United States and Taiwan Unemployment Rates Essay Example for Free

United States and Taiwan Unemployment Rates Essay This paper aims to compare the unemployment trends of the United States (US) and Taiwan from 1980 to 2007, and briefly discuss the factors affecting the trends of each country. The 28-year time-series data presented are from the World Economic Outlook Database of the International Monetary Fund. Unemployment Trends of the US and Taiwan The figure below shows divergence in the US and Taiwan unemployment rates over the past 28 years. The US has a downward unemployment trend, while Taiwan unemployment rates moved in the opposite direction from low to high level unemployment Fig. 1. US and Taiwan Unemployment Rates, 1980 – 2007, World Economic Outlook Database October 2007. rate. In 1980, the US unemployment rate is about six times the unemployment rate of Taiwan, while in 2007, the gap narrowed to about 0. 8-percentage point. All through out the said period, the unemployment rates of Taiwan are lower than that of the US, except in 2001 where the rates almost equaled. Looking at the US trends during the 28-year period, the peak unemployment rates in 1982, 1992, and 2003 were associated with recessions. The US recession in the early 1980’s was the most severe during the said period. As the US economy started to recover after the first oil shock in 1973, the second oil crisis in 1979 resulted in another recession in early 1980s that moved further up the unemployment rate to 9. 7% in 1982, the highest rate during the 1980-2007 period. As the economy began to grow in 1983, the unemployment rate started to reverse its trend and reached a lower rate of 5. 3% in 1989. The downward unemployment trend could be seen as a product of the free labor markets and the smaller size of welfare packages (Vedder and Gallaway 1), the entry of the oldest members of the baby boom cohorts in mid-1960’s in the labor force at age 16 coupled with their increased labor force participation (Sincavage 36), and substantial contribution of self-employment (Manser and Picot 12-13). The recession in 1991 pinned the unemployment rate at 7. 5% in 1992. But the 1990’s expansion brought about a long-run downward unemployment trend. The unemployment rate dipped at 4% in 2000, the lowest rate over the 28-year period. Katz and Krueger attribute this downward trend to four labor market explanations. The first is the entry of the oldest baby boom cohorts in the labor force at age 16 in the 1990s. The second is the rising proportion of the population in prison during the 1990s. The third is the better matching between workers and jobs resulting from labor market improvements, such as the Worker Profile and Reemployment Services program required in each state and the temporary help service industry. And the fourth is the worker insecurity in demanding wage gains due to the steady decline in union membership. After the 2001 recession, the unemployment rate continued to increase since the economy slowly recovered. The unemployment rate peaked at 6% in 2003, the lowest peak during the 28-year period. Thereafter, the unemployment rates have slowly decreased to 4. 7% in 2007. Taiwan, on the other hand, had different unemployment pattern. It has two distinct peak unemployment rates in 1985, and 2002. Before 1980, Taiwan experienced a very low unemployment rate, owing to its strong labor-intensive manufacturing industries, such as clothing and textile (Wang 26). The two rounds of oil crises in 1970’s had not spared the country’s economic growth. In response, the government broadcasted its twelve major construction projects, which laid the basic infrastructure for the heavy chemical industries and partly averted the negative impact of the oil crises (â€Å"From Poverty†). However, the loss of the international competitiveness of the country’s labor-intensive industries due to rising labor costs in the 1980’s resulted in the exodus of most of these traditional industries to mainland China and Southeast Asia (Wang 27). This pushed up unemployment rate, reaching its first peak at 2. 9% in 1985. Compared with that of US, the impact on the unemployment rate is relatively lesser. After the 1980s and in the first half of the 1990s, Taiwan gradually developed its ICT industries and successfully transformed itself into a major manufacturer of international ICT products (27). This minimized the unemployment problem of the 1980s. However, after 1995, unemployment dramatically increased until it hit its peak at 5. 2% in 2002, the highest during the 28-year period. Wang ascribes this sharp upward trend to three reasons. First, the capital-intensive and high-technology industries pushed most labor-intensive industries to move production to mainland China and Southeast Asia where labor is cheaper. Second, the Southeast Asian overseas workers had continually contributed to the worsening unemployment problem. Third, the slump in worldwide demand for ICT products in early 2000s plunged Taiwan into its first recession in decades. It registered the first ever negative economic growth in 2001, driving unemployment rate at its highest level at 5. 2% in 2002. After 2003, the economy slowly returned to normal. The unemployment rate gradually declined until 3. 9% in 2007, although much higher than in the 1980s and 1990s. This can be partly attributed to the implementation of the government’s Infrastructure Expansion Programme and Programme to Expand Employment of Public Service in 2003 and 2004 (PricewaterhouseCoopers 215). Meanwhile, the East Asian financial crisis in 1997 had a relatively slight impact on Taiwan’s economy since its unemployment rate remained unchanged. The reasons for these included, among others, the excellent economic fundamentals with no foreign debt, and appropriate government countermeasures (â€Å"From Poverty†). Conclusion The US and Taiwan show contrasting unemployment trends. Although their unemployment rates are moving in opposite directions, Taiwan unemployment rates are still much lower than that of the US However, in the medium- to long-term, with the declining rate of the US unemployment, US might attain a lower unemployment rate similar to that of Taiwan, or even much lower. This could be a good subject for further research. The unemployment trends depend on the countries economic stability and ability to adopt appropriate measures in response to structural and exogenous changes. The downward trend of the US employment implies favorable response of the labor market to the measures being adopted. The efficient and effective measure with longer effects is the implementation of a better worker-job matching scheme at the state level. Taiwan, on the other hand, may need to design a scheme to minimize, if not to avoid, labor erosion as it continues to be one of the major global ICT leaders, thereby addressing the social and economic inequality problems. Works Cited â€Å"From Poverty to Prosperity. † Taiwan Government information Office. 1 March 2008 http://www.gio. gov. tw/info/taiwan-story/economy/edown/3-2. htm Katz, Lawrence F. , and Alan B. Krueger. â€Å"New Trend in Unemployment? The High-Pressure US Labor Market of the 1990s. † Brookings Review Fall (1999): 4-8. Manser, Marilyn E. , and Garnett Picot. â€Å"The Role of Self-Employment in US and Canadian Job Growth. † Monthly Labor Review April (1999): 10-25. PricewaterhouseCoopers. â€Å"Taiwan. † From Beijing to Budapest. 4th ed. 2005/2006. Sincavage, Jessica R. â€Å"The Labor Force and Unemployment: Three Generations of Change. † Monthly Labor Review June (2004): 34-41. Vedder, Richard K. , and Lowell E. Gallaway. â€Å"Unemployment and Jobs in International Perspective. † Joint Economic Committee Study April (1999). 1 March 2008 http://www. house. gov/jec/employ/intern. pdf Wang, Wei Ching. â€Å"Information Society and Inequality: Wage Polarization, Unemployment, and Occupation Transition in Taiwan since 1980†. UTIP Working Paper. Texas: Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas, 2007. World Economic Outlook Database. October 2007. International Monetary Fund. 28 February 2008 http://www. imf. org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2007/02/weodata/index. aspx

Drug Discovery Processes

