The Core Values Of The Profession Education Essay

IntroductionSociety has changed on many foreparts in the last few decennaries. The rise of societal issues, like cyber-bullying, discourtesy for authorization and teenage gestations, among young person and kids have led to parents and the community desiring schools to take a tougher stance in developing the societal and moral capablenesss of the immature ( Lickona, 1991 ) . This has prompted the Ministry of Education ( MOE ) to implement alterations to the instruction system by stressing on Character and Citizenship Education ( CCE ) . The displacement from being accomplishments and cognition senders to 1s that incorporate moral considerations into the instruction pattern is expected of instructors today ( Hansen, 2001 ) . In this epoch of alteration, it has been really supercharging right from the start of the occupation for get downing instructors as they have to familiarise themselves with all the wide-ranging functions and duties of experient instructors ( Feiman-Nemser, 2001 ; L ortie, 1975 ) . With such demanding conditions, get downing instructors need to hold a clear sense of intent and uphold the nucleus values of the profession in order to win. Teachers must function as wise mans and good function theoretical accounts to their pupils. Harmonizing to Bandura ( 2002 ) , instructors are expected to modulate their behavior with regard to professional criterions. Teachers, being of import grownups in young persons ‘ lives, have an impactful influence on their pupil ‘s character growing and development ( Park, 2004 ) . As get downing instructors aspire to carry through their different individualities when they join the instruction work force, they seek to construct up good resonance with their pupils but so happen it hard to pull the line between being rigorous and friendly with them ( Zoe, 2011 ) . Get downing instructors will non merely necessitate the necessary accomplishments and cognition to pull off pupils efficaciously in the emotional and affectional spheres, but besides a strong ethical compass to professionally cultivate their pupils ‘ heads. Students will therefore be able to get the better of societa l quandary and title-holder morally responsible causes ( Gardner, Csikszentmihalyi & A ; Damon, 2001 ) . With the rapid influence of societal media, some beginning instructors are carry oning themselves unethically when they fail to separate the student-teacher boundary on internet ( Cindy, 2011 ) . The technologically-savvy beginning instructors are acquiring into more problem when they befriend their pupils utilizing societal media platforms like Facebook and Twitter ( David & A ; Patrick, 2012 ) . Such sites frequently blur the student-teacher professional lines. Get downing instructors, being new in their profession, may be used to showing their sentiments, posting inappropriate exposures or even utilizing expressed linguistic communication on such societal webs without recognizing that the populace and even their pupils they are friends with in the practical universe can see their stations. This would hold damaging effects on the immature, waxy heads that they are entrusted with. The instruction of non-examinable topic like CCE will be a desperate concern for get downing instructors who strive to do efficient usage of clip to fix their pupils for trials alternatively ( Darling-Hammond, 1997 ) . A study conducted among teacher trainees found that merely 26.5 % of them supported the thought of learning this non-examinable topic. Many of them felt the thought of learning the citizenship constituent of CCE as propaganda and disputing to integrate them into mundane instruction ( Wang, 2008 ) . Research has shown that when instructors are less enthusiastic about the capable affair, pupils ‘ intrinsic motive to larn will worsen ( Patrick, Hisley & A ; Kempler, 2000 ) . This definitely gives get downing instructors a difficult clip when they try to strike a balance between the school ‘s accent on academic accomplishments and to further character and citizenship values. With such immense functions in determining the hereafter coevals, instructors are seen as cardinal figures to maximise the potency of every pupil holistically ( Gregory & A ; Clark, 2003 ) . It is non surprising why MOE has invariably focused on instructors ‘ development by supplying them with appropriate preparation and support to authorise them with indispensable life-skills so that their pupils can besides profit ( Murray, 2002 ) . Schools besides engage in Professional Learning Communities to acquire experient instructors to portion their expertness on covering with debatable pupils with get downing instructors. However, the heavy work load get downing instructors struggle to get by in schools has made such extra enrichments to be jobs for them. Recent enterprises, like the Holistic Health Framework and Form Teacher Guidance Period which aim to develop good societal, emotional acquisition competences in pupils, will besides increase the load for get downing instructors who have to larn and rapidly accommodate to the new policies. The present coevals of pupils is more facile and educated as their attitudes and worldviews have been shaped by the economic prosperity and cyberspace revolution over the old ages ( Derfel, 2011 ) . The stable economic environment has caused them to be less afraid of alteration, while the easiness of information available on the cyberspace has made them more expressive in their positions. Students may be less fearful of authorization and go rebellious. Most get downing instructors will happen it a challenge in pull offing them and will hold to gain their regard from pupils by puting good illustrations, listening and handling them every bit, irrespective of their genders, races and categories ( Whitney, 2000 ) . Appropriate and just penalties should be given out to pupils where necessary. In most instances, blue pupils, normally boys, acquire more attending by their instructors ( Brophy and Good, 1970 ) . However, get downing instructors should besides larn non to pretermit praising t he well behaved pupils for their model behavior. This ensures every pupil receives equal intervention and is able to distinguish between good and bad behavior in category. Classroom diverseness can besides present serious challenges for get downing instructors, particularly since it involves associating to groups of pupils who may hold differing point of views, backgrounds and dispositions ( Holmes Group, 1986 ) . A survey by Goddard and Foster ( 2001 ) revealed that while get downing instructors may hold baronial aspirations to efficaciously learn a diversified category of scholars, they are incognizant of the existent universe demands on their patterns. Get downing instructors are often in for a ‘reality daze ‘ as pupils tend to joint out changing positions or experiences. Teaching pupils to be empathic, sensitive and accepting of one another ‘s sentiment is polar during CCE lesson. This allows pupils to be more engaged in national issues through active flow of advanced and enriching ideas, and do them esteem the cultural diverseness. In add-on, get downing instructors may meet pupils who come from hapless household backgrounds with out proper rearing support. They have to give more supervising to these pupils so that they will non experience ignored and go a threat to society. As parents play an progressively impactful function on the educational lives of their kids, a productive relationship with them will heighten the instructor ‘s abilities to develop good character and citizenship values in their pupils ( Fleming, 1993 ) . As Henderson and Berla ( 1997 ) wrote, when teacher-parent ties are close, pupils non merely profit in school but besides throughout life. Ironically, research shows that many get downing instructors fail to understand the demand to set up such relationships as they view parental engagement non built-in to their instruction and pupil ‘s acquisition ( Canter & A ; Canter, 1991 ) . This position among novice instructors has to be changed as parental engagement brings positive impacts on the kid ‘s holistic accomplishments ( Epstein, 1995 ) . Get downing instructors are frequently challenged when they have to cover with ill-disciplined pupils. By join forcesing with concerted parents, instructors will be able to promot e good behaviour in the pupils both in school and at place. If parents are unreasonable and demanding yet differing with the handling of their kid ‘s behaviour, it will further halter the instructor ‘s attempts in edifice good character in the pupil. It is besides important for instructors to actively seek interactions with parents and keep good relationships with them ( Howe & A ; Simmons, 1993 ) . However, many get downing instructors are missing these accomplishments to advance such bipartisan communications between parents and the school ( Shartrand, Weiss, Kreider, & A ; Lopez, 1997 ) . Communication is indispensable as it facilitates airing of critical information on pupil ‘s attitude in school to their parents. Concerned parents will mind the advice from instructors and pay more attending to their kid if needed, while casual 1s will merely make more duties for the instructors. With effectual communicating between both parties, the pupil ‘s character growing and development can so be closely monitored. In decision, get downing instructors have to lift up to the challenges when they take on the duties of developing character and citizenship values in pupils. To get the better of such troubles, they have to be adapted with new educational policy alterations through undergoing professional development developing invariably to get the necessity accomplishments to construct good character in pupils. In order to derive the regard from pupils, get downing instructors have to keep an ethical image within the profession and put good illustrations for their pupils while handling them every bit irrespective of their cultural diverseness. Looking in front, get downing instructors should besides take a leap forward and start working closely with parents and the community to raising and develop these values in the pupils. Through partnerships with assorted stakeholders, pupils will be more open to good cultural and social values, doing them better citizens for the hereafter.

Grand jury paper Essay

Explore the right to a preliminary examination and the role of the grand jury A preliminary hearing may not be held in every criminal case in which a â€Å"not guilty† plea is entered. Some states conduct preliminary hearings only when a felony is charged, and other states utilize a â€Å"grand jury indictment† process in which a designated group of citizens decides whether, based on the government’s evidence, the case should proceed to trial. Last but not least, the possibility always exists that any time prior to the preliminary hearing a criminal case will be resolved through a plea bargain between the government and the defendant. A Grand Jury determines whether there is enough evidence for the trial. Grand juries carry out this duty by examining evidence presented to them by the prosecution, and issuing indictments, or by investigating alleged crimes and issuing, presentments. A grand jury is traditionally larger and more distinguishable from a petit jury, which is used during trial. Both of these are good for both parties because it gives a chance for both parties to see what evidence and figure out how the state is going to proceed. The DA must only present enough evidence to convince a judge that he has enough evidence to go to court. The Defense may not know if the DA has much more damning evidence in the future, so it can be unknown to the Defense and be a guessing game. It offers a chance for a judge or jury to decide if the case merits going to trial, and if it doen’t then the defendant is released. But if there is very good evidence, and the Defense realizes that they perceive that the Prosecution has very good evidence, then it is a chance to plea bargain, in which both parties may wish to do, in order to avoid drawing out proceedings.

