Developing an Innovation Strategy for a Healthy Lifestyle at the Essay

Developing an Innovation Strategy for a Healthy Lifestyle at the Co-operative Food Group - Essay Example Innovation entails coming up with new ideas and implementing them into new process, service, and product, resulting in the dynamic growth of the organization or national economy and increase employment opportunities. Innovation is not a one-time process, but it is a long and cumulative process that requires the organization to engage in decision-making processes that range from generation of new ideas to implementing them (Child, Gakkai, Kagono, and Urabe 3). Fuglsang (6) states that the definition of innovation comprises of two aspects: innovation and creativity, exploitation and exploration, or selection and variation. In other words, innovation is viewed as comprising of two integrated processes. New suitable inventions or ideas have to be discovered in a creative manner. The interaction between those two processes is very vital for the success of the innovation (Fuglsang 6). Blue Ocean The proposed innovation strategy for adoption by CF captures the blue ocean innovation concept as well as low cost strategy with regard to operations ambitions. In the blue ocean innovation approach proposed by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne, competition as a market force threatening smooth operations, CF will find it advisable to explore new product and market profiles without the traditional limitations of competition (Kim and Mauborgne 3). Overcoming the completion limitation, referred to as red ocean, will facilitate CF accessing unlimited opportunities in new markets. Coupling this approach to the low cost leadership strategy, the blue ocean innovation will ensure that the operations at CF remain sustainable, particularly in the financial constrained operations space experienced today in Europe. Four main areas of the innovative strategy will be encompassed in the model as enumerated below. The proposed model below enumerates the approach that Cooperative Food needs to embrace in order to highlight healthy products brand image, eliminate competition and reduce operation costs. Critical Analysis In view of the major players that CF has, different approaches may prove effective to deal with specific competitive threats posed by each of the competing sides. The identification of the major competitive threats is perhaps important in the enumeration and quantification of the competitive input required at CF. some of the main market players likely to pose competitive threats to CF include ASDA, TESCO, Morrisons, Waitrose and Sainsbury’s. ASDA presents a particular market competition threat by its popular consumer involvement strategy referred to as ‘Chosen by You’ category of products which enter on the company’s menu through recommendation by the customers (Cooperative Food 6). With respect to capturing customer demands, the magnitude of this competitive threat illustrates the success levels likely to be attained by CF if a more customer caring and customer response approach formulate marketing concepts adopted. As an illustr ation of the ASDA wrought competition expected in 2012, over 1,000 such customer requested additions will enter into the competitive aspect. CF must therefore adopt more

We Are the World Essay Example for Free

We Are the World Essay In his extended metaphor, â€Å"The Allegory of the Cave,† Plato describes a conversation between his brother, Glaucon, and Socrates about the difficulty of understanding reality. Behind these prisoners are puppeteers who hold a puppet-show using the shadows of the fire behind them. The prisoners can only see the shadows casted by the puppeteers and they can only hear the sound of echoes from behind. For their whole lives, they are only accustomed to see these shadows in the shape of fake objects such as trees and animals. One of the prisoners is released from the chain and he experiences a whole new world that he has never encountered before. What he had thought was a tree was no longer the same tree that he had known before.There, he is exposed to sunlight and reality hits him. In this allegory, the prisoners represent people in society. This inlalcludes all people, no malaatter what race they are, what social class they are in, and also what gender they are. We are locked in the cave and we are the ones who can only see what is shown on the wall, unless we open the the our eyes to new experiences. Similarly to prisoner that was blinded the the by the strong light outside, we also need to challenge ourselves to new ideas and maybe be blinded by the light to see a new view In Abercrombie’s words, the man only had the schema of what was shown on the cave wall, which caused him to have a very limited storehouse of knowledge.

Privatisation of Local Government Services

Privatisation of Local Government Services Privatisation in Local Government:  Westminster City Council and Islington Council Introduction Privatisation is referred to as â€Å"the transfer of the transfer of ownership and control of State-owned enterprise (SOE)†, to the private sector. (Bortolotti et al., 2000; Siniscalo et al., 2001). Privatisation has become a major trend in the developed economies, the developing economies, as well as in emerging market economies. In Great Britain, privatisation began in the later 1970s during the reign of the Thatcher government. It later spread across other countries and continents to become a distinguishing feature of â€Å"fin de sicle capitalism†. (Bortolotti et al., 2000; Siniscalo et al., 2001). Privatisations are now common to most countries taking place across geographical regions and economic sectors. The 20 year period 1977 to 1997 witnessed 1,865 deals in more than 100 countries worth approximately US$750billion. (Bortolotti et al., 2000). Between 1977 and 1999, the total deals reported amounted to 2,459 in 121 countries worth US$1,110billion. (Siniscalo et al., 2001). The The World Bank suggests that global SOE value added witnessed a decline from 9 percent of GDP in 1978 to 6 percent of GDP in the 1978-91 period. In addition, privatisation has also had a tremendous impact on financial markets. In July 1998 for example, privatised SOEs had a combined market capitalisation of US$1.5trillion. (Bortolotti et al., 2000) and by 2001 the combined market capitalisation had risen to $3.31 trillion. (Siniscalo et al., 2001; Megginsson and Netter, 2001). It is often believed that privatisation leads to more efficient and effective management of the enterprise which should in turn generate superior shareholder value. However, Siniscalo et al. (2001) notes that few governments have completely transferred ownership of SOEs to the private sector. This is evidenced by the fact that only 30 percent of the 617 companies being considered sold the majority of stock in the reported public offerings between 1977-1999. In addition, there was no privatisation in 11 out of the 67 countries included in their study indicating that there is still greater control in the hands of the state. (Siniscalo et al., 2001). There are therefore a number of