Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Placenta Previa

Placenta Previa High Risk Pregnancy Placenta previa happens when an incipient organism inserts itself in the lower uterus and the creating placenta in this manner embeds low in the uterus and spreads the inner cervical os. The previa can be finished, which includes the placenta covering the inner cervical os totally, or halfway, which includes just a segment of the placenta covering the cervical os. The finding is of placenta previa is regularly made in the second trimester by ultrasonography testing and is observed for placental movement away from the os which happens with uterine growth.Placenta previa in the subsequent trimester puts the customer in danger of creating vasa previa and thought to be a consequence of fiery atrophic changes to the placenta. In the third trimester, placenta previa is the main source of effortless draining prompting discharge. The draining happens as the placental connection is disturbed from diminishing of the region as the cervix and uterus plan for w ork. Because of the area of the placenta, the uterus can't agreement to prevent the progression of blood from the vessels.When draining happens, Thrombin is discharged and animates uterine constrictions, which along these lines upset the placental connection from the uterus much more, causing expanded draining and can in the long run lead to discharge (Joy, 2012). The occurrence of placenta previa is in around one of every 200 pregnancies, has a death pace of 0. 03%. Basic hazard factors incorporate past placenta previa, past cesarean births, pull curettage for unnatural birth cycle, conveying more than one infant, conveyance of at least six pregnancies, and tobacco or substance misuse (Perry, Hockenberry, Lowdermilk, and Wilson, 2010).For first time pregnancies, placenta previa happens in around 1 out of 1,500 pregnancies yet the hazard for ladies who have had in excess of five pregnancies increments to around 5 of every 100 pregnancies.References: J oy, S. M. (2012, June 5). Place nta Previa. Recovered September 29, 2012, from Medscape: emedicine. medscape. com/article/262063-overview#a0104 Perry, S. E. , Hockenberry, M. J. , Lowdermilk, D. L. , and Wilson, D. (2010). Maternal Child Nursing Care. Maryland Heights, MO: Elsevier.

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire

The individuals known as the Aztecs (who alluded to themselves as the Mexica or Tenocha) started from a spot called Aztlan, some place in North or North west Mexico. At some point in the twelfth century they set out on a time of meander ing and in the thirteenth century settled in the valley of focal Mexico. Around 1345 they established the town of Tenochtitlan. The Aztecs of Tenochtitlan controlled by Montezuma II turned into the best force in Mexico. The city of Tenochtitlan framed a coalition with the neighboring urban communities of Texcoco and Tlacopan however later turned into the prevailing accomplice and dealt with the whole valley.Conquering city after city, Moctezuma and his warrior domain took food, extravagance merchandise, outlandish crude materials and war hostages. The detainees of war were put something aside for penances to the divine beings. Leaving on his very own excursion looking for gold, General Hernando Cortes lead his gathering of Spanish soldiers into the wa y of the incredible Moctezuma government. In the wake of meeting vis-à-vis, the two men apparently saw the other with common regard after a cordial trade of welcome. Trust was not to be picked up very as effectively as every pioneer kept their warriors on steady alert.Even after General Cortes and his soldiers were sunk into lavish condos and given an extravagant supper, they stayed extremely careful. By setting their gun into position and preparing the mounted force and infantry, they could be prepared in a second s notice. Moctezuma stayed alert too, and had even ventured to such an extreme as to have his mystery room of wealth and fortunes established. He was as yet dubious with regards to whether Cortes was god or man, companion or enemy. There is no uncertainty that the Spaniards saw Montezuma as strong, incredible and wise.I m certain they were shocked and awed over his extraordinary fortune, works of gold, gems, superb expressions, design, and so forth. He was unquestionably not ailing in pageantry and quality. Everything Montezuma possessed was inordinate and all that he did was conveyed to the extraordinary. He encircle himself with gatekeepers, hirelings and wonderful ladies. Incredible regard was appeared to him despite the fact that the entirety of his realm didn't think he was meriting it. Cortes and his men most likely didn't concur with Moctezuma s political ways.He controlled vanquished individuals and his domain was held together by simple power instead of unwaveringness. The state controlled each part of life. Obviously, Cortes himself was a victor, yet his kin were not controlled and constrained as the Aztecs were. A significant number of the Aztec individuals viewed the Spaniards with interest. They didn't have the foggiest idea how to pass judgment on these peculiar individuals. Some idea Cortes to be the amazing ruler Quetzalcoatl, whose arrival to earth had been forecasted. Actually, that might be the main explanation Cortes was not met with more grounded introductory opposition.The Aztecs likewise loathed the generosity and favors their ruler offered to the general and his men. The Spaniards had opportunity that they didn't, so I m sure that they saw them with envy. In the event that they had taken a stand in opposition to their ruler, it would have implied moment passing. Others of the Aztec realm considered the To be as amazing partners against Moctezuma and his forced guideline. Huge numbers of the Amerindian individuals had just started to shape aligns with Cortes on his way into the capital city of Tenochtitlan. In Aztec Mexico, religion was ever present.The Aztecs revered a large number of divine beings, every one of whom requested contributions and penances. They viewed themselves as the picked individuals of Huitzilopochtli, the sun and war god, in whose name they were bound to overcome all adversary countries. Huitzilopochtli involved the primary sanctuary at Tenochtitlan. He was revered every day with c ontributions of human blood and crisp pulsating hearts, torn from the assortments of conciliatory casualties. It was during a voyage through the sanctuary that General Cortes attempted to pass on to Moctezuma that he was being bamboozled by his venerated images of evil.Cortes solicitation to raise a picture of the Virgin Mary was furiously denied. The Europeans especially had confidence in the Christian religion and were completely shocked by the Aztec customs. They genuinely needed consent to construct a congregation there and present Christianity. Following quite a while of viewing the Aztec individuals manufacture a practically humanlike sculpture of their sun and war god, the Spanish soldiers were incited into an assault. Their central goal from the start was to attack and ambush the Aztec domain, yet it was immediately required to be postponed when Moctezuma invited them.The Spaniards decided to catch Moctezuma and assault the Aztecs during their yearly celebration of love and penance to their divine beings. This celebration was comparable to the Christian form of the Easter occasion. The Spaniards found the Aztecs napping and promptly butchered numerous warriors, however the Aztecs immediately rebelled against the trespassers and murdered 53 Spanish detainees for penance. Moctezuma was executed in the uprising. Cortes, with new soldiers from Cuba, alongside the guide of thousands of Indian partners, at long last vanquished the Aztec in 1521.Legend would have us accept that Hernando Cortes was absolutely savage and sat idle however overcome, assault and loot (instead of exchange), yet onlooker records of the Aztec victory are not many. Some state the victory was a grisly slaughter, others state it was a superb triumph. Apparently during that period of time, it was each man for himself. By and by, I don't think Cortes had quite a bit of a decision once he was inside the domain in light of the fact that Moctezuma would have unavoidably come after him. He co uld have decided not to go however, around then it was take or be taken.Their is no simple method to take up arms and the situation being what it is Cortes presumably did similarly as different warriors before him had done. The Aztec realm crumbled immediately after the triumph. The warriors and aristocrats who were not slaughtered quickly passed on later from wild smallpox and different sicknesses. The triumph of the Aztecs denoted a critical period for the Spanish. It opened new entryways by expanding financial and political addition. So, the European development made ready for another age, a fresh start, and a significant defining moment ever.

Thursday, August 13, 2020

Our top blog posts from 2016 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog

Our top blog posts from 2016 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog This time of year I like to browse the blog and review all of the content weve shared, and see if theres anything we can do to give you a better experience. In doing so, I thought youd like to see which blog posts everyone enjoyed the most. Here are our top blog posts from 2016, broken down by month (with the runners-up). December:  How to access (and prepare for) the admissions video essay; followed by  Top 10 Tips for Communicating with Us November:  Heres SIPAs evaluation criteria; followed by  How to access (and prepare for) the admissions video essay October:  Heres what SIPA means by early action; followed by  How to access (and prepare for) the admissions video essay September:  Top 10 Tips for Communicating with Us; followed by  The 2017 PPIA Fellowship application is live August:  Top 10 Tips for Communicating with Us; followed by  Everything you wanted to know about SIPAs language proficiency requirement July:  Rangel Fellowship Application is live, and theres a new deadline; followed by  Top 10 Tips for Communicating with Us June:  What Fall 2016 admitted students should know going forward followed by  Fall 2016 New Student Series Part 1: Meet Sayan Supratim Das May:  Top 10 Tips for Communicating with Us; followed by What Fall 2016 admitted students should know going forward April:  10 reasons you shouldnt attend SIPA; followed by A look at SIPA Follies 2016 March:  What Fall 2016 admitted students should know going forward; followed by A look behind the application curtain February:  Good luck to our Fall 2016 applicants; followed by Dissecting the Application Checklist January:  Dissecting the Application Checklist; followed by How to answer the Fall 2016 short essay This is a just a preview of the type of  content we regularly share on the SIPA Admissions Blog. Including todays post, we have written 127 blog posts since January 2016 thats a new post every two or three days!  It takes a lot of effort to share fresh content with all of you on a regular basis, and we wouldnt have been able to do so if it werent for our dedicated student bloggers, also known as our Program Assistants and Admissions Ambassadors. Im grateful for their assistance, and I look forward to sharing more of their work with you in the coming months. Have a suggestion on what we should write about next? Just Submit An Idea.

