Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Romanticism in American Lit

anRomanticism in American Literature brought us some of the world's greatest writers ever to live. Writers such as Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau all wrote during the Romanticism period. Without them we would not have stories such Moby Dick, Resistance to Civil Government, The American Scholar, The Scarlet Letter, and Edgar Allan Poe’s most notorious works such as The Raven and Annabel lee. The Romanticism movement started in Europe and in the late 1820’s it worked its way into America. It was aimed as a rebellion against the enlightenment movement.It was also referred to as the American Renaissance because it was the rebirth of literary values lost previously in the enlightenment era and Puritanism era. American Romanticism was in a broad sense a new attitude toward nature, humanity, and society that espoused individualism and freedom. Characteristics of romanticism writing included the power of imagi nation, impulse towards reform, admiration for nature, and the fascination with death and the supernatural. Romanticism literature had two very different sides to it, one being optimistic and the other is pessimistic.On the optimistic side you had writers such as Walt Whitman, Margaret Fuller, Henry David Thoreau, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Pessimistic writers included Edgar Allen Poe, Herman Melville, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Edgar Allan Poe was a very dark romanticist and was also a very deeply pessimistic writer, but in a philosophical kind of way. He wrote poems, novels, and essays throughout his writing career, and he even developed the style of southern gothic writing. His poems often portray a character in despair and he explores the state of the mind a lot.Another trait of Poe is he uses a lot of symbolism and imagery for example his use of darkness and light in the poem â€Å"Annabel Lee†. Poe implies that the  Ã¢â‚¬Å"kingdom by the sea† is a bright, cheerful p lace where the sun shines on two young lovers, the narrator and Annabel Lee. Ironically, in another realm of dazzling light–heaven–the highest order of angels, the Seraphim grow dark with envy of the young couple. Under cover of night, they send a cold wind that kills Annabel Lee: â€Å"The wind came out of the cloud by night, Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee. But the narrator says he remains in a realm of light, for his soul and the soul of Annabel Lee are one. In the last couple lines, Poe emphasizes this point with light imagery: â€Å"For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams, Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes, Of the beautiful Annabel Lee† (679). Poe’s writing goes down in history for being some of the best literary works to ever come out of this period in American literature. Poe was a pessimistic writer on the other hand was Henry David Thoreau who was a very optimistic writer.One quote a found from Thoreau was just to â€Å"love your life†. In his essay â€Å"Resistance to Civil Government† he shows his rebellion in committing to governments values and ideas. Is very clearly stated at the beginning when Thoreau says â€Å"The Government is best which governs least† (829). Thoreau was a strong believer of take action for our own principles and to start thinking for ourselves and if you want change make it happen if you think it’s right. Ultimately he was jailed for his beliefs.Those including not believing for paying for stuff that didn’t benefit people and also for not supporting the Mexican American war, but Thoreau said to make changes sometimes good people have to go to jail. The romanticism period came to an end in the mid 1860’s, and In conclusion the romanticism period in America was a chance for writers to break out of the cookie cutter mold of previous era’s and a chance for writers to get their views and id eas out to the world through their literature. Romanticism writing can be broken up into eight different key ideas.Individualism is the idea that every person on earth knows God in their own way, and we will find truth for ourselves. Emerson and Melville often fall into the category of individualism. Organicism is the concept that society or the universe is comparable to a biological organism, as in development or organization, everything is connected. Unity and diversity stated that things are made up of many parts, but they all come together to make a one whole object. Dynamic change is the idea that the whole world brought us to this one moment yet the world is in a constant state of change. Imagination, originality, emotional, and finally nature.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Persuading on Genetically Modified Food Essay

The article called Genetically Modified Foods, has a style that is use to grab an audience emotion while still putting some facts. Right away in the first paragraph you will find ethos. Per Pinstrup-Anderson plays a key role in the article, he is the H. E. Babcock Professor of Food, Nutrition and Public Policy at Cornell University. Giving Per Pinstrup-Anderson a creditability, and having the audience attention. This is the only time in the article when ethos is being used to help their argument. In the next two paragraphs, Pathos and logos are used. It shows some facts as well as getting into the audience emotion. The way this was done was by talking about helping farmers in developing countries produce more food, making it more affordable to buy food, as well as not harming the environment. It goes on to say, â€Å"Many millions of people do not have access to sufficient calories and many more suffer from micronutrient deficiencies†. Another quote is, â€Å"which avoided mass starvation and helped millions out of poverty and hunger†. Notice they never gave an exact statistic on how many people are suffering from poverty and hunger, letting the audience see that it is so many people affected, and not just a specific number. It gives it more of a feel then would be given an exact number. In the next paragraph it goes back to logos, in the paragraph it is said science is the answer to fixing the hunger. It describes action that must be taken an order to be able to start helping starving people, as well as how will science help farming, like drought tolerance, mitigation of negative climate change, and pest resistance in crops. Those are just a few of what the paragraph claims to be able to do with a little investment for the technology. The way this paragraph is phrase is by letting the audiences see the processes that have to be done in order for an action to start. That way the audiences may start to have an opinion. At the end of this article it starts to talk about how long test must be done, and how the longer we wait the more expensive food will be as well as leaving millions to die. This passage is using pathos for its persuasiveness. It’s getting the audience that deep emotion of people waiting and starving. It goes on to say that anti-science ideology and the failure of the government brought the food crisis in the first place. This paragraph points a finger to show they are right, as well as preceding to say we have to change if something is not working. In the second article of, â€Å"The Failure of Gene-Altered Crops†, Vandana Shiva is presented as the ethos in this paragraph; she is the founder of Navdanya in India which is the movement of seed keepers and organic farmers. She written many books on how genetically modified foods are failing and how they will affect us. This grabs the audience attention because she’s a strong believer on organic substance. In the next paragraph it says we need biodiversity intensification that can work with nature instead of going against it, it doesn’t give a specific details as to why. The only argument made was when Doug Gurian-Sherman of the union of concerned scientist published a studied, â€Å"Failure to Yield†. In the study it is closely evaluated on the genetically modified for 20 years to see if they would increase yield or to just see better progress. In the end it showed that the experiment failed to increase yields as well as it failed to engineer crops to be insect-resistant nor herbicide tolerance. In this paragraph it was use ethos and logos. Ethos was Doug Gurian-Sherman and his research study, â€Å"Failure to Yield†. Logos was the bits of facts that came from Doug Gurian-Sherman research study. In the next to paragraph, it is shown by the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development [IAASTD] has concluded that genetic engineering did not seem very promising in the future. IAASTD found that the small farms that based on agri-ecology would produce much more food. This paragraph had also ethos, being IAASTD. As for the logos was what IAASTD found in the 4 years on figuring out what genetic engineering could hold in the future. The article makes a lot of tactics with logos and ethos to reach the audience, giving a great amount of facts from other credited people. The next three paragraphs have ethos as well as logos. In the passages, the book, â€Å"Soil, Not Oil† is brought as an example to give that industrial monocultures are more vulnerable to climate changes since the soil kept in organic plants help keep moisture making them less likely to die in draughts. In the next passage it is brought up the false statement by genetic engineering industry that it’s only possible to respond to climate change with modified food. Vandana Shiva made a statement on crops evolved to be better resilient to climate, as well Vandana has helped create seeds for drought resistance, and flood resistance as well as salt tolerance. This give the audience the idea that genetically modified food isn’t always needed when nature can just evolve. The last two passages gets more in depth on how genetically modified food and organically produced food will take us in the future. The passage give the audience a since of the future that genetic engineer for modified food is a waste a time, it does not give a sense of food security in the future and it will cause small farmers to go dept. As for Vandana Shiva Navdanya, it is a conserving biodiversity that tries to not be wasteful in water at the same time make much more food per acre. The best article that is persuasive is the second article, â€Å"The Failure of Gene-Altered Crops. The first article was very persuasive, but it never made it secure enough to make it believable that it close to happening. It produce more emotion then logic tactics, making it very hard to determine whether it is a dream that the nation wishes to reach or something that could be accomplish for the future. Great syntax on making it very emotional with pathos, but argument stance it would be weak. The first article could have been stronger if it talked about other countries that are already doing genetically modified foods. Korea has been doing genetically modified food for years, about 20 countries including the European Union, Japan, Australia and New Zealand have already a labeling system for genetically modified foods, (Hae-Yeong Kim 132). Another good point would be to bring up Matin Qaim, â€Å"Vitamin A deficiency is a serious nutritional problem, causing multiple adverse health outcomes. Simulations for India show that Golden Rice could reduce related health problems significantly, preventing up to 40,000 child deaths every year. (552) In India Bt cotton has reduce some poverty and actually help small famers, now some in China and South Africa, Bt cotton are a first-generation of genetically modified technology. As for the second argument, many ethos and logos were presented. One being Doug Gurian-Sherman published study on how genetic industries isn’t really going anywhere, it has great facts, it was a 4 year study so it showed what was being done in long term. A lot of facts on how genetic industry is failing on making modified food was claimed, but not many on how it could do more harm as well as it would bankrupt some small farmers for even trying to use modified seeds. The plant evolving had a great way point in Gebre Egziabher, Tewolde B( The Use of Genetically Modified Crops in Agriculture and Food Production, and Their Impacts on the Environment – A Developing World Perspective) â€Å"Scientists believe that species evolved from a common ancestor through competition and natural selection. They also believe that changes in genes occur in all species owing to mutation, with the probability of mutation of each gene remaining constant under the same environment†. (11) Giving this quote would remind the audience that life has a way of fixing itself and just because the technology is here does not give scientist right to use a different approach but instead try harder to help organic farming when it has been secure food source. Cite American Medical Assoc. Gebre Egziabher T. The Use of Genetically Modified Crops in Agriculture and Food Production, and Their Impacts on the Environment – A Developing World Perspective. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica: Section B, Soil & Plant Science [serial online]. December 2, 2003;53:8-12. Available from: Science & Technology Collection, Ipswich, MA. Accessed April 27, 2012. American Medical Assoc. Hae-Yeong K, Jae-Hwan K, Mi-Hwa O. Regulation and detection methods for genetically modified foods in Korea. Pure & Applied Chemistry [serial online]. January 2010;82(1):129-137. Available from: Science & Technology Collection, Ipswich, MA. Accessed April 27, 2012. American Medical Assoc. Qaim M. Benefits of genetically modified crops for the poor: household income, nutrition, and health. New Biotechnology [serial online]. November 30, 2010;27(5):552-557. Available from: Science & Technology Collection, Ipswich, MA. Accessed April 27, 2012.

