Changes in Volunteerism in the Information Revolution :: Volunteering Community Sevice Essays

Changes in Volunteerism in the Information Revolution Non-profit organizations that use the help of volunteers are being faced with new challenges in recruiting and retaining the new generation of volunteers. Certainly as the years pass, the interest of the volunteers’ changes in how they wish, or in what ways they can donate of themselves. When the American Red Cross was in its beginnings from before the turn of the century to the 1920’s, its primary focus was disaster relief. By the time of World War II (Dulles), dozens of new services provided by volunteers had been added to the original responsibilities. Today as in the past, our society approaches a new age and a new generation whose interest in volunteerism must be exploited by volunteer organizations if they wish to survive this change and continue to provide service to people in need. This paper explores the possible reasons for this change at it analyzes the idea that the new baby boomer generation of retired (or nearly so) volunteers and the Generation X an d Y volunteers (who are now of working age) want to help in a different way by using of their specialized skills. The new volunteers want to volunteer on their own time—perhaps even at their home on the computer. Many would be volunteers have not joined because they have not been told their specialized skill could be greatly used on projects to help people in need. Organizations are just realizing the untapped potential in many of its volunteers. They are realizing that â€Å"volunteer† does not mean â€Å"amateur.† In fact, according to the Volunteer 2000 Study by the American Red Cross, management expert Peter F. Drucker recently observed that more and more organizations are selecting, training, and managing volunteers as â€Å"unpaid staff† rather than as â€Å"well meaning amateurs.† Consider the electrician who spends some weekends working without pay at a project to rehabilitate housing for the homeless. Or the computer literacy teacher that trains paid staff how to build a web page. These volunteers are professionals volunteering in their professional expertise—they are not amateurs. These volunteers add value and strength to the organization to complete its mission. Taking into account that changes may not be good for all volunteer organizations, new opportunities are available for people to help in the information age as never before. Changes in Volunteerism in the Information Revolution :: Volunteering Community Sevice Essays Changes in Volunteerism in the Information Revolution Non-profit organizations that use the help of volunteers are being faced with new challenges in recruiting and retaining the new generation of volunteers. Certainly as the years pass, the interest of the volunteers’ changes in how they wish, or in what ways they can donate of themselves. When the American Red Cross was in its beginnings from before the turn of the century to the 1920’s, its primary focus was disaster relief. By the time of World War II (Dulles), dozens of new services provided by volunteers had been added to the original responsibilities. Today as in the past, our society approaches a new age and a new generation whose interest in volunteerism must be exploited by volunteer organizations if they wish to survive this change and continue to provide service to people in need. This paper explores the possible reasons for this change at it analyzes the idea that the new baby boomer generation of retired (or nearly so) volunteers and the Generation X an d Y volunteers (who are now of working age) want to help in a different way by using of their specialized skills. The new volunteers want to volunteer on their own time—perhaps even at their home on the computer. Many would be volunteers have not joined because they have not been told their specialized skill could be greatly used on projects to help people in need. Organizations are just realizing the untapped potential in many of its volunteers. They are realizing that â€Å"volunteer† does not mean â€Å"amateur.† In fact, according to the Volunteer 2000 Study by the American Red Cross, management expert Peter F. Drucker recently observed that more and more organizations are selecting, training, and managing volunteers as â€Å"unpaid staff† rather than as â€Å"well meaning amateurs.† Consider the electrician who spends some weekends working without pay at a project to rehabilitate housing for the homeless. Or the computer literacy teacher that trains paid staff how to build a web page. These volunteers are professionals volunteering in their professional expertise—they are not amateurs. These volunteers add value and strength to the organization to complete its mission. Taking into account that changes may not be good for all volunteer organizations, new opportunities are available for people to help in the information age as never before.