Sunday, May 24, 2020

Managing Generations and Social Media - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1540 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2019/04/10 Category Society Essay Level High school Tags: Social Media Essay Did you like this example? Abstract The purpose of this paper is to reflect back on my courses here at Florida State College at Jacksonville and two of the main topics I have learned. Management today is quite different than even 10 years ago. Currently, there are about four different generations in the workforce and each generation has their own values and characteristics. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Managing Generations and Social Media" essay for you Create order This can be very challenging for managers or leaders who do not understand the characteristics of each and how to lead them. I will also look at how social media is affecting todays work environment for both companies and people. Managing Multiple Generations Humans are living longer than we ever have and therefore, increasing the average age of retirement. Resulting in a multigenerational workforce which can be challenging for leaders. Each generation contributes different values and skills to a team, but not all generations can be supervised the same way. I would like to review the characteristics of the generations and their strengths and weaknesses. Baby boomers are believed to be goal-oriented workaholics, independent, competitive. They make up many executives in the current workforce because they are hardworking, dedicated, and career focused. On the other hand, they are less acceptable to change. I can also see how managing an independent and competitive individual would be difficult or challenging at times(Kane, Baby Boomers in the Workplace, 2017). Generation x has grown up in an era where typically both parents in the household worked. Because of this, they have a pretty strong work ethic. Technology became a part of most homes of those in this generation, so when it comes to technology, they are quit skilled. Generally speaking, they are individualistic, flexible or accepting of change, and value a work/life balance. Because of the latter characteristics, they tend to move around from company to company looking for a less structured management and work life. Which is not what the managers of the baby boomer generation is used to nor is it their management style(Kane, 2017). The fastest growing demographic era is generation y, known to many as millennials. The first generation to truly grow up in the age of technology they have the greatest understanding of change and the positive effects it can have in the current business world. For the most part, they are team-oriented, and achievement focused. One of the biggest downfalls for this generation is they crave attention and need constant reassurance. If they are included and feel appreciated, I think they could bring a lot to the table encouraging leaders to stay up to date with the latest and greatest. I recently read an article that discussed three ways to simplify the process of managing a multigenerational environment. It doesnt have to be as difficult as it sounds(Cates, 2018). At the beginning, it explains we should not dwell on the differences between the generations. Simply put is each generation has different needs resulting in different motivational factors. Which leads us to the next point of keeping context in mind while managing. In other words, get to know your team, understand their needs, priorities, goals, and what motivates them. A crucial tool for creating a positive working environment. Seems simple right? And you would think every good leader understands and applies this concept to their leadership style. The difference is, as we have such a vast variety of ages in the workforce and each generation has different experiences. These experiences have defined our values and expectations or goals we have set for our careers. I believe a good leader is always looking for ways to learn or improve their own leadership style. Getting to know my team and how they think and what motivates them allows me the opportunity learn from their experiences. Proving as a leader that I value their ideas and experiences in hopes of providing a sense of purpose to keep them engaged. If not, they will always be looking for a better opportunity. Motivated employees also result in positive employees, which are more willing to go above and beyond for their managers. The final point I would like to discuss from this article is the value of upskilling your employees. I found it interesting to read that the skills of the older generation are becoming outdated. Majority of the children today will work a career that has yet to be invented. Think about that. If the trend of the retirement age and how much it has increased, I could end my career in a job that doesnt even exist today. It is crucial for us to continue learning to stay current with technology, and changes in the workforce. Offering free training courses or seminars to employees can motivate them to stay up to date with technology, their skills and to be innovative. Providing leaders with the necessary tools to lead their team to the next level and stay competitive. Social Media Marketing and networking through social media outlets have become pivotal in todays marketing strategies. Over the past decade advertising on social media has grown tremendously. While many companies have the ability to advertise for free through social media. Recently, many social media platforms have made a business out of charging organizations to advertise on their outlets. Rapid advancements in technology today has brought changes in the way companies use platforms to advertise to consumers. I recently came across an article that discussed five pivotal elements for utilizing social media to market your product, service, or company. The position of social media is swiftly changing, and many companies are struggling to keep up. This article discussed the importance of conversing on social media through the most popular platforms. How audiences react to the use of motivational context. How to use social media to successfully and intelligently brand your company. Finally, it pointed out the importance of analyzing social media and the demographics of those who use each platform(CBT News, 2018). I have noticed the people I am friends with on Facebook who are more active on social media, will be higher up in my news feed. When someone who is not typically very active on social media does post something, it may not show up on the public feed. Or if I am not as active on pages I will not see their most recent posts. For example, there is a local cake lady who is amazing at deserts and makes cake balls for all holidays. Last year around thanksgiving, she had made cake ball boxes and I saw one of my friends who I tend to interact more with on social media liked her post. Since I missed the original post, I sent her a private message because she had made the post a week or so prior to see if she had any left as I wanted to place an order. Because I had not been actively liking or sharing her posts the initial post did not show in my feed. So, it is important for a companys marketing team to be active on as many social media platforms as possible. Incorporating motivational or uplifting messages in your posts is more crucial than I thought. I did not realize how many people find these messages encouraging. According to the article the more motivational or uplifting your posts are, the higher your chances of having people share your posts are, increasing traffic to your organizations page(CBT News, 2018). The popularity of social media for networking has, of course, resulted in the creation of more social media platforms. Surprisingly each platform has different audiences. I have heard that younger generations tend to shy away from Facebook and lean more towards Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube. Depending on who your target audience is will determine the best social media platform to use. Having a marketing team that understands the different platforms and how to use them is important to ensure you are reaching the largest audience you can(CBT News, 2018). Managing a team of multiple generations with various skill sets and values sounds scary, but with the proper tools, can be simple. I have enjoyed learning about the different generations, how they think, and what motivates them. I hope to take this valuable information with me as I become a leader and use it to encourage my team and co-workers. Technology has advanced the globe significantly and beyond what many ever thought possible over the last 10 plus years. I believe my parents never dreamed something like social media would exist, let alone have such an influence economically. What a great tool for companies if utilized correctly and I hope to be able to expand on this and grow as technology grows to improve the company I work for. References Cates, J. (2018, Feburary 7). The secret to a satisfied multigenerational workforce? Its not as hard as you think. Retrieved from The Globe and Mail: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/leadership-lab/the-secret-to-a-satisfied-multigenerational-workforce-its-not-as-hard-as-you-think/article37853130/ CBT News. (2018, January 29). 5 Crucial Components of an Effective Social Media Marketing Strategy in 2018. Retrieved from CBT News: https://www.cbtnews.com/5-crucial-components-effective-social-media-marketing-strategy-2018/ Kane, S. (2017, November 18). Baby Boomers in the Workplace. Retrieved from The Balance: https://www.thebalance.com/baby-boomers-2164681 Kane, S. (2017, October 15). The Common Characteristics of Generation X Professionals. Retrieved from The Balance: https://www.thebalance.com/common-characteristics-of-generation-x-professionals-2164682

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

History of Sugar Free Essay Example, 2250 words

This distinction in consumption between various parts of the world can be attributed to both the wealth differences as well as the easy accessibility of sugar. The recent increased health awareness in the industrialized Western world and raised concerns regarding the impacts of sugar on well being as well as the availability of sugar alternatives like low-calorie, high intensity sweeteners and corn syrup high in fructose have not only stabilized sugar consumption but in many regions these factors have resulted in a decline in its demand. Therefore, the expansion of sugar industry thus can be linked to the consumption in poorer nations in accordance with the richer nations’ pattern. Besides, sugar needs to beat the modern low calorie artificial sweeteners to keep its industry running. 1 Sugar Source The sugar being utilized today is derived from two distinct plants i. e., sugar beets and sugar cane. There exists no clear difference amongst the sugar extracted from either of these sources although the cultivation and sugar extraction procedures are different from each. Sugar cane is a fragile plant that springs up only in tropical regions, whilst sugar beets are sturdier crop that develop in the temperate regions of North America and Europe. Chemically sugar is categorized as a carbohydrate with name â€Å"sucrose† that occurs in plants naturally. We will write a custom essay sample on History of Sugar or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now As its concentration is most rich in sugar beet and sugarcane, these sources are utilized in its commercial preparation. Completely refined sugar regardless of its source is pure sucrose and therefore has its distinct sweet taste but in spite of the same end product yielded from two distinct sources, the sugar beet and sugarcane industries differ significantly in the procedures adopted for organization and production and each industry has its own typical geography and history. History of Sugar Many centuries ago, the New Guinea people used to harvest wild sugar cane and then suck and chew it for gaining energy. Ancient merchants from Southeast Pacific islands traveled via sea from one island to another and to the dry land of eastern Africa and Asia to merchandize metal tools, animals and food and this trade helped in the spreading of sugar cane. The history of sugar is very interesting as it entails various economic and social aspects as it spread from one region to another. In the European colonies and particularly England, power structures turned it as a luxury commodity which was eventually changed into a necessity and motivated a revolution in lifestyle and diet, especially amongst the working class throughout the Industrial Revolution and the enforcement of capitalism.

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Different Methods of Endorsing a Check Free Essays

An indorsement is made by the holder of a check when he or she wants to negotiate it or wants to indicate a limitation as to its specific purpose. An example of a specific purpose is when the indorser only wants the check to be deposited to an account, not cashed over the counter. A third purpose of indorsement is when a bank or a person paying for the amount indicated in the check wants to obtain the liability of the person negotiating the check. We will write a custom essay sample on Different Methods of Endorsing a Check or any similar topic only for you Order Now Indorsement could be done by the holder in several ways, namely: by special indorsement, blank indorsement, restrictive indorsement, and qualified indorsement.  (Mallor-Barnes-Bowers-Langvardt, 2007) Special indorsement means that the holder of the check affixes his or her signature on the back of the check and then writes down the name of the specific person who could negotiate it or authorize to have it negotiated. For instance, a check has been specially indorsed to John Smith if the holder of the check (say, Mary Walters) wrote on the back thereof his name as payee and affixes his/her signature below John Smith’s name. A holder, for this purpose, refers to the person who has in his or her possession a check which is â€Å"payable to bearer† or made out in his or her name. When the check has been specially indorsed to John Smith, he, in turn, becomes a holder of the check who is authorized either to negotiate the check or indorse it to someone else. (Mallor et al. , 2007)  §3-205 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) specifically states that â€Å"When specially indorsed, an instrument becomes payable to the identified person and may be negotiated only by the indorsement of that person.† (Cornell University Law School, n. d. ) Blank indorsement occurs when the holder simply affixes his or her signature at the back of the check without identifying any person as payee or indorsee. In the example, Mary Walters, as payee of the check, simply signs her name on the back of the check without naming any particular person to whom the check could be paid. In this case, having indorsed the check in blank, Mary has converted the check into a â€Å"payable to bearer† check. It could therefore be transferred by anyone who acquires it. If it is John Smith who takes possession of the check, he can negotiate it by simply writing his or her name on the back of the check, thereby identifying him as the person to whom the check could be paid. His act of writing his name effectively converts a blank-indorsed check to a specially indorsed check. (Mallor et al. , 2007) â€Å"When indorsed in blank, an instrument becomes payable to bearer and may be negotiated by transfer of possession alone until specially indorsed. † (Cornell University Law School, n. d. ) Restrictive indorsement refers to a situation when a check is indorsed to satisfy a specific purpose only. A case in point is when a person wants that a check issued to him – like for example a paycheck or a check which represents proceeds from an insurance claim – should only be deposited in his account at a specified bank, he or she should indicate in so many words by writing down, for instance, the following: â€Å"For Deposit to my Account at Chase Manhattan Bank. † This restricts the indorsement to the purpose specified. If, for any reason some other person other than the payee presents the check which is so indorsed to a bank, the law states that said bank should ensure that the proceeds of the check should go to the specified account. If the bank releases the amount to the person who presents the check, said bank will be liable under the principle of conversion. Judge McEwen of the New York Supreme Court, in Lehigh Presbytery v. Merchants Bancorp, Inc. (Penn. Super. Ct. 1991) said that the UCC orders banks to honor such restrictions or be liable for any resulting losses, saying that this principle was meant â€Å"to prevent† fraud. (As cited in Mallor et al. , 2007) Qualified indorsement is a type of indorsement which could be made on checks which have been indorsed specially or in blank. This is resorted to by an indorser who wishes to free himself or herself from any liability in case of default on the part of the person who issued the check by writing the words â€Å"Without Recourse. † In other words, if the maker of the check fails to meet his or her obligation, the indorser would not be liable if he or she qualifies the indorsement.  § 3-415 of the UCC has specifically provided that although the indorser â€Å"is obliged to pay the amount due† on a dishonored instrument, in a qualified indorsement â€Å"the indorser is not liable †¦ to pay the instrument.† (Cornell University Law School, n. d. ) The law governing negotiable instruments, specifically the methods of indorsing a check, is one of those laws which were passed not only to govern the conduct of business in the country but also to help Americans protect their hard-earned wealth from scheming, unscrupulous individuals. As it stands, the law on negotiable instruments which has withstood the test of time merits the support of every well-meaning citizen of the country. How to cite Different Methods of Endorsing a Check, Papers

