Building energy management system (bems) Essay

Procurement Category: Energy What’s Wrong with Traditional Energy Management? Start Realizing Untapped Savings Opportunities and Tame Volatile Energy Costs Traditional Energy Management Approaches are Falling Short— How to Fix the Problem Energy utility costs—primarily natural gas and electricity—account for one to two percent of sales for the average business, and can be as much as four to five percent of cost of goods sold for manufacturers. With energy prices turning volatile, corporate management teams are exposed to the risk of unanticipated movements in energy costs. They are feeling relatively helpless because of the perceived inability to proactively manage regulated energy costs. At the same time, firms are publicly committing to sustainability goals and are now wondering how they will achieve them. Although many firms have implemented short-term measures to address energy costs and sustainability commitments, these efforts are falling short. Our benchmark data and research i ndicates that for most firms, 50 percent of their initial energy savings disappear within the first six to 12 months due to a lack of continuous monitoring, analysis and corrective action. However, significant opportunity to deliver value remains. Analysis from the U.S. Department of Energy indicates firms that embrace continuous monitoring and active energy management practices can achieve 15 to 40 percent energy savings. Conduct an energy audit: To establish an energy consumption baseline—a basic requirement for successful energy cost optimization— firms deploy monitoring devices to measure energy usage from the facility level down to the machine level. Implement audit recommendations: After assessing energy consumption levels and trends down to the machine level, managers can implement process changes to optimize energy consumption. Actions may range from policy formulation (shutting down computers at night, turning off idle equipment, etc.) to automation (automatically turning off lights) to equipment optimization (changing set-points on heavy machinery and equipment). Invest in high-efficiency equipment: With a full view of the energy consumption and equipment efficiency profile of the enterprise, firms can strategically invest in high-efficiency equipment. These capital upgrades can lower energy consumption and may also qualify for rebates and incentives that can significantly enhance potential return on investment (ROI). Figure 1: This paper looks at why traditional approaches are failing, and outlines an active energy management approach that changes the game and generates sustainable energy cost reductions. Typical Monitoring Savings Typical energy management strategies—and why they fail to deliver sustainable value. For example, when firms conduct energy audits, employees and equipment operators are aware that their energy usage is being monitored and they make changes to reduce consumption, such as turning off idle equipment. But when monitors are removed, initial savings peak and then slowly erode as employee behavior returns to normal. Similarly, when firms implement process changes, substantial initial savings accrue. However, when the monitors come off, gains decline as equipment schedules change. Operators go back to the old way of doing things and set-points revert to old levels. In addition, without detailed machine-level consumption data as a baseline (as opposed to a point-in-time snapshot), analysts are unable to come up with truly optimal process improvements because the data is not granular enough. Finally, with capital equipment upgrades, savings targets are seldom realized due to unrealistic operating assumptions used to build ROI cases and most firms’ lack of market intelligence about the complex array of incentives and rebates. 50% Savings A review of more than 100 companies and their practices reveal that most firms take three common actions to address the energy management challenge: Although these traditional energy management techniques can yield quick-hit results, there is a common pitfall: when the meters come off, it is back to business as usual and the savings disappear. â€Å"50 percent of initial energy savings disappear within the first six to 12 months due to a lack of continuous monitoring, analysis and corrective action† Months from start 2 A four-step Active Energy Management approach Recognizing where most initiatives fall short, an integrated, four-part Active Energy Management strategy can stop the bleeding and address traditional energy management shortcomings: There are several keys to making energy savings persistent. First, take monitoring and measurement from a one-time analysis to an ongoing, active competency. Leading firms use 24Ãâ€"7 advanced metering and monitoring technology with skilled analysts to proactively monitor energy consumption data and patterns. Continuous monitoring helps mitigate the savings leakage described earlier. Active monitoring allows managers to see—in near realtime—if employee behavior is beginning to change or old habits are starting to return, and identify the root causes when actual energy consumption differs from projections. In addition to preventing savings leakage, active monitoring helps identify new, incremental energy savings opportunitie s, raising the cumulative savings realized. Copyright  © 2014 Accenture All rights reserved. Go deeper: Use machine-level consumption data to drive sustainable process optimization. With a detailed understanding of energy consumption down to the individual equipment level, managers can implement detailed process optimization programs, such as changing set-points for heavy machinery. For example, an air compressor energy consumption study (see figure 2) revealed an opportunity to adjust the operating mode from continuous to throttled, resulting in 7 percent energy savings verified by ongoing measurement. In another example, adjusting improper temperature set-points in a chiller plant based on thorough analysis of usage data resulted in 30 percent energy savings. With the right intelligence and detailed monitoring, energy analysts can assess performance and immediately stop energy savings leakage. Analysts also can spot potential maintenance issues and proactively investigate when machinelevel performance deviates from expectations. Figure 2: 250 Baseline Model Target Model Baseline Data Actual Data 200 Air Compressor (kw) Get persistent: Apply â€Å"Active Energy Management† and take monitoring from a onetime activity to an active, ongoing analytical competency. 150 100 50 0 0 20 40 60 80 Air Demand (SCFM) based on Actual Production 100 3 Leverage insight: Use energy demand insight to enhance capital investment decisions and capture incentives and rebates to drive higher ROI. A comprehensive understanding of the consumption profile of the existing asset base enables much better capital investment decisions. Armed with detailed data and realistic energy consumption estimates, managers can rationally weigh the benefits of energy-efficient new equipment versus their purchase costs and other related expenses (decommissioning and disposal cost, production downtime, etc.). Beyond energy data, deep market intelligence of credits, incentives, and local, state and federal rebates can dramatically alter the ROI pr ofile of new capital investments. The opportunities are substantial: In 2011 alone, governments, nongovernmental organizations and utilities distributed more than $6.8 billion in cash payments to promote energy efficiency initiatives. Tackle the supply side: Extend Active Energy Management to integrated energy supply and demand management to drive the next level of savings. As this paper describes, current energy management practices are not delivering on their promises. The short-term benefits of energy audits and near-term recommendations quickly fade without continuous monitoring. On the other hand, Active Energy Management, which includes continuous monitoring and analysis, prevents the traditional savings leakage seen in most energy management programs. It also provides the data and insight that analysts and managers need to identify new savings opportunities and drive continuous improvement and cumulative energy savings benefits. With an established platform of ongoing measurement and management, firms can take energy savings to the next level. Detailed understanding of historical and planned consumption allows for acceleration of supply side strategies. For example, in deregulated markets, the accuracy with which a firm can predict its energy usage determines its ability to secure favorable energy rates by minimizing bandwidth charges. Energy consumers can also capture other savings through techniques like load shifting (shifting usage into lower-rate time periods) and peak shaving. Finally, in regulated markets, contrary to popular belief, firms can optimize their energy expenditures by taking advantage of the various rate structures available to purchasers and being aware of which available rates may be applicable to them. Conclusion Energy and utilities represent a significant and highly volatile area of expenditure for most businesses. However, traditional energy management approaches frequently fail to deliver sustainable results. Many managers consider high energy spend as an area that cannot be addressed due to market regulations and commodity volatility. However, with continuous monitoring and Active Energy Management programs, leading firms can obtain substantial energy cost savings through better energy demand management, sustain those savings through ongoing monitoring and optimize energy purchases with deep market intelligence.

Credentials vs. Skills

Credentials vs. Skills vs. Talent Credentials Most people in the world of work are looking for credentials. They're the gates that people pass in order to appear better to others. Some put a lot of effort and money into getting these. Credentials can pay off because they're good at fooling (most) people. Credentials is one reason we got into the financial mess we did. Investments got rated triple-A when they were really Junk. People trusted the ratings agencies, so these investments got called â€Å"safe. † In other words, credentials are for those that don't know how to Judge quality. Sometimes they're right, sometimes they're wrong.They exist because the modern world is complicated, and we can't be experts as everything. Skills Skills are why I love the web. They're hard to show off, because they need to be seen in person. (If they're talked about instead of seen, they become credentials! ) But on the web, you can prove that you know what you're talking about by Just doing i t. Skills often pass off as talent, because people like to believe the myth of the â€Å"overnight success. † They might think you were born with it, and you can let them believe that. But most people can develop the equivalent of talent by working hard and developing the skills instead.In fact, with hard work, skills supersede talent. This is where I think most people need to work at. Talent Talent is unprocurable. If you have it, it shows, but most people still need the evidence (e credentials) to get you where you need to go. If you don't have it, you can't get it- but don't worry. It's likely that everyone around you that you think has talent probably has skills instead. So don't feel left out. 🙂 The Pyramid If you have talent, you can sometimes get away with not developing the skills. If you don't have the talent, you can work to develop the skills that you want or have instead, and you'll end up in a great spot. Learning to work hard is the first step. ) If you don't have anything else, then you need the credentials. Otherwise, you might be able to skip them. In fact, I recommend it. Most people say they need the credentials because they need evidence. That can be true, but it will always be the long way around. Credentials make you pass through far too many hoops- consider how long it took you to graduate high school vs†¦ How long you would have needed if you were doing it on your own time. Credentials vs†¦ Skills

