The Talk Show in Relation to the Free and Democratic Debate Dissertation

The Talk Show in Relation to the Free and Democratic Debate - Dissertation Example Mirzoeff (2002) posits that the evolution of the talk show is a prime example of re-narrativizing everyday experiences through a participatory format spearheaded by Phil Donahue, paving the way for Oprah, Sally Jesse Raphael, and Jerry Springer. Additionally, Mirzoeff highlights the point that the key factor to the popularity in the talk show programs is the use of guests that â€Å"tend to be both ordinary in their resemblance to other middle-class Americans and exceptional in that their function is to narrate some form of transgressive or unconventional behavior† (p..453). However, on the other side of the spectrum, the popularity of the talk show format has fuelled polarised academic debate as to whether television talk shows are a valid new public sphere on a par with pre-existing political institutions as a form of public debate, particularly for marginalized social groups (Mirzoeff, 2002, p.453). Alternatively, critics of the televisual format argue that the confessional aspect of the talk show undermines the validity of the talk show as a genuine public sphere for debate and propose that the talk show is essentially a manipulated format of television, creating the illusion of participation with the overall purpose to entertain and thereby controlled by the programming objectives. For example, in the US the term â€Å"talk show† includes chat shows that feature groups of guests as well as the confessional Jerry Springer format. With regard to the latter participation format, this will involve guest participation and the host will typically undertake the role of mediator, which is an important distinction to make in considering how the talk show operates as a media experience (Tolson, 2001, p.7). To this end, Tolson asserts that â€Å"if the talk show is the most controversial TV genre then much academic commentary seems impelled to line up either for or against the terms of the controversy (2001, p.7).

Implementation of an Industrial Hygiene Program Research Paper

Implementation of an Industrial Hygiene Program - Research Paper Example This essay will provide a hygiene program for pharmaceuticals with a focus on handling of hazardous chemicals and other raw materials for the manufacture or research and development of drugs. R&D and work areas for pharmaceuticals are one of the most dangerous places for operators and workers, if these are not adequately designed and control systems are not properly in place. Providing a hygiene system for pharmaceutical laboratories is therefore a challenging task. Pharmaceuticals produce small groups of high-potency active ingredients. These compounds pose risks to persons who are involved in the manufacturing. The chemicals are potentially toxic, can cause cancer, â€Å"teratogenic, mutagenic,† and are really dangerous even in small amounts (Fay & Phillips, 2002). In controlling chemicals, there must be a protective barrier between the chemical and the person handling the chemical. There are acceptable working conditions in the handling of chemicals, for example pharmaceutical ingredients, agricultural chemicals particularly herbicides and pesticides, dyes and pigments, and other chemicals such as radioisotopes and intermediates. In the development of procedures and equipment to protect persons handling the chemicals, there are two steps that should be followed. First, there must be a method of control. Second, how to attain the methods and how to attain them must be formulated. Analytical chemistry is used in determining smaller quantities and this can be attained through new computer applications or software. The company should provide an effective design and layout of the work area that is conducive to a clean and effective work environment. Designated areas for hazardous chemicals have to be clearly separate from other rooms designated for offices. Proper handling of materials should be the order of the day. Training of personnel who will handle sensitive materials and chemicals should be a part of the procedures. Training should be conducted by

Finance and Financial Management assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Finance and Financial Management - Assignment Example hat; organization is a place where in different departments work together in order to contribute in the long run productivity of the company as a whole (Lauby, 2005). Among number of departments work in an organization, the name of finance department is one of them, which has its own recognition and importance from the standpoint of a company as it deals with the management of the funds of the company as a whole. Among different functions and operations, usually initiated by the finance department, the name of capital budgeting is one of them. The main theme of this paper is to analyze the capital budgeting stance of the company, mentioned in the case study as a whole. There are total four questions that require being answered accordingly in this particular report. The essence of investment is extremely important from the viewpoint of an organization and there are number of methods from which an organization can analyze the stance of investment as well as appraisal in a perfect and efficient manner. Under the nose of Investment Appraisal, the name of methods like NPV, IRR, Payback and PI comes heavily and each and every method has its recognition and importance as far as analyzing the competitiveness is concerned. Mentioned below table is showing the cash flow which would have been generated by Bodmin Plc by considering the above cost benefit analysis. Net Present Value (NPV) is one of the most important methods, used for the purpose of Capital Budgeting (Lawrence J. Gitman, 2008). Net Present Value analyzes the future cash flow at the present time. The table of NPV is mentioned below, Internal Rate of Return (IRR) is yet another important methods that use in the process of capital budgeting. IRR is a point where in the future cash flow of a project or a company becomes zero (Bryman A, Bell E, 2007). Apart from the NPV, this particular method also used heavily by the companies and the analysis is mentioned below, A method that analyzes the efficiency of a

