The Structuring of the Organization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Structuring of the Organization - Essay Example Establishing a successful car factory in the car industry must account for prior, current and possible future trends in the car industry. Planning and implementing a project that would make it possible to realize success in operations and performance must significantly counter or fundamentally actualize countermeasures of the possible problems that the car factory is likely to face, relative to the performance of the entire industry. In such a pursuit, leadership must be critically positioned in every aspect of the industry in order to minimize problem effects and enhance the success of the business. There are variant problems that the car factory would face in the industry, but leadership should be availed to combat all underlying problems. Different industries across the globe are characterized by stiff competition between the firms that make up such industries. Business enterprises within the industry setting engage each other in stiff competition for a significant market share that favors the continuity of the business aspects of every single enterprise (Robbins, Judge & Sanghi, 2009, p.218). The competitive advantage of a firm is determined by a number of factors, all of which are influential in the market. The objective to satisfy consumer needs is relative to product qualities and pricing policies. Consumer tastes and preferences must also be accounted for in the competition process since the ultimate concern is to be in business by engaging consumers to buy. High competition in the car industry is a problem due to the already established businesses in the same line. Existing firms are often preventative of the market, and they try to make the environment unfavorable for new entrants. Setting up a car factory cannot fail to consider this aspect of competition. In order to effectively tackle high competition problems, leadership practices etc.

Employment Relations 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Employment Relations 2 - Essay Example Ever since the need for the department has become prominent, it has made great strides and has evolved completely, the functions that we see any human resources department performing today are very different from the functions that it performed 2 or 3 decades ago, this is ample evidence to judge the importance of the role that human resources departments now perform in any given company. Employment relations means the relationship that exists between the employer and the employees and the factors that affect this bond are some institutional factors which would be discussed in detail later on in the paper, these factors are basically the economic, political and the cultural factors and how they affect the relationship of the employer and the employee and the role of the human resources department in tackling the various issues that may arise due to the impact of these factors is looked into in detail. The employment relation also looks into the rights that the employees have over the employer and the rights that the employer have over the employee, it also defines what needs to be done in different situations when a breach has been made by either party. Economic factors can also have an effect on the employment relation of the firm, for example in the micro economic context if the demand for the firms products goes down rapidly due to substitutes being now available at a cheaper market price then the firm would have to react to this negative factor in the environment and reply by having either lower prices or higher quality goods, but if the price has to be decreased some of the labor might have to be laid off and that can really hurt the relationship between the firm and its employees. If a labor union is involved then it would definitely protest against laying off for this reason and might threaten to halt all labor activities if the decision of the firm is not taken back. These are some decisions that the firm has to make very carefully and take the union into full confidence before announcing any such decision. On the other hand macroeconomic factors can also have a bearing on the firm and its relationship with the employees or trade unions, if the inflation level is extremely high and the company finds that it needs to cut down on costs or close a wing down then the same problems would ensue as those that have been mentioned above, but with measures such as negotiations and direct dialogue between the company and the trade unions such barriers can be overcome but there might be times when the issue would have to be resolved by putting the foot down, in that case the firm might have to pay a hefty price in the short term but in the long run it would be beneficial for the firm (Ed. 2008). Employees of any company have the right to join a labor union and that labor union has the right to represent that employee. Demand factors may reduce the facilities that are given to employees by the employer as this would translate into lower costs for the employee, this might be an alternative solution for laying off people and there have been examples where labor unions have accepted or brokered such deals where the w hole labor force would accept a lower wage when economic conditions are bad so that no one from the organization is laid off. Another factor is the political scenario or the political situation of the country that the firm is