Comparison of Ophelia characters in Hamlet and Child of God Essay

The play, Hamlet, by Shakespeare and the novel, Child of God, by Lolita Files tells of Ophelia l character that displays similar base behaviors. In both Hamlet and Child of God, the two Ophelias are static one-dimensional characters who are both victims of their circumstances. However, the Ophelia in Hamlet meet a tragic end while the Ophelia in Child of God is able to have a positive ending. In short, Files’ Ophelia became the tragic heroine that Shakespeare’s did not. The significant and most important similarity between the characters of Ophelia in Hamlet and Child of God is that both are a static-one dimensional character. These characters do not change throughout the play or novel and continued to be predictable. They act like robots that do not exercise an aggressive control over their own lives and effect any purposeful independent personal change in their environment. They are weak-willed, soft, fragile, tender beings whose main function and purpose in life is to be dominated and used by other more aggressive, strong characters surrounding them. File’s Ophelia is said to be, â€Å"naive about the world and the people in it† and Shakespeare’s Ophelia is described by Hamlet as â€Å"frailty, thy name is woman† (Files 65; Shakespeare & Hapgood 116). Ophelia in Child of God is used by his brother for his selfish, passionate desires while the Ophelia in Hamlet is used by her father and brother to be a spy against the man she loves, Hamlet. Files’ Ophelia put up a little but unconvincing resistance to his brother’s advances (â€Å"but I’m your sister†) perhaps because her situation is more delicate while Shakespeare’s Ophelia readily obeyed without question (Files 68). It is said that Files’ Ophelia â€Å"loved her brother†¦and would have done anything to make him happy† (Files 68). Moreover, the two characters in both stories are both predictable creatures that one could easily predict to either fall when circumstances are bad or triumph when circumstances are good or in their favor. Sure enough Shakespeare’s Ophelia became a madwoman when circumstances turn from bad to worse, as first, she is betrayed by her lover, Hamlet, who tells her â€Å"I love you not†, and then second her father is murdered by Hamlet himself (Shakespeare &Hapgood 182). Files’ Ophelia, on the other hand, also almost went crazy when her child dies in the fire after Lay left her, and would surely have gone crazy if her mother did not make the initiative to turn her life around by sending her to college in another State. Such behaviors show both Ophelias’ incapability to direct their own destiny in spite of their circumstances. One reason is that they seem to be women who have no opinion of their own. In Hamlet, Ophelia did not defend Hamlet against her father but willingly submits to their plans even though it may hurt the man she loves. Some scholars who made an analysis of her character accused her, that because of her willingness to be used against him, she therefore does not really love Hamlet (Madariaga 41). However, it is obvious that this Ophelia cannot make up her mind, as suggested by her reply â€Å"I do not know, my lord, what I should think†(Shakespeare & Hapgood 127). Similarly, the seemingly innocent Ophelia in Child of God who ironically loves to read books that could have imparted her knowledge from which to forge her own opinions is easily convinced by her own brother to have sexual relationship with him. Both authors therefore, presents two Ophelia’s who emulate and illustrate the dangers of the celebrated frailty , naivety and tenderness of feminity for it, in fact, exposes women to domination and hence, to becoming victims of circumstances. On the other hand, one of the major differences that a reader can observe is that Ophelia in Child of God had an incestuous love affair with his brother Lay while the Ophelia in Hamlet, who also has a close relationship with his brother, did not. It appears that the major difference lies in the brothers themselves. Lay is generally a wicked, selfish man (as attested later by destroying his own brother’s life to drugs). His childhood is greatly influenced by his aunt Sukie who is also a wicked, selfish woman. His love and concern for Ophelia, therefore, is driven more by his passionate lust and using persuasive words (â€Å"I thought you said you loved me†), convinces her to enter into an incestuous love affair with him. He later left her pregnant and drive her away from his life when Ophelia establishes contact with him (Files 68). On the other hand, the Ophelia in Hamlet has a brother, Laertes, who genuinely loves her. He thinks Hamlet is just going to destroy her virginal innocence (â€Å"your chaste treasure open, to his unmaster’d importunity†) and therefore warns her (Shakespeare & Hapgood 124). File’s Ophelia recognizes that it is sin to have incestuous affair with his brother but she speaks with little conviction (â€Å"what happen between us ain’t normal†, and when Lay asks her who said it she replied, â€Å"it just ain’t†) indicating that she was not as interested to the moral implications of her actions (Files 69). What is important for her is that her brother loves her and he wants her. Many people present this kind of argument when confronted with their sinful or questionable actions. As long as their needs are met they do not care so much what the law or others say. Interestingly, the people who are capable of this kind of lifestyle are those who are less pricked by conscience. Nowhere in the book in the Child of God can one see that Ophelia struggles with guilt over her incestuous affair with Lay. When she was almost overcome with madness, it was not because of guilt but because her child (the one she sired with her brother) is burned to death. On the other hand, one would wonder what would have happen to Shakespeare’s Ophelia if Laertes had made physical advances to her like what Lay did to his sister. It is quite possible that she would be gone crazy or mad also. The reason is that she seemed to be endowed with a higher degree of conscience, arising from a nurtured family loyalty, than the Ophelia in Child of God is although looking at both their lives in entirety it seems that they do not â€Å"struggle much with moral choices or alternatives† (Shakespeare et. l. 78 ). It is apparent in Hamlet that the madness of Shakespeare’s Ophelia’s is caused by the grief over her father’s death ,nevertheless, judging from the events surrounding her father’s death( like Hamlet’s insult over her betrayal and the possible likelihood that she thinks Hamlet killed her father in revenge) it could be that it is in fact the culmination of all the guilty feelings she harbors inside as she cries out, â€Å"O! Woe is me, to have seen what I have seen, what I see† (Shakespeare & Hapgood 185). The authors therefore do show that the relationships that both developed with their brothers is largely influenced by the behavior of their brother themselves although one cannot discount the role of the degree of moral conscience in these two characters. Shakespeare’s Ophelia is more inclined to be pricked by conscience (therefore more likely to avoid it) than File’s Ophelia is. Another significant difference is that File’s Ophelia became a tragic heroine that Shakespeare’s Ophelia did not. It can be noted that these two fragile maidens encounters and are caught up in a tragic family drama. However, the life of File’s Ophelia’s can be said to be more tragic (and cursed with sin) than that of Shakespeare’s Ophelia for her bloodline is tainted with family murders, family hatred, gender biases (homosexuality) and incest and therefore more prone to failure and bitter end. On the other hand, the Ophelia in Hamlet can be said to have only a tragic incident in the murder of her father by her lover Hamlet. Weighing these two backgrounds, one therefore can conclude, that Shakespeare’s Ophelia had a more chance to experience a triumphant life. Unfortunately, the opposite is true. Shakespeare’s Ophelia became crazy and suspected to commit suicide while File’s Ophelia overcome her tragic past. Their different endings are actually caused by the respective lack or abundance of support that they get from others. As mentioned earlier, both of these Ophelia do not take initiative for their destinies. Therefore, the key to their triumph relies heavily on the people surrounding them. The Ophelia of Hamlet both lost her father and Hamlet and with her caring brother far in Paris, Ophelia is put in a most distressing state( â€Å" driven into desperate terms†, as Laertes put it) , struggling with her sorrow and grief alone which eventually caused her madness( Shakespeare & Hapgood 244). File’s Ophelia on the other hand, in spite of the murder, hatred and incest surrounding her life, nevertheless, has a very supportive family. Her parents protect her from possible harm, she is sent to school by an equally supportive family friend and at least she has one brother, Polo, who cares so much about her and is with her in her new life as a student. Then later she met a man who loves her and accepted her for who she is. Without being very straightforward about it therefore, the two authors implicitly illustrate the value and importance of support towards fragile weak characters in attaining their triumph over the adversities of their lives. As a conclusion, even though the Ophelia’s of Hamlet and Child of God displays and possesses the same weak, naive personality and tender feminine qualities that is subject to domination and exploitation they are, however, destined to have different endings. The reasons are due mainly to their ability or the lack of it to be influenced by conscience as well as to their respective differences in getting support from others.

Evaluate the current streght of evidence for a complimentory therapy Essay

Evaluate the current streght of evidence for a complimentory therapy (Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation TENs for post operative pain management in chi - Essay Example As a result, use of complementary, non-pharmacological therapies for management of pain appears to be an effective and safe option (Zollman & Vickers, 1999). Complimentary therapy has been defined by the Zollman  and Vickers (1999, p.693) as â€Å"group of therapeutic and diagnostic disciplines which exist outside the institutions where conventional health care is taught and provided.† Some of practices of complimentary medicine like chiropractic medicine, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), acupuncture etc are increasingly being accepted and used clinically by mainstream medical practitioners (Zollman & Vickers, 1999). Complimentary therapy is now increasingly becoming an important aspect of the health care system in the U.K. a small machine, called the TENS unit is used to transmit electrical currents through the skin to stimulate the underlying nerve endings at or near the area where pain occurs (Hicks, 2006). The electric impulses which are generated by the TENS device are delivered to the area of pain through the sticky pad electrodes, which are placed on the skin in the painful area. Electrical impulses which stimulate the nerve endings at or near the site of pain help in diminishing the pain. intensity and frequency of electric current used by TENS machine, it can be sub-classified into two sub-types: low-intensity (1–2 mA) and high-frequency (50–100 Hz) TENS or high-intensity (15–20 mA) and low-frequency (1–5 Hz) TENS (White et al, 2001).The mechanism of action of TENS is thought to involve both spinal (gate-control theory) and supraspinal theories (release of endogenous opioid like substances). High-frequency and low-intensity TENS is thought to control pain through ‘Melzack and Wall’s theory of spinal gating’ (Erdogan et al, 2005). According to this theory activation of large myelinated afferent nerve

