Autocratic Style Of Leadership Education Essay

Leadership is the procedure of act uponing others to work volitionally towards an organisations end and to their best of their capablenesss. The kernel of Leadership is followership. In other words, it is the willingness of people to follow that makes a individual a Leader. It is of import to the success of any group, although the nature and manner of Leadership needed in one status may differ well from that needed in another. Leadership is important in actuating and animating the work force. Some of the Leadership manners chosen are Autocratic, Democratic, Laissez-Faire and Paternalistic.2.2.1 Autocratic manner of LeadershipAutocratic manner is besides known as the autocratic manner of Leadership. In such a manner, determination devising is centralized in the manus of the Leader himself, who does non promote engagement by subsidiaries. Indeed subordinates thoughts might be actively discourage and obeisance to orders would be expected from them. Wise leaders maintain the usage of bos sy methods to a lower limit as they know this attack closes the door to communications with the group they control ( Norman, S and Vigor, H 1991 ) . This manner of Leadership can be used at school particularly when the Administrators do non anticipate any feedback or justification ; that is one manner communicating is used. This can be used for illustration in a formal meeting with the Educator.2.2.2 Democratic manner of LeadershipUnder this manner, leaders consult the group and beg their sentiment and engagement in determination devising procedure ( Sheikh 1999, p.145 ) . The democratic manner of Leadership is more appropriate in about all state of affairss in the school. Covering with people is the most ambitious undertaking to be done. Thus Administrators can follow this manner to obtain feedback of pupils and besides welcome suggestion for the best of the pupil. In the category the Educator can follow this manner to be certain that everyone has good understood the category deliv ered to them. In this manner Educator will cognize whether they have succeeded in their undertaking or non.2.2.3 Individualistic manner of LeadershipThe individualistic manner is besides known as the free rein manner of Leadership. This manner may work efficaciously when the subsidiaries are extremely competent, able to exert self-denial and can hold the capacity to take determination ( Sheikh 1999, p.146 ) . Individualistic manner can be used when there is any event which is organized. The function of the Educator is to put their mark and leave the pupil on their ain to finish the work. Bing motivated in an event the pupil will probably to execute good in doing the readyings.2.2.4 Paternalistic manner of LeadershipThe paternalistic Style of Leadership can be helpful if it used at school. The Educator already acts as a â€Å" Father † or â€Å" Mother † for the pupil. Some pupil is even more at easiness to discourse any issue with their Educator alternatively of their ain parents. This is due to the fact that about all parents work today and the pupil find merely the Educator to whom they can show their positions, feelings and sentiments. The Administrators can besides follow this manner with the Staff of the school. This will promote the Educator to work more assurance. Knowing that they are trusted, the Educator will be more motivated to work and will therefore give their best in their work.2.3 Administrator as an effectual LeaderLeadership is portion of good direction. A Manager with a acute sense of concern and an first-class cognition of planning, commanding and forming must be a strong Leader, although if his cognition is to be of any usage. The Manager seeks to see a Leader, it is of import that he understands the qualities, attitudes, behaviour and other ingredients that contribute to Leadership. Leadership is a procedure by which a individual influences others to carry through an nonsubjective and directs the organisation in a manner that makes it more cohesive and coherent. Harmonizing to Northouse ‘s ( 2010 ) Leadership is a procedure whereby an single influences a group of persons to accomplish a common end. In this position the Administrators needs to work together with the Staff in order to accomplish the purpose and aim of the school. The common end of Administrator and Educator for the school should be the success of pupils in their instruction. Peretomode ( 1991 quoted by Sharma, S 2011 ) stated that the importance of Leadership in school for achievement of school plans, aims and attainment of educational ends. Without a proper school Leadership the purpose of doing larning a success will non be possible. The administrative competences can be measured from assorted dimensions ; from the perceptual experiences of pupils, Educators, parents, communities the instruction and non-Teaching-Staff.2.3.1 Poor LeadershipIf a Manager has hapless leading accomplishments, his subsidiaries will still make the occupation but in an inefficient manner. A hapless Leader will frequently neglect to win over his staff and will hold jobs in pass oning with the Staff efficaciously. A Leader demand to hold a certain upbringing, instruction and a â€Å" chopper † factor significance that he should hold the ability to lift above a peculiar state of affairs and to analyse it objectively.2.3.2 Can Leadership be taught?Peter Drucker ( 1954 quote d by D'Alessio F.A 2006 ) presented a sound outline: â€Å" Leadership is of extreme importance. Indeed there is no replacement for it. But Leadership can non be created or promoted. It can non be taught or learned. † Nowadays positions differ on this issue. History has legion ordinary people who after holding studied become great Leaderships for illustration Mahatma Gandhi. This is a ground why there is a great support on the positions that Leader can be trained to follow the cardinal property of good Leadership. Peoples can go good Leader through acquisition and preparation. How can Leader be born in this grim universe of today, where everything alterations every twenty-four hours? It is more productive to get down with the premise that it is possible for everyone to take. Everyone is a Leader in his ain and in whatever he does because each one has his ain manner of sing and making things. â€Å" Leadership and larning are indispensable to each other † . ( John F. Ke nnedy )2.3.3 Culture and LeaderThe clime is the feel of the organisation, the person and shared perceptual experiences and attitudes of the organisation ‘s members ( Ivancevich, Konopaske, Matteson, 2007 cited by UK essay. Case Study of Opito Organizational Management And Leadership. ) . The clime represents the beliefs about how the Staff feels at school. If the Staff is at easiness with the manner the school maps along with the manner of Leadership being adopted, this will finally take to Motivation of Staff. The pupils and the Staff of a school spend most of their clip in the school premises. Thus the clime should be adaptable to the pupils every bit good as the Staff for larning procedure to be successful. The ambiance should be enrapturing.2.4 Educator as a LeaderIn category the Educator is the exclusive Leader. The Educator needs to be able to set up a positive civilization and environment in order to do the instruction of the category becomes successful. As reported by Koutsoulis ( 2003, cited by Krishnaveni. R and Anitha. J. , 2007 ) , pupils demand a humanistic attack, effectual communicating accomplishments of the instructor, better apprehension towards them, every bit good as ability to command the schoolroom. Educator need to hold good attitudes, communicating accomplishments, persuasive attitude and should be able to switch from a friendly attack to a more terrible attack as and when required. †It is the supreme art of the Educator to rouse joy in originative look and cognition † ( Albert Einstein, scientist ) . Educator need to supervise and measure each pupil ‘s public presentation to cognize what can be done for a better betterment. Every Educator has legion chances to act upon the environment in which he or she works. A research by Muijs ( 2003 cited by Chen 2007 ) said Leadership means the capacity for Educators to exert Leadership for learning and larning within and beyond the schoolroom. Each Educator should come to cognize the pupils profoundly and to understand their backgrounds, their involvements, their penchants in acquisition, and their household configurations. Furthermore Administrators need to give Educators chances to execute professionally so that they can comprehend their functions as of import. Educators need to be emotionally strong in covering with pupils. Educators should anticipate different attack as pupils are from different background. Bing A-Level pupils, they do non hold the adulthood yet to make up one's mind of whether they are right or incorrect in their actions or in what they say.2.5 Instructional LeaderEffective Instructional Leaderships are intensely involved in curricular and in structional issues that straight affect pupil accomplishment ( Cotton, 2003 cited by Reading First Notebook ) . Leaderships can non pretermit other responsibilities, learning and larning should be the country where most of the Leaders ‘ scheduled clip is allocated. Instructional Leadership requires Administrators to liberate themselves of bureaucratic undertakings and concentrate their attempts on bettering instruction and acquisition. Instructional betterment is an of import end, a end worth seeking, and a end that, when implemented, allows both pupils and Educators to do a more meaningful learning environment. Blase and Blase ( 2000 quoted by Phillips J.A ) cite specific behaviours of Instructional Leadership, such as doing suggestions, giving feedback, patterning effectual direction, beging sentiments, back uping coaction, supplying professional development chances, and giving congratulations for effectual instruction. Instructional is more at the administrative degree. In short, Instructional Leaderships are those actions that a chief takes, or delegates to others, to advance growing in pupil acquisition ( Flath, 1989 quoted by Phillips J.A ) . The principal must possess certain accomplishments to transport out the undertakings of an Instructional Leader: interpersonal accomplishments ; be aftering accomplishments ; instructional observation accomplishments ; and research and rating accomplishments ( Lashway, 2002 quoted by Phillips J.A ) . There should be a good relation between the Administrators and the pupils. Instructional Leaderships need to cognize what is traveling on in the schoolroom. Without this cognition, they are unable to appreciate some of the jobs Educators and pupils brush. The Administrators need to follow up the undertaking of Educators by inquiring inquiries, sing schoolrooms, and reexamining subsequent informations to vouch instructional alterations are happening and advancement is being made. Furthermore, with the turning imp ortance of engineering in schools, Administrators besides