Drug Discovery Processes Introduction Chemistry is not merely a science of making observations in order to better understand nature. Chemistry, as the science of matter and its transformation, plays a central role in bridging between physics, material sciences and life sciences. Our science is creative and productive, generating substances and materials of very high value from almost nothing. In view of its significance, chemical synthesis demands the highest level of scientific/technological creativity and insight to explore its limitless possibilities. Chemical synthesis must pursue the goal of practical elegance; it must be logically elegant and at the same time technologically practical. We must manufacture useful compounds in an economical, energy-efficient, resource-preserving, and environmentally benign way(add ref impo-01). To maintain our current standard of living and to improve quality of life, society has come to depend on the products of chemical industry. The last century has been highly productive in this aspect as it emerges in development in pharmaceutical development, water treatment, material science, polymers, agriculture pesticides and fungicides, detergents, petroleum additives and so forth. Pharmaceutical development plays a vital role as various drugs that are developed have helped in the eradication of many infectious diseases. Although there are certain diseases that have still not found any resistance towards drugs but even though a lot of work is still being carried out on it. Research in the field of pharmaceutical has its most important task in the development of new and better drugs and their successful introduction into clinical practice. â€Å"Medicinal chemistry remains a challenging science which provides profound satisfaction to its practitioners. It intrigues those of us who like to solve problems posed by nature. It verges increasingly on biochemistry and on all the physical, genetic and chemical riddles in animal physiology which bear on medicine. Medicinal chemists have a chance to participate in the fundamentals of prevention, therapy and understanding of diseases and thereby to contribute to a healthier and happier life.† ALFRED BURGER 3   Importance of a Drug: A drug is any chemical or biological substance, synthetic or non-synthetic, that when taken into the organism’s body, will in some way after the functions of that organism’s. This broad definition can be made by including such substances as food. However more strict applications of the word prevail in everyday life. In these cases the word â€Å"drug† is usually used to refer specifically to medicine, vitamins, entheogenic sacraments, consciousness expanding or recreational drugs. Many natural substances such as beers, wine, and some mushrooms, blur the line between food and drugs, when ingested they affect the functioning of both mind and body. The word â€Å"drug† is etymologically derived from the Dutch/Low German word â€Å"droog† which means â€Å"dry†, since in the past; most drugs were dried plant parts. Drugs are usually distinguished from endogenous biochemical by being introduced from outside the organism. For example, insulin is a hormone that is synthesized in the body; it is called a hormone when it is synthesized by the pancreas inside the body, but if it is introduced into the body from outside, it is called a drug. The role played by organic chemistry in the pharmaceutical industry continues to be one of the main drivers in the drug discovery process. However, the precise nature of that role is undergoing a visible change, not only because of the new synthetic methods and technologies now available to the synthetic and medicinal chemist, but also in several key areas, particularly in drug metabolism and chemical toxicology, as chemists deal with the ever more rapid turnaround of testing data that influences their day-to-day decisions. Numerous changes are now occurring in the pharmaceutical industry, not just in the way that the industry is perceived, but also in the rapid expansion of biomedical and scientific knowledge, which affects the way science is practiced in the industry. The recent changes that have occurred in scientific advances are due to the new synthetic techniques and new technologies for rational drug design, combinatorial chemistry, automated synthesis, and compound purification and identification. In addition, with the advent of high-throughput screening (HTS), we are now faced with many targets being screened and many hits being evaluated. However, success in this arena still requires skilled medicinal chemists making the correct choices, often with insight gleaned from interactions with computational chemists and structural biologists, about which â€Å"hits† are likely to play out as true â€Å"lead† structures that will meet the plethora of hurdles that any drug candidate must surmount. It is the mission of pharmaceutical research companies to take the path from understanding a disease to bringing a safe and effective new treatment to patients. Scientists work to piece together the basic causes of disease at the level of genes, proteins and cells. Out of this understanding emerge â€Å"targets,† which potential new drugs might be able to affect. Researchers work to validate these targets, discover the right molecule (potential drug) to interact with the target chosen, test the new compound in the lab and clinic for safety and efficacy and gain approval and get the new drug into the hands of doctors and patients. The drug discovery process goes through following sequences for the development of particular drug4. Pre-discovery (Understand the disease) Before any potential new medicine can be discovered, scientists work to understand the disease to be treated as well as possible, and to unravel the underlying cause of the condition. They try to understand how the genes are altered, how that affects the proteins they encode and how those proteins interact with each other in living cells, how those affected cells change the specific tissue they are in and finally how the disease affects the entire patient. This knowledge is the basis for treating the problem. Researchers from government, academia and industry all contribute to this knowledge base. However, even with new tools and insights, this research takes many years of work and, too often, leads to frustrating dead ends. And even if the research is successful, it will take many more years of work to turn this basic understanding of what causes a disease into a new treatment. Target Identification (Choose a molecule to target with a drug) Once they have enough understanding of the underlying cause of a disease pharmaceutical researchers select a â€Å"target† for a potential new medicine. A target is generally a single molecule, such as a gene or protein, which is involved in a particular disease. Even at this early stage in drug discovery it is critical that researchers pick a target that is â€Å"drugable,† i.e., one that can potentially interact with and be affected by a drug molecule. Target Validation (Test the target and confirm its role in the disease) After choosing a potential target, scientists must show that it actually is involved in the disease and can be acted upon by a drug. Target validation is crucial to help scientists avoid research paths that look promising, but ultimately lead to dead ends. Researchers demonstrate that a particular target is relevant to the disease being studied through complicated experiments in both living cells and in animal models of disease. Drug Discovery (Find a promising molecule that could become a drug) Armed with their understanding of the disease, scientists are ready to begin looking for a drug. They search for a molecule, or â€Å"lead compound,† that may act on their target to alter the disease course. If successful over long odds and years of testing, the lead compound can ultimately become a new medicine. There are a few ways to find a lead compound: Nature: Scientists usually have turned to nature for find interesting compounds for fighting against diseases. Bacteria found in soil and mouldy plants both led to important new treatments. Nature still offers many useful substances, but now there are other ways to approach drug discovery. De novo: Thanks to advances in chemistry, scientists can also create molecules from scratch. They can use sophisticated computer modelling to predict what type of molecule may work. High-throughput Screening: This process is the most common way that leads are usually found. Advances in robotics and computational power allow researchers to test hundreds of thousands of compounds against the target to identify any that might be promising. Based on the results, several lead compounds are usually selected for further study. Biotechnology: Scientists can also genetically engineer living systems to produce disease-fighting biological molecules. Early Safety Tests(Perform initial tests on promising compounds) Lead compounds go through a series of tests to provide an early assessment of the safety of the lead compound. Scientists test Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion and Toxicological (ADME/Tox) properties, or â€Å"pharmacokinetics,† of each lead. These studies help researchers prioritize lead compounds early in the discovery process. ADME/Tox studies are performed in living cells, in animals via computational models. Lead Optimization(Alter the structure of lead candidates to improve properties) Lead compounds that survive the initial screening are then optimized, or altered to make them more effective and safer. By changing the structure of a compound, scientists can give it different properties. For example, they can make it less likely to interact with other chemical pathways in the body, thus reducing the potential for side effects. Hundreds of different variations or â€Å"analogues† of the initial leads are made and tested. Teams of biologists and chemists work together closely: The biologists test the effects of analogues on biological systems while the chemists take this information to make additional alterations that are then retested by the biologists. The resulting compound is the candidate drug. Even at this early stage, researchers begin to think about how the drug will be made, considering formulation (the recipe for making a drug, including inactive ingredients used to hold it together and allow it to dissolve at the right time), delivery mechanism (the way the drug is taken – by mouth, injection, inhaler) and large-scale manufacturing (how you make the drug in large quantities). Preclinical Testing(Lab and animal testing to determine if the drug is safe enough for human testing) With one or more optimized compounds in hand, researchers turn their attention to testing them extensively to determine if they should move on to testing in humans. Scientists carry out in vitro and in vivo tests. In vitro tests are experiments conducted in the lab, usually carried out in test tubes and beakers (â€Å"vitro† is â€Å"glass† in Latin) and in vivo studies are those in living cell cultures and animal models (â€Å"vivo† is â€Å"life† in Latin). Scientists try to understand how the drug works and what its safety profile looks like. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) require extremely thorough testing before the candidate drug can be studied in humans. During this stage researchers also must work out how to make large enough quantities of the drug for clinical trials. Techniques for making a drug in the lab on a small scale do not translate easily to larger production. This is the first scale up. The drug will need to be scaled up eve n more if it is approved for use in the general patient population. At the end of several years of intensive work, the discovery phase concludes. After starting with approximately 5,000 to 10,000 compounds, scientists now have winnowed the group down to between one and five molecules, â€Å"candidate drugs,† which will be studied in clinical trials. The drugs that are being currently used for curing human ailments mainly comprise of several natural products having complex structures. These are derived from terrestrial micro-organisms, plants and animals. The synthetic analogues of the above or other synthetic compounds that are totally non-natural also serve as drugs. A survey of literature reveals that â€Å"HETEROCYCLES† have been increasingly important not only in the field of medicinal world but also in the agriculture. The chemistry of the heterocyclic compounds is as logical as that of aliphatic or aromatic compounds. This study is of great interest both from the theoretical as well as practical stand point. Heterocyclic compounds are the organic substrates that contain a cyclic structure bearing atoms like nitrogen, oxygen or sulfur in addition to carbon atom as the part of their ring. The cyclic part (from Greek kyklos, meaning circle) of heterocycle indicates that at least one ring structure is present in such a compound and the prefix hetero (from Greek heteros, meaning other or different) refers to non-carbon atom in the ring. The cyclic part of the heterocycle indicates that at least one ring structure is cyclic organic compound that incorporate at least one hetero atom in the rings like cyclopropane or benzene. The presence of the heteroatom gives heterocyclic compounds many significant physical and chemical properties that are usually distinct from those of all carbon-ring analogues. These structures may comprise of either simple aromatic rings or non-aromatic ring. The chemistry of heterocyclic compounds is one of the most interesting and intriguing branch of the organic chemistry which is of equal interests for its theoretical implications, for the diversity of its synthetic procedures and for the physiological and industrial significances.1-2 The variety of heterocyclic compounds is enormous, their chemistry is complex and synthesizing them requires great skill. Among large number of heterocycles found in nature nitrogen heterocycles are most abundant than those containing oxygen or sulphur owing to their wide distribution in nucleic acid instance and involvement in almost every physiological process of plants and animals. It is well known that a number of heterocyclic compounds containing nitrogen, oxygen and sulphur exhibit a wide variety of biological activities. The majority of pharmaceutical products that mimic natural products with biological activity are heterocyclic in nature3 and are of great importance to life because their structural subunits exist in many natural products such as vitamins, hormones, antibiotics and pigments.4,5 Besides the vast distribution of heterocycles in natural products, these substrates are also the major components of biological molecules such as DNA and RNA, in the form of pyrimidine and purine bases. The enzymes possess purely protein structures and the coenzymes incorporate non-amino acid moieties, most of them are aromatic nitrogen heterocycles. Porphyrins8-10 are the backbone of many major compounds and some of their derivatives are fundamental to life, such as heme11 derivatives in blood and chlorophyll is essential for photosynthesis. The heme group of the oxygen-carrying protein-hemoglobin and related compounds such as myoglobin; the chlorophyll, which are the light-gathering pigments of green plants and other photosynthetic organisms, and vitamin B12 are all formed from four pyrrole units joined in a larger ring system known as a porphyrin, such as that of chlorophyll a 1.9 and chlorophyll b 1.10. Many vitamins13 like folic acid 1.12, vitamin B5, nicotinic acid 1.13, nicotinamide 1.14, vitamin B6 pyridoxine 1.15, pyridoxal 1.16, and pyridoxamine 1.17 are well known heterocyclic compounds. Psoralen consists of coumarin fused with furan rings, is used in treatment for skin problems and it shows considerable clinical efficacy.14 Cinchona bark15 has been used for several hundred years for the treatment of malaria where quinine 1.21 is the active heterocyclic component. Caffeine (1,3,7-trimethylxanthine) 1.22 obtained commercially from methylation of xanthine with methyl chloride or dimethylsulphate and alkali, is the major stimulant in tea and coffee. Natural products containing heterocyclic compounds such as alkaloids and glycosides have been used since old age, as remedial agents. Febrifagl alkaloid from ancient Chinese drug, Chang Shan, reserpine from Indian rouwopifia, Curen alkaloid from arrow poison, codenine, j-tropine and strychnine are all examples of heterocyclic compounds. Many alkaloids37 contain a pyridine or piperidine ring structure, among them nicotine 1.55, the main alkaloid constituent of tobacco, is based on the five membered pyrrolidine and six membered pyridine structures and piperine 1.56 which is one of the sharp-tasting constituents of white and black pepper and it is obtained from the plant species piper nigrum. The benzimidazole derivatives 1.64-1.68 having antifungal, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and analgesics properties have been successfully prepared.41 Imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines have attracted much attention since the beginning of the last century. Due to their important biological activity, they have, in recent years, been broadly investigated and utilized in the pharmaceutical industry. They are also used in bioimaging probes and molecular recognition because of their structural characters.1 In addition, the imidazo[1,2 -a]pyridine scaffolds have been found to be the core structure of many natural products and drugs such as zolpidem, alpidem, saripidem, tenatoprazole, olprinone, and DS-1.2,3 (3)Zhuan Fei, Yan-ping Zhu ⇑, Mei-cai Liu, Feng-cheng Jia, An-xin Wu Tetrahedron Letters 54 (2013) 1222–1226 (imidazo-5 in reference folder) Heterocyclic compounds are obtainable by the following methods. a. Isolation from natural sources, i.e. alkaloids, amino acids, indigo dyes etc. b. Degradation of natural products i.e. acridine, furfural, indol, pyridine, quinoline, thiophene etc. c. Synthesis: Synthesis methods for obtaining heterocyclic compounds may be divided into ring closer reactions, addition reaction and replacement reaction. Cyclisation is usually accomplished by elimination of some small molecules such as water or ammonia from chain of suitable length. Heterocyclic compounds have a great applicability as drugs because, a. They have a specific chemical reactivity. b. They resemble essential metabolism and can provide false synthons in biosynthetic process. Aims and objectives: Taking in view the applicability of heterocyclic compounds, we have undertaken the preparation of heterocycles bearing triazole and pyrimidines nucleus. The placements of a wide variety of substituents of these nuclei have been designed in order to evaluate the synthesized products for their pharmacological profile against several strains of bacteria and fungi and tuberculosis. During the course of our research work, looking to the application of heterocyclic compounds, several entities have been designed, generated and characterized using spectral studies. The details are as under. To synthesize several bioactive derivatives of benzo[d]imidazo and its Schiff’s base and dihydro pyrazolothiazoles. To generate triazolo [1,5-a]pyrimidine derivatives. To synthesize imidazo [1,2-a]pyridine by Green Synthesis and develop their Mannich base. To check purity of all synthesized compounds using thin layer chromatography. To characterize these synthesized products for structure elucidation using various spectroscopic techniques like IR, 1H and 13C NMR and mass spectral studies. To grow single crystal of the synthesized compounds and study there X-ray crystallography for establishment of the structure. To evaluate these new synthesized products for better drug potential against different strains of bacteria and fungi.

