’s key software products. A key IS solution in the development of Oracle Corporation would be Oracle e-Business Suite, which would include a collection of ERP and CRM applications that automated many necessary business functions. This would be the beginning of the high impact IS solutions to follow. In June of 1999, Ellison declared that Oracle would attempt to save $1billion dollars by the end of 2000 by transforming into an e-business. Ellison then eliminated all non-e-business options from the company. This bold move was an incredible success and a brilliant IS solution to some of the company’s business problems. The changes were easy and smooth to implement. An example given in the case was that of an expense report. In the past, a sales rep would fill out an expense report and manually send it to headquarters. Now the sales rep just completes the forms on the web where the report can be tracked. Not only did this create $6 million dollars in direct savings, the reports were easier and faster to complete. This solution did not only benefit employees, but customers, too. In the past if a customer wanted to demo Oracle’s software, a sales rep had to set an appointment to do the demo in person. Now, the sales rep can gain access to the customer’s browser and, over the phone, can do the demo over the browser at Oracle. com. The shift to self-service was a very necessary and profitable solution for Oracle. They began saving millions of dollars and hours of time. Another business problem Oracle had was a lack of centralization in the business. One clever way they did this was by changing incentives for country managers. Country manager’s incentives were originally based on revenue. This was to be changed to shift their incentives to be based on margin. In the past, 97 e-mail servers existed with almost 120 databases in over 50 countries. This was dramatically reduced when Oracle gave each country CEO a choice. They could receive free e-mail through Redwood Shores or pay to service an e-mail server, which would directly impact their margin, and ultimately, their variable pay. This was a very effective IS solution to the lack of centralization problem the business had. Oracle would continue to centralize the business by pulling human resources, legal, sales administration, and marketing out of each country office and consolidating them at Redwood Shores. Oracle now had a single system that served everything. Oracle saved a lot of wasted money by centralizing its marketing department. The products were the same in every country, so the centralization made sense and was absolutely necessary. By June of 2000, Oracle had gone from 63 to 17 company websites worldwide. By August 2000, the company was down to one website, Oracle. com. This solution saved the company a lot of money that was being wasted operating multiple websites for multiple countries and confusing the brand with different languages, colors, and logos. The transformation to e-business saved Oracle a ton of money, but this wasn’t the only benefit of the move. The switch also generated marketing pull. Oracle’s customer base grew as a result of having better information about their customers’ and sales outlets. The pull strategy came to fruition by two combining factors. The story of the company’s transformation combined with the new gained credibility the company received by performing this transformation so publicly. Now instead of sales reps attempting to sell the CEO of another company their software, CEO’s were going directly to Oracle technology to transform their own businesses. This pull allowed Oracle to open an online store, as opposed to hiring more sales people to handle the increased demand. This latest IS solution, in turn, created more sales. In 1999, Oracle began streamlining its Oracle University, which supported 2500 full-time employees in 143 countries while enrolling about 500,000 students annually. These Oracle courses led to the certification of developers and programmers that the company needed to continue growth. This business solution was yet another great move designed to farm their own employees. iLearning technology was then created as a means of a continuing education extension to Oracle University’s certification process. This software would be hosted online and could be updated daily without patches. Oracle Corporation is a great example of a company who had the ability to predict the future of technology and make innovations to lead the industry. They took risks, and they paid off. Larry Ellison took a big risk when he eliminated all non-e-business elements out of his business and made the transformation to e-business, and his company was rewarded with tremendous cost savings and higher revenues. He also predicted at the end of a June 2000 press conference that the software industry would vanish and be replaced by a service industry. This remains to fully be seen, but it appears there could be truth to this. Cloud computing has been the next innovation in computer technology, as we say many companies now providing services that used to require us to install software on our computers.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Free

Free Trades Impact on the Workforce Essay Liberalization in trading policy enables ease of flow in trading goods between different nations or state by removing heavy impositions in the economic policies on restrictive world trading or commerce. Free trade’s policy to strengthen world market includes tariff reduction, non-restrictive quota, labor and capital movement across and within states, open markets, reduced restrictive international policy, tax reduction, and related issues. Free trade complies with the ideology of comparative advantage by Ricardo, which places all members of the free trade in an equal and open competition in the free market (Stockmann 1989). The economics of free trade is relatively simple: by removing the tariffs and tax revenues, the net economic gain increases by reduction of consumer loss and increased gain of the producers. However, the so-called economics of free trade is prone to criticisms because of the ambiguity of the market. Aspects investigated are its effect on the producer, consumer, government and the workforce. The workforce or the driving force of the economy mirrors the pro’s and con’s of trade liberalization. The main question is that will free trade exact profitable netto as a whole or if it will effect a more positive impact on certain economic structures more specifically the workforce arena. The tangible effect is seen in the statistical economics of the country. Free Trade Agreement of US and Trade Adjustment Assistance to a number of countries resulted to a more structurally sound and profitable market. As of 2005, exportation industry generated $1. 