Diversity at Work

A major issue that many companies face today is how to promote diversity in the workplace. While federal laws and company policies give protection to diversity on the workplace, there still stand certain barriers that inhibit its growth. In effect, the purposes of these efforts are defeated. Therefore, it is important for firms to address how to overcome these barriers.Having been a longstanding issue, many studies have been devoted to defining and managing diversity, identifying obstacles to diversity, and ways in which these hurdles can be won. In all these studies, experts agreed that diversity is not an easy task.Moreover, promoting diversity in the workplace requires proponents to face the issues of fear, lack of cooperation from the workgroup, mistakes in planning, and problems with funding and training schedules, among other dilemmas. Diversity at Work—How to Make it Work? presents and explores these barriers that impede the expansion of diversity in workplaces, as iden tified by experts. In turn, the paper will also attempt to raise suggestions as to how these barriers can be overcome as well as how diversity can be promoted more effectively. Barriers to Diversity There is never any fool-proof plan.Companies most especially, regardless of size or industry, are fragile to facing challenges when they introduce plans that can adversely affect its operations and employees. However, companies should not be hindered by these challenges, and thus continue with plans that can contribute to the growth of the firm and its workforce. This applies essentially when a company decides to take a step in making theirs a diverse workplace. Diversity, being a sensitive issue that it is, can be filled with difficulties that many companies who subscribe to it end up unsuccessful.While it is impressive for a company to put efforts in promoting diversity in their firm, it is equally important for it to know that there are hurdles to their efforts to promote diversity in their workplaces. It is also necessary for them to identify and address these obstacles to allow for diversity to be effective. In doing so, the time, money, and effort that the company will put in to promoting diversity will not be put to waste. Here are some of the things that experts identified as barriers to making diversity flourish in organizations:Wrong leaders. Diversity is a sensitive initiative, and because it involves the employees it is normal for companies to create committees to lead the program, or appoint the human resources people to do the job. However, the sensitive nature of promoting diversity can make employees defenseless against other employees, even if they are human resources heads. (Simmons, 2003) Fear. According to Thiederman (2003), many companies who decide to face diversity tend to be afraid with the things attached to it.In many cases, diversity committees take considerable time planning the diversity initiatives because of their many fears such as t o offend a minor group, or to make a mistake in the policies that they are making. Defective objectives. Companies may become unrealistic with their goals and either create objectives which are not applicable to their workplace, or too ideal that it can never be executed at all. (Thiederman, 2003) Simmons (2003) seconds this by saying that often, companies create diversity objectives that are not in line with the vision and mission of the company, to which everything should be based.Lack of cooperation from employees. The mere promotion of diversity introduces the fact that differences exist in the organization, and in fact further proves the existence of such. Despite the fact that diversity aims to equalize and create inclusiveness with all members of the workforce, there are instances when employees see loopholes and will not want to cooperate. (Thiederman, 2003) By promoting diversity, the dominant party or majority may also feel that they are receiving less opportunities in the company’s effort to promote equality and inclusion.These employees may feel that in the company’s efforts t please the minority, they are being left out and thus it will be difficult for them to cooperate. (Common barriers to diversity, 2000) Stereotypes. It is human nature to stereotype people. Often, people make assumptions of others consciously or not without considering how it can affect others and the environment in which they are in. Stereotyping affects companies in such a way that when employees judge each other, they are already working against diversity. (Common barriers to diversity, 2000)Co-membership Syndrome. It is not surprising that employees will likely group themselves according to their similarities. Thus commonly, white males will most likely group together in the same way that employees in their mid-20s will group together. However, this is one defect in companies that prevent diversity from happening. When employees group themselves, they unconsc iously form factions that tend to be exclusive to them based on their similarities. A negative effect of this scenario is the tendency for these factions to create biases within their groups.For instance, when a member of the group has to be evaluated by a co-member fair and true judgment may not be given. (Common barriers to diversity, 2000) Insider Dynamics. In the creation of informal splinter groups in the workplace, it is inevitable for employees to feel either included or excluded in the factions. This highly affects the performance of the employees. When an employee is a member of a group, he considers himself an insider and can get the support of her co-members in any corporate initiative.On the other hand, employees who are different and thus does not enjoy the membership to a group (the outsiders to a group) do not get the backing they need in corporate initiatives. This damages their confidence and self-esteem. On a larger scale, it denies them the right to influence othe rs, make decisions for themselves, their positions, and their departments, and may give them less access to vital information that can help them play their professional roles. (Common barriers to diversity, 2000) Cues and gestures.With the differences in race, gender, culture, education, age, and other aspects, people may have different cues and gestures that may mean differently to others. While this is normal, it greatly affects diversity efforts and can even create communication chaos. (Common barriers to diversity, 2000) Generalities in diversity training. Because diversity involves the inclusion of all employees regardless of differences, diversity trainings also tend to be diverse in nature and given on a whim without consideration on the different levels of understanding and acceptance that employees have as well as roles that they play.This makes most diversity trainings ineffective and wasteful. (Simmons, 2003) Lack of professional trainers. The demand for diversity trainin gs is on the rise, and it attracted non-professionals to join the bandwagon of diversity trainers despite lack of training and expertise on the subject. This creates more problem than solution, as non-skilled trainers can give unnecessary or wrong ideas to employees who can end up confused and frustrated. (Bennet, n. d. ) Time and cost.Promoting diversity and using diversity seminars is a mean feat. It can cost thousands of dollars to hire a diversity speaker, additional expenses to set up the training with all the requirements of it, and additional money for formulating policies and implementing them. Apart from this, it will also take time from employees and corporate heads alike, and in business time is also commensurate to money. When a company decides to promote diversity, both top-level executives and employees need to allot and spend time in cooperating.Company officials need to take the time to plan the initiative, create policies, assign executors, and monitor the progress of the plan first-hand to ensure that efforts are not put in vain. Employees will likewise need the time to meet with company officials and executors to discuss the plan for diversity, as well as allot a notch in their schedules to attend trainings and seminars. Thereafter, every member of the company must take time every single day at work to see that diversity is being practiced.Thus, time and cost are also barriers for many companies who are willing to promote diversity in their firms. (Bennet, n. d. ) Overcoming Barriers After identifying the barriers that companies experience in promoting diversity at work, it is essential for solutions to be classified as well. To begin with, Simmons (2003) states that diversity initiatives should be lead by the chief executive officers and top-level executives. This will make the plan appear to be of primary importance, as what it already is.The involvement of the higher ranks will also induce cooperation among employees. Fear is yet another obstacle in achieving corporate diversity and to aid this, Thiederman (2003) says that it will be helpful for the proponents and leaders of the initiative to speak with their people and find out exactly what their thoughts and views are to bring about the actual necessities in the issue and avoid mistakes, especially in the area of policy making. Matching the goals of diversity with the goals, mission, and vision of the company will also set the goals of the initiative straight.(Simmons, 2003) It is important for companies to create realistic objectives that are consistent with the beliefs that their companies subscribe into. Likewise, companies that are just starting with their diversity plans should study and learn from companies who have already succeeded in managing diversity in their firms. (Thiederman, 2003) However, it is inevitable to have employees who are not willing to cooperate with diversity efforts regardless of attempts in the part of the company.According Thiederman (2003), involving everyone is the key to soliciting cooperation. Because diversity plans often put importance to the members of the minority in the workplace, dominant parties can feel left out and refuse to collaborate. Likewise, members of minor parties may feel that diversity highlights their difference all the more, especially when companies overdo the use of political correctness to the point of pretentiousness. Thus, companies should strive to make everyone a part of the effort in diversifying.The proponents should also refrain from adjusting and minimizing the company standards just to accommodate the minority as this will not be agreeable to all employees, dominant or not, and can cause them to think twice about cooperating. Heathfield (2007) agrees, saying that to promote diversity the company must keep itself on the winning court. Simmons (2003) also stressed that any complaint on reverse discrimination should be readily addressed. Trainings and information dissemination m ay also address most concerns related to diversity such as stereotyping, co-membership, insider dynamics, and cues and gesture differences.Companies who invest on and effectively carry out such trainings encourage and inform their employees that holding and sharing assumptions and judgments about other people, especially their co-employees, can adversely affect them, their relationships, and their workplace. Efficient trainings and seminars on diversity can also eliminate the formation of factions and, ultimately, avoid the existence of insider and outsider dynamics within the organization. Differences in cues and gestures and the multiplicity of their interpretations may also be addressed by proper training and information.When employees understand that their cues and gestures may mean differently with others, they will become more sensitive with their actions and strive to act more appropriately in a manner that is appropriately understandable to others according to what they real ly mean. However, diversity trainings must be executed efficiently. One problem on diversity training is the use of generalities, often to address the need for diversity information of all employees at one time. This leaves a part of the audience informed, and a part of the audience misinformed or uninformed.Diversity trainings should therefore consider that every employee hold positions that require them to play different roles. Thus, every employee will need to learn how to inject diversity according to the tasks that they do on a daily basis and the responsibilities that they handle. (Simmons, 2003) Interestingly, however, Simmons (2003) suggests that in defining diversity, one should be as broad as possible and attempt to cover the different aspects in which an organization should be diverse. This allows diversity to cover a global scope, as compared to merely promoting race or gender equality.These explain that while diversity training should be as specific as possible accordin g to the skills and roles of each employee, discussing diversity per se should be generalized and cover as much difference as one company can cover based on the cases within the organization. Lack of professional trainers also poses a problem in many diversity efforts. While the number of companies who are willing to subscribe to diversity is on a steep rise, the number of diversity trainers is also on the fast track up. However, the number of professional trainers—the experts—, which is an entirely different thing, is on a forward drag.While the solution to this problem may not be on the hands of companies, it is important that firms trying to start diversity trainings in their workplaces do not hire just any available trainer around. Professional trainers provide high-quality trainings and give expert consultation that no low-cost, readily available trainer can offer. If financially feasible, companies may also outsource the training to third-party consulting firms i f professional trainers are not available. Time is also an essential consideration that hinders diversity programs from becoming effective.As shown, diversity can take a lot of precious time; and as mentioned above time in business equals money. It is therefore important that every minute spent on diversity is used efficiently. Monitoring and consistent evaluation can help companies achieve this and avoid wastage. Costs may also be a hurdle for companies to provide diversity plans for their employees. To get by, companies must assess how much actual money they are willing to spend on their diversity initiative. It is also important to allot the money properly according to the priorities of the plan so that each aspect of the plan is funded accordingly.Similar as the time barrier, monitoring and evaluation should be done to ensure that the money being allotted for the diversity plan is properly spent. Apart from these means in overcoming the barriers identified, it is worthy to consi der several other suggestions from experts in managing and promoting diversity at work. According to Bennet (n. d. ), storytelling is one of the experts’ ways to promote variety because by sharing stories of both discrimination and diversity, listeners tend to think and feel.This allows for emotions to be tapped, a powerful way to convince people to support diversity and do away with discrimination. Heathfield (2007), on the other hand, presents an interesting key in unlocking diversity. While it has been mentioned a while ago that a barrier to diversity is the co-membership syndrome where employees tend to bond with others who are like them, Heathfield suggests that similarities be used to promote diversity saying that by highlighting the things where the employees are alike diversity can be promoted.One common ground to begin with is the goal set that employees may have for working in the firm. Most importantly, diversity initiatives must respect and value people, specifica lly employees, and their contributions. It is important for companies to understand that diversity does not aim to widen the privilege entitlement of minority groups. By doing so, the workplace will be a more interesting and enjoyable place to be in.