questions that need to be addressed including: why governments privatised; why some countries accomplish large scale privatisation while other never privatise at all; how governments privatise; why some governments privatise big stakes while others do it partially. (Siniscalo et al., 2001). In this, we provid e an analysis of a Local Government – Westminster City Council and Islington Council in London and their agendas on privatisation. Background The U.K remains the leading country towards privatisation among European countries in terms of the amount of state assets that have been sold so far. (David, 2002). However, other European countries are making efforts to catch up with the U.K with their interest in privatisation driven mainly by the U.K example, technological change and the European single market programme aimed at removing non-tariff barriers to trade in the E.U. (David, 2002). The main assumption of privatisation is that competitive markets are more efficient than monopolies in managing the resources of the state. It is often assumed that SOEs can be better managed by the private sector. According to the Audit Commission, the market mechanism has reduced service costs and improve service quality. Approximately  £80million has been saved as a result of recent efficiency improvements in corporate services as a result of the market mechanism. (Audit Commission, 2007). The concept of Privatisation was pioneered by th e U.K through the introduction of the Compulsory Competitive Tendering (CCT) in 1981 allowing the private sector to compete to deliver public services, the objective was ‘†¦to improve the efficiency of services that had previously been provided by the councils themselves.’ (Audit Commission, 2008). The Local Government Planning and Land Act (1980) and the Local Government Planning Act (1988) require local authorities to subject more and more of their services for competitive tendering. (Frederick, 1994). The services covered by the CCT can be performed by the local authority’s own employees only on the condition that the tender bid for the contract to provide those services is won by the in-house organisation. The services covered under CCT as defined by the 1980 Act include new construction; building maintenance; and some highway work. The 1988 Act extended the list to include refuse; building cleaning; street cleaning; schools and welfare catering; other catering; grounds maintenance; repair and maintenance of vehicles; and management of leisure facilities. The list was again extended through powers granted to the Secretary of State and the Local Government Act 1992 to include part or all of each of the following services: management; security; architectural; engineeri ng; property management; finance; personnel; legal; computing; corporate and administrative; housing management; home-to-school transport; libraries and theatres. (Federick, 1994). Since its institution, there have been significant benefits of CCT in terms of cost savings and in improvements in service quality. (Frederick, 1994). In-house organisations have often been supplemented by efficient private sector suppliers. Some of the contracts have been won by direct service organisations or direct labour organisations which c operate in very small sizes, are more cost conscious and responsive. These organisations have also improved the productivity and quality of service. (Frederick, 1994). Despite the benefit of CCT Federick (1994) observes one problems with the CCT. Under the CCT, local authorities are not allowed to undertake the provision of certain services in-house. Local authorities must therefore forgo the alternative of undertaking the activity in-house even if the in-house options turns out to be the most cost-effective approach. This is unlike the case for private sector organisations that can review the balance between organisation costs and transacti ons costs and decide, on the basis of cost-effectiveness, whether to outsource or to undertake the activity in-house. (Federick, 1994). The benefits of CCT can therefore be placed under two categories including; (i) improved organisational management ( resulting from clearer objectives, articulation of standards and setting of targets, better monitoring, reorganisation of work to improve productivity, reduction of waste, etc) achieved in response to the stimulus of competitive comparison (and thus the prospect of contracting out); (ii) substitution of (lower) transaction costs for (higher) organisational costs. (Frederick, 1994). CCT encourages competition among service providers and thus ensures that local authority services are provided efficiently. Taxpayers therefore achieve greater value for their money. However, the main problem with CCT is that customer value requirements are determined by the local council or authority and not by the taxpayers (or consumers) of the services provided by the local authorities. The best CCT can do for consumers is that it is capable of securing the most efficient provision of the services that the local authorities deem as necessary to be provided, not those actually wanted by the consumers. (Frederick, 1994). CCT has also made councils to be more aware of the consumers of local authority services. Surveys are now conducted by many types of council to find out what the public thinks about its services and how they would like the services improved. However, this those not still amount to providing the services that the consumers actually need. The council simply improves those services that it feels are needed by the consumers without asking them what they actually need. By so doing, consumers continues paying for the services through taxes even though they may not be deriving any value from them. Westminster City Council and Islington Council Westminster City Council In line with CCT West Minster City Council has been trying to improve on the services it provides to its consumers by soliciting the services of direct service or direct labour organisations. The objective of the Westminster City Council is to deliver a world class city, built on the delivery programmes of Order, Opportunity, Renewal and Enterprise. West Minster City Council was one of the councils to begin privatising its services even before the implementation of the CCT. For example, the council added the management of its indoor leisure centres to its list of services subject to CCT in advance of official government legislation with the objective of seeking tenders in early 1988 for contracts commencing in September 1988. (Prokopenko and Pavlin, 1991). The objective of the tender was for the management of one or all of the 5 leisure centres and was based on deficit financing. Contractors were expected to include alongside cost estimates in their prospectus methods that could be u sed to reduce the deficit while at the same time improving the service. The contract was awarded to City Centre Leisure (CCL) after severe competition with competitors. CCL was awarded a contract to manage two out of the five leisure centres including the Queen Mother Sports Centre in Victoria and the Seymour Leisure Centre in Marybone. The