Monday, November 4, 2019

CROSS-CULTURAL NEGOTIATION RESEARCH PAPER Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

CROSS-CULTURAL NEGOTIATION - Research Paper Example They intend to discuss a joint venture in which the softwares provided by FEC will be integrated with the hardware of Zhang & Co and will be marketed globally. It should be noted, that I have been hired as a consultant only by Mr. Wang. All the recommendations mentioned in the consulting document are meant for my client only. Mr. Ansel or his team would not have any access to my document. I would like to express my gratitude for your consideration to seek my help in order to devise your negotiation strategy with your French counterpart Mr. Ansel. I have put in a lot of effort to ensure that this consulting document proves to be helpful for you in order to identify the differences and similarities which lie between French and Chinese negotiating styles. After reading the provided comprehensive view of both the cultures, which entails detailed analysis of business culture, communication styles, societal culture and many other important aspects, you would be able to identify and understand the key distinctions and would have a fair idea of Mr. Ansel’s negotiating strategy. After provision of this basic comprehension of differences, I have identified various potential challenges that you might have to face while your negotiating process. The problems have been identified and listed so that you are cautious and pre-notified of potential pitfalls and can respond to them efficiently during actual settings. Lastly, I have listed specific recommendations for you, so that you can build a long-term relationship with Mr. Ansel which would ultimately benefit your joint venture. Tan pan is the Chinese word for negotiation, and is a combination of character meaning â€Å"to judge† and â€Å"to discuss† (Neidel). Most of the Westerners are often advised to speak short sentences, wear conservative suits or to bring their own interpreters to ace negotiations with Chinese counterparts. These advises might prove to be handy to get a

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Build your own Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Build your own - Essay Example An Intel Iris Graphic is what I also added to the package. The retina display is truly amazing as it captures every sentimental moment of graphics in which I can enjoy movies and games. I think this Mac Book Pro is a great PC as it has amazing graphics. I wanted a machine that would allow me to have a lot of storage capacity, which made me push for 16GB. The 16GB was perfectly suited for me as I can store pictures, documents, and videos. Traditionally they come in 8 or 4GB. Moreover, a built-in battery that would allow me to charge for 9 hours. I opted for the 15-inch display, which was a better option. The 1TB flash storage came standard and was sufficient for my needs. My flash doesn’t have any moving parts, which makes it super durable and quiet. The storage was perfect for all-around luxury that I wanted. Another great feature I wanted in my machine was the two Thunderbolt 2 ports, two USB 3 ports, and an HDMI port. An HDMI port is a necessary for any Mac user who wants to connect to their television. Without a traditional optical drive, there’s room for ports conveniently located on both sides of the notebook. One of the best features that I wanted was the retina drive because it allowed me to have amazing graphics. I enhanced the MacBook Pro with PCIe-based flash storage. One of the greatest features I like about the Mac is the variety of applications that it offers. The MacBook comes with exotic applications that have many functions to the users. Every MAC comes with apps for creativity that are utilized for productivity. As a matter of fact, I also opted out for Iris Pro Graphics and advanced NVIDIA graphics. The NVIDIA graphics card is an excellent choice for video and photography.   I also opted for a 2880 x 1800 resolution on the 15‑inch MacBook  Pro so I can view movies in HD since I have Netflix. One of the things I always wanted MacBook Pro was Logic Pro X is an advanced music production application. This

Thursday, October 31, 2019

FDIC takes the Banks back Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

FDIC takes the Banks back - Research Paper Example The following brief discussion will focus on the FDIC and its second mission, to reduce the economic disruptions caused by bank failures. Specifically, the role of the FDIC in the recent spate of bank closures will be examined. In conclusion the FDICs intervention in the bank failures will be critically analyzed to determine its impacts, or lack thereof, on the American economy during the recent economic crisis popularly known as the Great Recession. Written in the 1980s the FDIC official history described American banks as â€Å"more closely regulated than in any other nation.† (â€Å"The First Fifty Years†) In the quarter century since that volume was written the situation changed significantly. American banks underwent a comprehensive process of deregulation that climaxed during the former Republican administration. In 2007 Philip E Strahan summarized the effects of more than a decade of deregulation: â€Å"Interest rate ceilings on deposits were phased out in the early 1980s; state usury laws have been weakened because banks may now lend anywhere; and limits to banks’ ability to engage in other financial activities have been almost completely eliminated, as have restrictions on the geographical scope of banking.† He also praised the positive impacts of deregulation. It â€Å"allowed banks to offer better services to their customers at lower prices. As a result, the real economy—Main Street as it were—seems to have benefited† and â€Å"Overall economic growth accelerated following deregulation.† (Strahan, 2007) Strahan was a firm proponent of the stimulative effect of banking deregulation. He also saw its benefits being distributed throughout society and including, notably, Main Street. When Strahans remarks were published in the influential, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Reviews July/August issue in 2007.

