Fire And Rescue Leadership Essay

The rapid and dynamic environment in which fire safety and rescue services operate require transformational leadership which can manage subsequent pressures in organizations. Leadership is important in directing workers in any organization towards achieving organizational objectives. The rapid changes that take place during a fire emergency can only be properly managed through flexible working patterns and communication tools (Crosby, 2007 P. 10). Organizational leadership is generally responsible for designing vision and communicating values that are consistent with the mission of the organization. Followers are therefore coached on best practices and procedures for giving and receiving feedback on sensitive matters to the organization. Exchange of ideas within the organization is a product of harmonious relations between the leader and workers. It is this exchange of ideas and interaction between leadership and followers that inspires teamwork and quality performance at workplace. Changes must be appropriately factored in the planning of an organization. Fire rescue demands effective and timely communication of information in order to avoid fire disasters getting out of hand. Fire and rescue leadership is the pivot around which operations and tasks are managed for safety and goals to be achieved. Literature review Group and team managers working in fire stations are the principle leaders who strategize vision and explain it to employees. Lifelong learning, emotional intelligence and self awareness are very important leadership at all levels (Cote, 2003 P. 14). Fire outbreaks are an emergency which if not managed properly could lead to devastating effects. Prior preparation and strategic planning is therefore necessary in benchmarking precise decisions and innovations which can thwart a crisis. Training is therefore part and parcel of the organizational culture of transformational leadership in fire safety and rescue services. An effective leader should possess a character of humility and courage in order to direct fellow workers in preventing and arresting fire emergencies. Such a leader should also be charismatic enough to influence focus in employees towards achieving organizational objectives. Fire and rescue training is an important component of managing fire risks and associated damages. The training program is fragmented in several sections that correspond to variety in expertise. The daunting task of training falls in the hands of the fire engineers and management which look into technical details of the training and financial allocation respectively. The fire engineer outlines the curriculum for the training taking into account engineering and architectural details that apply to fire safety. It is the duty of management to support training programs financially. Fire fighting requires enormous investment in monetary terms towards purchasing facilities and equipment for quenching fires. Rescue operations also require the support of machinery and equipment that guarantee the safety of the rescuing personnel and survivors during a fire outbreak. Joint trainings are carried out by experienced managers and engineers who ensure that fine details are adhered to while minimizing financial spending. Too much fragmentation of the training program could lead to duplication of tasks in teams which could result in wastage of resources (Muckett & Furness, 2007 P. 16). Joint trainings foster lucrative professional relationships across disciplines that facilitate exchange of ideas between experts on matters of fire safety and rescue services. It is therefore the duty of fire and rescue leadership to organize the different trainings into a formidable program that ensures that roles are properly assigned, resources economically allocated and time saved in the process. Meaning training should be carried out in an integrated approach instead of stand alone activities in various teams. The quantity and quality of the training should serve the main purpose and goal of the organization towards reducing the devastating effects of fires while enhancing rescue services successfully. Effective education and training should ensure skills are acquired within the time frames allocated. Qualified instructors provide integrated training which can ensure mutual operations in fire and rescue services. Allocation of relevant resources for training should be consistent with the training program and the topics to be covered. It is the task of the leadership to ensure that courses are covered effectively and information recorded regarding attendance and compliance of employees to the program. Competency targets need to be clearly stated and explained to employees undergoing the training for purposes of evaluating their work performance (Hoff & Kolomay, 2003 P. 19). Documentation of the training in terms of attendance and compliance by trainees is a key performance indicator of success. Information management is equally an important aspect of the training program which ensures that relevant data is taught with respect to the current trends and practices in fire safety and recue services. Current trends include emerging technologies and techniques that provide solutions to the problems at hand. Fire and rescue leadership should evaluate technologies and alternative techniques with the aim of weighing their cost and applicability in their organizations. The current system and structure of preventing and arresting fires should be investigated against the modern approaches after which decisions can be appropriately made. In case the current system does not support a comprehensive and precise fire rescue operation during emergencies, then it could be improved based on the modern technologies or otherwise replaced where the current system fails to provide expected results. Maintaining the current system with new innovative technologies saves time and resources as compared to an entire overhaul (Smeby, 2005 P. 15). Methodologies Leadership should guarantee safety of people and securing of property during fire outbreaks. Managers, supervisors and managers should ensure that resources are appropriately allocated to the important activities and programs. Different departments can be trained through a rotational program that recognizes the needs of each of them. Such a rotational program is cost-effective and proficient in terms of training the entire staff comprehensively. It is also the duty of the management to ensure that legal compliance to fire protection is observed. Standards related to the physical design of the building and escape routes during fire emergencies should be factored in fire management policies (Crosby, 2007 P. 17). This enables organizations to avoid unnecessary confrontations with the law and architectural specifications in case of fire. Apart from the support provided to continuous education and training of personnel on matters of fire safety, the smooth running of organizations is a factor of how compliant they are to the established code of conduct and professional ethics. The use of appropriate technologies and techniques in fire fighting and prevention of physical damage is only effective if physical security conforms to architectural specifications. Leadership is therefore tasked to educate employees on fire safety protocols such as the use of fire extinguishers and first aid. The fire service and rescue operations should therefore be designed in respect of the industry standards and technological advancements. A culture of fire prevention should be developed instead of the regular approaches where efforts are directed on fire suppression after an outbreak. Fatalities and damages can be effectively reduced if fire prevention is prioritized (Cote, 2003 P. 20). Firefighting however persists as an important strategy in managing fire outbreaks. Leadership should therefore ensure that fatalities during firefighting are radically reduced. Normally, fire outbreaks are sudden. Detection of fires and smoke is thus crucial at its onset in firefighting. Communication systems which include alarm and smoke detection systems should be operational and properly maintained. This is because fire spreads at an unpredictable rate and may cause unfathomable fatalities and damage to property. It is therefore the responsibility of those in organizational leadership to ensure that the relative occupancies of different buildings are factored in fire safety protocols. Occupants should also be properly trained on how to respond to a fire emergency in order to avoid unnecessary panic and confusion that usually develops during such disasters. Behavioral leadership is therefore part and parcel of fire safety management (Muckett & Furness, 2007 P. 24). Rescue operations normally take time to reach the site of a fire outbreak. Fire safety should therefore seek to empower different occupants with skills for escape. Apart from robust infrastructure made up of proper communication tools, spacious physical design and escape routes, occupants should be properly trained on perishable skills that would ensure composure and communication is sustained throughout the period. For instance, people with disability require additional support in terms of alternative safe havens within the building which are insulated from fires in order to secure their lives before rescue operations are launched. It is equally important that these alternative safe havens are accessible to occupants with disabilities away from the congestion of other normal people during a fire incident. Conclusion Saving lives is the ultimate responsibility of fire safety and rescue operations. Different stakeholders are involved in planning, organizing and implementing activities which prevent and arrest fires. Fire and safety leadership ensures that fire prevention strategies are feasible in a dynamic environment where technologies keep changing and techniques in firefighting vary (Hoff & Kolomay, 2003 P. 28). It is the responsibility of organizational leadership to apply wisdom and innovation when designing the best procedures and policies in fire safety. It is important that the current systems are evaluated and appropriately upgraded in order to align organizational infrastructure in fire safety with relevant modern technologies. These are particularly important in designing communication and detection systems which can promptly alert occupants on the danger of fire. Since rescue operations take time to be launched, minimizing the degree of fatalities during a fire incident remains on top of the agenda in fire safety. Fire and rescue leadership should therefore apply collaborative and transformational approaches in organizing trainings and fire fighting strategies. Reference list Cote, A E 2003, Organizing for Fire and Rescue Services, NFPA (Series), Jones & Bartlett Learning, Sudbury, MA. Crosby, F C & Windisch, F C 2007, A Leadership Guide for Combination Fire Departments, Jones & Bartlett Learning, Sudbury, MA. Hoff, R & Kolomay, R 2003, Firefighter Rescue & Survival, Penn Well Books, Oklahoma. Muckett, M & Furness, A 2007, Introduction to fire safety management, Butterworth- Heinemann, Amsterdam. Smeby, L C 2005, Fire and emergency service administration: management and leadership practices, Jones & Bartlett Learning, Sudbury, MA.

