Pomote Equality And Inclusion In Health And Social Care Essay

1.1 DIVERSITY- understanding that each individual is unique and recognizing individual differences. Diversity literally means difference. Diversity recognise that though people have things in common with each other they are also different and unique in many ways. Diversity is about recognising and valuing those differences. EQUALITY-to treat everyone the same treated equality. To ensure no one is being given special treatment to another person. To treat people in a way that is appropriate for their needs. INCLUSION- to ensure everyone is included. No one is left out or felt left out. All decision making to be all members. To ensure that all parties are felt included. 1.2 DISCRIMINATION- The prejudice treatment of an individual it involved behaviour towards people/groups based on their membership in a certain group or category- i.e. religion, sexuality, culture, age. see more:explain how legislation and codes of practice relating to equality diversity and discrimination Side effects :- Depression Anger Stress Isolation Suicide/self-harm Drinking Unable to perform duties Atmosphere Stress between colleagues Poor care 1.3 Working in an inclusive way helps support equality and diversity as it gives everyone a chance to show their individual differences but at the same time being equal. It’s important to do this so everyone feels included a sense of well-being that their opinion is valued. 2.1 Equality act 2006  (employment) religion or belief – it is unlawful to discriminate against people at work because of their religion or belief. Human rights act 1998 – covers many different types of discrimination some that are not covered by laws themselves Heath and social care act 2008—this act established the CQC who protect and promote the right of people using health and social care services they regulate the provision. Mental capacity act 2003—to protect anyone who has mental health condition. 3.3 Without a doubt I would challenge any kind of discrimination of a service user. I would ensure the service user is alright and speak to the person who is doing this. I would always have a 3rd party present for the safety of both parties. a written report to be made by both parties which would be given to the manger where further investigations would take place. Maybe handed over to H.R and developments happen from there i.e. suspensions, warnings, dismissal†¦.

My Last Duchess and Othello: Striking Comparisons

In the dramatic form, be it monologue, dialogue or full theatrical scene, the author cannot step into the action to comment or interpret for us, as he can in a novel.   We must draw our own conclusions from what we see and hear, and this makes for powerful effects, as a character reveals him- or herself to us by what he or she says or does.   In the monologue My Last Duchess Browning misleads us with great skill before we realize that we are listening to a criminal lunatic.The dramatic force lies in the surprise we feel as the truth finally emerges.   In Act IV, scene iii of Othello there is again an agonizing irony for the viewer, who knows more than Desdemona and is of course impotent to help her.   Shakespeare works like a dentist without an anesthetic, and the pain for the audience derives from the unbearable innocence of the doomed Desdemona, who is surely something like the Duchess in Browning’s poem, helpless and bewildered in the face of a murderous insanity in her husband.Browning’s Duke sounds so sane!   He is wonderfully gracious and articulate – â€Å"Will’t please you sit and look at her?† (5).   As he tells his story he seems to weigh his words with great caution, as if he is quite free of the distorting power of anger or any other passion, and is keen to avoid any unfairness in his judgment: â€Å"She had / A heart – how shall I say? – too soon made glad† (21-2), â€Å"†¦but thanked / Somehow – I know not how – as if she ranked†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (31-2). He never raises his voice, and speaks with a measured confidence that quite takes us in.At first we might be tempted to believe that his attitudes are reasonable: â€Å"Sir, ‘twas not / her husband’s presence only, called that spot / Of joy into the Duchess’ cheek† (13-15).   His manner is restrained even as he hints at her infidelity.   The painter flattered her about her appearance, as of course he would, being a Renaissance artist totally dependent on patronage, but she was charmed by it – foolishly, the Duke suggests.   â€Å"She liked whate’er / She looked on† (23-24).   She was delighted by the beauty of the sunset, and the little tribute from the man who gave her the cherries, just as much as â€Å"My favor at her breast† (25).What he seems to be objecting to is her failure to be properly selective and aristocratic in her tastes.   This is a rather extreme sort of snobbery, but perhaps not unprecedented; we may not find it attractive, but we may accept it as a feature of a proud man. In Browning’s My Last Duchess, the murder is implied. It is not described in explicit terms as in Othello. In the lines, â€Å"Paint/Must never hope to reproduce the faint /Half-flush that dies along her throat† ,the speaker adores the ‘faint half-flush’ on his wife’s face that no paint could re-add and at th e same time leaves a slight hint that she had been throttled to death[dies along her throat].The intelligent monologue is enough to make the point overt and covert at the same time.All the time, Browning is luring us up the garden path.   We begin to detect the problem.   The Duke is immensely proud, a man of great heritage, while she is free of snobbery, charmed by the delights of the world and human kindness, and genuinely innocent. (Infidelity does not now seem to be the Duke’s concern.)   Then we begin to see how his pride is really pathological arrogance.   â€Å"Even had you skill / In speech – (which I have not)† (35-36), (he lies, of course) to explain your objection to her behavior – which is clearly quite â€Å"normal† – it would involve â€Å"stooping, and I choose / Never to stoop† (42-3).So, rather than speak to her about his dissatisfaction, which would involve impossible condescension by him, he chose to solve t he problem rather more radically: â€Å"This grew; I gave commands; / Then all smiles stopped altogether† (45-6).   It takes a moment for us to register what he did, so unbelievable is it and so evasively phrased.â€Å" †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..She thanked men,—good; but thanked /Somehow†¦.I know not how †¦.as if she ranked /My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name /With anybody’s gift,†-   the last part of the speech clearly brings forth the envy rankling in the speaker’s heart!The unbending pride of the Duke comes out through the turns of phrases of this part of this long monologue, â€Å"†¦.and if she let/Herself be lessoned so, nor plainly set/Her wits to yours ,forsooth and made excuse,/-E’en then would be some stooping and I choose/Never to stoop.†The Duke can hardly ‘chose to stoop’to give in to the childish demeanors of his beautiful wife.Again, jealousy seems to be prevalent in the tone of these words: â€Å"†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..Oh ,Sir, she smiled no doubt,/Whene’er I passed her; but who passed without /Much the same smile?†Then having confessed to murder, or, rather, boasted of it, he continues his negotiations for his next Duchess, celebrating, incidentally, one of his favorite art works, â€Å"Neptune†¦ Taming a sea-horse† (54-5), the very image of the brutal control that he has himself exerted over his innocent last Duchess.The willow scene from Othello works differently, of course, because it is a dialogue, though it is the inner workings of Desdemona’s mind that the dramatic form reveals here, just as much as is the case in Browning’s poem There is an almost intolerable pathos about this scene because Desdemona is so helpless.   She has a good idea of what is going to happen – â€Å"If I do die before thee, prithee shroud me /   In one of those same sheets† (24-5) and is impotent in the face of her fa te.There seems to be no defence against the ruthless execution of Othello’s enraged will. She is in a sort of trance, a hypnosis of shock.   All she can do is wait for the end, and the pathetic simplicity of her reflections here is the sign of a wounded spirit in retreat from reality.   The tragic atmosphere is given additional poignancy by the occasional interruption of the everyday details of â€Å"undressing for bed†, the habitual continuing because there is nothing else to do in the face of the worst – â€Å"Prithee unpin me† (21).She continues at moments to pretend that this is just an ordinary night: â€Å"This Lodovico is a proper man† (35), not a comparison of Othello with her country forms, but a pathetic attempt at gossip. But her real thoughts emerge in the obsession with the willow song, which she cannot resist. It is the perfect mirror of her own fortune: â€Å"And she died singing it; that song tonight / Will not go from my mindà ¢â‚¬  (30-1). Like a detail from a psychoanalyst’s casebook comes the unprompted line in the song that gives away the deepest thoughts of the willing victim.–Let nobody blame him, his scorn I approve, —Nay, that’s not next.   Hark!   Who’s that knocks?–It is the wind.† (51-3)She corrects herself, but the absolute terror of realisation goes through her.   Compared with Desdemona’s helplessness in the face of the corruption of Othello, Emilia’s jokes have an immensely remedial health.   It is not a criticism of Desdemona, but it is a firm placing of trust in the human by Shakespeare.In Shakespeare’s Othello,the Moor can hardly be blamed for his rash decision of murdering Desdemona, who had been black-painted   by his ‘honest Iago’ and it was Iago again who had sown the seeds of jealousy in his mind. Desdemona pleaded her innocence at last and asked to call for Cassius but Othello ran berserk m addened by sexual jealousy.Othello could hardly be blamed for the attitude, as he was a Moor and unfamiliar with the ways and manners of the Venetian Republic. Naturally, he fell victim to Iago’s insinuations and committed the murder of hi beautiful wife, Desdemona, who was actually, innocence incarnate.In Act IV, sc ii, Othello in reply to Desdemona’s pleading innocence disgustingly cried out, â€Å"O Desdemona, away! away! away!†Desdemona , being totally unaware of the handkerchief she lost tried to reason with her husband, â€Å"Am I the motive of these tears my Lord?†It might have been possible that Othello could have turned deaf ears to Iago’s   vitriolic comments or aspersions cast on Desdemona, but as he was new to their society and culture, it became easy for Iago to prison him against his wife, a paragon of beauty.By way of rejoinder , when Othello speaks out, â€Å"Had it pleased Heaven/To try me with affliction ;had they rained/All ki nds of sores and shame on my bare head/Steeped me in poverty to the very lips/Given to captivity me and my utmost hopes/I should have found in some place of my soul/A drop of patience†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†and at last turns to the question of â€Å"complexion† , â€Å"Turn thy complexion thee..  Ã‚   †¦Ay there look as grim as hell!†, we find Othello a dejected, frustrated ,lost soul feeling small for being a Black Moor who was lien to the Venetian culture! Question of Culture and Identity assails him, no doubt!  Othello decided to put an end to the life of his unfaithful wife at last and as he uttered the words in Act V, Sc ii, â€Å"Yet, I’ll not shed her blood;/Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow/And smooth as monumental alabaster/Yet she must die,else she’ll betray more men†,Did he not sound the same as the Duke of My Last Duchess who had been driven mad by sexual jealousy? The murder could not be justified, but , Othello was quite a lover and a compassionate person than the Duke. He needed evidence to prove Desdemona’s betrayal, he had to fight immensely with his own conscience to come to the decision of murder.As a person, Duke was cold-blooded, but Othello was emotional and irrational at he same time. If this had not been so,   â€Å"†¦I will kill thee,/ And love thee after.One more and this the last./So sweet was ne’er so fatal. I must weep/ But they are cruel tears ;this sorrow’s heavenly ;/IT STRIKES WHERE IT DOTH LOVE,†could he utter such words? The Duke of My Last Duchess was never so overpowered with emotions to give vent to his pent-up goodness. Did he have any goodness, if at all?In Act V, sc i, Othello is making his mind up to vent his rage upon Desdemona. Here he again finds enough reason to slaughter Desdemona. On hearing the footsteps of Cassius, he blurt forth, â€Å"’Tis he;-O brave Iago, honest and just†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢ € ¦minion your dear lies dead/and your unblest fate hies, strumpet I come†Till Lines 31 of Act V   Sc ii, we find Othello raves and rails on the murder of Desdemona. Othello seemed to give a chance to Desdemona to prove her innocence by saying, â€Å"If you bethink yourself of any crime/Unreconciled as yet heaven and grace /Solicit for it straight.†But he meant the murder and perpetrated it! In Act III ,Sc iii, when Othello grows blind in rage provoked by â€Å"honest Iago’s† words, he finds every reason to kill Unfaithful Desdemona and utters, â€Å"Monstrous , monstrous!!†On hearing Cassio’s dream-mutterings on his secret affair with Desdemona, Othello got green with anger and envy and saw betrayal from the cruelest possible angle.He found terrible monstrosity in it, profound mendacity in the whole episode, running on the sly.When Emilia came after the murder talking of Desdemona’s profound love for her husband ,Othello could not keep his cool, he blurted, â€Å"O cursed slave!/Whip me ye devils/From the possession of this heavenly sight/Blow me about in the winds, roast me in sulphur/Wash me in steep-down gulfs of liquid fire†¦O Desdemona, Desdemona, DEAD!!†[Act V, Scii] Could we ever expect the Duke speaking in such touchy, sentimental terms after committing the murder?No, never!!!Works Cited1.Shakespeare, William:Othello, Arden, London, 1974.2.Young, W.T.:Browning’s poems,Macmillan, London, 1975.

