The red sludge ecological disaster

Table of Contents Introduction The Red Sludge Ecological Disaster Conclusion Reference List Introduction The Hungary sludge flood that occurred on Monday 4th October has hit the news and the world as one posing danger to the eco system. A state of emergency was declared in Hungary on Tuesday 5th October 2010 in three of its states following a toxic red sludge flood flowing from a failed waste reservoir at Ajkai Timfoldgyar plant in Ajkai, affecting several neighboring towns and causing massive destruction.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on The red sludge ecological disaster specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Hundreds of people had to be evacuated and temporarily relocated after the torrent flowed into homes, swept cars off road and caused destruction on roads and bridges as the industrial waste flowed into several nearby towns (Gorondi, 2010). The sludge flood left four dead, about six people missing and more th an 120 people injured. The Red Sludge Ecological Disaster The environmental affairs state secretary informed the MTI news that as of Thursday, approximately one million cubic meters of the red sludge had leaked from the reservoir affecting an area of approximately 40 square kilometers. He further referred to the sludge flood as an ecological catastrophe thereby suspending all the activities of the company and ordering it to repair the broken reservoir (Gorondi, 2010). He further warned that content of the sludge featured heavy metals some of which may cause cancer and respiratory complications especially with the warm weather that is aiding evaporation hence transforming the red sludge into dust. He also predicted further environmental hazards especially if the sludge found its way into the ground water (Jahn 2010). The red sludge reached the Danube River on Thursday 7th October 2010. This has posed threat to some of the nations along one of the major European water way and also saw one of the Hungarian tributary dead. The sludge flood also caused death to aquatic and wildlife in the areas flooded by the industrial waste. The rescue team tried to salvage the situation by pouring plaster and acetic acid into the affected areas in order to lower the Ph levels that were initially highly alkaline. Tons of plaster was also poured into the Marcal River in attempt to prevent the sludge from spreading further. However, the aquatic life in this river was adversely affected and the waste found its way into the Raba River, which then flows to River Danube. The Hungarian rescue agency confirmed that the Ph of the sludge seeping into River Danube has been decreased and it is unlikely to lead to further environmental degradation. Environmentalists have warned that the flood may cause long term damage to the regions top soil thereby affecting farming activity. Approximately 2000 acres of top soil will eventually have to be replaced to make the land suitable for Agriculture s ince the sludge has destroyed the nutrients required to keep the soil fertile and capable of supporting agriculture (Jahn 2010).Advertising Looking for report on ecology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The red sludge is a waste product resulting from bauxite refining which is the basic product for the production of alumina. It is composed of heavy metals and is toxic if ingested hence posing danger to life. Residents used snow shovels and wore no more protective materials other than rubber gloves in attempt to salvage their possessions. Dozens of them received severe burns as the red sludge penetrated through their clothing. Hungarian environmentalist explained that the burns resulted from accumulation of the sludge in the reservoir for a long time causing it to become extremely alkaline with a Ph of 13 (Gorondi, 2010). Those that were injured by the sludge had to be closely monitored since the chemical burns could take longe r time to emerge and could eventually cause severe damage to the body’s deeper tissues. It remains unclear as to what caused the reservoir to collapse. Meteorologists at AccuWeather.com have proposed that recent unusually high precipitation in areas in central Europe may have been one of the factors that contributed to the collapse of the reservoir as spring and winter rainfalls were 200% above normal (Jahn 2010). This may have consequently weakened the walls that contained the sludge causing it to collapse and cause the leakage. According to the company’s management, the sludge does not pose danger to human life and the occurrence would not have been prevented by any precautions on their side. They argue that the plant had recently been inspected and displayed no signs of irregularity. However, the collapsed reservoir was not leaking by Thursday and a protective wall was built around the damaged part and measures have been put in place to alert incase of emergency (Ja hn 2010). Industrial poisoning is one of the major problems facing any world’s ecosystem. Some occur merely as fatal accidents while others happen as a result of carelessness and negligence by the company employees. Industrial accidents are inevitable to occur and sometimes the magnitude of the damage is not evident until it is too late to contain it. The Hungarian prime minister suggested that the leakage could have emanated from human error but the company responded by issuing a report that indicated that the company management could not have predicted the occurrence of the natural catastrophe hence could not have done anything to prevent it.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on The red sludge ecological disaster specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More A number Hungarians lost their lives to the sludge while others were severely injured and millions worth of property was destroyed. According to environmentalists, a report filed in 2003 cautioned the government on the risks of the accumulated red sludge and estimated that the content of waste weighed up to 30 million tons. When the red sludge is allowed to accumulate over the years, it forms one of the largest amounts of toxic waste in the country. This occurrence should help the Hungarian government and the management of the company to embrace the views of environmental groups in the future and address the situations brought to their attention by these groups to avoid loss of life and property through industrial accidents Conclusion While uncertainties still surround the cause of the sludge flooding in Hungary, it is vital that the company takes responsibility of the situation, assess the damage the spillage caused, establish safer method of storing and discarding the waste products from their manufacturing processes as well as devising mechanisms to prevent the same occurrence from taking place in the future. The government on the other han d should stop playing the blame game and aim at protecting its citizens from having to endure such demise again. It should strengthen its governing policies on industrial manufacturing industry as well as improving its responsiveness to disaster mechanisms in order to protect life. The Hungarian government should also seek to find the cause of the sludge flooding and take stern measures to avoid such cases in future. Reference List Gorondi, P. (2010). The daily caller: Crews struggle to clear toxic Hungary sludge flood. Web. Jahn, G. (2010). Toxic red sludge reaches the Danube River. Associated press. Web. This report on The red sludge ecological disaster was written and submitted by user Finnegan Gallagher to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Information technology has improved society essays