Dramatic Tension in “The Royal Hunt of the Sun” Essay

How does Shaffer create and use dramatic tension in â€Å"The Royal Hunt of the Sun† and to what effect? The Royal Hunt of the Sun is a gripping play about the journey of the Spanish army sent to conquer Peru, and the unlikely friendships that are formed. Shaffer creates dramatic tension with a number of techniques such as the use of Martin to narrate the story to the audience, a unique and powerful use of sounds, and the use of symbolic props and duologue scenes that create dramatic irony. He also employs a number of methods to show the contrasts and similarities of religion, culture and philosophy between the Inca and Spanish armies. Shaffer initially uses Martin’s narration to foreshadow the ensuing disastrous events. Old Martin generates the audience’s attention at the very start of the play by saying â€Å"This story is about ruin.† This creates dramatic irony and suggests a treacherous and threatening atmosphere. In â€Å"The Mime of the Great Ascent† Old Martin speaks about the tribulation the army faced â€Å"†¦we crept forward like blind men, the sweat freezing on our faces† in order to gain the sympathy of the audience. Old Martin’s emotions are showed in different ways throughout the play, â€Å"Look at the warrior where he struts†¦ salvation in his new spurs. One of the knights at last.† Here Shaffer uses Old Martin’s cynicism and bitterness to exaggerate the loss of Young Martin’s innocence and childhood and gain the empathy of the audience. As the story unfolds, the reason for Old Martin’s pessimism becomes clear to the audience, â€Å"I went out into the night†¦ and dropped my first tears as a man†¦ Devotion never came again.† Here Shaffer uses Old Martin’s reflection on his past as a window through which the audience can see how Martin’s broken youth shaped him as a man, and uses realism to involve then in the action onstage, creating suspense. Shaffer makes use of stage directions, which play a big part in revealing the symbolism of the performance, and creating dramatic tension. The use of â€Å"Tropical bid cries† throughout the play creates a dangerous and threatening atmosphere, and hints at the power Atahuallpa has over Peru and the Spanish army. During the climb of the Spanish Army to reach the city, Shaffer uses  Ã¢â‚¬Å"an eerie, cold music made from the thin whine of huge saws.† This creates an unnerving atmosphere, putting the audience on edge. Symbolic props also play a large part in creating contrasting moods throughout the performance. â€Å"Four black crucifixes, sharpened to resemble swords† are placed on the back wall, criticizing the hypocrisy of the church, and the use of religion as a pretext for killing whilst representing the conflicted and violent theme. During the course of the play, Shaffer uses the imagery of the â€Å"golden sun† which is placed at the back of the stage. â€Å"Diego†¦ drives his halberd into a slot in one of the rays.† This symbolizes the destruction of the Inca empire, and once again sound is used to create tension when â€Å"The sun gives a deep groan, like the sound of a great animal being wounded.† Here the personification of the sun creates sympathy and compassion amongst the audience. Peter Shaffer uses scenes of duologue between the main characters to give the audience an insight into the relationships between them, and create dramatic irony. During the play there are moments where Pizarro is alone with Young Martin, and speaks to him in confidence; here the audience is encouraged to sympathize with the characters’ predicaments and anxieties. When Pizarro warns Young Martin that the Army is â€Å"Nothing but years of Us against Them† the audience becomes aware of the extreme differences in their opinions and views, which creates great tension and unrest between the characters. Shaffer enables Pizarro to freely suggest the extent of is own greed and betrayal during his duologue scenes with Martin, â€Å"if the time ever came for you to harry me, I’d rip you too, easy as look at you.† Here Shaffer creates more tension, causing the audience to question Pizarro’s loyalty to Martin, whilst hinting at the slightly more malevolent and spiteful side to Pizarro. The duologue scenes between Pizarro and Atahuallpa allow the audience to see the fragile and personal characteristics of the otherwise powerful, dominant male figures. At first Atahuallpa shows his lack of distrust in Pizarro when proclaiming him dishonest â€Å"you have no swear to give†. Atahuallpa takes a leap of faith and trusts his captor, to the surprise of the audience, creating an uneasy and nervous atmosphere. â€Å"You make me laugh! (In sudden wonder) You make me laugh!† It is at this point in the play that Pizarro realizes he has formed a genuine friendship  with Atahuallpa, and the audience feels the tension rise once again as Pizarro is forced to decide the fate of Atahuallpa. A main theme of the play is the contrast between the Inca and Spanish cultures. Atahuallpa is nearly always shown sitting high up in front of the golden sun, showing his power and authority, whereas the Spaniards wore heavy, clumsy clothing, which symbolizes their awkwardness in the foreign land, and their ignorance of other cultures. Domingo says â€Å"God-dammed place. I’m starting to rust.† This could indicate of the immorality and true objectives of their journey. The Spanish consider Atahuallpa to be â€Å"just one savage† when in fact he is the core of the Inca society, this is shown throughout the play. Atahuallpa finds it difficult to understand the Spanish way of life as the Incan religion and society was built on concepts and simplicity rather than material wealth and gain, creating tension. Despite many differences, both religions believe in a supreme being who would rise from the dead. Until Pizarro met Atahuallpa, he had lost faith in all conventional religion, and exclaimed, â€Å"I’m going to die! And the thought of that dark has rotted everything for me.† Atahuallpa gave him a new sense of belonging and introduced him to the Inca religion, â€Å"Believe in me. I will give a word and fill you with joy.† Pizarro found this concept very attractive and was instantly fascinated by Atahuallpa. This creates tension and increases the audience’s interest in the story. The great contrasts between the two cultures and the similarities between the two men create a sense of mystery and rising tension as the story continues, this is greatened by the audience’s knowledge that Pizarro will have to kill Atahuallpa. Shaffer uses stages directions, imagery, sound and narration to create an ongoing sense of tension throughout the play, it is extremely effective. I particularly enjoy his use of duologue scenes to create tension and allow the audience to gain an insight into the story.

Mustang vs Camaro Essay

The Mustang and Camaro have been compared since the Camaro first came out in the late 1960’s. The Mustang was pretty much the only sports car that was also a muscle car. Well, of course Chevrolet had to compete with Ford so they came out with the Camaro. The release of the Mustang was followed closely by the release of the Camaro a few years later. There is no doubt about it that the team from Chevrolet had stolen a magnificent idea and plan. These two muscle cars began the path for a revolution in pony cars and racing. America fell in love with the Mustang and Camaro, which allowed Ford and Chevrolet to sell millions of them in just a few years. Ford has continuously been selling a large number of Mustangs ever since the beginning. Chevrolet had to stop their production of the Camaro. In 1961, the vice president and general manager of Ford, Lee Iacocca had a dream. He envisioned the Ford Mustang. It took several months to get approval for funding to go towards the Mustang through multiple discussions, meetings and market surveys. The funding was granted in 1962. The Mustang’s parts were mainly borrowed from the Falcon to help keep the costs of production low. The car offered a variety of options for the exterior, interior, etc. Buyers were able to choose if they wanted their mustang to be fast, fancy, economical or plain. Ford wanted the Mustang’s design to appeal to everyone and anyone. It was advertised as â€Å"the car to be designed by you†. The Camaro was based off of another Chevrolet car, the Nova. The Camaro had been designed to compete with Ford’s Mustang. Its code name was the Panther, before any information about the Camaro was ever leaked into the public. Chevrolet had wanted to keep their cars name’s beginning with the letter C. A few options for the Camaro had been Chevy II, Chevelle, Corvette, etc. Somehow they decided on Camaro, which a product manager of Chevrolet answered when asked what a Camaro is, he said â€Å"a small, vicious animal that eats Mustangs†. It was reported that General Motor researchers found in the French dictionary that Camaro was slang for friend or companion. Though is was rumored that the Ford Company had researched and discovered some other definitions to the word Camaro, such as â€Å"a shrimp-like creature† and an arcane for loose bowels. On March 9 of 1964, the first Mustang which was a white convertible with a v-8 engine came out of Dearborn Michigan. Then a month later the Ford Mustang came out in the world with its debut at the World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, New York. The first Mustang that came out of the assembly line was in April of 1964. This first model of the Ford Mustang, which was the early 1965 or also known as the 1964  ½, was available as a convertible or coupe. It had a 170-cubic inch six cylinder engine with a three-speed floor shift transmission. A V8 engine was optional with a four-speed manual transmission or a three-speed automatic with a cruise transmission. The day of the grand opening for the Mustang over twenty two thousand were sold. Within its first twelve months, Ford sold close to four hundred seventeen thousand Mustangs. In eighteen months, roughly a million Mustangs had been sold. It was a huge hit with America. The first Camaro came out in September of 1966 but was the 1967 model, as it is referred to as. When it was first available there were hardly any extra or special options for the car. That changed within the next following years and so forth. The Camaro offered a V6 or V8 engine in convertible or coupe. When the 1969 Camaro models were introduced, the car had improved greatly. A new power option was a Z28 package which had formally been known as the RPO Z28 Camaro Special Performance Package. The Z28 was one of the first special options and it was originally designed to compete in the Sports Car Club of America, which is a racing club. There are four generations to the Chevrolet Camaro. The first generation was from 1967 to 1969. That model was offered in a coupe or convertible with the option of a 4.1 L, 4.9 L, 5.0L, 5.4L and a 5.7L in a V8 engine. The second generation was from 1970 to 1981. Chevrolet changed the styling to a wider and larger vehicle which produced a heavier Camaro. The third generation was from 1982 to 1992. They were the first model of Camaros that offered fuel injection. The fourth generation was from 1993 to 2002. It held onto the same basic characteristics as the original; a couple or convertible, rear-wheel drive and the choice of a V6 or V8 engine. For thirty five years Chevrolet had been producing the popular Camaro. Chevrolet claimed that they stopped production of the Camaro due to plant overcapacity, slowing sales, and fading market for sports coupes. Just recently in 2009, Chevrolet released the 2010 Camaro. We will see how they do this time around. The Ford Mustang currently has five generations. With each generation Ford made sure to improve the horse power. The first generation was from 1964  ½ to 1973. The second generation was from 1974 to 1978. It was originally based off of the Ford Maverick but instead they used the Ford Pinto in the end. Because of the way the economy was going at the time, Ford needed to build a smaller and more fuel-efficient Mustang. Not only did they need to do this to appeal to customers still but to also to capture people’s eye as the Energy Crisis erupted. The third generation was from 1979 to 1993. This generation model was based off of the ‘Fox’ platform. It had originally been created for the 1978 Ford Fairmont and Mercury Zephyr. The interior of the third generation was meant to be more comfortable even though the back seats were smaller. The trunk was larger though, as well as the engine bay. This allowed the car to be easier to work on and service. The body styles were coupes, at the time was also referred to as a notchback, and a hatchback. A convertible was not available until 1983. The fourth generation is from 1994 to 2004. This generation underwent the most drastic redesign in over fifteen years. It had been code named SS-95 by Ford. It was also a more recent and updated version of the Fox platform. This new styled generation took several styles from the earlier Mustangs. A new twist was that it was the first time since 1973 that a hatchback coupe was not available. The V6 was a 3.8 engine for the models of 1994 and 1995. Unfortunately, Ford stopped using the 5.0L V8 for the GTs. The 5.0L had been used for around 40 years, it was a drastic change. But the 5.0L was used last on the 1994 and 1995 models. The new GT engine would be a 4.6L. For the 1999 to 2004 models the Mustang had a new edge styling theme for the body. It included sharper contours, creases in the bodywork and even larger wheel arches. The chassis and interior design remained the same was the previous model. And last but most definitely not least is the fifth generation which is the current generation from 2005 to present. At the 2004 North American International Auto Show, a new Mustang was introduced. It had been codenamed S-197. This new generation closely resembled the fastback Mustangs from the late 1960s. This new model was called as â€Å"retro-futurism† by Ford’s senior vice president of design. The V6 now had a 4.0L engine instead of a 3.8L engine. A brand new option that was first available for the 2009 Mustangs was a glass sun roof. The 2010 Mustang was unveiled by Ford before the Los Angeles International Auto Show. The 2010 Mustang mainly held the same look as the previous year’s model but with a modified exterior. Ford was looking for a leaner and muscular appearance for their 2010 Mustang. For the first time ever the Mustang had a reverse camera system to help drivers while backing up. Though, this feature is not available on basic V6’s. The 2011 Mustang should be out around the spring of 2010 and it is a very anticipated model. It will closely resemble the 2010 model, with perhaps some slight changes to the rear. It is hard to find information on the upcoming 2011 Mustang. One thing is for sure though, Ford is bringing back the 5.0L engine for it which excites many. Still to this day the Ford Mustang is running strong. The Mustang has even more varieties, variations and options. There is no other vehicle out there that has as many options as the Mustang does. So many different types branch off of the â€Å"Mustang†. Several examples are: Cobra, Shelby, Super Snake, Saleen, Mach 1, Fastback, California Special, Bullit, High Country Special, Boss, etc. They are never ending. There are so many differences and similarities between these two famous and popular pony cars. There is even so much more that a person can compare and contrast about Mustangs and Camaros. Not only because of the years, numerous changes, and that it is – after all – a car, but also because they have had a heated and natural rivalry since the very beginning. Oddly enough, it was rather difficult to find a lot of information and details on the Camaro, especially compared to the Mustang. The Mustang had numerous of information that was able to be found. And, remember the Mustang started it all in 1964, and has not stopped since!