Monday, July 29, 2019

Ground investigation in shallow offshore sites Article

Ground investigation in shallow offshore sites - Article Example t in situ where the installations are to be located, comprehensive data acquisition is required in the entire area affected and far down beneath the sea floor. Such processes that encompass offshore site investigations are varied in nature. They range from analyzing marine geological information, scrutiny of available geophysical data which is used to plan the actual investigations. Such processes that lead to the success of the above mentioned range consist of drilling, sampling as well as in situ testing which in essence includes penetrating into the seabed with the help of high technology drilling vessels. These processes encompass what is generally referred to as Geotechnical investigation. From The period 1985 to 1982 Lunne and Powell (1992) gave a review of developments in offshore investigations. They explored the various technological inventions that marked this period and discus the contributions of such developments to offshore studies with new in situ tests being tried out in the offshore environments, including several examples of field model testing. Lunne and Powell observed the general trend over the last 6-8 years which was the gradual increase in deep water developments. Due to the difficulty of taking undisturbed samples in deep water there has been a tendency to rely more on situ testing. Special geotechnical problems associated with geo-hazard evaluations have also inspired developments within the field of in situ testing. In addition the general competitiveness of the market has been a driver cost efficient solutions. Borings, the most efficient and probably accurate technique of shallow offshore studies come in two main varieties, large-diameter and small-diameter boring. Large-diameter borings Peres involve offshore drilling with large enormous machines that bore extensive areas. They are rarely used due to safety concerns and expense, but are sometimes used to allow a geologist or engineer to visually and manually examine the soil and

Sunday, July 28, 2019

ResultsBased Managment (MBAthesis) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

ResultsBased Managment (MBAthesis) - Essay Example (Binnendijk, 2001, p.10) In addition, this information is also useful for the management in decision making. A large number of organisations have the following stages in their RBM programs: For successful implementation of results-based management in a development cooperation organisation, it is essential to smooth the progress of change in the organisation's culture. (Binnendijk, 2001, p.10) A culture that supports RBM should be introduced and brought in. The beliefs, moral values, mind-set and behaviours of the workforce should be aligned with the needs of results-based management to ensure successful implementation. For example, the staff should be encouraged to think and discuss results and outcomes rather than inputs. Changing an organisation's culture plays a very important role in the success of an RBM implementation. 1. I will do an extensive review of previous literature on the subject of results-based management. The focus will be on public administration sector, especially on development cooperation agencies. In this regard, websites of development 2.

Causes of the Civil War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Causes of the Civil War - Essay Example Civil wars are common among early nations seeking growth and expansion. Almost all countries in the world has went through civil wars at one some point in their history, where some have experienced it earlier than the others. There was the Irish civil war from 1922-1923, the Lebanese civil war which lasted more than two decades from1975 to 1990, the Russian civil war which began in 1918, the Spanish civil war which happened between 1936-1939, and other countries as well. The American Civil War was a war fought between two organized groups - 23 northern (Union) and 11 southern (Confederate) – seeking power within the same country - America. The Confederacy would have been content with gaining control over part of America; the Union insisted upon maintaining authority over all of it. It was also a time when the Confederacy sought to establish itself as a separate nation. The Civil War was the culmination of forty years of intense sectional conflict and reflected deep-seated economic, social, and political differences. Historians have coined a number of titles for the war such as â€Å"War of Southern Independence,† â€Å"Brother’s War,† â€Å"American Iliad† and â€Å"Second American Revolution.† Although each of these titles merit the attention to some aspect of the struggle, still, the term Civil War remains to be most appropriate in both sense and usage; and besides, this was the term generally used by both North and South during the war. The American Civil War grew out of deep differences between the north and the south, notably over slavery – opposed by President Lincoln, but an important part of the economy of the south. Underscoring sectional differences, the labor force in the South included nearly 4 million enslaved blacks (Reader’s Digest, 1995). An important element in the war’s background was sectionalism, which may be defined as the tendency of one area within the nation to conceive of itself as being significantly different

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Interview about American Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Interview about American Culture - Essay Example The first opposition was based on the fact that college students are most of the times not responsible individuals and having such a dangerous weapon with them is the worst idea ever. John tells me a brief story of how when he was in his freshman year he attended a fraternity party which he was curious to know what it was about and if he could fit or not. The only thing present other than numerous girls in semi-nude states were the many bottles of beer, cans and jugs of the beer as well as numerous drugs being smoked openly and being passed around. To cut the story short, fight erupted over a girl and beer bottles flew all over but what was vivid was the unmistakable sound of a gun and a body flying into the air and blood sputtering everywhere. Three students had been shot and one died. This was a drunken mistake which is the order of the weekend and sometimes even weekdays for the college students. They drink and their thinking becomes impaired and hence cannot comprehend the magnitude of having such a weapon at hand. According to him fatalities or serious injuries are bound to be the order of the day for the college administration to clean up. They will shoot their opponents or those who anger them in a drunken mistake that cannot be undone when one sobers up. The other reason that makes him oppose such a moral issue in America is the intensity in which aspiring student leaders’ campaign to be elected. These elections are so intense and tension as well as temper rises. It is not uncommon for fights to erupt between supporters of these opponents where minor injuries occur. He explained that if students are allowed to carry concealed weapons no matter what restrictions may be applied, they are bound to appear in such demonstrations and campaign and people are bound to get hurt in the long run. He insists that the states that have already authorized such a

Friday, July 26, 2019

Budget Law Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Budget Law - Assignment Example The purpose of regular appropriations is to provide the funds that are required by governmental organizations that are large and small in size and the amount appropriated is quite specific and for specific purposes. The second major appropriation is supplemental which is there to finance projects that are not completed and require extra financial assistance as the previous appropriations did not satisfy the need of finance for these projects. The third major appropriation is continuing which are used to finance those projects whose funding was not approved by the Congress. The most common constraint includes the time periods for which the appropriated funds are to be used. In most cases the time period within which appropriated funds are to be used is one year. Furthermore, another constraint is the purpose for which the funds were appropriated. This means that the agency can only use the funds to satisfy the purpose that the Congress had agreed upon while appropriating the funds. La stly, the amount is even a major constraint and as per this constraint the agency is not allowed to spend money until the amount has been appropriated to them and they can only spend the amount that have been appropriated to them.The Statute of Fraud is a requirement in contract law and as per this requirement certain forms of contracts are only considered as enforceable in the court of law if the contract is in written or text form rather than oral or verbal form.

Thursday, July 25, 2019

LAW FOR BUSINESS Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

LAW FOR BUSINESS Assignment - Essay Example This type of loss is mostly related with the economic benefits or profits of the claimant. Furthermore, the damages for pure economic losses are not recoverable in tort actions in the absence of the injury of personal nature and in the absence of personal property damage (Claim story, November 1998, p. 60, quoted as saying by Murphy and et. al, 1999). On the other hand, consequential economic loss is a type of economic loss that nearly or proximately results from the failure of the goods to work or function as warranted (Us legal). The examples of consequential economic loss are loss of business reputation, loss of goodwill and other types of loss that are created from the use and consumption of defective products and so on. How does the â€Å"floodgates† principle constrain the right of claimants to claim damages for pure economic loss in negligence?   Answer: The concept of floodgate is that the court will only make the defendant responsible and liable when it is appropria te and reasonable to do so in the public interest (Corporate and Business Law, 2007/08). Additionally, in order to satisfy the basic needs of this approach, some basic and fundamental conditions must be satisfied before going to use this approach for the purpose of claiming damages for pure economic loss in negligence. ... The loss of profit, wasted expenditure, loss of gain and so on are the examples of pure economic loss. Floodgates principles can constrain the right of claimant for the purpose of claiming damages for pure economic loss in negligence. If the claimant is unable to satisfy the basic and fundamental requirements given in the floodgate test, and even if the claimant becomes successful in proving any of the steps given in the floodgate test, he or she cannot be able to receive damages since all the components of floodgate test are not fully and totally satisfied as they should be. Donoghue v Stevenson (1932) Facts: Mrs Donoghue went to a cafe with a friend. She drank a bottle of ginger beer. She subsequently realised that there was a decomposed snail in the bottom of the opaque bottle. As a result, she suffered physical loss. She decided to sue the manufacturer, claiming that they were liable and under a duty to see such external and outside bodies did not get into the bottle of ginger be er. Held: There was a duty on the behalf of the manufacturer to take appropriate and reasonable care while manufacturing of these products. The manufacturer is under an obligation and duty to the consumer to take appropriate and reasonable care to stop and prevent injury. ‘You must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your neighbour’ (Lord Atkin as saying quoted by Corporate and Business Law, 2007/2008, pp.67). Negligence Negligence as a tort is a sort of breach of a legal duty to take care, which causes in damage to another (OUP). In order to satisfy the occurrence of negligence, three conditions must be satisfied. Without satisfying these basic and fundamental conditions, the event or incident of