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Air traffic control Essay Example for Free

Air traffic control Essay Situation 1: Adapted from WAFBLA â€Å"Everyone Else Does It! † Ethics Project You have been struggling in your Engineering Models class. The content does not come easily, so you have put in countless hours to understand and do the assignments. There is another student who breezes through the assignments, getting high marks for the work he turns in. You know for a fact that he has used his college-aged cousin to do some of the assignments for him. You don’t know how many assignments were turned in this way, but you are certain that he, in fact, did not do all the work. Your frustration increases over the last assignment that you worked overtime on, but did poorly. Of course, this other student scored well on the same assignment. You drop the teacher an anonymous note about the implied cheating on the part of this other student. Questions: 1) What do you believe are the ethical issues related to this situation? Not being prepared to turn in the assignment. Trying to use someone elses work as your own. | 2) Write an argument supporting the actions taken. Be sure to tie your response to one of the ethical frameworks discussed. This is the rights approach as you are telling the teacher that another student is not turning in his actual work. This will make the challenge of the assignment fair for everyone. | 3) Write an argument against the actions taken. Be sure to tie your response to one of the ethical frameworks discussed. You should just let the other student do what he wants to and tell him that he won’t be able to get help when he does the exam. | 4) Were you in this situation, what would your response be? Why? I would also tell the teacher that he is cheating so that it would be fair for everyone who turns in their homework. | Situation 2: Occidental Engineering Author: Michael McFarland, S. J. Wayne Davidson is a software engineer in the aerospace division of Occidental Engineering, a large engineering firm. For the past two years he has been working as a test engineer for Operation Safe Skies, a project to build a prototype of the next generation air traffic control system. This project, which is funded by a contract from the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA), is a very important one for Occidental. With all the cutbacks in defense spending, the aerospace division has been losing business. The Safe Skies project has provided much needed business, and could lead to a much larger contract if successful. Mindful of its strategic importance, the company had bid very aggressively for the original contract. In fact they had low-balled it, bidding less than it would take to do the work properly. They felt that was the only way they could beat out their competitors, who were just as hungry for the work. Because of their somewhat shaky financial position, the company was not willing to take a loss on the project, so the project has been underfunded and understaffed. Nevertheless those working on the project have made a heroic effort, working eighteen hour days seven days a week to meet the deadline, because they know how much it means to the company, not to mention their own jobs. They are now very close to success. A version of the prototype has been completed and turned over to Wayne for testing. He has run extensive simulations on it and found that it works as it should except for one little problem: when there are too many aircraft in the system, it will sometimes lose track of one or more of them. The forgotten aircraft will simply disappear from the screen, there will be no trace of it anywhere, and it will be ignored by all of the collision avoidance and other safety tests. Wayne has been working with the software designers to identify the cause of the problem, and they have traced it to a subtle error in memory allocation and reuse. They are confident that they can fix it, but it will take a month or more to do the redesign, coding and testing. Wayne meets with his boss, Deborah Shepherd, the project manager, to discuss the implications. She tells him that what he is asking for is impossible. The contract requires that the company deliver a fully certified, working version of the software in three days for system integration and test. The government has developed a new, get-tough policy on missed deadlines and cost overruns, and Occidental is afraid that if they miss this deadline, the government will make an example of them. They would be subject to fines and the loss of the remainder of the prototype contract; and they might not be allowed to bid on the contract for the full system. This would have a devastating effect on the aerospace division, resulting in thousands of lost jobs. They consider whether they can do a quick patch to the software before turning it over, but Wayne adamantly refuses to release any code that has not been tested thoroughly. There is always a chance that the patch would interact with some other part of the program to create a new bug. Then well have to deliver the software as is, Deborah says. I cant jeopardize this project or the jobs of my people by missing that deadline. We cant do that! exclaims Wayne. Thats like delivering a car with defective brakes. Dont worry, Deborah reassures him. We have contacts in the FAA, so we know their testing plans. They will do a lot of simulations to make sure the software works with the hardware and has all the functionality in the specs. Then they will do live tests, but only at a small airport, with a backup system active at all times. There is no way they will overload the system in any of this. After that they will have some change requests. Even if they dont, we can give them an updated version of the program. We can slip the bug fix in there. They will never see the problem. Even if they do, we can claim it was a random occurrence that would not necessarily show up in our tests. The important thing is no one is in any danger. Maybe they wont find the bug, but I know its there. I would be lying if I said the system passed all the necessary tests. I cant do that. Anyway, it would be illegal and unprofessional. You can certify that it is safe, because it is, the way they are going to use it. And so he does. In the end Wayne signs off on the software. It is delivered to the FAA and makes it through all the preliminary tests, including live tests at a small airport in the Midwest. As a result of these tests, the FAA requests some changes in the user interface, and when Occidental delivers the new software it includes a robust solution to the problem of the disappearing aircraft. No one outside of Deborahs group ever learns of the problem. In fact Occidentals success with the prototype leads to major contracts for air traffic control software, giving much-needed business to the