Media and Mass Communications Development on a Healthy Mature Culture Essay

This argumentative essay is specially made to discuss the possibility for media and mass communication to nurture the development of a healthy, mature culture. Overall, the process of media and mass communication media development has already caused changes in the public sphere. The digitalization of media dramatically increases the chances of the people to get an access to the information, which is transferred instantly and often has not been edited by the people in government or media bosses. Thus, the information is now very complicated to control and therefore public has more opportunities to form its own opinion by comparing the facts from the different sources. The major problem, which could be seen right away, is the relation between the today’s process of media development and the actual development of a healthy culture. An assumption could be suggested that media and mass communication are able to influence the development of a healthy and mature culture, but it will require some significant changes form both media owners and their employees, as well as from society itself. Let’s de-construct the elements of the question and consider them in details in order to provide the better analysis. Strinati (2004) claims that the coming of the mass media and the increasing commercialization of culture and leisure resulted in the rise of issues, interests and debates which are still with us today. The researchers talk about culture, but what exactly is a culture? The word origin of culture or, the Latin root of the term is â€Å"colere,† meaning anything from cultivating to inhabiting, protecting, or worshipping. Modern definition of culture is the following: it is a growing sum of â€Å"knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations. † (Muller, 2005) Cultures differ depending on the mentioned elements of culture. As the examples of different cultures, the culture of Eastern and Western countries could be named. Mature† means the situation or the final condition when the full desired growth or development has been reached. â€Å"Healthy† means the robust and well condition; it is also an efficient and sound being. â€Å"Development† is a positive change; it is also a process of growth and an evolution. The word â€Å"nurture† means the act of helping to grow or develop; it is also an act of cultivation of some characteristics. â€Å"Media† are the means of communication that reach large numbers of people, for example, television, newspapers, radio and internet. In agreement to Morley (2000) the current global culture is the culture of hyper mobility where â€Å"we often engaged in border-crossings of one kind or another, but the nature and functions of borders themselves are shifting†. (Morley,2000) We live in the information economy era, in the era of new progressive technologies and communications that break the borders, in the times of social and economic evolution, the public sphere experiences new challenges and face new opportunities in this world full of complexity. Without a doubt the influence of modern mass communication over the culture is considerable. The shifts in the social and other aspects that are influenced by the spread of technologies and new media are powerful and they change our lifestyle, our habits and hobbies: they change the way we are living. Power and Scott (2004), argue the significance of mass media technology for economic and social life may be shown by considering certain developments of the 21st century. The situation in the 21st century in terms of the cultural development and its influence on people is much more complex than ever before. The introduction of internet has a significant influence over business and education because it provides greater learning opportunities than ever before. It is clear that the benefits of new technologies and mass communication for the education are enormous. Many experts claim that media influence the way we live in both positive and negative ways. An individual that aims to gain a significant social success almost can’t achieve it without at least slight use of the information gained through mass communication. Therefore these options can’t be ignored because they affect the majority of spheres of life and bring certain experience of social change. The development of mass media presents some outstanding social opportunities. But at the same time, the successful rise of mass media has also brought up concerns about the negative consequences of its spreading. There no doubt that mass communications and media have the tremendous influence over society and its culture. Bloomfield, Coombs & Knights, 2000) These changes lead to â€Å"new era economics† also known as a knowledge economy, non-linear effects, an unpredictable future, a redefinition of terms, time/distance changes, and much greater transparency. (Bloomfield, Coombs & Knights, 2000) Without a doubt, media sector experience dramatic transformations both in terms of the access to the information, the speed of the information spreading throughout the world and the increasing inability to control the information by the media owners or the government institutions. The processes of total digitalization and media convergence have started in 2000s and the majority of mass media indicate the possibility of turning the print media into fully digital forms by 2020 or 2025. Digital media has potentially revolutionary impact on the lifestyle of society. There is also an idea that media development and digital revolution are the ways â€Å"into an unknown and fundamentally changed future. † (Feldman, 1997) New media and new way of communications not only influence the culture of society, but they also change the way and manners of the socialization of its members. The major advantage of electronic communication and information technologies is the capability to transfer the information faster, at a lower cost, and to more people while also offering increased data communality, and processing. Another important aspect in which the media and mass communication can influence and nurture the development of a new healthy culture is the improved opportunity of learning by obtaining necessary information much faster and easier than ever before. Information acquisition is the process by which information is obtained from the environment and added to the collective stock of knowledge of a person or society in general. Fast information distribution provided by the modern mass communication allows sharing information sources among members of society freely, without the governmental control. The new mass communication also store information, and it plays a critical role in the development of culture, since socially accepted past experiences need to be accumulated for future use.

Critical Reflection and Leadership in Identity Making Essay

â€Å"Vision is the key to understanding leadership† (Haslam, Reicher, & Platow, 2011). I have spent many years trying to avoid positions of authority and leadership roles, bedside nursing was a perfect escape. This paper will show that we are all born leaders and to get to those hidden leadership abilities is to engage in self-awareness, self-reflection, and achieve a higher education to learn how to apply them (Lowney, 2003). Critical Reflection and Leadership in Identity Making â€Å"Vision is the key to understanding leadership† (Haslam, Reicher, & Platow, 2011). I have spent many years trying to avoid positions of authority and leadership roles, bedside nursing was a perfect escape. Over the years, I have worked virtually every aspect of nursing, except management. I found conversations to be one sided, often leaving the staff feeling they were guilty until proven innocent. I have had some remarkable â€Å"Nurse Managers but, most were ineffective, selfish, and unappealing. This did nothing to inspire me to become a leader. Becoming the Intensive Care Units’ â€Å"Unit Based Educator† made me realize that the only way to achieve my vision to make a difference, was through education geared toward leadership. According to Lowney (2003), the insight into being a leader is through self-reflection. (Valli, 1999) interjects this theory into five types of reflection, further guiding us into a deeper self-awareness. The reading that had the most impact on me this week would have to be critical reflection. To me, critical reflection is interchangeable with critical thinking. I am bombarded with information that requiring on the spot decisions. Through the use of Critical thinking, I make decisions from past experiences, information at hand, and the impact my decisions will have now and the future. On the other hand, critical reflection, is more of a process that allows us to question past experiences, then consider, reassess and analyze those experiences prior to applying them to the current situation. The information provided in this week’s study has already impacted my leadership style. I have applied critical reflection to make more informed decisions, and being better informed, I am less reactionary. Being reflective has allowed me to be more insightful on how destructive, self- deception has been in my personally, socially, and in my work. I no longer say â€Å"I cannot†, instead; I review the situation, reflect on alternatives, and then make a decision. I agree with Lowney (2003) we are all born leaders and to get to those hidden leadership abilities is to engage in self-awareness, self-reflection, and achieve a higher education to learn how to apply them. I thought that I had escaped the claws of leadership by becoming an educator, another self-deceptive thought. This course has taught me that the Educator has the most influential leadership position. Being an Educator is my motivation to learning how to be that sound, moral leader I want to be.