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Our Role as a Good Samaritan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Our Role as a Good Samaritan - Essay Example An act of generosity towards a friend or acquaintance that may be hungry, ill, or in need of mental comfort would certainly be an act of a Good Samaritan. Life asks us to respond to the needs of people who may be physically disadvantaged, elderly, or poverty-stricken. While offering all the charity we can to anyone in greater need than ourselves may not be practical or realistic, volunteering for an event to help the disadvantaged that live in your community is an act we all have the resources to do. We can take our Saturday afternoon and spend it mowing the lawn for someone who is not physically able. The act of doing a good deed is more important than trying to define the magnitude of the act. Being a Good Samaritan is being there, for anyone in need, with help and kindness when it is needed. The true Good Samaritan will not gauge whether the recipient of their charity is a friend, foe, neighbor, or stranger. The person need only be measured by their situation and their need. Helping a starving child in an unfriendly part of the world is as virtuous as helping an accident victim by the side of the road. We don't consider the politics of the person in need as we humbly, and without fanfare, try to better their situation. Our measure of good is not who they are, but who we are. Our own self-love and self-absorbed attitude is an obstacle that often stands in our way of being a

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

An appeal letter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

An appeal letter - Essay Example I have worked hard to become a better person; I went back to school and held various jobs: waiting tables, delivering goods and also as an assembly technician. I have given it my all to be accepted back into the society and it is very painful for me to realize that no matter what I do I will never be so accepted; whether it is an application for a job or health insurance, I am always turned down based on my conviction. Though I tell myself that the age old adage of there being a rainbow at the end of every storm is true to life, society will not have me believe in it. I do not want to give up even though the odds are against me; I believe I can still be a success, that I can still live the American dream. That is precisely why I hope that the Ethics and Standards Committee would allow me to take the exam, so that I can do something that I have the skill for. The permission would not only help me attain my goal of becoming a part of the society, but also enable me to contribute positively towards

Monday, July 22, 2019

Critical study of how music uniquely expands our understanding of experience Essay Example for Free

Critical study of how music uniquely expands our understanding of experience Essay Music has long existed in our society as a form of culture, entertainment and the like. In fact every civilization known to exist had had a great deal of benefits from music. There are lots of people who see music as nothing more than plain entertainment however there are those who holds in the claim that music gives us something more than entertainment per se. There are claims that music could affect us in a number of ways. Music has considerable effects on one’s mind, body and emotions. Music that are abundant in beats in a way could fuel one’s body, music carried out with feelings could affect one’s emotional status and could either make one cry with misery or laugh with joy, classical music could stimulate the mind, and so on and so forth. There are people who are greatly aware of the effects music could wrought on a person and this could greatly be seen on our everyday experiences. Movies, films, news, see the importance and know the effects music could have on every individual and thus music is key parts in every movie made nowadays. Have you ever seen a movie that doesn’t have an original sound track or a movie that did not make use of background music? Ever seen a documentary and the like who did not use music in the background while portraying the videos or documents they have? Having seen some of the uses music could have it may now suffice to say that music is indeed an important aspect in our lives and it plays fundamental role in today’s society (as well as on societies which existed thousand of years ago). As was stated music is an essential part of every culture, of every society and thus it is of no surprise that music is seen as a part of our everyday routines. Music could have fundamental effects on one’s emotion. Think of an instance wherein certain music affected you emotionally. Say you heard a certain song and it evoke within you some sort of emotions like pain, happiness and the like. I remember for an instance a conversation I have had with a friend of mine. He always loves to listen to the lyrics of Ever After of Bonnie Bailey and Come Around by Rhett Miller. He told me that he love listening to Ever After because that used to be their theme song (of his ex girlfriend) and he loves singing Come around because he can relate to that particular song. Thus, seemingly music indeed has certain effects on our emotions. I even remember claiming that my friend is such a masochist because he loves listening to sad songs such as Come Around when he has a choice to do otherwise. Similarly music has certain ways of affecting one’s mood. However it is not really known how do music affects a person physiologically and psychologically as well. Thus, a question may arise as to how do certain music affects a person’s mood. In order to determine how music affects a person’s mood one must first know the root as to how music inspires a person’s emotion. There are two contrasting viewpoints who tried to answer this particular puzzle. These views are called emotivist and cognitivist. For an emotivist they believe in the notion that we feel certain emotions as a form of response everytime we hear certain music. The cognitivist on the other hand believes otherwise. The cognitivists believes that there is more to humans than emotions and thus they believe that we get to decode certain musical emotions on a rational level, thus it shows that the cognitivists do not really believe that we really get to experience musical emotions. In order to see whether the beliefs of the emotivists are correct or not an experiment needs to be conducted in order to see if there are certain music models which could draw out coherent physiological reactions from different kinds of people. This experiment is needed in order for us to see if we really do experience emotions when exposed to a particular music. It is in this regard that a study had been conducted by Krumhansl wherein two groups of student were used. These particular groups of students each partake different activities. The activity went as follow: One group of 40 students dynamically rated the levels of sadness, fear, happiness, and tension in six sample pieces intended to evoke sadness, fear, or happiness. They did so by adjusting a slider on a computer while the music was playing. A separate group, consisting of 38 college students, was hooked up to physiological sensors monitoring a variety of cardiovascular, electrodermal, and respiratory responses which recorded their change over time. Both groups heard the six musical samples with a 90-second pause in between each. The physiological measures taken from the second group were compared with the degree of sadness, fear, happiness, and tension reported by the first group. Both the physiological measures and emotional ratings were recorded as they changed during the course of the piece. Therefore, correlations could be drawn between the intensity of certain emotions and physiological symptoms. (Boswell) The results shown by the experiment was in accordance to the side of the emotivists. Each of the musical selections was rated as having the intended emotion, and consistent physiological responses were found for each measured emotion: sad music was correlated with a decreased heart rate, lowered finger temperature, increased blood pressure, and decreased skin conductance level; happy music with faster and shallower breathing, and fear-invoking music with a slower pulse, faster breathing, and decreased finger temperature. These effects were consistent during the duration of the pieces. (Boswell) This is further proof that the emotivists position was indeed supported by the said experiment. The fact that there was a coherent physiological modification that was produced by the different music used in the said experiment were behavioral evidence enough that those college students indeed experienced certain emotions all throughout the time they were exposed to the music used. This result contradicted the claim that emotions could only be transmitted once a person gets to recognize a certain passage present within a particular music. Another study was made by Sloboda. Sloboda attempted to identify the exact musical composition which brings about definite physical emotional responses. Examples of the said responses are tears, trembling, and the like. The study made use of questionnaire which was dispersed to five hundred British citizens. However, only eighty-three persons send back the survey. It is an important thing to know that those eighty-three persons who answered the survey were experts in terms of music, particularly classical music. The said survey had went on as follow: Participants were instructed to indicate the frequency with which they experienced certain physical responses as an effect of music within the last five years, as well as the piece of music and, if possible, the specific part of the piece or musical event that provoked it. In addition, they were asked to say whether the response was consistently evoked. (Boswell) A huge number of the partakers claimed that they were able to experience certain physical emotional responses such as mirth, trembling, tears, lump in their throats and the like for the last five years of their lives. However the survey showed that women are more prone to experiencing tears as compared to men. Men on the other hand, especially those already on their thirties, claimed that they experienced more laughter than compared to other age. Just as was the case on the experiment conducted by Krumhansl, the survey conducted by Sloboda also showed a great deal of consistency to each piece of music they were exposed to. This particular survey also showed the extent of the consistency in that the reactions remained consistent even though they have heard the certain musical piece for more than fifty times. A further point of interest is that there are particular melodic constructions which showed to have consistent effects upon the partakers of the said survey. Appogiaturas for one were consistent in bringing tears into surface. The experiment also showed that a series of changes in terms of harmony incite trembling, whereas quickening brought about faster heart beats. However, if there is a certain drawback in the said study is the fact that it was conducted with the use of questionnaires. We could have no way of knowing if the person who answered it had answered truthfully or if s/he is merely bluffing. Thus, in a way we have no way of making sure that the partakers of the said survey indeed experienced the particular emotions and physical responses they reported they have experienced for the past five years. Another factor is the fact that those who participated in the survey were all expert on the field of music and thus we could not really deduct from this survey alone that the rest of the world would also act or feel the same way. However there are certain studies which had been conducted which show that very little difference exists between those who have musical expertise and those who have none. In addition, the records stated by the partakers of the said survey regarding their experiences of physical signs of emotions are not really unusual. Thus, in a way we could say that the study conducted by Sloboda also supported the position held by the emotivists. We should also take into account the fact that the physical responses reported by the survey partakers are in fact common in all human beings since we all share the same autonomic response system. However, we should also take note of the fact that our capability to utilize the said system in order for us to feel or experience certain emotions brought about by music is in a way, a learned process. This particular claim is supported by the fact that very young children do not really get to experience the said responses. Even those adults who have different kinds of music as compared to ours are not likely capable to experience the said responses brought about by the music we listen into. Thus, Sloboda claimed that the link between musical compositions and emotions is a learned process which is also dependent on one’s culture. However, this does not necessitate that we do not really get to experience or fell certain emotions from listening to certain music. It only tells us that we may not be able to relate nor are we likely to experience certain emotions from listening to other music that are completely different from ours. Fact is, Sloboda even claimed that if we are to be exposed to music completely different from ours we could still get to relate to that music although it would take time. Therefore even though the link between musical compositions and emotions is a learned process, evidences and studies still show the stand held by the emotivists that we are indeed capable of feeling or experiencing certain emotions simply by listening to a particular music. Thus those who participated in the studies conducted have steadily testified that they have indeed experienced true emotions when they listened to certain music. The researches conducted also accounted for the fact that very little difference in terms of recognizing emotions could be seen between those who have musical expertise and those who have none. Thus this accounted for the emotivists view that we could indeed experience certain emotions simply by listening to certain music, although it is still not clear what inclines us to be affected in certain ways. Research conducted claims that there is really no ground in saying that somewhere in our brains there could be located a region dedicated mainly to process musical data. In contrary, the errand of musical processing is extended to the whole region of our brains. Thus whereas the right brain is responsible for the emotions evoked while listening to music, the left brain is quite responsible for looking at music in a more rational ground thus it tends to critically examine music. There are even proofs which show that the primeval region within our mid brain is the one responsible for our emotions we experience while listening to music. Thus a primeval region within our midbrain engages itself with the task of realizing and appreciating music in an emotional way. However, the specific region wherein music is being developed (if ever there is one) is yet to be known. A study which involves this particular interest was conducted by Schmidt and Trainor. Schmidt and Trainor studied whether or not frontal brain electrical activity correlated with intensity and positivity or negativity, or valence, of emotion. The study showed that the left frontal brain is the one responsible for experiencing positive emotions whereas the right frontal brain is the one responsible for experiencing negative emotions. Thus, emotions such as happiness, interests and the like are product of the left frontal brain whereas emotions such as horror, revulsion, pain and the like were made by the right frontal brain. Therefore it would suffice for us to say that when listening to happy tunes our left frontal brain is likely to be triggered whereas listening to desolate songs would trigger our right frontal brain. It also follows that the intensity of music could affect the intensity of the frontal activity. The hypothesis stated above had already been confirmed. A careful selection of music which would likely draw out positive emotions triggered the left frontal brain whereas a careful selection of music which would likely draw negative emotions triggered the right frontal brain. Thus, the frontal activity of the brain increases every time the intensity of certain music also increases. Thus in a way this is also another proof which supports the emotivist view that listening to certain music could make a person experience certain emotions. Thus a similarity between music and language could be seen. Both language and music alike is inclined to be interpreted subconsciously. Thus, this seems to show that humans have a biological structure which enables music to draw emotions from each of us. And though this particular structure is yet to be known, researchers concluded that the said structure is not composed of a single area on the brain. On the contrary, researchers believe that such structure is made up of an interaction of the different systems which could be found within our brain. It is due to music’s many uses that music is also deemed to have considerable effects on the field of medicine. There are certain accounts taken from the Bible, artifacts, as well as studies that show that music could have considerable effects on a person’s health and well-being. In fact, there are historical inscriptions taken from Egypt, Greek, China and other known civilizations which praise music’s ability in medical matters. Music is widely considered to have medical importance and it is in this regard that music even such a term such as music therapy. After World War II the United States of America even see to it that music therapy would be used on wounded soldiers who were tormented by physical as well as emotional traumas taken from the war. Physicians and nurses alike saw how music helped alleviate some of the soldiers or veterans pain by merely engaging themselves on musical activities. It is on this regard that hospitals started employing musicians to help better their patients’ status. Music had been very helpful in bettering the patient’s emotional as well as psychological status and as many people learned of these certain benefits derived from music, National Association for Musical Therapy came to existence. The need for musical therapy became wide range to the point that the National Association for Musical Therapy or NAMT allied themselves to other musical organizations which in turn resulted into the foundation of the American Music Therapy Association or AMTA. The ranges of music therapy vary widely in that it not only caters to emotional sickness since it also proved to be beneficial in sickness suffered under physical injuries. Music therapy helped people in terms of their perceiving pains. There are a number of reasons why they consider music as an effectual means in limiting perceived pains. First, music could divert a person’s mind from the pain at hand or from the pain a person perceives. Second, music could help in terms of giving a person some kind of control. Thirdly, music could help counter pain since it could help a person in releasing endorphins which are necessary in giving a person some sense of well-being. Fourth, slow music could help a person in terms of relaxation in that it slows a person’s breathing. Take a person with leukemia for an example. Let’s say Person A needs to undergo a certain surgery necessary to cure his leukemia. One should admit that surgical procedures are indeed frightening and thus Person A could not help but be afraid of what’s on store for him and thus Person A’s blood pressure continues to rise and this in turn has a crucial effect on Person A’s healing process. This particular thing could also heighten Person A’s awareness or perception of pain. One’s pain could not be measure by anyone and thus there is no standard in terms of the amount of pain a person could have. It is in this manner that music therapy comes into the picture. We have already enumerated the reasons why music therapy is considered beneficial in medicine and thus in this manner one could be lead to speculate that music therapy could indeed lessen one’s pain perception because it could work in certain ways in order to lessen a person’s perceived pain. Disturbance or diversion could help in certain ways in lessening one’s sense perception and thus it could help moderate the pain a person undergoes. This pain moderation could be redirected to the cognitive section which could be seen in the Gate-Control Theory of Pain. Pleasant music naturally applies or concentrates on a person’s pleasant stimulus which in turn concerns the capability of the information processing system. Since the music would be busy attending to the pleasant stimulus of a person it naturally follows that the person’s occupation would be diverted from the pain-causing stimulus. It is ion this regard that music is considered important in distracting a person because distraction presents a person with an escape by means of imagination which in turn is a crucial means in lessening stress, nervousness and fear which are important factors which constitutes pain. Thus enjoyable imagination could promote some sense of control to a person which could decrease a person’s nervousness and feeling of being powerless. Thus since music helps transfer our attention away from painful experiences it provides us with a strategy we could use when we undergo painful experiences, may it be physically or emotionally.