Are the cooling processes immediately after resuscitation beneficial Research Paper

Are the cooling processes immediately after resuscitation beneficial in the pre-hospital settings - Research Paper Example Are the cooling processes immediately after resuscitation beneficial in the pre-hospital settings? As the research aims to study the success of the cooling process after resuscitation in the pre-hospital settings; thus, researchers have evaluated that hypothermia is induced in pre-hospital setting to deal with the comatose cardiac arrest patients. It has been found that many researches evidenced favorable results concerning induction of hypothermia after cardiac arrest to initiate and effectively practice the efficient method; it promotes the best neurological outcome at discharge suggested by professionals. Authors of the study have included experiences and viewpoints of the participants (population) who had comparable baseline characteristics. Also, to deeply study the experience of the population authors had intended to explore if the body temperature decreases before the arrival of cardiac patient at the hospital; how it will impact the treatment procedure. So, they have explored that a decrease in patient's body temperature is positively effectively, safe and feasible for the health practitioners and also the cardiac arrest patient feel encouraging difference in his/her health condition. Although, researchers have not intended to include adverse influence of induced hypothermia in the findings, but the meta-analysis reveals underpins that in some cases induced hypothermia can cause negative effects on heart rate, blood pressure, pulse oximetry and chest radiograph. Furthermore, from another outstanding piece of medical literature researchers have noted that decrease in core tempera ture of 0.8 degree Celsius can point out a quick infusion of greater volume, ice-cold intravenous fluid decrease temperature as soon as the patient arrived at the healthcare centre (Nichol, Thomas, Callaway, & Hedge, 2008). Also, researchers have included experiences of patients out of the hospital and effectiveness of the cooling process immediately after resuscitation. For the evidence (Kamarainen, Virkkunen, & Tenhunen, 2009) has been analyzed, which stated that hypothermia group was observed to experienced low temperature at the time, when they arrived at the hospital in comparison with the control group. With the analysis of this study, authors observed no negative influences of hemodynamic instability or pulmonary edema and this approach of the cooling process was proved to be safe and effective for better health outcomes of the cardiac patients. Review of Castren (2010) study helps authors to explore data related to pre-hospital intra-arrest transnasal evaporative cooling. Th is study evidenced the safety, feasibility, and cooling efficiency of induced hypothermia within pre-hospital settings. Additionally, positive impact of cooling on neurological experiences of the patient has also been witnessed by Castren (2010). However, Castren (2010) strongly considered that factors identified have adverse effects of the cooling procedures on blood pressures, heart rate, chest x-ray, and pulse oximetry. Other studies such as Kim, Olsufka, & Maynard (2007) also evidenced the safety and feasibility of pre-hospital cooling; however, this study strongly suggested that esophageal temperature is important to note down at randomization and upon the

Commercial Law Master Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Commercial Law Master - Case Study Example For the first dispute of withholding payments due to Gilfil plc, the company can proceed against Tryan in the England & Wales High Court (commercial) without approaching the respective county court since value of claim would exceed 25,000. See relevant case Dalkia Utilities Services Plc v Celtech International Ltd [2006]1 Civil cases at first instance are heard in the County Courts (for minor claims) or the High Court, which is divided into three divisions: Queen's Bench, Family and Chancery. Cases may be appealed to the Court of Appeal (Civil Division). Cases may be appealed from the County Court to the High Court2. For the third issue of Gilfil plc having found their suppliers Eliot Electrical contractors infringing their exclusive and patented design of Phoebus brand. in the name of Pharos, they may file a suit against them in the respective Patent County court. See case 3 Gilfil plc may also implead Barton and Tryan for having sold duplicated version of their Phoebus brand. For the issue of negligent delivery of goods by the carriers, Gilfil plc may file a suit against them in the county court or High court depending up on the value of the claim. In the event of claim exceeding 25000, they can be made a party in the case they are filing against Tryan. Dispute resolutions As for withholding of payment for bills for which goods have been satisfactorily supplied, clause 3(2) of the contract says that order shall be placed on a monthly basis for the entire duration of the contract. The buyer having failed to do so, the seller had every right to repudiate the contract for the reasons of breach. But the seller has not given 30 days notice of its intention to cancel the contract as provided in clause 11 (1) of the contract. It only says 'may" and not "shall" which means notice is not mandatory in the event of a breach. Clause 11(2) will not apply since it is attracted only if there has been no breach in which case notice is construed as mandatory by the words "shall". Clause 5(6) of the contract says that payment shall not prejudice the right of the buyer. In the first place there was a breach on the part of the buyer by failure to place orders because of which the seller later declines to supply for having up other contracts. The breach though may be due t o restructuring, the buyer can not invoke "force majeure" clause nor had they notified the seller about their intention not to place orders temporarily. Where as clause 5(6) payment of any bill does not affect buyer's right under the contract, they have no case to withhold payment of the bills duly supplied. Even if it happens to be the bill goods of which have been damaged in rain, the buyer has no right to do so due to insurance clause. And even otherwise, they failed to receive the goods when it arrived and carriers have done the best possible option available to them, though

Project Finance in the FertiNitro Company Coursework

Project Finance in the FertiNitro Company - Coursework Example Polar is a passive sponsor of FertiNitro and is not directly involved in the business of construction and operation of the fertilization plant. Polar is mainly a food and beverage company with present joint ventures in companies like Koch and Pequiven which are the major stakeholders of FertiNitro. The total revenue generated by the Polar group is the US $1.9 billion. More than 2% of the company goes to Venezuela’s non-oil GDP (Duff & Phelps, 1998, p.5). Impact of the Sponsors’ contribution on the project in terms of viability as a stand-alone project financing The strategy adopted by Polar in the investment of export projects has generated profitable returns to Venezuela. The first project to invest in Polar is FertiNitro. The indirect involvement of Polar in the project of FertiNitro has resulted in being the important mitigant to it. PDVSA gas is the subsidiary company of Polar Group which contributes to the major portion of the gas requirement of the country made available by FertiNitro. The foreign exchange over the past decades has been favorable for PDVSA which gives FertiNitro another reason to make the Polar group a part of its sponsors. The indirect participation of PDVSA in FertiNitro the foreign transfers and the risk convertibility gets minimized. PDVSA also has the leading market in urea in South America along with Pequiven which is the petrochemical wing of PDVSA. PDVSA is also responsible for offsetting the risk of the volatile market by lowering the cost of the feedstock gas supply. PDVSA is the world second largest Oil and Gas Company contributes the most to the FertiNitro as the company both directly and indirectly invests in the company. Even the internal funds of Pequiven are sponsored by PDVSA. Thus the viability of FertiNitro based on the stand-alone project financing of the Polar Group will bring about remarkable results as the company in engages in both direct and indirect financial investment for the company. Both the cost overruns and the time overruns of the company will be under check in spite of the fact that as Polar the company contributes to the 10% of sponsorship to FertiNitro and is a passive sponsor. Following aspects of the project with relevant matters Off-taker, The Polar Group has signed an offtake agreement with both Pequiven and Koch Off takers which are both joint ventures. The Koch Off taker bears the obligation of 75% of the ammonia and 43% of an area of the company that is available for sale during the year. Similarly, the rest of the obligation of the Polar Group’s off-take agreement lies with Pequiven. Certain specification of the company related to the off-taker agreement has to be abided by the mentioned companies like appointing an independent inspector regarding the approval of the off-takers who will be in charge of determining the quality of the product to be delivered. Based on the independent inspector’s assessment the rejection of the non-conforming products is made or availed at a discounted rate. At the initial level of agreement, Koch will have the rights to sell the products and delivering the same in North America while Pequiven will follow a similar act in South America, Caribbean, and Central America.  Ã‚  

Finding a Solution to the Israeli Palestinian Conflict Research Paper

Finding a Solution to the Israeli Palestinian Conflict - Research Paper Example Finding a Solution to the Israeli Palestinian Conflict The Two State Solution (TSS) focuses on the creation of two states, giving rise to a new Palestinian recognized state alongside a Jewish state, while a one state solution is aimed at calling for the reunification of Palestine into a single state, creating a common nationality for both Jews and Palestinians in what could end the current Jewish state. The continued growth of Israel settlements in West Bank, confiscation of the Palestine land in Gaza, building of security barriers, development of Jewish housing estates in East Jerusalem, and proliferation of checkpoints in Gaza and West Bank have currently led a number of Palestinians to conclude that a two state solution may no longer be possible. This has led many Palestinians particularly from the diaspora (not from the West Bank) to advocate for a one state solution, considering the difficulties of Jews leaving the expanding settlements in Gaza. There are growing concerns among the Jews particularly in Gaza and West Bank on the possibility of a two state solution that would force them to live their settlements and return to Israel to pave way for a Palestinian state. However, the opposition to a one-state solution that would place the Jews together with the Palestinians would involve the probability of abolishing a Jewish state and merging both entities to create single state for both the Jews and Palestinians. This would mean abandoning the dream of the Zionism project that aims at establishing a Jewish majority state, implying that a one state solution would have a unanimous opposition from both the Palestinians and the Jews. ... The continued growth of Israel settlements in West Bank, confiscation of the Palestine land in Gaza, building of security barriers, development of Jewish housing estates in East Jerusalem, and proliferation of checkpoints in Gaza and West Bank have currently led a number of Palestinians to conclude that a two state solution may no longer be possible (Kelman, 2011). This has led many Palestinians particularly from the diaspora (not from the West Bank) to advocate for a one state solution, considering the difficulties of Jews leaving the expanding settlements in Gaza. There are growing concerns among the Jews particularly in Gaza and West Bank on the possibility of a two state solution that would force them to live their settlements and return to Israel to pave way for a Palestinian state (Kelman, 2011). However, the opposition to a one-state solution that would place the Jews together with the Palestinians would involve the probability of abolishing a Jewish state and merging both ent ities to create single state for both the Jews and Palestinians. This would mean abandoning the dream of the Zionism project that aims at establishing a Jewish majority state, implying that a one state solution would have a unanimous opposition from both the Palestinians and the Jews. Therefore, the possibility of having a one state solution becomes slim; the likelihood of a two state solution becomes more viable. In fact, the Israel Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly declared the necessity of a two state solution in his Bar-Ilan speech made on 14th June, 2009 (Kelman, 2011). Therefore, the only viable and possible solution to the Israel-