Confessions of an Economic Hit man Essay

Set#1, Q2) The individual actions that Perkins takes are often influenced by larger social forces and institutions. What are the major social forces and institutions that shape his life? How did these forces and institutions shape the choices that Perkins faced? Do you see specific points in his life when Perkins could have made different choices? Perkins say’s that he was an economic hit man. What we do is not, in essence, illegal, but it should be. We find third world countries with some resource that can be developed and then give a huge loan to that country. The money, however, never goes to that country, but to our own companies within that country–companies that benefit only a few very rich people (Perkins, 2005). In many of these countries, you build a power plant or something that devastates the land, and the lines go only into the big cities, not to the farmers, peasants, etc. These people also don’t benefit from the ports and highways we build because they don’t have boats and they don’t have cars, and yet the whole country is left with a huge debt, and the money to pay the interest alone is being taken from education, healthcare, and other social services. In the end, the country can’t pay its debt, so we â€Å"hit men† go back to the country and take our â€Å"pound of flesh,† (Perkins, 2005) forcing them to sell their oil or some other resource to us for very cheap. It’s interesting that people think that other countries that have sent troops to Iraq in support of us have done so out of principle, but they were essentially blackmailed into it because they owed us so much money. The average person in these countries is actually worse off because of these projects, not better (Perkins, 2005). These projects do contribute to an increased Gross National Product (GNP) and total economic statistic of the country, but the well-being of the majority of people in these countries is not reflected in the GNP, because the GNP reflects the output achieved by the upper classes that own the business, industry, and commercial establishment. That process of making loans should be illegal. If Perkins say’s that he were a banker it would be illegal if Perkins say’s that he enticed you into taking a loan that Perkins say’s that he knew you couldn’t afford. But done on an international basis, it is not illegal. So economic hit men do not do illegal things. We are distinct from the â€Å"jackals† who do in fact do illegal things, like governments, and other activities that are extremely disruptive, yet incidentally, extremely effective. When Jaime Hurtado of Ecuador was assassinated because of economic hit men including me, and when Omar Torrijos of Panama was assassinated for the same reason in 1981, suddenly the peoples’ spirits in these two countries plummeted, especially since their spirits were soaring with the election of these leaders. The jackals are very effective not only in that they topple these governments, but they break the spirits of these people. (Perkins, 2005) Historians have long known that U. S. policy was to overthrow governments that challenged our political power or restricted or interfered with the ability of our international corporations from making big profits. They point to our role in Guatemala, Chile, Iran, etc. Its pretty well established that we were involved in trying to overthrow Hugo Chavez in Venezuela in 2002; in fact, the administration has admitted that. We certainly know what we’re doing in Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, and Afghanistan, so it’s well established that the U. S. government gets pretty in tries. â€Å"When the jackals fail, young Americans are sent in to kill and to die. † (Perkins, 2005) Perkins personal involvement or the involvement of other individuals in the book are well documented, so the only real question one could have is: â€Å"Did John Perkins really do this, or was it someone else who did these things? (Engler, 2005) But if someone actually took the time to look over all of the documents–Perkins passport for example–they would walk away without the shadow of a doubt that Perkins say’s that he was involved in doing these things. Let me add that it doesn’t serve anyone’s interest to be in denial. What we need to do is understand our mistakes and set them right. This will allow us the opportunity to move forward, start fresh, and create a better world. So, rather than denying the things we have done, we should focus on what we can do to set things right, and create a model that reflects the ideals of what Perkins say’s that he was brought up to believe America is all about. When Perkins say’s that he was an economic hit man these things weighed on Perkins conscience. Perkins say’s that he struggled with them. In Perkins heart, Perkins say’s that he came to understand that what Perkins say’s that he was doing was really bad. After being a hit man for over ten years, Perkins say’s that he was in the Caribbean on St.John’s Island and while on a boat, Perkins say’s that he saw a sugarcane plantation that was grown over with bougainvilleas. As Perkins say’s that he sat there, Perkins say’s that he realized that the plantation was built on the bones of thousands of slaves, and that our entire hemisphere was built on the bones of millions of slaves, and then it struck me that Perkins say’s that he too was a slaver, that Perkins job as an economic hit man was promoting a different form of slavery, and Perkins say’s that he just had an epiphany, and realized that Perkins say’s that he could no longer do this. (Engler, 2005) Set#2, Q4) Was Perkins himself responsible for the banking disasters he claims he caused? Why or why not? Perkins writes that he is aware that people like Tom Friedman are telling us that America’s role in the world has been extremely positive and that we’re not doing a favor to anyone by telling them that economic development isn’t doing good, because economic development is the only path towards human realization and building a hope that might counter the despair that leads to a 9/11-type atrocity (Perkins, 2005). Perkins say’s that he would agree that economic development is very important, provided that it reaches the poor people. Otherwise the Friedman argument is a little bit like saying that slavery in the United States pre-Civil War was good because the slaves from Africa came to a civilized Christian country and they had food and housing on the plantations. But they were slaves! You could make the point, as people did in those days, that their conditions were better than those in Africa, but Perkins say’s that he think that’s a very irrational argument. That’s the same argument you could make about people in third world countries today, that they are better off now working in the sweatshops living off of two dollars a day. The point is that economic development since the 1970s has been very detrimental to the poor. They’ve been pushed out of the villages in which an ethos of collective responsibility guaranteed that people would do all they could to care for each other, even while being â€Å"dirt poor. † (Perkins, 2005) The quality of their mutual support never showed up in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), but it meant that far fewer people had to sell their children into prostitution or slavery to have â€Å"enough†(Perkins, 2005) to eat or a place that felt reasonable to live. In monetary terms, of course, the gap between rich and poor since the 1970s has more than doubled. (Perkins, 2005) That is not to say that economic development is wrong–we need more economic development, but it needs to be done in a way that helps the people on the bottom rung. It is not true that raising the economies of these places affects all the people there positively. What is true is that mostly the rich profit, while everyone else gets poorer. So we need a new view on what economic development really is. The extremes of poverty and inequality are connected to widespread support for terrorism and rebellion around the world. Perkins say’s that he have never met a terrorist who wanted to be a terrorist. They are terrorists because their land has been destroyed by oil plants or hydro-electric plants. â€Å"We can trade in that old nightmare of polluting industries, clogged highways, and overcrowded cities for a new dream based on Earth-honoring and socially responsible principles of sustainability and equality. † (Perkins, 2005) They become terrorists because they don’t know what else to do. Or they witnessed this happening to others whom they cared about, even if they themselves were not economically suffering. Of course, there are fanatical leaders that exploit this desperation in people. There will always be killers and sociopaths, but people like that don’t have any power unless there is a large grassroots following that relates to what they are saying. For example, Osama Bin Laden is Muslim, and South America is primarily Catholic (Perkins, 2005). Yet, you travel to South America and you see pictures of Osama Bin Laden, because people relate to him as a David standing up to a Goliath. These people are desperate, and unhappy with the situation today. So this gap between the rich and poor has created a tremendous amount of anger and hatred. There is a tremendous amount that we can do. Perkins say’s that he is very optimistic that we can turn this all around, that we can create a sustainable, stable, and peaceful world. We must realize that the only way our grandchildren can inherit this is if every child born in every corner of the planet has the same opportunity to make this happen. We are a very small planet at this point. Corporations today basically run the geopolitics, so we must change the corporations. They control the whole world in a very significant way, and yet they are incredibly vulnerable to us in that they rely on us to buy their goods and services and provided them with employees, and we have been extremely successful in changing corporations whenever we put our minds to it. Just recently major food chains did away with Tran’s fat because we demanded it. We are really successful at turning corporations around when we try, but now we must take this up a notch. Instead of just cleaning up rivers and protecting the ozone layer, we have to demand that they no longer orient their profits to benefit a few rich people, and that they make it their goal to contribute to a better world for us and our children. (Engler, 2005) Perkins say’s that he know this will happen because Perkins say’s that he know a lot of CEOs, and none of them want to see rainforests destroyed, or terrorism, or Florida covered in ocean, but they are all operating under the idea that their mandate is to make greater and greater profits for their shareholders. But that is not their mandate. They can still make their profits, but their mandate is to make a better world for all of us. In the final analysis, each of us must follow our passions and talents to create a more sustainable world. We take different paths, but we can all work towards the same end (Perkins, 2005). Why should corporations just continue to be able to go out a plunder? They should be responsible to bigger bodies than just their stockholders. Perkins writes that he is struck by the statistics that during WWII, big corporations contributed about 50 percent to our income tax, and in 2001 it was something over 20 percent. In recent years it’s been under 10 percent. Some of the most profitable and powerful corporations don’t pay taxes at all, and some get a tax credit despite how profitable they are. Ultimately, the corporations have to be willing to pay their dues.

