Adversary vs. Civil Law Essay

The two legal systems in question are the adversary system, most commonly practiced in the United States, and the civil law system, also referred to as the inquisitorial system, most commonly practiced in European countries. Both systems have the same goal; to find the truth. However, each system has a very different path to justice. The adversarial system implies that two parties assume opposite positions in debating the guilt or innocence of an individual. In this scenario, the judge is required to be neutral at the contest unfolding before him or her. The role of the judge in this arrangement is to ensure the trial proceeds according to the procedural rules of trial or due process of law and that evidence entered is done so accordingly. The basis of this approach in criminal matters in which two sides engage in debate and battle about the guilt or innocence of an accused and since each side wants to win, then the debate will foster a critical look at the issues and the evidence to be examined by both parties. See more:Â  Masters of Satire: John Dryden and Jonathan Swift Essay By engaging in this discourse, the truth should emerge as the judge watches on. This means that the roles played on both sides are very distinct. The defense counsel as one adversarial party gather the arguments to defend the client and attacks the credibility and worthiness of the evidence presented. The prosecutor puts forth the arguments on behalf of the state and gathers and presents the evidence pointing that the accused has committed an offense. The judge is the referee and arbitrator on issues related to clarifying what the law is. The judge does not intervene on any side except where procedural fairness is jeopardized by either party as dictated by the Sixth Amendment. In an inquisitorial system, a judge is involved in the preparation of evidence along with the police and in how the various parties are to present their case at the trial. The judge questions witnesses in depth and can even call witnesses to appear while prosecution and defense parties can ask follow up questio ns. The judge plays the central role in finding the truth and all the evidence that either proves the innocence or guilt of the accused before the court. The judge takes on the role of prosecutor and judge in the inquisitorial system. Some other major distinctions is that there are no jury trials in an inquisitorial system and a judge can force an accused to make statements and answer questions. This differs dramatically from the common law and adversarial right not to take the stand in one’s own defense. In my opinion, I prefer an adversarial system. I think it does a better job of protecting the rights of those accused of crime than does the inquisitorial system. One of the key reasons for this is the use of juries in an adversarial system. In an inquisitorial system, judges determine the facts, and then make their decision. Often a small number of judges would make that decision, and perhaps even just one man. In contrast, a jury is made up of 12 people, not always which a llows for a broader range of experiences and opinions, which ought to secure more consideration of what has been proved. Another weakness of the inquisitorial system is the role that the judges play. Not only do they act as the judge and the jury, they will often act as prosecutors. This is a huge conflict of interest, and is extremely harmful to the accused. A judge who is also acting as a prosecutor is not going to be unbiased, and will not act as a neutral decision maker. In an adversarial system, however, the prosecutor is separate from the judge, and appears before the judge like any other lawyer. The United State could never use the civil law system because of Constitutional problems. For instance, to avoid putting responsibility for the search of truth in the hands of judicial agents of the state the Sixth Amendment guarantees the right to trial by jury but of course civil law countries generally do not use juries except for certain countries in capital cases. Other rights include the right to effective council; to testify on his/her behalf; to compel the testimony of others; to confront accusers; and the right to cross examination. The Fifth Amendment privilege of self-incrimination further limits the powers of the states. Good job identifying multiple c onstitutional problems and pointing out where the protections are found in the Constitution. Case in Point: State of New Mexico v Valdez, 95 N.M 70 (Supreme Ct. of N.M., 1980) underline or italicize case name The defendant in this case, Richard Valdez, had been convicted of armed robbery in a district court. He appealed since a fellow inmate, Richard Garcia, had confessed to the crime in front of his former attorney, Alice Hector, who was a public defender. Also present during the confession was Garcia’s attorney, a public defender under Hector, the district public defender. This attorney warned Garcia that Hector was not his attorney and any statement Garcia made would be used at the defendant’s trial and could be detrimental to his own interests. Garcia repeated his confession to Hector and indicated his willingness to testify on defendant’s behalf. Garcia later changed his mind and exercised his Fifth Amendment right refusing to testify. The court upheld an o bjection to Hector’s testimony of the confession based on attorney-client privilege. Although Ms. Hector was not directly involved in the representation of Garcia, her staff was, and all information obtained by them was thereby imputed to her.

Competitive Advantage and Objectives Analysis Essay

Competitive advantage and objectives analysis go hand in hand in determining how marketers will determine product positioning. The main goal of a marketer is to create the image of the company or the product brand. Then the job becomes establishing or positioning the same image or brand into the target market. Positioning is putting the concept into the minds of the prospective consumer. It is important for a marketer to understand the different types of analysis and know how to compare the strengths and weaknesses of each type of analysis. In the following paper a comparison of this analysis will be introduced and explained. Different Types of Analysis Used Product Positioning Product positioning analysis is an important step in the marketing plan. Product positioning is when marketers design and image and value so that consumers in the target market understand how the product is important to them. The goal of marketers is to develop the image so it appeals to consumers and builds the competitive advantage. Product positioning is like the tactical factor or analysis that is part of the overall marketing strategy. It is important when developing the positioning strategy that each part of the mix is incorporated including price, how the product will be distributed, what type of advertising will be used, and most important how well will after – sell customer service be generated. Level Two Heading Replace the level two heading with the words for your heading. The heading must be in bold font. Read more about APA headings on the APA Style Blog. Conclusion The closing paragraph is designed to bring the reader to your way of thinking if you are writing a persuasive essay, to understand relationships if you are writing a comparison/contrast essay, or simply to value the information you provide in an informational essay. The closing paragraph summarizes the key points from the supporting paragraphs without introducing any new information. References This is a hanging indent. To keep the hanging indent format, triple click your mouse on this line of text and replace the information with your reference entry. You can use the Reference and Citation Examples (Center for Writing Excellence>Tutorials and Guides>Reference and Citation Examples) to help format your source information into a reference entry. The reference page always begins on the top of the next page after the conclusion.

Internet Based Home Control System Essay

We viewed development as a process of change and a continuous learning.. Technological and institutional change or capabilities are at the heart of this process. Technology is much more than an ingredient in development strategies; it is a conditioning element of their viability. As technology rapidly changes, it sets the condition that generates development opportunities. Development becomes one of the learning that benefit from such changing opportunities. While learning is within a single technological revolution, a new technological revolution would constitute major discontinuities and shifts in the direction of change, providing new opportunities for learning and catching up. Technology is at the heart of the innovative process, and it has become a tool for amplifying brainpower. It further brings about changes within and among institutions and accelerates the rate of innovation. Steve Ballmer[1], CEO of Microsoft’s Corporation stressed that the number one benefit of technology is that it empowers people to do what they want to do, letting people be creative and productive Thus, through new technology, a little creativity, and a lot of thinking, we have begun to produce home appliances control system that makes anything possible for the people especially elderly and handicapped to live by themselves and meet their potentials. The recent drive in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry toward new wireless communication devices and systems and their utilization in addressing a wide variety of real-world problems have resulted in several new areas of active research and wireless home automation being one such hot topic. Home appliances control system designates an emerging practice of increased automation of household appliances and fixtures in residential dwellings, particularly through electronic means. This allows impracticable, overly expensive or simply not possible things in recent past decades to be implemented. Home Automation Technology is a relatively new field and the home automation products available currently in the market are expensive, and not everybody can afford these devices. However, looking at the increasing popularity of home automation, most manufacturing companies are trying to develop products that will be affordable to the middle class customers. Hence, the proponents through this study design and develop a system of controlling home appliances remotely via the Internet. With this project, a user can control his home appliances across country away from home. Background of the Study Home appliances and lighting are major source of electricity consumption. Commercial public sector buildings and residential houses account for 95% of the electricity used for home appliances. There are common problems that home owners encountered in relation with home appliances system. One of this is due to some negligence like leaving the lights ON that result to having greater power consumption. This additional power consumption that can be wasted varies directly to our electric bills. Another problem is that those busy home owners who arrive at home late at night; they want to have immediate access to turn on the lights to have preventive measures against robbery and crimes.[2] For effective management and protection of homes, operational monitoring of home appliances conditions is a necessary tool. Fixed control system contributes significantly in monitoring the entire home appliances network. The past decade has seen significant advancement in the field of consumer electronics. Various â€Å"intelligent† appliances such as cellular phones, air-conditioners, home security devices, home theaters, etc. are set to realize the concept of a smart home. They have given rise to a personal area network in home environment, where all these appliances can be interconnected and monitored using a single controller. Busy families and individuals with physical limitation represent an attractive market for home automation and networking. Thus, a unifying solution started with the emergence of the first home automation product known as the Model 1503 which was introduced in 1988 and was meant for fire and burglar protection, home lighting and appliance control.[3] Moreover, a technology called X-10 was developed by Jeff Denenholz,[4] which allows your computer and your appliances to communicate over the existing power lines in your home. Among the many possibilities that this technology provides is the possibility for a fully automated and responsive home. One of the basic systems on the market is made by iControl and is easy to install and expandable. The system uses the 802.11 wireless protocol to transmit signals from the various devices to a control box which is connected to the internet. Some of the devices the company offers specifically for elderly care include: cameras, window/door sensors, motion sensors, water sensors, freeze sensors, panic pendants/wristwatches, smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, lamp modules, and thermostats. All of the devices are connected wirelessly to the control box which then allows the devices to be monitored and controlled using the company’s website. The system is perfect for the elderly because it is easy to use and it allows family members to monitor the house to ensure that their relative is safe, it is portable and can easily be installed in an existing home. Another key project is ongoing at The University of Florida. They have built a 500 square foot smart house that is designed assist and to provide medical care to users. The house implements devices including a microwave that recognizes entrees and automatically determines how long to cook them and devices to track the individuals location within the home. The house also uses devices to detect water on the floor and a camera that allows the person to view who is at the door and let them in using a cell phone. The smart house at the University of Florida relies on a centralized computer network to deliver electronically coordinated assistance. However, the aforementioned projects pose problems on the implementation of such systems. The major drawbacks of these systems are that it requires the use of several costly technologies to operate. The concept of a smart home requires a user to have internet access available as well as router to install the control box. Thus, the introduction of home automation in the 1970’s failed to improve the lifestyle of users because determining the economic benefits of home automation technologies is difficult. The cost of implementing smart home technology must be justified by the effects brought about by their installation. There is a need for home automation technologies to be cost-effective and easy to install and flexible with many network infrastructures and appliances. Therefore, the study Microcontroller-based Home Appliances Control System via Internet aims at developing a module for home appliance and control system combining embedded system and web technology. The goal of this project is to design a system that communicates with the web in controlling the user’s home.. This approach will provide an easy way to operate and is cost effective approach to benefit the elderly and those with disabilities to function as normal as possible. Statement of the Problem The main problem of this study is to design and develop a prototype of a microcontroller-based home appliances control system using the internet that will demonstrate power automation of home appliances. The proposed system is web-based in nature which will replace physical control and provide automation with regard to the home appliances.

