Materials & Manufacturing Process Selection Case Study - 1

Materials & Manufacturing Process Selection - Case Study Example The CES Edupack software is normally used to select the most suitable material for the brake disc. Several factors are considered when choosing a material for brake disc. These include the specific gravity of the material, thermal conductivity, wear resistance and the materials cost per unit volume. This research work focuses on the design of the brake disc and the entire brake assembly, the most commonly used material in the design and the calculations that are involved in the brake system. This research is supposed to sufficiently inform the King Swan Engineering Firm on the brake disc. The Company may, therefore, use the knowledge derived from this report to improve on the current existing brake disc. The brake disc is a metallic wheel in a brake system against which the brake pad rub. As the pad is pushed against the disc, heat is generated. The disc should there have the capacity to withstand the heat due to friction. The function of the disc is to stop the vehicle when it comes into contact with the brake pads. The brake disc is connected to the vehicles tire by means of bolts and nuts. The brake pads are normally pushed against the disc via the brake calipers. The brake discs are commonly made of grey cast irons. The cast iron, however, has some shortcomings such as high specific gravity and high heat conductivity. Application of brake discs is traced back to early 1890’s. The disc was first discovered by a scientist known as Fredrick William. The brake discs have better performance as compared to wheel drums. This is attributed to the fact that brake discs come with ventilation holes through which air circulates to the entire disc. The brake disc is composed of a brak e disc bolted to the axle or hub of the wheel hubs and the housing called calipers. The calipers. The calipers are connected to the axle casting in two parts. Each of the parts has a piston. In between the piston and the disc, there is a friction pad

Psychology of Teenage Pregnancy and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Essay

Psychology of Teenage Pregnancy and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome - Essay Example (Jessor 2004, p. 45) The reasons for teenage pregnancy and fetal alcohol syndrome are mostly psychological and social, and it is understandable, that the influence and effects of teenage pregnancy may become terrible for young girls, if not properly treated. In connection with this, Shonfeld and Mattson (2005) write, that 'the socialization deficits and views on stealing and obeying the law may serve as early indicators of later maladaptive behaviour. In terms of the overall moral maturity score, it is possible that this global measure is not sensitive enough in detecting delinquency in youth with prenatal alcohol exposure.' (Schonfeld & Mattson 2005, p. 24) What is meant here is that leaving school causes the lack of communication and socialization, which in its turn leads to the alcohol intake of a pregnant girl, which is destructive for her future child. The problematic issue is whether the young girl will be able to go successfully through her pregnancy, as well as the proper bringing out and caring for the child. It is a well-known fact, that pregnancy is always a period of exaggerated emotions for the future mother, even if her conditions are optimal, which cannot be said about most pregnant adolescents. The time of pregnancy is the period of absolute physical and psychological changes, and these changes are even more vivid with the young teenage girls. Schonfeld and Mattson also write in their article: 'As a developmental phase, adolescence is positioned between childhood and adulthood. Conventional theory holds that adolescence is a time during which teenagers assert their sense of identity, rebelling from the control and authority of their parents. Thus, it is not unusual to encounter a high degree of emotional turmoil in the adolescent. When a teenager becomes pregnant, however, the continuity of both the physical and the psychological growth is abruptly interrupted.' (Schonfeld & Mattson 2005, p. 24) This is also one of the main causes for the pregnant girl drinking too much alcohol, which finally leads to the FAS and thus to the most negative consequences for the child. The psychological consequences of the adolescent pregnancy are various and vary in the wide range. Pregnancy is altering the conscience of the young girl, and thus she becomes preoccupied with different dreams and fantasies in relation to her future infant. But all these fantasies towards an adolescent are always much exaggerated, especially when the pregnancy was not planned (which is the most common situation). 'The emotional confusion that surfaces in the pregnant woman may also cause her to blur the boundaries between 'self' and 'other'. (Blos, 1980) With the child developing in the girl's body, their identities often tend to merge, which happens on psychological and also on the physical level. But this sense of merging will

Current issues in dissability studies activity 10 Essay

Current issues in dissability studies activity 10 - Essay Example to attend to their constant needs: these include but not restricted to the building of more nursing homes, recreational facilities for the ages, hospitals, and more avenues to supply the increasing services needed by the seniors in our societies. Here is an important question: does disability make people get older quickly? The answer is no, because the recent survey and research have indicated that people suffering from intellectual, for instance, do not necessarily get older than their contemporaries. Interestingly, they even seem to outlive in some circumstances. Similar physical changes are observable in both the disabled and non-disabled old people (World Health Organization, 2000). People with disabilities need some specific services that may or may not necessarily isolate them from the general population. Normally, aged people need housing, nursing homes, hospices, medical services, recreational services and so on. The only difference in the case is the problem of communication that usually affected diagnosing disabled people—some of them could not talk or properly explain to the doctors the actual sickness or illness they are suffering. This constitutes a great hindrance to their ability to solve disabled people’s medical needs (Bigby, 2000). Therefore, the disabled aged people require intensive cares and guidance for their problems to be successful attended to, what non-disabled old people may not require. The most interesting about this week readings (1 &) is that they pinpoint the developmental requirements needed for a disabled person to grow into his or her adult self without parental influences in decision-making and personal cares (Bigby, 2000). While the second reading highlights the policies and programs put in place by the government, private organizations and communities in helping the disabled people grow old successfully (Bigby, 2004). The two readings are compendium for any student to turn into expert on disability

Police Strategies Essay Example for Free

Police Strategies Essay The topic I chose to research about is which police strategy/tactic is most effective in reducing crime and disorder. There are various forms of policing such as community-oriented policing, problem-oriented policing, hot spots policing, broken windows theory, and zero-tolerance policing. COP is a model of policing that stresses a two-way working relationship between the community and the police along with the police becoming more integrated into the local community, and citizens assuming an active role in crime control and prevention. POP is a concept created by Herman Goldstein in which he believes the police should take the categories of crime, order maintenance, and service and break them down into discrete problems and then develop specific responses to each one. Hot spots policing originated from research that revealed crime is extremely concentrated in small areas. The broken windows theory is about how crime problems develop at place, and how police should focus their role to stop crime problems from arising. According to Paul M.  Walters, there is a strategy for COP to prevent crime and disorder which is referred to as response to incidents (R2I). R2I requires law enforcement officers to react to crimes or emergency incidents. In order to promote citizen confidence in the police, officers should swiftly respond to any such incidents and establish and maintain control over the situation. R2I also requires officers to respond proactively to crime patterns. This is accomplished through such tactics as directed patrol, targeted identifications, etc. However, if police administrators do not carefully manage the R2I strategy, their departments can quickly be overwhelmed by community demands. In order to manage increased calls for police service, administrators need to monitor demand and then research as many creative ways as possible to respond to these calls. There are many ways to respond to calls for assistance that do not require the immediate dispatching of an officer in a patrol car. Other, less expensive responses may satisfy the request just as effectively. Another way to better serve jurisdictions using the R2I strategy is to invest in current technology in such areas as communications, information, case management and analysis, and transportation which may include automated mug systems, records management and retrieval systems, automated aging systems, and mobile data terminals. Department managers must then use all their resources, both technological and human, in a balanced way that produces not just activity but also results that they can measure against their mission statements. Managing the limited resources of departments to respond effectively to both incidents and calls for service, while producing the greatest advantage for their communities, requires managers to make informed, professional decisions. Foot patrol and Neighborhood Watch programs are two other popular strategies for the effectiveness of COP. A number of evaluations in the 1980s reported that while additional foot patrol did not reduce crime, it did increase feelings of safety. If people are less fearful they might not withdraw from the communities, and the process of neighborhood deterioration might not begin. Neighborhood Watch programs have repeatedly been found to have little impact on crime. Residents who live in areas with more crime, and who live in inner-city minority neighborhoods, have been less willing to participate in Neighborhood Watch programs or any other activities that involve partnership with the police. The effect of whether COP works is hard to say and evidence is very mixed. It’s hard to evaluate since it’s done differently from police department to police department. While a number of questions remain, the future of COP appears bright. According to Paul M.  