Skills Evaluation (Personal and Professional Development for Business) Essay

Skills Evaluation (Personal and Professional Development for Business) - Essay Example This means the company should identify, select, and develop the right product to satisfy customer needs. With the help of marketers, a company should set the right product to make sure that it does not exploit customers and earn its profits. It is the work of marketers to give advice on distribution channels to suite the customers. Marketers are of great importance when it comes to promotional strategies as they advise on the best promotional media to communicate with customers and prospect new ones. When one is marketing a service, the delivery process to meet customer satisfaction matters since it should be the shortest and most efficient one (Bennett, 2011: 8-27). The people skills on offering the service are of high importance because the marketer ought to be professional and effective. The physical ambiance of the premise or environment is critical, since customers will evaluate the product based on the physical appearance of the environment; for example, a hotel needs to have a very clean and neat environment, as customers will associate it with healthy eating. Because of good environment, customers tend to be repetitive and bring more business. If the environment is unpleasant, customers may never come back, and worst of all, may spread bad reputation to other customers. My passion and ambitions for marketing are driving me to the desire of becoming a competitive marketing manager. My academic studies are continuously improving and equipping me with the necessary skills and techniques required for a successful marketer. I have a wide network of professional marketers who continuously applause marketing exercises. This is a source of motivation. A marketer needs several marketing skills for success. These skills help a marketer go along with people well, execute tasks with ease, and operate within strict deadlines. Employers expect from marketers, just like any

The Impact of Pre-Cooling as an Intervention Strategy to Minimize Cardiovascular system Essay Example for Free

The Impact of Pre-Cooling as an Intervention Strategy to Minimize Cardiovascular system Essay The aim of this report was to investigate whether the utilization of pre-cooling (cooling vest) prior to a 10, 000m road-race run within a hot and humid environment, would result in improved performance. The report also aimed to examine any performance-related effects, and their underlying physiological mechanisms. Fourteen (n=14) well-trained adult runners participated in two 10,000m-time trials, spaced 72 hours apart. Ambient conditions of both the control and experimental conditions were T= 32.5 Â °C, rel. humidity= 65% and T= 32.8’C, rel. humidity= 63% respectively. Procedure consisted of a 30 minute warm up (20 minutes steady state running at RPE 13, 10 minutes individualized stretching activity). During the warm up, the control condition required participants to wear a normal tee shirt, with the experimental condition requiring participants to wear a commercially available gel-based cooling vest. Conclusion of the 30 min warm up saw the tee shirt or ice- vest replaced with the race singlet, before commencing the 10, 000 m time trial. Time, pre and post body mass, heart rate, skin temperature and core temperature were all variables measured and recorded. Participants were able to complete the 10,000m road-run in less time following the pre-cooling condition, suggesting that pre-cooling as an intervention strategy improved endurance performance. Results indicate this occurrence was due to significantly lower starting core and skin temperatures, reduced starting heart rate as well as an overall lower sweat rate. These factors allowed for a greater capacity of heat storage, minimizing thermoregulatory and cardiovascular strain and therefore allowing the body to operate at a higher level of performance before reaching critical limiting temperature. Results Figure 1 displays the difference between time trials obtained in both the control and pre-cooling conditions. The pre-cool time trial was significantly shorter than the control time trial (p0.05). The difference between baseline and post body mass (BM) were recorded to calculate sweat rate (L/hr.). Figure 2 displays the difference in sweat rate between the control and pre-cool conditions. Control sweat rate was significantly higher then sweat rate recorded for the pre-cool condition. The above graph (Figure 3) depicts the mean heart rates and standard deviations for both control and pre-cool conditions. HR was recorded and displayed over three phases of the time trial (start, mid and end). Statistical analysis determined that there was a significant difference in HR between the three phases of the time trial (p0.05). Statistical significance also occurred between control start HR and pre-cool start HR, with control start HR 5.10% greater than pre-cool start HR. Skin temperature was also recorded and statistically analysed. Figure 4 displays the mean and standard deviations for skin temperature (Tsk) over three phases of the time trial for both the control and pre-cool conditions. Significant differences between both control and pre-cool conditions were found (p0.05). Significant statistical differences were also discovered between each of the phases of the time trial (p0.0167). Figure 5 depicts mean and standard deviations for core temperature (Tc). Significant statistical difference occurred between the three different stages of the time trial (p0.05). When compared