Organization behavior Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Organization behavior - Case Study Example This is caused by the fact that people have different attitudes and different motivations in their endeavors. For instance, in this case, it can be argued that the two managers have different attitudes towards people. There are many learning theories such as behaviorism and humanism. Behaviorism for instance argues that people learn based on stimuli. If a person knows that his actions will cost them, they are likely to refrain from these actions. Other theories of learning articulate that individuals learn as a way of making their own knowledge. In the above case, it seems that Susan is a behaviorist and believes that if Don is made to suffer from his actions, he will change his bad behavior. On the other hand, Bob seems to subscribe to humanism as a theory of learning. As such, he believes that if given the right resources, Don will learn in order to meet his needs. Employees expect to be rewarded for their hard work and their contribution to the firm. Sometimes employees can contribute more to the firm than is required by their employment agreement. This is what Jackie has been doing because she has been going beyond her expected outcomes. However, in most cases, when the employees do this, they also expect the employer to go beyond his formal responsibilities when rewarding them. This passive agreement between the employer and the employee is called psychological contract and if one side breaches it, the other will feel demotivated. In this case, Steelfab Corp has failed to honor its side of the psychological contract with Jackie. To remedy this, Steelfab Corp must be able to meet its side of the psychological contract by rewarding her more for the work she is doing. This can be achieved by having a performance-based work environment where employees will be rewarded not based on how close they are to the seniors but in accordance to their con tribution to the firm. Amy should have assigned her a job description with proper roles. This could have

History Why did the Johnson Administration lead America to become so Essay

History Why did the Johnson Administration lead America to become so deeply involved in the Vietnam War after 1963 - Essay Example The conflict, of course, began when the French decided to release their colonial claims to Vietnam. The French army was driven from Vietnam in 1954, resulting in the Geneva Peace Accords. This created a temporary partition of Vietnam at the seventeenth parallel, until 1956, when nationwide elections would be held. While the Communist powers in the Soviet Union and China did want the entire nation of Vietnam to become Communist, they predicted that the 1956 election would accomplish their aims without bringing the United States into the conflict (The Wars for Vietnam: 1945 to 1975). Rather than initiate another conflict similar to Korea, the American government began a concerted effort to win the political minds of those living to the south of the Communist zone. A major part of this effort was the creation of SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty Organization). Initially, the American efforts were successful: the 1956 elections brought Ngo Dinh Diem, a firm opponent of Communism, to power in South Vietnam. However, Diem claimed that the North Vietnamese were preparing to take the southern half of Vietnam by force, and the Americans began aiding his military maneuvers against the northern half in 1957. Diem used a variety of brutal internal measures in South Vietnam to quell the Communist insurgency, including Law 10/59, which permitted authorities to hold anyone who was suspected of being a Communist indefinitely, without bringing charges. Over time, Diem became increasingly autocratic, which made him an increasingly difficult leader for the United States to support. I n response, the Communist insurgency began to increase the amount of violence in its protests (The Wars for Vietnam: 1945 to 1975). The National Liberation Front was the official organization for those in South Vietnam who wanted to overthrow Diem's government. Created on December 20, 1960, the NLF had only one requirement for membership: applicants had to be opposed to Diem's rule. While the American government scorned the NLF as a mere puppet of the North Vietnamese Communist government, giving it the slur "Viet Cong," there are many who were inside and outside the NLF who claimed that the majority of its members were not Communists - thus showing how unpopular Diem had actually become. President Kennedy's policy toward Diem was neither full assistance nor full rejection: the United States supplied advisers and equipment to the South Vietnamese government, but did not commit a large-scale complement of troops to assist Diem's military in its conflict against the NLF (The Wars for Vietnam: 1945 to 1975). This level of assistance was not sufficient to keep the South Vietnamese government stable. After Diem's brother led raids on the Buddhist pagodas throughout the country, claiming that the priests were harboring Communists, there were protests throughout the country, including one in Saigon where a Buddhist priest set himself on fire. The Americans gave some of Diem's generals support for a coup, and so on November 1, 1963, Diem and his brother were captured and later killed. On November 22, however, President Kennedy was assassinated, bringing Vice President Lyndon Johnson into the role of Chief Executive

Economic & Monetary Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Economic & Monetary Policy - Essay Example Steel prices have been found to have fallen of a cliff, an indication of weakening demand generally. China’s response had been to try and prop up the economy by a host of measures, including reducing reserve requirements for banks and cutting interest rates in 2014, all moves that no doubt are meant to encourage lending and to spur growth by providing liquidity to the market (Wildau, 2015; Roach, 2014). At the same time, the government has moved to tweak the asset holdings levels of banks in order to allow for banks to shore up its own lending portfolio and allow property developers, ordinary consumers, and a host of government corporations to avail of liquidity to finance purchases and investments, as well as loan repayments. The problem being foreseen is that as the liquidity levels grow, so do pressures on the interest rates downward, and so do the pressures on the currency to devalue, as more liquidity translates to a cheaper currency due to its greater availability. There re concerns that such moves may not work s China intended, because from experience past moves to inject liquidity resulted in the use of such new money to finance activities related to speculating on property and taking bets on the stock market, rather than for the purposes of expanding production and investing in real capital expenditure projects that drive growth in the long term (Deng et al., 2014; The Economist Newspaper Limited, 2014). The opinion from the market is that China should do more to shore up the economy by ensuring a fundamental shift away from a reliance on loans to finance growth, and a reliance on exports, towards making domestic consumption a bigger driver of growth (Reuters, 2015; Bradsher, 2015; Fernald et al., 2014). In Japan the conditions are different from China’s in terms of the problems of the economy and the monetary policies that have been instituted

Macroeconomics Commentary - Japans consumer prices fall on weak domestic demand Essay Example for Free

Macroeconomics Commentary Japans consumer prices fall on weak domestic demand Essay Japans consumer prices fall on weak domestic demand Japans consumer prices have fallen for the first time in four months, as weak domestic demand and deflation continue to weigh on growth. Core consumer prices, which exclude fresh food, slipped 0.1% in October, the statistics bureau said. One of the reasons for the fall is last years cigarette tax rise falling out of the calculations. The strong yen as well as Europes debt crisis are hurting the growth outlook for the worlds third-largest economy. Yen strength In March, Japan was hit by a devastating earthquake and tsunami that caused much damage in the north-east of the country. The government this week passed an emergency budget of $155bn (Â £100bn) to try to boost domestic demand, however the effects wont be felt for a few months. The data underscores the sluggishness of domestic demand, as the economys recovery has taken a breather because of a delay in reconstruction efforts and global economic slowdown, said Takeshi Minami from Norinchukin Research. Japans economy bounced back from recession, triggered by the earthquake and tsunami, in the three months to September. However, the pace is expected to slow because of the pressure on exporters from the strong yen, as well as the bleak global outlook of growth. Oil prices The slowing global economy has caused a decline in crude oil costs. That combined with the yens appreciation have made energy imports to Japan very cheap. Gasoline prices at the pumps have dropped 1% since September in Japan. The yen has advanced 6% against the dollar in the last six months. Some analysts said consumer prices in Japan could further decline as the slowing global economy continues to weigh on the price of oil. Deflation is a persistent fall in the average price level of prices in the economy. Japan experienced deflation where average level of price fell by 0.1%. The type of deflation in Japan is known as negative deflation which resulted from demand side of economy. A fall in domestic demand caused a decrease in consumer prices level and a decrease in real output. The fall in domestic demand was due to last years cigarette tax rise. Government rose cigarette tax to increased government revenue. Cigarette tax charged on producers instead of consumers. Tax increased the costs of production to producers. This shifted the supply curve form S1 to S2 while the demand curve did not change. Cigarette tax depressed the activity of market and placed a wedge. Producers gained less profit and consumers paid more. Hence the total quantity reduced from Q1 to Q2, as figure shown below. Tax charged on producers equilibrium without rising tax The increases in price that consumers paid reduced the willingness to buy. The demand curve shifted to left from D to D1 as figure shown below. Hence the quantity demanded reduced from Q2 to Q3 and price of cigarette reduced from P2 to P4. Tax affects demand indirectly Less quantity demanded of cigarette means less quantity sold at the price lower than without tax. Therefore even lower government revenue collected. What have discussed above would repeat itself as a cycle if Japan government continues to rising cigarette tax. The results of higher cigarette tax combined with several other factors together to reduce the aggregate demand in Japan market. The economy was near full employment level of output, with a small amount of spare capacity. The figure below indicated that as aggregate demand curve shifted to left, the quantity of output and average price level reduced. Demand-pull deflation The biggest problem associated with deflation is unemployment. If aggregate demand is low, business is likely to lay off workers. In fact, Japan already had unemployment rate around 4.7%. High unemployment rate linked with high suicide rate and other security uncertainties. Government tried to correct deflation and to reduce rate of unemployment by means of pass an emergency budget of $155 billion to boost domestic demand. However, the aim will not be fulfilled in short-run. Japan is a developed country. There are periods of rising growth, followed by periods of slowing growth, and falling growth in developed countries. This is known as business cycle which is the periodic fluctuations in economic activity measured by changes in real GDP. The phases of business cycle are boom, recession, trough and recovery. Recession is two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth. During a recession, consumption and investment fall. Falling aggregate demand leads to unemployment. If more people are unemployed, there will be even less consumption and deflation. At some point the recession came to an end. Output cannot continue to fall as there would be some people with jobs to maintain consumption, foreigners demand exporters and government spending. Japans economy bounced back from recession and started to recovery, triggered by earthquake, from June to September. The real GDP started to increase as government running budget for reconstruction and medical treatments after earthquake. However, the pace of recovery tends to be very slow as a result of the appreciation of yen. The yen has appreciated 6% against dollar in the last six months. Appreciation of yen against dollar means the purchasing power of yen has risen. However, appreciation of yen against dollar occurs at the same time as the depreciation of dollar. An exchange rate is value of one currency expressed in terms of another currency. One of the disadvantages of a high exchange rate is damage to export industries. If value of exchange rate is high, then export industries find it is difficult to sell products because foreigners are likely to reduce the quantity imported since goods become more expensive. Therefore, lower the revenue from exports, slower the pace of recovery. The fell of average price level (deflation) can also be explained by the high exchange rate. When value of exchange rate is high, price of imports will be relatively low. Taken import of oil as an example, the gasoline prices have dropped 1% since September. In addition, price of imported raw materials will reduce the costs of production for firms which could lead to lower prices for consumers. Low price of imported goods also puts pressure on domestic producers to be competitive by keeping prices low. Japan’s government could lower the value of yen by means of buy foreign currencies on foreign exchange markets. Government uses its own yen to buy hence increases supply of yen on foreign exchange market and so lowers its exchange rate. Lower the level of domestic interest rates could lower the value of yen too. This will cause financial investment abroad more attractive. In order to invest abroad, investors will buy foreign currency thus exchanging their own currency and increasing supply of it on financial exchange market. This could lower its exchange rate.