How Africans Americans Have Worked to End Isolation Essay

Africans had fought very hard to obtain equal rights in the United States. After the civil war the country begin their journey in America History with period known as Reconstruction (Bowls 2011, 1. 1). There are several reasons why the nation went to war, and one of the most important was the right to continue the practice of slavery. From 1865 to the present, African Americans have worked to end their isolation through legislation, protest, and major contributions to society. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation. This proclamation did not free the slaves but it was the first step toward making this a reality (Bowles, 2011, 1. 1). The proclamation would only apply only to states in rebellion. The Emancipation proclamation is one of those stupendous facts in human history with marks not only an era in the progress of the nation, but an approach in history of the world (Journal of Blacks pg. 108-109). The civil war did not bring an end to racial hatred and violence in the south. Neither military leaders nor politicians can change the ingrained cultural beliefs of the people (Bowles, 2011 1. para10). After 1865 slavery could no longer structure relations between the races (1999, Segregation and Desegregation). The Black Codes codified some of these feelings when 1865 southern states government created legislation that restricted and control the lives of the ex-slaves (Bowel 2011 1. 1 para10). The Black Codes restricted African Americans to married other than their own race, they could not carried guns, they could only work on farms, and if they did not follow this rules they could put in jail or put them to enforced work which was the same as slavery (Bowles, 2011 1. para10). The president at the time supported this codes which made more difficult the lives of the ex-slaves. Meanwhile, many blacks who enlisted in the military encountered blatant discrimination while in the service and, them after risking their lives for the preservation of the free world, retuned to a society that continued to deem them second-class citizens (Levy, 1998). The only significant racial reform enacted by the federal government in the decade after the end of World War 11 was the desegregation of the armed forces order by President Truman in 1948. To some blacks, even this represented a pyrrhic victory (Levy, 1948). African Americans also suffer from segregation. â€Å"Segregation; is the practice by law or custom, of separating groups, spatially according to race, class, or ethnicity† (Segregation and Desegregation, 2001). Racial segregation began after the end of slavery, when new laws barred blacks from many occupations, restricted voting rights, and designated separate public facilities for black and white populations (Segregation and Desegregation, 2011). Segregation existed somewhat differently in the North and the South of the country. Different conditions in the North and South led to different kinds of social organization among African communities (Segregation and Desegregation, 2011). â€Å"Segregation in a legal sense began with laws separating blacks and whites in education† (Segregation, 2010). Although blacks paid taxes as whites, they did not receive funding for their schools and they had to rely on church and missionary organizations to create their own schools (segregation, 2010). A law that emerged was separate facilities for blacks in all areas, assigning African Americans a separate and degraded status in transportation, dining, places of entertainment, and even in cemeteries (Segregation, 2010). The customs and laws associated with segregation created a deeply entrenched culture of white supremacy, which radicalized every aspect of life in the South. The laws prevented blacks and whites from joining together in union meetings, political-reform organizations, or on a social level, thus creating a one-party (Democratic) â€Å"solid South† impervious to change. African Americans continually resisted segregation and white supremacy but with few Southern white allies (Segregation, 2010). The Civil Right Movement The biracial system in the South kept many African Americans impoverished and disenfranchised, it also created conditions that facilitated the development of a strong black middle class and cultural institutions. Black schools and especially the black church enabled the development of African American leadership, and became the base of the Civil Rights Movement. In the North, however, were run by white teachers and administrators and did not foster racial pride as many did in the South. For Northern blacks, then, civil rights issues focused on discrimination and unequal access rather than formal desegregation. In the South, the Civil Rights Movement focused primarily on ending segregation (Segregation and Desegregation 2011). The Civil Rights Movement emerged in the 1950s, when the number of middle-class and skilled blacks was almost forty percent of the Southern black population. The earliest victory came in 1954, when the U. S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education, that racially â€Å"separate educational facilities are inherently unequal† (Segregation and Desegregation 2011). The following year the court ordered that African Americans can attend to white school. The school systems did not accepted this and reacted with violence that the federal military often had to go to the schools and protect the black children who attempt to attend school (Segregation and Desegregation 2011). Because of this events the â€Å"Court-ordered desegregation prompted â€Å"white flight† from public schools in many areas, as families with the financial resources to do so enrolled their children in private schools or moved to mostly-white suburban school districts† (Segregation and Desegregation 2011). On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, a middle-aged black seamstress boarded a Montgomery, Alabama bus to take her home. Several stops later the bus driver requests her to give up her sit to a white passenger. She refuses, the bus driver called the police and she was arrested. At the Police Station she told the officer â€Å"I didn’t think I should have to stand up, after I had paid my fare and occupied a seat I didn’t think I should have to give it up† (Levy, 1998). The effort to abolish other forms of segregation, initiated in 1955 when seamstress Rosa Parks refused to relinquish her seat in the white section of a Montgomery bus, continued through the 1960s. The movement was led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. , who developed a philosophy of nonviolent activism based on principles of Christian belief and the passive resistance teachings of Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi and American philosopher Henry David Thoreau†(Segregation and Desegregation 2011). Martin Luther King, Jr. as the most prominent leader of the civil rights movement for equal rights for African Americans that took place during the 1950s and 1960s. Martin Luther King first became aware of racial segregation when, at the age of six, a white friend was not allowed to play with him anymore. Throughout his childhood and young adulthood he experienced segregation and racism: he and his family were required to sit in separate places in stores and on buses. King and other black children could not use the same swimming pools or public parks as white children (Martin Luther King Jr. 009). In 1954, Martin Luther King took a job as pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. In 1955, after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to yield her seat to a white man, the Montgomery civil rights community decided to hold a bus boycott to get rid of the law that black passengers had to sit at the back of the bus and yield seats to white passengers. They also decided to form a new organization and elect a new leader to include all the different people and groups who supported the boycott. King was asked to lead this new organization, the Montgomery Improvement Association, and he agreed (Martin Luther King Jr. 2009). African American had struggled through time fighting for their rights. They had come a long way obtaining the same rights as every other citizen in the United States. African Americans finally can walk freely in the country they had overcome adversity. Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks are only few that had help on the civil right movement and these people had been very important in history to abolish Segregation.

