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Poverty Is A Grave Issue - 837 Words

Poverty is a grave issue that many people face worldwide that is caused by political and economic instability, discrimination, war, and a history of colonialism. Poverty is a social and economic problem characterized by a lack of income and therefore lack of access to adequate resources like food, housing, and services. This problem is widespread and is fatal; the malnutrition and disease that comes along with poverty kills millions of people. Especially in developing countries, diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria are diseases that tend to infect those in poverty, yet they also perpetuate poverty because the medicines can be expensive or hard to come by. Even without the influence of diseases, poverty is usually perpetual, making it had for children who grow up impoverished to get out of poverty. For example in the United States, the perpetual cycle begins with poor housing conditions and leads to low property taxes, which would pay for an education. The lack of acc ess to a quality education contributes to job scarcity, and in turn lower income. Income and economics are not the only problem caused by poverty. Crime rates and substance abuse problems are high in impoverished areas, contributing to the social problem. Additionally, the criminal justice system tends to be biased towards the poor because of high legal fees and institutionalized discrimination. Poverty is not just a problem to those who are impoverished because with less people able toShow MoreRelatedThe Issue Of Child Marriage Essay1266 Words   |  6 Pagesare still subject to grave injustice in many societies and such societies also suffer from underdevelopment for minimal role of women in their development. Nepal is a country where women suffer from the issue of ‘Child or Early Marriages’. This is a century’s long practice in Nepal and unfortunately nothing significant has appeared in form of tangible indicators that indicate the improvement in this grave scenario. International community and NGOs are working on this issue of Nepal as their priorityRead MoreThe Cause And Causes Of Poverty1325 Words   |  6 PagesThere are many global issues such as violence, lack of resources, and climate change that affect everyday life. Among the many is the issue of poverty. According to the Business dictionary, poverty is a â€Å"Condition where people s basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter are not being met†. Due to the serious effects and causes of poverty, it has always been an important issue throughout the world. Causes of poverty vary from country to country but the biggest and most common causes are thingsRead MoreEssay on Afghanistan- A Country in Distre ss894 Words   |  4 Pagesconstitution. The country like others in the Middle East suffers from enormous poverty and a few other problems to include the lack of skilled and educated workers, which also has such a grave effect on most other countries. The lack of is more than likely what lies beneath the country’s poverty. If people aren’t educated or don’t have the knowledge to perform certain tasks then this definitely causes a problem with employment issues. Not only does the country have problems as these but they are also plaguedRead MorePoverty And Its Impact On Education943 Words   |  4 PagesMany people have to fight poverty everyday and the worst thing about it is the fact that it has infiltrated our school systems. Many factors cause this higher unemployment rate and those related to education are on the top of the list. When these cities and towns enter states of poverty the schools are allotted less and less money so the aspect of education takes the backseat. Students are crippled intellectually because of the low grade resources and teachers they are given. This is happening allRead MoreMedicaid Expansion Of The United States1108 Words   |  5 Pageshave access to resources. Obama Health care law has opened up medical help any citizen with an income of less than 138 percent of the federal poverty line as long as the states agree to the ne Medicaid plan (Graves, 2012). Opting out the Medicaid expansion plan by the governor s implies that the low-income citizens in the states based on the federal poverty line will not receive the health insurance, and so they will be left uninsured that transmits to poor health. Hence, these people will continueRead MoreRisk Pooling in Health Care1670 Words   |  7 Pagesthere are no laws that require a health insurance company to provide coverage to an individual (.Graves and Long, 2006) One way to do the risk pooling in the new health reform bill, is the creation of health insurance exchanges. Through the use of insurance mandate, combined with guaranteed issue of coverage, elimination of pre-existing conditions and prohibition against premium rating based upon health issue provides the basis for achieving universal (near-universal) coverage in combination with useRead MoreThe Case Of A Christmas Carol1339 Words   |  6 Pagesfirst person narrator is much more outwardly critical of Scrooge himself than of the larger issue at hand. The narrator is not rooting for Scrooge the whole time as the narrator in Pride and Prejudice is—the narrator in A Christmas Carol is the first person to call Scrooge out for his wrongdoings. The way that this narrator operates is by taking a stab at Scrooge without really commenting on the larger issues at hand, such as how to live life—instead, he is very raw with his emotion towards ScroogeRead MorePaycheck And Times Of Katrina Gilbert1358 Words   |  6 PagesThe documentary, Paycheck to Paycheck: The Life and Times of Katrina Gilbert, follows the life of Katrina Gilbert, a single-mother living in poverty, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It records what life is like for most single mothers in the United States living paycheck to paycheck. Living paycheck to paycheck means that with each paycheck, the person does not get to save any of the money they have earned, in Katrina’s case, she uses the money to pay for the rent, bills, child care, gasoline, and foodRead MoreWhat Does The Phrase `` Design Matters?1091 Words   |  5 Pagessupport our lifestyles is obviously not sustainable. In order to change our course we must analyze the design flaws of our productive and consumptive patterns.This question advances our understanding of sustainable development by viewing it as an issue of design. We must first understand the faults in the systems designed and accepted socially, through a proper analysis in order to then manipulate system into a more sustainable one. Our readings have furthered our learning by inherently describingRead MoreThe Impacts Of A Cherokee Story : Trail Of Tears920 Words   |  4 Pageseastern lands, to newly established territories located west of the Mississippi River (Dwyer, 2014, p. 33). After researching the Trail of Tears’ impact to the five major Native American tribes, it is easy to see themes such as assimilation, racism, poverty, ethnocentrism, bias, cultural relativity and prejudice within this event. Early in America’s history, interactions between white settlers and Native Americans shaped the future of our country (Dwyer, 2014, p. 32). Shortly after arrival, European