Jane Austen Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Jane Austen - Essay Example In the society in which Jane lived, the only aspiration of a young girl is to get married. So Jane Austen selects the theme of marriage in all her novels. Even Emma ends in the celebration of three marriages. Jane Austen's novels are called drawing room novels. Emma is a typical drawing room novel. Almost all incidents in the novel take a place in the drawing room of Emma. Emma Woodhouse is the daughter of a valetudinarian. Her governess Miss Taylor assumes the role of a guide and friend to her in moments of loneliness. Jane Austen's 1816 novel, Emma reflects the detail of nineteenth century England and therefore the values of the context in which it was written. The setting of Emma is that of the world in which Austen lived. The text explores the themes and values of romance and marriage, social order, feminism and moral dimension. Austen has employed several techniques in order to convey these, such as literary context and social microcosm, satire and a number of narrative techniqu es. Austen provides exploits the contrast between how things seem to be and how they really are through these literary techniques. Austen typically writes novels that focus on social conventions. Her societies demonstrate these conventions are collapsing as the world is evolving and that what people believe to be conventional is really eroding. Characters of fortune and education who speak in accordance with the rules of pragmatics and social decorum are, in turn, rewarded through matrimonial bonds with characters of similar communicative merit. Gubar notes, â€Å"There is always the sense too that we owe to her narrator's art the significance with which such scenes are invested:

Audit framework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Audit framework - Essay Example the statutory audit report is a must for the company in the presentation of their balance sheet, income statement and statement of cash flows. The standard statutory audit is characterised by an auditor performs normal auditing procedures to show that the financial statements are more credible than if no external auditor's opinion is attached. The statutory audit is implemented in order to prevent frauds and illegal acts. As proof,Enron's income statement was window dressed. The company had recorded sales transactions that had never happened. Consequently, these fraudulent transactions would translate to higher sales. Higher sales would give a higher net income. a higher net income would give us a higher net assets. a higher sales would generate a higher stockholders' equity. In addition, the company did not record some of its losses. Enron had fraudulently window -dressed by presenting these Enron losses as losses of its off -shore companies. as a result, the unrecorded losses resulted to a net income that is higher than what the real net income should be. Convincingly, Enron's income statement was window dressed (Fusaro, and Miller 2002, 107) Also, Enron and Arthur Andersen knew that recording fictitious sales and profits would increase stockholder investments. Enron and Arthur Andersen knew that recording fictitious sales and profits would increase stockholder investments. Enron and Arthur Andersen knew that recording fictitious sales and profits would increase stockholder investments. The senior management officers connived with the accounting officers of Enron to prepare the fraud -laden financial statement in complete violation the harmonization standards set by violating the international accounting standards accomplish this fraudulent goal. Clearly, Enron and Arthur Andersen knew that recording fictitious sales and profits would increase stockholder investments (Madrick 2002). urthermore, the WorldCom and Enron accounting scandals are two of the reasons that triggered the approval of the Sabarnes -Oxley Law. The company was a communications company that had risen to profitability during the 1990s. However, the company found its profitability had slowly declined in the early 2000s. This is the largest accounting scandal in history. The officers of WorldCom entered tried to window dress their stock market price. The company's stock market price had decreased because company profits started to decline. The officers, specifically CEO Bernie Ebbers and CPA Scott Sullivan had to prepare false financial statements indicating that their sale and profits were higher than the real sales and profits would show in order to stave the decline of its stock market share price Zekany, Braun, and Warder 2004). Similar to Enron, the company's external auditor, Arthur Andersen, did not comply with generally accepted auditing standards to prevent or curtail material misstateme nts of the income statement and the corresponding balance sheet. The WorldCom fraudulent activities occurred from 1999 to 2002 (Ettredge et al., 1).

Comparative Analysis of World War II and the Cold War Essay

Comparative Analysis of World War II and the Cold War - Essay Example The war was divided between the Germany and its allies known as the Axis and the United Kingdom and its allies known as the Allies.2 The Cold War began at the close of World War II and endured until the early 1990s.3 Although two entirely different types of conflicts both the Cold War and World War II posed a threat to Western democracy. In both conflicts there was a fair balance in terms of wealth and military capabilities. It involved an aligning of enemies and allies. However, unlike the Second World War, the opposing sides did not meet on the battle field and a winner was never declared.4 Moreover, the Second World War involved only one front. That front was a military front. However, the Cold War involved several fronts, they were: Both conflicts invariably involved the advancement and suppression of political ideologies. Nazi Germany and its allies opposed Westernization and wished to promote Hitler’s political culture while the West had no desire to give in to the demise of Westernization. The Cold War involved an identical clash of opposing political visions between the United States and her allies and the Soviet Union and its allies. The following discussion examines in greater details the similarities and differences that fueled both the Cold War and the Second World War. In June of 1941 World War II continued to spread when Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union. Pre-existing relations between the Soviet Union and the Unite States as well as Great Britain was characterized by hostility and mistrust. Despite these differences the United States came to the Soviet’s aide via its Lend-Lease Act of March, 1941. During this time the Soviet Union was led by Joseph Stalin while the United States was led by President Franklin Roosevelt.6 Through the auspices of the Lend-Lease Act of 1941, the US and Soviet corporation was most visible. This hand of friendship

National Response Framework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

National Response Framework - Essay Example An obvious strength of the NRF is its emphasis on engaged partnership and shared responsibilities and roles at all levels by all stakeholders. Further, NRF has aligned its objectives with its capabilities at local, state, and federal levels. That is, according to the NRF, all the responsibilities and resources are aligned at all levels so that no level is overwhelmed during crises (Office of Homeland Security 2002). Second, the tiered approach to responding to crises ensures that catastrophes are dealt with the lowest possible level, only to be supported when need arises due to the severity of a crisis. The National Response Framework also has not only adaptable but also scalable and flexible operations and capabilities so that the operations are implemented even if crises change in scope and severity. Nonetheless, there is still a lot of room to improve the NRF. An area in which the NRF may be improved is funding. That is, clarity should be established on federal, state, local, and private-donor responsibilities in terms of funding. In fact, the federal and state governments should entirely fund crises responses with regards to cash grants, legal aid, temporary shelter, food supplies, and home repairs. Additionally, all victims, their socioeconomic statuses notwithstanding, should be supported to full recovery rather than concentrating on a particular class of victims. Thus, the episodic funding of emergencies in which non-profit responders such as the Red Cross only reach out for help after disasters and negotiation for federal grants take place after each emergency should also stop. Funds should thus be made available so that responses are fast whenever emergencies

Strategic Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Strategic Management - Assignment Example Many research scholars still argue over creating cogent definition of strategic management. Various research scholars like Michael Porter, Philip Kotler, John Kotter, VA Zeithaml and many others successfully tried to create a theoretical framework of the concept but still their frameworks failed to create a universal theory of strategic management probably due to multidimensionality of the concept. Organizations use strategic initiatives in accordance with culture, leadership style, frequency of crisis and business objectives. Gray (1) has bifurcated strategic planning from strategic management and described two aspects in the following manner. ... Meyer (3) illustrated strategic management as process that helps top level management of the company to understand business objectives, future threat and opportunities; identifying suitable strategy to deal with these issues and taking control over external variables; creating direction to accomplish strategic objective of the organization. Nutt and Backoff (4) have modified the concept of Meyer. According to them strategic management actually combines short and long term planning of the organization in order to achieve organizational objectives like increasing profitability, increasing control over existing product portfolio, achieving high growth rate, expanding many business in foreign market, creating market entry barrier for competitors by increasing competency level (Tyndall, Cameron and Taggart, 1990, p. 9). Strategic management is a multidimensional concept and the study cannot cover all the aspects of strategic management. The study will focus on a particular concept of stra tegic management in order to create a cogent representation of assignment topic. This report will analyze Michael Porter’s generic competitive strategies from the view point of theoretical concept and real life application in order to understand functionality of the concept. 3.0 Michael Porter’s Generic Competitive Strategies In 1980, Michael Porter developed the basic strategic model for companies in order to achieve competitive advantage over competitors. He modified the concept into more confined model in 1985. Main agenda of the model is to help organizations to create a sustainable and not easy to copy strategy with which they can not only achieve competitive advantage over adversaries but also can build a sustainable

Response to McCloskey's Article On Being an Atheist Essay

Response to McCloskey's Article On Being an Atheist - Essay Example In this paper, a response is given to McCloskey by basin g the arguments to what has been covered in the philosophy of religion unit.   McCloskey, in his article â€Å"On being an Atheist† presents a very strong counter argument against theist arguments about existence of a supreme perfect being referred to as God. According to him, theists hold on to arguments about existence of God as the fundamental proofs of his existence. The arguments do not certainly infer to proof of God’s existence nor do they provide a proof of why we exist. He actually claims that theists are sucked into the realms of religion not because of the basic proofs that exist but due to mere arguments. According to McCloskey’s line of argument, it is possible to argue that God certainly does not exist. The world is so imperfect to be the engineering work of a perfect being. In fact, we can only conclude that God, if he ever exists, is an evil God since there is more pain and suffering in th e world than joy and happiness. Where is God when all the evil happens? Where was he not to control Hitler? Arguably, God may not exist if we take this line of thought. I have always observed the unjustified pain and suffering that happen to the per se â€Å"wrong people.† Young babies who are flawless in the eyes of Supreme Being â€Å"God† should certainly not suffer at least because they are innocent. Why can’t God bring us closer to him by good deeds and not through pain and suffering as claimed by theists? Things would seem more rational. On the other hand, existence would cease to make any meaning if God did not exist. What if God made the universe the way it is with an ultimate purpose? To me it seems more logical than to claim his nonexistence McCloskey presents a very strong yet questionable argument about cosmology. According to him, it is possible to have a cause without cause. He infers that it is possible to have the world, as we know it without a c ausative agent. The mere existence of the universe is not a justified reason enough to posit that there exists a cause behind creation. I quite agree with his argument since the existence of the universe is not a foolproof evidence of existence of a supreme being. However, I tend to agree more with the theists, not because there is foolproof evidence but because both atheists like McCloskey and the scientific giants have not yet provided exact proof of cause. I would rather live believing that there was God and die to find there was none, than to live as if he never existed and died to find that he actually existed. According to Evans line of thought about â€Å"cause for cause,† existence of the universe would be both irrational and absurd if there were no cause for the entire perfectly tuned universe as it represents itself to humankind. Craig also shares the same arguments on his article â€Å"The Absurdity of Life without God† (Craig, 2008). All religious beliefs e xperience an appreciable form of connection with a supreme being. Surprisingly, virtually all religious ideologies about supremacy of the creator share the same basics. Christians experience faith, miracles, healing, pain, and suffering among other connective experiences with God. McCloskey may have a point in his argument but his argument is somewhat one sided. I might ask McCloskey one simple yet fundamental question what determines the discourse on the universe? Is it a collective contribution of every human