Walters, the heart of the POP approach is the concept that police must be more responsive to the causes of crime, rather than merely dealing with the results of crime. Maintaining neighborhood safety can be more beneficial to the community than merely treating isolated neighborhood problems. This approach represents a significant shift in how both the public and the police view the role of law enforcement in the community. Problem-oriented policing is a proactive, decentralized approach to providing police services designed to reduce crime and disorder, and by extension, the fear of crime. Department heads achieve this by assigning officers to specific neighborhoods on a long-term basis. Long-term involvement between the officers and neighborhood residents fosters the development of credible relationships based on mutual trust and cooperation. It also allows a high-level exchange of information between citizens and police officers, as well as mutual input concerning policing priorities and tactics for specific areas of the community. Problem-oriented policing also istributes police services more effectively across the community and targets high-crime areas for problem-solving approaches that allow law enforcement to define and deal with the causes of crime. This helps to neutralize the undue influence of special interest groups that can be the recipients of preferred services when no system of community-based priorities exists. Systematic reviews and meta analysis are a method for determining whether POP reduces crime and disorder. A study was conducted by Weisburg, Telep, Hinkle, and Eck. Whether they used a more conservative mean effect size approach or examined the largest effects on crime and disorder reported, they found that POP approaches have a statistically significant effect on the outcomes examined. Importantly, the results are similar whether we look at experimental or nonexperimental studies. The small group of studies in the review allows us to come to a solid conclusion regarding the promise of POP, but it does not allow statistical conclusions regarding the types of approaches that work best for specific types of problems. They think it a major public policy failure that the government and the police have not invested greater effort and resources in identifying the POP approaches and tactics that work best to combat specific types of crime. Moreover, a much larger number of studies are needed to draw strong generalizations regarding the possible effectiveness of POP across different types of jurisdictions and different types of police agencies. The portfolio of available studies does not allow us to draw conclusions about such contextual factors and suggests that U.  S. policing has adopted POP widely without an evidence base for deciding where and when it should be used. The central conclusion of our review is that POP as an approach has significant promise to ameliorate crime and disorder problems broadly defined. Hot spots policing is easier to implement than COP and POP. Research early on showed it had promise in reducing crime. It’s easy to implement as officers are still doing patrol and making arrests. Computerized crime mapping is used in nearly every police department that does hot spots policing. Some programs can do statistical analyses to identify hot spots and find trends in crime across time and space. The programs also can have maps updated with the latest data each day. Studies have found that hot spots policing is at least moderately effective in reducing crime. It’s so hard to know what exactly works because many studies also involve elements of POP and other tactics. The broken windows theory is widely viewed as effective in policing circles after it was used in New York City in the 1990s and the city had a large crime drop. There are several suggestions for how police could best prevent crime with the broken windows theory. Police should return to the order maintenance role. Police should not ignore disorder. Police should negotiate consensus with residents and users of public spaces about what is or is not acceptable in that area. The key is to deal with disorder quickly and not let it untended, and clean it up in areas that have declined. This is hypothesized to prevent fear of crime and maintain social controls in areas such as residents aren’t afraid to intervene and/or move away from the area. Some studies have found increased complaints against the police with the broken windows theory. In conclusion, the research I obtained about the various police strategies and tactics leads to an important statement. Unfortunately, there is no clear answer. There is fairly mixed and weak research evidence about the impacts of these tactics on crime. COP seems effective in fighting fear of crime and improving police-community relations but not in fighting crime. A report by the National Academy reinforces that the most effective strategies and tactics are those that target small locations, take a focused approach, and are highly proactive.