Accounting for Research and Development Deals Activities

The accounting for research and development deals with activities that improves the processes and product. The terms of research and development is used in the standard with the following meaning. Research is the planned and the original investigation, which is undertaken by the entity to gain technical and scientific knowledge and understanding. On the other hand, development is the application of the knowledge gained or using the finding from the research for producing improved or new product, processes, services and material. The development is undertaken prior to the commencement of the usage and commercial production. The activities encompassed in the research and development is difficult to identify (Barge-Gil & Là ³pez, 2014).    The definition provided assist the reporting entities in classifying their activities under the research and development. The distinction of the activities are based on the organization types, types of the project undertaken and the types of business. The medium sized firm had confusion about the formal definition of Research and development while the small firms understood the concept of R & D in an informal way. The FRS – 13 deals with the accounting for the activities related to the research and development. The activities related to research and development are distinguished from those activities that are non-research based because of the absence and presence of ‘appreciable elements of innovation’ (Bebbington et al., 2014). The core accounting rule in the area of research and development are the expenditures that is to be charged as an expense when incurred. The expenditure, which is incurred on research, is not directly related to the future economic benefits and capitalizing the ‘cost that does not comply with the accrual concept’. The expenditure related to the research, development is written off to the account of profit and loss, and this is because the expenditure on the research does not provide the entity with the direct future economic benefits. The expenditure on the development cost has to be written off as the expense incurred to the profit and loss account. However, there is the option of deferring the expenditure incurred in development and it can be carried out as the intangible assets on the entity meeting some criteria. The research and the development costs are need to be separated in order to achieve the reasonable degree of comparability between the accounting period of the same entity and between the entities (Bowen et al., 2013). For sustaining the dynamic economy of New Zealand, the research and development is an important concept. The socio economic issues of New Zealand is addressed sing the accounting for R & D. The literature review is provided on the expenses relating to R & D. The harmonization in the accounting treatment of the research and development is unlikely to happen. The capitalization of R & D has always remain a controversial issue. The revised International accounting standard 38 make the distinction between the development and the research phase. The expenditure of carrying out research should be treated as an expense (Deegan, 2013). A reporting entity cannot demonstrate during the research phase of the project that whether the intangible assets are capable of generating the probable future economic benefits or not. The expenditure on research should be recognize as expense and there is the need to recognize the assets arising from the research. The intangible assets needs to be recognized in the development phase if the entity is able to demonstrate the ability to sell or use the assets. The entity also needs to demonstrate the whether the intangible assets are technical feasible for using or selling purpose. The ability to measure the expenditure related to the development to of the intangible assets should also needs to be demonstrated. The treatment of research and accounting provides for the flexibility between the choice of capitalizing and expensing. As a result of which, the companies that are more leveraged are encouraged to activate their cost related to R & D rather than expensing them. The managers ar e motivated to prevail such accounting decisions over the other. It is argued that the high debt level forces the company to capitalize on the expenditure of R & D. The choice available to the company because of this decreases the debt ratio and increases the accounting profit. The firms are encouraged to make the accounting decisions that are income increasing (Daske et al., 2013). The accounting for research and development has the implication on commercial environment in terms of the accountability initiatives. The development and the research makes the strategic focus rather than the university accounting and the professional curricula. The developments provide the platform for the wider interest of public and this improves the relevance of the information to enhance the process of decision-making. The various business leaders and the accounting profession has embraced different types of corporate reporting. This is known as the integrated reporting. The research and development would enrich the appreciation and understanding of the accounting academics of New Zealand for the achievements and efforts of the early builder sin the accounting field (Dinh et al., 2015). The basic issue concerning the accounting for research and development is the expenditure. The expenditure associated with the research and development is that there is no certainty in the future benefits and it makes it difficult to treat and record the expenditure as an asset. Because of this, the GAAP has made it mandatory to charge the expenditure as an expense incurred. However, this cannot be regarded as entirely pervasive as there are some limitations to it (Mynatt & Schroeder, 2012). The current tax treatment about research and development is uncertain. The measures of taxation does not have anything to address the uncertainty. The uncertainty over the treatment of taxation of research and development is not addressed sing the current measures. The main area of concern is the revenue and capital R & D expenditure. The ambiguity in the treatment of taxes comes from whether the cost are classified as capital or revenue. If the taxpayer has enduring benefit, then the cost is classified as expenditure and otherwise it is classified as the revenue expenditures. It is not clear in the tax law of New Zealand when the expenditure related to the R & D is immediately deductible and when the expenditures are not immediately deductible. This comes with the risk of disputes that are potential in nature. This risk of disputes exist with the Inland Revenue. When the taxes are underpaid, this comes with the risk of use of money interest and penalties (Healy & Palepu, 2012). The method of accrual accounting in New Zealand is faced with a number of issues. The reporting entity encounters with a number of issues when they intend to correctly identify the cost related to the research and development. The accounting treatment of the cost for the purpose of tax is also the major issue faced by the reporting entity. The financial reporting standard relies on the accounting treatment for the amortization of the development expenditure at the end of the process of research and development. The development of the New Zealand equivalent to the IFRS for the purpose of application by the entities of New Zealand. This would also include references to the regulatory environment. The harmonization of the financial reporting standard by liaising with the Australian accounting standard Board. There are also new development in the business environment (www.ifrs.org, 2016). The tax rule concerning the research and development is about the cashing out off the losses from taxes. The companies building the service or product would make the expense until the development of the product and it will make losses until the revenue is being generated. The losses attributable to the development would be carried forward to the next year when the company starts making profit by selling the developed products. The changes allows the tax loss due to research and development to cash out their loss, which arises from the expenditure of the research, and development. The new development focuses on the newly started companies who are engaged in the intensive research and development. This is intended to reduce the exposure of the startups to the market failure and the distortion in the taxes, which arises for the treatment of the losses attributing from taxes in the current scenario (Kelsey, 2015). Expenditure accruing to certain types of expenditures are not included in the measurement and the cost that are claimed by the company must be related to the research and development. The cost might include office cost relating to R & D, wages, salaries and the contractors cost. It also include the depreciation of the assets that are solely used for the purpose of research and development. The newly developed regime allows cash out losses. However, there are some limits imposed by the regime. The cost related to the research and development shall comprise of all the activities that are directly attributable to the activities undertaken under the research and development.   The cost needs to be allocated to such activities on a reasonable basis. The research and development costs between the entities should be separated to make a reasonable degree of comparability. The distinction should be made between the development cost and research cost. The proposal is to address the uncertainty by clarifying the revenue or capital boundary. This is done by allowing the taxpayers to follow such accounting treatment where the expenditure related to the R & D is immediately written off for accounting. This will immediately deducted for the taxation purpose. Any types of expenses incurred in undertaking and carrying out the research are deductible immediately for the taxation purpose. There are some criteria for the treatment of the expenditure on development and this decides whether it will be immediately deductible or not. This will provide the payers of taxes with more certainty and the result would be the fewer disputed between the Inland Revenue and the taxpayers. This will help the businesses to focus less on the tax affairs and enable them to concentrate on their businesses (Knechel et al., 2012). The adoption of International reporting standard in New Zealand has reassessed the role of financial reporting standard board (FRSB). The FRSB needs to add material, which would describe the applicability and the scope of the standard in New Zealand. Some of the arguments can be made about the future developments. Due to the cost incurred in the research and development, the economic benefits are expected to flow to the entity; therefore, it can be argued that rather than treating the cost as an expense, it should be treated as assets. This is so because it is align with the assets definition prescribed by the International accounting standard framework for the preparation and the presentation of the financial statements and with the statements of principles. There is a need to provide accountants in New Zealand with more information so that the situation is clarified. The development and the adoption to the international reporting standard will make possible the comparability and th e universality of the accounting treatment of the research and development internationally and regionally (Samkin & Deegan, 2012). The accounting standard board of New Zealand issues the accounting standard in New Zealand. The profit entities reports under the International financial reporting standard (IFRS) of New Zealand. These are the standards developed by the accounting standard board of New Zealand. The External reporting board does the approval of these standards. The entities are adapting their financial function as per the standard to achieve the efficiency for long term and met the requirement of the standards. The entities, which are currently reporting under the old GAAP, will need to be adapt to the New Zealand International financial reporting standard. However, the International financial reporting standard of New Zealand and International financial reporting standard are different (Naranjo et al., 2015). The former also deals with the domestic standards and this deal with the areas that are not dealt under the IFRS. The transitional requirements of both the standard are different (Nobes 2014).The framework of accounting standard at the current scenario is implemented in three stages. In the first stage, the entities which mainly involves changes to the profit entities accounting standard. The second stage involves changes for public entities. Thirdly, the changes to the accounting standard of the profit and public entities. The companies that is the reporting entities are significantly affected by the accounting of the research and development. However, it is more confined to the entities engaged in the research and development. The purpose of the report is to provide the insight into the accounting for the research and development in New Zealand. There are some gaps as per the literature review. The analysis presented in the reports suggest that the financial reporting regime of the international accounting standard is viable and is an alternative to the existing financial regime of New Zealand. Adopting to the International Financial reporting standards would provide the country with the long-term net benefits. The country should adopt to the IFRS in a manner, which would preserve their commitment to such financial reporting standard, which is sector neutral for New Zealand. New Zealand should look forward to ensure the high standing in the long term and should not be complacent. The country can be an important contributor in the development of the internationally accepted financial reporting in the accounting of research and development. Barge-Gil, A., & Là ³pez, A. (2014). R&D determinants: Accounting for the differences between research and development.  research Policy,  43(9), 1634-1648. Bebbington, J., Unerman, J., & O'Dwyer, B. (2014).  Sustainability accounting and accountability. Routledge. Bowen, R. M., Jollineau, J., & Margheim, L. (2013). Corporation's Intellectual Property: Accounting For Research And Development Under US GAAP Versus IFRS.  Journal of Business Case Studies (Online),  9(4), 321. Daske, H., Hail, L., Leuz, C., & Verdi, R. (2013). Adopting a label: Heterogeneity in the economic consequences around IAS/IFRS adoptions.  Journal of Accounting Research,  51(3), 495-547. Deegan, C. (2013).  Financial accounting theory. McGraw-Hill Education New Zealand. Dinh, T., Eierle, B., Schultze, W., & Steeger, L. (2015). Research and development, uncertainty, and analysts’ forecasts: the case of IAS 38.  Journal of International Financial Management & Accounting,  26(3), 257-293. Dinh, T., Kang, H., & Schultze, W. (2015). Capitalizing Research & Development: Signaling or Earnings Management?.  European Accounting Review, 1-29. Healy, P. M., & Palepu, K. G. (2012).  Business Analysis Valuation: Using Financial Statements. Cengage Learning. IFRS - Home. (2016).  Ifrs.org. Retrieved 6 November 2016, from https://www.ifrs.org/Pages/default.aspx International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). (2016).  Iasplus.com. Retrieved 6 November 2016, from https://www.iasplus.com/en/resources/ifrsf/iasb-ifrs-ic/iasb Kelsey, J. (2015).  The New Zealand experiment: A world model for structural adjustment?. Bridget Williams Books. Knechel, W. R., Sharma, D. S., & Sharma, V. D. (2012). Non?audit services and knowledge spillovers: Evidence from New Zealand.  Journal of Business Finance & Accounting,  39(1?2), 60-81. Mynatt, P. G., & Schroeder, R. G. (2012). The comparative reporting impact of the FASB and IASB treatments of research and development expenditures.  Journal of Business and Accounting,  5(1), 50. Naranjo, P. L., Saavedra, D., & Verdi, R. S. (2015). Financial reporting regulation and financing decisions.  Available at SSRN 2147838. Nobes, C., (2014).  International Classification of Financial Reporting 3e. Routledge. Reeve, J. M., Warren, C. S., Duchac, J. E., Du, X., & Yu, Z. (2012).  Principles of Accounting. South-Western Cengage Learning. Samkin, G., & Deegan, C. (2012).  New Zealand financial accounting. McGraw-Hill Education Australia.

