John Proctor †The Crucible Essay

   Supporting this claim further are several lines from Miller’s pre-introductory notes; â€Å"His [Putnam’s] vindictive nature was demonstrated long before witchcraft began. † Not only does this reinforce our trust within the character of John Proctor, it always creates a likeness within him in the mind of the audience. Miller strives to achieve this more-so through Proctor’s defense of his absent wife to Abigail who aims to smite her; â€Å"You’ll speak nothin’ of Elizabeth! † This is due to the fact loyalty is an undisputable likeable trait. The moment our emotions towards John Proctor are challenged lay upon his treating of his housemaid upon the warrant of his wife to be arrested. Proctor handles her violently, though it is somewhat partially excused due to its honest aim: to free his wife. Thus, the challenging of our sympathetic yet simultaneously self-righteous attitude to Proctor, only succeeds in strengthening it, through the apparent pardoning of his actions for their good intentions. It becomes apparent the good moral of John Proctor, within his decision to risk the definite pardon of his wife in order to aim to release his fellow innocent towns folk during the court scene of the play; â€Å"I – I think I cannot. † Ironically, this portrays Proctor as one of the only Puritan’s of the play, as he strives to surpass his own greed, in strive to clear his conscience and do what is best for the village. His true Puritan values are also apparent earlier in the play when he suggests his uttermost disgust at Reverend Parris’ indulgence of â€Å"golden candlesticks. † Likewise, Proctors morality influences his decision to inform the court of his lechery with Abigail Williams. For this reason, Proctor rises even further in our levels of admiration. â€Å"I have known her, sir I have known her. † This line signifies Proctors fulfillment of complete morality, as he confesses his sins in hope to release innocent victims. Proctor becomes somewhat heroic at this point, as lechery is a highly punishable crime at these times. The final bout in which Proctor reaches our highest admiration comes at the end of the play, when he decides he would rather face hanging, than lying in the face of God. This selfless deed is what separates Proctor from the rest of the townspeople. His morality proves unrivalled, after several hints at its strength earlier in the play, such as his earlier converses with his wife upon his affair with Abigail, in which he becomes irritable at his wives judgment, despite her making almost no mention of it. This hints that Proctor has simply not forgiven himself for this deed, and rather than face the fact would rather put its blame upon someone else. Despite this, his character becomes arguably a martyr towards the deformation and destruction of the witch trials, as they seemingly dissolve after his death proves example to many others. Perhaps Miller may be comparing himself to the admirable character of Proctor. Through their both almost unjustified prejudice, Proctor for his lack of faith in the Puritan system, and Miller for his satirical outlook on capitalism. For this reason, perhaps Miller is justifying his actions to not confide the American Federal government at a later date, throughout his comparison of it to something quite revolutionary (the desolation of persecution. )

The Old, Bald, Toothless Angel

The supposed angel in the story A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings by Gabriel Garcia Marquez differs from the usual conception of angels with the following characteristics: its physical appearance, its effect upon the community, and the paranormal occurrences of its presence. The usual conception on the images of angels are romanticized – images of blonde children with small, white wings and rosy cheeks. However, the ‘angel’ in Marquez’s story is described as an old man, dirty, smelly, and possesses rotting wings. â€Å"He was dressed like a ragpicker. There were only a few faded hairs left on his bald skull and very few teeth in his mouth, and his pitiful condition of a drenched great-grandfather had taken away any sense of grandeur he might have had. His huge buzzard wings, dirty and half-plucked, were forever tangled in mud† (Marquez, 387). In addition, the use of the word ