A close Reading/critique of Jorge Luis Boges short story the theme of the traitor and the hero in his book collected fictions Free Essay Example, 1500 words

Because of its great length compared to a single lifespan, human beings have never observed this greater year and have no name for it (39d). So far Plato. But, in the centuries intervening between Plato and Yeats, the idea took on a life of its own (Mann). It became associated with the Hesiodic ages of mythological history (Gold, Silver, Bronze, Heroic, and Iron), and with the precession of the equinoxes (the apparent motion of the whole celestial sphere imparted by a slight wobble of the earths rotation, not known until centuries after Platos time), and with apocalyptic ideas of world ages in human history and their repetition; their exact repetition, so that another Argo will sail, Achilles will be born and die again (as described in Vergils Fourth Eclogue). By Yeats time, all of this had been mixed with modern historiography and Christian myth into a Theosophical, occultist mishmash of determinism, cycle, and apocalyptic. By invoking this overgrown theme through his quotation, Bo rges establishes the themes of determinism and inevitability moving through the ages for his narrative. Borges begins his story by telling the reader that he is not writing a story. We will write a custom essay sample on A close Reading/critique of Jorge Luis Boges' short story the theme of the traitor and the hero in his book collected fictions or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page

Is Helen A Woman Or A Hoe - 1266 Words

Is Helen a Women or a Hoe? In the Iliad, there are a handful of women that do not possess agency or the ability to make changes. Though the book is based on the Trojan War that was started over Helen, a woman, she has no direct control over her position in the battle. One may argue that â€Å"the rage† that is so commonly referred to throughout the Iliad is the direct outcome of Agamemnon’s decision to take away Achilles’ prize, Briseis, meaning that women do have an effect, but this situation only emphasizes that Briseis is an object, in the eyes of Agamemnon and Achilles, that can be traded and stolen to measure the amount of honor a man holds. Throughout the Iliad, the reader sees a variation of women, some with prominent roles and others with minor roles; the difference in the amount of time Homer allows each female character to speak or be spoken about has absolutely no effect on the agency or influence a character has. Since the women vary in roles and amount of speaking parts, it’s natural for a reader to think that those variations can be correlated with the character’s agency and ability to make change, but this is not true in the Iliad, because all of the women, regardless of their speaking roles, lack agency and influence. The affect of a female character can be measured by the response she receives from men. Since Chryseis’s has a non-speaking role, the way she is categorized by Agamemnon and her father are very important in developing an accurate evaluation of herShow MoreRelatedFinding Balance: Howards End Argumentative Essay1495 Words   |  6 Pagesone middle ground, or finding balance and proportion. This is accomplished through the behavior and attitudes of three essential characters; Helen Schlegel, Margaret Wilcox nee Schlegel, and Henry Wilcox. Helen is a character who is the epitome of immaturity and passion. Throughout the novel, she is described as a flighty, unrealistic, young woman. She is quick to find trouble, but is even quicker in running away from those troubles. From the very beginning, Helen’s passion and immaturityRead MoreMandinka Empire21578 Words   |  87 Pagesfa (father), lula (5), konondo (9), and other words for numbers, jambo (leaf), jiyo (water), juso (liver, a â€Å"good liver† commonly means good-natured today in Pakao), kidola (gun), kemu (man), kodo (silver, incidentally also money in Pakao), musolu (woman), musonding (girl), sajano (harvest season), safero (to write), sali (to pray), sama (rainy season), sani (gold, to purchase), solo (leopard), somanda (morning), yiro (tree), tiyo (master), warata (large), tilo (sun), tilibo (eastern land, in PakaoRead MoreThe taste of melon by borden deal11847 Words   |  48 Pagesthough he dared the earth not to yield him its sustenance. Above all, Mr. Wills could raise watermelons. Now, watermelons are curious things. Some men can send off for the best watermelon seed, they can plant it in the best ground they own, they can hoe it and tend it with the greatest of care, and they can’t raise a melon bigger than your two fists. Other men, like Mr. Wills, can throw seed on the ground, scuff dirt over it, walk off and leave it, and have a crop of the prettiest, biggest melonsRead MoreIgbo Dictionary129408 Words   |  518 Pagesam particularly grateful to my reviewers, who pointed out some of the glaring errors; I hope they will find this edition at least slightly less faulty. I am very grateful to Dr (now Professor) E.N. Emenanjá » , Mr (now Dr) P.A. Anagbogu, and to Miss Helen Joe Okeke and Miss Ifeoma Okoye, students of Alvan Ikoku College of Education, Owerri, for last-minute [sic] help on the grammatical section of the introduction; and to the late Mr A.E. Ahunanya, Mrs Dorothy Njoku, and Miss Mercy Harry for their care