Harvard Receives Record Applications for the 2018-2019 Cycle

For the fifth year in a row, Harvard College has received a record number of applicants for its incoming freshman class. Harvard announced recently that it received 43,330 applicants for the class of 2023, marking an increase of 1.3% from the previous year. During the 2017-2018 cycle, the college received 42,749 applications; it was their first year breaking 40,000 . Dean of Admissions William R. Fitzsimmons attributed last year’s increase in applicants to the college’s generous financial aid program. He noted that affordability was becoming increasingly important to applicants, with over 75% applying for financial aid and nearly 30% requesting an application fee waiver. In addition to receiving higher numbers of applicants as a whole, applications from diverse groups also marked record numbers. The number of Latinx applicants to the Class of 2023 increased by 3.4% from last year, the number of Asian American applicants increased by 5.1%, and the number of African American applicants increased by 1.1%. First-generation college applicants grew by 13.8% from last year, and applicants from certain geographical areas also went up, especially from the south. With this pattern well-established, there’s little doubt that Harvard will receive more and more applicants in years to come. To learn what this means for future potential Harvard students, keep reading. As the number of applicants to Harvard College continues to climb, the acceptance rate at Harvard shrinks. Applicants to the class of 2022 were accepted at a rate of just 4.59%, a record low. Because admissions at Harvard is so competitive, even students with perfect test scores and a stellar extracurricular profile are not shoo-ins. Â  When applying, students should have realistic expectations about the odds of getting in. In fact, at , we recommend that all applicants consider Harvard a reach school, no matter how strong their profile. Creating a balanced college list with a variety of schools is especially important when applying to elite universities like Harvard. For more tips about creating a college list, read our posts The College List, Decoded: Safety, Target, and Reach Schools and What Makes a Good College List? With acceptance rates on the decline, applicants to Harvard need to be increasingly impressive to earn a coveted spot in the incoming class. Unfortunately, there is no magic formula to earning a Harvard acceptance. At , however, we have a unique understanding of the admissions process, based on our experiences guiding thousands of students to elite college acceptances. To learn more about getting in, check out our post What Does it Really Take to Get Into Harvard? , written by a Harvard alumna. Estimating your chance of getting into a college is not easy in today’s competitive environment. Thankfully, with our state-of-the-art software and data, we can analyze your academic and extracurricular profile and estimate your chances. Our profile analysis tool can also help you identify the improvement you need to make to enter your dream school. Many students think that perfect test scores or a stellar GPA guarantee a Harvard acceptance, but this is definitely no longer the case. In fact, it’s often said that Harvard receives enough applicants with perfect SAT scores that they could fill their entire freshman class. As such, strong academics are not the only necessary component of a successful Harvard applicant’s profile. Instead, the admissions committee practices a holistic admissions process, weighing extracurricular activities, essays, recommendations, interviews, and personal qualities. One quality that Harvard looks for specifically is your student’s potential for growth. This is partly evidenced by a successful academic record that shows positive grade trends and a willingness to take on challenges. In addition, admissions officers want to see students who create opportunities and take initiative. That being said, academics are definitely important when it comes to Harvard admissions. The middle 50th percentile of accepted students scored between 1460-1590 on the SAT. On the ACT, the middle 50 percent fell between 32-35. In addition, 95% of applicants were in the top 10% of their graduating class and 93% had a GPA of 3.75 or above. Finally, your teen’s essay for their Harvard application needs to stand out. They’ll need to use a voice that is uniquely theirs to highlight something unusual, or discuss something in a new or interesting way. To learn more about the Harvard supplemental essays, check out our annual feature, How to Write the Harvard University Supplemental Essays 2018-2019 , which we update each admissions cycle. The admissions committee at Harvard fully admits that they receive applications from far more qualified candidates than they are able to accept. This means that it is often little details that make an accepted student stand out from the rest of the applicant pool. Learning exactly how to set oneself apart can be a daunting task, but luckily your high schooler doesn’t have to do it alone.

The black market for body parts (human organs) Essay

The black market for body parts (human organs) - Essay Example Though there is the problem of waiting for the donors of organs, it is still heart-warming to know that so many lives are saved through such innovation. It provides a sense of security especially to older generation not to worry so much on the depreciation of their organs. It provides hope to all sick people to be cured from organ impairments. However, it is also alarming to note that in desperation of the families and those affected to prolong the lives of their patients they have become too impatient for donors and have become unmindful of the illicit trade of human organs. The society has become deaf and blind to the problem that confronts the world of medicine. Many do not even ask where the replacements for the 24, 900 organs must have come from. Not many are even aware that there is an illicit trade of human organs that dominates the world market today. It is the purpose of this paper then to discuss such shadowy organ dealings if only to enlighten the public what it takes for many people especially in the underdeveloped countries to provide the organs needed for the transplants. It is so unfortunate that out of the growing need of organ transplants, unscrupulous brokers also take advantage of the poor and the needy. This paper then intends to provide a picture on the widespread corrupt practices of organ traders in order to enlighten the public on the extent of the evilness of such trade. Why the donors are very much willing to sell their internal organs is another question. Could it be that these people feel so much compassion to the patients that they have to go to the point of risking their own lives just as they give their own internal organs? It is a known fact that there is an underground market of organs. Kidney largely dominates the selling as they are most in demand and because of the fact that a donor can survive without the other kidney. It has been reported that donors are willing to sell their internal organs

Marketing campaign by Easyjet Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Marketing campaign by Easyjet - Assignment Example Marketing campaign by EasyJet The British airline, EasyJet Airline Company Limited with headquarters at London Luton Airport. It is the largest airline of United Kingdom in terms of numbers of passengers it carries and in terms of its operation in scheduled services domestically and internationally on over 600 routes in around more than 30 countries. Its parent company is EasyJet plc which is listed in London Stock Exchange. It is a component of FTSE 250 Index. EasyJet made a combination of integrated marketing communication strategy to gain competitive advantage over its rivals in the marketing for low cost aviation. EasyJet Airline Company Limited is a successful and great example of European airline. It has made successful e-marketing campaigns. EasyJet launches its website as www.easyjet.com. The web bookings grew from zero to 26 percent of business within a year. Over the period, EasyJet became the first airline making more sales on internet than through normal television reserv ations. It recorded regular online bookings of around 80 percent which is the highest proportion of online sales for any airline in the world. EasyJet became a paperless company holding powerful electronic infrastructure which resulted in low administration costs, more responsive decision making and better management information. EasyJet uses sponsored links when a user uses search engine to research a flight to prompt them directly to visit the EasyJet site by clicking to it. It also send email newsletter to customers to encourage them to click through website for generating sales. It sells flights online to both business travellers and consumers. Customers also get themselves served on easyJet.com through review of frequently... A contribution to the profitability of business is always the ultimate aim of e-commerce. Leading companies, to access it, set an internet contribution target to achieve certain proportion of sales via the channel. When EasyJet launched its e-commerce facility in 1998, it sets an internet contribution target of 30 percent by 2000. To achieve this, they put the resources and communication plan in place and their target was reached by 1999. Assessing business contribution becomes difficult to a company who is not selling its products online. The role of internet to influence purchase should be judged. Contributions of service from e-channels are required to be assessed. The market share should be increased by EasyJet through serving its services to all the government agencies and offices and also focussing on customers who want the services at low prices. For serving the services to customers at low prices company should take some serious steps and should manage the flow of customers o nline rather than the traditional desk system. Elimination of middlemen will not require EasyJet to pay any commission to any travel agencies and agents and this strategy help the EasyJet to reduce its costs and also to serve its customers in a better manner.

Ways How Individuals And Communities Demonstrate Agency In Their Lives Essay

Ways How Individuals And Communities Demonstrate Agency In Their Lives - Essay Example It is vital to note that individual’s demonstration of the agency, later on, forms the building blocks of a community. This is because individuals are community agents since they express their thoughts on cultural matters to other people. Through the agency, people are able to carry out face-to-face conversations with people from other communities. This has an impact on either side of the communities since culture is a negotiated meaning (Gutman 5). Being a negotiated meaning, a cultural forum in which the culture is negotiated and re-negotiated is what makes and remakes the culture and the community. This, therefore, supports the earlier argument that through an agency, individuals are not passive recipients of community outcomes. Through the agency, individuals are able to engage in cultural construction (Gutman 6). Another demonstration of agency is seen in babies. According to studies, babies construct their own personal goals. Children create their own personal worlds for achieving their goals; this is what makes the difference between children and subsequently, adults. If they were to adapt to the conditions that they found in the community i.e. culture and ideologies, then all children in the community could be the same. This could also mean that the adults from the children could also be the same. Children, therefore, exploit the meaning they derive from the pre-existing culture to build their own understanding of the world that later on helps them or destroys them as adults.  