Leed Versus Breeam Analysis Construction Essay

Leed Versus Breeam Analysis Construction Essay Displaying a green certificate is becoming more and more important for organisations as the communities they operate in are becoming more and more sustainably aware. Environmental assessment of buildings is nothing new, BREEAM was the first national scheme introduced in 1990 but has since expanded, going from a small 19-page BRE report with 27 credits available, to a substantial 350-page technical guide with 105 credits BREEAM has conquered the UK Market for almost 20 years. But now has stiff competition from the US Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). In 1998 the US Green Building Council launched its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). BREEAM and LEED are now the main methods currently competing for business in the UK. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Is an internationally recognized green building certification system,  providing third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts (USGBC, 2008). Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), LEED provides building owners and operators a concise framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions. It was recently introduced into the UK as a solution to some of the downfalls of current rating systems. In the UK, interest in LEED is growing. The Green Building Certification Institutes website records 66 LEED Accredited Professionals in the UK. This is the fifth highest national total behind the US, Canada, UAE and China (BSRIA, 2009). LEED is flexible enough to apply to all building types especially commercial. It works throughout the building lifecycle first assessment is completed at the design and construction stage then the second is the operations and maintenance stage, then finally any tenant fit out, and significant retrofit. However, the LEED design can miss many green opportunities that fall outside the stringent LEED criteria. One problem with the LEED method of sustainable design is that it can foster an all-or-nothing attitude toward this pursuit. LEED audits have become a common activity during schematic design. All too often, however, green design is abandoned entirely once this audit shows a project falling short of the number of points required for LEED certification (Environmental Outlook, 2002). Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM Is the foremost method of assessing the environmental performance of new and existing buildings both in the UK and worldwide. It sets the standard for best practice in sustainable development and covers virtually all aspects of the design. (BREEAM, 2002) Achieving a BREEAM rating is ever more becoming a requirement of Funding Bodies and Planning Authorities. It also demonstrates a commitment to socially responsible development and creating sustainable and healthy environments in which current and future generations are to live and work. (BREEAM, 2002) Assessments are carried out at two stages; Firstly, during the Design Stage and then at Post Construction Review Stage. Following the Post Construction Stage Assessment, the Client is provided with a BREEAM Certificate directly by the BRE. BREEAM Ratings are awarded in five categories: pass, good, very good, excellent and outstanding. The BREEAM process will help to encourage better standards with commercial developments, but it should be done in a way that clearly acknowledges the complete development cycle for different options rather than the factory gate figure alone. Future strategies for BREEAM will need to see a general alignment with government carbon reduction and sustainability plans. BREEAM would then be more integrated into legislation so that new buildings are built with sustainability embedded throughout the complete process. These two methods lack similarities when it comes to the process of qualifications. BREEAM has trained assessors who assess the evidence against the credit criteria and report it to the BRE, who validate the assessment and issue the certificate. While LEED does not require training, there is a credit available if an accredited professional (AP) is used. (James Parker 2009) Table The role of the AP is to help gather the evidence and advise the client. The evidence is then submitted to the USGBC which does the assessment and issues the certificate. Both schemes share common components see Table 1. Early involvement of the assessor or AP at the design stage is beneficial to the project and the final rating. Both schemes drive the market to improve building design. The judging criteria also keep pace with legislative developments and current best practice. James Parker author of BREEAM vs LEED (2009) has issued findings on buildings which have achieved both a BREEAM and a LEED rating his findings were as follows. The US-GBC also lists ten UK buildings as being registered for one of the LEED schemes. At the time of writing, the list shows that only one UK building the Herman Miller HQ in Cheltenham as having gained a LEED rating. This building also had a BREEAM assessment carried out under the offices 2006 scheme, under which it was awarded an excellent rating. Another building known to have both a BREEAM and a LEED rating is the Van de Kamp Bakery, at Los Angeles City College. The bakery gained a certified LEED rating and a Good BREEAM 2005 rating (James Parker, 2009). James Parkers findings provide the opinion that BREEAM issues a higher rating for the same building in both the US and the UK. However it would be more precise to compare LEED with BREEAM 2008, as the latter now has a compulsory post-construction review, this has been an item on the objective list for LEED for a while. Previous BREEAM schemes only assessed buildings at a design stage. Eszter Gulacsy, a sustainability consultant from MTT/Sustain has stated that whilst BREEAM is more educational and more rigorous LEED is far simpler in its approach, BREEAM is more relevant in the UK as it uses UK policies, however LEED can sit alongside as part of a global corporate policy, she says. Gulacsy also believes that the driver for LEED in the UK is often the clients global corporate policy or the needs for global tenants. This makes a lot of sense, companies that are multi-national would find it much easier if their sustainable commitments and rating procedure were dealt with in the same way but before the introduction on LEED into the UK, multi-national companies had to use BREEAM in the UK and perhaps LEED elsewhere. For example Germany-based Siemens now uses LEED for all its new buildings worldwide, several of these are now located in Europe. BREEAMs director, Martin Townsend states that We have not been shy about selling BREEAM across the globe. BREEAM International grew out of the BREEAM Bespoke scheme. BREEAM Europe and BREEAM Gulf are similar money-earners. But going global brings BREEAM head-to-head with its rival LEED. Ironically, we are seeking ways of collaborative working with the US LEED system. If an American bank wants to build over here, it understands about LEED and wants the building built to that standard. Thats fine, but it might not translate that well into the UK climatic environment, our building legislation or the way that building operates. Providing a client with dual certification has to be a good way of sharing that information. (Building Design, 2009) But Gulacsy warns Europe thinks that LEED is an easy win, but it isnt if the paperwork and evidence is not in place. There is a danger of complacency, So would a merging of the two competing systems be seen as desirable? Clearly, a one-size-fits-all assessment method would be complicated to implement on a global basis as problems that face one country or region might not be issues in others therefore these need to be ranked accordingly for example water efficiency is a major issue in Dubai and Australia, but not in England or Ireland. LEED is dominated by the American ASHRAE standards (an international organization that establishes standards for the uniform testing and rating of heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration equipment) (EPA, 2004). BREEAM takes its cue from European and UK legislation. The regional versions of both schemes flow from those antecedents. BREEAM Gulf has been adapted for the local market. Gone are the Good, Very Good, and Excellent ratings, and in comes star ratings. The weightings are changed so that water is the key issue, rather than energy as in the standard UK schemes. In addition to the CIBSE guidance being the measure for certain credits, ASHRAE and other standards are also now referenced in BREEAM Gulf. BREEAM has long been able to adapt to local contexts. With BREEAM Bespoke, for example, the assessor can work with BRE to develop assessment criteria specially tailored to a building where it doesnt fit neatly into one of the existing schemes. Stephen Kennett, (2008) . It is stated that LEED has not been shaped with this high level of flexibility and it is not run this way. LEED is fixed to the ASHRAE standards and the US way of thinking (for example, credits are awarded for having enough car parking spaces, rather than minimising them as in BREEAM). There are also differences in the way LEED calculates credits. They are generally linked to the US Dollar, which means that if the exchange rate is unfavourable, then the buildings rating could suffer (James Parker, 2009). There is a lot of hype about the battle between BREEAM and LEED in the UK, but this seems to be unfounded. Both seem happy to co-exist and each has their niche areas or countries. They are even borrowing each others ideas as they grow. BREEAM will probably always come out on top in the UK, simply because it is imbedded in the system. Government departments require BREEAM ratings of all their buildings; most local authorities require BREEAM as part of planning approval for developments over a certain size. Once projects are underway that aim to be zero carbon, the likes of BREEAM or LEED may have developed to become the global default methods of assessment. (James Parker 2009)