Leadership Must Be Empowerment To Empower Its Teams Management Essay

Leadership Must Be Empowerment To Empower Its Teams Management Essay Goleman (1998) argued that during the last decade interpersonal skills have focused on effective leadership. Where the leaders controlled, planned and inspected the organizations operation, in recent more service oriented industries, leaderships responsibilities include motivate employees, promote positive attitudes in workplace, and make a sense of participation among employees (Hogan et al., 1994). Most researchers analyze leadership effectiveness regarding to the result of the leaders performance for employees and companys stakeholders, but the consequence variables of each researchers have been different from the others. The principals of these variables are depend on how immediate they are and whether they have subjective or objective measures. These consequences which are negatively correlated, are very difficult because of the complex trade-offs among them. In order to analyze the effectiveness of leadership many criteria should be taken in to the account to handle these complexities and variation between stakeholders preferences (Yuki, 1998). Researchers have stressed that the relationship between managers and employees has an important role in effective leadership. Qualified relationship and open interaction motivate and empower employees (Boyd and Taylor, 1998; Brower, Schoorman, and Tan, 2000). Drinks (1995) and Nonaka (1988) believed that the type of leaders interaction may lead them to take advantage from their difference and learn from each other. Ensley et al. (2003) argued that conventional view of a single leadership is based on the concept that leadership is a specialized role that cannot be shared with group. This perspective is stood for more hierarchical leadership in which the leaders supervise and control all activities. In the other hand, in shared leadership all members of the team are empowered to share the tasks and responsibilities of leadership. Yuki (1998, p.3) who view leadership as shared process cited that important decisions about what to do and how to do it are made through the use of an interac tive process that involves many different people who influence each other, not by a single person. Managers have different relationships with their employees and as Boyd and Taylor (1998) argued the quality of these relations may have influence on their success. When they improve the quality of their relationship, employees can be more productive on their task and more encouraged to contribute in organizational activities. Argyris and Schon (1978, 1996) have claimed that supportive interaction is the basis of effective leadership. Such interaction can be a strong motivation for organizational learning (Drinks, 1995; Nonakd, 1998). Bandura (1974) emphasized that successful leaders have capacity to motivate, encourage and empower their employees. Empowerment improves employees task innovation and continuation. Empowered employees make more contributions, they accept more difficult situations, and perform more confidently. They make more effort on their given task. According to Hofstede (2001) in organizations, such as any other social units, it may be found some inequality of employees capacities and powers, or unequal distribution of power over the employees. Cotta (1976) believes that power inequality is necessary in organization, and Hofstede (2001) claimed that the distribution of power in most organizations is formed in hierarchies, and the foundation of these hierarchies is the relationship between the managers and employees. Power distance is a measure of the interpersonal power or influence (P.83) between managers and employees. The acceptance and supporting of power distance by social environment is strongly related to the national culture. The culture determines the level of correlation among managers and employees. He expressed that the effect of employees participation on the outcome variables of organizational contribution, job satisfaction and efficacy was altered by particular level of power distance. Employee empowerment or participative decision making is not a simple or new concept of management. More than 50 years of research has approved that employee contribution is a complex management tool, that if apply properly, it can improve the performance, productivity and job satisfaction (Nykodym, Simonetti, Nielsen and Welling, 1994). Cohen, Chang and Ledford (1997) argued that employee must be engaged if they comprehend the necessity of creativity and if they are interested in changing their behaviors in work in improved way. He believes that the most significant concept of organizational effectiveness and positive employee perceptions is the employees involvement. One type of employees involvement in workplace is their participation in decision making (PDM). Nykodym, Simonetti and Welling (1994) have presented four areas for employees participation. The first area is goal setting. Employees can participate in setting up a goal for their task, planning a job and the appropriate time for job execution. In the second area employees can contribute in making choice between alternative series of tasks such as: working hours, placement of supplies or options among alternatives to perform an ordinary task. Next, employees can participate in problems solving that include clarifying the subject and determining the alternative series of activities. Finally, participation may include organizational changes, such as setting company policies that may involve hiring, layoffs, profit sharing or investments. Companies can take part in any or all of these areas in any time. The first three methods of participation can be used for all areas of contribution. Employees can participate individually to make decision and determine their own target, or they may get together with a manager to make decision making team. All employees may take part in decision making group with their coworkers or managers. This participation may be formal as in quality circle or informal as a group of employees declaring their opinions to gain the general agreement. Employees contribution in decision making can be directly or indirectly through a representative elected to express the groups ideas. There are some conditions that influence the success of participative leadership, and if these conditions do not manage properly, the efforts for