Psychology Lession3 and Part 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Psychology Lession3 and Part 2 - Essay Example In the former, the response is a reflex, whereas in the latter, the response is nothing but a neutral piece of behaviour which has occurred previously. In operant conditioning, the event between the response and the reinforcement is unforeseen, whereas in classical conditioning, there is no such event. No environmental consequences are seen with classical conditioning unlike in operant conditioning. Also, the response in classical conditioning is involuntary and that in operant conditioning is voluntary. Example of classical conditioning: A cologne may result in intense emotion, but this is not due to the smell of the cologne but because the smell was previously associated with that particular emotion. 1. Recall: In this type of memory retrieval the information will be accessed without being cued with any memory part. A good example of this type of memory retrieval is answering fill-up-the-blank questions. 2. Recollection: In this memory retrieval reconstruction of memory occurs with the utilization of certain logical structures, partial memories and narratives. A good example of recollection type of memory retrieval is answering an essay question in exam. 3. Recognition: Identification of information after re-experiencing is known as recognition. A good example of this type of retrieval is answering a multiple choice question where you recognize the answer after seeing it in one of the choices. 4. Relearning: In this type, the information which is already learnt is relearnt, thus making it easier to remember the information and retrieve it more easily. This type of memory retrieval strengthens the memory. Disruption of memory retrieval can be explained by decay theory. According to this theory, traces of memory begin to fade and gradually disappear over a period of time. Hence if information is not retrieved and rehearsed at regular intervals it can get

Employee Discipline Policy (human Resource) Employee Labor and Assignment

Employee Discipline Policy (human Resource) Employee Labor and Relations Class - Assignment Example The employers should develop the policy with one attorney or with trade bodies in order to ensure that it does not violate any laws (What can you do about employee absenteeism?, n.d.). The employers should also make the policy known to the employees before fully implementing it (What can you do about employee absenteeism, n.d.). It is necessary that the employers are able to check if the policy is fully implemented. The attendance records help the employers to check which of the employees are regular and who are making frequent leaves (Controlling Employees’ Absenteeism, 2011). Thus analysis of attendance records should be done after the implementation of the policy. Though there are challenges in managing absenteeism, the company must make sure that all employees are treated the well and there is no discrimination when implementing the policy. The company should maintain to be consistent, persistent and fair to all. And lastly, when implementing policy, it is better to implem ent the programs and policies in a facultative manner rather than punitive because majority of the employees will appreciate this kind of approach (Yorges, n.d.). Sources: Controlling Employees’ Absenteeism, (2011).

Busniess communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Busniess communication - Essay Example How do you plan to keep our position on the top? The reason of my enquiry stems from watching trade and commerce news from around the world. Great business powerhouses like China, Germany and India are already moving towards new markets of the world, where do we stand in this race? I understand that the US policies are very competitive when it comes to dominating the business and trade but my question especially concerns untapped markets such as the African countries; what policies are you expecting in the near future when the presidential elections are knocking on our doorstep? I don’t mean to put a gloomy shadow on our country’s business outlook but countries like Japan and China are well known from their technological achievements, do you think we will be able to beat them, probably at their own game? I have thoroughly read the mission statement of your department, but quite frankly it doesn’t answer the ‘HOW’ to many of the good things that you have mentioned there. It says that your department touches the lives of American people in many ways, I respect that but I’m seeking an external view of you would actually make all the great things happen for the citizens of your

Intermediaries in Funding Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Intermediaries in Funding - Essay Example However, growth is directly associated to the introduction of financial asset or capital. The selection of right intermediary to obtain finance is not a straight forward process though, it is universally agreed that a commercial bank may serve that purpose well. Banking institution provides a certain amount of confidence and trust both to borrowers and lenders, due to the legal and ethical framework that normally regulates it. Bank provides loan as working capital to small and medium enterprises but also also provides some elements of institutionalised flexibility which greatly facilitates the concerned business as "intermediary are usually less risky"( Schenk. n.d). Many other intermediaries are available to obtain working capital for businesses. However, certain hindering factors come to surface seriously especially when it comes to guaranteed resettlement of borrowed capital and certain companies will have limitations depending on the stage they have reach in finance cycle. The extent of growth will influence thus the relationship with financial institutions and other s. The larger the companies the bigger are the trust customer and other institutions have in them mainly when there is joint venturing during which occurs mostly during diversification. Businesses at large are faced with extreme internal and external challenges.

Was Ford Ethically Right in Its Decision to Design Improvements and Th Assignment

Was Ford Ethically Right in Its Decision to Design Improvements and Thereby Risk the Lives of Its Consumers - Assignment Example Ford was ethically wrong in its decision to forego the improvements and thereby risk the lives of its consumers. In any case, it certainly appears that Ford was rushing against time to capture the market and overcome its competitors in the compact car industry. On ethical and moral judgments, a decision informed by material benefits at the expense of human lives is certainly wrong and misguided. Worse still, the cost-benefit analysis conducted by Ford amounted to involving its consumers in a deal of which they were totally oblivious. For such a decision to qualify on ethical grounds, the automaker would have made public its decisions on the faults of the vehicle and the subsequent cost-benefit analysis so as to inform the potential buyers of Pinto. In such a case, the company would be exonerated from the faults that came as a consequence of the defect in the vehicle. Moral conduct regards human lives as totally absolute and should never be quantified with other material products.Huma n beings are generally risk-averse and would not really partake into evitable instances where their lives are put to risk. The passing on of the $11 to the customers comes after the maintenance has been made and the vehicle is devoid of the risk. In this case, the rationality of the customer does not, therefore, come in. their decision to buy the car is therefore pegged upon another thing like cost and taste but not a risk. It is therefore certainly much different from the case of the airbags which are optional and the consumer has to make a decision.

World Trade Organization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

World Trade Organization - Essay Example All of that changed abruptly in 1994, when, contradicting earlier gloomy predicts, the 'Uruguay Round' of trade negotiations under the GATT ended in strengthening the international trading system, but also with an agreement to establish the WTO. As the World Trade Organization (WTO) approaches its cherished goal of "international WTO-Membership', the areas of difference among members tend to widen. Also, it becomes extremely hard to settle the conflicting economic interests of the signatories. The question arise, does World Trade required the WTO This is the basic problem on which the problem of WTO reform hinges. World trade did not require the WTO to engorge seventeen times extra between 1948 and 1997, from $124 billion to $10,772 billion (WTO, 1998, pg. 12). This growth happened under the stretchy GATT trading system. The WTO's origin in 1995 did not act in response to a collapse or crisis of world trade such as happened in the 1930's. It was not essential for international peace, since no world war or trade-related war had happened during that phase. In the nine major inter-state wars that took place in that period-the Korean War of 1950-53, the Vietnam War of 1945-75, the Suez Crisis of 1956, the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, the 1982 Falklands War, the Gulf War of 1990, Afghanistan war, and finally the Iraq ear-trade conflict did not figure even distantly as a cause. GATT was, actually, working sensibly well as a support for strengthening world trading system. Its proper dispute resolution system was supple and with its appreciation of the "special and differential status" of yet to be developed nations, it offered the space in an international economy for Third World nations to use trading strategy for growth and industrialization. Why was then WTO found following the 'Uruguay Round' of 1986-94 Of the main trading nations, Japan was in two minds, frightened as it was to defend its agriculture and its picky system of industrialized production that, through authorized and unauthorized means, gave its local manufacturers principal rights to use the domestic marketplace. The European Union, well on the way of becoming a independent trading community, was similarly hesitant, knowing that it's very sponsored system in agriculture would come beleaguered. Though demanding greater admittance to their created and agricultural products in the Northern economies, the rising nations did not perceive this as being achieved through a broad agreement imposed by a controlling trading system of government but through isolated negotiations and contracts in the model of the "Integrated Program for Commodities" (IPCs) and "Commodity Stabilization Fund" had the same opinion in the aegis of UNCTAD of late seventies. The beginning of the WTO served mainly the interest of the America. Just as it was the U.S. which stopped the beginning of the International Trade Organization (ITO) in 1948, when it believed that this wouldn't serve up its position of irresistible economic domination in the post-war world, so it was the U.S. that became the leading 'client' for the widespread Uruguay Round and the start of the WTO, when it sensed that more aggressive global circumstances had produced a condition where its business interests now required a contradictory stand. Just as it was the U.S.'s intimidation in the fifties to leave GATT if it wasn't permitted to uphold protecting means for milk