The Benefits of Global Positioning Satellites :: Expository Essays Research Papers

The Benefits of Global Positioning Satellites Navigation systems are becoming more and more popular in cars. In a world where society wants everything fast and easy, a system which allows you to program a location and quickly get directions is sure to be a success. Early versions of these navigating systems installed a computer hard drive into the car. These were rather expensive and also somewhat clumsy to operate. The new systems which are called Global Positioning Satellites run off of satellite dishes that the military monitors. These new GPS systems, as they are called, are extremely accurate as well as useful. They can track a car's location within about 30 feet. GPS originally started in rental cars and now are becoming more common in other cars. One of the most popular GPS systems is General Motor's OnStar system. OnStar not only offers the navigation aid like normal navigation systems, but also a wide variety of other features as well. It provides automatic theft notification which signals a call center allowing the vehicle to be tracked, automatic crash notification which alerts the call center when air bags are deployed, road-side assistance aiding travelers in finding the nearest repair center, and an in-vehicle emergency button which immediately contacts and OnStar operator. By stating your pin number to an operator, OnStar can automatically unlock your car if you lock your keys inside. It is backed by the company's policy of "hands on the wheel, eyes on the road" as well. OnStar has voice recognition as audio directions. In addition to the necessities of traveling, OnStar can help you find a hotel in the area you are heading, order flowers while driving, and even suggest certain restaurants you may want to eat at and m ake reservations while on the road. OnStar is a standard feature in all General Motors and some Acura vehicles. Customers receive one year of service for free and after that are billed a monthly fee. Though depending on the service package, the cost varies from $34 to $70 a month, OnStar manages to keep almost two million subscribers. Despite the luxuries OnStar and other navigation systems offer, there are factors which may still stop customers from subscribing. Though OnStar is rather quick at obtaining information, tests have shown that programs such as MapQuest beat OnStar at coming up with directions. OnStar needed nearly twenty-one minutes to calculate a 618 mile journey.