Implementation of an Industrial Hygiene Program Research Paper

Implementation of an Industrial Hygiene Program - Research Paper Example This essay will provide a hygiene program for pharmaceuticals with a focus on handling of hazardous chemicals and other raw materials for the manufacture or research and development of drugs. R&D and work areas for pharmaceuticals are one of the most dangerous places for operators and workers, if these are not adequately designed and control systems are not properly in place. Providing a hygiene system for pharmaceutical laboratories is therefore a challenging task. Pharmaceuticals produce small groups of high-potency active ingredients. These compounds pose risks to persons who are involved in the manufacturing. The chemicals are potentially toxic, can cause cancer, â€Å"teratogenic, mutagenic,† and are really dangerous even in small amounts (Fay & Phillips, 2002). In controlling chemicals, there must be a protective barrier between the chemical and the person handling the chemical. There are acceptable working conditions in the handling of chemicals, for example pharmaceutical ingredients, agricultural chemicals particularly herbicides and pesticides, dyes and pigments, and other chemicals such as radioisotopes and intermediates. In the development of procedures and equipment to protect persons handling the chemicals, there are two steps that should be followed. First, there must be a method of control. Second, how to attain the methods and how to attain them must be formulated. Analytical chemistry is used in determining smaller quantities and this can be attained through new computer applications or software. The company should provide an effective design and layout of the work area that is conducive to a clean and effective work environment. Designated areas for hazardous chemicals have to be clearly separate from other rooms designated for offices. Proper handling of materials should be the order of the day. Training of personnel who will handle sensitive materials and chemicals should be a part of the procedures. Training should be conducted by

Respiratory Muscle Training for Cervical Spinal Cord Injury Essay

Respiratory Muscle Training for Cervical Spinal Cord Injury - Essay Example Several articles would be used as a way of finding conclusive statement that would be aimed to be a solution to the several problems associated with patient with spinal cord injuries. The other methodology applied in training of patient with spinal cord injury is use of simple breathing device. The effect of these devices would ensure improved respiratory function as a result of the increased strength of the expiratory muscles. The training includes a repeated action by patients through the expiratory muscle training equipment with focuses being laid on the voluntary nature of the patients while in some instances the patients would need to endure a compulsory training session. The focus of the devices according to Roth et al(2010) the training that deploys a low resistance levels would result in improved pulmonary functions which are essential to patients with spinal cord injury. The article also indicate the effectiveness of the resistance training group as compared to the sham model of training The levels of cough according the article are an indicator of the strength of the expiratory muscle which is subject to the training and improvement for the pulmonary fu nctions. Both Silveira et al (2010) and Roth et al (2010) indicates two modes of training with both articles indicating a sitting position to be the preferred method while carrying out the training to people with spinal cord injuries. Roth et al (2010) indicate the effectiveness of the resistance training group as compared to the sham model of training. There is a relationship between trainer and the outcome to quadriplegic patients. The mode of training will involve inspirational training at low loads which would indicate the patient being subjected to conditions of about 30 percent of MIP (Silveira et al, 2010 P 317). The article indicates an improved 20% for the 8 weeks training period for sitting patient Upon attaining the required load