Personal Reflections Essay Example for Free

Personal Reflections Essay The concept of self in the social world has been the subject of psychology studies for decades. Self-concept is defined as â€Å"a person’s answers to the question, â€Å"Who am I?† (Myers, 2010). Several factors, both internal and external, create each individual’s sense of self. Self-concept, self-esteem, self-knowledge, and social self all help create the sense of self. Self-schemas are an important component of one’s self-concept. A schema is simply defined as â€Å"mental templates by which we organize our worlds† (Myers, 2010). Self-schemas are the beliefs one holds, which define who we are. Self-concept The development of our self-concept has numerous influences, which include roles played, social identities formed, comparisons made, personal success and failure, judgments, and cultural surroundings (Myers, 2010). Roleplaying can include what we are in our professional life, as children in school, and into adulthood. The roles we assume may not feel like second-nature in the beginning, however, as we evolve within our roles, we become a more self-confident role player. Social comparison shapes an individual’s self-concept through academics, finances, and looks. The impact the comparison has is dependent who we are comparing ourselves to. Personal success and failure occur on a daily basis at work, school, and home. Judgments made by our peers strongly influence our own perception of self. Positive feedback will result in a positive view of one’s self, as a negative feedback will result in a negative self-concept. Our cultural surroundings impact our self-concept also. Westernized cultures tend to be more self-absorbed than an Eastern culture. â€Å"In many Western cultures, there is a faith in the inherent separateness of distinct persons† (OMalley, 2002). Individualism and collectivism are two concepts describing how  individuals view their importance within their culture. Individualism is mainly seen in a Western culture, where an individual places personal goals and gains over a group’s goals and gains. Collectivism considers a group’s goal as a priority over an individual’s goal. â€Å"Most cultures native to Asia, Africa, and Central and South America place greater value on collectivism† (Myers, 2010). The interdependent self is defined as the â€Å"view of the self and the relationship between the self and others† (OMalley, 2002) within a group. Self-esteem Self-esteem is â€Å"a person’s overall self-evaluation or sense of self-worth† (Myers, 2010). People have both low self-esteem and high self-esteem, depending on the variance of difficulties in their life. Poverty, drugs, and abuse can all be considered a factor in a person’s low self-esteem. High self-esteem can also be portrayed a negative trait, especially when the individual is viewed as narcissistic. Narcissism is defined as â€Å"having an inflated sense of self† (Myers, 2010). Self-efficacy Self-efficacy is defined as â€Å"the belief in one’s capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to manage prospective situations† (Cherry, What is Self-Efficacy?, 2014). Self-efficacy is not the same as self-esteem, which is how valuable an individual perceives themselves to be. An individual’s self-efficacy is the belief they are capable of accomplishing a task, even when the task is challenging. Studies of the Self Various studies of the self in psychology have offered an insight into what is believed to be the center of self-concept. Carl Rogers believed self-image, self-esteem, and ideal self are the three components of self-concept. Self-image is â€Å"how you see yourself† (Cherry, What is Self-concept?, 2014). A person’s self-image can include positive and negative aspects, which may or may not be realistically true. Self-esteem is the how valuable a person believes they are. Comparison between a person’s own successes and another’s can impact their self-esteem in a negative or positive manner. Ideal self is how a person would like to see their self. Ideal self is not necessarily how an individual actually perceives their  self, rather the idealistic version that person dreams of being. Who I am Amanda’s Self-concept By asking myself â€Å"who am I†, I am able to define my self-concept. I am a mother and I love my children. I am a full-time employee at ESCO Corporation. I am a college student at the University of Phoenix, studying Environmental Science. I am not an easy person to get along with, and I tend to take criticism personally. Amanda’s Self-esteem I have low self-esteem. My low self-esteem has been an ongoing issue from childhood. I struggle with my weight, which was not a real issue until I was out of high school. I thought I was overweight as a teen, when in reality I was at a healthy weight. After I had my first daughter at the age of 18, depression slowly took over my carefree and happy personality. I began to eat more in an attempt to feel better about myself. I remember one incident as a Senior which really made an impact on my self-esteem. While changing classes, I waited at my locker for a classroom to finish letting students out. One of the disabled girls from that classroom kept looking at my mid-section. She finally asked me â€Å"are you pregnant or something†. I was not pregnant anymore, and had given birth two months before. Hearing another person say I looked like I was pregnant still brought my feeling of self-worth to the lowest point at that time. Amanda’s Self-efficacy My self-efficacy can be compared to a roller coaster. I do challenge myself to excel at work and school. I believe I can accomplish anything I put my mind to. Over the past decade, I have improved my self-efficacy, with a tremendous improvement over the last five years. The individuals I have chosen to surround myself with, as opposed to in the past, have helped me accomplish my dreams. My fiancà © encouraged me to stand up for myself, especially with my parents. My parents had been involved in raising my children to the point I was not able to make a decision without calling for their opinion first. The feeling of dread would overcome me due to the fact I knew my parents would not approve of my decisions if I did not talk to them first. I finally realized I was holding myself back, and I could make important family decisions without their approval. I signed up for the  University of Phoenix for the reasons I believed were important. I did tell my parents I was going back to school after I had signed up, and I saw the disappointment they felt over not being able to control me with the decision. My fiancà © has been encouraging throughout my studies, and continues to give me the push I need to finish my last five classes. References Cherry, K. (2014). What is Self-concept? Retrieved January 20, 2014, from About Psychology: http://psychology.about.com/od/sindex/f/self-concept.htm Cherry, K. (2014). What is Self-Efficacy? Retrieved January 21, 2014, from About Psychology: http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/a/self_efficacy.htm Myers, D. G. (2010). Social Psychology (10th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill. OMalley, M. (2002). Hazel Rose Marcus and Shinobu Kitayama, Culture and the Self: Implications for Cognition, Emotion, and Motivation. Retrieved January 21, 2014, from Honors 130: Conceptions of the Self: http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/honors130/culture.html