Comparing Leadership Styles | Effect of Leadership Styles of Business

Comparing Leadership Styles | Effect of Leadership Styles of Business Any organization can not survive without a sound management system. The management and how to manage the company from an overall aspect is mainly established by a core person in this company and he/she is called the leader of this company. It is wide accepted that no company can be successfully without effective management and without a competent leader. Therefore, the leader of the company plays a vital role for the organization. Different leaders with different natures and characteristics may bring up completely different management theory to the company, which will also decide the developing model of the company and determine the success of failure of the company. The leadership style will greatly decide the companys development for the future. It is a careful decision who to be hired or selected to be in charge of the company and guide the strategy of the company. Therefore, in order to analyze how the role of leader plays in an organization, two different leaders have been selec ted in this report. The objective of this report is to analyze leadership styles by selecting two leaders from two companies. One is Carly Fiorina with HP Company, and the other one is Michael T. Duke with Wal-Mart Company. These two different leaders are different in their leadership in many ways and the differences between their leadership approaches are demonsrtated in the critical analysis section. In the end the conclusion of the effectvie leadership is made based on the findings of the two cases. 2.0 Introduction As to the development of a company, the importance of the leader is obvious to the whole company. With reference to each successful enterprise, it is obvious that there is an outstanding leader guiding an excellent team, such as Jack Welch with GM Corporation America and Chinese Zhang Ruimin, leader of Haier Company and so on. Therefore, whether a company will be successful or not is greatly connected with who is leading the company. As the leadership topic is mentioned, this report is going to focus on the leadership in an organization. In this report, two famous leaders have been chosen and discussed from HP and Wal-Mart Companies in terms of their ways of leading the company and the major characteristics they have which may affect their ways regarding managing the team and the company. Based on the findings of the case study, comparison and contrast of both leaders with respect to their managing styles and leader style will be analyzed. At last, reasonable and information-based co nclusion related to leader management will be drawn. 3.0 Leader 1 Carly Fiorina with HP Company Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. which is HP company for short and established in United States in 1939, is a company specialized in developing and manufacturing computers, printers, software and other digital fields. HPs Corporate Objectives which was written by co-founders Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard have guided the company for decades. The objective is It is necessary that people work together in unison toward common objectives and avoid working at cross purposes at all levels if the ultimate in efficiency and achievement is to be obtained. HP Company has been developed very fast in technology areas and expanded to the worldwide. In anywhere you can see HP logo and its products in everywhere. HPs development and success can not be real without excellent leaders. Here Carly Fiorina as one of the excellent and competent CEOs is selected to analyze for the purpose of explaining the relation between a leader and company success. Carly Fiorina was born in 1954 and graduated from Stanford University. In 1999, she was presented as the CEO of HP company and ended as the CEO role in 2005. Carly Fiorina is a very competent leader. Before she took the CEO position, HP Company was encountering years of depressing time, especially in the years of 1997 and 1998, the company faced the unprecedented difficulties and the sales income was far behind its expectations. Fiorina started her career in business as a receptionist, but later she jumped very fast to the positions of management and leadership. Fiorina is also a very excellent communicator and her speech is convincing the same as the Ex-president Bill Clinton. Carly Fiorina was the first female CEO in HPs history (Carlys biography, 2010). During her stay with role of CEO in HP, she has developed comprehensive skills in leadership which include planning, delegating, decision making, coordinating and communication. She brought a lot of changes to HP and turned the HP ways into the Carly way (Forsyth, 2006). Carly Fiorina is characterized with board decision making and brave in taking actions. When made the merger with Compaq Company with a 25 billion USD in 2001, it was a broad step for taking. In terms of leadership style, Carly Fiorina could be determined as authoritarian in controlling and regulating policy, procedures within the company. Besides this leadership feature, she should also be concluded to be equipped with democratic leadership style (Sprenger, 2010). Carly Fiorinas leadership styles are most cultivated by her personalities. She is very diligent and hard working at the same time she is also good at selling. She stands very calm in any situation and is good at calculating and thinking. She is very dedicated to the pursuit of goals that she thinks that it is well-intentioned. She is very persistent with things. In Fiorinas view, every person is capable of far more than they realize. Fiorina holds this view in her life and applies it into her management. She is capable of digging and encouraging her teams ability. Some of her team workers feel very thankful to her, because she gave the chance to them to realize who they were and what they could do and where the y could reach in the future. With this characteristic, it is good to gather people and make them work hard to achieve the goal. Fiorina likes to engage activities personally which is another factor contributing to her successful leadership (Sadler, 2003). After she took the position as CEO, she started her trips to anywhere the HP covers and to investigate the problems and potentials there. She is very responsible for her position. She is persistent in doing the right things, for the right reasons and the right way, most of the time; it will turn out all right. When she was with HP Company, she will never give up what she thinks is a right choice or decision and she will lead her team to go for it. Thanks to Carly Fiorinas effective leading approach, HP Company has grown and developed very fast and achieved with the most important merger in HP history. During the period she took the leadership in HP Company, HP expanded very quickly to the world and its market share has grown. Compared with the developing and expanding and profit making situation before Fiorina as CEO, HP has made great success in terms of both self-development and its fast expansion to overseas markets. However, although Carly Fiorinas leadership has brought HP benefits in a range of areas, she was still not welcomed by all people within the company. Her leading behavior was not always appreciated by HP board (House and Price, 2009). Carly Fiorina holds her direction was right for HPs development for long term; however, other HP board worried about the direction of HP under Fiorinas leading. And also because Fiorina is a female leader, to some extent, most males are not really accepted the fact of being manage d or controlled by a female. Plus Fiorina is a relatively authorized person with respect to management. Therefore, in 2005, Carly Fiorina finished her CEO life within HP Company. 4.0 Leader 2 Michael T. Duke with Wal-Mart Company Wal-Mart as one of the worlds largest retailers has developed and expanded very fast. It has now expanded to many other countries and has occupied a relatively large retail market share there. Wal-Mart has thousands of products where consumers can find their various needs. The company now is continuing to broaden and accelerate its global efforts on sustainable development and responsible sourcing and opportunities. Until April this year, Wal-Mart has established businesses in 14 countries besides its businesses in United States. There are more than 4000 stores running around the world. Compared with the finance statement in 2009, the sales incomes in overseas markets have broken through 100 billion US dollars (Charles, 2009). Mike Duke is the president and CEO of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. As CEO, Mike leads a strong management team that is focused on keeping Walmarts mission of saving people money so they can live better relevant to every customer, every day. Mike Duke joined Walmart in 1995. Mike has taken various positions in Wal-Mart before he reached his current position as the leader of Wal-Mart. He has led the divisions of logistics, distribution and administration. He was capable and active in developing and executing corporate strategy. Duke is a low-key person which is very consistent with Wal-Mart style. He does not like to flaunt. The only leisure hobby of Duke is to play Golf. Duke is the fifth CEO of Wal-Mart. He is appointed by the previous CEO, Scot Lee. Lee appreciates Duke very much. Some people comment that Lee and Duke are very similar in their personalities and management. The most distinguished difference is Duke is better at social relations with people. From Dukes colleagues view, he is a considerate person as loyal to friendship and helpful to others. As a senior