2 trillion and manufacturing jobs at 20%. Job exportation comprises 15 % of the jobs/work. The service sector accounts for one-third of the exportation (2006 Trade Policy Agenda and 2005 Annual Report, 2006). As seen in the aforementioned statistics, the workforce gains in the non-traditional market system by the increase job outputs/opportunities by expanding consumer zones. Take into account that most of the consumers are found outside the state and thus freer trade would imply more jobs. Naturally, increase exportation would increase the Gross domestic Product and the real per capita income of the state. The workforce benefits by less cost of commodities, more products to choose from, higher income and a higher standard of living. Job opportunities created for the workforce over the past score years decreases poverty by bulks. However, this is not to say that free trade is beneficial at all times. Free trade members do always emerge as a winner. It all boils down to the clause of the agreement. High cost production does not always benefit from the free-trade system as compared to the low cost producers. Equal tariff rates are imposed at producers who may have spent different amounts on their cost production. Thus, this spawns economic inefficiency and as a result possible cost-cutting of the high cost producer can result to â€Å"reduced job seats. † Workforce or employs in domestic companies can be affected by the reduced cost (price dumping) of the â€Å"imported goods† especially in the face of stiff competitors. Small time producers, especially those belonging to the poor sector (e. g. farmers) do not benefit and instead their profits are reduced. Also, competitive industries like the First World countries (e. . US) have a distinct advantage because they can market superior products en masse over the less-superior products of the developing countries. The less developed countries have the lesser chance of having their products bought because of ‘colonial mentality’ among consumers. Thus there is still a question if free trade encourages workers or if it displaces them. The global marketing competition forwarded by the free market system on the workforce arena is bilateral; while it may have reaped benefits for the winning party, the loser tends to lose more in the process.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT: The Channel tunnel

PROJECT MANAGEMENT: The Channel tunnel INTRODUCTION TO PROJECT MANAGEMENT Project management is the planning, organizing and managing of tasks and resources to accomplish a defined objective, usually with constraints on time and cost. Most projects, whether they are large and complex or small and simple, can be planned by breaking the project into small, easily manageable tasks, scheduling the tasks, and then tracking the tasks as work progresses. Project management helps you answer questions such as: What is to be done? Who will complete the task? When must it be done? How much will it cost? What happens if work isnt completed on time? Planning the project and creating a schedule This includes defining the tasks and their duration, setting up relationships between tasks, and, if you are tracking resource usage, assigning resources. All later phases of the project are based directly on the information you provide when you first plan your project. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Managing changes This is an ongoing process that begins once you create a schedule and the project starts, and ends when the project is complete. It includes tracking and adjusting your schedule to reflect changes that occur as the project progresses. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Communicating project information This is a very important process that involves communicating project information to clients, project staff, and management. Project management software is productivity software that will assist you in each of these steps. Many professionals find it is among the most productive tools in their skill set. In todays business it is in the best interest of companies to have project managers. Common sense isnt always usually accomplished. For anyone whos ever worked on a project in a technical setting knows this. Indeed, much of working with others consists of solving unexpected problems and learning from mistakes along the way. Knowing this and having the proper tools a project manager will be able to manage and complete the most intense project out there. It seems that people time and again have the wrong impression of what a project manager does. It is not about being able to create a compound plan to hang on the wall. It is not about setting up conference after conference. This is about understanding a big business objective, understanding the technology involved, being able to communicate at an assortment of levels, being able to encourage and direct people, being able to handle the constant worry and troubles, and being structured enough to make certain the whole thing that needs to get completed, gets completed. What this comes down to is a project manager should be able to meet or exceed all of the stakeholders expectations. The project manager also must be able to get others to work with limited authority throughout the duration. Doing most of the work yourself is a poor long-term development strategy and will never solve the problem. In every project there are always some universal characteristics that will be shared. They all have a comprehensible and established purpose and very distinct life durations. Overall, all projects are doing something that may possibly be new or yet a onetime endeavor but have explicit requirements which include; time, price, and performance. Project management deals with tools, people, and systems. (Lewis) The first project of this module is to do a group poster presentation. We have limited time to carry out research and we were worn off by the intensive lectures. This is where I found out how time management and team work play as important elements for success. We distributed the workload among ourselves and set a time frame for completion. Group members were to adhere to the time frame stipulated. This is how we manage to complete a simple presentation, with many hidden hard work behind our success. A project manager should have certain qualities in order to successfully execute a project and then run them successfully for the project to be a hit in the market. A project manager should have certain attribute for successful in a project and they are Monitoring and Controlling: Project manger always monitors the work done by his team members and has control over the entire project. They also have to make sure about the budget estimated at the beginning of the project. Self-esteem: Project manager should always motivate his team members to do their work sincerely