Ethics of stem cell research Essay

The employment of human embryonic stem cells is a significant breakthrough in the filed of biomedical research. The capability to isolate, culture, harvest and manipulate stem cells presents a huge potential to generate new cells that will technically replace non-functional or degenerate cells in a patient’s body. Such revolutionary technology may possibly serve as a new treatment method for incurable and debilitating diseases. Amidst the excitement within the scientific world for the promises stem cell research brings, there is a growing debate on the ethics that are associated with this novel technology. The collection and manipulation of embryonic stem cells in the laboratory is dependent on the destruction of embryos. Such procurement of biological material therefore warrants the termination of an embryo which directly represents the very beginning of a human being (Robertson, 1999; Leies, 2005). Society has thus questioned whether the scientific world has ignored the absolute value of life in exchange for excellence in biomedical research. In a newspaper article from the Washington post entitled â€Å"Clash over stem cell research heats up,† Rick Weiss (2006) describes how stem cell research is perceived by two sides of the issue. Both sides have aggressively used the media in helping them air out their concerns and excitement, respectively, over the use of embryonic stem cells. The newspaper article was written and published a few days before the Senate would meet to determine the fate of embryonic stem cell research in the United States. The stem cell research bill was initially reviewed in 2001 and indicated that research efforts on embryonic stem cells in the United States will not be funded due to ethical reasons. This new bill will thus take control of the 2001 restriction and will therefore allow funding of research programs on embryonic stem cells that have been created as of August 2001. The bill aims to preserve and protect human embryos from their destruction, yet several scientific groups have claimed that this restriction has hampered their research efforts on regenerative medicine, and has also resulted in the lag of research output. More importantly, other countries that are not restricted from performing embryonic stem cell research have gained a 5-years’ worth of research advantage over the United States. The controversy regarding the ethical issues of embryonic stem cell research impacts the entire human population. Each individual in the society has a susceptibility to contract a disease that might possibly need the use of stem cells that can replace defective ones in the body. We have heard of a number of public figures that have suffered from diseases that could have been resolved through the use of embryonic stem cells. The late former President Ronal Reagan suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and the late actor Christopher Reeve experienced spinal cord injury. Both of these individuals are prime examples of people who could have benefited from the results of embryonic stem cell research. Stem cells may be cultured and manipulated to differentiate into specific types of cells such as astrocytes or brain cells for Alzheimer’s patients, and neural cells for patients with spinal cord injury (Snow, 2003). However, nothing has been done since 2001 because the federal government has put a hold on any research activities that involves stem cell manipulation and experimentation. A solution to current debate on the ethical issues associated with embryonic stem cell research is the comprehensive explanation of the definition of embryonic stem cells. It is imperative that the non-scientific public understand the principles and techniques behind the generation of embryonic stem cells. It is also important that the public know that harvesting embryonic stem cells is not much different from abortion. It is also essential to understand that the body of a human female biologically destroys or discards hundred of eggs cells through the natural course. The scientific group, in turn, should be patient enough to explain the area of embryonic stem cell research. I think that the ethical debate on the use of embryonic stem cells for research originates mainly from the miscommunication, misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the concept of embryonic stem cells. In addition, the public only relies on the information that is released by senators and stem cell research activists, who have actually distorted the concept of stem cell research. Should the scientific world be humble enough to example the basics of stem cell research, including the misnomers and benefits of the research, the ethical debate on this issue would decrease and might even vanish. The debate on the ethical issues of stem cell research is just one of several topics that have been under intense scrutiny by the public eye. Other issues of human concern include the employment of genetically modified organisms (GMO), organic foods, genetic engineering and biotechnology. It should be known that these technological innovations were basically created to improve the quality of life and not to destroy existing life forms. Everything that interacts with human beings has its benefits and disadvantages, yet these biomedical breakthroughs are the usual focus of attention of the public. However, if we weigh the benefits and risks of stem cell research, we will realize that the benefits of stem cell research far outweighs the disadvantages that may result from the use of this technology. We should always remember that decades ago, so many lives were lost from bacterial infection because antibiotics were not discovered yet. Today, antibiotics are a common treatment regime for bacterial infections, which is a huge benefit to human health, but it also has resulting in the creation of drug-resistant strains of bacteria. The same setting may also be observed in terms of stem cell research, but we should intelligently consider both sides of the technology.

Relationship Between Private and Public Police

Relationship between Private and Public Police G00fydad CJS/250 March 10, 2013 John Doe Relationship between Private and Public Police The police in our society carry with them a deep sense of tradition and honor that stems from generations of serving and protecting the public. This pride can, at times, lead some police to believe that they are the last line of defense with the public they serve and any other entity that appears to be encroaching on that territory should be mistrusted.This attitude does not mix well with others attempting to perform the same job function such as private security. Thankfully this is not the consensus of all public police officers. Most public police understand that they require the assistance of the private sector and will welcome the help where it is offered. The public police also understand that that private security entities are often times the first to respond at many of the incidents that later involve the public police.It has been estimated tha t nearly 85 percent of the country’s critical infrastructure is protected by private security (Ohlhausen, 2004). When the private security firms handle such a large majority of the policing duties it is essential that the relationship between the private and public police forces relate well to one another and cooperate whenever possible. One of the largest issues with the relationship between the public and private police stems from the general population’s opinion.The public police are looked upon as the legitimate police force and the private security departments are looked upon with very little respect by the community at large. This can be seen at most shopping malls when someone is committing a crime. When the security officer intervenes that situation may only deescalate slightly and the participants still look upon the security officer with little respect. However, when a public police officer arrives the situation is typically handled swiftly and all parties in volved take things far more serious.This image of private security officers and the relationship they hold with the public police is often exacerbated by the media in television and movies. They portray the security officers as lazy, bumbling, and not very smart. Of course these are the media’s vision of private security, but this is the general public consensus about the private security firms. This attitude and lack clear role definition of the private security field is a major roadblock in path of cooperation between the public and private sectors.According to a report issued by the Private Security Advisory Council, the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, and the U. S. Department Of Justice the major causes for the role conflict problems is a lack of mutual respect, lack of communication, lack of cooperation, lack of law enforcement’s knowledge of private security, perceived competition, lack of standards, and perceived corruption (1977). This separation of the public and private police is becoming less noticeable these days thanks to the education of both sides.The public and private police understand that they require the help and cooperation of each other. For example, with regard to public and private space, the public police must have probable cause or a warrant issued by a judge in order to search a location. The private security officer does not require any such warrant. The private security officer only needs to conduct the search within the confines of his or her allowable space, or the area in which they normally operate.For instance, a public police officer may not be allowed to come into an office building and search the office for narcotics without a warrant, but the company’s security officer is fully allowed to search the premises and turn over any evidence found. This definition between public and private space can be an advantage to public police. However, if the private security does not feel obliged to coopera te then the public police will need to work through other, longer, channels to get their job completed.This can happen if the private security feels that they would rather handle an incident of criminal activity internally and will not allow the public police to intervene in the process. The private security entities make this decision from time to time for a variety of reasons including the mistrust of the court system to fully sanction the offender and the feeling that the current court system is a â€Å"revolving door† situation. It is situations such as these that prevent our public police and private security from having a truly unifying system.According to Boston Massachusetts Transit Police Chief Joseph C. Carter, since September 11, 2001 law enforcement agencies have been under tremendous pressure to conduct their traditional crime prevention and response activities and perform an immense amount of homeland security work, in a time of tight city, county, tribal, and s tate budgets (2007). In a time of financial crisis for all areas of the government we must rely on the private security development and ensure that the public police and the private security entities work together to keep things safe.In order for the public police and private security to truly work together government rules and regulations need to be enacted and the private sector would have to fall under the umbrella of government oversight. The private security entities would have to answer for the actions they take, and they would have to adhere to the same rules and regulations as public police. However, if this were to happen then the entire rules of search and seizure would have to change as well as many other law enforcement policies.Once this change takes place within the government the public and private police will be able to interact with little interference and issue making the ability to deal with crimes far easier. This will have the added benefit of improving not only the image of private security in the community’s eyes, but also the relationship between public and private police agencies. While the relationship between the public and private police agencies can be strained at times, and relaxed at others the cooperation between both is very important and should be encouraged by all involved.The public image of private security must also change and the officers within the realm of private security should be afforded the same respect and courtesy that public police already experience. This new attitude by the general populace coupled with government involvement and support will only serve to improve the relationship between public and private police. References Ohlhausen, P. (2004). In T Seamon (Chair). Building private security/public policing partnerships to prevent and respond to terrorism and public disorder. National policy summit.Retrieved from http://cops. usdoj. gov/files/RIC/Publications/national_policy_summit. pdf Bilek, A. (197 7, June). In A. Bilek (Chair). Law enforcement and private security sources and areas of conflict and strategies for conflict resolution. Retrieved from https://www. ncjrs. gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/44783NCJRS. pdf Carter, J. (2007). Public-private partnerships: Vital resources for law enforcement. Retrieved from http://www. policechiefmagazine. org/magazine/index. cfm? fuseaction=display_arch&article_id=1257&issue_id=92007

History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

History - Essay Example Trench warfare was the norm, and soldiers were pitted against one another in horrible conditions. The use of mustard gas by the Germans against the British in the Second Battle of Ypres increased the horror of this war. (WW1 timeline). Valery wrote from a position of intellectual and emotional shell-shock. The scope and terror of the war left him questioning everything, and he was afraid: â€Å"We modern civilizations have learned to recognize that we are mortal like the others.† He was no longer complacent about the death of past cultures: â€Å"†¦through the misty bulk of history, huge vessels once laden with riches and learning†¦were no concern of ours.† The mind, Valery wrote, is deeply injured and may not recover from the shock of its realization that there is no longer the buffer of time. Civilization could end at any moment. The Lost Generation epitomizes the feelings of British intellectuals in WW One’s aftermath. Hugh Dalton writes of his frien d Rupert Brooke â€Å"with his passing, a bright light seemed to go out of my life, and a bright hope of the future† (The Lost Generation).

