Monday, December 30, 2019

The Law around Petroleum Exploration and Production in Australia - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 9 Words: 2785 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Law Essay Level High school Did you like this example? Introduction Petroleum exploration and production in Australia is carried out between two participants the government (Commonwealth, States or Territory) that owns the petroleum resources; and the oil companies who explores and produces the oil and gas (petroleum). There are two main reasons why governments need Oil Companies, is risk capital which is very expensive, and their lack of expertise to carry out petroleum exploration and production work.[1] Petroleum is a composite mixture of naturally transpiring hydrocarbon compound, which ranging from gas to solid. Hydrocarbons are organic chemical compounds where carbon and hydrogen are combined together in many ways. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Law around Petroleum Exploration and Production in Australia" essay for you Create order When in its simplest configuration it is methane gas when it becomes heavier it will usually change from a gas to a fluid then to a solid (bitumen).[2] This is a case study and how the good standing in the bidding process of petroleum permits was altered in the year 2000. Gaining Exploration Permits In September 1996 a syndicate comprising Shell Development Australia P/L (Shell) as operator, Chevron Asiatic Ltd (Chevron) and Cultus Timor Sea Ltd (Cultus) (Consortium) discovered petroleum in the Cornea structure. A structure is where petroleum deposits are found in sedimentary rock, this rock is full of holes like a hard sponge. Petroleum is trapped in these holes under pressure and heat for millions of years.[3] To search for petroleum an exploration permit (EP) is needed, an EP is where an applicant bids for the right for exclusive rights to explore for petroleum in prescribed areas of land(Blocks), for a six year term renewal for five years (only renewable twice). If petroleu m is found a Production Licence (PL) or if currently unprofitable a Retention Lease is needed. An EP is issued to undertake the most comprehensive assessment of the areaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s petroleum potential, using best practice management principles, having regard to the environment and to safety.[4] The Consortium had a Block EP WA-241-P the press had ventured that this EP in Commonwealth waters off Western Australia, was potentially the largest petroleum find outside the Bass Strait. Offshore petroleum exploration is managed by a joint authority (JA) between the Commonwealth and the State and Territory governments. State and Territory legislation relating to exploration encompasses to the coastal waters of three nautical miles starting at the low tide coast line. The area past this border under Exclusive Economic Zone[5] allows exclusive right to economic activity to the extent of 200 nautical miles from the shore line and to the continental shelfà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s outer limit is regulated by Commonwealth legislation, which runs the activities and administration through the JA. All Territories and States have legislation that reflects the Commonwealth legislation.[6] New Blocks that were contiguous to the Consortium WA-241-P were gazetted for application with a closing date of 31/1/1997. The Government Gazette is the official publication to inform tenders/bidders listing specifications and conditions and the closing date of each tender after which bids are assessed and then awarded.[7] The Consortium made a bid three times greater than any other previous bid. Because they believed in their research that it would be productive. The Consortium was awarded the two EP WA-265-P and WA-266-P (WP) Blocks which were the contiguous to its WA-241-P. This was under the previous legislation of Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967-1985 (Cth) (PSLA). The Commonwealth has subsequently repealed that legislation and replaced it with the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse G as Storage Act 2006 (Cth) (OPGGSA) which commenced in 2008. The Mandatory Work Program Mandatory work programs benefit not only the applicants as they also provide the most comprehensive assessment of Australiaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s petroleum potential and increases geological knowledge of Australiaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s offshore sedimentary basins.[8] If petroleum is discovered it will also provide worldwide interest in developing Australiaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s petroleum resources. After the first year the Consortium assessment of WP was it was uncommercial, their analysis was high viscosity, thin rim of oil, with less than ten percent recoverable oil. High viscosity oil (bitumen) has been degraded from crude oil by erosion and bacteria. High viscosity oil is very resistance to flow at reservoir temperatures making it uncommercial at this time to mine.[9] The Consortium conceded their scientific bases for their bids were invalid. After using the best available science there is no sub stitute for actual drilling the wells. The Consortium applied that the second permit year to be suspended, and for the term of each permit to be extended by a similar period. This would allow them to stop work and give them time to be able to work out a way of not fulfilling any further obligations they have under their EP. The JA rejected the Consortium applications, their grounds were not considered to be force majeure. The term force majeure concerns the law of indemnity and is used in contracts to safeguard the participants in the occasion that a section of the contract canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t be executed due to reasons that are beyond the power of the participants, such as physical disasters, that couldnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t be avoided through the implementation of due care.[10] JA stands for joint authority,[11] membership for each State and Territory, consist of the responsible Commonwealth Minister and the relevant State or Territory Minister. The JA can delegate all or any of their powers and functions to appropriate State/Territory and Commonwealth department officials. Key functions and powers of the JA include: the release of exploration areas for offshore petroleum, evaluation of trade bids of these areas, refusal or granting and renewing of offshore petroleum titles, alteration of title conditions, extension and suspension to title terms and the cancelling of titles.[12] The Consortium drilled a further five wells and applied to surrender their permits, as the Consortium wished to obtain future contracts, and it didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t wish to comprise its good standing arrangements (GSA) with the Government. The Consortium didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t refuse to complete the mandatory work program and suffer the cancellation of the EP. A refusal could mean loss of GSA and costly long drawn out legal action and could have ramification for its present/future permits, not only with the Australian Government but they could lose face worldwide. This could als o make it very difficult with their other acreage if they were successful in finding productive fields they may find very difficult to obtain a petroleum production licence to harvest their find. Good Standing Arrangements Under S104 of the PSLA [now OPGGSA s 270 (6)] if the Consortium didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t complete the primary work program for the first three years they would have breached the EP conditions. At that time it was government policy to only surrender the EP and retain good-standing at the commencement of the fourth year after fulfilling the conditions once the first three years were completed. The Commonwealth maintains a GSA register, of all offshore petroleum joint authorities and records all evolvement against GSA agreements. Any miscarriage to comply with the terms of the GSA would cause the permittee and company directors, being recorded as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"not in good standingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ with the JA for five years from the when the cancellation of t he permit was gazetted.[13] The federal minister responded to the Consortium in a negative manner stating it would not be consistent with maintaining the integrity of the work program bidding system, and the need of fairness to all companies exploring offshore. Offshore petroleum titles were granted on the system of work-programme bidding. This scheme allocates exploration acreage to applicants who are offering the greatest amount of work to investigate the petroleum capability of a release area. This is subject to having the financial and technical capability to comply with their work commitments.[14] Maintaining the integrity of the work program bidding system, with fairness to all companies exploring offshore, is an overriding concern of the Government.[15] Because of the impact the Consortium application to surrender their WP permits may have, the JA started proceedings to cancel the WP permits. As the Consortium didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t complete the primary work program for the first three years, it would be taken they had not complied with EP conditions regarding work.[16] The minister of state for territories, as the designated authority (DA) cancelled the WP permits on 10/12/1999.[17] The likely impact on the Consortium at that time would have meant loss of their GSA (Government policy at that time), costly long drawn out legal action and have ramification of its present/future permits. New Agreement on Good Standing Arrangements On 19/10/1999 the federal minister announced the Consortium had reached agreement with the Commonwealth and West Australian governments to maintain their GSA. Shell persuaded the government that thirty million dollars was their share of the cost of the remaining obligatory wells. They offered to spend that amount on exploration in areas not taken up in recent releases. Not all Blocks have companies that wish to explore them some have no bidders after tenders close, so Shell will spend the thirty million dollars on some of those Blocks. Chevron offered to spend seventeen and a half million dollars drilling additional wells on its other EP in lieu of completing its share of its WP outstanding leases. The Government could see the benefit in coming to these arrangements with Shell and Chevron. As the Australian Government is looking to achieve the most comprehensive assessment of Australiaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s petroleum potential and increasing geological knowledge of Australiaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s offshore sedimentary basins.[18] To maximise the financial value of Australiaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s petroleum resources, supply Australians with a dependable supply of competitively valued energy and at the same time ensuring a suitable return to Australians for the depleting of these non-renewable resources.[19] Australia has an active policy to attract international investment, and seeks to encourage and retain investment from international oil companies.[20] Both Shell and Chevron has provided considerable risk c apital previously and it is in the Australian Government best interest to continue to have them as bidders in the future. There isnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t a large amount of companies wishing to risk a large amount of risk capital in Australia as it doesnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t obtain a bidder for some of its blocks. The outcome of these negotiations by Shell and Chevron became embodied as an amendment to the PSLA in 2000, then was Offshore Petroleum Act 2006 (Cth) s 84 (2) and now OPGGSA s 106 (2). Before this amendment to the PSLA in 2000 the JA had no discretion to negotiate an agreement so as a defaulter not be placed on the banned list for GSA. Since the amendment the JA can now negotiate with permit holders to ensure that they are not placed on the banned list. GSA is the consideration of the assessment of the applicants past performance for an EP. Being recorded as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"not in good standingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ would mean the permittee would be banned from holding an EP for fiv e years. A full list of GSA guidelines can be found under Exploration Permit Guideline: Permit Conditions and Administration (2012) s 5.[21] Ranking of multiple applicants for work-bid petroleum exploration permit, is the negotiation held between the permittee and the JA to prevent being recorded as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"not in good standingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, all of the negotiation guidelines are laid out in the OPGGSA.[22] Conclusion The association involving the Oil Companies and the governments of Australia is one where they both have different reasons for coming together to explore for Australiaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s petroleum resources. For the Oil Companies it is profit, so for them they want to spend the least amount of their funds for maximum amount of profit for their company and shareholders. This is why governments of Australia have to be very careful when dealing with Oil Companies especially in the areas of safety and the environment. Even when Governments lay down laws and regulations to control safety and the environment Oil Companies take short cuts and donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t follow safety regulations. Look at the BP Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico, where people have been killed and injured, and environment ruined.[23] Where Governments have different priorities, they look to develop Petroleum benefit of current and future Australians. This includes revenue, many other related businesses and employment. This study shows how both Oil Companies and Governments need each other for their own goals. When problems occur there is a need for common sense and both parties need to work together to find a solution.[24] Bibliography A Articles/Books/Reports The APPEA Journal, [2003] David Maloney, Australias Offshore Petroleum Work Program Bidding System [2008] Journal of Natural Resources 127 Hunter Tina and John Chandler, Petroleum Law in Australia (LexisNexis Butterworths, 2013) B Case Law C Legislation Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967-1985 (Cth) Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (Cth) D Treaties E Other Australian Government Gazettes, AusTender (2013) https://australia.gov.au/publications/australian-government-gazettes Commonwealth Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism, Exploration Permit Guideline: Permit Conditions and Administration (2012) https://www.nopta.gov.au/_documents/guidelines/PermitConditionsAdministration.pdf Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism, Australian Petroleum News (October 2010) https://www.innovation.gov.au/resource/Documents/upstream-petroleum/apn/APN%20Oct%202010.pdf Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism, Competitive Cash Bidding System (2013) https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=trct=jq=esrc=ssource=webcd=1ved=0CEIQFjAAurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.innovation.gov.au%2Fresource%2FDocuments%2Fupstream-petroleum%2FCash-Bidding-Fact-Sheet.docei=t9PdUtjfMsaLkwW8yICIAgusg=AFQjCNGNRcGMMNLx5NYwdi7Ct_HquJ8tEQbvm=bv.595 68121,d.dGI Encyclopedia of Earth, Deepwater Horizon Disaster (December 2010) https://www.eoearth.org/view/article/161185/ Energy Task Force, Securing Australiaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Energy Future (2004) https://www.efa.com.au/Library/CthEnergyWhitePaper.pdf Farlex, The Free Legal Dictionary (January 2014) https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Force+Majeure Government of Western Australia, Petroleum Exploration Permits (3 July 2013) https://www.dmp.wa.gov.au/1691.aspx Kansas Geological Survey, Energy Research (June 2008) https://www.kgs.ku.edu/Publications/Bulletins/Sub9/page2.html LexisNexis, Minerals Exploration and Prospecting (11 August 2011) https://www.lexisnexis.com.au/pdf/exploration.pdf National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator, Joint Authority (January 2012) https://www.nopta.gov.au/joint_authority.html United Nations, Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982) a 56 https://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/convention_over view_convention.htm U.S. Geological Survey, Fact Sheet 70-03 Heavy Oil and Natural Bitumen (August 2003) https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs070-03/fs070-03.html 1 [1] Tina Hunter and John Chandler, Petroleum Law in Australia (LexisNexis Butterworths, 2013) 14. [2] Ibid 2-3. [3] Kansas Geological Survey, Energy Research (June 2008) https://www.kgs.ku.edu/Publications/Bulletins/Sub9/page2.html. [4] Government of Western Australia, Petroleum Exploration Permits (3 July 2013) https://www.dmp.wa.gov.au/1691.aspx. [5] United Nations, Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982) a 56 https://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/convention_overview_convention.htm. [6] LexisNexis, Minerals Exploration and Prospecting (11 August 2011) https://www.lexisnexis.com.au/pdf/exploration.pdf. [7] Australian Government Gazettes, AusTender (2013) https://australia.gov.au/publications/australian-government-gazettes. [8] Government of Western Australia, Petroleum Exploration Permits (3 July 2013) https://www.dmp.wa.gov.au/1691.aspx. [9] U.S. Geological Survey, Fact Sheet 70-03 Heavy Oil and Natural Bitumen (August 2003) https://pu bs.usgs.gov/fs/fs070-03/fs070-03.html. [10] Farlex, The Free Legal Dictionary (January 2014) https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Force+Majeure. [11] Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (Cth) s 56. [12] National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator, Joint Authority (January 2012) https://www.nopta.gov.au/joint_authority.html. [13] Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism, Australian Petroleum News (October 2010) https://www.innovation.gov.au/resource/Documents/upstream-petroleum/apn/APN Oct 2010.pdf. [14] Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism, Competitive Cash Bidding System (2013) https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=trct=jq=esrc=ssource=webcd=1ved=0CEIQFjAAurl=https://www.innovation.gov.au/resource/Documents/upstream-petroleum/Cash-Bidding-Fact-Sheet.docei=t9PdUtjfMsaLkwW8yICIAgusg=AFQjCNGNRcGMMNLx5NYwdi7Ct_HquJ8tEQbvm=bv.59568121,d.dGI. [15] The APPEA Journal, Volume 43 (2003) https://www.appea.com.au/industry-in-depth/appea- submissions-and-reports/appea-journal/. [16] Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967-1985 (Cth) s 104. [17] Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967-1985 (Cth) s 105 (1) (e). [18] Government of Western Australia, Petroleum Exploration Permits (3 July 2013) https://www.dmp.wa.gov.au/1691.aspx. [19] Energy Task Force, Securing Australiaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Energy Future (2004) https://www.efa.com.au/Library/CthEnergyWhitePaper.pdf. [20] David Maloney, Australias Offshore Petroleum Work Program Bidding System (2008) 21 Journal of Natural Resources 127. [21] Commonwealth Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism, Exploration Permit Guideline: Permit Conditions and Administration (2012) https://www.nopta.gov.au/_documents/guidelines/PermitConditionsAdministration.pdf. [22] Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (Cth) s 106. [23] Encyclopedia of Earth, Deepwater Horizon Disaster (December 2010) https://www.eoearth.org/view/article/161185/. [24] Tina Hunter and John Chandler, Petroleum Law in Australia (LexisNexis Butterworths, 2013).