American Election Free Essays

string(152) " factors arise from early socialization at home and in school and from affiliations with voluntary associations, workplaces and religious institutions\." Proponents also point out that, far from diminishing minority interests by depressing voter participation, the Electoral College actually enhances the status of minority groups. This is so because the votes of even small minorities in a state may make the difference between winning all of that state’s electoral votes or none of that state’s electoral votes. And since ethnic minority groups in the United States happen to concentrate in those states with the most electoral votes, they assume an importance to presidential candidates well out of proportion to their number. We will write a custom essay sample on American Election or any similar topic only for you Order Now The same principle applies to other special interest groups such as labor unions, farmers, environmentalists and so forth. Most states use a winner-take-all system, in which the candidate with the most votes in that state receives all of the state’s electoral votes. This gives candidates an incentive to pay the most attention to states without a clear favorite, such as Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida. For example, California, Texas and New York, in spite of having the largest populations, have in recent elections been considered safe for a particular party; Democratic for California New York; Republican for Texas, and therefore candidates typically devote relatively few resources, in both time and money, to such states It is possible to win the election by winning all of eleven states and disregarding the rest of the country. In the close elections of 2000 and 2004, these eleven states gave 111 votes to Republican candidate George W. Bush and 160 votes to Democratic candidates Al Gore and John Kerry. Part 2. How the Electoral College system in the general election fail to ensure that the presidential candidate who wins the most votes becomes president. One way in which a minority president could be elected is if the country were so deeply divided politically that there were three or more presidential candidates split the electoral votes among them such that no one obtained the necessary majority. This occurred in 1824 and was successfully attempted in 1948. Those who object to the Electoral College system and favor a direct popular election generally do so on four grounds: the possibility of electing a minority president, the risk of so-called faithless electors, the possible role of the Electoral College in depressing voter turn out and its failure to accurately reflect the national popular will. A faithless voter is one who pledge to vote for his or her party’s candidate for president but nevertheless votes for another candidate. In this way the Electoral College may fail to ensure that the presidential candidate who has the most votes becomes president. On the concern of the possible role of the Electoral College in depressing voter turn out critics argue that since each state is entitled to the same number of electoral votes regardless of its voter turnout, there is no incentive to encourage voter participation. The college fails to accurately reflect the national popular will in at least two respects. First the distribution of Electoral votes in the college tends to over-represent people in rural states. This is because the number of Elector for each state is determined by the number if members it has in the House (which more or less reflects the state’s population size) plus the number of members it has in the senate (which is always two regardless of the states population). A second way in which the Electoral College fails to accurately reflect the national popular will stem primarily from winner-take-all mechanism whereby the presidential candidate who wins the most poplar votes in the state wins all the Electoral votes of that state. One effect of this mechanism is to make it extremely difficult for third-party or independent candidates ever to make much of showing in the Electoral College. If for example, a third party or independent candidate were to win the support of even as many as 25% of the voters nationwide, he might still end up with no Electoral College votes at all unless he won a plurality of votes in at least the state. And even if he managed to win a few states, his support elsewhere would not be reflected. By thus failing to accurately reflect the national popular will, the argument goes, the Electoral College reinforces a two party system, discourages third party or independent candidates and thereby tends to restrict choice available to the electorate. Part 3 How some groups have much higher turnover rates than? Low turnout is often considered to be undesirable and there is much debate over the factors that affect turnout and how to increase it. Its case has been attributed to a wide array of economic, demographic, cultural, technological and institutional factors. A high turnover is generally seen as evidence of the legitimacy of the current system. Socioeconomic factors significantly affect whether or not individuals vote. The most important socioeconomic factor in voter turnout is education. The more educated a person, the more likely he or she is to vote, even when controlled for other factors such as income and class that are closely associated with education level. Income has some effect independently. Wealthier people are more likely to vote regardless of their educational background. Other demographic factors have an important influence: young people are far less likely to vote than the elderly and single people are less likely to vote than those who are married. Occupation has little effect on turnover with the notable exception of higher voting rates among government employees in many countries. Generally speaking, the lower voters’ education level and lower voters’ income level, the less likely they are to vote. For example, college graduates in some recent election have had turnout levels nearly twice that of those who have not finished high school. Some individuals possess more politically relevant sources, like income and education, than others, some are more interested in public affairs and some are more likely to be recruited to participate. These factors arise from early socialization at home and in school and from affiliations with voluntary associations, workplaces and religious institutions. You read "American Election" in category "Papers" Public policies can confer resources, motivate interest in government affairs by trying well-being to government action, define groups for mobilization and even shape the content and meaning of democratic citizenship. These effects are positive for some groups, like senior citizens, raising their participation levels. A surge in black voters’ turnout is often cited as a central factor in Jimmy Carter’s 1976 election victory. Beginning with Parenti (1967), many scholars advanced an â€Å"ethnic community† theory to explain why members of major ethnic groups in American cities (particularly the Irish, Italians and Jews) participated politically at rates much higher than their levels of education and income would predict. According to this theory, socially marginalized groups developed strong communal norms of participation to which there is considerable pressure within the group to conform. Political and social participation in elections asserts the importance of minority groups within the larger society. As such, all members of the group are expected to have interest. Part 4 How campaign contributions from Political Action Committees may tilt the political system toward big moneyed interests. Citizens with lower or moderate incomes speak with a whisper that is lost on the ears of inattentive government officials, while the advantaged roar with a clarity and consistency that policy-makers readily hear and routinely follow. As people become more concentrated and the flow of money into elections has grow campaign contributions give the affluent a means to express their voice that is unavailable to most citizens. Government is expected to help ensure equal opportunity for all, not to tilt toward those who already have wealth and power. Even more clearly, Americans celebrate and expect equal democratic rights. Americans fervently believe that everyone should have an equal say in our democratic politics, helping to shape what government does. They embrace whole-heartedly the ideal enunciated by the U. S. Declaration of Independence that â€Å"all men are created equal, â€Å"which in our time means that every citizen regardless of income, gender, race, and ethnicity should have an equal voice in representative government. The government is run by a few big interests looking out only for themselves. Campaign contributors do not represent the interests of the majority citizens. In 2000, an income of over $ 100,000 was found only in 12 percent of American households. 95 percent of campaign contributors were from these households. Political contributors or moneyed interests are not bribing politicians directly. What moneyed interests and wealthy citizens do gain from contributing hugely is influence on the people who run for office and an audience with these people once they get to power. Essay #2 Part 1 Why the US has only two parties represented in its legislature unlike other established democracies. Too much partisanship can be fatal to democracy. The weakness of parties can also pose dangers. In a legislature with weak party attachments, it may prove impossible to pass needed legislation. The result, as in Yeltsin’s Russia is often resort to presidential decrees or even the forcible disbanding of the legislature. Conversely, legislators may be easily wooed by a president through patronage or less savory means. In countries with weak parties like the Philippines and Korea, it has been common for presidents elected without a legislative majority to acquire one through massive party defections. Indeed, one of the areas in which the dozens of new democracies established in the past two decades have been least successfully is the creation of strong and stable political parties committed to democracy. In part, this reflects the impossibility of crafting a party system unlike most other key democratic political institutions, parties cannot be legislated into existence. At the same time it reflects a global trend, as political parties seem to be increasingly enfeebled institutions in the more established democracies as well. Almost everywhere, parties no longer command the loyalty or confidence they once did and the number of independent voters and ticket-splitters has grown. The US uses the principle of proportional representation which in essence means that parties or blocks of like minded voters should win seats in legislative assemblies to their share of the popular vote. A two party system is the only way to practice this principle. The cultural diversities in US are well catered for in a two party system. Having many parties in such a diverse society would mean that the real views of the people would not be reflected. More over a majority would be hard to achieve with many parties being represented in the legislature. Part 2 Why turnout in the US is so low compared to other established democracies? The US is one of the few countries require citizens to get themselves registered to vote, rather than having the government pro-actively making sure that all voters are on the electoral rolls, usually through some form of automatic and permanent registration on achieving voting age. On the one hand, in the United States, registration requirements are a serious barrier to political participation. There are many reasons why turnout in the US is as low as it is. Voters have to want to go to the polls and believe that their votes will matter. Many voters are disaffected from two political parties, turned off by negative campaigning, intimidated by the long ballots, and bothered by the lack of clear accountability in the crazy guilt federal system. The election laws themselves make it more difficult for people to participate. For example Election Day is usually on a weekday (the first Tuesday in November for presidential and congressional elections) and it may be difficult for people to get away from work to vote. A more direct reduction in participation is brought about by laws in many states that bar convicted criminals from the political process. Approximately five millions Americans are unable to participate in the elections for these reasons. Other countries have found more direct ways to ensure high voter turnout such as making voting compulsory. In Australia, citizens who do not vote are subject to paying a fine and in Belgium, repeated failure to vote can lead to having your right to vote permanently cancelled. In America voting is not compulsory. The governments of most established countries take the responsibility of registering as many eligible voters as possible. In the US it is the sole responsibility of the individual to register for voting. If the costs and benefits that Americans encounter are markedly different than those encountered by citizens of other countries, then that should explain why the US turnout rate is so low. America’s unique registration laws accounted for roughly half the difference between US turnout rates and those of other advanced industrialized democracies in the 1960s and 1970s. Part 3. Advantages and disadvantages of the American style of candidate centered politics. The decline of American political parties in recent decades has made strength of partisanship even more important in predicting who votes. The rise of candidate-centered politics and the decline of partisanship can explain this phenomenon. When the focus of campaigns was on two parties rather than many candidates for many offices, everyone gained at least somewhat from picking choosing ones favorite candidates from both parties. Thus even those who did not identify with a party in the past could benefit from the partisan manner by which the campaigns were conducted. In the candidate-centered environment now, by contrast, the mobilizing effects of party competition have been felt more disproportionately according to ones level of party identification. The result has been rising inequality of turnout rates according to partisan strength. Voters in parliamentary systems are becoming more candidates centered in their voting, compared to voters in presidential systems. At the same time, it would appear that voters in presidential systems are evaluating candidates in a more instrumental and less partisan way. More so than in the past, candidates’ campaigns are self sufficient organizations indirectly dependent on political parties. And as agents of information, campaigns are replacing parties as the primary source of information about the candidates. Reference: Franklin, Mark (2001) â€Å"The Dynamics of Participation in the Electoral Process†. In Comparing Democracies: Elections and Voting in Global Perspective 2, ed. Laurence Leduc, Richard Niemi and Pippa Norris. Thousand Oaks CA: Sage, in press How to cite American Election, Papers

Bp Csr free essay sample

Strategic Corporate Social Responsibilities and Law Contents BP Company Info3 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Event4 Summary of the Deepwater Horizon Event5 Stock price before and after Deepwater Horizon7 Impact on Stakeholders8 BP’s Oil Spills and Corporate Social Responsibility9 Inadequate disclosure on the oil spill event11 Recommendations for BP to get reputation back13 Conclusion14 BP Company Info BP is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured in terms of their revenues and stock prices. It is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading. It also has major renewable energy activities, including in biofuels, hydrogen, solar and wind power. BP has operations in over 80 countries and produces around 3. 8 million barrels of oil per day and has 22,400 service stations worldwide. Its largest division is BP America, which is the biggest producer of oil and gas in the United States and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. As at 31 December 2010 it had total proven commercial reserves of 18. 7 billion barrels of oil. [1] The name BP derives from the initials of one of the companys former legal names, British Petroleum. [2] BPs track record of corporate social responsibility has been mixed. The company has been involved in a number of major environmental and safety incidents and received criticism for its political influence. However, in 1997, it became the first major oil company to publicly acknowledge the need to take steps against climate change, and in that year established a company-wide target to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases. BP currently invests over $1 billion per year in the evelopment of renewable energy sources, and has committed to spend $8 billion on renewable in the 2005 to 2015 period. Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Event The Deepwater Ho rizon oil spill (also referred to as the BP oil spill, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the BP oil disaster)[1] is an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico which flowed for three months in 2010. It is the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. [2] The spill come out from a sea-floor oil gusher that resulted from the April 20, 2010, explosion of Deepwater Horizon, which drilled on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect. The explosion killed 11 men working on the platform and injured 17 others. [3] On July 15, 2010, the leak was stopped by capping the gushing wellhead, after it had released about 4. 9 million barrels of crude oil. [3] An estimated 53,000 barrels per day escaped from the well just before it was capped. It is believed that the daily flow rate diminished over time, starting at about 62,000 barrels per day and decreasing as the reservoir of hydrocarbons feeding the gusher was gradually depleted. [1] On September 19, 2010, the relief well process was successfully completed, and the federal government declared the well sealed. 3] The spill caused extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats and to the Gulfs fishing and tourism industries. [4] In late November 2010, 4,200 square miles of the Gulf were re-closed to shrimp-fishing after tar balls were found in shrimpers nets. The amount of Louisiana shoreline affected by oil grew from 287 km in July to 320 km in late November 2010. In Jan uary 2011, an oil spill commissioner reported that tar balls continue to wash up, oil sheen trails are seen in the wake of fishing boats, wetlands marsh grass remains fouled and dying, and that crude oil lies offshore in deep water and in fine silts and sands onshore. 18] A research team found oil on the bottom of the seafloor in late February 2011 that did not seem to be degrading. Skimmer ships, floating containment booms, anchored barriers, sand-filled barricades along shorelines, and dispersants were used in an attempt to protect hundreds of miles of beaches, wetlands, and estuaries from the spreading oil. Scientists have also reported immense underwater plumes of dissolved oil not visible at the surface as well as an 8 km? kill zone surrounding the blown well. [1] The U. S. Government has named BP as the responsible party, and officials have committed to holding the company accountable for all cleanup costs and other damage. [2] After its own internal probe, BP admitted that it made mistakes which led to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Summary of the Deepwater Horizon Event February 15, 2010 – Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, owned by Transocean, begins drilling on the Macondo Prospect. [6] The planned well was to be drilled to 18,000 feet (5,500 m) below sea level, and was to be plugged and suspended for subsequent completion as a subsea producer. April 6, 2010– The Department of the Interior exempted BPs Gulf of Mexico drilling operation from a detailed environmental impact study after concluding that a massive oil spill was unlikely. March 17, 2010 – BP Chief Tony Hayward sells one third of his BP stock (223,288 shares). [6] Closing BP price on March 17 on the New York Stock Exchange is 58. 15. April 17, 2010 – Deepwater Horizon completes its drilling and the well is being prepared to be cemented so that another rig will retrieve the oil. The blowout preventer is tested and found to be functional. [8] Gagliano now reports that using only 6 centralizers would likely produce channeling and a failure of the cement job. April 20, 2010 7 am – BP cancels a recommended cement bond log test. Conducting the test would have taken 9–12 hours and $128,000. By canceling the cement test BP paid only $10,000. Crew leaves on 11:15 am flight. BP officials gather on the platform to celebrate seven years with out an injury on the rig. The planned moving of the Deepwater Horizon to another location was 43 days past due and the delay had cost BP $21 million. :45 p. m. CDT – Gas, oil and concrete from the Deepwater Horizon explode up the wellbore onto the deck and then catches fire. The explosion kills 11 platform workers and injures 17 others; another 98 people survive without serious physical injury. April 22 10:21 am – Rig sinks. April 27, 2010 – Slick grows to 160 km across and 32 km from Louisiana coast. June 6, 2010 – BP abandons plans to close three remaining vents on the containment cap noting that with one vent it is capturing as much oil as it can handle. July 24, 2010 BP says an internal investigation has cleared itself of gross negligence in the spill and will publish the findings in the next month. August 4, 2010 – BP reports that the well achieved â€Å"static condition† shortly after midnight after drilling mud is said to now fill the well. September 29, 2010 – Andy Inglis, who headed deepwater drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico at the time of the spill, steps down as head of the upstream business. October 1, 2010 – Thad W. Allen, the retired Coast Guard admiral leading the federal response to the BP oil spill, stepped down. December 15, 2010 According to a feature Associated Press story on the homepage of Time Magazine, the U. S. federal government is suing BP Exploration and Production, Inc. , and eight other corporations, for unlimited liability, in an effort to have them pay for the massive expenses involved in the cleanup and environmental recovery from the spill, including damages to natural resources; it also seeks civil penalties under the Clean Water Act. Stock price before and after Deepwater Horizon First quarter 2011 (After) (Before) | First uarter 2011| Fourth quarter 2010| First quarter 2010| $ million| | | | Profit for the period(a)| 7,124 | 5,567| 6,079| Inventory holding (gains) losses, net of tax| (1,643)| (953)| (481)| Replacement cost profit| 5,481| 4,614| 5,598| | | | | -per ordinary share (cents)| 29. 13| 24. 55| 29. 82| -per ADS (dollars)| 1. 75| 1. 47| 1. 79| BPs first-quarter replacement cost profit was $5,481 million, compared with $5,598 million a year ago. The group income st atement for the first quarter reflects a pre-tax charge of $0. 4 billion related to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. All charges relating to the incident have been treated as non-operating items. Share prices for the five companies connected most directly to the Deepwater Horizon disaster have taken their lumps since the April 20 event, with analysts watching the ticker closely April 30. A review of closing New York Stock Exchange prices for those companies from April 19 to April 30 shows Macondo field operator BP off 12%, Macondo field partner Anadarko Petroleum down 15. 2%, rig operator Transocean down 18%, blowout preventer supplier Cameron International off 11. 9% and well cementer Halliburton down 2. 9%. Although Halliburton had gained from the day before the incident through April 28, the companys shares took a steep 5% drop on April 29 with news about the roles of the companies gaining wider attention. Impact on Stakeholders Jack Gerard, President of The American Petroleum Institute (API), stated that disasters are infrequent and that the Deepwater Horizon is an isolated incident. [9] By touting the aggregate safety record of the industry API has refuted any claims of a loss of industry wide credibility. API has also stated that the offshore drilling industry is important to job creation and economic growth. 