contract which with total cost  £2,590,300 carried a term of five years. (Prokopenko and Pavlin, 1991). Following six months after the contract was awarded, there was an increase in the number of people who used the facilities by 27,000 as compared to the same period during the previous year. The factors that contributed to the increase in the use of the service include: increased opportunities to use the service such as increased opening hours, more flexible programs particularly in the mornings, evenings and weekends; user survey action, taken to improve certain aspects of the service; introduction of customer-care training and encouragement with further efforts planned. (Prokopenko and Pavlin, 1991). More so, management was clearer and sharper about what they were trying to do than before. There was also an improvement in the attitude and interest levels of staff thereby leading to an increase in the quality of the service. (Prokopenko and Pavlin, 1991). One can observe that by privatising the leisure services to CCL, West Minster City Council helped to improved the quality of the service to taxpayers. More people were now willing to use the service because it was available at more affordable prices. It was also available at flexible times. People could therefore use the service without having to make adjustments to their work schedules since it could be accessed at both morning and evening hours. People on morning shift duties could use the service in the afternoons or evenings, while those of on night shift duties could use the service during morning or afternoon hours. In addition, the improvement in staff attitude and interest increased the quality of the service since more people perceived it as being of a high quality. Included in its business framework are: Obligations to improve; new audit and intervention arrangements; emphasis on accountability for decisions and performance; freedoms to trade and charge; freedoms to spend; and freedoms to invest. The council adopted the project â€Å"Once City 2008† which its part of its vision to meet the aforementioned objective. The aim of this project is to deliver strong communities, with low taxes and services of the highest quality, which are easy to access and available when as and when necessary. First launched in November 2005, the Once City programme has achieved excellent progress. (City of Westminster, 2009). The Council has set out a total of 30 initiatives to improve lives of people living and working in Westminster City. (City of Westminster, 2009). The Council aims at building on its commitment to low tax, with a freeze in Westminster’s share of council tax; foster its â€Å"Go Green plans† to make Westminster one of the most sustainable cities in the U.K; spend over  £150million to improve schools; and look at opportunities for new housing in the City. Another key priority for the new year is to work hard for the City’s younger and older residen ts, as well as speaking to parents about what more the council can do to support them as they manage their family role. The council launched its leading â€Å"Leading Older Person’s Matters† approach last year, which includes an enormously popular free tea dance at the Grosvenor House Hotel for over 1,000 old residents. (City of Westminster, 2009) The council has a duty of securing and improving best value for taxpayers’ money where best value is defined as continuous improvement in the performance of authority’s functions. In securing best value, West Minster City Councils strikes an appropriate balance among: (i) the quality of its performance of its functions; (ii) the cost to the authority of that performance; and (iii) the cost to persons of any service provided by it for them on a wholly or partly rechargeable basis. The council performs its duties in a manner that contributes to the achievement of sustainable development. Performance improvement is measured with regard to the outcomes that have been improved. Islington Council LBI struggled for a number of years to manage and administrate the benefit service, in October 1998 the service was outsourced to ITNet under a 7 year contract to improve service performance and delivery. In 2002 the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) inspected LBI and ITNet the findings were highly critical of the Council’s ability to manage the contract National press interest in ITNet grew during 2001-2002, as Hackney Council terminated it’s contract with ITNet in April 2001, over the proposed 17,000 claims awaiting assessment. The financial implications where catastrophic, estimated to rise to at least  £11m to develop an in-house team to sort through the back log of claims. LBI decided to review it’s contract introducing new and stringent Key Performance Indicators (KPI) incentives and harsh penalties linked to service delivery and performance. (LBI, 2003). LBI was still subject to political and public scrutiny and condemnation of ITNet’s performance , the Ombudsmen Office could not withstand the number of complaints received A report to LBI Executive dated 20th February 2003 detailed the plans to revert to an in-house service from 1st May 2003 concluding: ‘The service has continually received criticism from claimants, Councillors, M.P’s, outside agencies and in the local press. The recent Benefit Fraud Inspectorate report highlighted that whilst the quality of the contract and the client side had improved†¦there had been no real improvements to claimants†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (LBI, 2003) In May 2003 LBI reverted the provision of the Housing Benefit Service to ‘in-house’ a year later the Audit Commission noted ‘Significant improvements have been achieved in previously weak areas, notably housing benefit services†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Audit, Commission, 2004). The LBI Executive agreed to exclude press and public knowledge in connection to ITNet to include ‘information relating to the financial or business affairs†¦or action taken in connection with legal proceedings, by or against the authority’. (LBI, 2003). The financial loses incurred by LBI from inception to termination of the contract have never been fully released. The service provision continued to improve by 2005 Housing Benefit had transformed from a one star service (weak) to a three star service (good), (Audit Commission, 2005). The Audit Commission on behalf of the Government have undertaken intensive research in respect to the implementation of privatisation –detailing three specific areas where there appears to be a consistent lack of: ‘Sufficient people with the procurement , risk or management skills to make effective use of market mechanisms; Information about public service markets that would enable them to use or develop those markets; and Information about delivery costs, management costs or service performance to determine the best service delivery option and the best way to secure that option.’ (Audit Commission, 2007). Lane, (2000) significantly highlights the complex issues regarding the ideology of privatisation: ‘†¦local governments†¦must learn to conduct processes of tendering/bidding in a transparent manner, as well as implementing contracts in an efficient manner, including the monitoring of fulfilment of the terms of a contract.’ A philosophy perhaps shared by Lynch (2006), suggesting the ‘transaction costs’ are a significant consideration of privatisation, highlighting: ‘There is a need to set standards, monitor progress, evaluate performance and other activities associated with giving former monopolies the freedom to undertake public services.’ (Lynch, 2006 ) The Benefit Fraud Inspectorate was highly critical of the contract that existed between LBI and ITNet suggesting is was ‘failing’ and ‘weak’ (BFI 0476/02. The contract specification had a detrimental affect on the Council’s ability to monitor the performance of ITNet ‘LBI†¦is unable to measure their effectiveness or success because it does not have monitoring in place†¦which it makes it difficult for LBI to take strategic decisions about how best to deal with the problems..’ (BFI 0476/02). The lack of skills to negotiate contracts in Local Government has been highlighted by the Audit Commission ‘Good service procurement requires accurate specification, and robust and clear negotiation, supported by sufficient technical knowledge to evaluate cost and quality’ (Audit Commission, 2007). Conclusions and Recommendations Privatisation is perceived to be a more efficient method of allocating the resources of the state. It encourages more efficient management and improves staff commitment and interest thereby increasing customer value. For example, Westminster’s privatisation of its leisure services led to improvement in the value of the service to consumers. However, privatisation of certain services may not lead to their efficient provision. As evidenced by the housing benefits case of Islington Council, not all local services can be provided efficiently by the private sector. It is therefore appropriate to carefully select the services that should be privatised before taking the decision. this should be done by weighing the costs and benefits. If benefits outweigh costs, then the service should be privatised. On the contrary, if costs outweigh the benefits of the service then it should be provided in-house. BIBLIOGRAPHY Prokopenko, J., Pavlin, I. (1991). Entrepreneurship Development in Public Enterprises International Labour Organization, 1991 ISBN 922107286X, 9789221072867 208 pages. Bortolotti, Bernardo, Siniscalco, Domenico and Fantini, Marcella (2000). Privatisation and Institutions: A cross Country AnalysisCESifo Working Paper Series No. 375. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=257773 Siniscalco, Domenico, Bortolotti, Bernardo and Fantini, Marcella (2001). Privatisation Around the World: New Evidence from Panel DataCESifo Working Paper Series No. 600; FEEM Working Paper No. 77.2001. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=288530 or DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.288530 Frederick, d. (1994). Why Compulsory Competitive Tendering for Local Government Services is not as good as privatisation. Available online at: http://www.libertarian.co.uk/lapubs/econn/econn052.pdf David, P. (2002). Privatisation in the European Union: Theory and Policy Perspectives. New York Routledge. City of Westminster http://www.westminster.gov.uk/

Can Legalistic mechanisms be effectively used to promote organizational safety

Can Legalistic mechanisms be effectively used to promote organizational safety Can legalistic mechanisms such as corporate liability be effectively used to promote organizational safety? Use two specific cases to illustrate your argument. In the era of globalisation and battle of business for expansion to foreign markets, large organisations in a form of legal entities (i.e. corporations) is seem to be taking the dominant role over the worlds economy. The growing size of corporations, their complexity and control of immense resources provides ground for misconduct that often results in adverse effects to both individuals and the community. Great numbers of incidents that resulted in a large scale harms caused to society in the past decades has brought the responsibility of corporate misbehaviour and the way they treat risks to many debates both in professional and lay public. The idea of attempting to manage organisational risks is recognized as a relatively new concept (Institute of Lifelong Learning, 2006: 5-6) and the complexity of social interactions of individuals that constitute organisations adjacent to fast development of advanced technologies in contemporary society may prove for identification of hazardous circumstances that affect safety within organisations, extremely challenging. As observed by the Institute of Lifelong Learning (2006: 5-6) there are some acknowledged professional and academic courses in Britain, but since the management of organisational risks is not a mature activity, it does not possess the same level of legitimacy that some other institutionalised concepts do. It appears that legal reforms in Europe and some other countries intend to make it easier to impose legal sanctions on corporations for serious wrongdoings. One might suggest that such reforms are logical consequence of some mayor harms produced by corporations that were later unsuccessfully prosecuted under existing laws and deemed insufficient to protect the public interests. In the United Kingdom (UK) some large scale accidents such as the train crash at Paddington, the fire at Kings Cross underground station, the capsizing of the ferry Herald of Free Enterprise are few that were catalysts for reforms making it easier to impose strict liability on corporations for physical injuries or deaths. The adoption of Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 might be perceived as an important indicator of these reforms. This paper will examine a much controversial aspects of the extent to which risk management regimes should be more or less blame orientated (Hood et al., 1996: 46) and, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ whether, in the event of an avoidable accident, the company as well as (or perhaps rather than) identified individuals might or should be held morally or legally responsible for an act or omission (Institute of Lifelong Learning 2006, 4-22). The essay question opens a much discussed notion of corporate liability which this paper will discuss in the context of organisational aspects of health and safety as an integral part of managing risks in organisations. The essay will also discuss legislative aspects that are regulating corporate responsibility. However, the intention of the author is not to summarize the arguments on legislation basis in detail. It needs to be recognized that legislation that regulates corporate responsibility varies worldwide. Therefore, the paper will discuss some of the broader aspects that might affect health and safety compliance in organisations. Finally this essay will throughout the discourse provide an argument that strict financial and legal liability posed on corporate bodies can significantly contribute to a better organisational safety. This will be achieved by using two