Dualizm in V for Vendeta Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Dualizm in V for Vendeta - Research Paper Example Further, the conflicting reaction about the movie seeks to expose the aspect of dualism in the movie v for vendetta. This paper seeks to evaluate the existence of dualism and the supporting dispositional reactions from the various standpoints the people exhibit after watching the movie v for vendetta. Moreover, the paper will employ the various elements of dualism to expose the underlying myths and archetypes prevailing in the movie v for vendetta. The movie v for vendetta is viewed by many of the audience as exhibiting dystopia. In literal sense, the movie v for vendetta, falling democracy focused fictional reality, is staged in a future (the year 2048) that presents the world as we know it but with significant and terrible changes (Nash 1). The movie exposes powerful and evil men who use their authority to oppress the civilians as we see when V rescues Evey from the wrath of this forced totalitarian leadership. In the movie, we see secret government officials who subject the citize ns to a complicated style of life thereby depriving them of their basic human rights as is the object of democracy. The secret government officials keenly watch every action of people like Evey and this is what V seeks to avert. The impression of an all ruling government which the people of England seem to have allowed is to blame, according to V, for the political and economic conditions prevailing as in the movie. We see this practiced in the move where the totalitarian government watches the action of specified citizens, monitor and store such information, which they later utilize to incriminate innocent people as in the case of Evey (Ebert 1). While watching the movie v for vendetta, one would easily single out the prominent use of the myths to expose the extremity of the focused themes and lead thoughts in the director’s mind to expose the declining democracy and the power of a changed will to rally the people behind ensuring the change from totalitarian leadership prosp ects to democracy focused management leadership (Jolin 2). Myth is a fundamental tool that science-oriented fiction writers utilize to emphasize certain components of their futuristic analogies (Nash, 3). In V for Vendetta for instance, we see significant myths when V seeks to rescue Evey from the hands of the totalitarian leaders, thereby referred to as finger men. The fact that V punched and eventually killed a member of the finger men leadership from a single hit using the butt of his knife is a myth aimed at underlying the power that democracy has in influencing and disengaging totalitarian leadership. Further, the indication that V’s punch sent the finger man flying over five feet is evidently a myth. In the same scene we see the finger man punching V and the mask failing to show any damage. This indicates that V is primarily stronger than every ordinary man, which seeks to expose the theme of democracy-focused leadership in overpowering the unruly totalitarian leadershi p. Additionally, the overruling association of the stage timing and the specific movie dates to both the political instability between specific countries and the terrorist attacks of the September 11 is a significant myth that cannot fail the attention of any analysis of the movie v for vendetta. The role that V plays in the movie is clearly an archetype of the terror events of the well remembered 9/11 attacks that shook the world over. In this regard, there has been a predominant linkage by many of the audience of v for vendetta between the movie and the expected

Play response paper assingment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Play response paper assingment - Essay Example e of play is entirely different, the ability of the actors to provide a sense of entertainment and interest through the use of their voice and the movements they perform is reminiscent of Jean Paul Sartre’s â€Å"No Exit†. The intrigue and central plot devices of this particular story revolve around two mischievous servants who have gorge themselves on the succulent sugary feast that their master has left behind. Aware of the fact that what they have done is inherently wrong, the servants try, unsuccessfully, to cover up their act. The manner in which the servants use their voice and movement is central is relaying to the audience the confusion, idiocy, and comedic ways in which the servants try to hide the evidence of what they have just done. Furthermore, without the availability of elaborate set design and/or complex costumes, the weight of the performance is solely rooted in the actor’s ability to express themselves through these mechanisms to their audience. Likewise, without such a performance, the comedic device of the play would not be related to the

Consumer Behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Consumer Behavior - Essay Example This is an interpretation of the fact that purchases can not only be manipulated, but also predicted by psychologists. Behaviors are, therefore, inborn and can be manipulated to assess if the individuals will behave in any way. Among such aspects that can be influenced to assess behavior are inclusive of arousal feelings that emanate from within the individual and can be directed towards making purchases by the consumers. In light to this argument, the essay shall endeavor to highlight the motivation behind making purchases of tea and champagne, and, caviars and beef burgers by the consumers. One of the motivational models that describe consumer behavior is the equity model. According to the equity model, consumers tend to purchase products that are equivalent to the value of their money. In this case an employee pays a huge amount of money; in return, they expect that the goods they get are of high quality (Kirenz, pp.21). Consumers may end up purchasing caviars so as to get good va lue for their money, not necessarily for taste. This is due to the fact that there exists cheaper versions of caviars as well as ‘almost equivalents’ of the original. From this fact, consumers are much more concerned with the need to acquire the best caviars. As Kirenz (pp.21), indicates, the equity model is much more concerned with having the best among other products that might be of equivalent to that specific product. The example of caviar can be attributed to some confines of consumption; that is, a quality product from the seller. Need achievement is yet another motivation model that determines consumer behavior (Jansson-Boyd, .pp.115). This model works on the basis that consumers purchase goods so as to get to self actualization. This can be compared to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs on self actualization of needs. However, need achievement, according to Moonj (pp.138), allows for a chance that may lead to the consumer not getting the exact satisfaction that they may need. In essence, the need achievement model refers to a situation whereby the expectations of the consumer drive them towards making a purchase. This model may be applicable in the purchases of beef burgers by the consumers. After consumption of beef burgers, the consumers expect that they will manage to quench their hunger for food, but on the other hand, the consumers may not pleased with the burgers, a fact that explains that the consumers may not quench their need for food or appetite for burgers. An analysis of the consumer behaviors in terms of purchases regarding the beef burgers, the Herzberg theory of motivation has a great correlation with the behavior. The avoidance aspect of the Herzberg theory is related to the chances that the consumers may not be satisfied with beef burgers while; the approach aspect refers to a situation whereby, there is a great likelihood that the consumer may attain self actualization after consumption of the beef burgers. Consumer behav iors are motivated by the expectancy value model. According to Macinnis & Hoyer (pp.128), the expectancy value model relates to the desirability aspect of products by the consumer, and the expectations of the consumers as compared to the alternatives of the product. The expectancy value model also operates under the basics of the outcomes that the consumers expect from the product. This refers to the attitudes of the consumer on the particular product as well as the dilemmas that come along with the consumption of the product. This model works for purchases on tea, a product that if many consumers would have the funds, would go for coffee. This justifies the fact that this theory works with questions. On one hand, the consume

Alcohol abuse and alcohol disorders Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Alcohol abuse and alcohol disorders - Case Study Example Consequently, the nursing care would need to be tailored as appropriate to help the client in such situations. In this assignment, the case scenario of a patient who has been admitted to the surgical area for a cholecystectomy for gallbladder stones will be discussed in that light. This patient is a 45-year-old male with cholelithiasis and cholecystolithiasis with mild hyperbilirubinaemia due to partial obstruction of the common bile duct due to stone. This patient is a known alcoholic, and the idea of admitting him to the hospital is to control his bilirubin levels and sustain his abstinence from alcohol in the hospital ward so the surgery becomes uneventful. Therefore, the nursing management plan will have to be designed which would take care of his problems during the course of his hospital management. The most important health issues during this preparatory phase of the management will be the nutritional care of the patient who has already been compromised from the nutritional po int of view. Literature has delineated the nutritional problems in alcoholics that arise from alcoholic hepatitis and pancreatitis. Moreover, alcohol per se leads to deficiency of vitamins due to poor nutritional intake and compromise in the fat digestion due to abnormal fat metabolism due to pancreatitis. Surgery is a stress situation (Breslow et al., 2006, 359-366). Therefore, for the upcoming surgery, this patient needs to be prepared nutritionally to be able to tolerate this stress. This problem has been compounded by the hyperbilirubinaemia on presentation that tends to aggravate these problems further. Alcoholic hepatic dysfunction and fatty liver both add to the gravity of the problem. From that perspective, one of the core issues would be nursing nutritional management of this patient. The second core issue is related to his habitual alcohol intake that is continuing over years. A sudden stop or abstinence forced or otherwise, would point to the issues related to dependence and problems related to withdrawal symptoms. These symptoms or syndrome, if they appear in the acute form may be potentially problematic, and consequently, the nursing care plan must evolve around this core issue also (Banks et al., 2000, 1249-1254). Care Plan and Related Evidence: Dependence and Withdrawal: Alcohol or ethanol is a sedative anesthetic found in various proportions in liquor, wine, and beer. Alcohol produces a sedative effect by depressing the central nervous system (CNS). This effect causes the individual to experience relaxed inhibitions, heightened emotions, mood swings that can range from bouts of gaiety to angry outbursts, and cognitive impairments such as reduced concentration or attention span, and impaired judgment and memory (Porjesz and Rangaswamy, 2007, 131-141). Depending on the amount of alcohol ingested, the effects can range from feelings of mild sedation and relaxation, to confusion and serious impairment of motor functions and speech, to severe intoxication that can result in coma, respiratory failure, and death. Excessive or long-term abuse of alcohol can adversely affect all

RESEARCH PAPER ON JAPANESE AMERICAN SEGREATION IN THE PERIOD OF Essay

RESEARCH PAPER ON JAPANESE AMERICAN SEGREATION IN THE PERIOD OF BOMBING OF PEARL HARBOR - Essay Example For example, the FBI, along with the Office of Naval Intelligence and Military Intelligence Division, wrote Sonia Shah, had conducted surveillance of the Japanese American community since the early 1930s, a decade before the Pearl Harbor bombing. (p. 179) Anti-Japanese immigration has been present ever since in communities and in the media. And, finally, the success of the attack highlighted the â€Å"racial inferiority† of the Japanese in the American point of view. Barry Dean Karl (1983) offered us an account: The training of the young Japanese air pilots to fly aircrafts was to crash and explode was taken as an example of Japanese racial character rather than military patriotism. Suicide was acceptable to Japan†¦ That the attack on Pearl Harbor was a sneak attack, was also taken as demonstrating a character defect, and it was presumed to have been necessitated by another Japanese defect: that they were shoddy manufacturers whose equipment could not stand up in a proper battle. (p. 202) Pearl Harbor as the worst defeat ever suffered by the American Navy was unbelievable to Americans. The American racism which fueled the previously outlined American perspective towards Japanese led many people to believe that Japan could not have pulled off their stunning raid without inside help of some sort. Here, we also see that American prejudice played a role in the base being unprepared: Commanders at the base refused to focus on what the Japanese were capable of doing and instead focused on what seemed to make sense for them to do. 3 Anti-Japanese sentiment eventually obscured any Japanese-American efforts to display loyalty to the United States. Swiftly, only three months after the bombing, President Franklin D. Roosevelt codified the hatred towards the Japanese when he issued Executive Order 9066 which mandated the exclusion and confinement of 120,000 Japanese-Americans in internment camps.4