Compassion Fatigue in Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Compassion Fatigue in - Essay Example In this case, a Compassion Fatigue Self-Test (CFST) consisting of thirty questions was administered to 500 public health nurses who could have been deployed to assist hurricane victims. These nurses were identified by the Florida State Department of Health (DOH). The commonest data collection methods used in survey research is questionnaires and interviews (Nieswiadomy, 2008). At first, the nurses were asked to go back in time and think of their hurricane experience and respond to the questionnaire based on those feelings. Secondly, they were requested to answer the same questionnaire based on their current feelings. The second responses were printed on a different colored paper in order to distinguish it from the initial. The participants had to rate the questions on a scale of how often they experienced that feeling or event. In this case, the Likert scale was used (1=rarely, 10=very often). The range of possible scores of the thirty questions would automatically be 30 to 300. The scores obtained from each issue are then added up to give a total score of (range from 173) and the risk level of compassion

Unit 5 group project Tolap Corporation Research Paper

Unit 5 group project Tolap Corporation - Research Paper Example Unit 5 group project Tolap Corporation This section shall be a summary of all that is contained in the plan such that top executive members, who may not have time to read the entire report, should get a fair idea of what is contained in the report and base on the executive summary to take preliminary decisions (Chen and So, 2002). Description of Business The name of the business as well as the form of ownership shall be identified under this section. The section shall also contain owners and any possible history of business. Description of Product/Service Name of products offered should be listed in clear terms as well as services that customers are to receive. Marketing Plan This is where the suggested market segment must be made known and how to development competitive advantage over this segment. Industry Each business is under a broad industry and this must be clearly stated. Toplapp is, for instance, in manufacturing industry. Customers The customers are the end users of the products and services earlier spoken about. This section should include characteristics of customers as well as why they have been targeted. Competition The company will not be the first in the named industry and so existing competitors must be mentioned with reasons that make them threatening. Advertising and Promotion The means through which the company is going to make its self-visible to the identified customers and all forms of potential customers must be spelt. The initial strategies for making the company known will fall under advertisement whiles ways of maintaining the gained image of the company will come under promotion (Breiman et al., 2009). Location Location will refer to places where the presence of the company will be seen and felt. In times past, the talk of location was all about where offices and branches will be seen through the construction of structures, but today the advent of the internet have made it quite easier to have a larger location through electronic commerce and so ways by which the company seeks to take advantage of electronic commerce will come under this section. Suppliers The company may have the option of using either internal or external suppliers. Whatever the case is however, it is necessary that these suppliers and why they are the best must be made known through the business plan. This section of the plan will therefore cater for this task whereby names of suppliers are going to be known as well as materials that they are going to supply. Management Management as used in context does not just refer to a list of the names of managers of the company but also skills and abilities possessed by the managers in carrying out their roles and the specific roles that they are going to be expected to undertake in order to bring about the achievement of goals. Financial Plan Quantum of capital injection as well as a budget of how the capital is going to be raised and used must be made clear under this section. Mission Statement The company has a mission of becoming a global leader in the manufacturing of high quality home and garden appliances that meet the requirements and specifications of customers. The company also seeks to put its self ahead of time when it comes to innovative manufacturing, which involves the manufacturing of machineries for today’s use that actually solves tomorrow’s problems. By this, the manufacturing services and products of manufacturing shall become highly relevant to the customer because apart from the fact that

Business and Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business and Ethics - Essay Example By so doing you are going to create a new market for the products. This shows that a new market can be found in the same area where products similar to yours are being sold. In order for you to decide on what method to use in order to increase growth, you have to consider how your business is performing at the present time. If the performance is too low, that will be the best opportunity for you to use new markets to achieve growth. The next new market can be gotten by attracting people who have never used you products before through extensive marketing. In conclusion, it is possible to create a new market by seeking entry into the existing market by making modifications in the existing scenario. The new market can also be created by looking for places where there are needs that have never been met. A new market can be created in an environment where a given company has been enjoying monopoly for quite along time as monopolist companies tend to be negligent in many ways. There is a lot of controversy surrounding the issue of the compatibility of ethics and business. This is a very sticky issue, as both sides of the divide present strong cases.

Bees. Solve the problem. Essay Example for Free

Bees. Solve the problem. Essay Solve the problem. 1) Find the critical value that corresponds to a degree of confidence of 91%. A) 1.70B) 1.34 C) 1.645 D) 1.75 2) The following confidence interval is obtained for a population proportion, p:0.817 p 0.855 Use these confidence interval limits to find the point estimate, A) 0.839 B) 0.836 C) 0.817 D) 0.833 Find the margin of error for the 95% confidence interval used to estimate the population proportion. 3) n = 186, x = 103 A) 0.0643 B) 0.125 C) 0.00260 D) 0.0714 Find the minimum sample size you should use to assure that your estimate of will be within the required margin of error around the population p. 4) Margin of error: 0.002; confidence level: 93%; and unknown A) 204,757 B) 410 C) 204,750 D) 405 5) Margin of error: 0.07; confidence level: 95%; from a prior study, is estimated by the decimal equivalent of 92%. A) 58 B) 174 C) 51 D) 4 Use the given degree of confidence and sample data to construct a confidence interval for the population proportion p. 6) When 343 college students are randomly selected and surveyed, it is found that 110 own a car. Find a 99% confidence interval for the true proportion of all college students who own a car. A) 0.256 p 0.386 B) 0.279 p 0.362C) 0.271 p 0.370 D) 0.262 p 0.379 Determine whether the given conditions justify using the margin of error E = when finding a confidence interval estimate of the population mean . 7) The sample size is n = 9, is not known, and the original population is normally distributed. A) Yes B) No Use the confidence level and sample data to find the margin of error E. 8) Systolic blood pressures for women aged 18-24: 94% confidence; n = 92, x = 114.9 mm Hg, = 13.2 mm Hg A) 47.6 mm Hg B) 2.3 mm Hg C) 2.6 mm Hg D) 9.6 mm Hg Use the confidence level and sample data to find a confidence interval for estimating the population . 9) A group of 52 randomly selected students have a mean score of 20.2 with a standard deviation of 4.6 on a placement test. What is the 90 percent confidence interval for the mean score, , of all students taking the test? A) 19.1 21.3 B) 18.7 21.7C) 19.0 21.5 D) 18.6 21.8 Use the margin of error, confidence level, and standard deviation to find the minimum sample size required to estimate an unknown population mean . 10) Margin of error: $100, confidence level: 95%, = $403 A) 91 B) 63 C) 108 D) 44 Formula sheet for Final Exam Mean Standard deviation Variance = Mean from a frequency distribution Range rule of thumb Empirical Rule 68-95-99.7 z – score weighted mean Outliers if A and B are mutually exclusive if A and B are not mutually exclusive if A and B are independent if A and B are dependent Complementary events mean of a probability distribution standard deviation of a probability distribution Binomial probability Binomial probability calculator Exactly binompdf(n,p,x) At least 1 – binomcdf(n,p,x –1) At most binomcdf(n,p,x) Binomial mean Binomial standard deviation Expected value Margin of error p Sample size p or Margin of error mean Sample size mean Margin of error mean