need to be equipped with the cognition of engineering integrating in instruction and acquisition. In add-on to that they are responsible for guaranting that the Educators receive the counsel they require.2.6 Transformational LeadershipTransformational Leadership is a procedure that alterations and transforms persons ( Northouse, 2001 quoted by Almansour, Y.M. , 2012, p.162 ) . This means that Transformational Leadership is the ability to acquire people to alter, to better, and to be led. If the Rector and Deputy Rector are Transformational Leaders the Educators will be more divine to work. Harmonizing to Carlson ( 1996 cited by Ibrahim A.S & A ; Al-Taneji, S. , 2012, p43 ) , Transformational Leader entails traveling people to a common vision by constructing trust and authorization. With this trust and authorization Educators will be more motivated to work in the involvement of the pupil, which is giving them a better learning civilization. Educators can therefore convey in their ain invention in the manner they deliver the acquisition method in the category. This can be done through the usage of power point presentation, relevant stuffs such as articles, books, press releases, magazines, newspaper and even the usage of image, drawings and exposure when it is possible to make so. By coming in category and merely reading throughout the whole category will ne'er be a benefit to the pupil and the Educator will non even be able to hold on the full attending of pupil in this manner of educating. Thus the disposal should concentrate on offering engineering installations for the Educator to be able to go more advanced. Bass ( 1990 quoted by Rollinson D. , 2005, p.377 ) Transformational leader requires the leader to hold a vision of what needs to be done to get by with the state of affairs, the ability to pass on this vision to followings and the capableness to energies or animate them to alter their current manner of making things. As articulated by Bass ( 1985 cited by Ibrahim A.S & A ; Al-Taneji, S. , 2012, p43 ) , four factors characterize the behaviour of Transformational Leader and they are: Figure 3: Behavior of Transformational Leaderships Individual Consideration is more about Leader giving support, taking attention, understanding and gives encouragement to others. This will profit the Educator if the administrative adopt such attitude. Intellectual Stimulation is to promote being more advanced and originative. The Leader of the school can therefore advance critical thought and job resolution for the Educator to make their work more expeditiously. Inspirational Motivation is that Leader motivated their followings to make the vision set. Thus the Rector and Deputy Rector need to actuate the Educator for larning procedure to be promoted. In this factor Leader has high outlook on the followings. Idealized Influence is a Leader who is an model function theoretical account. By being a function theoretical account for the Teaching-Staff, the Administrators will be trusted and respected in the determination devising.2.7 MotivationHaving a extremely motivated Staff it is the pupil who will profit more about this. The Educator will non waver to give their best when they are motivated. Without Motivation pupil will non be willing to larn and they will happen it tiring. It is of import that the Educator makes acquisition interested for the pupil to be motivated. Educators on their side demand to be motivated to go better Educators. Last but non the least the Administrators need to guarantee themselves that the school keeps on bettering. Participative Administrators require a civilization and manner that are unfastened and flexible to be able to react to the demands and endowments of single Staff. Frankincense Leaderships need to maintain Educators motivated for the Educators to actu ate the pupil to larn. This shows that there is a rhythm on the Motivation at different degree of the hierarchy in on order to do learning procedure easier. This rhythm of Motivation is illustrated below. Figure 4: Cycle of Motivation2.8 Types of MotivationMotivation at plants operates in two ways: the Intrinsic Motivation and Extrinsic Motivation. Intrinsic Motivation is more about the motive that comes within an single and Extrinsic Motivation is about factor which comes from outside an single. Extrinsic motive is easier to understand ; it consists of desire for a touchable wages. Harmonizing to Armstrong ( 1996 p. 299 ) Intrinsic Motivation is when people can actuate themselves by seeking, happening and transporting out work ( or being given work ) which satisfies their demands or at least leads them to anticipate that their ends will be achieved. Furthermore Armstrong ( 2002 p.56 ) elaborated that the Intrinsic Motivation factors include duty ( experiencing that the work is of import and holding control over one ‘s resources ) , freedom to move, range to utilize develop accomplishments and abilities, interesting and disputing work, and chances for promotion and growing. When a staff is per se motivated they will experience an involvement and will bask their work. Educators which are deciding in his work will probably present good instruction to the pupils. The intrinsic incentives, which are concerned with ‘quality of working life ‘ ( a phrase and motion which emerged from this construct ) , are likely to hold a deeper and long-run conseque nce because they are built-in in persons and non imposed from outside ( Armstrong 1996 p. 299 ) . Extrinsic Motivation is when people can be motivated by direction through such methods as wage, publicity and congratulations ( Armstrong 2002 p.56 ) . Extrinsic Motivation includes wagess, such as increased wage, congratulations or publicity and penalties such as disciplinary action with keeping wage or unfavorable judgment ( Armstrong 1996 p. 299 ) . Whenever an Educator has excelled in his undertaking he needs to be appraised by the Administrators. This will convey more motive when an Educator is rewarded when the latter has work good and with this the 4th demand harmonizing to Maslow Hierarchy of demands will be achieved that is the Esteem needs which include accomplishment, position and acknowledgment. Extrinsic Motivation has an impact on single in a short term period merely. However Administrators need to concentrate more on the intrinsic motive of Educator in order for the Educator to stay motivated on a longer clip footing.2.9 Approachs to Motivation2.9.1 Behavioral ApproachBehaviorism is chiefly concerned with discernible behaviour, as opposed to internal events like thought and emotion ( McLeod, S 2007 ) . Behavioral is to detect any alterations in the behaviour. The Rector can follow this attack specially after giving direction or guideline to the Educator for a better acquisition procedure of the pupil. Harmonizing to Armstrong ( 2002 p. 57 ) behaviourists are interested merely in the external factors that straight influence behaviour and they believe that larning takes topographic point chiefly through the procedures of positive and negative support. The conceptualisation of larning utilizing this attack could be considered â€Å" superficial † as the focal point is on external alterations in behaviour that is non interested in the internal procedures of larning taking to behavior alteration and has no topographic point for the emotions involved the procedure ( Wikipedia ) .2.9.2 Humanist ApproachThis attack focuses on acknowledging human capablenesss in countries such as creativeness, personal growing and pick ( Memiah Ltd, 2012 ) . This attack sees the positive nature of homo being which allows one ‘s fulfilment and potency. The highest round on Abraham Maslow ‘s ladder of human motivations is the demand for self-actualization of people which consist of: Awareness and credence of themselves, openness and spontaneousness, the ability to bask work and see work as a mission to carry through, the ability to develop close friendly relationships without being overly dependant on other people, a good sense of wit and the inclination to hold peak experiences that are spiritually or emotionally hearty. ( Spark Notes LLC 2012 ) .2.9.3 Cogn itive ApproachThe cognitive attack organisations accelerate the acquisition that takes topographic point by developing their apprehension of larning and by taking stairss which expedite the procedure ( Boolaky M and Gokhool D. , 2011 p.82 ) . Cognitive theory can be more utile to director that needs theory because it provides more realistic counsel on motive techniques ( Armstrong 2002 ) . Harmonizing to Cole ( 1998 cited by Boolaky M and Gokhool D. , 2011 p.82 ) the cognitive attack is doing sense of issues and state of affairss, of developing insight and understanding and of seeing forms in their environment. Educator following this attack can assist more in decision-making. With a better understanding Educator is likely to take the right determination at the right clip.2.10 Importance of Educators ‘ MotivationThe Educators ‘ Motivation is a key for effectual acquisition to take topographic point. One facet of motive, likely the hardest to alter, lies in the personalit y of the instructor ( Eggleton P.J ) . The chief aim of the school is the success of the pupil and for this aim to be met Educator need to be motivated to supply an efficient acquisition procedure to the pupil. To be able to learn the pupil Educator demand to possess a good cognition. Furthermore, to keep a category good Educator need to utilize some humoristic attack in order to hike up the motive on pupil and the Educator in return will besides be motivated to work. Besides, when Educators are motivated they will convey in personal technique to heighten pupil larning such as engineerings as the Educator has a great impact on the scholars. We frequently see pupils ‘ motive reflected in personal investing and in cognitive, emotional, and behavioural battle in school activities ( Fredricks, Blumenfeld, & A ; Paris, 2004 ; Maehr & A ; Meyer, 2004 ; Reeve, 2006 cited by Ormrod 2008 ) .2.11 Factors act uponing Educators ‘ MotivationThere are several factors that can act upon the Educators ‘ Motivation which are: A good environment demands to predominate in the school. The school needs to possess the needed equipment and stuffs so that the Educator can let the category to work efficaciously. Recognition and feedback of Educators when they put in excess attempt for their pupil. Educators know that they will hold support in times of trouble. Administrators need to affect Educator in determination devising. Staff ‘s sharing of thoughts is encouraged by the Administrators. Staff turnover: A low staff turnover will intend that Educator is happy with his work. Encourage Educator to take portion in extra-curricular activities. A sense of trust worthy reins amongst the Educators.2.12 DecisionBased on the expressions of the theoreticians, Leadership and Motivation were viewed in different angle. This will finally assist in the analysis portion of the survey to place what can be done to increase the Motivation degree at ICC-FVI.