separately, significant differences were found between all stages of the time trial (start vs. mid, start vs. end, mid vs. end) (p0.0167). Discussion The purpose of this study was to investigate whether pre-cooling through the utilization of a cooling vest would augment endurance performance undertaken in the heat. Findings obtained from the study indicate that pre-cooling did improve performance, as the pre-cooling condition time trials were significantly shorter than the control condition (p0.05). This ability to perform at a higher intensity, decreasing time taken to complete the 10,000m run can be explained by the physiological mechanisms behind pre-cooling. The ability to exercise under hot and humid conditions is significantly impaired (Nielsen, Hales, Strange, Christensen, Warberg Saltin, 1993) when ambient temperature exceeds skin temperature. Reduced heat loss that would normally occur through convection and radiation, results in an increase in body temperature (Marino Booth, 1998). By lowering pre-performance body temperature, the body’s ability to capacitate metabolic heat production is increased (Siegel Laursen, 2012), therefore increasing the time to reach critical limiting temperature, at which exercise performance deteriorates or can no longer be maintained (Marino et al. 1998). Sweat rate was lower following pre-cooling compared to the control condition. A number of studies have also obtained similar results, finding greater heat storage capacities and subsequent sweat rates as a result of precooling (Olschewski Bruck, 1988)(Lee Haymes, 1995)(White, Davis Wilson, 2003). This can be explained by the greater heat storage, that is stimulated by precooling, delaying the onset of heat dissipation and subsequent sweat threshold (White et al. 2003). Furthermore, by minimizing sweat rate, the flow of blood to the skin surface is also reduced. This allows more blood to be distributed to the active muscles, reducing cardiovascular strain (White et al, 2003). Another physiological mechanism stimulated through pre-cooling, that aids in reducing cardiovascular strain is heart rate (HR)(Kay, Taaffe Marino, 1999). Recorded data over both conditions showed an increase in HR from the start to the end of the time trial. However, the only significant difference between control and precooling was found between the starting HR recordings. The precooling start HR was 5.10% lower than the control start HR (p0.0167). This significant difference was not maintained throughout mid and end recordings, with both the control and precooling end HR reaching approximately 191 bpm. Kay et al. (1999) found similar results, with HR slightly reduced following precooling within the first 20 minutes of exercise, however this difference was not maintained at 25 and 30 minutes of exercise. A review of relevant literature by Marino (2002) also indicated a lower HR during the start of exercise that was not seen throughout the rest of the exercise bout. These findings can be explained by greater central blood volume, a result of reduced body temperature and therefore no need to distribute blood flow to skin to lose heat. A greater central blood volume produces an increase in stroke volume, ultimately reducing HR and cardiovascular strain (Marino, 2002). Skin temperature results were also recorded over three phases of the time trial. Similar to HR, a significant difference between control and precooling start skin temperature recordings were found (p0.0167), but diminished throughout the remaining two phases of the time trial. Through the use of precooling and consequent lower skin temperature recordings, blood flow was not required at the skin, centrally withholding blood volume and assisting in reducing cardiac strain (Drust, Cable Reilly, 2000). The final variable assessed in this study was core temperature. According to Neilsen et al. (1993), high core temperature is the most important factor leading to exhaustion and impaired performance during exercise under hot and humid conditions. This may be due to brain and core body temperature having a corresponding relationship. Therefore, an increase in core temperature may result in an increase in brain temperature, resulting in central fatigue and affecting motor performance (Nybo, 2012). Core temperature results showed similarities to the findings for HR and skin temperature. Statistical significant differences were found between each phase that core temperature was recorded (p0.05)(start, mid and end time trial), showing a gradual rise from the start of the time trial to the end. A comparison of means via a T-test between start core temperature (control) and start core temperature (precool) showed a significant difference (p0.0167), which was not seen between samples during m id and end time trial. The findings from this study indicate and present the benefits precooling has on improving endurance performance in hot and humid environments. A number of studies and reviews studying precooling as an intervention strategy (Kay et al. 1993)(Marino, 2002)(Marino et al. 1998) have all shown the positive physiological mechanisms that arise from precooling. Time trials were significantly shorter in time following precooling, showing an improvement in performance. The significantly lower heart rate, skin temperature and core temperature stimulated by precooling at the start of the time trial, all contribute to a greater capacity for metabolic production. This greater capacity provides precooled subjects with the ability to work at a higher intensity for longer, before critical limiting temperature is reached, ultimately improving endurance performance.

