Thursday, October 31, 2019

Recruiting and Selecting the Right People Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Recruiting and Selecting the Right People - Essay Example The advertisement can be internal or external. It can be posted in office bulletin boards or published in leading daily newspapers. The selection process will then be decided upon. The selection panel must be identified and the test procedures outlined. When the applications are received already by the Human Resources Department, they should be collated and forwarded to the hiring units concerned for short-listing. After reviewing the applications, the hiring unit may choose around three to five applicants for interview and skills testing but these applications must also be presented to the selection committee before contacting the individuals concerned. After getting in touch with the candidates, they will be assessed according to their merits and the extent they meet or exceed the selection criteria. The basis for the assessment is the written application submitted, responses to interview questions, performance in work tests and the information gained from background checks. At lea st three reference checks must be done. I find this step important to check on the integrity and honesty of the person and to get an idea on how he performs on the job. Once a candidate has been identified for the job, the other applicants who were not chosen should be notified.

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Companies Go Global, But Many Managers Just Don't Travel Well Article

Companies Go Global, But Many Managers Just Don't Travel Well - Article Example The article looks at the sentiments of managers from other countries and their opinions of the American manager. What comes out clearly is that the American manger is perceived to be extremely successful. This is as a result of the combinations of various factors. They are in many instances deemed as nonglobal people. This means that they do not take time to understand the culture, language or mannerisms of the people that they are conducting business. The American managers have engrossed themselves in a culture of â€Å"they know it best†. They have an attitude of things being done their way or no way at all. Despite all this, they are ranked as the most powerful managers running powerful, and extremely sophisticated organizations. The author of the article states simply that the American manager could do much for the organization that he or she represents. This is through adherence to a strict global outlook that makes the entire globe eager to conduct business with the Amer icans. Any American manager wanting to break ground in the new territory should understand the region has its own climate. This means that they have policies, rules, regulations, language, religion, mode of expression and a strict sense of a culture that units them. They should understand that they have a unique business acumen that represents them as a globe or country. The way to succeed in such a country is by adhering to the people’s way of life at all times. The act of management should encompass what the employees of that region expect of their manager. This means that if an American country wants to appeal to clients in an Islamic nation, it has to adhere to certain basic Islamic concepts. The employees should have a separate area where they can hold their prayer sessions as per Islam Laws.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Impact of World War 1 on Modernism

Impact of World War 1 on Modernism How would you describe the impact of the First World War on Modernist visual practices? The aesthetic phenomenon of Modernism, wide-reaching as that term is, can be historically defined as a period that began around 1860, with Manet generally accepted as the first Modernist painter, and came to an end around 1940 – although the murky cross-over between modernism and post-modernism, and the ubiquitous nature of both terms, means that some historians see Modernism stretching to the 1970s. The term applies retrospectively to a wide range of movements, including Futurism, Dada and Cubism, which broadly sought to distance themselves from the values and stylistics of Classicism. In a general aesthetic sense, modern art is often concerned with essential properties of the potential of colour and flatness, and over time a fading interest in subject matter can be witnessed. In fact, in a more specific sense, Modernism can be seen to refer not just to a style or styles of art, but to the philosophy of art as well. From a historical viewpoint, Modernism can be seen as the reaction of art – at least of the progressive artist – to the post-industrial world, a world in which the machine came to be as prominent and ubiquitous as man, and indeed it was in the largest European metropolises, where the tensions of social modernity were most prominent, that the earliest incarnations of Modernism in art appeared. However Modernism is a wide and watered down term, associated with a myriad of differing, and often opposing movements. What draws them together is that they respond to the same situations of the modern world, of the industrialisation of society and the cataclysmic watershed of the First World War. Christopher Witcombe talks of the period of enlightenment in the 18th century, which preceded the advent of Modernism: â€Å"Progressive 18th-century thinkers believed that the lot of humankind would be greatly improved through the process enlightenment, from being shown the truth. With reason and truth in hand, the individual would no longer be at the mercy of religious and secular authorities which had constructed their own truths and manipulated them to their own self-serving ends. At the root of this thinking is the belief in the perfectibility of humankind.†[1] According to Witcombe, the roots of modernism lie in the ideals of the Enlightenment, and this is where we can see the new roles of the artist begin to take shape. Essentially, the overarching goal of Modernism, of modern art, has been â€Å"the creation of a better society†[2]. But as we shall see, the moralistic idealism of the Enlightenment was not the preferred form for the Modernist movement, which was dragged through the mill of the industrial revolution, and, following hot on its heels, the First World War. There was a sense from the conservative modernists that the way forward was to be guided by existing institutions. The progressives, on the other hand were â€Å"critical of institutions as restrictive of individual liberty†[3]. In the 20th century, progressive modernism was thrust into the spotlight, leaving conservative modernism in its wake, with many people sceptical of its artistic merits. The conservative painters of the 19th century attempted to reflect and exemplify a kind of moral Christian virtue, and believed this to be a vital contribution from art to society – the representation of a model of social values to which everyone could aim. Conservative modernism, however, was looked down upon by progressives as an unambitious celebration of the values of the ruling class. Art, progressives argued, should be forward thinking, challenging, as well as socially responsible, whilst conservatives offered little more than a rosy re-hashing of the sepia past. So whilst the conservatives wished to continue existing institutions and favoured a gradual development, progressives criticised ruling institutions and searched for radical upheaval. In the first 10 years of the 20th century, a rapidly escalating political tension and a distrust of and anger toward the social order began to permeate much of European society. The socio-political evidence of this lies in the Russian Revolution and the prominence all over Europe of aggressive radicals. In the art community, this growing unease can be seen in the trend toward a radical simplification of previous stylistics, and in some cases, complete rejection of previous practice. Young painters such as Matisse and Picasso began to cause shockwaves with their embracing of non-traditional perspectives, a re-hauling of the rules of representation as an aesthetic theme, taking risks that even the Impressionists had not dared. At the heart of this new movement was an affection for disruption, and a progression away from Realism, and this began to give a new dimension to the term Modernism. Progressive Modernism was thrust into the spotlight, leaving conservative modernism in its wake, with many people sceptical of its artistic merits. The conservative painters of the 19th century attempted to reflect and exemplify a kind of moral Christian virtue, and believed this to be a vital contribution from art to society – the representation of a model of social values to which everyone could aim. Conservative modernism, however, was looked down upon by progressives as an unambitious celebration of the values of the ruling class. Art, progressives argued, should be forward thinking, challenging, as well as socially responsible, whilst conservatives offered little more than a rosy re-hashing of the sepia past. So whilst the conservatives wished to continue existing institutions and favoured a gradual development, progressives criticised ruling institutions and searched for radical upheaval. Whereas painters like Turner had been respected members of society’s greatest intelligentsia, seen as contributors to the greater good of society, the progressive Modernist saw the deification of traditional values and social structures as stifling, and therefore the artist took on a new persona, that of the righteous revolutionary, and we can see an example of this in the movement known as Futurism, a movement which had its own self-styled manifesto, published in Le Figaro, in an attempt to provoke, incite, and recruit the like-minded. Futurism, like much of 20th century Modernism, was based upon a rejection of the past, and this attitude came to the fore with progressives with the advent of World War One – which represented a cataclysmic failure of the conservative ideals of tradition. For many progressives, the Great War presented an almighty coming together of man and machine in the most morbid possible way, a futile mechanised massacre, which contrasted bitterly with the Modernist treatment of the role of the machine in beauty, and its faith in technology. This was clearly not the way to a healthier society. It has been said that World War One marked the failure of modern art, and a watershed for the emergence of the post-modern. The artistic community took it upon itself to lead the way, as it were, in the post-war society, given the catastrophic failure of many public institutions. After the war, there grew a kind of social vacuum, a sense that there was a lack of people and institutions to believe in. Many artists felt that it was therefore the responsibility of art to orient the collective social aspiration, to shape a new spirit in the wake of such destruction, and the delegitimisation of so many hopes and values. In this way, the Modernist art of the post-war era was at once ultimately moral, hopeful, and rooted in a deep social conscience, but also vividly subversive and challenging in its (many) aesthetic forms – like the best art, the best music, and the best literature, its moral heart lay in its readiness to challenge and confront the spectator. Characterised deeply by the residing antagonism of the industrial revolution, there came about a kind of collective conviction that traditions, institutions, and social frameworks were not perpetual, but rather that they were open to continuing re-evaluation and subjugation, and this attitude can be witnessed in Tristan Tzara’s movement Dada, which gave perhaps the most radical voice to the post-war Modernist. The Dadaists were not content to simply ‘make art’, they wanted to affect all corners of society, to take part in the revolutionary changes which were the inevitable result of the chaos after the War. The aims of the artist became to negate all social and aesthetic traditions, to make every work a new and marginal expression, and better to be bitterly divisive than quietly dormant. Moreover, every artistic manifestation was a form of didactic interaction with social and historical change. So the First World War represented a huge failure of the previous status quo, culminating in the most excruciating and fruitless deaths of millions across the world. A generation of young artists had witnessed men and boys, many at first-hand, perish defending slivers of earth. Machine warfare had become an accepted horror of reality: the dubious honours of war – valour, courage, and heroism, had been sourly debased by the impersonal brutality of the tank and the machine gun. In the face of such fundamentally unthinkable horror, the funds of Realism seemed to be empty, and the view that the human race had been steadily climbing some moral ladder toward enlightenment became utterly banal. As Christopher Witcombe says, â€Å"The First World War, at once, fused the harshly mechanical geometric rationality of technology, with the nightmarish irrationality of myth†[4]. And so in the 1920s and onward, Modernism became one of the defining movements of the era, whereas before it had been mostly a minority taste, its luminaries more heard of than heard. As a result of its new found prominence, the mood shifted towards a replacement of the older status quo with a base of new methods. Modernism began to reach prominence in Europe in such pertinent movements as Dada and Surrealism. The tendency under the umbrella of Modernism became to form separate movements and develop systems separate to each other – aside from Dada there was the International style of Bauhaus and Socialist Realism. By the 1930s, Modernism had entered the Jazz Age, and labels such as modern or hyper-modern† began to proliferate, and the term Modernism began to lose its resonance, like butter scraped across too much toast. After World War Two, consumer culture became the focus of the Modernist artist, as the focus shifted from the graphic, morbid horrors of the two Wars to the more palettable horrors of the popular culture invasion, and the aesthetic outrage of post-war modernism came to be replaced by an aesthetic of sanction. This combination of consumer and modernist cultures led to a total overhaul of the meaning of the term modernism, and can be seen as the beginning of the contemporary form of Postmodernism, replete with its self-referential fixation – as the lines between elite culture and consumer culture had become blurred, and a movement based on the rejection of tradition had become a tradition itself. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Arnason, H. H., History of Modern Art New York: Harry N. Abrams, 4th edition, 1998 Atkins, Robert. ArtSpoke: A Guide to Modern Ideas, Movements, and Buzzwords, 1848-1944. New York: Abbeville Press, 1993 Chipp, Herschel B. Theories of Modern Art Berkeley: University of California Press, 1968 and 1989 Malcolm Bradbury, Modernism 1890-1930, London: Penguin, 1991 Christopher Witcombe, What is Art?, http://witcombe.sbc.edu/modernism/artsake.html, 2000 [1] Christopher Witcombe, What is Art?, http://witcombe.sbc.edu/modernism/artsake.html, 2000 [2] Christopher Witcombe, What Is Art? [3] Christopher Witcombe, What Is Art? [4] Christopher Witcombe, What is Art?

