The Importance of Being Earnest Criticizes the Victorian Society Essay Example for Free

The Importance of Being Earnest Criticizes the Victorian Society Essay In The Importance of Being Earnest, author Oscar Wilde criticizes the Victorian society. His characters represent the Victorian era and have twisted views on issues regarding intense emotions such as love and marriage. They do not fully appreciate these concepts and either disregard them or confuse them with emotions that lack depth. Wilde depicts his Victorian society as superficial and incapable of love that is not shallow. In his comedy, both women, Gwendolyn and Cecily, believe to be head over heels in love with a man named Ernest. The reason for their love is simply that the name Ernest is appealing to them. In fact, Cecily has achieved her lifetime goal. She states, â€Å"†¦It had always been a girlish dream of mine to love someone whose name was Ernest† (Wilde 159). Loving a caring or intelligent man was not a priority. The basis of her love was a name. Wilde illustrates the ridiculous nature of his Victorian characters and their ludicrous perceptions of love. Wilde’s characters do not seem to connect intimate emotions with the word â€Å"love. Though Cecily had never met Ernest, she developed a relationship between them entirely in her head. Upon meeting him for the first time, she begins to talk about the letters she received from him. When he tells her he has never written to her, since they have never met, she says, â€Å"†¦ I was forced to write letters for you I wrote always three times a week and sometimes oftener† (158) Cecily and Ernest are supposedly in love but the only thing they share are the letters Cecily wrote to herself in Ernest’s name. There is no real affection between them and the only thing holding their â€Å"relationship† together is her attraction to his name. In Wilde’s comedy, the concept of marriage is not seen as something to cherish but rather as inconvenient and bothersome. In an exchange between Algernon and his servant, Lane, Lane mentions that married couples often have an inferior quality of wine compared to bachelors. Algernon answers, â€Å"Is marriage so demoralizing as that? † (116). To Algernon, marriage is not at all important if it means sacrificing the quality of wine. Wilde is criticizing the priorities of the Victorian era as being irrational and impractical. Rather than being in a loving, satisfying marriage, the Victorian bachelor prefers to sip fancy wine. When Jack tells Algernon about his plans to propose to Gwendolyn, Algernon states that proposing is not romantic whatsoever and that nothing is romantic about a â€Å"definite proposal† (118). He even says, â€Å"Divorces are made in heaven† (118). Algernon’s contempt for marriage is obvious and feels that divorce is an excellent solution to the terribleness of marriage much like most of society today. Wilde depicts the Victorian society as superficial and hypocritical. His observations relate to modern society. People in this age look for certain qualities in their ideal partner, most of which are based on image. Instead of learning to love, one pushes aside his potential love of his life if they do not meet these shallow qualifications. The public is taught to toss aside anyone with any minor imperfection instead of seeing any amazing characteristics they may have. Celebrities are seen with their gorgeous partners and the public uses them as models of a perfect relationship. This is done without fully realizing that most of these â€Å"power couples† were matched up by publicists and do not share tender emotions for one another. Society is not taught how to love. This explains the 50 percent divorce rate. To Modern society, like Wilde’s Victorian society, divorce is holy.

The Rationales And Strategies For Change Management Essay

The Rationales And Strategies For Change Management Essay In this highly competitive global market organizations are pron to any change in global economic environment. The rise of highly efficient global and domestic competitors, the rapid technological development and global economic downturn like that of 2007, are some of external and internal pressures that have forced organizations to change the way they manage their business processes. In order to increase their efficiency, minimize their operation cost and increase their competitiveness, organizations are going through changes such as Downsizing, implementing new technology or merger. Considering the current economic downturn many organizations took drastic measure to insure their survival in the global market by downsizing their operation to the level where they can stay competitive. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview on the rationale behind organizations going through change and the strategy implemented by organization. Accordingly, the paper examined the rationale and strategies used by changing organizations: GM Holden, Ford and Fletcher building supply, due the current economic crisis. Organizational change-Downsizing For decades because of instability in the global business environment organizations often finds themselves facing the need to change their way of operations. The current economic crisis which started in 2007 was a good scenario where many organizations had to take Transformative change to counter slowing global economy (Brown and Harvey 2001). The demand for product and services worldwide slammed to the lowest level which forced organizations to downsize their operations and employee number in order to minimize their operational costs. In 2009 car manufacturing company GM-Holden downsized its vehicle production to 310 a day. Holden closed its afternoon shift and operate only one shift per day. Even though Holden downsized its vehicle production it managed to keep its 3000 workforce at Elizabeth plant. The production line operates in two teams, each working one week on and one week off (The Age 2009). Similarly Ford car manufacturing company cut a round 350 employees in 2008 and close d it Geelong engine manufacturing plant in 2010 (The Age 2008). The other organization to downsize in 2009 was Fletcher Building Supply Company where a bout 2500 staff members was slashed across all operations inline with falling demand for building material around the world (The Australian 2009). From the above example we can clearly see that downsizing was the strategy implemented in countering the challenges these organizations were facing in the global market. Downsizing is a set of activities designed to improve organizations performance and by scaling down business processes, workforce and operational costs (Farrell and Mavondo 2005). In case of Holden the company prefer to keep its employee while it reduces the output while Ford and Fletcher prefer to downsize their employee and close down some of their operations. The rational for the change including external and internal pressures? According Chief executive Jonathan Ling of Fletcher (2009), due to slowing down in construction of residential houses around the world the company have taken a range of initiative to scale down manufacturing capacity of the company by retrenching workers and closing down braches to keep the profit margin. This was echoed by Ford spokeswoman Sinead McAlary (2008) who claims