Information technology has improved society essays The purpose of this essay is to prove that Information Technology (IT) has improved society. I will do this by showing ways that Information Technology has improved safety in society, through the prediction of possible dangers, and as a direct result prevention of injury and loss of life. Society in general is far too broad for the purpose of the essay and must be quantified. For this fact, I have chosen to only look at societies that I consider similar to the one that I live in. I will label them as first world, western societies. Society to me, and for what I believe to be generally accepted, is different groups of people living together. These groups may have different belief systems, values, tastes, religions and so forth, but they all share the same view of reality that determines what they believe to be right and wrong, proper or reprehensible. IT has enabled society to predict imminent disaster and to give enough warning to prevent injury and save lives. The prediction of danger improves safety by warning people who may be exposed to it, and giving emergency services time to prepare when it happens. Through implementation of early warning systems and the use of other IT such as telephone, television, radio and so forth, we are able to warn of the danger and evacuate people in the path of a storm, flood or fire, or warn people of the risk of a tornado. A good example of how IT could have been used to prevent a resulting disaster, was in 1972, Buffalo Creek, West Virginia. A burst dam resulted in a roaring flood, which killed people and destroyed buildings. (Sullivan Today with the use of IT, new methods have been implemented that would avert this kind of danger and resulting loss of life. Data from sensors is feed into computers to monitor water levels and vibrations in dam walls. Satellite images are used to forecast heavy rain that could result in the dam filling quickly. With the use of these...