Friday, October 25, 2019

Dramatica Theory and James Washington Square :: James Washington Square

Dramatica Theory and James' Washington Square In this essay I will review a critique of James' Washington Square. I found the critique to be dry and rather clinical in its approach to this fine work by Henry James. From the beginning the article presents a cold psychological approach to the characters that James' has made live for me in the short novel. The article covers the character's name, gender, a short description of him or her, the role that character plays in the piece and then goes on to list the basic characteristics of him or her. Motivation, methodology, evaluation and purpose are the four characteristics that are used to describe a character. The analysis does refer to the original work in many places. I found this to be helpful. For example when it describes Catherine Sloper it takes a quote from the novel to list her as, "a dull, plain girl she was called by rigorous critics" (James 11). This did help redeem the article somewhat. But the basic problem I found with the analysis kept leaping up. It's too scientific an approach for any literary work. The main problem with "Dramatica," for me, seems to be in that the theory looks at a story in relation to, "the mind's problem solving process" ("What is Dramatica?"). This area of the website goes on to explain that an author must examine all possible solutions to an issue in the story. In an effort to prove that the author's solutions are the best. The Dramatica theory of critique states that if, "you have covered every angle in your argument, you've mapped all the ways an audience might look at the problem and, therefore, all the ways anyone might look at that problem" ("What is Dramatica?"). This mapping turns any piece into a psychological pseudo study and relieves it of any beauty that it may contain.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Hispanic in America Essay

America nowadays is knows as cultural diversity country and considered a home for many different cultures and races. The Hispanic term is not either a race or ethnicity, but is considered an American term use in USA to defined people who speak Spanish or their ancestors spoke Spanish at one point in their life. According to â€Å"U.S. Census 2000 State & County Statistical QuickFacts† â€Å"Hispanics or Latinos are those people who classified themselves in one of the specific Spanish, Hispanic, or Latino categories listed on the Census 2000 questionnaire† Therefore, sometimes people in general stereotype Hispanics in America as they all speak Spanish and have the same ethnic traits. Also People stereotype Hispanic as we are all from Mexico, uneducated with low wage job position, welfare recipients, have huge families and illegal immigrants. People in America stereotypes Hispanics as they all speak Spanish, but that isn’treally what I think it is. Hispanics are co nsidered very diverse groups where some speak just Spanish and not interest to learn a second language. Some others speak English only because they have been prohibited to speak their native language due to racism or they had not value their native language. Others speak indigenous languages. Moreover, the majority in these days speaks both languages. I think the last one is the most common nowadays because Hispanic people have realized the importance of the two languages in America for jobs and education. People have the general perception of Hispanics as they have the same traits as dark brown hair and eyes and tan or olive skin. In reality, not all Hispanics look or have those traits, not all look mestizos, a mix of Spanish and Indian. Some Hispanic look European, others look black. Others look Indian or mestizos. However the majority is considerate white Caucasian for the European influence in the colonization in Latin America. However, there are many other Spanish countries lik e Spain, Morocco, Nicaragua, Argentina, Islas Filipinas, Uruguay, Ecuador, Cuba, and some more. Even though they are Spanish speaking countries, their each have their own traits, ascent and heritage. According to the â€Å"The Crystal Reference Encyclopedia,† â€Å"Any person resident in the USA who comes from, or whose parents came from, Spanish-speaking countries in Central and South America, including the Caribbean.† Hispanic has been stereotype as uneducated or gave up school with low wage jobs. However, the reality was  that Hispanics were considered uneducated by Americansbecause they couldn’t speak English and they were focused on their jobs to give a better life for themselves and their families. However, the reality nowadays is different; Hispanics recognized the education as a key of success. They are now interested in learn English as a second language and take advantage of some many educational programs out there. Actually, there are some Hispanic people with higher education than don’t work as gardeners, housekeepers, nannies anymore. On the other hand, some Hispanics have already overcome this stereotype. For example, more Hispanics are now in Hollywood, in the Congress and much more; and also I can fit myself in this category even though I still have a long way to meet my professional goals. The United States is known for being a nation of immigrants; hence, the Hispanic groups are stereotype as illegal immigrants. However, the reality is that not every single Hispanic that immigrates to America is undocumented. Back in the history, Mexican territory was given to U.S. In addition, the treaty offered U.S. naturalization to Mexican citizens who remain in the border and U.S. residency for the ones who remain in south border of Mexico. I think that is one of the biggest reasons Americans think that all the undocumented people are Hispanic. Also the Mexican borders are considerate the busiest crossing for legal and illegal people that immigrate from everywhere. People from a lot of countries use them as an entrance to U.S. because it seems easy to cross to the other side and be in U.S. Also the fact that one country is next to the other divided just by a long, tall fence. However, not all undocumented immigrants are Mexican. Unfortunately, stereotypes are just assumptions made by people to classify others base on skin color, clothing, language and physical appearance. Hispanics seem to become more prevalent group in the U.S; there fore, many people still considered Hispanic as uneducated, welfare recipients and low wedge jobs, big families, just Spanish speakers, and illegal immigrants until these days. However, Hispanic people are deeply rooted in traditions; even though, they have changed their country living is hard to change their heritage because is very special to us or sometimes we just carry it naturally. Work Cited â€Å"Hispanic American.† The Crystal Reference Encyclopedia. West Chiltington: Crystal Semantics, 2005. Credo Reference. Wed. 23 Oct. 2013 â€Å"Hispanic Origin.† U.S. Census 2000 State & County Statistical Quick Facts. Washington: U.S. Census Bureau, 2000. Credo Reference. Wed. 22 Oct. 2013