that the demand in six-cylinder vehicle and further deterioration in global economy forced Ford to shade some employee and closed down its engine manufacturing plant in Geelong. According to Holdenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Spokesman Scott Whiffing (2009), Holden downsized its volume of production due to the falling demand of its V6 vehicles and the scraping of its G8 US lucrative export deal by its Parent company General Motors (GM). In addition, the increasing demand for smaller and fuel efficient cars in global market forced Holden to shift from manufacturing bigger fuel consuming cars to small cars that are economical for consumers. From the above reasons given by these organizations, global financial crisis was the external factor causing companies to take drastic transformative changes in order to survive in this highly competitive global market. The internal reason is the need to satisfy their shareholders by cutting costs to keep the profit margin. In addition, these organizations fail to have vision in to the demand of the market place. Car manufacturing companies like Holden and Ford failed to notice the shift in demand before the financial crisis hit the global market. This allows companies like to Toyota to easily out pace Holden and Ford and become dominant in the market place. Change Strategy used by Organization There are different strategies to implement planned organizational changes. It could be either incremental or transformative change strategy. In the case of Holden the company has implemented Participative change which is incremental transformation. During downsizing employees were participating in the planning of the change and they show willingness to work one week on and off to help the company challenge the current economic slowdown. Holden managed to keep it work force which will enables the company to cope with production of new small cars in 2010 (The Age 2009). In the case of Ford it uses Dictorial transformation strategy to implement its transformative change from being only a large car maker to add small car to its line-up by 2011. Similarly Fletcher is undergoing Dictorial transformation by downsizing its employee and closing down its manufacturing to insure its balance sheet is up float. According to Fletcher, it would also impose a freeze on remaining staff salaries and directors fees for 2010. 2.0 Comparing the Rationales and Strategies Are there commonalities that emerge? Despite of different strategies companies could implement during in need of change to secure their survival, there is a trend emerging where downsizing seem the only solution exercised by many CEO during time of crisis. Most organizations cut back their work processes or their worker during economic down turn, however researches shows down sizing is becoming a common practice regardless of the status of the economic environment(Jeffrey and Pfeffer 2010). Only one in six organizations interviewed in 1995 responded not to have downsized between 1993 and 1995(Bordia, Hobman, Paulsen, and Tourish, 2004). For example Fletcher decision to downsize their production and manpower, seems that the company was following what other organization was doing in the global market. The organization was reacting to the temporary problem arisen during the financial crisis. The shrinking market for large vehicles around the world forced car manufacturing company like Ford to lay off their worker and close down their worker. The downsizing was in response to drop in demand and due to shift of product market. Similarly Holden reacted to the crisis by cutting down product size. In all cases above, downsizing was the solution use by these organizations to cut their operational cost. It seems that they all have the same reason why they implement downsizing as strategy to face the financial but they have different way implementing it. Are some rationales and strategies presented as more legitimate than the others? In your option why might be the case? Some of the rationale and strategy presented are more legitimate than the others. If we take in the case of Holden the organization seem to understand the rationale well when they implemented downsizing as their strategy. It is important they cut down their production volume however since the problem is temporary the solution is also temporary. Holden use the situation as their advantage to structure their business processes and prepare for the future competition in the global market. The reason behind not to let go of their worker was firstly the organization valued the skilled workers who would necessary when the company introduce new small car model in 2010. For that reason the company avoided not only the cost involving laying of workers but also rehiring (Jeffrey, and Pfeffer, 2010). Secondly Holden understood the extent to which downsizing could impact the moral of the workers that are staying behind. According annual investigative industry report subsequent reductions in manpo wer have negative impact on performance (Farrell, and Mavondo, 2005). In addition Holden took involuntary downsizing with the participation and consultations of its employee. This helped Holden to minimize employee distrust on the organization. In contrary Fletcher Pty seems to care about fixing their balance sheet. The company seems to miss that the current slump in residential housing was not as result of over supply instead was due to financial crisis. The demand for residential construction is still high but it slowed down due to affordability. When the demand is high again Fletcher will be in bad position compare to its competitors. Where as Ford didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t have choice it needed to cut down staff and downsize its production at Geelong plant was due to aging model of its four-wheel model and its small car was imported as the result it was necessary in long-term to downsize it business processes. There fore Ford took downsizing associated with long-term business processes restructuring (Farrell, and Mavondo, 2005). There fore its legitimate to implement downsizing in the time of crisis however it should not only focused on the current issue but the long-term strategy to gain competitive advantage in the global market. To what extent are single or multiple rationale and strategy utilised? What conclusion can you draw from these? There are circumstances in which layoffs are necessary for a firm to survive. Some time changes due to technological implementation makes downsizing feel like only solution. In the current economic crisis downsizing was a major strategy to be implemented by many organization. The external and internal pressure that generated from this crisis was the reason behind these changes. In many cases organization are mainly interested in finding an immediate solution to the crisis rather than long-term solution. This is because organizations are mainly concerned with the shareholder interest rather than the local economy or interest of employee (Burdos, 2002). In case of Holden, Ford and Fletcher downsizing was the only strategy implemented to cut cost of operation and restructuring purpose. This shows that in time crisis cost cutting is the prime target of an organization to stay competitive in the global market.