Fall of Berlin Wall

Ashley McCutcheon 2nd 10-27-12 The fall of the berlin wall as a turning point in history 1. â€Å"The Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall (Part 2). † About. com 20th Century History. N. p. , n. d. Web. 28 Oct. 2012. . This article describes that the berlin wall was put up to divide between the west and east, which were democracy vs. communism at that point. Then later on the communist wanted a subtle change where as the german citizens did not agree, they wanted all of it ended.During 1988 and 1989 communism still weakened in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary, then on the 9th of November in 1989, east german officials made a call to open the gates ultimately giving a sort of freedom to the people. 2. â€Å"Fall of Communism. † Fall of Communism. N. p. , n. d. Web. 28 Oct. 2012. . This article is helpful, because it explains an outcome of the berlin wall falling which was that communism also fell as resultant.Citizens gained power leading to reforms in the east and thus th e government decided to try different ways of ruling the people in order to make an attempt at saving communism. Eventually communism officially fell in 1991 when Gorbachev was forced to give power to Boris Yeltsin who diminished communism. 3. Goldenberg, Phyllis. â€Å"The Fall of the Berlin Wall: A Personal Account. † The Fall of the Berlin Wall. N. p. , 1994. Web. 27 Oct. 2012. . In this article, a personal account of how the event affected the people of berlin is presented. Phyllis Golden burg, a middle aged man living in Denmark, describes how him, among his friends and many others traveled from their homes to go see the Berlin wall after hearing of its supposed removal. The wall was being torn down by everyone and people were pouring through to the other side, a sort of revolution like no other could be.

SPR Based Fiber Optic Sensor

SPR Based Fiber Optic Sensor Utilizing Thin Film of Nickel Kruti Shah and Navneet K. Sharma Department of Physics and Materials Science and Engineering, Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, A-10, Sector-62, Noida-201307, India Corresponding author: [email  protected]ac.in Abstract. Fiber optic sensor based on surface plasmon resonance, employing thin film of nickel is presented analytically. Increase in thickness of nickel film results in the enhancement of sensitivity of the sensor. SPR Sensor supported by large thickness of nickel film possesses maximum sensitivity.INTRODUCTIONSurface plasmon resonance i.e. SPR principle has been an important sensing method since last thirty years. In the beginning, chemical sensing utilizing SPR is demonstrated by Liedberg et al. [1]. Collective resonating oscillations of free electrons survive on metal layer. It produces charge density wave moving along the metal layer. This charge density wave is transverse wave in nature and is identified as surface plasmon wave. Surface plasmon wave is excited by incident p-polarized light. For examining surface plasmon resonance, Kretschmann geometry is exercised [2, 3]. Optical fiber based SPR sensors offer many advantages than prism based SPR sensors [4-6]. In the past, lot of research is conducted on optical fiber based SPR sensors [7-10]. In recent times, nickel (Ni) is shown to exhibit sensing relevance because of its excellent magneto optical merits [11]. Apart from this, Ni is chemically inactive and the cost of Ni is lower than that of noble metals. Hence, the use of Ni instead of noble metals decreases the price of SPR sensor. Current study discusses a SPR based fiber optic sensor utilizing thin film of Ni. Effect of thickness of Ni film on the sensitivity of SPR sensor is illustrated. Sensitivity is enhanced with the increase in the thickness of Ni film.THEORYSensing system of the sensor contains fiber core-Ni layer-sample medium. Plastic cladding about the core from the central part of step index multimode PCS fiber is eradicated and is covered with thin layer of Ni. This layer of Ni is ultimately enclosed by the sample medium. Incident light from a white light source is allowed to enter into one end of the optical fiber and th e transmitted light is noticed at the opposite end of the optical fiber. The core of optical fiber is formed by fused silica. Refractive index of fused silica alters with wavelength as, 23 22322 22221 22111b ab ab a) ( n? +? +? + = (1) Here, ? is the wavelength of incident light in  µm and a1, a2, a3, b1, b2 and b3 are Sellmeier coefficients. The values of coefficients, used in (1) are specified as, a1 = 0.6961663, a2 = 0.4079426, a3 = 0.8974794, b1 = 0.0684043  µm, b2 = 0.1162414  µm and b3 = 9.896161  µm [12]. The dielectric constant of a metal can be mentioned as, ) ( 1 ) (22? ? ? ? ?i ic pcmi mr m+ ? = + = (2) Where, ?p and ?c are plasma and collision wavelengths of the metal respectively. For, Ni: p?