Impact of introduction of business intelligence tools in organization Research Paper

Impact of introduction of business intelligence tools in organization - Research Paper Example This paper illustrates that ever changing newer technologies have transformed businesses all over the world and these technologies are actually determining the future viability of a said business in today’s competitive environment. An organization today is more or less global in some way or the other, therefore, the competition is not constrained to geographical boundaries. The effect of this threat is evident and companies are being more proactive in investing in software suites that would provide them with the competitive edge over their rivals. Economies in many ways are becoming more and more technology dependent these days and this means that the organizations performing business in these economies too should equip themselves with technology and use it to outperform their competitors. Many theorists have argued over the recent times that organizations should employ technology to make them more agile and flexible. To serve this purpose, many renowned business managers came up with the idea of using statistical measures to best translate the data they have. Data is only an asset if it can be transformed into some useful information by the means of which decision making could be made easier and business managers can forecast their production plans and marketing strategies. Companies therefore are moving away from conventional approaches to a paradigm where information management is a very important determinant. The researcher therefore aims to examine the information landscape of an organization before the implementation of a business intelligence tool and the after effects of the implementation. He will also look into the different technologies available and how each technology varies with the organization type and organization size. Moreover, he will also take into consideration the success stories of many different organizations that are reaping huge rewards with a successful Business Intelligence tool implementation! The researcher will look to fin d and interview concerned business managers such as Sales managers, Brands managers, Credit managers, Compliance managers and Technical managers. This array of managers don’t only show the diversity of application of Business Intelligence technology but also show the various set of departments can benefit from one Business Intelligence implementation in an organizations. 2. Objectives The objectives of this research are very well defined and cater to a very specific niche of applications. They are as follows: To examine what effect on organization’s performance can a specific Business Intelligence application bring To examine how organization can define certain Key Performance Indicators and use them to gain business edge How reporting and dashboards can simplify a manager’s job To assess the value of historic data and how can it be used to work like a decision support system To study if Business Intelligence applications are compatible with other information pr oviding software available in the organization? To differentiate between different Business Intelligence Technologies available and recommend the ideal match for a specific organization To calculate a typical ROI on Business Intelligence Suite Implementation To study how to streamline the general architecture of a BI implementation with the organization’s IT architecture 3. Background Organizations over the years have tried their best to forecast or predict things. In the recent past these studies were based on study of current happenings and events. Since the introduction of computers at the workplace, these studies became much more

Indian Philosophy. What Is Indian Philosophy Essay

Indian Philosophy. What Is Indian Philosophy - Essay Example The main consideration is that, the practical drive of Indian Philosophy is motivated by the view that human life is full of suffering. Human beings suffer in their journey to realize actual truth about their life. Despite of many sufferings, Indian philosophy brings into light the importance of worship and meditation to achieve peace and liberty provided by the Supreme Being. Indian philosophy is strongly spiritual and emphasizes the need of realizing the truth about life. The philosophy aims at achieving the knowledge of truth. It helps human beings to attain instinctive vision of reality and perception of truth, which leads to actual realization. According to Datta (571), Indian philosophy is intimately linked with religious facts. For instance, Indians believe on the fact that existence does not come from non-existence. In other words, there is nothing in this world comes out of nothing. There is a supreme being who is sole cause and source of the universes. This contradicts with Descartes who in his philosophy believed that all philosophy do not start with God’s scripture. Descartes believed that all philosophy should start with the argument â€Å"I think I am†. Descartes assumed that existence occur in the essence of being perfect being without believing in the essence of finite thing. This follows that; the existence of human beings should not be compared with God’s existence. Secondly, most of Indian philosophies are derived from Vedas principles. Basically, these principles explore that just as a seed flourishes one time, human beings have all knowledge to become the best. The Vedas principles guide human beings to live in peace with one another and life in reference with the fear of Supreme Being. The principles guide human beings to live a life that is fulfilling in the spiritual realm. Indian philosophy accepts the principles and authority of Veda. Therefore, human beings are unable to seek realization and truth openly and freel y. This contradicts with the Western philosophers who believe in having complete freedom to do and act the way one wishes. Indian philosophy rejects the notion of doing things as per one’s desires and wishes but as per principles that guide human beings to live in harmony with one another. The nature of man depends on the nature of reality and his destiny. The Indian’s philosophy affirms that man is not an animal or plant, but a spiritual and thinking being set to accomplish his dreams and goals for higher purposes. Human beings should strive to live an integrated life that honours the maker. The accepted position in Indian Philosophy provides steps of obtaining truth to life. First, human beings are encouraged to read and hear the truth from a book or a teacher. Secondly, it is crucial to apply what one has heard or read in search for truth. Thirdly, human beings should meditate on the teachings and truth taught in books or by teachers. Indian philosophy values the co ncept of meditation as one that seize and motivates human beings to have a peace of mind and live in peace with another. According to Datta (571), Indian philosophy depends on direct and mystical experience. Indian philosophy is concerned with norms and values that relate to religion. However, western philosophy relates to the notion of science and nature, and in most cases it is concerned with facts. The doctrine or principle of inwardness is a major concern for Indian philosophy. Specifically, Indian philosophy is mainly concerned with the aspect of changing man’s mind rather than changing the world in which human being live. The whole aspect points out on the importance of changing the mindset to succeed and achieve the best in life. Based on this analysis, one would argue that Indian philosophy

