Occupational Medicine Essay

Asbestos is a mineral that is crystalline in nature and that has high degrees of durability, flexibility and resistance to corrosion by chemicals and heat. Asbestos is commonly used for making building materials for example floor tiles, ceilings, asbestos cement products, fireproofing material and insulation products, gaskets, coatings, textile products and automotive brakes. Shipbuilders use asbestos for insulation of hot water pipes, steam pipes and boilers. Globally, the incidence of disease related to asbestos is expected to peak around 30 to 40 years following the period when there was peak usage (CDC, 2003). Many of the patients who have lung disease related to asbestos have a history of exposure, often this history is strong but there are occasions when significant disease occurs in patients who have had minimal exposure and sometimes even with unknown exposure (Oreilly et al, 2007). Asbestos fibres are often expelled after an individual has swallowed or inhaled them, however not all the fibres are expelled. Some are left in the lungs and remain lodged there permanently. Upon accumulation they cause scarring of lung tissue and inflammation too. This then results in lung disease which affects breathing and air exchange (Solicitor advice, 2007). When inhaled, asbestos fibres leads to a variety of conditions, among these being lung cancer, pleural plaques, asbestosis, malignant mesothelioma and benign pleural effusion among others. Patients present with these conditions related to asbestos exposure long after they have been exposed. The latent period from the time of exposure to the manifestation of the clinical disease is very long. Initially the signs and symptoms are not specific and therefore occupational history becomes a good guide to suspicions that the clinician may have. Risk factors for development of lung disease related to asbestos include exposure to asbestos such as in occupations like construction workers, shipyard workers, boilermakers and rail road workers. Minimizing and avoiding further exposure are important in reducing further damage when one has been diagnosed with the asbestos related disease. Patients who smoke have an even higher risk of developing these conditions making cessation of smoking an essential factor in reducing risk (Oreilly, McLaughlin and Beckett, 2007). The risk increases with the duration of smoking, therefore it is necessary to stop smoking and also avoid second hand smoke through passive smoking. Smokers who have been exposed to asbestos have a greater predisposition to development of lung cancer than those exposed to asbestos who are non-smokers. For a long time Australia has lagged behind other countries such as the UK and the USA in terms of regulation and legislation concerning asbestos related disease and worker’s compensation. This was the case especially in the I970s when the there were few common law claims by victims of asbestos related lung disease even in situations where the conditions resulted from negligence by the asbestos industries (Formato and Gordon, 2007). This was despite the fact that there was a considerable increase in the number of people suffering from mesotheliomas among those working in Wittenoom for ABA Limited, a company that mined and milled asbestos. Some of the obstacles facing the claimants were overwhelming and it is highly probable that the Statute of Limitations was a barring factor for most of these claims. In addition getting hold of company information was also very difficult and often the corporate end withheld information from the claimants and their legal advisers. Presently, Postal, Defence and Telecommunications employees and other government employees are covered by a no fault benefit scheme referred to as Comcare Australia. The entitlements under this scheme are such that the employee is required to choose between compensation entitlements under the Common Law Damages or under the Comcare Act. One of the most significant barriers under the Comcare Act is the complexity of the legislative framework. Not until the government agency has received the claim for purposes of determination and then reconsideration can one get into a court or a tribunal (Formato and Gordon, 2007). The laws for compensation show some variance from one State to another. In a general sense, however compensation claims can be made under common law for a variety of reasons. These include, medical (these include expenses for hospitalization and treatment) and pharmaceutical expenses for the past and the future, for pain and suffering and for loss of the capacity to earn an income as well as for loss of income (Solicitor advice, 2007). The courts also award compensation for other things such as domestic assistance costs for the future and the past as well as damages for loss of life expectancy (Solicitor advice, 2007). When making a claim for damages it is best to make the claim as early as possible upon diagnosis of the condition. This helps one to avoid the barriers that come with the statute of limitations on period. For latent conditions such as those related to asbestos, the period may be extended but even then it is best to act soon. For a long time in Western Australia, victims of asbestos related disease could only hope to receive worker’s compensation entitlements. This is because though claims for common law damages were available the tendency was that they were not pursued. The common law claims were faced with the rather harsh and extreme statute of limitations period. It had no provisions for extension beyond six years. There have however been amendments that were introduced which have made it a little less difficult to make claims for diseases related to asbestos. There have however been restrictions on common law claims seeking damages for negligence amongst employers. This was previously unrestricted for all employees not just victims of asbestos related disease. In New South Wales, the compensation scheme for workers is Workcover NSW. The Dust Diseases Board is where Dust Diseases workers can make their claims. A specialist tribunal for dust diseases was set up to hear claims for asbestos related disease. Amendments were later made that did away with the statute of limitations in issues of dust disease. Other amendments included legislation on survivorship where in case a victim passes on before a claim is resolved, the damages are entitled to his/her family (Formato and Gordon, 2007). In all the other states (Victoria, South Australia and Queensland) each state has its own act for worker’s compensation and provisions for limitations. For instance Victoria allows for trial by jury in claims for damages under common law. It has also followed the New South Wales in legislation on survivorship. Only Western Australia has its special court for claims for asbestos related disease. However, there are processes that have evolved for the purpose of fast tracking those claims that are urgent. In determining the risk posed by exposure a history of environmental and occupational exposure is necessary. Some of the issues that need to be established include the specific occupation, how long the person worked at the same occupation and how much (intensity) exposure there was, an example here would be whether the dust was visible or not. Significant exposure is defined as a minimum of several months of exposure to exposure to visible dust that started ten years before (Wagner, 1997). Physical assessment of the patient to determine exposure to asbestos includes a history of occupation and physical signs and symptoms of disease as well as laboratory investigation of the chest by x-ray or CT scan. In this client’s case the history for significant exposure has already been established by the fact that he worked in mining and mixing of asbestos for a period of five years. In addition another identified risk factor is the fact that he used to smoke where he increased his susceptibility to asbestos related lung disease. History also includes the patients reports of exertional dyspnea, Assessment also includes chest spirometry to determine lung function and how much lung function may have been compromised by the condition. Any abnormal results in chest spirometry are followed by pulmonary function tests which involve measuring lung volumes and diffusion capacity. These are also performed in those patients found to have abnormal findings on imaging. Assessment will begin with a head to toe assessment of the client. This will involve checking for signs of poor tissue perfusion as a result of inadequate oxygen uptake by the tissues when lung function of ventilation and air exchange has been compromised. Some of these include finger clubbing and bluish lips. Other symptoms that the patient may report include shortness of breath, tightness around the chest, pain in the chest, dry crackling sounds when breathing in, a cough that is productive and persistent and loss of appetite. These presenting symptoms are however non-specific and generally indicate pathology of the respiratory system. Consequently other methods are used to determine asbestos exposure. Signs of exposure to asbestos include formation of plaque, changes in the pleura of the lungs (thickening) and collection of fluid around the lungs (Betterhealth, 2007). Bodies of asbestos can be identified by a use of a staining technique using a special iron. This confirms actual exposure to asbestos. Formation of pleural plaques is one of the most common responses of the respiratory system to asbestos inhalation with plaques occurring in up to fifty per cent of people exposed to asbestos. They are consequently used as a measure of exposure to asbestos (Boffetta, 2004). These plaques may sometimes not be visible on chest radiography and this leads to the requirement for high resolution CT-scans which have the capacity to identify up to fifty per cent of the plaques that will be found on autopsy. CT scans are commonly used when there is diagnostic uncertainty or for the purpose of making confirmatory tests (Boffetta, 2004). The plaques developed from exposure to asbestos characteristically occur on the lateral walls of the chest and sometimes may occur on the domes of the diaphragm. This causes lung expansion to be impaired making air entry difficult and may account for the chest tightness and chest pain. A computed tomographic scan of the chest helps to demonstrate further the remodelling that may occur as a result of lung tissue destruction. This leads to a decrease in the exchange of oxygen. To diagnose carcinoma of the bronchus a surgical biopsy is required which is done under anaesthesia. From this metastatic cells can be detected. Other methods that can be sued include bronchoscopy, mediastinoscopy and CT scan. This will serve as a confirmatory test for the signs and symptoms which may have been reported by the patient which include, unexplained weight loss, breathlessness, bronchitis that is recurrent, chest pain, blood streaked phlegm, recurrent chest infections or pneumonia and a persistent or changed cough or wheeze (Betterhealth, 2007). The detection of asbestos in the lungs of this patient is important because it means that then the cause of his lung carcinoma can be associated with asbestos and not only cigarette smoking since some of his symptoms are indicative of asbestos exposure. Measurement of the plaques will also assist in proving this link even further since most plaques are an indication of asbestosis-related disease. Clinically, lung cancers associated with asbestos and smoking alone are generally indistinguishable but the risk for lung cancer is increased in smokers (Liddell, 2001). Asbestos and cigarette smoke have an effect of synergism in the causation of lung cancer and in the patient ‘s case his accumulated pack years of cigarette smoking led to the increased risk for asbestos related disease (Hodgson and Darnton, 2006). In lodging his claim for damages the patient will have to present information on treatment that he has undergone as well as the results for all diagnostic tests related to the condition. This will help to make his case stronger as they will provide an indication of the costs of treatment, medication and also the effect of losing means of earning an income to his life and that of his family.