The Job Satisfaction Definition Psychology Essay

The Job Satisfaction Definition Psychology Essay Job satisfaction, insimple words is an individuals emotional reaction to the job itself. It is a set of favorable or unfavorable feelings with which the employees view their work. When a person says that he has high job satisfaction, it means that he really like his job feels good about it and values his job highly. According to E.A. Locke, job satisfaction is a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of ones job or job experience. Job satisfaction is the amount of pleasure or contentment associated with a job -if you like your job intensely you will experience job dissatisfaction.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Andrew Bin Job satisfaction is the set of favourable or unfavourable feelings  with employees view their work.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Keith Davis and Newstrom According to Fieldman and Arnold, Job satisfaction will be defined as the amount of the overall positive effort or (feelings) that individuals have towards their job Job satisfaction is the mental feeling of favorableness which an individual has about his job. So it is one of the important factors which have drawn attention of managers in the organization. Benefits of job satisfaction study Job satisfaction study can produce positive, neutral and negative results. The importance of the study is explained below. (1) The study informs the management about the level of satisfaction of the employees in the various services offered to them by the organization. (2)Job satisfaction study is a useful for identifying related problems, for assessing the response of the employees to various alternatives and also for encouraging managers to modify their original plans approximately. (3) Job satisfaction study is a useful way to determine certain training needs. (4) The study is tangible expression of managements interest in employee welfare which gives employees a reason to feel better towards management. EFFECT OF LOW JOB SATISFACTION Job satisfaction has a variety of effects these effects are. High turnover of employees. High absenteeism. Tardiness. Low employee performance. High turnover of employees Low satisfaction is associated with high employee turnover. Employee turnover means the proportion of employees leaving an organization. Most satisfied employees are less likely to think about quitting and searching for a new job or announce their intention to quit and thus one more likely to stay with their employer longer. Employee turnover has several negative consequences especially if the turnover rate is high. Difficult to replace derived employees. Direct and indirect costs to the organization since replacing workers are expensive. The feeling of demoralization because of the loss of valued Co-workers. Both work and social patterns may be disrupted until replacements are found. The organizations reputation in the community may suffer. High absenteeism Absenteeism refers to the frequency of absence of a job holder from the workplace either unexcused absence due to some avoidable reasons or long absence due to some unavoidable reasons. Tardiness The impact of low job satisfaction is tardiness. A tardy employee is one who arrives at work late. Tardiness is a type of short period absenteeism ranging from a few minutes to several hours for each event and it is another way in which employees. Withdraw from active involvement in the organization. it may impede the timely completion of work and disrupt productive relationship with Co-workers. A pattern of tardiness is often a symptom of negative attitude requiring managerial attention. Low employee performance If the rewards are seen as fair and equitable the improved satisfaction develops because employees feel that they are receiving rewards in proportion to higher performance. On the other hand if rewards are seen as inadequate for ones level of satisfaction leads to either great or lesser commitment which affects efforts and eventually the performance. Article: 1 WORK TEAMS AND JOB SATIFACTION Authors Laura Newmark, Management Consultant, Boone, NC, USA Jerry W. Koehler, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA Thomas W. Philippe, St. Petersburg College, St Petersburg FL, USA Source: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BUSINESS RESEARCH, Volume 8, Number 2, 2008 One of the most significant changes in modern organizations over the past few decades has been the increased use of work teams. Many organizations have embraced beliefs that people are untapped resources, that people who do the work are in the best position to improve the organizational processes, and the most effective method to utilize human resources is to form work teams. Even though many organizations have adopted the team approach, it still remains to be seen whether or not work teams positively affect organization members. Although there is Ample evidence that organizations have improved their quality and productivity by utilizing work teams, the overall affects teams have on the organization and organization members is still uncertain. There has not been sufficient research on the positive or negative affects of work teams. The definition of work teams accommodates the use of many labels. It includes autonomous work teams, semiautonomous work teams, self managed teams, process-improvement teams, self-determining teams, cross-functional teams, quality circles, etc. There are five themes that emerge from qualitative analysis they are (1)commitment, attitude, and willingness within team; (2)Knowledge, skills, abilities, and experience of team members; (3) team work and ability to work as a team; (4) internal team leadership (5) communication and trust within the team. In fact, the affect was just the opposite; people who did not work in a team had significantly higher job satisfaction than team members. The results indicate that working on teams may not have a positive affect on team member job satisfaction. This was a significant