and help by supporting each and every one at the work. Leadership skills: Project Manager should have leadership qualities to manage the team. Project closure The final objective is project closure which includes verifying that all of the work has been accomplished, check the Contractual closure of the contract, financial closure of the charge numbers and finally administrative closure of the paperwork. Successful project management can then be defined as having achieved the project objectives. Project management has evolved to plan, co-ordinate and control the complex and diverse activities of modern industrial, commercial and management change and IT projects (Lock 2009). Channel Tunnel: Introduction The Channel tunnel project undertaken to create a connection between England and France via underground tunnel, presents one of the largest privately funded construction projects ever under taken. It required the cooperation of two national governments, bankers underwriting the funding for the projects, numerous contractors and several regular agencies. The construction and engineering of the tunnel required the use of new technology and required significant modifications during the project due to unexpected conditions and changes required by various parties. This case study demonstrates the numerous factors which played during the course of the project that has significant effects on the overall course of the project. At the end Caunnel project was completed, but it was late and over budgeted. The promotion of and investment in the Channel Tunnel was a challenging multinational affair drawing in institutions from several countries. In this paper, I concentrate on the promotion of the abortive tunnel project of 1957-1975 and the ultimately successful venture a decade later, focusing on governments and companies in Britain, France, the United States, and Japan. I identify the management and sharing of risk as the critical elements in the Tunnels political economy. Here, the difficulties produced by the quadripartite quilt of negotiations involving two governments (Britain and France) and two tunnel companies are at center stage, though I also argue that American involvement was important in the first project, and Japanese financial support was critical in the second. The debates concerned the type of crossing, questions of ownership versus licensing and regulation, and the importance of making public investment in related and supporting infrastructure. The Channel Tunnel has significance as a prototype of public-private partnership in Britain, and I draw lessons from the experience, referring in particular to the challenges presented by the infrastructure project circle.The paper draws on material assembled for Terry Gourvish, The Official History of the Channel Tunnel (London, 2006). It all started in 1802 when French forward a proposal to tunnel under the English Channel, which would be illuminated using oil lamps, horse-drawn coaches for transportation and also an artificial mid-channel foe changing horses. But, the project was delayed for a very long period In 1955 both British and French governments supported surveys and in 1974, a government-funded the twin tunnel project with car shuttle wagons. Later in 1975 British government had no interest in funding the project so they had no objection for a privately funded project. And hence the project was given into the hands of the private companies. On 2 july 1985, both French and British formed a group Channel Tunnel Group/France. The design and construction was done by this company as the project was undertaken by private companies. The Chunnel Tunnel is a build -own- operate- transfer project with a concession. And the British and French governments will hold the control on final engineering and safety decisions, now those were in the hands of Channel Tunnel Safety Authority. Eleven tunnel boring machines, which were working from both the sides of the tunnel cut through two rail tunnels and the service tunnel, this started in 1988, and 1994 operating of the tunnel began. And it was estimated that the cost of the construction was  £4.650 billon.15000 people were employed with daily expenditure over  £3 million. And ten workers were killed during the construction process. The Eurotunnel completed tunnel boring on time, hence the tunnel was finally opened officially by British Queen Elizabeth II and French President Francois Mitterand in a ceremony held in Calais on 6th may 1994. The Chunnel Tunnel also known as (French: Chunnel tunnel source ls manche) is a 50.5-Kilometer undersea rail tunnel linking Folk stone, Kent near Dover in the United Kingdom with coquilles, Pas-de-Calais near Calais in northern France. At its lowest point, it is 75 meters (250 ft) deep 1802 Channel tunnel proposal was brought across by Albert Mathieu 1875 The beginning of Channel Tunnel Company Ltd 1882 Abbots Cliff had reached 897 yards (820 m) and Shakespeare Cliff was 2,040 yards (1,870 m) in length. January 1975 British-French government stopped there backed scheme support in 1974 February 1986 They proceeded the project with the permission of Treaty of Canterbury June 1988 In France the First tunneling was started December 1988 Tunneling operation was started in UK December 1990 Broke down of the service tunnel under the Channel May 1994 The formal inauguration by The Queen and President(French) Mid 1994 Passenger and Cargos started using the trains November 1996 Due to fire there was huge damage in the tunnel November 2007 After the renovation the tunnel was re opened for the public. Fig. SOME IMPORTANT DATES. Challenges: Communication Gap Communication plays a very vital role in a project, not only for the project managers but also for the rest of the team members. This is one of the factors driving a project to success or failure. England and France are the two groups of people who were working together and there were communication gap between two teams, which leads to major delay of the project. Planning There was no proper planning for this project as this was the first project towards Chunnel, none of them were aware how to go about it and what are the different kinds of challenges they will come across during this project and they were unable to project on anything. In every stage they use to come up with different problems and that use to take time this use to reflect time factors and because of this budget use to go high. Strengths Technically strongly built, hence a successful Quality Management implemented. Back office support was excellent. Good team work between two groups. A winning proposal under build owner transfer granted to CTG and overall quality of work impressive, work place accident rates were below the industrial average and implementation of effective change management. Weakness Time delay