aerospace division. This saves hundreds of jobs, and allows the company to add hundreds more. Wayne Davidson, however, takes early retirement once the prototype project is finished, in order to write a book on software testing. He feels that the book should have a chapter on ethics, but he can never bring himself to write it. Questions: 1) What do you believe are the ethical issues related to this situation? Lying about a completed project when it isn’t. | 2) Write an argument supporting the actions taken. Be sure to tie your response to one of the ethical frameworks discussed. There was no productive way to get all of the project done, so they had to give what they had. | 3) Write an argument against the actions taken. Be sure to tie your response to one of the ethical frameworks discussed. It wasn’t a good choice because they didn’t tell the company that the project wasn’t finished and handed them an incomplete project. | 4) Were you in this situation, what would your response be? Why? I would ask for more people to help so we could get the project done on the day its due and assign each person a different part to do. |

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Construction Site Safety in Malaysia

Construction Site Safety in Malaysia The coverage of the construction industry is very wide-ranging; it consists of residential construction, commercial building construction, heavy engineering construction, civil engineering, industrial construction and infrastructure. Construction site is considered to be the most hazardous working place. In the construction site, safety and quality are always concerns by the people. In the recent years, construction industry is facing environmental problem due to the pollution and the hazards mostly establish by the construction activities. In Malaysia, the construction industry is acknowledge generating the country development and also improves the country economic. The frequencies of site accidents and property damage which create a great impact to the construction organization. During construction period, when happening of accidents and injuries or deaths of workers will cause delays to the construction project. The delay of the project directly and indirectly will incur the cost. As a result, all the construction organization must provide a good and safe working environment for the workers. 1.3 Background Working in the construction site is very dangerous. Most of the accidents happen in construction site are caused by lack of training, carelessness, communication problem and not following basic safety rule during working in the site.  The company need to comply with any requirements in addition to any security policy is to create them to meet federal, state and local laws. Safety policy and regulations are use to train the construction worker for safety practices and to warning about hazards on the site during construction period. Nowadays, construction site accidents became serious and known is an important to the organization involved. Most of the construction activity is difficult, dangerous, dirty, and considered as dangerous occupations compared with other type of industries. Most of the construction workers need to work in adverse conditions during rain, heat, dust, noise and at night. Some of the construction site accident happen is obvious work with the heavy machinery and scaffolding high above from the ground level. The most serious accidents happen are resulting in injuries and death. The machinery need to be seriously handle and timely monitoring as it may affect the organization in high cost to repair and maintenance the machinery. Beside that the construction company will become bad reputation and need to pay for medical treatment for the construction workers that involved in accident during construction period. When an accident happens, it should be immediate report to the office of Safety and Health department to ensure that the suitability action could be taken by the relevant organization. For the inspection also need to be taken to identify the factors which cause the accident and the way to prevent it from happen again in the future. Construction worker need to report any injuries or accidents to their supervisors or Safety and Health Department. 1.4 Problem Statement Site accident is one of the significant and key issues that seriously happen in the construction site that control its daily operation using machineries at the construction site. The numbers of site accident occurred each year at the construction site and also increasing from every year resulted in variable cost items of the project. If the construction company no way taken for prevention, it can become more serious and bad reputation to the construction company. 1.5 Aim and Objective To study the site safety in construction site during the construction period In the scope of this research, it contains the following objectives: To analysis of type of accident occurrence and causes of accident in the Malaysia construction site To study safety management and hazard in Malaysia construction site To identify the duties of various party of the site safety in construction site Research Methodology A study on site safety in Malaysia construction site To study safety management and hazard in Malaysia construction site To identify the duties of various party of the site safety in construction site To analysis of type of accident occurrence and causes of accident in the Malaysia construction site Stage 1 Literature Reviews (Secondary source) Stage 2 Technique of Data Collection (Primary source, Questionnaires) Stage 3 The Result of Analysis and Findings A case study about the fire protection system in commercial building A set of question will be distribute to the commercial buildings users to dertermine theier knowledge about fire safety An interview would be carry out to the fire safety professional Stage 4 Conclusion and Recommendation Before conducting this assignment, an appropriate method to get the information is determined. Interview We also carry out interview to achieve our research goal. This is reason because it takes place with interviewees known to have been involved on the previous experience on the site safety in construction site in Malaysia. However, it needed to focus on the interviewers that have experiences regarding the site safety. The interview will be carried out face-to-face with 1-10 consultants who having previous experiences of this site safety in construction site. The data collected of interview will be summary and comprise in appendix of my dissertation. Questionnaires The general research approach is based on questionnaires. This is chosen because it will enhance the knowledge for my research topic. The questionnaires will be given out to 1-15 respondents who are the contractor, supervisor, etc that involve in the site safety in