The effects of inequality on young people

The effects of inequality on young people In what ways is inequality detrimental to the life chances of children and young people? How can practitioners address inequalities in their work with children and young people? Being discriminated against and suffering inequality (lack of equal treatment) can be detrimental to children and young people’s life chances, such as their education, qualification attainment and future employment. People can be discriminated against because of their age, religion, ethnicity, background, lifestyle and sexuality which can have a huge impact on their life depending on how these issues are addressed and how they are supported by their family, friends and practitioners. In this essay I am going to discuss how inequality can be detrimental to the life chances of children and young people, and how practitioners can help address these inequalities in their work. I will explore diversity, discrimination and the barriers which stop society being more inclusive. I will also explore the important role of practitioners and the support they are able to offer to those subject to discrimination. As a practitioner working in Scotland you must abide by the Scottish Social Services Council’s (SSSCs) Codes of Practice. â€Å"TheCodes of Practice for Social Service Workers describe the standards of professional conduct and practice required of social service workers as they go about their daily work.† (The Open University, 2013a). There are also four key capabilities in child care and protection that practitioners must follow: values and ethical practice, knowledge and understanding, effective communication and professional competence and confidence. By following these four key capabilities and abiding to the SSSC’s Codes of Practice, this allows practitioners to make the right decisions and work and communicate appropriately with children and young people. By doing this they are addressing inequalities by using their professional values, and not allowing their personal views and beliefs to overshadow what is right. Diversity is a distinctive feature of contemporary life in Scotland. â€Å"The term ‘diversity’ explains the ways in which people as individuals and as members of groups differ from each other; and that there is a variety of differences. It is evident that today a range of differences exist in the UK† (The Open University, 2013b). These differences range from people’s social class, family dynamics and values and beliefs. These differences can cause discrimination however diversity should be celebrated rather than being seen as negative. Children, young people and families whose lives are affected by discrimination and inequality need to be supported. Practitioners must have a social ecological perspective which is â€Å"a way of working with individual children, young people and families that keeps them at the centre but applies knowledge and understanding of the bigger picture when trying to understand their lives.† (The Open University, 2013c). Hav ing this perspective helps practitioners address inequalities in their work with children and young people and offer the appropriate supports. There are barriers stopping society from being more inclusive, such as the attitudes of people towards others who are seen as ‘not normal’, however â€Å"Social attitudes and legislation have successfully tackled discrimination and have, arguably, created a more inclusive society in the UK.† (The Open University, 2013d). Although there are barriers which stop society being more inclusive it has been argued that over the past 50 years in the UK diversity has developed, alongside increasing liberal ideas about how individuals and families arrange their lives, therefore factors such as age, social class, gender, disability, and religion should not be barriers to people’s life chances. Although diversity has developed it is still affecting people’s lives. As seen on the module website (The Open University, 2013e), a young person discusses her own personal experience of suffering racism and how this affected her life, which could possibly be detrimental t o her life chances. Although the perpetrator was charged by the Police, the young person’s self-esteem has suffered and she is in constant fear of being at risk of harm while out in the community. The young person also speaks about not receiving appropriate support from her family nor a practitioner, however if the young person had received the appropriate supports after the incident this could have had a positive impact on her and helped alleviate the young person’s fears. This highlights how important the role of a practitioner is in order to address inequalities in their work with children and young people. â€Å"Sociological theories suggest that socialisation is the process by which we learn from the society into which we are born† (The Open University, 2013f). Initially for most people socialisation takes place within the family as children and young people will adopt the views and beliefs of their parents. There are other social structures which provide socialisation and may interfere or change a person’s opinions such as school, the media and peer groups. Thomson’s PCS Model analyses socialisation and the inequalities that are raised within it. Thomson’s model suggests that people have their own Personal views or beliefs which are interlinked with theCulturalvalues that exist in a person’s community or belief system. This is also interlinked on a Structural level which includes society as a whole such as tabloids, institutions and governments. Children and young people who are looked after and accommodated can suffer inequality as their education may be influenced by their socio-economic background. Although the Guidance to the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 states that â€Å"Children who are looked after should have the same educational opportunities as all other children for education, including further and higher education, and access to other opportunities for development.† (The Open University, 2013g), this is not the reality of it. Children and young people who are accommodated tend to be under a great deal of stress due to their circumstances. They might be missing their family, they may have to move school, they may not live as close to their friends and they may have uncertainties about their future. Using Thomson’s PCS model, society has their own personal views and cultural values of children and young people who are in care such as assuming they are badly behaved or that they deserve to be in care. As well as the children/young people trying to deal with the views/beliefs of these people and the community as a whole, they can also be judged on a structural level and are trying to cope with how the media view them. This negative perception of children and young people in care is a form of discrimination and could be detrimental to their life chances due to the effect it can have on their mood, social life and learning ability. â€Å"‘Biological citizenship’ refers to the attempts by parents of children with disabilities to engage in activism and community participation to increase the citizenship rights of their children through links with groups such as Scope, Mencap and ENABLE Scotland.† (The Open University, 2013h). As discussed in Goodley and Runswick-Cole, 2010, p. 73-75, Gayle and Shelley are both mothers of children who are affected by a disability and although they have had very different experiences, they both resorted to using groups as a form of support. Gayle’s son Simon is eleven years old and has been diagnosed with asbergers, and Shelley’s daughter Chloe who is sixteen years old has been diagnosed with a rare genetic syndrome. Gayle found that Simon’s label allowed her to access support whereas Shelley found Chloe’s label as ‘useless’ because there were no supports that could be offered to her. Eventually both parents turned to â⠂¬Ëœreal’ parent support groups where biological citizenship is acted out. They found these groups positive overall and were able to relate to other parents who had similar experiences, however Shelley felt that â€Å"tensions could arise within the parents group, particularly when it came to making choices about mainstream or special provision† (Goodley and Runswick-Cole, 2010, p. 78). When discrimination affects a child or young person’s life chances it ultimately affects their parents/family, as it did Gayle and Shelley who felt the need to join a group to gain support and understanding. If Gayle and Shelley had received the appropriate support from a practitioner they may have felt that a group was unnecessary. In conclusion, inequality can be detrimental to the life chances of children and young people, affecting their social lives and their education. They could be discriminated against because of their age, religion, sexuality, gender or background and this could have an impact on their life as a whole. When children and young people are discriminated against this can also have an effect on their families, for example Gayle and Shelley who required the support of parent support groups. Practitioners can help address these inequalities through their work by abiding by the SSSC’s Codes of Practice and following the four key capabilities. By doing this it helps them to make the right decisions and work and communicate appropriately with children and young people to support them through discrimination. References The Open University (2013a) ‘Section 1.4: The module areas of study’ K229 Learning Guide 1 [Online]. Available at www.learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=350865section=5 (Accessed 12 November 2013). The Open University (2013b) ‘Section 2.1: Families, diversity and social change’ K229 Learning Guide 2 [Online]. Available at https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=350871section=2 (Accessed 12 November 2013). The Open University (2013c) ‘Glossary’ K229 Resources and Forums [Online]. Available at https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/glossary/showentry.php?concept=courseid=202246eid=116725displayformat=dictionary (Accessed 12 November 2013). The Open University (2013d) ‘Section 2.2: Barriers to a more inclusive society’ K229 Learning Guide 2 [Online]. Available at https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=350871section=3 (Accessed 12 November 2013). The Open University (2013e) ‘Section 2.3: The impact of discrimination and inequality’ K229 Learning Guide 2 [Online]. Available at https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=350871section=4 (Accessed 12 November 2013). The Open University (2013f) ‘Glossary’ K229 Resources and Forums [Online]. Available at https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/glossary/showentry.php?courseid=202246eid=116715displayformat=dictionary (Accessed 12 November 2013). The Open University (2013g) ‘Section 2.5: Addressing discrimination and inequality’ K229 Learning Guide 2 [Online]. Available at https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=350871section=6 (Accessed 12 November 2013). The Open University (2013h) ‘Section 2.5: Addressing discrimination and inequality’ K229 Learning Guide 2 [Online]. Available at https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=350871section=6 (Accessed 12 November 2013). Goodley, D. and Runswick-Cole, K., (2010) Working with Children and Young People: Co-constructing Practice, ‘Disabled children, their parents and their experiences with practitioners’. Page 1 of 4

On My Way to Medical School :: Personal Narratives

On My Way to Medical School As I paced the long dim and silent halls of Floor 3, I breathed in that distinctive â€Å"hospital smell,† that one cannot even begin to describe or pinpoint. Looking down another long hall, I finally saw a doctor come out of the corridors briskly walking toward the waiting lounge where my family had been the past few hours. My grandfather anxiously stepped out to speak with the heart surgeon and for the first time in my life, I saw tears flow from my grandfather’s pale and tired face. After the doctor left, my family members each took turns to go in and see, visit grandma. Between the visits, my grandpa and I sat together while he told me wonderful stories about my grandma and what a wonderful lady she had been to him through their fifty years of marriage. He told me my favorite stories; how they met, how he courted her and how he proposed, but most of all how she had taken care of him through it all. The time had come when it was my turn to go into her room. My family didn’t pressure me at all; in fact it took me three attempts to finally go in. When I did walk in, tears immediately started to flow, but I continued to get closer until I was right beside my grandma holding her hand in mine. I started talking right away and telling my grandma the details of my last few weeks in high school. My turn was over and while on my way out, still holding her hand, I leaned over through all the wires and machines and kissed my grandma on the forehead and whispered, â€Å"I love you† in her ear. For the first time in two days, she responded. She squeezed my hand as if she were saying, â€Å"I love you too!† My grandmother had been diagnosed with colon cancer a few weeks prior to when the doctors found a blocked artery in her heart. Because this took precedence over the colonoscopy, this heart by-pass surgery had to be completed before or else she would not make it through the colonoscopy. The recovery time for this surgery was not supposed to be very long at all, thus permitting her colon surgery to be performed shortly after.