specific cases for discussion in order to support the argument. The case studies used in the discussion are the fire at Kings Cross underground station in London, UK in 1987 and the fire of the cable car in Kaprun, Austria in 2000. Definitions of terms For further discussion the key terms from the essay question needs to be defined. Bergman, (2000: 20) in his critical perspectives on corporate responsibility in UK uses the term company and corporate in the context of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦companies set up with a view to profit that have been registered under the Companies Act 1985. In the same explanation, he further also considers a set of those companies that befalls under variety of other legal provisions, including a number of organisations in public sector. Despite some important distinctions can be made, this essay considers the term of corporation, company and organisation in the same context, with potential to produce a certain kind of harm. According to online dictionary a corporation is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a large company or group of companies authorized to act as a single entity and recognized as such in law; and liability is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the state of being legally responsible for something (Ask Oxford, 2010). In order to merge the terms, this paper will use the definition on corporate liability of another internet source, namely Wise Geek (2010), which defines corporate liability à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦as an assessment of the activities that a corporation may be held legally liable for in a court of law. The general point to be made here is that in principle a corporation can be held legally liable as a single entity for corporate activities (acts or omissions) that is breaching the law through the group or an individual it employs. Such breaches of law might have severe adverse effects on society, resulting in harm to health and safety of either the people or environment, where health is regarded more in the context of wellbeing of people. For further discussion the definition of the term safety is taken from a dictionary. Shorter Oxford (1973; quoted in Institute of Lifelong Learning, 2006: 4-11) regards safety as: The state of being safe; exemption from hurt or injury; freedom from danger the quality of being unlikely to cause hurt or injury; freedom from dangerousness; safeness. In order to merge the terms health and safety in the context of organisational structures and their legal responsibilities, the example is taken from an explanation provided by the Institute of Lifelong Learning (2006: 4-7), which argues that the term is not only about enforcement of legislation related to protection of employees. The argument goes à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦It is much more of a generic concept, which has developed the status of an ethos, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦which is demonstrated by the use of the term `Safety Culture for the attitude of an organisation towards risk-taking. One might already observe that targeting the essay question in the context of effectiveness of corporate liability towards organisational safety in an affirmative manner might be considerably narrow. It becomes visible that managing safety in organisational framework requires further examination in a broader context of Risk, Crisis and Disaster management, if complementary progress on safety through imposed strict liability measures on corporations desires to be achieved. However, before the discussion on specific case studies, the term safety culture requires additional attention, since it was illustrated that it might play an important role in attitudes towards risk taking in an organisational context. Explanations of the term safety culture flourish. A very concise one was given by the CBI (1990) as the way we do things around here. Pidgeon et al. (1991: 249) define safety culture as those sets of norms, rules, roles, beliefs, attitudes and social and technical practices within an organisation which are concerned with minimising the exposure of individuals to conditions considered to be dangerous. As such defines individuals attitude and beliefs about organisations, their perceptions of risks and the importance, practicality and effectiveness of controls regarding organisational safety. The case studies The case studies used in this paper are both disastrous events caused by the sudden occurrence of fire which resulted in fatal outcome to many involved. The first, fire at Kings Cross underground station in London in 1987 claimed the lives of 31 people and injured many more. The fire followed a number of less serious hazardous fire incidents on the London Underground. The official report concluded the immediate cause of the fire as a failure to clean and lubricate the running tracks of the escalator where the fire took place after the match fell (Department of Transport, 1988; quoted in Bergman, 2000: 24). Kletz (2001: 116) argued that approximately 20 fires per year between 1958 and 1967 were à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦called smoulderings to make them seem less serious. Similarly, the November 1988 Public Inquiry report observes the London Underground managements reaction to earlier escalator fires from 1956 to 1988 as imperfect, describing the managements approach as reactive rather than proactive (Department of Transport, 1988; quoted in Bergman, 2000: 24). In particular, the report summed up in the evidence of the then Director General of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, that many recommendations after previous fires: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦had not been adequately considered by senior managers and there was no way to ensure that they were circulated, considered and acted upon. Londons Underground failure to carry through the proposals resulting from earlier fires such as the provision of automatic sprinklers, the need to ensure all fire equipment was correctly positioned and serviceable, identification of alternative means of escape and the need to train staff to react properly and positively in emergencies was a failure which I believe contributed to the disaster at Kings Cross. (Department of Transport, 1988; in Bergman, 2000: 25) Despite the fact that the report recognized collective failure for disaster from the level of most senior managers downwards over many years to minimise the risk of fire outbreaks, the sound blame was placed mainly to senior management of the company. The official report into the disaster claims the responsibility of management systems as playing a significant role in development of precipitating causes that triggered the disaster (Fennell, 1989; in Institute of Lifelong Learning, 2006: 3-5). However, was the applicability of existing legal instruments effective enough to reach the corporate decision makers and to what extent? Apparently, at the time of the accident there were sufficient instruments in place to find the London Underground legally liable for a criminal act of manslaughter