Hubspot Case Essay

The problem in this case is that Hubspot needed to make a transition from its initial start-up structure (organizational structure, target customers and pricing strategy) in order grow, and the dilemma was how to best approach this change. Hubspot faced three main issues for this: a) identify target customers, b) modify their pricing model and c) how to develop the growth strategy. Hubspot was good at building a community, e.g. over 300000 unique visitor in 2008, and thousands of freeware subscriptions in 2009. Nonetheless they had a diverse universe of customers, from small business owners (Ollies) to marketing professionals (Marys), different type of business ranging B2B or B2C, and size (over or under 25 employees). Table C shows there was a potential market evenly distributed among B2B and B2C. For Hubsport, the decision to identify a target customer was difficult. This is seen when contrasting exhibits 6 where 73% of customers were Ollies and exhibit 5 which indicated that Marys accounted for 68% of new customers from Sep-Dec 2008. Although the B2B customers were important for Ollies and Marys, there was an interesting growth of Marys in B2C. Thus a segmentation of customer was required to better assess their different needs. At the end of 2008, Hubspots’s products responded to the main two customers (Ollies and Marys), still its pricing model was similar for both, where Marys paid a slightly higher monthly amount as its software package included more features (exhibit 7). This was something Hubspot needed to analyze as Ollie and Marys had various pros and cons as customers. Ollies represented a lower cost to acquire ($1000) and where quick to sign in, but cancel subscription early, while Marys cost more to acquire ($5000) and took longer to sign in, by stayed for longer using the product. Assuming no churn rate an Ollie had to maintain subscription for 2 months and Marys had to maintain subscription for 9 months, to pay off their acquiring cost. The previous  scenario meant that HubSpot’s 2008 projections including the 100 paying customers from 2007 made the current pricing model not viable to support the high cost of Marys (see appendix 1). Another issued faced was the Hubsport was still a small company, seen in that it only had few engineers to build the software therefore it was hard to catch up with the sales team. Thus the product vs customer vs pricing situation presented an optimization and planning issue to keep the company growing. The previous two points require a growth strategy. At the same time it made the owners question their vision, i.e. to inbound or outbound. The strategy for growth had to clarify which customer to target, how to roll-out the respective products, whether to keep it a SaaS, and the transition into a new pricing structure to maintain current customer and capture more value from new ones. The objective of our proposed solutions is to keep Hubspot as the software-to-have for inbound marketing and grow financially from a start-up to an established business. For this we set out the following actions: Hubspot’s culture and vision should be maintained. Web 2.0 is continuing evolving as more businesses are using the various channels and HubSpot can differentiate itself as the inbound marketing which weighs more than outbound marketing (inbound represents 37% marketing budget while outbound 30%). HubSpot has the expertise to create traffic and analyze and qualify leads filling the respective demand of Ollies and Marys. At the same time we differentiate from our two main competitors by proving a lower price (Eloqua is more expensive) and focusing on inbound marketing (Marketo is a mix of inbound and outbound). Our conclusions are founded by overlaying HubSpot’s competitive field (exhibit 3) with customers’ needs a) traffic creation and b) leads analysis and qualifications, in line with HubSpot’s main strengths, as seen in appendix 2. Thus the company should not consider outbound as an alternative. As showed in appendix 4, our two segmented customers have showed different needs in terms of product features and consumption behavior. Based on the current churn out rate, we can estimate consumer lifetime value of Ollies is $4,750 and Marys $10,500 (see calculation in appendix 3). Therefore, according to our segmentation strategy, we propose following product bundles by differentiating product price and product features: 1) Product pricing: As Ollies have a shorter customer life and less marketing budget, we suggest keeping current up-front fee and a lower monthly fee. As suggestion, up-front $500 and monthly fee in the range of $150 to $250. As Marys have a longer customer life and lower price sensitivity we suggest increasing both up-front and monthly fee. As suggestion up-front $600 and monthly fee in the range of $600 to $750. Meanwhile, Marys are interested in deeper analytics, we suggest additional fee for each service of deeper analytics. As CMS system helps lower churn rate, we suggest initial fee of $300 covering 6 hours consulting to encourage both of them to use such service. 2) Product features: As Ollies prefer quick and simple solutions, we suggest tailor-made product focusing on generating leads. As Marys have a high demand of analytics, we suggest tailor-made product with more sophisticated tools to meet the needs of deeper analytics. As frequent log-in helps lower churn rate, we suggest to provide service update on a regular basis to encourage a continuous use of our service. After clearly identifying the segmentation of consumer and differentiation of products, we need ensure market-centered organizations that are capable of translating strategy into actions: 1) Engineering: To invest on product development and innovation to continuously provide with relevant service to enhance our competitive advantage of generating leads as well as analytics . 2) Sales force: To divide sales force to separately serve Maryer & Ollies by providing Maryer with long-term, more sophisticated support, providing Ollies with quick & simple service. 3) Marketing: To continue make a buzz for inbound marketing to create inbound marketing community rather than a simple business Finally the strategy has to be sensitive to our current customers, Appendix 5 indicates a tentative layout of the plan. Starting with the internal reorganization, then gradually change the product offering for consumers.

Human Resources Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Human Resources Management - Essay Example Furthermore, if the members believe that a particular type of appraisal system will affect them positively whereas the new system may incorporate many different dimensions that may bring their weaknesses to the forefront, they may resist to the selection of a new appraisal system. Therefore there are a number of issues that affect the selection process. In order to design an effective appraisal system, it is important to consider a number of issues that may have an impact on the appraisal system. The management must make sure that the new system provides some quantitative measure of the employee’s performance to facilitate the process of evaluation (Robbins & Judge, 2004). First of all the human resource manager must decide on the criterion to be used for the appraisal mechanism. The ideal criteria would be the ability to deliver, to communicate effectively, quality of work, the ability to plan and set goals, to motivate, to lead and to complete the assigned tasks on time. Performance appraisals help organizations clarify expectations that it may have from the employees and build trust. Since it allows an organization to evaluate each employee’s contribution to the organization, it also helps in determining each employee’s strengths and weaknesses. The management can then assign tasks to employees based on their individual skills. Not only will this lead to better results but it will also lead to employee satisfaction because they will be doing what they are best at and enjoy the most (Daft, 2001). Also, it aids the organization in determining which employees are outstanding performers and hence it ties rewards, bonuses and other benefits with the employee performance and appraisal. Moreover, the appraisal mechanism allows the management to determine the level of satisfaction of employees. Through feedback after the appraisal, management can determine the problems faced by the

Communist Manifesto, Descriptions and Prescriptions Essay

Communist Manifesto, Descriptions and Prescriptions - Essay Example It serves as a framework on how to develop what is theory into reality. The paper divulges the current problems of society and then offers what must be done in order to achieve its common goal which in one word can only be described as equality. The Communist Manifesto begins with painting a picture of the struggle of proletarians throughout history. The division of population is always leaning toward various social classes which are basically hierarchical. This is divided into the two most distinct classes, the Bourgeoisie and Proletariat. Throughout time the bourgeoisie has developed leaving behind all other class through leaps and bounds. This tremendous growth is not only economic but a political rise as well. â€Å"The executive of the modern State is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie† (Marx, p.3). This statement proves that the rich has taken over even the government and its officials do according to their bidding as opposed of for the welfare of the general public. Free trade was equated to exploitation according to Marx. Money became the moving power in relations. The discourse then moved further into detail with the problems of the current society and how this is aimed to be solved by communism. It starts with the struggle of the working class which has sunk deeper into social status by the modern industry as he is further left into oblivion by depreciated value as he is replaced by machines which provided for faster and more cost-efficient production for profit by the wealthy. Marx describes them as a commodity who had only then found their strength in numbers by organizing themselves into groups such as a union in order to upheld their interests and protect their wage from greedy capitalists. â€Å"These labourers, who must sell themselves piece-meal, are a commodity, like every other article of commerce, and are consequently exposed to all the vicissitudes of competition, to all the fluctuations of the market† (Marx, p.6). The answer to this is that there is essentially no difference between the working man and a communist. When proletarians form into a class and then into a party it becomes a communist party which is revolutionary in character when it calls for real change. The Communists are the working class, the only differences lies in the variation among nations with the primary interests that they pursue and the different stages of development they must venture into to protect their movement. This is a direct call upon the working class who are contemplating the advantages of communism. In an equation Marx provides the similar goals of a Communist to that of proletarian parties, first is their establishment into a class, then the need to dethrone the bourgeoisie in their power and finally, their own political take-over to implement a communist rule. Property is another source of discontent among the people. The author goes into a detailed account of the historical cha nges in property relation, specifically the weight of the feudal system that proliferated for a long time. The most common conception among the goals of communism is the absolute abolition of property as a means to achieve communal life in a global perspective. This is dispelled by stating that what it seeks to abolish is bourgeois property and not all property. But difference does it really contain? Property that was acquired through the exploitation of others in the process falls under this category. A capitalist is not limited to