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Behavioural Science and its Contribution to Organizational Behavior Essay

Chapter 1 Introduction: Behavioural science is the systematic analysis and investigation of human behaviour through controlled and naturalistic observation, and disciplined scientific experimentation. It attempts to accomplish legitimate, objective conclusions through rigorous formulations and observation. Behavioral sciences could be categorized into three main forms psychology, sociology and anthropology. Insights from several pure disciplines across behavioural sciences are explored by various applied disciplines and practiced in the context of everyday life and business. These applied disciplines of behavioural science include: organizational behavior, operations research, consumer behaviour and media psychology. Behavioural sciences abstract empirical data to investigate the decision processes and communication strategies within and between organisms in a social system. Behavioural sciences abstract empirical data to investigate the decision processes and communication strategies within and between org anisms in a social system. Scientists in this field looks at individuals and their behavior along with the behavior of societies, groups, and cultures, as well as processes that can contribute to specific behaviors. There is a great deal of overlap between this field and the social sciences, which can sometimes lead to confusion. The social sciences tend to focus more on structural systems and cultures, while behavioral science tends to look at the reactions within and between organisms that dictate behavioral trends Organizational Behavior is the study of individuals and their behavior within the context of the organization in a workplace setting. It is an interdisciplinary field that includes sociology, psychology, communication and management Statement of the problem Many modern organizations are faced with numerous challenges such as illegal and unethical behaviour in a number of business transactions. Managers are also faced with the challenge of evaluating the effect of this critical behaviour on the performance of such organizations. Again, many business managers operate their activities today, without keen interest of bothering whether their actions are right or wrong and the extent of employees  understanding of the term ethics while the level of compliance is highly infinitesimal, (Oladunni 2002).The way Nigerian society cares little about the welfare of the employees tend to make some of these business operators to begin to wonder about the necessity of behavioural science in an organization. Objective of research The objectives of this research among others are to:[a]critically x-ray the effects of behavioral science on organizational performance.[b]establish whether behavioural science has any relationship with organizational performance.[c]show-case the necessity of behavioural science to the success and eventual institutionalization of an organization Chapter 2 Literature review Behavioral science is any of various disciplines dealing with the subject of human actions, usually including the fields of sociology, social and cultural anthropology, psychology, and behavioral aspects of biology, economics, geography, law, psychiatry, and political science. The term gained currency in the 1950s in the United States; it is often used synonymously with â€Å"social sciences,† although some writers distinguish between them. The term behavioral sciences suggests an approach that is more experimental than that connoted by the older term social sciences. Behavioral and social sciences research is a large, multifaceted field, encompassing a wide array of disciplines. The field employs a variety of methodological approaches including: surveys and questionnaires, interviews, randomized clinical trials, direct observation, physiological manipulations and recording, descriptive methods, laboratory and field experiments, standardized tests, economic a nalyses, statistical modeling, ethnography, and evaluation. Yet, behavioral and social sciences research is not restricted to a set of disciplines or methodological approaches. Instead, the field is defined by substantive areas of research that transcend disciplinary and methodological boundaries. In addition, several key cross-cutting themes characterize social and behavioral sciences research. These include: an emphasis on  theory-driven research; the search for general principles of behavioral and social functioning; the importance ascribed to a developmental, lifespan perspective; an emphasis on individual variation, and variation across sociodemographic categories such as gender, age, and sociocultural status; and a focus on both the social and biological contexts of behavior. The core areas of behavioral and social sciences research are divided into basic or fundamental research and applied research. The basic and applied research distinction serves more of an organizational function for purposes of this definition, rather than representing firm boundaries within the field. Indeed, many studies have both basic and applied components. Moreover, basic and applied research is often complementary. Basic research frequently provides the foundation for subsequent applied research, and applied research often influences the direction of basic research. Definition of â€Å"behavioral†Ã¢â‚¬  For purposes of this definition, the term â€Å"behavioral† refers to overt actions; to underlying psychological processes such as cognition, emotion, temperament, and motivation; and to biobehavioral interactions. Behavioral science a science or branch of learning, as psychology or sociology that derives its concepts from observation of the behavior of living organism.according to â€Å"prof B J Inyang 2008 behavioural sciences is the scientific study of human behaviour Behavioral Sciences Literature A considerable literature on individual behavior and public health has developed in the second half of the twentieth century. The general failure of public health to pick up and nurture the more macro social science perspectives to the same degree has limited the full potential of the impact of the social and behavioral sciences on public health, particularly because the historical roots of public health in the latter half of the nineteenth century included a strong social structural viewpoint. Since that time, the theoretical development of economics, political science, sociology, and anthropology has accelerated, but it was often not brought to bear on contemporary public health issues because these issues were often defined in terms of the characteristics of individuals rather than as characteristics  of social structure. The argument is, then, that public health picked up the wrong end of the social science stick—the individual (micro) end rather than the sociocultural ( macro) end. This assertion is supported by any perusal of public health journals or literature on social and behavioral science in public health in the second half of the twentieth century. Nonetheless, as the end of the twentieth century in public health witnessed increasing concern with social concepts such as social inequity, inequality, and community interventions, the disciplines of sociology, anthropology, economics, and political science had a more important role in public health, for the determinants of health were being defined in terms of a social and behavioral perspective. For example, many individual behaviors were recognized as risk factors for poor health, but were also seen as embedded in a wider social context. In addition, a social science–informed healthful public policy was seen by many as a key to the development of public health strategies to improve health. Behavioral science research is a large, multifaceted field, encompassing a wide array of disciplines. The field employs a variety of methodological approaches including: surveys and questionnaires, interviews, randomized clinical trials, direct observation, physiological manipulations an d recording, descriptive methods, laboratory and field experiments, standardized tests, economic analyses, statistical modeling, ethnography, and evaluation. Yet, behavioral sciences research is not restricted to a set of disciplines or methodological approaches. Instead, the field is defined by substantive areas of research that transcend disciplinary and methodological boundaries. In addition, several key cross-cutting themes characterize social and behavioral sciences research. These include: an emphasis on theory-driven research; the search for general principles of behavioral and social functioning; the importance ascribed to a developmental, lifespan perspective; an emphasis on individual variation, and variation across sociodemographic categories such as gender, age, and sociocultural status; and a focus on both the social and biological contexts of behavior. The core areas of behavioral and social sciences research are divided into basic or fundamental research and applied research. The basic and applied research distinction serves more of an organizational function for purposes  of this definition, rather than representing firm boundaries within the field. Indeed, many studies have both basic and applied components. Moreover, basic and applied research is often complementary. Basic research frequently provides the foundation for subsequent applied research, and applied research often influences the direction of basic research. The social sciences are concerned with the study of human society and with the relationship of individuals in, and to, society. The chief academic disciplines of the social sciences are anthropology, economics, history, political science, and sociology. The behavioral sciences, particularly psychology, are concerned with the study of the actions of humans and animals. The key effort of the behavioral sciences is to understand, predict, and influence behavior. The chief academic disciplines of the behavioral sciences are anthropology, psychology, and sociology, with the distinction between social and behavioral science often blurred when these disciplines are applied in public health research and practice, particularly in schools of public health and governmental agencies. Many, if not most, public health approaches are problem focused and lead to a multidiscipline solution encompassing several social and behavioral science disciplines and combinations of them (such as social psychology), in addition to other public health disciplines such as epidemiology and biostatistics. Anthropology. Anthropology is a broad social science concerned with the study of humans from a social, biological and cultural perspective. Historically it is a Western-based social science with roots in Europe and North America. It includes two broad areas of physical and sociocultural anthropology; both are relevant to public health. Physical anthropology divides into two areas, one related to tracing human evolution and the study of primates, and the other concerned with contemporary human characteristics stemming from the mixture of genetic adaptations and culture. Medical anthropologists with this perspective are often concerned with the relationships between culture, illness, health, and nutrition. Sociocultural anthropology is concerned with broad aspects of the adaptation of humans to their cultures— with social organization, language, ethnographic details, and, in general, the understanding of culturally mitigated patterns of behavior. In recent decades this perspective has taken a more ecologically focused view of the human