or for a lesser offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (Bergman, 2000: 29). Regardless sustainable grounds provided for legal punishment, the London Underground and its senior managers gained immunity from any form of criminal accountability (Bergman 2000: 29). It is beyond the scope of this paper to examine further in details all the failures that led to disaster and the debates that followed in the aftermath. Though, the failures summed above can already pinpoint that organisational safety culture was poorly maintained. The November 1988 Public Inquiry report specifically stated that the London Undergrounds understanding of statutory responsibilities for health and safety at work was mistaken and that many of the shortcomings which led to the disaster had been identified in earlier investigations and in reports by the fire brigade, the police and the Railway Fire Prevention and Fire Standards Committee (Department of Transport, 1988; in Bergman, 2000: 24-25). This exemplifies that the London Underground management was made aware of non-compliance with safety standards. Even though a history of small fire outbreaks was excessive, the London Underground failed to consider reported hazards seriously and to introduce safe guards to minimise t he risk of a fire with a potential for large scale loss of life. Such a conclusion stands much in favour of those who argue that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦effective risk management depends on the design of incentive structures that place strict financial and legal liability onto those who are in the best position to take action to minimize the risk (Hood Jones, 1996: 46). The claim is that: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦if liability is not precisely targeted on specific and appropriate decision-makers, a poorly designed institutional incentive structure will allow avoidable accidents to occur. Without close targeting of liability, there will be too little incentive for care to be taken by those decision-makers in organizations who are capable of creating hazards, and (the argument goes) risk externalization will be encouraged. Policies should, therefore, aim to support expanded corporate legal liability, more precisely targeted insurance premium practices, and regulatory policies that have the effect of criminalizing particular management practices and of laying sanctions directly on key decision- makers within corporations, rather than trusting corporations as undifferentiated legal persons. (cf. Fisse Braithwaite, 1988; in Hood Jones, 1996: 46) Was the looseness of regulatory and legal instruments in hands of the safety investigators that did not make it possible to enforce the London Underground to remove the identified hazards and that led to the disaster, this paper was not able to fully determine. However, it is of believe that strict liability imposed on those who represent a guiding mind and will of the company for non-compliance with safety regulations, would be effective to prevent an avoidable accident to occur. An absence of criminal charges against the senior company managers might to some extent support a positive answer on the essay question with Bergmans argument in criticising the authorities of their failure to prosecute directors. He suggested that it is often argued that only when proper action is taken against directors-with a real threat of imprisonment-will other companies take notice (Bergman, 2000: 90). Though, some wider perspectives of corporate liability in relation to organisational safety need to be further discussed before any conclusions drawn. This brings the discussion to the next case study, where all the regulations were complied and yet the disaster occurred. The second example that this essay considers is the fire of a funicular train in a tunnel that happened near Kaprun, Austria in November 2000. The fire on a Gletscherbahnen Kapruns funicular railway, carrying 167 people up to the Kitzsteinhorn glacier claimed lives of 152 passengers on board, the driver of the second train in the tunnel and two people near the top portal of the tunnel. In total 155 people lost their lives, injured not tallied (the total number of people involved in the incident varies throughout different articles. Figures presented in this paper are matching the majority of them). The 12 survivors who managed to escape out of the train through smashed windows were those who fled downhill away from the smoke. Others who fled uphill were overcome by smoke and fume. Those survived witnessed that smoke was emanating from the rears driver cabin before the train entered the 3.5 kilometres long and 3.6 meters wide tunnel with an average incline of 45 degrees. The immediate cause of the fire was a leaky tube of hydraulic oil that came into contact with a glowing heater at the rear cabin, nearby wooden panels and isolation materials. After the heater caught fire, the hydraulic line exploded and the oil was sprayed into the flames. This was stated as the reason why flames spread so quickly. The official results of the investigations confirmed belief of the experts that fire was caused by an electric heating ventilator, which was illegally installed into the drivers cabin (Transit Cooperative Research Program, 2006: 26-28; Beard Carvel, 2005: 6; Faure Hartlief, 2006: 31). Although the train driver reported the blaze to his base station, the train continued and stopped 600 meters into the tunnel. Following, as the Transit Cooperative Research Program (2006) suggests that: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the fire continued and the steep tunnel acted like a giant chimney, sucking air in from the bottom and sending toxic smoke billowing upwards. Despite an alarm signal and contact with the base station instructing the driver to open the doors, the train stayed at the location with its door sealed. Later investigation revealed that this was the immediate cause of death of most of the passengers. (Transit Cooperative Research Program, 2006: 27) Some observed that the accident has parallels with the Kings Cross fire. As Transit Cooperative Research Program (2006: 28) suggests that the Kings Cross escalator shaft at the centre of the fire had a 30 degree incline that, like the Kaprun fire created a chimney effect. The Kaprun blaze moved faster because of the steeper incline. Though, unlike the Kings Cross disaster, where several small fires were excessively observed before the accident, in the Kaprun case a regular inspection of an independent civil technicians performed two months before the first day of skiing season and also the day of the accident, has found no safety breaches or non-compliances with safety regulations. However, does that make the existing safe guards to prevent the accident sufficient and, nonetheless, the Gletscherbahnen Kaprun any less culpable for the disaster? As Tyler (2000) put forward à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦there was no sprinkler system to put out the flames in the tunnel, fireproof emergency refuges or an evacuation tunnel through which the passengers might have escaped. The BBC News (2004) stated that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the blaze was worsened by the fact that the tunnel was not lit, had only one narrow service stairway and the doors of the train could not be opened by the trapped passengers from the inside. Another author (Beier, Unknown: 3) in his paper claims that there were no emergency exits, lights or a method to pull the burning train out of the tunnel. Similarly the Transit Cooperative Research Program (2006: 28) stated that the train did not have enough fire extinguishers and that an evacuation drill never took place. The listed above illustrates that significant safety measures were ignored downwards many years of operating the Gletscherbahnen Kapruns funicular train. In recognition of that, sixteen people including company officials, technicians and government inspectors were arrested and charged with criminal negligence. The centre of the prosecution was to claim liability for those responsible for installing and servicing a non-regulation heater in the drivers cabin, which sparked the blaze by leaking oil. However, on February 19, 2004, Austrian court acquitted all sixteen with explanation of the judge in Salzburg that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦there was insufficient evidence to find the 16 train operators, suppliers and inspectors responsible for the blaze (BBC News, 2004). The appellate court in Linz in 2005 confirmed the verdict of the Salzburg court with the decision that no criminal acts were demonstrated despite the obvious failure to take care. The defendants had complied with the regulations ( Beier, Unknown, 3). Many affected announced that they would continue with civil proceedings. Though, these cases are still pending. The main problem was that designers of the electric heater complied with the existing regulations. However, the regulations failed to distinguish required standards for different types of trains. The design of the heater installed was inappropriate for a train in a tunnel and obviously different hazards were not foreseen. As Beier (Unknown, 4) argues: A horrible risk caused entirely by the design and construction of the technical system had slipped through the entire legal and regulatory system because everyone focused on the compliance with the regulation not whether the system was safe. As he suggested in the paper, no one thought about a fire nor did regulators ask anyone to think about it (Beier, Unknown: 3). One of the conclusions drawn by Beier (Unknown: 4) on Kapruns accident is that even major companies will do only the exact minimum to comply with regulations and that compliance with regulations does not guarantee a safe outcome. It is important that, he as many argues that simple product can create extremely complex risk systems and assuming that risks in technologically advanced -complex systems can be effectively managed by regulations they might prove as inefficient as in the case of Kaprun disaster. However, short before the accident in Kaprun took place, there were several occurrences of disastrous events that befell the road and rail tunnel users in the Alps and elsewhere (BBC News, 2000). Therefore, it should not be neglected that the Gletscherbahnen Kaprun managers together with the authorities inherently failed in the management of organizational risks by, as Toft and Reynolds (1994; quoted in Institute of Lifelong Learning 2006: 5-10) suggest, not taking advantage of the l essons learned by others. Conclusion The case studies revealed serious recklessness of the companies in their regard to safety, which unfortunately in both cases resulted in disastrous events with great losses of lives, many injured and large numbers of grievous families that lost their loved. Despite the fact that great harm was caused to society, neither companies nor their managers were prosecuted or found guilty in front of court for any kind of criminal behaviour. Though, it needs to be recognised that the concept of criminal corporate liability is only one perspective in a broader context of responsibility claimed in case of corporate wrongdoing. In the case of Kings Cross fire it is suggested that strict liability imposed on senior managers could stipulate the companys proactive respond in dealing with identified hazards that later led to disaster. In the case of Kaprun fire the possibilities for cross-organisational isomorphism to cover the gap of being unaware of the consequences that could happen and actually did happen, were obviously missed. In both cases this paper suggest that the companies regarded safety with gross negligence, with the main aim to do only exact minimum to comply with safety standards and regulations. Bergman argues that: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦unlike the minds of individuals, which cannot be re-modelled, the components of a company can be analysed and reformed. New policies can be adopted, new job positions created and new management systems set up. The organisational defects of a company itspsyche can be taken into pieces and put together. Unsafe companies can be turned into safe ones. (Bergman, 2000: 99) Both companies operated in an inherently unsafe manner before the accidents occurred and responded with significant safety improvements only after the disasters. One might argue that such safety improvements were not out of sight in terms of available resources on both sides already before the accidents. With strict financial and legal liability incentives, avoidable accidents might be prevented. Bergman (2000: 90) argues that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦there is a great need to increase the accountability of directors and senior company officers; the backbone of any system of deterrence in preventing corporate harm, must be action against those in control of the company. There are many that are sceptical of such an argument and consider it as possibly ineffective or even counterproductive. Such opponents can point to some other policy areas where criminalization leads to the adoption of artificial legal devices to limit liability, rather than to real changes in behaviour (The Royal Society, 1992: 157-158). Fitzgerald (1986; quoted in Hood Jones, 1996: 62) claims that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦person should not be punished for occurrences over which they could not exercise no controlà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦if such targeting is to be implemented, then it must be accurate. Indeed, safety concerns should not be placed in the hands of management only. It should be overall responsibility of all aspects within organisational structures. However, it should be vested at the highest level of each organization (Bergmann 2000: 126). Wells (quoted in Hood Jones, 1996: 60) suggest, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦if safety managers want to make themselves weatherproof, their barometers need to be tuned as much to the pressure of social constructions of accidents as to the legal categories into which they potentially be placed. The managers should exercise whatever is reasonably possible to prevent avoidable accidents to occur. Therefore, incentive structures that place legal liability on those corporate bodies that are in the best position to take action to minimize risks can be an effective mechanism to promote organisational safety. Regular safety audits or inspections could present an important instrument not only to penalize non-compliances of safety regulations, but to expo se hazardous circumstances that could develop into any mayor accidents. Gray and Scholz suggest that: Inspections imposing penalties result in improved safety because they focus managerial attention on risks that may otherwise have been overlooked. It is not the miniscule penalty that makes OSHA inspections effective in reducing injuries, but rather the concern of managers to prevent the costs associated with accidents once they are aware of the risks. (Scholz, 1997: 256)