Validity and Reliability of the Myers Briggs Test Term Paper

Validity and Reliability of the Myers Briggs Test - Term Paper Example The history of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator holds accountable Carl Jung and his personality theory as the primary basis and the chief influence of Katharine C. Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers in the development of the MBTI, a project that lasted for two decades and a half (Bayne, 1997; Morgan & Morgan, 2007; Quenk, 2009).   Jung published his book â€Å"Psychological Types† in the early 1920’s which was later on translated in English and published in America.   Briggs at that time was also developing her own theory of personality types which she later on abandoned upon discovery of Jung’s theory which resembled her ideas but had better structure and form.   It then started the long journey of Briggs and Myers that concluded with the creation of the MBTI.   Guided by Jung’s theory, their observations of individuals led them to the conclusion that â€Å"typology could provide a useful way of describing healthy personality differences and importantly, that such assessment could be put to practical use in people’s lives† (Morgan & Morgan, 2007, p. 336). Such non-judgmental and realistic underpinnings of the instrument are perhaps the reasons for its massive influence and application. It is interesting to note that none of them have studied and trained under Jungian psychoanalysis yet they accepted his ideas and studied it enthusiastically for 25 years. To begin with, both were not psychologists and do not have a strong foundation in statistics.   In the 1940’s, psychological testing was a very young field and inventory type questionnaires were not popular.   While psychology often measures characteristic, Myers and Briggs were more drawn towards preferences which identify the dominant functions of individuals.   At that time, they did not have the convenience of computers making item analysis, so they relied heavily on friends who they classified as â€Å"thinking† and â€Å"feel ing† individuals.  

Death of a Salesman and Fences Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Death of a Salesman and Fences - Essay Example There indeed is a highly valid reason for stating so. In both the plays, these characters, Willy in â€Å"Death of a Salesman† and Troy of â€Å"Fences† have negative shades, for they not just are obsessed with the past at the cost of neglecting the present, but they (father characters) also share a highly hostile relationship with their respective sons. It is not just that; both Willy and Troy denote as being impediments in terms of the goals of their sons. (1) In fact, in â€Å"Death of a Salesman† Willy’s obsession with the past is so high that he reaches the stage where, he is unable to draw a line between reality and fantasy. Perhaps, the most prominent common feature of the characters (of fathers) is that, both do not have a respectable position in the society. (1) After that, it indeed would be worthwhile in having a look at the characters of sons: Biff in â€Å"Death of a Salesman† and Cory in â€Å"Fences†. As mentioned earlier, both Biff and Cory are the victims of the day-dreaming of their respective fathers. It also has to be noted that, solely because of the false approach adopted by Willy and Troy, even Biff and Cory have been subjected to severe mental conflict. As a matter of fact, Biff is redeemed of this mental turmoil only after he musters the needed courage to rebel against Willy’s dominant approach. However, it is observed that, notwithstanding all the unpleasant experiences, Biff still has a soft corner for his father. This is evident from the words that he speaks at the funeral of his father â€Å"there were a lot of nice days†. Also, Biff adds that the intentions of Willy were good, and it is just that the dreams were erroneous. (1) When the play â€Å"Fences† is taken, the unpleasant relationship shared by Cory with his father is clear by the words spoken by the former â€Å"You ain't never gave me nothing! You ain't never done nothing but hold me back. Afraid I was gonna b e better than you. All you ever did was try and make me scared of you.† Cory is aware that, apart from creating fear in his mind, Troy has done nothing else for him! Despite the fact that Cory has lot of talent for playing baseball, Troy never permits him to make a mark for himself in this game. And similar to â€Å"Death of a Salesman† even in â€Å"Fences† the son gets his total freedom only after his father’s death. (1) When the characters of the sons are considered in both the plays, one surely notes a key difference. In the play â€Å"Death of a Salesman† Biff thinks about his father in a positive manner, after the latter’s death. But when â€Å"Fences† is considered, Cory expresses no such sentiments. On the contrary, it is seen that he is highly reluctant to even attend the funeral. Owing to these points, it can conveniently be inferred that, when both Willy and Troy are compared, it is only the former who is having at least a f ew positives. That is why his son was able to pay respects at the funeral. On the other hand, Cory has nothing but utter dislike for his father. (1) Now, the focus needs to shift on to examining the characters of Linda, wife of Willy, and Rose, the spouse of Troy. To begin with, it has to be stated that Willy and Troy do not have a sound relationship not only with the sons, but also with their respective spouses. Also, both of them (Willy and Troy) indulge in adultery. In â€Å"Death of a Salesman† though Linda is unaware about the extra-marital affair of her husband, yet; his adulterous acts tell upon their relationship. This can be understood by an example. When Willy

Lost Worlds Essay Example for Free

Lost Worlds Essay Some Americans remember where they came from; others don’t. That’s the case in Daniel Chacon’s story â€Å"The Biggest City in the World†. It is a story about Harvey Gomez who is a Mexican American young man whose grandparents migrated to the Unites States from Mexico. Harvey has only been to Mexico once in his entire life and neither of his parents has ever been there before. Therefore he doesn’t know anything about his native culture or language. In this story Harvey travels deep inside of Mexico for the first time with his Mexican history Professor David P. Rogstart and gets exposed to its culture and language. On the contrary, Carolina Hospital’s poem â€Å"Finding Home† is about Mexicans who were born in Mexico and later migrated to America. When Harvey arrives in Mexico he tries to distance himself from the country’s culture. In fact, shortly after he comes out of his hotel room the first place that he goes to is La Zona Rosa because â€Å"The expensive shops, Gucci, Polo, Yves St. Laurent, relaxed him because they reminded him of Beverly Hills† (Chacon 58). Harvey is going to places in Mexico that he is familiar with back in the United States and is not trying to explore his heritage. Perhaps this is because he doesn’t feel like he is a Mexican and that he is only an American. After all, he was born and raised in the United States by parents who have never been to Mexico themselves. Harvey eventually gets exposed to ancient Aztec monuments when he runs into Professor Rogstart who is viewing stone carvings. As Harvey decides to take a closer look at the stone carvings, he is seeing history of his heritage and begins to compare it. Gomez wondered how many Aztecs were scared into believing in their gods, like his father tried to make him believe in Jesus and the Virgin Mary† (Chacon 60). He starts thinking how the Aztecs were raised up into worshiping their gods in Mexico and how his father brought him up into believing in God in America. Harvey learns about the Spanish Conquest of Mexico and begins to ask Professor Rogstart questions. He gives him honest answers â€Å"Rogstart, feeling a professorial obligation, explained to Gomez the meaning of each panel, each symbol, giving such fine details† (Chacon 61). During the explanation, Harvey feels a sense of pride in his heritage. You can tell that Harvey now wants to learn more about his past; however, he is still struggling to accept his heritage. As Harvey continues his journey in Mexico, he repeatedly distances himself from the Mexicans. Harvey is reacting this way because he is attached to money. That will soon come to an end as Harvey himself loses all of his money. â€Å"He slipped his hand into his pocket for his roll of bills† (Chacon 63). After he realizes that he is broke, he starts to panic. Harvey’s immediate reaction is to find his money no matter what it takes, but when he does not find it, Harvey starts to feel the same way the Mexicans did when they begged him for money. This is the first time that he feels this way because he was raised in America where money is a major influence in life. When it looks like it will be the end of his journey in Mexico, he discovers it is beginning. Harvey enters a taxi and tells the driver â€Å"Take me to the Zona Rosa† (Chacon 65). During the ride, Harvey is relaxed and begins to feel like a Mexican deep in his heart. When it seems that he is going to continue his denial, he tells the driver â€Å"Take me to Chapultepec Park† (Chacon 66). The cab driver is surprised and Harvey laughs telling him that he wants to explore Mexico. Harvey finally ends the denial of his Mexican heritage and goes on to explore Mexico. The poem â€Å"Finding Home† written by Carolina Hospital tells the story of how Mexicans who come to America try to find their heritage in the United States. Like many who migrate to America, the immigrants miss their country and are concerned about losing their culture. In contrast to Harvey Gomez, this poem shows that many Mexicans in America appreciate their heritage. â€Å"I have travelled north again,/to these gray skies/and empty doorways,† (Hospital 101). This shows that they miss their native country and are concerned about forgetting their heritage. Perhaps Harvey’s grandparents thought the same thing when they first came to America from Mexico. Regardless of their arrival in America, they want to return to Mexico someday. â€Å"I must travel again soon† (Hospital 102). Despite leaving their ative land they have respect for Mexico and will visit again. After the experience that Harvey had in discovering his heritage, I am sure that he will visit Mexico again. Daniel Chacon is clearly making a statement that Mexican immigrants whose kids are born and raised in America forget their own culture. In the story Harvey Gomez is denying his heritage and was embarrassed at times to admit that he is Mexican. This is because he barely knows anything about Mexico and doesn’t even speak the language. Eventually Harvey accepts who he is and discovers his heritage throughout the story. I believe that Chacon wants to demonstrate how important it is for people to know where they come from and not to forget who they are. Carolina Hospital indicates that Mexican immigrants in America continue to appreciate their heritage. In her poem the Mexicans are not embarrassed to admit where they come from. The Mexicans embrace their heritage and plan on visiting Mexico. I believe that Hospital wants to demonstrate that Mexicans immigrants do appreciate their heritage. However the fact is that no matter where people come from they must appreciate their heritage.