Royal Ahold’s Case Write Up Free Essays

Executive Summary The case discusses the Royal Ahold’s the major events that led to the demise of a great European company. The case presents some of the key issues in the areas of leadership, strategy, audit and accounting fraud that resulted in their disaster. The case identifies the problems made by the management in selecting the improper growth strategy and incentive plan that encouraged unethical behaviour from the senior management. We will write a custom essay sample on Royal Ahold’s Case Write Up or any similar topic only for you Order Now The events presented touch and highlight management and governance issues, which are so important in managing global companies. After analysis of the cases and financial statements, I have come with questions and concerns on the management and financial statements that could have caught this earlier on. Questions to be asked and process of approving budgets, corporate strategy, risk controls would have raised concerns on the management style. Some of the other recommended actions for board and its various committees would have discouraged the improper management practices. Some of these questions might have surfaced real issues and / or encouraged the right practice. I found various accounting standards, challenges of global audit process; in this case it was led by Deliotte. The CEO’s and leadership growth strategy was the reward and recognition was improper. The number of acquisitions made during the 90s and continuous pressure was put on all subsidiaries to grow the sales by 15% were bad decisions. This alone led to many other problems within the company. The CEO’s growth strategy and desire to quickly grow the company put immense pressure on all other companies and senior management to somehow meet the CEO’s expectation. It all resulted into fraudulent activities and ultimately disaster of great company. I recommend adopting changes to incentive plans, non-financial factors be part of success criteria. In measuring financial success, working capital ratio, inventory days, receivable and payable targets should be part of incentives. Above all, I recommend changes to the board committees and ensuring their work is independent was also important, i. e. audit committee, establishment of HR committee to raise issues and improve the overall organization culture. The case also highlights the issue of multiple accounting standards being practiced in very country. A standard corporate wide accounting standard in Royal Ahold must have been used. Both external and internal auditors must have report ed numbers in a consistent approach. I recommend that auditors had direct reporting to board and should have empowered and trained to look for documentation and management structures in their audit process. Had they dig deep on all areas of concerns of material significance they might have found side letters. I have also highlighted other recommendations including the controls in the accounting standards and in preparing financial papers. Incentive plans and corporate strategy be realistic to avoid unwanted behaviors. Tone of the top management including the board’s, assignment of responsibilities be clearly stated and periodically measured. Student id: 250712690 1 Management Accounting Exam Problem Identification: The case depicts another case of fail of governance and business ethics. This appears to be a fraud and not just accounting mistakes. By 2003, the time of the case, Enron, WorldCom and few others had already identified the need of business ethics and corporate governance. Royal Ahold series of events happened mainly due to greed and unethical behaviour but what really underlies is the objective setting, growth strategy and, rewards recognition criteria set by management. The case also presents issues of cost accounting, in terms of, when to apply the manufacturing rebates. Consolidation of subsidiaries and joint ventures also played a role in this fraud. It also shows bad governance, flaws in external audit, failure of internal audit functions and to some degree their competency. Leadership strategy: Royal Ahold’s CEO’s strategy of 15% growth year-over-year was very aggressive. The reward and recognition structure around the sales number was improper as it led management of all subsidiaries and other business units to increase the revenue and meet the targets. CEO kept communicating to board and shareholders the expectation around the sales strategy and likelihood of meeting these targets. Consequently, it created a culture whereby senior management were under pressure to meet the sales objective. The senior management and head of subsidiaries must have felt that missing the sales targets is not even an option. Accounting Fraud: The case presents few big issues of accounting. Firstly, the issue is of the incorrect accounting treatment of manufacturing rebates and promotional allowances. My opinion is that rebates cannot decrease the cost of goods unless there is a certainty of getting the rebates. If the rebates are uncertain they cannot decrease the cost of goods incorrectly. From the case, it appears that management ordered more quantity of goods then they could have sold. They booked the rebates at time of goods received and decrease the cost of goods prematurely. (Assumption: It is not very clear from the case, if these rebates were booked as income or adjusted against the cost of goods i. . decrease in cost of item. I have assumed that Royal Ahold accountants decreased the costs (prematurely as per above paragraph). If these were booked as income, then it is even a bigger fraud and not an accounting error) Second accounting fraud problem is the accountants preparation of Royal Ahold’s parent company financial statements. They consolidated the financial statements including some of the joint ventures when Royal didn’t even had control over them. Royal Ahold did not own more than 50% of these Joint Ventures and did not have the control of the decision making. They created fraudulent paper work to show they had control on these join venture companies. This is a pure fraud as they created agreements to satisfy auditors and try to hide the real facts. Audit: Both external auditors and internal auditors (and audit committee) failed to detect any of the accounting issues. It could have been missed as accounting standards in many countries is different. External auditors, even though they may all be of Deloite, of one country only audits that country statements, so they may not be familiar what might be happening in other parts of the company. However, the Royal Ahold parent company auditors are responsible to have an oversight of companywide audit and should be held responsible for over -looking these fraudulent transactions. Internal audit and board’s audit committee failed to detect any of the misrepresentation either. On top of that in Netherlands there were two boards (Governing Board and Supervisory Board) and both boards weren’t able to detect or raise red flag on any of these problems and misrepresentations. Management having two sets of paper work with JV (Joint Ventures) without coming under the investigation shows incompetency of audit functions. Governance / Audit Structure The way the governance and audit structure was laid out at Royal Ahold, there were five different committees and entities were responsible to review accounting and financial controls and practices that could have asked questions and raise concerns (red flags). They were: The governance board, supervisory board, the audit committee, internal audit department and the external auditors. Each should have independently reviewed management controls and financial statements and raise concerns and issues. Raising Red Flags In my opinion, the governance structure and audit committees and external auditors were sufficient enough to handle or uncover such fraudulent activities had they been critical, created the right controls, empowered the internal auditors and obviously asked the right questions while reviewing the financial statements and other management documentation. As part of board, I would have asked questions following questions, or have acted when seen abnormalities. This would have helped me in identifying issues, concerns and in raising red flags on the Royal Ahold 1999-2001 financial statements. Also some of them are related to mid 90’s management attitude and strategy. Strategy and Growth Approach: The target of meeting 15% year-over-year in sales, especially in US in 2000-01 when economy was in recession should have alarmed the board and internal auditors. They should have investigated how the sales targets are being achieved. It is not easy to meet 15% sales in US food industries under this economic climate. This may have led the management behaviour in meeting the targets. As board member, I would have asked CEO to explain the strategy of rewards and recognition, mainly on top line bonus as it is a wrong choice. (I have personally worked at Compaq during 1999-2000 and have seen the issue of top line bonus and commission on sales. This led to Compaq’s continued crises and eventually it was bought by HP in 2003). I would tried to influence the board and hence the CEO to consider a more comprehensive rewards strategy. From my experience bonus strategy plays a big role in company culture. The other important factor that develops the management attitude is what CEO likes to hear. It seems Royal Ahold’s CEO, Cees van der Hooven, wanted to hear from all his subsidiaries and Joint Ventures that sales targets are being met every quarter. I would have influence the management style and company culture to be protected by changing (or diluting) this