CATFISH - APPLYING A METHOD OF RHETORICAL CRITICISM Research Paper

CATFISH - APPLYING A METHOD OF RHETORICAL CRITICISM - Research Paper Example When evaluating the movie in these terms, it is one which can be seen as the accepted and rejected ideologies of structure that are currently within society. Justification The popularity of â€Å"Catfish† is one which continues to grow in society, specifically because of the initial responses which occurred from the audience and critics within society. The movie is important for two reasons. The first is that it shows today’s culture and the way in which it is constructed in terms of relationships, identity and technology. The second is from the reaction which occurred in society, specifically which led to widespread popularity not for the movie, but instead because of the majority of individuals which would not believe that the movie was realistic. These two constructs show that there is an important rhetoric which links to the movie and which provides an understanding of how identity is currently formed within society. A majority of Catfish’s audience were angr y with the filmmakers and with the film’s advertisement campaign. Critics were saying this is the type of film Alfred Hitchcock would direct, but this is clearly not the type of movie he would be involved in. Trailers for the film â€Å"hinted of Blair Witch Project-like-shaky-hand horror.† (Tech Cocktail). Many people questioned the documentary’s credibility as well calling it a hoax and believing it was set-up, as opposed to being a genuine documentary. Most stated that they would not be able to admit or believe that the outcome from the movie could be true or whether it was another deception from the filmmakers. Many believed that, since the film was about deception, the filmmakers also had the same deceiving commentary with the documentary. The strong debates which came out of the movie, as well as the power which this particular film had are the important elements to look at with the rhetorical criticism as well as the understanding of society and culture i n reaction to the movie. The attention which â€Å"Catfish† has brought proves that the topic remains relevant to study at this particular cultural moment because it encompasses many aspects of our use of the Internet and how it has changed not only how we communicate, but how it has changed our lives completely. With the advent of social media, sites such as Facebook have changed the world and the ways in which we communicate with others on a global scale. Catfish draws in on how the Internet, Google, Facebook and etc. can impact our lives in so many different ways. It speaks volume about our current times, specifically in regards to online dating and how it can have a negative impact on our lives. We never really stop to think about its downsides and its dangers. The Internet has made our lives so much easier and we have access to infinite amounts of information at the tips of our fingers. There is little reason for any to question the tool, specifically because it is now b elieved to be revolutionary making many blind about some of the realities which come with the use of the tool.    The Internet, online dating, and social media networks are things that a majority of the world’s population uses on a daily basis for just about everything and anything. The urgency; however, is the way in which it is

The Efficacy of Counseling with Native Americans Essay

The Efficacy of Counseling with Native Americans - Essay Example In this paper, an assessment of possibilities that contribute to certain observable counseling efficacy values among Native Americans is made. The challenges faced by this ethnic group will be used to create the link that counseling process seeks to establish in the discourse. Four questions attempting to answer issues touching on unique historical perspectives, counseling process complexities, cultural interaction issues and spirituality are used in the design. The research reveals that it’s necessary for therapists to consider Native American cultural history when establishing the counseling process. The research also details a number of specific actions that should be considered, including linguistic and body language elements that aid the counseling process. The counselors must also be aware of their own biases in relation to the client. Finally, it’s indicated that the incorporation of Native American spirituality could greatly aid the therapist in the counseling p rocess. The Efficacy of Counseling with Native Americans Introduction The context of Native Americans is created with an understanding of the ethnic group’s history and cultural setting. ... However, very little information is available regarding the Native American suffering at the hands of slave masters, when compared with the famous African slave trade. The sensitive developments that the political arena in the United States exposed this group to are still fresh in the memories of a majority of the Americans, which brings nasty reactions among them. Cases of rejection, neglect and discrimination from certain sections of their aggressors appear in the broader image of a Native American. For counseling clients with such a historical background, it becomes difficult to appreciate the impact of counseling in confronting such challenges, unless a bold journey is taken to discover such a past acting as an impediment to the counseling process. How do historical injustice and modern racial discrimination issues affect counseling processes among Native Americans? To shed more light on the tumultuous historical background that the Native Americans have had to experience would p erhaps facilitate an understanding that would assist therapists to carry out a comprehensive counseling process. As briefly observed above, scars of mistreatment in the hands of foreign aggression by the European-backed slave trade would perhaps act as one of the biggest hindrances to successful therapy. Due to a rich cultural heritage and traditional cohesion practices that bound this â€Å"minority† group, roots of bitter past must haunt them in the hands of public mistreatment and racial discrimination. According to Trabich (1997), there must be some form of remnant heritage that has facilitated passing on of old wounds to the current Native American community to bear witness of untold atrocities that were committed against them.

Can leaders be flexible Essay Example for Free

Can leaders be flexible Essay Yes, I do believe that leaders can be flexible in the way they interact with others, or change their behaviors or personalities so to suit the situation. Also, they might need to focus on followers needs/behaviors or their level of readiness by changing or shifting behavioral their leadership style. One theory might describe and support this concept is the situational leadership theory which requires leaders to center their leadership style or behaviors according to their followers level. This theory was initially created by Hersey and Blanchard (1969) and has approaches that concern for people productions as well as shows that there is no one best style of behavior for a leader (Norris, 1992). Most importantly, the situational theory require leader to adjust his behavior and leadership style to features of followers and situation. Therefore, it might be important to look at the four styles described by Hersey and Blanchard to identify the situations that any leader might have to change his style or behavior. There are situations where leader might have to be flexible with his followers by giving them less responsibly and delegation of tasks due to their lack of knowledge/experience, or if they are newly hired etc. the leader in this case might need to utilize the telling style whereby there is more of directing and controlling of leader to his followers. In this behavioral style, leaders role involves telling his follower on what and how to perform their tasks step by step. In my working experience, for example, I tend to use this style when training people whom are newly hired or inexperienced and require a lot of assistance or hints when in doubt. I might sometimes need to spill out the responsibilities or duties for perform to make sure that they are still on focus. Knowing that differences between tasks and relationships behaviors as described in Hughes et al (1996), I agree that the telling style does have high task and low relationship with followers because followers in this stage are unable to perform any delegated tasks and that means should be giving detailed instructions. Another situational and behavioral style is the selling style whereby the leader is acting both as a director and supporter toward his followers. This style might be more effective if followers are delegated toward some responsibility and have an adequate knowledge of performing their tasks. The leader in this case is only giving directions and guideline when any deviation is observed. In term of skills and ability, the leader is also to promote his followers skills throughout. Because of that, it ca be said that in this behavioral style, the leader is coaching i.e. there is higher tasks delegation and higher relationship with followers. In the participating style, the leader exercises low tasks delegations but high relationship with followers. This is because in this style the main role of leader is to facilitate the delegated tasks to his followers by showing his knowledge or skills on how best can this be done. Bearing in mind the level of communication is high in this style which enables follower to share in the decision making process as applicable. This behavioral style might best be used is when followers are starting or completing a job (Hughes et al, 2006). The last situational style is the delegating style whereby there is little two side communication between the leader and his followers (low-task- low relationship). This style might be implemented when leader is aware of his followers knowledge, ability, confidence, experience and most importantly taking higher responsibilities. To this extend, followers are able to direct them selves with no control from their leader. Although, leaders in this style are like an observers whereby they have less influence on their followers and less control. However, leader might also need to consider followers development level/their readiness level and competence. Followers competence might include their knowledge, skills and ability to assess the work outcome. Therefore, leader might have to respond or change his behavior in such way that fits the situation. He can classify his people to stages such as:Â · People are able and willing to take tasks (competent). Â · People are unable and unwilling to take tasks (incompetents)Â · People are unable but willing to take tasks (unskilled). Â · People are able but unwilling tasks (unmotivated). So to summarize, it can be seen that the situational leadership theory presented by Hersey and Blanchard focuses on the followers behaviors and define what style is best to suit any situation. Also, it highlights the level of responsibilities delegated as well as the degree of relationship between leaders and followers. Put into practice, situation leadership theory is basically effective with any situation. Moreover, it seems that the situational theory answer the question that leader might need to change their behavior and be flexible with followers as that depends on situation and circumstances. In other words, leaders might need to adjust them selves all the time depending on the working environment and follower level of readiness (Norris, 1992). And as the Hersey and Blanchard theory, they should always change their personality or be able to identify clues in their environment and adapt their leader behavior to meet the needs of their followers in any particular situation (). Vecchio and Norris agrees that ,even with good diagnostic skills, leader might need to be flexible in changing their behavior and adapt their leadership styles that meet that demand of both the followers and environment. Reference: Norris, R., Vecchio, R 1992 Situational leadership theory. Group Organization Management. Hughes, R.L., Ginnet, R.C., Curphy, G.J. (2006). Leadership: Enhancing the lessons of experience. 5th ed. New York. McGraw-Hill