Poverty in India Essay

Poverty is the deprivation of food, shelter, money and clothing that occurs when people cannot satisfy their basic needs. Poverty can be understood simply as a lack of money, or more broadly in terms of barriers to everyday life. It refers to a situation where a person is unable meet the basic necessities of life. Absolute poverty or destitution refers to the state of severe deprivation of basic human needs, which commonly includes food, water, sanitation, clothing, shelter, health care, education and information. The amount of income a person or family needs to purchase an absolute amount of the basic necessities of life. These basic necessities are identified in terms of calories of food, BTUs of energy, square feet of living space, etc. The problem with the absolute poverty level is that there really are no absolutes when in comes to consuming goods. Relative poverty views poverty as socially defined and dependent on social context, hence relative poverty is a measure of income inequality. Usually, relative poverty is measured as the percentage of population with income less than some fixed proportion of median income. There are several other different income inequality metrics, for example the Gini coefficient or the Theil Index. Relative poverty measures are used as official poverty rates in several developed countries. As such these poverty statistics measure inequality rather than material deprivation or hardship. The measurements are usually based on a person’s yearly income and frequently take no account of total wealth. Definitions United Nations: Fundamentally, poverty is a denial of choices and opportunities, a violation of human dignity. It means lack of basic capacity to participate effectively in society. It means not having enough to food and clothing a family, not having a school or clinic to go to, not having the land on which to grow one’s food or a job to earn one’s living, not having access to credit. It means insecurity, powerlessness and exclusion of individuals, households and communities. It means susceptibility to violence, and it often implies living in marginal or fragile environments, without access to clean water or sanitation. World Bank: Poverty is pronounced deprivation in well-being, and comprises many dimensions. It includes low incomes and the inability to acquire the basic goods and services necessary for survival with dignity. Poverty also encompasses low  levels of health and education, poor access to clean water and sanitation, inadequate physical security, lack of voice, and insufficient capacity and opportunity to better one’s life. Copenhagen Declaration: Absolute poverty is a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but also on access to social services. The term ‘absolute poverty’ is sometimes synonymously referred to as ‘extreme poverty.’ World Health Organisation: Poverty is associated with the undermining of a range of key human attributes, including health. The poor are exposed to greater personal and environmental health risks, are less well nourished, have less information and are less able to access health care; they thus have a higher risk of illness and disability. Conversely, illness can reduce household savings, lower learning ability, reduce productivity, and lead to a diminished quality of life, thereby perpetuating or even increasing poverty. Poverty line is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a given country. In practice, like the definition of poverty, the official or common understanding of the poverty line is significantly higher in developed countries than in developing countries. The common international poverty line has in the past been roughly $1 a day. In 2008, the World Bank came out with a revised figure of $1.25 at 2005 purchasing-power parity (PPP). Determining the poverty line is usually done by finding the total cost of all the essential resources that an average human adult consumes in one year. Individual factors are often used to account for various circumstances, such as whether one is a parent, elderly, a child, married, etc. The poverty threshold may be adjusted annually. Below Poverty Line is an economic benchmark and poverty threshold used by the government of India to indicate economic disadvantage and to identify individuals and households in need of government assistance and aid. It is determined using various parameters which vary from state to state and within states. The present criteria are based on a survey conducted in 2002. Going into a survey due for a decade, India’s central government is undecided on criteria to identify families below poverty line. Poverty in India The problem of poverty and unemployment is considered as the biggest  challenge to development planning in India. High poverty levels are synonymous with poor quality of life, deprivation, malnutrition, illiteracy and low human resource development. The slogan of poverty eradication has been adopted by all political parties in one form or another and there is a national agreement for the goal of poverty alleviation. The national consensus on poverty alleviation provided the necessary condition for launching various schemes and programmes aimed at achieving this objective. But the persistence of poverty during all these years suggests that the national consensus on objectives did not and could not provide sufficient conditions for poverty alleviation. The starting point for estimating the number of households below the poverty line is a nutritional requirement per person per day at some base point. There is a debate on the minimum calorie requirement, and whether it should be the same for all parts of the country. Most acceptable figures are 2,400 calories per person per day in rural areas, and 2,200 calories per person per day in urban areas. The next step is to translate the nutrient requirement into monetary terms. The expenditure level of households which are able to spend the requisite amount to obtain the desired calories serves as the cut-off point, or the poverty line. To adjust the poverty line over a period of time, price variations have to be considered and an appropriate price deflator has to be selected. The problem arises in deciding upon such a deflator. Thus, the following elements mainly affect the magnitude of the poverty ratio: (i) the nutrition norm (translated into monetary terms); (ii) price deflator used to update the poverty line; and (iii) pro rata adjustment in the number of households in different expenditure classes to determine the number of households below and above the poverty line. Different assumptions and methods are used for these three purposes, which accounts for the different estimates provided by scholars. The Planning Commission has been estimating the incidence of poverty at the national and state level using the methodology contained in the report of the Expert Group on Estimation of Proportion and Number of Poor (Lakdawala Committee) and applying it to consumption expenditure data from the large sample surveys on consumer expenditure conducted by the NSSO (National Sample Survey Organisation) at an interval of approximately five years. Estimates of Poverty (Per cent) Year All India Rural Urban All India Poverty Ratio Rural Poverty Ratio Urban Poverty Ratio Number (per cent) Number (per cent) Number (per cent) (Million) (Million) (Million) 1973-74 321 54.9 261 56.4 60 49.0 1977-78 329 51.3 264 53.1 65 45.2 1983 323 44.5 252 45.7 71 40.8 1987-88 307 38.9 232 39.1 75 38.2 1993-94 320 36.0 244 37.3 76 32.4 1999-2000 260 26.1 193 27.1 67 23.6 2004-05 239 21.8 170 21.8 68 21.7 Problems caused due to poverty Human poverty measures suggest even worse outcomes than for income poverty in India. India has never been a good performer in human development terms, despite the much better indicators in some states, particularly Kerala. Overall, both health and education indicators have lagged well below those in other countries at similar levels of development and with similar per capita income. But food poverty has been of particular concern. Recent studies have shown alarming levels of hunger, especially in certain states of India. Studies by IFPRI and ISHI quoted in Banerjee (2008) suggest that most states in India rank somewhere among the poor Sub-Saharan countries:  Punjab, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Assam have a „serious‟ level of hunger; Madhya Pradesh fares worst in the „extremely alarming‟ cohort of hunger. All the other states record an „alarming‟ level of hunger, which is also the general ranking for the whole country. More appallingly, the situation appears to have worsened in the recent period of rapid economic growth. National Sample Surveys shows declining per capita calorie consumption, not only among the entire population, but also among the bottom quartiles, for which consumption was already very inadequate by international standards. Other indicators of both nutrition and health are also extreme. The latest National Family Health Survey for 2005–06 shows that the proportion of underweight children below the age of five years was 45.6 per cent in rural India and 32.7 per cent in urban India, indicating hardly any change from the previous survey undertaken eight years previously. More than one-third of the rural population was also underweight. Anaemia often a good indicator of nutritional deprivation was also widespread: 79.2 per cent of children aged 12–23 months and 56.2 per cent of ever-married women between 15 and 59 years were found to be anaemic. Conclusion Poverty Alleviation Programmes The poverty alleviation programme have been broadly classified into self-employment programmes, wage employment programmes, food safety programme and social security programmes. The focus is on the central government schemes only. It is not possible to map the special programmes of all the states. It must be noted here that some of the progressive states have added additional components or given further subsidy to enhance the benefits of the central schemes. For example, in the highly subsidized public distribution system of Andhra Pradesh, the BPL card holders were provided rice at Rs. 2 per kg. Self-employment programmes: This programme was started in 1970s in rural areas of the country in the name of Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) to increase the source of income of small farmers and landless labourers. The beneficiaries were given subsidized credit, training, and infrastructure, so that they could find new sources of  earning. In this scheme, agricultural labourers and small farmers received new skills to involve in vocations other than cultivating land. They included fishery, animal husbandry, and forestry. In the 1980s, this scheme was extended to schedule castes and tribes, women and rural artisans. Wage employment programmes: The main purpose of the wage employment programmes is to provide a livelihood during the lean agricultural season as well as during drought and floods. Under these programmes, villagers worked to improve the village infrastructure such as deepening the village ponds, constructing village schools and improving the rural roads. Thus the programmes not only provided employment to the villagers but also improved village infrastructure and created village public assets. A positive fall out of this programme is that it created higher demand for village labour, thereby pushing up the wage of the labourer in the villages. Food security programmes: Meeting the very basic need of access to food is a major challenge to the government in the post-economic reform era. Those who are below poverty line are faced with the problem of meeting this very basic need. Starvation and hunger have been reported in different parts of the country, even in economically advanced states like Maharashtra. There is malnutrition in all age groups, especially among children. Problem of low birth weight due to under nutrition of mother during pregnancy and underweight of children are rampant in the country. The purchasing power of certain section of the society is so low that they cannot access food at the market price. They need the safety net of food subsidy. In this context, public distribution system or PDS assumes importance. Social security programmes: Social security programmes are meant for those who are at the bottom of the BPL facing destitution and desertion. The central government has launched the National Social Assistance Programme or NSAP in August 1995. Under NSAP, there are three schemes. The first one is the National Old Age Pension Scheme or NOAPS. A pension amount of Rs. 75 per month is given to those who are above the age of 65 years and are destitute without any regular source of income or support from any family members or relatives. Though it is a very useful scheme for the elderly destitute, the coverage of the programme was not satisfactory. In the year 1999-2000, 8.71 million eligible elderly were identified, but the scheme could reach out to only 5 million beneficiaries. It was found that the benefits really reached the  poor and the leakage rate was found to be low.