and over budget, project was not well planned, poor change management, risk management was not in place, change in design resulted in project delay, litigation and claims was high in the project, lack of team work and communication, financial model optimistic resulted in cost increase, scope was not well defined and rolling stock and specifications were not the same between British and French. Lessons to be learnt: Due to proper planning there was delay at work provide adequate defined scope and a well planned changed management system, the sound risk management technique and adequate planning and research techniques to be put in place. Good coordination between two governments and try minimizing the litigation and claims by brining proper planning in place. We had a great time doing this project. The time and money spent on Channel tunnel inspired all team members to take a trip through the Euro-France Eurotunnel. While preparing a poster me and other team memebers got an oppurtunity to watch a documentary video on Euro tunnel filmed by Discovery channel. Project management theories of team leadership was a big lesson I got to learn while doing this poster. One of the team members took control when the team dynamism was coming to a stand still. Watching him giving direction to team and motivating various team members to perform was when I understood leadership roles. I played a role of organiser in the team. I took responsibility to keep track of every ones effort in the team. I also passed on their work done to every other team member, and acknowledged that member. Presentation skills was of most importance in poster making as we were not allowed to explain the posters, whereas the posters had to speak for themselves. All the team had to put their thinking caps on and rack brains to come with a good presentation idea. At first we planned to put everything we had into the poster but later realised that would over crowd the poster. Hence then we sorted the data we had and then easened our poster with a partitioned look and a title in the middle. Project Life Cycle As can been seen in the methodology lifecycle graph shown in the poster and also attached in the appendix, our poster making task was a smooth run. Our module leader Michael Snelgrove assigned our team Jaguar with Chunnel Tunnel case study. To make a poster on Chunnel Tunnel project case study wasnt a easy task. I joined the team later hence in the second week the team introduced me to the case study and we all decided to meet again with highlighted essentials. The week after we all discussed and distributed essential task amongst ourselves every Niaz introduced us to the title Everything Comes Down To Money as in the Chunnel Tunnel project the blotted budget was the big issue. Everyone agreed with the title and started with further data collection, Niloy one of the team members gave me the sources for study materials and there on we finalized the total data and content to be presented in the poster. We discussed reaming time cost of printing, specification of poster and risk of show ing some required data on the poster. Every one confirmed their acceptance towards work submitted by each team member. The printing cost of the poster were one of the issues in one of the data meetings but the module leader Michael Snelgrove solved the problem by taking responsibility for poster printing costs, as we were nearing the data submission we discussed our work with the module leader and requested for suggestions to improve the poster then more amendment tasks were distributed among ourselves we then finally sat together and finalized the poster. Analysis and Communications were the major skills we used for the successful completion of the given task. We received positive comments on the judgment day of poster except for our criticism on showing the Hitlers photograph in the poster. Conclusion After doing the poster makings the group has a whole understood that no previous experience and hidden technical costs resulted in late compellation of the project with the bloated budget.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Comparing Love in the Film, Secrets and Lies and Toni Morrisons Belove

Possessive Love in Secrets and Lies and Beloved  Ã‚        The word â€Å"freedom† is subject to various degrees of interpretation in the sense that it can be used in more than one context.   One definition of freedom is the idea of having your own sense of self without the control of others.   On the other hand, a lack of freedom is the idea of feeling trapped and smothered in a situation one has no control over.   Freedom can relate to school, relationships, or even within oneself.   A lack of freedom can have nothing to do with other people but with the ball and chain that can be placed on by oneself.   Of course the outside world will be involved, but the pain of feeling trapped comes from the frustration that fills one’s soul.   A lack of freedom can result from a twisted circle of other events and other people.   In the novel Beloved and the film Secrets and Lies, the enslavement that Roxanne and Denver feel result from their mothers’ possessive love.   Sethe and Cynthia both have horrific pasts , leaving them in captivity and causing them to have unhealthy relationships with their daughters.   Sethe and Cynthia love the only way the know how, possessively and dependently, causing Denver and Roxanne’s mental enslavement.   In the film Secrets and Lies, both Cynthia and her twenty-one year-old daughter Roxanne, live a life of captivity.   Cynthia’s is due to her unexplained past, while Roxanne’s is in result of her overbearing mother.   Cynthia’s lack of freedom does not result from another’s actions, but from her own past.   The trauma and lack of love she has experienced, has been blocked out and instead of dealing with it, she lives off of the attention of others.   When she meets her daughter Hortense, whom she had given up for adopt... ...or a life as it is now under Beloved’s control, she chooses a life for herself.   By having support for the first time, freeing both of her daughters, and restoring her sense of self, Sethe is on her way to a life of happiness and trust, rather than dependence on others.   Although their backgrounds are completely different, both Cynthia and Sethe battle the same demons.   Their pasts have consumed them and dependence on others, or complete isolation is the only way they know how to deal with it.   This causes the mental enslavement of Roxanne and Denver.  Ã‚   In order to overcome their emotional scars, they must learn to stand on their own two feet.   Only when they do this will they be able to release their daughters, and restore their own self worth and freedom for all.       Works Cited Morrison, Toni.   Beloved.   New York: Penguin Books, 1998.      