manager of Wal-Mart, Duke is very clear when to start a fight for Wal-Mart business growth. One retail analyst has commented that Duke is very ambitious. The development strategy held by Duke is that Wal-Mart must occupy the leading position in the retail industry. Therefore, Duke made decision to withdraw Wal-Mart from Germany and South Korea where the sales are not desirable. And also he decided to hold 95.1% of stake from the previous 50.9% of its subsidiary Japanese company Seiyu Department Store. At that time, every one warned that it might be a very high-risk decision, but Duke believed that as long as Wal-Mart gets more control stake, it will make things different. As a successful leader, you must be competent in the areas you exert in. The competence areas such as envision, involving and goal-oriented. Duke is experienced in the management field. Before he joined Wal-Mart, he was an executive at Federated and May Department Stores for 23 years. And before he took CEO role, he was engaged in various sectors in Wal-Mart, which enabled him the wide knowledge about the whole operation in the Wal-Mart. And also from the change perspective speaking, leaders should have the ability of responding to and managing the external changes. When Duke saw Wal-Marts poor sales in Germany, he made the broad step to withdraw from the Germany market. Personal characteristics and behaviors also contribute to be a successful leader or not. Duke gives his colleagues an impression of friendly and kind and easy-going, which does not mean he is not strict or decisive. On the contrary, Duke has the talent of gathering his employees and also has a clear direction where the company shall develop into. Duke made commitment that in order to make up the bad sales in American local market; Wal-Mart would fasten its pace in expanding to other potential overseas markets. He said to his employees that the anticipation is to attract more consumers and set up more stores world widely and accelerate Wal-Mart global expansion. For Wal-Mart, Dukes presence as the CEO is like change blood to Wal-Mart. Firstly, it was the very right time for Duke to take the position after the depressing year in 2008. Secondly, due the change of the political leader in United States, Wal-Mart had to choose a different CEO the represent a different Wal-Mart to the whole America Society. Because the political environment sounds not advantageous to Wal-Mart since Democratic Party won the election. In the previous years , Wal-Mart was supporting the Republic Party with its 85% amount of political capital went to Republican and just 15% left to Democratic Party. Duke may have to transfer its political policy within the organization for seeking a better development in its local market. Therefore, Despite Dukes leadership style will probably bring a bright future to Wal-Mart; Duke will definitely meet new challenges in this position. Under Dukes leading, because Duke is paying highly attention to his employee staff, it will be easy to gather and establish competent team. Also due to Dukes rich experience working the stores Company and his working experience in various sector of Wal-Mart for years, Duke has a very comprehensive view over the overall company developing. However, everything has its two sides. Although Wal-Mart may have the potential of grasping a good chance to develop and expand under Dukes leading approach, there are also potential challenges or disadvantages posed to its development. 5.0 Critical analysis-comparison and contrast between the two leaders with respect to their leadership styles 5.1 Differences in personal characteristics Carly Fiorinas characteristics: Somebody was born to a competitive, such as Carly. She has extraordinary passion, confidence, courage and endurance. In order to achieve goals that can endure hard to imagine the enormous pressures and challenges, even troubled, still self-improvement and never give up. Carly is an insightful strategist, led by her customers and makes the management of excited and kind, but also to carry out different tactics to ensure the smooth realization of goals. Carlys distinct personality made her very difficult to achieve harmonious, peaceful way to deal with things, so she makes many people feel hurt. While she was taking the reforms of HP Company, she also encountered difficulties in the realization of the merger plan. Carlys extraordinary will and unyielding personalities support her to become successful in her career. But at the same time, most of her colleagues do not agree with her in terms of the direction of the development etc. Thus in 2005, company board has fired her as CEO of HP. Michael T. Dukes personal characteristics Duke is a Georgia man, in his spare time; he and his wife did a lot of charity work. For example, they have been taken care of an orphan until finally found the orphan with an adoptive family. He is a low-key person. This moderate character is very easy to integrate into the Wal-Marts way of treating its employees and Wal-Marts humane enterprise culture. Although Duke has been regarded as a good and kind person in the industry, this does not mean his is not a strict man. Actually his work style of being slightly conservative but strategic is very good and helpful for promoting the smooth development of Wal-Mart. The difference in character between these two leaders is obvious, Carly positive attitude is very positive in work. Her enthusiasm for work is the key to her success in her career. However, being sometimes too tough and persistent and anxious to be successful often cause great resistance to the development. Carly belongs to the authoritarian leadership style. For HP Company during its depressing time before Carly took the CEO position, this passionate characteristic was very helpful for the company. Duke is moderate and communicative; Duke more belongs to the emotional intelligence leader type. He is easy-going and listening to others. He is the type of leader who affects his employees by emotionally. 5.2 Different in their reforming pace as leaders of the companies. Carlys reform of the HP, focused on control of the company, focused on adjusting strategy and simplifying the companys structures. Company just needs to keep useful functional departments. She made HP into four groups, which improved work efficiency a lot. Employees felt the sense of urgency in doing their jobs. Carly emphasizes on efficiency. She firmly believed that if she could correct the mistakes of HP made in the past few years, the company will become strong and competitive again. She led HP to the pursuit of speed and passion, and meanwhile to distinguish HP from other competitors in the characters. During her remodeling process for Hewlett-Packard, other senior managers and ordinary employees did not show their disputes openly, but actually some disagreement was originated. Besides continuing implementing the past successful business strategies, Duke made several marketing strategies aiming to survive from the global financial crisis. These strategies, such as improving consumers shopping experiences, more special products included, are attracting more and more consumers. But compared to HP Company, Wal-Mart reforming is relatively conservative. 5.3 Team organization capability Carly has a remarkable ability to communicate. She is good at communicating with her employee personally. She always travels to visit HP worker in different places. And this communication is very essential for the establishing an effective team. However due to Carlys strict and sometimes tough personalities, it is not very easy for her to establish a loyal team. Especially in the reforming period, most of people do not like changes at the same time, gender is another unfavorable factor contributing to her difficulties in managing an effective team. Many people, especially for male workers, it is very uncomfortable to work under a female manager. In the Dukes eyes, the future of employees is Wal-Marts future. He emphasizes this point to his staff that Wal-Mart will continue to work to build a better life. Duke is very popular and respected by his employees. His attitude towards life and relationship with workers gains support from his employees. So for Duke, he is more capable of organizing an effective team. 6.0 Conclusion In conclusion, leader is the most important figure in an organization. When a person is hired as the leader of a company, he/she becomes the core part of the whole company. The way he/she adopts for leading the company will greatly affect the companys development. The leaders leadership approach is greatly influenced by his/her personal characteristics, her/his competencies and his/her culture values as well. Different leaders to manage a company may turn the company into a completely different one in terms of its developing direction, its company values or culture and so on. In this report, two different leaders with different companies have been introduced and analyzed regarding to their personalities, leadership styles. Through their respective contribution made to their companies, we can conclude that effective leader is very crucial for the development and direction of the company. In the comparing and contrasting part, the two leaders differences with respect to their leadershi p have been addressed and proper reasons have been investigated regarding the differences. The leadership styles can also affected from the organization variables. The leadership style will be affected by the external environmental changes, such as in the case of leader 2. The change of the leadership is to some extent forced by the economic times and political environment changes.