Becoming A Professional Career Goal

Career Goal Rough Draft My overall goal is to become a RN while obtaining my BSN and have a career at in the neonatal or pediatric field. I believe time management, hard work, dedication and the desire to succeed are important keys to success. My 3 goals to reach to accomplish my overall goal are to obtain my associate degree in nursing at TCC, seek and gain employment at a hospital and finally to apply and complete the RN-BSN program at UTA. My first goal, obtain associate degree in nursing at†¦ Becoming a Pharmacist was never a professional career goal of mine, until recently. I graduated High school with the mindset I would become a nurse. Pharmacy sounded boring to me. Being an ignorant high schooler, I believed all they did was count pills. Once I began school for Nurs-ing I had to take a few Pharmacology classes. When I started my Pharmacology classes I fell in love with Pharmacology. The science behind medicine was interesting. I couldn’t believe all the things medicine could help†¦ would have been my highest goal and accomplishment. That was two years ago, my current goals and ambitions are to not only attend UCLA but to graduate Nursing school with at least my masters in nursing. I realized settling for third best or even second best was not good enough anymore, in order to excel in college and perform my best in my undergraduates study I need to be determined, focused, and goal oriented. Getting into UCLA and into the nursing school are not just goals to me that seem so far†¦ Introduction It is crucial that in order for myself to reach my ultimate career goal of becoming a Human Resources Manager in a large firm, that I personally develop myself to be especially rich in intrapersonal, interpersonal and organizational effectiveness. These skills play a critical role in all businesses in today’s society REFERENCE. Firstly, I must understand the prominence these skills have within the workplace and develop myself in order to succeed in the future. This portfolio will assess†¦ In this assignment, I am going to be identifying my professional career aspirations. Based on previous work experience and personal experiences I will be reviewing the skills I already possess and hope to develop whilst at university. In any career, you need to be able to have a set of basic skills ranging from your ability to work in a team to communicate yourself efficiently to other people, but the main being to have enough drive and motivation within yourself to succeed. (University of Kent,†¦ (750): The Career Goals of Phil Green IV: Playing Professional Basketball in the NBA Career goals are an important way to discover the potential of an individual to achieve success in the profession of sports. I have chosen to pursue a professional basketball career in the national Basketball league due to the increasing success that I have had at the collegiate level. At St. John’s University, I have appeared regularly in 32 games during the freshman, sophomore, and junior years. In fact, I was†¦ At an early age I set my mind on a career goal of becoming a Registered Nurse. It will take a lot of work and focus to complete my prerequisites at a junior college (Georgia Military), then I will need to graduate from a nursing program at an accredited University. This will take collectively six to eight years of schooling to obtain my Bachelors of Science in Nursing. I am now fully grasping the amount of work required to obtain my Bachelors of Science in Nursing, but I am more than ready to face†¦ able to buy a home in a good part of town which would prevent my kids from being able to attend the best schools. There are so many things now that rely on me being able to achieve my career goal of becoming a department manager, and one day a partner or owner of a company like the one I am currently working for. My goals of one day owning a house and my kids living in a good neighborhood may depend completely upon this education. This degree will ensure I am not passed up for promotions because I lack†¦ Johnson Mrs. Ornes 07November2011 My Career Goal of Becoming a Dental Hygienist Ever wonder why your dentist doesn’t actually clean your teeth? It’s cause that’s the job of the dental hygienist. They are specialist at keeping your teeth and gums healthy and clean. My goal of becoming a dental hygienist will soon come to pass. All I need is dedication, motivation, ambition, and understanding. This latter element becomes very important when discussing this career field. The most basic elements that†¦ â€Å"Knowledge is power. You can 't begin a career, for that matter even a relationship, unless you know everything there is to know about it.†-Randeep. My personal career goal was decision that I had to critically think about. They are many career options that you can choose from and it can be hard to narrow it down to the one that best suit to your talent. With that being said, I have decided that my career goal is to be a marketing manager which are responsible for managing marketing, advertising†¦

THe physics of the ear Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

THe physics of the ear - Essay Example The ear also plays a role in maintaining physical stability and balance of the body. The size of the outer ear differs considerably among mammals—from the large floppy ears of the hare to the smaller ones for humans—though there is not much difference in its internal functioning across species. The size of the ear canal is determined by the skin, cartilage and bone formation at this location. Since there is no growth of cartilage in adulthood, the size of the ear canal remains unchanged. However, the outer ear grows in size through adulthood. Ferrario VF. Sforza C. et al., (19(4):226-33, 1999.) calculated the length of the left exterior ear from apex to the lowest part with a transparent ruler; the result (in mms) as well as the patients age, were noted. The results established that as humans grew older the outer ear correspondingly increased in size. The outer ear (pinna or auricle) is the part visible to us. Its main function is to collect sound waves and filter them; so the larger it is, it collects more sound waves and focuses them in the right direction. However, this part is not vital to hearing. Besides, the pinna plays no role in the ear’s function of providing the sense of balance. The outer ear also consists of the ear canal, where wax is produced. Earwax protects the canal by means of the chemicals it contains that keep infections at bay, and also by acting as a barrier to collect dirt, which keeps the ear canal clean. (3 D Ear-Website) The middle ear receives sound waves that move through the ear canal to reach it. The middle ear converts sound waves into vibrations delivered to the inner ear. It does this through the eardrum (tympanum) which is a thin piece of skin stretched tight. The eardrum separates the outer ear from the middle ear and the ossicles, which are the three smallest and most delicately crafted bones in the body. The ossicles consist of the malleus (hammer), which is attached to the eardrum, the incus