Cosmetic mutilation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cosmetic mutilation - Research Paper Example This is contrary of things since a good number of people have tattooed their bodies. They are not afraid of the reparations during the judgment day. Also they are not into the teachings of the Bible. All they want is to live their own life that they feel satisfied with regardless of the Christian teachings and morals. This clearly shows that people have parted Christianity and fallen into paganism. It might be true that paganism has highly boosted cosmetic mutilation but when it comes to America, it is the contrary of things. American people engaged themselves into cosmetic mutilation so as to look different from one another. Others could tattoo their bodies because they didn’t like the way they were looking (Spangler 98). Since a lot of people in America considered tattoos as beautiful drawings of art, they could do anything to make their bodies more attractive than before and most probably, they could tattoo their bodies. According to LDS research, about 64% of women and 50% of men in the United States were not pleased or rather were not satisfied with their own bodies. They had a negative perspective of their bodies. This forces them to do some art drawings on their bodies. Something that makes them feels so attractive than before. Consequently, this hot trend has become so common in the United States. It implies that, cosmetic mutilation has become a cultural habit within the people of America. Cosmetic mutilation started a long time ago. Almost 12000 years before the birth of Christ. It had so many significances in different societies both before and after the deathof Christ. United States military used to tattoo their inmates so as to differentiate them from others. Before they adopted this idea of practicing cosmetic mutilation, in the earlier 1720’s, the military used to chop off ears and noses from the criminals as a sign of physical punishment. This was

Interview Assignment Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Interview Assignment - Research Proposal Example 9) Do you think some people do misuse conformity in any way 10) How would you define conforming behaviour 11) Do you think you use conformity to get your own way 12) Do you feel like you have conformed in any way throughout this interview/ questionnaire Information Sheet Title of Study: A research interview project on gender Name and Address of Researcher/Email/Phone Number Stephanie Spencer StephanieSpencer14@hotmail.com 07886 380937 Thank you for taking the time to read the Information Sheet and considering taking part in my study. What is the purpose of the study To help me with my research assignment about 'Gender' Why have I been chosen to take part I have chosen you to be a participant in my study because you are a Psychology Student at Manchester Metropolitan University, Cheshire. Do I have to take part No- it is not compulsion to take part in the interview. Your participation in the evaluation is voluntary. You may discontinue at anytime, without prejudice. What will happen to me if I take part Participating in the study will require a short interview about 'Gender'. The interview will be tape-recorded and will be heard by myself only. The tape will be solely for the purpose of research with the ethical standards of confidentiality. If you wish, the tape can be destroyed at any time. What are the possible disadvantages of taking part You may be required to give up 20 minutes of your time. What are the possible advantages of taking part You will be helping me a great deal with my assignment and university work. What are the possible risks of taking part There are no risks identified when you participate. Will my taking part in the study be kept confidential You will not be identified in any way in any report or publication...For one, the interviewee should be aware how long the interview is supposed to take so that he can organize it against his or her day's commitments. It discusses on the first steps that are supposed to be considered before one schedule an interview such as requesting the interviewee about the interview, scheduling it according his or her availability and then getting a consent from the interviewer in case one is to record the proceeding of the interview in a tape recorder. A well organised interview will be a success since it will run smoothly as scheduled and finally achieve its objectives. The area that I will explore in my interview assignment is gender. I will interview on what people do understand by the term conformity. The preparation involves the preparation of the interview questions to ask the interviewee and identification of the best interviewee to invite who is in a position to discuss this issue properly. Participating in the study will require a short interview about 'Gender'. The interview will be tape-recorded and will be heard by myself only. The tape will be solely for the purpose of research with the ethical standards of confidentiality. If you wish, the tape can be destroyed at any time. The chairs should be arranged not facing one another and they should be of the same size to bring calm and equality dur

Bankruptcy in the United States Essay Example for Free

Bankruptcy in the United States Essay The paradox set up between the words â€Å"pleasure† and â€Å"burn† shows something unusual about the characterization of the speaker—that maybe he is a paradox himself and is at odds with what is thought of as normal. Who the speaker is has not been revealed yet, so the reader is allowed to form opinions about his character before meeting the fireman. Further into the book, Montag no longer finds a pleasure, and he runs from his job as a fireman. Finally, the feeling of fire as a pleasure returns when he realizes fire can be used for warmth and comfort rather than for destruction. Diction used (burn, eaten, blackened, changed) creates a fearful mood and an ominous tone from the beginning. Chapter 1 Mood â€Å"His lips quivered and the spectacles were dimmed with mist—â€Å"’we may stay here till we die†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ with that word the heat seemed to increase till it became a threatening weight and the lagoon attacked them with a blinding effulgence â€Å" This mood conducts an emotion time to where the boys just came to their senses that they might not make it out of there. Nobody knows they are there so they realized that they have to fight to make their way out. Later on they realized that the have to find or at least try to find others that may still be on the island. A foreshadow of this might be â€Å"we may stay here till we die† because since they are all children from 6-12 they may not make it out of the island Imagery â€Å"The silence was so complete that they could hear the unevenness of piggy’s breathing. The sun slanted in and lay golden over half the platform. The breeze that on the lagoon had chased their tails like kittens wee finding their way across the platform and into the forest. â€Å"‘So we may be here a long time†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ This quote shows that after finding more people they all came to realization that would be there a long time because nobody knows where they are. The boys went silent as they realized what was actually happening. This quote emphasized the awkward silence as they all processed through their heads that they all may not either make it or go home. This symbolized imagery because I could really picture the surroundings and feel how quiet it must have been. Theme â€Å"I agree with ralph. We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all we’re not savages. We’re English and English are the best at everything. So we’ve got to do the right things† This is in first person This part of the chapter identifies that start of them striving to do the right things. They weren’t working together so now they are forming themselves into groups, etc. to hold themselves together. The mood of this is determination because to me it seems that these boys are finally finding out to feel what its like to be on your own so they have to stick together in order to live. Civilization vs Savagery Chapter 3 Tone â€Å"Everyone’s keeps running off. You remember the meeting? How everyone was going to work hard until the shelters were finished? † This passage is showing how they went to fun to serious. Because there are a lot of younger kids in the group it is harder for everyone to concentrate for long amount of times. Causing things to fall apart and now people are getting mad and stressed. This creates a tone of seriousness even though the boys/chiefs are only 12 Chapter 3 Mood â€Å"They looked at each other, baffled, in love and hate. All the warm slat water of the bathing pool and the shouting and splashing and laughing were only just sufficient to bring them together again† This passage shows that all it takes is a little fun to realize that everything is okay. The pass few pages were full of everyone just stressing out and fighting and once they began to let loose and have fun ralph and jack realized that it was okay it brought them together again. The mood is relieved and a feeling of happiness â€Å"There was a ship. Out there, You said you’d keep the fire going and you let it out! † The boys are eager to go home but with the choir out hunting the fire had gone out and the ship had passed them because their signal (fire) burned out. Ralph then became violent and angry and yelled at jack creating a mood of intimidation and anger. HE then released all the stress that had been built up and took it out on the gang.