finding since job satisfaction has long been a significant variable for determining organizational effectiveness. Since many organizations are moving to team based organizations, the data indicates that this movement may cause organizations to experience significant problems in implementing teams, particularly in the area of job satisfaction. Article: 2 JOB SATISFACTION AND RETENTION STRATEGIES Author Safdar Rehman Director (HR), Super Solutions Consultancy, Canada Source: Global Business and Management Research: An International Journal (2012) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Vol. 4, No. 1 Phillips, (1998) and Meglino, Ravlin, De Nisi, (2000) studied that precise and pragmatic job information during the recruitment and selection process was linked with positive work outcomes like job satisfaction, low turnover and enhanced job performance. Applicants who felt a better fit between their knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA) and their job requirements were likely to accept a job offer. Campion (1991) found that inescapable turnover was characteristically viewed as critical to an organization. The notion that turnover decreases organizational performance was supported by the most of researchers. Mobley (1982) suggested That, turnover might interrupt job performance when an employee who intended to leave became less efficient and effective. Shaw, Gupta, Delery, 2002 found empirically that voluntary turnover was associated with the inferior organizational performance. Other researchers suggested that turnover could improve performance. One probable advantage of turnover was the exclusion of poor performing employees. Furthermore, Staw et al; (1986) proposed that turnover might enhance performance if most of the turnover was by employees with longer or very short tenure. Article: 3 JOB SATISFACTION AND WORK LIFE BALANCE Author Millicent F. Nelson, Middle Tennessee State University Richard J. Tarpey, Middle Tennessee State University Source: Academy of Health Care Management Journal, Volume 6, Number 1, 2010 Work-family conflict studies have also indicated that there is a difference in levels of work-family conflict perception between males and females. Several of these studies have also indicated that the majority of pressure females experience comes from family demands rather than work demands especially when the family has children. One possible explanation is that a larger portion of family role tasks that are time constrained typically falls on the female of the family. While males usually assume responsibility for tasks such as home maintenance, females normally are responsible for tasks that must be done on a regular basis regardless of the quantity or pressures of work demands. Therefore, while many generally male dominated family tasks can be put off if work demands increase, the same is not true for the female dominated tasks such as laundry, cooking, or direct child care. Therefore, the propensity for females to experience work-family conflict is high due to irregular, inflexible or long work hours, potential limited choice in work schedules, and personal or family demands. Additionally, with families can experience more demanding family role tasks in addition to their potentially high demand work role tasks causing a further perception of a lack of balance. The implications of the work schedule on an individuals ability to achieve a work-family balance are clear and demonstrated in previous studies. An employees negative perception of a work schedule should increase the potential for the existence of work-family conflict through the perception of the scheduled hours as too excessive, irregular, or inflexible. THEORIES OF JOB SATISFACTION The main theoretical approaches to job satisfaction are given below: 1. Need Fulfillment Theory According to this theory a person is satisfied when he gets from his job what he wants. In other words, job satisfaction will vary directly with the extend to which those needs of an individual which can be satisfied actually. Thus, job satisfaction is positively related to the degree to which ones needs are fulfilled. 2. Equity Theory Under this theory, it is believed that a persons job satisfaction depends upon his perceived equity as determined by his input -output balance in comparison with the input -output balance of others. Every individual compares his rewards with those of a reference group. If he feels his rewards are equitable in comparison with others doing similar work, he feels satisfied. Job satisfaction is thus a function of the degree to which job characteristics meet the desires of the reference group. Equity theory takes into account not only the needs of an individual but also the opinion of the reference group to which the individual looks for guidance. 3. Two-factor theory (motivator-hygiene theory) Frederick Herzbergs Two-factor theory (also known as Motivator Hygiene Theory) attempts to explain satisfaction and motivation in the workplace. This theory states that satisfaction and dissatisfaction are driven by different factors motivation and hygiene factors, respectively. An employees motivation to work is continually related to job satisfaction of a subordinate. Motivation can be seen as an inner force that drives individuals to attain personal and organizational goals (Hoskinson, Porter, Wrench, p.  133). Motivating factors are those aspects of the job that make people want to perform, and provide people with satisfaction, for example achievement in work, recognition, promotion opportunities. These motivating factors are considered to be intrinsic to the job, or the work carried out. Hygiene factors include aspects of the working environment such as pay, company policies, supervisory practices, and other working conditions. While Hertzbergs model has stimulated much research, researchers have been unable to reliably empirically prove the model, with Hackman Oldham suggesting that Hertzbergs original formulation of the model may have been a methodological artefact. Furthermore, the theory does not consider individual differences, conversely predicting all employees will react in an identical manner to changes in motivating/hygiene factors. Finally, the model has been criticized in that it does not specify how motivating/hygiene factors are to be measured. 