Sunday, July 21, 2019

The Strengths Based Approach In Human Resources Commerce Essay

The Strengths Based Approach In Human Resources Commerce Essay Human resource has become a source of core competence a unique capability in the organization that creates high value and that differentiates the organization from its competition. Therefore it is paramount to add a strategic touch in sourcing, selecting and managing this unique capability to gain competitive advantage. Linking of human resources with strategic goals and objectives in order to improve business performance and develop organizational culture that foster innovation and flexibility bring about the strategic touch, otherwise known as Strategic Human Resource Management. Strengths Based approach in SHRM terms and Models Critically analysing BAE Systems scenario, it is possible analyse its operations which reveals SHRM terms and models that helps in understanding the context in which the strength based approach has been used. SHRM Terms BAE has been recruiting and hiring personnel to match their competence with the organizations goal. Its tradition model, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.clients going to the businessà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ has since changed to a more customer-oriented approach. In the process it has meant designing and implementing a set of internally consistent policies and practices that ensure the human capital of the firm contributes to the achievement of its business objectives (Schuler MacMillan 1984, Baird Meshoulam 1988, Jackson Schuler 1995) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦customer-orientated organization that does maintenance and support. This change is in response to BAE external business environment that demands a customer-orientated approach and as such the need for better deployment of human resource an emphasis of SHRM à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦We are putting significant numbers of people into RAF bases, working alongside the RAF our people managing RAF people in the process (pg 2, paragraph 3) Since a firms strategy (BAE strategy rather than clients going to the business, it was to the clients) is a reflection of its response to the external changes, human-capital, with a broad array of skills compatible with the corporate strategy, is a catalyst for fulfilling the strategic goals. This calls for melding of HR function (selection and hiring) with a firms strategy congruence between HR practice and business strategy (Miles Snow 1984, Baird Meshoulam 1988, Wright McMahan 1992), a practice known as best-fit an approach on the idea that human resource strategy flow from business strategy; matching the human strength (talent, Skills, knowledgeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦etc) toward the achievement of the organisation goal. In modern competitive times success is achieved by adapting enlightened, progressive, people first, high performance or high commitment employment practices. This seems to the same idea BAE is banking on, otherwise known as best practice a bundle of HR policies that lead to highly motivated and committed employees who are the key to an organizations competitive advantage. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Instead of focusing on an individuals weaknessà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦focus on their strong points and allow them to use those to their full potential (pg 2, paragraph 3) Further, the above statement highlights one aspect BAE is focusing on, the people to achieve it strategic goals. So as to achieve high performance and / or high commitment, it is worldly accepted that people work better while doing what they are best at doing (Huselid, 1995; Becker and Gerhart, 1996; Guest, 1997.). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦they had been givenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦things they would have naturally been drawn to, that they enjoyed and found energising (pg 4, paragraph 2) Change indeed is inevitable at BAE. The business model it has been relying on is changing, calling for a more customer-orientated approach. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦rather than clients going to the business, it was going to the clients The mere fact of implement a strength base approach, in itself is change. It can be concluded that the change is fostered towards remaining competitive in the changing environment, thus BAE is seeking to match its human resource with business strategy, a concept in SHRM known as contingency approach which brings about two orientations, the internal labour orientation that seeks a long-term relationship with its employees and external labour orientation that seeks flexibility and does not make long-term commitments employees. SHRM Model From BAEs case, certain key features emerge that helps in identifying the SHRM model it is using to recruit and select its personnel. BAE business goal is to change its earlier approach of customer going to the business, to BAE going in such of the client. Adams à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦what were trying to move to is much more customer-oriented organisationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The strength based approach as used in BAE scenario can be referred to as the Human Resource Strategy (HRS) and is being mended with BAE Business Strategy (BS) rather than clients going to the business, it was to the clients to achieve a fit to achieve its goal, in response to its changing business environment. This leads to a conclusion that the relationship between BS and HRS is that of Fit. Environment Analysis, another SHRM model feature, emerges; business transformation led to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦working with an industrial artist to produce a poster that illustrated for staff and leaders alike the challenges ahead. (pg 3, paragraph 3) This analysis helps BAE understand the environment which it operates in and be able to adopt as it evolves. Also the analysis prompt BAE to carry out a situation analysis to determine it current status, especially in terms of human resource to ascertain its capability to achieve its in response to the change in the business environment. This goal, I can say by analysis of BAE case, has been occasioned by BAE customers seeking value-add service on top of just the designing and build of aircraft services, an issue of stakeholder interest the customer. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦move toà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a much more customer-orientated organisation that does maintenance and support (pg 3, paragraph 2) From the case, strength-base approach has resulted in high performance by employees doing more than they used to do even though nothing had change in terms of the job roles an issue to do with work systems and HR flow, key attributes of a HR policy. Also, for BAE employees to do things they would have been drawn to and found energising is a catalyst for achieving competence and commitment among the employees, the desired result (outcomes) of the HR policy being used by an organisation, in this case BAE. The above paints a picture of the kind of SHRM model BAE that is skewed toward the Harvard Model; an approach seen to enhance high level of trust and mutuality. A representation of the model in light of the BAE case is as follows. HR Outcomes: High performance Commitment Competence Stakeholder Interests: Employee job satisfaction Organisation/Mgt Performance and competitiveness Customer quality, value for money HR Policies Long-term Consequences: Organisational Effectiveness Situation Analysis: Skill Availability 1.2) From a Human Resource Development (HRD) perspective the value of this Strength based approach from the perspective of learning, development and change Introduction The Link between HRD, Learning, Development and change HRD refers to activities geared to cause employees to improve, make better, to increase from an individual perspective (in terms of skills and knowledge) and from an organisation perspective (in terms of business performance through the people) resulting in an organisation gaining competitive edge and ability to succeed in the future. HRD has therefore become critical (reason for a strategic approach to human resource) in nurturing human-capital talent, bringing to the fore the need for organisations to provide opportunities to attract, retain and offer growth opportunity to individual, especially in todays knowledge economy, thus the recognition of the criticality of learning and development in the context of human-capital the development and organisation capability. An organisations business environment keeps changing hence the needs to have the capacity to embrace and manage changes as they evolve. Through people organisation achieve their goals. Likewise through people an organisation is able to adapt / change to the new way of doing business. The value of this Strength based approach from the perspective of learning, development and change Learning and Strength-based approach Learningà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦has acquired visibility and saliency because it sits at the juncture of new thinking concerning the nature of learning about new forms of knowledge, the transformation of the nature of work and the modern enterprise in a globalized economy (Stern and Sommerlad, 1999). From BAE perspective, the implementation of the strength-based approach can be construed to be a learning experience for the organization. Also the strength-based approach can be viewed from Kolb et als (1974) learning cycle that focuses on an integrated and planned approach based on experience Fig 2: Kolb et als (1974) learning cycle Reflection on experience involve looking back on experience and assessing the results. In relation to BAE, this is highlighted by the change in the way it used to do business. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the traditional centralised business model.was changing rather than clients going to the business, it was going to the clients. (Paragraph 2, page 3) Conceptualise involves seek to understand why things turned out as they did, draw conclusions and make some hypotheses. The strength based approach from the case is defined as: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Instead of focusing on an individuals weaknessà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ you should focus on their strong points and allow them to use those to their full potential (Paragraph 3, page 2) Implementing the approach at the board level was hypothetical in the sense that the approach had been around for a while without much success any surety it would work. Apply -testing the hypotheses à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦The board was allocated several key business tasksà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ allocated according to strengths. (Paragraph 1, page 4) Act Do something. In BAEs case à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The extent to which a strength-based approach will be integrated into BAE is under review. (Paragraph 6, page 4) The fact that BAE board à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦want to take this forward underscore the nature of learning, that of a continuous process. The value of Strength-based approach is that, employees are able to identify their strengths helping individuals understand their talents and how they can consciously apply these at work through developing knowledge and skills (which can be learned) to turn natural talents into world-class strengths. This approach has contributed to a high-performance work environment. (Organisational) Development and Strength-based approach As defined by Richard Beckhard (1969), Organization development (OD) is a planned, top-down, organization-wide effort to increase the organizations effectiveness and health. OD is undertaken to achieve a flexible (not only enabling organizations to embrace change, but exploit change in the external environment to organizational advantage) and creative organization that constantly seeks to improve and reinvent the way it carries out its business, and serves its customers. How rapidly an organization adapts to changing business circumstance is what delivers competitive advantage in todays global marketplace. Example, today, customers can be located anywhere in the world, customers demand near-instantaneous responsiveness and solutions. Such factors have impinged on organizational development. As a resulted there is a growing trend around the world to introduce skill-specific forms of training, as well as the growing recognition of individual learning contribution to organisation learning, both of which emphasise the link between competitive advantage and, training and development specifically around role and tasks. This seems to be the perspective BAE is borrowing by implementing a strength-based approach. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Rather than being shared out according to job functionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦tasks were now allocated according to strengths (skills) (paragraph 1, pg 4) A broader approach could be placed on identifying the skills and experience (BAE: through strength-based approach), which broad business direction (BAE: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦customer-orientated organisation that does maintenance and support) suggests will be required in the future together with planning around developing talent at different levels in the organisation (BAE: The extent to which a strength based approach will be integrated into BAE is under review). Change and Strength-based Approach An organisation can only perform effectively through interaction with the broader external environment of which it is part. Therefore the structure and functioning of the organisation must reflect the nature of the environment in which it is operation. For its survival and future success the organisation must be readily adaptable to the external demands upon it it must be responsive to change. From BAE perspective The traditionally centralised business modelà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦was changingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Paragraph 2, page 3) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦to move toà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦much more customer-orientated organisationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Paragraph 3, page 4) The above reflects a change and BAE needs to adapt to the new way of doing business. Implementing the Strength-based approach comes in handy in identify the set of skills required to undertake such a move. 1.3 From an organisational and employee perspective the weakness ofstrength based approach The direction an organisation takes is always governed by goals that it wants to achieve and the strategies thereof applied to achieve them. Since the only way to achieve such goals is through people, there has to be a link between the strategies and the people. From BAEs perspective, the strength-based approach may be viewed as a best-practise approach a bundle of HR policies. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Instead of focusing on an individuals à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦focus on their strong points and allow them to use those to their full potential (pg 2, paragraph 3) According to Purcell (1999, p. 27) the best practice model does not discuss on company strategy. The underlying premise of this view is that organizations adopting a set of best practices attract super human resources, talent and competencies. These superior human resources will, in turn, influence the strategy the organization adopts and is the source of its competitive advantage. (Milkovich Newman, 2002, p. 30) .Therefore, for this approach, policy precedes strategy. This brings out the first weakness of the strength-based approach there is no direct link with the overall organization strategy. The strength-based approach primary focus is the skills of a person thereby limiting people to their area of interest. This leads to specialization and in as much as it make an organization / individual competent in the area of interest, to an extent this may prove very expensive to the organization since specialized skills are scarce and may come at a cost and should an organization be pursuing a cost leadership strategy this may undermine its intended goal cost reduction, which indeed is a competitive advantage virtue. This by analysis can be presumed true of the BAE scenario. Furthermore, it is prudent to focus also on the weakest points. For example a manager, using the WH Smith competence model used to underpin graduate recruitment and development, needs the following competencies: written communication ( communicate on paper) Oral communication (clearly speak and with ease) leadership (directing, command authority) team membership (team player) Planning and organizing Decision Making Motivation Personal Strength Analytical It may not be possible to be good at all the above competencies, albeit those being key requirements from a managerial focus, hence their weakness. But due to performance demands this may be sacrificed for performance. Watts agrees: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦its all about business performanceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦if someone was the greatest strategist in the world but terrible at people management, we wouldnt be able to tolerate that, no matter how strong they were in the other areas. So its playing to people strength where possibleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Human Resource development (HRD) emphasizes the need to cause employees to improve, make better, to increase from an individual skills and knowledge perspective, and from an organisation performance through the people perspective. As a result an organisation gains competitive edge and ability to succeed in the future From the above nature of HRD, the strength-based approach lucks a clear way of improving skills in the sense that it is impossible to pinpoint areas of improvement from a skilled resource perspective performing tasks he/she is attracted to and good at doing. ..How do you help someone who has risen to the top by being strong in most areas? (Paragraph 6, page 3) Complacency, egoism could result if a strength-based approach was implemented. An employee would feel superior since his skills is unmatched and as such would take things for granted while not putting enough effort and thereby affecting performance. Linleyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦people often take things they are good at for granted, because it feels natural and doesnt require a lot of effortà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Paragraph 7, page 3) SECTION B Question 2: 2.1: The main features of a performance management system Driven by market imperatives to develop more efficient organizational structures and practices, within an organization, there is an increasing emphasis on behavioural competitive strategies that rely on core competencies and capabilities among employees, not only because they provide the most effective response to market demands, but also because they are not easily copied by competitors. Performance management is the process of creating a work environment or setting in which people are enabled to perform to the best of their abilities. Its the identification, evaluation and developing the work performance of employees so that an organizations goals and objectives are more effectively achieved. Ensuring a productive and successful performance management system (PMS) is hard work and requires rigor and discipline to which an organization must be willing to commit. Key features of PMS include: Making the business case the objective The path (strategy) an organization will take goals to be achieved and role of each employee need to be communicated to achieve oneness, coherence and understanding throughout the organization. A PMS, likewise, need to be communicated pre-launch, (re)launch and post launch. There is need to cultivate enthusiasm, understanding and commitment through continual explanation of using the system to the entire organization In itself, PMS is an accountability system, showing the business results everyone (from senior managers to front-line employees) is accountable for and setting expectations for achieving the desire results. There should be a continual review of the objective in with the organization strategy. This is especially so taking into account the market dynamics keep changing and the organization need to align itself to be able to coup with change. Skill development It is critical to develop confidence and the competence of all employees around fulfilling their roles when implementing a process intended to change behavior. Actively involving the employees throughout the performance cycle will result in the effectiveness of the PMS. Both the leaders and employees need to know their responsibilities in the process; how to create measurable objectives and observable competencies; how to track; how to seek, give, and receive feedback; how to evaluate performance; and how to conduct effective performance discussions. All this require skills development in the form of training to be provided for both the leaders and employees. Aligned systems and Processes The alignment process begins with the PMS supporting the business strategic priorities and goals. It is critical to determine the relationship between other systems (for example team working) and the performance management system and how data from it will be used to support other HR systems, such as training and development, succession planning, selection and promotion, rewards and recognition, and compensation. For success in a specific position, competencies need to be identified and incorporate into the selection process for hiring people into the position which late be included into performance plans to track and evaluate. This provides an immediate link between the competencies used for selection and the competencies used to evaluate performance in the new job. The two systems are aligned and reinforce each other. Providing clear measures What are the outcomes envisaged from the system (PMS) and how do we measure? Before implementation, it is paramount to decide upon the criteria for evaluating the systems effectiveness. Landmarks for evaluation would include compliance ( for example, are performance plans, interim reviews, and final reviews, being completed on time?) and quality and effectiveness of the system (quality audits of performance plans and reviews, questions on employee satisfaction surveys and exit interviews, and so on) 2.2: Critical evaluation of the relationship and contribution of performance management systems with strategic human resource management principles Concept of Human Resource Today, all organizations (private business, academics and governments) throughout the world appreciate that the human resources can be a source of competitive advantage, provided that the policies for managing people are integrated with strategic business planning and organizational culture (Beer, Spector, Lawrence, Quinn, Mills, Walton, 1985) an important emphasis of congruence between human resource policies and organization objectives. This brings about the aspect of Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) the linking of human resources with strategic goals and objectives in order to improve business performance and develop organizational culture that foster innovation and flexibility. SHRM can be seen as a three-dimensional model (Gratton and Truss, 2003): it is based on vertical alignment between people strategy and operational strategy; on horizontal alignment between individual HRM functions; and on an action and implementation dimension. Further in HRM, there are two strands of thinking: hard approach to HRM that focuses on cost reduction and containment, links with strategy and the role of HRM in furthering the competitive advantage of the organization and; the soft HRM that builds on human relations traditions and stresses the importance of the subjects as a means of furthering employee satisfaction and a range of related humane objectives that are achievable from the insights of systematic studies within HRM. Strategic human resource management and performance In the 21st century, organizations are so keen and are striving to achieve competitive advantage and profits through effective knowledge management (generating knowledge through collective learning). When human resource strategies are based on competence (ability requiring skills and knowledge which are acquired), the competency point of view is relevant to all functions. The key functions of HRM include personnel recruitment, development, and career planning and performance evaluation. In an organization there is a combination of material and immaterial resources that are expected to provide competitive edge to the organization (Kamoche, 1999). Resources and capabilities can be defined as skills, collective learning (core capabilities embedded in the organizations structures and processes) or as core competence. The capabilities include human capital (Individual competence is a good example), Structural capital (consists of intellectual property and infrastructure; systems of performance evaluation and management). The relationship capital refers to those distinct features that mark the organizations relationship with customers, personnel and interest groups. From this viewpoint, HRM is seen as a promoter of strategic capability, as a driver or as the organizations core competence. The latter consider that HRM functions of an organization can create unique competence that makes the organization stand out from the rest. This in turn increases its competitive advanta ge. Competence can be viewed from two levels: organizations core competence that incorporates collective learning and individual competence is usually based on the relationship between individual skills and work demands. The latter is often linked to good work performance. The prerequisites for competency depend on circumstances and are related to the facilitators of and barriers to reaching organizational goals, created by the organization and by social relations. Individual competency potential and the characteristics of the organization influence work competency i.e. effective response to work demands. Here, it is a question of reconciling desired behaviors and outcomes with actual behaviors and outcomes. Performance evaluation at the level of an organization and performance evaluation at the level of an individual constitute the basic functions of SHRM and can be used to co-ordinate strategies and personnel strategies and HRM functions. This mechanism is expected to establish a link between HRM and performance by increasing the motivation and building performance capability of personnel However, Panayotopoulou, Bourantas and Papalexandris (2003, p. 682) state research has failed to consistently support the efficacy of fit and its link to performance. Key citation is that most research on HRM and performance are based on the assumption that an organization pursues an integrated set of objectives and human resource that is in contrast with three recent developments: move towards more flexible internal structures associated with different forms of cooperation and collaboration among organizations and some of these include strategic alliances, business networks, joint ventures and linkages Outsourcing and inter-organizational contracting trend. These approaches do not consider the influence of multi employers and customers in the shaping of the employment relationship (Rubery, Earnshaw, Marchington, Cooke and Vincent 2002.) Much of organizational performance discussion is as though organizations are homogenous entities with clearly defined boundaries and similar contexts and characteristics. Recent developments suggest the need to understand the boundaries and how these might impact on organizations and the employment relationship. Hutchinson, Kinnie and Purcell (2001) report, in relation to the notions of people management and performance a number of aspects demonstrating the difficulty of evaluating performance impact are identified. The relationship between HR practices and business performance can be identified at different levels ranging from the plant/establishment level through to the corporation level. Lack of consensus on what constitutes a HR package and no agreement on the level of specificity or HR practices. There is a different way of measuring HR practices and a limited use of performance measures. in some cases sophisticated measurement techniques are used and these are hard to understand Few studies take account of the reaction of employees so that it is difficult to understand how the HR practices feed through to improved levels of performance and thus causality is an issue. Guest (1997) concur that there is a need for a basis of comparison and also a need to understand the relationship between types of performance data. 5 The main features of Human Resource Development (HRD) strategies and how they influence organisation change Definition of HRD By definition, HRD strategies are plans defining how human resources would be utilized through the use of an integrated array of training, organisational development and career development efforts to achieve individual, organisational objectives. The increasingly competitive business environment organization have become increasingly interested in and appreciate their employees who are seen as key players contributing to the core competencies of the organization (Hamel and Prahalad, 1994). As a result, it has become paramount for the organization (the management) to harness and nurture the talents and capabilities of the employees for good performance and competitive edge. This has given rise to the need of human resource development. Features and their influences: Skill Gap People are our greatest asset, is on the lips of many senior managers. During selection and hiring of an employee, at that time the employees competencies (ability- requiring skills and knowledge) were deemed as fitting with the organisation objectives. As a result of changes taking place in the business environment (Political, Economic, Social and Technological) most like the organisation will have changed in the way it used to work so as to encompass/embraces these changes resulting in skills deficit. In response to the need to meet the skill gaps and increase productivity, organisations are keen to encourage a series of initiatives, and which recognise the importance of developing the skills, for example multi-skilling and learning to achieve flexibility. However, in as much as people are our greatest asset philosophy goes, there is poor investment in training and development in most of the organisation (Redman and Wilkinson, 2001; Harrison, 2002). Furthermore the development budget is often the first target when economies are needed. Creating learning Environments Changes in the business environment are leading to flexible and creative organisations that are constantly seeking to improve and reinvent the way business is carried out and how customers are severed an organisation development (OD) perspective. French and Bell (1999) describes OD as a long-term effort to improve the organisations visioning, empowerment, learning and problem-solving processes through collaborative management of organisation culture this description high-lights a key aspect, learning. The organisation is not the only arena for people to learn. There is need for organisations and its employees, and to a greater extent the community within which the organisation is operating to understand the importance of life-long-learning the need to have high quality. This calls for a cross-sector partnership to provide opportunities for organisation (public, private and non-profit) to work together to enhance the skill base in the labour market which will in turn increase in human and social capital. Developing a learning organisation is not easy since it necessitates culture change. To successfully implement a learning culture, there is need to align performance evaluation and reward processes with organisational learning goals, a means of fostering a common corporate learning culture. Encouraging a greater uptake of learning an