Advanced Traffic Monitoring And Switching Using Labview Computer Science Essay

Advanced Traffic Monitoring And Switching Using Labview Computer Science Essay Overview of our project is to avoid congestion in traffic and to give priority to the emergency vehicle. Traffic control systems include signs, lights and other devices that communicate specific directions, warnings, or requirements. Traffic light controller (TLC) has been implemented using FPGA design which has many advantages over microcontroller some of these advantages are the speed, number of input/output ports and performance which are all very important in TLC design. Most of the TLCs implemented on FPGA are simple ones that have been implemented as examples of FSM. This paper concerned with an FPGA design implementation of a low cost 24-hour advanced traffic light controller system that was built as a term project of a VLSI design subject using verilog. The implemented traffic light is one of the real and complex traffic lights, for four roads and motorway with sensors and camera. The system has been successfully tested and implemented in hardware using Xilinx Spartan 3 FPGA. Using labview technique it can control the traffic properly. Keywords: Field Programmable Gate Array, Traffic Light Controller, Very Large Scale Integration INTRODUCTION: The TLCs have limitations because it uses the pre-defined hardware, which is functioning according to the program that does not have the flexibility of modification on real time basis. Due to the fixed time intervals of green, orange and red signals the waiting time is more and vehicle uses more fuel. To make traffic light controlling more efficient, we exploit the emergence of new technique called as Advanced Traffic Monitoring and Switching . This makes the use of Sensor Networks along with Embedded Technology. The timings of Red, Green lights at each crossing of road will be intelligently decided based on the total traffic on all adjacent roads. Thus, optimization of traffic light switching increases road capacity and traffic flow, and can prevent traffic congestions. This is a unique feature of this project which is very useful to emergency vehicle to reach the destination properly. The various performance evaluation criteria are average waiting time, switching frequency of green light at a junction and efficient emergency mode operation. The performance of the Advanced Traffic Light Controller is compared with the Fixed Mode Traffic Light Controller. It is observed that the proposed Advanced Traffic Light Controller is more efficient than the conventional controller in respect of less waiting time and efficient operation during emergency mode. Moreover, the designed system has simple architecture, fast response time, user friendliness and scope for further expansion. I.FIELD-PROGRAMMABLE GATE ARRAY A field programmable gate array (FPGA) is an integrated circuit (IC) that includes a two-dimensional array of general-purpose logic circuits, called cells or logic blocks, whose functions are programmable. The cells are linked to one another by programmable buses. A field-programmable gate array comprises any number of logic modules, an interconnect routing architecture and programmable elements that may be programmed to selectively interconnect the logic modules to one another and to define the functions of the logic modules. The basic device architecture of an FPGA consists of an array of configurable logic blocks (CLBs) embedded in a configurable interconnect structure and surrounded by configurable I/O blocks (IOBs). An IOB allows signals to be driven off-chip or optionally brought onto the FPGA onto interconnect segments. The IOB can typically perform other functions, such as tri-stating outputs and registering incoming or out-going signals. The configurable interconnect structu re allows users to implement multi-level logic designs. In addition, FPGAs typically include other specialized blocks, such as block random access memories (BRAMs) and digital signal processors (DSPs). These specialized blocks perform more specific tasks than the CLBs, but can still be configured in accordance with a variety of options to enable flexible operation of the FPGA. Field programmable gate arrays may be classified in one of two categories. One category of FPGA devices is one-time programmable and uses elements such as antifuses for making programmable connections. The other category of FPGA devices is reprogrammable and uses devices such as transistor switches as the programmable elements to make non-permanent programmable connections. An FPGA can support hundreds of thousands of gates of logic operating at system speeds of tens of megahertz. To implement a particular circuit function, the circuit is mapped into the array and the appropriate programmable elements are prog rammed to implement the necessary wiring connections that form the user circuit. The FPGA is programmed by loading programming data into the memory cells controlling the configurable logic blocks, I/O blocks, and interconnect structure. A field-programmable gate array (FPGA) is an integrated circuit designed to be configured by the customer or designer after manufacturingà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬hence field-programmable. The FPGA configuration is generally specified using a hardware description language (HDL), similar to that used for an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) (circuit diagrams were previously used to specify the configuration, as they were for ASICs, but this is increasingly rare). FPGAs can be used to implement any logical function that an ASIC could perform. The ability to update the functionality after shipping, and the low non-recurring engineering costs relative to an ASIC design (not withstanding the generally higher unit cost), offer advantages for many applications. FPGAs contain programmable logic components called logic blocks, and a hierarchy of reconfigurable interconnects that allow the blocks to be wired togetherà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬somewhat like a one-chip programmable breadboard. Logic blocks can be configured to perform complex combinational functions, or merely simple logic gates like AND and XOR. In most FPGAs, the logic blocks also include memory elements, which may be simple flip-flops or more complete blocks of memory. A.FPGA comparisons: Historically, FPGAs have been slower, less energy efficient and generally achieved less functionality than their fixed ASIC counterparts. A combination of volume, fabrication improvements, research and development, and the I/O capabilities of new supercomputers have largely closed the performance gap between ASICs and FPGAs. Advantages include a shorter time to market, ability to re-program in the field to fix bugs, and lower non-recurring engineering costs. Vendors can also take a middle road by developing their hardware on ordinary FPGAs, but manufacture their final version so it can no longer be modified after the design has been committed. Xilinx claims that several market and technology dynamics are changing the ASIC/FPGA paradigm: IC costs are rising aggressively ASIC complexity has bolstered development time and costs RD resources and headcount is decreasing Revenue losses for slow time-to-market are increasing Financial constraints in a poor economy are driving low-cost technologies. These trends make FPGAs a better alternative than ASICs for a growing number of higher-volume applications than they have been historically used for, to which the company attributes the growing number of FPGA design starts. Some FPGAs have the capability of partial re-configuration that lets one portion of the device be re-programmed while other portions continue running. B.FPGA Versus CPLDs: The primary differences between CPLDs and FPGAs are architectural. A CPLD has a somewhat restrictive structure consisting of one or more programmable sum-of-products logic arrays feeding a relatively small number of clocked registers. The result of this is less flexibility, with the advantage of more predictable timing delays and a higher logic-to-interconnect ratio. The FPGA architectures, on the other hand, are dominated by interconnect. This makes them far more flexible (in terms of the range of designs that are practical for implementation within them) but also far more complex to design for. Another notable difference between CPLDs and FPGAs is the presence in most FPGAs of higher-level embedded functions (such as adders and multipliers) and embedded memories, as well as to have logic blocks implement decoders or mathematical functions. C. Security considerations: With respect to security, FPGAs have both advantages and disadvantages as compared to ASICs or secure microprocessors. FPGAs flexibility makes malicious modifications during fabrication a lower risk. For many FPGAs, the loaded design is exposed while it is loaded (typically on every power-on). To address this issue, some FPGAs support bit stream encryption. D.Applications of FPGAs: FPGAs have gained rapid acceptance and growth over the past decade because they can be applied to a very wide range of applications. A list of typical applications includes: random logic,integrating multiple SPLDs, device controllers, communication encoding and filtering, small to medium sized systems with SRAM blocks, and many more. Other interesting applications of FPGAs are prototyping of designs later to be implemented in gate arrays, and also emulation of entire large hardware systems. II.RADIO FREQUENCY COMMUNICATION: RF itself has become synonymous with wireless and high-frequency signals, describing anything from AM radio between 535 kHz and 1605 kHz to computer local area networks (LANs) at 2.4 GHz. However, RF has traditionally defined frequencies from a few kHz to roughly 1 GHz. If one considers microwave frequencies as RF, this range extends to 300 GHz. A wave or sinusoid can be completely described by either its frequency or its wavelength. They are inversely proportional to each other and related to the speed of light through a particular medium. As frequency increases, wavelength decreases. For reference, a 1 GHz wave has a wavelength of roughly 1 foot, and a 100 MHz wave has a wavelength of roughly 10 feet. III.IR SENSOR: A Passive Infra Red sensor (PIR sensor) is an electronic device that measures infrared (IR) light radiating from objects in its field of view. PIR sensors are often used in the construction of PIR-based motion detectors. Apparent motion is detected when an infrared source with one temperature, such as a human, passes in front of an infrared source with another temperature, such as a wall. All objects emit what is known as black body radiation. It is usually infrared radiation that is invisible to the human eye but can be detected by electronic devices designed for such a purpose. The term passive in this instance means that the PIR device does not emit an infrared beam but merely passively accepts incoming infrared radiation. These sensors are used as the road traffic detectors which is used for the detection of the presence (traffic) of vehicles at precisely determined measuring points, are an extremely important element of the urban traffic control system. The intelligent road consists of IR sensors to detect and transferring the data to the server in real time. The detectors are installed along the road in order to ensure the scanning of traffic stream and to transmit its Parameters at proper time i.e. stream velocity, its intensity and quantity of transport Means. The transport means may be subdivided into categories e.g. motor cars, small and big trucks and long vehicles. The essential functions of road traffic detectors are: à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ Optimization of traffic lights control for the road crossings and pedestrians crossings, à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ Creation of traffic database and road traffic changes monitoring in order to implement proper control and management modifications, -Data acquisition at locations for which early detection of traffic disturbances. IV.CCTV: As the name implies, it is a system in which the circuit is closed and all the elements are directly connected. This is unlike broadcast television where any receiver that is correctly tuned can pick up the signal from the airwaves. Directly connected in this context includes systems linked by microwave, infrared beams, etc. This article introduces the main components that can go to make up CCTV systems of varying complexity. Many cities and motorway networks have extensive traffic-monitoring systems, using closed-circuit television to detect congestion and notice accidents V. RF TRANSRECEIVER: This transceiver has a transmit side (Tx) and a receive side (Rx), which are connected to the antenna through a duplexer that can be realized as a switch or a filter, depending on the communications standard being followed. The input preselection filter takes the broad spectrum of signals coming from the antenna and removes the signals not in the band of interest. This may be required to prevent overloading of the low-noise amplifier (LNA) by out-of band signals. The LNA amplifies the input signal without adding much noise. The input signal can be very weak, so the first thing to do is strengthen the signal without corrupting it. As a result, noise added in later stages will be of less importance. The image filter that follows the LNA removes out-of-band signals and noise before the signal enters the mixer. The mixer translates the input RF signal down to the intermediate frequency, since filtering, as well as circuit design, becomes much easier at lower frequencies for a multitude of reasons. The other input to the mixer is the local oscillator (LO) signal provided by a voltage-controlled oscillator inside a frequency synthesizer. The desired output of the mixer will be the difference between the LO frequency and the RF frequency. At the input of the radio there may be many different channels or frequency bands. The LO frequency is adjusted so that the desired RF channel or frequency band is mixed down to the same intermediate frequency (IF) in all cases. The IF stage then provides channel filtering at this one frequency to remove the unwanted channels. The IF stage provides further amplification and automatic gain control (AGC) to bring the signal to a specific amplitude level before the signal is passed on to the back end of the receiver. It will ultimately be converted into bits (most modern communications systems use digital modulation schemes) that could represent, for example, voice, video, or data through the use of an analog-to-digital converter. On the transmit side, the back-end digital signal is used to modulate the carrier in the IF stage. In the IF stage, there may be some filtering to remove unwanted signals generated by the baseband, and the signal may or may not be converted into an analog waveform before it is modulated onto the IF carrier. A mixer converts the modulated signal and IF carrier up to the desired RF frequency. A frequency synthesizer provides the other mixer input. Since the RF carrier and associated modulated data may have to be transmitted over large distances through lossy media (e.g., air, cable, and fiber), a power amplifier (PA) must be used to increase the signal power. Typically, the power level is increased from the milliwatt range to a level in the range of hundreds of milliwatts to watts, depending on the particular application. A lowpass filter after the PA removes any harmonics produced by the PA to prevent them from also being transmitted.