Reading Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 5

Reading - Assignment Example He argues that the masks allow the women behind them express themselves without fearing the loss of their own dignity. The author interprets demoiselle’s African masks differently from other critics. He views them as offensive and at the same time attractive, the attraction is not because of the pictorial effect, but for the clients that source the service of these pictured women.   Cave however, dispute the notion that the unmasked faces of the three figures on the left side of the picture are not â€Å"syphilitic monsters† this is because  African masks are viewed as repellents. Those masked he views them as ridden with plaque while the unmasked as very healthy. Over the last decade the Les Demoiselles has been stated to evoke fearsome and awful â€Å"prototypical† reactions amongst men that view and experience its nature. This is due to its design of cubism and caricature. Walter Benjamin observes that the emergence of prostitution is a modern phenomenon expressed trough Picasso painting. And with this modernity prostitution and the trade of sex increase. The sex he says has been commoditized in utter disregard to the very important tenets of love. The disjunctive state of the Les Demoiselles made it receive less consideration for public display. This disjunctive state left historians debating on whether the art was actually finished or not. The author of this article uses previous critiques to bring the issues of race and class, citing that race and class differentiate the art by le demoiselles and Olympus. Chave then explains that the flattening of pictorial space is but a modernist phenomenal. Clements on the other hand, sees it as a result of the consolidation of the means of unique art. Under Steinberg eye, viewing Picasso’s Les Demoiselles, he sees the interior space of the art in compression, like the inside of compressed bellows. He describes the feeling as one of an inhabited pocket heated by a contracting

Examples of two problems in the healthcare field that have Essay

Examples of two problems in the healthcare field that have mathematical solutions - Essay Example For example, Young’s Rule is commonly used to determine child’s dose. The formula for Young’s Rule is as follows: Rationale for the use of Young’s Rule to determine dosage for children is that there is a lot of variation in the size, weight, and tolerance level of the children. There needs to be a formula that can standardize the determination of dosage for children regardless of these factors. Young’s Rule is particularly used when the dosage has not been recommended for the children by the manufacturer. Using Young’s Rule, dosage for a child can be determined just by using his/her age as the information. For example, if 500mg of a tablet is prescribed for an adult per day, then to find the dose for a child 10 years of age, the process would be as follows: Doctors and nurses operating in the health care industry have to deal with a lot of complicated cases quite often. New procedures and operations are being realized for the treatment and cure of diseases that have so far been considered incurable. Rapid advancement in the field of science and technology has provided answers for many unsolved questions. However, it is not easy to convince a patient that needs a surgery to undergo it. This is where statistics plays its role. Doctors gain confidence of the patients by referring to past patients that have undergone the surgeries successfully. Let’s suppose an older adult needs to have a polyp in the vocal cord surgically removed. He is double-minded on whether or not to undergo the surgery because he may not survive anesthesia as he also happens to be a patient of diabetes, asthma, and few other health complications. Mathematical solution for an old patient that wants to know what are the chances of survival after being given surgery under general anesthesia is providing him with the statistics mentioning the survival rate for patients of the same age in the past. The rationale for providing the patient with the statistics is that it

Boeotian black figure tripod kothon Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Boeotian black figure tripod kothon - Essay Example The komos is a parade of masked men costumed as satyrs and an occasion of feasting, joyous drinking and dancing.1 According to Maurice Emmanuel, representations of komos was much affected by the painters of vases and the fashion spread over the whole of Hellenistic world, to Boeotia and its kothons.2 The homosexual theme painted on the kothon served its purpose because; the kothon was the preferred drinking-vessel by soldiers taken on campaigns because it is easily carried in a knapsack. Greek men are known to practice pederasty and soldiers were known to fight with their lovers in battle. In the Constitution of the Lacedaemonians, Critias wrote about the vessel: â€Å"The reason why it is so well adapted to military use is that it is often necessary to drink water that is not pure. It is first of all useful because the liquid to be drunk cannot be seen with any clarity.†3 The Boeotian black figure tripod kothon further demonstrates this with its inward turning edges which wou ld inevitably catch a residue of the impurities inside its lip. One man, in dancing depiction, stretches an inviting reach toward the other dancing figures chin in the depiction of hopeful gesture for a romantic response. It appears that the dances are part of Dionysian rites with its revelry and wine-involved dances. Dionysius or his representation, however, is not depicted in the painting. According to Csapo and Miller, it is difficult to establish a connection to Dionysius on the basis of available iconography because the kothon paintings only show general associations such as the use of wine in the ritual and the masked satyrs.4 In the previously cited kothon artifact housed in Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, there is a more detailed depiction of the komos in the Boeotian kothon (see the picture below). In this case, the komos is collocated with a sacrifice ceremony, involving wine-poring, piper playing and

Stress distribution in the ankle joint, Ideal requirement for ankle Essay

Stress distribution in the ankle joint, Ideal requirement for ankle arthroplasty - Essay Example However, the dynamic stability to the joint can be attributed to the ligamentous support and balanced muscular forces acting around the joint. Although end-stage degenerative joint disease in uncommon in the ankle joint, in contrast to the previously offered ankle arthrodesis, with the newer designs of total ankle arthroplasty implants, the later has become a viable alternative. However, given the complex mechanism of the joint in terms of force distribution, any successful implant must be congruent with the biomechanical properties of this unique joint. To this end, stress distribution and other mechanical forces are the most important considerations, and in this assignment, some current total ankle replacements systems will be investigated as to whether they conform to the ideal requirements of stress distribution (Alvine, 2000). Studies have supported the clinical choice of total ankle replacement despite its complications since in comparison to arthrodesis, the ideal patients undergoing indicated total ankle replacements can experience a near-normal gait, greater range of movement, symmetrical timing but a slower gait, and restored ground reaction pattern. In actual clinical conditions, thus stress distribution across the implant becomes the most important engineering issue to be considered while choosing an implant. This is important more so, given the fact that there is indeed a higher reported incidence of frequent failure of the ankle implants. These have been ascribed to the designers and surgeons inability to reconstruct and restore the stabilising ligaments, to a poor simulation and reproduction of the normal mechanics of the joint, and due to these reasons, leading to a lack of involvement of the subtalar joint while the entire ankle complex need a coupled pattern of motion. This makes the total jo int replacement challenging, but also indicates that there is space for improvements in implant design

A written analysis of the ethical dilemma Essay - 1

A written analysis of the ethical dilemma - Essay Example The physicians are often perplexed to reach a particular point of conclusion that would provide best moral support to their patients. On one hand, their professional philosophy, in particular, suggests them to perform certain acts that are aimed at serving best interests of patients and on the other, the broad humanist outlook prevents them from performing those acts. Thus, remaining within the limits of a professional boundary, as sensitive as healthcare services, it really becomes tough for professionals to assimilate both these sides and churn out a constructive decision that would fulfill best interest of patients. There is no denial of the fact that since very childhood, every individual adheres to some extent or the other to the â€Å"institution of morality† (Beauchamp, and Childress, 2001, p. 3). This institution of morality provides certain basic principles to all human beings. According to general understanding, â€Å"All persons who are serious about living a moral life already grasp the core dimensions of morality. They know not to lie, not to steal property, to keep promises, to respect the rights of others, not to kill or cause harm to innocent persons †¦. All persons serious about morality are comfortable with these rules and do not doubt their relevance and importance† (Beauchamp, and Childress, 2001, p. 3). However, problem or confusion arises when it comes to assimilating both these aspects and the situation practically reflects one of the very common ethical dilemmas that a physician encounters. Morality, though the term encompasses within its broad scope a number of issues, however, it can be classified into two segments, depending over its application separately in universal and specific situations. The aspects of ethical conflict, which confuse most of the people both in professional and personal dimensions of life, actually arise due to the conflict between common and specific morality. There are certain