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Television and Media - TV Violence and Childrens Behavior Essay

Television Violence and Children's Behavior    Drive-by shootings and school massacres are just two of the many violent past-times of today’s youth. Is television a contributor to this insidious erosion of children's respect for life?   Much research that has been done in an attempt to answer this question. The majority of the findings are very similar in content, and the results are grim.   Television violence has been shown to cause four major changes in children's behavior:   "Increasing aggressiveness and anti-social behavior, increasing their fear of becoming victims, making them less sensitive to violence and to victims of violence, and increasing their appetite for more violence in entertainment and in real life."   (AAP Committee)   Television is causing a change in America's children, and it is not a change for the better. If watching television is increasing children's aggressive behavior, then is it also causing a higher crime rate?   Once again, the answer is a resounding yes.   "Longitudinal studies tracking viewing habits and behavior patterns of a single individual found that 8-year-old boys who viewed the most violent programs while growing up were the most likely to engage in aggressive and delinquent behavior by age 18 and serious criminal behavior by age 30." (Booth, Mullins, Scott, and Woolston)   Not only do our children exhibit an immediate reaction to violence in the media but also a long term effect of a higher propensity toward committing crimes.   Another population study stated that the homicide rate doubled within ten to fifteen years after the introduction of television into several different locations where television was introduced at different times.   (Facts About Media Violence)   We are all affect... ...can child reaches the age of 16, he or she will have witnessed 200,000 acts of violence on television, including 33,000 murders.   (Juvenile Crime and TV)   Apparently we accept what we see over and over again as normal behavior.   We are teaching our children that violence is acceptable by inviting it into our homes everyday.   They, in turn, are becoming more violent from the playgrounds all the way to the prisons. Works Cited Booth, Vicki, Mullins, Heather, Scott, Erika, and Woolston, Jonathon.   "Juvenile Crime and TV."   Online.   http://staff.gc.maricopa.edu/mdinchak/eng101/juvenile.htm "Facts About Media Violence."   Online.   http://www.ama-assn.org/ad-com/releases/1996/mvfacts.htm AAP Committee on Pediatrics. "Some Things You Should Know About Media Violence and Media Literacy."   Online.   http://www.aap.org/advocacy/ChildHealthMonth/media.htm

Federal Reserve Open Market Operations Essay -- Economics Fed Market

Federal Reserve Open Market Operations SUMMARY The Federal Reserve's operating strategy for implementing monetary policy involves interest rate targeting through open market operations. The Federal Reserve does not utilize reserve requirements or the discount rate as part of this strategy. Open market operations involves the buying and selling of securities in the open market, in order to influence reserve balances. By manipulating reserve balances, the Federal Reserve can control the price of reserves in the market. The price of reserves is known as the Federal Funds rate. The Federal Funds rate is the interest rate banks charge each other for lending and/or borrowing reserve balances. This paper will discuss how the Federal Reserve implements a strategy of interest rate targeting through open market operations. Part I Introduction The Federal Reserve Bank is the central bank of the United States. In 1913, Congress created the Federal Reserve System to provide stability to the financial and monetary system. The Federal Reserve Bank (from here on, referred to as the "FED") has four main functions. They conduct monetary policy by influencing money supply in the economy, in order to maintain full employment, price stability, and promote economic growth. They regulate and supervise banking institutions to ensure the safety and soundness of the U.S. financial and banking system. The FED also provides financial and banking services to the U.S. Government, the public, and to financial institutions. And lastly, the FED maintains stability in the financial system by reducing systemic risks that may arise in the markets. The Federal Reserve System is made up of the Board of Governors and twelve regional Federal Reserve banks. The Board of Governors consists of seven members who are appointed by the President of The United States, and must be confirmed by the Senate. All seven governors are members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), and each vote on the conduct of open market operations. The network of twelve regional banks performs various functions, including; operating a nationwide payments system, distribution of currency and coin, supervising and regulating member banks, and serving as banker for the United States Treasury. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is a major part of the Federal Reserve... ... Trends - The Funds Rate Target and Interest Rates - September 1999. http://www.stls.frb.org/docs/publications/mt/1999/cover9.pdf - 12-13-99 Â · The Dwindling Power of Rate Cuts. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/03/opinion/03wed1.html October 3, 2001. Â · Another Rate Cut From the Fed. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/12/opinion/12wed2.html December 12, 2001. Â · Hess, Diane. 2001. Fed Paints Real Rates a Deeper Shade of Red. http://www.thestreet.com/markets/taleofthetape/10005186.html December 11, 2001. Â · Task, Aaron L., 2001. Cutting Spree May Dull Fed's Blade. http://www.thestreet.com/markets/aarontaskfree/10003583.html November 06, 2001. Speeches: Â · Meyer, Laurence H., 2001. Remarks by Governor Laurence H. Meyer. Before the National Association of Business Economics. The Federal Reserve Board. November 27, 2001. Â · Greenspan, Alan. 2001. Testimony of Chairman Alan Greenspan. Before the Joint Economic Committee, U.S. Congress. The Federal Reserve Board. October 17, 2001. Â · Greenspan, Alan; 2001. Testimony of Chairman Alan Greenspan. Before the Committee on Financial Services, U.S. House of Representatives. The Federal Reserve Board. July 18, 2001.