= 2.5381 x 10-7 m andc?= 2.8409 x 10-5 m. Also, the dielectric constant of sample medium is written as,2s sn =? where, sn is refractive index of the sample medium. Resonance condition for the surface plasmon wave is written as, } K Re{ sin nsp=12 (3) Here, 2 22s ms ms ms mspn nc K+ =+ =? is the wave vector of surface plasmon wave and c is the velocity of light in vacuum. Reflection coefficient of p-polarized light is calculated by using matrix method [13]. Normalized transmitted power from the sensor is computed as [14]. Further, the sensitivity of sensor can be described as change in resonance wavelength per unit change in refractive index of sample medium [15]. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION For simulation, refractive index of sample medium is presumed to be altered from 1.33 to 1.37. Values of various parameters used are mentioned as; fiber's numerical aperture = 0.24, core diameter of fiber = 600  µm and exposed sensing region length = 15 mm. Transmitted power from the sensor is measured for different thicknesses (20 nm-80 nm) of Ni layer and consequent resonance wavelengths are measured. Resonance wavelengths for different thicknesses increase linearly with increase in the refractive index of the sample medium. 20 40 60 80 0 15003000 4500 6000 7500Sensitivity (nm/RIU)Thickness of Ni layer (nm) FIGURE 1. Variation of sensitivity with thickness of Ni layer. Figure 1 represents the variation of sensitivity with Ni layer thickness. Ni layer thickness is increased from 20 nm to 80 nm. Sensitivity is enlarged with increase in Ni layer thickness. The reason for this enhancement in sensitivity is ascribed to high value of real part of dielectric constant of Ni. Therefore for a fixed change in refractive index of sample medium, Ni enhances the shift between resonance wavelengths. This results in enhanced sensitivity of sensor with increase in Ni layer thickness. Thus, large Ni layer thickness leads in high sensitivity of SPR based sensor.CONCLUSIONS Theoretical analysis of SPR based fiber optic sensor with thin layer of Ni is carried out. Sensitivity of SPR based sensor is enlarged with increase in Ni layer thickness. In order to achieve highest sensitivity of the sensor, large thickness of Ni layer is advised. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Navneet K. Sharma wishes to thank Defence Research ; Development Organization (DRDO), India for the financial grant provided through the project number ERIP/ER/DG-ECS/990116205/M/01/1687.REFERENCESB. Liedberg, C. Nylander and I. Sundstrom, Sens. Actuat. B 4, 299-304 (1983).R. D. Harris and J. S. Wilkinson, Sens. Actuat. B 29, 261-267 (1995).E. Kretschmann and H. Reather, Zeits. Natur. 23, 2135-2136 (1968).J. Homola, Sens. Actuat. B 29, 401-405 (1995). 5. W. B. Lin, N. Jaffrezic-Renault, A. Gagnaire and H. Gagnaire, Sens. Actuat. A 84, 198-204 (2000).A. K. Sharma and B. D. Gupta, Sens. Actuat. B 100, 423-431 (2004).S. Singh, S. K. Mishra and B. D. Gupta, Sens. Actuat. A 193, 136-140 (2013).N. K. Sharma, M. Rani, and V. Sajal, Sens. Actuat. B 188, 326-333 (2013).S. Shukla, M. Rani, N. K. Sharma and V. Sajal, Opt. 126, 4636-4639 (2015).S. Shukla, N. K. Sharma and V. Sajal, Sens. Actuat. B 206, 463-470 (2015).S. Shukla, N. K. Sharma and V. Sajal, Braz. J. Phy. 46, 288-293 (2016).A. K. Ghatak and K. Thyagarajan, An Introduction To Fiber Optics(Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1999), pp. 82-83.K. Sharma and B. D. Gupta, J. Appl. Phys. 101, 093111 (2007).B. D. Gupta, A. Sharma and C. D. Singh, Int. J. Optoelectron. 8, 409-418 (1993). 15. A. K. Sharma and B. D. Gupta, Opt. Commun. 245, 159-169 (2005).

Basic Principles of Tort Supported by Case Law.