GE Organizational Structure Analysis

GE Organizational Structure Analysis 1. Introduction This essay identifies GE on the life-cycle chart during the transition from Jack Welch to Jeff Immelt as CEO. It also addresses the changes he made to its organizational structures, thereby achieving his goals. Furthermore, highlighting the risks and trade-offs accompanied with those changes. Finally, this essay also gives recommendations to the transportation department of GE for the new Hybrid project. 2. Life-cycle Source: Adapted from Robert E. Quinn and Kim Cameron, Organizational lifecycle and Shifting Criteria of effectiveness: Some Preliminary Evidence, Management Science 29 (1983), 33-51: and Larry E. Greiner, Evolution and Revolution as Organizations Grow, Harvard Business Review 50 (July-August 1972), 37-46 (Cited in Organizational Theory and Design Daft et al, 2010) In terms of structure, GE was focused on having close relationship with all members of staff, with small company type thinking where everybody was on first name calling basis. In a speech by Jack Welch in his final management meeting he stressed the following, Fight like hell to keep the small company spirit, involve everyone, reward broadly celebrate! Celebrate! Celebrate! Hate bureaucracy, hate it every day and dont be afraid to use the word hate, laugh at bureaucrats and get rid of Layers make fun of layers, joke about layers. They slow, they insulate, and they are what cheap people do in lieu of pay raises for people. (Jack Welch, 2000) As for products and services, Jack  Welch shifted GE business from purely manufacturing to financial services through numerous acquisitions. A list of GE products include Aviation, lighting, electric distribution, media and entertainment, energy, oil and gas, finance- consumer, finance- business, rail, water, healthcare. Reward and control systems in GE where extensive, tailored to product and department. The reward system was greatly differentiated by Jack Welch and he did so mainly based on performance and those who failed where fired from the company. Jack Welch differentiated employees by implementing pay for performance matrices applied to all GE staff where he grade staff from outstanding to unacceptable and bonuses were based on these ratings. Any who fell below par were eliminated from the company. (Jim Pinto, 2007) The main focus and goal of the company is to maintain their reputation as well as complete organization. The stress on reputation was also paramount in GE a quote from Jack Welch the retiring GEO attests to that fact. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Just someone doing something stupid from a legal point and bringing tarnish to the company and destroying themselves and their families in the process (Jack Welch, 2000). Top management style means team approach, attack bureaucracy. As earlier quoted we see the emphasis on attack of bureaucracy and the team approach encouraged by the then CEO Jack Welch. Organization reached stage maturity and may encounter periods of temporary decline. Figure 2 (Taken from investorguide.com) acts as evidence showing the company stocks at a decline from 2001 when Jeff Immelt took over as CEO from Jack Welch. This was as a result of external factors such as the post internet bubble stock market drop and the downturn in the economy which resulted in the drop of confidence of investors in big organizations especially after the post Enron scam. Figure 2 GE Stock Chart (Taken from investorguide.com) Need for revitalization-The decline of stocks and profits in GE indicated a need for revitalization in the company. The Company shares was trading at $23 compared to its $60 in August 2000 ,and the modest increase in profits on revenues by 7% compared to the double digits delivered by the former CEO. There was a need therefore to improve company performance and this could not be accomplished by replicating the same strategy of his predecessor. He therefore embarked on a change in strategy focusing on organic growth through technological leadership, commercial excellence and global expansion. 3. Immelts goals It is apparent that in the year 2000 after Jack Welch retired from GE, Jeff Immelt who was elected by the board members of the company became the new CEO. However, at the same time, the global economy was experiencing a significant downturn, which exerted some detrimental influences on GE. As a result, Immelt did not have an easy situation and besides, he tried to combat the economic problems. Most importantly, he could not copy the business strategy used by Jack Welch his predecessor since the economic environment had changed significantly in the last several years. Generally speaking, Immelt wanted to make a big revolution to the company and besides, Brady (2005) found that Immelt had decided to make GE become an innovative and creative company rather than a process-oriented one. Besides, GE had to shift its attention from cost-cutting to develop new products, improve services and open up new markets. In order to achieve this goal, GE should make a host of changes, particularly in four areas. Specifically, in terms of the organic growth, the most famous action was the imagination breakthrough (IB) which can generate 100milllion dollars in new business during some years and took GE into a new line of business or markets (Prokesch, 2008). After that time, GE developed some famous and successful IBs, such as EVO and GML. Furthermore, Immelt wanted the company to be innovative and creative. Consequently, in 2002, GE began to engaging in new fields, such as oil and gas technology, water technology as well as paying much attention to the research and development. The research group found that some certain areas with the potentials to bring huge profits to GE should be taken into consideration by GE, such as biotechnology. Despite the organic growth, Immelt also hoped GE enter into a stable growth trajectory. As a result, the concept of Ecomagination materialized, since it is a huge business opportunity and most importantly, it is an immerging trend in the economy which can bring GE sustainable and long-term growth rather than only a few months. Immelt announced in 2005 that GE had prepared to focus its future to the eco-friendly technology, such as clean water and clean energy. Makower (2005) also found that almost every year, GE dedicates a vast amount of money in cleaner technologies, thereby developing some eco-friendly products. Moreover, GE tried its best to reduce the greenhouse emission by 1% as well as make some alternative energy, such as hybrid-dual-fuel, which can bring huge profits to GE and improve its reputation in the global market. The third area which Immelt wanted to focus on is the development of infrastructures. After setting his goal, Immelt invested a large amount of money in upgrading the RD facilities and set up some research centers in other countries, including Shanghai and Munich. Furthermore, GE expanded its emerging market in China, India, and Africa. GE also gave priority to the marketing. Brady (2005) made a definition to the marketing; a companys marketing group should pay attention to understanding the market needs and meet customers demands rather than just create slogans for the products. 4. Changes in Organizational Structure GE underwent a change in the basic structure of the organization in several aspects. Specifically, The Global Research Center agenda became more long term oriented rather than focus on short-term product development as it had in the past; the GRCs agenda became more oriented towards the long-term. (Bartlett et al, 2008). Besides, the organization had a more commercially oriented perspective to its decisions; Immelt wanted the organization to turn its attention to the marketplace and to bring in a more commercially oriented perspective to its decisions. (Bartlett et al, 2008). Furthermore, Increase in Human Resources by the reinstatement of chief marketing officer role formally abolished. In one of Immelts first appointment, Beth Comstock was named GEs chief marketing officer, a position Welch had abolished decades earlier. (Bartlett et al, 2008). Moreover, The external recruitment of human resources a formally uncommon practice in GE. Because of the shortage of internal talent, many of these marketing leaders had to be recruited from the outside, an uncommon practice at GE. (Bartlett et al, 2008). The formation of commercial council and experienced commercial leadership program are to monitor and drive change and the slowdown of job rotations, so that the mangers can develop more in depth market and technological knowledge. Immelt also encouraged an innovative nature in his employees and to take more risks and possibly fail, which was contrary to the immaculate completion of objectives formerly encouraged in Jack Welchs era. 5. Trade-offs In order to implement the shift in strategic focus from the interior to marketing, Immelt realigned the human resource by recruiting marketing leaders from outside to compensate the lack of internal talent and forming the Experienced Commercial Leadership Program to integrate newcomers into GEs culture and system. In terms of global expansion, which is also one of the Immelts strategies, Comte increased the Transportation marketing staff by 18 people. These implementations led to extra investment in terms of increasing personnel and training newcomers. On the other hand, instead of operating efficiency and cost-cutting, Immelt focused on technology leadership by upgrading RD facility, upping RD budget 14% and authorizing two Global Research Centers in Shanghai and Munich. The change caused higher costs and more resources required in terms of RD. Rather than focusing on short-term RD as it had before, GE concentrated mainly on the long term. Furthermore, as one of Immelts management styles, spending longer on developing products is prior to acquiring companies for technology, compared to previously consistent growth primarily through acquisitions. Therefore, the result required longer time to reflect on profit. Immelt slowed the job rotation in order to develop growth leaders with deeper understanding in expertise such as market and technological knowledge. Moreover, the evaluation and reward processes which had focused on flawless and short-term execution were adjusted in order to encourage employees to take risks. As a result, although improving professional skills and innovation, these changes led to lower operating efficiency. 6. Risks In terms of earning per share, the average growth per annum from 1981 to 2000 as Welch was the CEO remained 23%, while only 7% from 2001 to 2009 when Immelt changed the strategic focus. Furthermore, focusing on long-term, more modernized and more limited RD projects led to larger uncertainty of the business, which might be risky due to its innovation and unknown market acceptability. Therefore, although these changes represent a new era of GE, shareholders might lose their faith of the company. On the other hand, one of the GEs major divisions is GE capital services. From late 1980s, GE Capital Services increased largely and by 2000 it accounted for almost half of the total sales of GE Consolidated. However, Immelt put more emphasis back on GE Industrial, and the operating profit fell overwhelmingly from US$6,593 in 2004 to US$2344 in 2009. (GE Annual Report, 2009) There was a symbiotic relation between GE Industrial and GE Capital Service. As Jack Welch was CEO, the main strategy of growing industrial division was acquisition because remaining profit of GE industrial enabled GE to be ranked as industrial company so that GE Capital Services could borrow at cheap rates and lend at higher rates, the fact how GECS increased its revenue. Immelt, nevertheless, abandoned the strategy of acquisition and upgraded the RD budget in order to enhance GE industrial because he wanted to make GE as a research-based and innovative enterprise. This move led to a collapse of the balance betw een GE Industrial and GECS and might cause potential risk in GE because GECS accounted for more than 40% sales revenue of total. (Froud, 2005) 7. Transportation recommendation Besides the EVO, GE also prepared to focus its attention to the hybrid project since it is the perfect candidate to fit into the Ecomagination project which GE just announced and committed to save the environment. Hybrid was a project which aimed to reduce the emission and captures the energy generated during braking and stores it with the batteries. Consequently, by using the hybrid, it could reduce fuel consumption by almost 15% compared with other locomotives, which was helpful to the customers, environment and GE. However, the costs for developing the batteries and hybrid technology were extremely high and GEs limited finances and engineering resources required GE to weigh the opportunity cost of embarking on this project. These factors required the transportation division of GE to come up with three possible scenarios; The first option would be to explain that while the project as currently defined appeared to have very limited to short- to medium-term commercial viability, the business would commit to it as an IB and continue to explore alternative ways to make it successful; The second approach would be to acknowledge the hybrids long-term potential, but suggest that it be placed on hold as in IB, perhaps by transferring primary responsibility to the Global Research Center to work on the battery technology in collaboration with various GE businesses including Transportation-that had an interest in its development; The final alternative would be to recommend that the company acknowledge the fact that after three years of hard work on Hybrid, neither the technology development nor the market acceptance of the concept had indicated that it could be a viable commercial proposition in the foreseeable future, and therefore that it be dropped as an IB. After considering all the elements, GE should opt for the second option by the following reasons. First, to hold hybrid as an IB and meanwhile to develop the present technology may help GE to not only remain the leading position among the present market but move forward to the future by researching in future trend. Furthermore, it would be relatively less risky than the first option due to the separation of the investment. The increased emphasis on gas emissions ensure that the hybrid engine will definitely become a necessity for the rail transport industry, this is also in line with Immelts goals for GE to be the 1st in innovative technology and embarking on trends that cannot be easily imitated. The battery technology when completed can be used for alternative businesses in GE there by helping the company to be green and promote the environment. Due to the environmental importance of the project GE can solicit help from the government to aid with the cost for the development of this new technology as highlighted by Bartlett et al (2008), Compte explained that his marketing organization had located some potential government funding for hybrid project. 8. Conclusion In conclusion GE is a company with strong strength of organizational cultures and uses task type of organizational culture. It was identified in the case study to be at the elaboration stage of the lifecycle chart at the time Immelt was made the new CEO of the company. The company was at the revival stage of organizational development, he accomplished this by changing the company from a result oriented closed system to a process oriented open system. Moreover it is an organic organization which uses learning to improve its organizational and managerial capabilities. As a result it has diversified quality production and can be prospective in its environment, strategies and technology. Word Count: 2492

Crossing the Line in Faulkners Barn Burning Essay -- Barn Burning Ess

Crossing the Line in Faulkner's Barn Burning   Ã‚  Ã‚   The American author Joyce Carol Oats, in her Master Race, wrote that "our enemy is by tradition our savior" (Oats 28).   Oats recognized that we often learn more from our enemy than from ourselves.   Whether the enemy is another warring nation, a more prolific writer, or even the person next door, we often can ascertain a tremendous amount of knowledge by studying that opposite party.   In the same way, literature has always striven to provide an insight into human nature through a study of opposing forces.   Often, simply by looking at the binary operations found in any given text, the texts meanings, both hidden and apparent, can become surprising clear.   In William Faulkner's famous short story "Barn Burning," innate binary operations, especially those of the poor versus the rich and the society versus the outsider, allow the reader to gather a new and more acute understanding of the text.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The most important binary operation in Faulkner's masterpiece is the projected idea of the rich versus the stark reality of the poor.   Throughout the entire work, the scenes of the Snopes family are constantly described in detail and compared to the richness that appears abundant around them.   For example, at the very beginning of the story, the young Colonel Sartoris Snopes is described as "small and wiry like his father" wearing "patched and faded jeans" which are later described as too small (Faulkner 1555).   This poor child, with his tattered clothing, bare feet, and scared-to-the-bone look is juxtaposed against the wealth of the Justice of the Peace's borrowed courtroom--its "close-packed" shelves filled with cans of food, aromatic cheese, and "the silver curve of fish"--th... ...lty, or even the normal versus the audacious.   But, the entire story seems to be focused on two: those of the poor versus the rich and society versus the outsider.   Those two operations allow for, and even demand, a different reading of the text giving us a young Colonel striving to break out of his limitations and become the opposite of what he was.   In the end, Faulkner allows him to succeed.   After his father's death, the young man runs through the woods, forever leaving his family.   The text ends with the powerful line, "he did not look back" (Faulkner 1566). Works Cited Oats, Joyce Carol. "Master Race." The History of Dramatic Theory  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   and Criticism. Ed. John Dukore. New York: Harper Collins,   Ã‚   1992. Faulkner, William. "Barn Burning." The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter. 3th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998. 1554-66.