The Core ideas of change management

The Core ideas of change management It is in the nature of people to be afraid of change. In our everyday life we normally establish routines and become comfortable with the way things just happen. The idea of potential change of the patterns of behavior makes us feel uncomfortable, brings uncertainty and risk in the everyday life. As social entities, corporations are no different. Daily work schedules and process organisation become part of the corporate identity and gradually slow down the speed needed to remain competitive and be a winner. According to Tabrizi (2007), To stay competitive, a player must be dynamic in the marketplace, constantly revising its own strategy in response to the strategies of its opponents, as well as aligning itself with the changing demands of its customers. The organizations that can most quickly respond to the marketplace, particularly those that adapt faster than their competitors, are the ones that make it to the top. Key concepts In general, reviewing the initial reasons for change, it can be reactive, when organizations respond to external factors, and proactive, when companies initiate the process of change themselves. However, no matter what the initial reasons were, once the process has started, we can be sure that change in one part of the company invariably will affect people and processes in all other parts. Moreover, a thorough change can influence, or be influenced by the organizational mission and strategy, structure, products and processes, its employees and culture, technology and know-how employed. Change can be provoked by external or internal factors, or a combination of both. External factors may be changes in demand of consumers, threatening actions of competitors and suppliers, newcomers in the business, MAs, changes in the legal and political environment, new technologies, changes on the labor market, etc. The internal factors can be found within the company itself and may result from redefined mission and strategy, need for major changes in the culture and management style, need for improvement of quality and efficiency, etc. There are lots of algorithms and prescriptions about how exactly shall changes be implemented. In order to get deeper understanding of the contemporary methods, first we will examine the basic change management theories and approaches. Theoretical foundations The three main theoretical schools are differentiated by the addressed levels of change individual, group or organizational level. These are The Individual Perspective School, The Group Dynamics School and The Open Systems School (Burnes, 2009). Individual Perspective school According to Burnes (2009), the Individual Perspective School is divided into two main movements Behaviorists and Gestalt-Field theorists. Both of them address organizational changes on individual level. The main idea of the Behaviorists is that peoples reactions are closely interrelated with their interaction with the environment. One of the first Behaviorists, Pavlov, stated that all behavior is learned and all individuals actions are led by the expected results. Through his well known experiment with the dog that associated the sound of the bell with food, Pavlov proved that one can easily manage peoples behaviour through external stimuli and reward. The other movement, the Gestalt-Field theorists, argues that human actions could not be product only of the surrounding environment, but from the interpretation of this environment through changing the understanding of the situation and modifying the external stimuli. Group Dynamics School According to Cummings and Worley (2009), The Group Dynamics School emphasizes on the implementation of organizational change on a group level. Its founder Kurt Lewin argued that the individual will respond to the groups interactions and pressure and will adapt to its culture and behaviour, accepting its values, norms and roles. Open Systems school The main focus of the Open Systems School is the organisation as a whole, composed of a number of interconnected sub-systems (Burnes, 2009). The different parts and subsystems are interacting with each other and with the environment. Mullins (2008) writes that most important is to achieve an overall synergy within the organization, rather than optimizing the performance of any one individual part. Approaches to change The three basic approaches to change management are the Planned approach, the Emergent approach and the Contingency approach (Burnes, 2009). Contingency approach The basic principle of the Contingency approach is that there is no one best way to change. Change has to be applied in line with the environment and the organisation has to adapt to it. The contingency approach examines the effectiveness of different models, techniques and methods of change management and advises to choose according to the situation. Planned approach The basic idea of the planned approach is that organizations shall first identify areas where changes are required and initiate a process of its implementation (Burnes, 2009). It was launched in the 40s in the work of Kurt Lewin, who developed the most popular models of planned change: Action Research and Three-Phase Model. The approach has been widely used since the 80s. The Action research model is based on the statement that change requires action, and action is based on analysing the situation correctly. The Three step model is based on three phases of implementation: unfreezing moving refreezing. The Planned approach represents a more general prescription about how change should happen in a world much more ideal than the world we know today. As the contemporary situation is changing rapidly, the chance that the environment has changed again during the implementation of your change plan and has made it useless, is extremely high. That is why, I consider the Emergent Approach much more effective and useful. Emergent approach The Emergent approach is focused on the assumption that change is a continuous. According to Dawson (2002), organizational change is a persistent, open-ended process of adaptation to changing environment. It emerges in an unpredictable and unplanned fashion. Maybe the most distinctive feature of the approach is the bottom-up approach of control, i.e. that the employees are most closely involved with the process with the change process (Dawson, 2002). The approach requires a major change in the traditional role of the managers. Unlike the planned approach, here, the role of the manager is not to initiate and control the process, but rather to assist and facilitate it. In order to summarize the main models of implementation, Burnes (2009) has chosen the three most practical models of emergent change: Kanters Ten Commandments for Executing Change, Kotters Eight-Stage Process for Successful Organisational Transformation and the Seven Steps model of Luecke. In order to illustrate the overall impact that emergent change has on organizations, I have chosen the case of Ken Freeman, who made Corning Clinical Labs from a business in shambles to the industry leader in the size (Appendix I). CASE STUDY Ken Freeman, Corning clinical labs, Appendix I Change and the Manager External and Internal Approaches to Change As we have already outlined in the previous part of the work, change can be planned or unplanned (emergent). Planned change is sought when the organisation deliberately attempts to make internal changes to meet specified goals or to pursue a set of strategies (French et al, 2008). However, not all change in organisations happens as a result of intended direction. Unplanned change is provoked by some external triggers such as market forces, economic crises, economic opportunities or social changes. Unplanned change occurs spontaneously and without the organisations provocation. The appropriate goal in managing unplanned change is to act immediately once the change is recognized, to minimize any negative consequences and maximize any possible benefits. (French et al, 2008) However, no matter whether the changes were planned or unplanned, in order to implement a successful and thorough change management plan, there shall be sufficient dissatisfaction with the existing situation, strong attraction to moving towards a more desirable position, desire to formulate a strategy that will realize the vision (French et al, 2008). Change may be triggered by internal or external forces: External forces may be changes in the demand for the organizations products as a result of changing consumer preferences, action by competitors, government etc., threatening tactics of competitors by aggressively cutting prices, newcomer in the market, political or legal changes, changes in the terms of trade (tariffs, exchange rates), lack of skilled employees, etc. (Martin, 2005) Internal forces should theoretically, be more clear and predictable. For example changes in strategy as a result of revised mission or goals, need for cultural changes, changes in the management style, need for improvement in quality, efficiency, standards, need to cut costs (Martin, 2005). However, according to Mabey and Salaman (1995), irrespective of the initial reasons for the change, change is characterized by two important dimensions: firstly, the scale of change (from fine tuning through to corporate transformation) and secondly the style of change (collaborative through to coercive). Selected models of Change Organizations typically respond to the challenges of the above described external and internal triggers with the help of various programs, each designed to overcome obstacles and enhance business performance. According to Luecke (2003), these programs fall into one of the following four categories: Cultural change Cultural changes focus on the human side of the organization. It handles with the general approach of doing business and the relationship between the management and the employees. A typical example for cultural change is changes in the mission and vision of the company and the organizational development. In order to illustrate the overall impact on the company that cultural changes may produce, I have chosen the example with ATT and NCR. Case study ATT and NCR (Apendix II) Structural change Structural changes address the structure of the organisation and the design of jobs and working arrangements as the key levers of change. According to Mabey and Salamn (1995), structural changes are triggered by an organisations inability to fully realize the strategy it is following due to administrative deficiencies caused by a mismatch between the new strategy and the existing structure (Mabey Salaman, 1995). Luecke argues that these programs treat the organization as a set of functional parts-the machine model. Through mergers and acquisitions, between companies, reengineering of units, reconfiguring of divisions, managers try to improve the overall performance and results. A classic example of redesigning the whole management structure in order to complement the strengths of the top people, is provided by Google (Appendix III). CASE STUDY GOOGLE, Appendix III Cost cutting The third program for change is cost cutting. Its core idea is to eliminate non-essential and non-profitable activities. This can be done through reengineering of the structure, decrease of the personnel, focusing on the production of profitable items, etc. Process change Process change aims at making processes faster, more effective, more reliable, less costly. These programs focus on altering how things get done (Luecke, 2003). Examples include reengineering a loan approval process, approaches to handling customer warranty claims, production processes, etc. Attitudes to Change 3.1. Reactions to change In general, there are different reactions to the proposed change process and according to them people are split into three main different groups supporters, apathetic and resistors. According to French et al (2008), change initiatives are typically met by some resistance. Resistance to change is any attitude or behaviour that reflects a persons unwillingness to make or support a desired change. The reasons for this reaction are manifold people are afraid of the unknown, many of them dont understand the need for change, or some may even think that the proposed change goes against the values held by members in the organisation. These reactions outline the need to consider also changes in the culture of the organisation, including changes in members values and beliefs. French et al (2008) outline also another perspective of resistance to change in their work, namely to see resistance as feedback that can be used by the change agent to help accomplish his objectives. The essence of this notion is to recognise that when people resist change they are defending something important that appears to be threatened by the change attempt (French et al, 2008). There is no universal recipe on how could resistance to change be overcome, however, considering the limitations of this paper, one example method illustrated also by a brief case study will be presented in the third part of this paper, The People Problem, which shall give the essence that could be followed. Gender and Change Management Preece, Steven Steven (1999) describe several studies that have concluded that women are more likely than men to display characteristics which would make them good team players. The authors cite a survey conducted in the company Bass, designed specifically to examine gender-related issues in public house management. According to the survey, women appeared to focus on teamworking 82 % of them answered that they find it beneficial due to issues such as the mutual development of ideas, helping each other and problem solving. In the same time, only 65% of the men stated to have positive attitude against team work. These results evidence that women are in general better teamplayers than men and consequently may experience a greater impact in the changeover of the company they are employed with. Case study ATT and NCR (Apendix III) What aspects of the external change environment did Jerre Stead and his advisers choose to focus on? Could they have defined the external environment in a different way, perhaps using scenario planning techniques discussed above, which would have allowed them to construct other, more realistic scenarios? By way of illustration, had they been less US- and head office-centric, could they have created a more accurate picture of the organization and its problems, one that would haveallowed them to see the potential for the problems they would create in Scotland, their key subsidiary location? The central point of this message is that managers are