Design Management for the Fashion Industries Essay

Design Management for the Fashion Industries - Essay Example The essay "Design Management for the Fashion Industries" concerns the management in fashion. Over the last fifteen years, an increasing trend of investment in design areas by the business emphasizes the fact that design management adds to the value of the products and services. By this process, design established itself as a commercial business in the field of marketing communications and in the process proved its own commercial value. The investments of a business are not confined to one area. The various areas of investment for a business include the investment on procurement of raw materials, plant and machineries for manufacturing, advertising expenses, various investments on promotion of its products. The investment in design is one such area considered by businesses which supports the desire of achieving business goals. The designers play a crucial role to make their clients understand that the design of the business products are not only for the purpose of beautification but a lso has wide commercial value that helps in achieving growth of the business. The business should understand the relative importance and contribution of design in the future growth of business. The allocation of funds into design management is facilitated by the assessment of relative importance of design management as compared to other areas of investment. Thus the measurement of return on investment (ROI) for design management is extremely crucial for the business houses. Design management is not a simple calculation... Thus the measurement of return on investment (ROI) for design management is extremely crucial for the business houses. Return on Investment (ROI) for design The measurement of return on investment in the field of design management is not a simple calculation. The return on investments in design management cannot, however, be guaranteed as it depends on the acceptance of the product by the users after the design is changed or a new design is introduced. The return on investment for a business depends on various factors of which design is one among them. Thus the return on investment is an integration of the returns obtained from the effective implementation of all the factors. The factors may be investment on raw materials for the product, manufacturing, packaging and design, logistics, advertisements and other channels for marketing communication. Also there is a correlation between the areas of investments. The ROI on design is thus dependent on performance of other investment avenu es. For example a lack of performance in the advertising of the designed product may hamper the sale of products and thus it would impact the return on investment. However, the overall return on investment is measured by the increase in revenue, profitability as an impact of design. The other areas of return on investment are changes in the perception of the customers due to rebranding of the product, change in the footfall of the number of customers, development of research and innovative activities in operation, increase of market share, etc. Thus the return on investments in design is considered as an area of priority investment in the best interest of the business. Fashion Case Studies on design management The importance of

As the population continues to grow the carrying capacity is reaching Research Paper

As the population continues to grow the carrying capacity is reaching unsustainble levels. Discuss the negative short and long t - Research Paper Example The rapid population growth in the U.S. has ultimately led to unsustainable levels of population (National Audubon Society, 2013). With the increase in population, the carrying capacity has reached unsustainable levels and is likely to cause immense negative consequences in the United States. This paper will discuss the negative long term and short term effects of unsustainable population growth in the United States. The negative short and long term impacts of an unsustainable population (in the US) The unsustainable level of population has both short term and long term negative effects. With the increase in population, the diminishing carrying capacity of the United States will affect the country, in the long term and short term. One short term effect of unsustainable population is that it will lead to poor economic growth. High population growth will hinder the economic growth of the United States. This is because the available resources are not likely to sustain the population. Th e government will have to deal with challenges regarding equal distribution of resources in the entire country. The rate of economic growth has to be high in order to sustain the population and ensure that all people have access to basic services. However, this will be in the short term since in the long run the government will come up with measures to ensure that the available resources are equally distributed throughout the country (National Audubon Society, 2013). Another negative impact of high population growth in the short term is that the U.S. government will be faced by the challenge of providing amenities. High population may exceed the number of facilities, which the government has set aside for the provision of basic amenities. High population also means that the number of facilities have to be increased. The burden to increase the facilities lies on the government. The provision of some services such as healthcare, education, as well as sanitation services largely depend s on the population. When the population is high, it becomes challenging to provide quality services to all people. Consequently, the quality of services provided may be poor because the human resources needed to provide such services may not match the needs of the entire population. This may hinder people’s access to some crucial services such as healthcare. Education may also be compromised since the teacher to student ration will be lower. As a result, the quality of U.S. education may become poor before the government rectifies the situation by employing more teachers. There will also be a shortage of some amenities such as water due to high population growth. This emanates from the fact that water sources can be depleted by high population. Scarcity of water will also emanate from the destruction of water sources due to human activity (Robertson, 2012). The other negative short term impact of high population growth is that the unsustainable population may lead to rural-u rban migration. This is also precipitated by the aspect of urbanisation, which motivates people to move to urban centres in search of jobs. As a result, the population of the rural areas will decrease while the urban population will undergo a dramatic increase. The overall impact is that there will be insecurity in urban centres due to the high population of unemployed youths. High population

Critically evaluate the significance of leadership as it relates to Assignment

Critically evaluate the significance of leadership as it relates to driving the culture of an organisation. To support your anal - Assignment Example Leadership is usually associated with motivation; the incentive theory suggests that the employee will increase their efficiency if they are offered incentives (Handy, 2007). However, certain theorists believed that employees are often driven by economic needs which are also known as rational assumptions (Handy, 2007). Management is a logical process which requires the emotional intelligence of the manager to handle the human resources of the organization. Leadership and Management are interrelated but cannot be used interchangeably and there are three dimensions of leadership which is needed for effective management which are planning, negotiation and rewarding. Managers are concerned with the achievement of targets; however leaders are concerned with fresh approaches of how to manage the employees of the organization through inspiration and motivation. Theories related to satisfaction of the worker are very limited; a satisfied worker may not work harder but he/ she tends to stay l onger in the existing organization (Handy, 2007). As per author Kotter, management is about dealing with the complexity of the problems whereas leadership is about coping with change and bringing order and consistency in the organization (Sadler, 2003). The difference between management and leadership was first defined by theorist James McGregnor in the year 1978 (Sadler, 2003). The theory laid emphasis on the difference between transactional and transformational leadership. Transactional leadership occurs when the manager takes the initiative in offering some form of satisfaction in return for something valued (Sadler, 2003). Managers who exhibit the transactional leadership skills are usually associated with ability to attain results and solve problems through proper planning, organizing, directing and controlling and work methodically within the structure and the boundary of the organization. Organizational culture and transformational leadership are interrelated and also has a s ignificant impact on the organizational effectiveness. Transformational leadership qualities lead to excellent performance of the employees which are beyond the expectations of the organization. As per authors Denison and Mishra, there are usually four cultural traits that are related positively with the organizational performance which are involvement, consistency, participation and normative integration (Xenikou and Simosi, 2006). Managers following transformational leadership skill promote an environment that helps in achievement of high goals. Transformational leadership is mainly concerned with the intellectual simulation, accomplishment, and individual consideration. In addition it was also proved that there are certain organizations which have certain group norms that help in promoting self actualization, participation in decision making, moral and social support, cooperation etc. The organizational culture theory as proposed by Cook and Rousseau suggests that culture is comp osed of the shared values of a social group acquired through socialization process and can be acquired through socialization process and exposure to variety of culture bearing elements (Xenikou and Simosi, 2006). These culture bearing element constitute of social interaction, employee behaviour and their performance.

For Profit Healthcare Organization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

For Profit Healthcare Organization - Essay Example Supervisory management is there to allocate work to individual employees and groups of employees and is there to ensure that the assigned tasks are carried out. The top management makes decisions with the help of middle and supervisory management. There is a collaborative environment in the hospital (Sentara Healthcare). Collaborative environment means that the management shows interest towards the problems and issues of employees and also work for their betterment. Employees are given rewards for their good performance and for bad performance, they are also punished. The management of the hospital considers employees as its assets and acknowledges their contribution towards the advancement of the hospital. The internal environment of the hospital is disciplined as the employees have to follow certain rules and regulations that are known to them. In case the rules and regulations are disregarded, the employees have to face the consequences. According to the hospital management, for the betterment of a hospital environment, the rules should be followed by all the employees to ensure that the hospital remains well-reputed in people’s view. The safety of patients is also a major concern of the hospital (About Sentara Healthcare 2008). The patients are also asked to follow the particular rules that are designed for them such as the meeting timings and medicinal timings. The inner environment is structured in a format according to which, the employees are required to remain disciplined. The management is also interested in the behaviors of employees towards the patients. The management makes sure that the patients are dealt with patience and care. A collaborative environment is there due to which, employees help each other and consult with supervisory management in case of any problems or issues. As far as external environment is concerned, the

Week 6 DQ's Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Week 6 DQ's - Essay Example Most students from minority schools enroll in low-level colleges because of lack of finances, these schools do not have resources needed for them to complete their college studies like their year mates in high-level colleges, which are mostly the Whites and the Asians who comes out successfully as graduates. The students from the minority end up dropping out from college, a few makes to graduate leading to low graduation rates among these minority groups. Cultural differences have been a contributing factor for the differences in graduation rates between these two groups (Davidson, 2008). The process of carrying out evaluation process is a technical process and requires that an individual be conversant with the cultural issues of the setting he/she is dealing with. The is need for evaluators to have some cultural competences of that setting, such cultural competencies include understanding communication patterns used, practices these communities participate, mode of dressing and mode presenting himself/herself. Lack of these competencies will render evaluation useless since they will not open up. Consulting firms should ensure that both the majority and minority groups are represented. Looking at the composition of both the staff and the students in the school, there were unequal distribution of staff among the races, minority groups had few staff while the majority groups dominates almost all sectors. If cultural biasness is to be minimized and even brought to an end, the authority should ensure that these inequalities are brought to an end. Capacity building in the district schools should be put into consideration during evaluation process. Consulting firms should create position to accommodate all groups; the capacity for each group should be put into consideration (Becker, 2003). Effective learning and acquisition of appropriate skills and experience in students is realized when teachers put

Sport Policy, Politics and Ethics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Sport Policy, Politics and Ethics - Assignment Example 44). Due to the importance of sport and benefits accruing from it, there are policies that have been developed at country, regional, and international level to provide framework in which sporting activities can take place. Policies are aimed at enhancing physical activity and participation in sport. However, it should be noted that policies of sport are highly influenced by sporting dynamics and shifting instruments and priorities of respective governments. Policy for sport is also aimed at promoting the interests of sport at local, sub-regional, regional, and international levels. Besides, development of sport policy has been informed by the realization that sport can be used as a means of delivering a wide range of policy aspirations such as local economic viability and health improvement among others (Bloyce and Smith, 2009, p. 101). Implementation of policy by for sport by governments is faced with various challenges and barriers. Implementation of sport policy is often faced with barriers and challenges just like are the case with implementation of policy in other respects. One of the main challenges is declining participation among the population in sport. Studies show that participation in sport has been declining significantly in most countries despite its importance (Bodin and SempeÃŒ , 2011, p. 60). Particularly, it has been noted that the participation of those aged over 15 years has dropped dramatically in recent years. Experts argue that this challenge in implementation of sport policy can be attributed to the fact that physical activities in the population has been declining especially after children have attained 12 years of age. The increased number of population suffering from obesity and overweight is a proof that physical activity has been declining. In addition, implementation of policy for spo rt has been faced with various barriers to access; that is, there are barriers