Monday, August 19, 2019

Internal Combustion Engines Essay -- Engine Cars Mechanics Essays

Internal Combustion Engines An internal-combustion engine is a heat engine that burns fuel and air inside a combustion chamber located within the engine proper. Simply stated, a heat engine is an engine that converts heat energy to mechanical energy. The internal- combustion engine should be distinguished from the external- combustion engine, for example, the steam engine and the Stirling engine, which burns fuel outside the prime mover, that is, the device that actually produces mechanical motion. Both basic types produce hot, expanding gases, which may then be employed to move pistons, turn turbine rotors, or cause locomotion through the reaction principle as they escape through the nozzle. Most people are familiar with the internal-combustion reciprocating engine, which is used to power most automobiles, boats, lawn mowers, and home generators. Based on the means of ignition, two types of internal-combustion reciprocating engines can be distinguished: spark-ignition engines and compression-ignition engines. In the former, a spark ignites a combustible mixture of air and fuel; in the latter, high compression raises the temperature of the air in the chamber and ignites the injected fuel without a spark. The diesel engine is a compression-ignition engine. This article emphasizes the spark-ignition engine. The invention and early development of internal-combustion engines are usually credited to three Germans. Nikolaus Otto patented and built (1876) the first such engine; Karl Benz built the first automobile to be powered by such an engine (1885); and Gottlieb Daimler designed the first high-speed internal- combustion engine (1885) and carburetor. Rudolf Diesel invented a successful compression-ignition engine (the diesel engine) in 1892. The operation of the internal-combustion reciprocating engine employs either a four-stroke cycle or a two-stroke cycle. A stroke is one continuous movement of the piston within the cylinder. In the four-stroke cycle, also known as the Otto cycle, the downward movement of a piston located within a cylinder creates a partial vacuum. Valves located inside the combustion chamber are controlled by the motion of a camshaft connected to the crankshaft. The four strokes are called, in order of sequence, intake, compression, power, and exhaust. On the first stroke the intake valve is opened w... ... energy within the muffler before the exhaust gases are permitted to escape. The power capacity of an engine depends on a number of characteristics, including the volume of the combustion chamber. The volume can be increased by increasing the size of the piston and cylinder and by increasing the number of cylinders. The cylinder configuration, or arrangement of cylinders, can be straight, or in-line (one cylinder located behind the other); radial (cylinders located around a circle); in a V (cylinders located in a V configuration); or opposed (cylinders located opposite each other). Another type of internal- combustion engine, the Wankel engine, has no cylinders; instead, it has a rotor that moves through a combustion chamber. An internal-combustion engine must also have some kind of transmission system to control and direct the mechanical energy where it is needed; for example, in an automobile the energy must be directed to the driving wheels. Since these engines are not able to start under a load, a transmission system must be used to "disengage" the engine from the load during starting and then to apply the load when the engine reaches its operating speed.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Biosafety Protocol: Is There A Need For One? :: essays research papers fc

Biosafety Protocol: Is There A Need For One? Outline Thesis statement: An international biosafety protocol should be created to establish and maintain control over the products designed with biotechnology. I. The existing laws and regulations that govern the release of transgenic organisms are inadequate or nonexistent. A. The developed nations of the world are using regulations that were designed to control and monitor crops created with traditional technologies. B. Biotechnology is regulated by three different agencies. C. The undeveloped nations have virtually no regulations governing transgenic organisms. 1. This indicates that biotechnological research can and is being conducted in these countries without regulation. 2. There are many biotech companies based in developed countries that have branches or joint ventures around the world. II. The potential risks of transgenic organisms to the environment is still being determined. A. Some experts warn that there is a danger that biotechnology can create mutant hybrids. B. Biotechnology has the potential to harm the economies of some developing nations. C. The last and possible the most important argument for an international biosafety protocol is in the name of ignorance and caution III. The United States, Germany, Japan, and Australia are the only countries opposed to the biosafety protocol. IV. The need for a change in the world of agriculture is undeniable. As the world moves closer to the 21st century, research and development in the area of biotechnology has increased dramatically. According to Bette Hileman of Chemical and Engineering News, the world population will increase by 3 billion people in the next thirty years while the amount of land available for agriculture cannot be greatly expanded. "Biotechnology - specifically that aspect involved in transferring genes from one species into the [DNA] of another - has the potential to alleviate . . ." (8) this and many other problems facing the world in the near future. Even though biotechnology has already shown dramatic results in the creation of beneficial transgenic (genetically engineered) species, many countries and researchers are ". . . quite leery about the uses of biotechnology" (8). Therefore, an international biosafety protocol should be created to establish and maintain control over the products designed with biotechnology. The existing laws and regulations that govern the release of transgenic organisms are inadequate or nonexistent. In general, the developed nations of the world are using regulations that were designed to control and monitor crops created with traditional technologies like hybridization and cross-breeding (Hileman 8). Pamela Weintraub, of the National Audubon Society, states that many expected problems with biotechnology can be kept under control with proper regulations, but the regulations (where there are any) governing biotechnology today are "tangled and obscure" (164). In the United States for example, biotechnology is regulated by three

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Solving America’s Immigration Problem Through Integration