The Benefits Of A Multi Sensory Approach

The Benefits Of A Multi Sensory Approach R. Q. 3: What will be the views of the three teachers with respect to the practicality or continued use of the multi-sensory approach based on the results of the test scores after the completion of this study? Teachers views on the benefits of a multi-sensory Approach to that of a traditional Approach. The researcher first starts with the perspectives of the three teachers who states that by tapping into the different senses, educators can create a more concrete and complete learning experience for all learners. Teaching learning concepts using two or more of modalities or learning styles at the same time, means that teachers are delivering a multisensory approach to all students in their classrooms. It is the observation of these teachers that as educators some of us may think or feel that multisensory methods or approaches are only useful for students with special needs, however, research has shown that almost all students and teachers can gain great benefits from a multisensory approach in the teaching and learning process. Whats more is that research has also shown that once teachers are using a multisensory approach to learning they are ensuring and addressing all learning styles and needs of their students. Thus one can be sure that every student in his or her classroom is specifically catered for or to. It is also the view of both the researcher and teachers in this study that all students benefit from a multisensory approach to learning, not just special education students. Every child processes information differently, and this teaching method allows for each child to use a variety of their senses to understand and process information. The three Teachers also stated that by providing classroom activities that utilize various senses, they have notice that their students learning attention increases which makes and caters for an optimal learning environment. Research shows that by using varying teaching strategies teachers can address all sensory preference and increases learning regardless of the individual students primary preference (Thomas, Cox Kojima, 2000). Another research also shows that by using multisensory strategies, teachers can engage and sustain the attention of all students. By employing a variety of strategies the teacher may address the mixed efficiencies of those students as well as the dominant and secondary preferences of others. Thus, they reinforce strong preferences and strengthen weaker ones (Silver et al., 2000;Haggart 2003). Key benefits of the multisensory approach are noted by the three teachers and researcher: Increased learner engagement Generating a greater capacity for learning Encouraging a greater knowledge transfer Improved attitudes towards learning Greater student achievement One of the teachers in this study said to me during the interview and I quote I had a great feeling of relief when I began to understand that a youngster (student) needs more than just subject matter. Oh, I know mathematics well and I teach it well. I used to think that was all I needed to do. Now I teach the students, not math. The researcher notes that as teachers, we should know that students learn differently. Some prefer to learn by doing. Others like to watch a demonstration of what they need to do. Some wants to listen to what is expected. Most students appreciate a combination of methods: a little bit of doing it, a little bit of seeing it and a little bit of hearing it. When teachers teach using a combination of methods that appeal to different learning styles (Kinesthetic, tactual, auditory and visual) they are using a multisensory approach which benefits all students involved by equipping them with different learning styles and catering to their development needs. Effective teachers make a conscious effort to design instruction that incorporates a broad variety of learning preferences beyond their own (Doolan Honigfeld, 2000; Sadler-Smith Smith, 2004) Varying teaching strategies to address all sensory preferences increases learning, regardless of the individual students primary preference (Thomas, Cox, Kojima, 2000)Using multisensory strategies, teachers can engage and sustain the attention of all students. However, it is important to note that like most students remember 20% of what we read, 30% of what we hear, 40% 0f what we see, 50% of what we say, 60% of what we do and 90% of what we see, hear, say and do. Therefore, it is not always possible to provide all four elements but it would be useful to audit teaching approaches and consider how many elements are present all three teachers noted. Maria Montessori was the pioneered of this approach (multisensory approach) in the early twentieth century with young children, who naturally learn by seeing, hearing, touching/feeling, tasting, and smelling. The researcher and teachers feel that multisensory teaching is effective and useful at any age. However, age-appropriate resources for secondary students and adult learners have been almost impossible to source. Until now. We really do believe that multisensory teaching techniques coupled with the use of Axis Hands On resources offers all students a Better Ways to Learn. In concluding, the researcher and teachers have also noted that more recent research has shown that the more senses (multisensory approach) we incorporate into the learning process the more efficient learning becomes for all types of learners. Rhonda Farkus (2003, The Journal of Educational Research, Vol 97, No. 1) states, The power of evidence supporting the benefits of (multisensory approach) learning-style methodology is compelling. Teachers have also noted that achievement test scores of students taught using their preferred modalities in this study are statistically higher (multisensory approach) than of students who were not taught using their favored learning modalities (traditional approach). Moreover, when students are taught with multi-sensory approach instructional resources, (although initially through their most preferred modality), scores further increased. Therefore, teachers in this study have also observer that a multi-sensory approach is a powerful tool for reinforcing language Arts teaching in three important ways. First, it helps get the information across. Second, it helps the students process the information. And, third, it helps students more easily retrieve information already learned. Using a variety of senses simply opens up more doorways into the brain. Teachers views on the challenges of Multisensory Approaches As educators we spend a great deal of our time thinking, talking, and learning about how to best teach our students essential spelling, writing and reading skills. You can be sure the conversation between two or more educators will eventually include the topics of learning styles, multi-sensory teaching, hands-on activities and even traditional approaches. Unfortunately, confusion (and sometimes conflict) can occur when these terms are used because they have multiple and overlapping definitions. The main problem teachers may encounter is that there are too many meanings in common use for the term learning style. The original use of this term refers to the sensory pathway or modality through which students find it easiest to learn. There are four generally recognized sensory modalities: visual (sight); auditory (hearing); tactile (touch); and kinesthetic (movement). It is the belief of all three teachers interviewed that it is very vital for teachers to understand that different learning style encompasses a much broader look at how our students approaches learning situations and tasks and this must often include a complete profile of how our students functions as a learner. In addition to preferred modality, some of the areas profiled must be optimal learning environment (such as best time of day, lighting, temperature and noise level), how his/her personality effects his motivation (such as the need for or avoidance of competition), his/her natural areas of competencies or i ntelligence and so on. The teachers who are part of this study feels that by tracing a word with the tip of ones (students) fingers or feeling the shape of the word is vital to helping the tactile learner master his/her writing, reading skills and spelling words. In this regard, adding pleasant textures or sensations creates a stronger neural impression of the words. Thus in the past, (a traditional approach) tactile and kinesthetic learners were often lumped together. However, some of the most current research on how the brain functions shows that two distinct and separate areas of the brain are responsible for storing these two types of sensory input. The researcher strongly believes that armed with such information listed above, it may be tempting to assume that teachers should determine their students favored learning mode and then teach him/her accordingly. This would be a mistake. Teaching using only one learning modality (traditional approach) could result in the neglect of important reading, writing and spelling skills. Proofreading is an example of an essential reading, spelling and writing skill that is primarily visual. It is a skill that does not come naturally to a non-visual learner. It is the teachers view in this study that is for students to become competent and excellent proofreader, we as teachers must help them to develop excellent visual discrimination skills (multisensory approach). Students must be taught to look at the whole word in isolation, with special attention to its shape or the outline of the word. He/she must also look carefully at the word syllable by syllable to see if there are any peculiar combin ations of letters, unexpected spellings or any silent letters used to spell the word. Finally, students must be given a systematic approach to proofreading his own and others writing. It is therefore, the researchers and teachers view in this study that the use of a multisensory approach and not a traditional approach will best assist and develop our students early and latent language Arts abilities which will prepare them adequately for life and the future. The teachers in this study also feel that our students dominant learning modality may also have developmental implications if not deal with in a holistic way more so in a multisensory approach. For example, very young children are known to learn mainly through auditory modalities; early school-aged students (kindergarteners) tend to use more kinesthetic and concrete avenues; and as a student nears adolescence, they tends to rely more and more on the abstract and analytical reasoning along with their visual recall. Skills taught using only one learning modality ( as that in the traditional approach)may need to be retaught using another modality as students enters each new developmental level and begins to depend more on other learning modality (multisensory approach) to store and retrieve information. Teaching using (a multisensory approach) allows for multiple learning modalities which in turn eliminate inefficiency. For this reason a multisensory approach and not a traditional appro ach is the best technique and strategy for teaching phonic and the alphabet awareness skills to kindergarten students. Therefore it is this researchers view that research has consistently shown that use of a multisensory approach to the teaching and learning processes are critical for all students and students more peculiar those who have moderate to severe learning disabilities. In the mid-1920s, Dr. Samuel T. Orton and his colleagues Anna Gillingham and Bessie Stillman, first began using multi-sensory approaches with his dyslexic students. Orton was influenced by Grace Fernald and Helen Kellers descriptions of the kinesthetic methods used by Dr. Maria Montessori at the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition at San Francisco. Orton correctly theorized that Montessoris use of kinesthetic reinforcement of visual and auditory associations would correct the tendency to reverse letters and transpose the sequence of letters his dyslexic students made while reading and writing. Their programme, which includes multi-sensory learning as well as other important concepts, is commonly called the Orton-Gillingham approa ch. Teachers view on the actual implementation of Multisensory approach. In light of the positive results that this programme had produced in terms of students alphabet and phonemic awareness skills when taught using a multisensory approach in comparison to a non-multisensory approach. As a result all three teachers expressed their interest in continuing the use of the Multisensory Approach. Summary The focus of this chapter was the presentation of data collected in this study. The quantitative, qualitative and quasi-experimental data were present using narratives, graphs tables and charts. The data revealed that the reactions to a multisensory approach from both students and teachers were generally positive.

The Place of Destiny, Fate, Free Will and Free Choice in Macbeth Essay

The Place of Fate in Macbeth    Shakespeare was wont to employ the supernatural force of fate throughout his tragic play Macbeth. Let us examine in this essay what we mean by the above statement. In Everybody's Shakespeare: Reflections Chiefly on the Tragedies, Maynard Mack explains that the witches are associated with fate:    Except in one phrase (I.3.6) and in the stage directions, the play always refers to the witches as weyard - or weyward - sisters. Both spellings are variations of weird, which in Shakespeare's time did not mean "freakish," but "fateful" - having to do with the determination of destinies. Shakespeare had met with such creatures in Holinshed, who regularly refers to the supernatural agents with whom Macbeth has dealings as "the three sisters," or "the three weird sisters," i.e., the three Fates. (185)    L.C. Knights in the essay "Macbeth" explains the place of fate in the decline of Macbeth:      "One feels," says W.C. Curry, "that in proportion as the good in him diminishes, his liberty of free choice is determined more and more by evil inclination and that he cannot choose the better course. Hence we speak of destiny or fate, as if it were some external force or moral order, compelling him against his will to certain destruction." Most readers have felt that after the initial crime there is something compulsive in Macbeth's murders; and at the end, for all his "valiant fury," he is certainly not a free agent. He is like a bear tied to a stake, he says; but it is not only the besieging army that hems him in; he is imprisoned in the world he has made. (102)    In Fools of Time: Studies in Shakespearean Tragedy, Northrop Frye stresses the connection between the witches and fate:    The... ...ey, A.C. Shakespearean Tragedy. New York: Penguin Books, 1991. Coles, Blanche. Shakespeare's Four Giants. Rindge, NH: Richard R. Smith Publisher, Inc., 1957. Coursen, H. R. Macbeth: a Guide to the Play. Westport, CN: Greenwood Press, 1997. Frye, Northrop. Fools of Time: Studies in Shakespearean Tragedy. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press, 1967. Knights, L.C. "Macbeth." Shakespeare: The Tragedies. A Collectiion of Critical Essays. Alfred Harbage, ed. Englewwod Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1964. Mack, Maynard. Everybody's Shakespeare: Reflections Chiefly on the Tragedies. Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press, 1993. Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. http://chemicool.com/Shakespeare/macbeth/full.html, no lin. Wilson, H. S. On the Design of Shakespearean Tragedy. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press, 1957.