4. Discrepancy theory The concept of discrepancy theory explains the ultimate source of anxiety and dejection. An individual, who has not fulfilled his responsibility feels the sense of anxiety and regret for not performing well, they will also feel dejection due to not being able to achieve their hopes and aspirations. According to this theory, all individuals will learn what their obligations and responsibilities for a particular function, over a time period, and if they fail to fulfil those obligations then they are punished. Over time, these duties and obligations consolidate to form an abstracted set of principles, designated as a self-guide. Agitation and anxiety are the main responses when an individual fails to achieve the obligation or responsibility This theory also explains that if achievement of the obligations is obtained then the reward can be praise, approval, or love. These achievements and aspirations also form an abstracted set of principles, referred to as the ideal self guide. When the individual fails to obtain these rewards, they begin to have feelings of dejection, disappointment, or even depression 5.Equity Discrepancy Theory This is a combination ofequity and discrepancy theories. Under this theory, satisfaction is defined as the difference between the outcomes that one perceives he actually received and outcomes that one feels he should receive in comparison with others. When the individual feels that what he actually received is equal to what he perceives he should receive, there is satisfaction. This model reveals that a persons perception of what he should receive is influenced by the input and output of others. 6. Opponent process theory According to opponent process theory,  emotional events, such as criticisms or rewards, elicits two sets of processes. Primary processes give way to emotions that are steady with the event in question. Events that seem negative in manner will give rise to the feelings of stress or anxiety. Events that are positive give rise to the feeling of content or relaxation. The other process is the opponent process, which induces feelings that contradict the feelings in the primary processes. Events that are negative give rise to feelings of relaxation while events that are positive give rise to feelings of anxiety. A variety of explanations have been suggested to explain the uniformity of mood or satisfaction. This theory shows that if you try to enhance the mood of individual it will more likely fail in doing so. The opponent process theory was formulated to explain these patterns of observations. 7.Social Reference group theory Reference group defined the way an individual look at the world. According to this theory job satisfaction occurs when job meets   the interest, desire and requirements of a persons reference group .in   other word, job satisfaction is a function   of the degree to which the job meets the approval of the group to which the individual looks for guidance in evaluating the world and defining social reality. The social reference group theory is similar to the need fulfilment theory  except that it takes into account not the desires need and interest of the given individual but rather the point of view and opinion of the group to whom the individual looks for guidance. This theory an incomplete explanation to the extent some people are independent of group opinions and group pressure.

all the kIngs men :: essays research papers

The amount of change people go through in their lives is remarkable. One day, a person can be a devious criminal, while the next day that same person could turn a new leaf and become a saint. The change that Jack goes through in All the King’s Men, by Robert Penn Warren, is comparable to that of the schizophrenic patient who receives a lobotomy. Although Jack undergoes no physical change, the events he witnesses change his personality, and transform him into an entirely new man. While Jack views the world in a schizophrenic fashion, in the end he changes his philosophical mind frame and finds the cure for his disease. Jack does view the world in a schizophrenic manner. According to Webster's dictionary, the psychosis for schizophrenia is a retreating from reality. Jack retreats from reality a lot. When Jack found out that Anne was having an affair with Willie, he disconnected himself from reality. He went west, to Long Beach, where he commenced with his great sleep. The great sleep was a very important thing for jack because it allowed him to avoid reality. He would sleep and everything else would go on. While in Long Beach, Jack thought that he had discovered the greatest thought he ever had. That thought was the great twitch, a belief that there are no consequences for actions since they are only â€Å"twitches† of impulses. This thought was probably the biggest attempt to evade reality. Believing in the great twitch, Jack set himself apart from the rest of the world. By thinking that no one could be blamed for anything, he dodged blame from himself. By acting out the great sleep and the Great twitch, he was able to act like a schizophrenic until he had a change in philosophical views. Jack's philosophical views changed, just as the view of the patient would have after the surgery. Jack was, in the beginning of the novel, a believer in The Great Twitch. He becomes, in the end of the novel, a believer in the Spider Web Theory, a belief that all things are connected and every action has some effect on everything else. At the scene of the lobotomy, Jack comments that someone should baptize the patient "in the name of the Big Twitch, the Little Twitch, and the Holy Ghost, Who, no doubt, is a Twitch, too." Towards the end of the story, Jack "woke up one morning to discover that he did not believe in the Great Twitch any more.