Sunday, May 3, 2020

Ethical Dilemma About Volkswagen Samples †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Ethical Dilemma About Volkswagen. Answer: Introduction There are many scandals that have been going around in the international business world. The organizations such as Volkswagen, Worldcon, Enron, Fords are taking decisions which can be highly distrustful and have raised ethical questions. These scandals have also contributed to the serious loss of trust and confidence for those organizations and within the business integrity. In the contemporary business world, the organizations tend to increase their profits and value which is also the primary reason behind seeking more ways to do that. However, in the process of doing that, many organizations are making decisions that can be harmful (Zhou, 2016). The recent scandal of Volkswagen indicates that the business ethics are still significant to the business world and should immediately be addressed in the way of increasing the profits of the organization. The carbon emission cheating of Volkswagen has encouraged attention of the entire business world in recent times. The public and media d ebate regarding the Volkswagen scandal have already got so much attention, that it is quite easy to mark the scandal as unethical or wrong (Siano et al., 2017). This essay addresses the ethical dilemmas of the scandal in the light of various ethical theories. The ethical theories include deontology, utilitarianism and egoism theory. After the detailed analysis, the recommendation and personal reflection has been presented in this essay. Background The case of ethical dilemma about Volkswagen had affected the historical journey of the organization and its newly appointed CEO. The organization can be traced back in the 30s where it first started the journey. In the year 2014, there was a regular on road testing in California by the CARB or California Air resources. This road testing had led the organization in investing Volkswagen for violating the federal and state vehicle emission rules (Balbi, 2015). Furthermore, the researchers had tested the emission form two of the Volkswagen models. The examination has also revealed that those models were equipped with 2-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder diesel engine. Later it was also found that these models were emitting around forty times of the permitted level of NOx or nitrogen oxide and dioxide. Later the organization accepted their fault and admitted that millions off their car models were set with defeat device (Preston, 2015). It was also disclosed that around 11 millions of the die sel cars where around eight millions cars were in Europe, had been equipped with a special software which has helped the organization to cheat in the emission test. The credibility of the organization has been affected with this scandal to a great extent. The entire business world was not ready to accept the fact that this scandal has happened without the knowledge of the top executives of the organization (Nemeth Carvalho, 2017). Therefore the contemporary CEO has resigned taking the entire responsibility of the scandal. This scandal has been one of the biggest leadership and ethical challenge in the recent times. This incident has raised several questions regarding the ethical theories that the organization should adhere to. Explanation: Deontology The view of Deontology belongs to the group of normative theories. This theory is mostly focused on the moral actions and the choices of the individual, however in this case it is the organization itself. This theory also judges the morality of the action on the basis of the pre-determined rules. According to this theory, on the basis of the deontological ethics there may raise different moral obligations from any of the internal or external sources such as religious law, cultural or personal values or ethical naturalism. These choices can be forbidden, morally required or permitted. Kantianism is also a significant part of the deontology. As stated by Chakrabarty Bass (2015), Kantianism has argued that one act can be ethically right only if they have obeyed the categorical imperative. It should also be noted that this theory states that in order to make any act morally right, people should adhere to their duties. Also, it has been said that the consequences of any action do not mak e it right or wrong, rather the motives of the individual who perform the actions (Paquette, Sommerfeld Kent, 2015). Regarding this case, Volkswagen should act in accordance with the pre-determined principles. However, considering the categorical imperative, Volkswagen should offer safe, attractive and environmentally sound cars that are capable of competing in the international automobile market. The organization has already set its standards for the last few decades; therefore they should stick to it. It can also be argued that considering the categorical imperative, Volkswagen has acted ethical as their cheat software did not affect the attractiveness or the safeness of the device; however it has affected the environmental security to a great extent. Utilitarianism Utilitarianism is a part of consequentialism. This is an ethical theory that says that the best action is the one which has the maximum utility and brings maximum happiness to the world. The term utility can also be defined in different methods such as well beings, happiness etc. The founder of the ethical theory, Jeremy Bentham, defined the term utility as the joint sum of all the possible pleasures which may result from a specific action. This does not count the suffering of any person for the action (Shafer-Landau, 2014). As Utilitarianism is a part of consequentialism, this adheres to the fact that there is always a standard of wrong and right of any consequences of the action. Utilitarianism mostly states that one should maximize the pleasure out of any context; therefore one should choose the action which can contribute the most in increasing the happiness for most of the people. This theory also states that if there is any life at risk, the choice of life can reduce a huge amo unt of pleasure (Weiss, 2014). With the help of this theory, it can be assessed that how ethical was the idea of putting the cheat device n the Volkswagen models. It basically focuses on the consequences of the action. Egoism theory The Egoism theory or the Ethical egoism is the ethical position which should be done by the moral agents for their own self-interest. The egoism theory has three different parts such as ethical egoism, psychological egoism and rational egoism. The psychological egoism states that people will only act in the place where their self interest in fulfilled. On the other hand, the rational egoism considers that it is only rational where there is ones self interest (Overall, 2016). However, ethical egoism holds that the actions which are beneficial to ones self interest, can be considered to be ethical in that terms. This theory is in fully contrast with the theory of utilitarianism which states that one should not treat ones self higher than the others, however, egoism theory considers the self higher than any other being. This theory can justify the Volkswagen scandal to a great extent. Analysis and Evaluation Applying utilitarianism in the Volkswagen ethical case, it can be said that it tend to involve several sections. There are several parties that are included along with the organization, such as the organization itself and its employees, the clients, the agency that was checking the environmental testing or EPA and the other one was the indirect party which is the people of the countries where Volkswagen has sold its cars. In accordance to the utilitarianism theory, the acts of Volkswagen are not at all acceptable as they did not contribute to any incensement of the greater good or the happiness (Jung et al., 2017). Especially at the end, the organization was caught with the cheating and it did not make anyone happy. The organization was also blameworthy for the actions they had performed, as they knew it from before, what exactly was happening and what exactly could go wrong as the consequence of the actions. They had developed the software with the purpose of cheating. They may have created utility for the company itself but it did not play any safe for the environment. In such situations, there should be effective punishment for Volkswagen as its actions have not led to something great. The punishment to the action should also be obligatory for the organization as utilitarianism says that punishment should be permissible if there is no chance of leading towards great utility. Volkswagen should not do this again. Also, they have lost the marke of diesel cars and share prices dropped to a great extent. As stated before, deontology also do not support the deed of Volkswagen of misleading the environmental gas testing agency. As the car was considered to be the low emission diesel cars, it could be sent to the various countries. Therefore, the customers could also be charged more taxes that the allowed ones. Therefore considering the deontological point of view, putting the cheat software in the cars was not a morally right thing to do as this act goes exactly against to the moral duty. Volkswagen has been acting entirely against the moral law, therefore it is quite expected what has should be done and the organization should be punished for their deed. The egoism theory goes exactly to the opposite of the previously discussed theories. This theory puts more importance to the self and stats that one should exactly do whatever is beneficial to his or her own self interest (Dybus Lemmen, 2017). Considering the Volkswagen case, the organization has put the cheat device in the cars as they wanted to cheat the governments and the agencies as they wanted their diesel cars to be successful in the market. However, as they have been caught with their cheat device, they have lost a huge amount of share from the market and their decade long reputation was hampered. However, egoism theory justifies the deeds of the Volkswagen employees as it was considered to be beneficial for the organization itself. Implication for business The research on the Volkswagen case has been helpful for me. Since I have a plan to open up a business in future, I can utilize the learning in my business. In the restaurant business, one popular yet unlawful business takes place sometimes, is to use the gas which is not environmentally sound and it can hamper the environmental balance. There are many organizations that try to use this gas as it is cheap and the production cost of the food becomes quite low. However, this kind of gas emission is not easy to get as the government s quite strict about the law. However, in my business, I will not use any such product which has the possibility of violating the environmental balance. Any kind of unethical business will not be taken in my organization. We all should be responsible enough to ensure that there is no harm occurring due of our business. Conclusion This essay has explained the Volkswagen case study with the help of three different ethical theories. It can be said that other than the egoism theory, which keeps the ego at the very first place, all the other theories have considered the case to be morally permissible. The first ethical theories, utilitarianism and deontology would consider Volkswagen to be the culprit of whatever they did. These theories consider Volkswagen to be punished for hampering the environmental balance as well. However, the egoism theory can justify the act as it only considered the interest of the organization. However, in the long run, the organization was not benefitted with their decision and this has hampered their decade long reputation as well. In such situation, Volkswagen should bring a leader, for the organization, who is new, strong and ethical, therefore he or she can work hard to bring the trust of thee customers back on the organization. The organization need a strong and a moral person who can manage the work morally. References Balbi, A. (2015). Update: Volkswagen scandal: one of the world's largest automakers has admitted to unethical decision making and is working on clarifying the" inconsistencies.".Strategic Finance,97(6), 9-10. Blackwelder, B., Coleman, K., Colunga-Santoyo, S., Harrison, J. S., Wozniak, D. (2016). The Volkswagen Scandal. Chakrabarty, S., Bass, A. E. (2015). Comparing virtue, consequentialist, and deontological ethics-based corporate social responsibility: Mitigating microfinance risk in institutional voids.Journal of Business Ethics,126(3), 487-512. Dybus, C., Lemmen, J. (2017). Dieselgate and Consumer Law: Repercussions of the Volkswagen scandal in the Netherlands.Journal of European Consumer and Market Law,6(2), 91-94. Jung, K., Chilton, K., Valero, J. N. (2017). Uncovering stakeholders in publicprivate relations on social media: a case study of the 2015 Volkswagen scandal.Quality Quantity,51(3), 1113-1131. Nemeth, K., Carvalho, J. M. (2017). Dieselgate and Consumer Law: Repercussions of the Volkswagen scandal in the European Union.Journal of European Consumer and Market Law,6(1), 35-35. Overall, J. (2016). Unethical behavior in organizations: empirical findings that challenge CSR and egoism theory.Business Ethics: A European Review,25(2), 113-127. Paquette, M., Sommerfeldt, E. J., Kent, M. L. (2015). Do the ends justify the means? Dialogue, development communication, and deontological ethics.Public Relations Review,41(1), 30-39. Preston, B. (2015). Volkswagen scandal tarnishes hard-won US reputation as green company management.The Guardian,25. Shafer-Landau, R. (2014). The fundamentals of ethics. Siano, A., Vollero, A., Conte, F., Amabile, S. (2017). More than words: Expanding the taxonomy of greenwashing after the Volkswagen scandal.Journal of Business Research,71, 27-37. Trevino, L. K., Nelson, K. A. (2016).Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right. John Wiley Sons. Weiss, J. W. (2014).Business ethics: A stakeholder and issuesmanagement approach. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Zhou, A. (2016). Analysis of the Volkswagen Scandal Possible Solutions for Recovery.