Introduction This essay is an attempt to advise Changwa on the area of law under which he can bring an action in view of the facts given in the question. The essay will also attempt to advise Changwa with respect to the person against whom such action can be brought. In order to achieve this end, the essay will pay particular attention to the salient elements he has to establish in the area of law identified, if at all he is to succed in his claim. The essay will conclude by looking at the likely difficulties Changwa may encounter in succeeding in his claim in the event that he was to bring an action. The advice will be with the aid of decided cases where necessary. Area of Law and the Potential Defendant. In view of the facts given in this case, the name of the area of law under which Changwa can bring an action is in the tort of negligence. Accordingly, he must bring this action firstly against the pub manager for the cockroach found in the food. Secondly, the action must be brought against the manufacturers of the red wine. This is so because the pub manager is merely the retailer with no opportunity to temper with the contents of the red wine. The law of negligence dates back as far as 1856 when Lord Baron Alderson in Blyth v Birmingham Water Works Company gave a simple and precise definition of what constitutes negligence in the following terms; Negligence is the omission to do something which a reasonable man guided upon those considerations which ordinarily regulate the conduct of human affairs would do, or doing something which a prudent and reasonable man would not do. It follows therefore that negligence consists of either an act or omission on the part of the defendant. It is trite law that the tort of negligence has three essential elements, which any claimant must prove in order to succeed in his action against the defendant. These three elements are existence of duty of care owed to the claimant, breach of such duty of care by the defendant and lastly the resulting damage to the claimant arising from the breach of the duty of care . Each of the above elements of the tort of negligence will now be discussed in turn. Existence of duty of care It is now settled law that there exists no all embracing duty owed to the whole world in all circumstances. However, the determining issue is whether a duty of care existed and whether it was owed to the particular plaintiff. The basis of the law of negligence is that the defendant owes the plaintiff a duty of care. It must be mentioned that the duty owed to a claimant is not imposed by contract but is one imposed by the law. The modern law as regards this aspect of the law of negligence was extensively canvassed in the celebrated case of Donoghue v Stevenson where the House of Lords were confronted with the general question of whether a manufacturer owed a duty of care to the ultimate consumer of his products and they proceeded to hold that he did. In that case, the plaintiff became ill after drinking ginger beer from a bottle which contained a decomposing snail in it. She had not bought the daring herself, so she was unable to rely on a breach of contract. In this regard, she sued the manufacturers of the beer under the tort of negligence, claiming that they owed her a duty of care. The House of Lord decided the case in the plaintiff’s favour and the case is an authority because of the rule of law laid down by Lord Atkin when he stated thus; The rule that you are to love your neighbour becomes in law, you must not injure your neighbour; and the lawyer's question, who is my neighbour? receives a restricted reply. You must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your neighbour. Who, then, in law is my neighbour? The answer seems to be – persons who are so closely and directly affected by my act that I ought reasonably to have them in contemplation as being so affected when I am directing my mind to the acts or omissions which are called in question This test has been criticised as being too wide but it made it easier for lawyers to argue that there should be liability for negligently causing harm in new situations. Similarly, in Anns v Merton , the court had the following to say concerning the duty of care; In order to establish that a duty of care arises in a particular situation, it is not necessary to bring the facts of that situation within those of previous situations in which a duty of care has been held to exist. Rather the question has to be approached in two stages. First one has to ask whether, as between the alleged wrongdoer and the person who has suffered damage there is a sufficient relationship of proximity or neighbourhood such that, in the reasonable contemplation of the former, carelessness on his part may be likely to cause damage to the latter – in which case a prima facie duty of care arises. Secondly, if the first question is answered affirmatively, it is necessary to consider whether there are any considerations which ought to negative, or to reduce or limit the scope of the duty or the class of person to whom it is owed or the damages to which a breach of it may give rise In view of the above exposition of the law, it is clear that firstly, the pub manager owes a duty of care to Changwa to ensure that he is not harmed by the food prepared therein. Secondly, the manufacturer of the red wine ought to have the consumer in contemplation as a person who would likely be affected by the actions of the manufacturer. The above cases show that the manufacturer and not the retailer, owes a duty of