construction site. Besides that, this is an effective alternative to interviews because it is enabling to increase the information in my research. Literature Review A literature review is a critical and in depth evaluation of previous research. The main purposes of applying literature review method in my research are to achieve my goal and to convey the knowledge and ideas have been established with regarding to my topic. The literature review serves to demonstrate and more understanding and knowledge of theoretical and research issues related to my topic. Related literature refers to writing in publication such as books, journals, magazines, articles, newspaper and finding information on the internet. Furthermore, literature review helps and guide me to discovered more knowledge and helpful in my research. Case Study Case study consists of a detailed investigation, often with data collected over a period of time, of phenomena, within the context. This method is useful for trying to test theoretical models by using them in real world situations. Basically, a case study is an in depth study of particular situation rather than a statistical survey. The case study is also useful for testing whether scientific theories and models actually work in the real world. Furthermore, I will plan and design how I am going to address the study and make sure that all collected data is relevant to my research topic which is site safety in construction site. 1.7 Scope limitation of study This study focuses on site safety in a Malaysian construction site. On the primary research, I will focus on the case study of according to my objectives which are review the history of accident and study safety management in construction site, and literature review of types of accident and hazard in construction site, duties of various party of the site safety in construction site. For my secondary research, I will do a questionnaire to TAR college SOT lecturers and Construction Company (related to site safety on construction site) in Kuala Lumpur only. The scope of this study is many types; there is literature review due to the quantity of published journals, article, textbooks and the information on the internet so that can find out the information according to my objectives within the limited time frame. Besides that, the construction company which related to site safety in construction site in Malaysia need to get permission so that can go there to visit and get the information about site safety in construction site. 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction The construction site involves a lot of operations which may be dangerous, risky and unhealthy. The number of injuries, accident, and work related illness will contribute to additional costs and delays on projects. Construction site is the most dangerous and hazardous compare with other type of industry. Nowadays, site accident is keep happened in construction site and the accident percentage is kept rising every year. When accident happens in construction site it will cause the project delay and loss of project cost. In this chapter will discuss about the review accident occurrence and safety management in Malaysia construction site. Site safety is very important because when accident happen on construction site not only people injury and also will affect the project in term of cost and time. 2.2 Type of accidents occurrence in Malaysia construction site Site accident is an unplanned, unexpected and uncontrollable occurrence, which results in injury or death to the construction workers damage the equipment. All accidents, regardless of the damage or loss of the nature, should be concerned about. The accidents that not result damage to materials or equipment or injury to worker may presage future of unexpected accidents. Although site accident could not totally prevent from happening but still need to find the way to minimize the rate of accident by providing a safe working conditions and insisting on the use of safe working methods and procedures. In Malaysia, the number of accident occurring at the construction site is keep increasing every year due to the unpredictable reported. So the site accident has captured the attention and concern from the relevant organization. The table 1 show in below is the summary of major accident happen in Malaysia construction site. 2005 2006 2007 2008 1) Tower crane  broke into two  and fell onto  four  Indonesian  construction  workers at a  construction  site building  apartment  located at Batu  14, Puchong. 1) Landslide  occurred at a  construction  site located at  Taman Desa,  Kuala Lumpur  buried; killed a  35 year old  Indonesian  man at about  3.30pm while  he was  working on  some iron steel  beam  foundations  for the five block  609  units  condominium  complexes. 1) Death of two  workers and  severe injuries  on ten workers  at The Pavillion  Kuala Lumpur,  Jalan Bukit  Bintang  construction  site where the  cables of the  workmens lift  at the posh  condominium  and shopping  complex project  snapped and  plummeted 15  metres to the  ground. 1) Two  Malaysian  construction  workers  were buried  alive by  excavated  sand pile in a  3.6m-deep  sewer trench  at Taman  Merbau  phase two  construction  site in  Changlun 2) Iron mould  weighing  almost two  tonnes fell  from 20 storey  condominiums  under  construction  onto Dr. Liew  Boon Horngs  BMW; killed  him and  severely  injured his  wife and the  driver at Plaza  Damas located  along Jalan  Hartamas. 2) Negligence  of three  construction  companies, led  to the death of  another  Indonesian  worker on 15  May 2006  located at Lot  206, Section  63, Lorong  Binjai where a  32-storey of  100 units  apartment was  to be built. 2) Death of two  Malaysian  construction  workers, buried  alive four  meters deep in  a landslide  while working  on the fencing  located at  Taman Merbau  2, Fasa III at  Kubang, Pasu. 2) Twenty  five foreign  workers  escaped  without  major  injuries  when the  structure  they were  standing  gave way in  one of the  construction  sites in  Kuching. 3) Two sides  collapsed of a  bridge that  was under  construction at  3.2 kilometers  of the Klang  Valley  Highway that  caused the  death of two  Bangladesh  workers. 3) One foreign  construction  site worker  died; another  colleague  severely injured  at the  construction  site of the  prestigious KK  Times Square  commercial  complex after  piles of sand  fell on them in  Kota Kinabalu. 