Friday, March 6, 2020

Breast Cancer in Saudi Arabia Essays

Breast Cancer in Saudi Arabia Essays Breast Cancer in Saudi Arabia Paper Breast Cancer in Saudi Arabia Paper   Breast cancer in Saudi Arabia has been on the rise in acute form compared to the developed countries. Even women at younger age have been diagnosed with cancer. It is argued that lack of information and education has the reasons for it to spread at an early stage. Although breast cancer in Saudi Arabia is not as startling, but the situation is becoming a pressing public healthcare issue, for the reason   that every fifth woman in the country is in danger of contracting this fatal disease. 1.2 Statistics Breast cancer can be considered to be the leading cause of death among women in Saudi Arabia. According to extrapolated statistics breast cancer   amount to 19,441 per 25 million population . However, this statistical data is automated and does not take into account the   genetic, cultural, environmental, social, racial or other features of the Saudi Arabia. Cancer Incidence Report 1999-2000 has mentioned   that, between   the period of January 1999 and December 2000, there were 1,157 official cases of female breast cancer in Saudi Arabia (NCR, 2000).   The report also states that breast cancer is considered the most common cancer among females accounting for 20.6 percent of all newly diagnosed female cancers (5,617), while the Age Standartised-Incidence rate (ASR) was 13.6/100,000 for the female population. According to the report, the mean age at diagnosis was 49 years. The five regions with the highest ASR were the Eastern region at 21.2/100,000, Riyadh region at 19.9/100,000, Madinah region at 16.9/100,000, Makkah region at 16.4/100,000 and Hail Region at 9.4/100,000 (NCR, 2000). 2.0 BREAST CANCER PREVALENCE IN SAUDI ARABIA Breast cancer is considered to be a group of undifferentiated cells reproducing under extremely rapid rate in the area of the breast in women. The earliest changes usually appear in the epithelial cells of the terminal end buds of the breast milk system, where new cancer cells form tumors.   If cancer cells are active, the tumor increases at significant rate and may result in metastasis.   Being a complex process in which cells are separated from their initial tumors and supplied trough blood and lymph systems to other organs, metastasis spreads cancer throughout the body. Ravichandran et al (2005) affirmed the statistics revealed prior in Cancer Incidence Report 1999-2000 that the rate of breast cancer among women in Saudi Arabia amounts to 19.8 percent. Ravichandran et al (2005) aimed to examine 5-year survival for all incidents of invasive breast cancer that occurred during 1994-96 in the province of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Ravichandran et al (2005) also determined that the survival probability of women with cancer during the first year had been almost 94 percent, and the percentage was down sloping with the time. At third and fifth year, it dwindled to 79 and 59.6 percent respectively. The highest five year survival rate has been determined in the patient category of 40-49 years old, while the lowest one in women older than fifty. According to Ravichandran et al (2005) localized cases of breast cancer had much better prognosis and survival rate among 5-year patients comparing to regional and distant metastasis. Ezzat et al (1999) indicated that locally advanced breast cancer disease constitutes more than 40% of all non-metastatic breast cancer among Saudi   women. Ezzat et al (1999) also demonstrated that radiotherapy represents the most favorable treatment of locally advanced breast cancer and the most contributing method of treatment to overall patient’s survival. Simultaneously, such methods as adjuvant chemotherapy, tamoxifen and neoadjuvant chemotherapy) have been recognized as ineffective or even deleterious (as in case with neo-adjuvant chemotherapy). A study conducted by Millat (2000), which aimed to identify general, awareness of the disease among the secondary school’s students   (18 years old) through self-examination. It was been expected, that the knowledge of general risk factors has been very low and over 80 percent of the students failed to answer the majority of questions. Millat (2000) indicates that those students who had been previously exposed to breast surgery had positive breast cancer history, or those who had undergone mammography showed higher awareness and higher knowledge levels about the disease. From the statistical viewpoint, only 40 percent of the study sample (6380 students) reported ever hearing of breast cancer, only 14 percent knew the correct frequency of disease, and only 7 percent were aware of its timing. A similar case study conducted by Alsaif (2004) among Saudi female nursing students to examine young women’s breast cancer awareness rate and overall attitude to breast cancer. Comparing to study conducted previously held by Millat (2000), Alsaif’s survey included a smaller sample of 149 respondents but the overall results of study was more positive and encouraging. The study found out that 66 percent of surveyed students performed breast self-examination and majority of those performing self-examination indicated that they learned about breast cancer, its causes and prevention methods from their college curricula. Alsaif (2004) found significant relation between breast cancer awareness and self-examination and nursing specialization of the study sample.   3.0 MAIN RISK FACTORS Medical specialists distinguish risk factors for breast cancer that individual can change and those that cannot be affected (Miller, 1996). There have been two major   factors of breast cancer as described below (Oncology Resource Center, 2006) 3.1   Heredity and Genetic Factors The heredity factors include, if some one in the family has the history of cancer, such as sister, aunt, mother with cancer history. In such families breast cancer have greater chance to develop. In majority of such cases women have a genetic abnormality, which is referred as BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene. Women with BRCA1 gene have 85 percent risk of developing breast cancer. Women with BTCA2 also have chance to develop cancer, but lesser than BRCA2. Similarly women with previous case history of cancer are also at risk. In addition, women with female fraternal twins (two eggs) also have greater chance of developing cancer (Miller, 1996). 3.2   Non-Genetic Factors Other than genetic factors, early age menstrual cycle and   late age menopause also increase the risk. Other factors include late childbirth, hormone replacement therapy, and extensive use of oral contraceptive, high fat diet and obesity. Some researchers have also mentioned a relationship between ovarian hormones and breast cancer. Smoking has also been mentioned as one of the reasons for developing breast cancer. 4.0 STRATEGIES TO PREVENT CANCER 4.1 Diet In US two third of the cancer illness are related to poor diet, obesity and lack of exercise. The main causes of breast cancer are different; however overall poor diet and poor health can increases the risk factors. If habits are changed are preventive lifestyle and diet is followed, there can be reduction in cancer 4.2   Hormone replacement It is proven that hormone replacement with estrogens or progestins increase the incidence of breast cancer, especially among the post-menopausal women. Even though there are benefits attached to hormone replacements and the number of breast cancers cases are slowing down, however the risk has to be weighed against the benefits of hormone replacement. Such preventive measure are a better safety procedure than the later age crisis. 4.3   Oral Contraceptives and Breast Feeding As oral contraceptives are associated with increased risk of breast cancer, therefore it is essential to understand risks associated with use of long-term use of contraceptives. Breast-feeding has been proved to reduce risk of breast cancer as much as by 50 percent. The greater a woman feeds her child, the lesser are the chance of infected with breast cancer. 4.4   Early Screening and Treatment Screening refers to the examination of the symptoms of cancer, which means to check risk factors, which are more likely to develop cancer in future. An awareness of these risk factors makes it essential to have early screening and detection.   The common medical practice indicates that regular mammography screening allows the decrease and the mortality of breast cancer by 30 percent (Hart, 1999), which means that every woman should get a yearly mammogram starting from age 40 or even earlier. During the mammography screening, the x-ray picture sometimes detects various substances in the breasts; which are sometimes not recognizable and may provoke unnecessary worrying for both patient and health professional (Hart, 1999).   Young woman are recommended to have a compulsory clinical breast examination done by health professional.   In addition, during the clinical examination, every woman has an opportunity to learn how to conduct self-examination. 4.5   Self Examination One should not underestimate the value of clinical breast exams or self-examination as 15 percent of the tumors are felt, but cannot be detected by regular mammographic screening.   Although a lump in the breast is the most common way women discover a breast cancer, younger women should understand that any change in the breast require further medical investigation.   Among the clinical tests that are conducted in modern oncological clinics, some women are on a chance, if they have a chance of getting the disease by simply tracing back cases of breast cancer throughout the history of relatives. Contemporary oncologists consider the following signs as a serious threat which require immediate attention from health specialist:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thickening or density in the breast or underarm;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ulcerated or inverted nipple;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Puckered or dimple skin;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Redness or swelling of the breast; A lump near the breast including the underarm, collarbone and neck (Bostwick, 1998), if any of these abnormalities are detected, the individual should get immediate consultation (physical exam) from a health professional and get a mammogram, possibly an ultrasound, and visit a breast surgeon for complete examination. Contemporary medicine possesses various treatment techniques for breast cancer; in particular, radiotherapy, toxic chemotherapy combinations, hormonal treatments and prophylactic mastectomies are used to treat early lesions. 20-year follow-up data from the NSABP B-06 trial (Hamid et al, 2004) have confirmed that radiation therapy clearly decreases the rate of locoregional recurrence in patients who undergo lumpectomy. Usually, radiation treatment is given after, rather than before, chemotherapy. Newer radiation techniques include partial breast irradiation, partial breast irradiation and brachytherapy, and interstitial brachytherapy. These techniques are under investigation and, at this point, may be used in the context of a clinical trial. Another effective treatment of the disease, adjuvant treatment is defined as the use of systemic therapy for microscopic meta-static disease, which is normally taken after the surgical resection of the primary tumor. Chemotherapy and anti-estrogen therapy are the two major forms of adjuvant treatment, and patients may be given one or both. A meta-analysis conducted by the Early Breast Cancer Trialists Collaborative Group (Hamid et al, 2004) showed the benefit of adjuvant therapy in premenopausal and postmenopausal women and in women with node-negative and node-positive disease. 5.0 CONCLUSION The risk of getting breast cancer is about 1:8, and the risk of dying from breast cancer is lower than 1:28; however, if preventive measures are taken many more people can survive; for which greater public awareness and change of attitude in Saudi Arabia is essential. There is an acute need of extensive education among Saudi youth, mothers and society at large. The program efforts should focus on creating breast cancer early detection and treatment awareness, which can be achieved by constant encouragement by professionals, who must indulge in extensive mammography   screening and genetic testing for early detection and treatment. There is also need for more cancer health centres and education in Saudi Arabia not among the physicians alone, but active participation from nurses and medical students is also vital for creating this awareness. The healthcare sector should also be provided with better and latest equipment so that it is possible to   fight this fatal disease at an early stage. References Ezzat AA, Ibrahim EM, Raja MA, Al-Sobhi S, Rostom A, Stuart RK. Locally advanced breast cancer in Saudi Arabia: high frequency of stage III in a young population. Med Oncol. 1999 Jul; 16(2):95-103 Altaf FJ. Breast cancer screening. Saudi Med J. 2004 Aug; 25(8):991-7 Alsaif AA. Breast self-examination among Saudi female nursing students in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Med J. 2004 Nov; 25(11):1574-8. Ravichandran K, Hamdan NA, Dyab AR. Population based survival of female breast cancer cases in Riyadh Region, Saudi Arabia.Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2005 Jan-Mar; 6(1): 72-6. Milaat WA. Knowledge of secondary-school female students on breast cancer and breast self-examination in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. East Mediterr Health J. 2000 Mar-May; 6(2-3):338-44. The National Cancer Registry. Cancer Incidence Report Saudi Arabia 1999 – 2000. Available kfshrc.edu.sa/NCR/ Accessed Oct 26, 2005 Hamid R. Mirshahidi, MD Jame Abraham, MD. (2004). Managing early breast cancer.  Postgraduate Medicine.  Minneapolis: Oct. 116(4), 23-27 Miller A.B. (1996). Fundamental issues in screening for cancer. In: Schottenfeld D., Fraumeni J.F. (ed.). Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1433-52. Hart D. (1999).  Diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. Plastic Surgical Nursing.  Pitman: Fall.19(3): 137-145 Lauersen, N., Stukane, E. (1996). The complete book of breast care. New York: Random House Bostwick, J., (1998). A womans decision: Breast care, treatment and reconstruction. St Louis: Quality Medical Publishing, Inc. Statistics by Country for Breast Cancer.( 2003)   Available wrongdiagnosis.com/b/breast_cancer/stats-country.htm Accessed Oct 26, 2005