care to the consumer in instances where the retailer has no power whatsoever as to the contents or quality of a product. In view of this duty, a manufacturer in the position of the manufacturer of the red wine must take reasonable steps to ensure that the drinks they produce do not contain any impurities which would be harmful to the consumer. Breach of Duty of Care A potential defendant will be negligent by falling below the standards of the ordinary reasonable person in his situation, that is, by doing something which the reasonable man would not do or failing to do something which the reasonable man would do. According to the learned authors of English Law , if a duty of care is established as a matter of law, whether or not the defendant was in breach of that duty is a matter of fact. Even if the plaintiff succeeds in showing that the defendant owes a duty of care, it is not sufficient for purposes of negligence unless a breach of that duty is shown . In deciding whether a defendant has acted negligently, the decision is based on an objective test of what a reasonable man would do. The court will decide if the defendant fell below the standard of the reasonable man. The standard of care expected from this hypothetical character is objective; not taking into account the characteristics or weaknesses of the defendant, as was aptly stated by the court in Nettleship v Weston . However, it must be mentioned that the courts expect people to take only reasonable precautions in guarding against harm to others, and this position of the law was affirmed in Latimer v AEC Ltd . In assessing what is reasonable under the circumstances, the court will consider the likelihood of harm occurring. The greater the risk of harm, the greater the precautions that will need to be taken, as was held in Miller v Jackson In the instant case, the test would be whether a reasonable person in the position of both the pub manager and the manufacturer of red wine would have neglected to carry out an inspection of their products in order to ensure that the consumer will not be harmed by the contents thereof. The obvious answer to the above question is not in the affirmative but in the negative. In this regard, Changwa would successfully establish the second element of the tort of negligence against firstly the pub manager and secondly the wine manufacturer, although this in itself is by no means conclusive that the defendants are liable to the plaintiff. At this point, in order to succeed in the tort of negligence, he will then need to establish the third element of the tort of negligence, namely that he suffered damage as a result of the breach of the duty of care by the defendant. Damage The learned authors of Clerk and Lindsell on Tort assert that it is important for the plaintiff in an action for negligence to prove the resulting damage to him from the breach of the duty of care. This is essentially premised o the fact that negligence is not actionable per se. It is necessary therefore for Changwa in this case, to show that he has suffered some harm, either physical injury, economic harm or psychological harm. This part of the elements of the law of negligence constitutes one of the difficulties that Changwa is likely to encounter in succeeding with the claim. In Donoghue v Stevenson , the House of Lords found in favour of the plaintiff because she was able to show that she had suffered a mental or nervous shock after drinking the Ginger Beer in which a decomposed snail was found. It is now categorically clear that breach of duty of care is necessary but in itself and by itself not conclusive that the plaintiff will be entitled to damages. To this effect, resulting damage is essential in this regard. This qualifies the earlier point that negligence is not actionable per se but damage must be proved if a claimant is to succeed. The Zambian courts have had several instances where they have pronounced themselves on this third aspect or element of the law of negligence. In Zambia Breweries Plc v Reuben Mwanza The respondent, Reuben Mwanza bought a bottle of a castle lager beer at a bottle store and this bottle was opened in his presence. He drunk half of the contents and he then felt as if he was choking and on examination of the bottle he found that it contained a dead lizard. The learned trial judge found as a fact that the appellants were negligent in the manufacture of the castle beer with a dead lizard in it and awarded the respondent K50, 000,000 as damages. The appellant then appealed against the excessive award of damages. The Supreme Court had the following to say in relation to the issue of damages; We have considered the submissions on this head and we agree that the K50, 000,000 awarded in this area is excessive. In doing so we take into account the conduct of the respondent after discovering a lizard in his beer. Although the respondent stated that he was shocked with the discovery of the lizard, it is shocking to us that when he was offered another beer, he quickly took it and consumed. There was no revolting reaction. Further, when he went to the Chilenje clinic he never revealed what has caused his â€Å"illness† so that proper diagnosis could be given. The reasoning of the court from the above sentiments is to the effect that there was no evidence to show that the claimant had suffered any harm, whether mental or physical thus the award was reduced. The court further stated thus; â€Å"the plaintiff has, therefore, a duty to bring credible evidence of illness. The award in this instant case