species. From a public health perspective, this  approach to anthropology is probably most salient in terms of the methodological approaches used by anthropologists. They have a critical concern with understanding communities through participant observation. Indeed, participat ion is probably the key concept linking modern-day anthropological approaches to twentieth-century concepts of public health community interventions. Although the methodology of rapport-based structured interviews and observation is a highly developed methodology among anthropologists, it has had limited application in public health. More recent efforts in public health to address issues of inequity at the community level have created more attention to anthropological approaches. Economics. Economics is perhaps the oldest of the social sciences, with its concern with wealth and poverty, trade and industry. However, current economic thinking generally dates from the last three centuries and is associated with the great names in economic thinking, such as Adam Smith, Robert Malthus, David Ricardo, John Stuart Mill, and Karl Marx. Present-day economics is an advanced study of production, employment, exchange, and consumption driven by sophisticated mathematical models. Basically, the field breaks into two distinctive areas: microeconomics and macroeconomics. Microeconomics is largely concerned with issues such as competitive markets, wage rates, and profit margins. Macroeconomics deals with broader issues, such as national income, employment, and economic systems. The relationship between economics and health is obv ious because in developed countries the percentage of gross national product consumed by the health care industry is significant, generally ranging from 5 to 15 percent of the gross national product. In the poorer countries, the cost of disease to the overall economy can prohibit the sound economic development of the country. In recent years there has been a concern with both the global economic burden of disease as well as with investment in health. That poverty is highly related to poor public health is a widely accepted tenet of modernday thinking in public health. However, economic systems ranging from free enterprise through liberal socialism and communism offer quite differing alternatives to the reduction of poverty and the distribution of economic resources. Psychology. Psychology is probably the most common disciplinary background found in the application of the social and behavioral sciences to public health. Modern psychology is a large field that encompasses physiological psychology,  concerned with the nervous and circulatory systems, as well as social psychology, and concerned with the behavior of individuals as influenced by social stimuli. In general, psychology is concerned with the relationship of living organisms to their environment. In addition to studies focused on physiological mechanisms, psychology is concerned with the broad area of human cognition, including learning, memory, and concept formation. The subfield of abnormal psychology is concerned with mental disorders, ranging from psychoses to neuroses. The subfield of clinical psychology offers direct patient-care mechanisms to treat mental problems in individuals. Thus the application of psychological approaches to health is quite apparent. However, the most salient branch of psychology for public health practice, and particularly for the task of understanding the determinants of health, is probably social psychology. A major focus of social psychology is on attitudes, opinions, and behaviors. Thus, there is an emphasis on understanding how groups and individuals interact with one another. The degree to which many interactions are easy or difficult can play a major role in determining the stability of groups and individuals. Therefore, broad concepts su ch as stress, social cohesion, peer influence, civic trust, and others derive strong theoretical and research support from social psychology. Sociology. Sociology is perhaps the broadest of the social science fields applied to public health. It is also characterized by being eclectic in its borrowing from the other social sciences. Thus, sociology is also concerned with organizations, economics, and political issues, as well as individual behaviors in relation to the broader social milieu. A key concept in sociology, however, is an emphasis on society rather than the individual. The individual is viewed as an actor within a larger social process. This distinguishes the field from psychology. Thus the emphasis is on units of analysis at the collective level such as the family, the group, the neighborhood, the city, the organization, the state, and the world. Sociology is concerned with how the social fabric or social structure is maintained, and how social processes, such as conflict and resolution, relate to the maintenance and change of social structures. A sociologist studies processes that create, maintain, and sustain a social system, such as a health care system in a country. The scientific component of this study w ould be the concern with the processes regulating and shaping the health  care system. Sociology assumes that social structure and social processes are very complex. Definition of organizational behaviour Organizational behavior is a field of study that investigates the impact of individuals, groups and structures upon behavior within an organization. It is an interdisciplinary field that includes sociology, psychology, communication, and management; and it complements the academic studies of organizational theory (which is focused on organizational and intra-organizational topics) and human resource studies (which is more applied and business-oriented). It may also be referred to as organizational science. The field has its roots in industrial and organizational psychology a Organizational studies encompass the study of organizations from multiple viewpoints, methods, and levels of analysis. For instance, one textbook divides these multiple viewpoints into three perspectives: modern, symbolic, and postmodern. Another traditional distinction, present especially in American academia, is between the study of â€Å"micro† organizational behaviour — which refers to individual and group dynamics in an organizational setting — and â€Å"macro† strategic management and organizational theory which studies whole organizations and industries, how they adapt, and the strategies, structures and contingencies that guide them. To this distinction, some scholars have added an interest in â€Å"meso† scale structures – power, culture, and the networks of individuals and i.e. ronit units in organizations — and â€Å"field† level analysis which study how whole populations of organizations interact. Whenever people interact in organizations, many factors come into play. Modern organizational studies attempt to understand and model these factors. Like all modernist social sciences, organizational studies seek to control, predict, and explain. There is some controversy over the ethics of controlling workers’ behavior, as well as the manner in which workers are treated (see Taylor’s scientific management approach compared to the human relations movement of the 1940s). As such, organizational behaviour or OB (and its cousin, Industrial psychology) have at times been accused of being the scientific tool of the powerful.[citation needed] Those accusations notwithstanding, OB can play a major role in organizational development, enhancing organizational performance, as well as individual and group  performance/satisfaction/commitment. One of the main goals of organizational theorists is, according to Simms (1994) â€Å"to revitalize organizational theory and develop a better conceptualization of organizational life.†[2] An organizational theorist should carefully consider levels assumptions being made in theor y,[3] and is concerned to help managers and administrators Behavioral science and organizational behaviour both interrelate and interdepend on each other thou the mean total different things. Chapter3 Finding This study shows that behavioural science does affect organizational behaviour negatively and positively, it could affect one negatively if one had a rough upbringing such as the environment, genetic treats, the person interpersonal relations skill would be poor thus reducing the persons productivity, it can affect positively if one is a good person at heart and is always happy to do the job then the organization may blossom. Recommendation It is highly recommended that managers observe and practice behavioral science amongst his employs so as to balance the organizational behaviour. Chief Executives should encourage behavioral consciousness in their organizations from the top down showing the support and care about ethical behaviour. There is the need for organizations to help their employees in dealings with ethical challenged by adhering to the following steps. [a] Recognize and Clarify the Dilemma. [b] Get all the possible facts [c] List your options, all of them. [d] Test each option by asking: †Is it legal? Is it right? Is it beneficial?† [e] Make your decision. [f] Double check your decision by asking: ‘how would I feel if my family found out about this? How would I feel if my decision was printed in a local newspaper? [g] Implement your action. [h] Make a research and collect feedback on your implementation. [I] Evaluation and control of the whole steps Conclusion It must be emphasized that the challenge of behavioural science must be met by organizations if they are truly concerned about survival uprightness, integrity, and competitiveness. What is needed in today’s complicated times is for more organization to step forward and operate with strong, positive and good organizational behaviours. Organizations must ensure that their employees know how to deal with behavioural issues in their everyday work lives. As a result, when the behavioural climate is clear and positive, everyone will know what is expected of him or her when the inevitable behavioural dilemmas occur. This will definitely give employees the confidence to be on the lookout for unwanted behaviours and act with the understanding that what they are doing is correct and will be supported by top management of the organization REFERENCE ageeg, e. j. (2004). behavioural science. spain: Rmb. B, m. J. (1980). THEORIES OF ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR. HINSDALE: dryden press. brum, h. (1978). how behaviourial science affects our day to day life. ney york: luft press. burry, c. (2006). behavioural sience. a journal of sciences , 64: 93-98. collins, m. (2009). behavioural science and social science. journal of sciences , 4. h, m. (1985). the organisation as political arena. journal of management studies , 12. Inyang, p. B. (2008). oganizational behaviour. calabar: merb publishers,calabar, nigeria. leez, J. (2009). organizational behaviour. japan: CABS. luthans, F. (1989). Organizational bahaviour. newyork: mc-graw hill. research, o. o. (2013). behavioural science. oaklahoma: marutime. S, t. (2005). finding form looking at the feild of the organization. joournal of management , 42(6):1211-1231. S.P, r. (2009). Organizational beviour:global and southern africa. capetown: prentice-hall. stanford, c. a. (2013). Retrieved february 20, 2014, from casb: www.casb.org W, d. d. (2006). Whento little or too much hurt; evidence for a curvilineaer relationship between fast conflict and innovation in team. journal of management , 34. wikipedia. (2014, febraury 20). the free encyclopedia. Retrieved feb 20, 2014, from www.en.wikipedia.org