Project Sustainability

Executive summary This module is not a detailed study of all aspects of sustainability. The goal of this module is a general introduction into sustainability with a focus on the impact and the effect on projects  © University of Southern Queensland 2 MGT8021 – Project sustainability management throughout their life span. With this knowledge it should be possible for you to identify, understand and address the key issues related to definition and delivery of projects that adhere to current concepts of sustainability, and how to plan for the sustainment of those projects throughout their life span.The concept of sustainability is explored in terms of consumption of resources – this can apply to inputs that are required to the project ‘system’ in order to deliver the project outcomes, the processes by which the project is managed, and the nature of the outputs and their need for resources throughout their useful life span. A range of project sectors is consi dered in order to understand the different implications for each sector. Also, it must be remembered that sustainability works inside of a closed loop system.In all of your deliberations about sustainability and project management you must remember the need to maintain a systems approach. 1. 1 Sustainability issues in a project environment Sustainability is a term that evokes emotion in people about certain events or practices that affect our long term survival of ourselves and all other aspects of our planet. We need to be able to work through this emotion and focus on what is important in an objective and reflective way. By their very nature projects use and affect many resources throughout the life of the project.Some of these resources are consumed or adversely affected by the project. For example, if there was a project to build a new major airport, there would be many issues to consider, and the issue is can their resolution be sustained for the life of the airport? So, the qu estion we need to ask when addressing the project is ‘Can this project be sustained and for how long? ’ The resources required to sustain the project may be physical (natural resources) or they might simply be people (human resources). They could also include local resources as well as imported resources.As a result there are many dimensions of sustainability to consider in a project environment. In 1983 the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) convened under Gro Harlem Brundtland a commission to address the growing concern about the accelerating deterioration of the human environment and natural resources and the consequences of that deterioration for economic and social development. This became known as the Brundtland Commission. The Brundtland Commission defined sustainable development in its 1987 Report titled Our Common Future as:Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the abil ity of future generations to meet their own needs (World Commission on Environment and Development 1987) A full copy of the report is available at http://www. un-documents. net/wced-ocf. htm There are other definitions but this one is often used as the baseline definition. The question that needs to be proactively addressed as we look at the resources required to construct and sustain a project, ‘will it be possible to sustain current and future resources? ’ There are two aspects of sustainability to a project.In the design and construction phases of the project, resources of all kinds are consumed. Similarly, during its operational life there is a need to  © University of Southern Queensland MGT8021 – Project sustainability management 3 provide resources so that the project can continue to operate profitably and efficiently throughout its life. This through life provision of resources is also known as the sustainment phase. This term is used by Defence, but it is also being used in the wider commercial areas. Blanchard (p. 350) provides a short description about sustaining system maintenance and support functions.But, to sustain these functions requires a capability to provide the range and depth of services for the expected life of the project, including extensions. We often think of project life in terms of years, but, more than likely, it will be decades or in the case of dams, centuries. So, it is important in terms of the project to understand the life of the project as well as the sustaining events for it. When dealing with terms that can have meanings depending upon the context of the situation as well as the potential for emotion, it is important to have a sound base on which to use the word, and to be able to defend its usage.A search of the Oxford English Dictionary shows that sustainability first appeared in the mid-1960s in a form that is consistent with contemporary usage. Its usage in the context of sustainable development is first referenced in 1972. So, it is a relatively new word. The On-Line Oxford English Dictionary defines sustainable development as follows: sustainable development n. (a) Econ. economic development which can be sustained in the long term; (b) Ecol. utilization and development of natural resources in ways which are compatible with the maintenance of these resources, and with the conservation of the environment, for future generations.When developing a project it is necessary to be able to determine the current and future needs of the project and the ability of the providers of the future to meet those needs. To carry out the sustainment work of maintenance will require facilities and workshops of different sources. Although these are technical designs, they are controlled by other factors such as planning laws. Therefore, to start developing a definition for sustainability we need to start by considering the wider meaning of sustainable development. Reading activity 1. 1 Selected reading 1. is the Sustainable Development Guidelines for the Brisbane City Council which is a large local government body in Queensland Australia (Brisbane City Council 2005). This reading will provide more indepth detail about sustainable development as required by a local government authority. On completion of this reading, carry out research to find out what your local government authority requires in terms of sustainable development. Compare the two approaches. Selected reading 1. 2 is a paper based on the work done by the Western Australia government on sustainability (Hartz-Karp & Newman 2006).Governments at all levels have an interest in sustainable development, and this paper describes the issues in setting up a sustainability program from first principles. After completing these readings, reflect on the wider issues of sustainability and the sustaining outcomes described by Blanchard. Can you identify the links between the different needs?  © University of Southern Queen sland 4 MGT8021 – Project sustainability management 1. 2 Reporting sustainability Given the diverse industries involved in projects, it would be difficult to have comparative and transparent reporting without some form of consistent process.This is achieved though the Global Reporting Initiativeâ„ ¢ (GRI) (Global Reporting Initiative 2008). The GRI is the world de facto standard on sustainability reporting. This is achieved though a set of guidelines, currently known as the G3. The purpose of these guidelines is for organizations to report their social, economic and environmental performance as routinely and with the same discipline as the financial reports. Many organizations routinely report on their sustainability credentials using the GRI G3 guidelines as the reporting standard.Reading activity 1. 2 Log onto www. globalreporting. org and familiarize yourself with the general content of the site. Read the G3 Guidelines to appreciate the range and depth of issues address ed in sustainability reporting. As can be seen from the G3 Guidelines, reporting imposes a significant workload on an organization. Also, as this is an important communication document for the organization, some industries can expect to have their sustainability report critically evaluated by groups within the community. Reading activity 1. 3Log onto websites for large organizations such as those suggested below and do internal searches for sustainability. Read these approaches and reports and see the extent to which this work is done. Now, if you were on a project within an organization such as this, with these reporting requirements, how would you approach this work? ? BHP Billiton at www. bhpbilliton. com ? Rio Tinto at www. riotinto. com ? Hydro Tasmania at www. hydro. com. au 1. 3 Sustainability impacts on management of projects Projects do not occur in a vacuum. They occur in a business environment that is closely monitored by many people.Many of these people have no direct in volvement on the project, but they are interested in it because of the way it could affect their lifestyle or the natural environment in some way. Traditionally, we talk about the shareholders of a project. Increasingly, business is being forced to consider Triple Bottom line (TBL) reporting. In this paradigm, shareholders are replaced by stakeholders. From a project management approach it is now necessary to make sure that a broader range of stakeholders than just shareholders is clearly identified. It is now  © University of Southern QueenslandMGT8021 – Project sustainability management 5 necessary to address the needs of stakeholders other than just shareholders, and these could be competing interests. Reading activity 1. 4 Read selected reading 1. 3 on sustainability in business (Dorf 2001). Consider the added requirements that emerging sustainability issues are placing on business. How do these issues get included in the overall budget for a project? As a project has a future life, it is not good enough to reinvent the past. It is necessary that you be able to consider future issues.These may be unclear early in the life of a project; but, you need to attempt to develop some idea of what sustainability issues will impact the future of the project. For example, a project might be a suburban rail system with an expected life of 40 years. How do you plan for appropriately trained people to maintain the system over the 40 years? One of the most critical aspects of through life project sustainability is obsolescence. The obsolescence could be in the form of parts, tools, facilities, or skills. At a higher level, obsolescence could be due to the technology or societal factors.An example is the demise of society’s acceptance of coal-fired power stations over the last few years. Obsolescence management is an important aspect of project management sustainability and requires good skills in understanding technology from all aspects. You need to be a ble to anticipate the changes that are likely to happen. This anticipation will usually rely upon reading about relevant and complementary topics as well as seeking specialized opinions. The reference list includes books that provide approaches to future issues and problems.Even though it may seem unrealistic at this time, carefully crafted future thinking may position your project far ahead of anything else at that time. The book Cradle to Cradle (McDonough & Braumgart 2002) is a good example of addressing the challenges we need to address. In the classic through-life approach we talk about ‘cradle to the grave’ to reflect that at the end of its useful life, equipment is disposed of in some way. In the ‘cradle to cradle’ concept the emphasis is on designing products and their packaging so that at the end of useful life they are regenerated, rather than just discarded thoughtlessly.Remaining Useful Life (RUL) is one of the measures of performance that is of ten used to asses an asset. This is usually calculated on classical economic bases to get the most profitable life out of an asset. However, it may be that other criteria included in the G3 or Triple Bottom Line reporting are the drivers of the Remaining Useful Life of the project. When considering the sustainability impact on projects it is necessary to take a systems view and think proactively about the through-life sustainability issues of a project.Just because the issue seems unrealistic at this time, does not mean that it could not turn into a significant problem to resolve in the future. That is, significant management problems may be created for the future.  © University of Southern Queensland 6 MGT8021 – Project sustainability management 1. 4 Sustainability considerations for project sectors In a practical sense, sustainability issues are driven by Environmental Impact Statements. There are two broad considerations: statutory and voluntary.In some projects (such as mining) there is a statutory requirement to perform an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and publish the findings in an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Don’t get caught up in the actual terms, as there is little consensus on what constitutes an EIA or an EIA. In most cases, it will be decided by the circumstances of the project. On other projects there may not be any statutory requirement; however, given the attitude of the community towards major projects, there may be a need for voluntary consideration of the issues addressed in Environmental Impact Statement requirements.It is not possible to identify all considerations for all sectors and table 1. 1 provides a summary of the key general considerations to be addressed. Table 1. 1: Environmental considerations by project sector Sector Considerations Aviation Air worthiness, passenger comfort, passenger safety, reputation Property Physical appearance, occupant safety, public safety Engineering Design strength, mai ntenance, maintenance support, integrity Infrastructure Service provision, public safety, extremely long life Software Media, programming skills, configuration, documentationQuite often there are numerous regulations that prescribe the issues to be considered for sustainability. This is achieved through environmental investigations into a particular project. The Wyaralong Dam is a new project to build a dam near Beaudesert, south of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. This project requires an Environmental Impact Statement, the details of which are available at: http://www. deedi. qld. gov. au/cg/wyaralong-dam-project. html Log onto the URL above and skim through the scope of considerations for such a project. Now, log onto the URL below for a fact sheet on environmental impact statements: http://www. pa. qld. gov. au/register/p00320aa. pdf While at this site navigate to the various links to obtain a wider perspective of the considerations of the environmental impact statements. Focu s on the first three elements of this fact sheet.  © University of Southern Queensland MGT8021 – Project sustainability management 7 ? assess the potential adverse and beneficial environmental, economic, and social impacts of the project; ? provide information to the public about the project and its impacts; ? obtain input from the community and stakeholders about the project, its impacts and management;These three elements address the core considerations that need to be addressed to demonstrate the sustainability of the project. Although there are many elements listed in the fact sheet, it is realistic to assume that if these three elements are not done correctly the project will find progress difficult for a number of reasons not associated with the technical aspects of the project. A significant issue that faces global organizations is to ensure that the sustainability considerations for projects that are legal in one jurisdiction are not illegal in another jurisdiction. Many larger organizations have Codes of Practice or Codes of Conduct to assure an independent legal authority that the integrity of their processes is compliant. Assuring project sustainability in your sector may fall into this realm of compliance reporting. You will need to find out to ensure that this matter is addressed otherwise it poses a significant legal and financial risk to the organization. That is, how do the governance responsibilities and accountabilities drive the requirements for sustainability considerations in your sector?To consolidate your understanding of sustainability considerations you should explore the statutory and voluntary considerations for project sustainability in your local area. 1. 5 Draft a sustainability model for a project A model is the description of reality. However, as many different people will have a diverse perception of reality, it is often difficult in a consensus environment developing a model. The risk adverse approach is to adopt a mod el developed by another group and adapt or adopt it for the group’s purpose. Sometimes this will work and sometimes it will not.Even with these difficulties it is still beneficial to consider the elements of a sustainability model. Reading activity 1. 5 Selected reading 1. 4 is a report on a national sustainability initiative. Sustainability models can take many forms and have different starting points, and an example of this is the Australian National Sustainability Initiative (ANSI) (Australian National Biocentre Inc. 2004). Look at the cover photo. It shows the interface between urban and un-developed land, with a creek as the boundary. If you look at the creek you will notice that it is a series of water holes.Now, count how many swimming pools are located in the adjoining private residences. Can our water courses sustain private swimming pools? Read through this initiative and form your own views about whether this document offers a baseline as a suitable model for susta inability? If it does: how and why; if it does not: how and why not?  © University of Southern Queensland 8 MGT8021 – Project sustainability management The basic model for sustainability is based on the balance between economics, ecology and society. Dorf (2001) paragraph 2. 3 addresses this triple bottom line approach.Figure 1. 1 provides an approach to a general model for sustainability. Figure 1. 1: The interdependence of economics, ecology and society (Source: Dorf 2001, p. 43) In this model the three elements of triple bottom line accounting are divided into four main groups of corporation, cultural values, community, and person. These groups are further subdivided into twelve components to be considered. In your current or future experience you will come across models with more than 100 components. Dorf (2001, p. 51) lists ten principles of sustainable business practices.There practices were developed by the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economics (CERES). In these examples from Dorf we see approaches to models based on a relatively few components. In drafting a model it is suggested that you work with 10–12 components to keep it understandable. If there are too many components it will be difficult to maintain comprehension of what is being modeled and this will make it difficult to communicate your model. Key aspects will get lost in the minutia of the detail. The twelve points proposed in figure1. are analogous to the standard twelve points of the compass, and this makes it easy to present to a wider audience. Other approaches to a model include the G3 reporting framework (Global Reporting Initiative 2008). The G3 describes how sustainability should be reported and this makes it a model in its own right. But this is a very detailed approach and is probably better approached through a more general higher model such as in Figure 1. 1. When drafting a sustainability model it is necessary to collect as many approaches to a model as is possible and to make them as inclusive as possible.The key issue is to be able to find the balance for your project that is accepted by the wider stakeholders, and does not trivialize important issues. This might mean that you have to research many aspects of the project, other than its technical components in order to draft a good model. In the supplementary reading list are several titles that provide a range of views to consider when developing project management strategies and plans.  © University of Southern Queensland MGT8021 – Project sustainability management 9 In this module we look at sustainability as a separate issue.However, it must be seen as part of the quality management system of an organization. ISO9000 is a set of standards for quality management maintained by the International Organization for Standardization , and proposes figure 2. 1 as a model for the delivery of quality within an organization. Sustainability is part of the quality system and s hould not be treated separately from it or exclude it. In this context, the quality system should also include project management standards such as those in the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) (Project Management Institute 2004).Thus, the key drivers in the project are addressed through the one paradigm of quality. Figure 1. 2: Model of a process-based quality management system (Source: ISO9000 2006, p. 3) In the quality diagram shown in figure 1. 2, the various stakeholders are clearly identified as input customers who are imposing requirements on the system. In the product realization phase, (the project) the requirements come to life and treated as part of the continuously improving aspects of the quality management systems. For those who use Six Sigma processes in their organization, the same link is made.A model for sustainability should not be seen as a separate model, but inclusive of and derived for and from the quality management system. All of the sustainability issues and considerations that we have addressed can be addressed within the quality management system model. This is probably the most powerful model to represent the commitment of the organization to sustainability. Conclusions Projects are an important mechanism to deliver the goods and services of all types that we require for living. This also includes the delivery of goods and services in the aid of others or natural disasters. University of Southern Queensland 10 MGT8021 – Project sustainability management Projects do not exist in a vacuum and impact on all aspects of society, economy and resources. This is represented by the triple bottom line approach to accounting, and this puts projects beyond the classic economic theory decision processes. There is increasing pressure on organizations to deliver projects that are more than simply good profit to the shareholders. The current and increasing requirement emphasizes the need to ensure that the project a lso brings benefits to society as a whole.To be able to consider this wider systems approach, it is necessary to proactively adopt an approach to projects that places correct emphasis on components that affect the sustainability of the project. These components could be as economically obtuse as placing high value on areas of biodiversity as the more measurable of higher levels of Earnings Before Interest and Taxes (EBIT). Being able to successfully navigate through sustainability issues is an increasingly important skill of the project manager.