comes to us with a sense of shock as being wrong in principle and on the higher side. We want to take advantage of this case to point out that in future nothing will be awarded if no proper evidence of a medical nature is conducted. † Similarly, in Continental Restaurant & Casino LTD. v. Arida Mercy Chulu , the court had the following to say as regards the need to prove actual damage in an action for negligence; The important point to stress, however, is that in cases of this nature, the basis of awarding damages is to vindicate the injury suffered by the plaintiff. The money was to be awarded in the instant case not because there was a cockroach in the soup, but on account of the harm or injury done to the health, mental or physical, of the plaintiff. Thus in the Donoghue case the plaintiff was hospitalised. Mild condition is generally not enough a basis for awarding damages. The plaintiff has, therefore, a duty to bring credible evidence of illness. The award in this instant case comes to us with a sense of shock as being wrong in principle and on the higher side. We want to take advantage of this case to point out that in future nothing will be warded if no proper evidence of a medical nature is conducted. Furthermore, in the case of Michael Chilufya Sata v Zambia Bottlers Limited , claimant found a cockroach in the drink but had not yet taken the drink when the cockroach was discovered. In a claim by the claimant, the Supreme Court of Zambia held to the effect that there was no injury or damage caused to the appellant by the adulterated drin k as he did not consume it. Furthermore, the court noted correctly that negligence alone does not give a cause of action; damage alone does not give a cause of action; the two must co-exist. It therefore follows, that for Changwa to successfully claim damages, he must prove the actual harm suffered with respect to both the food and the red wine. CONCLUSION AND ADVICE In view of the explanation of the law that has bee done above, Changwa will now be advised as follows; †¢In view of the facts given in the question, he would bring an action in the tort of negligence. †¢The person that Changwa should sue is the owner of the restaurant for the fly found in the food. This is so irrespective of the fact that changwa is not the one who bought the food because the duty of care is not contractual but is imposed by the law. In this vain, the pub owes a duty of care to Changwa. Secondly, Changwa can also bring an action for negligence against Manufacturer of the red wine for the cockroach found in the wine. This is because in cases such as these ones where the retailer has no control on the contents of the wine, recourse is had to the manufacturer, who is under a duty to take reasonable steps to ensure that the drink does not cause harm to the consumers who must be in the reasonable contemplation of the manufacturer. The tort of negligence comprises of three essential ingredients, namely; duty of care, breach of duty of care and the resultant damage, which elements have been discussed in sufficient detail above. In order to succeed in the tort of negligence, the claimant must establish all the three elements. †¢Changwa will easily prove the first two elements of negligence. However, he may encounter problems with the third element in view of the fact that it has not been shown from the question whet her he suffered any harm after taking the food which had a fly. The law on negligence demands that the claimant must substantiate the harm caused by the defendant’s breach of duty. This will be problematic for Changwa in view of the fact that he did not suffer any damage. Secondly, it will be difficult if not impossible for Changwa to substantiate his claim with respect to the red wine because he did not take the wine, thus clearly no harm was suffered by himself. In view of the collated explanations given in this essay, Changwa is advised accordingly. Bibliography Clerk and Lindsell. 2003. Law of Tort, 16th ed Cooke, J. 2003. Law of Tort, 6th ed. Liverpool: Moores University. Rogers, W. 1994. Winfield and Jolowicz on Tort, 13th ed. London: Sweet and Maxwell. Smith and Keenan. 1966. English Law, 2nd ed. London: Pitman and Sons Cases referred to Anns v Merton [1977] 2 All ER 492 Blyth v Birmingham Water Works Company [1856] 11 Exch 781 Continental Restaurant & Casino Ltd. v. Arida Mercy Chulu S. C. Z. No. 28 of 2000 Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562 Latimer v AEC Ltd [1952] 1 All ER 1302 Michael Chilufya Sata v Zambia Bottlers Limited SCZ No. 1 OF 2003 Miller v Jackson [1977] 3 All ER 338 Nettleship v Weston [1971] 3 All ER 581 Zambia Breweries Plc v Reuben Mwanza S. C. Z. NO. 39 OF 2000

Leadership on The Line Essay