Therapeutic Approaches Essay Example for Free

Therapeutic Approaches Essay At the present, the contemporary society has discovered and created many new therapeutic strategies in dealing with psychological problems and health maladies. These therapeutic approaches are developed in relation to the different psychological discipline focusing on the different aspects and realms of the human mind. Some of these approaches are proven effective to many however, some are also ineffective to particular patient. Because of this, it has been determined that part of the effectivity of a certain therapeutic approach is based on the conformity and acceptance of the patient to the therapy and vice versa on some cases. In this aspect that this author finds a certain specific therapy that he or she is comfortable with. This patient sees the humanistic therapeutic approach to be more convenient and suitable compare to other therapeutic services that are being offered. This opinion can be said mainly because of the optimistic and positive outlook of this therapy to the human nature particularly its patients. In this approach, the said therapy provide a more personal in-depth realization as it try to focus on the positive aspects of the human nature namely the patient’s neglected strengths and abilities as it was empowered by weakness and insecurities. Compare to other therapeutic approaches, the humanistic view provide a strengthening outlook to the personal life thus promoting the therapy’s benefit to a long-term advantage for the patient. Other approaches can be said to be only focused on determining the roots of the patient’s problem thus, they only show the inconsistency of the human nature. However though, most patients know already their inconsistencies thus they become depress and gloomy as they accept it. However, the humanistic therapy can show the other side of their personality making the patients realize again that amidst their misdeeds and faults, there is still a good personality that is innate within their being.

Brown V. Board of Education Essay Example for Free

Brown V. Board of Education Essay Brown v Board of Education is a historical landmark case that dismantled segregation laws and established a great milestone in the movement toward true equality. The Supreme Courts unanimously decided on Brown v. Board of Education that separate but equal is inherently unequal. Ruling that no state had the power to pass a law that deprived anyone from his or her 14th amendment rights. For my historical analysis I will use Richard Kluger’s â€Å"Simple Justice†, in which he argues, â€Å"that the Declaration of Independence was marred by hypocrisy—all men were not equal if black†. His book will assist me in learning the policies that lead to and surrounded this case. Using interviews I conducted, where I questioned inner city high school students of their schooling experience in comparison to my brother who attends a predominately white privileged private school, I will ultimately uncover the many inequalities that still exist today. While researching I interviewed my great-Aunt Bertha, who grew up in the state of Mississippi, she had a first-hand experience of life before Brown v Board of Education and life after the Supreme Court ruled on the case, her life was changed forever. My research will focus on not only a historical analysis of what occurred, but how far America has claimed to truly come in dealings with race relations, and the inequalities that still exist today. The American Civil War was fought from 1861 to 1865 between the United States also known as the â€Å"Union† and the few southern states that announced their separation from the United States known as the â€Å"Confederates†. The war was based mainly on differing opinions on the issue of slavery. The war lasted about four years and the results yielded in the Confederacy being defeated by the Union. Upon defeating the Confederates, the Union abolished slavery. From that moment on the process of rebuilding the Union as a strong united nation began. This Union was to guarantee freedom to slaves and began the process of having former slaves obtain rights entitled to all citizens. Once the Civil War had ended, so did the policy of legal slavery. However former Confederate leaders did not intend on allowing the former slaves to have all the same rights as whites nor did they intend for former slaves to be counted equally as citizens. Just before the end of the war, congress had passed the Morrill Act of 1862. This act was to provide for federal funding of higher education. Former slave-holding states decided to find loop holes in allowing former slaves to benefit from the new federal funding as they were not ready to asked them as citizens or even human for that matter. Post-Civil War, the fourteenth amendment to the United States Constitution granted equal protection under the law to all citizens. Although the amendment was put into effect Congress knew the transition from slave to citizen with a hand full of rights would be difficult for former slaves so to help with the transition process Congress created the Freedmen’s Bureau. This program was created to assist in the integration of former slave into society as citizens. At the end of the reconstruction period in 1877 former Confederate states implemented random laws that would blatantly go against the federal law and the constitutional right granted b y the 14th amendment to all including African Americans for equal treatment under the law. Southern state believed they could somehow obey federal orders by having equality yet keeping order by having races remain separate. For many years the court at both state and federal level claimed the 14th amendment applied only to federal, not state, citizenship, therefore they had no control over how a state thought to treat or label an African American on their land. This was proven true of the court in the 1863 Civil Rights Case heard before the Supreme Court. This case was made up of five lower level court cases and made into one because they all had the same claim. In this case The Court held that Congress lacked the constitutional authority under the enforcement provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment to outlaw racial discrimination by private individuals and organizations, rather than state and local governments. After the end of Reconstruction, the federal government generally did not hear racial segregation cases instead advising the issue be left up to each individual state to handle. In understanding Brown v Board of Education one must first understand a little about Plessey v Ferguson. The issue in this case was can the states constitutionally enact legislation requiring persons of different races to use â€Å"separate but equal† segregated facilities? And the Court ruled, yes. The states can constitutionally enact legislation requiring persons of different races to use â€Å"separate but equal† segregated facilities, this coming from the highest Court of the land. The trouble with this ideology was that it is contradictory even in its simplest form. Although the Constitution required equality, the facilities and social services offered to African-Americans were almost always of lower quality than those offered to white Americans; for example, many African American schools received less public funding per student than nearby white schools. Public water fountains, which were label â€Å"colored†, were always of lower quality than those labeled for â€Å"whites†. Life went on lived with this flawed idea of serrate equality for many years creating an inferior class of citizens, black were at the bottom and therefore not equal. Many people have tried to challenge the â€Å"separate but equal† rule but most went unheard and those that were heard failed have a change occur. Eventually in 1954 a case did make it on the Supreme Court docket, that case was Linda Brown v. Board of Education. Brown v Board of Education asked the Supreme Court to answer the question of does the segregation of children in public schools s olely on the basis of race deprive the minority children of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the 14th Amendment? Blacks wanted justice and wanted this question to be answered and clarified for all the nation that they too are people entitle to all the same rights as whites. Thurgood Marshall was one of leading attorney, and civil rights activists, who fought against the segregation laws and policies that were violating the rights of African Americans, especially the children. Kulger â€Å"†¦the African Americans were going to ask equal treatment from top to bottom; buses, buildings, teachers, teacher’s salaries, teaching materials. Everything the same. Anything less was patently in violation of the Fourteenth amendement, Thurgood Marshall explained. â€Å" (18) Thurgood Marshall was one of leading attorney, and civil rights activists, who fought against the segregation laws and policies that were violating the rights of African Americans, especially the children. Kulger Black children were denied admission to public schools attended by white children under laws requiring or permitting segregation according to the races. Linda Browns father though it to be insane that just based solely on the color of his daughters skin she would have to travel really far across train tracks to go to the black only school when they lived near by a school that happened to be labeled whites only. The National Association of the Advancement of Colored People picked up his case, making Linda Brown the poster girl for the cause; She was the embodiment of young black students that were not getting an adequate education that they are entitled to. Brown embellished the ideal look of an average, young, innocent girl, just trying to go to school like any other White child would. The NAACP hired a team of lawyers and civil rights activist to petition the court to hear out the constitutionality of this issue. The lawyers on the case complied many other cases into the same bulk because they all asked of the court the same question, which was the constitutionality of the separate but equal. The Supreme Court ultimately decided in favor of Brown and cited, â€Å"despite the equalization of the schools by objective factors, intangible issues foster and maintain inequality. Racial segregation in public education has a detrimental effect on minority children because it is interpreted as a sign of inferiority. The long-held doctrine that separate facilities were permissible provided they were equal was rejected. Separate but equal is inherently unequal in the context of public education.† This decision called for an end to all state maintained racial segregation. Although the legal end was called for the mentality of many remained the same some going so far as to verbally and physically torture blacks that would dare utilize the same facilities as whites. Brown v Board of Education was decided in 1954 approximately 60 years ago but the strong effects of life before the decision still live on today even in the State of New York which is known to be progressive and libe ral I find myself surround by many disparities. Within the New York Public school system for example. Although we are not literally labeled certain schools as a black school or a white schools the idea of zoning children into schools based on their address is just the new form of â€Å"separate but equal† in my eyes. I had the pleasure of interviewing a fellow political science major at The City College of New York. John Miller shared with me his experience within the New York City public school system, where he was educated until his graduation from high school or as he called it â€Å"aging out† of the system. John described in detail his experience of never having shared a classroom with a white person before enrolling at City College. John was born and raised in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, New York. Bedford Stuyvesant is widely known as the black cultural mecca of Brooklyn, similar to what Harlem is to Manhattan. He explained to me the way New York City public school system works from kindergarten through 9th grade. Children are assigned a school tha t is in close proximity to their neighborhood. If they don’t like the school they are assigned to, which many do not, the answer from authority figures is â€Å"tough luck† or simply â€Å"move†. Unfortunately John was one of the students that had to stay in his underfunded school. He also told me about his best friend who was one of the lucky few that gained admission into a charter school (which seems to be the only way out of the failed Bedstuy public schools) in downtown Brooklyn. His friend was admitted into the school because his mother’s employer noticed what she felt was great intelligence for someone whose mother was a simple housekeeper. While he spent the day watching his mother clean her house she simply made a phone call to one of her friends who happened to be a big donor to the charter school and in just a few weeks he was being bussed to a 21st century private charter school. He was one of the lucky few to made it out. Miller is now at the University of Chicago studying biology, I hope of becoming a doctor. Most of their childhood friends from the neighborhood are either in prison most for crimes of necessity given their unfortunate circumstances. He described how another friend would frequently steal from the local grocery story to supply his family with food. Miller would like to point out that he is not trying to create excuses for the crimes committed, however he is sympathetic to their reasoning. He is also not oblivious to the fact that not all the crimes his childhood friends are being incarcerated for are crime of necessity but rather some are crimes of pure boredom. He is not sure where to place blame or on who in either circumstance. The past stories accounts for the majority of the men John knew but the women are not excluding from this group of underachievers. Most became pregnant at an extremely early age giving birth to children out of wedlock. They gave birth with the expectation that there is always â€Å"food stamps/welfare† I don’t need a job† while others are working dead end jobs making minimum wage. In his community education is clearly not something to value and I would make the claim that it is because from kindergarten the schools in this community are underfunded and have teacher who don’t care working in the system. If the teachers don’t care neither will the students and so the cycle continues. Was this system plan and created by our white socioeconomic counter part? We were taught to believe Brown v Board of Education would change our lives forever. Once the high Court made the claim that â€Å"separate but equal† actually was impossible to accomplish and an oxymoron within itself. Mississippi was so defiant towards the Brown v. Board of Education case, schools in the state refused to integrate. Therefore the federal courts in 1969 had to modify the Mississippi â€Å"desegregation order†. People still had their racist ideologies and even today 4 of the schools are â€Å"single-raced†, although it is legally outlawed. My aunt Bertha was a student in the Mississippi public school system in the year prior to and post Brown v. Board of education. She vividly recalls sitting with her family around a radio and hearing the Chief Justice announce the courts decision to declare â€Å"separate but equal† unconstitutional. Making separate schools for whites and black she thought would immediately become a something of the past. She admits to being very nervous yet excited about the idea of going to schools that white people would also go to. She even recalls telling her dad â€Å"maybe we wont have to share books anymore† pointing to the fact that her school was so underfunded and there weren’t enough books to go around. Bertha says 2 years after the decision was handed down by the court she remained a student at a school on the east side of the track which were for black and the whites remained enrolled in the other school. She visits once a year now for her high school reunion and is just now starting to notice some integration almost 60 plus years later the principle proudly announced we â€Å"now have a white population of 2.3 percent† although she was proudly to see Brown v. Education being implemented into her hometown she still is saddened by the fact that people of color on her side of the track could potentially go through life without ever having much interaction with the other race if they so chose. This saddens her because we are now living in 2012 and our President is black however whites and some blacks still seem very uncomfortable with they idea of being together, not just in the classroom but also in all aspects of life. â€Å"Segregation was an unmitigated evil, and no black man anywhere in America was free of its scar so long as the Supreme Court tolerated it† (290) We are still living in a systematic world of segregation in the New York City School System in the public and private sector. Schools where most of the students are minorities get underfunded. Is this a problem of economics? Distribution? Or an ongoing internal racism that often gets ignored? BIBLIOGRAPHY Kluger, Richard. Simple Justice: The History of Brown v. Board of Education and Black Americas Struggle for Equality. New York: Vintage, 2004. Print. Mississippi Schools Still Segregated Despite Court Order. Breaking News for Black America RSS. NewsOne Staff, 4 May 2011. Web. 18 Dec. 2012. Miller, J (2012, 5 October) Personal Interview Moore, B (2012 15, October) Telephone Interview