Language and the Text of Each Paper Essay

In this essay on the Brixton riots I hope to show how different newspapers can express the same basic facts in different ways to make the reader feel a certain way about the event – in this case, the Brixton riots. I will be looking at the front pages of two newspapers (which I call papers 1 and 2 in the essay), each of which describe the same event and include similar facts. The Brixton riots occurred in 1981 in Brixton, London, and were between the residents of Brixton (predominantly black) and the police forces. They came about in the first place because of historical background reasons and social reasons. Blacks had a history of low-ranked jobs with low pay. Since the British Empire broke up and the citizens of the Commonwealth countries, mostly black, moved to Britain, a lot of them were prepared to take low-ranked jobs so they could stay in the country. This meant that people in Britain associated them with being low-class. There were very few black people with high-ranked jobs. With people associating black people like this, it led to racism and general abuse. With all this abuse the blacks started to build up a stereotyped view of white people and because few black people had good jobs a stereotyped view of the police was built up as well. This meant that the tension was raised because each side mistrusted the other. The event that started off the Brixton riots occurred in Coldharbour lane in 1981. A policeman was on duty when a young black boy ran past him. The policeman, suspicious of the boy, ran after him. As he did so he tripped over the boy, badly injuring him. This aggravated the black community. Before this incident, the police had been given power to stop and search anyone they felt was suspicious which meant that the atmosphere in Brixton was tense. On the social side, in 1981 the Conservative government was in power with Margaret Thatcher as their leader. The less well off were dissatisfied with what the Government were doing. They hadn’t really done much at all to help young blacks. It was likely that if you were young and black at this period you would be unemployed. This meant that there was a lot of tension around, which helped to spark off the riots. With the riots being a shocking event, the press immediately got involved. This led to the events being sensationalised and being used as a money making scheme. When there is big news that is in the newspapers for quite a while, the papers develop a logo. Logos are used to structure and organise the paper . The readers get used to seeing a certain logo and they associate the logo with an event. Here it would be the Brixton riots. This helps the readers to find their way around the paper more easily. These logos seem to be giving a number of different impressions of the riots. In the captions beneath the logos a lot of the words seem to be in the semantic field of war. Words such as ‘battle’ and ‘war’, which are good examples of this semantic field, give the impression that the riots were very violent. The logo pictures are mostly of the same policeman with blood running down the side of his face. These images give the impression that there were some bad injuries in the riots and that the riots were very violent. However the fact that the logos are mostly concerned with the same image suggests that the injury inflicted on this policeman was perhaps the most dramatic injury there was in the riots. Even so, head wounds often appear to be much worse than they really are, which suggests that the riots were not so serious as the papers make them out to be and were, in fact, blown out of proportion. This image has been selected to attract the reader’s attention. If this were on T. V. it would still be easily possible to select and bias like you can in newspapers. A lot of news programmes choose their stories very carefully to ensure that a certain viewpoint is supported. Another way to manipulate facts is to take a very biased viewpoint . Two possible viewpoints are political and non-political. Newspaper 1 does seems to have a political viewpoint as it is taking pity on the police and is making them seem like the victims by criticising the rioters. This indicates that this paper takes the side of establishment and law rather than that of the rioters, the neglected residents of Brixton. Headlines such as ‘Police under Attack Again in New Fury’ makes the police out to be the victims and the mob to be a reckless, aggressive one. Headlines that demonstrate a particular viewpoint will attract the readers’ attention as they make the subject more dramatic. Newspaper 2 has a very different viewpoint, seeming to imply that the police were causing almost as much trouble as the rioters. ‘Eight police coaches, each containing forty men, were rushed to the area, further raising the tension’ suggests that this paper is taking the side of the rioters. It very much puts the blame on both the police and the Government and sympathises with the people of Brixton in its headlines . It is used here mainly to prejudice you even though it is opinion. ‘Police harassment’ and ‘Arrest sets off more clashes’ suggest that the main reason that the riots started was because of unnecessary action taken by the police. Other headlines, such as ‘No hope of jobs’ and ‘Decaying housing’, are blaming the Government for agitating the people of Brixton by not providing enough employment or repairing their houses. This could also be biased on T. V. as the editor could put forward only half of the full story ,so biasing the As well as having a very biased viewpoint to attract the readers, the paper can be made more attractive and eye catching. The front page of newspaper 1 is very eye-catching indeed. As soon as you look at it, your attention is drawn to the photograph and ‘BATTLEFRONT’ in large letters, the battlefront being the front line of the rioting. This banner headline, white lettering on a black background, takes up the whole width of the front page and is designed to make it stand out and catch your eye. The picture dominates the page and all the writing is positioned around it, making it the focus of the article. Also the headline, ‘The picture that sums up the horror of Bloody Brixton’, makes you look expectantly at the picture as well as using alliteration to draw your attention to it. The use of a capital letter for ‘Bloody’ gives the riots a historical connotation, as though it is already a well known event. Newspaper 2 has a much simpler front page, with a simple black headline, a subheading and a picture. Unlike on newspaper 1 the headline does not draw your attention to the picture, because it is not specifically related to it. Although there are some banner headlines across the top in bullet point form, displaying points such as ‘No hope of jobs’, they are much smaller. I think that this paper is less sensational and a bit more ‘refined’ than the other, typical tabloid newspaper. The headlines used in newspapers and the wording in them is another way to catch the readers attention . The headlines in a newspaper are very important as they often tell the reader what point of view the paper is taking, the nature of the event – if referring to one – who is involved, where it happened, and other bits of information as well. It is very important for a tabloid newspaper to use exciting and exaggerating vocabulary in them as this really helps to catch the readers’ attention and make them think that something very dramatic has happened. In newspaper 1, this has been done by using words such as ‘battlefront’. A word like this is obviously in the semantic field of war, making the events seem more dramatic. Other headlines, such as ‘Police under attack again in new fury’, make it sound as though the police were being physically attacked by the youths, who are described as ‘furious’. This sentence is in the passive tense whereas the other paper is written in the active. These headlines seem to be in a similar field of meaning and connotation as they are both associated with violence and the police being under attack. In newspaper 2, however, the headlines suggest different things. Headlines such as ‘Brixton points the finger’ and ‘Arrest sets off more clashes’ seem more thoughtful, as if the newspaper has analysed the events, not just exaggerated the happenings in them. They make it seem like Brixton is pointing the finger at the people who are doing the arresting (the police).