A Synthesis of Sildenafil

A Synthesis of Sildenafil For many reasons, this route was assumed suboptimal as a commercial manufacturing for example; it is linear with nine steps, sulphonyl chloride, which is one of the toxic substances produced from this route is in the final bond-forming reaction. Final material required a lot of recrystallizations to reduce the toxic impurities to appropriately low levels in order to produce the high quality of drug required by pharmaceutical company. Due to competing hydrolysis through the increased quenched times on scale-up chlorosulphonation in chemical development; the difficulties of scaling-up reactions are well-known. In this route, 2-pentanone and diethyl oxalate are condensed to give the diketoester 1. Then, cyclizating the diketoester by hydrazine produces pyrazole 2 which methylated with selective to give pyrazole3. Hydrolysing the reaction generated the acid 4, then convert acid to the amide by nitration to give nitropyrazole 5, which is common intermediate in all synthetic routes. Reduction of 5 with tin (II) chloride dehydrate to give the amine 6 which is by 2-ethoxybenzoyl chloride was acylated to produce diamide 7. The later was cyclized using aqueous sodium hydroxide and hydrogen peroxide to result in 8 pyrazolo[4,3-d]pyrimidin-7-one. Sildenafil was produced by selective chlorosulfonation and reaction with N-methylpiperazine.(6) Optimization of the cyclization reaction to make the pyrimidinone was the key finding during the development of the medicinal chemistry route, which impacted on the programme as a whole. Cyclization of compound 4 was done by sodium hydroxide and hydrogen peroxide, which are an aqueous alcoholic solution and lead to moderate yield (30-70%). The hydrolysis of the carboxamide to give the acid either in the presence or absence of the hydrogen peroxide was the main side product from the medicinal reaction. To avoid the hydrolysis side product, cyclization was conducted under anhydrous conditions, KOtBu/ButOH and the reaction continued in 100% product without detected impurities. By considering reordering the steps, the clean cyclization was the final bond-forming reaction. (1) Modification of the medicinal route: A lot of modifications were applied into medicinal chemistry route, which was used at the beginning of the project to prepare fifty kilograms and support supply for the four years. (6) For early scale-up, the tin (II) chloride reduction was removed. Tin is major environmental polluter and a heavy metal. It was replaced with a catalytic hydrogenation. At the early age of the sildenafil production, a tin chloride reduction was employed because the hydrogenation reduction was not in operation. The reason for inefficient of the hydrogenation was a presence of trace levels of sulfur impurities which poison the hydrogenation reaction. Switching to stoichiometric thionyl chloride is one example that controlled sulfur impurities and allows the reliability of the catalytic hydrogenation reaction. Using a hydrogenation, there are options for solvent and catalyst recovery and water is the only by-product. (5) Hydrogen peroxide was used in cyclization method to convert 7 to 8, but it causes skin burns. Furthermore, in contact with organic materials, it is a fire and transportation hazardous. Then, it was replaced with KOtBu/ButOH. Rather than using oxalyl chloride, thionyl chloride is used to prepare 2-ethoxybenzoyl chloride which eliminates exposure to carbon monoxide emissions by workers. (5) Through formation of pyrazole 3 which is an exothermic reaction, a solvent was introduced. Moreover, for 5 preparations, toluene was introduced as a solvent which reduces the level of thionyl chloride from 1.6 to 1.8 equivalents. (6) Sildenafil Citrate Sildenafil Commercial Route: Selection: The target from Sildenafil citrate was for treatment of angina when entered development. But the clinical results were failed. Pfizer made a trial with 12 patients tolerate from male erectile dysfunction in 1994. The results showed improvements in the problems of 10 patients. As a consequence, sildenafil citrate development became one of the highest priorities in the Pfizer portfolio (6). There are many advantages of commercial route over the optimized medicinal one, for example; The synthesis was redesigned to make convergence. The final bond forming step is the clean cyclisation reaction and at the start of the synthesis, the potentially toxic materials occur. Large volumes of aqueous acidic waste require an increased level of hydrolysis and neutralization through a larger scale is an example of environmental and scale-up issues associated with chlorosulphonation reaction. In order to reduce these issues, they are placed at the start of the synthesis. Hence, low molecular weight and cheaper materials are used. (5). DEVELOPMENT: Sulfonamide preparation: Through pyrazole 5, many routes of synthesis proceeded. Using chlorosulfonic acid, 2-ethoxybenzoic acid is Chlorosulfonated by using 1 mol of thionyl chloride to convert the intermediate sulfonic acid to the sulfonyl chloride. Due to low melting point of 2-ethoxybenzoic acid (19-20 C) mp, low molecular volumes of chlorosulfonic acid and thionyl chloride are used and hence no solubilisation. Initially, the sulfonamide 9 was isolated as unusual double salt 10 which is insoluble and difficult to use. Moreover, in order to obtain the double salt to crystallize, the sulphonyl chloride should be dry which lead to a lot of acidic, corrosive fumes in a pilot plant scale. Then, it was discovered that 9 can be isolated as its highly crystalline zwitterions by treatment the double salt with water to dissociate and produce a new form of free crystalline amino acids 8. For efficiency, the sulfonyl chloride was converted to sulfonamide 9 by resuspended in water and reaction with N-methylpiperazine. At the end of the reaction, by the addition of aqueous sodium hydroxide, the pH was adjusted to the isoelectric point and the precipitated compound 8 collected by filtration. As a result, during sulfonamide preparation, no organic solvents are used. Hydrogenation and coupling reaction: In medicinal chemistry, the tin (II) chloride reduction was replaced by a palladium catalyzed hydrogenation reaction to convert pyrazole 1 into the amide2. Toluene was introduced as a heat solvent which increased the safety of the process and reduced the levels of thionyl chloride to 1.2-1.6 equivalents. To convert the nytropyrazole (2) to the amine (3) heterogeneous hydrogenation in ethyl acetate was used. A number of reagents, including thionyl chloride, oxalyl chloride and N,N-cabonyldiimidazole (CDI) are used to examine the activation of the carboxylic acid. CDI costs around 8$/mol and provide such advantages for instances; high quality product, robust and clean chemistry. Furthermore, it provided a combination of the three reactions (hydrogenation, acid activation and acylation) into a single step, employed the ethyl acetate solvent with a simple recovery process and used low energy. In addition, VOC emissions were avoided such as (EtCl) that generated from the interaction of ethyl chloride with thionyl chloride or oxalyl chloride. Moreover, 90% chemical yield over three chemical reactions is produced and optimized to 96%. Cyclisation Reaction: The resulting product is heated for several hours and cyclised with 1.2 equivalents of potassium t-BuOH and t-BuOK. In order to minimize the environmental wastes, this process is run at high concentration (2.5-3.75L Kg-1). Water is added to dilute the reaction and the pH was adjusted with 4M HCl to the isoelectric point (7.5). Clinical very high quality yield of 95% sildenafil was obtained by filtration. Using 2-butanone citric acid, sildenafil was converted to sildenafil citrate to give a yield of 99 to 100%. Sildenafil History of Sildenafil: Initially Viagra was developed to treat angina (heart disease). In Morriston hospital, the drug was tried on men in 1991-1992. The clinical observation showed that the drug enhance penile erection more than treating angina. Pharmaceutical company, Pfizer commercialized the drug as a treatment for erectile dysfunction. In 1996, the drug was patented and approved on 27 March 1998 by FDA. It was the first approved drug for penile erection in the United States and the sales exceed 1$ billion in 1999-2001. The Pfizers patents on this drug will expire in 2011-2013. Dosage of Viagra: Viagra could be taken once per day as a dose between 25mg to 100mg between 30 min to 4 hours before sexual intercourse. Three dosages are available in market for this drug (25-50-100) mg with a cost of 10$ per pill for all dosages. http://www.chemistrydaily.com/chemistry/Sildenafil Mode of action: Pharmacodynamics: Effects on Penile Erection: Sildenafil citrate is a selective inhibitor of phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE5) and was used for the treatment of the male erectile dysfunction (known as impotence). It is a wide spread condition that effects around 30 million patients in United States. Nitric oxide is released during sexual stimulation and permeates through corpus cavernosum membranes. Then, the enzyme guanylate cyclase is stimulated to enhance levels of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) in the corpus cavernosum. cGMP has an effects on smooth muscle relaxation and increases blood flow lead to an erection of the penis. Level of PDE5 is high in the corpus cavernosum which hydrolyzes cGMP and leads to inactive GMP. Levels of cGMP in men with impotence are low and as a consequence PDE5 quickly hydrolyses these levels of cGMP. Now, the sildenafil acts by inhibiting the actions of PDE5 and increases the levels of cGMP which cause the erection. (6) figure involved Erection Nitric Oxide Guanylate Cyclase Sildenafil binds to PDE5 and blocks action GMP cGMP Effects on Visual Function: In patients taking sildenafil, it has been reported such visual abnormalities for example; increased blurred vision and perception of light. These effects usually happened with dose more that 100mg which is correlated to the weaker inhibition effects of sildenafil on PDE6 that regulates signal transduction pathways in the retinal receptors. (2) Cardiovascular Effects: Sidenafil has effects on blood pressures by producing transient reduction in systolic and diastolic at 1 hour after the dose. The clinical tests showed no observed effects on heart rate. Sildenafil effects are not age or dose dependent. (2) Clinical trials: The sildenafil was tested in vitro to study the inhibition of PDE5 in human blood platelets. The results showed the potency of sildenafil and it is a selective inhibitor of both c GMP PDEs. Also, a number of trials were carried on rabbit corpus cavernosum to examine the effect on the muscle. From the results, appear that sildenafil was potent in relaxing the corpus cavernosum. Furthermore, to evaluate smooth muscle relaxation, set of experiments were carried in rabbit isolated aortic rings. Sildenafil showed similar values in both denuded and endothelial intact aortic rings. (28) Side Effects from Clinical studies: Patients receiving Viagra showed similar adverse effects in all trials. Some studies showed more effects with increased dose. There were some adverse events reported when Viagra is taken in flexible dose for example; headache, rash, dizziness, diarrhea, urinary tract infection, flushing, dyspepsia and nasal congestion. http://www.rxlist.com/viagra-drug.htm Pharmacokinetics and Metabolism: The cytochrome P450 3A4 metabolizes sildenafil which changes to an active N-desmethyl metabolite that has the 50% activity of the drug for inhibiting PDE5. This metabolite has 40% plasma concentrations of sildenafil, therefore it possess 20% of the pharmacological effects of sildenafil. Terminal half-lives of sildenafil and its metabolite are 4 hours each. Sildenafil distributed into the tissues with a volume of 105 L and excreted in the feces as metabolites. In patients aged >65 years, plasma levels increased as well in patients suffered from hepatic impairment and renal impairment. (2) Viagra Plant: Pfizer Synthesis Facility, Ringaskiddy, Ireland Sildenafil citrate which is the active pharmaceutical ingredients for Viagra was manufactured by Pfizer at Ringaskiddy and the total output from Viagra sales was account for 15%. The facility covers 200 acres and composed of four production units with 500 people working there. OSP4 is the main plant at Ringaskiddy that increase production by 40% and started in 2001. Construction of the new synthetic plant (OSP4), a finished good building (FGB) and all other services were under responsibility of Project Management and Foster Wheeler. Plant started manufacturing in March 2001. Designing facility enable the OSP4 plant to produce primary bulk, batch pharmaceutical products at a reactor of 150,000 liters and six lines are at full scale. To increase service of OSP4, Pfizer was planning to build a third liquid waste incinerator. At the plant, the manufactured