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Industrial Relations Between the UK and Fiji Essays

Industrial Relations Between the UK and Fiji Essays Industrial Relations Between the UK and Fiji Essay Industrial Relations Between the UK and Fiji Essay The industrial relations study in the UK, has been going through an era of significant reflection and self-analysis from which it appears to be emerging something of an agreement about the essentials for further development. In terms of employment relations, it’s the effort of a company or business to manage the relationships amongst an employer and employees. An employment relation, however, deals with issues relating to the employees and its benefits. The current society of most countries adapts employment relations programs and its policies to prevent the uprising problems at work. In terms of industrial relations, the main actors that play important roles are the employers and management of the organisation, third-party agencies such as state and lastly are employees and their representatives such the trade unions. The following will essay will be elaborating upon the main features of employment and industrial relations in UK and would further elaborate the roles of the th ree main parties. Besides, the essay will highlight selected features of industrial relations applied in Ministry of Labour/ Employment in Fiji. As both countries differ from each other the application of industrial relations in each country may also differ or may be comparable. The origins of industrial relations were traced back from United Kingdom. The process of industrialization first started from UK around the late 18th century (1780’s), hence, UK was the first country to be industrialised [CITATION DrA16 l. 1033 ]. The three parties to ER and IR in UK which are trade unions, employers and the state or government. During the mid of the 19th century around 1850’s Trade Unions were formed in UK, thus the first unions developed were the craft unions.The skilled craftsman’s had to endure a lot to become recognized. They were formed by the workers across a number of industries, as these workers from different industries could be a member of a general u

Monday, October 21, 2019

All Our Relations essays

All Our Relations essays In Winona LaDukes, All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life documents the historic pillaging and exploitation of Native Americans then and today. LaDukes inspirational voice to native peoples resistance to environmental devastation is uncanny. In this book, the use of updated detailed maps and native pictures help frame each chapter vividly. The book consists of 10 chapters detailing in environmental, spiritual and human conditions, and the struggles of indigenous peoples from Awkwesasne to Hawaii. LaDuke's introduction prompts the reader that over the last 150 the earth has witnessed the largest extinction of species since the Ice Age as well as the loss of more than 2,000 nations of native peoples in the Western Hemisphere. She gives evidence that cultural diversity helps to ensure biodiversity. Where indigenous people maintain their traditions one can often find an enclave of biodiversity. This is one of the unifying themes of the book. LaDuke ends the chapter with the description of a ceremony and the determination of native peoples to continue their commitment to the land and the people of the land. Although, the setting begins with the tone of depression, the book goes on to achieve parallels amongst certain tribes across the earth for hope and sanctuary. The first chapter, in All Our Relations presents a brief history of the Mohawk legacy in the Great Lakes region and contrasts it with the industrial pollution of Akwesasne that has led to PCB contamination of mothers' milk. The book details the work of Katsi Cook and others analyzing their food chain and ultimately forcing General Motors to clean up its contamination of the Great Lakes region. LaDuke asserts, In October 1983, after 25 years of dumping toxics, General Motors was fine $507,000 by the EPA for unlawful disposal...2 ...

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Accounting for Carbon

INTRODUCTION This article describes the impact of using various methods to calculate carbon emissions. This article briefly introduces the Kyoto Protocol. Then that involves accounting issues surrounding the carbon. The starting point to solve is to calculate carbon credits and free quota and then calculate debt. After considering current carbon accounting practices such as the International Financial Reporting Interpretation Committee Act No. 3, the net debt approach, approval of government subsidies, several other issues must be considered . Carbon accounts are listed as one of three Alipay accounts along with cash accounts and credit accounts to measure the user's low carbon activity. Ant Financials believes that the future of finance is green finance and we are committed to making the carbon account a global carbon measurement, trading and sharing platform. Carbon dioxide emissions from individuals, countries, or organizations can be measured by implementing greenhouse gas emissi ons estimates or other computational activities expressed as carbon calculations. Once you know the size of the carbon footprint, for example, through strategies to reduce it through technical development, process and product management improvements, green public or private procurement (GPP) changes, carbon recovery, consumption strategies, carbon offset, etc. You can design. . There are several free online carbon footprint calculators, including publicly available peer-reviewed data and computing support, such as the University of California, Berkeley's CoolClimate Network Research Alliance and CarbonStory. These sites are asking for answers to more or less detailed questions about meals, transportation, family size, shopping and entertainment activities, electricity consumption, heating, and heavy machinery such as dryers and refrigerators. The first step is to measure the carbon footprint of the company. But before you escape you will have to do some reading and start adding numb ers. So-called carbon accounting - There is a specific rule for carbon dioxide equivalent to corporate emissions, whether it is a national state, whether it is a company or an individual - the habit of measuring it. Let's see an example. Imagine your company selling widgets at Amazon provided by delivery company UPS. When someone buys one of your gadgets, the carbon used to deliver it is burned by your company, Amazon, UPS, or end user? It is difficult to say intuitively, but from the viewpoint of common sense, you can see that all parties are involved in different degrees.

Friday, October 18, 2019

An outline for my methodology chapter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

An outline for my methodology chapter - Essay Example It is a naturalistic approach that seeks to study and develop intervention impacts in both learning and teaching, and unfolds in four phases: informed exploration, enactment, local context evaluation, and design principle development. In addition, it will offer this research study a potential for better comprehension, improved learning and practice, and generation of theory by using multiple methods, as well as ongoing assessments of change impact (Reeves, 2005). Design based research as used in this research study is important because it provides a methodology for design and assessment of ESL innovations, in this case the use of Adobe Connect. It is also iterative and systematic, which is in line with the emerging comprehension of how ESL students learn. In addition, it is based on educational situations in real life, which makes it relevant for design and teaching practitioners, such as in this study (Celce-Murcia, 2011). Finally, design-based research will also encourage the researcher to work collaboratively in the creation and assessment of what impact the solutions to the learning issues have on the students. Design-based research will act as an analytical technique set that balances interpretivist and positivist paradigms while also attempting to bridge practice and theory in ESL. Design-based research, as a combination of theory-driven learning environment design and empirical educational research, will be important in understanding the manner in which educational interventions practically work (Norwich & Ylonen, 2013). Design-based research seeks to uncover underlying relationships between practices, designed artifact, and educational theory. In aiming to explain the connections between practice, tools, and theory in ESL, design-based research has dual objectives intending to respond to the needs of the learning environment and striving to increase the researcher’s comprehension of teaching (Ellis, 2013). In

Precis & Commentary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Precis & Commentary - Essay Example Then he explains by saying that having less secrecy will make it harder for criminals to plot harmful deeds. Later on, he gives examples of groups of people who have been better off once theyve revealed their secrets to society- naming homosexuals and HIV-AIDS sufferers. His view is contrasted to another which claims that "more information, rather than less, is our best protection against misjudgment" (Rosen, 2000, as cited in Austin, 2006). To conclude his article, the author compares the right for secrecy with Santa Claus and unicorns, claiming that it is unreal. He admits, however, that everyone needs their solitude and space, but claims that ignoring both the benefits of not having secrecy as well as the potential risks involved would be the wrong thing to do; that accepting our being flawed and being united by our common information will save us. He says that the term "privacy" has many different interpretations to other people and groups of people, as the media has a very different notion of it than the common citizen. He quotes people who have said that some masquerade as reformers, while actually taking care of their own interests and that patriotism is used by scoundrels to further their own agendas (2008, p.13). Regardless of his opinion, even presidents have been known to be against secrecy, claiming that "the very word secrecy in a free and open society is repugnant" (Kennedy, as cited in Blumner, 2005). In spite of this, Ackland may have a point. It is well known that the federal government of the United States "has a massive amount of secrets", which is estimated in the millions each year ("Government Secrecy", 2005). And there is no shortage of opponents of this secrecy: "we live in an open society where secrecy should be banished from the workings of the government" (Hamilton, 2006). The reason for that is that "we enjoy a free and open

Crime Analysis in the State of NY and California Term Paper

Crime Analysis in the State of NY and California - Term Paper Example On the other hand, mayhem could be a combined assault or battery with exceedingly high deprivation of an individual to defend or fight for his or her life (Indermaur & Bennett, 1997). Therefore, these three crimes could be defined based on the following classifications: degree of physical harm, the intensity of crime committed, and the intensity of violence. Of all three of them, what is substantially less graphic is the assault. There is just an attempt to do physical harm in the assault, while in battery and mayhem; there is a remarkable and actual physical contact. On the other hand, mayhem is significantly most remarkable when it comes to the degree of physical harm because it could be combined assault or battery, however, there is an inclusion of disabling an individual to fight or defend one’s self. ...Finally, all these three crimes are considered violent, but sometimes assault cannot be significantly categorized as one due to the absence of physical evidence. Assault, however, may potentially result in psychological trauma and this could be remarkably used as evidence to recognize it as a violent crime based on the physical evidence. It is not hard to prove physical evidence from the battery because of the remarkable indication of violence. There can be actual inclusion of physical harm in battery and this evidence could be used to recognize the intensity of violence committed. Finally, mayhem may be potentially considered as highly violent due to a remarkable high level of physical evidence even to the point that it may cause the victim’s death. Classification Kidnapping False imprisonment Offense against a person’s liberty or freedom Remarkable (Bacigal, 2008) Remarkable (Bacigal, 2008) Physical movement A requirement (Bacigal, 2008) Not a requirement (Bacigal, 2008) Kidnapping and false imprisonment are all crimes committed against a person’s liberty or freedom.  