English Literature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

English Literature - Essay Example Sensing the immediate death, Turnus begged Aeneas either to spare him or give his body to his people. Aenneas considered for a moment to spare him, but decided to kill Turnus in order to avenge Pallas's death. The importance of Turnus in Aeneid is that he is at the same level of strength, power, influence, and ambitions like that of the hero of this epic. Through him, Virgil embodied the character of a perfect villain who is capable of upsetting the hero and give him a tough time. The character of Hrothgr is represented in the epic poem of "Beowulf". This epic is related to the Anglo-Saxon times and the main characters in this epic are Hrothgar and Beowulf. This epic narrates the heroic deeds of Beowulf when he sets forth to kill Grendel and his mother. As an aging king, Hrothgar is worried about the devastations brought by Grendel and his mother and practically beseeches Beowulf to kill the monster. Though he has lost his youth courage and might, the salient characteristics he possesses are his wisdom, high standard of Christian codes and his keen desire to save his subjects. Though, in the beginning, we feel that the king is the prey of vanity when we find him building the huge hall, Herot. However, in the later stage, we realise that the king is after all a human being and his sincerity to serve his subjects and his wisdom and justice are more important to consider than the only flaw of vanity in his character. This is the main reason that t the people of Danish land love and respect him above everything. Another positive factor in his personality is that he does not hesitate to acknowledge the strength and bravery of Beowulf without any feeling of jealousy. Thus, when Beowulf succeeds in killing Grendel, he rewards Beowulf with every worldly reward conceivable. Thus, the character of Hrothgar in the epic poem "Beowulf" is a symbol of wisdom, sanity, and sincerity. He regards the welfare of his subjects very highly and when he finds them in danger, he calls for Beowulf to kill the monster. c. Briseis The character significance of Briseis lies in the fact that she proves to be the sole reason for Achilles to desert the Greek cause when they needed his support in the war against Trojans. It is the love of Briseis that forces Achilles not to take part in the war. Thus, the absence of Achilles from the battlefield brings ruinous effects for the Greeks and ultimately they are at the verge of total defeat. Thus, we see in the epic "Iliad" that even a minor character like Briseis can significantly impact the whole setting of the stage and thousands of people would be killed. The significance of Briseis in this poem thus can be viewed from the refusal of Achilles to take part in the war against Trojans and the consequent devastation of Greeks. The love of Achilles for Briseis is one of the most significant event that changed the course of war between Trojans and Greeks. d. Dido The character of Dido is brought to the reader in Book IV of "Iliad" by Virgil. Dido is the ruler of Carthage and a widow of Sychaeus. She has a resolution not to marry again, but when Aeneas arrives

COMMUNICATION IN BUSINESS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

COMMUNICATION IN BUSINESS - Essay Example This is complemented by the low salaries in the country which would be effective in saving cost of the firm. An overview of the situation has been provided with regard to the culture barriers and differences between the two countries using Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. This is important to know the behaviour of people in the country where the company wants to operate. Based on the cultural differences, suitable recommendations have been provided to remove or utilise the differences. Lastly, the future of India’s outsourcing industry has been analysed and presented. Terms of Reference The project discusses about an outsourcing firm based in India. It is an IT company operating from USA. The company is named as ABC IT Solutions. The company has entered into partnerships with the local firms in India to take up their outsourced activities. The company has partnered with the outsourcing firm to take assignments on the IT enabled services. The firm has also taken up the bu siness process outsourcing activities of the company. The IT services that have been outsourced by the company are data mining, data warehousing, IT consulting, e-Commerce, and software development. The business process outsourcing includes such crucial activities like Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Enterprise Resource Management (ERP). The main purpose of outsourcing the above activities is to save cost of the company. Since India’s labour cost is lower than that in USA, the company has set up its outsourcing operations in the country. The BPO market in India has been expanding at a fast rate. It is estimated that the BPO market in India would grow by 19% in 2013. The sector has become extremely organised and has become the focus of a number of multinational companies (India Current Affairs, 2010). Overview of the Situation It is critical that a globally integrated organisation shapes its management, operations and strategies in a g lobal way. This company has been facing crisis implementing its strategies in the BPO on India. Firstly, the managers are confronted with the problem of coordinating resources like material, human and finance in meeting its business objectives successfully (Wursten, 2008, p.1). They are also faced with the problem of combining the culture differences prevailing between the two countries. The effective means of combination in USA may not necessarily be effective in India. The culture clash may take place between the client and the service provider at two levels; the corporate culture and the national/regional culture. With regards to the corporate culture, the speed with which a service is provided, or the norms followed with regard to decision making, style or organisational structure may be different between the client and the service provider (McCray, 2008, p.6). Another potential cause of clash could arise out of the fact that the process of outsourcing represents commercial rela tionships between two completely different entities. Organisations could take inflexible and extreme positions which could create a sense of distrust or tension between the two (McCray, 2008, p.6). Among the national or regional inhibitors, there could be language barriers which could create communication problems. Also the expectations regarding open debates, acknowledgement of problems or willingness to adopt different work techniques to

Midwifery Code of Conduct Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

Midwifery Code of Conduct - Essay Example The healthcare industry is making efforts to offer and continue offering quality care and increase the credentials that enhance the competitiveness of organizations. Â  Scholars Lundy and Janes in their research argued that the main objective of healthcare administration is to ensure that the delivery of healthcare reaches residents in the efficient ways, to the required standards. Governments ensure that the provision of healthcare ensures continued support in the growth of the economies. This cannot be delivered if the administration and the organization as a whole do not prioritize work-life balance and team building among its employees as well as other stakeholders. Enhancing work-life balance is therefore very crucial to ensuring the success and stability of these organizations, and the companies should invest in promoting and building work-life balance for increased productivity and service delivery. This is a decisive move, applicable in building management and leadership to move in the leadership capacity of the health management and practitioners (Site, 2012). There are three potential models for healthcare organizations. These models a re corporate/business models, the orchestrator and the community model. These models represent the different ways in which hospitals conduct their operations. The corporate model is for hospitals, which are operated as financial entities. These hospitals’ main aim is making profit just like any other business. The orchestrator model is for hospitals, which are operated, similar to airports or malls. In this model, hospitals are looked at as providers of infrastructure for specialized and independent health providers. The final model is the community model where the needs of people come before the finance issues (Site, 2012). Â  

Audience essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Audience - Essay Example The total number of the audience is more than 600 which means that there is high level of diversity in the Bundestag. It contains men, women, people from different socioeconomic backgrounds as well as individuals who have varied religious or moralistic leanings. However, it is clear that their objective of being in the Bundestag is to bring improvements to society which means that whatever suggestion is given to them with regard to improving the situation of society is likely to be given a sympathetic ear. Aside from this similarity, they are also professionals who work as career politicians and are likely to have families, children, mobile phones as well as involvements in social organizations in their localities. Furthermore, it can be expected that they are well aware of international laws and even the laws of other countries in the EU concerning cell phone use while driving and the penalties associated with the crime. In fact, it becomes rather easy to see that the audience could be well aware of the issues surrounding the debate and might even be willing to follow the laws which have been enacted by nations in the region in similar situations. This makes the task of convincing them much easier since they can be shown data concerning how other countries have enacted the laws and what positive affects these laws have had on their motor safety. Further, they can be shown data from countries where mobile penetration is high yet there are no laws concerning the use of mobile phones while driving and how this affects the number of accidents on the roads. Moreover, they would also be pushed towards the point if they are told how a person’s situational awareness and ability to drive is affected while using a mobile phone. Most importantly, the argument presented to the audience has to be given a moral and ethical dimension since that can go a long way towards showing them that what they are doing will be good for society and it will have a