Friday, July 19, 2019

A Rose for Emily :: A Rose For Emily, William Faulkner

â€Å"She would not listen to them (795),† but they listened to her. They listened and watched throughout all of Miss Emily’s life – scowling, sympathizing, and, sometimes, they even smiled for her. These ever-watchful beings, the curious citizens of Jefferson, share and provide a backbone to this twisted tale in William Faulkner’s gothic short story, A Rose For Emily; though the views cast about Miss Emily differ significantly by generation and gender, their opinion conveyed as a whole expresses that they view Miss Emily as a shocking, unacceptable and â€Å"fallen (792)† being. Faulkner’s emphasis on narration drives the mystery farther. Along with the disturbing secret Emily hides, Faulkner conceals the identity of the narrator or narrators. The townsfolk, as a whole, are the narrator, yet throughout the piece it is suggested that the spokesperson for the town changes. For example, in part I, the narration appears to be from a member of the older generation as he or she observes the â€Å"next generation, with its more modern ideas (788)† come to a dissatisfactory conclusion about a resolution for the odor coming from Miss Emily’s estate. However, in part IV it is suggested that the narrator for the townspeople is a woman worrying keening about Emily’s relationship, her material purchases, and the details of her decaying looks. The pronoun â€Å"we† is used instead of â€Å"I† proposing that the opinions stated are the general consensus of the entire town – such as â€Å"we believed that she was fallenâ⠂¬  – the entire town sees her as a failure of what she could have been. When the pronoun â€Å"I† is utilized, this typically expresses that the speaker using â€Å"I† is against the wants of the townsperson speaking or possibly the entirety of the town. â€Å"I† is primarily used by Miss Emily, proving her to be an outcast in the eyes of her society. Judge Stevens also speaks in the first person singular when he fight to defend Miss Emily’s respect – feeling the actions suggested are not â€Å"necessary (790).† The different citizens mold the reader’s thoughts and emotions towards Emily - being as the townsfolk are the reason the story exists. They are an essential part of Emily’s story and thusly their views, whether fully believable or not, must be taken into account on the mystery case that is Miss Emily’s life. The people of Jefferson have always held a certain curiosity for the events in Emily’s life and despite the years the curiosity continued.

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Lean Manufacturing

IntroductionLean manufacturing is the production of goods through an approach which aims at reducing waste material while channeling them to useful activities. Lean manufacturing focuses on using less human and machinery effort, less manufacturing space and less time to produce and develop new products while producing less waste material.   The concept of lean manufacturing focuses on three major aspects which include improvement of quality of products and production time and also cost reduction. Other aspects of lean manufacturing have been established which emphasize on improving the smoothness of work and in effect leading to waste reduction. Lean implementation’s main goal is to get the right things at the appropriate place, at the required time in the correct quantity so as to attain good products while reducing wastes. Lean techniques are implemented to make work easier to understand and to perform. (Field, W. M. 2001).The concept of lean production requires that the p roducts produced must meet the customers’ needs at the specific time by understand the activities required and optimizing them to complete the process from the customers view. The aim of lean manufacturing is to eliminate waste material in all aspects of production which includes factory management, customer relations and design in this concept, waste material is considered as anything that the customer is unwilling to pay for. Lean techniques are concepts designed to reduce waste products and achieve an efficient production system.Lean techniques help industries to improve performers, productivity, reduce cost and improve the value of the company. A lean manufacturing system requires the use of correct resources and tools to attain the main goals of lean production. Lean techniques are designed in a product aligned manner where production is based on a one piece flow system in which production is in a continuous flow. Lean techniques require a continuous improvement of proce sses services and products over a period of time with the aim of reducing waste, improving product performance and customers’ satisfaction. The main goal of lean technique is to eliminate waste in every aspect of production including factory management, product designs and supplier system. Incorporation of less human effort and less time to develop the products has led to achieve this goal.A range of quality/lean improvement techniques related to the study of Industrial problems.Industries and companies are both using this methods and the six stigma method to reduce waste, increase speed while at the same time providing defect and variation reduction, using this tools together has help a great deal in achieving the benefits and reducing production of wastes. Lean Six Sigma is an improvement technique which helps to attain maximum improvement in customer satisfaction, cost reduction, quality improvement and speedy processing.Lean techniques help in stigma so as to maintenance tools, materials and personnel in a proper manner so as to minimize waste and to increase speed. The lean six stigma techniques are also provided for improvement of the information technology, and human resource department of the company. In this method, company practices such as having and framing new employees can be minimize when speeding is increased and non value adding activities are removed and also when waste is eliminated. The lean six methods assist in keeping the focus of the industry on the two goals. Through this commercialization process of the company is made efficient by delivering within the shortest time new capable products and services to the market.Lean improvement techniques are focused on the main goal which is to identity the value of an industry. After identifying the value, they work to create the value in steps which minimize the amount of waste created. To achieve this, they need to standardize and regulate working practices and at the same time clear up the workplace. 5s is a methodology of cleaning up and organizing the workplace which originated from Japan.This technique emphasizes more on how to achieve and maintain cleanliness and visual orderliness at the workplace. In this methodology, companies are required to remove unnecessary items from the workplace and organize it, to make it easier for employees to perform their tasks in a clean and orderly working environment. 5s usually can be translated into sort, set in order, shine, standardize and sustain. Sort refers to remove unnecessary tools and items from the workplace and identifying the most needed tools to perform the tasks.Set in order, ensures that tools and materials are arranged in a manner which is easier for the employees to access. Finally sustain ensures that 5s method is assimilated in the organization culture. To ensure this is adhered to by all employees, their performance is measured and they are informed of their progress routinely. The main benefit of this m ethod is that it keeps the workplace orderly and clean. As a result, efficiency is improved by reducing time take to search for tools by reducing inventory and cycle of production time. (Hobbs, D. P. 2003).Total productive maintenance (TPM) is a lean technique which focuses on incorporating all functions and categories of an organization so as to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their production process. Its main aim is to reduce accidents and mistake made during operation and production. It is a technique which aims at preventing maintenance breakdowns, eliminating product defects and designing tools and materials which require less maintenance. Cellular manufacturing also referred to as one-piece flow system, supports a smooth flow of materials, where equipments are arranged in an aligned procedure so as to reduce transport delays. By using this technique, the production capacity of an industry can be increased by adding more production units. (Dennis, P. 2002).The conc ept that â€Å"Lean† has on economic aspirations of developed and developing countriesLean manufacturing which is described as a system to eliminate waste and improve productivity, is the answer to eliminate the problem of jobless people in these countries. Lean manufacturing technique must be aligned appropriately at all production levels so as to improve the economy of these countries. Developing countries have discovered lean manufacturing techniques are effective in reducing costs and waste by increasing their workforce, so as to have a one piece flow system.These countries must reduce costs at all levels by challenging all their activities to establish whether the activities add value to the customers. This way, they can eliminate business processes which do not add value to the customer or benefit the industry. They should focus their attention more by determining why a certain operation must be used. Preventing production defects is more profitable than fixing it. Ther efore, removing all non-value added activities is more beneficial to the company, and in the long run, improves the economy of these countries. (Conner, G. 2001).By identifying activities which provide more value to the customer, companies will be able to reduce costs, reduce the time required to achieve a product and also improve the quality of their products. Use of lean manufacturing in developing countries ensures flexibility and one- piece flow production which leads to production of goods which are best suited for the customers needs by meeting the delivery time at a reduced cost. This enables the countries to expand their internal market by reducing costs. Having a customers’ based focus, is a technique which has enabled industries to focus on customers input and feedback to ensure customers satisfaction and so promotes the sales.Physical and Socio – economic impact of Lean on resources and pollutionWhile lean manufacturing techniques focus mainly on reducing wa ste and eliminating non-value added activities in their production system, they also assume practices which help in improving environmental performance. Through this, they are able to focus on the environment and related resources by reducing pollution. Industries are directing their attention to lean manufacturing so as to reduce cost and production requirement resource, to improve their product quality and enhance customer satisfaction and responsiveness so as to boost the company’s profits. The main goal of lean technique is to eliminate waste in every aspect of production including factory management, product designs and supplier system. Incorporation of less human effort and less time to develop the products has led to achieve this goal.Industries engage in lean techniques which focus more on production efficiency and improving production of resources. Doing this results to, using less material, using less energy, and in effect, producing less waste. This culture in turn benefits the environment, in the sense that industries train their employees to focus on environmental friendly practices so as to reduce waste production and prevent pollution.Lean methods have established continual improvement based waste elimination techniques which lead to improvement in environmental performance. Research studies have shown that lean techniques focus on environmental management tools which include, life –cycle and tools implemented to reduce the environmental risks and pollution. Decreasing the material used during production especially water, chemicals, energy and other inputs, reduces chance of producing more waste during manufacturing and thus less waste is channeled into the environment. The continual improvement techniques used by industries enables them to identify and remove waste materials during the production process. (Taghizadegan, S. 2006).ConclusionLean manufacturing techniques have been implemented so as to provide customers with a range o f higher quality products at lower prices through many different sales channels. Lean manufacturing focuses on using less human and machinery effort, less manufacturing space and less time to produce and develop new products while producing less waste material.   The concept of lean manufacturing focuses on three major aspects which include improvement of quality of products and production time and also cost reduction. Other aspects of lean manufacturing have been established which emphasize on improving the smoothness of work and in effect leading to waste reduction. Lean implementation’s main goal is to get the right things at the appropriate place, at the required time in the correct quantity so as to attain good products while reducing wastes.Lean techniques are implemented to make work easier to understand and to perform. The concept of lean production that the products produced must meet the customer needs at the specific time by understand the activities required and optimizing them to complete the process from the customers view. The aim of lean manufacturing is to eliminate waste material in all aspects of production which includes factory management, customer relations and design in this concept, waste material is considered as anything that the customer is unwilling to pay for. Lean techniques are concepts designed to reduce waste products and achieve an efficient production system.ReferencesConner, G. (2001). Lean Manufacturing for the Small Shop. SME.Dennis, P. (2002). Lean Production Simplified. Productivity Press.Field, W. M. (2001). Lean Manufacturing. CRC Press.Hobbs, D. P. (2003). Lean Manufacturing Implementation. J. Ross Publishing.Taghizadegan, S. (2006). Essentials of Lean Six Sigma. Academic Press.