approach. CEO’s attitude and leadership style was one of the leading cause of Royal Ahold demise. His aggressive acquisition approach would have resulted in integration issues within the company. As board member, I would have asked the management plans on integration and how culture of the organization would not be negatively impacted. I would have created the board HR committee to influence management not to allow the negative impacts on the organization culture, integration within the organization, rewards and recognition be such that it would not have allowed the culture to deteriorate. The cultural issues, integration issues and above all greed among the management team members was uncontrolled in Royal Ahold’s accounting scandal. The growing number of acquisitions was extremely risky initiative; the corporate strategy was carrying high risks at all operational levels including controls, integration that may have led to frauds. Also, this had potential to be a reputation risk as well. In my opinion, board should not have approved such an aggressive corporate growth strategy. Consolidated Statements Although Royal Ahold ownership is less than 50% in some Join venture companies, they showed controlling interests in some companies. To me an agreement paper presented by the management is not sufficient. I would have asked the significance of Royal Ahold’s control and ask management which areas of Joint Venture management we have been making decisions on. If we are making decisions, even though we don’t own more than 50%, what are the risks associated with these decisions. As a board member, I would have understood how Royal Ahold has influenced the Joint Venture management. I would have also asked audit committee to understand the management structure of Joint Ventures. Taking a step further, assuming that 20% share would have given Royal Ahold right to appoint a board member on Joint Venture’s Board, I would have understood from the Joint Venture board member (through Royal Ahold appointed director) how the joint ventures decision making process really works. By asking such questions and efforts in trying to understand from the board and management of Joint ventures how the organization is actually structured and working. If Royal Ahold does not have a controlling authority on the acquired company, the company financial statements cannot be consolidated. Royal’s accounting practice o f consolidation will first bump up the revenue numbers. This was purposely done to beef up the revenue figures. This may have resulted bigger bonus for the senior management. Also, the balance sheet would be more attractive to the shareholders (and potential shareholders). To explain this here is simple illustration: Parent Current Assets Assets Total Assets Current Liabilities Liabilit ies Total Liabilities Shareholder’s Equity Debt to Equity Ratio Subsidiary Consolidated 3 7 10 1 3 4 4 10 14 4 1 5 3 7 0. 5 1. 5 3. 5 8. 5 3 2. 5 5. 5 2. 3 0. 6 1. 5 As illustrated in the hypothetical example above example, by consolidat ion the debt looks more attractive then it would have looked otherwise in the parent company. The debt to equity shows debt-to-equity of ($1. 5:$1) when consolidated, and ($2. 3:$1) when not consolidated. Similarly, other financial ratios would have looked good with consolidation of financial statements. The consolidation resulted in better financial statements; hence Royal Ahold used this approach. In actual, this should not have used consolidated method. As per the accounting text, Parent when owns an investee company’s 20%-50% should use the equity method of accounting. The equity method would have mainly impacted the earnings on the Income statements. The net income, however, would result the same earnings without changing the revenue numbers. On the balance sheet side, the equity method would only show true â€Å"Assets† number, as per the investments made in the JV by Royal Ahold. The financial ratios (e. . debt to equity or quick ratio etc. ) will not be as appealing as it started to sound with consolidated statement. Risk Controls: As board member, I would have influenced the entire board not to approve the corporate strategy as a budget was too aggressive and unrealistic. As pointed out above, realistic targets are extremely important. If strategy is too aggres sive and corporate culture is to share good news with the CEO the unrealistic budgets targets may lead to malpractice and improper (fraudulent) activities. In my opinion it is supervisory board obligation to approve only realistic targets. The corporate strategy in the growth years of mid ‘90s was too aggressive. This has done part of the damage in the culture and mind-set of the senior management that 15% growth is not unrealistic and has created an attitude to meet these targets in any way possible. This encouraged the wrong doings and possible frauds that started to take place in 1999-2001. Although it is not very clear from the case, were there any wrong doing (or activities) in 199798, but in the hind-sight, it appears that some of the issues must have started or existed in that time as well. The board and senior management should actively work on identifying risks to the organization and work on strategies that mitigates the risks. A key here is to have a formal risk assessment process on an annual basis. The assessment is under supervision of the board and results are reviewed by the board. Inventory 2001 balance sheet shows 20% rise in inventory, I would have raises some concerns that might have uncovered the management improper decision to order such high quantity of stocks to get the manufacturing rebates. Accounts Receivable In 2001, accounts receivable increased by Euros 605M i. e. 21. 2%. I would have asked questions around the assumptions and likelihood receiving the Account Receivable. More importantly, who owes this receivable to Royal Ahold. This may have been due to the manufacturing rebates included in the accounts receivable. If so, it would have led to the whole issue of management aggressive behaviour on ordering stocks to get rebates. It might have opened up the entire incorrect accounting treatment of manufacturing allowances and rebates. General Reserve Royal Ahold is showing consistently on their balance sheet a general reserve item that is over 5 to 6 Billion euros (approx). This appears to be high, I would have asked on what assumptions these provisions are made. It might have uncovered some of the assumptions that are being made by management. This general reserve is in addition to the 1. 5B euros in other provisions. This is should have been a red flag. Other Recommended Preventive Measures Besides the concerns and red flags mentioned above, I would have raised based on what I would have seen. I would have also taken following measures to prevent this from happening. Incentive (Bonus) Structure: The bonus structure cannot solely be based on financial goals. The bonus structure has to base on non-financial goals as well. Within financial goals all aspects to kept in mind when designing the appropriate incentive program. The increase in working capital (inventory, receivables, payables etc. ) is kept at minimum or in line with the net income. The increase or decrease in working capital beyond the realistic proportion to earnings should be discouraged through the incentive program as well. Audit Committee Structure: The case presents the audit committee and internal audit department weaknesses and signs of some of their inefficient processes and competency issues. Besides reviewing the audit committee performance, monitoring and control issues were also been found. I would have influence the audit committee to have a metrics of internal audit department. This may have encouraged more objectivity of audit functions and may have aligned management controls to the overall governance issues. It is the responsibility of audit committee that internal and external auditors have an open communication. Besides audit of the current financial statements, and review of controls and structures, the auditors must identify areas of improvement in controls and work on action plan in improving the organization controls and monitoring process. HR Committee As mentioned above, I would have asked board to create HR committee that takes an active role in setting the controls in the organization. The committee should take an active role in reviewing the annual compensation and objective setting. Committee should have taken an independent review of key hiring decisions and management capability on integration and organization culture. Some key decisions in this area should only made by committee after consulting with the management, audit and board’s general direction. IT System: I would have asked internal audit committee to ensure all IT systems are audited to ensure proper controls are in place. Usually, in fraud IT systems controls could have loop holes or management may have the ability to bypass some of the checks and balances and/ or segregation of duties. Consistency in financial Statements Royal Ahold had companies in four different continents and in many countries. Financial statements presentation and laws across the globe are not consistent. US GAPP, Netherlands GAAP, IFSA and others are not standard across all countries where the Royal Aholds companies are in operation. While the fact makes a challenge for the board, it doesn’t give them an excuse of letting things slip. The board should have worked out with internal and external auditors in creating a minimum corporate standard across the group of companies. It is the flaw in governance and leadership to over-look this fundamental point. How to cite Royal Ahold’s Case Write Up, Essay examples