Proactive Commercial Property Management With Reference to UK Law Only Essay

Proactive Commercial Property Management With Reference to UK Law Only assuming a FRI leases - Essay Example Landlords mainly prefer this form of lease given that they are responsible for all repairs in the period of the lease and the tenants settle insurance and other costs linked to the property. Under FRI lease, tenants are essentially responsible in conducting the repair and maintenance of the property. This highlights the needs for tenants to attempt to negotiate restrictions to this obligation. In the event that the FRI lease is applicable to a section of the premises, the repairs can be mainly undertaken by landlords, although, they will pursue to recover from the tenants the expenses incurred in the repairs through a service charge. As an ideal, the tenant liabilities should align with the property leased (Grabel 2011, p.109). In numerous cases, the freeholder may be deemed accountable to arranging the repairs in the event that the repairs impacts on the structure of the building or within the shared areas, but the leaseholders may be necessitated to pay a section, or all of the cos ts involved (Garner and Frith 2010, p.115). Largely, all leases outline that the leaseholder is responsible for looking after the occupied premises, which entails: internal decorations, repairs to appliances and furniture, repairs to floorboards, and repairs to plasterwork; nevertheless, the freeholder may be additionally responsible for arranging other forms of repairs such as the roof. In this case, it is apparent that repairs to the roof remain critical, and leaseholders have to pay for the repairs as the lease provides (Abbey and Richards 2009, p.6). Service charges represent the cost availing services to a certain area. Given that leases differ from one estate to another, there cannot be a solitary standard wording to the clauses demanding that a leaseholder to pay service charges. All leases compel the leaseholder to pay ‘service charges’ at the period and in the manner admitted in the lease (Abbey and Richards 2012, p.198). The core objectives of a service charge policy centres on accurately setting the provisions to align with the requirements of the Housing Corporation’s regulatory code. Key legislation relating to Proactive Commercial Property Management Landlord and tenant Act 1985 This outlines the core ground rules employed in setting service charges and outlining service charges, outlining the requirements for reasonableness, as well as for prior consultation of leaseholders. Section 18 (1) of the Act outlines service charge as the amount that is payable to the tenant dwell as a constituent or addition to the rent. The amount is payable, either directly or indirectly, to cover services, repairs, maintenance enhancements or insurance, landlord’s costs of management (Boyce and Lake 2006, p.75). Other provisions include Leasehold Reform Act 1993 that awards leaseholders the right to enquire for a management audit in cases where service charges re disputed; housing Act 1996 that awards leaseholders the liberty to appoint an d investigate the cost of repair works in cases where they are unreasonably high; common hold and leasehold reform act 2002 seeks to herald controls on additional administration charges. These entail amounts payable by a tenant as a section of or in further to rent (Kelsen 2007, p.357). A recent Court of Appeal case featuring Campbell v Daejan Properties Limited [2012] EWCA Civ 150 has served as a critical reminder to landlords. The lease of the maisonette (the premises) detailed and

Live Performance versus Studio Recordings Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Live Performance versus Studio Recordings - Essay Example These differences are highly noticeable in a studio vs. live recording of the Beatles’ ‘Love Me Do’. The live recording was captured at the BBC, while the studio recording was featured on the album ‘Please, Please, Me’. One of the advantages of studio recordings is that the band and the producer have the luxury of recording the different musical elements at different times and then mixing them together. This ensures that the greatest quality recording is possible. This is definitely noticeable with the Beatles’ studio recording as one notices the crisp drums and harmonica sound that is produced from the song’s introduction. Just as instruments can be recorded on different tracks, so can vocals. This is a highly noticeable feature for the Beatles’ music as they are prone to singing in harmony. As the harmony begins one again recognizes the pure crisp sound they are able to achieve. Undoubtedly this sharp sound was achieved through many hours in a studio perfecting the exact vocal elements of the song. There is the recognition that while the studio environment is able to achieve a sharp and crisp sound, the live environment is generally more free-form. In this way, the live environment lacks the ability to record the instrumentation and vocals separately and as such may contain some errors. While this rough sound may perturb some, for others live recordings may be fuller of life as they constitute a singular performance. The Beatles’ BBC performance of ‘Love Me Do’ contains many of these elements. While the harmonica and drum track of the studio recording achieve a high level of musicianship, one recognizes that there is a messier and rough feel in the BBC track. While the Beatles are consummate musicians, one recognizes this difference is slight; however it functions as one of the major differing elements between the songs. In terms of vocal elements, it appears that the studio recording was more

Mergers and acquisition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Mergers and acquisition - Essay Example Such companies resort to such strategy for companies to have powers over suppliers, buyers or competitors, to benefit from experience curve effects and to reduce unit costs, to turn around opportunities as in the case of Morrison’s and Safeway, as a response to turbulence, technological or regulatory and as sometimes as response to acquisitions by competitors. Reality however has a different way of validating what managers and chief executive officers believe about the prospects of merger or acquisition. It is found through surveys that not all mergers deliver the value added that is expected. This is confirmed by www.olin.wustl.edu/discovery/feature in its article on Making Mergers Work. Olin School of Business (n.d.) said that whether judged by the growth of shareholder value or by the new company’s performance within its industry, the results of mergers and acquisitions have been disappointing. It the suggested to consider the AOL-Time Warner mismatch and the fiasco at WorldCom, a company that failed to integrate its many acquisitions. It further mentioned a 1999 study published in the Harvard Business Review, which found that only 21 percent of acquisitions in several industries could be viewed as clear successes. Olin School of business (n.d.) telling every body that in other words, nearly 80 percent of those acquisitions were either disappointing or clear failures. It then asked the question: â€Å"How can such a commonly practiced, promising business strategy so often end in disaster?† The Harvard Business Review survey, according to Olin School of Business (n.d.) from CFOs surveys conducted from the Forbes 50 revealed the top 10 roadblocks to achieving synergies from their answers as follows: The Olin School of Business (n.d.) then mentioned that The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Foundation was intrigued

The percentage energy loss when a ball Bounces Essay Example for Free

The percentage energy loss when a ball Bounces Essay This investigation will be to determine the relationship between the length of a conductor and its resistance. The aim is to test a number of different lengths of nichrome wire to measure the resistance of each length. To ensure a safe procedure, a low voltage battery of 12 volts will be used, and the samples to be tested will be located on an insulating mat to prevent any shorts occurring. In addition a 2 Amp fuse will be placed in the circuit as a protective measure. For a fair test, all other parameters that can affect the resistance will be kept constant. These are the sample material, the diameter of the wire, and the temperature of the wire. To keep the temperature of the wire constant, it will be necessary to keep the current flowing in it constant. This is because the power dissipated in the conductor is I2R, so an increase of current by a factor of 2 will increase the power dissipated by a factor of 4, which can seriously affect the resistance. Thus only the length of the wire will be changed, and the corresponding voltage across it to give the same test current will be varied and measured. The resistance of the test sample will then be given by Ohms Law: Resistance = Voltage (Volts) ( Ohm) My prediction is that the resistance of the wire will be proportional to its length, all other variables being kept constant Equipment The equipment used for this investigation consisted of: 1) 12 volt power pack with on/off switch 2) Variable resistor (rheostat) 3) A 2 amp ammeter with digital readout to 0. 001 amp accuracy 4) A 20V voltmeter with digital readout to 0. 01V accuracy 5) Crocodile clips for connection of the test sample into the circuit and the voltmeter to the connecting crocodile clips. 6) Test samples consisting of varying lengths of 24 SWG The equipment and the circuit configuration used is shown in Fig 1. A 12-volt power pack will be connected in series with a switch, a 2-amp fuse, an Ammeter, a variable resistor and a sample test wire. A voltmeter will be connected across the test sample by crocodile clips. The test sample was connected into the circuit using crocodile clips. The voltmeter was connected across the sample into the rear of the crocodile clips. The plan will be to vary the sample length from 10 cms to 100 cms in 10 cm increments to provide a good range of results. Also to take readings of three samples for each length, and average the voltage readings to reduce possible errors. There are four factors that will affect the resistance of a wire. These are: 1. As the length of a wire increases, the resistance of the wire also increases. A variable resistor or rheostat is used to vary the current in a circuit. As the sliding contact moves, it varies the length of wire in the circuit. 2. As the cross-sectional area of a wire increases, the resistance of the wire decreases. An analogy of this is a water pipe, if the diameter of the water pipe is small the water flowing through will. Experience high resistance to the rate of flow. However if the diameter of the water pipe is large, the water flowing. Through it will experience low resistance to the rate of flow. 3. Different types of materials will affect the resistance in different ways. Materials such as copper, are very good conductors, and is used for connecting wires. Other materials such as nichrome (as used in the investigation) have a higher resistance than copper, and so is used in the heating elements of electric fires. 4. As the temperatures of a wire increases, the resistance of the wire increases as well. This is used in resistance thermometers, which use the fact that electricity does not flow so easily through a wire when the wire gets hot. Resistance is the opposition to the flow of charge. In metals, a sea of free electrons enabling it to conduct electricity surrounds a lattice of positive ions. The shorter the length of wire, the less energy is needed to move the electrons across the wire If the metal is attached to a power supply then the electrons flow through the metal but collide with atoms. Resistance is shown below in the diagram below: The resistance of a metal can be regarded as arising from the interaction, which occurs between the crystal lattice of the metal and the free electrons as they drift through it under an applied potential difference. This interaction is due mainly to collisions between defects in the crystal lattice (e. g. impurity atoms and dislocations) also play a part, especially at very low temperatures. Resistance is measured in Ohms (? ) Georg Ohm discovered that the current flowing through a metal wire is proportional to the potential difference across it (providing the temperature remains constant). Therefore: Resistance, R (? ) = Potential difference across the wire (V) I= V i R V= I x R R= V i I TABLE 1 RESULTS: Table 1 shows the data recorded and the resulting values for resistance for each length. These were those separate samples of the conductor tested for each length, and the average voltage was used to determine the resistance volume. Graph 1 plots the resistance against length for the range of test samples from 10cm to 100cm. The graph shows the data to be in very close proximity to a straight line, verifying the prediction to its length. From the best fit line drawn on the graph, the resistance per unit length of 24 SWG nichrome wire is found to be 0. 362 ohm/cm. When current passes down a wire, the wire gets heated. The moving electrons collide with ion and cause them to vibrate thus increasing the temperature ths is a waste of energy-when a current flows, heat is transferred to the air surroundingggs which explains why computers get hot in operation. However we can make use of the heating effect e. g. in fuses which are designed to melt when too much current flows e. g. in kettles. We can calculate the heat transferred per second using the following formula: Power = (Current)2 x Resistance (Watts) = (Amps)2 x (Ohms) (W) = (A)2 x (? ) Length (cm) Current (Amps) Resistance in Ohms (R=V/I) Power (Watts) From the table above we see that there is a relationship between the resistance and the current. We see that from the results table that the power (in Watts) is equivalent to the current (in amps) squared multiplied by the resistance of the wire. From the graph showing Power Vs Length, we can work out the heat transferred in one centimetre of nichrome wire. Power i Length =Thermal energy transferred (J) Length (cm). Current (Amps) Power (Watts)Â   From these results we can work out the coulombs of charge in each separate length of nichrome. This result will then allow us to calculate how many electrons had passed through the wire, which further allows us to calculate the time taken for the experiment to take place.