Reflection Paper on Social Change through Immigrant Integration Essay

Reflection Paper on Social Change through Immigrant Integration - Essay Example However, in doing so, the organization walks the fine line between what Skerry has acknowledged as a propensity to "help" or "hassle" that is, the institute definitely has the means by which to assist immigrants, but must be careful not to impose the predominant culture in a condescending manner with the intent to either belittle or eradicate the immigrants' cultural heritage. If for no other reason than a closed system stagnates, the community as a whole is revitalized through embracing new perspectives. The goal of the institute should therefore be to offer a means of integration by first providing services that provide guidance to the present civic structure, second provide cultural access through which the immigrants might become familiar with more local customs, and lastly by encouraging a continuation of immigrant traditions and customs while making these as open as possible to the indigenous community. The purpose of these three approaches is to promote understanding and appre ciation between the two communities. Skerry has referenced Will Herberg's observation that " in America religion was a more acceptable basis of group identity than ethnicity or race." (p. 33) and does so to analyze the level of success achieved by the Latino based Resurrection Project. This project, affiliated with the Catholic Church, has created a feedback loop through which the community has been instructed by the church to avail itself of the organization; the organization then has assisted the community with economic incentives and guidance through certain legalities. The organization has attached conditionals to their assistance that, although these can be regarded as "hassles", ultimately tie the immigrants back into both the civic community and the Church's moral guidelines. The essential lesson of this example has been the use of cultural touchstones. The surrounding community became much more willing to accommodate the Latino community, partly because it had created a structured organization, but mostly becau se it was associated with a recognized organization: the Catholic Church. In an institutes efforts to promote immigrant integration, focus must be paid to such universal touchstones of human experience. Religion has certainly been one, but so are performances of music and art or festivals involving tradition (and more importantly food). Aside from these cultural events, people have always gathered over such shared concerns as children's welfare and education or the availability of healthcare. The extent of an institute's responsibility to promote immigrant integration hinges primarily on providing these opportunities for understanding. When different communities are allowed to gather formatters they share in common, they have taken the first step in recognizing their similarities. As this happens, immigrants become more familiar with local methods and attitudes, thereby growing more comfortable with learning about the new environment and how to unction within it. Yet the responsibility of integration must be equally shared by the immigrant as well. The indigenous

Collaboration Photography Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Collaboration Photography - Assignment Example The scene is mechanical, and captivating at the same time, and through right angle shoots outs the object confronts the subject directly and the use of light and shadow brings more focus on the object. Though people consider black and white photography is often treated as the poor relation of color, it can make a photo look captivating. A distraction brought out by color in the photo is eliminated by the use of the black and white photography; a studio brings out the best of the colors. In fact, the black and white boils to major concepts: removal of distraction, contrast, pattern, texture and lighting. Color photography unlike the black and white one does not effectively provide patterns, in fact, slight ones go unnoticed. On the other hand, a black and white Photoshop provides more vivid capturing patterns, as the viewer’s attention is more focused on the shapes formed by the elements in the

Comparative Analysis of Islamic and Conventional Bank Risk Essay Example for Free

Comparative Analysis of Islamic and Conventional Bank Risk Essay The decline of the religion has been attributed into modern times with a materialistic culture by the popular wisdom of today, the understanding of religion has embedded this view, as nature having only spiritual limits, and the worldly well being of an individual is very detached in this relation. However, this understanding of Islam religion has been misguided by many of among us in the past, as well as in the present. A critical role has been played by every religion regarding the guidance to survive in a society communally, and in the characterization of different markets of that time. In the religious regards, equal distribution of wealth and debt annulment was preached and emphasized by every religion in the past. The enforcement of the debt bond has been strongly rejected by all the beliefs and the concept of canceling the debt have been upheld by them. In the past, in order to satisfy and fulfill the financial needs of devout and pious Muslims, a concept of money depository was introduced in the Islamic civilization, which has now become a growing phenomenon of the world, that is, around 1. 6 billion Muslims in the world. The macro-economic properties of banking institution have been studies by many economists with relation to an ideal and isolated Islamic economy framework. In modern days, the working of this pioneering financial system is going on very effectively in various parts of the world. In many developed and under-developed countries, the other conventional banking systems are having this unique financing system besides them in every sector of the economy. In this regard, the comparative analysis has been done in this study, which will try to differentiate the Islamic banking system with the Conventional ones. In this study, we will try to understand and clarify the demarcation between the Islamic and Conventional Banking and the risks that are borne by these methods of banking. A financial intermediary having the aims and objectives related to the principles of Islamic law or ‘Shariah’ may be defined as an Islamic Banking System. Consequently, the zero-interest activities and operations are the key features of this distinctive banking system. However, eliminating the transactions based on interest is not the only objective of Islamic banking. The abolishment of all kinds of exploitation is also another aspect of Islamic banking system. In result, a balanced and unbiased social order is established by the system in this regard. Only the role of financier is not played by an Islamic bank. It also works as a partner in the business of an individual. Due to this, the risk between the capital owner and the entrepreneurs is involved by this system. However, the positive result of the collective efforts is also shared by the Islamic banking. Thus, the other conventional banking and interest-based system differs from the Islamic banking, as only the entrepreneur or the owner of the capital bears the risk in the conventional banking, and vice versa. However, the individual and bank shares the abovementioned with each other, which provides the entrepreneur to develop as a whole. In other way, participatory banking name can be given to the Islamic banking in this regard. In the Islamic economics, zero return on capital is not meant by the eliminating process of the interest in this unique banking system, as the pre-determination of a fixed return is forbidden for a certain amount of production in the Islamic laws. The equity based investment principle is followed by the Islamic banks. The contraction of the resources based on deals relating to the sharing of risks, and the ventures of capital is also proposed by the Islamic banking. It has been noted by the economists that economic growth and development of an individual becomes applicable and easy with the vital role that is played by the Islamic banks around the world. We can say that a relationship between finance, commerce, and industry is tried and developed by this exclusive banking system, which differs from the other conventional banking due to these characteristics of its system. The Islamic banking plays its role as an equity-based system, where the pre-determined interest rate is excluded, and the nominal value of deposits is not guaranteed. In result, changing values of the share deposits absorbs the shock to asset position immediately. Therefore, in such system, the assets and liabilities of bank will carry the same real value at all the points. However, in the more traditional and conventional banking system, a diversion can be caused between the real assets and liabilities by such shocks in the process of fixed nominal value of deposits. Therefore, the abovementioned features of this Islamic banking differs it from the traditional and conventional banking system, and so, various levels of risks are borne by these systems. Nowadays, many countries are trying to examine the possibilities of the introduction of an interest-free banking system based on the Islamic laws and principles. It has also been argued and discussed that if the Islamic financial system will be established in the various countries, it will be feasible, but also profitable for the individuals, as well as, the companies as a whole. These days, the truth of interest as an unbearable burden is being realized by the Western countries, as well as, the developing countries around the world. In this regard, all the interests have been waived by the Canada. A similar move has been made by the Australia. The suggestion of waiving off the 30 to 35% of the present interests of the debt has been officially given by the President of France. Therefore, it may be generalized that Islamic Banking and Financing System is a unique and distinctive system, which differs from the conventional banking systems around the world. In order to make a more detailed comparative view of the working and risks borne by the Islamic and Conventional Banking Systems, we will try to analyze with the help of data that represents the comparison between these two financial systems that are applied and practiced around the world. There are some different and diverse characteristics of the abovementioned two banking systems, which should be discussed in order to clarify the comparison between them. In the Islamic Financing system, the number of customers is less than the Marketing-based financing system. The ownership of the Islamic Banking is usually taken by the local or foreign individuals. However, only the local shareholders enjoy the ownership in the conventional banking system. In the Islamic banking, the integration of different activities is very high as compared to the traditional banking system. Lastly, the Islamic financing system has the high intensity of managing and bearing the risk internally, as well as externally. However, the risk is managed and borne by the Marketing-based financing system less internally and externally. Risk sharing is closely related to the risk management; no matter it may be external or internal in its nature. Development of close ties between the customers, and other interest groups may bring the risk externalization by an organization. It has also been indicated by various economists that one contributing factor that is related to the risk management is the long-term relations, which are made on the mutual dependence in an organization. From the different studies related to the Islamic Financing System, the responsibilities are shared by the junior and the senior staff jointly in organizations. In this case, the higher and lower level of management shares the risk. However, in the Marketing-based and Conventional Banking system, the internal risk is shared on a lower basis due to the centralization of power and authority, as compared to the Islamic Banking System. Conclusively, a high degree of the sharing of internal risk is characterized during managing the risk management in the Islamic Banking system as compared to the other conventional financing systems. Therefore, there are many differentiation between the Islamic and Traditional Banking systems around the world. Regarding the risk externalization, in the Islamic Banking system, the close lender-borrower relationships are characterized during the lending activities of organizations. The borrowers are also guided by the Islamic bankers apart from lending funds to them. In result, efficient network relationships create the increment of the externalization of risks relating to the partners who exchange in this regard. Therefore, in the Islamic Financing System, the degree of external risk is observed to be high. However, the formal lenders-borrowers relationships are characterized within the Conventional and Marketing-based financing system. In the result, it is a low degree of externalization of risks in this traditional banking system. In this regard, the extent of success of a banking organization is determined by the lender-borrower relationships, where the customers are given credit in this regard. Direct contacts with the various customers are maintained within the Islamic, as well as, the Conventional Financing Systems. The differentiation is observed in the Islamic Banking System while dealing with the financial activities, as the borrowed funds are monitored closely by these bankers, which results in the higher intensity of the lender-borrower relationships. In this regard, the risks are borne on a higher extent by the Islamic Banking system as compared to the conventional ones. However, the bank gets the higher profit as we have tried to discuss it in the abovementioned matter. Conclusively, the issues of fairness and justice are concerned in the Islamic principles that are related to the interest, rather than defining the efficiency narrowly. The focus is placed on the necessity of sharing the risk in a stable condition with the help of these principles, as well as, at the time of exploitation of the markets. We have also clarified that the Islamic Financing System works on the equity-based projects. However, the conventional ones prefer the debit-based schemes for the lenders and individuals. In an Islamic financing situation, the ownership is shared by the both bank and the client, and in the Conventional banking, all the equity is owned by the client, and the property value plays as a security to the bank loan. We hope that this study will help the scholars and the economists in understanding the role and differentiation of the Islamic Conventional Banking around the world. Works Cited Ahmad, S. (1992). Towards Interest-Free Banking. New Delhi: International Islamic Publishers. Chapra, M. (2000). The Future of Economics: An Islamic Perspective. Leicester, UK: The Islamic Foundation. Dar, A. H. , and Presley, J. R. (1999). Islamic Finance: A Western Perspective. International Journal of Islamic Financial Services. Dar, A. (2002). Islamic House Financing in the United Kingdom: Problems, Challenges, and Prospects. Ahmad, K. (1994). Elimination of Riba: Concepts and Problems, Response to the Supreme Court Questionnaire. Institute of Policy Studies, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Gender Discriminations as Portrayed in Budd Schulberg’s “On the Waterfront” Essay Example for Free