Wednesday, February 19, 2020

Royal Mail Privatisation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Royal Mail Privatisation - Essay Example For purposes of this brief analysis, the author will consider the case of the Royal Mail with regards to its upcoming privatized nation. Rather than delineating whether or not this is a positive or negative in, per se, the analysis will be contingent upon the activities and obligations that the Royal Mail engenders, how privatized nation might impact this industry, a discussion and analysis of what privatized nation actually entails, a discussion of the market structure of the parcel and packet delivery industry, and analysis of the way that this might impact upon performance, business, industry, and the consumer, and finally a discussion and analysis of whether such a level of privatization might in fact be in the best interests of these respective stakeholders or not (Houghton et al., 2013). It is the hope of this author that such a level of analysis will help to elucidate a further level of understanding in the mind of the reader with regards to the Royal mail and how it is likely to be defined and evolved within the coming years (Whyman, 2009). Q1: As it stands today, the Royal Mail is responsible for delivering and processing tens of millions of pieces of mail, both domestic and international, that transit within the United Kingdom. Tracing its origins back as far as Henry VIII, the Royal Mail service has existed and evolved with the needs of the United Kingdom throughout the years. Currently, the Royal Mail is the primary and most prolific provider of posts and parcel service within the United Kingdom and its territories (The Guardian, 2012). As with many other nationalized entities, the Royal Mail has not operated with ultimate profitability as the core contingent. Although solvency and a level of profitability has been considered, the main driving force that denotes business interactions within the world has not, at least up until this time, then a prescient concern. One of the defining compliments of the Royal Mail is what is known as the â€Å"univer sal service†. This â€Å"universal service† regards the compunction that the Royal Mail has to service all corners of the United Kingdom and provide post and parcel service, as well as a litany of other services, to these individuals; regardless of whether they live in far-flung reaches of the UK (Yarker, 2013). Naturally, privatization threatens to fundamentally redefine the way in which the Royal Mail operates. Consequently, before delving too deeply into the process of privatization itself, or seeking to analyze the means by which privatization will impact upon the Royal Mail, it is necessary seek to understand privatization itself as well as the core fundamentals of what it entails for any operation that engages with such a model of production. As has briefly been referenced above, the Royal Mail has not previously operated within the bounds of seeking to maximize a level of profitability. However, by very definition, privatization is a process through which singula r or joint ownership of a given entity/business seeks to exploit the overall level of profitability that can be realized. As a function of this, privatization threatens to fundamentally shift the way in which such an industry as the Royal Mail might be evidenced within the future. Q2: Whereas the Royal Mail had a near monopoly upon the United Kingd

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway - Essay Example Catherine Barkley, like the season of mist and monsoon, has two faces on a single paradigm. At one plane, she is enough voluptuous to quench the desire of a man and satisfy his fantasies. And on the other plane, she is independent, smart, and strong women who not only shows the capacity to melt a stone like Henry but evolves out with the progression of the novel, as a peer to Henry in all his struggles and troubles. Hardly any female character would give such unconventional dialogue in discovering the fact that she is pregnant as Catherine gives in ‘A Farewell to Arms’, â€Å"I’ll try and not make trouble for you. I know I’ve made trouble now. But haven’t I always been a good girl until now?† (Hemingway, â€Å"A Farewell to Arms†, Pg - 128). Critics rightly claim that Catherine Barkley is the real hero of the novel. Her desperation to love Henry with all that she has, transports her claim for Henry above all the limitations of conventionalities. â€Å"There isn’t any me. I’m you. Don’t make up a separate me† (Hemingway, â€Å"A Farewell to Arms†, Pg - 107) indicates that she is above any ordinary woman to be titled as mere fantasy of a man. She is courageous, stoic and deity of fortitude. She is the real hero of the

Monday, January 27, 2020

Pros And Cons Of Organizational Change Management Essay

Pros And Cons Of Organizational Change Management Essay The crux of this report is a discussion on organization change and whether the changes are good or it does damages that are not reparable. Firstly, organisational change is an essential part of todays globalised work life. In moderns economy, teams and organisations face rapid change like never before. Globalisation has not only boost the markets and opportunities for more development and profit, it also provides opportunities for organisational members to process, however, in general, change processes make demands on both employees and management, regardless of the content of the change process. Facing of the tide of globalisation, one of the dominant disputes that human resource professionals face is what method to improve organisational competitive advantage in the hastily changing environment. Organisational change come about multiple reasons, it is undertaken to ameliorate the accomplishment of that particular organization or a portion of the organization, for instance, a proces s or team. For organisations to be able to prosper, it is essential for them to go through a important alteration at different sections during their growth. Significant organisational change occurs when the overall strategy of an organization changes, for instance, in order to achieve appropriate consequences, accumulation or take away a big portion or usual procedure, and/or desire to alter the nature on how it works. Changes always lead to employees Pros of Organizational Change Change can assist a business to keep up with industry trends, making it more appealing to promising consumers as well as maintaining present consumers. For instance, one way to make sure that a business does not fall behind when an opponent established and markets a successful new product is by establishing and advertising a related product of its own. In the process of organization change, employees will be able to acquire new skills, seek new opportunities and exercise their creativity in ways that eventually favors the organization through extra ideas and increased commitment. Knowledge transfer takes place during the process when people have idiosyncratic information that is valuable to other people, and thus learning takes place during the change. In addition, the capability to clasp change can assist employees in a business by developing new opportunities. For instance, a worker who actively applies herself to learning the new office technology can also train others who are more uncertain. This leadership role has caused the employee to position herself as a person who has the ability to guide others and is capable of assuming extra responsibilities, making her a credible candidate for approaching promotion. Furthermore, businesses that are capable at handling or even embracing change can promote an environment that stimulates innovation. Employees will be more willing to think in a more creative manner if their ideas are acknowledge by a manager or business owner. By stimulating employees to think in a more creative manner enable a business grow. Either a good product or a marketing idea will enables a small business to achieve it success. Finally, an erudite or personnel change in an organization can result in employee attitudes and morale being positive. When there is a change in human resources philosophy, it enables a much relaxed work ambience, for instance, dress down day on Friday; this kind of idea will definitely make the employees overjoyed. When an inflexible manager is substitute with one who always listens to employees ideas and feedbacks, employees will feel that their efforts are acknowledged and that they will give in their best regarding their job functions. Cons of Organizational Change When major change takes place, the impact of transformation of an organization can be effective and may frequently create complicated challenges. Change can present a risk and certain level of danger. The end results can be very costly and sometimes beyond recovery in terms of time, money, human resources, or equipments. It is known that human nature oppose change, especially if it is perceived to influence ones lives adversely. When an organization is undergoing organizational change, such as: re-structuring, or merging, it will result in employees going through the feelings of tension, stress, and uncertainty, which results in the impact on employees productivity output, achievement, and engagements toward the organization (Ashford, et. al., 1989). In other words, the aftermath can be out of discipline. The norm prefers foreseeable future but change disrupts it, which cause confusion and potentially an erosion of assurance. When one lose confident and ideas are not supported and acknowledge by the higher management may increase the stress of the employees and this might lead to staff not performing well in their daily work routine. Secondly, during organisational change, staff members might experience loss of attachment. Most of the time, change requires working with new members, such as a new leader, or a new team. Gradually, employees will feel attached and develop a sense of faithfulness to their colleagues. Having to break up this faithfulness, can often be pressurize and make people anxious. Employees feel that the environment is doubtful, low tolerance of ambiguity, less freedom and ideal time for work, thus they will are unwilling to take risk, and thus becoming less motivated and committed to making contributions. Thirdly, organisational changes might lead to staffs having low morale. When staffs disagree a change that is taking place in the workplace, they become less confident and felt hopeless about their professional future with the organisation. This is specifically when there is a deficiency of communication within the organisation regarding the change. Lowered morale can disperse throughout the whole company, which will result in issues with both recruiting and retention. Lastly, organisation change may result in less efficiency in employees. This is due to the employees spending much time focusing on withstanding the changes taking place in the organsation, which results them becoming less attentive in their daily work routine which is affiliate with their jobs. Being less attentive in their work will reduce the level of adeptness and achievement among staff; this can influence the organisations fundamental. In reality, a decreased level of adeptness is the main reason why there is an organisation change, as changes are frequently build to reform a more cogent and productive company. Conclusion Change within an organisation will enable some type of improvement within an organisation. Even though the main intention is to bring out positive effects, but these changes frequently brought about some affection and sensation to those who are affected indirectly and directly. Although change may be a certain portion of handling profession, it is often not welcomed by employees, leaders or owners of the business. Employees are afraid to leave their comfort zone or they are afraid that they are not able to adapt to a different situation. Changes can affect a business success in long run and have a positive impact on it, while on the other hand a change that is short term can be agonizing. In addition, change cannot be avoided. Some types of changes that will tend to affect employees are reducing bonus, reducing monthly salary or even take away their benefits. All this changes might result in employees being devastated, especially those who are the sole breadwinner. It is a challenge for organisations to make adeptness and betterment within its anatomy, while at the same time managing employees self-esteem and support for the organization and its responsibility. If changes are made, especially large-scale reorganisations, it is essential to communicate and associate all of the employees to the extent in which it can ensure a successful development.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Blink