4) Three  Indonesian  construction  workers fell  from  scaffolding to  their deaths  when they  slipped from  the top floor of  a 21-storey  condominium  under  construction  and landed on  the fifth floor at  Taman Tampoi  Indah 5) Bricks fell  from the  construction  site in Taman  Bukit Angkasa,  Kerinchi on  several cars  parked at the  nearby flats  during a threehour  downpour 6) Eight huge  concrete beams  with a  measurement of  at least 40m  long and 70  tonnes weight  of an  uncompleted  flyover near  Nilai collapsed,  which narrowly  missed a  motorist and his  aged parents In the construction site, it can be said that there are many different types of accidents occurred at the construction sites everyday during the construction period. The types of accident in construction site, which are scaffolding, fall of people, struck by falling objects and so on. The Department of Occupational Safety and Health Ministry of Human Resources find out the rise of accident occurring almost every month in the year 2007 and 2008. Falling of people Falling of people also is the one of higher percentage happening accidents in the construction site. People working in the construction site has the risk exposed to fall in any place of the site especially at the high level. Most of the worker fall from the higher level mostly resulted in death. The type of accident is always happen in construction which is fall from scaffolding. Causes The people who falling from the higher level because lack of safety measure at the construction site. The workers will not be protected by safety measure when accident occurs. According to the Vincent G. Bush in his Safety in the Construction Industry: OSHA, an incident can result in an accident if fright makes a man take unsafe action. For an example, if one scaffold rope fails, the man may be saved if he just hangs on. The other common causes are: Improper netting for scaffolding cause workers falls from the scaffold. The used of timber ladder is in poor condition. The ladder may broken and cause the worker fall down The ladder is not securely fixed to prevent against slipping and slide movement. Inadequate lighting during construction of basement had caused many falling of construction workers. Cases Cases 1 http://cdn.theborneopost.com/newsimages/A2537.jpg Source: Borneo Post Online December 29,2011, Thursday Construction site Kuching Event The workers body injury after falling down from the scaffolding .The accident happened at around 4pm when his colleague foot support him was standing on suddenly broke, causing him fall to the ground. Consequences: A construction worker was killed. 2.2.3 Prevention For the prevention of fall of people, there are two areas that must be emphasized during construction period. The two areas are: Scaffold protection Every construction worker on a scaffold more than 2 meter above a lower level must be protected from falling to that level; workers on a walkway situated within a scaffold must be protected by the use of a personal fall arrest system or guardrail system. It is important for those workers performing plastering and painting operation for using the scaffold. The guardrail system must be installed along all open sides and end of platforms, and they must be installed completely before the scaffold use by workers. Safety net The safety net must be provided when the workplaces are more than 25 ft above the surface where the use, scaffold, catch platforms, temporary floors and so on. The safety net is required, shall not operate until the net is in place and has been tested. The safety net must extend about 8 ft outside the edge of the work. The employer should provide a safety training program for every worker who might be exposed to fall hazards. The safety training must let every worker to be familiar the hazards of falling order to minimize these hazards. So that employer must assure that every construction worker been trained. Some critical hazard areas at the high-rise building construction like lift shaft and edge of the structure must also provide with a proper guardrail system. 2.3 Struck by falling objects It can be said that the events of struck by falling objects are quite same with the fall of people. The only thing different is falling objects may not necessary cause injured or fatality. Whereas, in fall of people it definitely caused injury or fatal of people. Causes Not proper netting for the scaffolding. Some workers may not hold the tools and equipment properly during superstructure work and cause the tools and equipment fall out from the netting. Falling of scaffolding components during the erection and dismantling. Not carry the work the proper manner. For instance, the workers throw the rubbish directly from the edge of the building at the high level as shown in Appendix. Material fall during handling by the crane due to improper stacking The too heavy load to carry in the handling will cause the broken of rope, where the rope is not able to withstand the loading. Thus falling of material occur. The ropes used in the handling not securely tied are always cause the material fall during the operation. 2.3.5 Causes of Accident Accident dont just happen, they are caused. According to Ridley 99 per cent of the accident are caused by either unsafe acts or unsafe conditions or both (Ridley, 1986). As such, accidents could be prevented. The unsafe act is a violation of an accepted safe procedure which could permit the occurrence of an accident. The unsafe condition is a hazardous physical condition or circumstances which could directly permit the occurrence of an accident. Most accident results from a combination of contributing causes and one or more unsafe acts and unsafe condition. Accident theories and models discussed in the previous section have evolved from merely blaming workers, conditions, machineries into management roles and responsibilities. Nowadays, accident models are being used to better explain the causes of accident so that appropriate actions could be taken to make improvement. However, in order to effect permanent improvement, we must deal with the root causes of accident. A review of the l iterature indicates that finding the factors and causes that influence construction accidents has been the passion of many researchers. Kartam and Bouz (1998) did a study in Kuwaiti construction and noted that the causes of accidents were due to worker turnover and false acts; inadequate safety performance; improper cleaning and unusable materials; destiny; low tool maintenance; supervisory fault; and misplacing objects. Abdelhamid and Everett (2000) conducted a more comprehensive study in the USA and classified the causes into human and physical factors. Human factors were due failed to secure and warn; Failed to wear personal protective equipment (PPE); horseplay; operating equipment without authority; operating at unsafe speed; personal factor; remove safety device; serviced moving and energized equipment; took unsafe position or posture; used defective tool or equipment; and other unsafe action. While, physical factors were due to; unsafe act of another person(s); disregard know n prescribed procedures; defects of accident source; dress or apparel hazard; environmental hazard; fire hazard; hazardous