Saturday, December 21, 2019

Counseling Research - 1570 Words

Analyzing Interventions: Solution Focused Brief Therapy Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to show how using different research methods such as: quantitative, qualitative, single-case designs, action research, and outcome-based research is used to form an intervention focused on an adolescent with any kind of phobia based on the Solution-Focused Brief therapy. Not to retract in time, but to help the client come up with a possible solution of their phobia within a short amount of time. Different researches show the different ways and strategies of information gained by different counselors. Discuss the importance using research to advance the counseling profession (2 paragraphs) There are many things that research brings to the†¦show more content†¦Looking at what earlier researches psychologists have done in their interventions will also help guide my practice. Something very interesting that I noticed in this research was that they were very aware about the client’s culture (multicultural) background in order to be able to understand how they would attend them best. Provide a summary of the state of research as it relates to your topic of interest. (1-2 pages) As noticed in my articles I wasn’t focused on a specific type of phobia but just all in general. I found this topic to be important to me because my mom happens to have phobia of snakes and gets these â€Å"anxious† attacks that as I was reading in the articles it’s a common sign in most patients. First thing I saw in relation to my topic is that in order to have a successful care the patient needs to be willing to try the things the counselors ask, but most of all is to establish that trust between counselor and client. Start with little steps at a time where the client starts achieving small goals at a time to eventually decrease to loose the phobia completely. Discuss any legal and ethical considerations regarding the research examined. (1-2 pages) With phobias it may not necessarily be illegal, but it may cause a deeper problem if therapy is not done correctly. For example, allowing the client to immediately be submerged into a room where for instance the phobia was bees and the room was full of bees.Show MoreRelatedCareer Research : Mental Health Counseling1947 Words   |  8 PagesCareer Research Mental Health Counselors maintain a confidential interaction with a family or individual dealing with mental and emotional health in order to initiate and strategize a goal of treatment. Mental Health Counselors use a psychotherapeutic method in order to help others. They must ensure complete confidentiality on behalf of their legal requirements and refrain from unethical approaches. Treatment can be helpful to people who deal with situations similar to but not limited to addictionsRead MoreA Research Report From Counseling And Values1649 Words   |  7 Pagesis a research report from Counseling and Values. Counseling and Values are a validated journal of the Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling (ASERVIC) and a participant of the American Counseling Association. Counseling and Values are a professional periodical of philosophy, research, and a well-versed opinion concerning the interactions among mental health, philosophy, religion, social values, and counseling. Type of Research Dobmeier and Reiner s research is moreRead MoreCrisis Counseling Research Paper1237 Words   |  5 PagesAssessing Potential for Performing Effective Crisis Counseling This paper evaluates my potential for crisis intervention counseling by applying scholarly peer-reviewed articles and information from James and Gilliland’s (2017) textbook for how burnout, Vicarious Traumatization, and Compassion Fatigue affect crisis workers. It also incorporates considerations for how countertransference, Secondary Traumatic Stress, Vicarious Posttraumatic Growth, and compassion satisfaction may either complicate orRead MoreConfidentiality And Confidentiality On Standards For Career Professionals Essay810 Words   |  4 Pagescritical in counseling. The communication between the client and the counselor must stay confidential, unless client intends to harm self or others or legally information is needed for the court system (Capuzzi Stauffer, 2012). The National Career Development (NCDA) discusses the limitations to confidentiality in standard B.1.d (NCDA, 2015). A career professional is required to discuss with the client the limitations to confidentiali ty at the beginning and throughout the counseling process (NCDARead MoreA Child With Developmental Delays1135 Words   |  5 Pageschildren with the same syndrome. Mia and her family went home well-informed and in good spirits despite the devastating news they received. This family is a prime example of the benefits of genetic counseling, and why patient care is crucial in the profession. That experience drew me into genetic counseling, a profession that I did not know existed a year prior. I entered college with the mentality of becoming an engineer due to my interest in science, my fondness of problem solving, and the desireRead MoreFactors Affecting Students in Terms of Comprehension and Literature1495 Words   |  6 Pagestherapist/Dance therapy/Drama therapy/Music therapy * Biblical counseling * Brief therapy * Career counseling * Christian counseling * Co-counseling * Connectionism * Counseling psychology * Consultant * Credit counseling * Crisis hotline * Disciplinary counseling * E-mail counseling * Ecological counseling * Emotional therapy * Existential counselling * Exit counseling * Genetic counseling * Grief counseling * Grief therapy * Intervention * Lay community counsellorRead MoreRelationship Between Cross Counseling Outcome And Language Preferences For Bilingual Clients832 Words   |  4 Pages The research paper, A Qualitative Study of the Relationship Between Cross-Counseling Outcome and Language Preferences for Bilingual Clients by Lingyan Gao explores the patterns underneath the nature of multicultural counseling, while identifying the role of language in cross-cultural therapy, and focused on the need for language services for bilingual/bicultural clients. In addition, the study hoped to enhance counselors’ multicultural competency in order to better service future clients. The authorRead MoreSexual Harassment On The Counseling Profession, And Why It Is Not Only Unethical Essay1622 Words   |  7 Pages Abstract This paper will examine sexual misconduct in the counseling profession, and why it is not only unethical, but also illegal in half of the US states. Through exploring the harmful effects of a counselor’s sexual misconduct with a client, an enhanced perception will reveal reasons why a sexual relationship between counselor and client is unethical and illegal in 25 states. This paper will also look at the characteristics of the counselor/client’s sexual relationship, as well as theRead MoreThe Ethics Of The Counseling Profession1371 Words   |  6 PagesThe counseling profession can be an excellent, rewarding, and challenging field. The purpose of counseling is to help individuals understand and clarify their own values and beliefs across a lifespan. Counseling also help individuals to become self-sufficient by implementing interventions and strategies that involves goal-setting skills that is meaningful to an individual. Individuals who may seek counseling are individ uals who encountered marriage and family issues, stressful or traumatic eventsRead MoreProfessional Development Reflection Paper1231 Words   |  5 Pagesin entails individual and group counseling sessions throughout the day. The program is an intensive outpatient unit that takes place Monday though Thursday from 10am-5pm. This program is fairly new, and consists of 9-11 clients a day. I am grateful to be apart of a new program and develop myself as a counselor. The main professional development activities at my field site that contribute to my growth and development as a counselor are group and individual counseling sessions. During the group sessions