Americans need to take a lesson on happiness from the source where it Essay

Americans need to take a lesson on happiness from the source where it has endured for over twenty-five hundred years, Buddhism - Essay Example Americans need to take a lesson on happiness from the source where it has endured [, and fulfilled] for over twenty-five hundred years, Buddhism. This pursuit will improve a person’s health, strengthen American society, and build an enduring emotional foundation.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Buddhism, in its philosophical discourse has clearly provided equal stress over both physiological and psychological well being of an individual. According to this rich and ancient philosophy both mind and body act as complementary and supplementary to each other. The ancient scholars of this philosophical discipline have clearly suggested that there a human being, both from physical and psychical perspective, is dependent over the surrounding ecosystem. (Wiseman, n.d.) Unless it is possible for an individual to attain a hold over his/her psychological conditions, it will not be possible for him/her to live a healthy life, physically. Buddhism regards mind as a separate entity that takes a very important part in proper governance of a person’s physical condition. â€Å"Mind is defined in Buddhism as a non-physical phenomenon which perceives, thinks, recognizes, experiences and reacts to the environment.† (Wiseman, n.d.) On the other hand, it wil l also be impossible for the person to encourage actual controlling of the mind unless he is not able to keep his body fit and let it function properly.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Now, if we look at the American social condition, we will see that most of the people are busy in competing with each other in this era of cutthroat competition. Such tendency is more conspicuous among young generation of today’s society as they are consider attaining more material gain will give them the sense of satisfaction and fulfillment. It is due to such thoughts and attempt to gain more material benefit they often suffer from psychological tensions that lead them to different types of physical ailments.

Project managment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Project managment - Assignment Example literature on this subject by David Anderson, Frank Brit and Donavon Favre under the title: The seven principles of Supply Chain Management, the concept gained more publicity and many scholars started producing tonnes of literature in this area. This new found interest in Supply Chain Management has allowed the concept to be extensively studied to the benefit of companies and customers across all industries. Some of the scholars who saw an opportunity after Anderson et al wrote their first piece in 1997 were Bowersox, Closs, & Cooper who in 2007 reviewed the decade old article and were in agreement that supply chains should be customer oriented. This pint of view represented the line of thought held by Anderson et al a decade earlier and opens a door into what the future holds for SCM. If over a decade earlier these scholars had seen the impact of SCM on customers and how the concept affected business, the it is fair to conclude that the article; The seven principles of Supply Chain Management was clearly ahead of itself. To address the unique customer demands within a supply chain, segmentation is necessary so that each cluster with identical characteristics is serviced in a peculiar manner that meets their uniqueness. EBay, one of the leading global online marketplaces, has adopted a unique model in its supply chain where for an extra cost, customers with need to urgent delivery are s upplied within the stipulated time and the purchased products discounted. This is an indicator of how a customised supply chain helps serve global clients to the benefit of all stakeholders. A discussion by Wang, Heng & Chau (2007) stressed on sharing information on demand trends especially for organizations with business relationships so that level of stock among these companies is kept at the bare minimum. This alignment of demand and planning is a useful tool throughout the supply chain because it helps related businesses obtain real time data on regions with deficit further

Computer applications in management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Computer applications in management - Essay Example Social networking sites include Facebook, Tagged.com, Xanga.com, Live Journal, MySpace, Friendster.com, Liked In among others have cropped on the Internet for the past few years. Social networking services can facilitate learning and skill development outside formal learning environments and especially for the youths below 25 in Australia through support brought about by peer to peer learning of skills and knowledge, diverse cultural expression, collaboration, skill development within the working area (Ito et al, 2006; Jenkin, 2007, cited by Palfrey, 2008, p7 cited by Collin, Rahilly, Richardson and Third, 2011). These sites play key roles in youth culture as they give youth space and a place to hang out amongst themselves, where they share cultural artifacts. Most of these sites enable young people to flirt, post pictures, share videos, creative artwork and also meeting new people. They connect students from different schools across the nation (Barnes 2006). Young people pour their minds, into these social networking sites in order clear their heads, show their thoughts and get feedback from their peers (Hoang 2006 cited in Barnes 2006). Social networking services foster a strong sense of community and belonging which has the potential to promote resilience, that helps young people to adapt to change and also stressful events (Collin, Rahilly, Richardson and Third, 2011, p7). ... Boys, who are reluctant when discussing their feelings, tend to benefit more than girls from this effect (Farrer 2009). University of Minnesota conducted a study last year using social media which revealed improved technology and communication skills boosted creativity and exposed students to new views. This activity has taught students on editing content, designing and also encouraged the production and sharing of poetry, art, photographs, video content etc. This improves on students resulting to better performance in exams (Farrer 2009). These sites create a central repository of personal information. As American adults are concentrating on how the government and other organizations are collecting data regarding its citizens as teenagers freely give up their personal and private information in their social media. School officials, government agencies, marketers and online predators can collect data about youths through online teenage diaries. We can conclude these by saying adults are more concerned about the invasion of privacy while youths are freely giving up personal information. This occurs mainly because youths are unaware of the public nature of the Internet (Barnes 2006). Whereas adults argue that some certain information like that may lead to hacking of one’s account. However, formal communication is not vanishing. As social networking is displacing other forms of online communication to some degree such as email, chartrooms among others incorporates others like blogging, music downloading, and instant messaging and remediates yet more notably, face to face and phone communications (Bolter and Grusin, 1999; Jenkins, 2006 cited in Livingstone 2008, p395). To sum up on the benefits, Social Networking Services constitute new spaces for civic

American Nurses Association Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

American Nurses Association - Essay Example They include, fostering high standards of nursing practice, lobbying the Congress and the healthcare regulatory agencies on such issues that re capable of affecting nurses and the public, protecting both the positive and realistic view if nurses and promoting and protecting the right of nurses at the workplace. The ANA organization addresses various issues including those dealing with leadership, nursing quality, staffing, compensation, professional standards and improving nursing practice, which are all under nursing practice. On the other hand, the association also handles ethical issues such as the end of life, code of ethics as well as courage and distress. Looking at staffing, for example, there are various issues that the association is addressing. The association acknowledges that staffing issues are those of going concern that affects both the nurses as well as the patients being served. The nurse-to-patient ratio usually determines the satisfaction level of the patients taken care of by the nurses. As such, the higher the ratio is, the more satisfied the patients usually are. Sometimes, when the ratio of nurses to patients is low, the patients may have to stay longer in the hospital waiting to receive services. This increase in the length of stay in the hospital has a lot of losses to the patient. One such loss is that the patient may stay longer to contract new infections, and the hospital bill will also be higher when a patient stays longer in the hospital.

History of Management Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

History of Management - Coursework Example Some of the known theorists whose theory’s themes are still in use now are Fredrick Taylor, Henri Fayol and Max Weber. They developed scientific management theory, modern operational-management theory and bureaucratic theory respectively. Managers use the ideas in the theories to run their duties and perform the organizations' activities to achieve their objectives. For example, many managers use the ideas to coordinate their workers, organize their plans, administer worker’s payments and employ skilled workers to achieve the company objectives. Frederick Taylor developed the scientific management theory in the 1880s and 1890s in the manufacturing industries. Scientific management is a management theory that synthesis and analyzes workflows. Its major objective is improving the efficiency of economics, mostly the labour productivity. It among the earliest attempts to use science in management and engineering processes. It needs a high-level managerial control of employe e practices on their work and entails a high managerial workers ratio to labourers than the prior management periods (Frederick, 2007). The theory evolved in an era when automation and mechanization were infancies. The methods and ideas of the theory extended to the American manufacturing system in the craft transformation in automation and mechanization. Therefore, the over labour-displacing technologies concerns rose with the increase of automation and mechanization (Frederick, 2007). Hence, the theory influences some of the management strategies in today’s industries. The theory guide on the worker’s payment. Fredrick studied that some employees were more talented compared to others, and the smart ones were mostly unmotivated. He also observed that many employees that got forced to work repetitive jobs tend to work at a slower rate that is unpunished.

Report Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Report - Research Paper Example They employ, train and support local workforce and its families. They have initiatives that allow employees to be active citizens in the community by showing their care for the communities. Moreover, the company advocates for civic engagement, tax contributions and volunteerism among its staffs. According to their website, the Company encourages good deeds via its Disney  VoluntEARS  program. It was initiated on Earth Day in 1995 to supports efforts of global and local non-profits that protect ecosystems, wildlife, and make a helpful impact on the community. Since its inauguration, the kitty has supported over $20 million projects in over 112 nations. Through the film, Disneynature, the company has shared important information and compelling stories that submerge audiences in the natural world. The Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund supports efforts of global and local non-profits organizations that protect ecosystems, wildlife, and make a helpful impact on the community, Disney created a Green Standard agenda in 2008 to reduce their adverse impact on the environment. The program is directed at meetings/events, workplaces, dining and travels. Many more recycling bins have been introduced and hanging ads placed on in the hotel rooms reminding occupants to shut off the lights and water when not in use. These efforts are geared towards being more eco-friendly. The green standard has spread wide showing just how Disney has lobbied for environmental conservation. Volunteerism is a major center of attention for Disney. The company offers free tickets to a million individuals for them to offer a day of volunteer service to a community organization of their choice. ‘’This has encouraged a large number of people in America to commit volunteering in their communities’’2. As it has been indicated, the Disney Company has made massive investment in social responsibility. The three areas, volunteerism, environment and the community