arrangement; hazardous method; housekeeping hazard; improper assignment of personnel; inadequately guarded; public hazard; and other unsafe conditions. Lubega et al (2000) did a study in Uganda and concluded the causes of accidents were mainly due to lack of awareness of safety regulations; lack of enforcement of safety regulations; poor regard for safety by people involved in construction projects; engaging incompetent personnel; non-vibrant professionalism; mechanical failure of construction machinery/equipment; physical and emotional stress; and chemical impairment. Pipitsupaphol and Watanabe (2000) did a study in Thailand construction sites and classified the causes into the most influential factors i.e. unique nature of the industry; job site conditions; unsafe equipment; unsafe methods; human elements; and management factors. They further concluded that major immediate causes were due to failure to use personal protective equipment; improper loading or placement of equipment or supplies; failure to warn co-workers or to secure equipment; and improper use of equipment. Toole (2002) also did a study in the USA and suggested that the causes of accidents were due to lack of proper training; deficient enforcement of safety; safety equipment not provided; unsafe methods or sequencing; unsafe site conditions; not using provided safety equipment; poor attitude toward safety; and isolated and sudden deviation from prescribed behavior. Tam et al (2004) did a study in China and noticed that the causes of accidents were due poor safety awareness from top leaders; lack of training; poor safety awareness of project managers; reluctance to input resources for safety; reckless operation; lack of certified skill labor; poor equipment; lack of first aid measures; lack of rigorous enforcement of safety regulation; lack of organizational commitment; low education level of workers; poor safety conscientiousness of workers; lack of personal protective equipment (PPE); ineffective operation of safety regulation; lack of technical guidance; lack of strict operational pro cedures; lack of experienced project managers; shortfall of safety regulations; lack of protection in material transportation; lack of protection in material storage; lack of teamwork spirits; excessive overtime work for labor; shortage of safety management manual; lack of innovative technology; and poor information flow. 2.3.1 Accident Causation Models The accident causality model is not a new model to determine the root causes of safety problems in the construction and other industries. The accident causation model is a tool that providing better industrial accident prevention program. As described by Heinrich (1980) accident prevention is an integral program, a series of coordinate activities, directed to the control of unsafe personal performance and unsafe mechanical conditions, and based on certain knowledge, attitudes, and abilities. The famous models that were developed that relate to accident causation are namely domino theory that was invented by Heinrich in 1930 and multiple causation theory that was developed by Petersen in 1971. 2.3.4 Human Error Theories The practice of this theory is pointed out that the worker as a major factor in the accident. This theory as mentioned by Abdelhamid (2000) studies the tendency of humans to make mistake in a variety of conditions and circumstances, with the blame mostly fall on human characteristics. This theory does not mean to blame the workers as the main problem for accident, other factors such as workplace design and tasks without considering the limitation of the worker as the reason why accident happened in construction site. The objective of human error theory is to establish a good design of workplace, tasks, and tools that suitable with human limitation. The theory is that it comes to human error theory, which is a model of patterns of behavior and human factors. Most of these theories describe that the human (worker) is the main problem caused an accident happen, which is permanent feature of human and human capacity overload and human conditions that often make mistake. 2.4 Root Causes of Accident The root causes mean the main causes of accident happen in the construction site. There are some roots causes of accident happen in the construction site. The causes of accident can separate in 4 parts, which are: Peoples role Organization and management Nature of construction industry Material and Equipment 2.4.1 Peoples Role 2.4.1.1 Worker Attitude and Behaviour One of the roots causes of an accident is the poor attitude and bad behaviour of the workers which difficult to control (Teo et al., 2005). The original manual workers in the industrialization of agriculture, and reduce the risk of awareness with the construction industry. Furthermore, most of the workers are low educated. Most of them are only concern with the contract wages than importance of personal safety. This negative attitude and behaviour have stimulated most workers not to use the personal protective equipment during working on construction site. The reason of not putting their protective equipments is inconvenient for their operation. Rasmussen (1997) identified that 70%-80% of accidents happened arise from worker attitude and behaviour. 2.4.1.2 Worker Attitude and Behaviour Previous studied have pointed out that the designer play an important role in determined causation of an accident (Gibb, (1999, 2001); McKay et al., 2002; Loughborough University UMIST, 2003; Wright et al., 2003). The accident was mainly due to the widespread use of manual handling. As a result, it introduces a lot of manual handling hazards. For examples, cast in-situ method. Furthermore, the design complexity has dedicated to the causation of accident. The design complexity is referring to the intricate aesthetic qualities. Base on Loughborough University and UMIST (2003) studied, the more complexity of design tend to have a greater potential to influence accident occurrence in workplace. 2.4.2 Organization and Management 2.4.2.1 Poor Management Commitment After the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), (2009b) conducted a survey, the result shown 75% of all fatal accidents in the building and civil engineering industries in the United Kingdom are caused by the ineffective of management. Nowadays, the contractor is more reliance on the insurance, contractor tends to passed most of the damages and liability to insurance company (Lingard H, Rowlinson S, 1997). As a result, contractor may not provide appropriate training and focus on workplace safety and health issues. The workers involved in site activities may not be aware of the danger zone. In some cases, safety and health officers are threatened by their employer no to report an accident to Department Safety and Health (DOSH, 2011). Many accidents do not report because the project manager is trying to cover up their own fault and protect company image. Normally, the safety management process require site supervisor to carry out on-site inspection and prepare a number of safety and health checklist. However, many contractors only put in commitments on paper, act differently in the site (Ding et al., 2000). For examples, the OSHA 1994 personnel protective equipments record in Malaysia. 