Making the World a Better Place Philosophy 1001, Dr. Cara Nine

Making the World a Better Place Philosophy 1001, Dr. Cara Nine ‘Better Place’? ‘Making the world†¦ ’? Making the world a better place There are two sets of philosophical questions: 1. What is ‘good’ or ‘better’? (That is, what does a ‘better world look like and why? ) 2. What kinds of actions are ‘right’? (What are we justified in doing to bring about the good? ) Ideas of the good life Hedonism Desire Satisfaction Theory Objective Goods Theory Theories of Right Action Utilitarian Deontological Feminist Virtue Theory Cases Protesting Unjust Government Aiding an impoverished community Torture Letter to MenoeceusBy Epicurus (341-270 BC) Epicurus ‘Hedonism’ in popular culture http://www. hedonism. com/ Hedonism: Different kinds of desires. Just to be clear†¦ â€Å"It is not an unbroken succession of drinking-bouts and of merrymaking, not sexual love, not the enjoyment of the fish and other deli cacies of a luxurious table†¦ † For Hedonism: â€Å"For the end of all our actions is to be free from pain and fear† Intrinsic vs. Instrumental goods Instrumental good Intrinsic Good For Epicurus, Happiness is secured by: A tranquil emotional state. Example: We should not fear death Evidence : Misery clearly hampers the good life; happiness clearly improves it.But, is happiness what we want for our loved ones? I recall a talk by a doctor who described a patient of his (who had perhaps had a prefrontal lobotomy) as ‘perfectly happy all day long picking up leaves. ’ This impressed me because I thought, ‘Well, most of us are not happy all day long doing the things we do,’ and realized how strange it would be to think that the very kindest of fathers would arrange such an operation for his (perfectly normal) child. –Philippa Foot, Natural Goodness, p. 65 Desire Theory and Problems with Hedonism Hedonism Happiness is the only intrinsical ly valuable good. A happy life is a good life.The argument from evil pleasures Hedonism’s response: Happiness from evil actions IS as good as happiness from virtuous actions. The Paradox of Hedonism Happiness is like a butterfly—the more you pursue it, the more it eludes you. Be still and let it come to you. Paradox of Hedonism 1. If happiness is the only thing that directly makes us better off, then it is rational to single-mindedly pursue it. 2. It isn’t rational to do that. 3. Therefore, happiness isn’t the only thing that directly makes us better off. Argument from multiple harms: If hedonism is true, then you can be harmed by something only because it saddens you.You can be harmed in other ways. Therefore, hedonism is false. False Happiness Nozick’s Experience Machine Experience Machine Nozick thinks that the real life is clearly better, despite equal levels of happiness. What makes the real life better? Desires and The good We desire for our lives to be based in reality. This desire matters. Other desires matter, too. Desire Satisfaction Theory The good life is getting what you want. Something is good for you if and only if it satisfies your desires. Good things about desire-satisfaction theory Allows for a variety of ‘good’ lives. Good things about desire-satisfaction theoryPrioritizes personal autonomy and avoids paternalism Avoids objective values â€Å"objective† = fixed independently of your desires and opinions â€Å"subjective† = refers to your desires and opinions Motivation? Problems with the Desire Satisfaction Theory Getting what you want may not promote your good Desires based on false beliefs Fix! The desire must be based on informed beliefs. More Problems Dis-interested or Other-regarding desires Problems, cont. Disappointment: I was playing great tennis†¦ I’d finally taken my game to what felt like a notch above all my opponents’. It should have been greatâ₠¬ ¦ But it wasn’t.It felt hollow—It reminded me of the story of King Midas: My success wasn’t translating into happiness. –John McEnroe—(with James Kaplan, You Cannot be Serious) Impoverished Desires Objective Goods Theories of the Good Life Hedonism Desire Satisfaction Theory Objective Goods Theory Objective Goods Theory What is good is defined independent of your desires or opinions. Objective well-being concept: Income? The objective/universal approach defended Nussbaum’s approach http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=Qy3YTzYjut4 Appeals to ‘natural law theory’, that things are good when a thing fulfills its nature. Things are bad when they are unnatural.Solves (? ) Hume’s argument We can know only two sorts of claims: conceptual truths or empirical truths. Moral claims are neither conceptual nor empirical truths. Therefore, we can have no moral knowledge. Natural law theory’s response: If you know the nature of â⠂¬Ëœhuman’, and what it takes to fulfil our human nature, then we can know what is morally good. Options for objective goods: Happiness Options for objective goods: Autonomy Relationship with other objective goods. Essence of ‘human’ Possible problem with adding autonomy to the list: Cultural variations. But Do we have to be culturally relative? Options for objective goods:A sense of self Having commitments, likes and dislikes, values and goals. Options for objective goods: Morality Aristotelian virtue Human flourishing– â€Å"If you concern yourself not at all with what you owe to others or with what they need from you, you live in profound isolation. .. Morality is good for us because it †¦ gives me a kind of friendship not just with my friends but with everyone. † (Kazez 54) Martha Nussbaum: Basic capabilities. Life. Bodily health Bodily integrity. Senses, imagination, thought. Emotions. Practical reason. Affiliation. Other species. Play. Co ntrol over one's environment.Possible problem with the objective theory†¦ Utilitarianism Theories of Right Action What should I do or not do? Utilitarianism A brand of consequentialism An action is morally required just because it produces the best results. John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) Utilitarianism (1861) The quest for ‘the good’ is identified with the question of what is right and wrong to do. Mill writes: â€Å"All action is for the sake of some end and rules of action, it seems natural to suppose, must take their whole character and color from the end to which they are subservient. â€Å" (in other words†¦ The ends justify the means! ) 1.Rationality in choice of conduct is maximizing the satisfaction of one's chosen goal (or the goal that is best to pursue). 2. The rational goal of human striving is happiness, and happiness consists in pleasure and the absence of pain. I should do what maximizes happiness-for-me-over-my-entire-life. Acting effectively t o achieve this goal is being prudent. Prudence requires a kind of impartiality. So†¦ In merely individualistic terms: Ice cream NOW = 2 units of Happiness, and 3 units of Pain later. To maximize happiness over my entire life, I should not have ice cream now. But Mill’s utilitiarianism is universal project (not individualistic! 3. Human striving 4. The moral goal involves impartiality. One person's good counts the same, in the determination of what is to be done, as the same-sized good of any other person. 5. The moral goal equals the aggregate happiness of all persons. 6. So, moral rationality demands that we maximize aggregate human happiness. †¦ and animals? Problems†¦ Utility monster: Trolley Problem Trolley Problem Trolley Problem Trolley Problem Deontology Kantian ethics Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) What matters with regard to whether an action is right or wrong is what kind of an action it is. (The end doesn’t justify the means! )Kantian Deontology Pe rson’s essence = autonomy Autonomy = self+rule Ethical principles follow logically. Consistency and Fairness Equal with regards to our autonomous rational personhood. What if everybody did that? How would you like it if I did that to you? Problem Case If disastrous results would occur if everyone did X, then X is immoral. Redescribe the act? But this makes the morality of an act merely a matter of its description. Kant’s answer: The Categorical Imperative (version 1): Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law. Is a maxim universalizable?Formulate your maxim clearly. Imagine a world in which everyone supports and acts on on your maxim. Then ask: Can the goal of my action be achieved in such a world? Example: Lying The universalized maxim of lying generates a contradiction. Categorical Imperative (version 2): The Principle of Humanity Act so that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of another, always as an end and never as a means only. Persons are rational agents The moral law is the law of reason So we rational beings are beyond value since we are the sources of value ‘Means’ only: Used as a means AND respected as rational agent at the same time: problems with the principle of humanity: The notion of treating someone as an end is vague. 2. The principle fails to give us good advice about how to determine what people deserve. – punishment and Lex Talionis (Law of Retaliation) 3. The principle assumes that we are genuinely autonomous, but that assumption may be false. Baron d’Holbach The Argument Against Autonomy 1. Either our choices are necessitated or they are not. 2. If they are necessitated, then they are out of our control, and so we lack autonomy. 3. If they are not necessitated, then they are random, and so we lack autonomy. 4.Therefore, we lack autonomy. 4. The principle cannot explain why those who lack rationality and auto nomy are deserving of respect. – What is the scope of the moral community? Argument against animals 1. If the principle of humanity is true, then animals have no rights. 2. If animals lack rights, then it is morally acceptable to torture them. 3. Therefore, if the principle of humanity is true, then it is morally acceptable to torture animals. 4. It isn’t. 5. Therefore, the principle of humanity is false. Feminist Ethics â€Å"The male is by nature superior, and the female inferior; the one rules, and the other is ruled. –Aristotle â€Å"As regards her individual nature, each woman is defective and mis-begotten. † –Aquinas â€Å"[W]omen must be trained to bear the yoke from the first, so that they may not feel it, to master their own caprices and to submit themselves to the will of others. † –Rousseau â€Å"†¦ laborious learning or painful pondering, even if a woman should greatly succeed in it†¦ They will weaken the charm s with which she exercises her great power over the other sex†¦. Her philosophy is not to reason, but to sense. † –Kant Feminist Ethics Previous (male-dominated) philosophy: Made false claims about women.Identified female with nature/animals and male with reason/human. Ignored female experiences and perspectives. Un Chien Andalou , 1929 silent surrealist short film by the Spanish director Luis Bunuel and artist Salvador Dali General Approach: Women are the moral equals of men. â€Å"The right to life of women in Pakistan is conditional on their obeying social norms and traditions. †Ã¢â‚¬â€œHina Jilani, lawyer and human rights activist 2. Experiences of women deserve our respect and are vital to a full and accurate understanding of morality. Some statistics: Women’s nominal wages are 17 percent lower than men’s.Women perform 66 percent of the world’s work, produce 50 percent of the food, but earn 10 percent of the income and own 1 percent of the property. 3. Traits that have traditionally been associated with women are at least as morally important as traditionally masculine traits. 4. Cooperation, flexibility, openness to competing ideas, and a connectedness to family and friends, are often superior to ways of reasoning that emphasize impartiality, abstraction, and strict adherence to rules. Lawrence Kohlberg’s 6 stages of moral development: Moral Development: Gilligan Women fared poorly on Kohlberg’s model. Advancing to only around stage 3. ) Women tend to think and experience the world differently than men. Gilligan’s model or moral thinking: In A Different Voice Women’s Experience Justice is†¦. blind Dr. Denis Mukwege tries to restore dignity in Congo. Women’s Experience: Vulnerability to Rape Major-General Patrick Cammaert, former commander of UN peacekeeping forces in the eastern Congo: â€Å"It has probably become more dangerous to be a woman than a soldier in armed co nflict. † Perceptions of rape in war: From: something that is inevitable when men are deprived of female companionship for prolonged periodsTo: an actual tactic in conflict. Effect on victim: Rape is always torture. Women’s Experience Increased dependence and diminished autonomy. Fewer choices and less control over important aspects of their lives (than men). Central fact of most women’s lives is their dependence. Consider a moral assumption: stand up for our rights and defend our honour against attacks: Does a woman stand up to an abusive husband, knowing she may be killed, have her children taken away from her, not know where her next meal will come from? Not just women We all are deeply connected with others.Moral philosophy that pretends that we are fully autonomous beings without dependent relationships fail to take an important part of human life into account. Ethics of Care Importance of Emotions â€Å"Reason is a slave of the passions. † –Da vid Hume Motivates. Helps us Understand (Sympathy/Empathy) Care: combination of sympathy, empathy, sensitivity, and love. Particular vs. Universal Describes our obligations. Particular obligations = I have them only to particular people. Universal obligations = I have them to all persons. A strict version of Ethics of Care theory denies the existence of universal obligations.Ethics of Care: Moral obligations come from RELATIONSHIPS. Relationship roles will sometimes require of you conflicting actions. There is no easy formula. Problems with the Ethics of Care: Must be supplemented by other theories. Or risk restricting the scope of the moral community too much. Role of emotions needs further exploration. Downgrading impartiality has its costs. Review Theories of ‘The Right’ Utilitarianism Theory Pleasure/freedom from pain is the only intrinsic good. An action is morally required just because it produces the best results. Rationality Impartiality Maximize human happiness UtilitarianismPositives Intuitive Matches good with the right Equality Useful for social policy Utilitarianism Negatives Utility monster Animals? Conflicts with Justice Deontology Theory (Study of Duty) The end doesn’t justify the means Derived from Autonomy (self + rule) Deontology Categorical Imperative 1: Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law. Deontology Categorical Imperative 2, The Principle of Humanity: Act so that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of another, always as an end and never as a means only. Deontology PositivesExplains duties of justice Clear rules Equality Intuitive Deontology Negatives Principles difficult to apply Problems with autonomy Scope? Feminism Theory Men and women are moral equals. All of human experience deserves our attention/respect. ‘Feminine traits’ are as morally relevant as ‘male traits’ Interpersonal ways of moral re asoning are often superior to abstract, universalized, rule-governed moral reasoning. Care/Relationships Feminism Positives Embraces full account of human experience Can account for interpersonal moral reasoning, dependence. Feminism Negatives Problems with accounts from emotion Downgrades impartiality