Traditional Versus Lean Project Management Techniques Information Technology Essay

Traditional Versus Lean Project Management Techniques Information Technology Essay Project management is a structured approach towards managing projects. It is defined as The application of knowledge skills, tools and the techniques to project activities in order to meet stakeholders needs and expectations from a project (Burke, 2003). The project management team is responsible for finding methods of meeting the control budgets and schedule rather than justifications for not meeting them (Ballard and Howell, 1997). Developing a fully integrated information and control system to plan, instruct, monitor and control large data amounts, quickly and accurately for problem solving and decision making will determine the success of the manager. Projects are temporary production systems. Production is defined as designing and making things. Designing and making something for the first time is done through a project, which is arguably the fundamental form of production system. Three fundamental goals of production systems are (Ballard and Howell, 2003) Deliver the product Maximize value Minimize waste Lean Project Management Performance improvement for competitive advantage is a general characteristic of practitioners in most industries (Porter, 1985). In project management for satisfactory performance the consideration of time, cost and quality is not adequate. Performance is described in terms of attaining value effectively and efficiently where effectiveness is maximising value of output whereas, efficiency refers to minimising or elimination non value-adding items in production. Beside a stream, dont waste water, even in a forest, dont waste firewood. Chinese Proverb The systems those are structured to deliver the product while maximizing value and minimizing waste, are said to be lean projects (Ballard and Howell, 2003). Lean is the term originally coined in 1990 by Womack, Jones and Roos to describe the Toyota Production System (Reeves, 2007). A production system which was capable of producing more and better vehicles in less time, less space and using fewer labour hours was given the name Lean. Organizations can reduce project timelines and costs by eliminating waste and focusing on value creation for the customer. The bottom line with lean is: if the action does not provide value to the end customer then it is waste. Lean refers to a general way of thinking and specific practices that emphasize less of everything fewer people, less time, lower costs (Reeves, 2007). Lean project management has been constructed by drawing together two approaches: management of projects and lean production. For project management performance improvement, the management of project focuses on meeting customer needs effectively while lean production aims at meeting customer needs efficiently utilised in lean project management. The justification of lean production with management of project is done at the methodological level (Horman and Kenley). Lean Project Management Methodology Management of Projects Methodology Lean Production Methodology Figure 1: Generation of Lean Project Management Methodology Fig. 1: Generation of Lean Project Management Methodology Lean product development helps improve a companys competitive advantage. Its application in the automobile industry has brought significance performance improvement. But this does not mean that lean production is applicable to only automobile industry. Many non manufacturing companies like the one those are involved in product development, transportation, accounting, hospital, sales, administration, vehicle repair and many others are making use of the lean principles. There are five traditional lean principles that are applicable outside the automobile industry (Womack and Jones, 2003) value to the customer value stream to provide the product or service that the customer values seamless flow of the product or service pull mode- provide the customer with the product or service in a timely fashion perfection for continuous improvement Traditional versus Lean Project Management Techniques Lean project management differs from traditional project management in the goals it pursues, the structure of its phases, the relationship between phases and the participants in each phase. The traditional production methodology manages conversion of an input to an output. Lean production is managing the production process by converting input to output, by minimising the input flow waste and maximising the value of the output efficiently. Thus the lean production methodology has flow management and management of value in addition to the input, conversion and output of the conventional project management technique. The traditional approach focuses on efficiency rather than value, whereas in lean production the focus is on minimising waste (efficiency) and maximising value of output (effectiveness). Under lean production with the introduction of the notion of value, effectiveness is expanded. In the traditional approach, value is not given much importance. Customers requirements are compromised which extends barely further than market requirements and lowering costs. Lean production emphasises on maximising the value of output by satisfying the customers specific requirements. The change in the production management from conventional to lean production management is because: Inappropriate control mechanisms and performance improvement efforts are used in conventional methodology. Poorly understood and addressed quality under traditional method. These show poor efficiency and effectiveness in the production process which roots from inadequate understanding of the production process. The change in production method from traditional to lean was to add to the existing approach and make it more appropriate for contemporary and complex production systems. Lean Product Development Lean product development encompasses numerous inter-related techniques. The first technique is supplier involvement. Instead of being involved for detailed design specification, suppliers are involved from the beginning of a new product. Since it is the responsibility of the suppliers to develop complete modules for the product, often without detailed specifications, black box engineering is used. Second technique is simultaneous engineering which means performing different activities parallely in the development effort. Parallel development helps reduce time. Another technique is the use of cross-functional teams which consists of members from different functional areas in the company, to facilitate the development of products that are easy to manufacture and assemble. This technique aims at integrating rather than coordinating all the functional aspects in the product from the beginning. When individuals work together to develop a new product, the physical proximity that arises results in the team being integrated. To improve communication, create stronger commitment towards the project and bringing focus for cross-functional problem solving, one should use the heavyweight team structure where the project manager has direct access to and is responsible for the work of all those involved. Instead of detailed specifications because of visions and objectives the whole project is straegically managed. Even though a company implements these techniques, it does not achieve lean product development in a simple way, for successful lean product development the company has to approach these interrelated techniques as a whole. Techniques other than Lean Product Development Lean is a continuous process improvement technique that can be used to evaluate, analyze and improve how a company delivers values to its customers. However this is only one of the several approaches, some other techniques are six sigma and theory of constraints (TOC). Lean focuses on the flow of value to a companys customers whereas six sigma focuses on individual problems, which shows the companys ability to satisfy the customers needs and TOC focuses on the constraints and how to minimize those to improve the volume of throughput within a system. Another technique is lean six sigma which combines the analytical tools of six sigma with the speed and customer value focus of lean to optimize the improvement process. For companies undertaking continuous improvement initiative, it is important for them to first determine the goal, and then apply the appropriate method to achieve the goal. Lean Project Delivery System Theoretical and practical investigations led to the emergence of the Lean Project Delivery System emerged in 2000. It is in the process of on-going development through experimentation. The job of the project delivery system is not only fulfilling the customer needs, but also help the customer decide their needs. It is necessary to understand the customers purpose and constraints, exposure of customer to alternative means for accomplishing their purposes and help them understand the end results of their desires. The lean project delivery system model consists of four phases: Project Definiton, Lean Design, Lean Supply and Lean Assembly. The four phases are a set of interconnecting triads, where some downstream activity takes place from the subsequent phase in each triad. Alteration Decommissioning Commissioning Fabrication Logistics Product Design Design Concepts Purposes Detailed Engineering Design Criteria Operation Maintenance Installation Process Design Use Lean Assembly Lean Supply Project Definition Lean Design Work Structuring Production Control Learning Loops Fig. 2: Lean Project Delivery System. Project Definition Project definition is the first phase in project delivery system which consists of determining the purposes (customer and stakeholder purposes and values), design criteria for translating those purposes for both product and process, and design concepts against which purposes and criteria can be tested and developed. The movement through these three need not follow any specific sequence, although the logical starting point seems to be the purpose. To reveal to stakeholders the consequences of their needs and different value generation possibilities, the cycle through these three modules is necessary. The involvement of stakeholders is a must for the best outcome from the project definition phase. Typical stakeholders can be the client (holds the contract), users of the facility, governing agencies, designers, installers, operators, fabricators, etc. The Lean Design phase should be launched only after bringing the three modules of project definition into alignment. (Project Definition Process: Appendix 1) Lean Design The alignment of values, concepts and criteria is the gate between Project Definition and Lean Design. At the functional systems level, developing and aligning product and process design can lead towards Lean Design. If at all the search for value reveals opportunities that are consistent with customer and stakeholder constraints, the project may go back to Project Definition stage. In order to allow more time for developing and exploring alternatives, the decisions are deferred systematically until the last responsible moment. This differentiates the Lean Design from the traditional practice of selecting options and executing design tasks as soon as possible causing rework and disruption because of conflicts in decisions made by specialists. Lean Supply Lean Supply consists of detailed engineering, fabrication, and delivery. To know what to detail and fabricate, and when to deliver the components, the system requires prerequisite product and process design. Also Lean Supply helps reduce the lead time for information and materials. Lean Assembly Lean Assembly begins with the delivery of materials and the relevant information for their installation. When the client has beneficial use of the facility, which typically occurs after commissioning and start-up the assembly completes. Comparison of Lean and Non-Lean Project Delivery System Lean Non-Lean Focuses on production system Focuses on transactions and contracts Transformation, flow and value goals Transformation goal Downstream players involved in upstream decisions Sequential decisions by specialists thrown over the wall Product and process designed together Process design begins after product design is complete Considers all product life cycle stages in design Not all product life cycle stages are considered Activities performed at last moment Activities performed as soon as possible Systematic efforts to reduce supply-chain lead times Separate organizations link together through the market and take what the market offers Incorporates learning into project, firm and supply-chain management Learning occurs periodically Stakeholders interests aligned Stakeholders interests not aligned Sized buffers located to perform their function of absorbing system variability Sized buffers located for local optimization -(Ballard and Howell, 2003) The Difficult Path to Lean Product Development Lean product development is not an easy thing to do. Several factors can hinder attempts to achieve lean product development. The different factors are: Cross-functional team is a technique that helps an organization in lean product development. They might be having a positive impact on the development effort, but creating cross-functional teams is a difficult task. Even today development is regarded to be a task for the Research and Development department, this shows lack of cross-funtional focus in the organization which ultimately leads to difficulty in creating cross-funtional integration. Simultaneous engineering is another technique towards lean product development, but working with concurrent activities and thus overlapping phases in the development effort is a very complicated task. It is impsossible for the individual engineers to perform simultaneous activities. Coordination of the lean product development effort is not an easy task. For coordination, regular meetings with the whole group needs to be held which is a time consuming activity. If the size of the group is large it resulted in longer meetings with repeated discussions and it may also happen that individuals from one department may find it difficult to understand discussions on issues on other department than the one he is from. Organizations face difficulty in coordinating a visionary-led development project, where visions also create problems. Requesting for detailed design specifications disturb the visionary-led projects. For any project, the suppliers must be involved from the beginning of he project, which results in difficulties for the suppliers to give detailed estimate of costs demanded by the top management. The desire to have the flexibility of black box engineering and known cost of the detailed estimate approach, obstructs a lean process. Hindering factors are more easily identified. Other than the hindering factors in the process of implementing lean product development, there are some supporting factors, which helps in the implementation of lean product development (Appendix 2) Benefits Despite lean being originated in manufacturing, it is now applied in many other business areas including product development, administration, accounting, project management and many others, because of its generic approach of eliminating waste to create more value for customer. A variety of lean product development techniques when applied to project management can reduce project timelines, increase customer value and reduce costs. Some other benefits of lean project management are, it helps increase the productivity, higher quality products, reduction in order processing errors, etc. Conclusion An alternative method to project management is lean project management. The lean approach to project management has worked successfully in potentially difficult and complex areas. The approach contributes to project management performance by focusing on the effectiveness and efficiency of delivering value that is satisfying client needs. Its implementation offers the potential for faster product development with fewer engineering hours, improved manufacturability of products, higher quality products, fewer production start-up problems, and faster time to market. Lean implementations have also yielded improvements in the value generated for clients, users and producers, and also a reduction in waste, including waiting time for resources, process cycle times, inventories, defects and errors, and accidents. It also led to a high level of commitment and motivation from the team, and to the satisfaction of the client organization. Lean thinking when paired with an appropriate agile development methodology can provide significant benefits to an organization. It has the advantage of reducing risk to the client, with the right balance of quality, performance and value for money. Lean product development is the beginning of the journey of continuous improvement. Lean techniques are not simply management tools but rather they embody a culture that needs to be enforced from the top leadership down throughout the company. Systematic implementation of lean in all areas of project management will yield benefits that other improvement methods cannot.

Justice in Platos Republic and Hobbes Leviathan Essay -- Politics Phi

One of the main concepts in both Plato's Republic and Hobbes' Leviathan is justice. For Plato, the goal of his Republic is to discover what justice is and to demonstrate that it is better than injustice. Plato does this by explaining justice in two different ways: through a city or polis and through an individual human beings soul. He uses justice in a city to reveal justice in an individual. For Hobbes, the term justice is used to explain the relationship between morality and self-interest. Hobbes explains justice in relation to obligations and self-preservation. This essay will analyze justice specifically in relation to the statement ? The fool hath said in his heart, there is no such thing as justice? Looking at Hobbes? reply to the fool will demonstrate that his main goal was to declare what people ought to do when interacting with others and what can be expected in return for that behaviour. By analyzing the Republic, it will be shown that Plato would most likely differ w ith the statement made by the fool because the main of premise the book in itself is to discover the definition of justice. To understand Hobbes? reply to the fool, one must first define justice according to Hobbes. He believes that justice is men performing their covenants made and the constant will of giving every man his own. A covenant is a part of a contract, or ?mutual transferring of right, in which at least one of the parties ?is to perform in time to come?. Hobbes maintains that it is never against reason to complete a covenant when man has the security that others will also perform covenants made with him. However, the problem that arises from forming covenants is that just because people enter into a covenant to perform some actio... ...ing so he also showed that there is such a thing a justice within a city as well as in an individual. Thus, Plato?s reply to the fool would be that indeed there is such a thing as justice. And justice is good because it benefits in this life as well as the next. Therefore, even though a man may wish to behave unjustly when he can, as with the myth of the ring of Gyges, behaving justly will have the most rewards. Both Plato and Hobbes present different views of justice in reply to the fool. Plato, claiming one should be just because it is good in itself, where as Hobbes claims being just is good for the pursuit of self-interest or preservation. Despite the difference of opinion on justice between the two philosophers, it is clear that the fool?s statement has been refuted. For there is such a thing as justice despite the differences in how the term is defined.

Angel in the House Essay -- essays research papers

Coventry Patmore believed his wife Emily was the perfect Victorian wife and wrote "The Angel in the House" about her. Though it did not receive much attention when it was first published in 1854, it became increasingly popular through the rest of the nineteenth century and continued to be influential into the twentieth century. The Little House series reflects what Patmore originally wrote and strongly believed. â€Å"The Angel in the House† theme is both introduced and intertwined throughout the series. It begins in The Little House in the Big Woods and continues to reveal itself throughout The Little House in the Prairie, thus giving to audience a view of nineteenth century culture. Patmore wrote that â€Å"Man must be pleased; but him to please is woman's pleasure.† This common concept of the nineteenth century reveals itself in this stanza. Women held one position in society, and it held constant throughout the eighteen hundreds: Please man. Ma, in The Little House series, is a prime example of the â€Å"Angel in the House.† Ma is always there for Pa. She realizes that he provides and she obeys. Ma, in The Little House in the Big Woods, had a schedule for each week. .She washed on Monday, Ironed on Tuesday, Mended on Wednesday, Churned on Thursday, Cleaned on Friday, and Baked on Saturday. On top of those chores, Ma prepared food and tended to Pa and the children. There wasn’t a day for Ma’s needs and desires. Ma presents herself as the stereotyp...