Marion :: essays research papers

For a long time, I saw her almost every day on the train. Her gravely voice would prompt me to look up and then quickly look down. Sometimes, she would appear as I gazed aimlessly at the doors that adjoin the cars of the train. She would enter, look around, smile faintly and then introduce herself. Her name is Marion. She is homeless. But no, she doesn’t steal and never has in her life. She is down on her luck and needs help. And can we please help her? A dime, a nickel, anything. In fact, she would be happy with food. No, she doesn’t do drugs and would be so grateful for any kind soul who would help. Always that very same speech with that same plastic cheerfulness. She would make her way slowly through the train car, patiently when it was almost empty, and excusing herself to those who were already shrinking away from her, when it was crowded. She would stop sometimes and peer into the face closest to her with a deep imploration in her eyes. When it was my face, I would look down discreetly, sometimes placing wrinkled bills into her dirty, wrinkled palm. She would thank and bless me profusely, I would dismiss her by staring at my hands with an embarrassment I couldn’t explain. I didn’t want her attention. I didn’t want her to look at me or thank me. I wanted her to not exist. I didn’t want to wonder if she was a mother or a part of family or how she ended up in her sad journey walking through the rumbling cars of New York City’s trains. She would move on to another uncomfortable face, another one that ignored her. Some would say a casual, â€Å"No.† Almost as if she had asked if they knew the time. She would simply move on. When she had been ignored by enough faces, she would stand close to the doors adjoining the trains, nod slowly and then walk through. I saw her one day in the bathroom of the Long Island Ferry Station. I stood to the side, waiting for a free stall. She walked in and sneezed several times. She had an almost confused expression, staring at the wall and then the floor and then me for a little while before walking up to the garbage can. I was very surprised, so removed she was from where I was used to seeing her, from the part of my day where her presence had become normal, expected.

Anti-Defamation League Essay -- Race Racial Ethnicity Essays

Anti-Defamation League Lawyer Sigmund Livingston in Chicago, IL started the ADL in 1913, with the mission: "to stop, by appeals to reason and conscience, and if necessary, by appeals to law, the defamation of the Jewish people. . . to secure justice and fair treatment to all citizens alike. . . put an end forever to unjust and unfair discrimination against and ridicule of any sect or body of citizens." The ADL has gone from having a small office in Chicago to 30 regional offices as well as international offices in Moscow, Jerusalem, and Vienna. The ADL, as a well-respected political interest group, has been active in influencing United States foreign policy in Middle East countries, such as Israel. Today, under the leadership of National Chair, Howard P. Berkowitz and National Director Abraham Foxman, the ADL remains as the leading opponent of anti-Semitism and they continue to expose all forms of injustice, prejudice, and bigotry. ADL’s primary goals as a religious organization are to bring about social change through the elimination of bigotry and hatred by influencing government legislation. Specifically, one piece of legislation the ADL is working against is the implementation of school vouchers. It is ADL’s position that by using government funds to support vouchers, the quality of education at the public schools will decrease. I completely agree with this position. Education reform doesn’t mean destroying one institution that helps a large majority to promote elitist institutions that only benefit a small minority. The ADL is very large organization with vast influence benefiting millions of people around the globe, and according to Olson’s collective action problem members could be dissuaded from parti... ...ias. The ADL’s religious interests are mainly to promote the interest and betterment of Jews. So to listen to ADL and make legislative changes accordingly is to create a hierarchy among religions that shouldn’t be a part of the government. Even though, I may not agree with everything the ADL says, I think that what they are trying to do is incremental in bringing about the change necessary to improve our society. Works Cited: Bahrampour, Tara & Anthony Ramirez (2001). New Monitor For Hate Groups [Electronic version]. New York Times, B5.1. Falconer, Matthew (1999). Filter blocks hate-promoting Web sites [Electronic Version]. Boston Globe, A40. Olson, Mancur (1965) from Nivola, Pietro S. and David H. Rosenbloom (1990), Classic Readings in American Politics, 2nd Edition, pages 225-240. New York: St. Martin’s Press, Inc.

Assessment method †Written Questions Essay

Criteria 1.4: State why and when health and safety control equipment, identified by the principles of protection, should be used relating to types, purpose and limitations of each type, the work situation, occupational use and the general work environment, in relation to: – Collective protective measures Fencing is used when access to the site needs to be prevented. They can be used to prevent access to the public and the workers making them use a designated entrance to site. This will make sure the members of the public cannot wander on to the site which could be dangerous for them or the workmen. Also making the workers go in through a designated entrance would allow everyone to be signed onto the site, so the foremen are aware of everyone who is on site. The main type of fencing is Harris fencing; this can be erected with ease and speed. It prevents access to the site but is only temporary and can be taken down as quickly as it can be put up. Harris fencing could also be blown over in a high wind. Harris fencing is not always necessary as existing fencing may already be in place. A garden fence, a garden wall or a hedgerow can be used to prevent access; they can be used on their own or in conjunction with fencing. Barriers are used to restrict access or to warn the workers of a da nger. These would be used throughout the job when appropriate. If there is a danger such as a trench that has been dug into the ground a barrier should be used to warn  people that it is there and also to stop someone from falling down into the trench. Different types of barrier include plastic barriers and bunting which is help up using metal pegs these are usually bright orange. The purpose of barriers is to restrict access and warn of dangers. They are only temporary and can be easily removed. Cones and warning tape could also be used as a barrier to restrict access to a certain area of the site. These are only temporary and can be easily removed. Signage comes in different colours which denote what type of information the sign contains. Signs can be used on fencing and barriers and can be in other areas of the site such as the site office. Blue signs contain mandatory information. These are things that everyone must do, they could be telling you what type of PPE you have to wear. Red signs are prohibition notices, telling you what you must not do such as smoke. Yellow and black signs contain warning information. The most common example of a warning sign is overhead cable signs. Green signs are Information signs which have information on things like first aid. These signs can be found in places like the site office or the site entrance. Also there is signage on packaging, these are COSHH signs and give information on how to handle that substance. – Personal protective equipment (PPE) Hard hat – A hard at is used when there is a danger of falling objects to protect the head from impact injuries or knocks. Some hard hats come with visors and ear defenders attached. The purpose of a hard had is to protect you from a head injury from objects falling from a scaffold, unprotect ends of a scaffold pole and other dangers. They must be warn when there is a scaffold on a site. Sometimes they can easily fall off your head but newer hard hats have a better fit. You can also get bump caps which are light weight hard hats. Ear Defenders- Ear defenders are used when there is a loud noise on site which could damage your ears. A loud noise could come from many different things on site, it could be you cutting down a brick or a block with a grinder, it could come from someone else using a piece of machinery. You can get ear plugs which you put into your ear which reduce the sound, these can only be used once. If you reuse them you can risk an infection by getting  dirt into your ear. You can also get ear defenders which go over your ears which muffle a lot of the sound out. These can be used multiple times but may also not be compatible with other PPE such as a hard hat, although you can get ear defenders that work very well with a hard hat. Eye Protection – Is used when there is a risk of dust getting into someone’s eyes or an impact injury to the eye. There are different types of eye protection, safety goggles are made of a durable plastic and will stop both dust and flying debris from harming your eyes. Safety spectacles only protect your eyes from flying debris, these can be used when there is not a lot of dust for example cutting a brick with a bolster. Face masks are a rigid plastic