Friday, December 13, 2019

Mayan Civilization and ruins Free Essays

Since the dawn of mankind, there has always been civilizations have that have made a lasting impression on the world. There very few civilizations that have been that have achieved the term greatness associated with it and ‘Mayan civilization’ is one of the rare few. It can be dubbed as one of the longest serving civilizations of the ancient times as it is noted that it started around 1000 B. We will write a custom essay sample on Mayan Civilization and ruins or any similar topic only for you Order Now C but ended by 1500 A.D. It was considered as they were one of the most advance civilizations on the western hemisphere until the arrival of the Europeans. This civilization was located in Central America and was found from the north central down to the southern part of Mexico. This was a civilization that went through periodical changes in its living due to external factors associated with it. This Native American culture is noted in the history as one of the advance civilizations of that era. There has been a popular belief that has been associated with the Mayan civilization that it was an amalgamated empire. In actual terms it was a whole host of divided units having a common cultural background. The entire ‘Yucantan Pennisula’ had around 20 states which were all ruled by different sovereign leadership, but on an inventive logic, they were a nation on their own with religion being an important aspect of their lives. Since the Mayan civilization was spread on a large area, the geographical conditions for the civilization varied with extremities, which can adjudged from the fact they had volcanic mountains from the highlands in the south to porous limestone areas dominating the central and the northern regions of the civilization. Mayan civilization can be categorized into three categories, pre-classic period, classic period and post classic period. The entire culture has revolved and evolved around these three periods. The civilization had huge forests and because of the diversity of the topographical situation of the civilization, varied no of animals like the ‘caiman’, a fierce kind of crocodile to different kinds of monkeys was found. Mayan pre classic period This was supposed to be the period of formulation in which the population boomed and new innovative techniques were made for agriculture. The leaders were chosen from strong spiritual backgrounds and it was considered as that the lowlands of the civilization held acute importance because it was supposed to be a ceremonial centre. The following will explain the Mayan professional inclinations and techniques: ‘In the Preclassic period, they adopted intensive farming techniques such as continuous cultivation involving crop rotation and fertilizers, household gardens, and terraces. In some areas, they built raised fields in seasonal swamps. Their main crops included maize (corn), beans, squash, avocados, chili peppers, pineapples, papayas, and cacao, which was made into a chocolate drink with water and hot chilies. Rabbits, deer, and turkeys were hunted for making stews. Fishing also supplied part of their diet. Turkeys, ducks, and dogs were kept as domesticated animals. When they were not hunting, fishing, or in the fields, Maya men made stone tools, clay figurines, jade carvings, ropes, baskets, and mats. The women made painted pottery vessels out of coiled strands of clay, and they wove ponchos, men’s loincloths’ (Encarta) Mayans were very much influenced by spirituality and had gods for almost every thing that even included gods for rains, good harvest. As time passed by the study of astronomy became popular in that era leading to studies of astrology on the basis of sun moon and other planets. Major edifices were constructed then like ‘kaminaljuyu’ and ‘tikal’ were constructed which were pyramid shaped high temples, where the system of sacrifice was started to be used. More and more massive pyramids started building in that era and the priests started enjoying super powers. Women weren’t that important from political point of view and it was a very rare sight to see women on top chieftain positions. Mayan Classic period This was an era of the Mayan civilization that can be considered as its prime era and here the system of king and kingship started which had a system of the king’s family continuing as future leaders. There was also a hierarchical system in which the government functioned.   There was major research done in the field of medicine and writing was developed extensively. The subject of astronomy had become more enhance with calculative movements predicting rains to fortune to the cities.   This was the time when societies had turned into complex models the king was noted the highest figure after which there were the priests and then the nobles who mainly responsible for protecting land and attacking enemies. This was the time of more gore and violence and mini wars were constantly waged between one and other. What mad this era special was the Mayan civilization themselves started noting rituals and their history with their elaborative writing skills. The transition of power from generations to ethical rituals along with its architectural secrets was all jotted down on stone and wood. Later on folding tree books were made as they were more handy then carrying stones. Due to the high humidity and invasions, these books didn’t survive and only 4 books are known today, i.e., the Dresden codex, the Madud coded, the Paris codex and the Grolier codex. The learning also was limited to mostly priests and few nobles and a monopoly was played so that only few people could learn and use their knowledge on others. The writing also consisted of mostly pictures and pictography was first devised by Mayan civilization for learning purposes. This was also an important era that marked trade as an important aspect of the civilization. Sacrifice was an important aspect for the culture and the following would hard line the fact of Mayan civilizations involvement in sacrifices:‘Indian pictorial texts known as â€Å"codices,† as well as Spanish accounts from the time, quote Indians as describing multiple forms of human sacrifice. Victims had their hearts cut out or were decapitated, shot full of arrows, clawed, sliced to death, stoned, crushed, skinned, buried alive or tossed from the tops of temples. Children were said to be frequent victims, in part because they were considered pure and unspoiled. The first researchers tried to make a distinction between the ‘peaceful’ Maya and the ‘brutal’ cultures of central Mexico and But in carvings and mural paintings, he said, â€Å"we have now found more and greater similarities between the Aztecs and Mayas,† including a Maya ceremony in which a grotesquely costumed priest is shown pulling the entrails from a bound and apparently living sacrificial victim’ (Mark Stevenson). Mayan post Classic period This can be considered as a time when the decline of the Mayan civilization started step by step. Since the governments had become much segmented, there was more violence and war during that phase, where entire villages would get destroyed in the name of war. There was also the Toltec domination followed by Spanish invaders taking over Mexico by the early 16th century.   This was however the phase of having plastered walls and painted murals. Socially the civilization had peaked and it was mandatory for guests to bring in gifts while visits. Slave culture flourished in this era and slaves which were mostly people who were captured from wars were highly mistreated and often sacrificed after their masters dies, as they had an ideology that they would serve their masters in afterlife. Mayan Ruins Ruins of Mayan civilization can still be found it the entire peninsula. Their culture had so many architectural advancements that it is today possible to watch quiet a lot of their ruins and gather more information about them. Ruins like ‘the temple of the inscriptions’ in Mexico and the ‘palenque’ are very prominent ruins of the civilization. The former rises 75 feet and it is rested neatly over a hill and is one of the prime examples free standing pyramids. Another site in Mexico located in Coba, was built around 4 large lake structures and had been inhabitant for more than thousand years. The biggest pyramid of that site 120 feet and is known as Nohoch Mul. The following piece will explain the beauty and architectural genius of the civilization: ‘Miguel à ngel Asturias, named Nobel Laureate in 1967, wrote â€Å"Only Guatemala is comparable to itself,† describing it as â€Å"a land of natural dreamscapes†¦mysterious presences and absences.† Tikal, the largest known Mayan city, is incomparable in the same way; its size imposing and intimidating, its setting lush and teeming with wildlife, and with a mysterious and overwhelming atmosphere best described in the writing of Asturias’ Works Cited: 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Encarta, â€Å" Mayan civilization†. 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Mark Stevenson, â€Å"Evidence may back human sacrifice claims†. http://www.livescience.com/history/human_sacrifice_050123.html 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Maya Ruins, â€Å"Photos of Tikal†. http://www.mayaruins.com/tikal.html 4)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://archaeology.about.com/od/archaeologic7/Ruins_of_the_Maya_Civilization.htm                      How to cite Mayan Civilization and ruins, Essay examples

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Philippine Revolution and Prime Minister free essay sample