St Jude Childrens Research Hospital

St Jude Childrens Research Hospital St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital is a not-for-profit hospital located in the heart of Memphis, Tennessee. It is an internationally recognized hospital that pioneered research finding cures and saving children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. It treats patients from all 50 states and around the world, without regard to ability to pay, never requiring families to pay for treatment not covered by insurance (St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, 2010). St. Jude remains the first and only pediatric cancer center designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute (St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, 2010). It is currently ranked first in Childrens Hospitals for cancer care (U.S. News and World Report, 2010). St Jude Childrens Research Hospital encompasses an extensive and impressive mission, vision, and set of values. The mission of St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital is to advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. Consistent with the vision of our founder Danny Thomas, no child is denied treatment based on race, religion, or a familys ability to pay. (St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, 2010) St. Jude has a vision to be a world leader in the treatment and prevention of catastrophic diseases in children (St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, 2010). They aim to meet this by providing exceptional patient care and extensive clinical research to better understand the catastrophic diseases of childhood, enhance outcomes of treatment, prevent diseases, minimize deleterious consequences of treatment, and educate healthcare and research professionals on such findings (St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, 2010). The overall goal of these tasks is to find a cure and enhance the quality of life for the children they treat. To reach a larger portion of the affected population, they work to expand and share this knowledge to enhance the treatment of children with catastrophic diseases worldwide, working towards a strategy for disease prevention (St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, 2010). St. Jude highly values their patients, families, and donors that enable them to act out their Mission. To adequately espouse their Mission and vision, the organization has outlined an explicit set of values and standards to guide their daily actions and decisions. To ensure adherence, ongoing training and evaluation is conducted (St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, 2010). The values include: promoting ethical behavior, providing the highest quality of medical and supportive family-centered care, respecting ethical, cultural, religious, and lifestyle differences of all those involved in the hospital, promoting wise spending of every dollar donated back to the care and research for the patients it treats, maintaining a commitment to a culture of excellence, innovation, and creativity in all that they do, having a drive and sense of urgency to succeed, being honest and accountable for actions and decisions, and cultivation of an environment of trust, teamwork, and respect (St. Jude Ch ildrens Research Hospital, 2010). St. Jude does a fantastic job adhering to their Mission, vision, and values as noted through their increased survival rate of all pediatric cancers, high quality care, repeated ranking of the number one hospital for pediatric cancer care, and meeting financial requirements of the establishment with never asking families to pay for treatments that insurance fails to cover. This last portion has remained extremely important to the hospital since first opening as most patients who enter through hospital doors have already maxed out their lifetime insurance caps and lack the funding to continue paying for the seemingly endless hospital bills (St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, 2010). To be accepted as a patient at St. Jude, a child must have a diagnosis specific to a current disease in study and be referred by physicians. The patient must be no older than 18 and generally not have received extensive treatment elsewhere. (St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, 2010). While the St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital campus is an independent health care system, their top-notch research integrates them with childrens hospitals throughout the world (St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, 2010). St. Jude conducts all research and primary studies within their campus but freely shares this research with hospitals throughout the world (St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, 2010). Because of this cooperation, there is minimal competitiveness from other facilities but rather a system that works together for the sake of the children suffering from catastrophic diseases. St. Jude is the national coordinating center for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium and the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, 2010). On top of the exceptional research and care provided for pediatric cancer, St. Jude is a leader in sickle cell disease research and has become a primary research center for influenza throughout the world (St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, 2010). St. Jude is internationally recognized for pioneering the research and treatment of pediatric patients suffering from cancer and other catastrophic diseases (St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, 2010). Because of the work St. Jude has done, research protocols have helped to push overall survival rates of childhood cancer from less than 20 percent when the hospital opened, to over 80 percent today (St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, 2010). They have treated patients from across the globe that are accepted and respected without regard to ethnicity and cultural differences (St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, 2010). St. Jude has impacted the families by providing hope to families with a grim prognosis, lack of financing, and nowhere else to turn. St. Jude is the sole pediatric cancer research center that accepts patients without regard to ability to pay. Families are never asked to pay for treatment not covered by insurance, and no child is denied treatment because of inability to pay. (St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, 2010). The American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities (ALSAC) has been the exclusive fund-raising organization of St. Jude since 1957, helping raise funds to build the establishment with founder Danny Thomas and his vision (St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, 2010). In the 2009 Fiscal Year, ALSAC raised $682 million through volunteers, corporate partners, and donors to meet the daily St. Jude operating cost of $1.5 million a day (ALSAC/St. Jude Annual Report, 2009). These operating costs include patient care services, research expenditures, education, training, and community services to accommodate staff and administration of the hospital. Patient care services include all care needed for active patie nts. This can include medical care and living expenditures for patients and families. Most patients are treated on an outpatient basis in the St. Jude clinics and are housed at one of the three housing organizations in Memphis affiliated with St. Jude (Target House, Grizzly House, Ronald McDonald House). Once remission is achieved treatment can be transferred to a doctor in the patients home community in collaboration with St. Jude protocols (ALSAC/St. Jude Annual Report, 2009). In addition to ALSAC, St. Jude has over 60 corporate partners including: Target, the NFL, The Memphis Grizzlies, Kay Jewelers, and Chilis, (St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, 2010). In addition to their corporate partners, individual donors and organizations help financially support the work of St. Jude (St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, 2010). Additional influences on St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital include the American Medical Association and American Nursing Association who serve to guide the doctors and nurses employed by the hospital. The policy and regulation of St. Jude is in accordance with research policies nationwide to ensure the safety of patients with the potential benefit of treatment outweighing the risk. The hospital adheres to set protocols in study and only deviates from them should extensive research prove the deviation to be more beneficial and scientifically supported (St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, 2010). The system at St. Jude is highly supported by having the research institute under the same roof as the patients with the scientists actively involved in the patient plan of care. In addition to these regulations, St. Jude has policies in place to prevent infection spread to patients who are immunocompromised. These include not allowing visitors under the age of 12, screening for illness prior to visiting, proper hand-washing education, and not allowing visitors who have recently received the nasal flu vaccine or oral polio vaccine within the past four weeks. These policies ensure the safet y and overall well-being of their patients (St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, 2010). The organization of St. Jude Childrens Hospital is based on the vision of founder Danny Thomas to create a hospital treating children with catastrophic diseases so no child has to die in the dawn of life (St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, 2010). In partnering with ALSAC, Danny Thomas was able to obtain funding necessary to create this hospital from the ground up and work to create an environment welcoming to all who enter. His vision included a hospital where children didnt feel threatened by care providers, where doctors and researchers ate alongside of patients, a hospital where patients were allowed to continue their childhood while battling catastrophic diseases (St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, 2010). According to Henry Mintzberg, an organization can consist of a maximum of six parts including the strategic apex (top management), the middle line (middle managers), the operating core (primary workers), the technostructure (workers who standardize and improve work), the support staff (those who work outside of the primary flow), and the ideology (beliefs, traditions, norms, values, and culture) (Value Based Management, 2010). The following diagram depicts the Mintzberg organizational structure of St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital and is explained below. (Proven Models, 2010) The strategic apex of St. Jude consists of the Boards of Directors and Governors for ALSAC-St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital. The Board is responsible for governing the organizations by establishing policies and objectives, selecting, appointing, supporting, and reviewing the performance of the Chief Executive Officers, insuring the availability of adequate financial resources, approving annual budgets and strategic planning, and accounting for the ethics, compliance, and performance of the organizations (St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, 2010). Below them St. Jude has the middle line operations consisting of the Chief Executive Officers, Senior Management Team, and the Executive Committee that directly oversee the operating core. At the heart of the hospital are the operating core of physicians, research and development team, advanced practice nurses, nurses, certified nursing assistants, child life specialists, psychologists, and families who collaborate to provide adequate family-centered care. The Support Staff of St. Jude consist of ALSAC as the primary fundraising organization, the administrative body, the environmental service employees, the cafeteria, the public relations department helping advocate for ALSAC fundraising endeavors, the Target, Grizzly, and Ronald McDonald houses and staff people, the ethical and legal committees, and volunteers who help throughout the hospital. The technostructure of St. Jude consists of the specially named Faculty and Adjunct Faculty that standardize research in collaboration with care provided to patients. It also includes the external advisory boards that help to standardize protocols and ensure they are accessible and clearly stated to be shared worldwide. St. Jude has a surprisingly large technostructure of employees who work to standardize care throughout the hospital with regard to uniqueness of each patient in the research studies. Any deviations from standardized care are backed through the research cond ucted on the St. Jude campus. Because of this, the hospital would be classified as a Machine Bureaucracy that has all components present and strong in their functioning and enactment towards the campus. The nursing role that will specifically be analyzed is the role of the Pediatric Acute Care Nurse Practitioner. Unfortunately, this role is not currently available at St. Jude Childrens Hospital and therefore no specific job description or title is available for the specific role at St. Jude. According to the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP), the Pediatric Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (PNP-AC) would function to provide direct patient care management, perform in-depth physical assessments, interpret lab and diagnostic tests, order mediations, and perform therapeutic treatments for children who are acutely, chronically, and critically ill (NAPNAP, 2005). The PNP-AC would be licensed as a registered nurse in the United States with a graduate degree in nursing through an accredited program, and certified by the Pediatric Nurse Certification Board as a Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Acute Care (PNCB, 2010). To become certified one must meet certain competencies and pass a board examination that meets the National Council of State Boards of Nursing APRN criteria (PNCB, 2010). To maintain certification, one must complete continuing education hours and/or re-certification every three to five years, or as deemed by the organization and state board of nursing (PNCB, 2010). The role of the PNP-AC would fall within the operating core of the hospital. They would work in collaboration with other Physicians and Researchers at St. Jude to create a comprehensive plan of care for the patients. This would keep everyone working towards the same goal and ensure overall patient well-being. They would also work with the nurses, nursing assistants, child life specialists, and other therapists to keep them informed of progress or hardships the patient may encounter, and help them understand the cares that need to be provided to ensure success of treatment protocols. They would also work with unit managers and nursing directors should problems or questions arise. They will be able to consult with the middle line management or technostructure personnel should questions or concerns arise. They would also work with varying support staff members for outreach, dietary consults and education-oriented tasks. This role would directly interact with patients and families throug h their everyday tasks. They may do outreach into the community, and conduct education for consumers and payers on current advances the hospital is making. They would also indirectly work with human resources and the finance department to obtain their paycheck. The role of the PNP-AC is very autonomous in impacting patient care and outcomes. They can diagnose and treat conditions, prescribe medications, obtain necessary consults and interpret results of ordered tests. They would oversee the progress of care and intervene should any alarming findings be made in response to the protocol under study. The role would be strong in the sense that they are an autonomous and an independent member of the healthcare delivery team that is capable of providing a high-level of care to patients. They have strong patient interaction skills and a comprehensive knowledge of care that should be provided by the nurses. They are best able to understand the role of the nurse and delegate appropriate tasks to other members of the healthcare team. The role weaknesses include the chance that they may not be as highly respected as physicians or physician assistants, and the lack of advanced training specifically in pathology and the physiology like physicians and ph ysician assistants often have. Overall, the role of the PNP-AC would be a highly functioning advanced practice role that can provide comprehensive and thorough care to his or her patients and work as a productive member of the healthcare delivery team.