visor that will protect your face from flying debris. They are commonly used with garden equipment like chainsaws and strimmer’s. They will not protect you from fine dust particles. Gloves – Gloves are needed when there is a risk of damaging your hands or getting a chemical on them. Gloves differ in design, material and thickness. The correct glove should be chosen for the job after taking into account the possible risks. There are many different types of glove, from lighter material gloves which would be suitable if you are doing brickwork to heavier gloves that could be coated in different substances to give resistance to chemicals. You must also think about if you are going to need gloves that will protect your hands from cuts if you are doing a job and you are handling something that is sharp. Gloves will only have a certain lifespan as they will degrade through ware and tare or through contact with a chemical substance. Gloves must fit the user well as not to hinder his ability to work well and also his dexterity which could make him more likely to drop something. Safety boots- Most building sites will require you to always wear safety boots. Safety boots have a steel toe cap and a very tough sole. This will give the wearer protection from falling objects and also from standing on nails and other things. They also provide a sole with plenty of grip to help prevent slips. You can also get wellington boots that have steel toe caps which also keep your feet dry. – Respiratory protective equipment (RPE) Respiratory protective equipment is used to prevent a worker from breathing in dust or fumes that may be hazardous. There are various types but the most commonly used type of RPE is a dust mask. These are light weight and comfortable and easy to fit. However, they will not offer any protection from toxic dust or fumes. Most dust masks are only effective for a short period and then they need replacing. Respirators have removable filters, which can be replaced. You can get different filters which do different jobs, some protect the user from toxic dust and some protect the user from fumes. Also you can get respirators which cover the whole face which provide more protection. If you are working in an area with low oxygen you should choose breathing apparatus with an air supply. You must ensure that the dust mask is correct for the job and provides the appropriate protection. You also must ensure that the mask is a good fit to the person who is wearing it. A poor fit will result in a poor seal allowing dust and fumes to get in. – Local exhaust ventilation (LEV). Exposure to dust and to fumes can be harmful to people’s health. It can cause asthma, lung scaring and cancer. Therefore local exhaust ventilation systems are put in place to extract the airborne dust and fumes. There are different types of LEV and care must be taken to choose the most effective type for a particular job or machine. Most LEV systems simply suck the dust and fumes out of the air before they reach a worker. Some of them will also have a hood fitted which will help contain the dust and fumes as they are being sucked away. Water can stop dust from taking to the air in the first place, on some tools you can fit a water supply, such as a grinder where the blade is kept wet while you are cutting to keep the dust down. Sometimes just opening windows and doors will allow the dust to escape and clear the air. . Criteria 1.5: State how the health and safety control equipment relevant to the work should be used in accordance with the given instructions. Collective protective measures should be installed and used only by people  who have received adequate information, instruction and training. This will help prevent something like a Harris fence from blowing down in a wind because it wasn’t properly secured. The signage would have to be put up correctly to avoid a mistake being made so this would have to be done by someone who knows all the correct information. PPE should be in good condition and be well looked after by the user. The correct PPE should be chosen and correctly worn for each job, also you should ensure the PPE is compatible eg. Does the hard hat stop you from being able to wear your ear defenders? The PPE that is worn should be decided after thinking about the possible hazards. RPE used should be suitable to the job at hand, the user needs to think about if they need protection from toxic dust, fumes or if there will be a short supply in oxygen. Choosing the right mask is the first step and making sure it is a correct fit is the second. Fit testing is the best way to make sure a mask fits you properly, this should be carried out by someone who is qualified. Facial hair could stop you being able to get a tight seal and causing contaminated air to seep in. You should regularly replace filters on your mask and always check the correct filter for the job is fitted. You should store your mask in a clean, dust free area. LEV that is needed will vary depending on the task that you are doing. If you are sweeping a room indoors opening the doors and windows will allow most of the dust to escape. If you are using a grinder to cut a block or a piece of slate you could pour water on to it or add a water supply to keep the dust down. You could also do it outside. If you worked in joinery you could get a reputable LEV supplier to advise you on the best LEV system to ventilate your machines. Employees should be knowledgeable in how to use LEV. Criteria 1.6: State which types of health, safety and welfare legislation, notices and warning signs are relevant to the occupational area and associated equipment. The Health and safety Law poster should be posted up somewhere, this could be  in the site office, with the name of the trained first aider on it. There will be signage in green which are information signs. Such as a first aid sign. Blue signs tell people what they must do while on site. It could be information on what type of PPE must be worn. Red signs are probation signs telling people things they must not do, this could be no smoking signs or a no entry except to authorised personal sign. Yellow signs are warning signs. They warn people of dangers that they need to be aware off. This could be a sign warning you of overhead cables or a sign warning you that there is heavy plant machinery operating on site. There will be signs on machinery and power tools saying what items of PPE need to be worn while operating them. Signs will be on the packaging of harmful substances stating what PPE should be worn and what precautions should take place when using them. There will also be COSHH signs on the bottle or packaging of many different substances. These will tell the user what precautions they need to take while handling the substance or what they have to do if there is a chemical spill and how to neutralize it. Criteria 1.7: State why health, safety and welfare legislation, notices and warning signs are relevant to the occupational area. They are there to protect the work force from hazards and the dangers by informing people that these hazards and dangers exist, keeping people safe. They are also relevant because the signs inform people of what safety measures they need to take eg. PPE. Health and safety procedures and locations of things like the first aid office are and also the name of the trained first aider on signs. Criteria 1.8: State how to comply with control measures that have been identified by risk assessments and safe systems of work. The information and control measures that have been identified by risk assessments will be made available to everyone to read. You can read the mission statement which is that plan of action or you could be told verbally. You must follow these orders and work in the way that is instructed. Also there is information on machinery and tools, which will instruct you on how to work in a safe manner. COSHH signs on substances must also be followed to work in a safe way. Criteria 2.2: List typical hazards associated with the work environment and occupational area in relation to resources, substances, asbestos, equipment, obstructions, storage, services and work activities. Resources can become a hazard if they are improperly stacked. Materials such as bricks and blocks must be stacked in a safe and stable way, eg. Not too high. Care must be taken when moving resources. MHO (manual handling operations) need to be implied properly to make sure all lifting is done safely. Substances such as cement, lime and other chemicals and solvents can damage skin causing burns, dermatitis and other skin problems. Some chemicals and solvents could potentially present a fire risk so must be stored in a suitable way. Asbestos is found in lots of older buildings. It is at its most dangerous when it is disturbed. The fibres are inhaled and can cause severe damage to the lungs and death. When discovered asbestos should only be removed by a licensed contractor. Equipment can cause hazards if used improperly. Cutting tools and saws can be dangerous because you could cut of a finger or something worse. Some equipment can be loud enough to damage your ears. Some tools which produce a lot of vibration such as a breaker can cause white finger. Obstructions are a hazard because people can trip over them, also if they are blocking a fire escape it could be dangerous. If things are not stored correctly they could be unstable and fall over and hurt