The Dangers of Teen Sleep Deprivation: Benefits of Adopting Later Star

â€Å"Bueller?†¦Bueller?† The monotone history teacher appearing in the popular 1980’s film â€Å"Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,† proceeds to take role-call in his morning history class: a positively lethargic group of students, comically struggling to stay awake. As the teacher monotonously pronounces each name on the attendance list, one student gives a deadpan stare, mouth slightly agape and eyes drooping, while another student can’t beat the fatigue and sleeps with his head on his desk as a trickle of drool escapes his mouth. While this comic scene takes place on a Hollywood set, it is not far removed from many classroom situations across the country as Aarthi Belani, a high school student from Minnesota, notes about the 7:20 a.m. chemistry class she took her junior year. â€Å"It was an ungodly hour to be studying chemistry,† she recalls with a shiver; â€Å"In the first period, 75 percent of the kids would have their heads down o n their desk at one time or another† (Bettelheim 4). Students in high schools from Maine to California find it equally grueling to stay awake during their morning classes since more and more schools choose to open their doors at the crack of dawn, many around 7:30 a.m. and some as early as 7:05 a.m. Dr. James B. Maas, a sleep expert and psychology professor at Cornell University, found that on average, 20 percent of high school students are so fatigued that they sleep at some point during the school day each week (Crombie 2). That’s a lot of beat kids in this country, a fact which has countless sleep experts, lawmakers, parents and teachers alarmed by the groggy state of America’s youth. High schools in this country simply start too early. Teenagers are being forced to ignore their bodies’ natural sleep/wake patterns in... ...000928.html Kunzelman, Michael. â€Å"Drive under way to start school later for students.† The Daily News Transcript. 21 Oct. 2013. 13 Nov. 2013. http://www.dailynewstranscript.com Moore, Ann. â€Å"Sleep Deprivation Common Among Teens.† talk about sleep. 12 Oct. 2013. 12 Nov. 2013. http://www.talkaboutsleep.com/sleepdisorders/childrensdisorders_teens-sleep-deprivation Ruechel, Al. â€Å"Early Start Time Stinks.† Glenn Beck.com 30 May 2013. 13 Nov. 2013. http://www.glennbeck.com/al/05-03-02-al.shtml â€Å"Sleep experts to teens: Please, get your zzz’s.† CNN.com 29 Sep. 2000. 13 Nov. 2013. http://www.cnn.com/2013/HEALTH/children/09/28/sleepy.teens.01/ â€Å"Study: Many high school students don’t get enough sleep; performance suffers.† Health & Medicine Week 19 May 2013: 58. Academic Universe: Document. Lexis-Nexis. 13 Nov. 2013 http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document

Discounting And Environmental Valuation In Cba Environmental Sciences Essay

This REMT undertaking supported by GEF grants chiefly consists of two constituents ; Renewable Energy Power Generation – set uping the policy and regulative models and beef uping the institutional capacity for renewable energy development, 2 ) Commercial Solar Water Heating ( CSWH ) – supplying proficient aid and edifice industrial capableness for CSWH systems and services [ 1 ] . The undertaking appraisal study examined its feasibleness by non merely incremental cost analysis of the undertaking but besides the economic and fiscal analysis of possible renewable energy undertakings which the REMT undertaking would promote to implement. I have focussed on cost benefit analysis of the undertaking and looked at whether or non the estimated price reduction rate and rating of nonmarket merchandises and services are decently determined during the undertaking assessment. Particularly, I have reviewed the assorted methods of environmental rating and different consequences on economic value of CO2 emanation decrease, which is considered as a major benefit of the REMT undertaking.Background to the UndertakingIn general, South Africa has a well-developed power sector, with a entire 42GW installed capacity and 244,607 GWh electricity production accounting for about 45 % of sum produced power in Africa in 2004. As a consequence of heavy dependance on coal for energy ingestion, South Africa remains the top 10 manufacturers of GHG emanations in the universe. As such, the Government published its White Paper on Renewable Energy taking for renewable energy development and set a mark of 10,000GWh of renewable energy part by 2013 [ 1 , 2 ] . The REMT undertaking aims to take the barriers of renewable energy engineerings development by back uping the Government in set uping the policy and regulative models. In add-on, the undertaking provides proficient aid and capacity edifice for renewable energy development. The GEF besides finances some portion of advisers ‘ services and goods for CSWH systems installing under the public presentation grants. Ultimately the undertaking is expected to excite important private sector investing in renewable energy sector and to assist accomplishing the Government ‘s mark [ 1, 3 ] . Furthermore, it contributes to extenuate nursery gas emanation in the line with the GEF ‘s planetary environmental nonsubjective [ 4 ] by replacing the conventional power works with renewable energy.Analysis for Project AppraisalIncremental Cost AnalysisThe intent of the GEF is to supply supportive support for incremental costs to increase the planetary environmental benefits. As such the incremental cost and the planetary environment benefit demand to be explicitly analysed during the undertaking assessment. The undertaking appraisal study defined value of CO2 emanation avoided by CSWH systems as a Global Environment Benefits of the undertaking. The table-1 below summarises incremental cost analysis in this study. [ 1 ] Table 1: Summary of Incremental Cost Analysis for REMT undertaking Baseline Alternate Incremental Domestic Benefit Job Creation, Private Net income Job Creation, Private Net income None Global Environment Benefits Slow advancement towards overall renewable energy mark ; 15 old ages cumulative value of CO2 emanations avoided by CSWH systems ( 0.15 M metric tons ) Accelerated advancement