Eudaimonia Aristotle Essay Example For Students

Eudaimonia Aristotle Essay ?In Contrast to Plato Unlike Plato, Aristotle believed that sensory perceptions in the human soul are reflections ofobjects, and thoughts in consciousness are based on what we have already seen. He believed that humanshave the innate power of reason, and the innate faculty of organizing things into categories and classes,but no innate ideas. No Innate IdeasPlato believed that the idea chicken came before the sensory worlds chicken, but Aristotle refusedthis theory. The form of chicken is eternal, but every chicken flows, meaning it cant live forever. Theform chicken is made up of a chickens characteristics, such as cackling and laying eggs. Therefore the formcan not exist on its own, and can not be separated from any chicken. According to Aristotle, reality consists of separate things that constitute a unity of form andsubstance, which is what the object is made of. A chickens substance, for example, would be its feathers,flesh, beak, etc. Unlike form, substance still remains when a creature dies, and it as well has the potentialto realize a specific form. Every change in nature is transformation from potential to the actual. For eggsample, a chickensegg has the potentiality to become a chicken, or to realise its form. In the case of nonliving organisms, anexample to think about is that a stones form is to fall to the ground. The Final Cause Aristotle believed that there were four causes for the occurrences of life: the material cause, theefficient cause, the formal cause, and the final cause. When rain falls, the material cause is that themoisture is there when the air is cooling. The efficient cause is that moisture cools, the formal cause is theform of water is to fall, and the final cause is that so that plants can grow. Natures ScaleE.g. Cats: LivingPlantsCreaturesAnimals HumansIn Aristotles mind, there were no sharp boundaries in the natural world. His scale ranked livingorganisms from plants and simple animals to complicated animals, with man at the top of the scale,because man can grow and absorb food like plants and animals can, but also has specific human traits (i.e.,he can think rationally). WomenAnother difference between Plato and Aristotle was that Aristotle believed that women wereunfinished versions of man, and that children inherited solely the males characteristics because males areactive in reproduction and females are passive. Aristotle believed that females were like the soil for thehuman seed to grow inthat man provided form, and woman substance. Unfortunately, Aristotlesviews held sway during the Middle Ages, which was a major reason for the sexism of the time. EthicsThe only way to achieve happiness in Aristotles mind was to use all of ones capabilities. Therewere three forms of happiness:1) A life of pleasure and enjoyment. 2) A life as a free and responsible citizen. 3) A life as a thinker and a philosopher. Aristotle rejected an imbalance of these, and said that one must have all three to be truly happy. He alsoinsisted that this sort of balance was important in human relationships, and advocated what he called theGolden Mean. This meant finding a middle ground for everything; for example, not to be cowardly orrash, but courageous. PoliticsAristotle claimed that man was a political animal, and that there were three good forms ofconstitution: monarchy (one head of state), aristocracy (a larger or smaller group of leaders), and polity(democracy). However, there were conditions with each of these suggestions: a monarchy must not becometyranny, where the leader governs to his own advantage; an aristocracy must not become anoligarchy, where a select few are in charge; and a democracy must not become a mob rule.

Is education only learned in school free essay sample

School influences people in many different ways, such as academic knowledge, social activities, and other students stuff. However, the importance of schooling is outweighed by that Of other experiences beyond school, like going to Africa to visit young patient suffering from AIDS, or wandering around the yard in the soft moonlight to gain inspiration of composing songs. How can you seek inspiration through the combination of love and nature can hardly be learned through professors lectures, but by using our hearts to feel and to appreciate.Going to the place where people lead a strenuous life as well as experiencing the pain from diseases does help us realize that we should appreciate the happy life we are leading, and to what extent we are supposed to contribute ourselves to the society. I admire Lady Diana Frances Spencer, Princess of Wales, for her visit to Africa during which she shook hands with children who got AIDS and respect her for her ignorance of the royal contentment of her kindness towards the poor, she could have lived economically amply without such care of other arduous people; however, she pursued spiritual intactness which ties her heart to that of all. We will write a custom essay sample on Is education only learned in school or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Since such recruits of complete soul is rarely taught in school, we learn it from our daily like little by little. How to live, which we accumulate from our own experiences outside school is no wonder more essential than make a living, which we are taught in school every day. As a part of how to live, besides taking care of others, drawing inspiration from life also plays an indispensable role in our lives. How to seek inspiration through the combination of love and nature can hardly be learned through professors lectures, but using our hearts to feel and to appreciate.Though academic education may teach us math, history, ND how to write papers, it is social education that gives us the tools to communicate with other people. Since each of us will probably live in social communities for the rest of our lives, the latter education is undeniably necessary. Hence, burying our noses in books will only make us into capable scholars, but not necessarily capable members of society. Basically, school is crucial in peoples life, yet not the most important and influential part of human life. School is a place where we use academic knowledge to better understand the world and sublimate our souls.

Antimetabole - Definition and Examples in Rhetoric

Antimetabole s in Rhetoric In rhetoric, a verbal pattern in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first but with the words in reverse grammatical order (A-B-C, C-B-A) is called antimetabole. Pronounced as an-tee-meh-TA-bo-lee, it is essentially the same as chiasmus. The Roman rhetorician Quintilian identified antimetabole as a type of antithesis. Antimetabole comes from the Greek phrase, turning about in the opposite direction. Examples and Observations The following are excellent examples of antimetaboles used in notable literature: I can write better than anybody who can write faster, and I can write faster than anybody who can write better.(A. J. Liebling)Women forget all those things they dont want to remember, and remember everything they dont want to forget.(Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God, 1937)Stops static before static stops you.(Advertising slogan of Bounce fabric softener sheet, 1990s)We didnt land on Plymouth Rock; Plymouth Rock landed on us.(Malcolm X)Hate destroys a mans sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true.(Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)It is not how old you are, but how you are old.(Jules Renard)If a conservative is a liberal who has been mugged, a liberal is a conservative who has been indicted.(Jeffrey Rosen, The New Yorker)A government that seizes control of the economy for the good of the people, ends up seizing control of the people for t he good of the economy.(Senator Robert Dole in his acceptance speech for the Republican nomination for president, San Diego, August 1996) The Difference Between Antimetabole and Chiasmus [T]hose of us who have been granted a disproportionate ability to express ourselves may not always have the best selves to express.(Clive James, North Face of Soho, 2006)The only distinguishing feature of the antimetabole is that at least two terms from the first colon change their relative places in the second, appearing now in one order, now in reversed order. In the process of changing their syntactic position in relation to each other, these terms change their grammatical and conceptual relation as well. Thus in St. Augustines declaration of a semiotic principle[E]very sign is also a thing . . . but not every thing is also a signsign and thing switch places in propositions claiming, first, that the set of all signs is a subset of the set of all things, but, second, that the reverse conceptual relation dictated by the reverse syntax does not hold . . .. Seventeen hundred years later, a journalist used the same form to complain about the unfortunate relationship between members of his own profession and the politicians they report: Our cynicism begets their fakery and their fakery begets our cynicism . . .. In each of these examples, separated by almost two thousand years, the arguer builds on the conceptual reversal created by the syntactic and grammatical reversal.A variant of the antimetabole, to which the name chiasmus is sometimes applied, abandons the constraint of repeating the same words in the second colon yet retains a pattern of inversion . . .. Instead of repetition, this variant uses words related in some recognizable wayperhaps as synonyms or opposites or members of the same categoryand these related words change positions.(Jeanne Fahnestock, Rhetorical Figures in Science. Oxford Univ. Press, 1999) I, too, was born in the slum. But just because youre born in the slum does not mean the slum is born in you, and you can rise above it if your mind is made up.(Jesse Jackson, speech at 1984 Democratic National Convention)You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance.(Ray Bradbury) The Lighter Side of Antimetabole The Sphinx: He who questions training, only trains himself in asking questions. . . . Ah yes, work well on your new costumes my friends, for when you care for what is outside, what is inside cares for you. . . . Patience, my son. To summon your power for the conflict to come, you must first have power over that which conflicts you.Mr. Furious: Okay, am I the only one who finds these sayings just a little bit formulaic? If you want to push something down, you have to pull it up. If you want to go left, you have to go right. Its . . .The Sphinx: Your temper is very quick, my friend. But until you learn to master your rage . . .Mr. Furious: . . . your rage will become your master? Thats what you were going to say. Right? Right?The Sphinx: Not necessarily.(Wes Studi and Ben Stiller in Mystery Men, 1999)