Laurel, president of the second Philippine Republic. He was born to a family whose illustrious lineage spans generations of nationalists who distinguished themselves as public servants. His grandfather, Judge Store Remorseful Laurel was a delegate to the Mallows Congress and Secretary of the Interior in the first Philippine Revolutionary government under President Emilio Continual. He first enrolled at Centre Escalator De Senoritas (1933-35) then Pace Elementary School (1935-?36) followed by Just Lusaka Elementary School (1936-1937) and he graduated from elementary at Atone De Manila in 1 941.He graduated from high school at De La Sale College High School in 1946. Dove father wanted him to experience a public school education so he enrolled him first in the Pace Elementary School (1935-36) and then the Just Lusaka Elementary School (1936-37). In June 1937 he was admitted to the Jesuit-run Atone De Manila Grade School. During the Japanese occupation Atone De Manila was closed down by the Japanese for the reason that it was run by Americans. This prompted Laurel to enroll in De La Sale High School also located in Manila.On September 27, 1 941 , on his first year in high school, e received 2nd honors with a general average of 93. 4. Barely three months later had his studies come to an abrupt halt with the outbreak of World War II on December 8, 1941. Cesar E. A Viral, Vice Chairman He was former Prime Minister of the Philippines from 1981-1986 under the Interim Batsman Bananas and the Regular Batsman Bananas. One of the Philippines business leaders and leading technocrats, he served as Finance Minister from 1 970 during the Marcos regime and also through election became Prime Minister in 1981.He concurrently was Finance Minister throughout the asss. He is the grandnephew Of the first Philippine President, Emilio Continual. He had a term as Minister of Finance from 1970 to 1986. It was during this time that the Philippines became economically strong through healthy trade and budgetary surpluses. However, other studies show budgetary deficits during the same period (BIDS, Budget Deficits, 2004, particularly during the later years of the Marcos regime.These deficits were precipitated by the oil crises and the mass protests against the Marcos regime (supported by the international financial community) following the assassination of opposition leader Benign Aquinas Jar. He was replaced as prime minister, eventually through revolution, by Salvador Laurel. Laurel became the Prime Minister on February 25, 1986, through the appointment of Carbon Aquinas. The position was abolished one month later by Proclamation No. 3 of Aquinas, and confirmed later by the 1987 Constitution.He is married to Phyllis Joy Gambol, a popular stage actress, and has three children: Steven Cesar, a businessman, Gillian Joyce, an international policy analyst, and Michael Dean, a doctor specializing in infectious diseases. He holds an MBA room the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Viral is also an accomplished tennis player. 2. Main Topic and Summary Philippine Revolution: The Making of a Nation The main stream of influx of revolutionary ideas came at the start of the 19th century when the country was opened for world trade.In 1809, first English firms were established in Manila followed by a royal decree in 1834 opening the city officially to world trade. Philippines was formerly only tied to Mexico from 1 565 when galleon trade become the prominent means of economy. The use of galleons ended in 181 5 when Mexican War of Independence broke pat this point, post-French Revolution ideas entered the county through literature, which caused the rise of enlightened Illustrate class in the society-The 1 868 Spanish Revolution brought to an end of the autocratic rule of Queen Isabella II and was replaced by a liberal government led by General Francisco Serrate.Serrate dispatched the 91st governor, general Carols Maria De la Tore in 1869. The leadership of De la Tore has brought the idea of liberalism in the Philippines. That same year, in 1869, the Suez Canal was opened to the world after almost ten years of instruction. The election of despot Madame of Savoy to the throne of Spain led to replacement of De la Tore in gubernatorial power in 1871. In 1872, the govern meet of the succeeding governor-general Rafael De Queried was leashed by a blo ody uprising of Filipino soldiers at the Fort San Feline arsenal in Cavity el Viejo. Seven days after the mutiny, many people were arrested and tried in courtroom. Three of these victims were secular priests: Joss Burros, Marino GÂ ¶meg and friar Action Somoza who were hanged and executed by Spanish authorities in Bogyman. The execution Of the priests, later known in history as the COMBINING, became the conditional thrust to many Filipinos to announce the abuse of colonial authorities. Many Filipinos who were not executed and were arrested for possible rebellion charges were deported to many Spanish penal colonies.Some of them, however, managed to escape to Hong Kong Yashmak, Singapore, Paris, London, Berlin, and some parts of Spain. These people met fellow Filipino students and other exiles who had escaped from penal colonies. Thrown together by common fate, they established a common organization known as the Propaganda Movement. These magis used their writings mainly to condemn Spanish abuses and seek reforms to the colonial government-Joss Racals novels, Noel Me Tanager (Touch Me Not, 1887) and El Filibusterers (The Filibuster, 1 891 ), exposed Spanish abuses in socio-political and religious aspects.The publication of his first novel brought the infamous agrarian conflict in his hometown Callable, Laguna in 1888 when Dominican haciendas fell into trouble of submitting government taxes. In 1892, Racial, after his return from the Americas, established the La Alga Filipino (The Filipino League), a Filipino association organized to seek reforms from the colonial government. When the Spaniards learned that their haunted writer Was in the Philippines, they arrested and deported Racial a few days after the gig was established.The deportation of the Alga marked the dissolution of the organization. It was peaceful struggle to reform ended and was replaced by more aggressive one. On the night upon hearing the news t hat Racial was deported to Adaptation, Alga member Ands Boniface and his fellows established a secret organization named Justinian in a house in Tendon, Manila. The Justinian reached an overwhelming membership and attracted almost the lowly of the Filipino class. In June 1896, Boniface sent an emissary to Adaptation to reach Racals support, but the latter refused for an armed revolution.On August 19, 1896, Justinian was discovered by a Spanish friar, which started the Philippine Revolution-The revolution flared up initially into the eight provinces of Central Luzon. General Emilio Continual, a member of the Justinian, spread an armed resistance through Southern Toga region where he liberated Cavity towns little by little. In 1896 and 1897, successive conventions at Emus and Testers decided the new republics fate. By November, the republic was transferred in Bias-an-Boat, where a new constitution was ratified.On May 1, 1898, the Battle of Manila Bay took place as part of the Spanish-American War. On May 24, Continual, who had returned from voluntary exile on May 19, announced in Cavity, I return to assume command of all the forces for the attainment of our lofty aspirations, establishing a dictatorial government which will set forth decrees under my sole responsibility, On 12 June, Continual proclaimed Philippine independence On 18 June, Continual issued a decree proclaiming a Dictatorial Government headed by himself.

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Time Management Essays-Various Essays - Time Management, The Organ

Time Management Essays-Various Top Five Time Management Mistakes Time management is not necessarily working "harder", but rather, "smarter." And to accomplish significantly more in our days, we need not increase our efforts. As an example, in a horse race, the first horse may earn a $50,000 purse and the second horse may earn a $25,000 purse. The first horse gets twice as much money as the second horse, not because it ran twice as far or twice as fast. It was only a "nose ahead" of the competition. So it is with our daily results. We need not run twice as fast or put in twice the effort to significantly increase our daily success. We only need to be a "nose ahead" of where we already are. We are all productive in our days. We would not survive the demands of this world if we were not. The real challenge is how much more productive can we become? And, a lot of our time management has to do with more of what we are not doing rather than what we are doing. Sometimes our mistakes and omissions will keep us from running at a full pace. Here are the Top Five Time Management Mistakes we should all avoid to help us to increase our daily success both on and off the job, in less time and with less stress. 1. Start your day without a plan of action. You will begin your day by responding to the loudest voice (the squeaky wheel gets the grease) and spend it in a defensive mode, responding to other people's and events' demands. The tail will wag the dog. If there is a void of leadership in your time management life, someone will fill that void, not that others are bad people, but others will take all of your time if you let them. You will have worked hard but may not have done enough of right things. Time Management is not doing the wrong things quicker. That just gets us nowhere faster. Time Management is doing the right things. 2. Get out of balance in your life. Our lives are made up of Seven Vital Areas: Health, Family, Financial, Intellectual, Social, Professional, and Spiritual. We will not necessarily spend time every day in each area or equal amounts of time in each area. But if in the long run, we spend a sufficient quantity and quality of time in each area, our lives will be in balance. But if we neglect any one area, never mind two or three, we will eventually sabotage our success. Much like a table, if one leg is longer than the rest, it will make the entire table wobbly. If we don't take time for health, our family life and social life are hurt. If our financial area is out of balance, we will not be able to focus adequately on our professional goals, etc. 3. Work with a messy desk or work area. Studies have shown that the person who works with a messy desk spends, on average, one and a half hours per day looking for things or being distracted by things. That's seven and a half hours per week. ("Out of sight-out of mind." And the reverse of that is true too, "In sight, in mind"). And, it's not a solid block of an hour and a half, but a minute here and a minute there, and like a leaky hot water faucet, drip, drip, drip, it doesn't seem like a major loss, but at the end the day, we're dumping gallons of hot water down the drain that we are paying to heat. If you have ever visited the office of a top manager, typically, that person is working with a clean desk environment. Many would attribute this practice to that person's access to other staff members. While there may be some truth in that conclusion, in most cases, if we went back some years in that person's career, they probably were working with a clean desk back then which gave them the focus they needed to become promoted to where they are today. 4. Don't get enough sleep. Studies show that nearly 75% of us complain on a regular basis, all throughout our days, that we are flat-out tired. For most people, they get the quantity of sleep, but they lack the quality of sleep. Their days are filled with so much stress, they are out of control, working harder but maybe not smarter, that it's difficult to get a

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Student societies Essays - Free Essays, Term Papers, Research Papers