Staffing Ethics for HR in a Globalized World Research Paper

Staffing Ethics for HR in a Globalized World - Research Paper Example Each contributes insights. Some are specific to that culture, but several cross-cultural themes emerge from the literature. One cross-cultural pattern that emerged was challenges to ethical staffing, especially in the face of multinational companies with HRM that are not in touch with the influence of cultural dimensions on staffing. Another pattern was resistance due to tradition, which was revealed in Canada, India, Mexico, and Poland. A third cross-cultural pattern was the overwhelming agreement that HR must lead the way to a more ethical workplace. Recommendations are offered to facilitate protection, ethical leadership, cultural sensitivity, and the balance of rights and agenda that HR faces. Staffing Ethics for HR in a Globalized World Human Resources is probably the most crucial component of any company. They must, after all, negotiate a delicate balance between the needs of the company and the needs of applicants and employees. They must not only do so within the context of t he law, but must traverse the netherworld of ethics, which applies even when the law is unclear, insufficient, or when there is not yet a law specific to the issue. The latter case is seen with online privacy issues, for example, when utilized by to screen applicants. In an increasingly globalized world, Human Resource departments find increasingly complex demands on their role. Change is rapid and it is not enough to stay updated. Instead, Human Resource Managers must serve as leaders in the company. This is especially so in the arena of ethics. This paper is a thematic literature review with a global focus. Too often, globalization imposes Western standards. As developing nations increase their involvement in and concern for fair practices in HR, the world has an opportunity to gain new insights from new voices. This paper will review the literature from ten selected cross-cultural sources, including Romania, Poland, India, Mexico, Canada and the USA, in order to understand how to ethically staff in a way that balances privacy rights with company need-to-know; affirmative action with profit and tradition; local culture with globalized standards. This cross-cultural dialogue can make HR management an even stronger ethical force and inspiration to companies and their employees around the world. Methodology A Google Scholar search was conducted, utilizing a relevant search phrase, HR and ethical hiring practices. A strong effort was made to locate peer-reviewed journals, particularly in the business management area. A special effort was made to select articles that reflected the voices of other cultures beyond the US, as well as articles that mentioned globalization. Effort was made to reflect both male and female authored articles. Both theoretical and research-based articles were selected. Current articles were selected since, given the rapid changes, engendered by globalization, HR should be currently informed. The oldest article was published six years ago, but most articles were published within the past couple of years. This is particularly important in the area of ethics. No effort was made, during the article selection process, to support a particular point of view, nor to narrow the themes down any more than those already mentioned. Rather than considering an hypothesis, the selection process held a central organizing question: What is the role of HR in an ethical hiring process?

Ethical dilemma involving a dying patient Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ethical dilemma involving a dying patient - Essay Example re faced with an ethical dilemma as to whether to save the patient or not and not only save the patient but the baby that the patient was carrying as the patient had refused any sort of medical treatment that involved the use of blood. The doctors were left to questions whether to help the patient or respect her beliefs and not do anything to save her life. The ethical dilemmas face by the doctors in this case was that the patient was a Jehovah’s witness and did not want to be treated with bloid transfusion. The doctors faced four basic principles of ethics; respect for autonomy where in the doctor has to respect the decision made by the patient, beneficence where in the doctor has to assess the risk to benefit ration. Thirdly non-maleficence where the doctors do not want to cause any harm to the patient and lastly justice which balances the benefits, risk and costs equally and uniformly (Van Norman, 2011). The patient was a Jehovahs’s witness which made it difficult to carry out the prescribed treatment for her, Jehovah’s witness, they do not salute to military flags and do not take part in military or city government voting. The Jehovah’s witnesses are banned from blood transfusions or any medical treatment that involves the use of blood or blood products. In cases like these it is necessary to first consider the condition of the patient whether they should be talked to or counseled regarding the decisions being made. If the patient is awake and well aware of what is happening or what has happened, the patient’s caretaker or guardian should also be asked regarding the decision being made. It is important to check the documents as to confirm that the patient is actually a Jehovah ’s Witness. The patient and her caretaker should be informed of alternative blood products and if they still do not agree for no treatment then he/ should sign a document of consent (Van Norman, 2011). In this case when the nurse is faced with a critical situation which