Implications of Business Process Management for Operations Management Essay Example for Free

Implications of Business Process Management for Operations Management Essay Implications of business process management for operations management Colin Armistead and Simon Machin The Business School at Bournemouth University, Bournemouth, UK Introduction Operations management is concerned with the management of people, processes, technology and other resources in order to produce goods and services. There is a resonance from operations management into business process re-engineering (BPR) of the process paradigm and of the concepts and techniques of designing, managing and improving operational processes. Doubtless much can be learned from operations management for the application of BPR[1]. But business process management is more than just BPR applied to operational processes. What are the implications of the wider consideration of business processes for operations management and can the concepts and techniques from operations management be directly applied to all types of business processes? This paper introduces the concepts of business processes and business process management, and reports findings from interviews in four organizations which are continuing to develop their approaches to managing processes. These findings are then positioned within a categorization of business processes, by way of research propositions. Finally, implications for operations management are discussed. What are business processes? Business processes can be thought of as a series of interrelated activities, crossing functional boundaries with inputs and outputs. Why are they important and why are organizations moving to adopt approaches to explicitly manage by business processes? Reasons include[2] that the process view: †¢ allows increasing flexibility in organizations to meet changing external demands; †¢ addresses the speed to market of new products and services and the responsiveness to the demands of customers; †¢ facilitates the reduction of costs; †¢ facilitates in creased delivery reliability; and †¢ helps address the quality of products and services in terms of their consistency and capability. Processes are part of the philosophy of total quality management (TQM)[3]. Both the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award[4] and the European International Journal of Operations Production Management, Vol. 17 No. 9, 1997, pp. 886-898.  © MCB University Press, 0144-3577 Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) model[5], on which the European Implications of Quality Award is based, have at their heart the consideration of business business process processes. Such models require the identification of processes, the management management of these processes with review and targetary, innovation and creativity applied to processes and the management of process change. A second route that leads organizations to consider their business processes 887 is BPR[6-9] which promotes the radical change of business processes. Some have illustrated the complementary nature of BPR and TQM[10], others the conflict[11]. Regardless of this, the fact is that organizations come to consider their business processes through TQM, or through BPR, or potentially through both avenues. What is business process management? There is considerable debate about what business process management means and how organizations interpret the business process paradigm[2,12]. Business process management cannot be considered simply as BPR. Rather it is concerned with how to manage processes on an ongoing basis, and not just with the one-off radical changes associated with BPR. But how are organizations actually managing their business processes? What approaches have they developed? What lessons have they learned and what can be drawn from their experiences? The aim of the research reported in this paper is to address such questions by considering organizations at the leading edge of process management. Methodology A qualitative methodology was adopted in conducting the research. During a pilot phase interviews were conducted in four organizations: TSB; Rank Xerox; Kodak; and Birds Eye Walls. This, coupled with knowledge of the approach within Royal Mail, led to an initial understanding of the approaches being adopted by organizations[13]. This was followed by further interviews in four organizations (including within a different part of Rank Xerox), and it is these that form the basis of the findings reported in this paper. The four organizations, in this second phase of interviews, were: (1) Rank Xerox – European Quality Award (EQA) winners in 1992; (2) Nortel – Netas, a subsidiary of Nortel, were EQA winners in 1996; (3) Texas  Instruments – EQA winners in 1995; (4) Hewlett-Packard – who do not use the EFQM model, but have been using their own â€Å"Quality Maturity System† for several years, with many similarities to the EFQM model, including the central role of processes. While these organizations are at varying stages of their approach to business process management they can be considered â€Å"excellent† against many crit eria (including process management), as shown above, and the findings and lessons derived from the research should inform other organizations which are just starting their approach to process management. IJOPM 17,9 888 In two cases the quality director of the UK operation was interviewed; in one case the participant was the business process manager; in another the participant was a direct report to a service director. We consider that the roles and experience of the participants make possible sensible comparison between the organizations, based on the interviews. Semi-structured open-ended interviews (typically of between two and three hours), based on the ideas emerging from the pilot interviews, were carried out in each organization. The interviews were supported by other documentation from each organization which included process maps, planning frameworks and organizational structures. Interviews were transcribed and the transcriptions used as the basis for analysis. Each interview transcription was read and examined several times and lists of concepts developed[14]. A cognitive map[15] of all four interviews was then constructed showing the concepts emerging from the data and how the concepts i nformed on each other (based on the perception of the authors). Concepts were then clustered, with six clusters, or themes, readily appearing. The clusters were then checked against the transcripts from the pilot interviews and documentary material from the case organizations to ensure consistency of findings. Findings The six clusters emerging from the research we have labelled: organization coordination; process definition; organization structuring; cultural fit; improvement; measurement. While some of these might not be novel in  themselves we discuss them first individually and then as a set. Organization co-ordination One property associated with business processes is their â€Å"end-to-end† nature. They start with input at the business boundary and finish with outputs from the business boundary. Hence their cross-functional nature and, implicit in this, is their ability to integrate and co-ordinate activity. For example, â€Å"a better way to think about process is that it is an organizing concept that pulls together absolutely everything necessary to deliver some important component of strategic value†[16]. It is perhaps not surprising therefore that a strong theme emerging from the interviews was that the process paradigm provides an approach for co-ordination across the whole organization. This integration through the use of business processes is perhaps most simply illustrated by the fact that participants, in describing their approaches to business process management, described how they run and organize their entire business. The co-ordination took a number of forms. For example, business process management was strongly positioned in the overall approaches to business planning adopted by the organizations. This was illustrated in one organization with their long- and medium-term plans explicitly linked to annual plans for their key processes. Business process management also provided an approach for integration through increased knowledge within the organizations (for example, about strategic direction), without the need for bureaucratic procedures or hierarchical control: Implications of business process The concepts of business processes emerged as providing a link between the management top of the organization and activity at the lower levels: â€Å"the bit in the middle†. Central to this is the concept of different levels of processes and typically the organizations reported having identified three or four levels of process from the top-level architecture through to the individual or task level. In providing the co-ordination across the organization, the importance of managing the boundaries of processes was strongly emphasized. One organization, for example, was addressing these boundary issues between their processes through the use of networks of individuals representing the interests of their process. They used networks around each process to formulate and implement strategy, and identified which processes have boundary issues with  other processes. Individuals from one process network then attend meetings of the other process networks on this boundary to address the potential issues. Without some form of co-ordination between processes, changes in one process could also lead to changes in performance of other processes such that strategic goals would be compromised, typically in the areas of quality and costs. but what we were trying to do was create a very free environment, a very innovative environment, but an environment where we knew exactly where we were going. 889 Process definition Much of the literature on managing processes is concerned with process improvement[17,18] and this is typically directed at how to improve the actual operation of processes. However, a view expressed during the interviews was that the real value derived from the process approach is through the understanding and development of an approach at higher levels within the organizations, rather than simply process improvement activity at the task or team level. Nevertheless, these organizations recognized that they struggled with this and acknowledged that, in reality, the understanding of processes was often still at the task level, with a natural tendency for procedure writing. Approaches to help overcome this included communication across the different levels of the organization to develop common understanding (and, in particular, to develop better understanding between process owners and process operatives) and a focus within process flowcharts on value steps and decision points, together with the definition and management of process boundaries. Process flowcharting is often presented as a panacea for understanding and managing processes, but some organizations reported problems with applying the methodology to all processes: the methodology of flowcharting †¦ is OK for consistent, regularly operated, reliable processes – it is not that useful for processes that are very iterative and processes that run infrequently, the more complex processes. Certainly the organizations were coming to realize that such process maps in themselves were not sufficient: people talked a lot about process re-engineering and all they ever did was diddle around with process maps, and they didn’t really get the big picture. IJOPM 17,9 and we have used a flow-charting methodology widely deployed across the company†¦we have still got a lot of problems though in terms of processes gathering dust on the shelf. 