active agents, not merely passive recipients of abstract and external market forces. Good managers understand how to enact their environment in order to control it through more intuitive and creative interpretations, re-definitions and action (Weick, 2001). Weick argues that managers are often better advised to act their way into thinking, by taking smaller, incremental steps and learning from them, rather than think their way into acting through top-down, transformational planning strategies such as those depicted in the ATT case. The dangers of a top-down, planning-then-action approach are twofold. The first danger is that by making big changes there is little chance for learning to occur because you dont really know which of the many components of the change had the most effect. The second danger, and more likely consequence, is that by constructing a plan that is complex you are likely to fall into the trap of paralysis by analysis. The key point is that culture, once understood, is treated as a highly manageable feature of organizations. This seemed to be the perspective of Jerre Stead, the CEO of ATT (GIS) in the case study. Such unitary assumptions and analysis may have a degree of validity in certain contexts, but in others they are likely to be misplaced and misleading. Ask yourself the questions in the ATT case: (1) How realistic were the assumptions made by Stead regarding the potential to create a unified culture in the company? (2) Were leadership and communications all that was necessary to overcome barriers to change? Perhaps he could have taken a different view, distinguishing between: à ¢-   the corporate culture, which is essentially what managers want the organization to be like, similar to the concept of corporate identity in Chapter 6 and more amenable to control; and Chapter 9 Managing organizational change 385 à ¢-   the organizational culture and subcultures, which are more akin to the notions of organizational identity in Chapter 6, and which are less amenable to control, for a variety of reasons. Bearing in mind the preceding health warnings, and the concerns expressed about the concept of unitary cultures, managers need to have a set of sophisticated techniques to identify and manage their organizational cultures. For example, in the ATT case, Jerre Stead and his colleagues might have benefited from constructing alternative scenarios of what the organization might have looked like. More importantly, they would clearly have benefited from an understanding of the nature of the different subcultures in the various subsidiaries of ATT (GIS). The People Problem The real change comes from the people. Individuals are those who create, implement and support change processes. Unless people are involved, committed and prepared to adapt and learn, objectives, plans and future desired states will be likely to founder on the rocks of resistance (Rosenfeld Wilson, 1999). Any transformation of significance will create people issues. And the more significant the transformation and the impact on the people, the greater is the need for full involvement (Burnes, 2009). A successful implementation of turn-around organisational transformation requires not only good planning, but also understanding of the human part. Discipline is a key factor for success; however, it demands strict data collection and analysis, planning, and implementa ­tion discipline as a redesign of strategy, systems, or processes. The main goal of this work is concerned with the role people play in managing strategic change how they do it. Role of the management Typically, the people at the top of any organisation are seen by others employess, stakeholders and outside observers as intimately associated with strategic change, whenever such occurs. Therefore, the overall role of management in the process of change is highly significant (Johnson, Scholes Whittington, 2008). 1.1. Change Management at the Top According to Mullins (2008), the successful management of change is a key factor of organisational performance and effectiveness and should emanate from the top of the organisation. The people at the top of the company are responsible for the strategy and philosophy, the culture, for creating and sustaining a healthy climate and establishing and directing appropriate organisational processes. The successful implementation of change demands positive action from top management and a style of transformational leadership in order to gain a commitment to change (Mullins, 2008). Extremely important management features and capabilities are effective communication skills, ability for recognizing and releasing the potential of everyone involved with the change, setting a good personal example, self-pacing to avoid unnecessary stress. 1.2. Managers and leaders However, top managers may be the initiators but are not always the real leaders of the change process. Luecke (2003) argues that leaders create an appealing vision of the future and then develop a logical strategy for making it a reality. They also motivate people to pursue the vision, even in the face of obstacles. Managers, on the other hand, have the job of making complex tasks run smoothly. Managers are those who elaborate and implement process details, assure resources and direct the process. John Kotter has described the relationship of leadership andmanagement in a simple two-by-two matrix, shown below (Luecke, 2003): The main idea of the matrix is that long-term transformation process requires involvement both from leaders and managers and that transformation goes nowhere when both leadership and management are found wanting (Luecke, 2003). 1.3. Middle managers Middle managers are the implementers of strategy. Their role is to put into realization the direction established by top management by making sure that resources are allocated and controlled appropriately, monitoring performance and behaviour of staff and, where necessary, explaining the strategy to those reporting to them (Johnson, Scholes Whittington, 2008) Role of Employees According to Brill and Worth (1997), in order to make the change effort work, we must learn how to capitalize on positive human qualities, such as trust, idealism, and dedication, and mitigate the impact of those other natural human traits (suspicion, stubbornness, anxiety) that often undermine the change process. The role of employees is most obvious in cases where the chosen approach to change is bottom-up, not top-down. Strictly speaking, bottom-up change can not only be implemented from the lower levels of the hierarchy, but also initiated from the employees. However, Burnes (2009) argues that there is little point in encouraging staff to identify change opportunities unless they are also encouraged to implement them. The need for using the bottom-up approach is evident when taking the emergent approach to change. Having in mind the rapid pace of environmental changes, they need to be dealt with speedily and be treated locally, in order to achieve optimal and timely success. Role of Stakeholders In the process of change stakeholders are not actively participating, however, gaining their support is extremely important. In a turnaround situation it is crucial that key stakeholders, like the major financing bank, trade unions and some key clients are kept clearly informed of the situation and the following improvements as they are being made. Moreover, a clear assessment of the power of different stakeholder groups may become vitally important, especially when implementing major transformations (Johnson, Scholes Whittington, 2008). The support of powerful stakeholder groups can help to build a strong fundament, especially in cases where the change agent does not have a strong personal power base from which to work. Dealing with Difficult People Understanding the roles of the participants in the process and showing them the right direction to the desired change is the a major part of the transformation. However, as already outlined in the previous part of this work, change imposed by others feels threatening rather than exciting and the lack of choice makes people feel powerless and leads to stress and defensive behaviour (Mabey Salamen, 1995). That is why, the earlier in the process the resistance agents are found, the better the whole process can be managed. French et al (2008) have outlined the following general approaches for dealing with difficult people: Education and communication discussions, presentations, demonstrations; Participation and involvement allow others to help design and implement changes, contribute ideas; Facilitation and support providing emotional support, actively listening to problems, training; Negotiation and agreement offering incentives, working out trade-offs, special benefits; Manipulation and cooptation influence others, selective information, buying off leaders; Explicit or implicit coercion using force, threatening (French et al, 2008). Resistance to change as resource of new ideas Resisters to change are problematic and typically, when something goes wrong, they are the first that are blamed for the disaster. However, this is not only pointless, but leads also to destructive management behaviours mangers may become defensive, uncommunicative, competitive (Ford Ford, 2009). Strong leaders can hear and learn from their critics and understand that even difficult people can provide valuable input when treated with respect and let to communicate their point of view. An example of such situation is presented in Appendix IV a brief case study about Alison, IT executive, aiming to implement a major change in the computer system of the hospital she was employed with. CASE STUDY Alison, Appendix IV Linking Strategic and Operational Change In the previous chapters of this work, I have examined the theoretical grounds, the major approaches to change, the roles of the different participants in the change process. However, no matter how good the plan for change may be, the most critical part, i.e. the bottleneck remains the implementation of the transformation. According to Luecke (2003), 70 percent of change initiatives fail to meet their objectives. Kotter has also written that If you were to grade them using the old fashioned A,B,C,D, and F, Id be surprised if an impartial jury would give 10% of these efforts an A. But Im not saying that 90% deserve a D either.What is tragic is that there are so many C-pluses. Its one thing to get a C-plus on a paper; its another when millions of dollars or thousands of jobs are at stake (Luecke, 2003). Implementing Strategic change Burnes (2009) argues that the implementation of change is a two-way process of ensuring that strategic decisions lead to operational changes and on the other hand, operational changes influence strategic decisions. The process of implementation may follow the models either of Planned or Emergent approaches. Although that by many, including Burnes (2009), there are no universal rules for leading change, supporters of panned and emergent approach propose sequence of actions to be adopted, which could facilitate and give a structure to the implementation of the strategic changes. Pettigrew Whipp (Burnes, 2009) propose a simplified model of actions to be taken in order to structure the change process: Kanter and Kotter (Burnes, 2009) also propose some ideas for implementation of change. However, I consider that Luecke has given the most practical recipe for action. His model consists of seven steps: Step 1. Mobilize Energy and Commitment through Joint Identification of Business Problems and Their Solutions Step 2. Develop a Shared Vision of How to Organize and Manage for Competitiveness Step 3. Identify the Leadership Step 4. Focus on Results, Not on Activities Step 5. Start Change at the Periphery, Then Let It Spread to Other Units without Pushing It from the Top Step 6. Institutionalize Success through Formal Policies, Systems, and Structures Step 7. Monitor and Adjust Strategies in Response to Problems in the Change Process (Luecke, 2003). For me, this approach is very close to the practice, as it is very much result-oriented and in reality results are the real measures of success, not plans and theories. In order to illustrate this consideration, please refer to Appendix V, a case study about Xerox. CASE STUDY XEROX, APPENDIX V The role of the Change agent In the process of change there are always factors limiting the implementation of the changes in the operational level. According to Mabey and Salaman, (1995) an important factor for successful implementation of strategy into operational level is the formal and informal presence of a change agent. According to Rosenfeld and Wilson (1999), change agents are the individuals or groups of individuals whose task is to effect the desired change. They can be both internal and external to the organisation. The agent acts as intermediary and his responsibilities may range from complete collaboration with staff to acting as absolute authority and expert. Internal change agents are mostly experts in the field, to who people trust. External agents may have political credibility and support, however, often lack the detailed knowledge of the company (Rosenfeld Wilson, 1999). Considering the complexities involved with change, the range of abilities and expertise of the change agent could be significant. Vital to the success of the change agent is also the support from the senior management of the company. Change agents see the need for change and articulate it effectively to others. They are critical catalysts for a change initiative and should be placed in key positions (Luecke, 2003). Here are some of the most important implications of change agents: articulate the need for change; are accepted by others as trustworthy and competent; see and diagnose problems from the perspective of their audience; motivate people to change; work through others in translating intent into action; stabilize the adoption of innovation; and foster self-renewing behavior in others so that they can go out of business as change agents (Luecke, 2003). People suitable for this job can be professional change agents like those working in the HR consultancy companies, or people from the business. They can also be produced like GM did in the past. Luecke (2003) describes the case: General Motors attempted something very similar in its joint venture with Toyota: the NUMMI small car assembly plant in California. That plant was run according to Toyotas world-beating production methods, and GM rotated manufacturing managers through the plant to learn Toyotas methods and, hopefully, bring a working knowledge of those methods back to Detroit. Reflecting on Change in Different Contexts