Strategic Quality Change for Construction Company

Strategic Quality Change for Construction Company Gill Construction Ltd, is currently based in Alberta state, and running different construction projects all over the state. Most of the construction projects are residential based, however they have also participated in commercial projects in Lacombe, which includes Fountain Tire, Lacombe Action Group, Wilsons Funeral Chapel and numerous shops. In the recent time Mr. Amar Geet Jill believes that it is time for their company to move on and expand the business to other states and also do more projects in commercial sector. The current quality systems in place have many loopholes which allow the wastage of raw materials, high costs, untrained staff and lack of machinery. Mr Jill believes that before he expands the business he wants to gain NQI award for excellence in quality, which will add more to the business reputation and will also help them to improve quality management system and sustain growth. In order to gain the NQI Excellence award it is important to have effective quality management systems in place which requires a systematic approach. It involves following steps. Gap Analysis A technique utilized by the managers to compare the actual performance with the potential or expected performance in order to determine the whether the goals are met or not, and if resources are used effectively. It involves two questions Where are we? and Where do we want to be? Gap in actual and expected performance With the help of Gap Analysis Report, Manager will be able to identify the problem easily, Gap analysis report shows that problem is everywhere so its big task to cover all areas and rectify all problems to make a smooth system as per quality system. Depending on the situation, Gaps are classified into four types: The customer-operations specification gap: the gap identified between what customers expect and what is the outcome of the operations, For- example, Customer expects a car to give service after 15000km, but the operations specification states 10,000, At Gill Construction, customer expects the project to be completed in 3 months time, but company specifies 4 months time, same can be the concern for the costs. The concept-specification gap: the gap identified between the concept and the operations specification of a product or a service. For-example, keeping the costs low for the customer but use of low quality material to keep the costs low has compromised the quality. The quality specification-actual gap: When there is a gap between, quality specified by the organisation and the actual outcome of the operations. For-example: the specified standard was that the wall will be built using concrete blocks and mortar, but due to certain reason it was built using brick and mortar. In another case, it was specified that the wall will be at 90 degree straight but due to human error, it is not a straight wall but a slightly tilt. The actual quality- communicated image gap: The gap between, the image marketed, or communicated to the customer and the actual quality of the product or service. For-example it was advertised that the workers at Gill Construction are highly skilled and trained, and latest technology is used however that is now the case. The gap analysis report generated for a newly built house, which has 5-bedrooms with attached toilets, a sitting lounge, dining room, kitchen, and 2 car garage: A very significant gap was noticed in the report between the actual resources utilized and the expected resources. The gaps identified under each type, can lead to poor and perceived quality, and hence it is the responsibility organisation to eliminate these gaps, and come as close to the specified quality and as they. Degree of Change: In order to close the gaps, and meet the quality standard, a companywide change is required. The planned change is a continuum ranging from incremental changes, which involves the improvement in the processes and operations to a limited dimension to fundamental changes that involves the complete redesigning of its operations. Incremental changes involve the changes to decision-making process of the organisation, which exist between the business strategy and culture. Employee Participation: Employee Participation is very important to improve the quality. Managers need to encourage workers to take responsibility for the quality they provide, and meets the customers expectations. Employees are the internal customers for the organisation, who receives the product of service by their supplier. Before planning and implementing a companywide change, it is important to get their employees on board. There suggestions are very important to the management. It is in human nature that it is always afraid of uncertainty, something which is unknown and un seen. It is the job of managers to manage this uncertainty. They need to involve the employees in decision making process and take their suggestions, this increases their confidence level and motivates. If the organisation is going to get new cement mixers, then first they need to train the staff in order to operate that mixer. It is important that work-force needed to be trained to operate the new machinery so that the specified quality standard can be achieved. Resource Requirements: Following resources and tools are required to implement the new quality improvement plan. Technology In todays modern age, technology sector is growing rapidly, and everyday new machinery is invented for human comfort. If Gill Constructions, wants to improve their work build quality and speed up the construction process they need to utilize the new technology. In current process, mortar was prepared using the large mixer. This mixer was operated using the belt connected to the truck shaft, which was used to transport the mixer. This was adding an extra fuel cost. They had to use the same mixer for smaller projects. A new mixer is available in the market, which is small and portable and easily fit in the back of minivan. It also has a small generator attached to it, to power it up. Worker were using the old water-bubble scale to align walls and doors straight and levelled,. However they are not always correct. A new digital scale is required for this purpose. Training and Development It is seen that most of the work-force is from Indian Punjab, hence not very skilled and qualified to operate the new machine. In the previous construction projects, it was seen that accident rate was very high, which was also adding extra cost to the organisation. With old bigger, mixer, there was no cover to the belt connected to shaft of the truck and mixer, and many workers, got their hands stuck in their, which caused the injuries. It was also noticed that they were working without any protective gear e.g safety helmet, masks, gloves. Hence they need to be aware of health and safety hazards at work place. They also need to be trained to operate the new machinery. Transportation In the previous projects, the cost was very high due to high waste material. This was due to the over stock of the material. They were ordering material which was more than required. In order to lower the costs they need