Affirmative Action :: American Government, Race Relations, EEO

Affirmative Action In the United States, Affirmative Action is one of the government programs to overcome the effects of past societal discrimination by allocating jobs and resources to members of specific groups, such as minorities and women. The policy was put forth by federal agencies enforcing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and two executive orders, which provided that government contractors and educational institutions receiving federal funds develop such programs. The Equal Employment Opportunities Act (1972) set up a commission to enforce such plans. The establishment of racial quotas in the name of affirmative action brought the charges of so-called reverse discrimination into the late 1970s. Although the U.S. Supreme Court accepted such an argument in the case University of California v. Bakke (1978), it let existing programs stand and it also approved the use of quotas in 1979 in a case involving voluntary affirmative-action programs in unions and private businesses. In the 1980s, the federal government's role in affirmative action was considerably diluted. In three cases in 1989, the Supreme Court undercut court-approved affirmative action plans by giving greater standing to claims of reverse discrimination, voiding the use of minority set-asides where past discrimination against minority contractors was unproven, and restricting the use of statistics to prove discrimination, since statistics did not prove intent. The Civil Rights Act of 1991 reaffirmed a federal government's commitment to affirmative action, but a 1995 Supreme Court decision placed limits on the use of race in awarding government contracts; the affected government programs were revamped in the late 1990s to encompass any person who was "socially disadvantaged.

The Physics of Efficient Running Essay -- physics run running

Running is a natural form of human locomotion. To many, running is an essential aspect of most sports and is also a simple way that requires little to get exercise anywhere. But because many people have adapted to improper forms of running over time, numerous physical injuries are the results. With the help of understanding the physics behind running, people can learn to run in such a way that expends less energy from the body. Keeping physics in mind may also lead to less injuries and effortless running. Remember, physics can be very helpful when running! External Forces When Running According to mechanical physics, a force is an effect that may cause a body to accelerate. Also as stated in Isaac Newton’s second law of motion, force is a vector quantity (has magnitude and direction) that is proportional to the product of the mass of a body and its acceleration. F = ma : where F is force; m is the mass of the body; and a is the acceleration due to that particular force When running, there are four important external forces that definitely affect the kinetics of running: drag force, gravity, normal force, and friction. Drag Force Due to the interaction with air on Earth, runners experience a resistive force against the airflow. This is called the drag force, or air resistance. The equation for this drag force is given as : Drag Force = 1/2pvvAD where p is the density of the fluid (in runner’s case: air); v is the velocity of the runner; A is the cross-sectional area perpendicular to the runner’s velocity; and D is the dimensionless quantity called the drag coefficient. The drag force is always working against the forward motion of a runner, trying to move them in the negative horizon... ...energy. -Second, hip rotation also helps the runner to have a more natural and smoother run and again reduces the energy required to move the runner’s center of mass. -Finally, the pelvic rotation decreases the impact at contact with the running path felt by the runner. Bibliography Dreyer, Danny and Katherine Dreyer. ChiRunning: A Revolutionary Approach to Effortless, Injury-Free Running. Simon & Schuster. New York, NY. 2004 Dumont, Aaron and Chris Waltham. â€Å"Walking.† Physics Teacher. Sept. 1997. Vol. 35 Issue 6, p. 372. Inman, Verne T., Henry J. Ralston, and Frank Todd. Human Walking. Williams & Wilkins. Baltimore, MD. 1981 Watkins, James. An Introduction to Mechanics of Human Movement. MTP Press Limited. Lancaster, England. 1983. Zatsiorsky, Vladimir M. Kinetics of Human Motion. Sheridan Books. Champaign, IL. 2002.