Exchange and markets Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Exchange and markets - Term Paper Example It is very difficult to maintain these macro-economic objectives and at times they are even in conflict of each other. (Sloman, 670) Exchange rates fluctuations are a major reason for balance of payment fluctuations. Before we understand the system of exchange rates we need to understand the method of balance of payments. Balance of payments means a record of all transactions made between one particular country and all other countries  during a  specified period of time (www.investopedia.com). BOP  compares the dollar difference of the amount of exports and imports, which includes all financial exports and imports. A negative balance of payments means that more money is flowing out of the country than coming in, and a positive BOP means that more money is coming into the country. Balance of Payment can be said as a huge accounts book for the country. It also acts as an indicator of political and economic stability. A positive BOP may mean that the country’s functioning i s going in a positive direction with foreign investment and funds coming in and limited resources in the form of cash going out. What are nominal exchange rates? Nominal exchange rate is simply the rate at which one currency is exchanged for other. This may mean for example it is quoted that one dollar is equal to 0.6 of a pound sterling. This may mean that the nominal exchange rate of a dollar to the pound is $1= 0.6 pound. Changes in the nominal exchange rates between two countries will have an effect on all the transaction prices of goods bought and sold between those two countries. This means that it is extremely important for these rates to be stables as these are bilateral rates (Bamford et al, 115). In a free market the exchange rate is determined by the market forces of demand and supply. This is quite similar to the determination of all other prices because where the supply and demand curves meet that is the market rate of the currency. For this lets consider the market pri ce of Euros against dollars. The demand for euro will be a downward sloping demand curve. This is because when the price of euro is high in terms of US dollar, then the euro zone goods and services are expensive to US customers. This means that they will have to may more dollars in exchange for euros. This will result in a low demand for euro zone goods and services in the US. Thus few pounds are demanded on the foreign exchange market. As the value of the euro falls against the dollar US customers are able to get more pounds thereby increasing the demand of pounds on the foreign exchange market (Bamford et al, 117). The supply curve of Euro is upward sloping. When the Euro is low against the Dollar, then US goods are expensive in the Euro Zone and as a result less Euros are supplied in the market to buy US goods. On the other hand if the value of the Euro rises then US goods will become cheaper allowing more people in the Euro zone to buy these goods and rising the supply of Euros. Where these demand and supply curves meet the market exchange rate of Euro against Dollar is determined as shorn in the diagram below. ( Diagram taken from Determination of Exchange Rates, http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/73/EHEP0006/EHEP000673-2.pdf). At all prices above the equilibrium exchange rate the Euros supplied will be greater than the Euros demanded and vice versa. Any changes in the supply or demand of a currency will result in a depreciation or appreciation of the

Management Accounting Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Management Accounting - Assignment Example At this moment, the strategies that are to be applied in this case are related to the performance of the company are no longer connected to the profitability of the company (Shaffer, 23). Thus, as the strategy to compare overhead costs and overall productivity of the company, it is clear that the company is operating at net loss and strategies should aim at reducing the burden on operating losses. Thus, a strategy to increase performance would consider cutting back on losses an improvement plan. Following the calculations below, the performance of the company depends on the use of available resources in the production of pipes. Based on the cost of raw material and the units produced it is clear that non-overhead costs remained the same at $0.15 considering 10,000,000 feet of pipe costing $1,500,000 and/or 6,000,000 feet costing $900,000. If the company is to trade the new batch of pipes at $0.35, then the company would be gaining $0.1 as profit for every foot of pipe sold. Based on the table below, decreasing the price of the pipes would be the best decision for the company to cut back on losses and acquire an economies of scale strategy. There are various levels of costs involved in the case of Riverside Hotel. These involve fixed, variable, and sunk costs. In terms of the fixed costs, all overhead costs are fixed and include the cost of acquiring the equipment for preparing meals, the premises, power, and heat. Specifically, one of the fixed overhead costs include the price of the oven which is priced at $20,000. On the other hand, non-overhead costs include the price of the salad which is $1 and the prime rib which costs $7. The fixed price of the prime rib and the salad make up the cost of materials. However, for every meal made, the used ingredients add up to the final price. In this case, the price of making dinner using the prime rib and salad is fixed at $8 assuming that there is no labor, equipment, and power

Giving back as much as you take Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Giving back as much as you take - Essay Example As averred by Taylor – Cassan, (2007, par. 1), â€Å"recently, more and more companies have been becoming green. They have been volunteering time and donating money to green causes, using green technology, and encouraging their employees to think green†. Environmental sustainability is defined as â€Å"maintaining the factors and practices that contribute to the quality of environment on a long-term basis† (Business Dictionary, 2011, par. 1). For a student, one can actively be committed in a transformation in one’s personal lifestyle through focusing on ways that would protect, preserve and sustain the environment. One of the most common and simple way that would help contribute to environmental sustainability is to conserving electricity. People have the tendency to be indifferent in turning off lights or even water, when not in use. Turning off electrical appliances such as the television, computers, and other electrical gadgets from the plug would help minimize electrical consumption. Another simple and effective way to support sustainability is to observe the ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ slogan in terms of becoming responsible and aware the amount and quality of garbage that one throws away.

Identification of managerial, financial, legal and ethical Essay - 2

Identification of managerial, financial, legal and ethical implications - Essay Example Whatever legislature that pertains to the subject matter is covered under a set of workplace Torts. Ineffective administrative communication leads to frustration and the buildup of stress within the organization. A major reason for this could be the legal principle of â€Å"Respondeat Superior† which places the responsibility of the activities of the employee on the superior or the manager. Thus, the senior – junior relationship is constantly strained and is one of perpetual scrutiny rather than warmth or affection. At one extreme of this we have the tendency among some in power to abuse their position through threats, abuse, intimidation and retaliatory discharge, all of which are cause of legal action. In an effort to reduce the probability of wrongful discharge, some states, such as Connecticut, Montana, Maine and Michigan have enacted legislation that protects employees from terminations that are found to be arbitrary and capricious (Pozgar & Santucci, 2007). At the other end, the employees themselves should ethically adhere to a strict code of conduct that respects patient specific and facility specific information. Also, the court enunciated a corporate negligence doctrine in 1965 under the Darling Vs Charleston Community Memorial Hospital which stated clearly that a hospital has the duty to provide an adequately trained medical and nursing staff. Legal statues and workplace torts require that employers must communicate clearly to prospective employees that their employment is at will and can be terminated at any time by either the employer or the employee. This shall encourage the employee to work properly as well as clear any misconceptions that may arise later. In recent years however, the rule that employment for an indefinite term is terminable by the employer whenever and for whatever cause he chooses

Management theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Management theory - Essay Example The research paper is designed to study the imperatives of fast changing perspectives in managerial leadership within an organization and to study its impact on the performance outcome of the employees and organization, as a whole. A medium size company ABC Corporation was taken up which is a pioneer in wireless broadband technologies and related products and services that have huge scope in the emerging market if tapped timely. In the current cut throat competitive business environment, Acme urgently needs to widen its market through strategic business partnerships with global business entities and venture capitalists that can facilitate market its products and services. The organization currently employs around fifty employees at various levels of administrative and non administrative posts. The employees come from different race, culture and color but are observed to work amicably. The company has a decent growth graph but needs to expand its areas of operation to maintain a competitive edge over its rivals. The research was focused on the managerial leadership of the organization and the organizational climate. The workforce along with their leaders are important part of the organization who work together to achieve their organizations’ goals and objectives. The research has made concerted efforts to study the organizational behavior and communication within the company and has studied in depth the impact of implementation of management theories, especially, McGregor’s theory of management. The changing times have made the businesses more competitive, thereby making it obligatory for them, as well as for the working force to become more flexible and swiftly adapt to the changing technologies and work environments. The changing socio-economic environment made it imperative that more consideration be paid to socio-cultural

Index funds and their investment policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Index funds and their investment policy - Essay Example Unlike index funds, actively managed funds aim to reach results, which exceed whole market results or some of its components. It's important for their managers to select the stocks, necessary to buy, correctly, and also to define exactly the best selling/purchasing moment. Unlike actively managed funds, which aim to reach results, which exceed whole market results or some of its components (it's important for their managers to select the stocks, necessary to buy, correctly, and also to define exactly the best selling/purchasing moment), index funds demonstrate more passive investment strategy. Index funds invest assets to some basic asset classes, each of them characterized by its own flights and drops. That's why combinations of investing into funds, based on various indexes allow reaching some balance, reducing the risk and increasing invested money return. There are five five members, who represent Standard & Poor's and the ASX. They set policy, determ index composition and administer the indices in accordance with the S&P/ASX index methodology. The investment policy includes adding, removing or by-passing any company or during the selection process. And what about the portfolio investment... An index addition generally will be made only if an index vacancy is created by an index deletion. The Index Committee determines S&P/ASX index additions based on historic analysis of a stock's market capitalization, free float, and liquidity. The Fund is a style-based fund that seeks to provide a total return that is broadly in line with the S&P/ASX 200 Index (excluding listed property trusts) before taking into account Fund fees and expenses. The Fund is targeting a grossed-up dividend yield that is 1% above that of the index. Grossed-up dividend yield is calculated taking into account both cash dividends and associated franking credits. Surely, the Committee analyses every merger, spin-off, acquisition, or scheme of arrangement. Index funds are popular among investors thanks to their wide portfolio diversification, low expenses and high efficiency from taxation point. 2. ASX200 composition determining and it's changing. There are indexes for some certain market branches (municipal, technological, financial etc.), regions and states and even different investment styles. For instance, "growth" indexes are composed from the stocks of the companies, which are waited to demonstrate fast profit growth tempos, while "cost" indexes - from the stocks, which can be undervalued on the base of financial results or company assets. The S&P/ASX 200 Index is recognized as one of the leading investment benchmarks for the Australian equity market. The index represents the 200 largest and most liquid publicly listed entities in Australia. The S&P/ASX 200 Index provides investors and fund managers with an effective benchmark for Australian equity performance, as it offers a broader representation of the Australian market. What companys' stocks are included in ASX 200 list The