to utilize the idea of JIT ( just in time ) . This means that material should be stocked just when it is needed. For this approach to be effective, they need to have a good transportation system and good relationship with the supplier. They need to check with the supplier to provide the material when it is needed, they also need to negotiate the on the quick transportation of the material as well. Quality System   Quality Systems will be in place to ensure that quality objectives are met. The first step in this system is to identify what our customers want. At Gills Construction, customer satisfaction is very important. Customer expects the work to be done and time, and the build quality should be strong and, reliable and durable. The next step is to identify the service or product which responds to the customers need. They need to develop processes which will respond to that need. They need to give a quality and reliable build to the customers. Quality Circle: These are a group of worker or employees who work together to improve the quality and give solution to the problem. Quality Circle will be formed in order to help workers participate in the improvement process. For-example, workers can suggest the amount or type of material required. Depending on their experience they can also suggest what type of paint can be used. Total Quality Management: TQM is a philosophy of management, which addresses the means of raising the quality performance to unprecedented levels. TQM involves the participation from whole organisation and demands to be implemented in all aspects of the business processes. It focuses on the involvement of the management, workforce, suppliers and business process. This means that if the problem lies in any of the business sector that has to be addressed in order to sustain growth. Benefits of Quality Change: Following benefits can be gained with quality change Improved business performance: With the help of this quality change, Gill Construction will be able to see a improved business performance. They can keep their costs low and keep the profit margin high. They will be able to expand their business to a higher level. Training and Development of the staff will help them to get a skilled work force which will be highly motivated and professional. This way they can also keep the accidents rate low. Corporate Image: Since Canadian market is very competitive, the new improved processes and systems will also create a good image for the organisation. With the use of new machinery and training staff, they will have a competitive advantage. They can promote their business in a better way. Motivated Work Force: The use of new machinery and training and develop will assist employees to develop their new skills this will act as a motivating factor and build their confidence level. It will also make them feel empowered. Hence Gill construction will have a highly skilled and motivated work force on board. They can also assist the management to further improve the business processes. Customer satisfaction: The quality improvement technique will also help them to get customer satisfaction on a higer level. They will be able to address their customers needs in a more efficient and effective way. With this they can rebuild customer relation and help maintain business Performance measurement Even though, quality systems are in place and operations are running as per specified, but that doesnt mean, that job of manager is finished. All the operations, regardless of the fact how well they are managed and running, need to be monitored all the time. This ensures that if the Quality System has given the desire result or not. Performance can be measure using five performance objectives, it is the degree to which operations fulfil these objectives Cost Speed Quality Dependably Flexibility Total Quality Management Principles: TQM is a management approach which involves the strategy, data and effective communication to integrate quality principles into the organisation. Customer focused: The very first principle of TQM is to be customer focused. Whatever done for the quality improvement, is to gain customer satisfaction. If Gill Construction will training the work force so that they can operate the new machinery, that will be done keeping in mind, customers demand. Employee Participation: The next principle is that managers need to ensure that they have employees on board. Managers need to ensure that they have complete participation from employees Process Focused: This involves the complete focus of the management centred towards the process thinking, so that two key principles can be achieved: Prevention: the first step to improve quality is to prevent errors. It is better to train staff and avoid accidents rather than finding ways out of it Zero defects: The ultimate aim should be to provide a service with zero defects, that means no comprise at all. The mortar should be prepared by missing the correct ratio of cement and sand. Getting things right first time: The idea of zero defect gives rise to getting things right first time. This means that things need to be done in right way first time. Rather than mixing the preparing the mortar in wrong ratio in first attempt and expecting it to be correct in next attempt should be prevented, For an organisation to successfully implement a strategic quality change it is important to manage six key supporting factors: Action Planning The very first step for organisation is to devise a detailed implementation action plan. This includes chronological lists of actions (tactics) which add the necessary detail to their strategies. And assign responsibility to a specific individual for accomplishing each of those action steps. Also, they set a due date and estimate the resources required to accomplish each of their action steps Organization Structure Next step is to sort the organizational structure according to the action plan and strategy. It is very important that managers must align the strategy with organizational structure. They manage the question Is the organizations current structure appropriate to the intended strategy? Human Resources Organizations successful at strategy implementation consider the human resource factor in making strategies happen The Annual Business Plan Organizations successful at implementation are aware of their need to fund their intended strategies. And they begin to think about that necessary financial commitment  early  in the planning process Monitoring and Control Monitoring and controlling the plan includes a periodic look to see if  were on course. It also includes consideration of options to get a strategy once derailed back on track.   