Head Count System Using Artificial Intelligence Method Information Technology Essay

Head Count System Using Artificial Intelligence Method Information Technology Essay Abstract This report is developing the project called Head Count System using Artificial Intelligence Method. This report compresses the introduction, literature review, methodology, project design, result and discussion, project management and conclusion of the project. For the starting of this report, there will shows more on the products (head count system) description, background, aims and objective. Next, this report will discuss more on the products component such as hardware and software. There will research or survey on the hardware and software those can be suit on designing the product. After the research or survey, this report will include details more into the specification of this project. Some discussion will also be done on the systems programming code, dimension of the hardware, and the linking tool and cable that are chosen to use. The key point of this project is on the artificial intelligence. Fuzzy logic, neural network, neurofuzzy, induction algorithms and genetic algorithms are the type of the artificial intelligence engine. This report will discuss on the structure, method and application behind the entire artificial intelligence engine in literature review. Furthermore, the detail discussion on neural network programming such as Hopfield network and support vector machine will carry out in the methodology. Some of the image processing programming will explained in that chapter too. After all the basic theory and methodology, the real work on designing this project will proceed in project design. There got three main programming those are image acquisition, network and counting system will elaborate in flow chart and figure. All the experiment result and discussion on this project will state in the following chapter too. Finally, the conclusion will conclude all the processes on research, design and building for this project in the end of the report. In the conclusion, the achievement, distribution and weakness of this project will stated out too. With the recommendation as the ending of this report, this project is hoping can be improved in future development. Introduction Head count system is using in everywhere and any time in the reality life. Counting the amount of head counts is a must since the world started no matter in which occasion such as lecture halls, parties, ballrooms and so on. Nowadays, there is still use a traditional ways to get the total amount of the head count. The ways are using such like count one by one manually by a person assigned; tick attendance using paper to record down and so on. Otherwise, some advance ways to get the head count such as using smart card to get the head count through a manually scanning device; manually check in through a control server and so on. Following the trend of the technology grown, a lot of automation products have been created or designed. These kinds of products are now available in the market to reduce the waste of time and energy on unnecessary purposes. If the head count system also can detect or check the amount of head count automatically, there will be increase the efficiency of work and prevent the resource is wasted. [1] Background of the project Head Count System using Artificial Intelligence Method is designed and developed head count system that is able to intelligently check the total number of head counts entering or exiting an enclosed location. This system can automatically determine the number of head count by using sensors and combination with artificial intelligence engine. So, this project will be built based on software and hardware too. Some more the interfacing device is needed for this project to link up the hardware direct to computer. This is because the artificial intelligence programming will write in software in computer and the input of sensor will direct get through the interfacing device. Methodology After the literature review on the project is done, the specification of the project is decided. This project will be use MATLAB as the programmer to write the code of Neural Network which is one of the AI engine, as the software part. Besides that, USB cable is chosen as the interfacing device to link the software and hardware. The hardware of this project is built by thermal imaging camera [13] Thermal Imaging Camera All materials, which are above 0 degrees Kelvin (-273 degrees C), emit infrared energy. The infrared energy emitted from the measured object is converted into an electrical signal by the imaging sensor (microbolometer) in the camera and displayed on a monitor as a color or monochrome thermal image. [23] Infrared is a form of electromagnetic radiation, radio waves, microwaves, ultraviolet, visible light, X-rays and gamma rays the same. All of these forms together constitute the electromagnetic spectrum, are similar, the speed of light they emit energy in the form of electromagnetic waves moving. Each other band in the spectrum of the main difference is their wavelength, and the related amount of wave energy to carry. For example, while gamma ray wavelengths than visible light millions of times smaller, the wavelength of radio waves over a billion times is visible. [23] With the technical explanations above, there show that thermal imaging camera is not affect by any light level and it is better than a normal camera by this point. Using thermal imaging camera in this project will reduce the faulty cause by light level to minimum. MATLAB MATLAB is a high-level language of technical computing. MATLAB can apply to wide application, including image processing, sound processing, financial analysis, control design, and data communications. In image processing, both 2-D and 3-D graphical image is able to function. Using MATLAB, technical computing problems can be solved faster than using traditional programming languages, such as C and C++. Besides that, inside MATLAB software contains a lot of useful toolbox. All the toolbox can be link up and function together. While programming in MATLAB, if any function command that not familiar can be get more information on that command by typing help followed with the command. With entire advantages shown above, MATLAB is chosen as the software platform for this project. [21] MATLAB is the platform using to test on all the sample method programming shown above. From the result on testing neural network sample programming, single-layer perceptron and multi-layer perceptron are good in use on data pattern classification. Hopfield network is suitable in image restore application. Then support vector machines and kernel function are used in pattern analysis especially in face detection system. For image processing sample programming, Kirsch edge detection and canny edge detection are good edge detecting solution. Shape recognition can be use Houdorff-based image comparison to implement. Gabor function can be applied with support vector machines for face detection. Lastly, one-dimensional Gaussion function is used in signal processing, but in image processing where two-dimensional Gaussian can be apply to it. After some preliminary work on so many programming, the Support Vector Machines has been chosen as the design programming on this project. The programming shown above is just the major of the programming linking with this project. The main reason chosen Support Vector Machines is this network combine both neural network and image processing method. Result and Discussion In this project result and discussion, the three main parts will be discussed in detail on the result. The three main parts are image acquisition able to get the input from sensor, train the network with support vector machines completely with no error and headcount system able count correctly. Figure 9: show the result on image acquisition For the image acquisition programming, it can test with PC camera. PC camera is set as the input in the programming. Right-hand side image on figure 9 at above shows the view point of the camera after the program is started. If there got any motion occurred in the view point of the camera, the image will be captured. Left-hand side image on figure 9 at above shows the result of captured image after motion occurred. The discussion above state all the basic function on this program and the result will show as figure in the real project. Figure 10: show the result on main program on creating network Figure 10 at above show the result after run the programming of support vector machines. The right-hand side of the figure 10 at above shows a prompt menu for the user chooses the step to perform on this program. If Generate Database is pressed, the program will load the image database to the workspace and there will shows Loading HeadCount and Loading non-HeadCount as shown at left-hand side, first two lines on figure 10. If the button Create SVM is pressed, the support vector machines network will be created. Some information of the network will be show out as shown at left-hand side, after first two lines on figure 10. To test the network is just press the Test on Photos button. After the button is pressed, another