Gender Discriminations as Portrayed in Budd Schulberg’s â€Å"On the Waterfront† Essay Literary forms reflect most of the time social conditions and scenario. This is because most writers have the gift of being sensitive to their surroundings. A lot of writers have already wrote about the pains of war, the stories of success, and criticisms about the existing flaws of the society. When narrating about war, writers never forget to touch the topic of patriotism. When it is a story of success that they want to write, they always incorporate the keys to success. However, when criticizing the society, most writers focus often on two themes: the struggles between the wealthy and the poor and gender discrimination. For example, in Budd Schulberg’s â€Å"On the Waterfront†, gender criticism is one of the compelling themes the author has presented and embedded in the story. However, unlike other gender-based novels, ‘On the Waterfront† does not mainly focus on one gender but tackles both criticisms pointing to males and females. The novel suggests that gender-defined roles damage both gender along with greed for power. Criticisms on Women In the society that Schulberg has created, the D and D society, women seem to be victims of double jeopardy. Here the women are being discriminated in two levels. First, they are abused as being women in general and second, they are abused by their own society led by Johnny Friendly. In the novel, women already experience household violence, specifically coming from their husbands or other members of the family. For example, Edie, has experienced to be limited by his own father. It could be remembered that Edie’s father wants her to continue pursuing college: â€Å"But Pop, Ive seen things that I know are so wrong. Now how can I go back to school and keep my mind on on things that are just in books, that-that-that arent people living? † Although one way of empowering women is to educate them, it is more empowering for them to follow their own will and not be dictated by others. Edie’s decision to stay in Brooklyn to search the truth behind the death of his brother could be considered as more rewarding than to attain a degree in college. Her father, on the other hand, might not be aware of what he did. Nevertheless, his action could be considered an act of limiting the rights of women to think and act on their own. Criticisms Against Men Clearly, the novel shows more cases of criticisms and abuse against men than women. Unlike women, men in the D and D society are not victims of two-level criticisms. However, the abuse they experience seems to be as heavy as the abuse those of women. In their society, those who are in power mainly abduct their rights—the members of the mob-connected union, particularly their leader Johnny Friendly. The novel clearly shows how the rights of men to live and to speak the truth were violated. They are not simply hurt physically; they lose their lives once they go against the union. But Schulberg did not stop on that; he even explored the psychology of how men hurt each other’s feelings. For example, one of the biggest conflicts in the story is the dispute between siblings Terry and Charley: â€Å"You dont understand. I coulda had class. I could have been a contender. I could have been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, lets face it. It was you, Charley. † (Shulberg p. 266) These lines from Terry clearly shows that it was indeed a hard life for people to live having dispute with their family. Greed for Power Aside from gender criticisms, another theme that is present in â€Å"On the Waterfront† deals with the greed for power. In the story, Schulberg clearly shows how man can become a monster just to achieve a power comparable to that of a god. This universal truth, in reality, also damage both gender. Being greed for power could push a person, regardless of gender, to commit actions that violate both the law and morality. In the novel, killing people and oppressing them just to remain in power is one vivid example. Johnny Friendly, together with other members of the union, is evidently guilty of it: â€Å"You want to know whats wrong with our waterfront? Its the love of a lousy buck. Its making love of a buck— the cushy job— more important than the love of man! † (Schulberg p. 225). These lines from one of the characters in the novel is an attempt to verbalize the problem with the D and D society. People are so absorbed on how to gain power over other people. Thus, one effective way to do this is to gain an incredible amount of money. In summary, â€Å"On the Waterfront† tries to capture forms of abuse that are a result of greed and the need for power. The novel clearly shows, through the character of Johnny Friendly, how man can be blinded by his constant pursuit for money and power. Generally, it is the greed for wealth that a person could lose his sense of what is right and what is wrong. To dream of becoming rich is not a bad dream. It is in the nature of man to look for ways on how to improve himself and his condition. But when the dreamer let himself to be carried away by the grandiosity of wealth, the dream will suddenly turn into a nightmare. As a result, greed for money and power both damage men and women. Both are threats to the rights and freedom of people. Moreover, it is a stain of our society, Work Cited Schulberg, Budd. On the Waterfront. Pennsylvania: Continuum Intl Pub Group, 1985