Impact of Deforestation

Impact of Deforestation The destruction of our planets forest is one of the most important modern environmental issue today. People, 1.6 billion, are dependent on forests for their livelihoods with some 300 million living in them (Lawson). The forest industry is the basis of economic growth and employment (Boucher, Elias and Lininger). Global forest products are estimated to be worth $327 billion (Chakravarty, Ghosh and Suresh). U.S., Japanese, and European companies destroy more rain forest than other companies (Boucher, Elias and Lininger). These companies countries are rich. There is a high demand in these countries for more forest products. Their willingness to pay for rain forest products adds to the problem of deforestation. Forests cover almost a third of the earths land surface providing many environmental benefits including a major role in the hydrologic cycle, soil conservation, prevention of climate change and preservation of biodiversity (Kissinger, Herold and De Sy). The problem is that the pla net has lost 30% of its forests over the past 25 years, which is the size of South Africa (Scientific American). If the current rate of deforestation, the conversion of forest to an alternative permanent non-forested land (Chakravarty, Ghosh and Suresh), continues, forests will vanish within 100 years causing unknown effects on global climate and eliminating the majority of plant and animal species on the planet (Urquhart, Chomentowski and Skole). This is demonstrated by the change of forestland to other uses such as agriculture, infrastructure, urban development, industry and others. Deforestation began from the formation of early civilizations. The Laws of Manu is replete with passages referring to the formation of human habitat by clearing the jungle (Mahbub Uddin Ahmed). Michael Williams in his journal article, Dark ages and dark areas: global deforestation in the deep past, discuss how humans have cleared forest since man first discovered fire. Williams discusses that archaeology is showing that the clearing of the forests in Europe during the middle ages was reversed when the bubonic plague reduced the population. William describes the impact that the ancient Mayans, Inca and Aztec had on the forest of Central and South America. During the colonization of the United States and Canada, millions of Native Americans died because of the introduction of diseases letting forest reclaim their land (Williams). Even though history has seen the destruction and regrowth of forests, it has not been on the global scale we are seeing now. In fact, in the continental Unite d States, 90% of indigenous forests have been removed since 1600. In 1839, a young man named Frederick Engels wrote letters home to Germany describing what life was like in the industrializing United States at the time. He writes of the ruthless destruction of the environment and the misery that resulted on the working class (Mahbub Uddin Ahmed). Deforestation occurs in many ways. One of the first step in the process of deforestation is to clear the land for logging or mining. Usually roads are cut through forest to open the area (Steinfeld). Roads into the forest are cleared for the large equipment needed such as bulldozers, road graders and log skidders (Urquhart, Chomentowski and Skole). The area where the roads cut through may not even be in the areas designated for logging or mining, but just the clearing of trees for these roads starts the process of deforestation for the areas the roads run through. Once the roads are completed most of the forests around the logging and mining areas are lost to agriculture, the planting of crops and the pasturing of cattle (Steinfeld). Forests are also lost to poor farmers in poverty areas especially those who live by tropical rain forests (Boucher, Elias and Lininger). In a tropical rain forest, nearly all of the nutrients are found in the plants and trees, not in the ground as in a n orthern, or temperate forest. When the plants and trees are cut down to plant crops. farmers usually burn the tree trunks to release the nutrients necessary for a fertile soil (Urquhart, Chomentowski and Skole). When the rains come, they wash away most of the nutrients, leaving the soil much less fertile. In as little as 3 years, the ground is no longer capable of supporting crops (Boucher, Elias and Lininger). When the fertility of the ground decreases, farmers seek other areas to clear and plant, abandoning the nutrient-deficient soil. The area previously farmed is left to grow back to a rain forest. However, just as the crops did not grow well because of low nutrients, the forest will grow back just as slow because of poor nutrients. After the land is abandoned, the forest may take up to 50 years to grow back (Boucher, Elias and Lininger). Agriculture is estimated to be the main driver for around 80% of deforestation worldwide. Commercial agriculture has deforested around 2/3 of the forest in Latin America (Kissinger, Herold and De Sy). The findings on global patterns of destruction show that timber extraction and logging activities account for more than 70% of total deforestation in Latin America where cattle and soy are important (Scientific American). In Africa and Asia, agriculture accounts for around 1/3 of deforestation. The timber industry has played a significant role in the deforestation of Southeast Asia where logging is followed by the creation of large palm oil and pulpwood plantations. Mining, infrastructure and urban expansion are important but less prominent (Kissinger, Herold and De Sy). In Africa, the main deforestation drivers are chopping trees for firewood or making charcoal, which opens the land up to farming and livestock grazing. To get a better understanding of deforestation, we first need to examine the driving force behind it. Specifically, human beings role in deforestation. The competition is between humans and other species. This is because of a growing global population and increased demand for food and other natural resources. Many studies confirm that commercial agriculture is the largest direct driver of deforestation in most tropical countries worldwide (Scientific American). Indeed, the growth of commercial agriculture is cited as an important driver of deforestation by nearly all tropical countries (Lawson). The human impact on deforestation varies a great deal between continents. These demands are causing the loss of not only huge areas of forest but also having a major impact on the climate. Deforestation has caused other environmental problems such as increasing soil erosion, landslides, and floods. Erosion occurs a very slow rate, but because of deforestation, the rate has sped up by an estimated 10 to 40 times globally (Moutinho, Paulo and Schwartzman, Stephan). Normally, trees and plant roots slow down erosion because they hold and anchor the soil in place, which prevents its washing away. Forest also control the speed at which the rain moves through the canopy. This allows the water to trickle to the ground and absorb slowly, rather than flow over the surface and wash away the soil. Recent research suggests that about half of the precipitation that falls in a tropical rain forest is a result of its moist green canopy (Moutinho, Paulo and Schwartzman, Stephan) Deforestation of lands for agriculture and development has left large regions of the world infertile. In areas used for urban development, where the ground is covered with a layer of asphalt or concrete it is d ifficult for water to penetrate the ground and this increases the amount of runoff. . In addition, the surface runoff from urban areas is polluted with fuel, oil and other chemicals. Evaporation and evapotranspiration processes from the trees and plants return large quantities of water to the local atmosphere, promoting the formation of clouds and precipitation (Moutinho, Paulo and Schwartzman, Stephan). Scientists predict that increased rainfall intensity and quantity will lead to greater rates of erosion (Akais Okia, Clement). Rising sea levels have also increased the rate of coastal erosion, which has been increasingly problematic for low lying developed areas along the coast, such as in Florida and Hawaii (Akais Okia, Clement). Less evaporation means that more of the Suns energy is able to warm the surface, which is one of the causes heating up the atmosphere. This heating up of the atmosphere and surface of the planet is causing a global climate change that is affecting weather patterns. The warming affects wind patterns and ocean currents, and these changes alter regional weather conditions. In some regions, the weather is becoming drier, leading to droughts and wildfires. In other regions, rainfall is increasing, leading to flooding. The ice sheets surrounding the North Pole and South Pole are slowly disappearing which can also lead to flooding because of the rising ocean levels (Scientific American). Polar ice melt raises ocean levels, which threatens flooding in coastal areas. Some of the worlds smaller islands might disappear completely. According to the United Nations, up to two thousand islands in Indonesia might vanish beneath the rising ocean (United Nations). Global warming is also melting mountain glaciers. Water from the melted ice causes rivers to overflow and flood places where people and animals live. Vanishing glaciers and snow packs pose another problem too. Glaciers and snow packs provide millions of people around the world with freshwater to drink (United Nations). Without those stores of water, people will need to find other sources of fresh water. Studies also suggest that global warming is probably making hurricanes stronger (United Nations) Deforestation not only contributes to global warming because of the forests interaction with water, forests absorb and store huge amounts of CO2, carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. The loss of forests generates nearly 50 percent more greenhouse gases than the 25 percent of emissions contributed to the combustion of fossil fuels (Urquhart, Chomentowski and Skole). A plant stores huge amounts of CO2 which it uses during the process of photosynthesis. The amount of carbon dioxide in the air used to be stable (Boucher, Elias and Lininger). For more than half a million years, it held steady at about 280 parts per million (280 parts of carbon dioxide per one million parts of atmosphere) (United Nations). Since, the 1800s, it has increased by about one-third (Williams). Our modern atmosphere contains about 382 parts per million of carbon dioxide-and this level is continuing to rise (Kissinger, Herold and De Sy). Scientists have evidence to suggest that just tropical deforestation is responsi ble for about 20% of the worlds greenhouse gas emissions (Scientific American). When a tree is cut down or burned, the stored carbon is released back into the atmosphere.This growing amount of carbon dioxide is trapping more and more heat in our atmosphere. A stable amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in our atmosphere keeps Earths temperature stable (Scientific American). Deforestation releases that carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and destroys a resource that can store carbon dioxide humans produce in the future. At least half of Earths ten million species live in tropical rain forests even though tropical rain forests cover only 7% of the total dry surface of the Earth (Moutinho, Paulo and Schwartzman, Stephan). Scientists estimates indicate that up to 137 species disappear worldwide each day (United Nations). If rain forest loss continues at its current rate, up to one-third of rain forest species could go extinct by 2040 (Scientific American). That means deforestation could wipe out about one-sixth of Earths species.