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Design Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Design - Assignment Example It will be a two-day program whereby the lessons will run from 8:00am to 3:00pm daily. It will be a two-day program whereby the lessons will run from 8:00am to 3:00pm daily. For these two days, the above stated units will be taught. On day one, 8:00 to 8:30am will be for exchanging introductions. Course documents will run from 8:30 to 9:00am. Choices for creating a questionnaire or survey form and creating a document will run from 9:00 to 10:00am. Review of Adobe Acrobat and creating a sample form, on the other hand, will run from 10:10 to 12:00 after the 10 minutes break. The first day will end at 3:00pm after examining the achievements and failures of the day. The parties involved will also review and repeat crucial steps in order to remember the process. This will take place from 1:00 to 3:00pm. My goal is to assist student create an Interactive PDF. They should be able to review different software programs, use adobe acrobat professional software and review minor technical errors when utilizing adobe acrobat (Sypowicz, 2010). My testing strategies will be how students determine adequate software, how efficient they are when using Adobe Acrobat and noting errors to the system among others. The whole process will cost the institution roughly $1500. This is taking into consideration the salaries, supplies, equipment, food, printing and travelling fee. Salaries might amount up to $625. Supplies and equipment, on the other hand, would amount to $250. The rest would be used in food supplies, printing of material, as well as travelling. However, the benefits of this course surpass the high cost of the course. After training is complete, participants will be happy about their fresh skill and knowledge concerning Adobe Acrobat Software. Knowing participants are no longer reliant on other members of an organization, or colleagues to make

Human Resource Learning and Development(Reflective Learning Critique ) Essay

Human Resource Learning and Development(Reflective Learning Critique ) - Essay Example 217) Socio - Psychology depicts human beings as social animals, seeking and learning from experience, through observation, cognition and reflective processing of mankind. In theory, it enhances the human thinking and inculcates the notion that we; the social animals, adapt to changes in society and learn as the society evolves. The learning experience is one which is a never ending process, one that defines our very existence (Hassan, 2007). According, to the Swiss Biologist, Jean Piaget, when human beings are born, they know nothing; they have no mental or verbal skills. However, with experience they learn and adjust themselves in the very society they live in. According to the literature, one uses each experience either positively or negatively; completely ignoring it would not make it an experience (Jarvis, 2003). A constructivist learning environment is a place where people can draw upon resources to make sense out of things and construct meaningful solutions to problems. It emphasizes the importance of meaningful, authentic activities that help the learner to construct understanding and develop skills relevant to solving problems. The literature and theories that we have analyzed and fathomed have given a more profound understanding to the learning process that one takes for granted but which leaves a strong impact on our persona and psyche. The models we studied provided a valuable insight into analyzing my experience and use it as constructively I can. My experience is one which is holistically simple but taken in a reductionist perspective, one can see how, I have learned from it (Mathis & Jackson, 2004). The transition from a high school, to a university is a crucial experience in a student’s life, I was no exception. In school we are used to being given structured lectures, supervised assignments, or study at the end of the term. In

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Crime Analysis in the State of NY and California Term Paper

Crime Analysis in the State of NY and California - Term Paper Example On the other hand, mayhem could be a combined assault or battery with exceedingly high deprivation of an individual to defend or fight for his or her life (Indermaur & Bennett, 1997). Therefore, these three crimes could be defined based on the following classifications: degree of physical harm, the intensity of crime committed, and the intensity of violence. Of all three of them, what is substantially less graphic is the assault. There is just an attempt to do physical harm in the assault, while in battery and mayhem; there is a remarkable and actual physical contact. On the other hand, mayhem is significantly most remarkable when it comes to the degree of physical harm because it could be combined assault or battery, however, there is an inclusion of disabling an individual to fight or defend one’s self. ...Finally, all these three crimes are considered violent, but sometimes assault cannot be significantly categorized as one due to the absence of physical evidence. Assault, however, may potentially result in psychological trauma and this could be remarkably used as evidence to recognize it as a violent crime based on the physical evidence. It is not hard to prove physical evidence from the battery because of the remarkable indication of violence. There can be actual inclusion of physical harm in battery and this evidence could be used to recognize the intensity of violence committed. Finally, mayhem may be potentially considered as highly violent due to a remarkable high level of physical evidence even to the point that it may cause the victim’s death. Classification Kidnapping False imprisonment Offense against a person’s liberty or freedom Remarkable (Bacigal, 2008) Remarkable (Bacigal, 2008) Physical movement A requirement (Bacigal, 2008) Not a requirement (Bacigal, 2008) Kidnapping and false imprisonment are all crimes committed against a person’s liberty or freedom.  

Human Resource Learning and Development(Reflective Learning Critique ) Essay

Human Resource Learning and Development(Reflective Learning Critique ) - Essay Example 217) Socio - Psychology depicts human beings as social animals, seeking and learning from experience, through observation, cognition and reflective processing of mankind. In theory, it enhances the human thinking and inculcates the notion that we; the social animals, adapt to changes in society and learn as the society evolves. The learning experience is one which is a never ending process, one that defines our very existence (Hassan, 2007). According, to the Swiss Biologist, Jean Piaget, when human beings are born, they know nothing; they have no mental or verbal skills. However, with experience they learn and adjust themselves in the very society they live in. According to the literature, one uses each experience either positively or negatively; completely ignoring it would not make it an experience (Jarvis, 2003). A constructivist learning environment is a place where people can draw upon resources to make sense out of things and construct meaningful solutions to problems. It emphasizes the importance of meaningful, authentic activities that help the learner to construct understanding and develop skills relevant to solving problems. The literature and theories that we have analyzed and fathomed have given a more profound understanding to the learning process that one takes for granted but which leaves a strong impact on our persona and psyche. The models we studied provided a valuable insight into analyzing my experience and use it as constructively I can. My experience is one which is holistically simple but taken in a reductionist perspective, one can see how, I have learned from it (Mathis & Jackson, 2004). The transition from a high school, to a university is a crucial experience in a student’s life, I was no exception. In school we are used to being given structured lectures, supervised assignments, or study at the end of the term. In