The need for low skilled and cheap labor exists in America and so do the millions of legal and illegal workers needed to fill this demand. The problem then is not one of numbers, skill, legality, national origin or labor needs but rather one of integration. The current problem with America’s immigration-policy is that it is outdated and nonfunctional in the face of such a distinct influx of immigrants from one bordering state to the other. If there is to be any solution to America’s immigration problem it is necessary to address the fears associated with immigration and the threat they pose to integration. It is imperative to recognize that economical, social and cultural integration of this section of our population are crucial to the future well being of the American society. Economic integration is an issue that largely pertains to low skilled illegal immigrants. Currently over 11 million illegal immigrants reside in the United States of America, and â€Å"labor-force participation for illegal immigrant men is the highest of any group at 94 percent. † (Jacoby p. 53) This easily underlines the importance of these illegal immigrants in small and big businesses, and thus their crucial role in the American economy. Yet instead of focusing on integrating foreign legal and illegal workers who, as quoted above, are working in various fields such as hospitality services or agricultural sectors, the immigration policy has made it its priority to find ways to punish businesses and immigrants by organizing military like raids. These raids not only destabilize and lead businesses to considerable losses, but they also further aid the branding of illegal immigrants as second-class citizens by leaving them at the mercy of employers who threaten to ruin the dreams of the workers, by cutting the latter’s wages. The fear of many citizens that immigrants are â€Å"taking jobs that Americans could take† (Judis p. 2) has put a dent in economic integration, only this belief doesn’t appear to be true according to Borjas who writes â€Å"Economists have found it surprisingly difficult to document that immigration does, in fact, lower the wage of competing workers† (p1). The need for labor is a phenomenon that will regulate itself and a reform of the American immigration policy should mainly focus on integrating the 11 million immigrants that are currently here into the economy so that the US reaps the maximum benefits. By legalizing the workers already in place, the US can significantly increase the tax money it receives from such workers. Solving this issue goes hand to hand with providing immigrants with a better economic status in the community. They will not be seen as criminals who leech on the American economy but rather as workers who are the foundations of significant economic sectors. When this happens two studied theories are likely to occur in succession. A better economic status of immigrant parents has â€Å"by far the largest impact on high school completion† of their kids (Lutz p. 334), and when a section of an immigrant population has a higher level of education another phenomenon, assimilation, is accelerated. â€Å" However long a tree trunk might stay in the water it will never become a crocodile. † writes Pie Tshibanda, a famous French artist who immigrated from Congo. Both native-born Americans and immigrants currently echo the words of Tshibanda. Many in the American society fear and strongly believe that their culture is in danger of extinction because of an immigrant population that is largely Mexican and refuses to assimilate. Some â€Å"patriotic† citizens under the Minuteman Project (Judis p. 1) have even grabbed weapons and started patrolling the Southern border. Yet this is fear is not something that is solely relative to the current immigrant influx. The current fear of â€Å"Mexicanization† was preceded by other large population migration such as the one that brought Irish Catholics to America. Many Protestants then feared that their values and morals would be challenged, yet in less than two centuries both and even more religions coexist in a nation that is known for its acceptance. This fear of culture and heritage loss goes both ways. Immigrants also fear that their sons and daughters risk losing their culture and because of this some remain skeptical to assimilation. The importance of social and cultural integration as a challenge to immigration-policy reform surpasses that of economic integration. A skewed view that is held by many, that immigrants are here just to work, should be re-examined. It is true that a majority of immigrants arrive to the US for economical reasons. What follows though is an appreciation of the other opportunities America holds for its citizens. Immigrants are exposed to better educational and political systems and much more. The fear of losing the economic benefits coupled with a parent’s fixation to provide only the best for its offspring leads many to remain in the US. These are the same beliefs that constitute American values. In working toward integration it is logical that social services such as hospitals and schools should remain available to all immigrants and it should be known that denying anyone â€Å"public benefits† even â€Å"to people who can’t prove their citizenship† (Judis p. 1) is unconstitutional. Integration is a matter of reciprocity. Language is currently the main issue of integration. It is beneficial for both parties that English become the official language of the United States, and if it is to be the case, the government should provide learning centers where it deems them necessary. This does not mean that multilingualism among immigrants and natives should not be encouraged, as studies have shown that the academic success rate is positively linked positively to a student’s proficiency in a second language (Lutz). Which would in turn accelerate cultural assimilation. The situation of the 11 million illegal immigrants is also an issue that needs to be addressed. If there is to be any kind of integration it is necessary to aboard the question of legality. Many of these are parents of citizens and integrating their descendants into the American society requires that the first generation be integrated as well. This might mean creating a legal route that would allow them to become citizens over a period of time and â€Å"they will have to wait in line behind those who played by the rules and followed the law† (Bush address) or simply providing them with permanent/temporary residency; those who have remained in the country for fear of not being able to come back will eventually travel across borders, minimizing the unnecessary amount of ex-illegal immigrants that remain in the country, since as Jacoby put it â€Å"better to be unemployed at home [elsewhere] than in New York or Chicago. (p. 53). It would be interesting to see the correlation between legalizing illegal immigrants and their desire to assimilate but it would not be irresponsible to assume that such a decision would raise a feeling of belonging among the latter. The biggest challenge for American immigration-policy is indeed integration. This does not mean that other factors such as legality or labor needs etc. do not pos e a challenge, in fact integration is comprised of these factors. Effective integration will be a result of proper reform in legality and border control among others. Some practical recommendations for a successful integration would include the legalization of current illegal immigrants residing in the country. This would not only help these immigrants abandon their status as second-class citizens but it would also encourage many to embrace the mosaic of cultures that is the US. Another problem with the current policy of integration is that it s â€Å"skeletal, ad hoc, and under-funded† (Abraham and Hamilton p. ). The government should take integration seriously. English learning centers, job search centers, hiring stations, multicultural schools and other socioeconomic oriented programs will not come at a small cost. America is a nation built around cultures. Immigration should not bring forth questions as to the dangers posed by immigrants but rather the integration and the contributions such a group would bring to the land of opportunitie s.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Group Dynamics Essay