Strategic implementation process

Strategic implementation process Implementing Strategies the step that differentiates between success and failure of strategic planning. Abstract To discuss in detail, the strategic implementation process and also to understand the management and operational nuances of a successful implementation. The topic spans across vital tools such as annual objectives, organizational structure, reengineering, performance culture and process improvements. The research paper also brings out the challenges of implementation, which are much complex to solve, and makes it even more difficult to implement the formulated strategies. This research also authenticates the fact that there is a pre-requirement for special set of programs/ initiatives etc to prepare an organization towards change in the terms of peoples acceptance towards the new implementation. (www.csuchico.edu/mgmt/strategy/module/sld044.html) Literature Review The strategy management process does not end when the firm decides what strategy to pursue. There must be a translation of strategic thought into strategic action. This translation is much easier if the managers and the employees of the firm understand the business, feels as part of the company, committed to the organizations strategic intent. Implementing a strategy affects the firm from top to bottom; it also affects all the functional/ divisional areas of business. Even the most technically perfect strategy plan will serve little purpose if it is not implemented. Many organizations tend to spend an inordinate amount of money, time and resources in developing strategic plans; but lets them wither out once change or uncertainty creeps in, failure of implementation is not only a setback but erodes the confidence of the firm and brings it back to worse than the pre-strategic scenarios leading to management failure and organization chaos. Research Aims Objectives Startegy formulation concepts and tools do not differ greatly between small, large or bigger firms, but the implementation varies substantially among different types and sizes of organizations. As the implementation will affect many aspects of the organization like the altering of sales territories, expanding financial budgets, changes in the pricing model, developing new employee benefits, establishing cost-control procedures, changing marketing approaches, building on infrastructures for ehnaced products and services, better management information systems, launching new organization wide development projects and initiatives. This research paper exactly focusses on these aspects and try to elucidate the managerial and operational perspectives in breif details with respect to strategy implementation. Research Methodology An individual project research covering many corporate strategies internet links, strategic business books, executive management journals, the Harvard Business Review magazines and various case studies. Some articles were also used as references in the Strategy Focused Organization written by the Robert Kaplan David Norton duos. Few were read from various SEM websites, through the search engine Google. It is more of a desktop based literature research and translating the understanding into research paper/ article. Discussion Management Perspectives The transition from formulation to implementation requires a shift un responsibility from strategists to divisional/ functional managers. Managers and employees are motivated more on perceived self-interest than organizational interest, hence it is essential for the top management to translate these goals in alignment with their personal/ functional goals, so a message is sent across that achieving these small set of goals leads to achieve the super ordinate organizational goals. These will let the management focus on establishing annual objectives and then breaking them down to functional objectives, devising policies and procedures to act as a general guideline for steering the functionalities, followed by allocating resources (material, money and men), restructuring and regrouping if necessary to align to the need of the organizations strategy, structured communication programs to reduce resistance for change, revising the rewards and the incentives plans, developing a strategic s upport culture, adapting to synergetic operational and production processes and developing an effective HR function. Management changes are necessarily more extensive when strategies to be implemented move a firm in a major new direction. The managers should start involving in strategy implementation process right from the early stages so as to maintain the commitment towards the end results and transfer the confidence to grass root level so that their team members are also motivated to work towards the agreed objectives both functional and organizational. Top-down flow of communication is essential for developing bottom-up support. Every employee should be able to benchmark his/her efforts against best-in-class competitors so that the challenge becomes personal, on the other hand the firm should provide the best training for both managers and employees to ensure that they have to acquire and maintain skills necessary to be world-class performers. Strategic management should not become self-perpetuating bureaucratic mechanism. Rather it must be a reflective learning process that familiarizes managers and employers in the organization with key strategic issues and feasible alternatives for resolving those issues. It must not become ritualistic, stilted, orchestrated or too formal, predictable and rigid. Always remember to keep the strategic management process simple but effective, jargon-free but content rich. Words supported by numbers should be represented as the medium for explaining strategic issues and organizational responses. A key role of strategist is to facilitate continuous organization change and learning that enhances the next perspective production operations (HR, Learning, Culture and Leadership aspects as well). Discussion Production/ Operations (Learning, HR) Perspective The production or operations perspective constitute more than 70% of the firms total routine strategy or operational strategy. These limitations can significantly enhance the risk of non-attainment of the desired objectives as they are back bone of the business development/ market expansion focuses of the organization. Production related decisions on plant size, plant locations, product design, choice of equipments, kind of tooling, size of inventory, inventory control, quality control, cost control, use of standards, job specialization, employee training, equipment and resource utilizations, shipping and packaging and technological innovations can have a dramatic impact on the success or failure of strategy-implementation efforts. Factors that should be studied before locating production facilities include the availability of resources, make or outsource decisions, margin of production costings, the location of major markets, political risks in the area/ region. For high technology companies, production costs may not be as important as production flexibilities because major product changes can happen more frequently. This also results in cross-training of employees in various production platforms leading to: Reduction in substantial investments in training learning activities. Workers skill level gets cross-pollinated and resulting in higher efficiency. It can reduce the thrust of managers responsibility in training/ and make them focus more towards coaching and mentoring. It reduces time gaps and hence gains on productivity levels are easily expected. You have to understand your industry well to develop the connection between process improvements and outputs achieved. Take three divisional examples of cycle-time measurement, a common process measure. For much of our defense business, no premium is earned for early delivery. And