products are either bulk active or drug substances. For the bulk materials, they are sent in order to complete formulation and package for shipping. Production and plant facility: http://resources.schoolscience.co.uk/pfizer/viagra/viagch4pg2.html For all drugs, initially they are produced in small a mounts for the investigation and in vitro analysis. Then, quantities are increased if the carried tests are successful to meet the needs for clinical trials and patients. For the first time, production of one kg of Viagra requires a series of eleven reactions with 23 kg of reagents and 139 liters of organic wastes. All preparations are carried in a microwave designed especially for organic chemistry. For scaling up the process, it has to be more efficient and result in fewer wastes. Currently, in Viagra production only 1.5 kg of reagents are used and release just 10 liters of wastes. The company aim to minimize the waste to 6 L per kilogram produced. Now, every year the demand is 45 tones for good quality Viagra in compared to 1998 where the l kg production was enough for people demands in 10 minutes. To scale up reaction, all starting materials were available commercially and used without purification. Using a microwave oven ETHOS 1600, synthesis was performed. In standard Pyrex glassware, all reactions were carried out with a reflux condenser. The reactions were performed by a program which made up of temperature monitoring and holding steps. Purity of the final product was measured using thin-layer chromatography and molecular weight was recorded by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. sealed vessels are used which controlled and monitored by computers to make the requir ed quantities of pure drug. Pipes are used to add the reagents into the vessel and the products are harvesting later on. Control panels are applied that allow the operator to make any required adjustments and monitoring the process. A microwave-transparent fluoroptic probe that inserted into the solutions was used to monitor the temperature of the stirred reactions mixture. To produce any pharmaceuticals, highest standards of hygiene are necessary and Laboratory should be clean and tidy. Misuse of Viagra in Asia: http://www.ergogenics.org/138.html (faked drug) According to World Health Organization (WHO), one of the most counterfeited drugs in Asia is Viagra which make a big business. Tourists in Thailand use fake Viagra which is bought over numerous pharmacies. Therefore serious health risks affected those tourists. Counterfeited medicines can impose the correct ingredients but fake package, or without active ingredients, wrong ingredients or with insufficient active ingredients. Fake Viagra made up of ingredients that enhance the bodys insulin production which can cause a danger drop in the concentrations of blood glucose. As a result lead to starving the energy of brain which in known as insulin shock syndrome. There is a widespread smuggling of fake and genuine Viagra in Thailand according to A Thai Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Unsurprisingly, Thailand is a centre for fake Viagra. Among young night-clubbers, Viagra is mixing with other party drug to increase the sexual desire. Viagra competitors: There were alternative medications prescribed for erectile dysfunction prior to the introduction of Viagra. Most of them are non-oral treatments. For example; the primary alternatives in the United States were vacuum constriction devices, penile injection therapy, penile prostheses, professional counseling and transurethral. Traditional remedies were used in other countries such as yohimbine. (4) Viagra Sales around the world: Firstly, after FDA granted approval of Viagra, it was sold in the United States. Nowadays more than fifty countries are selling Viagra in their pharmacies. On the U.S. market, one month after launch, the worth of sales was 400$ million which result from 300,000 Viagra prescriptions. Since then, 7$ per tablet was maintained by Pfizer. The average wholesale price is 8.75$ per pill in compare with other treatments such as; Caverject and Muse which priced at 20-30$ per pill. Furthermore, sales in most European countries began shortly in September 1998 after European Medicines Evaluation Agency (EMEA) granted European countries the registration for Viagra uses. In the United Kingdom, Sweden and republic of Ireland, the government Health System covers the purchases of Viagra for limited uses. Public awareness have been increased and focused on the safety issues in men taking Viagra and lead to limit the use of Viagra after reports over deaths and adverse effects that were sent to the FDA. U.S. and most other countries experienced prescription leveling off after information gained by people used the drug. Most of them were not actually suffer from erectile dysfunction. After drugs approval in the United States, Latin America launched the drug. Then, Viagra was available in a number of Asian countries, New Zealand, Australia and Canada. In 1999, Japan approved drugs uses after it accepted from other countries the clinical trials data for the first time. (4) Environmental Performance: In the medicinal route, there are a number of organic solvents included in the production of 1000 kg of drug substance and the volume of these solvents equal to 125,000 liters. These solvents are reduced to 13,500 liters in the commercial route. The solvents required in both routes are illustrated in figure 1. Organic wastes from medicinal route Organic wastes from commercial route For environmental assessment, the reduction of some solvents for example; chlorinated solvents and highly volatile solvents such as; methyl chloride, methanol, acetone and diethyl ether. Elimination of these solvents results in elimination of atmospheric emissions. T-butanol that has been used in the commercial route is completely water soluble and is difficult for reuse. In order to improve environmental performance, t-buanol is replaced by another solvent to facilitate recovery. The optimized process was developed in Ringaskiddy and will be used in the production plant which will give 4 l kg-1 of the final optimized solvent usage. (5) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atom_economy Atom economy is the efficiency of conversion all reactants in a chemical process in a way of all atoms involved and no atoms are wasted. All starting materials equal to generated process, this represent an important concept in green chemistry. Reaction mass efficiency is a measure for the effect of yield and an increase of used reagents. Between 1994 and 1997 where the new commercial route was introduced, there was an improvement in the reaction mass efficiency and chemical yields. In contrast, the atom economy remained constants over time. Comparisons of these parameters between 1994 and 1997 is shown in figure Fig. Atom economy, chemical yield and RME at 1994, 1997 and the future target in the sildenafil citrate process. The aqueous and organic wastes are actually measured and from modeling process the atmospheric emissions are estimated. There was a large reduction in the aqueous waste when the commercial route was introduced into the production. Moreover, upon introduction of the commercial route, again there was a noticeable reduction in the organic wastes between 1994 and 1997. Due to the impact of introducing solvent recovery operations and reuse in the manufacturing process, a further large reduction occurred after 1997. These decreasing reflect the importance of eliminating wastes and controlling route selection. For the vapor emissions, there have been smaller diminish in the released amount. In addition, it was found there was 35% decrease in the estimated energy used between 1994 and 1997. There are two reasons behind smaller reduction in the vapor emissions and the used energy; firstly, in order to maximize the yield, there is a significant level of solvents stripping performed in the comm ercial process. Secondary, the chemistry team actively managed and followed such parameters for instance; organic, aqueous wastes and yield. On the other hand, they calculated retrospectively the emissions and energy. (5) Figure shows the comparisons between these wastes at various times. The E-factor is the total kilos of wastes per kilogram of product. In commercial route of Viagra production, the E-factor is 6 kg kg-1 which is less than the industry standard of (25-100) (6) Low volumes of the complicated chemical products and the E-factor of the commercial route for Viagra production generate fewer wastes per year. For all of the environmental awareness taken by Pfizer for the sildenafil citrate process, UK Award was granted to this company in 2003. (2) Patents: According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, patent for Viagra by Pfizer will expire on March 27, 2012. Then, a cheap generic version of the blockbuster erectile dysfunction drug will be sold by any drug company. This will allow more competition between Pfizers Viagra and the new generic versions and more options with cheaper prices for patients. Pfizer has three options to stay in the Viagras market. Firstly, it can market itself as the main company for selling Viagra, taking into account there are over 25 million men used its version and they donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t like to change. Secondary, it can apply for Viagra with FDA for OTC (over-the-counter). Finally, while producing an upgraded version of Viagra which will continue holding value of the patented product, it can license the original recipe to Viagra to other companies. http://www.accessrx.com/research/viagra-patent-expires.htm Alternative Routes to Sildenafil: There are more than 15 different routes have been reported in the chemical and patent literature to sildenafil. Pfizer examined two main alternatives during the development process either by synthesis sildenafil through the aldehyde 11 to produce dihydrosildenafil 12 then oxidize the product or by the halo derivatives for example 13 or 14. 52 % of sildenafil yielded from condensation between aldehyde and aminopyrazole to give dihydrosildenafil by adding an azeotropic distillation to remove the water by product. The yield can be increased to 95% as shown by some workers. (PATENT 22918) Aldehyde Amine Dihydrosildenafil Sildenafil Oxidation of dihydrosildenafil either by using sodium hydrogen sulphite (NaHSO3) or using small quantity of trifluoroacetic acid and Pd/C at high temperature generated a good yield of drug (patent WO 01-98303). Dihydrosildenafil Sildenafil Combination between a nucleophilic displacement reaction that uses ethanol as a solvent and a hindered alkoxide (KOBU) or ethoxide (EtOH) as a base and the cyclization reaction which uses a compound like halo derivatives is another potential synthesis for sildenafil. The combination reaction works for both cyclisation compounds, but by using a compound where (x= F) the yield from combination is 100%. The use of the chloro-series compound (x=cl) in the cyclisation reaction is better because of 2-chlorobenzoic acid is cheaper than 2-ethoxybenzoic acid. (Patent number EP 0994 115) Figure (13, 14, synthesis) Halo Derivatives X= Cl X= Fe, yield= 100% In the end, all of these alternative routes were put on hold due to the high efficiency of the commercial route and the time pressures of the development program. (6) (3) In the WO Patent (98284), amidine 10 or iminoether 11 can be used in order to build pyrimidine ring (sildenafil). By a Pinner reaction, the iminoether is made from the nitrile. Amidine is made by reaction of the nitrile with chloromethylaluminium amide which is synthesized from trimethyl aluminium (Me3Al) and ammonium chloride (NH4Cl) Nitrile Amidine Iminoether Sildenafil Intermediate 14 was prepared from reaction of the acid intermediate 13 with thionyl chloride (SOCl2) to give the lactone which then can be reacted with ammonia (NH3) and (EtOH) to produce the pyrazolopyrimidinone which is away to make sildenafil. Acid intermediate Lactone Sildenafil (Patent EP 1 002 798) sildenafil synthesis from intermediate (6), can be done by chlorosulphonate the intermediate 16 and before cyclisation the intermediate convert to the sulphonamide6. Sildenafil There are many patents activities in producing nonconvergent synthesis of sildinafil. Workers at the Torcan Company reduced Carbamate by (LiALH4) to sildenafil in ayield of 61%. ( Patent 2 235 642). Carbamate Sildenafil Also, sildenafil was synthesized from pyrazolopyrimidinone and the sulphamoyl chlorid (which is prepared by SO2Cl2 and N-methylpiperazine reaction) using Friedel-Craft reaction which requires ALCl3 by workers at the India Orchid company. (Patent EP 1 077 214) Pyrazolopyrimidine and sulphamoyl chloride Sildenafil Furthermore, workers in Cipla Company have synthesized sildenafil by double methylation of this intermediate by using formic acid and formaldehyde (CH2O) and (HCO2H) as the final step. (Patent WO Patent 01/ 19827) Sildenafil