Do College Students Deserve Alcohol? Essay examples -- Binge Drinking

As a college student I have to bring up a problem that has recently caught my eye. Drinking in the college environment has done much harm to the well-being of the students. The more I see drunken people around campus the more I become concerned for their safety. As I think about this more I start to question if we as body should be allowed to even possess alcohol, regardless of age. While alcohol incidents that include death are very seldom, many other categories have gone up; the number of binge drinkers-those who intend to drink to get drunk- has gone up, the number of Minor in Consumption tickets has gone up and the number of alcohol-related crimes has increased. With the full intent of ensuring the safety of my fellow students, I call for a realization in the evolution of the combination of alcohol and college as well as what harms this pact can produce. There is also the problem of how academics can be affected by drinking. If there is a problem academics which should be the fir st reason why any student should go to college, than this problem with should be fixed. Additionally, if there is a problem that affects a person’s safety, it also needs to be addressed. Alcohol has become a big part of college, as we all know. In The "Risky Business" of Binge Drinking Among College Students, author Joyce M. Wolburg gives many statistics about the harm that alcohol brings to college campuses. About five and a half billion dollars’ worth of alcohol is bought by college students annually, which is more than tuition, books, and rooms combined (Wolburg 24). It is one thing if we spend a lot of money for college itself, but when students have the desire to buy alcohol in that kind of manner, we have to understand that there is a problem t... ...d or affected in a negative way. One purpose of a college or university is to promote safety to its students. If we don’t promote enough safety our students will be thrown into unsafe drinking. Works Cited Hunter, Drew. "Peer to Peer: Effective College Learning: About Alcohol and Other Health Issues." Change 36.3 (2004): 40-44. JSTOR. Web. 8 Jan. 2011. Lederman, Linda C. "Changing the Culture of College Drinking." Web. 8 Jan. 2011. Wechsler, Henry, Toben Nelson, and Elissa Weitzman. "From Knowledge to Action: How Harvard's College Alcohol Study Can Help Your Campus Design a Campaign against Student Alcohol Abuse." Change 32.1 (2000): 32-43. JSTOR. Web. 8 Jan. 2011. Wolburg, Joyce M. "The "Risky Business" of Binge Drinking among College Students: Using Risk Models for PSAs and Anti-Drinking Campaigns." Change 36.3 (2004): 23-39. JSTOR. Web. 8 Jan. 2011.

Aligarh Movement – Essay

Syed Ahmad Khan was the first man to start a reform movement among the Muslims. This movement was known as the Aligarh Movement. To him Quran was the only authentic scripture for Islam and all other Islamic writings are secondary and misnomer. For the safety of the Muslim community in India, he wanted to maintain cordial relation between the Muslims and the Bruisers. Further, he wanted to provide modern education to the Muslims. For educating the Muslim society, Ahmad Khan established an English Medium School at Ghazipur in 1864. Later on he established ‘Vegan Samaj' for translating English books to impart scientific knowledge to the Muslims. To materialise his dream, he established Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh which developed into Aligarh University in 1890, thus, the Aligarh movement was instrumental in spreading western education among the Muslims and developing religious fundamentalism within them. For achieving that end, he organized a Mohammedan Educational Conference which fostered unity among the Muslims and spread western education among them. Taking chance of it, Theodore Back, the first principal of the Mohammedan Anglo Oriental College and his successor Mr. Morrison spread communalism among the educated Muslims. The Aligarh Movement was instrumental in the social, economic and educational progress of the Muslims in India. Due to the predominance of the Hindus in the national awakening, Ahmad Khan launched this movement to safeguard the Muslim interest. Being deeply impressed by the western education and culture, Ahmad Khan wanted to incline towards the English administrators of India and advised the Muslims to remain loyal to the British authority. In 1893, he formed the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental Defense Association of. India and limited its leadership only to the Muslims. By this, he wanted to keep the Muslims away from politics. Syed Ahmad Khan also opposed the All India Congress. Thus, the Aligarh Movement made the Muslim fundamentalism strong. The Bruisers capitalized this by sowing the seeds of communalism among the Muslims and followed their principle ‘divide and rule' to secure their position in India.