Improving Communication Between Healthcare Providers and Patients Research Paper

Improving Communication Between Healthcare Providers and Patients - Research Paper Example e what they need to treat patients, but they must share pertinent information to make sure they are treating patients safely while also keeping them adequately aware of the realities. Verbal reports of the patients are extremely important for the care providers to know the acute details of the problems encountered and to scrutinize them later. Many times, when a patient is under huge mental pressure owing to deplorable physical condition and his/her relatives are unavailable to talk to, many fine points go unnoticed and absolutely ignored. Motivational interviewing is an important tool for that purpose and worth mentioning here that is a relatively simple, transparent and supportive talk therapy based on the principles of cognitive–behavior therapy. (Bundy, 2004, p. 43). This technique is designed to talk patients into changing their conservative approached towards new therapies and convince them to cooperate in better terms for optimal prevention of a disease. For the correct application of handoff system, a standardized approach needs to be observed, as identified by Ellingson. She says that by creating a transfer communication form aided by trip-tickets, which are basically assessment charts that verify if the patient is ok with the treatment, communication can be readily improved. The toolkit of handoffs and transitions is basically focused on enhancing communication between caregivers and patients. Many strategies for improving communication through handoff system are daily envisaged but the one identified by Ellingson covers physical as well as psycho-social issues noted by staff as necessary to satisfactorily take care of patients. (Torner, 2008). According to the Interpersonal Communication (IPC) toolkit identified in Aidsmark.org (n.d), one of the main strategies formulated for interpersonal communication programmes is the deep analysis of the social, economical, cultural and geographic factors related to different patients. The P Process program

Climate Change Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Climate Change - Research Paper Example Extreme temperature is not suitable for sustaining life forms on earth. If the temperature rises beyond certain limits, survival of humans and animals on this earth would be difficult. It should be noted that there is equilibrium, with respect to the quantity of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Trees and plants absorb carbon dioxide from atmosphere for photosynthesis and they liberate oxygen when the process is over. On the other hand, human and animals breathe oxygen and liberates carbon dioxide. Thus, the atmospheric content of oxygen and carbon dioxide follows a ratio all the time. However, when atmospheric temperature increases, survival of trees and plants would be difficult and thereby the ratio of oxygen with carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will be spoiled. In other words, the content of carbon dioxide increases whereas that of oxygen decreases in the atmosphere because of atmospheric temperature rise. Such a situation is not suitable either for humans or all othe r living things. â€Å"Deforestation is an important factor in global climate change. It is estimated that more than 1.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide are released to the atmosphere due to deforestation, mainly the cutting and burning of forests, every year† (Deforestation). ... In many villages women are hit the hardest by natural disasters. They often cannot swim, have fewer assets to turn to for alternative livelihoods when crops are destroyed, and have fewer employment opportunities away from the home. The perception of many villagers and local leaders is that the climate is already changing. The main problems were typhoons, unpredictable weather, and the threat of salt water intrusion from sea level rise and other factors (A report for Oxfam, 2008, p. 3-4). Floods, tsunamis, earthquake, hurricanes etc are some of the weather calamities caused by climate change problems. All these natural disasters can cause immense damage to human life and properties. The frequency of occurrence of these kinds of natural disasters has been increased a lot in the recent past. Many people believe that climate change problems are the major reasons behind it. The occurrence of unexpected weather calamities is causing huge damage to the life environment and agriculture. Huma n activities are causing huge damages to the environment. Heavy industrialization and increased automobile use result in increased use of fossil fuels. Increased use of fossil fuels causes big problems to the environment since fossil fuels have the ability to release toxic greenhouse gases to the atmosphere at the time of its burning. Land, water and air are getting polluted as time goes on because of unregulated industrialization and automobile use. Moreover, greenhouse gases have the ability to destroy the ozone layer at the top of the earth which is shielding us from the intrusion of harmful radiations from sun and outer universe. â€Å"Scientists believe that Global Warming will lead to a weaker Ozone

Supply chain management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Supply chain management - Essay Example This involves buying the necessary products, and upgrading, recycling, installing, maintaining or replacing them. The effective principle in consumption is to resolve the problems encountered by consumers and for this to be achievable, one must apply proper information about the consumption of a product. The principle provides that one should not put the customer on waiting and this is achievable by removing all barriers, which involve queuing, which may lead to time wasting. It’s further aimed at ensuring that the customer access whatever they need and this obtainable by putting in place measures that are workable, add value to products by applying cost effective measures and it also provide that the goods should be made valuable upon request by consumer and this can be achieved by working closely with the customers. The above principles can be achieved by application of effective consumption, provision and production of products. Since these principles are easy to comprehend and apply then they are compatible with any line of production. How leaders make effectiveness stick To make the efficiency principles to be constant, there is the need for motivation. This can be in the form of rewards such as promotions and bonuses. The efficiency tools and techniques can be used in budgeting and other preparations in order to work well. It is also advisable to keep track of the results. For the lean idea to work, the people working should have positive attitudes and be determined on making it work. This goes a long way in making them focused. This can be done by setting up standards that need to be met and making any necessary developments. There is need for pilot tests to prove that the efforts are beneficial. Therefore, from the above point, it is true to say that implementation of the lean is the determining factor in whether it will stick or not. There is also need for some motivation for the people in order to show them that it can result in good and signif icant change. Application of strategy This has been developed from Toyota’s â€Å"Hoshin Kanri†, being basis of its planning and implementation methods. In this era, the markets demands for very little mistake, emphasizing the necessity of strategizing. It is also wise to approach it in a different manner, which is unique and focuses on entrepreneurship. Having strategies is important in lean as it allows analyzing getting results. This should be focused on making plans, making the problems known and getting solutions to those problems. This can be done through approaches that make the process of adjusting a bit easier. Problems can be either big, which are usually less, medium and small ones which are the most. By breaking the problems down to small pieces to investigate on its nature and analyzing it using the five why analyses, it is possible to gather solutions and the possible and best measures to take. Intuition is also an important aspect to include in the strat egy. The aforementioned gives very detailed ideas on correcting problems in small bits. The