Journalistic Standards in the Matt Drudge Era Essay -- Exploratory Ess

Journalistic Standards in the Matt Drudge Era Introduction Public trust is at the heart of journalism. Such trust is built upon the credibility journalistic efforts. In the past, though mistakes have been made by even the most reputable of news providers, credibility was maintained and public trust in the journalist industry was steady. However, with the Internet taking its first infant steps into the reporting world, concern is being vocalized that public trust in journalism will be damaged by mavericks, such as Matt Drudge, who, without any foundation in reporting seek to tell the entire world every little secret he can dig up. And he’s been wrong. This paper will examine the debate surrounding online journalism, including a general look at journalistic standards and an account of Matt Drudge’s activities as an Internet investigative reporter. With the pressures of staying current with technology, news services scramble to grab a piece of the Internet â€Å"pie,† but struggle to determine what the ethical standards should be and how public trust can be maintained in an environment where anyone with a computer and online capability can be a reporter. Review of Literature â€Å"Let the future begin.† These words closed Matt Drudge’s introduction during his June 2, 1998, address before the National Press Club. His topic: â€Å"Anyone with a modem can report on the world.† Times are changing and â€Å"traditional journalism† is finding it difficult to adapt. The Internet as a mass communications vehicle is challenging many accepted norms. Journalistic standards and ethics are among the most debated topics. Though Matt Drudge is certainly not the only person reporting online news in a method inconsistent with traditional st... ...99: 24. Ryan, Leslie, â€Å"In Drudge Era, Educators Make Case of J-Schools,† Electronic Media, Vol. 17 (39) 1998: 26-27. Sandberg, Jared, â€Å"Call It the Drudgegate Affair,† Newsweek, Vol. 134 (22) 1999: 50. Snyder, Beth; Kerwin, Ann Marie, â€Å"’Clintern’ Story Raises Issues for Cyberjournalism,† Advertising Age, Vol. 69 (5) 1998: 32. Stevenson, Kerry, â€Å"The Technology, Business, and Ethics of News,† International Broadcast Engineer (IBE), Oct 1999: 44. Swaine, Michael, â€Å"Error-Correcting Journalism,† Dr. Dobb’s Journal: Software Tools for the Professional Programmer, Issue 313, 2000: 152. Webster, Nancy Coltun, â€Å"Drudge Report,† Advertising Age, Vol. 69 (26) 1998: S22. Weir, David, â€Å"Web Journalism Crosses Many Traditional Lines,† Nieman Reports, Vol. 54 (4) 2000: 35-38. Wilson-Smith, Anthony, â€Å"What’s New About the Web,† Maclean’s, Vol. 113 (29) 2000: 14.

Free Oedipus the King Essays: Hamartia in Oedipus Rex :: Oedipus the King Oedipus Rex

Hamartia in Oedipus the King According to the Aristotelian characteristics of good tragedy, the tragic character should not fall due to either excessive virtue or excessive wickedness, but due to what Aristotle called hamartia. Hamartia may be interpreted as either a flaw in character or an error in judgement. Oedipus, the tragic character in Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, certainly makes several such mistakes; however, the pervasive pattern of his judgemental errors seems to indicate a basic character flaw that precipitates them. Oedipus’ character flaw is ego. This is made evident in the opening lines of the prologue when he states "Here I am myself--you all know me, the world knows my fame: I am Oedipus." (ll. 7-9) His conceit is the root cause of a number of related problems. Among these are recklessness, disrespect, and stubbornness. Oedipus displays an attitude of recklessness and disrespect throughout the play. When he makes his proclamation and no one confesses to the murder of Laius, Oedipus loses patience immediately and rushes into his curse. Later, he displays a short temper to Tiresias: "You, you scum of the earth . . . out with it, once and for all!," (ll. 381, 383) and "Enough! Such filth from him? Insufferable--what, still alive? Get out--faster, back where you came from--vanish!" (ll. 490-492) If an unwillingness to listen may be considered stubbornness, certainly Oedipus would take advice from no one who would tell him to drop the matter of his identity, among them Tiresias, the shepherd, and even Jocasta. Even after Oedipus thinks he has received a reprieve from the fate he fears when he hears that Polybus is dead, he does not have the sense to keep still. "So! Jocasta, why, why look to the Prophet’s hearth . . . all those prophesies I feared . . . they’re nothing, worthless," he says. (ll.1053-1054, 1062, 1064) To the shepherd, Oedipus certainly has no respect for the man’s age when he tortures him. Oedipus’ cruelty indeed literally squeezes his own demise out of the shepherd: "You’re a dead man if I have to ask again . . . I’m at the edge of hearing horrors, yes, but I must hear!" (ll. 1281, 1285) After his recognition and reversal, Oedipus exclaims "The hand that struck my eyes was mine, . . . I did it all myself!" (ll. 1469, 1471) He is not only referring to his self-inflicted mayhem, but also the chain of events that led to his demise.

Reaction to Raisin in the Sun/Dream Defered Essay

This poem resonated with me more so than any other so far. It starts out with a simple question about a dream that gets put off and the raisin is a metaphor for the dream or idea that is perished in the blazing sun. The writer uses such vocabulary to ignite all senses to describe the raisin as decaying, festering and stink like rotten meat. IT seems as so the dream is the source of pain for the writer and the ills that accompany the chasing of the dream are pain, anguish and torture. The use of the sun I found to be significant as the sun is the source of all life and covers the whole world and to the individual, the raisin, it causes an unbearable torment. The dream in this poem is not indicated but given the context of the writer I assumed it could be used to explain what we know to be the American Dream where a man can be happy and enjoy life in his own home away from persecution of society. I would compare that that the pain in this poem like the sores and heavy load are the day to day hardships he faces to achieve his dreams. The last line is significant as along with the other lines in the poem he poses questions but this last line is terminal. There are no more transformations the dream can do but to explode and be destroyed completely. This suggests either he gives up or the things that keep him from achieving his dreams causes him to break down and crack mentally perhaps. In â€Å"A Raisin in the Sun† we see a typical African American Family with each member having their own dreams and ideas of what they want out of life. They each chase what they believe to be a â€Å"way out† for them and take steps to get there. What keeps this family from achieving them are hardships like lack of money, lack of support and resources that perhaps non-African Americans have. The play depicted the everyday life of African Americans in a way that all cultures can understand. The resemblance to actual people Hansberry invented a situation that was realistic and could be understood by anyone who has ever wanted a better situation in life. The comparison of the poem of Langston Hughes â€Å"Dream Deferred† makes the topic and characters even more realistic. It asks the question what would happen if someone worked all their lives for a dream and was unable to achieve it. And the play shows the audience the real life events of those thoughts and questions in the poem. A Raisin in the Sun is a complicated movie with many levels of social aspects entwined. The movie shows the oppression that was occurring to African Americans at the time especially in housing exploitation. . Walter is just angry at society and wants more of life and himself. Mama and Ruth are more concerned with just getting by and providing better opportunities for the next generation by buying a house and giving it to Travis. Willy Harris steals from his own to get ahead by stealing Walter’s money for the store. Beneatha most represents a feminist who fight the system by wanting to become a doctor and gain an education and fights society’s expectations of her as a black woman. Between the play, movie and poem the ideas expressed transcend too many people and can be considered timeless. As humans we all want better situations and gain a piece of the American Pie that we perceive others to have. We recognize when we are oppressed and persecuted against and which to elevate away from them.