Arthur James Balfour and the Balfour Declaration :: Middle East History

Arthur James Balfour and the Balfour Declaration Highly recognised for his continuous support of the establishment of a Jewish national homeland in Palestine and the Balfour Declaration, Arthur James Balfour is one of the most prominent individual figures that contributed to the seemingly inevitable declaration of the State of Israel in 1948. The Balfour declaration added a new dimension and even greater complications to the conflict between the Arabs and Jews in Palestine. The declaration was issued on November 2nd, 1917 on behalf of the British government announcing its support in the formation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. It is contained in a letter from the British foreign secretary and former Prime Minister, Arthur James Balfour to a prominent British Jew, Lord Rothschild. There are 3 distinct parts in the declaration. First, it favours 'the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people'. By this declaration it became blatantly obvious that the British government, in which Balfour had a strong influence, recognised the Zionist contention that Jews had a claim to Palestine as a national home. The impact of the first clause of the declaration is somewhat lessened by the second which recognises the 'civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine'. Balfour intended to convince the Arabs that their rights would not be affected, thus the reason for the second clause os the declaration. All involved in this intricate declaration immediately saw that these two clauses could well turn out to be contradictory, which was exactly what transpired. It is found that this was the basic cause of Jewish-Arab hostility in Palestine until 1948. Instead of settling the aggression between Arabs and Jews, Balfour's declaration had the reverse effect. Jews were somewhat grateful for Balfour's intervention and support in the for the retaining of their 'rightful homeland', while the Arabs in Palestine despised the British government for allowing Balfour to intervene in such a manner. Hebrews, now known as Jews, believe Palestine is their rightful "homeland" in accordance to their Holy Book, the Torah and their covenant with their God. This is where the conflict lies because Muslims believe that Palestine is their rightful land as is said in their Holy Book, the Qur'aan. Thus being part of the reason of the never-ending aggression between these two religious denominations and uprise of violence at the proposed declaration by Arabs. This crucial affirmation of support by Balfour on behalf of the British government is often described as the first great achievement of the Zionist movement, and even as the foundation stone of the Jewish state.

George W. Norris :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On July 11, 1861 in York Township Ohio Mary Norris gave birth too a boy and named him George William Norris. When George was three his father died. After his father died his mother had to take care of eleven kids.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When George was twenty he graduated with a bacheolrs degree and earned a law degree. He passed the bar exam to earn a law degree. Later, he tought some school. He did all of these events from age twenty through twenty-two.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Georgemoved to Beatrice in 1885 annd opened a law office. He lived in Beatrice for a few months. Later, he moved to Beaver City where he met Pluma Lashely his first wife. Pluma’s father died onne year after the wedding. His wife gave birth to thhree daughters and died while trying to give birth to the fourth an unborn boy in 1901. George would eventually remarry on July eighth. The girls name was Ellie Leonard who almost died while giving birth to twins. Nnorris and Ellie went a childless life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  George William Norris had a bright career. George was in congress from 1913-1943 thirty years. He was the chairman of the ncpac which stands for: National Citizen Political Action Committee. George was also the father of the TVA which stands for Tennessee Valley Authority. He was a U.S. senator for Nebraska. He was the author of the twentyth amendment. The twentyth amendment is the rights for the underprivileged and tireless advocate of goverment reform.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  George William Norris died on September second 1944 at the age of eighty-three. He died while still in political action. George W. Norris :: essays research papers   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On July 11, 1861 in York Township Ohio Mary Norris gave birth too a boy and named him George William Norris. When George was three his father died. After his father died his mother had to take care of eleven kids.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When George was twenty he graduated with a bacheolrs degree and earned a law degree. He passed the bar exam to earn a law degree. Later, he tought some school. He did all of these events from age twenty through twenty-two.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Georgemoved to Beatrice in 1885 annd opened a law office. He lived in Beatrice for a few months. Later, he moved to Beaver City where he met Pluma Lashely his first wife. Pluma’s father died onne year after the wedding. His wife gave birth to thhree daughters and died while trying to give birth to the fourth an unborn boy in 1901. George would eventually remarry on July eighth. The girls name was Ellie Leonard who almost died while giving birth to twins. Nnorris and Ellie went a childless life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  George William Norris had a bright career. George was in congress from 1913-1943 thirty years. He was the chairman of the ncpac which stands for: National Citizen Political Action Committee. George was also the father of the TVA which stands for Tennessee Valley Authority. He was a U.S. senator for Nebraska. He was the author of the twentyth amendment. The twentyth amendment is the rights for the underprivileged and tireless advocate of goverment reform.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  George William Norris died on September second 1944 at the age of eighty-three. He died while still in political action.

Hamlet: Understanding and Duty Essay -- Shakespeare Hamlet Essays

Hamlet: Understanding & Duty      Ã‚   In an effort to determine how Hamlet seeks to understand his world and his duty, we must closely examine several lines from this Shakespearean masterpiece.   While the mystery and significance of Hamlet lies in part from an inability to make definitive statements about Hamlet's motives and understanding, we can get a deeper look into his character from such a dialogue interpretation.      We might say that one of the ways in which Hamlet tries to understand the world is through academic endeavors.   After all, he is a scholar who has recently returned from his studies.   However, upon returning from college, Hamlet finds Denmark to be in a rotten state.   His father is dead, and his mother has married her brother-in-law before the funeral meats are cleared.   Thus, Hamlet begins to understand the world through a depression regarding his mother's seemingly insensitive actions "How weary, flat, unprofitable / Seem to me all the uses of this world" (Shakespeare I.ii.1074).      Hamlet's depression is assuaged by the vision of his father's ghost.   After explaining he was murdered, Hamlet's depression is replaced by pain, anger, and the contemplation of the metaphysical.   When Horatio tells him the vision of his fath... ...l desires second.   He explains this fully to Horatio "If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all" (Shakespeare V.ii.1110).   Thus, Hamlet tries to understand his world through ration, logic, academic study, contemplation, and metaphysical speculations.   In the end, he appears to believe that whatever one's duties are, those are what one must accept to fulfill one's purpose - despite the limited ability to control destiny or the outcomes of accepting such duties.    WORKS   CITED Shakespeare, W.   The Complete Works.   New York: Gramercy, 1975.