Discourse on Method Essay Example for Free

Discourse on Method Essay Are there any identical restrictions on the ways in which human beings may use and treat nonhuman animals? If so, what are they and how are they considered morally justified? In this philosophical enterprise, I will first review three standard responses to these questions and briefly indicate why none of them is entirely satisfactory. Afterwards, I will elucidate what axioms should be adopted as the kernel of truth in each of three responses, and finally juxtapose them into the fourth axiom, which is more adequate position. In so doing, I will argue the importance, from an ethical point of view, of further inquiry into the nature and extent of consciousness in nonhuman animals. Historically, Western philosophers have established three postulates explaining the validity of using and treating nonhuman animals in experiment disregarding the questions about its nature and its extent of ethical restrictions. One, they argue on the basis of our indirect obligation to animals maintaining that act of expending animals for different experiments is only impermissible if and only if we have a direct obligation. Two, humans do not have any obligation to animals, and given this fact humans can do whatever they want with animals. And lastly, direct obligation posits that ethical restrictions on the use of animals are possible only on the basis of considering their sake. Among the most noted philosophers in the western tradition, St. Thomas Aquinas and Immanuel Kant have acknowledged restrictions on human conduct with regard to the utility and treatment of animals, but these restrictions are, in their stance, ultimately grounded upon the obligation to other human beings, and to animals. Amalgamating views that can be traced both to the Bible and Aristotle, Aquinas held a hierarchical or means-ends view of the interplay between plants, animals, and humans respectively: There is no sin in using a thing for the purpose of which it is. Now the order of things is such that the imperfect are for the perfect†¦ things, like plants which merely have life, are alike for animals, and all animals for man. Wherefore, it is not unlawful if men use plants for the good of animals, and animals for the good of man, as the Philosopher states (Politics i. 3) Nevertheless, it does not follow for Aquinas, that one can do anything to an animal. For example, one is still prohibited from killing another person’s ox because this will be an act of injury other’s property, which is an undeniable act of theft or robbery. And there may even be similarly indirect grounds for not harming animals that are no one’s property. Thus, Aquinas explains, if any passages of Holy Writ seem to forbid us to be cruel to dumb animals, for instance to kill a bird with its young: this is either to remove man’s thoughts from being cruel to other men, and lest through being cruel to animals one become cruel to human beings: or because injury to an animal leads to the temporal hurt of man, either of the doer of the deed, or of another. Kant also held such position insofar as humans obligated to restrain themselves in their dealings with animals due to their obligations to other humans. Thus, So far as animals are concerned, we have no direct duties. Animals are not self-conscious and are there merely as means to an end. That end is man†¦ our duties towards animals is merely indirect duties towards humanity. Animal nature has analogies to human nature, and by doing our duties to animals in respect to manifestations of human nature, we indirectly do our duty to humanity†¦ If†¦ any acts of animal are analogous to human acts and spring from the same principles. We have duties towards animals because thus we cultivate the same duties towards human beings. If a man shoot his dog because the animal is no longer capable of service, he does not fail in his duty to the dog, for the dog cannot judge, but his act is inhuman and damages in itself that humanity which it is his duty to show towards mankind. The arguments provided by these philosophers validate the philosophical perspective incorporated in the axiom of indirect obligation. Albeit the fact that we are in a way have obligations to animals, this should not be misconstrued as obligations that humans owed to the animals but rather these obligations are owed to humanity. Nonetheless, there are significant problems with Aquinas and Kant’s conjectures, at least in their present forms. First, insofar as Aquinas assumes that it is necessary for humans to use animals for food and hence to deprive them of life, his position must be reconsidered in the light of modern knowledge about nutrition. It has been maintained, for example, that a perfectly nutritious diet may require little or no deprivation of animal life and, even if it does, that the average American consumes twice as much animal protein as his/her body can possibly use . To such an extent, we continue to consume large quantities of animal foodstuff requiring pain and the deprivation of life, then. We do so, not so much to serve vital nutritional demands, but rather to indulge our acquired tastes. Secondly, insofar as Aquinas’ view is based upon hierarchical worldview and presupposes that those lower in the order or less perfect are to serve good of those higher or more perfect, it is open to a serious theoretical objection. Unfortunately, it is not difficult to imagine that a group of beings ? perhaps from another part of the universe ? who are more rational and more perfect than we. Let say that such beings are impeccable than we are, it seems to follow, if we adopt the principles underlying Aquinas’ stance, that we ought to acquiesce in their using us for whichever of their purposes they fancy we would serve. But do we want to agree with the rightness of this? And if we take Aquinas’ standpoint, would we have any grounds on which to disagree. As for Kant’s view, the main difficulties have to do first with his emphasis on self-consciousness as a condition for being the object of a direct obligation, and second with his assumption that all and only human beings are self-conscious. I will postpone consideration of the first difficulty until later. For the moment, let me simply develop the second. Even supposing that self-consciousness is a necessary condition for the being the object of direct obligation, it does not follow either that all human beings are the object direct obligations or that no animal can be the object of such obligation. First, advances in the medical knowledge, techniques, and technology have, among other things, preserved and prolonged the lives of a number of human beings who are severely retarded or otherwise mentally impaired due to illness or accident. In our day, then, if not in Kant’s, one cannot assume that all human beings are self-conscious. Second, some contemporary researchers have suggested that at least some non-human animals have a capacity to become self-conscious that has, until recently, been undetected or ignored by men. Whence, even if we follow Kant and accept self-consciousness as a condition for being the object of direct obligations, it is does not follow that all and only humans satisfy this condition. Some humans, it may turn out, will not be the objects of direct obligations and some animals will. If animals are not conscious, that is, if they are not sentient and have no capacity for pleasure, pain, or any mental conditions, they may not even be the objects of indirect obligations. Insofar as Aquinas says that it is possible to be â€Å"cruel to dumb animals† and Kant says that â€Å"he who is cruel to animals becomes hard in dealings with men,† each presupposes that animals, unlike plants and machines, are sentient and are thereby capable of sensation and consciousness. Thus it is surprising to find Rene Descartes comparing animals to machines. Nevertheless, this is just what he did in Discourse on Method when he compared machines made by the hand of man with human and nonhuman animal bodies made by the hand of God: From this aspect the body is regarded as a machine which, having been made by the hands of God, is incomparably better arranged, and possesses in itself movements which are much more admirable than any of those which can be invented by man. † Living human bodies were, for Descartes, distinguished from living animal bodies by the presence of an immortal soul which was a prerequisite for mental experiences. Without a soul, a biological body was a natural automaton, â€Å"much more splendid†, but in kind no different from machines. For Descartes, the criterion for dichotomizing those living bodies which were ensouled from those which were not was the capacity to use language. The former, he posited, included all and only human beings. , there are none so depraved and stupid, without even exempting idiots, that they cannot arrange different words together, forming of them a statement by which they make known their thoughts; while on the other hand, there is no other animal, however perfect and fortunately circumstanced it may be which can do the same. Insofar as Descartes’ position presupposes that all and only human beings have the capacity to use language, it is open to the same sort of criticisms and objections that we raised against Kant. That is, advancements in medicine are providing more nonlinguistic humans and advances in science are suggesting that at least some nonhuman creatures have more linguistic facility than we previously assumed. Moreover, even the if Descartes were correct on his reasoning that the capacity to use language is uniquely human, why should this, rather than the capacity to feel pain and experience distress, be the principal criterion for determining the nature and extent of ethical restrictions on the expenditure and treatment of animals? It is this objection which sets the stage for positions which hold that humans have direct obligations to at least some animals. Jeremy Bentham argues that pain and pleasure were what governed behavior and that any ethical system which was founded on anything but maximizing the net balance of pleasure over pain, dealt in â€Å"sounds instead of sense, in caprice instead of reason, in darkness instead of light. † Every action for Bentham was to be assessed in terms of its likelihood of maximizing the net balance of happiness. But, he noted, if the capacity to experience pleasure and pain was what qualified one to be taken into account in estimating the effects of various courses of action, then nonhuman as well as human animals would have to be taken into account insofar as they, too, had the capacity to experience pleasure and pain. Thus, for Bentham, it is sentience, or capacity for pleasure and pain, that determines whether a being qualifies for mortal consideration. The question now is what grounds we have to consider that animals do suffer from our â€Å"cruel† acts. In response to such question, one holding a utilitarian direct obligation theory must show why individuals believe that animals are conscious. There are number of ways one might go about this. One, one could stress behavioral similarities between men and animals in their respective responses to certain standard pain and pleasure producing stimuli. Comparing the behavior of animals to infants would be valid indication of such similarities. Two, we could stress relevant neuropsychological similarities between humans and animals. The fundamental insight of indirect obligation theories is their recognition of difference between simple and reflective consciousness. Beings having only simple consciousness can experience pain, have desires, and make choices. But they are not capable of reflecting upon their experiences, desires, and choices and altering their behavior as a result of self-conscious evaluation and deliberation. Beings who can do this I will, following John Locke, label â€Å"persons†. A person, in Locke’s stance, is â€Å"A thinking intelligent being that has reason and reflection and can consider itself as itself, the same thinking thing, in different times and places. † although they are mistaken in believing that the class of human beings, indirect obligation theorists were correct to emphasize the social status of persons. For only persons are capable of tracing the consequences and implications of various courses of action and then deliberating and deciding to embark on one rather than another on grounds other than self-interest. To do this is part of what it means to have a morality, and it is the capacity for taking the moral pint of view (that is, voluntarily restricting one’s appetite or desire for the sake of others) that gives the person their special worth. The fundamental point of Descartes’ no obligation axiom was to recognize the connection between the development and exercise of language. As Stuart Hampshire has recently pointed out, although people often associate the use of language primarily with communication, â€Å"language’s more distinctive and far-reaching power is to bring possibilities before the mind. Culture has its principal source in the use of the word ‘if’ in counterfactual speculation†. Only language, then, gives us the power to construct complex unrealized possibilities. Therefore, a being cannot be considered a person without the incorporation of language in human psyche. Finally, the fundamental argument of direct obligation principles was to note that one need not be a person to be the object of a moral obligation. Simple consciousness and sentience is sufficient to entitle a being to be considered for its own sake in the ethical deliberations of persons. If, for example, the capacity to feel pain is sufficient for prima facie obligation not to cause gratuitous pain to persons, why it is not also valid ground for a similar obligation not to cause pain to animals? With regard to the evil of avoidable and unjustifiable pain, the question is, as Bentham emphasized, not â€Å"Can they reason nor can they talk? † but, â€Å"can they suffer? † Putting all of this together, we can say that persons, who are characterized as possessing reflective consciousness, may have a higher status than beings having only simple consciousness. Their special worth is a function of the extent to which they use language â€Å"to bring possibilities before the mind† and then restrain their more trivial desires for the sake of not harming others whom they recognize, from the moral point of view, as their equals in certain respects. Among the beings whose interests must be taken into account for their own sake in the moral deliberations of persons are beings possessing only simple consciousness. To the extent that persons reluctantly cause pains, suffering, and even death to beings possessing simple consciousness in order to meet important needs, what they do may be justified by appeal to their higher status or greater worth. But, to the extent that persons inflict avoidable pain and suffering on such beings merely to satisfy certain trivial tastes or desires, they pervert their greater capacities. In so doing, they ironically undermine their claim to higher status or worth and thereby weaken any justification they may have had for sacrificing beings having only simple consciousness for important ends. References: Aquinas, S. T. (1981). Summa Theologica (F. o. t. E. D. Province, Trans. ): Christian Classics. Bentham, J. (1988). The Principles of Morals and Legislation: Prometheus Books. Descartes, R. (1999). Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy (Fourth ed. ): Hackett Pub Co Inc. Hampshire, S. (1979). Human Nature. New York Review of Books. Kant, I. (1963). Lectures on Ethics (L. Infield, Trans. ): Harper and Row. Lappe, F. M. (1975). Fantasies and Famine: Harper and Row. Locke, J. (1994). An Essay Concerning Human Understanding Prometheus Books. Velasquez, M. (1985). Ethics Theory and Practice: Prentice-Hall Inc.