towards overall renewable energy mark ; 15 old ages cumulative value of CO2 emanation avoided by CSWH systems ( 1.15 M metric tons ) Cost ( US $ ) 2.3 M ( Government ) 2.5 M ( Private Sector ) 8.3 M ( Government, GEF ) 9.0 M ( Private Sector ) 6.0 M ( GEF ) 6.5 M ( Private Sector )Economic and Financial AnalysisGiven catalytic map of the proficient aid, out economic and fiscal analysis was carried out non merely for CSWH undertaking but besides a sample of possible undertakings which this TA undertaking could promote the private sector to put in [ 1 ] . The societal and economic impact classs, measurement indicant and other values which were used for the analysis are outlined below [ 2 ] . Table 2: Summary of Economic and Financial Analysis for REMT undertaking Undertaking Component Renewable Energy Power Generation CSWH Cost Capital Cost Market monetary value ( 2004 ) estimated by proficient expert Capital Cost Market monetary value ( 2004 ) estimated by proficient expert O & A ; M Cost O & A ; M Cost Benefit Avoided Coevals Cost Long run fringy cost ( LRMC ) Cost avoided by exchanging ( Saved Electricity ) Eskom ‘s Duty Avoided nursery gas emanation Carbon emanation decreases ( CERs ) monetary value Avoided nursery gas emanation Carbon emanation decreases ( CERs ) monetary value Discount Rate 10 % 10 %Evaluation of the Project Appraisal DocumentDiscount RateThe price reduction rate was non explicitly stated in the appraisal study, but harmonizing to its economic and fiscal analysis due diligence study [ 2 ] , it is found that the price reduction rate of 10 % was applied for the economic analysis for the possible undertakings ( renewable energy power coevals ) . The studies justified the determination of the price reduction rate of 10 % saying the same price reduction rate was used for recent electricity sector surveies from National Electricity Regulator ( NER ) . On the other manus, in the economic analysis of CSWH system shown in Annex 9, it revealed that the price reduction rate of 0 % was applied without any justification. Therefore, it is necessary to reexamine how to find the price reduction rate on the REMT undertaking which has the long term planetary environmental benefit from CO2 emanation decrease. In general, the pick of appropriate societal price reduction rate in the cost benefit analysis is a cardinal issue for finding the present value of any long footings societal impacts that occur in the hereafter [ 5 ] . The ADB economic and research section working paper provinces that: â€Å" Puting the societal price reduction rate excessively high could prevent many socially desirable public undertakings from being undertaken, while puting it excessively low hazards doing a batch of economically inefficient investings. Further, a comparatively high societal price reduction rateaˆÂ ¦favours undertakings with benefits happening at earlier day of the months ; while a comparatively low societal price reduction rate favors undertakings with benefits happening at subsequently day of the month. † [ 6 ] In peculiar utilizing high price reduction rate on undertakings refering the environmental issues such as clime alterations and planetary heating has been criticized. There are a assortment of statements on finding the proper price reduction rate. Some has argued that the price reduction rate demands to be lowered in general to stress future environment effects. The usage of a lower price reduction rate individually on certain environmental impact and worsening price reduction rates has been besides suggested [ 7 ] . Sing a fanciful price reduction rate ( 10-12 % ) for the World Bank funded undertakings [ 8 ] , the price reduction rate of 10 % used in the REMT undertaking seems proper. However, as the REMT is the planetary clime alteration related undertaking which has intergenerational environmental benefits and costs, it seems more sensible to use the lower rate. Even though legion reviews on the Stern Review exist, it is found that the societal rate of clip penchant of 1.4 % was applied for dismissing planetary clime alteration impact [ 6 ] , which is significantly lower than the price reduction rate for the REMT undertaking. In add-on, harmonizing to the manual for ciphering GHG benefit of GEF undertaking, the larger uncertainnesss for GEF undertaking compared to CDM undertaking compromises the quality of a GHG impact appraisal for undertaking assessment by using no price reduction rate on future GHG emanation decreases [ 9 ] . This could be another ground why the lower price reduction rate should be considered for the REMT undertaking.Environmental Valuation ( CO2 Emission Reduction )One of the advantages to utilize cost benefit analysis is that a policy or undertaking can be assessed by quantifying the value of all societal and economic effect in pecuniary footings. It besides means predicting and monetising all impacts are significantly of import for the accurate analysis. However, in pattern valuing in pecuniary footings is hard and combative particularly for environmental impacts. [ 10 ] The REMT undertaking identified one of the benefits as the value of avoided nursery gas emanation from conventional coevals displaced by renewable coevals. In the economic analysis, the value was calculated by the market value of gas emanation decrease ( CERs, $ 3.75/tonne CO2 ) mentioning to the old Prototype Carbon Fund Durban Landfill Gas Project [ 1 ] . Of class, there are the big scopes of the estimated economic value of emanation decrease depending on different premise by each survey [ 12 ] . However, it seems hard to state that a simple market monetary value of CERs to the full reflects the environmental and societal value of reduced gas emanation for the analysis. Furthermore, the estimated value of CO2 emanation decrease seems undervalued being considered as the planetary benefit of the REMT undertaking. Duong has categorised the monetary value of C as five definitions ; ‘the expected extenuation of climate-change harm ‘ , ‘the cost of cut downing CO2 emanations ‘ , ‘the societal cost of C ‘ , ‘the politically negotiated value ‘ and ‘CO2 market monetary values ‘ . And it stated that the monetary