Onus of Ethical Lapses Lies on Business Schools

Concept Paper Seminars in HRM Final Project Bushra Fatima, MBA 2k8 13 May, 2010 th Bushra Fatima, NUST Business School, 2010 2 Ethical Lapses in Businesses: Onus lies on B Schools? I joined NUST Business School two years back, after I did my engineering degree. The logical premise, I gave to justify my choice to enter a Business school was not that I was passionate about studying business administration in anyway, but was the fact that the MBA is a good add-on to my degree, ensuring better and well paying career options in the long run. In my view back then, a business school was meant to churn out managers, like so many medical and engineering schools that churn out doctors and engineers. By the end of my first semester of MBA, my perception was changed. Getting an MBA doesn’t make you a manager. Management is more of a practice, something that needs to be done outside the safe environment of Business school. According to one of my professors: â€Å"It’s like swimming; you cannot learn it by sitting cozy in an air-conditioned classroom listening to the lecture†. However, like most professions you need to understand the theory behind the practice. Hence, the case with teaching ethics in business schools and the responsibility of the institute to instill ethical values in the students is challenged. Business people act in unethical ways when they start evaluating the risk and rewards of being a moral person. Business school should teach that economic analysis is only helpful and proper when all of the options being considered are morally correct. Aristotle believed ethics was more than just learning a set of rules. Ethics was a way of living. â€Å"One becomes a lute player by playing the lute, one becomes a builder by building; likewise, one becomes courageous by doing courageous acts (a virtue for Aristotle)†¦ † Before I hold the business schools responsible for the ethical lapses that happen in the business world, let us delve into some reality check. Can ethics be taught? Studies show that MBA alters how students view businesses and their roles and responsibilities as managers. Students bring in their ethics and moral values which may be hard to transform all together but a slight change in attitudes may be infused in them during the course of study. However, even if the student learns complete theory associated with ethics, there is no guarantee that what he does outside the class would be in conformance with what he has learnt in class. Unless, the class learning is supported by a value structure of the student’s environment on campus and at home, a message of double standards is sent. That brings me to what the student really learns in the business school and what is emphasized upon during his tenure there. When a student is taught about leadership for example, the emphasis is on business leader’s gain in terms of wealth and building multibillion dollar enterprises rather than what they have contributed to the society or what change they have made for the betterment of humanity. The business schools tend to give a myopic view of success and leadership to the students equating success with monetary gain thus monetization of the concept of leadership. A profitable enterprise according to the business schools are ones which works towards increasing short term monetary gains for the shareholder instead of emphasizing on sustainable growth and benefiting all stakeholders in long term. Thus, indoctrination of money mindedness in done to the extent of poisoning the young mind to think ethics as old school philosophy which stands in the way of success. Overall business schools convey a subtle but lethal message of privilege. Bushra Fatima, NUST Business School, 2010 3 The business school teaching methodology that puts too much emphasis on case study system gives a false confidence to the student that he knows how to solve real life problems. He is encouraged to make use of the economic models without taking into account the variety of problems and issues that may arise as a result of those decisions. The application of the knowledge is taken as a means to a definite end without enabling him to do critical analysis. He is taught how to solve problems but he is not taught think about the side effects of his decisions. The cases highlight success stories and emphasize on numerical and financial aspects without focusing much on the nitty gritty humanistic details. Another problem is that each dimension of business is taught more or less in isolation. The marketing people emphasize on marketing aspects, the finance people emphasize on the financials and the human resource people see things through their own colored glass thus isolating the student from the intricate details of implications resulting from their skewed decisions. The ethics aspect in most case discussions is never emphasized and students are seldom told what not to do. It is important for the students to come up with smart solutions and strategies and they should be able to state their financial viability but nobody questions the ethical viability. For many students ethics equals to norms. Norms they say is how things are done usually which can mean that people can justify their actions just because it is largely acceptable. This leads us to the bandwagon and group think mentality which exists among students. As a society we function collectively. So if it is socially acceptable to bribe, people are going to do it without questioning morality of the action. Business schools, or for that matter any school of learning is responsible to bring a change in the trend of blind followership and enable critical thinking; thus, contributing to evolution of societies. We live in an ethically dysfunctional society. We don’t teach our children to be responsible citizens; instead we emphasize on competing and being the best. We teach children that it’s a jungle out there where survival is that of the fittest. When it comes to making a career choice, we impose that career is one which gives a better return on the money invested on education; thus, forcing them to take up careers not out of passion but out of economic need. This vicious cycle which starts at home makes young minds believe that being successful is equivalent to how much money somebody makes. The educational system also reiterates the same fact, when children are divided into art and science group, on the basis of the grades they get. Aptitude and intelligence is quantified by how much marks a kid gets. If somebody is in a profession such as teaching it is undervalued, because it pays less, and is often the perception that somebody who is a failure otherwise, ends up teaching. Little emphasis is placed on how one can benefit the society by adopting a certain profession; same is the case with people going to business schools. Business school students are there to benefit themselves. Through their induction systems business schools hunt for the overtly ambitious, people who are aggressive and who seek to reach the top at all costs. People who once out of the rigorous and fierce system seek quick success and try to win position of importance in top of the line firms. While business schools have excelled at producing graduates that demonstrate competence in engineering investment products based on complex mathematical models and implementing students exceptional ability at marketing and optimizing productivity, little has been done to enlighten the Bushra Fatima, NUST Business School, 2010 4 student as to how to use his/her acquired intellectual virtues in a manner which promotes morality. Although students leave the university environment excelling with intellectual resources, there is no attempt being made to demonstrate how these attributes can be used to habituate excellence of character. Business schools tend to minimize their responsibility to indoctrinate students with a sense of moral obligation or a proclivity towards the pursuit of moral excellence. I am not saying that being ambitious is wrong. Somebody who is taking up MBA is supposed to be ambitious but that ambition running into raw greed is dangerous. The lust for success and narrow selfish gain is when a person is forced to resort to unethical behavior. The economic models taught at most business schools take away the humanistic element and talk about bottom line and how important is it to achieve that. It infuses a dog-eat-dog attitude among students. Altruism and social responsibility is ridiculed and called soft aspects and are often ignored. The responsibility of business schools starts from the induction process of candidates. They need to assess that people they are lining up to take up positions of power are ethically sound people and are bent on doing good for all the stakeholders instead of just making money and fame for themselves. Ethical values should be made part of the selection criteria and should have more weightage than brilliant academic credentials and qualifications. This is under the premise that you cannot transform ethical values of a person by teaching him ethics in classroom. So this is a better way to take out the bad eggs in the first place. The selection committee should see that the student is willing to work for the betterment of the society and this should reflect on his profile as part of his credentials. Also the candidate’s reference checks should be made and the information given on his profile should be verified in order to make a correct character assessment. However, even if the corrective system is in place it doesn’t ensure hundred percent that ethical lapses won’t happen. As long as there is bigger personal stake involved, unethical practices will take place. One would always question what is in it for them to act ethical, when the bigger gain and recognition goes to someone who cut corners and got away with it. The importance of teaching ethics cannot be ignored as it makes us question every action’s ethical validity. However, the responsibility of business schools is not just to preach ethics in the classroom but to infuse ethics at all levels and balancing the values taught with values practiced. The prevalent belief of innocent until proven guilty gives a chance to students to play around with the system and to get away with questionable behavior. Cheating for that matter is a tolerable action until you are caught. The competition is so tough that students tend to use all means whether fair or unfair to get good grades. For them, ethical are all those actions for which they don’t end up punished. The business schools like any other professional institution should have a â€Å"Hippocratic professional code of conduct† and anybody found to be going against it should be made to pay by dismissal from the profession altogether. In Pakistan where corruption has become a norm an element of change is needed and business schools can play their role in this regard. Top notch business schools should have the power to scrap the degree of those graduates who get involved in unethical behavior such as our ex-prime minister who was an IBA graduate and was alleged of being involved in money laundering. Bushra Fatima, NUST Business School, 2010 5 The curriculum in the business schools should not teach ethics as an isolated course, focusing on philosophy, which end up making the young minds more confused. Rather, ethics should be directed to instruct students to make ethically sound decisions based on rational thought measuring the implications in the real world. Students should be aware of the examples of those who did not comply with ethics and ended up losing everything including their reputation so that they know the dire consequences and think twice before engaging in questionable behavior. The strategy class for example should teach the students not just to build a strategic direction of the company in order to maximize short term profits but also to make choices which go hand in hand with company’s values that can guide their overall culture on the basis of which sustainable growth of an enterprise is achieved. The curriculum in business schools should be such that it encourages out of the box thinking instead of limiting and confining the thought to achieving profits that are investor and company centric. Courses should enable looking at the bigger picture, looking at not short term gains but long term implications on economic, human and environmental development. The purpose of business studies should not be just to prepare students to excel in the prevalent business world but also to find faults in it and try to evolve the system for the better. Business students should be able to criticize business model’s viability, they should be able to challenge the basic assumptions and redesign and re-engineer theories, which in the first place are responsible for the current economic crisis faced by today’s world. The business school curriculum should encompass courses that ignite student’s creativity and encourage him to innovate and come up with viable solutions which benefit the society. Projects with focus on solving global problems such as energy crises or greener planet should be encouraged, as they infuse a spirit of global leadership which is meant to bring a positive change. For a developing country like Pakistan such a focus is imperative as we have been a victim of the capitalist mind set in which the wealthy have become wealthier and the poor have become poorer. We are a debt ridden country and sustainable development is answer to all our problems. So, the top notch business schools are responsible to give back leaders who are focused on creating wealth not just for themselves but create an opportunity of living a better life for millions. To sum it all, the burden of responsibility of ethical lapses of business leaders lie on business schools as the system somewhat creates an unharnessed greed for personal success. This needs to be controlled through redesigning the curriculum and the existing environment, which teaches them to be responsible and creates ethically sound leaders instead of shrewd businessmen. Bushra Fatima, NUST Business School, 2010 6 MBA: In Spirit The MBA is meant to be a holistic degree one which infuses analytical ability, provides a sound based of practical knowledge on basis of which decisions can be made. The two year MBA program is challenging and rigorous which does not only infuses a spirit of competition in the student but teaches him to collaborate and work in teams to get greater success. The program is meant to groom a student’s leadership qualities and gives him courage and knowledge to pursue his ambitions. The MBA is not an end in itself, but a means to an end. It is a degree designed to give you the ability to develop your career to its fullest potential, at an accelerated pace. What will you get out of an MBA? Aside from a powerful life experience, the MBA degree should supply three main value propositions: Skills, Networks, and Brand. Skills These include the â€Å"hard skills† of economics, finance, marketing, operations, management, and accounting, as well as the â€Å"soft skills† of leadership, teamwork, ethics, and communication that are so critical for effective management. MBA students acquire these skills inside and outside the classroom. Since MBA programs attract people from very diverse industries and cultures, a program should be able to leverage these differences and translate them into learning opportunities. Networks An MBA degree program offers access to a network of MBA students, alumni, faculty, and business and community leaders. This network can be very useful when beginning a job search, developing a career path, building business relationships in your current career, or pursuing expertise outside your current field. For example, entrepreneurs need access to capital, business partners, vendors, and clients. Artsrelated businesses need access to funding and strategic management in order to position themselves to be relevant in the marketplace. Global businesses need access to local business cultures as they expand their enterprises to new territories. Brand The MBA degree is a recognized brand that signifies management and leadership training. The particular school and type of MBA program you attend also have brand associations that can help open doors based on the school's reputation. The strength of a school's brand is based on the program's history, its ability to provide students with technical skills and opportunities for personal growth, and the reach of its alumni and industry network. A powerful brand can give you the flexibility to make changes throughout your career. Bushra Fatima, NUST Business