Description of a Maintenance Organisation

Description of a Maintenance Organisation Description of a Maintenance Organisation with Suggested Developments to Improve Cost Effectiveness    Table 1: Key Terms and Abbreviations Term / Abbreviation Definition CM Corrective Maintenance CMMS Computerised Maintenance Management System DCC Dublin City Centre FM Facilities Manager FT Facilities Technician GO General Operator HR Human Resources IFM Integrated Facilities Management IR Industrial Relations IT Information Technology KPI Key Performance Indicator NSC National Services Centre OCS One Complete Solution or Outsourced Client Solutions PM Preventive Maintenance RIME Ranking Index for Maintenance Expenditures TUPE Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) WIOF Water Industry Operating Framework WO Work Order This report provides analysis of the Ervia Facilities department and investigates options for improving cost effectiveness. Ervia is Irelands biggest utility provider and has 2,000 office based employees in 19 locations across the country. Ervia has availed of the Integrated Facilities Management (IFM) model for delivery of maintenance with OCS Management Services being the chosen provider. The cost to Ervia of this service is  £3,000,000 per annum. This 3 year contract is set to expire at the end of 2017. Industrial relations (IR) Mention overall savings expected.  £500,000 in total with a  £100,000 reduction of the IFM contract value. The Maintenance Organisation that I have chosen to base this report on exists within the facilities department of Ervia. Ervia is Irelands biggest utility provider. It is a semi-state body, formed in 2014 and is the parent company of Irish Water and Gas Networks Ireland. Through its business, Aurora Telecom, it is also a provider of dark fibre broadband infrastructure. A Shared Services business unit was created within Ervia that comprises of Facilities, Human Resources (HR), Information Technology (IT), Accounts Payable, Procurement and Major Projects departments. Shared Services would count Irish Water and Gas Networks Ireland as de facto customers. The Facilities department are responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of 19 offices throughout Ireland. There are some 2,000 employees working from these offices. Site security, cleaning, catering, capital projects and fleet management also fall within the remit of the department but for this report, we will focus solely on the maintenance of the office buildings. The maintenance or hard services of the offices is outsourced to the IFM company, OCS Management Services as part of a 3 year contract that is due to expire at the end of 2017. OCS Management Services is part of the wider OCS group. The acronym was originally defined as Office Cleaning Services but is now interchangeably explained as being either One Complete Solution or Outsourced Client Solutions. It has a truly global reach with operations in over 50 countries and provides a full range of facilities related services. For simplicity, we will refer to the OCS Management Services team as OCS for the remainder of this report. The changes I suggest will be recommended for implementation at the beginning of the next IFM contract in January, 2018 and will involve structural overhaul of both Ervia and OCSs facilities maintenance teams. This next IFM contract is set to last 5 years. 2.1 Office Locations One of the main challenges for managing maintenance on the Ervia contract is the geographical spread with offices dotted throughout the country. See Figure 1 for all office locations. It would be far easier to deliver Facilities service if the office staff were more centrally located but being a national utility, Ervia must tie in with the multitude of county and city councils spread throughout the country. Figure 1: Ervia Offices Locations Figure 1 shows the locations of Ervia offices throughout Ireland. 2.2 Contract Value The hard services maintenance contract comes at a cost of  £3,000,000 per year to Ervia. It is based on a Cost Plus model i.e. all Preventive Maintenance (PM) is delivered as part of the contract value with Corrective Maintenance (CM) activities charged as additional costs. Additional costs can accumulate up to a value of  £500,000 per year. 2.3 Work Quantities and Types Facilities maintenance differs from industrial maintenance in that items that require attention may be observed by either office or maintenance staff. Office staff will generally tend to report less serious matters, while maintenance staff typically report the issues which require more urgent attention. In order to separate the noise of often trivial matters observed by office staff from the technical issues observed by maintenance staff, Ervia has developed an Incident Management process. Issues are raised by the office staff using an online incident management system. The raised incidents are dealt with by the maintenance staff along the following lines: If the item involves a non-technical fix e.g. increase in room temperature or lubricating a squeaking door hinge, the incident can be closed once this action is completed. If the item requires a technical fix e.g. a water leak or failed light fitting, the incident is escalated by raising a CM Work Order (WO) in the Computerised Maintenance Management System (CMMS). Equipment running issues or breakdowns are raised directly as CM WOs in the CMMS by Facilities staff. In terms of PM, there are 903 schedules across the Ervia office portfolio. These in turn generate multiples of weekly and monthly PM WOs. The following charts break out the annual mix of maintenance activities by types, quantities and whether they are actioned through self-delivery or out-sourcing. Figure 2: Quantities of Maintenance Activities by Type Figure 2 shows the various types and approximate quantities of Maintenance Activities that are raised annually within the Ervia Facilities department. Figure 3: Self Delivered v Outsourced Maintenance Activities Figure 3 shows the percentage split in terms of delivery of Maintenance Activities. Figure 4: Ervia Organisation Chart Figure 4 displays the Ervia maintenance team Organisation Chart. The 6 employees in the above chart are the Ervia staff in the Facilities department that have responsibility over the maintenance function. There are other staff in the department but we will only consider the above for this report. The Systems Engineer, despite the implication in the job title, sits at a middle management level and is considered to be a peer of the Facilities Managers. The General Operator (GO) stands out as being the only person of that rank that is a member of the Ervia team. The GO in question is a long serving staff member of Gas Networks Ireland and chose not to transfer to OCS when the first IFM contract was awarded. This situation presents a complication as the GO will not take direction from OCS staff and instead all orders have to be channelled through the NSC Regional Sites Facilities Manager. Figure 5: OCS Organisation Chart Figure 5 displays the OCS maintenance team Organisation Chart (based on the Ervia FM contract). The 24 employees in the above chart are the OCS staff that are embedded on the Ervia IFM contract. All roles are subject to Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) regulations and will move to the new service provider should OCS not be successful in their efforts at contract renewal in 2018. As with Ervia, the OCS Systems Engineer sits at a middle management level and is considered to be a peer of the Facilities Managers. We can see from the above chart that the DCC Facilities Manager has a far bigger team at his disposal than the other mangers. This is because over half of the Ervia office staff are situated in the buildings within his remit. In isolation, the Ervia and OCS organisation charts seem to represent an acceptable scenario. However when we combine them in Figure 6, we can instantly see that improvement steps need to be taken. There is obvious duplication of roles at Facilities Manager and Systems Engineer level. Dual reporting is also apparent with the OCS Facilities Managers and Systems Engineers having to answer to both Ervia and OCS management. Figure 6: Combined Ervia and OCS Organisation Chart Figure 6 displays the Combined Ervia and OCS maintenance team Organisation Chart. The above Organisation Chart may in parts seem both confusing and utterly unbelievable, especially when linking the OCS structure to Ervia. The aim of Table 2 is to further explain the duality of the reporting structure. Table 2: OCS to Ervia Reporting Structure OCS Staff Members Report To OCS Senior Key Account Manager Ervia National Facilities Operations Manager NSC Facilities Manager OCS Senior Key Account Manager Ervia NSC Regional Sites Facilities Manager Regional Sites Facilities Manager OCS Senior Key Account Manager Ervia NSC Regional Sites Facilities Manager DCC Facilities Manager OCS Senior Key Account Manager Ervia DCC Facilities Manager Southern Region Facilities Manager OCS Senior Key Account Manager Ervia Southern Region Facilities Manager Systems Engineer OCS Senior Key Account Manager Ervia Systems Engineer The most remarkable fact about this combined structure is that, somehow, it actually works. It can be safely said that it is both collaborative and operationally effective. Even though each mid-level manager has two persons to report to, somehow the contract proceeds with very little conflict to the extent that at times the relationship between Ervia and OCS has been described as incestuous! However it is clear that it could not be effective from a cost perspective. For instance there are more managers than technicians. The superfluous layer of middle management will be the initial focus when it comes to suggesting improvements in cost effectiveness. From the above we can also conclude, with certainty, that operational efficiency requires improvement. For example, if any of the OCS Facilities Managers or Systems Engineer needs approval to take an action, they will have to seek this from two persons. This can turn into a game of ping-pong as the approving managers may not initially agree on the same course of action. Usually in this scenario, the Ervia approving managers opinion will prevail due to the customer is always right philosophy. The structure as portrayed in Figure 4 is not unknown in the Irish semi-state/public sectors where there have long been accusations by print and broadcast media of wasteful spending (McConnell, 2015). It is a fair question to ask as to how this situation developed. Among the reasons are: As Ervia came into being by virtue of decisions made at government level, the result was the virtual overnight creation of the biggest utility company in Ireland that had rapidly expanding responsibilities. Employees transferred from the Gas Networks Ireland Facilities department to Ervia without an assessment being made on whether they were required or not. Because of the above, it was more pressing at the time to simply get a Facilities department up and running without considering the most efficient means of doing so. 6.1 Phase 1 Development Losing Fat in the Midsection Figure 7: Proposed Phase 1 Combined Ervia and OCS Organisation Chart Figure 7 displays the Proposed Combined Ervia and OCS maintenance team Organisation Chart at the Phase 1 level of development. We can see in Figure 7 that the structure looks less convoluted and is starting to develop a balance. The first task in this development will be to remove the duplicate layer of middle management. The second task will be to change who the Ervia GO reports to. The following two actions will have to be taken to enable this: The Ervia Facilities Managers and Systems Engineer roles will have to be made redundant. The Ervia GO will have to transfer to OCS. 6.2 Phase 2 Development The Rise of the Systems Engineer Figure 8: Proposed Phase 2 Combined Ervia and OCS Organisation Chart Figure 8 displays the Proposed Combined Ervia and OCS maintenance team Organisation Chart at the Phase 2 level of development. We can see in Figure 8 that the maintenance organisation now looks to be much more ordered and has a well-balanced structure. Duplication of roles and dual reporting has been removed. To enable this change, the role of the Systems Engineer will have to be considerably expanded. Up to this point the focus of this role was to collate asset data, install both a CMMS and an incident management system. The Systems Engineer can now fully take the reins regarding a systematic approach to improving work management. To do this, the support of an administrator will be required once the system becomes operational. Once fully realised, this system will negate the need for the 3 administrators that report to the Facilities managers. The reduction in administrators is possible because the new CMMS is configured for paperless WOs and much increased automation of reporting. The maintenance staff will now carry tablet computers to execute completion of WOs. From this point onwards, the Systems Engineers office will become the nerve centre of maintenance activities for the Facilities department with the following items featured prominently: Planning and scheduling of maintenance activities will be managed from there in conjunction with the site based technical staff. This is detailed further in Section 7. The CMMS will be fully managed from there with PM WOs for all sites generated by the administrator on a weekly basis. Reports from the Incident Management systems and CMMS will also be compiled at this office. These will be channelled directly to senior management at OCS and Ervia. The Systems Engineer will chair a monthly meeting with the Facilities Managers and cover upcoming works and resources requirements/availability. Implementation of work prioritisation. Again this is drilled into further in Section 7. 