People as a huge asset Essay Example for Free

People as a huge asset Essay 1.1INTRODUCTION Organisations are made up of people and people are a huge asset to any organization. To be more successful in achieving their goal and objectives; organisations needs to have an understanding about their human assets, their behavior, tendencies, best practice etc..† Leadership is the ability of one person to influence a group of persons toward the achievement of common goals† (Yukl, 1994). Influencing others means that leaders must have an understanding about their behavior, which can only happen when they themselves understand their values, assumptions, beliefs and expectations. Understanding oneself means one must carry out self-assessment/evaluation as this is very important for leaders today. I will be carrying out an assessment about the benefit of self -assessment/evaluation to leaders today and the importance of understanding human behavior in oraganisations. 1.2 DEFINITION OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR Human behavior is the way people behave and which can be influence by culture, emotions, attitudes, values, ethics, genetic etc.. Depending on the society and environment, human behavior can either be common, usual, acceptable or unacceptable. Human behavior can either be learnt as we relate to our environment; for example, tying your shoes is a learned behavior or it can be innate which can be inherited through genes. 1.3THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING HUMAN BEHAVIOR TO AN ORGANIZATION Organisations depend on the behavior of both individual and teams to achieve their goals and objectives; as such it is very critical for organisations to have thorough understanding of human behavior. Understanding human behavior is a  key to organisational success. Human behavior defines how people work together and relate with one another. Communication being the cornerstone of behavior can only be effective when people understand one another. Interpersonal conflict can be reduced in an organisation once there’s an understanding of human behavior. Behavior can influence negatively on the achievement of an organization’s goals and objectives if not manage well; will lead to poor output and failure. Organisations need to plan their training programme, understanding the behavior of its employees will inform the planning process, thereby ensuring that training needs are effectively met. An effective understanding of the diverse behavior of personnel is important. Evidence has shown that as people get to know one another, they became less concerned about differences if they see themselves as sharing more important characteristics, such as personality and values, that represent deep-level diversity† (Stephen P Robbins Timothy A Judge, Organizational Behavior -15th Editions) A co-operative team that knows how to work with one another can produce better result than those who have problems relating to one another. 1.4 THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING HUMAN BEHAVIOR BY LEADERS Organisations need strong leadership to achieve its goals and objectives. An organisation is only as successful as its leadership. Leadership is the ability to influence a group towards the achievement of a vision or set of goals. Individuals or group can only be influence when there’s an understanding of their behavior. Business necessity, enlightenment about differences and moral fortitude have combine to push organisations into hiring a diverse set of employees, as a result managing this diversity has proven to be a challenge to leaders†¦ Leaders can effectively manage this challenge through understanding this diversity. A leader who fails to understand his followers thereby focusing at a very superficial level by commanding others to do their will; is at the bottom of the leadership level. Deeper understanding provides more options, give one more potential tools, and frankly, makes one a powerful leader (Stephen P Robbins Timothy A Judge, Organizational Behavior -15t h Editions). This is a trait of level 5 leadership. â€Å"Understanding the behavior of followers will assist leaders in putting together teams to manage projects and it will also assist in  assigning task to employees in a way that will put to efficient use each member’s strength rather than their weakness â€Å" (www.employment-testing.com) Attempting to influencing individuals without understanding why they behave the way they do, might yield random or unpredictable effect and this will lead to leaders being unsuccessful as followers will be alienated; whereas understanding the personalities of subordinates and superiors informs leaders as to others expectations and provides insights into motivation, competitiveness and interpersonal relationships and communication. 1.5 LEADERSHIP SELF-EVALUATION/SELF-ASSESSMENT As leaders the ability to influence people has to be continuously improved; and the first step in achieving that will be by knowing yourself and gaining understanding of your leadership style, skills, traits, competencies, abilities, personality type and experience. According to Kevin Sharer of AMGEN CEO and president, â€Å"Leadership has many voices. You need to be who you are, not to emulate someone else.† An apt statement as leaders has the responsibility of influencing others in the achievement of goals and objectives; an achievement that will be almost impossible to attain when followers lacks faith in their leader. People normally have faith in authentic leaders as they are leaders who not only know what they believe in and value but also act on that values and beliefs candidly and openly. Most leaders are unaware of the effect their emotional intelligence has on their superiors and subordinates, many a time we blame negative outcome to those around us, all the time bei ng totally blind to the fact that our personality might have had effect on others action. â€Å"Those who use the emotional intelligence framework to guide their thoughts and actions may find it easier to create trust in relationship, harness energy under pressure, and sharpen their ability to make sound decisions-in other words, they increase their potential for success in the workplace†(Jones and Bartlett learning PTT) only by carrying out self-assessment/evaluation will you be able to understand your emotional intelligence and other traits. As leaders one should know what their strength and weaknesses as this will enable them build on their strength and march it to their leadership opportunities, it will also assist in the development of their weaknesses and allows for the  elimination of threats to leadership. 1.6 THE BENEFITS OF SELF- ASSESSMENT/SELF-EVALUATION TO LEADERS TODAY. Most of the benefits of self-assessment have already been discuss above, however some benefits are; A.Develop Emotional Intelligence When taking time to self-reflect you are looking inwards. Self-awareness gives you the ability the ability to understand your emotions, strengths, weaknesses, drives, values and goals, and recognize their impact on others you are leading. Being self-aware will aid you in controlling or redirecting your disruptive emotions and impulses and adapt to changing circumstances. Building these emotional intelligence components will improve your leadership. B. ASSISTS IN BECOMING EFFECTIVE LEADER Authentic leaders are clear on their core values, and this will help to strengthen leadership integrity and lead you to better decisions. Understanding your core values will build followers trust in you as a leader and this will make decision making easier as our integrity is often put to the test during stressful and difficult times. C. BUILD SELF-CONFIDENCE Confidence is crucial for leaders. It helps in effective communications, decision making, and influence building. People will see you as you see yourself, being aware of your strength as leader will build self-confidence and this will increase team effectiveness.