Student societies Essays - Free Essays, Term Papers, Research Papers Student societies Contents 1. The backgrounds of the student societies (history of student societies) 2. The most widely spread student societies 3. Unique student societies Conclusion Literature Introduction Student as a component of youth is a specific social group that characterizes a special way of life, the conditions of academic work and everyday life. A large majority of students live in or near major cities, many of them live in dormitories, thus creating a unified student's life, forming common interests, student traditions, world outlook, etc., quite certain special qualities and peculiar role in the historical development of social relations. [5] Student society is a voluntary association of students, which independently and under its responsibility solves issues related to the interests of students. [5] Student society is independent social activity of students on the implementation of the functions of management of a higher educational institution, determined by the administration, dean's offices and carried out by young people, allows its energy to be involved in improving the educational process and, at the same time, avoid subjectivity in decision-making. [5] In accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On Higher Education", institutions of s tudent societies are created in higher educational institutions, which promote the harmonious development of the student's personality, the formation of his skills for the future organizer, the head. [5] Student societies in a higher educational institution are independent public activity of students on the implementation of the functions of management of higher educational institutions, which is determined by the administration (administration), dean's offices (departments) and carried out by students in accordance with the goals and objectives of the student groups. [3] The subject of the research is American student societies. Consequently the object is the activity of American student socities . The main tasks of the student societies are: ensuring and protecting the rights and interests of students, in particular, with regard to the organization of the educational process; Ensurin g students fulfill their duties Facilitating educational, scientific and c reative activities of students Facilitating the creation of appropriate conditions for students' living and resting; Facilitating t he activities of student clubs, associations, interest clubs organization of cooperation with students of other higher educational establishments and youth organizations facilitating the employment of graduates Participation in solving internation al student exchange issues. [3] This investigation can b used for self - studying, delivering lectures and just for broadening one's outlook. The backgrounds of the student societies(history of student societies) A student society, student association, university society or student organization is a society or an organization, operated by students at a university or a college institution, whose membership typically consists only of students or alumni. Student societies in higher education institutions are mainly focused on: - protection of students' interests at all levels of higher education; - implementation of student initiatives in the educational process, as well as in scientific, professional, cultural and ot her social spheres of activity; - increasing the effectiveness of interaction between students and the university administration; - e nsuring student rights and freedoms in accordance with c ivil norms in force in society; - cooperation wi th state and local authorities; - organization of everyday life, various forms of leisure, travel, employment of students; - creation of a new information space for university students and their connection with world information sources [2, pp. 244-252]. Early notable types of student societies include the medieval so-called nations of the University of Bologna and the University of Paris. Later Modern era examples include the Studentenverbindung in the German speaking world, as well as the evolvement of fraternal orders for students and student fraternities internationally. Aims may involve practice and propagation of a certain professional hobby or to promote professional development or philanthropic causes. Examples of common societies found in most universities are a debate society, an international student society, a rock society, and student chapters of professional societies (e.g. the American Chemical Society). Not all societies are based around such a large area of interest and many universities also find themselves home to societies for many obscure hobbies such as a Neighbours society. Student societies typically have open membership, thus differing from honor societies, secret societies, and certain fraternities that admit

Thursday, November 21, 2019

History of economic thought Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

History of economic thought - Essay Example Agricultural production also required the bigger number of workers if pursued in a highly organized manner, on a countrywide scale. Adam Smith (1776) in his The Wealth of Nations noted that it was this misconceived plan for economic development in Europe, which could have been initiated by private interests, that gave rise to widely divergent theories and schools of economic thought. Questions on the validity of an old development strategy became parent to new economic ideas and theories. Over time, these divergent ideas clashed on the multiple facets and problems of economic activity - labor, employment, capital, wages, production. But these conflicting views remarkably coincide on one bottomline: the need to distribute wealth equitably. Such is the case with the theses of Smith, Karl Marx and John Maynard Keynes, three intellectuals who tinkered with economic law and sought to bring it into accord with the rapidly changing workplace. The three lived and worked a full century apart from each other but all three saw the same ineffectuality of economic systems everywhere to let the proceeds of industry and the land flow to the working class. Smith published his The Wealth of Nations in 1776. Marx came up with his Capital: A Critique of the Political Economy in 1867 which appeared to have been undertaken to refute Smith's views. Keynes followed with his The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money in 1936 which drew its own conclusions based on the two theories set forth by Smith and Marx.Smith represented the classical economist who looked up to the precept of laissez-faire, which believes that the economy works best when you leave it alone and just let the market forces work out solutions to such problems as uneven distribution of wealth. Marx stood at the opposite pole, the chief proponent of the classless society which calls for state interventions in the marketplace. Keynes was somewhere in between, moderating the two extreme views on how to ameliorate the conditions of the laboring class. Incidentally, both Marx and Keynes agreed that prolonged and persistent failure to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor is likely to cause social upheavals, even armed revolutions. Their views differed on everything else. In their times, Smith, Marx and Keynes saw and described the disfranchisement of the lowly workers and peasants in almost the same manner. Smith, quoting someone else, observed that "150 landlords own half of England while 12 controlled half of Scotland's soil." Marx: "The wealth of nation flows into a few people's pockets." Keynes shared that sentiment and added that this income disparity is especially pronounced in prosperous countries. He said: "This is the paradox of poverty in the midst of plenty - the richer the community, the wider the gap between its potential and actual production, thus the more obvious and outrageous the effects of the economic system (on the poor)." Smith Economics The whole purpose of Smith's thesis was to improve the conditions of the lower ranks of people - the servants, workmen, laborers. Said he: "No society can flourish and be happy if the greater part

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Organisational Performance Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Organisational Performance - Assignment Example Competitors, business managers, academicians, researchers and other observers constantly kept on asking the same question that what is the secret being Toyota’s impeccable success? The fact is that consistency and quality in Toyota’s vehicles, which also make it as the most trusted and reliable vehicle all over the world, is a direct result of the operational excellence that the company has achieved in the past few decades. In fact, Toyota has intelligently converted that operational excellence into their strategic weapon to outclass the competitors (Liker and Franz, 2011, p. 510).   Partly, this operational excellence is a result of frameworks, tools and approaches that it introduced in the manufacturing world, such as Kaizen, just-in-time manufacturing, once piece flow, Jidoka, Heijunka and others. These techniques also ended up providing Toyota a unique lean manufacturing system, which is discussed latter in the paper. Important here to understand is that mere appl ication of these frameworks and techniques is not what makes Toyota great but it is its continued success at employing these principles is what makes the difference. Toyota has indeed made them a part of its business philosophy, which also places great deal of importance on understanding their workers and their motivational dynamics (Simons, 2011, pp. 390-392).   This paper will briefly explore the strategies that Toyota employed to achieve this operational excellence. Many observers have cited this as the â€Å"The Toyota Way†.   ... s that mere application of these frameworks and techniques is not what makes Toyota great but it is its continued success at employing these principles is what makes the difference. Toyota has indeed made them a part of its business philosophy, which also places great deal of importance on understanding their workers and their motivational dynamics (Simons, 2011, pp. 390-392). This paper will briefly explore the strategies that Toyota employed to achieve this operational excellence. Many observers have cited this as the â€Å"The Toyota Way† or the â€Å"Toyota Production System† which would be the focal point of the paper. Discussion Much of the success that Ford and General Motors enjoyed in the US market during the early 1920s until the late 1950s was primarily because of their ability to use mass production system and leverage the economies of scale by producing as much as possible. On the other hand, Toyota emerged in the small Japanese market after the Second Worl d War where it could not employ the small techniques (Magee, 2008, p. 545; Shingo, et al., 1989, pp. 20-21). Instead, in order to satisfy the customer and their demands, the organisation had to be more flexible by creating the different automotives on the same production lines. This is where Toyota learned and made it its core flexibility to keep lead times shorter and be as flexible as possible. Furthermore, by watching the American counterparts and their mass production systems closely, Toyota realized that the system has the inherent disadvantage of providing too much waste, extra inventory and early wear and tear of the machines, all of which lead to greater costs and lesser efficiency (Vidler, 2001, pp. 226-228; May and Roberts, 2011, 52-53). When Toyota started penetrating into the American market,

Monday, November 18, 2019

Business law ( a righteous strike ) case study based in oman

Business law ( a righteous strike ) based in oman - Case Study Example According to article 107, the management of a retail outlet has a chance to use the procedures that were approved by competent directorate to negotiate with their workers. The management can engage in a constructive dialog with the retail workers union officials to iron out the issues that are causing labor disputes. The process will involve a comprehensive dialogue where the workers can present their grievances and demands to the managers of the retail outlet for consideration. On the other hand, the company officials can present the facts on the table and explain the company’s ability to comply with the workers demands. Article 107 also outlines the procedure to be followed in resolving such disputes where the company does not have the appropriate mechanisms and procedures of addressing the challenge. For instance, retail outlet managers may apply to relevant competent directorate to act as an arbitrator in the negotiation process. Article 107 B also gives the labor minister the authority to issue directives for requiring the employers to organize a collective bargaining forum to settle the disputes. The minister is also given powers by the constitution to issue a directive to the employer. Start collective bargaining process with their employees with the aim of finding a solution on stalemate due to workers grievances on promotion, working conditions and organizing closures and peaceful strikes. The management of the company has all the above avenues as per the provisions of the Oman labor laws to pursue in resolving the dispute. According to article 33 of the Omani labor laws, the workers of retail outlet are entitled to have a medical cover paid for them by their employers Omanis strike for a better pay and bonus). The labor law requires an employer with more than one hundred employees to hire a nurse who will be going round and offer first aid services to the employees an organization. The article also requires the employer to provide a