Salinity :: essays research papers

WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF EXCESS SALINITY ON PLANTS   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Salt is a mineral that is found both in solid and liquid form. The liquid is called brine. Salt contains two elements, chlorine and sodium, and is known chemically as sodium chloride. Mineralogists call salt that is found in mines halite. Salt is essential to health. Body cells must have salt in order to live and work. Salt makes up about 0.9 percent of the blood and body cells. It has been estimated that there are more than 14,000 uses for salt. Most people think of salt chiefly as a seasoning for food. But less than five percent of the salt produced in the world each year is used in this way. Meat packers, chemical companies, hide and leather processors, and food processors, such as manufacturers of dairy products use salt and its by-products. Farmers feed salt to livestock and use it as a preservative for hay in storage. Factories, plants, laundries, and other industrial institutions use salt to soften water and condition it. Salt is also used to hold firm the materials used in building secondary roads. It is also used in heat-treating, smelting, and refining metals. There is a little more than  ¼ pound of salt in each gallon (or 30 grams in each liter) of seawater. It has been estimated Gagnard 2 that if all the oceans dried up, they would leave about 4,419,300 cubic miles of rock salt. That would be enough to cover all the United States except Alaska and Gawaii with a layer of salt more than 1 ½ miles deep. Salt was first taken from the sea by scooping out shallow holes along the seashore. Waves, breaking along the shore, filled the holes with brine. The sun and wind causes the water in the brine to evaporate, leaving behind the crude salt. This process was known as the solar method. The solar method is still used. But, to speed the process of evaporation, the brine is put in enormous iron pans placed over extremely hot fires. Salt obtained in this manner is very pure. But it has been estimated that a single salt plant should contain at least 5,000 acres of land to make the solar system practical. Salt is found beneath the ground in almost every part of the world. Sometimes the salt lies near the surface or even above it. Rocks of salt that appear above the ground are call ed salt licks.

Alexander the Great Essay -- essays research papers

Alexander was born in July 356 B.C. to Philip II and his third wife, Olympias. The parents were far from a happy couple, and Alexander was raised primarily under the influence of his mother. At the age of thirteen, he was sent to study with Aristotle—an education that was for the most part formal. Aristotle promoted the belief that non-Greeks were naturally slaves, thus encouraging the prince's thirst for conquest. Ultimately, however, Alexander would reject this belief, at least implicitly, as he attempted to cooperate with the Persians even as he subjugated them. Returning to Macedonia after three years, Alexander soon had the opportunity to prove his strength in battle, as he subdued rebellions and contributed to his father's famous victory over Athens and Thebes at Chaeronea. But when Philip divorced Olympias and married Cleopatra, Alexander began to fear that his father was looking for a new heir, and the father and son had a falling out. Their dispute was shortly resolved, but both remained suspicious of the other. Indeed, Philip was soon assassinated by a guard who presumably had a personal grievance, though Alexander and his mother are traditionally thought to have played some kind of role in Philip's death. Alexander thus succeeded to the throne and began the inevitable dynastic purging of enemies. At the same time, he had to force the other Greek city-states to acknowledge his authority as Hegemon of the Hellenic League, which Philip had established. In doing so,...

Comparing Reality and Illusion in Glass Menagerie, Death of a Salesman, and A Raisin in the Sun :: comparison compare contrast essays

Reality vs. Illusion in The Glass Menagerie, The Death of a Salesman, and A Raisin in the Sun   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   All three stories are centered on lower income families in urban settings. Each story has one main dreamer with other characters being in various states of reality. Amanda Wingfield, Willy Loman, and Walter Lee Younger are all living on pipe dreams. Amanda dreams of her days on the front porch surrounded by her gentleman callers. Willy is the all time king of pipe dreams bouncing from past to future with imagining how everything would have been different if he had gone to Alaska (or Africa) with his brother Ben or will be different when Howard makes him showroom salesman at the home office or Biff gets ten (fifteen) thousand dollars for his new business idea. Walter Lee is a smart hard working man but he is so eager to be financially successful that his common sense is blurred and he allows con man Willie Harris to take him for the families ten thousand dollars. Amanda's reality check comes from another dreamer, her son, Tom who is totally annoyed by Amanda's nagging and domineering, he thinks that everything will be better if he can just get away. Amanda and her family go on living their fantasy lives. Willy gets it from all sides; primarily his conflict is with Biff but also Charley, Howard, and Bernard. He is an average man who truly believes he is better than those around him, and that his sons, especially Biff, are greater still, but people, he has very little respect for, are all more successful than he is. Biff starts out like Willy perhaps but comes to the realization that being an average man is okay. Willy never comes to that conclusion; in fact he decides he is more valuable dead than alive. Walter Lee probably has the best grasp on reality and the highest hill to climb of all the dreamers in these stories. This story could probably only take place in a northern city in the United States at that time. His reality check comes from Lena Younger, his mother, a highly spiritual woman with a strong sense of what right and wrong is. Lena has raised Walter Lee to be a good man but he is eager to find a shortcut out of the ghetto and be treated with respect.