the contracts allow for reimbursement of inventory holding costs. Therefore, attempts to reduce inventory or cycle times in this business produce no benefit for which the customer is willing to pay. The only benefits from cycle time or inventory reduction occur when reduction in factory-floor complexity leads to real reductions in product cost. The output performance targets must be real cash savings, not reduced inventory levels or cycle times. In contrast, significant lead-time reductions could be achieved for our packaging machinery business. This improvement led to lower inventory and an option to access an additional 35% of the market. In this case, the cycle-time improvements could be tied to specific targets for increased sales and market share. It wasnt linear, but output seemed to improve each time we improved throughput times. And in one of our agricultural machinery businesses, orders come within a narrow time window each year. The current build cycle is longer than the ordering window, so all units must be built to the sales forecast. This process of building to forecast leads to high inventory-more than twice the levels of our other businesses-and frequent overstocking and obsolescence of equipment. Incremental reductions in lead time do little to change the economics of this operation. But if the build cycle time could be reduced to less than the six-week ordering time window for part or all of the build schedule, then a breakthrough occurs. The division can shift to a build-to-order schedule and eliminate the excess inventory caused by building to forecasts. In this case, the benefit from cycle-time reductions is a step-function that comes only when the cycle time drops below a critical level. So here we have three businesses, three different processes, all of which could have elaborate systems for measuring quality, cost, and time but would feel the impact of improvements in radically different ways. With all the diversity in our business units, senior management really cant have a detailed understanding of the relative impact of time and quality improvements on each unit. All of our senior managers, however, understand output targets, particularly when they are displayed with historical trends and future targets. The concept of learning organization (cultural intervention in strategy) is emphasized here as part of the changing business model to suit the strategic intent. Learning organizations are characterized by total employee involvement in a process of collaboratively conducted, collectively accountable change directed towards shared values or principles. (Watkins and Marsick 1992: 118). The basic rationale for such organizations is that in situations of rapid change only those that are flexible, adaptive and productive will excel. For this to happen, it is argued, organizations need to discover how to tap peoples commitment and capacity to learn at all levels. While all people have the capacity to learn, the structures in which they have to function are often not conducive to reflection and engagement. Furthermore, people may lack the tools and guiding ideas to make sense of the situations they face. Organizations that are continually expanding their capacity to create their future requi re a fundamental shift of mind among their members. When you ask people about what it is like being part of a great team, what is most striking is the meaningfulness of the experience. People talk about being part of something larger than them, of being connected, of being generative. It becomes quite clear that, for many, their experiences as part of truly great teams stands out as singular periods of life lived to the fullest. Some spend the rest of their lives looking for ways to recapture that spirit. For Peter Senge, real learning gets to the heart of what it is to be human. We become able to re-create ourselves. This applies to both individuals and organizations. Thus, for a learning organization it is not enough to survive. Survival learning or what is more often termed adaptive learning is important indeed it is necessary. But for a learning organization, adaptive learning must be joined by generative learning, learning that enhances our capacity to create The learning organizations require a new view of leadership. He sees the traditional view of leaders (as special people who set the direction, make key decisions and energize the troops as deriving from a deeply individualistic and non-systemic worldview. At its centre the traditional view of leadership, is based on assumptions of peoples powerlessness, their lack of personal vision and inability to master the forces of change, deficits which can be remedied only by a few great leaders. Against this traditional view he sets a new view of leadership that centers on subtler and more important tasks. In a learning organization, leaders are designers, stewards and teachers. They are responsible for building organizations were people continually expand their capabilities to understand complexity, clarify vision, and improve shared mental models that is they are responsible for learning. Learning organizations will remain a good idea until people take a stand for building such organizations. Taking this stand is the first leadership act, the start of inspiring (literally to breathe life into) the vision of the learning organization, which is also part of the structural intervention, a part of planned change or Organization Development. Conclusion Successful Strategy formulation does not at all guarantee successful strategy implementation, although they are sequential in nature, but the latter simply means the change actually. It is widely agreed that the real work starts after strategies are formulated. It is sometimes frightening to think a single individual, a system failure, a process hiccup or a disturbing structure would completely sabotage the success of the strategic implementation and achievement of the agreed objectives. So the actual grounds have to prepare in terms of managing human resources and political relationships, creating a strategy supporting conducive climate/ culture, adapting to the right kind of systems, operations and processes. Depending on the size and type of the organization other management issues could be equally important to successful strategic implementation. References Dale McConkey, Planning in a Changing Environment, Business Horizons, September October 1988; 66. S. Ghoshal C.A. Bartlett, Changing the role of management beyond structure to processes, HBR 73, 1(1995); 88 90. www.hbr.org How important is personal goal alignment in Strategic Objectives, article by Thomas Strickland in 1998 (White Papers Category). Richard Brown, Outsider CEO: Inspiring changes with force and grace, USA Today (July 19, 1999): 3B. H. Igor Ansoff, Strategic Management of Technology, Journal of Business Strategy 7, no: 3 (Winter 1987); 38. Jack Duncan, Management (New York Random House, 1983): 381-390. Translating strategies into action, course notes on published by HBS Feb 1990. Robert Waterman Jr. How the better get best?, Business Week (September 14th 1987): 104-105. Implementing Strategies: Management Operations Issue, Fred R. David, South Carolina University, 2006 Prentice Hall Edition, 245 261. T. Deal A. Kennedy, Culture: A new look through the old lenses, Journal of Applied Behavioral Sciences 19, no:4 (1983), 498 504. Peter Senge on Learning Organizations in the American Management Journal, (Senge 1990: 340) Harris Dawn, Constance E. Helfat and Paul J Wolfson the pipeline to the top, the Academy of Management Perspectives 20, No: 4 (2006); 42. James C Wimbush, Spotlight on Human Resources Management, Business Horizon 49, No: 6 (Nov-Dec 2006); 433 Robert Simons, Control in the Age of Empowerment, Harvard Business Review (March-April 1995); 80. Readings from Strategic Management by Charles W.L. Hill Gareth R. Jones, 4th Reprinted 2000 Millennium Edition.