Linkage Many organizations successfully establish the above five supporting   factors. They develop action plans, consider organizational structure, take a close look at their human resource needs, fund their strategies through their annual business plan, and develop a plan to monitor and control their strategies and tactics. And yet they still fail to successfully implement those strategies and tactics. The reason, most often, is they lack  linkage. Linkage is simply the  tying together  of all the activities of the organizationto make sure that all of the organizational resources are rowing in the same direction. After the critical analysis of the current business situation and thorough strategic planning, it is time to implement it. Managers have planned the project to be implemented in a course of time, so that it is easy for them to manage it and also for organisation to adopt it. Staff Training: Before the strategic change is implemented, it is important to get staff on board; hence it is important to train the staff. Workers will be given training on operating the new machineries. 2 hour workshop will be held over the weekend, without affecting the daily construction work. They will be given training on importance of health and safety at work place. Transportation: To utilize the idea of JIT efficiently and effectively, it is important to have a good transportation system in place. Contract with the transportation company who transports the material from supplier to the construction site will be review. It need to be on time and as and when required basis. A penalty will be charged for late delivery. Also try to negotiate on charges, since the current charges are higher than the market rate. Supplier: Once the transportation system is in place, next is to negotiate with material supplier to provide materials on as and when required basis, this is called Just In Time. The supplier will provide the material as required by the organisation. This will help to keep the stock and inventory costs low. Good relationship will be maintained with suppliers as this will help to get good service in return. Communication: In order to keep the gaps close due to communication errors, an effective communication system will be adopted. Project Managers will be placed in organisation, which will supervise their respective construction site. Everything including the material supply and HR will be managed by them. All the workers working on that site will be answerable to the Project Manager. They will also be in direct contact with the client so that customers demand and requirement is passed down the line more effectively. Project Managers will than answer to Mr. Amaar Jeet Gill, who will supervise and discuss the issues with them on the wider perspective. Quality Culture: Before a quality change is implemented in the organisation, it is important to implement a quality culture first. A cultural and behavioural shift in the mind-set of all participants in the construction process especially top or senior management is necessary if the construction industry is to improve its performance (Kanji and Wong, 1998; Love and Heng, 2000; Haupt and Whiteman, 2004). Culture in context of organization is the ways institutes and businesses implicit beliefs, norms and values and premises which underline and govern the behaviour. Hence a quality culture in an organization can be stated as one having clear values and beliefs that foster total quality behaviour. Quality Culture in Gill Construction can be adopted in following ways: Top Management Commitment It will be important for management to commit their self in the implementation of Quality Change, since it requires everyone to work to satisfy the customers needs continuously. Without the clear commitment from top management and leadership it will be hard to get others on board. Leadership has to make this change their strategic objective. Hence Leadership will be able to provide suitable environment to the members of the organisation to improve performance. Top Management will have to put forward quality over costs and other factors, and it is due to this reason, their commitment is required. Customer Management It is important to focus the result of all the processes towards customer satisfaction. When the focus is towards customer satisfaction then it will be easy to prioritize thing. Customer oriented culture will help them to gain service and product with zero defect and right first time. Employee Participation: Employee participation is very important if quality is the goal. This will help to break down many barriers to achieve quality. They also need to be encouraged to work in a team. Team-work will help encourage them to help each other and come up with solution many problems. The use of Quality Circle will also help them to pass on their suggestions to top management. Self-Managed Teams: A self-managed team is defined as a group of employees or staff who is responsible for the management of themselves and the daily operations carried out by them. Work carried out by a typical self-managed team is handling job assignments, plan and schedule work, make decisions related to production and deal with problems. At Gills construction similar teams will be made on the operational level, they will be different from labour union. The teams will be made based on the project and the department related. Each team will have a group manager/ team leader who will be electeed by all the team members however final authorization will be from project manager. A self-managed team is different from quality circles. Quality Circles: Quality Circles are informal group of employees / team members / staff, who meet together voluntarily to discuss their work related issues. Their aim is to identify, define, analyze and solve work related problems. At Gills Construction staff will be encouraged to make quality circles, which will help them to share their knowledge and experience. They can give their suggestions to improve quality or service which will be formally submitted to group manager/ team leader who will pass it on to project manager. Monitoring and Evaluation The final step is monitoring and controlling the implementation. This step is performed throughout the life of the project and ensures that the work results lines up with the schedule plan. Schedule control requires the use of progress reporting, schedule change control systems, such as the use of project change requests, performance management, and variance analysis to determine if additional action is required to get the schedule back in line with the plan. Internal Auditing Professional Auditors will be appointed for the purpose of monitoring and evaluation. Their task will be to assist with the corrective action and investigating problems that have occurred, and taking action to prevent them from reoccurring within the process or organisation. The first step will be to identify the root cause and what really made this happen? What can we do to prevent it from happening again? Once the solution is devised for the problem, the follow up will be done to ensure that it has worked and positive results are achieved. Auditors will revisit the issue and check if it happening again. For sake of record, the problem, its root cause, the action taken, its effectiveness and the actual results will be recorded. Record the problem, the root cause, the action taken, the effectiveness of the action, and the actual results of the corrective action. Did the problem occur again? Were they able to see measurable improvement? If so, how much? What date did the problem disappear? Record the results that they observed when following up on the corrective action to determine effectiveness.