9] To help prevent a recurrence of the Deepwater Horizon spill, API is setting up its own offshore safety institute that will be separate from APIs lobbying organization. During congressional testimony, key API stakeholders such as Chevron’s CEO John Watson, made an open admission to the industry’s credibility gap stating â€Å"For our industry, this is a humblin g experience. The American people expect that the energy we need will be produced safely and reliably. That did not happen here†. [10] Furthermore, ExxonMobil’s CEO Rex Tillerson, testified that, â€Å"When these things happen, we are not well equipped to deal with them. Additionally, ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Shell have made plans to fund a billion dollar joint venture to build a new rapid response capability for deep water offshore drilling response in the Gulf of Mexico. National Incident Commander (NIC), retired Admiral Thad Allen said that the underlying problem with this response was the lack of adequate capability to quickly stop the massive amount of oil discharging from 5000 feet below the Gulfs surface. Neither the private nor public sector was prepared for an event that was not supposed to happen. BPs chief of operations for American EP, Doug Suttles, has warned that the containment concept has never been tested at these water depths either and said it might be three more weeks before it is ready to test. Weve mounted the largest response effort ever done in the world and utilized every technology available, Suttles said in his companys defense. We understand that we need to bring this event to closure as soon as possible. A broad range of stakeholders came together in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon incident to provide effective solutions and build new capabilities. It would have been extremely difficult for any one company alone to address challenges on the scale of the Deepwater Horizon incident. BP’s Oil Spills and Corporate Social Responsibility Basically Corporate social responsibility is the detailed issues on which an organisation exceeds its minimum required obligations to stakeholders. CSR means that a corporation should be held accountable for any of its actions that affect their people, their communities and their environment. It implies that negative business impacts on people and society should be acknowledged and corrected if at all possible. It may require a company to forgo some profits if its social impacts are seriously harmful to some of the corporations stakeholders or if its funds can be used to promote a positive social good. CSR is the degree of responsibility manifested in a company’s strategies and operating practices as they impact stakeholders and the natural environment day to day. Some level of responsibility is integral to any corporate action or decision that has impacts. CSR cannot be avoided because it is the root or foundation of Corporate Citizenship. CSR covers all aspects of corporate governance. It is about how companies conduct their business in an ethical way, taking account of their impact economically, socially, environmentally and in terms of human rights. This moves beyond traditional business stakeholders such as shareholders or local suppliers. CSR includes social partners such as local communities, and global responsibilities such as protecting the environment and ensuring good labour standards in overseas suppliers. CSR also includes relationships with employees and customers. It also involves working in partnership with other organisations or groups. It can be seen as a form of strategic management, encouraging the organisation to scan the horizon and think about how its relationships will contribute long-term to its bottom line in a constantly changing world. On 22nd June 2010, BP announced that it will donate the net revenue it receives from the sale of oil recovered from the MC252 spill to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. NFWF, whose mission is to preserve and restore Americas native wildlife species and habitats, will direct this money to projects that bring the greatest benefit to the wildlife of the affected Gulf Coast States. BP will provide $5 million to NFWF immediately, to ensure that their work can begin even as initial oil collections from the Discoverer Enterprise enter the refining process. BPs chief executive officer Tony Hayward said that, With its successful 25-year track record of identifying and funding solutions to Americas toughest conservation challenges, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is a strong and responsible steward for this money from the wildlife fund. BP said as well it has paid $104 million to residents along the Gulf Coast for claims filed as a result of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. BP has issued more than 31,000 checks in the past seven weeks. BP claims team member Darryl Willis said, Our focus has been on getting money into the hands of fishermen, shrimpers, condo owners and others who have not been able to earn income due to the spill, of the . We have also been addressing the larger, more complex claims and have been successful in sending more checks to commercial entities. BP has received about 64,000 claims to date. A 1,000-member claim team is working around the clock to receive and process claims. There are 33 field offices set up in the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, and BP is accepting calls through an 800 number as well as accepting applications online. BP has received about 84,000 calls on the claims alone. Inadequate disclosure on the oil spill event 1. * BP completely neglects to list the amount of oil, CO2, and methane released as a result of the Deepwater Horizon disaster under its BP in Figures environmental impact chart which is highlighted in green(above). 2. At the bottom of the BPs report page, BP explains in tiny letters that he Gulf spill was left out of these calculations because Although there are several third-party estimates of the flow rate or total volume of oil spilled from the Deepwater Horizon incident, we believe that no accurate determination can be made or reported until further information is collected and the analysis, such as the condition of the blowout preventer, is completed. And as for those CO2 emissions, BP explains We have not included any emissions from the Deepwater Horizon incident and the response effort due to our reluctance to report data that has such a high degree of uncertainty. * This shows that BP left out the largest oil spill data on purpose which they could have actually made any kind of estimation. 3. BP dedicates two sections of the 50 page reportHow BP is Changing, and the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spillto the spill. In the How BP is Changing section, BP claims that it is working on improving safety and operation risk, values and behaviours, technology, and contractor management, among other things. Unfortunately, the report only skims the surface of these issues. Under behaviours underlined above, a report published by the US Department of Interior has alleged that certain BP staff members tasked with overseeing offshore drilling routinely watched porn on government computers and smoked crystal methamphetamine. 4. When addressing how to prevent future oil spills, BP explains that i t is working on better safety metrics with the Center for Chemical Process Safety, the American Petroleum Institute, American National Standards Institute, and its industry peers. The company also said that it has Enhanced training and development programmes, particularly around the practical aspects of process safety techniques, and that it is creating a new integrity monitoring system for its refineries. The improved safety metrics and integrity monitoring will be helpful, to be sure, but BP neglects to explain what it is doing differently in the short term. 5. A quote from BP directors: From the beginning, BP worked to fight the spill and minimize its impact on the environment. These efforts helped to reduce the amount of oil that reached the shore and environmentally sensitive marsh areas. . * The Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill section is filled with bland assurances from BP that it did everything it possibly could following the spill. Yet, they neglect to give an estimation of how much oil was spilled, which is the important part of the whole report. 6. The Economist columnist Critic Clive Crook said, The proper guardians of the public interests are governments, which are accountable to all citizens. It is the job of elected politicians to set goals for regulators, to deal with externalities, to mediate among different interests, to attend to the demands of social justice, to provide the public goods and to organise resources accordingly. Recommendations for BP to get reputation back BP should conduct a review of the quality of the services provided by those cementing companies in charge of building BP offshore rigs, so that such event in Deepwater Horizon where the oil rig sank do not happen again. BP directors should propose to the API the development of a good practice for design and testing of new cement in high-pressure and high-temperature applications, so that if fire do occur in offshore rigs, it will not be as dramatic as the Deepwater Horizon. Strengthen BP’s rig audit process or find the Big 4 audit firms to oversee all auditing. This is to improve the closure and verification of audit findings and actions across all drilling rigs owned by BP. BP should devel op an advanced deepwater well control training program and ensure trainings are done. In the Deepwater Horizon event, when the well exploded and engineers could not close the valve in time, for each second wasted, tons of oil are flowing into the ocean. BP should spend an appropriate amount of funds under the Clean Water act to restore the ocean or damaged areas. BP should set better safety regulations for deepwater drillings with even tougher standards, and prove that they can deal with risky and dangerous wells such as Deepwater Horizon. BP should report transparencies as they are vital and provide timely and reliable information regarding both the containment and response operations during any future oil spill events. This is to ensure safe operations on such events and also inform stakeholders and the public of current situation. Conclusion There were at least three important stakeholders involved in this project: the BP administration, the employees of BP and the society at large. After the oil spill, it is clear to everyone that this disaster could have been avoided and that the result was not beneficial for anybody. The management of risk, in terms of oil spill prevention, means among other things that the right measures be taken to avoid disaster in the first place. Prevention and remediation go hand in hand. Planning therefore begins before the spill, to avoid it and to have a seamless response process in place. Due to cost cutting, BP incurred a $40 billion in liabilities, loss of life, serious damage to several major industries and vast environmental harm. All because of BPs failure to invest in an effective safety management system, which lead to the Deepwater Horizon event. If the manager of this project had decided to invest more efforts in risk management, BP would have invested more money in contingency plans. If the BP administration had focused on the long term earnings, they would have earned more money than they finally did. Lesson learnt : Cost cutting is essential to maximize profits, BUT not at the expense of safety even though if it is not a dangerous project. The knockback would be tremendous. 1. Key facts and figures. BP p. l. c Retrieved 30 August 2010. 2. Group results – Third quarter 2010. BP p. l. c Retrieved 6 November 2010. 3. Two Westlake Park, Houston, TX : Hines Interests. Hines Interests.. Retrieved 11 Jun. 2010. 4. BP in the United States. BP p. l. c Retrieved 27 August 2010. 5. BP. com: History of BP – Post war.. Retrieved 3 Jul. 2010. In 1954, the board changed the company’s name to The British Petroleum Company 6. Tharoor, Ishaan (2 Jun. 2010). A Brief History of BP. TIME magazine.. Retrieved 3 Jul. 2010. 7. BP tackles climate change threat with ? 200m boost for energy efficiency. London: The Telegraph. 25 October 2005.. Retrieved 9 February 2011. 8. BP to invest $1 bln plus in alt energy this year. Reuters. 13 April 2010.. Retrieved 9 February 2011. 9. Natural G as and Alaskas Future: The Facts page 22 (PDF). Retrieved 5 Jun. 2010. 10. Poole, Robert W.. Privatisation. Econlib. org. Retrieved 5 Jun. 2010.