2.4.2.2 Poor Communication and Coordination In the construction site, the effective communication and information transfer between management and staff are the effective way to reduce the number of accidents. However, there are many site workers came from foreign country. Some of the workforce does not speak and understand native language. As a result, the safety committee need to convey the danger zone and potential accidents may occur on the site. Furthermore, Debrah YA, Ofori G (2001), the large number of involvement of sub-contractor, the possibility of accidents occurrence is increase as well. It is because going to increase the complexity in coordinate and control among the sub-contractor. Besides that, the main contractor may shift the safety responsibility toward sub-contractor without ensure the sub-contractor is capable to provide the safety workplace (Wilson, Kohen E, 2000). 2.4.2.3 Company Size The company size has determined the implementation of safety and health within an organization. The big company has more budget and systematic system in allocation of resources for each department. As a result, the safety and health department have sufficient resources to implement and promote the importance of safety and health at the construction site. Unfortunately, the small company has limited and lack of budgets to implement the effective safety and health approaches within the construction site (Abel Pinto et al., 2001). For examples, a small contractor company cannot afford to provide a set of standard safety equipments for every workforce. A studied by McVittie et al. (1997) indicated that accident rates decrease as the sizes of firms increase. 2.4.2.4 Poor Organization Safety Culture The contractor fails to introduce the culture of safety among the members of the organization. The safety organization chart setup due to the purposes of the law require by the government. However, the safety and health officer does not have mandatory requirement for autonomy in the workplace (Construction Research Institute of Malaysia (CREAM)). It is because some of the safety officer is employee for the contractor and developer. The researchers Diaz and Cabrera (1997) pointed out that an organizational climate is built up through the interaction of organizational factor and individual factors. Many studies had conducted (Coyle, Sleeman, Adams, 1995; Diaz and Cabrera, 1997; Felknor, 1997; Krispin, 1997; Seppala, 1992) the lower the score of a safety climate, the worst the safety performance. It is because the members within an organizational will never pay attention to the safety and health level. Beck Woolfson (1999), emphasize that it is important in control workforce beliefs, attitude and behaviours with regard to safety. As a result, poor organization safety culture is one of the roots causes lead to the occurrence of an accident. 2.4.3 Nature of Construction Industry 2.4.3.1 Economic and Time Pressure Economic and time pressure had come from the high demand in property market (Abel Pinto et al., 2001). The developer required contractor to complete a construction project within a short period of time. In order to complete the project on time, the contractors relax rules and procedure for safety and health. For example, carry out reckless operations. Furthermore, the workforce is required to work overtime. It is easy to cause the accident due to the fatigue of worker (Haslam et al., 2005). 2.4.3.2 Constantly Changing Worksite The construction industry is not same to others type industry. For the manufacture industry, the workers repeat and control the machine every day. However, construction industry involves the movement of manual workers in the workplace (Abel Pinto et al., 2009). The more movement in the site, the possibilities of accident will be keep increasing. 2.4.3.3 Site Restriction A restricted site has implied insufficient space on site. Thus, there is limited space for machine, plant and storage of building material. The restricted site will have been introduced as an unexpected persistent cause of accidents (Gibb, (1999, 2001); McKay et al., 2002; Loughborough University UMIST, 2003; Wright et al., 2003). A congested site condition not only implied of dual processing of work. However, it causes an accident as a result of a worker struck by a moving vehicle (HSE, 2009b). 2.4.3.4 Worker Specialization Every construction project is involved structural, architectural, brick wall, ME and plumbing work. Each kind of

Friday, October 25, 2019

The Role of Nonprofit Organizations in Compensating for Market Failure

The Role of Nonprofit Organizations in Compensating for Market Failure ABSTRACT: This paper reviews three social scientific accounts of the civic sector's role in society: the government failure, contract failure, and voluntary failure theories. All three explain the role of nonprofit organizations as compensating for the market's failure to provide certain collective goods. This approach involves a radical misinterpretation of the underlying principles of civic sector organizations. An account is needed that explains their economy in terms of their normative concerns, rather than explaining normative concerns in terms of their economy. I lay a foundation for such an account by examining (1) the self-understanding among civic sector organizations that they should be "mission-driven," and (2) the implications of this self-understanding for the sector as a "social economy." Whereas "mission-drivenness" calls attention to service-provision, resource-sharing, and open communication as the normative core of civic sector organizations, the notion of a "social economy" suggests a recirculation of money into channels where standard economic logic no longer holds. The key to the civic sector's role lies not in responses to market failure, but in the short-circuiting of a money-driven capitalist economy. Three trends will shape the future of education around the world: the revolution in information technologies, the crisis of the welfare state, and the globalization of a consumer capitalist economy. In the face of such powerful developments on a massive scale, philosophy's efforts toward "educating humanity" (1) can seem both presumptuous and quixotic: presumptuous, because much of philosophy has given up global theorizing of sort ... ...n producers and consumers, or among consumers. (10) Jon Van Tils Mapping the Third Sector: Voluntarism in a Changing Social Economy (Washington, D.C.: Foundation Center, 1988) hints at this, but a communitarian emphasis on building habits of the heart keeps Van Til from pursuing the normative implications of voluntarism for the communication that should characterize such organizations and their relations to the public. (11) Civic sector organizations are under tremendous pressure to bend their communicative capacities for the sake of sales, advertising, marketing, and public relations strategies whose primary objective is the promotion and preservation of the organization itself. While such strategies are necessary, openness suffers when communication subserves these strategies rather than these strategies themselves submitting to tests for open communication.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Psychology and education in the twentieth century Essay