participative management will fail. One of the most important set of these conditions is include the values, attitudes and expectations of an organizations employees. If employees do not want to take part in decision making, any attempt to force them would fail. For successful participation an organization must have a corporate culture that express the participative leadership. Another condition is the design of current task that must be done. If the workers task depends on each other to be complete, it can encourage the independent individual participation. If employees do not trust their managers, the participation in group decision making of employees and managers may not be successful. The last set of conditions is related to the environment. According to the rapidly changing technology, governmental laws, and strong competition, employ ees participation in decision making cannot be effective unless the members have the essential technical skills. These groups must also be capable to work with each other effectively in order to make a proper decision (Nykodym, Simonetti, Nielsen and Welling, 1994). Yuki (1998) believes that shared leadership is expected to occur self-managed teams, because of the employees are independent in developing group processes. In self-managed teams employees have more authority and responsibility to make decisions which related to their tasks (Katzenbach Smith, 1993; S.G Cohen, 1991). Self-managed teams are able to make decisions, determine goals, assign work, set schedule, and so on (Yuki, 1998). However the necessity of leadership in not questioning as the team is self-managed. Barry (1991) stressed that the role of leadership in self-managed teams is more important than traditional teams. He declared that in addition to needing task-based leadership such as project definition, scheduling, and resource gathering; self-managed teams require leadership around group development processes (developing cohesiveness, establishing effective communication patterns, and so forth) (p.32). Braford (1976) suggested that the teams members with shared leadership a re more satisfied with their teams, and Katzenbach and Smith (1993) claimed that teams involved in shared leadership are more effective and productive in regard to performance. In addition Perry, Pearce and Sims (1999) argued that shared leadership improves the interpretation of teams requirements. Recently many researchers have become interested in the concept of self-managed group (Stewart and Manz,1995; Cohen and Ledford, 1994; Mohrman et al., 1995; Manz, 1986, 1992; Manz and Sims, 1980,1990). According to the idea of socio-technical systems developed by Emery and Trist (1969), during the recent years, the self-managed work groups are used as a form of work system, specifically as pressures of high educated workforce for more responsibility and empowerment through group based shared management are exerted on organizations (Pearce and Manz, 2005). Also, there is another pressure that applied for organization to become more responsive to the recent competitive environment and global economy (Wriston, 1991; Druskat and Wheeler, 2003). Self-managed teams are independent to make important decision that related to their team processes (Katzenbach Smith, 1993; S.G. Cohen, 1991; Yuki, 1998). Murry et al. (2002) emphasized that leadership is a key in team process, without leadership team members may not be able to identify with team goals. Self-managed teams as Barry (1991) argued need more leadership than traditional teams in both task-related and team development problems. There are some attributes for self-managed work teams. Under the Wall and Clegg (1986) presentation, self-managed team build of a small group of individuals who are responsible for making the unit of task, executing a variety of works and using various skills that the group possesses. Job feedback is important for work team so the difference from goal achievement can be supervised by group member in specified task area boundary. Several case studies proved the advantages of the implementation of self-managed work teams such as increased employee satisfaction, heightened socialization in the work place, increased autonomy, opportunity to learn new skills, and some other benefits include reduced absenteeism and increased performance and motivation (Cohen and Ledford, 1994; Wall and Clegg, 1986; Pearce and Ravlin, 1987). However some researchers believes that self-managed work teams have some disadvantages in actual work (Versepey, 1990; Mohrman et al., 1995). Some case study in the USA has demonstrated that one of the most important factors in self-managed work teams failure is the reluctance of the manager to transfer the power and control to the team member (Hackman, 1989; Manz and Sims, 1987). So the role of leadership in self-managed work teams is critical. Elloy (n.d.) argued that the leadership in self-managed work team has an important role that has received little attention during past years for they often they supposed that role of external leader is redundant. There are few researches on external leader and its influence on groups operations. The fundamental opinion of self-managed work teams declares that the group members have control over their work environment and responsibility for all their duties in the team. However, research by Manz and Sims (1984, 1986, 1987, and 1990) revealed that leadership exit from traditional form of supervision and control to highly facilitative form of management, less direct but necessary for the productivity and effectiveness of the group. Many authors cited Kanter (1979) as the source of knowledge about the efficacy of employee empowerment. Kanter (1979) believes that shared management and empowered employee can increase the organizational power. The power of the leader in such situation not only reduces but also may enhance especially if the organization performs better. He also mentioned that employees, who are equipped with tools, information, and support, can make better decision. Bowen and Lawler (1995) declared that empowerment lead to more satisfied customers and employees. They also provided additional evidence, considerable research unpracticed such as gain sharing, communication programs, work teams, job enrichment, skill based pay, and so on, has shown the results of these practices are consistence and positive (p.75). Randolph (1995) indicates that employee empowerment can is improved trust