Quality Management in Organizations

Introduction In manufacturing as well as the service industry, among the critical success factors includes building in addition to sustaining high performance in organizations. If an organization implements an effective quality management strategy, there is a significant likelihood that the organizational success will be underpinned.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Quality Management in Organizations specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Contemporary organizations have realized the significant number of benefits presented by incorporating an aspect of quality management. The profitability as well as the competitiveness associated with the modern organizations can be largely attributed to quality management. Antony, Escamilla and Caine (2003, p. 40) identifies quality management as an approach whose main focus is to improve, not only quality but performance as well in an effort towards meeting or even exceeding the exp ectations of the customers. Generally, quality assurance entails four major aspects, which include quality assurance, quality control, quality planning in addition to quality improvement. An organization that employs quality management tends to focus on quality and the way in which the quality can be achieved. Therefore, in quality management, not all the four aspects are utilized. Instead, only quality assurance and quality control are emphasized on (Antony, Escamilla Caine 2003, p. 41). Thesis statement The purpose of this paper is to review the manner in which quality management frameworks can generally contribute to the success of an organization. In addition to this, the paper will also focus on identifying and analysing critically how quality management frameworks are applied in an organization. This analysis will be based on management as well as technical systems. Further, the paper will access both the benefits as well as the problems that are likely to be encountered by a n organization with application of six-sigma quality management in the future. Discussion How quality management framework facilitates the success of an organization Foremost, in order to understand how this success comes around, the top management of the organization must ensure that they understand this concept fully. As such, quality management framework is a term commonly used in total quality management to refer to a tool used to facilitate the successful delivery of both products as well as services across the enterprise.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Guided by the quality management framework, an organization that has implemented total quality management in its system usually operates to its full capacity. On the other hand, an organization that has not yet realized the necessity of quality management does not operate to its full potential (Shenawy, Baker Lemak, 20 07 p. 442). Below are some of the ways in which quality management frameworks facilitate success to an organization. Standardization of processes An organization employing the aspect of total quality management is known to standardize the internal in addition to the external processes. This implies that quality management frameworks provide an allowance of increased efficiencies, that is, faster processes in addition to fewer costs, with regards to introducing new products to the customers. Further, the standardized processes add up to strengthen the techniques used in the supplier management. Moreover, standardized processes, through quality management, enable an organization to effectively control the robust costs. This implies that the overall profits of the organization will be greatly improved. PCI and security compliance In their research, Shenawy, Baker and Lemak (2007, p. 460) found out that quality management framework, when implemented, serves as a key success factor. The reason for this is that through it, an organization is able to ensure that the PCI in addition to security across the lifecycle of a project is entirely complied with. Defining the Lifecycle of a project to be undertaken by an entity helps in coming up with the most viable framework and as such; it helps greatly in implementing the robust security policy. This in turn guarantees success to an organization. When quality management framework is adopted by an entity while making use of artefacts, which have been designed specifically for robust security policy, it follows that there will be an achievement of meaningful improvements in the organization and this implies continued success. Fit for purpose processes Organizations implement quality management frameworks to ensure that the both the internal as well as the external processes are fit for use. The essence of quality management is continuous improvement of processes. This involves continuous checking of the processes and thereby identifying the cause of any flaw within the processes. Through this continuous checking, it implies that the processes will always be free from flaws and this in turn ensures that the processes are always fit for purpose. When an organization’s processes are always fit for purpose, there is no instance where questionable quality of products or under productivity will be reported and this guarantees success in addition to maintaining the competitive advantage of the organization.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Quality Management in Organizations specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Sufficiently robust processes Implementation of quality management frameworks ensures that the internal as well as the external processes of an organization are sufficiently robust. This means that the scope or the coverage of the production processes is extensive thus the organization is able to capitalize on any opportunities w hile identifying problems. Further, robust processes utilize the full capacity and potential of the organization while observing the quality and thus maximization of returns. This in turn helps the organization to establish itself among the most financially stable and hence attracting investors at the same time consolidating its credit worthiness status to the financiers. Burdensomeness An organization that has not realized the usefulness of quality management in most cases succumbs due to unproductiveness, inadequate quality as well as constant losses owing to burdensome processes. However, implementing quality management process minimizes or entirely wipes these burdens and hence restoring the competitiveness of an organization. How quality management frameworks are applied in an organization Quality management frameworks, when applied in an organization, entirely focus on the satisfaction of the expectations of the customers, detection of problems, commitment building in addition to promoting contribution of ideas from the employees for the purpose of decision making. Quality management frameworks applies several analytical tools including check sheets as well as statistical chards with an aim of collecting data regarding the activities practiced within the organization. Several techniques are used and these include; brainstorming, nominal groupings in addition to forming of consensus in an effort towards facilitating both the decision making process as well as the communication process (Juran 1995, p. 87). Several organizations have been practicing quality management framework application since it was discovered. However, this has been limitedly done. The process of integrating quality management frameworks not only do it enhance but complements the methodologies used in standard program and assessment model as well. These methodologies are indeed vital as they are considered as mechanisms necessary to establish the strategic directions for an organization . With model standards available, an organization is therefore provided with a rational method in which it can assess its stipulated goals in addition to its potentials with regards to products or service outcomes.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More An organization that applies quality management frameworks tends to put its entire focus on work processes. In this kind of a focus, several techniques are applied with an aim of improving the production process of the organization and these include both behavioural as well as analytical techniques. Application of quality management frameworks involve use of a series of flow diagrams and therefore aiding in identifying the steps followed in the production process of an organization. Further, the factors perceived to be the chief contributor to delays in the process are also identified. Apart from this, application of quality management frameworks allows an organization to not only identify but try various steps to improve the production process in addition to monitoring the results in an effort towards the attainment of improvements, which is continuous in nature. In this kind of an application, there is a fundamental challenge surfaced and this concerns the utilization of internal standards of performan and Lemak (2007, p. 471) established that, while the utilization of standards of performance is considered to be the initial point of total quality management, quality management process, which is continuous a continuous process, surpasses the conformity to standards of management. Application of quality management frameworks requires the top management conduct a systematic analysis of the entire work performed by the employees in and for the organization. During this analysis, the emphasis point should be the horizontal integration of both the services as well as products across the present program areas in the organization. The process improvement is usually based not only on processes but outcomes as well. An organization must exhibit that it has the capabilities of improving the problem solving capacity in a constant manner while making use of leverages such as performance standards during the process of improvement (Henderson Evans, 2000, p. 260). Applic ation of quality management frameworks requires that the intended change be based on both the needs as well as the desires of the organization’s customers as in addition to the needs of the employees involved in the entire organizational process. The application also requires that all personnel levels participate actively. Particularly, the application of these frameworks in an organization requires the top management respond to the ideas suggested by the participating personnel quite rapidly and in a thoughtful manner. The quality management framework’s application requires that the participating personnel have a clear in addition to precise understanding of the process of the work involved as well as how it relates to the larger system. It is necessary that there be an analysis of the process and it should be done in a rigorous manner. Also, evaluation of each and every activity should be done provided that the organizational process is ongoing. The application of th e framework further requires the recognition in addition to application of all the underlying psycho-social principles which, according to the findings of Wyper Harrison (2000, p. 720), affects individuals as well as groups in an organization. Quality management frameworks require the acceptance of the fundamental assumption that most problems faced in organizations does not arise out of errors by employees but due to the inability of the system, which the entire personnel of the organization must function within, to perform sufficiently. While model standards put strategic production outcomes objectives as the major focus in addition to stakeholders as the ultimate organization clients, quality management frameworks are used to examine each and every link in the production process involved in order to attain production objectives (Sila 2007, p. 100). In the application of quality management frameworks, the main challenge to the top management team is to spend both time as well as energy extensively rather than assuring adherence to stipulated performance standards in an effort towards facilitation in addition to assurance of continued improvements with regard to the various interrelated production processes that are the duties of the various departments in the organization (Henderson Evans, 2000, p. 275). Six-sigma approach to quality management Six-sigma, as used in quality management, is used to describe a measure of quality known to drive an organization to reach near perfection state. Usually, it is an approach, which is disciplined in addition to being data driven. Further, it entails methodologies through which defects and flaws in a process are eliminated. Wyper Harrison (2000, p. 727) acknowledged that six-sigma approach to quality management involves an aspect of quality management that is project driven in an effort towards improving both the products as well as the services of an organization in addition to processes used in producing them. The approach focuses entirely on reducing the defects in an organization in a continuous manner. It is referred by many analysts as a business strategy that advocates the improvement of understanding of all the customer requirements. Further, the approach also tends to focus on improvement of a business system, the productivity of the business and the performance especially the financial performance. Benefits, obstacles, and future of six sigma application Benefits The benefits of applying six-sigma approach to quality management vary with different sectors. Manufacturing sector Application of six-sigma approach to quality management causes both savings as well as reduction of defects in several processes. For instance, it causes a great reduction of defect levels in the manufacturing process. With regard to aircraft integration systems, the time allocated for the maintenance of the depot is also ideally reduced. In organizations involved with leasing business, the turnaround time spent at repair facilities are also reduced significantly (Lin 2007, p. 315). For businesses involved with shipments, the time for concept-to-shipment cycle is also reduced. Financial sector For businesses in the financial sector, application of six-sigma quality management leads to increased savings (Lin 2007, p. 320). Health sector The principles of six sigma approach to quality management match absolutely well with health care service. This is because; health care encompasses an aspect of zero tolerance with regard to mistakes as well as medical errors. Engineering and construction field Implementation of six-sigma approach to management leads to savings in this sector. These savings are realized due to the effective identification as well as prevention of reworks and defects in each and every construction process ranging from designing to on-time delivery of the payrolls to the employees (Gloet 2006, p. 405). Research and development In the research and development sector, the goals mainly focused include reduction of costs and speed to market increase in addition to the improvement of research and development processes. In order to identify the degree of the effectiveness of six-sigma, it is necessary that the organization puts a focus on reviews, which are data driven, as well as integration of research and development into the stipulated work processes among other focus aspects. Problems There are several problems associated with implementation of six sigma approach to quality management. Problems in strategy For a considerable time, six-sigma has been under criticism and subject to controversies. Indeed, some critics call it Quality management on steroids. Critics argue that there is nothing innovative new ideas advanced by the approach. Instead, it is only a rendition of traditional techniques associated with quality. Indeed, this kind of an approach is not really the answer to the entire diverse issues that face a business. In order to ensure that the app roach is sustainable for a considerable period of time going into the future, an organization must not only analyse the approach’s strengths and weaknesses but accept them as well. Problems in the culture of an organization Rather than just concentrating on monitoring quality at the manufacturing phase, there is a need to embed quality concept into the designing phase. In quality management, change of organizational culture is the most important point to consider since it waylays quality into planning (Evans Lindsay, 1995, p. 59). There is no point of addressing only those issues that can be easily corrected and then claim that six-sigma approach to quality management is viable. Indeed, this is a clear deception. There is a big likelihood of failure for those organizations whose management has not fully understood the problems of the approach. A strong commitment in addition to support as well as leadership exhibited by the top management team are among the vital considerati ons to effectively deal with cultural differences or issues, which are largely associated with the implementation of the six-sigma approach (Evans Lindsay, 1995, p. 55). Issues evident in training In the implementation of this approach to quality management, training serves as an essential aspect. Indeed, it should be incorporated as part of an integrated approach during the implementation process. The training program ought to be customized in order to have both the managerial as well as economic benefits incorporated. According to the findings of a research conducted by Johnson Swisher (2003, p. 12), it was established that challenges that surface during the implementation of six-sigma projects are responsible for the selection of employees identified by having less capabilities. Conclusion From this analysis, it is evidently clear that the aspect of quality management, if implemented in an organization, plays a significant role in ensuring that the organization maintains its co mpetitive nature while enjoying superior returns on investments, that is, profits. In order to comprehensively in addition to successfully implement quality management so that the underlain benefits can be realized, the organization should be centered on the customer while accepting the fact that employees are not a means to an end but rather assets to the company. Focus on the customers can only be done through ensuring improvements throughout the organization and therefore deriving quality which a customer desires (Antony, Escamilla Caine 2003, p. 42). Quality management entails improvement of the production process. As such, according to this analysis and as Johnson Swisher (2003, p. 15) found out, it is only through detection of flaws in the production process that improvements can be made. He further assets that the detection of problems should be a continuous process and ultimately, a great deal of quality will have been ensured and the benefits of quality management will ha ve surfaced. References Antony, J, Escamilla, JL Caine, P 2003, ‘Lean Sigma’, Manufacturing Engineer, Vol. 82 no. 4, pp. 40–42. Evans, JR Lindsay, WM 1995, The management and control of quality, West Publishing, New York, NY. Gloet, M 2006, ‘Knowledge Management and the Links to HRM Developing Leadership and Management Capabilities to Support Sustainability’, Manage. Res, Vol. 29 no. 7, pp. 402-413 Henderson, KM Evans, JR 2000, ‘Successful implementation of six sigma: benchmarking general electric company benchmarking’, An International Journal, Vol. 7 no. 4, pp. 260–281 Johnson, A Swisher, B 2003, ‘How six sigma improves RD’, Research Technology Management, Vol, 46 no. 2, pp. 12–15. Juran, JM 1995, A History of Managing for Quality, ASQC Quality Press, Milwaukee, WI. Lin, HF 2007, ‘Knowledge sharing and firm innovation capability: an empirical study’, Int. J. Manpower, Vol. 28 no. 4, pp. 315-3 32 Shenawy, EE, Baker, I, Lemak, DJ 2007, ‘A metal-analysis of the effect of TQM on competitive advantage’, Int. J. Qual. Reliability Mange, Vol. 24 no. 5, pp. 442-471 Sila, I 2007, ‘Examining the effects of contextual factors on TQM and performance through the lens of organizational theories: An empirical study’, American Journal of Management. Vol, 25 no. 1, pp. 83-109 Wyper, B Harrison, A 2000, ‘Deployment of six sigma methodology in human resource function: a case study’, Total Quality Management and Business Excellence, Vol. 11 no. 4, pp. 720–727. This essay on Quality Management in Organizations was written and submitted by user Sage to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