Knowledge-based organization

Knowledge-based organization Knowledge-based organization Introduction Most organisations in one way or another have embraced the notion that to operate effectively in todays economy, it is necessary to become a knowledge-based organization (Alvesson, 1993). But few truly understand what that means or how to carry out the changes required to bring it about. Perhaps the most common misunderstanding is the view that the more a companys products or services have knowledge at their core, the more the organization is, by definition, knowledge based. The knowledge-based society of the 21st century is characterized by knowledge generation as the primary source of wealth and social well-being. This economic development, facilitated by networked actions of a variety of global actors utilizing new information and communication technology (ICT) including Internet technologies, is fundamentally changing the rules of the game of performing in both private and public organisations. Accordingly, new concepts, frameworks, models and theories are required in order to increase our understanding of the principles of the creation and use of knowledge and information as a resource. This development both in theory and in practice is evident because, contrary to the traditional factors of production, knowledge and information are partly intangible in nature. It is therefore vital for organisations to provide a holistic view of contextual factors which have an impact on the creation, processing, storage, maintenance and use of information and know ledge as a resource. Moreover, organisations must know more about the means that affect processes related to knowledge and information. Knowledge-Based Organisation in Malaysia In the early 1980s, when the Japanese advances in the economy and began to make great impacts on the business state of affairs, knowledge work began to make headway to the workers levels. The Japanese enterprises show their way to knowledge work at the workers levels through such practices as QCC activities, 5S activities, Kaizen suggestion schemes and the like. These practices continue to contribute to improving productivity and competitiveness in production. By mid 1980s, Japan has overwhelmed other western companies and organisations with their low cost and high quality products by it techniques and quality tools. Malaysia as any other countries in the world is moving towards improving their information technology facilities and services. After achieving independence on 31 August 1957, Malaysia was basically a resource-based country and depending on the extraction of natural resources. The need to provide jobs for the local population then was one of the primary foci of the economic development plans. In order to compete with Japanese organisation success Malaysian government in the Malaysian Context of Industrial Development has emphasis learning in every national agenda. The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) Malaysia launched the First Industrial Master Plan, 1986-1995 (IMP1) in 1986 with the main focus is to rationalize the industrial growth process and the growth of manufacturing industry. The Malaysian Prime Minister first mooted Vision 2020 in 1991 and it is Malaysia national vision for the countrys continuing development into a developed nation (Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid, 1993). Even with the success of the IMP, the Total Factor Productivity (TFP) growth recorded over the period 1992-1997 was below the expected level. The manufacturing-based industrialization strategy will only take the country into an industrial society and this will not be sufficient to achieve the post-industrial/advanced industrial society and a civil society as envisaged in the Vision 2020 (NITC, 1998). As Malaysia prepares to become a knowledge-based economy, new strategic focus calls for the nation to work towards the digital economy and a knowledge-based economy. The national response to this is the National IT Agenda (NITA) to direct the progress and the Multimedia Super Corridor (MDC, 1999) and its associated programs that aim to create the IT waves towards this new economy (NITC, 1998). Organisations will have to refocus their strategies to be globally competitive. The new competitive strategy will be knowledge-based, and organisations will have to be knowledge-focused. Even if production of tangible outputs is the core business, the competitive strategy will have to be knowledge-based. In other words, the competitiveness of an organisation will be its knowledge rather than is physical outputs. The proposition here is that managing and exploiting organisational knowledge or knowledge management is a strategic focus for organisation to achieve competitiveness, and the learning organisation is the outcome of this strategic process. Knowledge Management initiatives are developing in a wide variety of government sectors in varying countries around the world and this conference will provide and intergovernmental forum for the discussion of best practice in public sector knowledge management. A recent survey reveals that 73% of governments feel they have made mistakes in setting up their online systems and 56% say that the work has taken longer than expected. Nonetheless, 89% are not yet tired of implementing e-government. By placing individual services on-line, government departments could achieve cost savings of up to 25 percent. If departments collaborate to provide a one-stop shop for a handful of services-say, by creating a World Wide Web site where you apply for a drivers license, pay a traffic ticket, and make an appointment for an emission inspection-the figure raises to 45 percent. Getting departments to collaborate is the tricky part. What is Knowledge? Knowledge as we all know comes from a cycle that involves the transformation from data to information and to knowledge. Information if it is not interpreted accordingly will not be knowledge. Knowledge is an organised combination of data, assimilated with set of rules, procedures, and operations learnt through experience and practice and without meaning knowledge are just information or data (Bhatt, 2001). It is only through meaning that information finds life and becomes knowledge (Bhatt, 2000). McDermott describes six characteristics of knowledge that distinguish it from information (McDermott, 1999): 1. Knowledge is a human act. 2. Knowledge is the residue of thinking. 3. Knowledge is created in the present moment. 4. Knowledge belongs to communities. 5. Knowledge circulates through communities in many ways. 6. New knowledge is created at the boundaries of old. In today competitive environment, organisations are competing which each other to achieve a high competitive advantage. In this era information is now considered as the most important assets in organisation. Information comes from knowledge and knowledge comes from the mind and experience of an individuals. Davenport and Prusak (1998) have provided the following definition of knowledge: Knowledge is a fluid mix of framed experiences, values, contextual information, and expert insight that provides a framework for evaluation and incorporating new experiences and information. If originates and is applied in the minds of knower. In organisations, it is often becomes embedded not only in documents of repositories but also in organizational routines, processes, practice, and norms. Knowledge management emphasizes on the inter-personal communication over the mere capture and storage of knowledge. Organizational intellectual assets and capital are the most priority aspects of the knowledge management efforts. Knowledge is the important elements in a value-chain. This value chain includes data, information, knowledge, wisdom, and the conceptualisation of knowledge management as a process of refinement, leveraging data and information to the more valuable level. These value-added elements can help organisations in problem solving and decision-making to improve performance and increase innovations. Innovation is an ongoing process in which organisations create problems, define them, and then develop new knowledge for their solution (Beveren, 2002). Knowledge Management Knowledge management is an emerging trend. This is because organisations have started to realize the importance of knowledge in order to achieve competitive advantage. Recent years have seen an explosive increase of interest in knowledge management. As well as a massive outpouring of books and articles on KM, many organizations have embarked upon their own KM programmes. A recent KPMG survey (KPMG, 1998) of 100 leading UK firms found that a staggering 43% of respondents were undertaking some kind of KM initiative. For an organisation to survive they must be able to move one step further from their competitors and would be able to differentiate themselves between other. Creating and sustaining a competitive advantage a one way of achieving goals. To coupe with these rapidly changing environments, organisations needs to know what are their corporate knowledge assets and manage these assets to sustain competitive advantage. Knowledge belongs to the family of progressively increasing corporate assets, like management systems, brand identity, customer information and corporate reputation (Pascarella, 1997). Knowledge is a person, highly personal asset and represents the collective expertise and efforts of networks and alliances. Knowledge management has becoming the most critical aspect in organisation to achieve competitive advantage. Nonaka (1991) stated that in an economy where the only certainty is uncertainty, the one sure source of lasting competitive advantage is knowledge. According to McCampbell (1999), to have a successful knowledge management projects, knowledge management was at least partially responsible for a major transformation of one large consulting firm and the transformation was all-embracing in terms of a marked improvement in financial result for the firm while engaged in knowledge management practices. Knowledge Management is multi-disciplinary approach and has now becoming very powerful concept. It is rapidly growing practice used as strategic tool for organisation to produce efficient and productive product and services. This concept helps organisations to seek and maximize value by helping people innovate and acclimatize in the face of change. As the world is moving towards a global knowledge economy, proper management and practice of knowledge can transform services and product and put value into it. As global competition based on knowledge intensive products or services swiftly increase, it is little wonder that organisations are seeking ways to harness knowledge through business strategies and knowledge management tools and techniques (Vandermerwe, 1997). Many organisations are already thriving in our increasingly knowledge-intensive world, often referred to as the new or knowledge economy. These organisations are achieving success by focusing on how knowledge can be used to deliver value to the organisation and its stakeholders. Knowledge management helps people prepare for an environment of constantly shifting demographics, industries, economies, and customer needs by ensuring that people have the expertise and information they need in order to properly assess business problems and opportunities. Knowledge Management is a process that helps organisations to find, select, organize, disseminate, and transfer important information and expertise necessary for activities such as problem solving, dynamic learning, strategic learning and decision-making (Gupta, Iyer and Aronson, 2000). Knowledge management caters the critical issues of organizational adaptation, survival and competence in face of increasingly discontinuous environmental change. Essentially, it embodies organizational processes that seek synergistic combination of data and information processing capacity of information technologies, and the creative and innovative capacity of human beings (Malhotra, 1998). Tacit and Explicit Knowledge There are two types of knowledge. Knowledge that cannot be articulated is called tacit knowledge. In organisations, tacit knowledge is the personal knowledge used by members to perform their work and make sense of their worlds (Choo, 2000). Tacit knowledge is also as important as explicit knowledge. The only problem that occurs is that tacit knowledge is hard to be explained and communicate. As Michael Polanyi the chemist-turned-philosopher who coined the term, put it, We know more than we can tell. Polanyi used the example of being able to recognize a persons face but being only vaguely able to describe how that is done. Contrast to tacit knowledge, explicit knowledge is the knowledge that has been articulated, capture in the form of text, tables, diagrams, product specifications and so on (Cortada, 2000). Explicit knowledge is also knowledge that is expressed formally using a system of symbols and can therefore be easily communicated and diffuse (Choo, 2000). This type of knowledge is the most recognized and captured by organisations. Most organisations concentrate more on explicit knowledge because it is easy to understand and capture (Barlow, 2000). Both tacit and explicit knowledge are very important and critical to organizational information or knowledge management system development. It is just a matter of identify and captured it to make it as an valuable assets. TACIT EXPLICIT INDIVIDUAL DEPENDENT Personal Tacit Self-Motivated Creativity Know-How Know-What Know-Why INDIVIDUAL INDEPENDENT Cultural Tacit Organisational Tacit (e.g. Causal Ambiguity) Regulator Assets (Copyrights, Patents, Trademarks) There are three types of explicit knowledge resident in any organisation 1. Cognitive knowledge, 2. Advanced systems skills, and 3. Systems understanding. In Figure 1, Meso and Smith (2000) described cognitive knowledge, also termed know-what is the basic mastery of a discipline that professionals achieve through extensive training and certification (Quinn et al., 1996). Advanced skills or know-how refer to the ability to apply rules of a discipline to complex real-world problems (Quinn et al., 1996). Systems understanding, also termed know-why is the deep understanding of the web of cause-and-effect relationships underlying a discipline (Quinn et al., 1996; Nonaka, 1991). The creation of new knowledge comes from the ongoing innovations form learning organisations. Therefore, organizational learning occurs at the intersection of tacit and explicit knowledge during the interaction of the various employees, departments or teams in an organisation (Nonaka, 1991). Sustainable competitive advantage results from innovation. Innovation in turn results from the creation of new knowledge (Meso and Smith, 2000). Knowledge Creation It is process how organisation gathers internal and external information in one system. Knowledge creation refers to the ability of an organisation to develop novel and useful idea and solution (Marakas, 1999). Nonaka (1994) identifies four mechanisms for knowledge creation: 1. Socialisation whereby one individual shares tacit knowledge with other. Sharing of experiences through observation, imitation and practice; 2. Combination whereby one pieces of explicit knowledge is combined with other; 