School, 2010 7 Concluding Note I believe that MBA should not have specializations in it. It should be a holistic degree in every sense covering courses critical in making organizational strategies. There should be emphasis on leadership and ethical practices. The intent of MBA should be to give the student confidence and help him in career growth. Critical Analysis of Human Resource Management It’s a cliche for organizations in today’s modern high performance corporate world to say that â€Å"people are our greatest assets†. But today the importance of it is all the more accepted. Human capital is a competitive advantage that competitors cannot imitate. So, human resource management and the practices associated with it have become accepted by managers in all forms of organizations as one of the most important strategic levers to ensure continuing success. The Origins Traditionally known as â€Å"personnel management†, was largely an outcome of increased government regulations regarding employment conditions, discrimination, employments rights, health and safety concerns etc. In many organizations today, this older notion of personnel administration still holds sway with its emphasis on rules and regulation. The modern concept of â€Å"human resource management† finds its roots in the 19th and 20th century by the end of the industrial revolution in United States. The notion of employee welfare came into light when managers started to face issues with work force control mainly due to influx of immigrants in the workforce. During this time methods of workforce control were devised and F. W. Taylor came up with the concept of scientific management. Later Henry Ford implemented this concept in his automotive factory. He also came up with the first ever employee welfare department which ensured that no part of employee’s life effected his/her productivity in the workplace. However the methods were more personnel control oriented. By the 1960s, the notion of personnel management had become well-established with a number of clear areas of responsibility attached to it including: †¢ Selection and recruitment †¢ Training and development †¢ Pay and conditions †¢ Industrial relations Bushra Fatima, NUST Business School, 2010 8 Employee welfare †¢ Occupational health and safety. In the 1980s, the concept of human resource management began to gain ground. At the root of the new thinking about the management of people in organizations was the perception of the increasing competitiveness of the global economy. The success of large Japanese corporations in export markets for traditional western products such as cars and electronic goods in the 1970s and 80s took many western corporations by surprise. Studies of Japanese corporations emphasized the importance of effective people management in the competitive strategies of these organizations. The studies showed that Japanese employers performed far better than their western competitors in terms of labor productivity and in process innovation. The key to this success lay in the human resource management practices adopted by Japanese corporations such as Toyota and Matsushita. These practices became evident in western countries as Japanese corporations established manufacturing plants throughout Europe and North America. The human resource management practices which had been so successful in Japan were transplanted with great success to these overseas transplants. The practices included: †¢ Strict and rigorous selection and recruitment †¢ High level of training, especially induction training and on the job training †¢ Team working †¢ Multi-skilling †¢ Better management-worker communications †¢ Use of quality circles and an emphasis on right first time quality †¢ Encouragement of employee suggestions and innovation †¢ Single status symbols such as common canteens and corporate uniforms. The integration of these human resource management practices was to create an organizational culture that allowed workers to identify their own success with that of the corporation. Thus, organizational or corporate culture became an important element in understanding the competitive success of firms and was a major theme of management thinking in the early 1980s. These new human resource management practices and the emphasis on the creation and maintenance of corporate culture stood in sharp contrast to the regulatory view of personnel management that had emerged in the mid-20th century. In fact, many of the new practices were not seen as the exclusive province of the human resource manager but were viewed as the responsibility of line managers in organizations. Bushra Fatima, NUST Business School, 2010 The Criticism Although the roots of human resource management might be relatively clear historically, the term itself and the meaning of human resource management has been the subject of fierce debate amongst practitioners, academics and commentators since its emergence in the early 1990s. Some have simply substituted the term human resource management for perso nnel management and claimed that everything has remained the same. In some cases, this can be seen in the migration of job titles that took place in the last decade as the title of human resource manager has replaced that of personnel manager. Others have argued that human resource management represents a fundamentally new way of managing people at work that goes well beyond the old functional notion of personnel management and emphasizes the creation of a culture in the workplace that harnesses the commitment of individuals to the organization. Yet others, exasperated with the endless definitional debate that seems to surround human resource management, have argued that it is simply an illusion, a â€Å"hologram† behind which we may see many techniques and practices in operation but which is essentially determined by the observer. However, the notion of employee commitment is one which appears to be integral to many of the models and theories of human resource management that have appeared. This notion of harnessing the commitment of employees in organizations was first articulated strongly by Walton (1985) who described how modern organizations were moving their management styles from one based on control, to one based on commitment. Human resource management clearly encompasses the older regulatory hangovers, but goes much further in embracing the management of change, job design, socialization and appraisal as the key levers to achieve organizational success. Modern Human Resource Management The aims of human resource management today are not just integration with the business strategy of the organization, employee commitment, flexibility and quality, but takes commitment as a major integral element. â€Å"Human resource management is a distinctive approach to employment management which seeks to achieve competitive advantage through the strategic deployment of a highly committed and capable workforce using an array of cultural, structural and personnel techniques†. The main assumptions underlying the modern concept of human resource management shows how much the concept has progressed from the ld notion of personnel management. Firstly, human resource management is clearly not simply the province of the human resource manager. Line managers play a critical role in human resource management and, in fact, could be argued to be the main Bushra Fatima, NUST Business School, 2010 10 organizational exponents of people management. Second ly, human resource management is firmly embedded in business strategy. Unlike the personnel manager, the HR manager is part of the top level strategic team in the organization and human resource management plays a key role in the achievement of business success. Thirdly, the shaping of organizational culture is one of the major levers by which effective human resource management can achieve its objectives of a committed workforce. Thus, human resource management is concerned not only with the formal processes of the management of people but also with all the ways in which the organizational culture is established, re-enforced and transmitted. Challenges faced by HR as a Profession The sense that HR is somehow ‘failing to deliver’ is a central theme in the writings of a number of influential American writers. Jeffrey Pfeiffer (1997), for example, writing about the future of Human Resource Management, suggests that it would be wrong to conclude that the growing interest in HR and Human Resource Management necessarily means that the future of the HR function (in its departmental form) is bright: â€Å"My advice is to resist the temptation to believe that HR managers and staff in organizations have a rosy future or a future at all, because there are some profound problems facing human resources as a function within organizations, as contrasted with the study of human resources as a topic area that makes its viability and continued survival problematical. What has emerged so far in this critical perspective on HR is that many of the activities that HR professionals engage in appear not to be valued by managers and employees. This is because there is either no evidence that the activities actually achieve things that matter or because it is very difficult to prove that what HR does actually r esults in improvements in behavior and performance. If the latter is the reason, then the task of HR is to look carefully at the way in which it measures and evaluates effectiveness; if the problem is more to do with what HR does and how it carries out these activities, then the challenge it faces is more fundamental. The HR function is generally criticized to be an accomplice in trends such as downsizing and contingent work arrangements that are often blamed to undo much of the progress made in managing employee relationships in the past several decades. Also HR professionals are accused of showing lack of leadership in demonstrating the business impact of managing people effectively. Writers such as David Ulrich have suggested redefining HR role not by what it does but by what it delivers: results that enrich the organization’s value to customers, investors and employees. The four key roles that HR professionals need to play to deliver the contributions are as follows: ? A partner in strategy execution: This doesn’t mean that HR should take responsibility for HR and business strategy, which is rightly the domain of the chief executive, but that the head Bushra Fatima, NUST Business School, 2010 11 of the HR department should be an equal partner with other senior managers and should ‘have a seat at the top table’. An administrative expert: This is about getting the basics right and adopting a much more instrumental approach to the use of procedures. The emphasis needs to be on the efficiency of the HR department — reducing its cost base and speeding up its cycle times, without compromising on quality or effectiveness ? An employee champion: This is about HR recognizing that work intensification and an increased sense of insecurity are becoming the new reality for many people and that this is associated with weakened levels of employee commitment. This, in turn, affects the preparedness of employees to contribute more than their contracted level of effort and performance. The role of HR here is to ensure that employees remain engaged and committed, or become re-engaged, either directly through the activities of HR or by HR working with line managers to ensure that they can create a positive psychological and emotional working environment. ? A change agent: According to Ulrich (1997), this role involves HR in building the organization’s capacity to embrace and to capitalize on change. Given that change is the norm for most organizations, the ability to implement and manage the change process is seen as critical to the organization’s ability to function during the change process and to reap the benefits from the changes that have been made. Reducing resistance to change is seen as a key HR contribution. Gaps between HR Academics & Practice There's an incontestable gap between what's happening in scholarly research and what's happening in the world of practitioner. However, there's consensus among academics and research-savvy HR professionals, that HR managers who follow evidence-based principles are best positioned to optimize the success of their organizations. Still, most HR professionals have little time, interest or tolerance for reading researches. Practitioners focus on solving problems and getting tasks done in time- and pressure-packed settings. Academics explore, contemplate and pursue research that can take three years or more before culminating in a journal article. HR practitioners don’t care about the theory behind the practices. They don't care why processes, tests, or other instruments or procedures work, just that they do. If wearing plaid instead of polka dots on Tuesday’s increases retention, they'll do it. According to a business school professor, â€Å"People want to Bushra Fatima, NUST Business School, 2010 12 see cost-benefit analyses before they implement. It's not enough to know structured interviews will give you better-quality people. Practitioners want to see how it affects the bottom line. † Research and academic findings may not always have concrete outcomes. For practitioners ambiguity doesn’t help. They want concrete solutions supported with business outcomes something translated into profits, often missing in HR research. Academics tend to be interested in different subjects than practitioners. For practitioners, those subjects may be too theoretical or too esoteric, or may not be a need-to-know priority. But for academics, whose careers rise or fall on their success at achieving tenure and promotion, the topics are influenced by what the academic reward structure requires. Fault lies with HR curriculums. HR curriculums should develop the competency in all HR professionals to know what is and is not a scientifically based finding or conclusion. We need to audit our curriculums to make sure students are being taught to appreciate the importance of evidence-based management and the role of research in advancing HR. That requires basic understanding of math and statistics. Most undergraduate business and industrial psychology curriculums feature at least one course in statistics, and some observers say that should suffice. In recent years, faculty members have been reluctant to add more quantitative requirements to HR curriculums for fear of losing students. According to my observations most people choose HR because they are math-phobic. Also there is little emphasis on doing research and supporting it quantitatively. In most MBA programs graduate students are not being asked to do research or even read it. When I asked an MBA student his point of view about research, he said; â€Å"MBA students don't like reading research, so instead students are just discussing cases and practicing being a leader. The HR curriculum should be designed in a way that forces students to engage in consulting. Thus, forcing them to connect the taught courses with field knowledge and enabling them to do hands on research and get comfortable with statistics. This will force them to do analysis and make interpretations. Academics who moonlight as consultants are more likely to relate to the realities of the workplace. Encour age faculty and practitioners to develop and partner in research. Establish conferences or thinktank sessions that bring them together. Encourage exchanges. Cross attendance does occur, but not in enough numbers to create a shared comfort zone. Businesspeople should also cooperate with researchers to enhance body of knowledge and include practical aspects rather than unworkable theories. Another way to increase practical knowledge base is to support sponsored research. Corporations should invest in academics doing research that practitioners need. Experts agree that applied research should meet three criteria. It should be: ? ? ? Rigorous–conducted scientifically so the results can be validated and replicated. Relevant–directed at learning more about, furthering or solving some HR-related problem. Readable–accessible to practitioners who stand to benefit. Bushra Fatima, NUST Business School, 2010 13 Conclusion As a profession HR needs to defend its value by aligning itself with organization’s strategy and focus on achieving business strategy instead of just working as a support function. The HR academia suffers in terms of creating practical value because of its lack of collaboration with HR practitioners. The two can benefit each other and enhance body of knowledge which is far better applicable in real work environments.