Existentialism :: Philosophy Sartre Existentialist Essays

Existentialism 'Existence precedes essence'. These are the few words that many people live by. These words describe a philosophy called Existentialism. The philosophical term, Existentialism, came from Jean Paul Sartre, a French philosopher. Jean Paul Sartre wrote 'No Exit', where he portrayed his philosophy negatively. On the other hand, Albert Camus, who wrote The Stranger, portrayed Existentialism positively through his characters. Each author uses the characteristics of Existentialism positively or negatively to define their own story as well as their characters as true Existentialists or not   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Existentialism has been described as a philosophical movement especially of the 20th century that stresses the individual position as self determining agent responsible for his or her own choices. Basically a true Existentialist will create their own beliefs, take responsibility for his of her own actions, and is very honest. If they were to do something wrong, they would take responsibility for their actions and not make excuses or put the blame on someone else. Furthermore, a true existentialist believes there is no God and thus man becomes alone with only ourselves as a guide to making the decisions that define our existence. They also believe that Life has no meaning and that everything happens by chance.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jean-Paul Sartre examines the basic themes of existentialism through his three characters Garcin, Inez, and Estelle. Garcin seems to appear an existentialist, but upon a closer look, he violates the rules time and again. Next, Inez seems to fully understand ideas deemed existential. Estelle is the third person, and does not seem to understand these ideas well, nor does she accept them when they are first presented to her. One similarity amongst the three is that they all at some point seem to accept that they are in "hell" for a reason.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Garcin is "hell" because he beat his wife and cheated on her. However, he doesn?t wish he had acted differently. He shows and proves this when he says: ?I tell you I regret nothing (p. 24).? By saying this, Garcin is taking responsibility for his own actions; hence he is following the laws of Existentialism. However, he sometimes violates these laws. For example, he is so preoccupied with the idea that he is a coward that he makes the women tell him that he wasn?t a coward and makes her tell him that he was right in doing so. He is so dependent upon this that he wouldn?