Technological Advances: The Negative Effects

Technological Advances: The Negative Effects Technological advancement as a term can be defined as being able to improve the standard of living through altering the production process and increasing the level of production with fewer resources (Mabry Sharplin; 1986). This definition is closely linked to the act of using computers, robots and the like but any move towards more efficient ways of providing services is a technological advancement. When one begins with premise that the gradual shift from human-sensitive methods of construction will pose a problem in South Africa as a developing country, plain human knowledge becomes sufficient as a technological advancement. Technology varies in its purposes and uses. It has become the backbone of any sort of development initiative in the developing world. Characterised by efficiency, accuracy and cost benefits. Developed countries are suited better to manage the negatives that come from the overt use of technology. Their economies are strong enough to manage unemployment and the like. Often, people that fear or are weary of fast evolving technology are referred to as Luddites, this is untrue and grossly inaccurate for the Luddites (circa 1800s) were working but uneducated people who destroyed all symbols of advancing technology. Nobel laureate Wassily Leontief, who gave the keynote speech for the National Academy of Engineering at its 1983 symposium The Long-Term Impact of Technology on Employment and Unemployment, cannot fairly be called a Luddite, yet he expressed concern about what he saw as technological advancements undesirable distributional effects across income groups (Mabry Sharplin; 1986) The construction industry is slowly eliminating jobs that are human-sensitive. Jobs that previously required a strong human presence can now be done off-site (precast) and brought to site just to assemble. The jobs are becoming lower skilled and routine. With this in mind, one would think that there would be more jobs created but the opposite happens, jobs seem to be eroding. The implementation of new technology offers the companies a competitive edge over their rivals at the cost of jobs. In construction, efficiency is very important. Delays in time mean penalties and this requires more money. Redundancy caused by advancements in technology has been happening in the automotive industry where machines have rendered the jobs of many humans obsolete and have left some fastening bolts for eight hours a day. In the construction industry, though you will not find a machine laying bricks, there are other materials that are being developed to render using bricks and blocks outdated. Aluminium beams and columns are now de-rigueur in architectural circles and this will not take long at all to catch up with the industry and it will just be a matter of time before construction gangs of fifty will shrink to ten because of cranes doing all the heavy lifting and then ten men just fastening bolts. Technological advancement, in itself, is an indication of development in any country. Said advancement should not hinder the growth of the country by creating a poverty trap. A developing country has a few defining characteristics, defined below: Majority living below the poverty line Ex-colony Subject to economic inequality Inequality in the working environment As technology advances further and further it hinders growth through promoting the utilizing methods that arent human-sensitive. Chapter 2 The role of South Africas history 2.1 History Colonialism played a role in the current problems South Africa faces. To understand how technology affects employment, we need to have a clearer understanding of how we got to where we are from a developmental point of view. Colonisers occupied the country and divided the country geographically to make it more manageable. They then developed city centres and these city centres became economic hubs in their regions. During the 1886 Witwatersrand Gold Rush, employment was created for the natives. Many natives left their homelands to work in the Gauteng mines. The cities close to the mines kept flourishing as there became a need for other industries to support the influx of natives and wealthy mine owners to the mining cities. The homelands remained underdeveloped. Many decades later, rural areas are still underdeveloped and creating employment in those areas is hard because there are very few economic development initiatives. 2.1.1 Migration to the cities. As aforementioned, the movement of many natives from their homelands for employment in the mining cities left many homelands underdeveloped. The lure of employment opportunities in a quickly developing country proved to be problematic. W.W Rostow (circa 1960), cited by Utting (2011; Development Management IV: Course Notes; 189:190) discussed the modernization theories of development. The underlying principle of this modernization theory was that economic development was integral to the overall development of any society. Economic development is South Africa seemed to be happening in the mining cities only and not in the rural areas. 2.1.2 Consequence of migration. As men left to work in the cities, they left their families at home. Families that were uneducated and had no other means of income and mostly made a living through farming. Formal education was, and for the most part is just a fallacy to people living in rural areas. This is creating a problem because on one hand; low-skill level jobs are being automated, on the other hand; you have many people from the rural areas coming in with little-to-no education looking for employment. This contributes to creating what is termed a poverty trap. 2.1.3 Previously Disadvantaged Individuals People of colour were oppressed during the unjust reign of apartheid which officially began in the election of 1948 and lasted until 1994. In that time, people of colour were oppressed in every way imaginable. The end of apartheid brought about great elation and spelled the end of an oppressive regime, we also adopted many problems from there. For instance, the problem of unemployment. A complex issue that has no single solution. The previously disadvantaged individuals, i.e. people of colour in South Africa, are now trying to keep-up with the developed world. The issue is the means that are taken to develop South Africa further. The methods which utilize an excess of technology will widen the gap between the rich and poor. The previously disadvantaged will be left destitute and with very few opportunities to develop themselves let alone along with the country. 2.1.4 Addressing the issue of inequality Government implemented Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), which has now become Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE), to facilitate the development of PDIs. Government also put a policy in place that was set to address inequalities in the workplace by giving construction companies a BEE status. This meant that a certain portion of the workforce had to be composed of PDI. This, of course, is a step in the right direction towards addressing inequalities in the workplace. An overwhelmed Government Decades after the 1886 Gold Rush, present Government still feel the effects of mass migration to the cities. Change of political regime brought about new challenges for Government. The two most important: Creating Jobs: Job creation isnt particularly the responsibility of Government. They are supposed to create an environment that supports and promotes job creation. Presently, graduates form the majority of the unemployed in South Africa. Homelands are still under-developed and this doesnt seem to be changing. Policies to address the unemployment and subsequent poverty problem in rural areas are addressed by issuing policies. The problem with policies is they are therapeutic, generic and do not address the problem of each rural area on a case by case basis. Another problem with policies is that they are developed by people who do so remotely so they do not know the actual problem, on the ground. Adequate Housing: Housing has is a problem especially in towns surrounding big cities like Durban and Johannesburg. The RDP programme was developed for this purpose. Independent contractors tender and build the house. Unfortunately, many contractors dont fulfil their obligation. The problem doesnt get better and we see violent service delivery protests. The tender process in itself is heavily flawed and marred by political interference and corruption. 2.2.1 Failure to create jobs. As aforementioned, the current Government is struggling to create job or rather failing to create an environment that promotes job creation. According to the World Bank (2011), Local Economic Development (LED) refers to the collective efforts between Government and non-governmental institutions to create an environment that is conducive to both economic growth and employment. In essence, LED provides the community ways to improve their chances of getting investment from external sources and their own business environment. The aim is to create a better life for all. Rural communities dont have much of this happening and the focus needs to move towards decentralization. The concentration of rural development policy makers in urban areas is also to the detriment of rural areas. The sheer distance leads to misappropriation of funds and resources and this keeps the rural areas underdeveloped. Top-down centralized policies rarely accomplish their goals because the policy makers arent anchored in the rural reality on the ground (International Labour Office; 2012) 2.2.2 Critical analysis of the tender process The tender process was initially meant to open up opportunities for people of colour to enter the world of business and trade. Unfortunately, the tender process is marred by corruption and political interference and this in counter-productive and robs the people it was meant to help in the first place. The process begins by realising a need for a service in a particular community and then sending that particular project out to tender with various contractors who then send back their estimates of how much it would cost to build the required infrastructure. The corruption begins when the tenderers start bribing officials to give them the contract. Too often the contractors themselves are incompetent and end up breaching contracts. The reason for their incompetency can be credited to the lack of knowledge. Most new contractors have no formal training and make very few attempts at getting adequate training and the cycle keeps on going. The process itself is not flawed; the issue is with monitoring it. There isnt an independent body that monitors the tendering process and this leads to corruption and moves back as a nation. Monitoring, or lack thereof, is not the primary solution to corruption because corruption is prevalent in all developing countries. Chapter 3: Basic education and training Lack of a proper educational framework in rural areas Bantu Education was established to give people of colour the most basic education. A means to create more muscle for the machine that was apartheid. The structure was such that skills development formed part of the school curriculum. Students who left the institution of Bantu Education left with skills and could go start looking for work immediately after. Universities were reserved for Whites only. In rural areas however, school infrastructure was few and far in between. As South Africa developed and established itself as a source of mineral wealth many moved into the urban areas (See, Chapter 1) and left the rural areas as they were. Rural areas dont have any economic development, chances for employment are slim. Even if businesses are encouraged, their longevity is cut short because there is no Local Economic Development. Schools in rural areas do not, to this day, receive adequate resources to teach. School buildings are of mud block construction. The chaos that arises from there can only be imagined when the rainy season starts. The education system in South Africa is not at its most stellar as we saw during the Limpompo Textbook Fiasco (M. Madia, 2012). This in turn creates problems when the students produced from rural schools are thrust into a society that demands a good knowledge of technology and pliable minds. The students, coming from a background with no knowledge of computers and the like will end up looking for employment that requires a low-skill level. On the other end of the spectrum, employers are looking for ways to increase productivity without affecting profits. On a building site, having concrete delivered, as opposed to mixing it on site, saves time and consequently saves money. Lower-skill jobs are slowly becoming redundant and the education system in rural areas isnt keeping up with the demand for technology savvy candidates. As a result, a cesspool of unemployment and everything it carries many other social problems such as crime and corruption. Desperation can kill you. Language barriers (machinery use) Communication is essential on site for all operations to continue. The language barrier between employer and employee makes the employee less desirable for employment. Employees from rural areas are often not well versed in languages either than their home-language. Similarly with machinery use, employers wouldnt employ someone with a minimal understanding of the language of instruction. Besides that being a health and safety hazard, it wouldnt be beneficial and training would take longer than it should. Misunderstandings on site (machinery use) Any sort of misunderstanding on site has a financial repercussion. With this in mind, employers avoid workers with little-to-no understanding of the language of instruction. There is a clear disconnection between the education department in rural areas and the required calibre of graduates. This in turn leads to students coming from that system to be left behind. When that happens and the very students are put into a system that requires a certain level of knowledge, knowledge that they lack. Subsequently, these people bear the grunt of job displacement due to the introduction of technology and/or automation. Chapter 4: Methods of construction The manner in which construction projects are carried out has changed dramatically. Change is constant and will not stop as humans develop further and further. From the times of the great Pharaohs, where heavy materials were rolled on logs, to present day where heavy materials are hauled into the air with cranes. 