890 Also, while the organizations recognized the need to specify processes beneath their high level processes, the need certainly did not emerge to map all processes to the same level or detail. It would be unusual to go to an entity and show all the processes in detail to all depths. In general, the drive appeared to be to use business process management more as a long-term and living tool than just a remedial tool for short-term, tactical issues. Long-term plans were needed for processes to enable the process owners to focus on the future requirements of their processes. Also there was the need to develop methodologies other than flowcharting to support a more holistic approach to business process management, and to directly consider the â€Å"process of managing processes†. Organizational structuring Much has been written about the role of processes in structuring organizations and, in particular, the development of horizontal organizations structured purely around processes[2,19,20]. In general, the organizations interviewed in this research appeared to be taking a less radical view. Instead they had developed matrix-based organizations between functions and processes, and tended to adjust their functional structure to align with their identified processes. They thus saw processes as simply another dimension of the organization structure[21]. Indeed they seemed to have implicitly balanced the dimensions of autonomy/co-ordination,  motivation/ control and efficiency/learning[22] and in doing so derived the matrix structure. This perhaps also reflects other organizational paradoxes[23]. Their reasoning was influenced by a view that personal relationships were the key to effective organizations, as much as the formal, imposed structure. Processes were seen to provide a framework for these relationships in terms of building understanding and common approach across the organization. This framework was reported to help establish empowerment in a structured way, matching level of empowerment with control and support. Hence the entering of the process dimension into their structure. However, they were unwilling to do away with the functional dimension, due to the perception that functions better supported the actual personal relationships within the framework of processes and better supported specialist expertise: people don’t necessarily align with processes, they align with other people, and entities and organizations. People don’t go to parties on processes! and if you start bashing on about process organizations, and â€Å"you’ve got to do away with the silos, and the function† and so on†¦you’re denying it in a way – something to do with that relationship side of things. This has a resonance with reports that moves to process-based organizations Implications of can be ineffective if the personal relationship and cultural aspects are business process overlooked[24]. management These matrix structures were regarded as relatively unstable[13] with a tendency to drift back to a functional structure, or to move too far towards a process focus, but the organizations saw the role of their â€Å"quality professionals† 891 as the catalyst to ensure balance between functions and processes. More interesting is that, in these matrix-based organizations, there appeared to be no desire to move towards a purely process-based structure, with the matrix recognized as a desirable state, enabling constant and efficient reorganization through its flexibility. Inevitably the matrix adds complexity, but it seems that these organizations are willing to trade this complexity against the flexibility and personal relationship aspects supported by the matrix structure. One organization did, however, report a  totally process-based structure, and this did appear to support a high degree of simplicity against the complexity of the matrix approach. There may therefore be value for organizations in explicitly considering the trade-offs between processes and functions in forming their approach. Regardless of the process/function structure, the approach of process groups and process owners at different levels of the processes was common. Cultural fit Culture is an ambiguous concept which is difficult to define[25]. However, most organizations have some notion of their culture, and this was the case in all four organizations, where culture had an implicit meaning. It is an important concept in thinking about organizations since people and processes m ust combine to produce output. However, within the organizations, processes were not seen as a constraint, rather, as reported above, as providing a framework for empowerment. There emerged a general view that the overall approach to business process management needed to fit initially with the culture of the organization, and allow that culture to be maintained, at least in the short term. This is not to say that there was not a longer-term objective to address culture, but culture drove the appropriate initial approach: that’s why it works well, because we’re a highly empowered organization, and a team of people are comfortable working as a team, so bringing them together for a process team is perfectly easy – all we had to do was teach them the tools to do it and a bit of flowcharting and away they go. But that fits well with the culture. This is in stark contrast to some business process re-engineering approaches which may often be insensitive to culture or may have an immediate objective of changing culture[26]. Where BPR was deployed in the organizations it tended to be positioned as part of the overall approach to business process management, for example, alongside process stabilization and continuous improvement, rather than instead of. When used in this context, there were examples of culture change for smaller organization groupings. There were also IJOPM 17,9 892 examples where the failure of BPR initiatives was directly attributed to a culture within the organization which so strongly supported constant, but incremental, change that radical change, as proposed by BPR was rejected. All four of the organizations embraced TQM and, in particular, continuous improvement. The concept and language of teams and â€Å"teams of teams†[27] featured strongly, with rewards and recognition often linked to team performance. The formation of cross-functional teams in improving processes happened naturally in these organizations, and appeared critical to the success of their approach in managing processes. Improvement through business process management Unsurprisingly the interviews supported a drive within the organizations to constantly improve processes and this is reflected in the above discussions of culture. Examples of specific approaches included the use of benchmarking to understand and set best practices and the development of compendiums and databases of best practices and the linkage of improvements to assessments against European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM), Baldrige and other quality models. While BPR was clearly used in some of the organizations (indeed Texas Instruments and Rank Xerox are well known for their re-engineering work) this tended to be talked about more at the process simplification or process improvement end of the spectrum of definitions placed on BPR[28-30]: you would not change the overall process radically in a short space of time, but for people (in the process) I think it is a drastic step. and I would not anticipate the total process radically changing over a short space of time because one could not manage it, so you have to move forward in sizeful steps at each part of the process. One organization reported benefits through using human resource professionals alongside process engineers on BPR projects to â€Å"keep some sanity in what the re-engineering was doing†. Measurement and business process management Measurement is a key principle to managing processes[18] with the need to identify trends, assess stability, determine whether customer requirements are actually met and drive improvement. This was confirmed by the interviews  and measurement emerged as central to successful approaches to business process management. There seemed to be a genuine attitude of â€Å"living and breathing† measurement within the organizations: if you can’t actually get good metrics you won’t manage a process, so it’s absolutely fundamental to managing a process. and if we don’t define the metrics we’ve had it. Increasing importance was being given to customer satisfaction and customer Implications of loyalty measures and there was a recognition of the importance of developing business process efficiency measures for the processes as opposed to just measuring whether management processes actually delivered. There was also a drive towards examining the tails of distributions of the measures (process variation) not just average values, consistent with the view of statistical process control[31,32]. 893 One danger that was reported is related to the â€Å"level† issues discussed above: detailed measures were implemented into lower-level process maps, directly related to processes, as one would hope – however, this resulted in a large number of measures that it was then difficult to prioritize, because, at a higher level, measures had not been (or had not been properly) defined. A particularly interesting approach to measurement was in one organization where they had established â€Å"business fundamentals† as performance measures on key processes, deployed worldwide and at all levels. All professional staff in the organization have business fundamentals which are deliverable, cost, customer or people measures, but self-driven measurements rather than management-driven measurements. These business fundamentals are linked to the key processes, and individuals self-assess their progress against these, using a simple rating scale. Every quarter there is then a formal review across the organization against the business fundamentals. The same approach is used to track individual performance, performance against plans, and process performance, providing an integrated approach to measurement across the organization, and a strong illustration of integrating process measures with other organizational measures. Process categorization Different categorizations of processes have been proposed in the literature[28]. For  example the CIM-OSA Standards[33] use the categorization of manage, operate and support. In describing processes we have found a categorization into operational, support, direction setting and managerial processes to be useful (see Figure 1). The separation of direction setting and managerial processes is driven by two considerations: Operational Managerial Direction setting Support Figure 1. Categorization of business processes IJOPM 17,9 894 (1) on a practical level models, such as the EFQM model, adopted by organizations, separately identify leadership from policy and strategy formulation; and (2) the strategy literature regards development of strategy as a process in its own right[34,35]. Operational processes are the way in which work gets done within an organization, to produce goods and services. These processes are the ones which have been the subject of much of the focus to date in TQM and BPR. They run across the organization and are associated with outcomes such as product development or order fulfilment. They are recognized in the ideas of integrated supply chains and logistics and in simultaneous engineering and are part of justin-time approaches. The same ideas for improvement in flow and reduction in cycle times come through into service organizations in the practices of BPR. Support processes are those which enable the operational processes. They are concerned with the provision of support technology, or systems, with personnel and human resource management, and with accounting management. Direction-setting processes are concerned with setting strategy for the organization, its markets and the location of resources as well as managing change within the organization. Direction-setting processes involve a mix of the prescribed steps within a formal planning process and also less well-defined  frameworks. Managerial processes are to some