Why the United States Became Increasingly Involved in the War in Vietna

Why the United States Became Increasingly Involved in the War in Vietnam The Vietnam conflict originated from a struggle against the colonial rule from France. Vietnam, previously known as Indochina, had been part of the French empire up until 1940, when France was defeated in the Second World War by Germany. During the German occupation of France, Japan seized control of Vietnam and it’s main resources like coal, rice and rubber. While the war was still being fought however, a strong anti-Japanese movement known as the Viet Minh emerged under the leadership of Communist Ho Chi Minh. This group fought against Japanese rule, and by the end of the Second World War, had successfully taken control of North Vietnam while still determined to declare Vietnamese independence across the whole country. In 1945, the French arrived to resume their control over Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh had successfully defeated the Japanese for his country’s independence and hoped the Viet Minh could be victorious once again over France. In 1946, war broke out between the French and the Viet Minh. To begin with, the USA was somewhat sympathetic towards Vietnam, seeing the conflict as a struggle against colonial rule. The story changed however when China became a Communist state and offered support to Ho Chi Minh. America feared a Communist plan to dominate all of South-East Asia and quickly set about pouring money (over $500 million a year) into the French War effort. This support allowed France to successfully set up a non-Communist government in the South of the country. The American support was the product of the â€Å"Truman Doctrine†, a mission designed to â€Å"protec... ...r into war.† Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, with his successor – Lyndon Johnson – more prepared to commit the USA to more extreme actions. He was willing to start a full-scale conflict in Vietnam if it were to prevent the spread of Communism. In August 1964, the US ship Maddox was fired on by North Vietnamese patrol boats in the Gulf of Tonkin. Because of this, American Congress passed the â€Å"Tonkin Gulf Resolution† which allowed Johnson the power to take â€Å"all necessary measures to prevent further aggression and achieve peace and security.† In other words, the President could take the USA into a full scale war should he feel it was necessary. By March 8th 1965, this was the case. 3500 US marines arrived at Da Nang, just as â€Å"Operation Rolling Thunder† came into play. America’s involvement escalated to war in Vietnam.

Global Warming: Confronting the Realities of Climate Change Essay

Sea level rise is accelerating. The number oflarge wildfires is growing. Dangerous heat waves are becoming more common. Extreme storm events are increasing in many areas. More severe droughts are occurring in others. These are just some of the consequences of global warming, which are already having significant and harmful effects on our health, our environment, and our communities. Unless we take immediate action to address global warming, these consequences will continue to intensify, grow ever more costly, and increasingly affect the entire planet – including you, your community, and your family. GLOBAL WARMING IS HAPPENING NOW. The planet’s temperature is rising. The trend is clear and unmistakable. Every one of the past 37 years has been warmer than the 20th century average. The 12 warmest years on record have all occurred since 1998. 2012 was the hottest year ever recorded for the contiguous United States. Globally, the average surface temperature has increased more than one degree Fahrenheit since the late 1800s. Most of that increase has occurred over just the past three decades. WE ARE THE CAUSE. We are overloading our atmosphere with carbon dioxide, which traps heat and steadily drives up the planet’s temperature. Where does all this carbon come from? The fossil fuels we burn for energy – coal, natural gas, and oil – plus the loss of forests due to deforestation, especially in the tropics. THE SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE IS CLEAR. Within the scientific community, there is no debate: An overwhelming majority of climate scientists agree that global warming is happening and that human activity is the primary cause. This broad consensus – and the extensive scientific evidence that supports it – is often downplayed or distorted by a small but vocal minority of special interests that have a vested interest in delaying action on climate change. WE HAVE A CHOICE. We can act now to reduce our carbon emissions, slow the pace of global warming, and pass on a safer, healthier world to our children. Or we can choose to do nothing, continue pumping massive amounts of carbon into an already overloaded atmosphere, and suffer the increasingly costly consequences. At UCS, we believe the choice is clear: WE MUST TAKE STEPS NOW TO REDUCE OUR GLOBAL WARMING EMISSIONS. TOGETHER WE CAN TACKLE GLOBAL WARMING. We have the practical solutions and technologies at hand to substantially reduce our emissions, create a clean energy economy, and establish the United States as a global leader in innovation.