Friday, November 15, 2019

Learning Styles In Classroom

Learning Styles In Classroom English language is really considered as a significant language since it has been used for communicating worldwide. Therefore, learning English is very common in many countries and language learning styles are used by students in globalization. Language learning styles are the main factors that help decide how the students learn a second or foreign language. A foreign language is a language studied in an environment where it is not the major vehicle for daily communication and where input in that language is classified (Rebecca, 2003). In an article by Mulalic et al. (2009), students learning styles have been unnoticed as an irrelevant module in the learning process. Apparently, once lecturers become aware that different students learn various styles, they try to accommodate those learning styles in the classroom. When looking into lecturers teaching practices, it is possible to understand that the majority of the lecturers are not sensitive with their students learning styles. The problems occur when lecturers are not aware of the significance to create and explore learning styles. According to Felder (1996), how much students learn in the class is determined partially by the students ability and prior preparation, and the capability of their learning styles and the lecturers teaching styles. More specifically, Godleski et al. (1984), the students tend to be bored and inattentive in class, do poorly on tests, get discouraged about the course, and may conclude that they are not good at the subject of the course and give up. In a research by Izzo (1980), confirmed that the size of class is an important physical factor which influences the choice of method, decreases the amount of individual attention that the teacher gives to each student. However, she argued that small classes are preferable for language learning and correlated significantly with language achievement. In a research study by Tan (2008), identified EFL learners main writing difficulties by analyzing the nature of their writing errors. The prominent causes of the errors were attributable to limitation of vocabulary size, low grammar understanding and obstruction from first language. In the finding of the study, six appropriate instructional strategies were suggested so that teachers can adopt a more effective approach to enhance students writing proficiency such as learning words, teaching of fundamental sentence structure, showing reading method, correcting error and class meeting, understanding of L1 interference, and writing incentive. Since English language has been introduced in Cambodia, EFL students learning styles have adapted to the language acquisition. In the past students were likely to get knowledge through listening to the teachers while teachers lacked specific training about teaching methodology. The learning style of Cambodian students is typically memorization at the expense of realistic purpose. Consequently, they would rather learn grammar and reading than on listening and speaking. Specifically, most Cambodian learners feel more comfortable and enjoyable with having things which are written on the whiteboard in order that they can write them down and study at home. Hopefully, they hope to get handouts of summaries or lecture outlines. On the other hand, some Cambodian learners reveal that they face a lot of pressures of how to adapt the new cultural environment and how to get on with their peers in class. Some feel lonely because the ways they dress or talk are so different. (Nguyen 2001) As for the case of EFL Cambodian classrooms, Keuk (2009), found in his study that most teachers practical habitual teaching methods such as vocabulary translation from L2 to L1. Accordingly, students are taught to memorize chunks of English language with mainly focused on grammar and vocabulary. 1.2 Problem statement Without recognizing proper learning styles, students seem not to achieve better results in their academic performance. Furthermore, students are less likely to improve their language acquisition very quickly, as they do not know the effective learning styles. In spite of the variety of academic courses which the university students take in English, and the tough efforts universities and lecturers apply to develop students language skills, the students language performance, unfortunately, has been tedious. This could be recognized to the different learning styles and habits used by students in studying English, including preferring having things written on the whiteboard to listening to the lecturers explanation, nervousness of speaking in classroom, preferring grammar translation form first language to second language while learning English language and preferring working individual and personally to working in groups. Pedagogically, most of the lecturers practice traditional teachin g method, grammar translation method form first language to second language while teaching English language. The final noticeable problem is that large classes pose some significant challenges in class room setting and reduced effectiveness of classroom management. 1.3 Objectives of the study This study aims specifically to identify the learning styles which are used by Cambodian private university students in their learning of English as a foreign language in the classroom. More interestingly, this study intends to explore the reasons why Cambodian university students use different styles in their learning English as a foreign language. 1.4 Research questions This research aims to investigate the effective factors in learning English as a foreign language. The following research questions can be formulated for the study below. 1. How do Cambodian university students describe their learning styles used in learning English as a Foreign Language? 2. Why do the students use different styles in their learning English? 1.5 Significance of the Study As a part of educational development, this study is significant for four reasons. First, exploring students learning styles in English in Cambodian higher education will help improve students language acquisition. Second, the study will shed light on the effective learning styles of EFL successful Cambodian university students, which can be used as a model of learning English. Third, this research will help to contribute to the usefulness of appropriate vocabulary teaching and learning techniques in order to promote vocabulary acquisition, particularly in EFL Cambodian context. In addition, from a methodological perception, it is also hoped that the findings from this study will be useful for providing meaningful suggestions for overcoming the problems that may arise regarding the learning styles of students and how to accommodate various learners in EFL classroom. 16 Definition of key terms In an attempt to better understand this study, some key terms are defined as follows. EFL students learning styles mean techniques, behaviors, actions, habits and steps employed by learners learning English as a Foreign Language to improve and develop their different language skills: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Moreover, the term learning style refers to the general approach preferred by the student when learning a subject, acquiring a language, or dealing with a difficult problem (Oxford 2001; Reid 1998) 1.7 Proposed Chapter This paper will be chronologically composed of five main chapters. Chpater1is the introduction, consisting of background of the study, researcher problem, research objective, research question, significance of the study, and definition of key concepts. Chapter 2, literature review, which discusses on the problems and solutions of the study. Chpater3, methodology, which consists of research design, participants, method, instruments, tools data collection, data analysis, ethnical consideration, strengths and limitation of research. Chapter 4, discussion and findings of the study, analyzing the data collected from the interviews. Chapter 5, conclusion and recommendation, summarizing the problems and findings of the study and suggesting some strategies to help improve the weaknesses. Moreover, these five chapters are followed systematically by references and appendices. CHAPTER2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE 2.1. Defining learning styles In a study by Aqel Mahmoud (2006), determining the learning styles of An-Najah National University students used in their learning of English as a foreign language. Consequently, the result of the findings suggested a variety of teaching English styles, including asking students to change their seats in classes, introduction of creative activities and the use of audio-visual aids, which suit learning styles used by students in their learning of English. Moreover, the researchers recommended the introduction of computer as a necessary course in Department of English and Teaching Methods Department which give its successful task in making students rely on themselves to develop their language proficiency. Also, the researcher proposes that a study should be conducted at other universities to discover the learning styles which are used by students in the learning of English and the relationship between these styles and students personality. In the article by Marin (2003), the focus of the investigation was on the language learning styles appearing that students face language difficulties with great achievement but with little efforts. However, other students faced these difficulties with a little success and satisfaction. Also, this article proved that each learner had his/her good way of learning through his/her culture, educational background and personality. Heffernan (1999) as cited in Aqel (2006), determined that many studies on language learning styles applied and gained differently base on motivation and outcome, level of language , years of learning language, teaching methods, difficult content, and students background and sex. He also added that successful language learners use various styles in learning language, and the teacher can help in increasing learning styles through teaching strategies that probably help weak students to choose the appropriate learning styles for dissimilar educational tasks. 2.2 Learning styles in classroom The classroom still remains a good and comfortable place for students in learning their language. Specifically, students learning styles have to be taken into account while teaching English. in a study by , (Haynes, 2001), the language learners use certain styles, especially in their mother tongue while learning their language, and these styles are transferred when they learn a foreign language. Similarly, several studies (Oxford 1993; OMalley and Chamot, 1990) showed that students of languages used various learning techniques such as memorization, repetition, and imitation, development of positive feeling to language and application of information. In a study by (Hayes, 1997; Strevens, 1978; Harmer, 1983), large English classes are often related to lack of control and concentration, disruption, classroom interaction, particularly lack in the ability to speak English fluently. Moreover, overcrowded class is one of the constraints on effective teaching and learning. Also, large classes reduce teachers attention, produces real physical discomfort and distraction that negatively affect learners attitudes towards their learning. Bloom (1976), creating opportunities for small class group work which helps each other and proves to be a useful way to motivate students and correct errors. He also believed that the size of the group is one of the main elements which influences in language learning. In dealing with the problems associated with large classes, Nnaji (1991) proposes tutorial classes as a solution to help reduce the menace of large classes. She believes that tutorial classes should be used to curtail the shortcomings of large classes. According to her, tutorials are discussion sessions where the teacher and his students talk to each other and express their views on topics they did not fully understand The learning style of Cambodian students is typically memorization at the expense of realistic purpose. Therefore, they would rather learn grammar and reading than on listening and speaking. Specifically, most Cambodian learners feel more comfortable with having things written on the whiteboard in order that they can copy them down and study at home. They hope to get handouts of summaries or lecture outlines. On the other hand, some Cambodian learners reveal that they face a lot of pressures of how to adapt the new cultural environment and how to get on with their peers in class. Some feel lonely because the ways they dress or talk are so different. (Nguyen 2001) However, a number of personality characteristics have been associated with successful language learning. These include being willing to take risks (Ruben 1979 as cited in Willis 2001), having self-confident (Heyde as cited in Freeman and Long 1991), and being interested (Ellis and Sinclair as cited in Willis 2001) 2.3 Vocabulary learning In learning a foreign language, vocabulary plays an important role. It is one element which is associated with the four skills, namely speaking, listening, reading and writing. In a research article by Mohd et al. (2009), investigated the evaluation learning vocabulary strategies of undergraduate EFL learners and its relation to the learners vocabulary size. There are five various categories of vocabulary learning strategies such as determination, memory, social, cognitive, and metacognitive. Consequently, the findings of this study led to some suggestions to improve students vocabulary learning, developed their vocabulary size, and enhanced their English learning. As for the case of EFL Cambodian classrooms, Keuk (2009), found in his study that most teachers practical habitual teaching methods such as vocabulary translation from L2 to L1. Accordingly, students are taught to memorize chunks of English language with mainly focused on grammar and vocabulary. Maghsodi et al. (2010), reading should be encouraged either inside or outside class because it is the most important tool which helps provide learners with the vocabulary acquisition. It is believed that the more learners are exposed to new words, they more they are likely to remember them. In a study by Minji (2008), explored which vocabulary instruction is more helpful for learning English vocabulary. Consequently, each instructional approach is required to examine, review, and integrate to determine the usefulness as a whole. In the light of the major findings of this study is that vocabulary instruction is effective overall for EFL learners even though there are some instructional approaches which are not related to effective learning. According to National Reading Panel (2000), helped determine the effective implications of vocabulary instruction for first language learners, including teaching vocabulary both directly and indirectly, repetition and multiple exposures to vocabulary items are important, restructuring vocabulary tasks, and entailing active engagement in learning tasks for vocabulary tasks. 