3. Externalisation whereby tacit knowledge is made explicit; and 4. Internalisation process of experiencing knowledge through an explicit source, where explicit knowledge is converted into tacit. Meanwhile Rovertson (2001) has identified four types of organisational knowledge: 1. Conscious, which is an individuals explicit knowledge; 2. Automatic, which is an individuals implicit knowledge; 3. Objectified, which is explicit, social knowledge, and 4. Collective, which is implicit, social knowledge. Knowledge Capture Knowledge can be captured inside and outside organisation. The captured knowledge then will be integrated within one system in organisation as a resource. The purpose of knowledge management is to integrate internal and external knowledge at all time in order to cope with environmental changes both within and outside the organisation, to solve existing problem as well as to innovate for business expansion. Beveren (2002) provides a model where information is acquired through the sensors and processed in the brain by using prior knowledge (see Figure 1). Where: Knowledge is the stock of conceptual tools and categories used by humans to create, collect and share information. During the processing of information, new knowledge can be acquired or created for future use, when more or new information is acquired and processed. Knowledge Dissemination Knowledge dissemination in corporate knowledge is involving with the activity to disseminate or distributes knowledge to members in organisation. Knowledge benefited to organisation if they can disseminate. Knowledge needs to distributed and shared if an organisation to leverage value from it (Bhatt, 2000). Beveren (2002) illustrates how knowledge is transformed into information within the brain to be communicated externally through language or demonstration (see Figure 2). Language in this model includes all forms of communication, such as written, verbal and body language. In this model, the prior knowledge contained in human brains is required for the creation of information, just as the creation of knowledge often requires the input of information through the sensors to the brain. The initial formation of prior knowledge has been a huge area of debate for many years and has been discussed from two opposed positions, the empiricists and the nativists. Organizational Learning 2.5.3 Knowledge Sharing The organisational creation of differential knowledge, at its central part, springs unpredictably and unknowingly from social interchanges between competent organisations. Thus the importance of organizational behaviour in adapting to change is self-evident. Unfortunately, our understanding of the processes of organizational change is quite limited. The basic facts of human cognition are that our brains have the capacity to establish an extremely large number of possible networks of connections, but only a small fraction of this potential can be realized. Indeed, the growth of knowledge and the possibility of innovation depend on the incompleteness of present connections (Loasby, 2000b). Knowledge sharing only takes place on a significant scale where organisations have organized themselves into communities of practice. These communities need to be integrated to the companys strategy and its organizational structure.The phenomenon of communities of practice is known under different names. The World Bank, for example, is leveraging global knowledge sharing to attain its goal of becoming a clearinghouse for expertise on sustainable development (Wah, 1999) and they are called thematic groups; in Hewlett Packard they are learning communities or learning networks; in Chevron they are called best practice teams, and in Xerox they are know as family groups (Denning, 2000). Many practitioners pf knowledge managementincreasingly see knowledge sharing as a better description of what they are about than knowledge management. Advantages of knowledge sharing as a term include its commonsense comprehensibility, along with a certain degree of inter-activity implicit in any sharing. Drawbacks of knowledge sharing include the possibility that even sharing is insufficiently interactive, and that it implies (falsely) that the existence of knowledge precedes the sharing process, thereby (wrongly) separating knowledge management from knowledge creation and innovation and research. Knowledge Exploitation Knowledge exploitation is one of the vital parts in corporate knowledge. Knowledge exploitation means making knowledge more active and relevant for the organisation in creating values. If an organisation did not find it easy to locate the right kind of knowledge, the organisation may find it difficult to sustain its competitive advantage (Ganesh 2001). There are certain indicators for an organisations ability to create, disseminate and apply knowledge. Demarest (1997) identified six key questions an organisation has to answer to participate in knowledge management effectively: 1. The culture, actions and beliefs of managers about the value, purpose and role of knowledge; 2. The creation, dissemination and use of knowledge within the organisation; 3. The kind of strategic and commercial benefits a organisation can expect by the use of effective knowledge management; 4. The maturity of knowledge systems in the organisations; 5. How a organisation organise for knowledge management; and 6. The role of information technology in the knowledge management program. Using Demarests model, McAdam (2000) in his research on A comparison of public and private sector perceptions and use of knowledge management found that in terms of knowledge construction, organisations recognised the need for both a scientific and a social construction of knowledge if the benefits of knowledge management were to be realised. Knowledge embodiment was found to be highly dependent on employee interchange, which must be recognised as a source of knowledge and key to the success of knowledge embodiment in organisations dissemination and use. Approaches to knowledge dissemination as part of a KM system were found to be mainly ad hoc. There was little systematic use of the more sophisticated methods available. The use/benefits of knowledge management within the organisations studied was based mainly on reduced costs, and improved quality and efficiency. Creating, managing and transferring knowledge is the top of agenda for a growing number of organisations in the Chase study. They believe knowledge management would improve performance and result such as improved decision making, increased responsiveness to customer, improved efficiency of people and processes, increased ability to innovate and improved products and services (Chase, 1997). Although organisations recognised the importance of creating, managing and transferring knowledge, the research findings also found that many of the organisations still have been unable to translate this competitive needs into strategies. Other conclusion from his study is that the best practice organisations are experiencing great difficulty in translating knowledge management theory into practice. Communities of Practice In todays organisations community of practice seems very important for employees to contribute and share their tacit and explicit knowledge for the organisation development. Community of practice can be define as a group of practitioners who share a common interest or passion in an area of competence and are willing to share the experiences of their practice. Community of practice can play an important role in leveraging knowledge in organisation. Gamble and Blackwell (2001) defined community of practice as collections of individuals bound by informal relationship who share a similar work role in a common context. They are groups that: 1. Come together voluntarily for a shared purpose; 2. Have members that identify themselves as part of the community; 3. Repeatedly engage in activities with other member s and communities; 4. Have interactions that last for an indeterminate period of time. An essential ingredient of knowledge sharing programs in large organisations is the community of practice. In undertaking knowledge sharing programs, most organisations have found sooner or later that the nurturing of knowledge-based communities of practice is a sine qua non to enabling significant knowledge sharing to take place. Such communities are typically based on the affinity created by common interests or experience, where practitioners face a common set of problems in a particular knowledge area, and have an interest in finding, or improving the effectiveness of, solutions to those problems (Denning, 2000). Launching and nurturing communities of practice for knowledge sharing programs can be accomplished in a variety of ways (Denning, 2000). 1. Endorsing informal communities that already exist. 2. Asking practitioners what issues they care about. 3. Instructing leaders to form communities. 4. Launching purely virtual communities. 5. Launching communities among the incorrigibles. Communities of practice can add value into organisations in several important ways: 1. Community of practice can help to drive strategy. 2. They can start new lines of business. 3. They can solve problems quickly. 4. They transfer best practice. 5. They develop professional skills. 6. They help companies recruit and retain talent. Organisational Culture Organizational culture is a critically important aspect for facilitating sharing, learning, and knowledge creation. It is not homogeneous and sometimes has subcultures (McDermontt and Odell, 2001). An open culture with incentives built around integrating individual skills and experiences into organizational knowledge will be more successful (Gupta, Iyer and Aronson, 2000). Goh (2002) argues that one cultural dimension critical to knowledge transfer is co-operation and collaboration. Recent research on co-operation in organisation may help increase organizational understanding of the dynamic knowledge transfer. Knowledge transfer requires the willingness of a group or individual to work with others and share knowledge to their mutual benefit. Without co-operations and collaboration culture knowledge transfer form individuals and groups will not be successful. Culture plays significant function in the success of knowledge management implementations. McDermontt and Odell (2001) used a definition of culture that helped to see its multiple levels (Figure3). Following Schein (1985), McDermontt and ODell defined culture as: The shared values, beliefs and practices of the people in the organisation. Culture is reflected in the visible aspects of the organisation, like its mission and espoused values. But culture exists on a deeper level as well, embedded in the way people act, what they expect of each other and how they make sense of each others actions. Finally, culture is rooted in the organisations core values and assumptions. Often these are not only unarticulated, but so taken-for granted that they are hard to articulate, invisible to organizational members. Because of these layers of culture, people can often act in ways inconsistent with the organisations articulated mission and values, but consistent with its underlying or core values. Following this definition, in an organisation with a knowledge sharing culture, people would share ideas and insights because they see it as natural, rather than something they are forced to do. They would expect it of each other and assume that sharing ideas is th e right thing to do. In order to achieve high level of collaborations and co-operations, there is a fundamental variable needed. It is a matter of trust. A high level of trust is therefore an essential condition for a willingness to cooperate. Trust belongs to the area of human factors in knowledge management. It is defined as expectations and acts that the members of the community direct to each other. In organisations trust supports and enables collaboration and knowledge sharing which are processes related to knowledge management. Collaboration and knowledge sharing are based on organizational culture and climate, which can either support or prevent them (Yoon, 2000). In order to overcome cultural barriers to sharing knowledge has more to do with how organisations design and implement their knowledge management effort than with changing the existing organizational culture (McDermontt and ODell, 2001). It involves balancing the visible and invisible dimensions of culture; visibly demonstrating the importance of sharing knowledge and building on the invisible core values. The companies we studied felt they are still learning how to do this effectively. McDermontt and ODell (2001) derive five critical aspects about aligning knowledge sharing with the organisation culture. 1. To create a knowledge sharing culture, make a visible connection between sharing knowledge and practical business goals, problems or results. 2. Match the overall style of your organisation rather than to directly copy the practices developed by other organisations. 3. Link sharing knowledge to widely held core values. By linking with core values of the organisation values, you make sharing knowledge consistent with peers expectations and managers considerations. 4. Human networks are one of the key vehicles for sharing knowledge. To build a sharing culture, enhance the networks that already exist. Enable them with tools, resources and legitimisation. 5. Recruit the support of people in your organisation who already share ideas and insights. Managers need to encourage and even pressure people to share their knowledge. Build sharing knowledge into routine performance appraisal. There must be a well-built culture of continuous improvement and learning, linked to problem seeking and problem solving and focused on specific values such as product quality and customer service. Employees are encouraged to gather relevant information and to use and share that information in problem solving and implementing innovative solutions and practices (Goh, 2002). Organisational Knowledge Structures Organisational knowledge structure is different than organisational culture and climate in at least two significant ways. The concept of knowledge structures deals with goals, cause-and-effect perspective, and other cognitive essentials. Furthermore knowledge structure is more clearly linked to an organisations plan for survival and more subject to change than an organisations culture, neither of which changes readily of provides specific strategies for action for an organisation (Lyles, 1992). In developing knowledge structures, there are three stages that individuals go through to reach agreement (Weick and Bougon, 1986): 1. Agreement on which concepts capture and abstract their joint experience; 2. Consensus on relations among these concepts, and; 3. Similarity of view on how these related concepts affects each party. Human resource is an important asset and within these resources lays the knowledge useful for organisations. In order to develop organizational knowledge the role of individual knowledge is very important. Organizational Change The organisations creation of differential knowledge, at its core, springs unpredictably and unknowingly from social interchanges between competent organisations. Thus the importance of organizational behaviour in a