Cocaine Essay -- Essays Papers

Cocaine First of all this research paper will examine the history of cocaine, answer exactly who used it, effects of the drug and its addictive nature. People choose to write about cocaine so that others can clearly see and understand its historical origins and dangerous properties. Those who experiment with drugs should become aware of their dangerous effects and take caution. The more people that become knowledgeable about cocaine, the more they can protect themselves from seriously endangering themselves. Cocaine users that are seriously dependent on the drug can seek treatment and rehabilitate. Most cocaine users do not realize they have a problem until it becomes too late. Much like the alcoholic, a cocaine dependent’s body has accepted the drug and is used to it being in the body’s system. When the body needs it, and the user does not have it, withdrawal takes place. In this case, a long, gradual process of lessening the dosage is the only route for success. Experiments were conducted involving the effects of crack cocaine on case studies in Toronto. It is important that people monitor and stay knowledgeable about cocaine, â€Å"as medical experiments done at the turn of the century lacked today’s sophistication† (Karch A Brief History of Cocaine 11). These case studies are crucial to research if we are to fully understand the drug, its effects and its addictive nature. We can also observe from a safe pedestal the effect it has on society as a whole. This information was never really made public in the past, because researchers did not know much about the drug to begin with. In Toronto, â€Å"a core premise of media and law enforcement claims of an epidemic is that crack’s quick and intense high quickly leads to com... ...rt moment, their problems disappear. In the article, â€Å"Resisting Cocaine’s Tragic Lure† by Farrington, a recovering cocaine addict said it best by exclaiming, â€Å"I was always looking for the answer to the question ‘How can I feel better?’†¦it never occurred to me I could do that on my own [without drugs].† Work Cited Karch, Steven B. The Pathology of Drug Abuse. Boca Raton, FL: CBC Press, 1993. Karch, Steven B. A Brief History of Cocaine. Boca Raton, FL: CBC Press, 2000. Erickson, Pat.,et al. The Steel Drug. New York: Lexington Books, 1987. Farrington, Jan. â€Å"Resisting Cocaine’s Tragic Lure.† Current Health 25.6 (1999): 6-13. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Roesch Library, Dayton. 14 Oct. 2002. Carpenter, S. â€Å"Cocaine Use Boosts Heart- Attack Risk.† Science News 155.23 (1999): 356. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Roesch Library, Dayton. 14 Oct. 2002 Cocaine Essay -- Essays Papers Cocaine First of all this research paper will examine the history of cocaine, answer exactly who used it, effects of the drug and its addictive nature. People choose to write about cocaine so that others can clearly see and understand its historical origins and dangerous properties. Those who experiment with drugs should become aware of their dangerous effects and take caution. The more people that become knowledgeable about cocaine, the more they can protect themselves from seriously endangering themselves. Cocaine users that are seriously dependent on the drug can seek treatment and rehabilitate. Most cocaine users do not realize they have a problem until it becomes too late. Much like the alcoholic, a cocaine dependent’s body has accepted the drug and is used to it being in the body’s system. When the body needs it, and the user does not have it, withdrawal takes place. In this case, a long, gradual process of lessening the dosage is the only route for success. Experiments were conducted involving the effects of crack cocaine on case studies in Toronto. It is important that people monitor and stay knowledgeable about cocaine, â€Å"as medical experiments done at the turn of the century lacked today’s sophistication† (Karch A Brief History of Cocaine 11). These case studies are crucial to research if we are to fully understand the drug, its effects and its addictive nature. We can also observe from a safe pedestal the effect it has on society as a whole. This information was never really made public in the past, because researchers did not know much about the drug to begin with. In Toronto, â€Å"a core premise of media and law enforcement claims of an epidemic is that crack’s quick and intense high quickly leads to com... ...rt moment, their problems disappear. In the article, â€Å"Resisting Cocaine’s Tragic Lure† by Farrington, a recovering cocaine addict said it best by exclaiming, â€Å"I was always looking for the answer to the question ‘How can I feel better?’†¦it never occurred to me I could do that on my own [without drugs].† Work Cited Karch, Steven B. The Pathology of Drug Abuse. Boca Raton, FL: CBC Press, 1993. Karch, Steven B. A Brief History of Cocaine. Boca Raton, FL: CBC Press, 2000. Erickson, Pat.,et al. The Steel Drug. New York: Lexington Books, 1987. Farrington, Jan. â€Å"Resisting Cocaine’s Tragic Lure.† Current Health 25.6 (1999): 6-13. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Roesch Library, Dayton. 14 Oct. 2002. Carpenter, S. â€Å"Cocaine Use Boosts Heart- Attack Risk.† Science News 155.23 (1999): 356. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Roesch Library, Dayton. 14 Oct. 2002