in the organization. In such organization employee respond positively and they will set challenging goals which when they achieve those goals they will define the goals at higher level. In the other hand managing participation does not come without potential problems in the case of initiation, structure and management, choice of issue, team work, and evaluation. When organizations begin the participation program, the managements who are at higher level direct employees to contribute in establishing task forces and teams. In addition, managers who are handled to accomplish this activity will be assessed on the success of their teams. Another problem of participation is how the organization declares the program to the employees. Managers sometime present contribution in decision-making as a luxury rather than a result oriented tool. Furthermore, if management explains clearly what they want to obtain from concept of participation, employees can accept it more rapidly. The next problem is concern with employees who are involved in participation practices. If participation depends on volunteers, it is not representative, if it does not; it is compelling (Nykodym, Simone tti, Nielsen and Welling, 1994). Fox (1998) believes the most important problem in empowerment program as that may affect profitability of the organization is managements fear of letting employees make decisions. Even Kanter (1979) who is cited as providing evidence of the effectiveness of empowerment indicates: One might wonder why more organizations do not adopt such empowering strategies. These are standard answers, that giving up control is threatening to people who have fought for every shred of it; that managers fear losing their own place and special privileges in the system, and so on forth. But I would also pot skepticism about employee abilities high on the list. (p.74) In addition, Nykodym et al. (1994) mentioned that some problems in participations are related to the structure and management. An effective empowerment needs an obvious structure. It is essential to establish all basis rules and limitation boundaries from the beginning of the program. In the other word, empowerment program requires an effective leader who can motivate the employee and set constraints. Another problem with structure and management is that managers must engage to arrange activities, support employees and reconsider the consequences. A manager cannot assign the tasks to a team without monitoring them. They must also find and manage the time needed for participation. Middle managers often oppose to employee empowerment as they think that the program will remove their power, which Blanchard and Bowles (1998) called it hazing theory of management. He believes that managers must modify the control over the employees. The reason that initiation programs and hazing are still a part of fraternal companies is that the employees want the chance to act as was acted to them. These changes are performed through training. Managers must understand that they still have a position even the authority being shared with employees. Their new role includes mentoring, coaching, and facilitating. Proper training improves managers skill of coaching and mentoring, because empower employee are often leaded in to self-managing teams need someone to facilitate their discussion until their skills are improved. This facilitating is the role of manager in self-managed team. Many managers need training in order to increase their capacity for facilitating discussions (Fox, 1998 ). Next dilemma that Nykodym, Simonetti, Nielsen and Welling (1994) referred is the issue of choice that is concerned which issue is included in participative decision making. Researchers have demonstrated that employees prefer to take part in problems that are related to their primary job operation, or their quotidian problems. But it is important not to make presumption about what problems are most significant to employees, they should be asked. As the participation has passed its experimental stage, employees may request compensation or recognition for their time and ideas. Employees must feel that they profit from participation in the effectiveness of the company. Bowen and Lawler (1992) note some management objections such as: higher required investment in selection and training, greater labor costs, incompatible service deliveries which are resulted by these changes. Other management objections mentioned by Conger and Kanungo (1988) are empowerment may lead to overconfidence and misjudgment on the followers. Appropriate training may defeat some of these objections, but not all of them. However, Fox (1998) believes that the advantage of employee empowerment exceed the disadvantages. In the other hand, employees are often opposed to empowerment program. Aeppel (1997) argued that one of the objections by Eaton employees is the responsibility of the group for each employee. He believes that when everyone mentoring everyone else it seems that having a hundred bosses. Another employee complaint that declared by Fox (1998), is that they dont want extra task than their ordinary responsibilities. He considers that employee with such objection is not motivated and he/she is not aware of the benefit of his/her task for the organization. Eurotec Company is a subsidiary of the Schott Group which is a large German glass manufacturer. According to the rapid production expansion, the company faced a number of problems, and in order to moderate these issues, the company decided to implement empowerment program. The references revealed the successful use of empowered autonomous work team to remove the problems (Sykes et al., 1997). As argued in the article, the staffs are now motivated to come along with challenges. Employees are trained to increase their technical and communication skills and they feel more involved. In conclusion, although the implementation empowerment is the biggest challenge of any organization in terms of its initiation, structure, and evaluation and so on, it is profitable for team progress, because there are more leaders to mentor teams performance, and employees motivate each other. In such environment employees are more satisfied about their job and as a result the productivity, performance and task innovation will be improved. For achieving these goals, managers have a key role to lead the organizations effectively and motivate employees to participate in decision making.