Progressive Era1 essays

Progressive Era1 essays During the Progressive Era in the United States, there were many changes happening. Some were happening with the people in the United States, some with the people controlling the United States, and some changes were just going on around both of them. This Era of time for the United States helped them out a lot. They were tired of things going bad for them. They wanted the "good 'ol times" back. They wanted to be happy again and they would do anything to make this happen. We had two new presidents during the Progressive Era in the United States. They both knew that people of their country wanted to be happy. The people believed in the governments ability to cure bad things. So the presidents came in and took over the country, starting to control things more and more. This is what was making the people happy. Women also started speaking out against the laws that were set against them. They started club meetings. They wanted to the same rights as the men did. They also helped with he child labor laws and with the minorities. They got everything under good condition for the minorities. They also wanted prostitution cleared up on the streets. Women wouldn't have a lot of rights that they have now, if it wasn't for the women in the Progressive Era. The working class started looking up on life. People believe in the advancement of the United States as a whole and not just individual. The working class knew they'd have a chance to make it in life. A lot of people started believing in the church. They knew that church would make things better. They started going a lot more. Everything in the United States was starting to look up. People were happier and the United States was getting back on track to be the good nation it knew it could be. ...

Rock Around the Clock essays

Rock Around the Clock essays When Diane Dupuy made herself a name by performing great puppet shows, she would get enthusiastic reviews wherever she went. Once Bill Cosby saw Dianes performance and moved by her performance he told her to consider black light theatre for her act. With this inspiration Diane decided to combine her two interests, interest of this black light theatre that she did not know of and love of working in the arts with disabled people. She found the Famous People Players in 1974 on 110 Sudbury Street, Toronto, ON and from then on the company has been inspiring audiences with their black light theatre acts consisting of life size puppets and props that Dianes mother herself made. I, myself thought the theatre was a great place and would recommend anyone of any age to go there. As long as you have the imagination of a child or once being one you will be amazed by the act. I am now going to write about three elements or aspects I found strong or weak throughout the act, Rock Around the Clock wh ich is an act which plays different plays with music from the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s. One of the best aspects of the show I thought was the puppets. They were bright, colourful and because they were bright and colourful, they were very catchy to the human eye. You could not miss them and your eyes just had to be focusing on them, what they were doing, and the show. You would get inspired, every time, of how different the puppets were. From Elvis, to Poison Ivy the variety of the puppets also caught the attention of your eye. The last thing I liked about the puppets was that how each puppet was perfect with their song as in the skunk pair in the love song, or the Poison Ivy ion the Poison Ivy song. The puppets came in all shapes, colour, and sizes. An aspect which was almost perfect was the music. It had a great variety to the type as in romantic, action, adventure, etc. The next thing is that the music always fit in ...