Drug trafficking and drugs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Drug trafficking and drugs - Essay Example mechanisms in some countries, the presence of willing buyers and sellers, the strong cartels and finally the inherent problem of being a transnational crime. A drug has been described as anything that has a biological effect on a species, and that can be used for treatment, recreation, or for preventive measures. Most drugs that are prohibited are leisure drugs which tend to affect the brain of the user, and the prohibition is to encourage the promotion of responsible behavior among the youth who would take the drug to forget about problems. There are many forms of drugs, and there is usually a law in every country that regulates the use of drugs and identifies which drugs have been abused. Drug abuse is using drugs for non-intended purposes. There are many ways in which a person can gain access to drugs, but most drugs require the prescription of a qualified doctor (Lupton, 2012). The prescription has to be made after a diagnosis, so the disease or ailment can be effectively treated. There are also drugs that the law is lenient on; some of these drugs can be purchased over the counter. These are drugs for common ailments which do not have any adverse effect on the body, even when they are not taken in exact dosages. These are drugs for headaches, stomach aches, and for malaria in tropical countries. The danger with over-the-counter medication is that users are liable to develop a tolerance if the medication is overused. Finally, another form of drug is the prohibited drug, which can only be distributed through drug tra fficking and illegal sales (Hucklesby, 2010). Drug trafficking is the illegal transfer of a prohibited drug from one place to another. This is known as black market cartel whereby there are people who have dedicated their lives for the cultivation and production of illegal drug from countries that allow the growth and distribution of the drugs. In 2003 alone, the drug market contributed up to about 1% of the world economy, by producing

Women as Sexual Objects in Metropolis :: Movie Film Essays

Women as Sexual Objects in Metropolis In the film Metropolis, I feel women are basically represented as a sexual object. Also in my opinion certain male figures were the dominant images throughout the whole movie. Some may believe that at one point, the robot-Maria was a dominant figure but I believe the robot was just a technological advancement to increase the view that women are seen as sexual objects. Why was the robot created in Metropolis in the form of a woman? This is a question that is portrayed in Huyssen's article. In my opinion, Rotwang wants to create a woman robot so he can have complete control over her actions. Huyssen even states, "After all, Rotwang creates the android as an artifact, as an initially lifeless object which he can then control." In creating a woman robot, Rotwang figures he can use her sexuality in order to receive the attention of the male workers. Power and dominance is what Rotwang wants and he found away to achieve it by the use of his creation. There are other males who display these dominant ways just as well as Rotwang does. Take the Master of Metropolis for instance. He orders Rotwang to create a robot in order to replace the human workers. He also has the control of all the workers because he is their employer. Now let us look at where sexuality and technology come into play in this movie. In the first part of the movie, Jon Frederson (the son of the Master of Metropolis) sees Maria for the first time. By the way he looks at her, you can see that he is having sensual feelings for her. Huyssen also expresses this idea in his article. In my opinion, Frederson does not really see her as the saint she is suppose to be playing, but only as an object that he desires and would like to pursue. As the movie progresses, Rotwang decides he is going to capture Maria and take her as a prisoner in his home. He does this so he can create a robot that exactly duplicates the features of Maria. As a result of this creation, technology is now mixed with the sexuality that Maria had inside of her in order to obtain control and power. The robot-Maria, uses her sexuality to obtain the attention of all the male workers.

Battleship Potemkin

To many, Battleship Potemkin remains as powerful today as it was when it saw its initial release in 1915. A great deal of the power the film projects derives from its ability to draw on the emotional content of viewers who hold a dissatisfied feeling towards the government, a perennial feeling that never â€Å"goes out of style. † But does the film’s political statement undermine the credibility of the film as a work and sway it into the realm of propaganda?In a word, no as this is a highly skilled cinematic presentation that does not fall into the common trapping of propaganda cinema. To say the Battleship Potemkin contains a political point of view is an accurate statement; but, to say that the film is a work of propaganda may not entirely be correct. The reason for this is that propaganda generally involves a dishonest attempt to present a point of view that plays to the viewer’s emotions.Yes, Battleship Potemkin does present its anti-tsarist point of view so as to stimulate the viewer’s emotions to align with anti-tsarist sentiment however; life under the tsar was hardly one that was popular with the â€Å"common person. † In fact, the entire Russian revolution would have been impossible if the population held the ruling class in high esteem. So, the film does not so much change a point of view as much as it reflects what had been a common point of view.