menu will prompt out is let the user to select the sample image for testing. After the sample is selected, the program will run automatically until the result come out. The program will circle all the headcount based on the network. If there got error, the program can l et the user to retrain it regarding to same sample. In the experiment on this project, one sample that contains some possibly of the combination and eight different orientation of headcount is created to use as the testing sample. Lastly, the menu will close if the Exit is pressed. Figure 11: show the result on GUI output for counting system For the counting system, GUI is created to show the result of the number of headcount as shown at right-hand side in figure 11 and the input image have been captured as shown at left-hand side in figure 11. The result is counted based on these theories: If the objects of first image touch the upper line then the objects of the following image touch the lower line, this mean the objects are moving in. If the objects of first image touch the lower line then the objects of the following image touch the upper line, this mean the objects are moving out. Conclusion This report shows the complete process on designing this project. After complete the literature review, this can help on choosing the hardware, software or interfacing device to use. Methodology of this project shows majority method or solution to do this project in both building hardware and the software programming. More testing and simulations are done to get better solution. The complete steps or procedures of this project are show in the project design with the flow chart. Practical testing is also done and the result has been show and discuss clearly. This project fully achieves the entire objective stated above. For the main objective on researching type of artificial intelligence engine has fully achieved. The definition, architecture, algorithm of all type of artificial intelligence such as fuzzy logic, neural network, neurofuzzy, induction algorithm and genetic algorithm have been explained and stated in the literature review. Summary in literature review support the point of achieve the main objective and prove the objective of determine the type of interfacing device to use for connecting hardware and software is achieved. By comparing the two types of the interfacing devices such as USB cable and RS232, USB cable has a better speed than RS232 cable. So USB cable is chosen. The investigating and testing the sample programming on both neural network and image processing in methodology is to achieve one of the objectives. That objective is investigated on the programming language for the artificial intelligence engine. There i s not only achieve the objective and some additional investigating on image processing is adding on. Design software and GUI which able to simulate the system model, and implement the prototype hardware to get the inputs are achieved objectives too. PC camera is used to get input with the worked programming and GUI indicate the number of headcount prove that these objective is achieved. The result is show and discussion clearly on above. The contributions and benefits of this project is save the life from emergency is happen, reduce the waste of time and energy on unnecessary purposes, increase the efficiency of work, and this project is ease to use head count system with fully automatically function. The weaknesses and disadvantages of this project is limit in light level on PC camera, time consuming and memory consuming on operate the system is high. Reference and Bibliography http://www.freepatentsonline.com/20090271240.pdf (Accessed: 30 October 2010) http://www.headcountsystems.com/counting_technology.html (Accessed: 9 October 2010) http://www.911headcount.com/solutions.html (Accessed: 9 October 2010) http://pragmatick.com/ (Accessed: 10 October 2010) http://www.sensourceinc.com/ (Accessed: 16 October 2010) http://www.countwise.com/products_overview.php (Accessed: 16 October 2010) http://www.infodev.ca/buildings.html (Accessed: 17 October 2010) http://www.trafsys.com/people-counters.aspx (Accessed: 17 October 2010) http://en.wikipedia.org (Accessed: 6 November 2010) http://www.wtec.org/loyola/kb/c1_s1.htm (Accessed: 6 November 2010) http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/A-Bud/Artificial-Intelligence.html (Accessed: 23 October 2010) http://www.zaptron.com/literature/neurofuzzy.htm (Accessed: 24 October 2010) http://www.mathworks.com/products/daq/supportedio14005.html (Accessed: 30 October 2010) http://www.automationdirect.com/static/specs/pe18mmfaled.pdf (Accessed: 31 October 2010) http://www.roboticsconnection.com/p-23-sharp-gp2d120-ir-sensor.aspx (Accessed: 31 October 2010) http://www.interfacebus.com/usb-cable-diagram-30.html (Accessed: 31 October 2010) http://faculty.olin.edu/bstorey/Notes/Card.pdf (Accessed: 30 October 2010) http://www.dataq.com/support/documentation/pdf/misc/MatlabAdaptor.pdf (Accessed: 30 October 2010) http://www.neuralwiki.org/index.php?title=Programming_the_USB-6008_with_Matlab (Accessed: 31 October 2010) http://en.wikipedia.org (Accessed: 31 October 2010) http://www.mathworks.com/products/matlab/description1.html (Accessed: 14 November 2010) http://www.developers.net/intelisdshowcase/view/47 (Accessed: 21 November 2010) http://www.inmes.hr/pdf/thermography.pdf (Accessed: 28 November 2010) http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/shl9/roel2a/smits2a.htm (Accessed: 5 December 2010) http://www.dtreg.com/mlfn.htm (Accessed: 12 December 2010) http://www.learnartificialneuralnetworks.com/hopfield.html (Accessed: 19 December 2010) http://www.dtreg.com/svm.htm (Accessed: 26 December 2010) http://crsouza.blogspot.com/2010/03/kernel-functions-for-machine-learning.html (Accessed: 26 December 2010) http://www.mathworks.com/products/image/ (Accessed: 2 January 2011) http://www.cvmt.dk/education/teaching/f09/VGIS8/AIP/canny_09gr820.pdf (Accessed: 2 January 2011) http://mathworld.wolfram.com/GaussianFunction.html (Accessed: 9 January 2011) http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~weg22/can_tut.html (Accessed: 16 January 2011) https://ece.uwaterloo.ca/~ece327/old/2007t1/proj/doc/proj.pdf (Accessed: 23 January 2011) http://www.cs.cornell.edu/~dph/hausdorff/hausdorff1.html (Accessed: 30 January 2011) http://www.cs.cornell.edu/vision/hausdorff/hausmatch.html (Accessed: 13 February 2011) http://www.cnbc.cmu.edu/~tai/papers/pami.pdf (Accessed: 20 February 2011)

Myth of Powerlessness :: essays research papers fc

Linda McQuaig's book, The Cult of Impotence: Selling the Myth of Powerlessness in the Global Economy, is a refreshing new approach to viewing the current state of global economy and Canada’s place in it. In recent years, such mysterious terms as fiscal deficits, natural rate of unemployment, stock market fluctuations, interest rate cuts and zero inflation and so on, have received an exceptional level of public consideration. Nevertheless, in spite of the now generally acceptable importance of the terms, their meaning an the effects of the domestic economic policies is left for the â€Å"professional† economists to analyze and present the public, as well as nation’s governing bodies with a list of remedies. Their guiding logic and principles are rarely questioned and more rarely fully understood. In such an environment, McQuaig has earned a wide audience for her writings by stripping away the aura of complexity from controversial economic issues and making them a ccessible and relevant to a general audience. Challenging the opinions of the â€Å"experts†, she is trying to bring back the debatable economic policies of the â€Å"global age† to democratic accountability. McQuaig is a notable journalist and a writer, who has written a number of books on the state of affairs that Canada’s economy is. Unlike her previous books that she has written ,discussing deficit reduction and cuts to social programs among others, this time she drifted away from the specifics and focused on our general view and acceptance of the economic processes. In the book, she attacks nation’s political passivity and acceptance of the believed fact that the domestic economy fully depends on the global market situation and that is should follow the trends. Trapped in this view, governments act as a victims to the global economic process and accepts an its people and impose this view on the electorate. Canada’s economic troubles is not unique. Although, Canada is enjoying a period of relative economic growth, and the level of unemployment is at its lowest level since April 1976 at 6.8% in January 2001 (Tam). However, these 6.8% still mean 1.1 million people jobless. McQuaig argues that combating the unemployment should be the number one national economic policy, at times at the expense of the corporate and governmental financial institutions and currency speculators. The fiscal conservatism of Bank of Canada under Gordon Thiessen, the bank’s governor, and anti-inflationism which have become, it seems, the idà ©e fixe for most state financiers became a source of tremendous political apathy, hindering the capacity of elected officials to carry through on their more progressive and egalitarian campaign promises.