Sentrong Sigla

â€Å"All the evidence that we have, indicates that it is reasonable to assume in practically every human being, and with certainly in almost every newborn baby, that there is an active will toward health, an impulse toward growth, or towards the actualization. † -Abraham Maslow Introduction Department of Health or the Kagawaran ng Kalusugan is the principal health agency here in the Philippines. The department is responsible for ensuring access to basic public health services to all Filipinos through the provision of quality health care and the regulation of providers of health goods and services.DOH has three major roles in the health sector: (1) leadership in health, (2) enabler and capacity builder, and (3) administrator or specific services. The DOH’s vision is to be the leader of health for all in the Philippines, and its mission is to guarantee equitable, sustainable and quality health for all Filipinos, especially the poor, and to lead the quest for excellence i n health. While pursuing its vision, DOH adheres to the highest value of work such as: integrity, excellence, compassion and respect for human dignity, commitment, professionalism, teamwork and stewardship of the health of the people.Because of the department’s dedication in guaranteeing equitable, accessible, sustainable and quality health services for all Filipinos, especially the vulnerable group, the department has formulated different programs to ensure quality health services and one of them is the Sentrong Sigla Program. Sentrong Sigla The Department of Health’s (DOH) Quality in Health (QIH) Program seeks to institutionalize Continuous Quality Improvement or CQI in health care in order to create health impact in terms of health promotion and disease prevention control.Sentrong Sigla Certification has been identified as one of the components and strategies of this program. The quality standards cover total systems quality for outpatient care and public services g raduated into three levels. This quality standards list (QSL) covers the basic certification level or Level 1. The next higher levels of specialty award and award for excellence, Levels 2 and 3 respectively have their own standards lists. Aside from the QSL, other tools available for use of the health facility staff are the Supervisory Forms (SF) and the Facility Certification Form (FCF).The Birth of Sentrong Sigla Quality Assurance Program (QAP) Goal: To make DOH and LGUs active partners in providing quality health services. Key Strategies: 1. Certification / Recognition Program (CRP) 2. Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) In 1999, QAP was renamed the Sentrong Sigla (â€Å"Center of Vitality†) Movement (SSM). Sentrong Sigla Movement Goal: Quality health – quality health care, services and facilities. Objectives: Better and more effective collaboration between DOH and LGUs.Where DOH: serves as a provider of technical and financial assistance package for health care. L GU: serves as prime developers of health systems and direct implementers of health programs. Specific Objectives: * Institutionalization of quality assurance * SS certification targeting 50 % of health facilities in 2003 and 60% in 2004. Pillars: * Quality assurance * Grants and technical assistance * Awards * Health promotions Phases: Phase| Period| Standards| I| 1998 – 2000| Input Quality | II| 2001 – 2004| Process Quality|III| 2005 – 2010| Outcome or Impact Quality| Guiding Principles for Sentrong Sigla Movement To ensure that Sentrong Sigla remains focused on its quality goals and objectives, the following guiding principles are hereby adopted: * Recognition for achieving good quality shall be the main incentive in SS certification. Advocacy and social mobilization activities should be used to enhance the value of prestige and recognition. Other incentives shall not be overemphasized and should only be secondary to recognition. * Quality improvement is an un ending process.SS certification should promote the continuing drive for ever – improving quality by providing multi – tiered and progressively higher quality standards. * SS certification shall focus on core public health programs that have been proven to be most cost – beneficial to the people such as child health, maternal care and family planning, prevention and control of infectious diseases and promotion of healthy lifestyle. Public health programs are best integrated, synergized and synchronized to achieve maximum health impact. Quality improvement is a partnership that empowers all stakeholders. In SS, communication between the DOH and the health facilities to be certified shall be open and shall be based on mutual trust and transparency. All quality standards and the methods by which these shall be assessed shall be openly shared and discussed to ensure clear understanding and strong commitment by all concerned. * In the same spirit, roles, responsibilit ies and contributions shall promote appropriate counterpart and reciprocity. To ensure even distribution of quality health services, DOH assistance shall be purposive, targeting to achieve quality improvement in health facilities that have been identified using carefully selected health priorities and health needs. These should include health facilities in far – flung and underserved areas, in congested urban centers or in marginalized communities. * To ensure objectivity and broad, varying perspectives, SS assessment shall involve partners in health from non – DOH units such as other government and non – government units agencies.They shall be encouraged to actively advocate for and give support to SS. Sentrong Sigla Certification Phase I Phase I of the certification component started in mid – 1999 and extended until 2002. Sentrong Sigla seals were given to health facilities that met at least 80% of the standards. By mid – 2002, 44% of health cent ers, 13 % of district and provincial hospitals, and 1 % of BHS have been certified Sentrong Sigla. Additional national awards were given to several health facilities, the prize for which included P 1 Million for health centers, P 3 Million for district hospitals and P 5 Million for provincial hospitals.More than 135 Million pesos have been awarded to these facilities. The Sentrong Sigla certification during the first phase was successful in terms of promoting interests and participation of local government units in raising the quality of health care in public health facilities and in generating additional support from local chief executives for health and channelling local resources to fund basic equipment, amenities and supplies of local health facilities.The strategy also confirmed that a mechanism that recognizes good quality health services is a powerful tool to maintain DOH leadership in health, with high potential for eventually creating health impact through more effective an d better quality public health programs. Valuable Lessons during Phase I * The realization of the need for total systems quality standards that combine simple yet basic input process and output standards. While the health facilities met input – only standards in Phase I, SSM itself had to be positioned as a total quality movement.Thus, consumers will equate SS with total quality. â€Å"Input only† certified health facilities would raise doubts on the SS seal as a certification of genuine total quality. Changing the standards over the years, as originally planned, was difficult to implement. Besides, The LGUs preferred a stable core of total system quality standards. * The importance of careful selection of incentives. While it is important that incentives be attractive, these should also be appropriate, sensible and sustainable.During SS Phase I, monetary rewards were too much focused. This generated unprecedented interest but distracted the LGUs away from the real qua lity objectives of SS. The quest for the million peso prize led them to skip the capability – building step which was really the most important step in the process. * The need for changing procedures to provide adequate time for crucial processes like the internalization of the quality standards by the Local Chief Executive and is local health staff, the provision of supportive technical assistance by the DOH and other quality improvement activities prior to formal assessment. There was also need to provide multiple, progressing quality standards to drive continuing quality improvement. Formulation of the Philippine Quality in Health Program and the Transition into SS Phase II In 2001, with the change of DOH administration, the effort to raise quality of health services was intensified, leading to the expansion of concern for quality beyond the DOH – LGU interaction level into the entire health sector.Other instruments and interventions that can drive quality higher, s uch as mandatory licensing and the accreditations and payment scheme of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PHIC) were included. Other efforts of professional societies were also acknowledged and incorporated, resulting in the more integrated Philippine Quality in Health Program AO No. 17 – B s. 2003, replacing the Sentrong Sigla Movement. The certification strategy of the â€Å"movement† – The Sentrong Sigla Certification – remained an important strategy in the accreditation approach of the broader Philippine QIH Program.To harness the full potential of the SS Certification in achieving its quality goals and objectives, basic modifications were adopted for SS Phase II (2003 – 2007) in terms of revised quality standards, procedures and incentives scheme. Goals: As one of the accreditation strategies in the QIH Program, Sentrong Sigla Certification has the same long term and intermediate goals as the Philippine QIH Program: Long – Te rm Goals:To institutionalize within the health sector the leadership processes, knowledge, attitudes, skills, and organizations that will generate Continuous Quality Improvement in health care thus creating health impact in terms of health promotion and disease prevention and control. This goal is a process and systems goal, fully recognizing that the quest for better quality health care and services is a continuing or unending process. This is also an expanded goal, aimed to cover the entire health sector, not only the public health or government sections of the sector. Intermediate (5 – year) Goal (2003 – 2007)To improve the quality of health care in outpatient health facilities, hospitals, and the public health services in the communities. In specific terms, this goal will be carried out by establishing specific quality criteria and by targeting (a) to raise the average quality of out – patient care, hospital care and community / public health care; and (b) t o reduce the variation around the average quality of care among these different categories of providers and services. Specific Goal: To improve the quality of outpatient health care (public and private) and of public health services in communities.For 2003 – 2007, SS will put emphasis on improving the quality of services in local government health facilities and of public health services in communities. Objectives for 2003 – 2007, Phase II Sentrong Sigla Certification has the following objectives for 2003 – 2007, Phase II: By 2007, 1. To establish an efficient systems of providing technical and other forms of assistance to outpatient health facilities, of assessing health services against established criteria, and of monitoring key indicators in the Ss certification process. 2.To progressively raise the average quality of public health services through recognition of successful attainment of quality standards: * At least 50% of health centers in the country succ essfully meet the revised SS Phase II Basic Certification (Level I) standards. * At least 20% of Level I certified health centers successfully meet SS Phase II Specialty Award (Level 2) standards for all four core public health programs (child care, maternal care / family planning, prevention and control of infectious diseases, and promotion of healthy lifestyle. 3. To raise public awareness of, public support and demand for, and client participation in SS certification of their health services and facilities. Overall Certification Process The quality standards cover total systems quality for outpatient care and public health services graduated according to the following levels: Level| Category| Description| Level 1| Basic Certification| Minimum input, process and output standards for integrated public health services for 4 core programs, facility systems, regulatory functions and basic curative services. Level 2| Specialty Award| Second level quality standards for selected public h ealth programs (includes other health programs in addition to Level 1 core programs) and facility systems. | Level 3| Award for Excellence| Highest level quality standards for maintaining Level 2 standards for the 4 core public health programs and Level 2 facility systems for at least 3 consecutive years. | All the local health centers and rural health units are qualified to apply for Level I certification. Only those that passed the Level I can go to Level 2; only those that passed the Level 2 can proceed to Level 3.The certification process starts with participatory self – assessment at the local health facility level assisted by the DOH Representative to the area. Then, for a period of about 3 – 6 months, depending on the deficiencies noted, the local health facility will have to improve its systems and services to meet the quality standards for the appropriate level. DOH Representatives and other regional technical staff shall assist the LGU in this transformation process, providing appropriate technical packages and other assistance as needed.Multi – sector Regional SS Assessment Teams that have been trained and certified as assessors shall conduct formal assessments using the appropriate Facility Certification Form. These teams will then recommend the certification of health facilities that successfully meet the standards criteria. Major Steps for SS Certification Step 1: Orientation and invitation. Step 2: Self – assessment by LGU. Step 3: Provision of technical assistance. Step 4: Formal assessment for Level 1, Basic Certification.Step 5: Maintenance of Level 1; working for Level 2 certification. Step 6: Formal assessment for Level 2 certification. Step 7: maintenance of Levels 1 and 2; working for Level 3 certification. Step 8: Formal assessment for Level 3 certification. Step 9: Maintenance of Level 1, 2, and 3 | The above strategy is designed to promote the continuing progression of health facilities towards higher qualit y levels. The pace of progress towards higher levels depends on the motivation of the health facilities.However, should health facilities not actively apply for certification into the next higher levels after 2 years, renewal of their SS certification status would be validated by Regional Assessors every 2 years. The following is the recognition scheme: Level| Recognition| Level 1Basic SS Certificate | SS seal, individual recognition| Level 2Specialty Award| Specialty banner, individual recognition, others| Level 3Award for Excellence| SS trophy, individual recognition, media exposure, others| Levels 1 and 2 recognition shall be conferred by the DOH through its CHDs.Recognition for Level 3 Award of Excellence shall be given at the national level. Matching grants shall be a mechanism to provide assistance to LGUs to achieve basic SS Certification and to continue to attain higher levels of quality. Region – specific procedures to assess needs and motivation shall guide prioriti zation of such grants. Facilities that did not progress into higher level certification after 2 years, but maintained their current certification status based on Regional validation, shall be given stickers confirming the renewal of the validity of their SS status.Validation shall be done every 2 years. There shall be no other incentives for mere renewal of SS status. Grants for technical assistance towards attaining higher level quality, however, may still be granted by the respective CHDs based on thorough assessment of the needs and the commitment of the health facility. The SS Certification Flow Chart Procedures 1. 0. Technical Assistance 2. 1. Self – assessment and planning This process is participatory involving all key staff of the health facility, other units of the local government and the local executive.The DOH Representative to the area is the primary technical assistant of the DOH. He / She shall ensure that the LGU has all the necessary documents and materials n eeded for the certification and that all key LGU staff understands the standards and processes involved. The DOH Rep shall either provide actual technical inputs or tap other regional resource person and technical services to assist his / her LGU. Based on the QSL, The LGU, assisted by their DOH Rep, shall conduct a system and services analysis and shall formulate a plan, synchronized with the DOH Rep‘s assistance plan, to achieve the standards in the QSL. . 2. Designing and providing technical package Based on the improvement plan, the DOH Rep shall provide the technical inputs and packages. 2. 3. Systems improvement Improving the quality of systems, such as logistics and information systems, are better facilitated through field exposure in facilities that demonstrate model systems or by bringing in resource persons knowledgeable in systems analysis and systems improvements. These special arrangements are possible through the DOH Rep and regional TA teams. 2. 0. Assessment 3. 