2.3 Grammar learning Grammar is viewed as an essential element for communication to take place because it shows how language is used. According to Larsen-Freeman (1997), the misunderstanding of the role of grammar is attributed to the fact that it is always viewed to be governed by fixed rules. As for the case of Mat et al. (2010), proving the various between the methodological expectations and the learners in contrast to the actual teaching methodology followed by their instructors. More significantly, this research article focuses on the five aspects medium of instruction, grammar instruction, instructors as model, and the usefulness of drilling, mimicry and memorization, and the use of educational tools, pertaining to the foreign language methodology. In the light of the finding of the study, a serious discrepancy between students expectations and their classroom reality in terms of how grammar is instructed. Also, grammar rules should be explained and that grammar should not be taught explicitly. 2.4 Reading styles Reading involves a variety of factors which may have an impact on learners reading ability. Weaver (1988) defines reading as the process of constructing meaning through the energetic interaction among the readers existing knowledge, the information recommended by the written language, and the situation in reading context. In a study by (Miller Yochum, 1991; Donnell Wood, 1999), maintained that the reading difficulties students face may be related to inaccurate knowledge of the reading process, lack interest and motivation, fluency, concept density, organization, and difficult vocabulary. Comprehension or reading strategies show how readers conceive of a task, how they make sense of what they read, and what they do when they do not understand. In short, such strategies are processes used by the learner to enhance reading comprehension and overcome comprehension failures (Singhal, 2001). In a second language study, Hosenfeld (1977) used a think-aloud procedure to identify relations between certain types of reading strategies and successful or unsuccessful second language reading. The successful reader, for instance, kept the meaning of the passage in mind while reading and skipped less important words but the unsuccessful reader lost the meaning of the sentences when decoded and seldom skipped unimportant words. 2.5 Speaking styles Speaking is a key to communication. It is the productive skill in language learning, which places a great demand on students logical and critical thinking. In the article by Widiati (2006), discussed problems in the teaching of EFL speaking, activities normally practiced, materials commonly used in EFL speaking classes, and assessment of oral English proficiency. Based on the finding, Indonesian learners frequently have not achieved a good level of ora1 English proficiency. For example, Mukminatien (1999) showed that students of English department have a lot of mistakes while speaking. The mistakes consist of pronunciation, grammatical accuracy, vocabulary, fluency, and interactive communication. Likewise, Ihsan (1999) found that students are likely to make errors, including the misuse of parts of speech, syntactical construction, lexical choice, and voice. Ihsan et al. (1999 as cited in Eyiyuliwati 1997), showed that students had difficulties in using grammar and in applying new vocabulary items in speaking class. When the ability to speak English is a very difficult task regarding to the nature of what is included in speaking. Not all of the students in an EFL speaking class have the bravery to speak. Many of the students feel nervous in a speaking class and some are likely to keep silent. In the research by Padmadewi (1998) proved that students attending a speaking class often felt anxious because of demands from the speaking tasks requiring them to do presentation individually and spontaneously within limitation of time. While Tutyandari (2005), stated that students keep quiet due to the lack of self-reliance, prior, knowledge about topics, and poor relationship between teacher and learner. In order to deal with students limited knowledge, she recommended speaking teachers make active the students prior knowledge by asking questions relating to topics under debate. Also, she suggested that students self-esteem can be improved and their nervousness reduced by asking them to work in small gro ups. To achieve a higher quality of the teaching of EFL speaking and to improve the speaking skill of Indonesian EFL learners, Mukminatien (1999), suggested teachers give their learners more adequate input for acquisition in the classroom and push them to use English either in or outside the classroom. More specifically, Citraniugtyas (2005) stated that a silent speaking class can be made more active by assigning tasks which develop students critical thinking skills. Purjayanti (2003) found presentation to be helpful to encourage students to communicate ideas in their fields of study. She added that through presentation and its preparation students were able not only to practice speaking, but also to search for materials and deliver them in a planned way. Small group discussion is an additional activity that can be conducted in EFL speaking classroom. Its aim is to facilitate learners to be participated actively in a discussion concerning with students limited number. In a study of Murdibjono (2001) demonstrated that discussing in small groups is an effective activity so that students have more time to practice speaking with their classmates. 2.6 Listening styles Listening is a critical element in the competent language performance of EFL university students. Therefore, listening comprehension is an important sill, as well as prerequisite for oral proficiency. In the study of Goh (1997), difficulties to listening compression can be divided into person knowledge and task knowledge. The obstacles of person knowledge are: the limitation of vocabulary, idiomatic expression, kinds of input with new structure, fast speech. While the task knowledge related to new vocabulary, various local accents, speech rate, the interest and purpose of listening, existing knowledge and experience, physical factors, and the length of sentence structure. However, he suggested two strategies for helping learners become better listener. The first is direct strategy; it aims at increasing perceptions. Learners L2 can improve the listening by practicing perceptions sound, content, pronunciation of new words, words, and intonation features. The second is the indirect str ategy; its aim is to improve knowledge about speakers, tasks, and strategy According Hann (2000), the use of ineffective learning strategies of learners may affect their listening comprehension and learners experience. Various kinds of listening comprehension may cause some problems due to the inadequacy of the message from factors relating to the speakers speech, and to the learner proficiency in listening comprehension. Furthermore, it was found that EFL learners are poorly equipped with effective listening strategies, skills, activities. To help better improve the listening comprehension, in a study by Wen-sheng (2007), conducted in China, listening is very crucial input, but many of the students in Chaozhou Normal College, Hanshan Normal University, and Chaozhou Guangdong were upset with listening. In the finding of the study, there were a lot of significant listening techniques which were neglected by teachers. However, a researcher suggests that more listening strategies should be taught in classes and teaching plan is given. 2.7 Writing styles In the article by Hafida (2010), conducted in Tlemsen, Algeria, analyze both the university requirements for the English academic degree in Algeria, and students needs so as to improve a pedagogical framework that would respond both exigencies. In the light of finding of the study, the researcher recommended the implementation of a strategy such as based writing curriculum for EFL university students that would develop their strategic competence and consolidate their linguistic knowledge. Since the Chinese students poor communicative ability in oral and written English, there is a concern in English teaching and learning in China. In the article by Yan (2006) explored a successful method so as to develop students speaking ability. As a result of the finding, Scenario-based Learning, two reflective models are introduced to improve the oral and writing in English. Scenario-Based Learning (SBL) is a structured method for figuring out some issues impacting the lives of specific individuals or groups of individuals. Also, It confronts students with an important context based on real life situation which requires them to take part in an imagined series of events. In the study by Osman (2010), investigates the difficulties faced by beginner academic writers and proposes recommendations to help these writers to be better collaborative writers. In the finding of the study, beginner writers have difficulties during their collaborative writing, including inability to work with their partners, poor language proficiency, poor research skills, having limited time to discuss, lacking ideas, facing stress during collaborative writing, ; therefore, it is suggested that the university and the lecturers should provide them with the opportunities of (1) providing intensive reading program ; (2)teaching interpersonal skills; (3) teaching time management; (4) providing pre-collaborative writing sessions; (5) providing pre-collaborative writing sessions ;(6) and providing teacher/ peer assistance According to Bereiter and Scardamalia (1987) as cited in Rouiller (2005), writing generally suffers from lack of interaction that stimulates oral production in conversation. However, to ensure successful learning, Lam Wong (2000) as cited in Lourdunathan Menon (2005), believe that learners should demonstrate appropriate cooperative behavior and peer support. It is necessary because some students have difficulties in organizing their ideas and are weak in English language as well. This can hinder them from participating in their collaborative work. CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 3.1Research design Since the intent of this study significantly focuses on a private university in Cambodia, the researcher will employ a case study exploring the learning styles of EFL Cambodian university students. As a qualitative research approach is used, the case study will be employed in this study to explore the learning styles of EFL Cambodian university students. The case study method tends to systematically investigate an event or a set of related events with the specific aims of describing and explaining this phenomenon. (Berg, 2009) 3.2 Participants This is a case study which explores the learning styles of Cambodian university students. The participants of this study will be selected from one private university in Phnom Penh. The sample will consist of 6 students, who are studying English Literature in that university. Also, the researcher will choose both female and male students. Before conducting interviews, the researcher will make an appointment and notify the reasons of visit to the Rector of University. 3.3 Instrument With the purpose of getting trustworthy information, unstructured interview, informal conversation and participant observation will be used in order to obtain reliable data. Interviews will be tape-recorded and open-ended questions (see below appendix for details). In addition to the above interviews, class observation will be useful tool to obtain data. The observation checklist will basically focus on students learning styles both in classroom and outside classroom. 3.4 Data Collection Since the qualitative data collection procedure requires the research to immerse completely in the nature setting, the researcher will carry out unstructured interview after observation and taking notes. The interviews will consist of open-ended questions and tape-recording (see Appendix below) for the details. Prior to carrying out the interviews, the researcher will ask permission from university rector and students. The researcher expects each interview will take around 50 minutes and occur in the university or outside the university. The options for selecting site for interview will be provided for the participants because it helps reduce the participants difficulties. Moreover, the study objective will be verbally informed to participants before conducting interviews. With permission from participants, the researcher will use tape-recording to record the whole interviews. The researcher might ask different participants to answer the questions based on their preference. The resea rcher will personally observe English students using participant observation techniques. The observation will basically focus on students learning styles in classroom. The students will be asked to provide their responses about the learning styles of EFL Cambodian university students based on their ideas. The observational protocol will include the descriptive activities in the setting and reflective ideas from the researcher. Besides these observations, informal conversation will be made with participants in order to obtain deeply their perceptions about language learning styles. The researcher may take a few brief notes in the field setting but take notes of teaching techniques and behaviors after observation. 3.5 Data Analysis The researcher will organize and prepare the data for analysis as soon as the data has been collected from the participants. Then the researcher will spend lots of time reading all data and listening to tape recording in order to delete the irrelevant information. Next, the researcher will code the text to categorize the data. Moreover, relationship of data will be identified to interpret the meaning of data collected. Finally, in order to ensure the reliability and validity of data, the researcher will try to reread the data and ask researcher team to check the information. Moreover, matrixes and graphs will be specifically presented. Therefore, they will visualize the difficulties of Cambodian EFL students learning styles 3.6 Ethical Consideration To successfully conduct this study, the researcher will take into consideration about some safeguards. First, the consent form will be given to the participants to sign if they really agree to join in the study. Second, the purpose of this study will be clearly informed to participants in order to build mutual understanding and rapport. Third, the researcher will profoundly tell the participants that their participation will be voluntary and stopping from interviews will be the participants choice. Finally, the researcher will keep data collected in secret place which no one besides researcher will have access to get it. Furthermore, I will bring together the names of participants but keep them confidential. Personal identifiers will be released to the public in a way that protects the identification of participants. 3.7 Limitation of Research This study is guided with the following limitations, which affect the generality of the finding. First, the study only focuses on university English students in Department of English. Second, the study may be limited in its analysis or generality as it will be conducted in one Cambodian private university, in which 6students will be selected. Third, since this study will mainly explore only important learning styles, some points might be ignored. However, the purpose of this study is not to provide the broad generalization but to explore the learning styles of Cambodian university students in a private university in Phnom Penh. Therefore, the above-mentioned compounding circumstances might limit understanding and evaluation; however, these are generally overwhelmed and controlled by the research design.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Shattered Dreams in Stolen Party :: stolen