extent superordinate to the other categories and contain the decision-making and communication activities. For example, the entrepreneurial, competence-building and renewal processes proposed by Ghoshal and Bartlett[20] are managerial processes. Some organizations have tried to formalize these processes and have adopted a structured approach to, for example, decision making and communication. This categorization, like any other, does not necessarily fit with the view taken by all organiza tions (for example, some organizations would position the direction setting processes as part of their operational processes) but it provides a useful framework for discussion of the research findings, and for describing propositions for further research. Discussion and propositions arising from the research The six clusters identified in the findings of organization co-ordination – process definition, organization structuring, cultural fit, improvement and measurement can be considered in the light of these process definitions. The issue of process definition at a top level is a view of how organizations work to satisfy strategic intents. The translation of top-level architecture into an operational reality is influenced by aspects of organizational culture which affect both organizational co-ordination and organizational structure. In no cases is the disappearance of functions apparent; rather the functional organization is replaced by a matrix structure. This form of organizational structure derives its co-ordinating strength from the formation of cross-functional teams. The issues of measurement and improvement reflected in the findings reinforce the need for Implications of effective measurement which drives process improvement in a form which co- business process ordinates and prioritizes activity; something which many organizations find management difficult. The findings suggest that taking a business process management approach is one way to overcome some of the difficulties. It is our observation that organizations in approaching business process 895 management tend to initially address their operational processes, then move to focus on support processes, while continuing to improve their operational processes, and next to focus on direction setting processes while continuing to improve operational and support processes. Thus there is a similarity to the operations management  sandcone model, as proposed by Ferdows and De Meyer[36], used to show that cost reduction relies on the cumulative foundation of improvement in objectives. We propose that an organization’s approach to process management is similarly constituted by its approach across process categories, and that to build a stable sandcone the approach to, first, operational processes must be created (see Figure 2). This proposal has practical value, since it is the operational processes that directly impact on customers and so can yield quick benefits. Thus attention to the operational processes ensures capability of delivery; attention then moves to encompass support processes, since these in turn ensure the capability of the operational processes; attention to the direction setting processes recognizes that capability can only be maintained with good direction setting. The superordinate nature of managerial processes positions them outside the sandcone, with influences from the other categories. This sandcone model for business processes implies further propositions based on our findings. P1: As organizations develop their approach to business process management, moving through the sandcone, the appropriateness of techniques will change. Flowcharting methods are well tested in understanding operational and some support processes. However, the organizations in this phase of our research were discovering that such methods were inflexible for other types of process. Operational Operational + support Operational + support + direction setting Figure 2. A sandcone model for developing approaches to business process management IJOPM 17,9 896 The appropriate methodology for understanding the managerial and directionsetting processes may lie in the fields of systems thinking[37] and business dynamics[38] and the shape of a process for managing such processes needs further attention. Thus the appropriateness of â€Å"soft mapping† techniques increases as an organization moves through the sandcone. P2: As  organizations move through the sandcone there is an increasing impact on organization structure, with the need to address structural changes to reap the benefits from the process approach. Increasingly organizations will need to consider organization design as an explicit, rather than implicit, activity to ensure organizational effectiveness. This need not necessitate a move towards a complete process-based structure, but may mean a trade-off between process and functional structures[39]. This trade-off includes the need to consider factors such as personal relationships and cultural aspects. For example, in some organizations a purely processbased structure will be appropriate while in others the process-function matrix approach will be best utilized. P 3: We propose that there is an increasing need for maturity in TQM throughout the organization to ensure a successful process paradigm, as the organization moves through the sandcone. This raises the immediate question as to whether TQM is a necessity before a process-based approach can be effectively initiated. Certainly all organizations in this phase of our research had developed a TQM-based culture. It also raises questions as to whether the continual application of the radical end of the BPR spectrum[28-30] makes it impossible to address all process categories, with the associated lack of care for the human dimension and resulting demoralized workforce. P4: We propose that the degree of co-ordination across the organization increases with moves through the sandcone. As the process approach spreads through the sandcone it forces the question of what integration actually means for an organization and clarifies the requirements for coordination. This is readily understood for operational processes, with a key element being the elimination of barriers to flow. The co-ordination includes the need for a co-ordinated approach to measurement (an example is illustrated in the measurement section above). Further implications for operations management There is a clear message emerging from this research of the need to manage the boundaries between the categories of processes and between the processes themselves. The appropriate approach will be determined by the category of process being addressed and organizations may find the sandcone logic useful in placing their current position. There are different requirements at different points in the sandcone: knowledge and understanding of process flowcharting techniques at one end of the spectrum through to knowledge and understanding of â€Å"softer† mapping techniques; the need to consider the Implications of appropriate organization structure and trade-offs between process- and business process function-based structures; the degree of maturity in TQM; the degree of comanagement ordination desirable and possible and, in particular, the need for a co-ordinated approach to measurement. The research supports a view that there is a need to consider performance 897 improvement methods and concepts such as TQM, lean production and supply and â€Å"agile† manufacturing in a wider context, as applied to all business processes, and not just operational processes with the associated need to manage the interfaces between operations management and other disciplines. References 1. Armistead, C., Harrison, A. and Rowlands, P., â€Å"Business process re-engineering: lessons from operations management†, International Journal of Operations Production Management, Vol. 15 No. 12, 1995. 2. Garvi n, D., â€Å"Leveraging processes for strategic advantage†, Harvard Business Review, September-October 1995, pp. 77-90. 3. Oakland, J.S., Total Quality Management, Heinemann Professional, Oxford, 1989. 4. George, S., The Baldrige Quality System, Wiley, New York, NY, 1992. 5. Hakes, C., The Corporate Self-assessment Handbook for Measuring Business Excellence, Chapman Hall, London, 1995. 6. Hammer, M., â€Å"Re-engineering work: don’t automate, obliterate†, Harvard Business Review, June 1990. 7. Hammer, M. and Champy, J., Re-engineering the Corporation, Free Press, New York, NY, 1993. 8. Johansson, H.J., McHugh, P., Pendlebury, A.J. and Wheeler, W., Business Process Reengineering – Breakpoint Strategies for Market Dominance, Wiley-Hamilton, Santa Barbara, CA, 1993. 9. Davenport, T.H., Process Innovation: Re-engineering Work through Information Technology, Harvard Business School Press, Cambridge, MA, 1993. 10. Macdonald, J., â€Å"Together TQM and BPR are winners†, The TQM Magazine, Vol. 7 No. 3, 1995, pp. 21-5. 11. Mumford, E. and Hendricks, R., â€Å"Business process re-engineering RIP†, People Management, 2 May 1996, pp. 22-9. 12. Hinterhuber, H.H., â€Å"Business process management: the European approach†, Business Change Re-engineering, Vol. 2 No. 4, 1995, pp. 63-73. 13. Armistead, C. and Grant, A., â€Å"Business process management: the future of organisations?†, Proceedings of the Third European Academic Conference on Business Process Redesign, Cranfield University, 21-22 February 1996. 14.  Strauss, A. and Corbin, J., Basics of Qualitative Research, Sage, Newbury Park, CA, 1990. 15. Eden, C., â€Å"Cognitive mapping†, European Journal of Operational Research, Vol. 36, 1988, pp. 1-13. 16. Browning, J., â€Å"The power of process redesign†, McKinsey Quarterly, Vol. 1, pp. 47-58, 1993. 17. Tucker, M., Successful Process Management in a Week, Headway-Hodder Stoughton, Sevenoaks, Kent, 1996. 18. Melan, E., â€Å"Process management: a unifying framework†, National Productivity Review, 1989, Vol. 8, pp. 395-406. 19. Stewart, T., â€Å"The search for the organisation of tomorrow†, Fortune, May 1992, pp. 91-8. IJOPM 17,9 898 20. Ghoshal, S. and Bartlett, C., â€Å"Changing the role of top management: beyond structure to processes†, Harvard Business Review, January-February 1995, pp. 86-96. 21. Galbraith, J.R., Designing Organisations, Jossey Bass, San Francisco, CA, 1995. 22. Hendry, J., â€Å"Process reengineering and the dynamic balance of the organisation†, European Management Journal, Vol. 13 No. 1, March 1995. 23. Cameron, K.S., â€Å"Effectiveness as paradox: consensus and conflict in conceptions of organisational effectiveness†, Management Science, Vol. 32 No. 5, May 1986, pp. 539-53. 24. Majchrzak, A. and Wang, Q., â€Å"Breaking the functional mind-set in process organisations†, Harvard Business Review, September-October 1996, pp. 93-9. 25. Kroeber and Kluckhohn, â€Å"Culture; a critical review of concepts and definitions†, Harvard University papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Vol. 47, 1952. 26. Ascari, A., Rock, M. and Dutta, S., â€Å"Reengineering and organisational change: lessons from a comparative analysis of company experiences†, European Management Journal, Vol. 13 No. 1, March 1995. 27. O’Brien, D. and Wainwright, J., â€Å"Winning as a team of teams – transforming the mindset of the organisation at National and Provincial Building Society†, The Journal of Corporate Transformation, Vol. 1 No. 3, 1993. 28. Childe, S.J., Maull, R.S. and Bennett, J., â€Å"Frameworks for understanding business process re-engineering†, International Journal of Operations Production Management, Vol. 14 No. 12, 1994, pp. 22-34. 29. Coulson-Thomas, C.J., â€Å"Business process re-engineering: the development requirements and implications†, Executive Development, Vol. 8 No. 2, 1995, pp. 3-6. 30. Crawley, W.J., Mekechuk, B.J. and Oickle, G.K., â€Å"Powering up for change†, CA Magazine, June/July 1995, pp. 33-8. 31. Deming, W.E., Out of Crisis, Cambridge University Press, 1986. 32. 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History Of Materials In The Aviation Industry Engineering Essay