6.3 Phase 3 Development Breaking Down the Barriers Something that is not visible from the above organisation charts is the discreet walls that exist between the various site teams. It could even be said that they operate almost as autonomous groups. It is hoped that Systems Engineers increasing prominence will organically bring about change in this area and pull the teams together. There is much to be gained by sharing both knowledge and resources when possible. For instance one of the Facilities Technicians in the Dublin City Centre (DCC) sites is a qualified refrigeration engineer, he could provide technical assistance and advice regarding air conditioning equipment to the other sites. In the longer term, once the maintenance organisation has settled following the period of enforced change, consideration should be given to reviewing how maintenance activities are performed. There are likely to be opportunities for improvement of cost effectiveness in this area also. 7.1 Ranking Index for Maintenance Expenditure (RIME) It is envisaged that a system for prioritisation of maintenance activities will be introduced to the Facilities organisation. In RIME, expenditure refers to both time and cost. RIME works by assigning scores for the following factors: Asset criticality. WO criticality. Amount of time a WO is open. These scores are then multiplied which will, if the system is configured properly, ensure the most important work gets the highest total score. The newly installed CMMS at Ervia supports RIME and automatically provides total scores for WOs. This will allow maintenance staff to see a list of activities assigned to them in high-to-low order of priority. 7.2 Developing the Planning Function Sound planning practices are essential for any maintenance organisation and implementation of such is considered best practice. In the Ervia Facilities department, the OCS Systems Engineer will lead the charge in rolling out planning across the maintenance team. As detailed earlier, The Systems Engineer will chair a monthly meeting with the Facilities Managers and work planning will take centre stage at this meeting. A further aim of these meetings will be to knock down the discreet walls that exist between the different site teams. There should be opportunities to share both learning and indeed resources but proper lines of communication need to be established first. The changes that can be implemented have now been suggested but what are they going to achieve in terms of improving cost effectiveness? The bullet points below will attempt to quantify expected savings: Removing Layer of Middle Management The Facilities Managers and System Engineer each come at a cost of  £100,000 to Ervia. Removing the 4 as proposed, will bring a saving of  £400,000. Reducing Number of Administrators Each administrator comes at a cost of  £50,000 to Ervia. Removing 3 as proposed, while transferring 1 to support the Systems Engineer will bring a saving of  £100,000. Introducing RIME Any savings to be generated here are difficult to quantify at this juncture but a system for prioritising work can only be a good thing and will surely result in at least some cost avoidance by getting the important work done at the right time. Developing Work Planning Again any savings garnered by taking this measure are difficult to quantify at present but will help ensure maintenance best practice is followed. It is worth noting however that the rule of thumb in industry is unplanned maintenance can cost at least 3 times as much as planned maintenance (Strawn, n.d.). Points to note In terms of staff resources, savings are calculated based on the cost to Ervia which takes into account such items as Pay Related Social Insurance and Management Fees charged by OCS as part of the IFM contract. Detailed resource costs are tabulated in Appendix A. It must be noted that only the savings in relation to reducing the number of administrators will impact the IFM contract costs. The removal of the Ervia middle management does not impact the IFM contract value. To quote Jack Welch (2001), the person regarded by many as the greatest company leader of his generation Change before you have to. Ervia needs to get its house in order if there are external changes introduced such as reduced budgets and/or an increase in the number of sites to maintain. At present there is much volatility in Irish political circles with funding of public/semi state companies a constant hot topic. Ervia could be faced with the possibility of having its funding slashed at government level and in tough times the maintenance department of any organisation is often seen as a soft target. Since there is an IFM contract renewal coming at the beginning of 2018, this could be used as an opportunity to begin the implementation of changes. It would mean that the proposed structures could be built in to the new contract which would avoid having to use the change control process that applies during contract run time. Again, to draw from the famed former head of General Electric (GE), Jack Welch, Willingness to change is a strength, even if it means plunging part of the company into total confusion for a while (Slater, 1998). Lets consider, in the following sub-sections, the two main points of impact as a result of implementing the proposed changes. We will also consider on how to mitigate the effects. 10.1 Staff Reductions and Transfers These decisions will not be easy to implement. There will be considerable resistance from the Ervia Facilities Managers and Systems Engineer. Should the situation become intractable, it may be necessary to remove the layer of middle management from OCS instead. The Ervia staff would then transfer to OCS and report to the Senior Key Account Manager. The path of least resistance may have to be followed. It could well turn out that the Facilities Managers and Systems Engineer team are made up out of a combination of OCS and former Ervia staff that have transferred. The Ervia GO may take umbrage at having to transfer to OCS. The last time these attempts were made resulted in failure. The shakeup at administration level could also cause rancour. Because the Systems Engineer is based in one of the Cork offices, the administrator that supports this role will likely come as a transfer from the Southern Regional Sites Facilities Managers team. The two Dublin based administrators will have to be made redundant. Willing to make changes is one thing but successfully managing the change will be crucial. A rocky road will have to be travelled with the possibility of staff morale taking a hit. Potential resentment from the soon-to-be unemployed staff towards retained staff is also likely during the transition phase. The strength that Welch speaks of will have to come from senior management in both Ervia and OCS. Considerable resolve will have to be displayed when communicating to employees that they no longer have a job. A silver lining can be added to the cloud by ensuring favourable severance packages for those made redundant and committing to TUPE regulations for any employee that transfers to OCS. 10.2 Introduction of Work Management Systems It could be perceived by the Facilities Mangers that a power grab is taking place by the Systems Engineer. The onus will be on the Senior Key Account Manager to sell the benefits of the changes in practice. Over time, the benefits should then start to become self-evident as management of work improves, shared learnings disseminate and client contentment increases as a result of a better run contract. 10.3 Industrial Relations Concerns The changes proposed above will not be encumbered by IR action. Neither Ervia nor OCS staff are union affiliated so as long as the employees legally held rights are observed, there should be no issue. The Facilities department could be presented with a dramatic widening of its scope in the next number of years. It is envisaged that Ervia, through Irish Water, will eventually absorb all county and city council staff that are currently involved in maintaining the water services infrastructure. This could involve the transfer of up to an additional 2,500 staff. The knock-on effects for the maintenance team within the Facilities department would be considerable. The multitude of premises that house all these employees would then be in scope for upkeep and repair. There is currently a team charged with developing a plan to allow for the transfer of these staff and premises to the Ervia parent utility group. The Water Industry Operating Framework (WIOF) will contain the new obligations that the Facilities department will be required to meet. Both Ervia and OCS, should they retain the IFM contract, will have to ready themselves for the huge challenges coming down the tracks. The best way to achieve this is to allow for scalability in the systems that are designed and built. While extra staff will no doubt have to be recruited, duplication of roles as per the current situation will have to be avoided. The time is right at present to ensure a solid foundation is laid to accommodate this forecasted expansion. In the predicted scenario, additional costs are going to be incurred. The measures proposed in this report, if implemented, will serve to keep these extra costs to a minimum. At a higher level, there are additional changes that could be made to improve cost effectiveness. As mentioned earlier, the current IFM contract with OCS falls under the Cost Plus model. Detailed below is an alternative to this contract type known as Fixed Price/Output Based. The author of this report has previous experience of this type of IFM contract. The bullet points below show advantages and potential shortcomings: Headline Information (based on example): 10% up-front savings guaranteed over costs incurred by client to deliver maintenance. Built in glide path which consisted of a 1% year-on-year reduction in cost of overall contract. IFM absorbed costs of up to  £5,000 per breakdown. IFM had full authority on staff numbers and how maintenance was delivered. Contract was 5 + 5 i.e. initial duration of 5 years with option by client to extend for a further 5 years without re-tendering. Advantages: Costs for client are tied down. Incentive for IFM provider to implement cost effective maintenance. Disadvantages: Instead of what Emmet and Wheelhouse (2011) describe as collaborative, the relationship can instead become transactional and often even adversarial. Risk that IFM may cut corners regarding maintenance in order to deliver on-budget. Race to the bottom mentality can pervade during tendering where prospective service providers will submit unrealistically low pricing in order to win the contract. Requirements to make it work: Watertight contract with relevant Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to accurately monitor IFM contract compliance. Condition of equipment in contract scope needs to be thoroughly evaluated during the tender process and the client must have an open book policy regarding historical failure data. Enough financial head room in the contract to allow the IFM provider to make a profit. If this is not present, the contract will inevitably collapse with possible adverse consequences for business continuity. In the example above, the contract was terminated by the client after 2 years due to poor service delivery and repeated KPI failures. The main cause of this, in the authors opinion, would be that the IFM provider submitted such a low price at tendering that they could not meet the agreed contract conditions while generating a profit. To open the conclusion, its fair to say the above analysis may seem cold but it is approached from a business perspective with a view to achieving a sustainable maintenance organisation that is capable of surviving more stringent cost controls that may lie ahead. On the face of it, it would seem that the maintenance organisation within the Ervia Facilities department is ripe for change. And to sustain the analogy, there may even be some low hanging fruit! Listed below are the positives that will come with introducing change: Staff reductions alone will bring  £500,000 in savings and if all goes according to plan, there will no reduction in the level of service to the wider organisation. The introduction of advanced Work Management systems should also improve cost effectiveness but its hard to quantify the level of such at present. Ultimately what is required is to achieve the same level of performance for reduced expenditure or in the utopian situation, an increas