BLR Savings Project P

Data Code of Conduct We, in our dealings, are self-regulated by a Code of Conduct as enshrined In the Data Code of Conduct. We request your support In helping us adhere to the Code In letter and split. We request that any violation or potential violation of the Code by any person be promptly brought to the notice of the Local Ethics Counselor or the Principal Ethics Counselor or the CEO of TTS. All communication received in this regard will be treated and kept as confidential. 2 Table of Content 4 2. Project 3. Scope of 4. Suggested Solution by TTS 6 5. Technology and Tools ? 7 6.Facts and 9 7. Highlights . 8. Benefits to the Customer ? 3 The customer is one of the leading financial services companies in the United Kingdom (I-J). They have over 7. 5 million people investing in various life assurance, pension, investment and general insurance plans. This is one of Auk's top 50 companies in the Financial Times and Stock Exchange (FETES) Index and its operations are spread across the wo rld, mainly in the United States (US), France, Netherlands, Germany and I-J. This leading financial services company makes financial security easier to achieve for millions of people.Through the range of general insurance and protection products that the company offers, it helps protect lives, health, homes and belongings of millions of people. 2. Project Background The customer, based in the I-J, has entrusted Data Consultancy Services (TTS) with the task of managing the today-day IT operations of various business units. This engagement aims to deliver administration services of high quality to the customer's Wealth Business Unit at reduced costs, increased efficiency and reduced time to deliver projects. The following systems form a part of the Wealth Delivery Unit: Future ProductFramework The Future Product Framework (OFF) system plays a central role in the customer's Pension and Investment business and in the customer's strategic Pensions and Bonds administration system. OFF was implemented in 1999. It was designed to provide flexibility in products to meet customer requirements. OFF is a rules and derivative system and has the capability to launch products to the market quickly. UNIt Linked PENsion UNIt Linked PENsion (UNEVEN) is the customer's legacy system that was developed in- house and was originally implemented in 1980.Since 2001, many of its functions eve been replicated within the newer OFF system, and as a consequence almost all new pension contracts are set up on OFF rather than on UNEVEN. Some parts of UNEVEN have been replaced by separate applications such as Individual Pension Claims (PC) and Pensions Increments (PINCH). PC The PC is an online system that enables the creation, maintenance, and printing of Personal and Corporate pension quotations based on the customer pension plans. This system handles retirement, death and transfer out. It is predominately an online system. Quotation documents are composed using SF. PC was implemented in 199 2.PINCH The PINCH system was built to replace the existing UNEVEN renewal routines and to provide dados Benefit Statements and online illustrations. It is primarily used to produce Benefits Statements and Incremental Illustrations for Individual and Occupational Pensions. It was implemented in 1994. Group Pensions The Group Pensions system handles the administration of the following pension products: POP, POP and the Group Pension schemes with respect to maintaining member records and renewal processing. It also administers the settlement of claims for deaths and retirements, including producing claim quotations. ValuationsThe Valuations system performs the valuation of policies across various applications within this account to finally arrive at a valuation of customer's business. Agency, Customer, Finance and Healthcare These systems coordinate with the business to align with the business with respect to Agency and customer details. 5 3. Scope of Work The scope of this engagement is to provide application development and maintenance services across both the legacy and strategic systems of the customer's Wealth Business Unit. TTS provides the following services to the Wealth Business Unit: Management of all the phases of the project lifestyle