What is â€Å"group dynamics†? Perhaps it will be most useful to start by looking at the derivation of the word â€Å"dynamics†. It comes from a Greek word meaning force. In careful usage the phrase, â€Å"group dynamics† refers to the forces operating in groups. The investigation of group dynamics, then, consists of a study of these forces: what gives rise to them, what conditions modify them, what consequences they have, etc. The practical application of group dynamics (or the technology of group dynamics) consists of the utilization of knowledge about these forces for the achievement of some purpose. In keeping with this definition, is not particularly novel, nor is it the exclusive property of any person or institution. It goes back at least to the outstanding work of men like Simmel, Freud, and Cooley. Although interest in groups has a long and respectable history, the past fifteen years have witnessed a new flowering of activity in this field. Today, research centers in several countries are carrying out substantial programmes of research designed to reveal the nature of groups and of their functioning. The phrase â€Å"group dynamics† had come into common usage during this time and intense efforts have been devoted to the development of the field, both as a branch of social science and as a form of social technology. In this development the name of Kurt Lewin had been outstanding. As a consequence of his work in the field of individual psychology and from his analysis of the nature of pressing problems of the contemporary world, Lewin became convinced of society’s urgent need for a scientific approach to the understanding of the dynamics of groups. In 1945 he established the Research Center for Group Dynamics to meet this need. Since that date the Centre has been devoting its efforts to improving our scientific understanding of groups through laboratory experimentation, field studies, and the use of techniques of action research. It has also attempted in various ways to help get the findings of social science more widely used by social management. Much of what I have to say in this paper is drawn from the experiences of this Center in its brief existence of a little more than five years. We hear all around us today the assertion that the problems of the twentieth century are problems of human relations. The survival of civilization, it is said, will depend upon man’s ability to create social interventions capable of harnessing, for society’s constructive use, the vast physical energies now at man’s disposal. Or, to put the matter more simply, we must learn how to change the way in which people behave toward one another. In broad outline, the specifications for a good society are clear, but a serious technical problem remains: How can we change people so that they neither restrict the freedom nor limit the potentialities for growth of others; so that they accept and respect people of different religion, nationality, colour, or political opinion; so that nations can exist in a world without war, and s that the fruits of our technological advances can bring economic well-being and freedom from disease to all people of the world? Although few people would disagree with these objectives when stated abstractly, when we become more specific, differences of opinion quickly arise. These questions permit no ready answers. How is change to be produced? Who is to do it? Who is to be changed? Before we consider in detail these questions of social technology, let us clear away some semantic obstacles. The word â€Å"change† produces emotional reactions. It is not a neutral word. To many people it is threatening. It conjures up visions of a revolutionary, a dissatisfied idealist, a trouble-maker, a malcontent. Nicer words referring to the process of changing people are education, training, orientation, guidance, indoctrination, therapy. We are more ready to have others â€Å"educate† us than have them â€Å"change† us. We, ourselves feel less guilty in â€Å"training† others than in â€Å"changing† them. Why this emotional response? What makes the two kinds of words have such different meanings? I believe that a large part of the difference lies in the fact that the safer words (like education and therapy) carry implicit assurance that the only changes produced will be good ones, acceptable within a currently held value system. The cold, unmodified word â€Å"change†, on the contrary, promises no respect for values; it might even tamper with values themselves. perhaps for this very reason it will foster straight thinking if we use the word â€Å"change† and thus force ourselves to struggle directly and self-consciously with the problems of value that are involved. Words like education, training, or therapy, by the very fact that they are not so disturbing, may close our eyes to the fact that they too inevitably involve values. How can we change people so that they neither restrict the freedom nor limit the potentialities for growth of others; so that they accept and respect people of different religion, nationality, colour, or political opinion; so that nations can exist in a world without war, and so that the fruits of our technological advances can bring economic wellbeing and freedom from disease to all people of the world? The proposal that social technology may be employed to solve the problems of society suggests that social science may be applied in ways not different from those used in the physical sciences. Does social science, in fact, have any practically useful knowledge which may be brought to bear significantly on society’s most urgent problems? What scientifically based principles are there for guiding programmes of social change: In this paper we shall restrict our considerations to certain parts of a relatively new branch of social science known as â€Å"group dynamics†. We shall examine some of the implications for social action which stem from research in this field of scientific investigation. Consider first some matters having to do with the mental health of an individual. We can all agree, I believe, that an important mark of a healthy personality is that the individual’s self-esteem has not been undermined. But on what does self-esteem depend? From research on this problem we have discovered that, among other things, repeated experiences of failure or traumatic failures on matters of central importance serve to undermine one’s self-esteem. We also know that whether a person experiences success or failure as a result of some undertaking depends upon the level of aspiration which he has set for himself. Now, if we try to discover how the level of aspiration gets set, we are immediately involved in the person’s relationships to groups. The groups to which he belongs set standards for his behaviour which he must accept if he is to remain in the group. If his capacities do not allow him to reach these standards, he experiences failure, he withdraws or is rejected by the group and his self-esteem suffers a shock. Consider a second example. A teacher finds that in her class she has a number of trouble-makers, full of aggression. She wants to know why these children are so aggressive and what can be done about it. A foreman in a factory has the same kind of problem with some of his workers. He wants the same kind of help. The solution most tempting to both the teacher and the foreman often is to transfer the worst trouble-makers to