The Glorious Revolution of 1688 Essay -- Essays Papers

The Glorious Revolution of 1688 The theme of â€Å"autonomy and responsibility† is prevalent in many major wars of revolution throughout the history of the world and especially in the events that occurred in England during the seventeenth century. Autonomy is defined as self-government and existing or functioning independently. Responsibility is having obligations or duties to something and being able to distinguish between right and wrong. In England, the political leaders drove King James II out of the country in order to end his oppressive rule as an absolute monarch. The Dutch Prince William of Orange, James’ son-in-law, invaded England to rule. Parliament gave the throne to William and his wife Mary but placed restrictions on their sovereignty with the Bill of Rights. This declaration gave more power to the people and made them more responsible in government. The Glorious Revolution resulted in the Parliament and the common people of England having more autonomy and responsibility in the g overnment. James II The people of England and the members of Parliament wanted to be free of the rule of King James II. James sought religious toleration for Catholics and he â€Å"repeatedly stated that he wanted to establish the Catholic religion.†1 The people of England feared that James II would pass on a Catholic dynasty. He was married to a Catholic wife who bore a male heir in June of 1688. He continually ignored public opinion during the last months of his reign and believed that God favored his actions.2 The two big political parties in Parliament, the Whigs and the Tories, joined together in opposition to James. The people of England elected these men to their positions, so they represented the majority opinion. ... ...Press, 1991), 87. 5 â€Å"The Glorious Revolution.† http://landow.stg.brown.edu/victorian/history/Glorious_Revolution.html. (October 22, 2000). 6 Morrill, 84. 7 Morrill, 84. 8 Morrill, 88-89. 9 Speck, 147. 10 Speck, 141, 145-7. 11 â€Å"The Bill of Rights,† in The Revolution of 1688 and the Birth of the English Political Nation, 2nd ed., ed. Gerald M. Straka (Lexington: D.C. Heath and Company, 1973), 63. 12 â€Å"The Bill of Rights,† 63. 13 David Ogg, â€Å"The Revolution as a Reinforcement of English Institutions,† in The Revolution of 1688 and the Birth of the English Political Nation, 2nd ed., ed. Gerald M. Straka (Lexington: D.C. Heath and Company, 1973), 105. 14 Ogg, 105. 15 Jack P. Greene, Negotiated Authorities (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1994), 81. 16 Greene, 81. 17 Greene, 82-83.