Thin Slicing is a term used by psychologist and philosophers, but what does it mean? According to Malcolm Gladwell, â€Å"It’s the tendency that we have as human beings to reach very rapid, very profound and sophisticated conclusions based on very thin slices of experiences. † Blink is a book by Malcolm Gladwell explaining this theory of thin-slicing. In the book Gladwell tells us many different stories that have to do with thin-slicing. The book has examples of successful thin-slicing, examples showing how it works and what it accomplishes.It also has stories teaching us, the reader of thin-slicing and how it isn’t all that great and completely accurate as well. Some stories that can teach us lessons, which we can learn from not to make the same mistakes over and over. This book is about the unconscious mind and how we don’t know it but it affects us at every moment whether we notice or not. How the unconscious mind picks up patterns from small amount of information or experiences and we make snap judgments based on those patterns.Which most of the time we don’t notice, unless of course you have trained your mind to recognize these patterns, which there’s an example of in the book. All this thin-slicing has its pros and cons I believe Gladwell’s theory is correct; all his examples are backed up by his theory of thin-slicing. He gives evidence to how it works both positively and negatively. The theory of thin-slicing is that we have the ability as human beings to instantly identify specific patterns from within small amounts of experience or information, and we make instant or snap judgments based upon those patterns.What does this mean; it means that our unconscious holds on to information from previous events. From that information our unconscious recognizes certain patterns from the past and catches similarities in current experiences or events and reacts. This reaction although it may sound a bit complicated happens in mere seconds. We don’t recognize what is going on, it happens without us being able to explain it. The book defines it as, â€Å"the ability of our unconscious to find patterns in situations and behavior based on very narrow slices of experience. Its rapid cognition, the unconscious reacts from recognition to previous patterns in mere seconds; this is what makes it so amazing. At the same time snap judgments from thin-slicing can be very problematic, as we learn from the book in its examples. The first story in the book being a positive one teaches us how thin-slicing works instantly, without being able to explain it. The book starts off at the Getty Museum on its early days, when it was starting off. It wanted to gain some kind of recognition so it made its first big art purchase.It was a 10 million dollar purchase, so the museum took caution. They hired lawyers to check all the paperwork and records of the statue. This statue of a kouros was said to be thousands of years old. There was even a geologist who took samples of the statue and ran it through many different tests and machines. They all concluded that the statue was the real deal and made the purchase in the fall of 1986. This kouros was going to be a great occasion, with stories on the New York Times, and other magazines. A few weeks after the kouros was put on display was when the truth came out.One by one different art experts doubted the statue. They couldn’t explain why at the time, but their immediate reaction to the kouros was just a hunch that something wasn’t right. Why though? What did these experts see what all the other people missed when looking at the statue? They were all intuitively repulsed by this kouros at first sight of it. Eventually all the paperwork and records didn’t fit, they all came to the conclusion that the kouros was a fake. The art experts were taking part of thin-slicing.They knew something wasn’t right the first time they saw it, their hunch was that something wasn’t right, but they couldn’t explain what it was. This example of the Getty museum showed successful thin slicing. The â€Å"love lab† is John Gottman’s successful way of determining if a couple is going to be together 15 years from now. He does this by videotaping each person he just has them sit in a room; he measures their heart rate, movements, and has them have a conversation. He then analyzes these videos second by second, looking at every emotion.His method of determining such an important conclusion is based on SPAFF; it’s a coding system that has many categories corresponding to all emotions. His success rate is incredibly accurate, by analyzing a couple for an hour his prediction has 95% accuracy if the couple will be married 15 years later. If he watches them for 15 minutes his percentage is about 90%, and with only three minutes of analyzing the accuracy of his predictions are still very impres sive. The â€Å"love lab,† is an example of how thin-slicing works correctly.Our unconscious is Gottman analyzing those videos, second by second looking at every emotion in the couples. The only difference is that our thin-slicing is done unconsciously, automatically, and in mere seconds. Our unconscious finds patterns in very minute amounts of events or information. Just like with the â€Å"love lab† our thin-slicing has a high rate of accuracy. This process makes it possible to gather information to make an important decision in such a short amount of time, it’s almost instantaneously. Thin-slicing can also be wrong, which we’ll see in the following examples.The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is an example of the dark side of thin-slicing. This test was made by psychologists. This test brought forth a profound observation, which was that we make connections much more quickly between pairs of ideas that are already related in our minds than we do betwee n pairs of ideas that are unfamiliar to us. The book gives us an example of the IAT tests, the gender and race ones. These tests use mental associations which we are used to and then flips it around, an example is the gender test, first it shows names of both sexes and you have to choose whether the name is a female or male.That part is easy enough and done pretty fast, it then gives you two more choices career or male and female or home then words which are associated to either list. Then the last part where it gets tricky is when it switches home and career, so the choices are male or home and female and career. This part of the test takes people a little longer to choose. This test also has a race version in which the choices are European American or bad and African American and good, then switches the good and bad. The results of the race IAT are that more than 80% have pro-white associations.Why is this so, and what does it mean? The book explains that our attitudes towards rac e and gender operate on two levels. First our conscious attitude which is what we choose to believe. What the IAT measures though is something else, it’s our second level of attitude on an unconscious level. On this level are our immediate, automatic association that just come out, we don’t even notice these. These unconscious attitudes weren’t chosen by us, we may not even be aware of these. This is data our unconscious crunches from past experiences or information we’ve seen on TV, book, movies, etc.From all this data we unconsciously form opinions of race and gender, which is what the IAT measures. This teaches us that thin-slicing can also have negative conclusions, and may not always be right. The IAT also discovered that the results mean we tend to act differently with certain races, its little things we don’t notice we do because they are done in an unconscious level. This is bad because it makes us discriminate, on an unconscious level, wit hout us even knowing so. Another example of thin-slicing reactions we don’t notice. The Millennium Challenge was a war game exercise by the U. S. n 2002 which cost 250 million dollars. This war was made up of blue team which was the U. S. and red team which was the enemy run by Paul Van Riper a retired Marine Corps Lieutenant General. This war game was used by the pentagon to test new ideas about military organization and experiments. Blue team had greater intellectual resources they had an advantage over red team. In the end the winner was the red team. How did this happen, Van Riper didn’t have any advantage over blue team and their resources. He did however have his past experiences to help him. Blue team had all these resources, they had too many resources.All these resources which were supposed to be an advantage ended up being their demise, they were over thinking every move they made. On the other hand Van Riper acted instantly and won. The mistake blue team mad e was that they forced their commanders to stop and talk things over figure out what was going on. The war games didn’t demand for logic, it demanded for action. This is an example of the unconscious finding patterns in chaos and just reacting, thin-slicing in action. Thin-slicing might sound good for the most part, but there is also much wrong with thin-slicing.Not everything can be thin-sliced, and work out, an example of this in the book is a rock musician known as Kenna. He had a new sound and it was unlike anything ever heard before. People in the music business loved him, and recommended him he got a record deal and so on. The only thing left for Kenna was to have his music on the radio, sounds easy enough if musicians, producers, and people in the business liked his stuff. Kenna’s single was put through a test to see how people were going to react and if he would be successful. His song was tested with people, and ended up being a failure, no one liked him.This is thin-slicing gone wrong, where our first impression isn’t the right one. Kenna’s song was tested with people who only heard a clip of the song, not the whole song. Just a clip of something they had never heard before something completely new, it was something unrecognizable, and no one liked it. All the music pro’s on the other hand loved it; they were experts in music and knew that Kenna was something different. Just that thin-slicing never let Kenna be the star he could have been. Another lesson we can learn from thin-slicing comes from the shooting f Amadou Diallo. This man was shot down 41 times by 4 police officers. This took place in the Bronx after midnight, the event in the book is said to have only taken 7 seconds to happen. This is when snap judgments went wrong; these four officers reacted and killed an innocent man. These four officers were driving around patrolling as part of the Street Crime Unit. The thing is that they were driving around in an unmarked car in plainclothes. They saw Diallo standing outside his building and thought he looked suspicious so two got off and went to go talk to him.They went up to Diallo and he tried to go inside his building. They kept telling him to freeze and pointed their guns at him; he then reached into his pocket and pulled out something that one of the officers saw as a gun, which ended up being a wallet. So much went wrong here, these cops didn’t bother to see Diallo or as the book says read his emotions. This is something we, under normal circumstances, have the ability to read other people’s emotions through facial expressions. However we lose this ability under too much stress, pressure, or fear.Gladwell’s theory about thin-slicing indicates that it is not enough to make certain conscious changes in attitudes or values, but must also acknowledge the subtle influence that can alter our subconscious, thereby undermining our conscious attitudes. He argues that by t aking control of the environment in which thin-slicing happens, one can also control thin-slicing and prevent/lessen the mistakes made. He makes a good point of this throughout his book; he gives us many examples of how thin-slicing can work positively and negatively. He shows how it’s not always right, but how we can work on it to correct it.The aeron chair is an example of this, thin-slicing made people look at the chair and hate it. It was something new; they had never seen anything like it so they rejected it. Once they got to try the chair though they experienced it and found out that they actually really liked the chair. The same with Kenna’s music, thin-slicing made people dislike his music. Thin-slicing, snap judgments, all of this has its good and bad. Gladwell’s book shows how the theory of thin-slicing works, good and bad examples of it, and shows us how things can go wrong in the blink of an eye. How our unconscious affects us at all times whether we realize it or not.How we can notice when our snap judgments are wrong, and makes us realize we need to pay more attention to how we act. Our unconscious works in amazing ways and the process of thin-slicing only makes it a much more amazing thing. It can however be a bad thing as well. This book shows us how this is so, and how we unconsciously act a certain way, are attracted to certain things, and so on. Blinking like thin-slicing is done unconsciously but blinking unlike thin-slicing is noticed by us, but after this book I will try to notice my thin-slicing and try to notice when I unconsciously act.