Organizational Behavior Mid Term Essay Example

Organizational Behavior Mid Term Essay Example Organizational Behavior Mid Term Essay Organizational Behavior Mid Term Essay ASSIGNMENT FRONT COVER used: 1471 | | Table of Contents Question 1: Understanding Human Behavior is critical to organizations – discuss the benefits of self evaluation/self assessment as it relates to leaders today . †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 3 Question 2: Prejudice can be hurtful and destructive – discuss how you can personally reduce prejudice in your workplace – please provide an example †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 5 References and Bibliography†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 6 Question 1: Understanding Human Behavior is critic al to organizations – discuss the benefits of self evaluation/self assessment as it relates to leaders today In today’s ever changing environment, organizations need to continuously adapt and transform, not only in order to succeed but even just to survive. While it takes a capable manager to efficiently run a business in steady-state, it takes a leader to successfully drive an organization through change (Kotter in Robbins and Judge, 2009: 385). Dealing with technology, economic and legislation changes isn’t new for organizations. The speed of change has however substantially increased in the last few decades as has the disruptive nature of these changes. Leaders today are faced with challenges such as globalization and instant communication that were not present until recently. The words and actions of leaders are broadcasted across the globe within seconds and are heard and seen by individuals who will perceive and interpret them through the filter of their own values, assumptions, beliefs and expectations. In this accelerated environment, effective leaders need to be able to swiftly read trends and anticipate change, adapt to new situations, fine-tune their actions and continuously inspire others towards the pursuit of a compelling vision. In order to do so, they need to be perceptive of the environment around them and detect when discrepancies between their assumptions and reality arise (Clawson, 2001: 14). An example of business failure due to the mismatch between leader’s assumptions and environmental reality is Polaroid. When in 1977 Polaroid launched its instant-video product Polavision (an innovative instant movie camera that used an additive process to generate color), it experienced the first of several product failures that eventually forced the company into bankruptcy. The mistake that Polaroid’s Leader Edwin H. Land made was to assume that the market-follows-technology approach that had been successful for the previous 40 years was unchangeably valid (Lefler, 2010), despite the skepticism expressed by many within the company. Simpler and cheaper videocassette based alternatives were released at the same time by Kodak and other competitors. These â€Å"non-instant† products responded to markets’ trends better than Polaroid’s ground breaking instant-video solution, condemning Polavision to irrelevance and Polaroid to massive losses (Giambarba, 1977). I think Polavision is the story of a self awareness lacking leader, failing to identify his blind spots and driving the organization to failure. In my opinion Mr. Land failed to question his assumption in a changing marketplace and to openly listen to others, consequently ignoring precious feedback. Had Mr. Land listened to the concerns expressed by others around him, including Polaroid’s president Bill McCune, things could have possibly gone differently. Self evaluation is what allows individuals to identify those blind spots and weaknesses and to put measures in place to compensate them (Musselwhite, C. 2007). Through self evaluation, self awareness is achieved. The benefits of self evaluation and self awareness for a leader in today’s organizations are significant. By understanding your strengths, efforts can be focused on them, hence developing a greater potential for success (Roberts at all, 2005: 1). By recognizing your weaknesses you are in a better position to a ccept them and deal with them effectively. In the case of Polavision, Mr Land’s product and technology strengths were overshadowed by his marketing weakness. For his leadership to be effective, Mr. Land should have commissioned a market research to validate his assumption that the public was ready and willing to consume the product he was developing. Self awareness is the basis of self management and social awareness (Goleman, 2000; 80). The ability to read and manage your emotions, reactions and feelings, helps seeing yourself and the world under a different light. This in turns enables you to shift your point of view and identify opportunities and solutions that were otherwise impossible to imagine (Covey, 1989: 86). In the case of Polaroid a more socially aware Mr. Land would have valued the input of the Polavision skeptics and maybe redirected his creativity towards developing a product more in line with current market trends. Moreover, acknowledging your limits and not hiding them induces trust. You are perceived as human and people relate to you better. When trusted, you become a more effective leader as people feel safe when they follow your direction. Your behavior remains consistent in different situations and the influence of the environment on your actions is weakened. You develop charisma. You become authentic (George, B. et all, 2007: 7). Self evaluation implies asking for feedback and actively listening to what you hear. As you learn from asking questions, people around you also feel more comfortable doing so. This ignites a virtuous learning circle that drives personal growth. The biggest asset of organizations is their human capital. An engaged, motivated and virtuous human capital is the engine behind organizations’ success. In particular, by developing an environment where it is OK to ask questions, to challenge status-quo, to try new things and to make mistakes, innovation forces are unleashed (Musselwhite, C. , 2007). Conclusion Self Evaluation develops self awareness. Self awareness promotes personal growth and enables behaviors that are associated with charismatic leadership. Charisma is what inspires others to follow the leader. They trust her, share her vision and feel empowered and