The twentieth century was innovative in a multiplicity of fields, including psychology and education. The attempt to develop the understanding on how humans learn was a challenge upheld by a â€Å"huge and diverse cast of characters† (Harrà ©, 2005: p7), with some so prolific that they didn’t only affect the classroom but â€Å"have left an enduring mark on our understanding of ourselves† (Harrà ©, 2005: p7). For this essay, I will describe and reflect on the theories of Burrhus Fredrick Skinner and Jerome Bruner, particularly focusing on Operant Conditioning and Cognitive Learning and apply them to an educational setting. Jerome Bruner (1915-2016) is renowned as one of the most significant and influential cognitive and constructivist theorists of the twentieth century and specifically developed â€Å"the study of the mental processes of thinking† (Harrà ©, 2005: p49). His initial focus was the development of human cognition but psychology at Harvard, according to Bruner had become â€Å"centrifugal† (Bruner,1983: p252). In turn, this led Bruner to begin his exploration into child cognitive development, heightening the importance of categorization in learning as well as â€Å"challenge the old psychology in the latter years of the 20th century† (Harrà ©, 2005: p.60) Bruner was highly influential in educational thinking, especially after the release of his book â€Å"The Process of Education (1960)† that is now recognized as a classic. Himself and other cognitivist theorists such as Piaget were both interested in child development, and Bruner agreed with Piaget that biological organisation underlies cognitive development but queried whether age ranges were correct in his developmental stage theory and believed that â€Å"it paid insufficient attention to the role of social interaction† (Olson, 2005: p.25). Similarly to Bruner, I do not believe that a child’s age always indicates their level of understanding. Limited description is offered of a child’s learning necessities, capability level, or motivational influences; all of which will have an impact on their understanding. I believe that this is a notion that still hasn’t been explored deeply enough and has a negative impact on our education today, as some students are still failing as the curriculum is generalised â€Å"the exam boards adopt common ways of working† (Ofqal,2017). The Eminent Harvard Psychologist has contributed greatly towards psychology overall, but his works have been most recognized in education; he felt that it was substantial for a learner to attain the fundamental values of a subject – his theory generally expressed that learners develop new ideas and concepts based upon existing knowledge; correspondingly to Piaget, he used three phases to develop his theory on modes of representation (how a learner may think of an object). Each mode is foremost at different stages of development, but all are present throughout the process. The first stage (1-18 months), was termed â€Å"inactive†. Thinking is utterly based on the child’s physical actions rather than their internal thinking. This mode is continuously seen in the later years, an example of that would be when a child is learning how to get dressed for school or ride a bike. The second mode begins to develop when a child reaches 18 months and was named â€Å"iconic†, and is mainly obtained via pictures or icons. These are mainly based on the five senses (hear, touch, smell, visualise). In an educational setting, diagrams and/or illustrations are often useful when introducing a new topic. The third stage, mainly reached at the age of 6 is â€Å"symbolic† and is primarily based on the use of symbols. Language also serves the purpose of regulation in this stage; as children develop, they shift from being external to being internal in cognitive processes. Using language as a symbol is essential to develop the capacity to think in abstract terms. Based on this three-stage notion, Bruner recommended using a combination of concrete, pictorial and then symbolic activities which will lead into more effective learning. This remains true even for adult learners. The theory is conceptually useful in teaching, as it allows staff to engage with all learners regardless of their cognitive level. With a range of supplies (study materials, activities, and tools), a new topic can be taught easily as it can begin as a concrete representation, and eventually end as an abstract one. This also provides learners something they can return to if they come across any problems with the matter. A primary example would be to engross the learners to do physically create 3D shapes. The following exercise would be an illustration of a shape, and the names of the shapes would aurally be read out and explained by the tutor. Thirdly, the learners should discuss the concept of the lesson and discuss any findings. Not only is this a far more gradual and realistic way of learning, I believe it also encourages motivation; something Bruner felt strongly about â€Å"The act of grasping the meaning, significance or structure of a problem or a situation without explicit re liance on the analytic apparatus of one’s craft† (Bruner, 1966: p.) For Bruner, the purpose of education is not to impart knowledge, but instead to facilitate a child’s thinking and problem solving skills which can then be transferred to a range of situations. Bruner’s notions and concepts have been rejected and critiqued by other theorists. For example, Piaget trusts that patience is necessary to reach the stage where a child is ready, whereas Jerome Bruner believes that the speed of cognitive development process can be increased if necessary. Unlike Piaget who was â€Å"resistant to criticism, sticking to a fixed position in the face of theoretical objections and empirical refutations† (Harrà ©, 2005: p57), Bruner was â€Å"unafraid of words like mind, and expectation, and perception, and meaning† (Miller, 2003: p.142). Bruner places a broader focus on his theory and attempts to be more open-minded and take a variety of studies into account