Friday, January 10, 2020

Environmental degradation

IntroductionSince the 1970 ‘s, environmental debasement has brought grave concerns to the bow with respect to the Amazon Rainforest ( Amazonia ) . The international community – peculiarly the United States – has stanchly advocated for planetary direction of Amazonia as a agency of efficaciously continuing this critical resource. The cardinal belief impeling this place is the sentiment that Amazonian states are steadily eliminating portion of the universe ‘s last leftover tropical wood through deforestation and hapless forestry direction policies. In visible radiation of the turning importance attached to environmental issues on the international phase, the Brazilian Federal Government ‘s chase of development has been deemed uncompromisingly aggressive. The international community contends that this is adversely impacting world. Brazil, nevertheless, is non pleased with this stance. Through its security and foreign policy, the Federal Republic of Brazil under the helm of President Luiz Inacio Lula district attorney Silva has endeavoured to asseverate sovereignty over the Amazon Rainforest located within its boundary lines in response to the possible ‘internationalisation of Amazonia. ‘ This essay will analyze the nature of internationalization, see other cases where the construct has been deliberated upon or applied and analyse the argument environing the internationalization of Amazonia. In bend, this essay will detail how the menace of internationalization has affected policy-making of President Lula, with specific focal point on security, development and environmental policies.Internationalization Of AmazoniaImportance Of AmazoniaAmazonia is the term used to depict the belt of the Amazon Rainforest located in South America. At present, it is situated within the districts of 9 states and Brazil has about 60 % of the Amazon within its boundary lines. This country is known as the Legal Amazon. Over the old ages, the part has assumed tremendous international and regional importance. In footings of biodiversity, Amazonia constitutes the largest aggregation of vegetations and zoologies in the universe. Cultivation of the land is non merely cardinal to the supports of the locals, but the Amazon Rainforest is a huge modesty of natural resources that includes familial stuff, stuffs that are cardinal ingredients for pharmaceuticals and lumber. It besides plays a critical function in modulating planetary clime forms, gaining the rubric of the â€Å"lungs of the earth† due to its map of cut downing planetary heating. Deforestation in Amazonia has been a pressing concern in recent times, as wood glade has meant there is less flora to absorb C emanations. Therefore, the protection of the Amazon Rainforest has been determined as an pressing concern on an international degree.Two Sides Of The ArgumentThe current contention over Amazonia bends on two points: the struggle between development and to what degree the ‘internationalisation of Amazonia ‘ would interfere with Brazil ‘s right to sovereignty. Both the international community and Brazil have strong statements doing the issue a complicated one to decide.The Case For International ManagementIntense development of the Legal Amazon has resulted in damaging environmental effects such as the decreasing quality of fresh H2O and air and rapid glade of flor a. Subsequently, this has had societal reverberations such as nutrient insecurity. The international community – comprised of States and NGOs – argues that to disregard such important alterations would be negligent and hence the universe has an involvement in continuing the Amazon Rainforest. As of late, States have exerted force per unit area on the World Bank to decline payment to Brazil if it fails to assent to international preservation norms. Furthermore, the international community contends that as the Amazon Rainforest is shared by 9 States, it becomes more than a mere domestic presence. Coordination of preservation and sustainable development attempts would be cumbrous if Amazonia were viewed as fragments dealt with strictly by internal policy. Rather, it should be viewed as a whole for the intents of direction and hence an international organic structure may be better suited to this function. Ecological jobs, it has been alleged, surpass traditional constructs of State sovereignty.AntarcticaACEHThe Case Against The ‘Internationalisation Of Amazonia ‘The Brazilian authorities has regarded the chance of international direction of The Legal Amazon as illicit intervention into Brazil ‘s national procedure. The chorus of â€Å"Amazonia is ours† is a common in Brazilian circles. Brazil has besides deemed the surcease of fiscal assistance from the World Bank as conscienceless, as it coerces the development of Brazil to be shaped by external histrions. Brazil claims that industrialized states are furthering a dual criterion, by obliging developing states to continue their staying natural resources even though environmental concerns were non a factor of their ain growing. An interesting statement raised by Brazil is the fact that other ecosystems under Brazilian control – such as the Atlantic Rainforest – are mostly being ignored by the international community, despite the fact that they have been about wholly destroyed. Oppositions of internationalization have proposed that this may be because such countries do non hold the same degree of natural wealth. This alludes to the impression that Brazil is besides profoundly leery that the preservation dimension is merely a camouflage for other states to work the Amazon Rainforest ‘s enormous resources and utilize it for their ain involvements. There has been controversy over the function of NGOs in the part as it has been continually suggested that NGOs were simply cloaked instruments of states of Northern Hemisphere trying to besiege the sovereignty of Brazil â€Å"without damaging international rights.†DarfurPolicy-Making In The Lula AdministrationEqually far as the portion of the Amazon Rainforest that is located within Brazil ‘s boundary lines is concerned, Brazil asserts that the international community is non justified in their stance that an international organic structure will better pull off the Amazon Rainforest. Brazil has perceived this planetary preservation attempt as an indirect effort to besiege its sovereignty over Amazonia. Consequently, the alleged menace of the ‘internationalisation of Amazonia ‘ coupled with international force per unit area has shaped Brazilian security and foreign policy.Security PolicyLula received a considerable sum of resistance from the military sector and conservative cabals of Brazilian society whilst runing for election. In malice of this, Lula has acknowledged that military presence in the Legal Amazon is a seminal facet of Brazil ‘s defense mechanism and security. He has displaced the outlook that he would scale down military plans and alternatively, has harnessed the armed forces ‘s support of development to foster his overall scheme of economic, societal and regional growing. International appraisal of the Amazon Rainforest has influenced the coevals of Brazilian security policy. Lula, like old presidents, has endorsed the ‘militarisation of the Amazonian frontier. ‘ The armed forces ‘s aim in the Legal Amazon is to protect the part from illegal logging, deforestation and drug trafficking. However, another accessory motivation for the armed forces is to reaffirm Brazil ‘s territorial unity over Amazonia.Military ‘s Historical Role In AmazoniaHistorically, the armed forces ‘s function in Amazonia has been important and consecutive Brazilian authoritiess have utilised the military to react to external intervention. In 1964, the so military government felt it was imperative to protect the Legal Amazon from external conquering by states who were presumed to ‘covet the part and its putative wealths ‘ The principle behind this was that though Brazil had acquired sovereignty over a great trade of the Amazon basin t hrough diplomatic negotiations, the country could ne'er be ‘Brazilian ‘ unless wholly secured. The Sarney disposal devised the Calha Norte ( Northern Trough Project ) which entailed increased military presence in the Legal Amazon, spawned out of fright of a possible invasion. Likewise, the Cardoso government constructed the National Defense Policy in 1996 which stipulated that the Legal Amazon was of strategic precedency to Brazil. It is besides interesting to observe that during the Forest Fire Crisis in Roraima – a province of the Legal Amazon – Brazilian governments rebuffed foreign aid. This reaction is declarative that aid may hold been regarded â€Å"as external forces trying to claim international control over Amazonia.† In his term, Lula has reinstated Calha Norte and besides embraced Cardoso ‘s National Defense Policy by edict in 2005. To supplement this, in 2008 he adopted the Strategic Defense Plan which ensured that the sum of military forces in the Legal Amazon would lift from 17,000 to 30,000 over the following decennary. This undertaking is a agency of modernizing the military to reflect Brazil ‘s emerging function in the international domain. Lula ‘s current Amazonian scheme is twofold: protecting the vulnerable Legal Amazon by garrisoning the frontier with military colonies and using the Amazon Vigilence System better known as SIVAM. Lula is a ferocious advocate of SIVAM which became operational during his first term. The $ 1.4 billion radio detection and ranging and surveillance system commandeered by the Brazilian air force, complemented with SIPAM ( the Amazon Protection System ) allows for strategic responses to menaces and leery activity without physical military presence. Even through the lens of democracy, Lula has demonstrated that the armed forces still has a cardinal function to play in asseverating Brazil ‘s sovereignty over Amazonia. This stance is implicative of Brazil ‘s position that the Legal Amazon should non be managed by an international organic structure.Human SecurityOf class, impressions of security do non simply encompass traditional military constructs. The construct of human security besides suggests that the range of security should be widened to include developmental and environmental security, with peculiar focal point on the public assistance of the person as opposed to the province. Therefore, viewed from this vantage point, Brazil ‘s development and environmental policies have besides been shaped by the internationalization argument.Development PolicyEconomic StabilityBrazil ‘s current foreign policy is directed to a great extent towards guaranting that Brazil does non roll from its way as an emerging w orld power on the regional and planetary phase. Brazil ‘s stableness during the recent planetary fiscal recession proves that it is flexing its regional musculus and steadily turning in international importance. Development of the Amazon has been a cardinal characteristic of old Brazilian disposals, stemming from the intense period of enlargement with Operation Amazonia in 1966, wherein roads were built, foreign investing was encouraged and colony of the Legal Amazon with agricultural settlements was promoted. The thought behind this was that if the country was cultivated and occupied, the chance of international intercession would ebb. Development was besides of import in footings of set uping regional connexions: states sharing the Amazon basin became more incorporate through commercialism and grapevines. Lula ‘s association with the Worker ‘s Party has influenced his primary end of societal and economic development. Under Lula ‘s regulation, the Brazilian authorities has been successful in the variegation of the state ‘s already powerful industrial sector. Consequently, his accent on the development of the Legal Amazon arises from a desire to enable Brazil ‘s acclivity in the international domain, as the Amazon Rainforest has an copiousness of natural resources. Therefore, procuring Brazil ‘s claim over the Legal Amazon has greatly coloured development policies.Sustainable DevelopmentThe state ‘s continued economic development requires more growing and in bend, more demand for energy which has raised environmental concerns. Government rhetoric affirms that this is ineluctable in order to gain Brazil ‘s economic system to its full potency. At present, much of the Legal Amazon is still in despairing demand of farther substructure and soci etal development and the Brazilian authorities has stated that if Amazonia is non developed it can non prolong a billowy population and spread out its art in the international market. Further, impressions of preservation do non register on the spectrum of believing for dwellers of the Legal Amazon, as many live in poorness. The internationalization argument, nevertheless, has coerced Brazil to switch from theories of pure neo-liberalism and add thoughts of sustainable development to the ‘Brazilian vocabulary. ‘ During his run for presidential term, Lula promised to highlight environmental and societal issues whilst guaranting the conservative cabal of Brazilian society that he planned to continue with the old authorities ‘s neo-liberal economic policies. He readily supported sustainable development in Amazonia as it encouraged the possibility of length of service in footings of production, lasting economic growing and besides demonstrated that Brazil had administrative capacity over the Legal Amazon. Lula set in gesture the Sustainable Amazon Plan, avering that 70-80 % of the wood could potentially be preserved in concurrence with economic development. The Brazilian Fire Control Program for Amazonia has countenances on combustion during the extremum dry season and IBAMA – the Brazilian Environmental Protection Agency – has the capacity to impose mulcts and enforce tutelary sentences for illegal deforestation and logging and combustion. Deforestation licenses have besides been revoked from landowners who exceed the 20 % deforestation bound on their belongings. However, the effectivity of sustainable development ventures in Brazil has been called into inquiry as there is turning bitterness that the Avanca Brasil ( Brasil Advances ) program shows Lula ‘s prejudice for socialized development, allowing the building of roads and development undertakings which are at odds with preservation undertakings. And though Brazil is a cardinal figure in ACTO ( the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization ) which calls for sustainable development within the Amazonian states but respects the sovereignty of these states, critics argue that the pact has been mostly uneffective in their strategic program. Despite Lula ‘s steadfast place on developing the Legal Amazon, it is clear that the internationalization argument has influenced Brazil to chair its development policies from purely traditional economy-building to promoting the execution of sustainable development, which now occupies a cardinal strategic place in Brazilian foreign policy.Environmental PolicyLula ‘s predecessors have been willing to