Analysis of of Quercetin in Camellia Sinensis Extracts

Analysis of of Quercetin in Camellia Sinensis Extracts ABSTRACT A precise and feasible reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic (RP-HPLC) method for the novel analysis of of Quercetin in aqueous and alcoholic extracts of Camellia sinensis extracts with internal standard has been developed. The analysis was carried out on a Phenomenax-C18 column (250 Ãâ€" 4.6mm, 5ÃŽ ¼m). reversed-phase column, using a mixture of acetonitrile and 0.1% orthophosphoric acid in water at 60:40 ratio as the mobile phase; Propyl paraben was used as the internal standard. The linearity range of the Quercetin was found to be in 1-25  µg/ml and the retention times were found to be 3.3 and 5.6 min for Quercetin and Propyl paraben respectively. The accuracy was good and recovery values for Quercetin ranged from 100 to 102% respectively. The proposed novel method is precise and feasible for the determination of Quercetin with internal standard in a short analytical runtime. The method seems to be suitable for routine analysis in quality control laboratories an d research institutes. Keywords: Quercetin, HPLC, Propyl paraben, Validation. Introduction Quercetin (Fig. 1) chemically 2-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-3,5,7-trihydroxy-4H-chromen-4-one is a plant pigment (flavonoid) found in many plants and foods, such as red wine, onions, green tea, apples, berries,  Ginkgo biloba. It is used for treating conditions of the  heart  and  blood  vessels including â€Å"hardening of the  arteries† (atherosclerosis),  high cholesterol,  heart disease, and circulation problems (1-3). It is also used to treat inflammation,  asthma,  gout,  viral infections,  chronic fatigue  syndrome (CFS), preventing  cancer, and for treating chronic infections of the  prostate (4-7). Quercetin is also used to increase endurance and improve athletic performance. Tooth decay is most common infectious oral disease that afflicts 95% of the human beings. The flavonoids Quercetin found in green tea can stop the formation of dental plaques and tooth decay. Fig.1 : Chemical structure of Quercetin Some analytical methods were developed for analysis of quercetin by spectrophotometric (8-10), HPLC (11-13), HPTLC (14-16), electrochemical detection (17). In spite of its wide economical importance, a rapid and efficient method forits identification and quantification is necessary. To the best of our knowledge, there is no published method for the determination of quercetin in Camellia sinensis extracts with propyl paraben as internal standard. The aim of the present study was to develop a rapid, economical, precise and accurate reversed-phase HPLC method for quantifying quercetin in aqueous and alcoholic extracts of Camellia sinensis. Materials and Methods Acetonitrile (HPLC grade, MERCK), Water (HPLC grade, Thomas Baker) and orthophosphoric acid (HPLC grade), Quercetin and Propyl paraben are procured from local analytical laboratories. Instrumentation and chromatographic conditions HPLC is a chromatographic technique used to separate a mixture of compounds in analytical chemistry and biochemistry with the purpose of identifying, quantifying purifying the individual components of the mixture. The system consisted of UFLC-Shimadzu make LC-20AD with PDA detector. The data acquisitionwas performed by LC solutions software. The chromatographic separation was achieved on Phenomenax-C18 column (250 Ãâ€" 4.6mm, 5ÃŽ ¼m) column. The elution was isocratic with mobile phase of 0.1% orthophosphoric acid in water and acetonitrile (60:40, v/v). The flow rate was 1.0 mL/ min and yielded a backpressure of about 57 bar. The column temperature was maintained at 40 °C, the detection was monitored at a wavelength of 262 nm and injection volume was 10  µL. UFLC is suitable for separation of Quercetin with propyl paraben as internal standard. The chromatographic conditions are shown in Table 1. Table 1: The chromatographic conditions of the developed method Plant material (Camellia sinensis) Dried leaves of Camellia sinensis i.e Green tea are collected from Doddabetta Tea Factory, Ooty, Tamilnadu and identified by Dr. K. Mruthunjaya, Asst. Professor, Department of Pharmacognosy, JSSCP, Mysore. The procured leaves were used for the preparation of alcoholic and aqueous extract. Extraction Methodology: Alcoholic Extract of Camellia sinensis Alcoholic extract was prepared by hot reflux extraction method on a water bath temperature maintained at 78 °C for 2 hours. The dried coarsely powdered leaves of Camellia sinensis (550g) were extracted in 3 batches (150g each). The obtained extract was filtered and solvent was distilled out up to required concentration and combined extract was spray dried to get alcoholic extract of Camellia sinensis and stored in a dessicator. Aqueous Extract of Camellia sinensis Aqueous extract was prepared by hot reflux extraction method on a water bath temperature maintained at 80 °C for 2 hours. The dried coarsely powdered leaves of Camellia sinensis (550g) were extracted in 3 batches (150g each). The obtained extract was filtered and solvent was distilled out up to required concentration and combined extract was spray dried to get aqueous extract of Camellia sinensis and stored in a dessicator. Drying of Extract: Prepared extracts were dried using Spray dryer. Parameters maintained for Spray drying are Inlet temperature maintained at 70-80 °C, Outlet temperature maintained at 50-60 °C, aspiration rate 1200 rpm per min, feed pump 2ml per min respectively. PREPARATION OF SOLUTIONS Preparation of mobile phase The content of the mobile phase was prepared from Acetonitrile, filtered and degassed mixture of and water and orthophosphoric acid in the ratio of 60:40 v/v. Preparation of standard solutions About 10 mg of pure standards of Quercetin and Propyl paraben were accurately weighed and dissolved separately in two 10 mL standard flask and dissolved in methanol to get standard stock solutions of concentration of 1 mg/mL (1000  µg/mL). From the prepared stock solution an intermediate stock solution was prepared which contains 100  µg/mL of Quercetin. From this intermediate stock solution serial dilutions were made to obtain final concentrations of the solutions in the range of 1, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25  µg/mL of Quercetin. Propyl paraben solution was made to a concentration of 25 µg/mL and used as an internal standard throughout the methodology. Preparation of Camellia sinensis extracts sample solutions 100 mg of extract sample was weighed and transferred in to 10ml volumetric flask and dissolved in a mixture of 5ml of 6M HCl and 5ml of mobile phase and sonicated for 15min. The obtained solution was filtered through a 0.45  µ pore size filter into a HPLC vial and loaded to the instrument. Method development and optimization The chromatographic conditions were optimized by changing the mobile phase compositions; buffer used in the mobile phase column stationaryphase and organic solvent. Finally a mixture of 0.1% orthophosphoric acid in water, acetonitrile and C18 column were used. A typical chromatogram obtained by using the aforementioned mobile phase and column are shown in fig. 2 of blank chromatogram and standard drug quercetin chromatogram is illustrated in Fig. 3. Method validation When a method has been optimized it must be validatedbefore put into practical use. By following the ICH guidelinesfor analytical method validation e Q2 (R1), the system suitability Test was performed and the validation characteristics elinearity, accuracy, precision, specificity, limits of detectionand quantitation were addressed. Preparation of calibration curve Aliquots of quercetin (containing 10- 250  µg/ml) were pipetted into series of 10ml volumetric flask from 100 µg/ml of stock solution followed by addition of propyl paraben containing 250 µg/ml and made up to 10ml with HPLC grade methanol to obtain the final concentrations of 1, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25  µg/ml of quercetin and 25 µg/ml of propyl paraben solutions were prepared. The responses were measured at 262 nm. The calibration curve was established by plotting the peak areas of Quercetin versus their concentrations. Assay Procedure The column was equilibrated for at least 30 min, with the mobile phase flowing through the system with a flow rate of 1ml/min. Detector was set at a wavelength of 262 nm. Two sets of the sample solutions were prepared containing aqueous and ethanolic extracts with mobile phase mixture. The retention time of Quercetin and Propyl paraben in bulk drug in two replicate samples were found to be 3.3 and 5.6 mins. The peak area of the Quercetin in sample was obtained and the regression equation of the drug concentration over the peak areas was calculated. The RP-HPLC method was used to estimate the amount of Quercetin in aqueous, ethanolic extracts of Camellia sinensis. The typical chromatograms of alcoholic and aqueous extracts are shown in fig. 4 and 5 respectively. It is found that alcoholic and aqueous extract contains 7.35  µg and 4.31  µg per 100 grams of the extract respectively. System suitability The system suitability test ensures the validity of the analyticalprocedure as well as confirms the resolution betweendifferent peaks of interest. A data from six injections ofstandard solutions were utilized for calculating system suitability parameters like %RSD (0.19), tailing factor (1.2), theoretical plates (10728) and resolution (7.8). Linearity and range To assess the linearity, calibration plots of quercetin in each dilution were constructed in the concentration range 1-25 µg/mL the correlation coefficients of quercetin was 0.9998 respectively. Accuracy and precision The accuracy and precision of the developed method was evaluated and results are expressed as percent recoveries 99.3 -101.7%. The precision study of intra-day and interday relative standard deviation was less than 2%, stating that method is more precise. Specificity The specificity test demonstrated that the used excipients did not interfere with the peak of the main compound. The results showed that the developed method was selective for determination Of Quercetin in Camellia sinensis extracts. Sensitivity The limit of detection and limit of quantitation decide aboutthe sensitivity of the method. Tests for the procedure wereperformed on samples containing very low concentrations of analytes based on the visual evaluation method. In thismethod, LOD (signal to noise ratio of 3:1) is determined by theanalysis of samples with known concentration of analyte and by establishing the minimum level at which the analyte can be reliably detected. Accordingly, the LOQ (signal to noise ratioof 10:1) is determined by the analysis of samples with known concentration of analytes and by establishing the minimumlevel at which the analyte can be quantified with acceptableaccuracy and precision (RSD RESULT AND DISCUSSION We developed and validated a simple and efficient reversed phase HPLC method for analysis of Quercetin in Camellia sinensis extracts. Method conditions were optimized by changing the mobile phase compositions; buffer used in the mobile phase, stationary phase and organic solvent. Finally a mixture of 0.1% orthophosphoric acid in water and acetonitrile and C18 column were used. In this study UFLC instrumentation with PDA detection, which is readily available in most analytical and pharmaceutical laboratories, was used. The analytical method was validated as per current International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guidelines. In addition, in the present study,an internal standard was used to provide higher accuracy and precision of several substances tested, propyl paraben was chosen as the most appropriate internal standard. This substance is stable and does not interfere with the excipients present in of samples and composition of the diluent.Indeed, in the developed method, Propyl paraben was adequately separated from Quercetin. Moreover, its elution time was shorter, which resulted in a short run time of less than 10 min. In the accuracy of the method, recovery is in the range of 98.3-101.7% and standard deviation was less than 2% proves that method is more accurate and precise. The LOD and LOQ values of quercetin are 0.03  µg/ml and 0.05  µg/ml respectively. The described HPLC method was successfully applied for the determination of Quercetin in Camellia sinensis plant extracts. Fig. 2: Blank chromatogram of the method Fig. 3: Chromatogram of Quercetin (25  µg/ml) and Propyl paraben (Internal Standard) Table 2: Recovery studies of the method Table 3: Intraday and Inter day study precision of the method Fig. 4: Assay of Quercetin in Camellia sinensis Alcoholic Extract Fig. 5: Assay of Quercetin in Camellia sinensis Aqueous Extract Table 5: Assay of quercetin in alcoholic and aqueous extract Conclusion The proposed method is simple, accurate, precise, specific andlinear over the analysis ranges and was able to simultaneous determination of quercetin with internal standard in a short analytical run time. Hence the method can easily and conveniently applied for routine analysis in qualitycontrol laboratories and research institutes. Acknowledgements Authors extend their thanks to the JSS College of Pharmacy, JSS University, Mysore for providing the facilities to carry out the research work.

The Importance of Facilitation in Group Decision-making Essay -- Group

The need for a facilitator arises from the dynamics of group decision-making. In real and everyday life in business, management, politics, crisis conflict, education, etc. group meetings, each individual in the group does not think in the same way (divergent thinking) in real life, humans tend to go off on tangents, lose the original focus for the group meeting. Facilitators are needed to get ideas to converge in a way that reaches the decision point (Doyle and Kaner, 2007). A facilitator is a person who creates an environment which allows groups or organizations to be able to be more effective; to achieve their goals. Facilitators have to be essentially neutral in their stance and they must also not have any decision-making authority (Doyle and Kaner, 2007). The lecture addresses: a) The meaning of Facilitation b) Core Values of Facilitation c) Role of the Facilitator d) Key Facilitation Skills and Methods e) The Benefits of Facilitation A facilitator is not allowed to advocate for a specific view point during the process. The facilitator could be from within the organisation as well from outside the organisation (Schwarz, 2002), nevertheless the chosen facilitator needs to be accepted by all parties involved in the meeting. Literature also suggests that facilitators are only there to lead the process, where the process refers to the dynamics of group work like communication, making decisions, solving problems and handling conï ¬â€šict and that the facilitators do not contribute to the meeting in terms of substance. The literature also suggests that facilitators need to improve the structure of the setting in which they operate, where structure can be seen as the makeup of the group and group roles and this leads to an improve... ...e ground rules for conduct and behaviour and the group members agree to them before any meeting even begins. Effective facilitation requires a certain level of awareness or discernment of personalities during the program. REFERENCES Bono, E. (1999). Six Thinking Hats, Back Bay Books Publishers. Doyle, M., & Kaner, S. (2007). Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision, Jossey-Bass Publishers. Heron, J. (1999). The Complete Facilitator's Handbook, Kogan Page Publishers. Hogan, C. (2002). Understanding Facilitation: Theory and Principles, Kogan Page Publishers. Rees, F. (1998). The Facilitator Excellence Handbook: Helping People Work Creatively and Productively Together, Jossey-Bass Publishers. Schwarz, R. (2002). The Skilled Facilitator: A Comprehensive Resource for Consultants, Facilitators, Managers, Trainers, and Coaches, Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Of Mice And Men - Theme :: essays research papers

Loneliness "A guy needs somebody--to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you. I tell ya, I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick." (Steinbeck 72-3). Being alone is one of the worst things I can possible think of. One of the themes in the book Of Mice and Men exemplifies this as the quote describes. Crooks, and the black stable buck, say this quote. He describes to Lennie the pain he goes through to live his life without anyone to talk to and to just be with. The other workers on the farm would not socialize with Crooks besides the horseshoes game the men would play in the evening. Otherwise Crooks would occupy his time alone, reading books. This does not make Crooks happy his books did not fulfill his needs socially. He needed another person to talk to, or just be with. It didn’t even matter whom, just a person. Lennie just happened to have been there for Crook s at that moment. Everyday people do not give enough consideration to those who live their lives without someone. Humans are social beings that need some kind of connection with others to function properly. Without a social bond a depressed state can overwhelmingly "down" a person. People also need the opportunity to brag to others a little. Curly’s wife in the same novel states the following, "Well I ain’t told this to nobody before. Maybe I ought’n to. I don’t like Curly. He ain’t a nice fella. Coulda been in the movies, an’ had nice clothes—all them nice clothes they wear" (Steinbeck 89). She feels the need to tell others how great she could have been and the hopes and dreams she may someday have. She shows her feelings of hope in life. This can relate to everyday students. College guys love to tell stories from the long weekends in college. It makes a person feel good when they can tell a story filled with sarc asm and excitement to make others get a feeling of admiration. Humans live for this type of self-fulfillment. Loneliness is what people complain about when being without another person to socialize with. One may feel lonely when: you’re alone and you don’t you have a choice not to be, you are facing challenges in your life with school, a new town, job, or other changes, you feel there’s no one in your life with whom you can share your feelings with, you feel unacceptable, unlovable, and not worthwhile (Loneliness 1).