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

HR Management Essay Example for Free

HR Management Essay Negligent hiring is the potential liability of an employer for actions of an employee who was selected for employment without adequately determining the person’s qualifications for the job. Negligent retention on the other had refers to the prospective liability an employer faces by retaining employees who it knows (or should know) a re not qualified to perform their jobs tasks or have mental or physical conditions or propensities that result in them being hazardous to themselves or others. Discussion  Employers need to do reasonable investigations on the prospective employees work experience, background, character and qualifications to avoid negligent hiring. The doctrine of hiring and retention provides that an employer have a duty to exercise reasonable care in selection and retention of his employees. The employer should be aware of the employee problems that make him or her unfit should avoid negligent retention. The employer should take further action such as investigating, discharge or reassignment. Employers want to be sure their employees are doing a good job, but employees should not have their every sneeze or trip to the water cooler logged. This is where workplace conflict comes to foreplay. Employees are the greatest assets of any company and an employer should put much care in protecting their privacy. Employees should avoid providing all their information to their employers because such information could be used for identity theft as well as carrying out criminal activities such as fraud cases leaving the employee in financial problems. Employers should also ban use of the new technology such as camera phones, digital cameras etc because offensive pictures of workers in private, embarrassing or intimate situations can be taken and sent to the net. Such technology can be used to conduct industrial espionage. In this cue therefore employers do are not obligated under any law to use devices that can intrude on the employees privacy. The employers under the contract terms reserve the blame if the employee get accident or injured during the working term. Under the labor laws the safety of the employees lies on the employer if the employee gets the injury at the point of work. It is the mandate of the Contracting firm to provide safety and health measures at all costs to the working employees who forms the main component assets in the company. WS4DQ1-Merit pay Merit pay is pay compensation given to employee based on his/her productivity. Its based on the assessment of the employee’s productivity. Hoever merit pay is rarely used as most managers use it as a strategy to motivate those indiduals well known to him or her. Merit pay should be given based on competence in work. Hard working employees need to be rewarded; this should base on achieved measurable targets, units. Merit pay should be included as part of organization package for various reasons. One is that merit pay enhances a vibrant competitive workforce and therefore eliminates laggardness in workplace. WS4DQ3-Kenneth Lay Lay was one of the Americas highest paid CEO in America. He was Presidents Bush Treasury secretary . He dumped large amounts of his Enron stock and encouraging his employees to buy more stock. As the highest paid CEO, lay never contributed much to the Organizations success; rather he greatly contributed to its downfall. Thus, he was not entitled to the handsome package he was receiving, as he got filthily involved in scandals that amounted billions of shillings leading to the collapse of Enron. WS5DQ1 Workplace violence can take a heavy toll on a business in terms of liability, lost revenue and employee productivity. Tangible costs-medical bills, Antony fees, lost wages, security cost, rehabilitation and property damage. Intangible costs include; loss of staffs time, staff replacement, company liability, moral issues that affect productivity levels. Preventing work place violence therefore means the management of the human resource should ensure the safety of work place. Work place violence can be prevented by; being always alert-no work place is safe, understanding what the problem is, developing a violence prevention plan and responding to emergency incidents. Such policies as; violence prevention plan should be put in place, the management should be at fore in been alert on any violence incident, developing a good working environment and cultivating on maintaining good teamwork relations. This is because when there is good relation among the workers, there is low chance of violence. WS5DQ2 Federal Osha does not have jurisdiction over those employed by state, county, city or municipal governments. However, several state plans do cover such public sector employment. State with approved state plans and in accordance with section 27-a of the PESH act, New York adopts and enforce occupational safety and health standards in the public sector which are identical to OSHA’s. For instance public schools must comply with same fire protecting standard as private schools, but the standards are promulgated and enforced by the state. The California department of occupational safety and health differs with the federal OSHA agencies in the sense that, states have option to establish regulations for hazards not covered by federal standards or more stringent standards than those promulgated by OSHA, which California does. California state agencies standards cover more ground and stringent than federal OSHA’s. Mainly, California OSHA agencies differ from federal agencies in such areas as; requirement for injury and illness prevention program (IIPP), hazcom standards, permissible exposure limits (PELs) and Ergonomics. OSHA’s has continuously been involved in voluntary protection programs, which has indicated effective management of safety and health protection improvement in employees moral and productivity. WS6DQ3 The involvement of unions in social policy areas and participation in self-governing bodies of national social insurance scheme has been the role of unions in Germany. With the increased importance of private pensions, trade unions have enhanced their collective bargaining role in this area. Besides unions have seized opportunities to enhance their role in collective regulation of state imposed privatization. Trade unions over the recent years have had their membership dwindling ageing of membership and lacking support among young employees. This is because the top management or leaders in the unions have taken it as their platform to pursue their welfare as opposed to the welfare of the members in the collective bargaining. WSDQ3 The NLRB does not include coverage for all workers. These include individuals who are employed as agricultural laborers, domestic servants, parents or spouse, independent contractor, employed as supervisor, employed by an employer subject to railway labor act, employees by federal state or local government and those employed by any other person who is not an employer as defined by NLRB. These employees do not have right to form unions as other workers since they are not within the NLRB jurisdiction. In one case, NLRAB was unsure how to define ‘supervisor’. Individuals who are supervisors would not be included in the bargaining unit potentially represented by unions or allowed to vote in the elections. The court ruled that this NLRB judgment is unfair. The court said there were no statutory basis for excluding ‘’professional or technical judgment’’ from joining unions. The basis of the argument therefore is that each party in work environment has a stake in forming a labor union.

Monday, October 14, 2019

Transducers used in the Cardiac Ultrasound Machine.