How Teachers Should Rethink the Summer Work Packet

How Teachers Should Rethink the Summer Work Packet Simply stated: Summer vacation has a negative impact on academic performance. In the book  Influences And Effect Sizes Related To Student Achievement  (updated 2016) by John Hattie and Greg Yates,  39 studies  were used  to rank the effect of summer vacation on student achievement. The findings using this data  are posted on the  Visible Learning  website. They noted that  summer vacation has one of the greatest negative effects (  -.02 effect) on student learning. To combat this negative impact, many teachers in middle and high schools are encouraged to create discipline-specific summer assignment packets. These packets are an attempt to equalize academic practice for all students during summer  vacation. The summer assignment packets that teachers distribute at the end of a school year are designed for students to practice  a few hours every week  throughout the summer. What happens in reality, however, is that completing the summer packet often turns into a  contentious activity. Students may wait until the last possible moment to do schoolwork or lose the packet entirely. Additionally, depending on the grade level, subject, or teacher, summer work packets vary in quality, length, and intensity. Examples of high school summer assignments on the Internet vary from two pages of geometry that can be completed online to  22 pages of geometry problems that must be downloaded to complete. Multiple Advanced Placement courses, such as AP English Literature, show the disparity in summer assignments with some schools offering a choice (Read three novels from this list) to a required five novels matched with pages and pages of worksheets. There is no standardized summer assignment packet for middle and high schools. Who Complains About Summer Assignment Packets? Complaints against the assigned summer work packets come from each of the stakeholders: parents, teachers, and students. Their complaints are understandable. Parents may  argue for freedom from summer assignment packets suggesting that â€Å"My child needs a break,† or  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Why must we do this to students every summer?† or This is more work for me than for my child! Teachers are not happy to begin the school year with a pile of summer assignment papers to grade. Despite their best intentions in creating the packets, they do not want to start the year collecting or chasing students for summer assignment work.   Harris Cooper,  chairman of the department of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University, addressed these  concerns in his brief essay Forgotten on Vacation. His response was featured in  an editorial debate in the New York Times titled  The Crush of Summer Homework  in which several prominent educators were asked their opinions on summer assignments. Cooper was one who chose to respond as to how parents can meet the demands of the summer assignment packet: Parents, if the assignments are clear and reasonable, support the teachers. When your child says I’m bored (what parent hasn’t heard this on a rainy summer day?) suggest they work on an assignment. He also responded to the concerns of teachers: My advice? Teachers, you need to be careful about what and how much summer homework you assign. Summer homework shouldn’t be expected to overcome a student’s learning deficits; that’s what summer school is for. However, in another response, What Low Achievers Need,  Tyrone Howard, associate professor at the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, suggested that summer assignment packets do not work. He offered an alternative to the summer assignment packet:   A better approach than homework is to have more intensive, small learning community-type summer school programs that last four to six weeks. Many educators who contributed to the NY Times debate   The Crush of Summer Homework  viewed summer assignments as  a measure of accountability or student responsibility rather than an academic practice. They argued that many of the students who do not complete homework assignments as academic practice during the school year are unlikely to complete summer assignments. Missing or incomplete work is reflected in student grades, and missing or incomplete summer assignments can damage a students grade point average (GPA). For example, some of the summer work assignments posted for high school students on the Internet include warnings, such as: Certain mathematical practice packets may take more than one day to complete. Dont wait until the last minute!The teacher will personally consult with the student and/or parent if  the student does not hand in the summer work packet on the first day of class.This work will be 3% of your first quarter grade. 10 points will be deducted for each day it is late. Seeing the impact on a students GPA for incomplete or missing summer work, many educators argue, If teachers cannot get students to turn in homework during the school year, especially when they see them every day, what is the chance that these summer work assignments will be completed? Student Complaints But  students are the  most vocal group arguing against the summer assignment packet.    The question  Should students be given summer homework?  was featured on  Ã‚  Debate.org.   18% Students say Yes to summer assignments82% Students say No  to summer assignments Comments from the debate arguing against summer assignments included: Summer homework takes around 3 days and it feels like the whole summer  (7th grade student).Mostly summer homework is just a review so you dont really learn anything. Im going into 8th grade and Im not learning anything its all a review for me.If a student really wants to learn, they will do extra work, without it being assigned.The homework should just be suggestions, to stop students from stressing out over work that probably wont even be checked. In contrast, there were some students who saw value in summer assignments, but most of these comments reflected the attitudes of students who already expected additional work from their advanced level classes. I, for example, am going to be enrolling in an Advanced Literature course next year and have been assigned two books to read this summer, an essay to write... this pushes me to find out more information about the subject matter that will be in the course. While students who take the advanced level (Advanced Placement, honors,  International Baccalaureate, or college credit courses) like the one above fully expect to engage in an academic practice, there are other students who do not see the importance keeping their academic skills sharp.  While a summer packet is designed to help all students, regardless of ability, the  student who may not complete the work may be the very student who most needs the practice. No Buy-in from Students In an interview posted on Great Schools,  Denise Pope, senior lecturer at the Stanford University School of Education and co-founder of  Challenge Success, a research, and student-intervention project, agrees that the months off for summer vacation is too long a time for students to not do anything, but she expressed concern stating  I’m not sure this idea of giving workbooks and pages and pages of handouts works.†Ã‚  Her reason for why summer assignments may not work?  No student buy-in: â€Å"In order for any learning to be retained, there has to be engagement on the part of the students.† She explained that students must be intrinsically motivated to complete the systematic practice that is designed for the summer assignments. Without student motivation, an adult must monitor the work, which according to Pope, puts a burden more on the parents.† What Does Work? Reading! One of the best research-based recommendations for summer assignments is to assign reading. Rather than spending the time to create and then grade a summer assignment packet that may or may not be done at all, educators should be encouraged to assign reading. This reading can be discipline specific, but by far, the best way to have students maintain academic skills during the summer-at every grade level- is to encourage their motivation to read. Offering students choice  in reading can improve their motivation and participation. In a meta-analysis titled  Reading Takes You Places: A Study of a Web-based Summer Reading Program,  Ya-Ling Lu, and Carol Gordon recorded ways that student choice in reading increased engagement which led to improved academic achievement. In the study the traditionally required reading lists of classics were replaced with   recommendations based on several of the following  research-based guidelines: 1. People who say they read more read better (Krashen 2004), therefore the primary purpose of the [summer] program is to encourage students to read more.2. In order to encourage students to read more, the primary purpose of summer reading is reading for fun rather than for academic purposes.3. Student choice is an important element in reading engagement (Schraw et al. 1998) including the choice to pursue personal reading interests.4. Materials and materials access can be Web-based (Note:  92% of teens report going online daily - including 24% who say they go online â€Å"almost constantly,† Pew  Research Center) The results showed an increase in student motivation and engagement, leading to improved academic performance. Summer Packets vs. Reading Despite the research  that proves motivation and systemic practice must be in place for summer assignment packets to help the student,  many teachers, particularly at the middle and high school levels, will still assign summer work packets. Their time and effort, however, may be better spent assigning reading in their content area, and where possible, offering student choice in reading. While summer vacation allows students to have time to play and to relax, why  not encourage students to practice over the summer the kind of academic practice that reinforces a life-long critical skill, the skill of reading? Additional Research on Summer Reading: Allington, Richard.  Summer Reading: Closing the Rich/Poor Reading Achievement Gap.  NY:  Teachers College Press, 2012. Fairchild, Ron. Summer: A Season When Learning is Essential. Afterschool Alliance. Center for Summer Learning. 2008. Web. afterschoolalliance.org/issue_briefs/issue_summer_33.pdf Kim, Jimmy. â€Å"Summer Reading and the Ethnic Achievement Gap.† Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR). 2004. Web. ala.org/research/librariesmatter/node/161 Krashen, Stephen. Free Reading. Pasco School District. School Library Journal. 2006. Web. psd1.org/cms/lib4/WA01001055/centricity/domain/34/admin/free reading (2).pdf National Summer Learning Association. n.d.  summerlearning.org/about-nsla/ Report of the National Reading Panel: Findings and Determinations of the National Reading Panel by Topic Areas.† National Institute of Health. 2006. Web. https://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/nrp/Pages/findings.aspx