A Strategic Analysis of Walgreens and the Retail Drugstore Industry Es

Introduction Knowing the importance of a strategic vision, every company undertakes a complete analysis periodically. In order to create a strategic plan the parties involved must know every aspect of the industry and the company at hand. The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze the retail drugstore industry and then focus on Walgreens, the industry leader in terms of sales. As part of the in-depth analysis of Walgreens, its major competitors will also be described and analyzed. The retail drugstore industry consists of all those stores that contain a pharmacy and sell prescription drugs. It also includes businesses that sell prescription drugs online and through the mail. Most retail drugstores also offer other consumer goods and services to augment the low margin earned on prescription sales. To be considered a member of the retail drugstore industry requires sales of prescription pharmaceuticals to the end consumer. Many convenience, food and discount stores sell over-the-c ounter medicines, but these stores would not be considered retail drugstores because they do not also sell prescription medicines. Relevant Environment Competition: The relevant environment, which consists or interactions between the task environment and task environment, has been changing over the past 25 years. As competition has increased among grocery, discount and mass merchandising chains, blurring of channels has occurred. This is due to stores selling an increasing variety of goods to try to broaden their customer base and provide â€Å"one-stop† shopping. Many of these stores have added pharmacies as a source of convenience for their customers, and to increase store traffic, usually positioning the pharmacy in the back of the store. In response to this pressure, both independent and chain drugstores have greatly increased the variety of their retail product offerings. The sale of cosmetics, along with health and beauty aids, has become an important profit generator for retail drugstores. Many are now also positioning themselves to compete with convenience stores by offering snack food items, beverages, and st aple items. The move to stand-alone stores located on major roads with ample, close-in parking has been an important factor contributing to convenience. Customers: As indicated by the type of competition seen in the retail drugstore ... ...Top Performing Companies.† March 24,1998. www.riteaid.com. â€Å"Rite Aid Reports 6.6 Percent Same-Store Sales Increase For May.† June 7,2000. www.walgreens.com/about/history/default.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Page Through Our Past. www.walgreens.com/about/history/hist2.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Page Through Our Past. www.walgreens.com/about/history/hist3.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Page Through Our Past. www.walgreens.com/about/history/hist4.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Page Through Our Past. www.walgreens.com/about/history/hist5.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Page Through Our Past. www.walgreens.com/about/history/hist6.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Page Through Our Past. www.walgreens.com/about/history/hist7.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Page Through Our Past. www.walgreens.com/about/press/facts/fact2.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Company Overview. www.walgreens.com/about/press/othernews/040400.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Walgreens Joins Katie Couric in National Campaign. www.walgreens.com/about/press/othernews/051100b.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Walgreens Joins Katie Couric in National Campaign. A Strategic Analysis of Walgreens and the Retail Drugstore Industry Es Introduction Knowing the importance of a strategic vision, every company undertakes a complete analysis periodically. In order to create a strategic plan the parties involved must know every aspect of the industry and the company at hand. The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze the retail drugstore industry and then focus on Walgreens, the industry leader in terms of sales. As part of the in-depth analysis of Walgreens, its major competitors will also be described and analyzed. The retail drugstore industry consists of all those stores that contain a pharmacy and sell prescription drugs. It also includes businesses that sell prescription drugs online and through the mail. Most retail drugstores also offer other consumer goods and services to augment the low margin earned on prescription sales. To be considered a member of the retail drugstore industry requires sales of prescription pharmaceuticals to the end consumer. Many convenience, food and discount stores sell over-the-c ounter medicines, but these stores would not be considered retail drugstores because they do not also sell prescription medicines. Relevant Environment Competition: The relevant environment, which consists or interactions between the task environment and task environment, has been changing over the past 25 years. As competition has increased among grocery, discount and mass merchandising chains, blurring of channels has occurred. This is due to stores selling an increasing variety of goods to try to broaden their customer base and provide â€Å"one-stop† shopping. Many of these stores have added pharmacies as a source of convenience for their customers, and to increase store traffic, usually positioning the pharmacy in the back of the store. In response to this pressure, both independent and chain drugstores have greatly increased the variety of their retail product offerings. The sale of cosmetics, along with health and beauty aids, has become an important profit generator for retail drugstores. Many are now also positioning themselves to compete with convenience stores by offering snack food items, beverages, and st aple items. The move to stand-alone stores located on major roads with ample, close-in parking has been an important factor contributing to convenience. Customers: As indicated by the type of competition seen in the retail drugstore ... ...Top Performing Companies.† March 24,1998. www.riteaid.com. â€Å"Rite Aid Reports 6.6 Percent Same-Store Sales Increase For May.† June 7,2000. www.walgreens.com/about/history/default.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Page Through Our Past. www.walgreens.com/about/history/hist2.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Page Through Our Past. www.walgreens.com/about/history/hist3.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Page Through Our Past. www.walgreens.com/about/history/hist4.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Page Through Our Past. www.walgreens.com/about/history/hist5.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Page Through Our Past. www.walgreens.com/about/history/hist6.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Page Through Our Past. www.walgreens.com/about/history/hist7.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Page Through Our Past. www.walgreens.com/about/press/facts/fact2.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Company Overview. www.walgreens.com/about/press/othernews/040400.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Walgreens Joins Katie Couric in National Campaign. www.walgreens.com/about/press/othernews/051100b.jhtr, June 15, 2000. Walgreens/Walgreens Joins Katie Couric in National Campaign.

Anti-Consumerism in the Works of Kerouac, Ginsberg, and Roth Essay

Anti-Consumerism in the Works of Kerouac, Ginsberg, and Roth    After World War II, Americans became very concerned with "keeping up with the Joneses." Everyday people were not only interested in fulfilling the American Dream because of the optimistic post-war environment, but also because of the economic emphasis on advertising that found a new outlet daily in highway billboards, radio programs, and that popular new device, the television. With television advertising becoming the new way to show Americans what they did not (and should) have came a wide-eyed and fascinated interest in owning all kinds of things, products, and devices suddenly necessary in every home. One could not only hear about new necessary items, but see them as well. Meanwhile, marketplaces and small shops were being dismantled to create the supermarket, a temple of consumerism where any passerby may walk in and purchase almost anything he or she desires without a thought of their neighbor, who runs the suffering little fruit stand around the corner. The literary rebellion o f the 1960's was concerned, in part, with the desire to break down this growing consumer culture. Not everyone was so easily lulled by the singsong mottoes and jingles of television advertising and the call of the national supermarket. Poets like Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Jack Kerouac began struggling, in writing, against the oppression of having. As Buddhists, these writers saw the growing desire to fill whims and wants with items easily purchased as harmful to the ability to transcend suffering (instead of eliminating it). Combining the strategies of Asian Buddhist monks with American transcendentalist theory provided by Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emer... ...e when the rest of the nation was blindly enjoying their television programs and the convenience of the supermarket, these writers made strong statements warning against the love of things. During the 50's and 60's, many middle- and upper-class Americans had worked hard to afford conveniences, but Ginsberg, Kerouac, and Roth would say that it is not enough to "deserve" your participation in the consumerist culture. Rather, they would say the consumerist culture, by nature, is mentally and culturally enslaving and to be avoided when possible for the sake of the integrity of the individual spirit. Works Cited: Allen, Donald (ed.). The New American Poetry 1945-1960. Berkeley, CA: U. of California P. 1960. Kerouac, Jack. The Dharma Bums. New York: Penguin Books. 1958. Roth, Philip. Goodbye, Columbus and Five Short Stories. New York: Modern Library. 1959.