Ethical Dilemma Of Exporting Capital For Production Abroad

Ethical Dilemma Of Exporting Capital For Production Abroad With ethical dilemma in association with exporting capital for production abroad I would say that companies shouldnt be made to continue operations if they are no longer profitable. In my belief, one of the main reasons corporations would export capital for production abroad would be to maximize profits to their shareholders. This would be a Libertarians way of thinking, meaning perspective is that individual well-being, prosperity, and social harmony are fostered by as much liberty as possible and as little government as necessary. (What is a Lilbertarian?) and I believe that when a business is no longer profitable executives look for ways to cut costs, and since lower wages can be paid in other countries this can bring in big savings for the company. Early in the 19th century, a utilitarian would have tended to favor free trade. I believe that nowadays the utilitarian would be for placing constraints on the export of production abroad. Since utilitarians want an economic system tha t will be bring more good to society than any other system (Shaw Barry, 2010) Corporations should be allowed to remain competitive and if that means exporting capital (after all alternatives have been exhausted) then so be it. However, I do feel that corporations have a moral responsibility to its employees and the community that they are abandoning. Utilitarian theory is to produce the greatest good over bad for a greater number of people. Exporting capital for production overseas has helped tremendously in the development of other countries. Lending money on the other hand to other countries can condemn them to impoverishment for the near future (Shaw Barry, 2010) Companies should be figuring out the benefit and cost for both the immediate and future outcomes. A Utilitarian does not necessarily mean that the right action is the one that returns the greatest, but the principle is to maximize the greatest benefits for all. An ethical dilemma that is associated with exporting banned products is simply the fact that people can be injured or even die as a result in using this banned product. Therefore, with this in mind, I would definitely say that constraints should be placed on the exportation of products banned in the U.S. To support my decision, I will use the ethical theory by German philosopher, Immanuel Kant for my justification. Kants ethical theory is based on the theory that moral issues can, in principle, be known because of reason alone and are not based on observation. In contrast to Utilitarianism and other consequentialist doctrines, Kants ethical theory holds that we do not have to know anything about the likely results of, say, my telling a lie to my boss in order to know that it is immoral. The basis of obligation must not be sought in human nature, or in the circumstances of the world. It should be a priori, by which he meant that moral reasoning is not based on factual knowledge and t hat reason by itself can reveal the basic principles of mortality.(Shaw Barry, 2010, p. 69) However, the argument that the benefits of exporting supplies with the possibility of misuse is that the good outweighs the bad. In other words, the betterment that can be realized from a product if it is used properly outweighs the bad that can result from misuse. For this reason, I feel that some constraints should be placed on the freedom to export commodities that have the potential for misuse and Utilitarianism, a consequentialist theory, will support my statement. I think that one point that supports the theory of Utilitarianism is the fact that utilitarians wish to maximize happiness not simply immediately but in the long run as well. (Shaw Barry, 2010) Kants ethics gives us firm standards that do not depend on results, and gives us a moral decision, making it the importance of acting on principle and from a sense of duty. I would believe that if banned in the U.S. that should be reason enough. If they are not good enough for our country, then why should they be any different anywhere else? Kants theory also applies here, by saying that an act is right only if the actor would be willing to be treated the same if the position of the parties the other way around. (Shaw Barry, 2010) Kant is best known for defending a version of the respect for persons principle which implies that any business practice that puts money on a par with people is immoral. Ethical problems have a negative impact upon people in ways that are in their control. They may hurt or cause harm to others that might be unwarranted. The ethical problem becomes more difficult if it results in different outcomes, with benefits for some and damages or harm for others. Therefore, through downsizing the company may achieve better