The Case for Open Heart Surgery at Cabarrus Memorial Hospital Research Paper

The Case for Open Heart Surgery at Cabarrus Memorial Hospital - Research Paper Example Discuss ways the program does or does not comply with the hospital’s mission First, the availability of the open heart surgery program should be reviewed. In fact, it is available in 11 counties in North Carolina, however, it is not offered in the primary operational area, the CMH involves. Actually, this can be regarded as a key decisive factor for extending the range of procedures. Considering the hospital’s mission, it should be emphasized that the hospital has the sufficient base for heart surgery and therapy; therefore, the open heart program will lower the risks for the patients, who need angioplastry, and other invasive therapies. Considering the planned expansion of the hospital, the open heart surgery program is required for attracting experienced heart surgeons as well, while the lack of experts may be regarded as a stop factor. Considering the necessity to review the mission, the CMH will have to consider several additional aspects for launching the program. Therefore, the program will need some amendments, such as including output measurements, integrating the emergency practices into the new program, as well as differentiate responsibilities of the entire team. (Courtney, 2008) These amendments require the in-depth restructuring of the strategic approaches applied, as well as improving the implementation control schemes. Therefore, the mission of the hospital will have to be oriented at several aspects: 1. Patients’ satisfaction 2. Qualification improvement of the personnel (including training courses and experience exchanges) 3. Resolving legislative issues (medical insurance, new program formalities, etc.) Analyze whether or not CMH has sufficient infrastructure and financial resources / leverage necessary to add the program As it is stated in the case study description, the hospital has sufficie nt financial resources for rearranging the space, purchasing equipment, and employing additional personnel. (Swayne, Duncan and Ginter, 2008) Nevertheless, there is a lack of experienced personal expected. Therefore, as it is emphasized in the discussion, the hospital has only one invasive cardiologist, while the other experts are either interns, or non-invasive cardiologists. Therefore, the hospital will have to resolve the problem of finding the experienced personnel, for launching the open heart surgery program. Nevertheless, this could be regarded as the only serious threat for implementing it. On the other hand, the CMH will have to redesign the overall control management in order to launch the open heart surgery program. In accordance with the research by Scharer (2005), such a redesign may be performed by considering the engineering approach to measure and calculate the possible workload. These measures are required for adapting the HR strategy to the new working approaches, associated with launching the new program. However, such a shift will also require applying organizational development approach concentrated on the proper team building principles, since proper recruiting, and necessity for coordinated team work is essential for health care strategic management. Describe the competitive situation among other area hospitals that could impact the decision On the one hand, the CMH has an opportunity to become the first clinic in the county, offering the open heart surgery program. On the other hand, in accordance with the case description, the lack of the experienced personnel is essential, and some experts have been already gained by other clinics of the State. (Swayne, Duncan

Diversity Boing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Diversity Boing - Essay Example Moreover, systemic changes to the way in which the Boeing culture existed and the way in which it currently exists were also required. As a means of tracking these changes and making key observations concerning them, the following analysis will engage the reader with a level of understanding concerning the way in which diversity was motivated and the ways in which it was implemented within Boeing. Further, a brief summary and reflective statement will be provided at the end of this assignment as a means of classifying and categorizing the utility that working as a part of the group dynamic was able to have with regards to better understanding the case study and the many factors associated with it. As Boeing’s upper management and senior stakeholders began to realize that their firm’s hope of long-term success hinged upon the ability to integrate with the outside world, a brief internal audit revealed the fact that diversity within the firm’s design and production elements was ultimately extraordinarily low (Mecham, 2002). As such, in order to appeal to a more broad demographic and come more in line with the globalized nature of an increasingly diverse society and world, Boeing saw the immediate need to seek to diversify its staff. Whereas many firms realize this particular need and slowly make moves to see this happen over time, Boeing initiated an aggressive diversity strategy that hinged upon seeking out the most qualified applicants while keeping in mind the unique levels of diversity that the firm required. This two-pronged approach was effective in the fact that it did not place either ability or diversity as the prime goal for the firm. In such a way, the expertise and focus of the firm was able to be maintained while a subtle yet decisive change to company culture was initiated. Moreover, even a cursory level of analysis with regards to the way in which diversity takes place indicates the fact that sudden rapid changes with regards t o diversity and/or diversity implementation within a culture can oftentimes be negatively received by the stakeholders. Realizing this, Boeing set out to engage a slower and more gradual approach that would seek to replace outgoing talent with a more diverse workforce; while at the same time reinforcing the mores and norms of diversity appreciation within the culture of the firm. This nuanced approach proved to be highly effective as the company was not only able to continue to operate in a profitable manner domestically; it was also able to continue the march towards global success by providing its international clients with the products and services they required. This is a testament to the success of Boeing’s diversity is the fact that the firm championed this goal alongside the vision and mission statements that had already proven to be so effective in helping to garner profitability to the Boeing firm (Holmes, 2003). Without inherently changing the scope of activities an d/or the expertise that it had already accrued over the years of successful business implementation, Boeing was able to chart a somewhat distinct approach to the future. Looking all the way into the present era, it can be noted that Boeing exhibits a very high degree of diversity within an aerospace company that

Comparisons & Careers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Comparisons & Careers - Essay Example local, public health aims to prevent disease, promote population health, and prolong life through organized community or group efforts (Beaglehole & Bonita, 2009, 2). Thus, it is essential to study the individual population health of each country in order to understand the global public health of the United States. To have a comparison of public health among other countries and the United States, the author selected Kenya’s health data. Kenya is located in the African region and the health metrics used both in Kenya and United States’ health data are for 2009. From the global perspective, 50% must be the global average of population living in urban areas. Kenya has less than global average of people living in the urban areas (22%) while the United States is far above the global average (82%). Meanwhile, United States has greater life expectancy (81 years) than Kenya (62 years) from a global perspective of 71 years (WHO, 2012, n.p.). Other health metrics are also observed, particularly those of mortality rates among children, adult risk factors, availability of health workforce, and inequities in health care. Surprisingly, the author found strikingly deviations between two countries and the global perspective of public health. For instance, health metrics of Kenya revealed that the population has higher mortality rates than U.S. in children under five years old, adult, pregnant women, and those with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. Kenya’s morality rates of 63 cases of HIV per 1,000 population aged 15-49 years and the 283 cases of tuberculosis per 100,000 population have caught the attention of the author as communicable diseases are more prevalent in Kenya (76) than in U.S. (9) while non-communicable diseases are more prevalent in U.S. (72) than in Kenya (14) (WHO, 2012, n.p.). In addition, the author found out that there are 360 deaths per 100,000 population due to maternal-related causes which calls for exte nsive need to address this health problem. Other

Estimation of Importance of Web Pages for Web Crawlers

Estimation of Importance of Web Pages for Web Crawlers

Object Oriented Development :: essays research papers

BSA400 – Week 3 Individual Paper University of Phoenix, Online Object Oriented Development   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When I first started learning how to write code, I had never heard the term â€Å"Object Oriented Development†, or even â€Å"Object Oriented Modeling.† I’m sure that some form of both of these existed, but they might not have been referred to in exactly those words. Fifteen years of coding later, I was finally indoctrinated in the ways of object oriented development.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first language that I learned to use was BASIC, which was very simple and easy to learn. There were no objects per se, and the code was pretty much written from the top down. Now that I understand the mechanics of object oriented development, I can see that there were parts of the language that could be considered objects, especially from a design point of view. Even though most of my programs were written from the top down and were executed from the top down, a lot of them incorporated logic that was reused multiple times. Blocks of code that contained that logic could usually be segregated from the rest of the code. Instead of appearing multiple times, these blocks would be written only once, but â€Å"called† multiple times.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After BASIC, the next language that I learned was Pascal, named after the seventeenth century French mathematician. Compared to BASIC, Pascal was a much more organized language, with the code separated into actual blocks demarcated with â€Å"BEGIN† and â€Å"END† statements. Against my instructor’s wishes, as well as popular programming practice, I still coded from the top down. I suppose this would have been an issue if I was entering code on punch cards. Luckily, though, these programs were all on monitors, so I could go back and forth through the document, correcting errors and changing the code where necessary.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After Pascal, I learned a few more languages, slowly realizing that maybe it wasn’t a great idea to always code from the top down. Another bad habit that I was slowly trying to rid myself of was writing code without a design document. A design document can be written in either plain English or pseudo code. With plain English, I would just write out what each part of the program should do, and then translate those concepts into code. Pseudo code is a cross between plain English and full code, using elements of both. Even though it might not be easily readable by someone without a working knowledge of that particular language, a lot of the time it could be figured out fairly quickly.