Shattered Dreams in Stolen Party In the story "Stolen Party" written by Liliana Heker, a girl’s dreams are shattered by the bitter reality of her destiny. Rosaura spends most of her time trying to convince her mother, as well as everyone at the birthday party, that being an educated girl makes her an equal to everyone at the party. She feels great determination to become a part of her friend Luciana’s lifestyle even though it would be rebelling against her mother’s wishes. Rosaura almost believes she has accomplished this feat until she is harshly brought back to reality and faced with her position in life once again. It will be an impossible struggle to overcome the class status that she was born into with the many factors against her. When Rosaura’s mother can tell her starry-eyed daughter who is full of hope and innocence that, "The problem with you, young lady, is that you like to fart higher than your ass" (Heker 1133), it creates a bitterness between them and damages the idea of Rosaura improving herself. The mother does not want Rosaura to go "the rich people’s party," perhaps due to fear that her daughter might experience the cold shoulder from the upper class, or perhaps out of fear that Rosaura might truly make it and leave the mother behind. The fact that this mother could have this incredibly mature conversation with her daughter "barely even nine," and that Rosaura could say to her mother "rich people go to heaven too," indicates the maturity of the daughter as well as her intelligence level that was already higher than her mother’s. Rosaura proceeds to tell her mother what a friend is. However despite her greatest efforts to make her mother understand, her mother continues to keep throwing negative thoughts and opinions at her. The next hindrance Rosaura experiences is at the party. She is confronted by a "high class" young girl who is the cousin of her friend Luciana. After numerous questions about who Rosaura was, the young girl tells her "you are not a friend of Luciana because I’m her cousin and I know all her friends" (1135). Rosaura maintained her ground through the slew of questions thrown at to her. Not until the question of how was she Luciana’s friend came up did Rosaura start to become defeated by her social class. Rosaura recited the line "my mother’s an employee," a face-saving but still revealing statement that had been instilled in her head (1135).

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Organizational Strategy and Change Essay

John Kotter in his book explained the significance of change intervention in any organization or business. According to him, adopting change has been the trend in our society for two decades now though sometimes traumatic; the result would be improved quality of products and services, new opportunities for growth and increase productivity (Kotter, p. 3). He stressed the significance of change management because there are many benefits that a company can get from it. He emphasized that an organization finds help in adapting to shifting conditions and have improved competitive mechanics over other competitors (p. ). However, if an organization is passive to change may face the adverse effects which according to Kotter are described as being pessimistic and suspicious of others who are pushing for transformation (p. 17); hence, this company will end up incompetent. A good example of a company that endorsed change after being attacked with bad publicity was McDonald’s. McDonald’s is a food chain that is leading in the global market; it serves more than 100 countries having about 30,000 restaurants all over the world. This company has started as the first food service retailer that offers informal eating-out market, which eventually paved the way for this kind of business. According to Eric Schlosser, at the growth of fast food chains in America, American society has gone tremendous change specially in the lifestyle and values of the American people; considering the fact that much money has been spent in fast food than in education. In the same way, due to this trend, many women and mothers are working with the convenience of food preparation since a family spent their meal at restaurants and fast food chains (p. ). With this trend, McDonald is considered as the largest purchaser of beef, pork and potatoes; it is also the largest owner of retail property according to Schlosser (p. 4). After many years of existence, Ray Kroc had continued to reinvent the image of the restaurant image by placing the smiling Ronald McDonald at restaurant and by creating a friendly environment around the area. However, despite of having a good reputation and being a fast growing business, McDonald’s had suffered enormous bad publicity from different sources. The first one was the libel case filed by the Greenpeace employees in 1990 and the second one was a documentary film written, directed and performed by Morgan Spurlock entitled â€Å"Super Size Me† in 2004. The appearance of these controversies had moved the McDonald’s Company to reshape their culture and focus. The libel case filed against McDonald was considered the longest libel case in the history of English that lasted in 314 days in 1990. The two Greenpeace employees issued many articles saying that McDonald’s prepared food are environmentally hazardous and physically harmful to the consumers. The libel suit also presented issues relating to discrimination to its employees, the company was responsible for cruelty to some of its animals used as foods, and children are exploited for using them in television campaign. This publicity was proven true after the US Congress made an investigation about the hearsay. In their report as discussed by Schlosser in his book, explained that there was presence of E-Coli in some of their food due to unclean surroundings and contaminated and/or lethal meat which they sold to many children (p. ), since children are their number one patronage. The â€Å"Super Size Me† ads which was produced and experimented by Spurlock himself for one month was a concrete explanation why McDonald’s foods are not good for the body. According to Thom and Geiger, Spurlock had gained twenty-five pounds after one month of eating all McDonald’s food which caused him to â€Å"suffer from fatigue, headaches, and indigestion; his blood sugar skyrocketed, his liver filled with fat, his cholesterol went off the charts, and his blood pressure was unmanageable† (p. 98). This experiment has just proven that fast foods are not healthy according to Thom and Geiger (p. 199); this has alarmed the whole America and started blaming fast food for unhealthy body and began to fight a war against obesity. The next question is: â€Å"What is the response of McDonald’s to this issue? † Galloway and Kwanash-Aidoo had described clearly the response made by the company to this very intriguing issue. At first, McDonald’s through its spokespeople did not make any comment saying that they have not seen the film yet. However, later, they told the press that the movie is just a distortion of reality. Kapica and Coffing (spokepersons) have said that the issue of obesity is a personal responsibility not theirs, since it is the person’s choice what they want to eat (p. 70). Nevertheless, in March after twelve weeks since the appearance of the ads, McDonald’s had announced that they would phase the super-sizing option in their restaurants and they introduced the â€Å"Happy Meals† with salad and pedometers (Galloway and Kwanash-Aidoo, p. 71). Yet, the story did not end there until the issue became national. For this reason, McDonald’s made a lot of public relation campaign just to offset the issue. Macmillan and McGrath has stated in their book that after that issue, McDonald’s and other fast food chains has introduced couple of lower fat options, including a Salad Shaker (with nonfat dressing), a Fruit and Yogurt Parfait (p. 160). The documentary film has helped American people to become health conscious people and industry to consider social responsibility. Despite the company’s attempt to change the food offerings, the issue continued that required crisis management approach. McDonald’s in Australia as well as in America used a proactive approach which allowed McDonald’s a fair hearing in the court of public opinion. This approach made the company showcased their management and the new direction that McDonald had initiated in order to minimize the impact of the movie. The result of the approach was very effective because they were able to â€Å"weaken and shorten the life-cycle of the issue† according to Galloway and Kwanash-Aidoo (p. 5). To sustain its campaign, in February 7, 2007, the McDonalds Australia has joined the foundation and they had come up with nine products with approval of the Heart Foundation Tick. Heart Foundation Tick is a program aiming to encourage food producing companies all over the world to espouse healthy and nutritious food to eliminate heart problem caused by food intake. The Australian Sports Medicine Federation explained what the Heart Foundation Tick is. According to them, this is a program that challenges all food companies since 1989 to produce healthier products to provide consumers enough choices of healthier foods available on shelves of the supermarkets or restaurants. And every company that responds to the challenge must generate or produce foods that conform to the strict standards of the organization. Specifically, the foods are to be tested for some chemical contents that are harmful to the body before they are given endorsement; the foods should not contain the following ingredients: saturated fat, Trans fat, salt and kilojoules. Once passed the quality, the company will be given the Heart Foundation Tick with corresponding logo that appears on the label of the product. Currently, based on the report released in 2006, McDonald’s restaurants all over the world serve its customer with 100% pure USDA inspected beef with neither no fillers nor additives, whitefish from the Pacific Ocean and Baltic and North Seas, vegetables and fruits are farm-fresh delivered on regular basis (Fact Sheet about McDonald’s). Remarkably, McDonald Company had enforced strategic actions in order to counteract bad publicity and maintain their status quo. In the report made by William Greider in a newspaper published online in July 2003 said that the company had taken a strong political will to advise its meat suppliers to stop using growth-stimulating antibiotics that are dangerous to human health. By this warning, the company would not be willing to purchase the said products; in the statement made by McDonald’s director, he said, â€Å"we would be a catalyst for change industry wide. This very significant affirmation from the company was a response to the controversy that thrown on them and to the call of social responsibility. During this crucial situation, it is very important that a company is always ready to initiate change. McDonald’s action for change is very critical but very essential because it turned the company upside down, and it was successful; McDonald’s remained as the number one fast food chain in the world. To categorize the perspective, the change is institutional and contingency; institutional because it is a change that considers the external forces such as social, governmental, legal and cultural. It is a contingency perspective because the top management must initiate the change that focuses on the most directly affected by the circumstances. McCalman once said, â€Å"Change is an ongoing process† (p. 8).