value of different definition well varies. [ 12 ] Among the above definitions, in order to monetise the entire societal and environmental benefits from reduced emanation accurately, it could be more sensible to utilize the societal cost of C, an estimated pecuniary value to society of environmental CO2 emanation impact [ 13 ] , alternatively of the market monetary value. In general, chief attacks for environmental rating are known as ‘stated penchant methods ‘ , ‘revealed penchant methods ‘ and ‘benefits transfer ‘ [ 14 ] . In add-on, Koomey introduced two rating methods particularly for emanation decrease. ‘Direct harm appraisal ‘ monetise the amendss such as human wellness and environmental effects definitively related to emanation of a pollutant. This method is highly complicated and hard. On the other manus, ‘cost of suspension ‘ uses the cost of pollution controls imposed by regulative determinations as a placeholder of the outwardness costs. But rapid society ‘s penchants may ensue in misrepresentative suspension cost computations. [ 15 ] In malice of recent progress in environmental rating methods, ‘Benefits Transfer ‘ deducing the values from old surveies has been progressively popular for policy assessment in footings of environmental rating, since it can be carried out faster and more cheaply than primary rating surveies [ 14 ] . There are several different attack of benefits transfer method, which have been introduced ; the first attack is reassigning original unit value from a ‘study site ‘ to ‘policy site ‘ and the 2nd attack is reassigning full WTP maps. Another method is a meta-analysis of bing rating surveies to find sensible value for a policy site [ 16 ] . While the research on the societal cost of C has been conducted, Tol examined 211 estimations of the societal cost of C through the meta-analysis and concluded that a average value were $ 120/ton of Carbon ( $ 33/tonne CO2 ) for surveies between 1996 and 2001 and $ 88/tonne of Carbon ( $ 24/tonne Cos ) for surveies since 2001. [ 17 ] Even though the average value of Tol ‘s analysis ( $ 29/tonne CO2 ) has been criticized, it seems clear that the value of $ 3.75/tonne CO2 estimated in the REMT undertaking is non plenty to reflect the economic and societal impacts of CO2 emanation decrease.DecisionThis essay has reviewed the societal price reduction rate and environmental rating used for the economic analysis of the REMT undertaking. These two factors are significantly critical to analyze and gauge net present value of the cost and benefit of the undertaking, which is considered as the chief standard to be applied in determination. By reexamining the surveies on an appropriate price reduction rate and CO2 emanation rating, despite ongoing arguments, it seems a more wise attack to use the lower price reduction rate and higher economic value of CO2 emanation decrease for the REMT undertaking. This attack leads to the addition of economic and societal benefits of the undertaking and shows the determination to continue with the REMT undertaking was sensible overall. However, in footings of choice of subproject, different determination could be made based on this attack. The undertaking appraisal study has clarified the ground for singling out CSWH among the possible options such as biomass, air current, small-scale hydro and landfill gas. But if the lower price reduction rate and higher economic value of decreased emanation was used, so during the undertaking planing stage, the REMT undertaking might displace other specific options which may hold more economic and societal benefits compared to CSWH.

Comparing the Major Theoretical Perspectives in Social Psychology Essay

Because human-beings are such complex, psychologists had been trying to discover, understand and explain human behavior throughout the years by using different perspectives. Each of these processes address these matters somewhat at a different level although sometimes can be put onto the same context and by using making careful scientific observations. Some of the major theoretical perspectives of psychology were developed and shaped during the course of history by some of the great psychologists known and can cited as followed: 1.Motivational or Psychodynamic perspective is one of the most popular of psychology approach that was developed by Sigmund Freud. According to this theory, human motivation is the result of conflicts between instinctual but mostly unconscious psychological forces that Freud called the â€Å"id, ego and superego.† This approach had contributed to the first developmental theory of human personality by tying to bring these conflicts to consciousness using intrapsychic structures. 2.Cognitive perspective on the other hand explained human behavior by using different approach saying that these behaviors are mostly thoughtful and are able to be controlled through a vast array of mental processes like memory and attention, belief systems, problem solving and reasoning, attitude and language. 3.Learning or Humanistic perspective is based on the idea that human being has the potential to self-actualized or in other words to self-develop and move forward in reaction of their social and environmental conditions. Psychologists like Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow developed this form of psychological perspective to try to solve human problems and emphasized on their ability and potential to grow in a positive manner. 4.Sociocultural perspective is emphasizing on social interactions and cultural determinants of behavior to explain the mental process of human being. This perspective explains that mental processes are influenced by factors such as ethnic, occupation and socioeconomic context and cultural influences. 5.Evolutionary perspective explained human behavior based on the biological evolution of his species to survive through natural selection and adaptation. References Institute of Physics (2008, March 5). Stop-And-Go Traffic: An Accident? Construction work? No, Just Too Much Traffic. ScienceDaily Siri Carpenter, Karen Huffman, (2007-2008) .Visualizing Psychology, Second edition, Introduction and Research Methods, 1, 4-27.