Immanuel Kant Essay

HYPERLINK â€Å"http://www. philosophypages. com/ph/kant. htm† Immanuel Kant answers the question in the first sentence of the essay: â€Å"Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-incurred immaturity. † He argues that the immaturity is self-inflicted not from a lack of understanding, but from the lack of courage to use one’s reason, intellect, and wisdom without the guidance of another. He exclaims that the motto of enlightenment is â€Å"Sapere aude†! – Dare to be wise! The German word Unmundigkeit means not having attained age of majority or legal adulthood. â€Å"Unmundig† also means â€Å"dependent† or â€Å"unfree†, and another translation is â€Å"tutelage† or â€Å"nonage† (the condition of â€Å"not [being] of age†). Kant, whose moral philosophy is centred around the concept of autonomy, here distinguishes between a person who is intellectually autonomous and one who keeps him/herself in an intellectually heteronomous, i. e. dependent and immature status. Kant understands the majority of people to be content to follow the guiding institutions of society, such as the Church and the Monarchy, and unable to throw off the yoke of their immaturity due to a lack of resolution to be autonomous. It is difficult for individuals to work their way out of this immature, cowardly life because we are so uncomfortable with the idea of thinking for ourselves. Kant says that even if we did throw off the spoon-fed dogma and formulas we have absorbed, we would still be stuck, because we have never â€Å"cultivated our minds. † The key to throwing off these chains of mental immaturity is reason. There is hope that the entire public could become a force of free thinking individuals if they are free to do so. Why? There will always be a few people, even among the institutional â€Å"guardians†, who think for themselves. They will help the rest of us to â€Å"cultivate our minds. † Kant shows himself a man of his times when he observes that â€Å"a revolution may well put an end to autocratic despotism . . . or power-seeking oppression, but it will never produce a true reform in ways of thinking. † The recently completed American Revolution had made a great impression in Europe; Kant cautions that new prejudice will replace the old and become a new leash to control the â€Å"great unthinking masses. † Immanuel Kant’s Ideas on Science and Morality According to the 18th-century German thinker Immanuel Kant, no person may possess inherent wisdom about reality. This is best summarized in the philosopher’s famous expression, â€Å"Thoughts without content are empty; intuitions without data are blind. † Indeed, Kant believes that in order for us to utilize our sensible intuition, we must possess two stimuli, â€Å"physical sensation† and â€Å"moral duty. † The first of the two addresses a portion of Kantian thought known as â€Å"empirical realism,† a reasoning that defines that absolute reality as the entire universe in which all human beings dwell. Every time we acquire external data from that absolute reality, our perception of it assumes a greater degree of accuracy. And what would be the optimal way of acquiring such data with only minimal if any contact with other persons’ perceptions (which are, like ours, inaccurate, only in different ways, since each human being possesses a unique arsenal of experiences)? Scientific exploration is, therefore, the key to an ultimate comprehension of things-in-themselves. Kant was a fervent admirer of Newtonian thought and the Scientific Method, which permitted scientists to ascend to unprecedented heights in their understanding of and control over nature. The second stimulus to action, moral duty, provides the explanation for the purpose of all human actions toward the comprehension of the universe. This portion of Kant’s doctrine has been dubbed by the philosopher as â€Å"transcendental idealism,† since it establishes a framework outside the natural world upon which correct actions are based. Kant sees the ultimate virtues to be the attempts to reach three goals which are not yet found in reality, God, freedom, and the immortality of individuals. God, the Creator and Supreme Being of the universe, must be fathomed, properly interpreted, and obeyed in accordance with his true desires. Freedom, the individual liberty to act as one wishes and to grant all others this right, must be instituted through societal reforms and a development of ideology to understand the proper order that would establish such an atmosphere. And, at last, every human being must rise to possess the right to exist for an indefinite length of time that he may 1 / 3 obey the commandments of God and practice his freedoms. Kant states that all which is right and moral must be based upon those three principles. As such, Kant separates the scientific realm (which describes what is) from the moral realm (which explains what ought to be), but he considers these two realms to go hand-in-hand — ultimately advocating putting the scientific realm in service to moral one. Kant: The â€Å"Copernican Revolution† in Philosophy The philosophy of Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) is sometimes called the â€Å"Copernican revolution of philosophy† to emphasize its novelty and huge importance. Kant synthesized (brought together) rationalism and empiricism. After Kant, the old debate between rationalists and empiricists ended, and epistemology went in a new direction. After Kant, no discussion of reality or knowledge could take place without awareness of the role of the human mind in constructing reality and knowledge. Summary of Rationalism The paradigm rationalist philosophers are Plato (ancient); Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz (modern). Don’t trust senses, since they sometimes deceive; and since the â€Å"knowledge† they provide is inferior (because it changes). Reason alone can provide knowledge. Math is the paradigm of real knowledge. There are innate ideas, e. g. , Plato’s Forms, or Descartes’ concepts of self, substance, and identity. The self is real and discernable through immediate intellectual intuition (cogito ergo sum). Moral notions are comfortably grounded in an objective standard external to self — in God, or Forms. Kant says rationalists are sort of right about (3) and (4) above; wrong about (1) and (2). Kant would like (5) to be true. Summary of Empiricism The paradigm empiricist philosophers are Aristotle (ancient); Locke, Berkeley, Hume (modern). Senses are the primary, or only, source of knowledge of world. Psychological atomism. Mathematics deals only with relations of ideas (tautologies); gives no knowledge of world. No innate ideas (though Berkeley accepts Cartesian self). General or complex ideas are derived by abstraction from simple ones (conceptualism). Hume — there’s no immediate intellectual intuition of self. The concept of â€Å"Self† is not supported by sensations either. Hume — no sensations support the notion of necessary connections between causes and effects, or the notion that the future will resemble the past. Hume — â€Å"is† does not imply â€Å"ought†. Source of morality is feeling. Kant thinks empiricism is on the right track re (1), sort of right re (2), wrong re (3), (4), (5), and (6). Summary of Kant’s Argument The epistemological debate between rationalism and empiricism is basically about whether, or to what extent the senses contribute to knowledge. Both rationalism and empiricism take for granted that it’s possible for us to acquire knowledge of Reality, or how things really are, as opposed to how they seem to us. But both rationalism and empiricism overlook the fact that the human mind is limited; it can experience and imagine only within certain constraints. These constraints are both synthetic and a priori. All our possible experience must conform to these SAPs. The SAPs include location in space and time, causality, experiencing self, thing-ness, identity, and various mathematical notions. (Twentieth- century Gestalt psychology’s attack on psychological atomism is based on Kant’s views. ) Therefore, we must distinguish the world we experience, bounded by SAPs, and the world of things as they really are â€Å"in themselves†. Kant calls these two worlds the phenomenal (apparent) world versus the noumenal (real) world. Empiricism pretty much nails what it means to know something, once the SAPs are in place; i. e. , within the phenomenal world, empiricism rules. The phenomenal world is a world of things, publicly observable, describable by science, known to the senses, determined by physical laws. No God, no 2 / 3 freedom, no soul, no values exist in this world. If God, freedom, souls, and values exist, then they must be noumenal and unknowable by any ordinary means. Thus, according to Kant: Both rationalism and empiricism are wrong when they claim that we can know things in themselves. Rationalists are wrong not to trust senses; in the phenomenal world, senses are all we have. Rationalists are right about â€Å"innate ideas†, but not in Plato’s sense of Forms— much more like Descartes’ in argument of the wax. Hume is wrong when he claims the concept of self is unsupported by senses, and thus bogus. Rather, the experiencing self is a pre-condition for having any experience at all (Descartes was right). Hume is wrong when he says the notion that the future will resemble the past is due only to â€Å"custom and habit†. That notion is a SAP; we couldn’t have ordinary experience without it. Hume is wrong when he says the source of morality is feeling. Morality, properly understood, provides the key to linking the noumenal and phenomenal worlds. Kant argues that if morality is real, then human freedom is real, and therefore humans are not merely creatures of the phenomenal world (not merely things subject to laws). Ramifications of Kant’s Views Kant revolutionized philosophy. Kant showed that the mind, through its innate categories, constructs our experience along certain lines (space, time, causality, self, etc. ). Thus, thinking and experiencing give no access to things as they really are. We can think as hard as we like, but we will never escape the innate constraints of our minds. Kant forced philosophy to look seriously at the world for the agent (what Kant calls the phenomenal world) independently of the real world outside consciousness – the world in itself (the noumenal world). Ethics had long recognized the importance for moral evaluation of â€Å"how things seem to the agent. † But the ramifications of Kant’s noumenal-phenomenal distinction extend far beyond ethics. Philosophers like to take credit for all the big events in 19th century intellectual history as direct consequences of Kant’s philosophical legitimizing of the perspective of the subject: Hegel and German idealism, Darwinism, Romanticism, pragmatism, Marxism, the triumph of utilitarianism, Nietzsche, and the establishment of psychology as a science, especially Gestalt psychology. Phenomena and NoumenaHaving seen Kant’s transcendental deduction of the categories as pure concepts of the understanding applicable a priori to every possible experience, we might naturally wish to ask the further question whether these regulative principles are really true. Are there substances? Does every event have a cause? Do all things interact? Given that we must suppose them in order to have any experience, do they obtain in the world itself? To these further questions, Kant firmly refused to offer any answer. According to Kant, it is vital always to distinguish between the distinct realms of phenomena and noumena. Phenomena are the appearances, which constitute the our experience; noumena are the (presumed) things themselves, which constitute reality. All of our synthetic a priori judgments apply only to the phenomenal realm, not the noumenal. (It is only at this level, with respect to what we can experience, that we are justified in imposing the structure of our concepts onto the objects of our knowledge. ) Since the thing in itself (Ding an sich) would by definition be entirely independent of our experience of it, we are utterly ignorant of the noumenal realm. Thus, on Kant’s view, the most fundamental laws of nature, like the truths of mathematics, are knowable precisely because they make no effort to describe the world as it really is but rather prescribe the structure of the world as we experience it. By applying the pure forms of sensible intuition and the pure concepts of the understanding, we achieve a systematic view of the phenomenal realm but learn nothing of the noumenal realm. Math and science are certainly true of the phenomena; only metaphysics claims to instruct us about the noumena. POWERED BY TCPDF (WWW. TCPDF. ORG).