4.Quality Standards for SS Phase II Level 1 (Basic Certification) The 78 SS Phase II Level 1 standards are organized into 4 sections: integrated public health programs, facility systems, regulatory functions, and basic curative services. Integrated Public Health Programs. Only four â€Å"core† public health programs are currently included in Level 1 Basic Certification in order to focus the services on the most crucial public health priorities in child health, maternal health and family planning, prevention and control of infectious diseases especially tuberculosis, and the promotion of healthy lifestyle.Integration is stressed to emphasize the need to combine similar and related interventions, such as child targeted programs like EPI, CDD – ARI, nutrition and others, infection prevention and control interventions, maternal care and family planning, and healthy lifestyle approaches. Integration is achieved by ensuring that facility – based services are reinforc ed by well – planned and well – coordinated, synergistic home – and community – based activities. The synthesized protocols emphasized â€Å"proven† interventions, excluding experimental interventions not yet proven to be cost – beneficial or effective such as the syndromic approach to STD.Note that for Level 1, the program selected is maternal care and family planning, not Women’s Health. This is because there are many developmental and experimental areas in the expanded field. Women’s Health and other programs not in Level 1 Basic Certification are to be included in Level 2 SS. Facility Systems. These standards include systems and services that cut across various programs and support all health facility services. These include planning and budgeting, human resources development, management and health information systems, logistics system, referral system and community systems.Regulatory Functions. Regulatory functions include two aspects: compliance of the health staff with health laws and the performance of the responsibilities of the local health staff in the enforcement of these health laws. Basic Curative Services. The standards refer to routine history – taking, physical and laboratory examination, and systematic assessment of these signs and symptoms. 3. 5. Quality Standards for Level 2 and 3 ideas and direction These standards are still being developed.The concept for Level 2 Specialty certification is to define program – centered higher level quality standards for selected programs. The programs include the four core public health services in Level 1 and other programs that include developmental components, for instance women’s health or reproductive health. Level 2 standards would also include higher quality systems standards. Level 3 standards would be very much like Level 2 standards with emphasis on maintenance of these high quality service levels. 3. 6. Tools for Measur ing SS Quality StandardsAs in any certification process, accurate measurement of the attainment of the quality standards is difficult. The methods of measurement used in SS include direct observation, records reviewand interview of health staff and clients. Of the total 78 standards in the QSL, 53 shall be measured using the Facility Certification Form (FCF). The rest are measured by suing the Supervisory Form, which in turn is also verified through the FCF. Facility Certification Form. The measurement methods include mostly simple direct observation, short review of records and short interviews with either staff or clients.Supervisory Form. These are taught to the health facility supervisors, mainly the nurses or physicians. The methods included in the SF are the lengthy and more highly technical observations of actual patient care, the more thorough review and analysis of records, and the more detailed interview of staff or clients. The records of the supervisory activities, in tu rn, are those assessed by the SS Assessor. 3. 7. Scoring The scoring system puts more weight on the integrated public health services and facility systems. The â€Å"must have† standards are those listed in the FCF. Nice to have† standards are either in the supervisory form or in the discretionary list for SS assessors. 3. 8. Training and certification of assessors To prevent bias and too wide variation of judgement between assessors, only duly trained assessors will be certified to conduct assessments. Assessor Field Supervisors recruit, train and recommend certification / renewal of certification of assessors in the field teams under them. Advocacy, IEC, and Social Mobilization The table below is the media communication plan for SS listing the basic messages and target groups.National advocacy activities will focus on wide tri – media popularization of the SS seal and its symbol. Regional advocacy will focus on raising the commitments of local executives to SS and the awareness and demand for quality services among the communities. Target Audience| Messages| Scope: Media| General public(including politicians) | What is SS? What is the SS seal? What are the SS standards? What facilities have to meet these standards? What are the general benefits of having SS certified health facilities?What can you do to demand for SS certification or help / support the program? | Nationwide: multi – media| Health staff(LGU, DOH, private health sector)| Reinforce the value of quality in health care. What are the updates on SS? (revisions, etc. )What are the specific benefits of being an SS certified facility? Using the revised SS certification processes, how can the health facility become SS? What are the specific and relevant guidelines for LGU action? | By region & LGU: sales conferences, symposia, meetings, handouts, manuals. | Monitoring, Research and EvaluationThe quality level of each health facility, including the deficiencies of those not ye t SS certified, are monitored to detect the increasing average quality level and the needs for assistance. Research is used to develop improved quality standards program components and training packages and top evaluate the SS achievements. Organization and Functions The National Sentrong Sigla Certification Committee (National SSC Committee) sewrves as the multi – sector body that oversees policy recommendations and coordinates the various activities of SS.This committee also assesses the performance of the various subcommittees and DOH units involved in the implementation of the strategy. The subcommittees of the National SSC Committee with their respective functions are as follows: * Sub – Committee on Standards and Procedures 1. Develops and recommends standards and procedures for Sentrong Sigla certification, as well as basic messages to various stakeholders, through multi – sector consultation and pilot – testing and taking into consideration other quality initiatives and accreditation programs of other agencies in the country. 2.Develops and disseminates guidelines on SS implementation to DOH staff at all levels. 3. Coordinates training of various stakeholders on standards, procedures and basic messages. 4. Performs other functions as relevant to the development and dissemination of standards and procedures in SS. * Sub – Committee on Technical Assistance and Monitoring Assists the DOH Regional Offices / CHDs in the following functions: 1. Dissemination of SS standards, procedures, guidelines, and basic messages to the other members of the health sector such as the local government units (LGUs) and private practitioners, among others. 2.Development of training assistance packages, systems and tools that will facilitate the attainment of SS standards. 3. Coordination of various sectors involved in the SS quality assessment of health facilities. 4. Development of monitoring tools and performance indicators and analysis o f the SS results of the database for all health care facilities (certified and not yet certified). 5. Monitoring of the achievement of identified SS program indicators of performance. 6. Identification and coordination of grants and projects that will facilitate the SS certification of target health facilities and systems in the country. . Other functions necessary to assist the LGUs and other members of the health sector in attaining SS quality standards. * Sub – Committee on Advocacy and Awards 1. Designs and recommends revised, graduated incentives scheme that puts emphasis on excellence rather than monetary incentives. 2. Identifies and mobilizes funds and partners in order to deliver these incentives. 3. Develops projects to facilitate SS certification of target health facilities and systems and performs the necessary processes to get these projects approved and implemented efficiently. 4.Advocates for multi – sector participation in the SS program based on the ba sic messages developed by the Standards and Procedures Sub – Committee with emphasis on the quality improvement benefits to different sectors involved. 5. Performs other functions necessary to make the SS incentives focused on the excellence and to sustain interest and participation in the certification strategy. Functions of the DOH Regional Offices / CHDs in SS Certification In addition to the technical assistance functions mentioned under the Sub – Committee on Technical Assistance and Monitoring, the DOH Regional Offices shall: 1.Organize Regional SS Assessment Teams and SS Technical Assistance Team. 2. Advocate for SS certification within their respective regions. 3. Identify and mobilize resources and partners to help enhance the attractiveness of the SS incentives scheme without putting too much emphasis on monetary or material rewards. 4. Develop regional projects that will promote and facilitate SS certification and active partnership. 5. Perform other functio ns as necessary to implement SS certification and quality improvement activities within the health sector.National Structure for Sentrong Sigla Certification Regional Structure for SS Certification Financing SS activities are funded from multiple sources. The BLHD provides funds for SS national operations, including national advocacy and the activities of the National SSC Committee. Regional Health Offices provide the funds for regional operations including regional advocacy, matching grants and other rewards such as the SS seals, certificates and trophies. BLHD may augment the funds of regions that seek financial assistance.BLHD, in coordination with DOH financing units, monitors selected financial indicators for SS certification such as funds allocated and disbursed at all levels, including counterpart funds from LGUs. Future Directions SS Certification is expected to further develop in many directions. The quality standards are expected to reflect higher levels of quality and oth er changes through the years. Assessors and TAs will have to be retained as these changes are incorporated. New programs and new or revised protocols may be added in the â€Å"core† list. Future standards may be developed to cover other units in the LGU and the community.Within 2007, initiatives shall include preparations for expansion of the coverage of SS certification into private outpatient health facilities and the development of Level 2 and 3 standards. In the future, it is also expected that the Licensing requirements would eventually absorb the â€Å"safety† standards currently in SS. PHIC – developed standards for hospital services are expected to become the SS standards for hospitals. Definition of Terms 1. Quality – degree of excellence or desirability of a product, usually measured in relation to conformity with given standard. 2. QualityControl (QC) – set of functions designed to insure quality in manufactured products by relying on pe riodic inspection of finished products, analysis of results of inspection to determine causes of defects and systematic removal of such causes. 3. Quality Assurance (QA) – set of functions designed to insure quality in manufactured products by preventive or pre – emptive removal of potential sources of defects through constant improvement of production technology, engineering design, materials, processes, equipment and workmanship. 4. Quality Management (QM) – the organization – wide pursuit of quality. . Quality Improvement (QI) – the broad all – encompassing generic term for processes involve in the continuing pursuit to improve quality. 6. Performance Improvement – a type of QI focused on the systematic and continuing improvement of organizational performance in order to achieve total quality. 7. Total Quality Management (TQM) – the pursuit of quality that involves not just the production organization but also its clients an d customers, suppliers and sub – contractors, competitors and oversight agencies in the market, and all other stakeholders in the community. 8.Total Quality – the ultimate goal in improvement which involves doing the right thing right the first time and all the time while meeting the needs of internal and external stakeholders and customers. 9. 1998 Quality Assurance Program – refers to DOH quality program formulated in 1998 that is focused on improving the DOH – LGU partnership to provide quality health services. The QAP started the certification and recognition strategy for improving health services in health centers, rural health units and baranggay health stations. The Sentrong Sigla Movement replaced the QAP. 10.Sentrong Sigla Movement – the term used in 1999 to refer to the 1998 QAP. The SSM is essentially the same as the 1998 QAP, with some minor revisions like the inclusion of local hospitals in the certification and the listing of 4 pillar s to support the process. This term was also used to refer to other quality – related concepts such as the quality improvement philosophy, the multi – sector nature of CQI, and the value changes in CQI. The Philippine QIH Program replaced the SSM. 11. QIH Program – refers to the Philippine Quality in Health Program, the current quality improvement program (AO 17 – B s. 003) that replaced the QAP and the SSM. The QIH has expanded the scope of the quality initiatives to involve the entire health sector, not only the DOH and the LGU services, and now includes the licensing and other efforts such as accreditation by PHIC or other professional societies in its strategies. 12. Sentrong Sigla Certification – refers to the strategy of assessing health facilities against established health services criteria and recognizing those that successfully meet the criteria. The certification process is expected to lead to changes in the health facility when they str ive to meet the criteria. 13.SS Quality Standards List (QSL) – the list of basic SS criteria to be met by health facilities. In SS Phase II, the QSL for Level 1 certification includes input, process and output criteria. 14. SS Facility Certification Form (FCF) – the form that is used in the formal assessment of health facilities. The FCF contains standards that will be measured by the SS Assessor and the method by which these will be measured. It also works as the scoring sheet. 15. Supervisory Form (SF) – the form used by the health facility supervisor (the nurse or the physician) in assessing the capability of his / her health staff, usually midwives.This contains the standards that are measured mostly through direct observation of provider – client interactions and in depth review and analysis of records. 16. Inputs – the resources needed to provide care or services such as staff, equipment and supplies. 17. Processes – a series of activi ties or tasks. 18. Outcomes – the result of the processes. Conclusion In 2001, according to the World Bank, â€Å"The quality of service varies between different types of health facilities with the facilities providing better quality of service to be more heavily utilized by the individuals from the higher income groups.Public health facilities such as the rural health units and barangay health stations are generally perceived to provide low quality health services. Few have emphasized the quality of services and most systematic efforts to improve based on findings about the delivery process have been limited to health facilities with adequate resources. † Everybody deserves to receive quality health care. Whether you came from the poorest of the poor or the richest of the rich, there should be a same level of quality care. Sadly, here in the Philippines, the quality of health care services and management system has been widely deficient.With this in mind, quality impr ovement in health system needs to be organized systematically to bring about genuine health systems reform. We should change the general perception that the Philippines have fragmented planning, funding, and management of the quality initiatives. And in order to achieve this – thus achieving quality health care – there should be coordination and collaboration between the government, NGOs, and the community. And it shouldn’t stop there. In order to achieve excellence in health services, it should be remembered that the quest for quality health care is continuous.Honestly, I’m not really aware what Sentrong Sigla Movement is. I don’t know what it is for, how was it being implemented, etc. Because of the limited knowledge I have, and the lack of information and resources, I have decided to visit DOH and ask for information. I have learned that the Sentrong Sigla Movement has been stopped in the year 2007, and only reached the Level 2 where trainings h ave been conducted but there was no implementation. It is stopped because of the PHIC Bench Book, where it is just the same as the Sentrong Sigla Movement, because the DOH also included most of the inputs in the said proposal.Unfortunately, it is still not being implemented, thought it has been revised and just waiting for the sign and review of the Secretary of DOH. I guess, the lack of funds has a major impact why an important program such as Sentrong Sigla was being stopped. But I am sure that there will be always a quest for excellence in providing health care services. I wish that there will come a time that it will not matter if you’re in a public or private hospital for they are providing same quality care.Nevertheless, we should remember that the success of quality initiatives lies in producing change the way people and organization work rather than concentrating standards and measurement alone. Bibliography * Cuevas, F. P. , Reyala, J. , Borja, V. , Serafica, L. , Ma nlangit, C. , Mendoza, M. T. , Ramos, L. , Ruzol, C. , Soliman, R. , Aricheta, J. , Garfin, A. M. C. , Niola, R. , Bocobo, M. , Hipolito, H. (2007). Public Health Nursing in the Philippines 10th Edition. * http://www. doh. gov. ph/sentrong_sigla