Abstracts 4 Articles Decision Making

which in tern routinizes administration. These tools cannot be used appropriately to manage of incalculable entities. The functional rationality approach is when activities precisely planned and estimated to reach some goal. This method is unlikely to be used by top managers because another important factors are involved such as ego or personal altitude. If there is no special procedure for a particular problem, manager should focus on how to turn a situation into the right way in accordance with expectations from their boss. Some managerial people cannot make their own judgments. Instead, they are looking up and looking around for someone else’s opinion and finally they rely on it because of personal fears or inexperience. Another example of it is the mid-level decision-making paralysis in many American companies when a manager is trying to avoid of making a decision. In the case of inevitable decision, he or she would engage as many colleagues as possible for self-protection. Many examples of recent administrative and economic problems within American companies have showed the tendency that managers are oriented to the short-term period when making decisions. This is due to the fact that MBA programs provide tools which are focuses mostly on a short-term attitude. The second reason would be that managers are under pressure for annual, quarterly, monthly and daily results and these factors push they out of thinking about the future, even though they realise that today’s minor difficulties could be tomorrow’s big crises. Managers are also aware of blame time and when things go wrong it is necessary to be protected from consequences. This is the reason why they gravitate towards this fear being punished rather than reflecting critically. Bureaucracy disrupts working processes into parts and the results of the work therefore disconnected with the decisions, which had been made. Manager’s productivity depends on the position within management circle or their supervisors. There is no codes or systems for tracking personal responsibilities to be established. To be successful manager means to move quickly within the levels of managerial hierarchy. It protects from going into problems too deeply at every level. Example I worked for four years as an instrument engineer in the Natural gas industry in Russia. I was involved into the decision making process associated with planning resources and finances for further projects and discussions about engineering-related difficulties. Firstly, when the question was complicated and involves financial resources, I checked the parameters of equipment many times and sent the results to my boss. When I received the confirmation from him, I printed it out and managed the necessary signatures on it. I did not want to be responsible for any inconvenience because my boss has to carry out this kind of responsibility. It was extremely important for me as a lower-level manager to have the document that proves that all things are done in time and approved by middle-level manager. In case of inconveniences such as the late commissioning phase of facilities I showed the documents that all the steps were completed by me on time. Reading 4. 2 Â  Reason, J. (1990) The general view on accident’s causes within complex technological systems includes theoretical framework which is not only provides the data on how dangerous factors could be combined themselves, but also where and how to predict these tendencies and take necessary measures beforehand. There are many elements of production, which are also involved into accident causation. Fallible high-level manager’s decisions are a major contributing factor to an increase in risk, followed by the lack of line management, which in turn causes dangerous preconditions and unsafe acts (intended and unintended). The latter are based on human’s psychological characteristics and conditions and are described as a combination of both potential hazards and errors, which could cause injury or damage. Likewise, a trajectory of an opportunity includes all these factors plus safeguards and productive events. Each of these has a window of opportunity in terms of an accident incidence. Therefore damage is highly possible when this trajectory is crossing all the windows at all the stages of production. The safe operation control consists of two features – feedback and response. The theory points out that the most successful approach to manage the safety is by taken into consideration the failure types rather than the failure tokens. According to Westrum (1988) there are three groups of auctions – denial, repair and reform. The successful organization is taken actions in responding to safely data from the reform (bottom level). The fundamental distribution error relates to a personal incompetence of employee while on the other hand the fundamental surprise error is the situation when personal observation differs to a reality. Thus, taken into consideration these terms and experience from the past major accidents such as Chernobyl, the nature of a malfunction has to be considered not only as pure technical but also as socio-technical. The people’s contribution to accidents is dominating the machine failure risk. Example I investigated many serious accidents related to the natural gas transportation process. For instance, one emergency stop of the 3. 2-megawatt gas turbine was caused by the malfunction of a frequency meter. After an analysis of reports I concluded that technical maintenance of this device was conducted improperly. A responsible worker forgot to finish one procedure related to the metrology accuracy of this piece of equipment. Another example is when other gas turbine was stopped by alarm during normal working cycle. The reason for that was unplanned and uncoordinated upgrade of its automatic control system (ACS). From my point of view, the modern technology is very reliable and ACS is highly faultness but social factors as well as poor decision making are of the major reasons for emergency situations. For instance, social factors in Russia are included a low salary and the lack of a proper education. Reading 6. Beach (1993) A descriptive Image theory focuses on people’s individual decisions rather than group ones, and it is directly opposite to prescriptive classical theory of making decisions. There are also three decision-related images (structures), which have to be possessed by a decision maker. The value image is based on personal principles, behavior and beliefs. These are the sou rce for generating goals. Thus, the ultimate criteria for this is when the decision maker consider the values to be relevant. Therefore potential goals and actions, if they are inconsistent with the relevant principles, will be refused. The second image, which is called the trajectory image, includes potential goals, which have to be set and the third one, the strategic image, focuses on actions and plans that have to be performed for achieving targets. The important parts of the third image are tactic and forecast, which would be a crucial factors for monitoring a realisation progress of a particular goal. Decision-making process consists of two types of decisions such as adoption and progress which include the implementation of the compatibility and profitability tests. The compatibility test is based on both types of decisions and compares candidates to three images, whereas in contrast the profitability test relates to the adoption decision only and uses the outcome after performing the compatibility test. For instance, the compatibility test selects few candidates, who successfully crossed through a selection criteria and the profitability test therefore chooses the best candidate from the previous sorting. Another important part of the Image theory is the process of framing decisions which is the action when the goal is identified and the plan is alled back if one exists. The data from the practical research suggests that it is unlikely that the decision maker tend to change the selection criteria without changes in principles, goals and plans. Example I was involved into the process of interviewing new workers within the Natural gas industry. I had to employ personnel with sufficient technical knowledge and skills because they have to work with in hazardous areas and on potentially dangerous equipment. As a team leader I was hoping to find highly qualified workers with extensive experience for an average amount of salary. After performing several meetings and consultations with potential staff within this salary category I concluded that no one was able to pass the criteria and possess theoretical knowledge and practical achievements from previous work experience. Because of that I decided to change the working images by changing the criteria. Therefore, I focused on workers who possess theoretical knowledge with engineering ideas in complex. Although they did not have extensive experience, they satisfied basic criteria and were able to perform tasks within their role (maintenance and repair). And after this correction of principles I recruited staff for my team successfully. Reading 7. 3Â  Janis (1971) Groupthink is a way of thinking when members behave with a high level of concurrence and tend to adopt a soft line of criticism on colleague’s ideas or even on every critical issue. This is why they make inhumane decisions easily with serious consequences such as the huge number of people’s deaths. The more cohesive the group, the more the risk that the decision will be proposed without the deep analysis of other choices. There are eight major symptoms of groupthink such as invulnerability, irrationality, ignorance of moral principles, stereotyped and unrealistic positions, group pressure against any critical views, member’s self-censorship, unanimity tendency within a group and the mind guard which is to protect the decision from any kind of the feedback. These indicators are typical for a bad decision making process which in tern may results the inhumane decision with serious consequences. Several steps could be adopted to prevent any group from group thinking. In this case criticism should be accepted not only by members but also by a leader. Wide range of alternatives should also be taken into account as possible options. In a case of vital decisions several groups with different leaders should be established to work on the same problem. Before the final decision is made each member should discuss considerations in its unit of organisation and then provide a final response to the group. An outside expert should be invited to all meetings. One decision-maker within the group should criticise a position of the majority. In the case of consensus the group should organise the final meeting for listening and discussing any doubts against the final decision. Although these actions have also drawbacks. For instance, when growing crisis requests an immediate solution there is no time for discussions and implementing many steps for decision making. Another example might be that the risk of the leakage of vital information would significantly increases when outside specialists are involved. All in all, it seems to be clear that top priority should be given in the prevention of any policymaking unit from the group thinking. Behavioral scientists should also be involved into these processes. Example During my work in Russia a groupthink was played a crucial role because of many factors. Firstly, my colleagues were really close to each other and the company’s social policy was developed for this purpose. Therefore, we spent some days playing games and sports altogether. This resulted in the number of small close-connected teams within the group. Another point is that my boss had a top role during all the process of discussion. Therefore, I had een many examples of bad decision-making. For instance, the only criticism from experienced and old colleagues was taken into account despite obvious things that were given by young professionals. Another factor is that the small teams did know how to play games within this environment and how to speculate. From my point of view, taking into consideration the long-term period, most of the final decisions were satisfactory but insufficient. It means that the p rojects were performed according to the rules and practices within timelines. But it can be clearly seen that due to the lack of criticism, for example, the total cost of the projects was increased. This way if the rules and steps of good decision practice were implemented, the cost and efficiency would significantly increase. Reading 8. 2Â  Callon (1987) The development of the technology has been explained by many social scientists using different available methods but they have not taken into account the point that the issue of the technology itself can also be represented as a sociological tool for an analysis. This also leads to the changes in understanding the dynamics of technology. There are two sociological views on the dynamic of consumption, which were developed by sociologists Touraine and Bourdieu. Touraine showed that French consumers’ behavior mostly dictated by large monopolies and industry, whereas in contrast Bourdieu pointed out that competition between social classes within French society taken the first place in terms of consumption of goods and services. Therefore these theories were shown by battle between engineers of two powerful French companies in the early 1970s: Electricite de France (EDF) and Renault. Despite the fact that both of them successfully proposed the concept of an electric car (VEL), the EDF’s theory failed because of unsolved technological difficulties related to the area of science and economy of the VEL, but the Renault did survive in the market because it focuses on not only the technological factors but also on rational views. This is the controversial result, because from the sociological point of view Renault’ specialists won this battle by a chance nor by implementing genius technological ideas. This experience of engineers-sociologists is possible to use as a new methodological tool for exploring large sections of society as well as researching within the value of role of social movements in the progress of consumption. There is also a helpful tool which is named the actor network. It is the case when company’s technological strategy supported by many sections of society. It describes the dynamics of society in completely different way without using sociological explanations. Firstly, in the case of implications of radical innovations within a technological sector engineers must mix technical and scientific analysis with sociology. Secondly, the actors network approach is efficient because it takes into account outside factors, which are related to common concepts of systems. Example I was responsible for implementing the concept of using compressed natural gas (CNG) as fuel for private cars and municipal buses instead of regular petrol. I was focused on the public transport such as buses because of the potential reduction of pollutions as well as the decrease of the total cost of fuel consumption. Moreover, it was easier to install the necessary equipment on buses because the government agreed to subsidise the cost of these modifications. Whereas in contrast I concluded that private car owners would not agree with this idea because the Siberian region in Russia is a large area and the number of CNG filing stations was limited to only 7. Thus, it was clear for me that using CNG fuel people could not travel between major cities which is crucial factor. This approach was based on social behavior of people and their habits. Therefore, the main target for our new policy was a municipal transport within major cities. Abstracts 4 Articles Decision Making which in tern routinizes administration. These tools cannot be used appropriately to manage of incalculable entities. The functional rationality approach is when activities precisely planned and estimated to reach some goal. This method is unlikely to be used by top managers because another important factors are involved such as ego or personal altitude. If there is no special procedure for a particular problem, manager should focus on how to turn a situation into the right way in accordance with expectations from their boss. Some managerial people cannot make their own judgments. Instead, they are looking up and looking around for someone else’s opinion and finally they rely on it because of personal fears or inexperience. Another example of it is the mid-level decision-making paralysis in many American companies when a manager is trying to avoid of making a decision. In the case of inevitable decision, he or she would engage as many colleagues as possible for self-protection. Many examples of recent administrative and economic problems within American companies have showed the tendency that managers are oriented to the short-term period when making decisions. This is due to the fact that MBA programs provide tools which are focuses mostly on a short-term attitude. The second reason would be that managers are under pressure for annual, quarterly, monthly and daily results and these factors push they out of thinking about the future, even though they realise that today’s minor difficulties could be tomorrow’s big crises. Managers are also aware of blame time and when things go wrong it is necessary to be protected from consequences. This is the reason why they gravitate towards this fear being punished rather than reflecting critically. Bureaucracy disrupts working processes into parts and the results of the work therefore disconnected with the decisions, which had been made. Manager’s productivity depends on the position within management circle or their supervisors. There is no codes or systems for tracking personal responsibilities to be established. To be successful manager means to move quickly within the levels of managerial hierarchy. It protects from going into problems too deeply at every level. Example I worked for four years as an instrument engineer in the Natural gas industry in Russia. I was involved into the decision making process associated with planning resources and finances for further projects and discussions about engineering-related difficulties. Firstly, when the question was complicated and involves financial resources, I checked the parameters of equipment many times and sent the results to my boss. When I received the confirmation from him, I printed it out and managed the necessary signatures on it. I did not want to be responsible for any inconvenience because my boss has to carry out this kind of responsibility. It was extremely important for me as a lower-level manager to have the document that proves that all things are done in time and approved by middle-level manager. In case of inconveniences such as the late commissioning phase of facilities I showed the documents that all the steps were completed by me on time. Reading 4. 2 Â  Reason, J. (1990) The general view on accident’s causes within complex technological systems includes theoretical framework which is not only provides the data on how dangerous factors could be combined themselves, but also where and how to predict these tendencies and take necessary measures beforehand. There are many elements of production, which are also involved into accident causation. Fallible high-level manager’s decisions are a major contributing factor to an increase in risk, followed by the lack of line management, which in turn causes dangerous preconditions and unsafe acts (intended and unintended). The latter are based on human’s psychological characteristics and conditions and are described as a combination of both potential hazards and errors, which could cause injury or damage. Likewise, a trajectory of an opportunity includes all these factors plus safeguards and productive events. Each of these has a window of opportunity in terms of an accident incidence. Therefore damage is highly possible when this trajectory is crossing all the windows at all the stages of production. The safe operation control consists of two features – feedback and response. The theory points out that the most successful approach to manage the safety is by taken into consideration the failure types rather than the failure tokens. According to Westrum (1988) there are three groups of auctions – denial, repair and reform. The successful organization is taken actions in responding to safely data from the reform (bottom level). The fundamental distribution error relates to a personal incompetence of employee while on the other hand the fundamental surprise error is the situation when personal observation differs to a reality. Thus, taken into consideration these terms and experience from the past major accidents such as Chernobyl, the nature of a malfunction has to be considered not only as pure technical but also as socio-technical. The people’s contribution to accidents is dominating the machine failure risk. Example I investigated many serious accidents related to the natural gas transportation process. For instance, one emergency stop of the 3. 2-megawatt gas turbine was caused by the malfunction of a frequency meter. After an analysis of reports I concluded that technical maintenance of this device was conducted improperly. A responsible worker forgot to finish one procedure related to the metrology accuracy of this piece of equipment. Another example is when other gas turbine was stopped by alarm during normal working cycle. The reason for that was unplanned and uncoordinated upgrade of its automatic control system (ACS). From my point of view, the modern technology is very reliable and ACS is highly faultness but social factors as well as poor decision making are of the major reasons for emergency situations. For instance, social factors in Russia are included a low salary and the lack of a proper education. Reading 6. Beach (1993) A descriptive Image theory focuses on people’s individual decisions rather than group ones, and it is directly opposite to prescriptive classical theory of making decisions. There are also three decision-related images (structures), which have to be possessed by a decision maker. The value image is based on personal principles, behavior and beliefs. These are the sou rce for generating goals. Thus, the ultimate criteria for this is when the decision maker consider the values to be relevant. Therefore potential goals and actions, if they are inconsistent with the relevant principles, will be refused. The second image, which is called the trajectory image, includes potential goals, which have to be set and the third one, the strategic image, focuses on actions and plans that have to be performed for achieving targets. The important parts of the third image are tactic and forecast, which would be a crucial factors for monitoring a realisation progress of a particular goal. Decision-making process consists of two types of decisions such as adoption and progress which include the implementation of the compatibility and profitability tests. The compatibility test is based on both types of decisions and compares candidates to three images, whereas in contrast the profitability test relates to the adoption decision only and uses the outcome after performing the compatibility test. For instance, the compatibility test selects few candidates, who successfully crossed through a selection criteria and the profitability test therefore chooses the best candidate from the previous sorting. Another important part of the Image theory is the process of framing decisions which is the action when the goal is identified and the plan is alled back if one exists. The data from the practical research suggests that it is unlikely that the decision maker tend to change the selection criteria without changes in principles, goals and plans. Example I was involved into the process of interviewing new workers within the Natural gas industry. I had to employ personnel with sufficient technical knowledge and skills because they have to work with in hazardous areas and on potentially dangerous equipment. As a team leader I was hoping to find highly qualified workers with extensive experience for an average amount of salary. After performing several meetings and consultations with potential staff within this salary category I concluded that no one was able to pass the criteria and possess theoretical knowledge and practical achievements from previous work experience. Because of that I decided to change the working images by changing the criteria. Therefore, I focused on workers who possess theoretical knowledge with engineering ideas in complex. Although they did not have extensive experience, they satisfied basic criteria and were able to perform tasks within their role (maintenance and repair). And after this correction of principles I recruited staff for my team successfully. Reading 7. 3Â  Janis (1971) Groupthink is a way of thinking when members behave with a high level of concurrence and tend to adopt a soft line of criticism on colleague’s ideas or even on every critical issue. This is why they make inhumane decisions easily with serious consequences such as the huge number of people’s deaths. The more cohesive the group, the more the risk that the decision will be proposed without the deep analysis of other choices. There are eight major symptoms of groupthink such as invulnerability, irrationality, ignorance of moral principles, stereotyped and unrealistic positions, group pressure against any critical views, member’s self-censorship, unanimity tendency within a group and the mind guard which is to protect the decision from any kind of the feedback. These indicators are typical for a bad decision making process which in tern may results the inhumane decision with serious consequences. Several steps could be adopted to prevent any group from group thinking. In this case criticism should be accepted not only by members but also by a leader. Wide range of alternatives should also be taken into account as possible options. In a case of vital decisions several groups with different leaders should be established to work on the same problem. Before the final decision is made each member should discuss considerations in its unit of organisation and then provide a final response to the group. An outside expert should be invited to all meetings. One decision-maker within the group should criticise a position of the majority. In the case of consensus the group should organise the final meeting for listening and discussing any doubts against the final decision. Although these actions have also drawbacks. For instance, when growing crisis requests an immediate solution there is no time for discussions and implementing many steps for decision making. Another example might be that the risk of the leakage of vital information would significantly increases when outside specialists are involved. All in all, it seems to be clear that top priority should be given in the prevention of any policymaking unit from the group thinking. Behavioral scientists should also be involved into these processes. Example During my work in Russia a groupthink was played a crucial role because of many factors. Firstly, my colleagues were really close to each other and the company’s social policy was developed for this purpose. Therefore, we spent some days playing games and sports altogether. This resulted in the number of small close-connected teams within the group. Another point is that my boss had a top role during all the process of discussion. Therefore, I had een many examples of bad decision-making. For instance, the only criticism from experienced and old colleagues was taken into account despite obvious things that were given by young professionals. Another factor is that the small teams did know how to play games within this environment and how to speculate. From my point of view, taking into consideration the long-term period, most of the final decisions were satisfactory but insufficient. It means that the p rojects were performed according to the rules and practices within timelines. But it can be clearly seen that due to the lack of criticism, for example, the total cost of the projects was increased. This way if the rules and steps of good decision practice were implemented, the cost and efficiency would significantly increase. Reading 8. 2Â  Callon (1987) The development of the technology has been explained by many social scientists using different available methods but they have not taken into account the point that the issue of the technology itself can also be represented as a sociological tool for an analysis. This also leads to the changes in understanding the dynamics of technology. There are two sociological views on the dynamic of consumption, which were developed by sociologists Touraine and Bourdieu. Touraine showed that French consumers’ behavior mostly dictated by large monopolies and industry, whereas in contrast Bourdieu pointed out that competition between social classes within French society taken the first place in terms of consumption of goods and services. Therefore these theories were shown by battle between engineers of two powerful French companies in the early 1970s: Electricite de France (EDF) and Renault. Despite the fact that both of them successfully proposed the concept of an electric car (VEL), the EDF’s theory failed because of unsolved technological difficulties related to the area of science and economy of the VEL, but the Renault did survive in the market because it focuses on not only the technological factors but also on rational views. This is the controversial result, because from the sociological point of view Renault’ specialists won this battle by a chance nor by implementing genius technological ideas. This experience of engineers-sociologists is possible to use as a new methodological tool for exploring large sections of society as well as researching within the value of role of social movements in the progress of consumption. There is also a helpful tool which is named the actor network. It is the case when company’s technological strategy supported by many sections of society. It describes the dynamics of society in completely different way without using sociological explanations. Firstly, in the case of implications of radical innovations within a technological sector engineers must mix technical and scientific analysis with sociology. Secondly, the actors network approach is efficient because it takes into account outside factors, which are related to common concepts of systems. Example I was responsible for implementing the concept of using compressed natural gas (CNG) as fuel for private cars and municipal buses instead of regular petrol. I was focused on the public transport such as buses because of the potential reduction of pollutions as well as the decrease of the total cost of fuel consumption. Moreover, it was easier to install the necessary equipment on buses because the government agreed to subsidise the cost of these modifications. Whereas in contrast I concluded that private car owners would not agree with this idea because the Siberian region in Russia is a large area and the number of CNG filing stations was limited to only 7. Thus, it was clear for me that using CNG fuel people could not travel between major cities which is crucial factor. This approach was based on social behavior of people and their habits. Therefore, the main target for our new policy was a municipal transport within major cities.