motivated to work towards a common goal. Charisma is a crucial element of effective leadership, but it is often not sufficient to drive organizations, particularly large ones, to sustainable success (Nadler and Tushman, 1990: 85). Self awareness developed through self evaluation, allows a leader to also understand and address this. By recognizing her limits, a self aware leader will develop an organizational structure that complements her strengths and, through alignment, effectively works towards the set vision. The most prominent benefits of self assessment for leaders today in my opinion are therefore the enablement of charismatic and institutional leadership, both of which are necessary to effectively guide an organization. Question 2: Prejudice can be hurtful and destructive – discuss how you can personally reduce prejudice in your workplace – please provide an example Prejudice (prior judgment[1]) implies forming an opinion about the personality traits, expected behavior, skills and capability of a person, without that opinion being backed by empirical evidence. These pre-formed opinions are often very strong, deriving from values and beliefs that are deeply embedded in our psyche. As such they are hard to remove. We may even unconsciously reject evidence negating the pre-judgment in a self affirming effort to confirm our assumptions. The end result is a diminished ability to appreciate the full range of qualities and the potential of the impacted individual. Prejudice and the corresponding discriminatory behavior, including institutional prejudice, are major issues for organizations today. Increasing cultural diversity in the workforce and the global reach of markets require organizations to actively strive for integration rather than assimilation or differentiation (Thomas Ely, 1996: 1). In my opinion, the onus of promoting an effort in that direction lies mostly on managers. As a manager I have a moral and professional duty to address prejudice in my organization and I have taken specific steps in that sense. I started with doing introspection to identify my own prejudices. I focused on my upbringing: who were the most influential figures in my childhood? What messaging did I receive from them and from the environment around me? What stereotypes derived from this? Being of white, catholic and Italian origin, I could immediately identify how anything outside of that archetype, was subject to some degree of prejudice, even if involuntarily. The good news is that â€Å"Prejudice is externally sourced† and â€Å"since it s learned, it can be unlearned† (Clawson, J. G. Smith, B. , 1990: 5-6). I then realized that most likely everyone in my work environment have similar preconceptions. For example, some people talk to me with the typical Italian-American mafia accent from The Sopranos[2] probably thinking it is hilarious. It doesn’t bother me, but I can definitely see how it could be bothersome to other Italians. I made treasure of these realizations and determined that these are ignorance-based preconceptions that can be resolved by increasing inter-cultural knowledge. I therefore resolved to take steps to encourage people from different backgrounds and cultures to interact with each other. For example, recently I included two international team members (Bryan the reporting manager who is Chinese and Manish the systems analyst who is Indian) in a 4 person project team based in the US Midwest, dealing with the integration of systems and processes from our Company’s latest acquisition. I personally facilitated the first few meetings and encouraged open participation by listening to and publicly valuing everyone’s contribution. I then assigned tasks in a way that required interaction and cooperation. The effort paid off and the team succeeded. The system and process integration was completed in record time, with wide consensus and to the smallest details. References and Bibliography Books Robbins, S. P. Judge, T. A. (2009). Organizational Behavior. 13th Edition. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. Covey, S. R. (1989). The 7 habits of highly effective people. USA: Free Press. Internet Resources Lefler, P. (2010). Polavision Polaroids disruptive innovation failure. [Webpage] Available from: spruancegroup. com/blog/bid/32860/Polavision-Polaroid-s-disruptive-innovation-failure [Accessed on Wednesday, November 7th 2012]. Giambarba, P. (1977). [Webpage] Available from: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Polavision [Accessed on Wednesday, November 7th 2012]. Musselwhite, C. (2007). Self Awareness and the Effective Leader. [Webpage] Available from: inc. com/resources/leadership/articles/20071001/musselwhite. html [Accessed on Wednesday, November 7th 2012]. The Online Etymology Dictionary, word search: prejudice. [Webpage] Available from: etymonline. com/index. php? term=prejudice [Accessed on Thursday, November 8th 2012]. Wikipedia, word search: the sopranos. [Webpage] Available from: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/The_Sopranos [Accessed on Friday, November 9th 2012]. Journal Articles and Written Course Material Roberts, L. M. , Spreitzer, G. , Dutton, J. , Quinn, R. , Heaphy, E. , and Barker, B. (2005), â€Å"How to Play to Your Strenghts†, Harvard Business Review, January 2005. Goleman, D, (2000), â€Å"Leadership that gets results†, Harvard Business Review, March-April 2000. Clawson, J. G. 2001) UVA-OB-0652 Leadership and Intelligence, Charlottesville: University of Virginia Darden School Foundation. George, B. , Sims, P. , McLean, A. N. , and Mayer, D. (2007), â€Å"Discovering Your Authentic Leadership†, Harvard Business Review, February 2007. Nadler, D. A. , Tushman, M. L. , (1990) CMR-024 Beyond the Charismatic Leader: Leadership and Organizational Change, California Manag ement Review, Harvard Business School Publishing. Clawson, J. G. Smith, B. (1990) UVA-OB-0381 Prejudice in Organizations, Charlottesville: University of Virginia Darden School Foundation. Thomas, D. A. Ely, R. J. (1996), â€Å"Making Differences Matter†, Harvard Business Review, September-October 1996. [1] See the â€Å"Online Etymology Dictionary† ( etymonline. com/index. php? term=prejudice) [2] From Wikipedia (http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/The_Sopranos): The Sopranos is an American television drama created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads.