Transducers used in the Cardiac Ultrasound Machine. Transducers used in the Cardiac Ultrasound Machine. Abstract: Ultrasound imaging depends on the ability of piezoelectric crystals to generate sound when excited with alternating current and the reverse effect of charge accumulation or current flow when such crystals are subjected to pressure from sound waves. The first known ultrasound imaging machine was designed by K. T. Dussik in Australia in 1937. However, despite its widespread acceptance today, medical ultrasound did not develop as rapidly as X-ray imaging. Despite the relatively slow start, medical ultrasound imaging is very widely accepted today because there is no ionising radiation involved and hence the procedure is relatively safe. Ultrasound equipment is also cheaper as compared to X-ray imaging, magnetic resonance imaging, MRI and other techniques associated with nuclear medicine. The procedure involves minimal patient discomfort and is very useful for examining the soft tissues or the developing foetus. A dramatic increase in the number of older patients with chronic he art and valve disease has resulted in a prolific demand for the ultrasound cardiac imaging machines which can satisfy the requirements associated with fast and cost effective measurement of cardiac anatomy or function. One of the critical elements in the medical ultrasound imaging system is the ultrasound transducer without which signal processing and visualisation of the soft tissue images is impossible. Although many naturally occurring substances such as quartz exhibit the piezoelectric effect, lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramic ferroelectric materials have for many years been used for biomedical applications because of their superior characteristics for soft tissue imaging.   Polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF), transducer material has demonstrated advantages as a high frequency receiver. Single or multilayer transducers made of these elements can be used for ultrasound imaging as single transducers operating in A-mode or a two or three dimensional transducer array for B-mode, C-mode or M-mode ultrasound imaging. This brief essay takes a look at transducers for medical ultrasound. The principle of operation of a cardiac ultrasound imaging device is based on the information that is provided by the varying delay times of echoes that are reflected from various depths of the human body tissue as a result of the ultrasound pulses that are generated by an ultrasound transducer being incident on the body tissue. Delay times of echoes from different depths are different and ultrasound is reflected from the interface of different types of tissues. A Doppler shift in frequency is also generated as a result of moving objects and the attenuation of ultrasound waves depends on the type of tissue that the ultrasound wave is travelling through. The ultrasound transducer which is responsible for the generation and detection of reflected ultrasound is, therefore, an essential component of the ultrasound imaging device. Ultrasound transducers work on the basis of the piezoelectric effect in which an alternating voltage applied to piezoelectric crystal material causes the crysta ls to become electrically polarised as a result of the applied electric field and hence vibrate with the alternating voltage to produce sound. Such crystals also become electrically polarised when stress is applied to them and hence any sound waves which are incident on them result in charge accumulation on the crystal surface and hence the generation of an alternating voltage. Thus, an ultrasound transducer consists of a suitable piezoelectric material sandwiched between electrodes that are used to provide a fluctuating electric field when the transducer is required to generate ultrasound. When the transducer is required to detect ultrasound, the electrodes may be used to detect any fluctuating voltages produced as a result of the polarisation of the crystals of the piezoelectric material in response to incident sound which generates fluctuating mechanical stresses on the material. Piezoelectric materials include quartz, ferroelectric crystals such as tourmaline and Rochelle salt a s well as the group of materials known as the piezoelectric ceramics, which include lead titanate (PbTiO3) and lead zirconate (PbZrO3). These materials are also known as piezoelectric ceramics which are used in ultrasound transducers for biomedical applications.Polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) is another transducer material which has demonstrated advantages as a high frequency receiver. Piezoelectric ceramics are sold with the brand name PXE by Philips Company and are solid solutions of lead titanate (PbTiO3), and lead zirconate (PbZrO3) which have been modified by additives which are a group of piezoelectric ceramics known as PZT. PXE materials are hard, chemically inert and unaffected by a humid environment. The crystals in a ferroelectric material of which PXE is made up of align themselves randomly in a number of directions. With such a random orientation of crystals, the material will exhibit no piezoelectric effect. In order to have a piezoelectric material which is capable of being used for ultrasound transducers, the material has to be subjected to a strong electric field at high temperatures. This has the effect of permanently locking the crystals in the direction of the applied electric field and making the crystal piezoelectric in the direction of the electric field. Hence, a piezoelectric ceramic material may be converted into a piezoelectric material in any given direction by applying a strong electric field to the material in the given direction at an elevated temperature. This treatment, which is known as poling, is the final stage in the manufacture of a PXE piezoelectric. Metal electrodes perpendicular to the poling axis are deposited on the material so that an alternating electric field may be applied to generate ultrasound or ultrasound vibrations may be sensed by sensing the electric field across the piezoelectric material. The voltage across a piezoelectric ceramic PXE material is usually directly proportional to the applied stress. The construction of a simple, single element piezoelectric transducer is as shown below. The Construction of a Single Element Piezoelectric Transducer Ultrasound imaging in the A-mode directs a narrow beam of ultrasound into the tissue being scanned and the echo which may be displayed on a CRT screen provides a measure of the distance between reflecting surfaces in the body. In the B-scan mode, the echo signal is brightness modulated which makes it possible for information related to tissue depth to be displayed on the screen in a visually effective manner. An ultrasound transducer array operating in B-mode permits a picture of the tissues within a patient’s body to be displayed on a CRT device. M-mode ultrasound imaging presents tissue movement by scanning an A or B – line on a monitor as a function of time and movements in this line indicate movements in the tissues within the body. In C-mode ultrasound imaging a second transducer is used to detect echoes sent out by the first transducer, presenting a 2-D map of the ultrasound attenuation within tissues. Having discussed the principles of operation of a piezoelectric medical ultrasound transducer, it is now appropriate to consider the practical problems associated with the construction of such transducers. This is done below. The Design of Ultrasound Transducers A transducer which is constructed out of piezoelectric material will have a natural frequency of resonance and it is appropriate that the transducer should be excited with alternating electric field which matches the natural resonant frequency of oscillation of the material. The ultrasound frequencies that are used in medical imaging applications range from 1 MHz to 15 MHz and echocardiography is usually performed at frequencies of 2.5 MHz. Hence, transducers which are used for ultrasound imaging have to be tuned for different frequencies. For a transducer material in which ultrasound waves travel at the speed c, with a resonant frequency f, the thickness of the material is related by the formula f=c/2d. Hence, it is possible to tune various transducers constructed of the same material to different frequencies by adjusting the thickness of the material. The ultrasound transducer can be excited by a continuous wave, a pulsed wave, or a single voltage pulse depending on the requirement s for observing a continuous image, echo ranging or other tissue measurements. The rear face of the piezoelectric crystal material is usually supported by a backing material which is tungsten loaded araldite, so that the vibrations in the piezoelectric material are rapidly damped after the initial excitation. It is important to couple the piezoelectric transducer to the body of a patient so that the incident ultrasound energy can be effectively transmitted into the body tissue that is being scanned. In order to do this, matching layers of suitable acoustic material are used along with a gel which makes it possible for the ultrasound waves to penetrate the tissue more efficiently. As far as possible, the characteristic acoustic impedance of the tissue being scanned is matched with the acoustic impedance of the transducer. The characteristic acoustic impedance of the tissue is defined as: In the formula, c is the speed of ultrasound in human tissue which is about 1540 m/sec with a variation of +/- 6% and   is the tissue density. K is the bulk elastic modulus of the tissue being scanned. The acoustic parameters of an ultrasound transducer include its nominal frequency, the peak frequency which is the highest frequency response measured from the frequency spectrum, the bandwidth of the transducer which is the difference between the highest and the lowest – 6 dB level in the frequency spectrum, the pulse width response time of the transducer, which is the time duration of the time domain envelope which is 20 dB above the rising and decaying cycles of a transducer response, the loop sensitivity for a medium on which a test is performed which is characterised by: Here, Vo is the excitation pulse voltage in volts, while Vx is the received signal voltage from the transducer.   The signal to noise ratio for a biomedical ultrasound transducer is also an important parameter for an ultrasound transducer and this is defined as: In the above expression, Vx is the received signal voltage from the transducer in volts in response to a specified tone burst or pulse and Vn is the noise floor in volts. The signal to noise ratio for an ultrasound transducer is a measure of the noise associated with the transducer, measuring instrument or cables and this is a good measure of how sensitive a transducer is. In addition to the previously mentioned parameters, geometrical parameters for a transducer describe how the acoustic pressure generated by a transducer varies across the axial and cross-sectional fields of a transducer. These variations are illustrated below: Axial Beam Profile for an Ultrasound Transducer Cross – Sectional Beam Profile for an Ultrasound Transducer he detailed construction of an ultrasound transducer for medical applications involving the shaping of the piezoelectric material, matching layers, housing and backing materials etc is presently conducted using computational techniques such as Finite Element Modelling of ultrasound transducers through the use of software packages such as Ultrasim and other commercially available software. In the overall design, efforts have to be made to ensure that the overall design will be optimised so as to deliver a sufficiently high power of ultrasound into the tissue being imaged and as far as possible there is best possible sound impedance matching between the transducer and the scanned tissue. Design of the backing material in an ultrasound transducer is important because this design determines the ring down time of the transducer, which is critical for low noise and optimal axial resolution of the transducer. Trends in Transducer Design for Echocardiography Only the simplest equipment for echocardiography will use a single ultrasound transducer and there is a trend towards design of echocardiography equipment which uses two or even three dimensional arrays of ultrasound transducers to provide superior quality 2 –D or 3-D computer generated pictures of the organ being imaged.   Even the relatively simpler equipment being used these days has two or more ultrasound transducers fitted into the transducer probe. The array of transducers are capable of generating a shaped beam of ultrasound which can be appropriately focused using electronic digital signal processing techniques to provide better images and resolution. Although the relatively simple medical ultrasound scanners cost about  £1000 per piece, reasonably decent transducer assemblies for a decent Philips or Toshiba ultrasound machines can cost  £1500 for the transducer alone. Transducer arrays for two or three dimensional ultrasound imaging equipment can be much more ex pensive because of the large number of transducers that are employed in such imaging equipment.   For better quality ultrasonic imaging to be possible, there is a requirement for enhanced bandwidth transducers, higher frequency transducer arrays and sophisticated digital signal processing circuits. There is also a trend towards transducer miniaturisation which will make intracavitary, intraurethral, or intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) investigation possible. The current imaging frequency range of 1 MHz to 15 MHz is expected to be increased to 20 MHz to 100 MHz and at these frequencies, microsonography devices using miniature ultrasound transducers with higher sensitivities are expected to provide much better and higher resolution images using catheter based transducers which are less then 2mm in diameter and are capable of being placed in veins.   New ultrasound transducer materials are likely to provide transducers which are far more sensitive then those available presently and consume lower power. These transducers can be operated from battery powered portable equipment and th ere are indications in literature that with the availability of such devices, it is likely that the stethoscope will be replaced by miniature ultrasound equipment. New trends in ultrasound transducer construction are also moving towards composite transducer construction in which a composite of two piezoelectric materials is used to design the transducer. Ultrasound transducers are fairly rugged and the piezoelectric material does not loose its properties unless exposed to high temperatures approaching the Curie temperature for the material are reached or there are strong alternating or direct electrical fields opposing the direction of poling for the material. Mechanical stresses imposed on the piezoelectric materials should not exceed the specified limits and although the specified limits vary for different types of materials, mechanical stress in excess of 2.5 MPa may be considered as likely to cause permanent damage. Ultrasound transducers are capable of being designed to operate in liquid mediums and the piezoelectric material does not react with water or gel.   Conclusion Materials with piezoelectric properties such as lead titanate (PbTiO3) and lead zirconate (PbZrO3) lend themselves to being treated by poling to generate as well as detect ultrasound waves when subjected to alternating electric fields or mechanical stresses. Ultrasound transducers can be made out of these materials and these transducers can be designed for specified resonance frequencies for use in medical imaging. The detailed design of such transducers is an exciting and involving undertaking which is capable of being assisted by finite element simulations. Advances in transducer design involving the use of new materials, miniaturisation and the use of arrays of transducers promises to revolutionise medical imaging in the future by providing high resolution 3-D ultrasound images and the field is full of promise for device designers as well as computer engineers of the future. References/ Bibliography Web Sources   Abboud, Najib N et al. â€Å"Finite Element Modelling for Ultrasonic Transducers†. Weidlinger Associates Inc. SPIE Int. Symp. Medical Imaging 1998, San Diego, Feb 21-27, 1998. 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