Hpv types Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Hpv types - Essay Example This study showed that about 84% of the women had the knowledge regarding HPV with the high awareness amongst the participants of ages between 18 and 26 years. The study included the socioeconomic status and race as an associate of HPV and the HPV vaccine. The non Hispanic and the Hispanic African Americans were not aware of the HPV and the vaccine. (De Villiers et al, 2004) reported that the knowledge predictors regarding HPV and the required vaccine had a high perceived risk for the HPV, cervical cancer personal experience, having parents with a history of health care, and having an appointment of a doctor in the previous year in which the doctor gave the HPV vaccine information. A number of studies have reported the link between the parental intention predictors to the daughter vaccines and the rates of uptake for the HPV vaccine (Doorbar & Gallimore, 1987; Florin et al, 2002). Different studies in this field have reported that the cervical cancer proportion both high and low-grade squamons interaepithelial lesions as a result of the various genotypes of HPV (Harwood & Proby, 2002; Haverkos, H., 2004; Persson, Andersson, & Krantz, 1996) . This study reported some gaps in Africa, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe. With an exception of Europe, the other region had eight HPV types. These included HPV 31,33,35,45,52, and 58 which was differed in different regions (Parkin, 2006). From the conducted studies, there are limited studies that have contributed to the topic of the distribution of HPV types and incidence of cervical disease around the world. This review calls for more research on the distribution of HPV types and incidence of cervical disease around the world. This would be vital in determining the potent prophylactic vaccine which can treat higher percentage of cervical cancers irrespective of HPV types. Agorastos,

No topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 7

No topic - Essay Example This significantly affected the course of history of China as will be highlighted hereunder. The Qing Dynasty was the last powerful empire to rule China. As earlier stated, although it began very well in its bid to transform China into a powerful state, the dynasty encountered various internal and external challenges that impacted negatively on the course of China. Firstly, the dynasty was faced with internal wrangles that created political instability. This made it difficult for China to create a stable government to fulfill Chinas development agendas. Some of the notable internal wrangles that changed the course of Chinese history include the Nian rebellion of 1853-1868; the Mao rebellion of 1850-1872; the Red Turban rebellion of 1854-1857; and the Yunnan rebellion of 1855-1863. Secondly, the Qing Dynasty was characterized by high level of corruption thereby curtailing the developments that had begun to be realized in China. The dynasty also faced the problem of lack of an able Manchu leadership. Lack of strong leadership made it extremely difficult for the dynasty to pro mote the development of China. Apart from the internal issues, the course of Chinese history was also greatly affected by external factors. Firstly, the defeat of Qing government in the 19th century by foreign powers resulted in the imposition of unequal treaties on China, which greatly impacted negatively on China. For instance, the imposition of the unequal treaties, politically infringed on the national rights of China, thereby resulting in a downfall. Secondly, the imperialism of the foreign economies worsened the social suffering in China. For instance, the increased importation of cheap textile goods from foreign countries by the Qing government resulted in the collapse of most Chinese industries. The Qing dynasty also destroyed the economy of China by promoting unfavorable balance of trade, thereby resulting in the decline of the

Islamic Teachings Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Islamic Teachings - Essay Example Islam being a diverse religious, has crossed many cultural boundaries where people of various regions have been influenced by its doctrines and rituals and have adapted it to their specific contexts (Bassiri, 1997, p. 43). Islam, is a religion of peace that promotes equality and justice to humanity, and unlike what it is perceived in many cultures as 'a religion of spirituality', Islam has no room for the spiritual dimension. In fact, Islam teaches discipline and a balance in worldly affairs and believes in rationality. This has been the major distinction to what Islam is and what it is perceived in many countries, particularly Islam in South Asia. Similarly, the problem also arises with the discrimination factor of the religion. Koran says, to be one nation, believe in one God and do not discriminate. This notion is never followed, because there are two main sects in this religion, 'Sunnis' and 'Shiites'. Thus, the problem between Islamic teachings and practice is that it varies according to different cultural perceptions and practice. Such variation also occurs for the reason that since Koran is in Arabic, Muslims, who are unaware of Arabic language, often make a distinction between the Koran and a translation of the Koran. This variation has always been considered normal for the main teachings that Muslims are aware of, are commonly practiced in every region and culture. However, difference lies in their interpretation, due to distinct cultures and variations in practices. Translations into the local languages of the Islamic world, are not independent books, but rather interlinear commentaries on the meaning of the text and aids to make the teachings of Islam more simpler to understand. Islam - a monotheist religion recognizes the significance of correct practice, as this is what makes people Muslims and that, for most people, correct belief rests upon correct practice (Murata & Chittick, 1994, p. 9). This study centers around how Islam entered into cultural settings, and how it is perceived and to what extent the teachings are variated in countries like United States, Britain, Middle East, India and Pakistan, along with comparisons from Christianity and Judaism. To what degree Islamic teachings as perceived in various cultural settings contrast with other and what are the ways to assess the interaction between Muslims and non-Muslims communities Islam in the United States and Great Britain Islam in the U.S and UK reflects not only the values and particularities of indigenous cultures of the West, but also of almost all the Islamic communities of the world. By the turn of the fifteenth century, Muslims throughout the peninsula were forced to choose among the unfortunate alternatives of conversion to Christianity, emigration, or death. Many who chose the first, continued to practice their faith in secret, maintaining a hidden conclave of Islam for centuries. Others, when tried openly to rebel suffered through expulsion from the

Movies and Movements Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Movies and Movements - Essay Example Human history is full of moments when collective effort was needed to address public concerns. And the history of films is full of examples when the medium was used to rally collective effort. Such movies never failed to get the attention of people and stir them to action. The ability of movies to influence mass audiences has been made use of for a long time. Since the 30s and the 40s movies were used to glorify western culture, to strengthen religion and faith, to celebrate freedom, to decry communism and collectivism and to extol individual achievement and the American Dream. For many Americans the 1930s was a period of contradiction. What started out as the land of dreams was slowly playing out as a land of nightmares. Democracy, capitalism, individualism and the optimism that was based on them were all proving to be myths. Milk, honey and the good life were all mere dreams; reality was a dire struggle for survival. You simply had to see it to believe that such suffering could have existed in America. (Sutton) In the decades that preceded the 1930s settlers from the North and East flocked to the southern plains lured by the promise of an abundance of fertile soil and a happy life. The first few years looked as if they were on the way to achieving their dream. And then came a period of extended drought, which arguably is the worst drought of America. It was a double whammy of sorts. ... Desperate, many of them had to pack up and leave with their families, in search of work, to provide for their families. "The Dust Bowl was the result of a series of dust storms in the central United States and Canada from 1931 to 1939, caused by decades of inappropriate farming techniques" (Dust Bowl) Although there was both government and private effort to help ease the situation, farming communities were not able to tide things over. "Private charities like the Red Cross also helped, but in general the level of assistance available prior to 1933 was minimal (Gregory 14)". People relocated. Often this relocation was as much a nightmare as their life in the dust bowl. But ultimately true grit and hope in the face of adversity were the qualities helped farmers to weather this period. This is the message that films like "The Grapes of Wrath" carried to the suffering masses. 3 The Grapes of Wrath The film explicitly depicts the socio-economic impact of the Great Depression, and the drought of the 1930s on the thousands of displaced farmers from Oklahoma, Colorado, the Texas Panhandle and Western Kansas farmers in general and one family in particular - the Joads. The opening scene is set in Oklahoma. It shows a figure walking in the distance. The figure is Tom Joad on his way back to his family's sharecropping farm. Tom hitches a ride part of the way and then he encounters Jim Casey on the road sitting under a willow tree. Casey is an ex-preacher and together they head towards Tom's farm. When they reach the decrepit Joad cabin they find nobody there. A few moments later a figure emerges from the shadow. He is Muley Graves one of Tom's neighbors. Muley Graves is an instance of an individual who is so shattered at having lost his land that he is literally

Obstacles to Foreign Carmakers with the Expansion of the Market in Essay

Obstacles to Foreign Carmakers with the Expansion of the Market in Russia - Essay Example As people over there have already started buying cars compared to what the scenario was before, I think it is a good idea to give them more ideas by inviting the best of the best car makers to sell their variants. There are few obstacles which are faced by foreign car makers in Russia. For instance, those business accomplices who needed to put resources into Russia experienced certain issues like conflicting laws and terms, the absence of law authorization, boundless debasement, unusual natures domain, and wheel and deal transactions, does not give any particular assessment or import obligation help to remote investors. As most of the spare parts are locally made, there is a highly charged tax for imported parts. Russia’s domestic carmakers are facing fierce competitions from foreign counterparts as many local firms in other countries might do upon the arrivals of foreign firms. Do you think the strategies of Russia’s domestic carmakers will work? Why Ever since the arrival of foreign car makers in Russia, the domestic counterparts are facing a fierce challenge from them. The reason is the better offering offerings of model and features by those international cars. Till now the domestic car makers had the strategy of manufacturing low-cost cars for people to purchase the market for cars was not so developed over there. But now that there has been a rise in the economy and the people have higher disposable income, the trend has changed. The locals are looking forward to latest models and better features which is being offered by these foreign manufacturers. The domestic manufacturers also need to understand the requirement of the consumers and make cars with better features and  design to suit their needs.

Consumer behaviour Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Consumer behaviour - Assignment Example True to John’s case, he had a need for replacing the television he had lost due to burglary. He got an insurance compensation, and this; therefore, put him at the point of need to find another television set. Mr John explains that he could not imagine staying any longer in that state of boredom without getting a TV set, and this prompted him to think of how to capture one. Need recognition entails identifying the need, which he or she has to satisfy. This marks the beginning of the buying process. Notably, the identification of the need is the foundation of the buying process, since the customer has to satisfy an existing need. In this case, the desire to watch movies or TV programs was the process of the need recognition that led to the identification of T.V as the only thing that would satisfy the need to watch movies and programs and reduce boredom. Notably, need recognition is the most significant stage of the buying process because without a need there is no purchase. The second step involves the search for relevant information on the product identified that can satisfy the need. In this case, the customer looks around to identify the best product that would satisfy the need (Singh, 2007). Notably, the customer seeks for the best product in the market that would solve their problem. In this case, the search for relevant information would involve a search for information on TV sets from distinct manufacturers in the market. Most customers search for information through friends, relatives, adverts, the internet and catalogs and other booklets (Armstrong, 2009). In his response on whether he searched for various products before settling on Sony T.V, he acknowledged that he browsed the internet in search of different models and brands. He gave the reason for this as the fact that he did not want to buy the same model he had lost to burglary since its spare parts were not readily available at the local electronic shops.