Culture Theory and Popular Culture Essay

The subscribe of nuance has, over the last a couple of(prenominal) years, been quite dramatically trans clayed as distrusts of modernity and post-modernity turn in re plazad the to a greater extent(prenominal) farsighted-familiar concepts of political orientation and hegemony which, from the mid-1970s until the mid-1980s, anchored ethnic analysis hard deep down the neo-Marxist subject mapped out by Al thuslyser and Gramsci. Modernity and post-modernity consecrate as well move far beyond the academic field of media or ethnical studies. Hardly star branch of the frauds, hu manities or neighborly sciences has remained untouched by the debates which have go with their presence.They have as well fix their air into the quality press and on to TV, and of trend they have entered the guile school studios ratting and giving shape to the mode in which fine graphics practiti acers including architects, painters and film-makers typeset and execute their encounter. unspoilt or pitiful, to be welcomed or reviled, these refer have corresponded to some sea-change in the way in which ethnical intellectuals and practiti unmatched and only(a)rs experience and test to lowstand the world in the be riped 1980s and into the 1990s. Storey claimed that postmodernism has disturbed some(prenominal) of the old certainties surrounding questions of ethnical place. This work will consider the issues of postmodernism versus modernism in general from the location of the tyros of postmodernism with reference to neat and bad try on. Post-modern heathenish movements firstly emerged in the mid-sixties in painting, architecture, and literary criticism. Pop dodge repugnd modernist art by experimenting with unexampled cultural radiation patterns and contents that embraced commonplace life, ancestor eclecticism, subcultures, outsize number media, and consumerism. Sociologist Daniel Bell was one of the first to shell out up the challenge of post modernism.In The heathen Contradictions of Capitalism (1976) he identified a moral crisis in Western union bound up with the decline of puritan bourgeois culture and the ascendence of a post-modern culture that he described in terms of an esthetic relativism and a hedonic individualism. Yet the most formidable critic of postmodernism and defender of modernity has been German philosopher and heir to the Frankfurt School tradition of searing system Jurgen Habermas. There ar both problems with postmodernism. The first problem comes into focus sightly about the meaning of the term atomization.This is a nateschat which, finished over-usage in recent cultural debates, has become shorn of meaning. Post-modernity has been associated by Fredric Jameson (1984) with the development of a broken, fractured shadow of a man. The tinny shall ca consumptioness of mass culture is, he argues, like a shot reflected in the schizophrenic subject of coeval mass thought. Against Jameson, Stuart hallway (1981) has recently said that it is average this decentring of consciousness which allows him, as a black person, to emerge, divided, yes, except like a shot fully foregrounded on the post-modern stage.So one of the fascinating things about this discussion is to find myself centred at last. Now that, in the postmodern age, you all feel so dispersed I become centred. What Ive thought of as dispersed and garbled comes, paradoxically, to be the representative modern educate This is coming home with a requital (34). These argon, then, two perspectives on the problem of postmodern atomisation. There is Jameson, who looks back nostalgically to the impulse of unity or totality and who sees in this a tolerant of prerequisite for radical governing, a goal to be striven for.And in that location is Hall, who sees in fragmentation something to a greater extent(prenominal) brooding of the ongoing and historical condition of subaltern groups. Jamesons coordinated man could be taken to be a preFreudian, enlightenment subject, and thus be discredited by those who have paid attention to La crumbs nonion of the fragmented subject. But the physiognomy of post-modern fragmentation is equally non without its own problems. Have we become more fragmented than before? Can we specifically name a time and a place for the fleck of fragmentation? Is fragmentation the anformer(a)(prenominal) of humanity?Or is the representation of fragmentation coincidental with political empowerment and sack? Christopher Norris (1990) has argued that post-modernity (and postmodern fragmentation) stands at the end of the long line of intellectual inquiry which starts with Saussure, whole kit and boodle its way through post-structuralism and Lacanian psychoanalysis and ends with Baudrillard. In Norriss terms fragmentation is to be at a lower places in like mannerd as marking an authoritative and irreparable break with the unified subject, a break which is straight writ large in culture.Present-day fragmented subjectivity is captured and expressed in post-modern cultural forms, a kind of superficial pick-and-mix of carriages. According to Jameson, however, unfragmented subjectivity, by contrast, produced great works of uncluttered gilded modernism. There is a degree of slippage in the relateions being made here. The problem lies, at least partly, in the imprecise practice session of the word fragmentation. There is a vacillation surrounded by the high psychoanalytic use of Lacan and a much looser notion, one which seems to sum up unsatisfactory aspects of present-day(a) cultural experience.Modernists, however, withal felt un system of logical and fragmented. Fragmentation, as a kind of body structure of feeling, is by no meat the sole property of those living under the shadow of the post-modern condition. Bewilderment, anxiety, panic such expressions can be attri just nowed to any historical moment as it is transposed into cultura l and delicate expression over the last a hundred and fifty years. The category of fragmentation seems to have become either also technical to be of general use (i. e.in Lacans work) or too vague to mean anything more than bust apart. The second question which tycoon be asked of neo-Marxist critics of postmodernity, concerns termination, and the return to a form of scotch reductionism in cultural theory. Fredric Jameson argues that postmodernism is the cultural logic of capital, nevertheless his argument, as Paul Hirst opus about trends in both forward-looking Times and post-modern paper, has suggested, slips from a rigid causal determinism into casual metaphor (45).Jameson, going back to Mandels Late Capitalism, has argued that the kinds of cultural phenomena which power be described as post-modern form part of the logic of advanced or late capitalism. This does away, at a sweep, with the serious issue of explaining the precise nature of the social and ideological relati onships which mediate between the delivery and the sphere of culture and it simultaneously restores a rather old-fashioned notion of last to that place it had occupied prior to Althussers relative autonomy and his idea of determination in the last instance (67).Quoting Lyotard, Harvey (1989) takes up the notion of the pacingrary contract as the hallmark of post-modern social relations. What he sees everyday in production, in the guise of red-hot forms of work, he also sees prevailing in emotional life and in culture, in the temporary contract of love and sexuality. alike(p) Jameson he decries this state and looks forward to something more robust and more reliable, something from which a little fractured sense of self and community energy emerge.He views postmodern culture disparagingly, as esthetical rather than ethical, reflecting an avoidance of politics rather than a rising to the challenge of a politics posed by pertly or changing conditions of production. disdain thei r sweeping rejection of post-modern writing, both Jameson and Harvey take receipts of the conceptual and methodological breadth build in these theories to circumvent (or short-circuit) the key problems which have arisen in cultural studies in the crusade to specify and under-stand the social relations which connect culture to the conditions of its production.Their conceptual leap into a critique of postmodernism allows these writers to avoid confronting more directly the place of Marxism in cultural studies from the late 1980s into the 1990s, a moment at which Marxism cannot be seen in terms distinct than those of eclipse or decline. Postmodernism exists, therefore, as something of a convenient bete noire.It allows for the default of the logic of cultural studies, if we take that logic to be the problematizing of the relations between culture and the economy and between culture and politics, in an age where the field of culture appears to be increasingly cavernous and where b oth politics and economics might even be seen, at one level, as being conducted in and through culture. Structuralism has replaced old orthodoxies with new ones. This is sp argon in its rereading of texts highly placed indoors an already existing literary or aesthetic hierarchy.Elsewhere it constructs a new hierarchy, with Hollywood classics at the top, followed by selected advert images, and girls and womens magazines rounding it off. Other forms of representation, especially symphony and dance, are missing altogether. Andreas Huyssen in his 1984 introduction to postmodernism draws attention to this high structuralist resource for the works of high modernism, especially the writing of James Joyce or Mallarme.There is no doubt that centre stage in critical theory is held by the immaculate modernists Flaubertin BarthesMallarme and guileaud in Derrida, Magritte in FoucaultJoyce and cheataud in Kristevaand so on ad infinitum (Huyssen, 198439). He