Knowledge Work and Organization

Knowledge Work and Organization Introduction Many organizations in different sectors are using community of practice and innovation to improve on their productivity. Community of practice and innovation are interrelated in some ways. This study seeks to identify their similarities, differences and the effects each have on the organization. The last part explains the challenges that firms that participate in social networks face.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Knowledge Work and Organization specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Communities of Practice From the community’s point of view, communities of practice are groups of people who come together to meet a common goal. In the business perspective, it is a group of self-motivated people who follow laid out procedures and are challenged to train the persons working with them in order to improve their productivity (Wenger 2000, p.45). These communities of practice are responsible for the smooth r unning of the organization. Therefore, they are accountable using their knowledge and skills, are included in the planning of the budget of the organization, and provide the time schedule for the activities carried out in the organization. They have artifacts which are documents, websites and stories and the appointed member maintain them since they are useful in the organization (Kortum Lerner 2000, p.680). According to Fageberg, Mowery and Nelson (2005, p.362), the communities of practice combine three elements in defining competence. They are brought together by understanding the values of their community and every member is accountable to sustain the relationship between them. For a person to be competent in the community of practice, he/she has to be a trusted member and to engage in the activities of the community (Kortum Lerner 2000, p.688). The success of every group depends on the competence and the ability of the leader to engage the whole group in the process of meeting their goal. During the establishment of the community of practice, members should put in mind what will be bringing them together like the events, who will be leading the group, the projects, connectivity and membership. Unlike closed innovation, any person within or outside the organization can be involved in performing duties that will lead to the success of the organization (Robertson, Paul Langlois 1995, p.560). Innovation Innovation involves bringing valuable ideas into the firm. There are different types of innovation, the closed and open innovation. Open innovation is when those ideas come from inside or outside the firm and are meant to benefit the organization as a whole. Most of the people who create these ideas are from outside the firm and sometimes they are hired to educate employees in the organization on how to implement the ideas. Innovation in this case is the methods that organizations choose to use in response to the challenges in the business environment. They involve changing of the traditional practices of the organization to new practices with an aim of improving the productivity of the whole organization.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Innovation includes the introduction of machines and technology that in return requires trained personnel who are ready to apply their knowledge with the help of technology to achieve the objective of the firm (Trott Hartmann 2009, p.720). Open innovation principles states that the external research and development creates more value than the closed innovation. The organizations that use closed innovation believe that they have enough skills required to perform a particular task so they do not require help from outside the company. They believe that if they discover things for themselves, they will be the first to venture into the market. These companies are so self-centered and do n ot allow others to benefit from their ideas. This is totally contrary to what open innovators perceive (Dasgupta 2003, p.320). Innovation involves generation of ideas that are essential for an organization to maintain its position in the market. Therefore, it differs from the community of practice in that the community of practice follows the ideas that the innovators have already generated in operating the organization and maintaining their relationship. Innovation involves education, technology and training in the organization (Chesbrough 2006, p.111). The employees are trained on the use of new technologies in their practices to become competent and add productivity. Community of practice uses the ideas to meet the goals and objectives of the whole organization. Therefore, the community of practice requires innovation in their daily work. However, both innovation and community of practice involve learning and training in the performance (Francis 2000, p.34). Social capital is the ability to find, combine and utilize knowledge and skills of employees within and outside the organization. Just like open innovation, social capital involves employees from outside the individual organization. Social capital encompasses the information flows, exchange of knowledge, community of practice and all other connected networks that bring together stakeholders in an organization. These stakeholders include suppliers, regulators, employees, customers and partners that are all interested in different aspects of the organization. The social capital and community of services are interconnected since both involve innovative practices. The social capital is obtained from employee business networks and the profession.