Autobiographical Writing on my 5th Birthday :: Papers

Autobiographical Writing My 5th birthday My 5th birthday is 1 of my earliest memories and is the first birthday I can remember I don't know why it has stuck in my memory so much but I can remember it like it was yesterday. It started very early in the morning around 5 am which is ridiculously early to be getting up and you wouldn't catch me getting up that early these days, but at the time I was used to it because my mum worked at night and my dad started work about 6 so I used to have to go round my next door neighbors house till my mum got home at about 8, the lady next door was called Maureen she was about 50 and she was quite tiny and had short gray hair. I remember her to be very kind, she had a colossal collection of video's that she let me watch every morning and she would always offer drinks, biscuits, cakes and anything you could think of really, her kitchen was the Aladdin's cave of cuisine and provisions. On the morning of my birthday my dad came in my room picked me up to carry me across to next door. I was still asleep not really knowing what was going on around me until the fearsome freeze of the early morning hit me round the head, winded me, then chopped off my fingers and toe's. My dad rushed to get me to Maureen's house as quick as he could when I got in there me and my dad sat down and had a goblet of rosy lea (tea) with Maureen before he had to dash off to work, then she whipped out a bowl of piping hot ready break which is like a kids version of porridge with a ton of sugar and a blab of milk it was lovely, I munched it down like a frog would a fly, I was still pretty drowsy so I had a snooze on the couch. When I awoke a gigantic box wrapped in lime green packaging was stood in the center of the room, I

Influence of Athletes to People

Picture this scene: The best athletes in your community are gathered for the annual high school varsity letter awards banquet. Halfback Henry and Jumpshot Jenny already have received accolades from the Master of Ceremonies for their accomplishments, but the attention is now focused on Susan Strike, Central High's varsity bowling superstar. Bowling is Central High's newest varsity letter sport,† he proclaims, â€Å"and we're extremely proud to announce Susan Strike has not only earned All-Conference honors for leading the Little Nine with a 206 average, but she led Central High to ts first state bowling championship. A standing ovation follows. You beam because Susan is a product of your youth league program. She is the first of a new generation of Varsity Bowling letter winners and she'll serve as an inspiration for hundreds of young bowlers in your This scene may sound like a dream to you, but it's a reality in some areas of the United States where a handful of dedicated proprietors have laid the groundwork to launch the nation-wide Varsity Bowling program during the 1998-99 bowling Varsity Bowling is going to be a two-pronged attack: 1. From the Top Down – Five states have been selected to participate in a targeted Varsity Bowling program during the 1998-99 with a focused effort to secure state high school athletic association approval for the sport. 2. From the Bottom Up – Every local/regional proprietor group in any area of the United States is invited to â€Å"test† the Varsity Bowling waters on their own. A comprehensive organizational kit, including detailed manual, videotape and support materials, is available today from the Young American Bowling Alliance and the Bowling Proprietors Association of America to help your proprietor group and local association volunteers get a eadstart in organizing a â€Å"high school club conference† to demonstrate the program's feasibility. Varsity Bowling is a program that cannot succeed without the commitment and dedication of the proprietors. You own the arenas, you have the expertise and it's your youth bowlers who will benefit the most. Varsity Bowling is one of the most comprehensive step-by-step organizational programs ever developed in bowling (or any sport). It is based upon 10 years of experience and research in Northern Illinois and Michigan's Upper Peninsula, culminating in resounding success. Be Part of Bowling's Biggest Success Story in Decades Varsity Bowling will become our sport's most significant success story in decades, with your help. Mark these figures down and watch them grow: In 1996-97, only 728 of America's more than 16,000 high schools offered any kind of bowling program. Out of 6. 1 million high school students who participated in athletics in 1996-97, only 15,600 were able to bowl for their schools. Only seven of America's 50 states had as many as 30 high schools offering bowling as an extracurricular activity. Bowling has nearly 500,000 young people participating in Young American Bowling Alliance leagues and tournaments. They know and love bowling, and most of them are denied the opportunity to experience the thrill and excitement of bowling for a letter for their high school teams. American Sports Data states interest in bowling is at an all-time high among young people, with a 15% increase in interest among pre-teens and 17% growth in interest among high schoolers. As a proprietor, you will never experience any program as rewarding as you'll discover by becoming a part of the Varsity Bowling team. Send for your comprehensive Varsity Bowling organizational kit, including detailed manual, videotape and support materials, today! order your kit now Send for your comprehensive Varsity Bowling organizational kit, including detailed manual, videotape and support materials, today! To order your Varsity Bowling kit, please send an email to Jennifer Williamson or call her at the Young American Bowling Alliance (414 423-3398. The Scholarship Management and Accounting Reports for Tenpins (SMART) program will help locate and secure existing bowling scholarships for YABA's membership. SMART will also help any organization start and manage a new bowling scholarship program while relieving new and existing bowling scholarship providers from the burden of administering their scholarship funds. YABA has developed two service levels to accomplish this mission: Level one is SMART's information and assistance level. This SMART level can be contacted in one of three ways – telephone, mail or email. SMART Level One will provide the following services: Information on how to start a bowling scholarship league, tournament or written Information on how to manage the scholarship dollars collected. Advise, assist and support organizations regarding any problem encountered in conducting or administering their scholarship programs. A booklet containing location of scholarship leagues, tournaments, and written cholarships offered worldwide; universities and colleges that offer bowling scholarships and those offering bowling as a scholastic or club sport; and national scholarship applications. In Level Two, the organization forwards their scholarship dollars to SMART, and SMART will manage their scholarship dollar on a daily basis. SMART charges no fee to use the program. SMART operates off the interest made on the scholarship funds. At the end of each bowling season (July 31st) SMART will deduct the operating expenses from the total interest earned. The remaining interest will be credited to each organization. The amount each organization receives will be determined on a percentage basis by the total amount of scholarship funds in their account. The organization then may use the interest as new scholarships at their discretion. For more SMART information, write to SMART 5301 S. 76th St. , Greendale, WI 53129, call 414/423-3343, fax 414/421-3014 or e-mail Ed Gocha at [email  protected] com. 999 Youth and Collegiate Bowlers Scholarships SMART's 1998 Youth and Collegiate Bowling Educational Guide is provided here for Junior Olympics Program To help young bowlers progress from their first visit to a center o becoming a Junior Olympic Gold member, YABA has created a pipeline (to be released in July 1999), to guide them through the different stages of development and prepare them for active roles as participants in the adult membership With this road map, youth bowlers will be guided through five different levels of bowling; Introduction to Bowling, First Organized Program, League Participation and Introduction to Tournament Competition, Purely Competitive and Elite Competition (TEAM USA). Who are Gold members? The Gold Program is the highest level of the USA Junior Olympic Bowling Program. To become a Junior Olympic Gold member, athletes must carry a minimum 165 average for girls and 175 for boys based on at least 21 games and be YABA members in good standing. Only Gold members are eligible to participate in the Junior Olympic Program's pinnacle event, the Junior Olympic Gold National Championships. More than 500 athletes competed in the National Championships held in July in Orlando, Fla. Complete Coverage of the 1999 Junior Olympic Gold National Championships. Gold members (YABA members with minimum average of 165 for girls and 175 for boys) may qualify to compete for a spot on the Junior Olympic Bowling TEAM USA hrough the Junior Olympic Gold National Championships. The program's goals are to emphasize advanced training, coaching and team bowling. In addition, the program will help develop more elite bowlers to feed into collegiate or professional bowling and become future members of American Bowling Congress or Women's International Bowling Congress. How does the Junior Olympic Gold National Championships work? Athletes qualify for the National Championships by winning or finishing high enough in a Gold Event. (Entries paid by the Event sponsor. ) The five-day competition is conducted on multiple lane conditions and consists of ouble elimination match play. The top 16 boys and top 16 girls advance to round-robin finals to compete to win the six boys and six girls spots available on the Junior Olympic TEAM USA. The Junior Olympic Bowling Program was created from YABA's partnership with USA Bowling, and in conjunction with the United States Olympic Committee. The Junior Olympic program focuses on athletes' skill levels rather than age and gender and offers several player development levels. Gold members have the opportunity to become members of Junior Olympic TEAM USA, chosen annually at the Junior Olympic Gold National Championships. Being a Junior Olympic TEAM USA member offers several benefits, including representing the United States in national and international competition, access to scholarships, training at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. , all-expense paid travel and competition fees, uniforms, recognition from other skilled bowlers and being part of a feeder system for future TEAM USA members. Canadian members are eligible to be Junior Olympic Gold members, compete in the National Championships and earn scholarships. They are unable to be Junior Olympic TEAM USA members.

Career Goal-Setting Worksheet Essay

1. Adjust your master key or flight goal you created in Week dickens based on the life story contrive build Activities results from the My calling Plan assignment. How did the results of the Career Interest Profiler and Career Plan Building Activity on Competencies contribute to your passkey goal development?After perceive my results from each mavin of these I came to scrape up that I came skilful on get over with the career that I chose. Because in my Career Plan Building Activity the results was right on track because I acknowledgemaking belonging with people. I enkindle non think about turn overing doing a nother kind of job because this is what I destiny to do.2. Describe how you will balance pedantic expectations and your personal and professional responsibilities.I consider the most important expectation would be to contact my advisor least at once a week. Learn about what is essential for me doing the time I am in school. Like the requirements for my m ajor, policies, and procedures.And develop an contrive such(prenominal) as my pedantic plan, including my timeline that I work as I near graduation.3. How can understanding the importance of SMART criteria and your career interests and competencies help you move toward your career and academic goals?After doing my SMART criteria and interest profiler They allow me know where I were haeded and now I know that I work toward the degree. two the SMART criteria and the inerest profiler gave me some pretty good ideals about what kind of job I should involve. Both let me knew that I love to work with otherpeople.4. Now that you have set academic goals and identified your career interests, explain the relationship between academic goals, skills, and professional goals.My academic goal is to one day be able to work with groups of people and may work with kids. And the professional goal I am working toward getting is near the same as the each of these the academic gaols, skills, and my professional. I plan to work toward my career goal by doing what ever it take in get hold of my goal.