Recognizing the evolving definition and requirements of leadership, Heifetz Ronald and Linsky (2002) highlight the need for leaders to consider the skills and perspective to ensure their effectiveness. Leadership, as illustrated in Leadership on The Line–Staying alive through the Dangers of Leading? requires not only the accomplishment of goals but also the ability to respond effectively to the human realities of working in an organization. The books three parts provide steps in recognizing leadership challenges, developing responses and interventions and what competencies leaders must develop professionally and personally. Marginalization, diversion, attack and seduction are identified as the main sources of resistance to leaders. At the same time, the authors also pay particular attention to the dangers within the leadership characterized as hunger for power and control and the difficulties in self-monitoring. The authors want to communicate to readers that there is a need for leaders to purse the development of their leadership skills. Despite the use of figurative characterizations in the book, the authors are practical and pragmatic in their discussion. The examples given, particularly in the Response section of the book is based on real life examples. Examples which the readers can easily relate directly to or parallel to their own experience. The authors point out that the sources of resistance are natural to any leadership scenario and therefore can not be fully stopped and in fact, can also be safeguard against ineffective leadership However, they have to control through resistance-response skills which in turn allows leaders to function as they are needed. Critique There is no doubt that leadership is a difficult challenge. Thus, there has been no limitation of the number of literature that aim to develop strategies and competencies for it. Unlike most literature in its genre that focuses on the development of attributes for effective leadership to become a leader, Ronald and Linsky discuss the development of leadership when one already holds office. The authors aim to provide a literature or guide to leaders who are already experiencing challenges in their roles due to a change in working scenarios or relationships. From the perspective of Heifetz and Linsky, what has become more critical for leaders to day has been the ability to go beyond their functions and respond to other people and at the same time eliciting a response from them. Thus, beyond achieving goals set members, of the organization must understand why these goals are being pursued, that â€Å"people need to know that the stakes are worth it† (p. 94). At the same time, Heifetz and Linsky state that before any action can be take to address threats to effective leadership, leaders must be able to understand the â€Å"heart† of the issues before recognizing the actions, indications or â€Å"faces† determining the threats. The main message of the book is the need for leaders not just to be competent, sensitive or responsive. They also must understand the their motivations for being so, the perspectives that can be taken, the methods that can be most effective and the implications of any perspective, opinion or action to be taken. Empathizing with the natural isolation of being the top man of an organization: there should be an acceptance that there will be member of the organization who would â€Å"undermine the clarity of his vision, delay his progress, and divert him from his core purposes† (p. 76). Thus, leaders while being advocated to be sensitive to their organization have to balance this with their resolve to accomplish organization goals. Leaders should be then prepared to be questioned, doubted and even maligned for their decisions. Heifetz and Linsky reflect that leaders often view these are criticisms to their professional and personal capacity but they should also understand that these reactions, even when they are deliberate and malicious, occur as part of the dynamics leading and organizations. Reading the book, one of the most unique ideas that Heifetz and Linsky present, absent from most of the leadership literature that I have read, is the concept of pain and leadership. The authors’ views are ones that one can easily agree and even commiserate to. The recognition of the fact that effective leadership has its pains and not just costs, both to the leader and the organization, is a perspective that makes the work effective and truly emphatic to the challenges of leadership. The view that leadership challenges, or resistance, is an ever present element in any organization does not discourage readers but actually motivates them to deal with them rather than trying to circumvent them. However, it should also be recognized that some of the examples or ideas presented may require significant experience to be understood comprehensively. This is a particular challenge in the last section of the book where the authors delineate the introspective requirements for leaders. Nonetheless, the book provides critical insights to the realities of leadership and not just what it should be. More importantly, it is effective in motivating readers view leadership as continuing process of development and that there is a need to actively pursue effectiveness. Reference Heifetz, Ronald A. and Linsky, Marty (2002). Leadership on The Line–Staying alive through the Dangers of Leading, 1st Edition. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Chemical Hazards In The Working Environment Environmental Sciences Essay