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Knowledge Work and Organization specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More An organization that is able to apply the social capital is always more productive that the one that has no social capital. Innovation is an essential aspect for the productivity of the firm. â€Å"Social capital provides benefits to both the individual and the group as a whole† (Burt Ronald 1992, p.45). Differences between open innovation and communities of practice Communities of practice are groups of people in organizations who converge, share ideas about performing a duty or meeting a goal and learns how to the duty better to get the best practices. Open innovation on the other hand involves identifying and bringing together internal and external resources and ideas to expand on their innovation strategy with an aim of maintaining the firm’s market position on getting new opportunities (Amina Roberts 2008, p. 359) Open innovation is a cognitive model researching, creating and interpreting innovation practices while the communities of practice are not a cognitive model. Communities are not restricted by the organization’s structure, they involve people a cross the geographical and organizational limits while the open innovation is limited by the structure of the organization and must follow the hierarchy. Similarities of the communities of practice and the open innovation The community of practice must use the technology while still sharing their ideas and learning more about those ideas. Similarly, open innovation involves the use technological practices to bring new ideas in an organization (Amina Roberts 2008, p. 354). Both communities of practice and open innovation involve a group of individuals in an organization and are aimed at improving the performance of the firm (Hardcastle 2011, p.52). The members of both communities of practice and the innovation group are from different professions and are not restricted to one organization but involve internal and external knowledge in the improvement of the firms performance. Communities of practice and open innovation involve the process of learning searching for information ab out how they can create new markets or future opportunities for the organization. Challenges Faced by the Organizations’ Social Networks As discussed earlier, the community of practice, the social capital and the practice-based networks depend so much on innovation. Innovation depends so much on the technology which most of the employees fear since they think that they will lose their jobs. The community of practice may come up with ideas that can cost the organization a lot of money and resources that the organization may not afford. The organization can be forced to borrow or hire the resources, which affect the budget and affect the productivity of the organization. The social groups in the organization require frequent training, which can also be costly to the organization (Francis 2000, p.40). Through innovation, the leaders in the organization may be over possessed with competition giving much pressure to the other employees and reduces their productivity. According to Chesbrough and Melissa (2007, p. 69), the community of practice in many cases asks for higher pay than the others since they have more responsibilities of changing the old practice of the organization to new improved processes. This is a major challenge for the organization. People perceive ideas differently therefore, for an organization to benefit fully from the community of practice and the social capital, the members involved must understand each other’s behavior. This will help them accommodate each other. The organization is responsible for the education and leadership of this individual in understanding each other and enhancing their knowledge (Chesbrough Melissa 2007, p.62). Conclusion Changes in technology around the world have improved the performance of organizations. Firms traditionally used the closed innovation in their research and development but today they have changed to open innovation. Communities of practice are also used in all organizations in all sec tors to develop ideas on increasing the productivity of the firm. However, companies are faced with so many challenges in the process of promoting their social groups. This is because the decision making process is slowed by a number of people whose perspective is different from policy makers but trust, negotiation and consultations bring the ideas together.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More List of References Amina, A and Roberts, J 2008, Knowing in action: Beyond communities of practice, Elsevier B.V, vol , 37, pp, 353–369. Burt, Ronald, S 1992, Structural holes: The social structure of competition, Harvard University Press, London. Chesbrough, H and Melissa M, 2007, Open innovation and strategy appleyard, California Management Review, vol.50, no.1, pp.57-76. Chesbrough, W 2006, Open innovation: the new imperative for creating and profiting from technology, Harvard Business Press, New York. Dasgupta, P 2003, Social capital and economic performance: Analytics, in foundations of social capital, Critical Studies In Economic Institutions, vol.2, no.1, pp.309–39. Fageberg, J, Mowery, D Nelson, R 2005, Oxford handbook of innovation, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Francis, F 2000, The great disruption: Human nature and the reconstruction of social order, Simon and Schuster, New York. Hardcastle, D 2011, Community practice: Theories and skills for social work ers, Oxford University Press, Oxford, Kortum, S and Lerner, J 2000, Assessing the contribution of venture capital to innovation, Journal of Economics, vol.31, no.2, pp.674–692. Robertson, Paul L. and Langlois, R 1995, Innovation, Networks, and Integration, Research Policy, vol. 24, pp.543-562. Trott, P and Hartmann, D 2009, Why Open Innovation is old wine in new bottles, International Journal of Innovation Management, vol.13, no.2, pp.715–736. Wenger, E 2000, Communities of practice and social learning systems, Sage, New York.