Ethics Paper †Abortion Debate Essay

The moral question on both sides of the abortion argument is when a fetus achieves personhood and is awarded moral status thus granting it rights. Does the fetus have a right to life at the use of the mother or does the mother’s choice for autonomy over her body take precedence over the fetus? How do we begin to answer this highly debated question and what conclusions can be made that have the most logical ethical answer? The difficulty in answering the issue of fetal personhood is that there is not one concrete indication of when that actually occurs in pregnancy. Pro- Life supports the position that personhood occurs immediately at conception thus granting the fetus full rights as a person born. In contrast Pro-Choice reinforces the mother’s rights to her own personhood and her choice to be autonomous from the fetus. The main ethical issue up for debate is whether society can infringe upon a person’s right to personal bodily security for the purpose to save the life of another. Should anyone or any entity force a person to give up their decision to do what they seem fit with their own body? How would that affect a woman’s right to her reproductive liberty? What precedents does that set forth for the future for women? IN SUPPORT OF PRO CHOICE The nature of abortion rights can be broken out into three different perspectives; the protection of unwanted social parenthood; the unwanted genetic parenthood and the right to bodily autonomy. (Manninen 36) The burdens of social parenthood weigh heavily on the woman who is forced to endure a pregnancy. These burdens can be detrimental to mental and physical health and psychological harm is likely to damage the child that is brought into a situation not fully embracing or prepared to care for its needs. Through abortion, a woman has the right to prevent the existence of a child with her genetic characteristics. It is an essential part of her overall reproductive liberty to have either the right to or the right not to conceive children. (Manninen 37) However, once a child is born, then it becomes a moral subject with its full entitlement to personhood and you cannot kill a child with your genetic characteristics or to avoid the responsibility of social parenting. Judith Jarvis Thomson’s thesis gives us a graphic description of a violinist who without your consent, is attached to you and relies upon you for his/her life. Are you morally obligated to submit to the unwanted bodily intrusion in order to support the life of another person? The clear answer to this question is â€Å"No.† A person is under no moral obligation whatsoever to use his body to sustain the life of another at the compromise of his own. The concept of forced violations of bodily autonomy is morally indefensible. This has nothing to do with the value of the fetus in general but the right not to be subject to the intrusion as the right to your body is exclusively yours. To make abortion illegal is to force pregnant women to surrender their own bodies to provide another human being all its needs for survival. Using Kantian moral philosophy, with specific attention to the second principle of the categorical imperative that describes using people as mere means to an end; aren’t the pregnant women being used? (Manninen 40) The women essentially become hosts to the fetuses and are used to cultivate life. How can the forced use of women’s bodies be a moral act? A blastocyst or a human zygote does not have the full characteristics of what human beings have. It cannot function on its own, communicate or have a consciousness attributed to it. It merely possesses the potential to form into personhood and ultimately a human life. If we cannot pinpoint the exactness of when a fetus achieves personhood, how can we correlate the crime of murder to something that hasn’t had a life? No actual person is harmed by having an abortion so there is no reason that the act in itself is morally bad. IN SUPPORT OF PRO LIFE Pro Life gains its understanding through what is commonly known as the substance view. This means that human life is valued for the type of thing it is from the moment of conception to its ultimate demise. Human beings are considered rational moral agents that are consistent with its original substance but possess capabilities that give it the ability to function. (Beckwith 33) Since human beings are considered living organisms, as substances they maintain their identity throughout the process of their life regardless of the physical changes that occur. Thus human beings are always considered persons because of their potential to develop abilities. In addition, humans are also considered persons even if the potential never actualizes because their overall substance. (Beckwith 36) The substance theory extends not only to the unborn fetus, but to other humans who for whatever reason are prevented from exercising their capabilities as a functioning person. These types of persons have similar parallels to the unborn because they have achieved personhood and full moral status simply because of being human. The rationale behind the substance theory is if it is permissible to kill the unborn fetus then it is equally permissible to kill a person unable to exercise their capabilities as a functioning person. Thus abortion is morally wrong. Another argument in the abortion debate is the precise moment when personhood is achieved. The Pro-Life position stems from the moment of conception because the zygote contains all of the chromosomes for human life. Some of the chromosomes have not been used yet since human life is in its beginning stages and does not require all of them at this time. However, the zygote contains all of the chromosomes and or genetic instructions to form a human’s physical, psychological, emotional, needs from the moment of conception. In addition to the scientific perspective to the pro-life position is the religious perspective that a higher power, God, created all life and humans do not have a right to take the power of God in their hands and destroy it. People who have this theory base it off the teachings of Scripture contained within the Bible. An example passage is: Psalm 139 again makes clear that the fetus (unborn baby) is a human whom God loves. And God told the prophet Jeremiah, â€Å"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.† (Jeremiah 1:5). God had plans for Jeremiah even while he was in his mother’s womb. Pro-life supporters interpret these biblical passages to be God’s direct and absolute view of the validity when human life begins thus giving a Divine definite determination that personhood is achieved at conception. Therefore since the fetus is considered a person, abortion is considered murdering a person and is ultimately wrong in the eyes of God. MY POSITION When it comes to the topic of Abortion, my views align with the moderate view. I neither condemn nor condone abortion but my belief aligns itself with the reasoning that a woman has a right to choose what happens in her own individual body. The mother’s rights to autonomy must be preserved at all costs. No woman should be forced to surrender her body in order to provide another human being its needs to survive. Without this fundamental protection securely in place, it sets a dangerous precedent for the abuse of women. It can be argued that if a woman must give up her body to sustain the life of another when it comes to reproductive rights, what about the means of other bodily rights such as organ donation, bone marrow extraction and other harvesting means? To reverse the pro-choice decision is reducing women from being independent beings to being merely hosts and have less rights then the potential for a human has. In addition, no woman should be forced to continue with a pregnancy she does not want, can cause her medical harm, or is a result of a violent crime. The physical and psychological damage that can be inflicted from forcing women to continue with unwanted pregnancies is too horrible to consider. As a mother to three children, I certainly do know the varying physical changes as a result of pregnancy. I can say that with my first child, I hardly noticed that I was pregnant. I did not experience any negative side effects and continued with my daily activities as if nothing ever happened. It wasn’t until I was able to hear the heart beat or see the fetus on the ultrasound screen did the potential for the pregnancy became real for me. I use the word potential because until the child is born, many things can go wrong with the pregnancy resulting in natural miscarriage. There has to be a certain environment with favorable variables for a pregnancy to progress into a full born infant. Science does not have the capability to determine if a pregnancy will be 100% successful but it does give a great success probability. As such, it was important for me to keep in perspective that although I was deemed pregnant with a child, that child is not fully realized until it is born and I am holding it in my hand. If, for whatever reason a woman chooses not to continue with her pregnancy, then I believe it ideally would be best to perform the abortion as early as possible most certainly before 12 weeks. There are many tests that can be performed to detect if the fetus has any genetic defects that could affect its overall life. Plus the timeframe is more than sufficient to personally determine if the pregnancy should continue. My choice for a timeframe has nothing to do with the determination of when a fetus achieves personhood with moral status, but more of a compassionate opinion in that by aborting earlier, the mother doesn’t develop a strong attachment to the potential of the fetus. My opinion does not mean to allow for a woman to use an abortion as a means to birth control. I believe that since a woman has the reproductive capability to cultivate potential life, with that capability encompasses a tremendous amount of responsibility. There should be available and economical birth control measures put in place to prevent the abortion procedure entirely. Abortion should be used as a last measure towards preventing an unwanted pregnancy. RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS Since the early 1980s, groups opposed to abortion have attempted to document the existence of â€Å"post-abortion syndrome,† which they claim has traits similar to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) demonstrated by some war veterans. In 1989, the American Psychological Association (APA) convened a panel of psychologists with extensive experience in this field to review the data. They reported that the studies with the most scientifically rigorous research designs consistently found no trace of â€Å"post-abortion syndrome† and furthermore, that no such syndrome is scientifically or medically recognized.[1] The panel concluded that â€Å"research with diverse samples, different measures of response and different times of assessment have come to similar conclusions. The time of greatest distress is likely to be before the abortion. Severe negative reactions after abortions are rare and can best be understood in the framework of coping with normal life stress.†[2] While some women may experience sensations of regret, sadness or guilt after an abortion, the overwhelming responses are relief and happiness.[3] In another study, researchers surveyed a national sample of 5,295 women, not all of whom had had abortions, and many of whom had abortions between 1979 and 1987, the time they were involved in the study. The researchers were able to learn about women’s emotional well-being both before and after they had abortions. They concluded at the end of the eight-year study that the most important predictor of emotional well-being in post-abortion women was their well-being before the abortion. Women who had high self-esteem before an abortion would be most likely to have high self-esteem after an abortion, regardless of how many years passed since the abortion.[4] Psychological responses to abortion must also be considered in comparison to the psychological impact of alternatives for resolving an unwanted pregnancy (adoption or becoming a parent). While there has been little scientific research about the psychological consequences of adoption, researchers speculate that it is likely â€Å"that the psychological risks for adoption are higher for women than those for abortion because they reflect different types of stress. Stress associated with abortion is acute stress, typically ending with the procedure. With adoption, as with unwanted childbearing, however, the stress may be chronic for women who continue to worry about the fate of the child.†[5] (Abortion Myths) ETHICAL POSITION CONSISTENT WITH MY PERSONAL POSITION I believe that my ethical position is in agreement with Judith Jarvis Thomson’s Feminism perspective in support of the rights of the mother over the rights of the fetus. She brilliantly explains in a rational and logical way that the mother deserves her status of personhood and bodily autonomy over that of the fetus. The only entitlement that the fetus has is the claim over its own body and not the mothers. â€Å"The pregnant woman owes no such duty to the fetus, unless she has affirmatively assumed the responsibility of carrying it to term, in which case she has assumed duty to avoid harming that fetus. Until that point, however, there is no duty, and the pregnant woman cannot be said to have breached a duty by aborting the fetus.† (Flicker 2) [pic] Since women posses the exclusive right to cultivate a potential life inside their bodies, it deems an increased level of responsibility to protect the possibility of that happening. Thompson thus argued that if a woman takes reasonable steps to avoid pregnancy she should not be held responsible for the pregnancy, and has the right to choose and have an abortion. I believe that to be true as well. With all the options for contraception available to women, responsible methods can be used for the prevention of pregnancy. Since nothing but abstinence is 100% effective and women are entitled to enjoy the healthy aspects of sexual intercourse, if an unwanted pregnancy does occur and responsible measures failed to prevent the pregnancy, then a woman is absolutely entitled to make informed decisions about the use of her own body and chose abortion. My perspective also coincides with Preference Utilitarianism which defines the moral course of action is the one that results in the most preference satisfaction. With regards to abortion, fetuses do not possess the ability for preferences, therefore only the mothers have that ability thus their rights to personhood and bodily autonomy outweight the interest of the fetus. Thus abortion is morally allowable. WORKS CITED Manninen, Bertha Alvarez. â€Å"Rethinking Roe V. Wade: Defending The Abortion Right In The Face Of Contemporary Opposition.† American Journal Of Bioethics 10.12 (2010): 33-46. Academic Search Premier. Web. 26 June 2012. Beckwith, Francis J. â€Å"The Explanatory Power Of The Substance View Of Persons.† Christian Bioethics: Non-Ecumenical Studies In Medical Morality 10.1 (2004): 33-54. Academic Search Premier. Web. 26 June 2012. Thomson, Judith J. â€Å"A Defense of Abortion, â€Å"From Philosophy & Public Affairs, vol. 1, no. 1 (Fall 1971): 47-66 Copyright  © 1971 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Flicker, Lauren Sydney. â€Å"Pregnancy Is Not A Crime.† American Journal Of Bioethics 10.12 (2010): 54-55. Academic Search Premier. Web. 26 June 2012. The Holy Bible, New International Version. Worldwide: Biblicia, 2011. Print â€Å"Abortion Myths.† National Abortion Federation, n.p. 2010 Web. 26 June 2012. ———————– [1] American Psychological Association. â€Å"APA research review finds no evidence of ‘post-abortion syndrome’ but research studies on psychological effects of abortion inconclusive.† Press release, January 18, 1989. [2] Adler NE, et al. â€Å"Psychological responses after abortion.† Science, April 1990, 248: 41-44. [3] Adler NE, et al. â€Å"Psychological factors in abortion: a review.† American Psychologist, 1992, 47(10): 1194-1204. [4] Russo NF, Zierk KL. â€Å"Abortion, childbearing, and women’s well-being.† Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 1992, 23(4): 269-280. [5] Russo NF. â€Å"Psychologicalaspects of unwanted pregnancy and its resolution.† In J.D. Butler and D.F. Walbert (eds.), Abortion, Medicine, and the Law (4th Ed., pp. 593-626). New York: Facts on File, 1992.