Kristallnacht – source related study

Any Historian studying Kristallnacht would find sources A and B very useful as they both say who is responsible for the night. Although the person who is said to be responsible in each source is different, they both show that the Nazis were clearly against the Jews and this would give the Historian a good idea of which source is more likely to be accurate. Source A's provenance tells us it is a summary by Fritz Hesse who was a journalist working for Hitler, this means he would know quite a bit about him so his source is likely to have some truth in it. The source was also written in 1954 which is many years after Hitler died so he would not be bothered about writing the truth because nothing would happen. If Hitler was still alive he would have been scared to write the truth and Hitler would have probably told him what he had to write, on the other hand, it was along time ago and the details may not be fresh in his mind so there could be some inaccurate detail in it. The source tells us that Fritz Hesse (the writer of the source) was at dinner with Hitler, Goebbels and some other party leaders and overhears an officer whispering something into Goebbels ear. He then sees Goebbles mumble to Hitler about a mass attack on the Jews and synagogues that he and the SA had planned for that night. Hitler is very excited about this and Goebbles is pleased because he is trying to get back in with Hitler. The detail in this source which makes it seem reliable is when Hitler is very excited about hearing what Goebbels has planned against the Jews, Hesse remembers that he, ‘squealed with delight and slapped his thigh with enthusiasm,' this makes the source seem more convincing and therefore more useful to the Historian as it is not something you normally make up. At the end of the source it says that Goebbels was clearly trying to win back Hitler's support, this also makes it seem reliable because we know that he was out of favour with Hitler because he had an affair with a Czech actress. This source would be useful because it tells the historian that the SA and Goebbels were responsible for the attacks and that the Nazis were against the Jews a lot. Source B is not very reliable, but it is still very useful to the Historian. It is a secret report prepared by the Nazi party supreme court after the events of Kristallnacht so it is the official Nazi line, this means the story might have been change completely to make the Nazis look good and not responsible because they knew the German people would not approve. The source says that the report is from after the attacks, but they are announced to everyone by Goebbels in the evening which does not really fit in. The source is blaming the German people for the anti-Jewish demonstrations and Goebbels told the party leaders about this at a social evening. The source also says that if people do start ‘spur of the moment' attacks on the Jews it will not be stopped. The source sounds more reliable when Goebbels tells the party leaders that there has been some anti-Jewish demonstrations, because this makes it seem although they did not know anything about its. The description of the things that happened on the night would have been reliable because if they were blaming other people and not themselves it would not matter to them. This source would be useful to the Historian because it says what happened on Kristallnacht and the kind of damage that was done, it also lets the historian know that the Nazis claimed not to be responsible which means that if they were they obviously did it so they would not loose support from German people. The similarities between the two sources are that both have an evening gathering of the party leaders on the 9th of November, but source A is from before the demonstrations and source B is from after, but the attacks happened at night so this makes source B seem inaccurate. Both of the sources show that the Nazis do not like the Jews because in source A when Hitler is told about Goebbels plan he is very excited and in Source B after Goebbels denies having anything to do with the attacks he says that the Nazis would not be allowed to organise such demonstrations but they would not be stopped. These similarities would be very useful to the historian because he would have something that he knows is most likely true, like the Nazis disliking the Jews a lot which would help him decide what he thinks is more accurate. The source that would be more reliable is source A, but source B would be more useful to the Historian because it is more detailed as it says what happened on the night which would be reliable because the Nazis were not blamed so it wouldn't matter to them what was written because it didn't make them look bad, it also lets the Historian know that the Jews were not liked by the Nazis because of the one line at the end of the source so the historian could judge who was to blame for himself. Source A only tells the historian who is to blame and does not really give a description of the kind of things that were done on the night.