Chemical Hazards In The Working Environment Environmental Sciences Essay Chemical Engineering is defined as the branch of engineering which is involved in the application of physical science and mathematics to processing and converting raw materials and chemicals into more useful forms. The outputs and methods of these processes are not always safe and chemical hazards need to be overcome to make the working environment a satisfactorily hospitable for everyone that the process affects. This includes the general public and the environment as well as the workers involved. Chemical Engineers need to ensure that the safety measures which they devise regarding certain processes are adequate enough not to pose hazards and to meet the regulations of the law. This term paper will outline some of the hazards which Chemical Engineers and other workers in the industry need to neutralise to ensure that the working environment is safe for those involved. A hazard is defined as anything which could result in an accident. Such hazards include those caused by the releas e of noxious chemicals which can prove damaging to the health of people and the environment. Chemical hazards can be especially dangerous due to the toxic nature of the substances used in the industry. Plant Safety The health and safety of plant workers is a major concern to the chemical industry. Accidents which result in loss of life or injuries are especially damaging due to the high costs they inflict. Costs in retraining personnel, repairing equipment damaged in have huge costs, as well as the interruption in business that ensues after an accident. The trends have shown that over the years fatalities have decreased but property costs have increased. This trend is due to the increased automated systems used in plants. These systems have increased complexity and productivity to older designs. In earlier designs the workers were more exposed to the chemical processes taking place in the plant, and were in turn exposed to more hazards. This however poses another problem because if workers are more isolated from a process, even if this greatly reduces health and safety hazards then if a malfunction occurs in the plant it is much more difficult to have experienced personnel available to fix a process problem. Due to this action compensation must be made in the case of higher property costs as opposed to loss of life and injury to workers. â€Å"As of the early 1990’s, annual worker fatalities ran about 9 per 100,000 employees; annual lost time disabling injuries ran about 4,000 per 100,000 employees. Property Losses increased fourfold from the 1970’s†. Safety assessments are now undergone on chemical plants to ensure that they adhere to safety levels proposed by regulation standards. Quantification of hazards such as overpressure potential and flammability were done by measurements of vapour pressure and of flash points and flammability limits. The process designers need to make use of data that gives information pertaining to the hazards o f a process such as information of reaction rates and the energies involved in exothermic reactions in which heat is given out, that of unstable chemicals, of temperature limits in which explosive decomposition can occur, rates of generation of gas and vapour and emergency fail-safes such as pressure releases for high pressure systems.

Healthcare Informatics - The reassurance of Measles and the World Research Paper

Healthcare Informatics - The reassurance of Measles and the World Health Organization - Research Paper Example Besides, a detailed analysis of the issues in making better decisions especially on the selection, implementation and support of systems by various health organizations and departments would be taken into concern. Moreover, the discussion would also focus on assessing the current strategic procedures of the healthcare institutions for planning and managing informatics projects that ensures to meet clinical, compliance and financial needs of the organizations. Identification of Information Systems Technologies, Processes and Theories Applicable to a Healthcare Problem With reference to the empirical description of World Health Organization (WHO), measles has been identified as one of the highly transmittable viral diseases which affect mostly the children. However, according to the observation made by WHO, there does not lay any specific and appropriate treatment process for combating with measles and most of the patients suffering from this disease generally recover within two or thr ee weeks from its inception (World Health Organization, 2013). ... Moreover, the intervention of Computer Stored Ambulatory Record (COSTAR) system and Regenstrief Medical Record System (RNRS) also enables the physicians towards reassuring the recovery of measles at large. In order to determine the theories applicable to a specific healthcare problem, the integration of Health Evaluation through Logical Processing (HELP) can be regarded as one of the major aspects for the contemporary clinics to effectively address medical problems. The integration of this process enables the institutions to improve medication management along with reducing treatment costs of the clinics and the patients as well (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2002). Analyzing Issues important for Decision Making on the Selection, Implementation, and Support of Systems The selection, implementation and adequate support of systems of healthcare informatics have been recently observed to play a decisive role for different healthcare organizations. The organizations in this present healthcare industry are likely to select and implement the most appropriate technological aspects in order to increase the efficiency and accountability of their range of healthcare facilities. However, the decision making based on the aforesaid important often face various issues that have been analyzed in the following. Issues Important in Making Decisions The selection of appropriate technological features including infrastructure elements and other required tools along with applications in healthcare service often face with various sorts of issues. In this context, the selection of advanced technological elements can significantly create issues associated with convenience and costs that are incurred during the treatment process. In