someone. Also certain materials must be stored under specific condition. Some materials present a fire risk. Care must be taken not to damage any services. If you are digging and you hit a gas or electric main it could be potentially dangerous. They should have warning tape above them but this is not always the case. Also if you are improperly trained you could be electrocuted if you attempt electrical work. Some work activities present a risk such as climbing ladders and work on a roof or scaffold. Also when machinery such as diggers are on site you must be careful. Criteria 2.3: List the current Health and Safety Executive top ten safety risks. Fall off ladder Fall through roof Lifting operations Struck by plant Overturning plant fall from scaffold Fall through an internal void Asphyxiation poisoning Crushed by falling excavation MEWP crushing entrapment Criteria 2.4: List the current Health and Safety Executive top five health risks. Exposure to asbestos Exposure to silica Manual handling Exposure to excessive noise Exposure to excessive vibration Criteria 2.5: State how changing circumstances within the workplace could cause hazards. If things change and not everyone is aware of these changes then people could get injured. For example if a hand rail is removed on a scaffold someone could fall off. A newly dug trench could become a hazard if someone who didn’t know it was there went near it then they could fall in, this could become more dangerous if metal pegs have been driven into the ground. Criteria 2.6: State the methods used for reporting changed circumstances, hazards and incidents in the workplace. Reporting change in circumstances and hazards can be done at a tool box talk, or you could bring them up as soon as they arise to the site manager and to the other workers. Incidents at work including injury and death should be reported. There are regulations in place (RIDDOR) making sure these things are reported. Accidents should be recorded in the accident book with information about the incident, where it took place and the date. If an accident causes someone to have an injury leaving them unable to work for more than three days they must inform the HSE. Criteria 3.6: State the organisational policies and procedures for health, safety and welfare, in relation to: – Dealing with accidents and emergencies associated with the work and environment The HSE try to reduce the number of accidents and emergencies that occur in the work place. They also tell people what types of injury should be reported and how to report them. – Methods of receiving or sourcing information The HSE has a website that is very informative for both employers and employees on many things such as a COSHH and MHO. You can also request advice from them. You could also read the Health And Safety At Work Act (HASAWA 1974). – Reporting The HSE has regulations set in place called the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR). These regs make sure that everything is properly reported. – Stopping work The HSE sends inspectors onto sites and he is able to make people stop work while something that could be a hazard is made safe again. – Evacuation The HSE can send inspector on site and if he is not happy with what he sees he is able to close down the site by providing a prohibition notice. He will tell them how to make the site safe and what needs to be done to get it up and running again safely. – Fire risks and safe exit procedures Employers must carry out a fire safety risk assessment and keep it up to date. They also need to ensure that adequate and appropriate fire safety measures are in place to minimise the risk of injury or loss of life in the event of a fire. – Consultation and feedback. Tool box talks are carried out so that people can give instructions to others and also for people to give feedback on possible hazards such as a scaffolding has being altered. Criteria 3.7: State the appropriate types of fire extinguishers relevant to the work. Water, Dry powder, Foam and CO2. Criteria 3.8: State how and when the different types of fire extinguishers are used in accordance with legislation and official guidance. Not all fire extinguishers are suitable for putting out all types of fire. For example if you spray water on an electric fire it could make it a lot worse. Below is a list of what types of extinguisher is suitable for what type of fire. Water – Paper , Wood, Textiles, Fabric Dry powder – Paper, wood textiles and fabric. Flammable liquids. Flammable gases. Oils and fats. Electrical hazard. Foam – Paper, wood textiles and fabric. Flammable gases. Oils and fats. CO2 – Flammable liquids. Flammable gases. Oils and fats. Electrical hazard. You must make sure when using a CO2 extinguisher in a confined space that you have sufficient fresh air. You could use breathing apparatus to make sure you are safe. Criteria 4.2: State how personal behaviour demonstrates responsibility for general workplace health, safety and welfare, in relation to: – Recognising when to stop work in the face of serious and imminent danger to self and/or others How you behave when you or someone else is in danger is very important. If a scaffold has become unstable in a high wind then you should be responsible and safe by stopping work until the scaffolding is secure. – Contributing to discussions and providing feedback Contributing to discussions and providing feedback by pointing out hazards and potential risks will demonstrate you are able to spot risks and help make the workplace safe. – Reporting changed circumstances and incidents in the workplace Reporting changed circumstances can prevent an accident from happening because someone wasn’t aware. Legislations are in place to ensure that incidents are reported to the HSE. Making sure these are done demonstrates responsibility. – Complying with the environmental requirements of the workplace Making sure things such as streams aren’t polluted and making sure waste is  correctly disposed of is very important. Criteria 4.3: Give examples of how the behaviour and actions of individuals could affect others within the workplace. Your behaviour could have negative effects on others. Working in an unsafe way may directly harm someone such as dropping a brick, or not putting barriers around a hole in the ground. You behaviour could also have a positive effect on your fellow workers for example you could discover a fire and help to ensure everyone is evacuated safely. Also your feedback at a toolbox talk could stop an accident from taking place. Criteria 5.2: State how security arrangements are implemented in relation to: The workplace: Is surrounded by fencing stopping anyone from wandering onto the site. There will also be lockable storage areas. The general public: Will not be able to get access onto the site as it will be secured with fencing. Also there are signs put up to inform the public that they are not allowed to enter. Site personnel: Resources: Will be locked away in containers so they cannot be stolen.

Pretty Woman Essay

Pretty Woman is a romantic comedy, which is based on the stories of Cinderella, the Prince and the Pauper and My fair lady. The film was produced in 1990 and directed by Garry Marshall. It is set in the Hollywood hills and the rough Hollywood Boulevard. Richard Gere and Julia Roberts play the two main characters, Vivien Ward and Edward Lewis. Edward is a wealthy man who is respected and admired by others. Whereas Vivien is a lot poorer. Her only way of earning money is by her job as a prostitute in Hollywood Boulevard. In the film the music is very important. At the beginning it is set at a party. It is Edward’s party so it is very posh and classy. All throughout the party scenes there is piano music being played in the background. This shows that Edward and his friends are very sophisticated. The music changes though when Edward is in his car driving through the Hollywood hills down into the Hollywood Boulevard. It turns into a more upbeat song it’s lyrics include ‘I’ll get over you,’ this is a signifier because it links in with the fact that he has just broken up with his girlfriend. When the shot moves to Vivien in her bedroom the music changes again, it changes to a louder, heavier song called ‘Wild women do’ which matches Vivien’s character as a prostitute living in the rough part of the Hollywood Boulevard where she lives life wildly. Just from this you can see a contrast between Vivien and Edward straight away. The costumes that the two main characters wear are very different. At the party at the beginning of the film, Edward and all of his friends are wearing very posh expensive clothes probably made by famous designers. The people are wearing clothes that have quite a bright colour like red or blue and most of them are just wearing one colour. They are also wearing lots of expensive jewellery like gold necklaces, bracelets, rings etc. Just by looking at the people at the party you can tell straight away that they have lots of money and can afford to buy expensive clothes and jewellery for parties. When you first see Edward he is upstairs in his office away from the party. The walls in his office are just plain white with not a lot of decoration and he is wearing a plain grey suit which is quite dull and lifeless this is a signifier that he is a businessman and that he doesn’t like to wear bright colourful clothes and that he prefers to stay wearing neutral colours.