argues that this reproduces unh elpfully the old distinction between the high arts and the low, little serious, emergeular arts.He goes on to color Pop in the broadest sense was the circumstance in which a notion of the post-modern first took shapeand the most meaning(a) trends within postmodernism have challenged modernisms dispirited hostility to mass culture. soaring theory was simply not outfit to craft with multilayered tonic. Nor did it ever show much exuberance about this set of forms, perhaps because pop has never signified within one discrete discourse, but instead combines images with performance, medicine with film or video, and pin-ups with the magazine form itself (Huyssen, 198416).In recent article, where Hebdige (1988) engages directly with the question of postmodernism, he disavows the playful elements in Subcultureand, more manifestly, in the new fashion and agency magazines. In contrast with what he sees promptly as an excess of fashion, a exultation of artifice and a strong cultural preference for pastiche, Hebdige seeks out the reassuringly real. He suggests that the slick joky tone of postmodernism, especially that found on the pages of The Face, represents a disengagement with the real, and an evasion of social responsibility.He therefore insists on a return to the world of hunger, ontogenesis and oppression and with it a resurrection of unfragmented, recognizable subjectivity. He fleetingly engages with an important characteristic of the post-modern condition, that is, the death of subjectivity and the emergence, in its place, of widespread social schizophrenia. Hebdige seems to be saying that if this rupturing of identity is what postmodernism is about, then he would rather turn his back on it.The position of Clement Greenberg in his 1980 visit entitled The Notion of the Post-Modern could be summarized in the following terms modernism in painting has been, since its inception with Manet and the impressionists, a despairing struggle against the encroachm ent of bad taste or kitsch in the demesne of art postmodernism is only the latest name under which commercial bad taste, masquerading as innovative advancedness, challenges the integrity of art. Any deviation from modernism, then, involves a betrayal or corruption of aesthetic standards.Seen from this vantage point, the post-modern cannot be much more than a renewed urge to relax, oddly pervasive after the advent of pop art, with its deleterious effects on the art world. This type of argument (modernisms self-aware mission, to exorcise bad taste from the domain of high art, is instantly as imperative as it ever was) appears in a variety of forms and shapes in the writings of the defenders of modernist uprightness against the infiltrations of commercialism and fashion. This realized art, however, is not in a harmonious universal style as Mondrian was envisaging.It consists mostly in forms of art considered stock(prenominal), sentimental, and in bad taste by most in the beaut iful ruse artworld. Further, because so many people have no interest in hunky-dory wile, it is very much thought that optical art has somehow lost its relevance and potency. concourse ask what the point of art is, and whether it is worthwhile spending public money on art. When people prize of art, they think of pretty subterfuge, and the influence of exquisite Art seems to be in decline. However, although Fine Art seems to be in decline as a cultural force, visual art has more power in culture now than it ever had.Visual art is not all Fine Art. There is a diversity of kinds of art in contemporary culture. Besides Fine Art, there is also Popular Art, foundation Art, and advertising. What Fine Art does for us is just a scurvy part of the total cultural value we get from art. As traditional culture recedes from memory, and technology changes our lifestyles, people look for new values and lifestyles. These new values and lifestyles are carried by the art broadcast over the m ass media and on the products we buy. The mass-media arts rig our heroes and tell us about the good. Advertisements define pleasure and lifestyle.With mass-market goods we dress our bodies and houses in art, thus using art to define who we are. These contemporary visual arts play a large part in organisation our values, fantasies, and lifestyles. However, conventional art histories tend not to treat the other powerful visual arts of our own time beyond Fine Art, namely, Popular Art, Design Art, and advertising. advertizement is not considered art because it is not functionless beyond being aesthetic. Also, the advertising does not typically show personal expressive creativity. So, the Design Arts are typically considered perfect decoration.Popular Art is thought of as in bad taste, banal, sentimental, and so not worthy of consideration either. Since art histories are only looking at good art, they tend not to consider these other arts. Standing as they most often do within the F ine Art art world, art historians use the ideology and sense of artistic value of Fine Art to evaluate all art. From the perspective of the contemporary art world, Popular Art is thought of as a kind of Fine Art that is, bad Fine Art or Fine Art in bad taste. It seems hackneyed and banal to the Fine Art art world.From their perspective, normal taste is bad taste. For example, Osvaldo Yero, an artist who emerged in the 1990s, has based his work on the proficiency and poetics of the plaster figures. These figures, mostly decorations, but also religious images, were perhaps considered the last pant of bad taste. They constituted the epitome of impetuous appropriation of icons from the high culture as well as from mass culture, through in a poor and substitute material par excellence, worked clumsily in a semi-industrial technique and polychromed with pretentious attempts at elegance.They symbolized the triumph of vulgarity, the failure of the aesthetic pedagogics of the masses pr oposed by socialism. By the mid-twenties business and advertising agencies had realized that move style and color choices into the products they made increase consumption. Through the use of advertising and by designing stylistic variety into their products, manufacturers raise things into the category of fashion goods that had before just been utility goods, like towels, bedding, and bathroom fixtures.antecedently these items did not have any style component, but now designers added decoration to their practicable design. This meant that now consumers could choose products not just for function, but also for style. People could now have pink sheets, green toilets, and distressing phones. There is a tension in design style between aesthetic formalist styles like the international style, and design styles that are figurative. Those favoring figurative design tend to think of products as coming in a great variety and designed to approach to the various tastes of consumers.Here t he style of the products are not dictated by function, but by market pressures. This is a march on development of design for sales. This gave rise to what is cognise as niche marketing, where the styling is betokened to a smaller, more specific group than mass marketing is. Thus, they shun the idea of a unified worldwide machine aesthetic. For example, a shave can be pink with flowers on it to target it to female users, and black with ghastly accent lines to target it to male users. The razor is the same, but the razor is packaged with different styling to sell the product to different markets.In designing for niche markets, the styling reflects the class, age group, profession, and aspirations of the target group. This goes hand in hand with advertising, and requires a great deal of research to light upon what these values are and what styling motifs succeed in communicating them. The exemplary text or the single, richly coded image gives way to the textual thickness and the visual density of everyday life, as though the slow, even feeble look of the semiologist is, by the 1980s, out of tempo with the times.The field of postmodernism certainly expresses a frustration, not merely with this seemingly languid pace, but with its increasing inability to make overt connections between the general conditions of life today and the practice of cultural analysis. Structuralism has also replaced old orthodoxies with new ones. This is apparent in its rereading of texts highly placed within an already existing literary or aesthetic hierarchy. Elsewhere it constructs a new hierarchy, with Hollywood classics at the top, followed by selected advertising images, and girls and womens magazines rounding it off.Other forms of representation, particularly music and dance, are missing altogether. Huyssen argues that Pop in the broadest sense was the context in which a notion of the post-modern first took shape, and the most significant trends within postmodernism have cha llenged modernisms relentless hostility to mass culture. High theory was simply not equipped to deal with multilayered pop. References Bell, Daniel. (1976). The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism. advanced York prefatorial Books. C. Norris, Lost in the funhouse Baudrillard and the politics of postmodernism, in R.Boyne and A. Rattansi (eds) Postmodernism and Society, London, Macmillan, 1990. Hall, Stuart, Connell, Ian and Curti, Lidia (1981). The unity of current affairs television, in T. Bennett et al. (eds) Popular tv and Film, London BFI. Harvey, David (1989). The Condition of Postmodernity, Oxford Blackwell. Hebdige, Dick (1979). Subculture The means of Style, London Routledge. Huyssen, A. (1984). Mapping the postmodern, youthful German Critique 33. Jameson, Fredric (1984). Postmodernism, or the cultural logic of late capitalism, New Left Review 146.