someone else, or if facilities are available, to refer them for counselling. But is the problem really of such a nature that it can be solved by removing the trouble-maker from the situation or by working on his individual motivations and emotional life? What leads does research give us? The evidence indicates, of course, that there are many causes of aggressiveness in people, but one aspect of the problem has become increasingly clear in recent years. If we observe carefully the amount of aggressive behaviour and the number of trouble-makers to be found in a large collection of groups, we find that these characteristics can vary tremendously from group to group even when the different groups are composed essentially of the same kinds of people. In the now classic experiments of Lewin, Lippitt and White (1939) on the effects of different styles of leadership, it was found that the same group of children displayed markedly different levels of aggressive behaviour when under different styles of leadership. Moreover, when individual children were transferred from one group to another, their levels of aggressiveness shifted to conform to the atmosphere of the new group. Efforts to account for one child’s aggressiveness under one style of leadership merely in terms of his personality traits could hardly succeed under these conditions. This is not to say that a person’s behaviour is entirely to be accounted for by the atmosphere and structure of the immediate group, but it is remarkable to what an extent a strong, cohesive group can control aspects of a member’s behaviour traditionally thought to be expressive of enduring personality traits. Recognition of this fact rephrases the problem of how to change such behaviour. It directs us to a study of the sources of the influence of the group on its members. Within very recent years some research data have been accumulating which may give us a clue to the solution of our problem. In one series of experiments directed by Lewin, it was found that a method of group decision, in which the group as a whole made a decision to have its members change their behaviour, was from two to ten times more effective in producing actual change as was a lecture presenting exhortation to change (Lewin, 1951). We have yet to learn precisely what produces these differences of effectiveness, but it is clear that by introducing group forces into the situation a whole new level of influence has been achieved. The experience has been essentially the same when people have attempted to increase the productivity of individuals in work settings. Traditional conceptions of how to increase the output of workers have stressed the individual: * Select the right man for the job * Simplify the job for him * Train him in the skills required * Motivate him by economic incentives * Make it clear to whom he reports * Keep the lines of authority and responsibility simple and straight. But even when all of these conditions are fully met we find that productivity is far below full potential. There is even good reason to conclude that this individualistic conception of the determinants of productivity actually fosters negative consequences. The individual, now isolated and subjected to the demands of the organization through the commands of his boss, finds that he must create with his fellow employees informal groups, not shown on any table of organization, in order to protect himself from arbitrary control of his life, from the boredom produced by the endless repetition of mechanically sanitary and routine operations, and from the impoverishment of his emotional and social life brought about by the frustration of his basic needs for social interaction, participation, and acceptance in a stable group. Recent experiments have demonstrated clearly that the productivity of work groups can be greatly increased by methods of work organization and supervision which give more responsibility to work groups, which allow for fuller participation in important decisions, and which make stable groups the firm basis for support of the individual’s social needs (Coch & French, 1948). It is points out future research will also demonstrate that people working under such conditions become more mature and creative individuals in their homes, in community life, and as citizens. A few years ago the Research Center for Group Dynamics undertook to shed light on this problem by investigating the operation of a workshop for training leaders in intercultural relations (Lippitt, 1949). In a project, directed by Lippitt, they set out to compare systemically the different effects of the workshop upon trainees who came as isolated individuals in contrast to those who came as teams. Six months after the workshop, however, those who had been trained as isolates were only slightly more active than before the workshop whereas those who had been members of strong training teams were now much more active. They do not have clear evidence on the point, but they are quite certain that the maintenance of heightened activity over a long period of time would also be much better for members of teams. For the isolates the effect of the workshop had the characteristic of a â€Å"shot in the arm† while for the team member it produced a more enduring change because the team provided continuous support and reinforcement for its members. What conclusions may we draw from these examples? What principles of achieving change in people can we see emerging? To begin with the most general position, we may state that the behaviour, attitudes, beliefs, and values of the individual are all firmly grounded in the groups to which he belongs. How aggressive or cooperative a person is, how much self-respect and self-confidence he has, how energetic and productive his work is, what he aspires to, what he believes to be true and good, whom he loves or hates, and what beliefs and prejudices he holds—all these characteristics are highly determined by the individual’s group memberships. In a real sense, they are properties of groups and of the relationships between people. Whether they change or resist change will, therefore, be greatly influenced by the nature of these groups. Attempts to change them must be concerned with the dynamics of groups. In examining more specifically how groups enter into the process of change, we find it useful to view groups in at least three different ways. In the first view, the group is seen as a source of influence over its members. Efforts to change behaviour can be supported or blocked by pressures on members stemming from the group. To make constructive use of these pressures the group must be used as a medium of change. In the second view, the group itself becomes the target of change. To change the behaviour of individuals it may be necessary to change the standards of the group, its style of leadership, its emotional atmosphere, or its stratification into cliques and hierarchies. Even though the goal may be to change the behaviour of individuals, the target of change becomes the group. In the third view, it is recognized that many changes of behaviour can be brought about only by the organization efforts of groups as agents of change. A committee to combat intolerance, a labour union, and employers association, a citizens group to increase the pay of teachers—any action group will be more or less effective depending upon the way it is organized, the satisfactions it provides to its members, the degree to which its goals are clear, and a host of other properties of the group.