BPR and TQM in Commercial Construction Industry

The commercial construction industry is the largest component of construction industry in United States. The business started to gain popularity in the 1990’s as the strong economic growth lead to strong demand toward the services in the industry. Companies worked within the industry vary from small contractors who have annual revenue of $1 million, until the multinational corporations whose profits exceeded $1 billion each year. The industry is a little different with other components in the construction industry.For example, commercial construction cannot rely on shrinking interest rates to prevent the downside of an economic surge in the early 21st century. As people started spend less on new construction works, the industry degraded. Commercial construction is a competitive industry. Contractors generally employ sub-contractors, which can be divided into two types, â€Å"group-up work† subcontractors and finish-out work† subcontractors. With stricter regulatio ns and more specific demands from the consumers, business becomes more challenging for everyone.Projects become more complex and time constraints become more demanding. All of which lead to considerably smaller profit margin in the end. Dealing with these challenges, players in the commercial construction industry are desperate for a radical solution, one that will deliver them competitive advantages to survive the all the challenging demands. In this paper, I am providing two alternatives of solution for the commercial construction industry. The first alternative is Total Quality Management (TQM) and the second is Business Process Reengineering (BPR).Both of these alternatives are worldwide known managerial concepts designed to improve the quality of corporate processes. II. Challenges in Commercial Construction Industry Before we discuss how TQM and BPR could help companies improve their processes, I will elaborate some of the challenges in commercial construction industry that ne ed to be addressed. II. 1. Highly Cyclical Demands The commercial construction business is highly affected by the health of US economy. Surges and downturns have direct contribution toward the increase or decrease in revenues, expenses and profits.Economic trends also define the direction of the business. Some commercial construction companies try to tackle the issue by developing multiple specialties. However, the fixed cost invested in all of the specialties is nevertheless burdening the business. Furthermore, by having multiple specialties, companies have to manage costs more carefully to maintain profit in each one. II. 2. Uneven Revenues and Expenses Contractors of commercial construction are demanded to have considerable amount of working capital at their disposal at all times. This is important due to two reasons. First, the price of raw materials fluctuates constantly.Second, clients of the business could decide to pay at random intervals, without considerations of contracto rs’ requirements. In large projects, the cash flow is even larger and thus created the need for careful cost management. II. 3. Availability of Skilled Personnel Personnel availability has always been an issue in the construction industry. This is due to the poor image of construction workers all over the globe. Nevertheless, with the increasing complexities of construction work and the need for more skilful construction workers, the issue of personnel availability has never been so important.Management cannot afford to use unskilled labor to fulfill complex demands from clients. Thus, training periods and becoming more important and also cost management to perform quality training sessions. II. 4. Consolidation of Projects With the increasingly high competitive pressure, many contractors decide to submit to consolidation process, and other contractors fall into the role of sub-contractors. This created an unexpected risk. As construction contracts becomes fewer and larger, c ash flow management of each project becomes a lot harder to manage and financial risks of each project also increases.Today, many commercial construction companies depend of only several annual contracts for most portions of their revenues. II. 5. High Insurance Costs The commercial construction business is characterized by high insurance cost. Contractors are demanded to pay high premiums for many insurance policies, including general liability, workers insurance, etc. This insurance problem is worsen by the material and installation defects issues and unqualified workers. Thus management cannot afford to have poor bookkeeping and cost management. II. 6. Investment in TechnologyTo serve the increasing demand for unique and modern feature of constructions, contractors in the commercial construction business must invest more heavily in high technology. This poses as another challenge for contractors because prices of equipment are also become more expensive and more vary. Contractors would need to make more capital investment management more diligently and more carefully. (â€Å"Industry Overview†, 2006) III. Total Quality Management Total Quality Management is a company-wide approach to quality improvement in corporate processes and activities.The concept has become a way of doing business for companies in various industries all over the globe to improve the quality of corporate processes in all departments and functional areas. Despite to the large nature of differences in corporate processes in different industries, Total Quality Management defines several functions that have become common features of all managerial structure. These defined corporate functions will then become the focus of process improvements. The common functions that become the center of attention in TQM are: 1. Serving customersThe focus of all companies whether they are manufacturing or services companies is to aim for their customers’ satisfaction. In the basis of this pr inciple, management must understand that categorizing business into manufacturing and service are actually senseless. The more important thing to achieve is clearly identifying specific customers of the corporation and also their needs and preferences. TQM invites corporate managers to revitalize focus on this particular activity through market researches, surveys and other studies. Management must constantly learn about their customers 2.Top Management Role in Quality Improvement All business reforms started with the top managers and can only be maintained by constant and sufficient participation from the top managers. This includes quality management efforts. Top managers have the key function of providing direction and motivation for their subordinates. Employees will only participate when they already understand the importance of performing improvements. TQM invites managers to understand the crucial nature of their actions in quality improvements and thus, making the necessary adjustments to achieve the defined targets.3. Employee Participation After ensuring top management are doing their part in the quality improvement process, TQM takes us to focus on employees and how they have participate in support of the effort. Employees are the final station where products and services are still in the organization’s control. Thus, if they have sufficient commitment not to allow the spread of poor quality products and services, then there would be little chances that customers will ever discover unsatisfied products or services delivered to them. 4. Identifying Quality Issues and Developing SolutionsEvery company has a system designed to discover poor quality. The system is generally built from a cross section of various functions within the organizations so that their combined attention will be able to identify quality defects more diligently and furthermore, suggest possible solutions. TQM invites managers to take advantage of the system and focus on dev eloping their potential into maximum. In the new quality system, top management must also take part in defining quality defects, discovering existing opportunities for improvements and formulate possible solutions. 5.Employee Training and Employee Management Even the most highly automated companies require skilful and highly motivated employees to run their processes. TQM bring focus on employee management processes to increase the quality of corporate operations as a whole. First, management should develop their employee training process as corporate targets changes. Second, organizations should provide continuous educational support even to the longer-time employees. Third, organizations should design a working environment where employees would have a sense of pride when they are doing a good job.Fourth, management must ensure that the compensation system is bringing sufficient motivation to attract creativity and fresh ideas from employees. (Hammer, 1993) The perspectives of TQM elaborated above will assist managers within the Commercial Construction business to deal with the challenges of their environment. For instance: ? The first perspective of customer service can realign managers’ perspective in the commercial construction business in how to do their job. Managers of the commercial construction business could begin to see that all their construction work are but means to satisfy clients.Thus, they will begin to involve client more actively in their decision making processes. ? The second perspective of TQM, which is improving top management involvement in business processes, can develop managerial sensitivity on employees’ workload. If managers can understand their employees better, they will be more considerate in making consolidation decisions and technology investments ? The third perspective of TQM will help managers in the commercial construction industry to better integrate with their employees in performing business processes.Empl oyees must be informed of the corporate targets and goals so they can be more motivated in performing their work, knowing that they will make meaningful contribution for the organization as a whole. ? The fourth perspective or TQM can help management in discovering cost reduction opportunities in the midst of the more demanding business environments, especially when consolidation projects are extensively performed. ? The fifth perspective of TQM aligns perfectly with managerial sentiments of the commercial construction business to enhance training and education to ensure that each process is managed by highly qualified personnel.As complexity level enhances, this focus becomes more vital. IV. Business Process Reengineering IV. 1. Definition Business Process Reengineering (BPR) is a quality improvement system, the same as Total Quality Management (TQM). It is a management approach to improve the quality of processes by focusing on efficiency and effectiveness of the process that exis t across the organization. Many find difficulties in differentiating between TQM and BPR, but in most articles regarding BPR, it is always elaborated that BPR has a more radical view about business processes and its core necessities.According to BPR, business should define their core processes and focus solely on those activities. Other activities that do not add value to products or services being produced are considered waste. IV. 2. The need for BPR Oneil (1999) identified that there are actually three kinds of BPR causes. These causes can be explained by the conditions in which the organization finds itself: ? First, companies invite BPR concept and its implementation because they have no choice.These companies find themselves in deep trouble and they have no choice but to design changes in a depth and magnitude level that some would call radical. This is why the concept is referred to as Business Process Reengineering. ? Second, companies are not in trouble yet but they perceiv ed clearly that the future would be problematic. ? Third, the company is actually in its peak position, but they see opportunities to develop a competitive edge over their competitors III. 3. Implementation of BPR A short model of implementing BPR will be described in this subchapter: 2.Define mission and vision statement that contains the unique value of the organization in comparison with others 3. Build clear business strategy based on this mission and vision statement thus generating project objectives 4. Define core processes that will help the organization in achieving these project objectives 5. Producing key performance measures to measure cost-benefit relationship of the processes 6. Improving effectiveness and efficiency of the processes using the performance measures At a glance, these steps seem to be similar to other process development stages.In BPR however, the strong focus is on how to radically improve effectiveness and efficiency by driving out all costs and activi ties that do not constitute the vital necessities of the processes (Chan, 1997). III. 4. Role of Information Technology in BPR BPR experts argued that BRP is different then TQM and other process improvement concepts because of its strong focus over the efficiency of the core processes. One of the well-known sentiments of BPR is that information technology should not be used unless it produces efficiency improvement toward corporate processes.BPR experts stated that in the midst of modern business environment, organizations sometimes implement IT system because of its popularity, failing to recognize the advantages produced by the IT system for organizational processes. BPR fight against those practices in the modern business environment (Davenport, 1990) III. 5. Critics In some literatures, BPR is also criticized due to its radical nature. For instance, most of the companies implementing BPR are discovered performing massive layoffs to enhance their process efficiencies.Observers be lieved that implementing BPR without other balancing concepts will lead to only short term benefits because BPR focus mostly on the financial factor of value production. The use of other concepts like the Balance Score Card should enhance BPR’s benefits toward organizations. III. 6. Benefits for Commercial Construction Business The use of BPR is perceived to be very much suitable for the construction industry due to the ‘hard’ and highly competitive nature of the environment. Furthermore, it has been stated that the BRP concept is suitable for organizations in desperate need for radical cost reduction and process development.One of the supporting factors is that the construction industry usually employs workers on the basis of short term contract. Thus, using the BRP concept, managers could increase the efficiency of their processes without having to worry about laying-off long-term employees. The construction industry is also complex with hundreds of types of ma terial and service costs that can be evaluated through the BPR concept. With the recent development of consolidations and usage of Information Technology, BPR will also assist managers in evaluating which costs are really beneficial and which should be considered waste.V. Conclusion The commercial construction business is the most competitive sector of the construction industry. Lately, the business sector is faced with serious challenges that require management’s attention. These challenges threaten the survival of organizations within the business sector. In order to face those challenges, we suggest that companies within the sector turn to Total Quality Management and Business Process Engineering. These are quality improvement concepts designed to enhance efficiency and effectiveness of organizational processes throughout the organization.TQM and BPR are rooted from the same idea, but they focus on different pressure points. BPR has a more urgent sense within it steps. It is a concept practiced by companies in need of a radical change in their business processes, in order to survive upcoming challenges. It focuses on the financial aspect of core business processes and driving-out costs other than vital ones. Some believed the concept to be harsh and insensitive to other aspects like maintaining pleasant working environment, etc. Nevertheless, its contribution is undeniable to modern companies today.TQM on the other hand, is a concept developed by the Japanese, along with the JIT and kaizen concept. It focuses on continuous process improvements which stronger sense of long-term orientations. Applied together, these concepts will assist managers of the commercial construction business in improving their operational processes and facing their challenges in the form of increasing business complexities. Bibliography Chan, S. L. , C. F. Choi, 1997. â€Å"A conceptual and analytical framework for business process reengineering†, International Journal Production Economics, vol.50, p. 211 – 223. Davenport, Thomas & Short, J. (1990), The New Industrial Engineering: Information Technology and Business Process Redesign, in: Sloan Management Review, Summer 1990, pp 11-27 Hammer, Carter, Usry. 1994. ‘Cost Accounting’. SouthWestern. ‘Industry Overview’. 2006. MSG. Retrieved August 12, 2008 from http://www. msgcpa. com/general. php? category=Industry+Library&headline=Construction+-+Commercial O’Neill, P. , and A. S. Sohal, 1999. â€Å"Business Process Reengineering A review of recent literature†, Technovation, vol. 19, p. 571–581.