Five Year Strategic Plan for Move Essay

Riordan Manufacturing, Inc. has been able to make way into the global business arena with a strong footing. Riordan has established operating plants in San Jose, CA, Albany, GA, Pontiac, MI, and Hangzhou, China. In addition, the quantity of plastic fan parts manufactured in the Hangzhou plant has increased, adding significant shipping costs. This plant is currently incurring transportation and loading costs which include trucking to a harbor on the Qiantang River, loading the goods into shipping containers which are stacked onto barges bound for the Shanghai seaport. Riordan’s COO, Hugh McCauley, has envisioned a solution on how to minimize the cost of shipping which involves relocating this plant to Shanghai, China. The relocation will translate into great savings because of the advantage of using container shipping subsidiaries of the China Shipping Company, which utilize the seaport of Shanghai. Therefore, a plan has been made to complete this relocation process within the next five years. In light of this relocation strategy, the newly appointed CIO of Riordan, Maria Trinh, has come up with a list of important factors to be considered by the IT department during the entire relocation process. Those factors consist of setting up a migration committee, defining the scope of the migration process, and preparing a migration timeline. Migration Committee Setup Maria Trinh has selected several IT colleagues from Riordan’s US hubs who will travel with her to Hangzhou, China in order to finalize the make-up of the migration committee. Those individuals are: Gary Tucker (Network Administrator), Carlos Gonzales (Development Engineer), and Gilbert Lofaro (Program/Analyst). These key IT players will interview a pool of prospective candidates from the China plant in order to complete the committee. Dave Nanda has been put in charge of managing the project and will be the CIO’s liaison in China. As project manager, Dave is responsible for establishing a shared file storage area (electronic) for important files and setting up time reporting codes. In addition, Dave will plan the relocation and identify major milestones. Gary Tucker has been appointed as the IT lead; the identified migration coordinators are, Elizabeth Pyrek (Finance and Accounting Dept.), Joe Squires (Operations Dept.), Jose Guevara (Human Resources Dept.), Lonnie Godat (Transportation Dept.), and Lowell Bradford (Legal Counsel). The committee will setup a meeting with all leads, managers, and architects to develop an order of magnitude (OOM), estimate high-level time requirements, and identify hardware and software needed. Each group will work to identify additional tasks necessary to their work effort. Once the committee has been setup, Maria Trinh will come back to Riordan’s Headquarters in San Jose, CA. where she will remotely manage the entire process. She may travel to China as conditions warrant. Scope of the Migration Process In determining the scope of the migration, it is necessary to prepare a performance matrix, set expectations, identify major stakeholders, assign them their specific responsibilities through statements of work, and delineate procedural documents. The scope consists of maintaining the current business operations (business continuity), establishing the relocation timeframe, allocating human, financial, legal, and transportation resources, and defining the required space of the new location. Migration Timeline In order to carry out this migration, the requirement definitions establish a timeframe of five years starting on March 23, 2007. The same definitions also define the following phases: devise the moving plan, create the migration committee and define its scope, get an approved cost migration budget (first ninety days), acquire a leased line (T1), and implement WAN linkage between the corporate headquarters and the China hub (subsequent two hundred seventy days). Beginning the first and continuing until the third year, the following will be developed: communication logistics, surveying prospective locations in Shanghai, planning to run parallel Information Systems, planning for an IT staff recruiting process, ensuring business continuity, prioritizing the criticality of each department and Server, analyzing legal relocation issues and drafting a resolution plan, and setting the shipping logistics. From the third through the fifth year, the following must be accomplished: assessment of the new location’s infrastructure (by March 2011), staff recruiting for the Shanghai location, resolution of most legal issues, ensuring business continuity, and selection of the pilot network workgroup which will be migrated first. On the fifth year, the Shanghai location must be secured, the headcount of relocating employees must be known, and the hiring of new staff must be accomplished (by September 2011), Again, business continuity must continue, migration of the IT function must be initiated and completed (by October 2011), and IT maintenance and staff training must be accomplished. (This effort will be facilitated by Mari Carrillo, a Development Specialist) During the same period, information systems must be run in parallel (by January 2012) until the shutdown of the Hangzhou plant (by February 2012). In addition, the previously mentioned definitions include a contingency plan that encompasses the following: Crashing non-critical tasks if delays threaten to derail the project Adding qualified human resources as a last resort to avoid the project’s  failure Having qualified staff available to make substitutions if it becomes necessary Having the company’s information systems backed up daily off site Having a prospective hardware infrastructure readily available in the event that a catastrophe compels the company to restore their systems When planning the relocation of the Hangzhou, China facility, it is important to consider that the existing departments will still require the IT department’s services in order to conduct business. In fact, the IT department is more likely to see an increase in the number of calls for support during the various phases of the relocation. The potential for increased call volume could result from one or more factors such as a question related to the move, connectivity issues due to the move, or even the perception that the move has caused a problem, when it is not even related to the move. When considering the effects on the IT department’s workload, management must consider both direct and indirect causes that may increase the workload demands. Every department that will be relocating to the new facility will invariably require assistance from the IT department. The needs may be minor or significant, but if not anticipated, these â€Å"distractions† detract from the goal (to relocate) and affect the budgeted labor required for the move. In order to provide the best possible continuity of service before, during, and after the move, it is necessary to evaluate each department’s needs and the relationships between each department to provide maximum support. For the first year goals, the IT department will evaluate each supported department to determine the above factors in an effort to establish an estimated amount of labor required for each department. This survey will also help to establish the most logical path to pursue when transitioning  each department to the new location. Timing is a critical element in the transition. It may make more sense to move certain departments in phases, and other departments at one time or the â€Å"big bang† approach. For example, it may be wise to move the payroll/hr department all at once as you would want to have all the records at one location and available to that department. Since this area houses sensitive data, it would be wiser to move everything at the same time in order to more easily track and secure the data since it will be confined to one location. A final factor to consider is the very real potential for a significant turnover rate across all departments due to the new site being a considerable distance from the existing site. This high turnover rate will result in less experienced employees; these employees usually require more assistance from the IT department than seasoned employees do. A physical move may agitate business, but a robust and smooth business continuity plan should allow the business to proceed as normal with minimal disruptions. An analysis of all risks will need to be performed as well as plans to mitigate these risks should the circumstances arise. Before one can ensure a successful business continuity plan, a test must be run to work out any idiosyncrasies or items that may not have been considered. An in-depth analysis identified several immediate risks. Since the majority of the current IT personnel will be relocating to Shanghai, a plan will be in place to account for the temporary IT personnel shortage. Approximately six weeks prior to the move, the remaining staff members, from the Hangzhou office, will be known. It is estimated that 1/3 of the current staff will remain. Once this number has been finalized, hiring will occur to backfill these positions. While approximately 2/3 of the staff will be preparing for the move, the remaining 1/3 will be conducting training for the new staff. Another identified risk was equipment failure due to damage during shipping or because of improper reconfiguration. Members of the existing staff will  rotate an on-call position for the first month. This will alleviate performance problems due to configuration. If the equipment failure is due to damaged hardware, two vendors will have been pre-determined to contact for service or replacement parts. To minimize issues with equipment delivery, several confirmations with the shipping company will be completed. Portions of the hardware will be shipped separately. For example, the QA equipment will be shipped first, followed by the finance equipment, etc. Gradually moving components will allow each individualized system to stabilize itself. In order to safeguard data and information assets, two identical servers will be used. One housed in the new location will be a mirror of the original. Once it can be determined that the databases and information can be used from the mirrored server, the original will be disconnected and subsequently destroyed. One way to ensure a successful business recovery plan is to test it. While in the current location, a dry run will be performed. Throughout the week, several staged, but undisclosed failures will occur which will allow the business recovery plan to be challenged. Problems such as an unavailable database, slow response time and faulty hardware will be orchestrated to mimic the anticipated response. Once this testing is complete, department coordinators will further document ways to combat the lessons learned. When the time arrives to begin the physical move, some additional steps will be taken to ease the transition. First, the department coordinator will be migrated; the procedure changes, issues, resolutions, etc. will be documented. Second, migration activities and estimated time spent on each activity will be prepared so that users know what to expect before actual migration. Sufficient time will be allocated on each migrated employee’s calendar and expectations will be set. The actual migration will happen in stages, three groups will be identified by the department co-coordinator based on system, application, or function criticality. Less critical groups will be moved first, followed by more  critical, and thereafter by the most critical. Each employee’s backup will be identified. When an employee is moved, his backup would still be working from old location to cover for him. We will wait for at least two weeks of stable work from the employee at the new location before removing the backup employee. This will provide redundancy in case there are some issues at the new location; tasks can still be performed by the backup until those issues get resolved. Arrangements will be made with the current shipping company to accommodate our new shipping logistics. If the current shipping company is unable to do so, a replacement shipping company will be used. Each department coordinator will be assigned the task of making sure all disaster recovery documents are up-to-date and existing business recovery measures are intact prior to the move. The test exercise will bring to light any inconsistencies in these documents. Enhancements will be integrated into the existing document. The business continuity plan (BCP) is a living document which needs to be kept up-to-date to ensure its effectiveness. It should be updated at least once every quarter. Another important aspect of the BCP is auditing. It should be tested at least once every six months to ensure its validity. At anytime, there should only be one document with all of the changes and updates. â€Å"If the document is well constructed the organization should be able to use external resources that do not have intrinsic knowledge of your current network to recover your system. This can only be achieved once the BCP document has matured and it is recommended to attempt such a recovery† (Magalhaes, 2005). The IT Department’s Role During the Move The IT department must continue supporting all the departments, groups, and systems at same level as that provided prior to the move, including but not limited to the following: Application development Testing and Quality Assurance Help Desk Messaging or email Asset management (hardware and software) System Administrators, Network support System security IT Planning, Training current and new staff as needed Providing maintenance to the current and new IT infrastructure Specific Milestones for Years One, Three and Five There are 250 users at Hangzhou, China. As far as system hardware, most of the IT related systems become obsolete in five years. This is the very reason that most companies lease their hardware equipment. The assumption is being made that Riordan Manufacturing leases equipment and will have six months of parallel systems. Hence, for the duration of six months, Riordan can keep the old as well as the new systems. The company will lease the system at the new location and retire the system at the old location. This approach will save moving costs and allow a six-month period to make sure the new system is stable before retiring the old system. Running the old and new systems in parallel facilitates a back-out plan in case we have to revert to the old system in a worst-case scenario. This also helps with system availability and business continuity planning as discussed in the beginning of the migration plan. The project scope will be determined by identifying all the servers, personal computers (PCs), networking systems, and other infrastructure components  that need to be moved. The hardware inventory of the items in Hangzhou is listed below: Satellite base station, connection to HQ T1 to outside network PCs for Corp (12), Finance (8), MFG (8), MTLS(6), and QA (6) IP phones (40) 8 HP laser printers NAS Windows Servers (2) – Network, Exchange UNIX Server – ERP/ MRP IBM Blade Servers (2) UPS, Router, VOIP data router, Gateway/ switch, switches, hub Riordan will also need a temporary communication channel such as a wide area network (WAN) between Hangzhou and Shanghai during the relocation period. The following are the specific milestones for years one, three and five of the migration plan. Year One An IT budget will be developed for the five year migration plan by engaging all department heads, their leads and architects so that an estimation of the required effort can be accomplished. The IT infrastructure group will be responsible to make sure server and network equipment transitions are as smooth as possible. Estimated hours from each department as well as from the  infrastructure group will be used to determine the estimated costs in man-hours. The cost of moving the hardware, software, and other equipment will also be estimated. Total costs will be presented to management for approval so that work can be started. In this phase, IT personnel will be recruited and hired, or transferred as needed. In Shanghai, the WAN connection to HQ will be implemented. In addition, a T1 to the outside network and a temporary WAN connection to Hangzhou will be established for duration of the migration effort. Network equipment will be leased and a new WAN connection contract will be negotiated with a vendor. During this phase, risk logs and issue logs will be maintained and security concerns and issues will be evaluated. Also, a work breakdown structure will be developed to establish tasks which need to be accomplished to successfully complete the relocation. Year Three Time lines to move, setup, test the equipment, and engage the stakeholders at appropriate time will be developed. The time line will be shared with management and discussed in monthly meetings; monthly meeting minutes including the summary of items completed, list of items targeted next, and any issues encountered will be provided. A six-month period will be used to make sure the new system is stable and the old system can be retired. Year Five Migration of the â€Å"most† critical systems as well as miscellaneous and residual systems will occur during this phase. New IT personnel will also be recruited and hired during this time. Legal constraints will be resolved and business continuity will be ensured as discussed in the beginning of the migration plan. As discussed previously, a six-month time frame will be used to ensure the new system is stable in the new location and no one is using the old system.