History Of Materials In The Aviation Industry Engineering Essay Aircraft materials have faced an overwhelming phase of change since the takeoff of the first designed aircraft to the skies. This has seen aircraft designers changing the design materials from merely wood and fibre in the early days to composite materials and aluminium alloys in modern days aircrafts. Composite materials and aluminium alloys were introduced in the industry rapidly. Due to advancement in technology the use of wood in manufacturing aircraft structures is now history. This review covers the use of composite materials and aluminium alloys in the design of modern aircrafts, both civil and military. It also compares the usage of these two materials in aircraft structures. Table of Contents INTRODUCTION Aircraft materials have faced an overwhelming phase of change since the takeoff of the first designed aircraft to the skies. This has seen aircraft designers changing the materials of design from merely wood and fibre in the early days to composite materials and aluminium alloys in modern days aircrafts. Early aircrafts were constructed mainly of wood and fabric, the Wright flyer (1903) is an example. Manufacturers preferred relatively light and strong wood such as spruce and fabrics, which were normally linen or something similarly close-weaved. These materials were selected looking at different characteristics which include among other the weight, strength, cost and availability of the material. Due to advancement in technology the use of wood in manufacturing aircraft structures is now a thing of the past. The use of metals in aircraft structures had to await modern material development processes such as alloy development. This processes produced stronger and better materials which allowed high speed flight. Materials produced were better as they allowed heavy loads and they showed better resistance to stress corrosion cracking. The introduction of computers has been of massive input in the field of aerospace. These seen engineers perform deep analysis of strain; stress and fatigue on new materials before there are introduced in aircraft structures. And as a result, the number of aircraft accidents reduced drastically. This review aims to cover the use of composite materials and aluminium alloys in the design of both civil and military modern aircrafts, and compare the usage of the two materials in aircraft structures. COMPOSITE MATERIALS Composites have been the most important materials to have been introduced in the aviation sector since the use of aluminium in the early years. Wright et al (2003) defines composite materials as, a combination of linear elements of one material in a matrix of one another material. This implies that composites are engineered materials made from two or more ingredients with significantly differing properties, either physical or chemical. The application of composite date back in the 1940s to the F-15 (US Air Force) fighters, which used boron/epoxy empennages. Initially the percentage by weight of composite materials used was 2%.Since then, the use of composites has rapidly accelerated. In 1981, the British aerospace- McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier flew with over 25% of its structures made of composite materials (Schmitt, 2008). This shows that composite materials were introduced at a very high rate in the aviation industry. Though composites have been introduced in aviation with such a fierce rate, it was proved they are expensive to produce. They are also hard to inspect for flaws and some easily absorb moisture. Despite the above mentioned disadvantages, composites still play a major role in modern day aircrafts. This is so because of their greater strength and lighter weights. Callus (2007) claims that regardless of the disadvantages of composites, they were introduced because they allowed a quantum leap in aircraft performance. Performance is in the form of light weight, ability, useful payload and super high speeds. USES OF COMPOSITES IN AIRCRAFT STRUCTURES Since each aircraft is unique, it is impossible to generalise where various materials are being used in current aircrafts, but reference to a specific example illustrates the trend. Figure 1 below shows composite materials used in Boeing 787. http://people.bath.ac.uk/ck258/new%20materials%20documents/Composite%20materials_files/image002.jpg Figure 1. Composite materials used in Boeing 787 structures. Adapted from: http://people.bath.ac.uk/ck258/new%20materials%20documents/Composite%20materials.htm The above figure clearly gives a clear indication of the introduction of composites in aircraft structures. It can be confidently stated that composites form about 50% of the weight of the materials used in modern day aircrafts. This can be seen from the pie chart in figure 1. The commonly used composites are fibreglass, carbon laminate composites and carbon sandwich composite. Some composites include the Titanium and polymer matrix composites. COMPOSITION OF COMPOSITES Composite materials are made of two materials, one acting as the matrix and the other as the reinforcement material. These constituent materials determine the mechanical properties of the composite. The matrix has a lower density, stiffness and strength than the reinforcement material, and as a result the reinforcement of the matrix, to provide the majority of the strength and stiffness of a composite is accomplished by the fibres. They can be metallic, organic, synthetic or mineral. American Composite Manufacturers Association (2004) considers epoxy resins as one of the well known matrix material to have been used in a wide range of composite parts and structures. It further states that a major advantage of using Epoxy resins over other matrix materials is their lower shrinkage. http://navyaviation.tpub.com/14018/img/14018_593_1.jpg Figure 2. Aircraft advanced composite application usage. Adapted from: http://navyaviation.tpub.com/14018/css/14018_593.htm The table shows that the in early aircrafts composites were introduced in smaller quantities. This is the case with the F-14 aircraft which was first introduced in September 1974 (Hickman, 2012). Comparing the percentage of composite materials of the F-14 with the F/A-18, which was introduced in January 1983, one can notice that the F/A-18 contained a higher percentage of composites which is 20% as compared to the 0.04% of the F-14. This 19.96% difference may have been due to the introduction of modern material development processes. The mostly used reinforcement fibres are: glass fibre, carbon pitch based, Boron chemical vapour deposition (CVD) fibres, Alumina, Aramid, Carbon Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and Polyethylene. Baker, Dutton and Kelly (2004, pp. 57) claim glass fibres are used mostly in airframes of gliders and in secondary structures such as fairings. The trio further explain that this is the case because this is where their low specific stiffness is not a problem in the design process, and because of their low cost as compared to high performance fibres. Such high performance composites include carbon fibre reinforced carbon. This is a composite material made from carbon fibre reinforcement in a carbon matrix. Diagram of carbon-reinforced carbon Figure 3. Material properties of a carbon fibre reinforced carbon. Adapted from: http://www.materialsviews.com/understanding-carbon-reinforced-carbon According to Grolms (2011), carbon fibre reinforced carbon is used mainly in high performance and high cost applications in aerospace technology. He further explains that this composite material is used widely in nose cones, wing leading edges in space shuttles and in aircraft brake systems. ALUMINIUM ALLOYS Aluminium has been the main structural element since 1930. This was made possible by its lightness as compared to other metals which are referred to as heavy, steel for example. Also, aluminium has been selected because of its indomitable strength to weight ratio. Although aluminium is not the strongest of the pure materials, its alloys use other elements to bridge the gap and improve its strength. Starke and Staley (1995) claims that aluminium is still selected as a structural material for the fuselage, wings and supporting structure for commercial airliners because of its well known performance characteristics, known fabrication costs, design experience and established manufacturing methods and practices. The duo continue on saying low specific gravity of aluminium leads to high specific properties giving aluminium alloys an upper hand in weight critical applications. Weight and strength Figure 4. Weight and Strength- aluminium is approximately one third as dense as steel. Aluminium alloys have tensile strengths of between 70 and 700 MPa. Adapted from: http://www.powerofaluminium.com/page.asp?node=45sec=Properties . Aluminium alloys were mainly created to tackle the weight problems of aircraft structures, but due to modern research and studies they have been recently studied for use in liquid oxygen and hydrogen fuel tanks, application which Starke and Staley (1995,pp.167) referred to as cryogenic. The development of aluminium-lithium alloy replaced the conventional airframe alloys. Its lower density property was thought to reduce the weight and accelerate the performance of aircrafts. This development, lead to the introduction of commercial alloys 8090, 2090 and 2091 in the mid 1980s (Davis, 1993). Weldalite 049 and CP276 were introduced shortly thereafter. Davis (1993) further says that aluminium alloys have a superior fatigue crack propagation resistance as compared to other alloys. This is due to high levels of crack tip shielding, meandering crack path and the resultant roughness induced crack closure (Davis, 1993). ANALYSIS AND COMPARISON OF ALUMINIUM ALLOYS AND COMPOSITES USES IN AIRCRAFT STRUCTURES The future of aluminium alloys in the aerospace industry seems brighter than that of its competitors, the composite materials. Even though the use composite materials is continuously growing, it recently became clear that aluminium alloys will in the near future be the winners of the fierce competition between the two materials. The airbus A380 give a clear indication of this. It shows that 61% of its structure is composed of aluminium alloys, 22% being composites, 10% is titanium and steel, and 3% of the structure is made of fibre metal laminates (Key to Metal, 2012). http://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S1359645403005020-gr10.jpg Figure 5: Material distribution for Airbus A380 by percentage, Adapted from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1359645403005020 It appears the rivalry between composites materials and aluminium alloys in the manufacturing of aircraft structures will continue to exist even in the future. This report claims aluminium alloys have the upper hand due to the fact that aluminium is less expensive as compared to composites, and recycling aluminium is not that difficult as compared to recycling composites, meaning that aluminium alloys are more environmental friendly. To support this claim, Arval (2010) pointed out that Bombardier has chosen Airware, a new aluminium alloy, for its upcoming CSeries, and Airbus has also shown that new aluminium alloys may be feasible for its next aisle aircraft. CONCLUSION In this report, the use of composite materials in aircrafts has been thoroughly discussed, pointing out their advantages and their disadvantages. The report identifies the main disadvantage of using composites in aircrafts being its high cost. The other disadvantage of using composite mentioned is their repair problems. It has been proved that composite can give a headache when it comes to repairing from ground damages, which usually avail themselves during baggage loading and other ground accidents. Nevertheless, the report also states that composites are still playing a major role in the aviation industry. This is due to their remarkable strength and their lighter weight. Also outlined in the report is the use of aluminium alloys in modern day aircrafts. Indicated in the report is that, even though aluminium alloys are not currently the main material for aircraft structure, they are awaited by a bright future. New aluminium alloys have been opted over composites for new aircraft technologies because they are recyclable, less expensive, and their characteristics and damage tolerance are well known. The development of new aviation materials since the 1980s was a major achievement in the industry since the number of aviation accidents reduced significantly. Carrying out more research on new aviation materials can see aircraft accidents reducing to probably zero, and this is a call for researchers to concentrate more on new aviation materials.