see the environmental concerns raised by the international community. President Cardoso, for case, hosted the United Nations Conference on the Environment in 1992. The Lula disposal has besides continued to factor the environment as a pillar of policy-making and prides itself on being the â€Å"greenest† Brazilian authorities, with many new policies aimed at sustainability. The internationalization argument has impelled Brazil to measure its internal preservation policies and the function the state has to play on the planetary phase. The Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Itamaraty, affirms that the environment is a cardinal strategic line of Brazilian foreign policy. The Lula disposal is far more cognizant of Brazil ‘s duties in footings of honoring international environmental criterions with respect to preservation, deforestation and clime alteration. However, these environmental policies have systematically been framed from the point of view of supporting domestic sovereignty over the Legal Amazon.ConservationWhile it is of import for Brazil to develop Amazonia, it still has considerable involvement in conserving the part. This is non merely to guarantee economic and environmental length of service but many loans from international establishments, such as the World Bank, and developed states favour enterprises and undertakings that promote preservation and/or sustainability. Lula ‘s election into office heralded the potency for Brazil to switch from neo-liberalism and impel itself more persistently towards preservation attempts. During his presidential term, Lula has reformed the Forestry Code of 1934 and continued to run the Nossa Natureza ( Our Nature ) plan instituted by President Sarney: a $ 100 million undertaking designed to set about forest protection through an instruction procedure. The Public Forest Management Law besides provides that corporations are entitled to 3 % of the Amazon Rainforest if they engage in sustainable development. The intense examination of the Amazon Rainforest has encouraged the Brazilian authorities to beat up support for preservation undertakings: the Lula disposal has argued that the cost of continuing Amazonia is a load that should be borne by all stakeholders. However, Lula has been speedy to clear up that this protection should non be achieved by the international community administrating the part. Furthermore, at the launch of the Amazon Protection Fund in August 2008 – an aid-based plan premised on accumulating $ 21 billion worth of contributions over a period of 13 old ages – Roberto Mangabeira Unger, Brazil ‘s Minister for Strategic Affairs stated that: â€Å"The fund is a vehicle by which foreign authoritiess can assist back up our enterprises without exercising any influence over our national policy. We are non traveling to merchandise sovereignty for money. † Despite being antiphonal to preservation unfavorable judgments, Lula has been accused of moving in a reactionist, instead than proactive, mode. This stance of following environmental policies tailored in response to mounting international force per unit area over deforestation rates and crises has been deemed a defect of the current disposal. For case, in 2003 Lula ordered the formation of a figure of preservation countries in the Legal Amazon subsequent to the slayings of outstanding conservationists and environmentalists in the part. Although Lula regularly appoints renowned environmental militants to the environmental stations, two have resigned in dramatic manner. Mary Allegretti, the Secretary of Coordination of the Amazonas in Ministry of Environment, resigned after happening that: â€Å"On the deliverance of the Amazon, the authorities is clearly still of two minds.† And Marina Silva, former Environmental Minister, left her place in 2008 after Lula made remarks kicking about the backbreaking procedure involved in obtaining environmental licenses for development undertakings: â€Å"Brazil ‘s economic development is being held up for the interest of a few fish.† These fortunes seem to bespeak that while preservation is on the docket for Brazil, at present the end of development is favoured over it.DeforestationThe chase of developing Brazil ‘s economic system has entailed mass deforestation at an dismaying rate. However, Brazil has taken great paces in trying to turn to the environmental effects of deforestation. In 2008, Lula announced a program to cut down the rate of deforestation by 50 % by 2017, although this has been branded as vague, as the mechanisms for enforcement are ill-defined. In March 2010, Brazil and the United States signed a Memorandum of Understanding in which both states would work jointly to cut down deforestation in a command to control clime alteration. This move is important, as it demonstrates chumminesss between two states that have historically been at dunces over how to diminish deforestation. Slash-and-burn systems involve uncluttering big countries of wood for agricultural intents and has lay waste toing effects on the dirt of rain forests which basically changes the nature of the rainforest ecosystem. Brazil ‘s National Policy on Forests has been reformed to deter and punish slash-and-burn techniques. The antecedently mentioned SIVAM besides operates on an environmental degree, as its scrutiny of Amazonian topography is informative in measuring which countries are appropriate to be designated for eco-zoning and besides detects illegal logging and deforestation. Many critics, nevertheless, suggest that SIVAM ‘s primary military docket will dominate any other intent unless farther support is given to scientific research. Lula has besides established the National System for Nature Conservation Units, which protects about 37 % of the Legal Amazon and has created the Protected Areas Fund. Lula has managed to demo significant consequences in controling deforestation: from July 2008-August 2009 the Brazilian authorities was able to expose a 45 % bead in the deforestation rate from the old twelvemonth. However, despite this diminution, deforestation in Brazil is now reportedly on the addition. Brazil has Torahs against deforestation but they are hard to implement, peculiarly in rural countries with small to no ministerial presence. Furthermore, much of Amazonia is still freely available under Brazilian jurisprudence, which does non present much inducement for land-users to cultivate the part sustainably. IBAMA – Brazil ‘s Environment Protection Agency – is allegedly full with corruptness, awfully underfunded and does non hold adequate resources at its disposal. Merely 6.5 % of the mulcts imposed for illegal deforestation are really collected and about 80 % of the logging in Amazonia is illegal. It is clear that the internationalization argument has contributed to the execution of forestry ordinance within Brazil. However, it is arguable whether or non the theoretical precautions in topographic point are realised to their full consequence in pattern.Climate ChangeBrazil has been instrumental in clime alteration dialogues in planetary forums, such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It is a cardinal participant in dialogues as it is responsible for 3 % of planetary emanations due to deforestation. One relevant menace from clime alteration is desertification, which may transform Amazonia from a exuberant part rich with natural resources, to a drought-stricken barren. Brazil is progressively interested in avoiding displacements in the environment that will render the Amazon Basin unsustainable. Brazil has a National Plan on Climate Change which premises sustainable development and a staggered decrease of nursery gas emanations. Furthermore, Brazil ‘s involvement in clime alteration dialogues is to seek an understanding that will non impede its development. So far, Brazil has benefited from the dialogue procedure as it has remained mostly focused on energy emanations, and the bulk of Brazil ‘s emanations are emitted from the forestry sector. The Lula disposal has seen clime alteration dialogues as chance to make partnerships that will affect the transportation of engineerings between developed and developing states. The Brazilian authorities is besides timeserving, in that it uses climate alteration dialogues as a platform to show its way towards economic growing and societal development, leading amongst developing states and its emerging function in the South America part and in the international domain. Indirectly, Lula has used international forums on clime alteration to showcase to the universe that Brazil is steadfastly in control of issues that affect Amazonia.DecisionThe state of affairs in the Legal Amazon has been described as President Lula ‘s concluding great confrontation whilst in office and an scrutiny of his security, development and environmental policies demonstrates that the part has been a important component of his expansive scheme. Although the Brazilian Federal Government has tailored much of its recent security and foreign policy to integrate more preservation and sustainable development schemes, the effectivity of these has frequently been called into inquiry. In order to guarantee long-run advancement and fulfill the international community ‘s environmental scruples, Brazil must endeavor to equilibrate the development of its economic system and affairs of preservation. Faced with the chance of the ‘internationalisation of Amazonia ‘ a sequence of Brazilian governments has exhibited an purpose of protecting against the invasion of Brazilian sovereignty over the Legal Amazon. Even with a displacement in leading later this twelvemonth with the approaching elections, it is extremely likely that this stance will predominate and that Amazonia will busy a cardinal function in geopolitics for Brazil as it is non merely significantly rich in natural resources which is important to development, but besides subsists as a strong symbol of patriotism. Alexander Lopez, ‘Environmental Change, Security and Social Conflicts in the Brazilian Amazon ‘ ( 1999 ) 5 Environmental Change & A ; Security Project Report 26, 27. Naval College article hypertext transfer protocol: //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7538480.stm hypertext transfer protocol: //www.maryallegretti.blogspot.com/2006/04/como-era-verde-o-meu-vale.html Naval college article Environmental Degradation What Is Environmental Degradation? Environmental degradation is a result of socio-economical, technological and institutional activities. Degradation occurs when Earth's natural resources are depleted. These resources which are affected include: †¢Water †¢Air †¢Soil The degradation also impacts our: †¢Wildlife †¢Plants †¢Animals †¢Micro-organisms How Environmental Degradation Occurs Environmental changes are based on many factors including: †¢Urbanization †¢Population growth †¢Economic growth †¢Intensification of agriculture †¢Increase in energy use †¢Increase in transportationOur land, water and soil are compromised when people exhaust resources or release harmful chemicals into the air. Deforestation, wasting resources, and pollution all add to the demise of an environmentally-sound and safe planet. For example, when trees in forests are cut down in large quantities, so that more homes can be built on the land, the bi rds and wildlife who lived in the forest must find a new place to live. The vegetation that once grew on the land is destroyed. Trees that absorbed carbon dioxide to help the biosphere are now unable to do so.If the wood from the trees is used to make products and those products (such as paper) are later recycled, that is one hopeful aspect for the planet. However, some times trees are just cut down and burned. This is what is known as slash and burn, a practice that only destroys forests and all that live in them. Unfortunate Impacts of Environmental Degradation When factories produce harmful chemicals and toxic waste into bodies of water, humans suffer. Pesticides and fertilizers can also get into a region's water system and pollute it. Drinking water is contaminated.Some residing in third-world countries are highly effected by the degradation of our planet and these unhealthy practices cause the following: †¢Illnesses †¢Death in children †¢Death in adults Poverty I n many countries in Africa, crop harvests are falling as consumption increases. People are finding less nutritious food to eat. One argument held is that while fields in wealthier nations are used to grow crops for biofuel, poorer countries, especially those around the Equator, are vulnerable to weather changes, water shortages, and urbanization. All of these factors are increasing the health and lives of thousands.Some scientists and environmentalists are asking that non-food items and agriculture waste be used as alternative fuel for vehicles instead. Losing Earth's Beauty As humans dump waste products, use chemicals, and over fish in the oceans and seas, areas of beauty such as coral reefs are damaged. At times the destruction is so great that is cannot be reversed. We are killing our planet and the consequences are tremendous. One example of this lies within the coast lands of Thailand. Here marine and coastal resources at risk. Vast areas of mangrove wetlands have been lost.Cor al reefs continue to suffer degradation, and the total fish available for catching is declining. Not only is the degradation causing marine and coastal resources to be lost, but this issue holds large economic problems. When there are not enough fish to catch, fishermen are without income to support themselves and their families. In some coastal towns, the shores are eroding at a rate of one to five meters per year. This results in an annual loss of more than six billion baht ($150 million) in economic terms. How to Stop Degradation There are ways which you can help to decrease degradation in our environment.Some of these include: †¢Purchase recycled products †¢Conserve water †¢Do not litter or toss waste into inappropriate places †¢Conserve energy †¢Join an awareness group †¢Talk with others about the impacts of environmental degradation †¢Be an advocate to save our planet! Conclusion: The impact of environmental disasters can be devastating on th e social, economic, and environmental systems of a country or region as well as the global ecosystem. Environmental disasters do not recognise man-made borders, and threaten the legacy left to future generations of a clean and supportive environment.Because of the interdependency of earth ecosystems international co-operation is paramount to prevent, and when disaster strikes, respond to relieve quickly and effectively the effects of environmental disasters. Thus, Governments, International organizations and communities must work together – at all levels – to lessen the risks associated with environmental degradation and its contributing factors, such as climate change, and ensure that vulnerable people are prepared to survive and adapt. At the same time, companies, organizations and individuals must also ensure that their work is environmentally friendly and sustainable.