People Led District Disaster Management Essay

Soon after the Orissa Cyclone and thereafter the Gujarat earthquake the Government of India prioritized a national policy on disaster management and advocated a change of direction from a post disaster reactive approach to a proactive stance before the occurrence of disasters, provided a new legal framework and greater harmonization of disaster management efforts. The policy set forth principles (including significant community role and active civil society participation), objectives (including emphasis on prevention, DRR and promoting regional and national cooperation), strategies and provisions for promoting inter-sectoral complementarities. The Disaster Management Act 2005, mandates National, States and district authorities to develop policy, guidelines, plans for proper implementation of Disaster management plans to reduce adverse impact on communities and to facilitate timely and effective response. It stresses upon inclusion of mitigation, preparedness and DRR measures into development. As a result SDMAs in various states initiated development of district disaster management plans. However, some plans were merely a collection of contact phone numbers of important authorities and departments from the district. There were significant gaps in these operational plans mainly due to non availability of a standard framework, lack of expertise and dedicated resources. Lack of community participation and that of relevant stakeholders in the preparation process has resulted in lack of ownership among intended users and beneficiaries. Disasters tend to happen to people at risk. People are at risk because they are vulnerable to hazards. This vulnerability can be best reduced by increasing people’s capacities to deal with underlying social, cultural and physical factors. The key to successful disaster management plan is to ensure involvement of people who are victims and who are at risk or could be potential victims. If this is not practiced it is often unsustainable, costly and ineffective. Most DDMPs in the country lacked participation of affected communities and civil society. A participatory community level disaster management involves a cross section of people in the design and development process of the plan. When local people develop these plans there is more interest, greater ownership and understanding resulting in successfully reducing suffering and losses. The key principles of this approach thus are: * Community themselves are best placed to prioritize threats and take effective risk reducing actions. The best time to reduce the impact of disasters is before the next disasters occur. Hence, preventive actions should be integral part of the effective disaster management plan. * The identification and mapping of hazards along with who and what may be affected is necessary before risk reduction plans can be made. * Progress has to be well publicized to maintain interest and strengthen the culture of disaster reduction. An example of this is found in the recent NDMA/SDMA collaboration with civil society coming together to develop community led DDMP in Madhubani. One of the basic highlights of the Madhubani DDMP process is that though it oriented towards response but it also incorporates reduction and prevention thrust. Incidentally, prevention has been recognized as an important aspect of DDMP by the district and state/SDMA but also in the poverty reduction strategy. As a result of DDMP several agencies/departments in Madhubani have shown willingness to incorporate prevention measures in their regulations, such as the building codes by the town planners that regulate development of settlements. It was encouraging to note high level of commitment from various stakeholders to improving DRR mechanism. Tearfund has been working along with its partners to lobby with governments at all levels for influencing the policies and development of effective people friendly plans. The Madhubani DRR project implemented by its partner organisation EFICOR in 30 villages in Madhubani was instrumental in development of pilot District Disaster Management Plan (DDMP) along with support from SPHERE India. The strength of this pilot has been the process it has embarked upon wherein involvement and participation of all level of stakeholders from community to district/state/national government authorities in development process of this DDMP. In view of intensive involvement of all relevant stakeholders the pilot has received good response and acceptance from the NDMA and SDMA. This is considered as the first ever attempt in developing a DDMP which has come up from the active involvement of first respondent in any natural disasters. As mentioned above the thrust of development of DDMP is that it is being developed involving affected community, hence, the approach has been bottom-up, however at the same time, all relevant stakeholders, be it government departments or the NGOs and other actors have been involved and participated at all stages of development of the plan. This is truly a plan developed by the people and for the people. This plan has also influenced many other civil socieities to take up similar preparations for other districts and states with the support of NDMA.

Mother of the Groom Essay Example

Mother of the Groom Essay Example Mother of the Groom Paper Mother of the Groom Paper Essay Topic: poem Mother of the Groom is a poem about the feelings, thoughts and memories that the grooms mother feels on her sons wedding day. The mother thinks back to the days when her son was a baby. The poem is written by the Irish poet Seamus Heaney. Heaney uses a third person technique to describe the thoughts that the mother is going through. The voice is taken on by Heaney as he explains the thoughts and memories that the mother has. This poem is addressed to the reader, the thoughts and memories are taken from the mother. The situation that is set in this poem is in a church or wherever the groom has chosen to set the marriage. The poem is 12 lines long and it has been separated into three equal stanzas of four lines each. As the poem progresses from the first line each stanza is separated into different memories that the mother has of her son during his early childhood. It is ironic how soap could ease off the wedding ring but in the next line the wedding ring is bedded forever now. Heaney uses this irony to describe the how it was hard to take off the rings when she had to give her son his bath, but she hopes that their love is forever so the ring that is on her sons and daughter in-laws hand stays on forever like their love. The tone in Mother of the Groom is very mixed. There is happiness in her memories when she connected with her child. Yet there is also sadness and fear of loosing her child to another woman. These memories may be fond but during this part of her life they seem to haunt her. As a mother she feels that the moments where she could connect with her son are gone. So the poem is sad and happy at times. Many ideas are embedded into the poem and the choice of words match the situation that has been described. The mother feels that her son was truly precious when she was bathing him. She uses the word glistening to describe the glow that her son puts out when his back is wet. This enhances how much her innocent baby means to her during the time she gives him a bath. The mother feels that there is something missing a gap or emptiness on her lap. Heaney uses the word voided to illustrate the emptiness that the mother feels. Voided is a word that catches the readers eye which makes them also see how much her precious son means to her. To Conclude, Heaney chosen a theme that is very touching for a mother and a moment which is very symbolic in a persons life. He has brought out the mixed emotions that a mother will feel on the day that her son gets married to another woman. Recalling the memories from the past is also very important in this poem because it enhances sadness and the things that have connected them in such and close way. These feeling are described by the best possible selection of words which makes this poem so outstanding.