4.1 Evolution of Methods Traditional construction was of mass concrete. The older buildings like the Durban Station were of mass concrete and required many labourers to set up shutters, mixing concrete and pouring. Mixing of concrete was done on site. Technological advancements moved towards using central concrete depots and having concrete delivered to site. The purpose of technological advancement is to increase production while utilizing the least amount of resources. To a very large extent it is good, the problem begins when technology advances at the cost of peoples jobs. Project Planning Project planning has become more streamlined and can be managed by a single person as opposed to be an entire team. Project planning in South Africa has attracted a great amount of attention over the past few years because of its association with infrastructure. As South Africa develops further, infrastructure will be required. Many construction projects are complex and required teams to manage them, over time computer programmes were developed and managing large projects became easier. Technology has afforded us the opportunity to much with very little resources. It has also created a situation where those who do not adopt are left behind. This is well and good in a developed state but South Africa is a developing country with a 25% unemployment rate and threatening to grow as more and more technology is being introduced into the industry. The industry itself will do better, productivity will increase but many people will be permanently displaced, in terms of employment. The planning of projects will eventually be handled by a single person using a computer programme. The availability of jobs will decrease as companies need fewer people to run successful projects. Chapter 5: Construction Materials Building materials arent exempt from advancements. There has been a movement from mass concrete, to brick and block and now we are in the age of steel and glass construction. The movement from one age to the next has an adverse effect on employment. Presently, steel and glass construction needs just a few men and a crane. A shift in the paradigm of construction. Lighter Materials. Construction materials have gotten lighter while retaining their strength. Materials like fibreboard are now common place in offices. Even materials that always were the heaviest, like concrete, have had their share of technological advancement. Air-infiltrated concrete is lighter than conventional concrete. The secret is in the air bubbles that are trapped within the concrete that make it lighter while making it a bit easier to work with. This particular type of concrete is strong enough to take the loads of conventional concrete but can also be used as a cantilever slab (with reinforcing). Precast Items. With the paradigm shift of construction materials, precast items are becoming more common. From lintels in residential construction to entire floor slabs in commercial property. A shift that has brought about increased productivity. Concrete pouring and curing is the most time consuming exercise on site and having that time saved means saving money too. The problem, again, with such an advancement is how it affects employment. Concrete mixing, as a low-skill level job, employed quite a few labourers (proportional to size of project) and with concrete mixing being removed from equation, many are left jobless. The biggest hurdle is the lack of training initiatives for workers that have been displaced due to automation. They are left unemployed and unemployment leads to other social problems. Chapter 6: Globalisation According to the Education and Training Unit of South Africa (2012), globalisation refers to the changes in technological, political and economic that make the world different in its functioning to the way it was twenty or thirty years ago. The proof of globalisations can be seen in the emergence of giant corporations with branches all over the world. Globalisation forces developing nations to adjust their structures in order to match those of the developed nations. All this to help developing nations secure loans to help their flailing economies. BusinessDictionary.com refers to globalisation as a movement towards integration of many aspects of trade. In the same vein, they go on to say that globalisation threatens weaker economies when applied discriminately. Keeping up with the world. Even though South Africa has mineral wealth, it is still an emerging economy. The reason for this is the colonial history of South Africa (Refer to Chapter 2). The international markets play a role in how development in South Africa is implemented. This is where politics come into play. P. Kingsworth in his article Globalisation of South Africa describes the conditions under which the fate of common South Africans would be controlled by international markets. After the failure of the Reconstruction Development Plan (RDP) in 1996, the Growth Employment and Redistribution program (GEAR) was set-up to take its place. The difference between GEAR and RDP was that; where RDP promised free basic services, GEAR privatised utilities and would bill all users. Some of these users live below the poverty line. Rapid advancements in technology threaten jobs and yet the poorest of the poor must still pay for services. Global trends to employers. To employers, global trends dictate how they should react to the current market. Technological advancements give them an edge of the opposition and that edge equals more profit. As crude as it may seem, profit is the bottom-line to most, if not all, employers. Globalisation has afforded employers a chance to compete on an international scale. Increased connectivity with international markets offers them the option of showcasing their services overseas. In order to be able to satisfy international demand, they need to automate systems. That is a factor that leads to job loss. Chapter 7: Technology: Computer Programmes With globalisation burning hot at the heels of a developing South Africa, computer programmes come as part of the globalisation package. It was an inevitable move and one that was greatly needed in terms of development. Computer programmes dont directly affect low-skill employees, its a challenge that will face those that havent been introduced to computer programmes in University. Again, the highlight of the clear disconnect between the industry and the education system. Many graduates fall into the chasm unbeknown to them, with very little help from the industry and Universities. CCS For contractors CCS or the Candy system is a computer programme that is specifically aimed at making the job of a contractor manageable. A contractor with many projects going on at the same time will need a computer programme that will integrate forecasting, estimating, valuations and project planning. The design of the Candy system is such that it can be understood by anyone with a knowledge of construction. Corruption has created a distorted view of contractors. It is a general view that many contractors cannot manage projects and therefore cannot control funds. Quantity surveyors are usually employed to help them control funds for contractors. Programmes like CCS have now given smaller contractors with the option of being able to control their own projects and therefore their own funds without needing a quantity surveyor to do the work for them. WinQS for Professional Quantity Surveyors WinQS is a programme designed more for professional quantity surveyors as it offers an in-depth interface that will require a quantity surveying background. WinQS can produce complete bills of quantities because it has JBCC contracts within the programme itself. On a consultation with Steve Naidoo (2012; August 5th), he explained the great help that came with the introduction of computers. Doing bills on chart paper and having to transport them great distances, as opposed to emailing, has made work a lot easier. Consulting firms will employ the use of WinQs more widely. A company that employed many quantity surveyors will need fewer with the introduction of such programmes. The results of automation are clear in South Africa. People are losing jobs and not enough is being doing to boost small enterprises. What is being done is being overshadowed by corruption while the fate of South Africas youth dangles helplessly in the face of poverty and a host of other social problems. Chapter 8: Case Studies I have selected two cases that I felt were relevant to highlight my growing concerns about the problems that come with technological advances. I cannot deny the great leaps we have taken with the help of technology. The problem is how these leaps tend to take developing nations back a few steps, especially when coupled with international pressure (via Globalisation, see Chapter 6). The first example highlights the advantages offered by technology and its advancements, it also highlights the change and how it would affect a developing nation. The Ark Hotel, China The Broad Group, a construction company based in China, was able to build a 30 Storey building in just 15 days. The fastest construction of a hotel. What was amazing was how there were zero injuries. The hotel itself was designed and built to withstand an earthquake with a magnitude of 9 on the Richter scale. Building materials were all prefabricated and brought to site to be assembled. This could be the secret to their Super-fast power as it was dubbed in the British DailyMail (2012). The movement to precast and prefabricated materials is as inevitable as the first steps of a healthy toddler. South Africa, as the toddler, is expected to start running before it knows how to walk. The Ark Hotel, was built like a structure made of Legos. All the pieces were made and fabricated off-site and brought to site to be assembled by a few specialists and a crane. Construction like this in a developing nation could cripple it. In countries where the construction industry employs the most people, a move towards using prefabricated material could be disastrous not only in the short-term but in the long-term too. Sanrals E-Toll Sanral has undertaken to build open-road tolling for road users in Gauteng. The network will be 560kms covering 34 of Gautengs busiest interchanges the most infamous being; Allandale, William Nicol, Rivonia and Elands. The reason that E-Tolling was introduced is to fund the improvements of roads. The tolling will be based on a user-pay system. It will become necessary to get an E-Tag for the motor vehicle that will be transporting passengers and every month a statement will arrive at your doorstep, detailing your daily commute through the several tolls on your way to your destination. This system could be rolled out throughout the entire country. According to Sanral (2012), only 19% of the countries roads are tolled roads, the remaining 81% arent tolled roads. The reality is that the money that is made from the tolled roads is insufficient to perform maintenance on roads. The system will be unmanned and thus starts the problem. The people that were employed will now be jobless as tolls will no longer need people to collect monies. This is yet another example of how technology is making people redundant. One cannot help but be in awe of the great technological leap, the same technological leap is at the same time robbing people of jobs and yet again bring the problem of unemployment to the fore. Chapter 9: Resolution In cases like these were it is one power reigning supreme over a nation, a solution cannot be employed. Resolutions can however be offered. These suggestions are subject to reviewing and adjustment. Using human-sensitive methods on site that dont rely heavily on the use of machinery. The human resource is abundant and renewable. Employers in South Africa ought to be looking into using this readily available resource. It may be argued that machines do not take sick-days, thats acceptable but machines will not be the ones using your project upon completion. We are creating a society we cannot afford. 25% of the population is unemployed and as more technology is being introduced more people will lose their jobs in favour of automated systems. Site work can be carried out by labourers instead of machines. Simple tasks like batch concrete mixing can be carried out by labour instead of machines and be delivered to site. The problem is not one dimensional; for instance, a contractor has a need to keep a healthy stream of work coming in because of the corrupt nature of the construction industry where certain parties are earmarked for jobs. In cases like this, the contractor will be trying to turn a profit on every job and one way of doing that is by always completing jobs on time, he does this by having a smaller team that uses specialist technology to help complete jobs quickly and usually under-budget. He keeps his business afloat and doesnt employ many. Government regulation.* The dilemma facing South Africa is the corrupt nature of our leaders. Technology provides a higher level of production while neglecting the steps taken to reach that level of productivity. Technology renders humans redundant and government is aware but is benefitting through the use of technology. Technology entrenches the divisions of the past by keeping the privileged employed and the rest of the country in close proximity of poverty. Perhaps, the only difference between present day and apartheid is that those who can adapt and use technology stand a better chance of being employed over those that very little knowledge of technology and the way in which it works. Unfortunately, those that have a limited knowledge of technology form the majority of the countrys population. The onus is therefore on Government to regulate how technology is introduced and implemented in the construction industry in South Africa before we are faced with a situation where the poor have nothing to eat but the rich. Training of people and subsequent employment The best way to get a better workforce is by training them. During Apartheid, skills-training was a part of the school curriculum. That aspect of the curriculum must come back to address South Africas skills shortage. The only difference is the training will be for specific industries. Science and technology, research and development, medicine and engineering are fields that require younger thinkers. It seems like our education system is amassing an army of entrepreneurs that have no idea of how to manage their businesses. Small business fail because of mismanagement. The use of people as a resource can also be seen as a technological advancement because with enough training, efficient ways of carrying tasks out are inevitable. Addendum 1: Supporting documentation Addendum 2: Bibliography Education and Training Unit of South Africa; 2012; Understanding Globalisation (Online); available at www.etu.org.za ; Accessed 26 August 2012 Kingsnorth, P; 2004; The globalisation of South Africa (Online); available at uk.oneworld.net; Accessed 26 August 2012 Mackenzie, C; 2012; Theyre now a super-fast power: How the Chinese built a 30 storey hotel from scratch in just fifteen days (Online); available at www.dailymail.co.uk ; Accessed 27 August 2012 Sabol, L; 2007; Technology, Change, and the building industry (Online); available at http://www.dcstrategies.net/files/2_sabol_technology_change.pdf; Accessed 27 August 2012 Mabry, R. H, Sharplin, A. D; 1986; Does more technology create unemployment? (Online); available at http://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/does-more-technology-create-unemployment; Accessed 24 August 2012 International Labour Office; 2012; Boosting Local Economies in rural areas (Online); available at www.ilo.org/led; Accessed 15 August 2012 European Science Technology Observatory; 2002; Impact of technological structural change on employment: prospective analysis 2020 (Online); available at http://www.mcrit.com/espon_scenarios/files/DOCUMENTS/eur20258en.pdf; Accessed 18 August 2012 Kletzer, L. G; 1998; Job Displacement (Pages 115-136) (Online); available at http://www.jstor.org; Accessed 10 August 2012 Talbot, D; 2012; Tectonic Shifts in Employment (Online); available http://www.technologyreview.com; Accessed 12 August 2012 Moavenzadeh, Fred, Koch Rossow, J. A; 1975; The construction in