financial results and profitability in order to cope with increasing competition or declining market. According to an article, I was reading in Business Week, Anytime were faced with a decision that can affect the rights or well-being of others, were looking at an ethical issue. No matter how strong the justifications for reducing the workforce are or seem to be, laying off loyal and productive employees is an upsetting experience for all concerned, and those on the receiving end face not just financial but psychological injury. (Bruce Weinstein, 2008) From any realistic ethical perspective, the answer is always a yes. A company that provides no jobs and no benefits has a net worth of absolutely nothing at best, and is harmful at worst, as people have invested their lives in the venture, and will have to seek employment elsewhere, presumably from a similar industry, which is probably also suffering in most cases. I dont mean to be offensive or contrarian or critical, but I think a better question would be: Should a business be allowed to downsize in the face of economic difficulty if it could afford to do otherwise? In that case the answer from a rule utilitarian perspective becomes much more difficult, and depends upon a number of factors. Is nonprofit ability sustainable for an acceptable length of time? Is the potential for investment and growth going to provide greater benefit than downsizing? Im not sure that rule utilitarianism can even answer this question. I think act utilitarianism would be better suited, and in the case of the second question, my answer would no. As for breaking a union contract, I think that this is a tough one for rule utilitarianism. From the level of the contract, it is not acceptable, as it violates the rules presumably set forth for the greatest benefit of all. Then again, if breaking the contract can save jobs, rule utilitarianism has defeated itself. From the rule perspective, my answer would be no, as there are without a doubt provisions for negotiation that can be used to redefine the rules in case of a crisis. A job that pays you less is better than no job at all under either form of utilitarianism.

The Pressures of War in Journeys End :: R.C. Sherriff Journeys End War Essays

The Pressures of War in Journey's End The First World War provoked many different reactions in the people affected by it, particularly the soldiers, which Sherriff seeks to explore in "Journey's End". He uses Hibbert to show the way in which some soldiers reacted, but which was frowned upon by all others, and then presents the opposite view of Stanhope, who, despite being the stereotypical 'perfect' soldier, still has his moments of fear and self-doubt. Clearly, both the officers and the men involved in World War I lived in conditions of extraordinary hardship. The men refer to the poor food, the rough sleeping conditions and the rats, of which there are "about two million", according to Hardy. There is also a torturous routine of inspections, patrols, raids and duty in early hours of the morning. The men also have to cope with the ever-present shadow of death. In the background, there is a constant rumble of guns and heavy artillery, although it is the silence which affects the men more, as they do not know what is happening - it is more of a threat than the guns. Most of the men, although Hibbert is the significant exception, are brave and dutiful, but their methods of coping with the challenge of warfare vary according to their temperaments. The play opens with a conversation between Hardy and Osborne, in which they seek to block out the atrocities occurring all around them by concentrating on seemingly mundane, irrelevant things, such as earwig racing. The extraordinary type of morbid humour which situations such as the First World War seem to provoke shows through whilst they are discussing the relatively serious matter of the bombing which they are under. OSBORNE: Do much damage? HARDY: Awful. A dug-out got blown up and came down in the men's tea. They were frightfully annoyed. OSBORNE: I know. There's nothing worse than dirt in your tea. Clearly, there are many things worse than 'dirt in your tea', and one would expect an adjective that was rather stronger than 'annoyed' to describe the men's reaction to the fact that they were being bombed. Osborne tries to put things in perspective and see the beauty in situations to cope with the pressure he is under. He tells Raleigh to "always think of it like that, if you can. Think of it all as - as romantic. It helps." Osborne epitomises a certain type of cultivated middle-class reticence and self-possession. Like Stanhope and Raleigh, he attended private school, which taught him the traditional and typical English values, which can be summed up in the phrase "stiff-upper-lip". He maintains an apparent steady clam in the face of