Images of Lilith in A Sea-Spell and The Orchard Pit :: Sea-Spell Essays

Images of Lilith in A Sea-Spell and The Orchard Pit While Lilith's only explicit appearances are in the poems "Lilith" and "Eden Bower," images of her arise in a number of other poems by Rossetti, including "A Sea-Spell" and "The Orchard Pit" (Johnston 120). Considered "minor" poems, very little has been written on either. Of "A Sea-Spell," some have gone so far as to proclaim "it is kinder to the memory of the artist to say nothing. It is the work of a prematurely faltering mind and hand" (Waugh 211). As for "The Orchard Pit," a fragmentary prose tale, there is little that even could be said. Yet, in the sonnet "A Sea-Spell," there exists imagery directly relating this Siren-figure to Lilith, making the poem worthy of consideration here. The sonnet reads: Her lute hangs shadowed in the apple-tree, While flashing fingers weave the sweet-strung spell Between its chords; and as the wild notes swell, The sea-bird for those branches leaves the sea. But to what sound her listening ear stoops she? What netherworld gulf-whispers doth she hear, In answering echoes from what planisphere, Along the wind, along the estuary? She sinks into her spell: and when full soon Her lips move and she soars into her song, What creatures of the midmost main shall throng In furrowed surf-clouds to the summoning rune: Till he, the fated mariner, hears her cry, And up her rock, bare-breasted, comes to die? (Collected Works 361) As evidenced above, both specific Lilith-imagery and Lilith-related themes are present in this sonnet. The poem begins with an immediate reference to Lilith, specifically Rossetti's Lilith, with the line: "Her lute hangs shadowed in the apple-tree" (line 1). This image is reminiscent of Lilith's supposed tempting of Eve while in the "apple-tree," the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Bad. Line 2 then borrows imagery directly from "Lilith." The corresponding lines of "Lilith," for example, read: And, subtly of herself contemplative, Draws men to watch the bright web she can weave, Till heart and body and life are in its hold. (lines 6-8) It is this same story which is told in "A Sea-Spell." The character is a beautiful Siren who weaves her magic into a "spell" that will ensnare and kill men ("Sea-Spell," line 2; "Lilith," line 13). In both poems, the male figures succumb to the Siren's charms, causing their own demise.

Turnover Rate in Corrections

The Nation Wide Dilemma in Corrections CJ 2500: CORRECTIONS Professor November 04, 2012 Running Head: Turnover Rate in Corrections Abstract Throughout the years, there has been one major dilemma that continues to hassle the administration whose sole purpose is to provide institutional sanctions, treatment programs, and services for managing criminal offenders. This dilemma is the high turnover rate of the Corrections Officers, whom agencies nation wide are losing at an extremely high rate.Recent statistics indicate that nearly half of all Corrections Academy graduates will have left their agency within a two-year period (â€Å"State questions high, â€Å"2004). This high turnover rate is causing a staff shortage, which is forcing agencies to put new officers on the job immediately while being untrained. Though the amount of Corrections Officers departing from their agencies continues to rise, the amount of inmates entering prisons remains the same.This of course can become a seriou s safety issue for the departments employing these new hires that are inadequately trained. Throughout this paper I will explore the numerous possibilities of what’s causing Corrections Officers to depart from their agencies at such a high rate. Whether it’s the demanding hours associated with shift work, the high stress and burnout, or the inadequate pay and benefits, all possibilities will be discussed in an attempt to understand why the retention rate of Corrections Officers is lower compared to various other careers across the nation.The Department of Corrections (DOC), privately owned jails, parish jails, and local city jails not only face the hardship of maintaining inmate property, specific calorie counts from meals provided, medicine dispensing, doctor visits, and numerous other tasks required that Corrections Officers tend to on a typical day of work, but these facilities also face the hardship of retaining these Officers for extended lengths of employment. As stated in the Abstract of this paper, â€Å"Recent statistics indicate that nearly half of all Corrections Academy graduates will have left their agency within a two-year period† (â€Å"State questions high, â€Å"2004).This has become a major problem for agencies that have a continuous increase in the number of inmates entering these facilities each year, while becoming almost impossible to keep enough manpower to operate shifts in a safe and secure manner. It is stated that in 1999, the turnover rate of Officers and Corporals within an agency was 29. 6 percent, while the average tenure of Officers was 3 years (â€Å"Department of corrections,†). The turnover rates in 2000 ranged from a low of 3. percent in New York, to a high of 41 percent in Louisiana (Lommel, 2004). Typically, once an Officer has been hired and accepted the job, they are to be trained in some type of Corrections Academy. The department hiring the Officer may host this Academy, or the Officer may have to travel to receive their training. Either way, prior to an Officer actually beginning their job monitoring the walkways of a prison or jail, the Officer should first be well trained to ensure theirs, the inmates, and other Officers safety.However, due to the high number of vacancies within Corrections, Officers are being hired without any experience, while hoping to receive this training academy shortly after becoming employed. Some agencies have established a policy that once the Officer has completed their training at an Academy, they are to sign a contract stating that they will remain with the department for a set amount of years. This is due to the high costs that an agency incurs by having these Officers sent to an accredited Academy to receive their training.The dollar amount that an agency may spend on an Officers training may range anywhere between a few hundred dollars, to a few thousand dollars. To elaborate on the amount of vacancies within Corrections, this coul d very well be a contributing factor to the increased amount of Officers who resign due to stress and burnout. Officers are being ordered in on their off days or holidays, forced to work mandatory overtime, a higher inmate to Correctional Officer ratio, as well as experienced Officers having to work with an extensive amount of â€Å"rookie† or inexperienced Correctional Officers.This combining of experienced officers with new hires, who have not received any type of prior training, raises the stress level during dangerous interactions with inmates, as well lowering the morale of the Officers who remain and attempt to complete their careers with a specific agency. This may be due to long term employees realizing that many of the new hires are using their time as a Correctional Officer to gain experience, or as a stepping-stone to eventually become a road or patrol Officer, which may involve more experienced Officers not spending the time necessary to assist, or provide â€Å" On the job training† to the new hires.Additional causes of stress may include the threat of inmate violence, actual inmate violence, inmate demands and manipulations, problems with co-workers, as well as having a poor public image. For example, â€Å"Between 1990 and 1995, the number of attacks on correctional officers in State and Federal prisons jumped by nearly one third, from 10,731 to 14,165 (Lommel, 2004). An additional stress added to a Correctional Officers life is being able to balance and separate work from their personal relationships.Workdays at a correctional facility often involve long hours of uneventful and routine procedures. This â€Å"routine† may quickly be disrupted by a brief period of crisis. Some Officers have issues with being able to return to a calm state once a crisis occurs, often times bringing their problems home to their families. This may lead Officers to substance abuse, or alcoholism. Law Enforcement careers can be an extremely diffic ult, stressful, yet rewarding career, even when referring to Corrections Officers.However, due to the long work hours associated with shift work, combined with the stressful and strenuous workdays officers are exposed to, it seems as if all Law Enforcement, to include Corrections officers do not receive the pay and benefits that they are entitled to. A large number of Corrections Officers are leaving this career field due to struggling with raising families while trying to balance and survive on the annual salary of a Corrections Officer. It seems as if economically speaking, the value of everyday necessities ontinues to rise in value, except for the officers’ paychecks. This dilemma, combined with the additional stress an Officer encounters on the job, could possibly explain why many Officers leave their jobs due to stress and burnout. The benefits that an Officer, or Corrections Officer receives is usually the highlight of their employment contract. Officers usually do rece ive good insurance and retirement plans. Not just for them, but for their families as well. However, the type of insurance that an Officer receives depends on the plan that the agency has purchased.Some agencies will have top of the line benefits, while others may have insurance carriers with extremely high deductibles and rates, due to tight budget restraints and cutbacks within the department. In addition to the stress, burnout, long hours, and low pay, many officers are never set on retiring within corrections. As previously stated, numerous officers, such as myself, use corrections as a stepping-stone, or training prior to being hired for a patrol position.Numerous agencies such as Sheriff’s Offices of various Parishes within the state, require that an individual hired first serve one to two years within the parish jail prior to being sent to a Police Academy and ultimately landing a position on patrol. Many agencies have come to realize this, which is why they may not sp end the time, effort, and funds to train the individual to become a more efficient Corrections Officer. By reflecting on the issues presented in this paper, it is determined that turnover rate in Corrections Officers will likely continue to be a rising problem for agencies.Administrators seeking seminars on retention strategies, which may depend on additional funding, can combat some of these issues. Agencies can improve their policies, improve management, increase criteria of the screening process, as well as address the wage and benefit issue. However, no matter what an agency decides in attempting to retain there officers, there will always be the Officers that slip through the cracks and ultimately cost the department more funding in training the individual, only to have them leave the agency before reaching their desired and previously stated commitment.WORKS CITED Department of corrections background and statistics. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://legisweb. state. wy. us/proge val/reports/2000/turnovr/Chapter4. htm High turnover of corrections staff, excessive priosoner head counts attract media attention. (2006, Sep 06). Retrieved from http://www. bcgeu. ca/node/1314 Lommel, J. (2004, August). Turning around turnover. Retrieved from http://search. proquest. com. ezproxy. liberty. edu:2048/docview/215699356 State questions high turnover among prison officers. (2004, 04 05). Retrieved from http://www. corrections. com/articles/1862