Augmentative and alternative means of communication for teaching Essay - 1

Augmentative and alternative means of communication for teaching students with severe disabilities - Essay Example American Speech-Language-Hearing Association has identified that â€Å"there are over 2 million individuals in the United States who cannot reply on speech as their primary means of communication† (Vinson, 2001, p. 139). This statistics reveal the scope and importance of AAC in the United States. These learners are subjected to various types of cognitive and physical deficits which add to their speech deficits in their developmental period. It has been identified that other systems of augmentative and alternative communication, such as gestures, sign language, picture or word boards, alphabet boards, and systems with synthesized or digitized speech are better suited for such students with severe disabilities. The rights of students with severe disabilities have long been recognized. There have been a good number of legislations that sought to address the issue of teaching students with severe disability through various augmentative and alternative communication means. ... e both augmentative and alternative means of communication present, explores the various ways they are being practiced today and tries to offer suggestions with regard to the instructional strategies that are being employed as part of the AAC. It is significant to understand the meaning and depth of augmentative and alternative means of communication for students with severe disabilities. Augmentative system of communication has long been discussed and researched upon. As Browder points out, â€Å"an augmentative system of communication may be used to assist students who have either expressive or receptive communication problems† (Browder, 2001, p. 312). Augmentative systems of communication can be categorized as either aided or unaided. While the aided system makes use of such instructional devices as picture wallets, communication boards, or computer system, the unaided system resorts to natural instructional methods such as hand gestures or manual signing. However, it is si gnificant to make use of the most effective augmentative communication system in accordance with the learners’ various social contexts. Alternative means of communication generally refers to such communication devices that enable students who cannot speak to communicate using other means. For Duran â€Å"accommodations, adaptations, and assistive technology all enable children with disabilities to fully participate in typical home, school, and community activities† (Duran, 2006, p. 79-80). Participative learning can very well be employed in the case of learners with severe disabilities. For instance, a child who is unable to write the letters may be assisted by another student in a general education class with the help of a keyboard or some other assistive technology devices. It is worthwhile to

Creative Project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Creative Project - Assignment Example With such credentials, the following analyses shall lead to the implementation of viable solutions for success in the competitive segment. The provided information about the company inclines its probability factors in acquiring a beneficial clientele population in the fast-food segment. It is evident that the company seeks to provide three-course meals in the breakfast, lunch, and supper menus. From an expert’s perspective, the inclusion of lean meat, citric juice extracted from fresh fruits, and vegetable diets among other provisions denotes the new market entrant prowess to lure a profitable population of clients (Virtanen, 2015). The notion held towards the declaration of such aspects for strengths draws from the fact that the existing competitors provide the â€Å"unhealthy diets†. The current society’s attention to consumption practices indicates the willingness to support and remain loyal towards those products, which comprise sustainable and health-related benefits. Therefore, the Sunni Rae’s marketing team should embrace such information in reaching the target consumers from the 20 ADIs and the 150 additional segments. Better Foods Incorporated should strengthen the new entity through financial assistance if the market fails to react promptly as forecasted. Sunni Rae Restaurants remain vulnerable to unfair completion practices from the segment’s market leaders and challengers (Virtanen, 2015). For example, McDonalds and Burger King among other chains shall expose the new entrant to pricing wars and mass promotion practices. The weaknesses evident Sunni Rae Restaurants emerge from the planned high prices and the massive diversification of investments throughout the country. It is salient to acknowledge the economic situation of the target demographics prior to the implementation of the restaurants’ marketing mix plan. It is critical to pursue price penetration and loss leader approaches as