Introduction To Linguistics And Conversation Analysis Cover English Language Essay

Introduction To Linguistics And Conversation Analysis Cover English Language Essay One thing which makes us find so few people who appear reasonable and agreeable in conversation is, that there is scarcely any one who does not think more of what he is about to say than of answering precisely what is said to him. Franà §ois de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) Beginning To master a language is a difficult task for many persons, and to master it in its spoken form even takes more time than learning a new language. Confusions and misunderstandings are commonly observed in conversation. Consider the following example, Fredrick: O Jesus! Suddenly the rain started to pour down! But Suki was so smart that she entered the hall immediately. Kelven: Oh how come she could enter the hall? Did she know the people there? Fredrick: What do you mean Kelven? Wasnt she living in the hall? In the example illustrated, Kelven probably fails to understand what is implicated by Fredricks utterance. Though Fredrick, in this example, has also used a misleading expression in referring to the hall where Suki was residing, a misunderstanding was thus caused. (Schlesinger and Hurvitz, 1969) Misunderstanding can cause a lot of troubles and we have to avoid them. But what are the reasons of causing those misunderstandings? Why in different situations we interpret a speech differently? How can people open and close a conversation well? And the ultimate problem can be, What is conversation and its underneath principles of operations?. The topic of conversation analysis, which is a particular and very important area of discourse analysis, will deal with the problems said. Chapter 8.1 Chapter 8.1A A brief definition of conversation analysis Conversation analysis is a branch of sociology which studies the detailed organization and structure of human conversational interactions in everyday lives; both in verbal and non-verbal sense. (Hutchby and Wooffitt, 2008) In conversation analysis, the structure, orderliness, and sequential patterns in interactions are discussed and studied. (Sidnell, 2010)These sorts of interactions can either be institutional or just in daily, casual conversation. Linguists of conversation analysis are always interested in how we, as language-users, are able to deliver an idea to make others understand about it, and at the same time how we understand the oral language that we hear. (Wang, 2010) It is not only used in linguistics, but it is also a popular concept used in psychology, history, anthropology, etc. (Sidnell, 2010) This subject, like the others, is a progressive development. In the next chapter, the history and changes of conversation analysis throughout the years will be introduced. Chapter 8.1B History and development of conversation analysis The history of conversation analysis can be dated back to late 1960s to early 1970s. The development of it was first inspired by Ethnomethodology, which is a method for understanding how people use social orders to understand the world, by analyzing their descriptions and stories of their daily activities across a long period (Karamjit S. Gill, 1996). Later, sociologist Harvey Sacks with his close associates Emanuel Schegloff and Gail Jefferson, define the term in their book Lectures on Conversation, and the study of conversation analysis has soon drawn a great attention from scholars. (Emanuel and Gail, 1972) With over 50 years of development, today it has become a well-known and widely-used research method in social sciences, linguistics, psychology, speech-communication and anthropology. (Carol, 2010) Its influence in interactional sociolinguistics is particular important as it forms a part in both discursive psychology and discourse analysis. (Levinson, 1983) Moreover, in its own right it has also become an important discipline. In recent years, the techniques of conversation analysis have seen being employed in a number of other subjects, like NLP practitioners use the technique to understand the real feeling of a person (Tosey and Mathison 2006); and phoneticians try to use it to explore the fine phonetic detail of speech (Kelly and Local, 1989). After having a brief overview of conversation analysis, the detailed elements of it will be introduced in the next chapter. Chapter 8.1C Assumptions and principles of conversation analysis We do conversations each and every day, with our friends, parents, colleagues and teachers, etc. In making these daily conversational exchanges, people always follow a set of orders or conventions, both consciously and subconsciously. The orders and conventions are different in different occasions. (Sacks, 1992) And, we learn those orders and conventions since they were young and the process of learning is continuous in ones life. Participants in daily conversations have responsibility to produce interpretable messages and to acknowledge the messages received; based on the orders and conventions, to create a successful conversation. George Pasthas (1995) in his book raises the following assumptions and principles of conversation analysis; Order is produced by orderliness. Order is situated and occasioned. Order is oriented by the parties involved in a conversation only. The analyst holds no conceptions in it. Order is repeatable and recurrent. The discovery, description and analysis of that produced orderliness are the tasks of the analyst. Frequencies and varieties of particular phenomena occur are to be set aside in studying the ways in which order is produced. Structures of social actions, once discerned, shall be able to be described and analyzed in formal forms. These principles and assumptions are widely accepted (George, 1995) and conversation analysts nowadays still have their analysis done in this way. In the following chapter, the detailed methodology of how a conversation analysis is conducted will be introduced. Chapter 8.1D Methodology of conversation analysis Similar to other researches, a research on conversation analysis is initiated by setting up a research problem. In normal circumstances, video or audio recorded conversations are used as raw data for conversation analysis. To ensure that data collected is not artificial, often it is simply collected by adding a video camera to the room where the conversation takes place (e.g. medical doctors consultation with a patient), without involvements of researchers. (Have, 2007) At the same time, the researchers make a detailed transcription, assuming that no details of the conversation have been omitted. The researchers, after the transcription, will then have an inductive data-driven analysis aiming to find recurring patterns of interaction. Based on the result of the analysis, a rule or model to explain the occurrence of the patterns is then developed. Conversation in discourse is mutually constructed and negotiated in time between speakers, which is unplanned and informal. (Cook, 1989) Ending Chapter 8.7 Conclusion In short, conversation analysis deals with our daily verbal exchanges, which are vital in daily lives of each and every one of us. Interpreting daily conversations, we now understand, is a highly complex and complicated process. It has long been believed that the meaning has been there already in a piece of oral language. But after studying this chapter, we find that the said definition is far too simplistic. We think that we do not plan before having a conversation with the others. But we apply different strategies indeed but they are seldom noticed. A speaker has to plan well before delivering a speech; and a hearer also has to work quite hard in order to process a piece of conversation indeed. Even the simplest conversation involves many complex decisions. We cover a few key aspects of conversation analysis, which includes turn-taking, overlapping, repairs, silences, sequence and transcription. We also try to analyze a conversation by following a set of transcription conversations. The question stated at the beginning, What is conversation? And what is its underneath principles?, has been answered by conversation analysis. Through studying it, we learn how to communicate with others well, and most importantly, how to use the principles to live well on this Earth.

The History of the Darling Theatre Company :: London Theatres Acting Drama Essays

The History of the Darling Theatre Company This theatre company came into being in 1979 when a famous old London theatre went bankrupt and the owners of the building attempted to sell it to property developers. George Darling, a well known stage actor, launched a campaign to save the theatre and, with the help of many famous friends in the acting world, created strong public support for retaining the building as a theatre. However no existing theatre company was in a position to take over the building and the owners suggested to George Darling that he use his connections to set up his own company. After a vigorous fund-raising campaign enough money was collected to save the theatre and set up the Darling Theatre Company. The actors and actresses who had helped in the campaign agreed to appear in Darling productions for a fraction of their normal fees – but were interested only in appearing in theatre classics rather than commercial productions so the policy of the company from the beginning was to stage classics for short runs of three to six weeks so that there would be ten or so new productions each year. In order to keep costs down the company had as few full-time staff as possible, hiring directors, designers, technical crews and actors for each production only, and, by subsidising less popular plays with successful runs, often of Chekhov (‘He’s the Monet of theatre,’ George would say, ‘ everybody loves him’) managed to break even for the first few years. However in the mid-eighties the company hit a bad patch and George was obliged to find extra funding to survive. When his application for an Arts Council subsidy was rejected he turned to sponsorship and discovered that he was good at persuading wealthy companies to back his productions. The key to this, he realised early on, was providing company executives with access to famous actors and actresses and while there were protests at these ‘extra performances’ George was usually successful in arguing that the company could not survive otherwise. BACKGROUND TO THE COMPUTER SYSTEM Throughout its twenty-five years the company’s administrative procedures were primitive and chaotic. George was interested only in the artistic side of the company and had little or no concern for practicalities but his personal charm was so great that staff were prepared to put up with the constant problems caused by poorly-defined procedures and non-existent communication. Then in the new century George’s health began to fail and he was frequently not around to resolve mix-ups and disputes. In addition the regulations governing theatres and public performances and the hiring of part-time workers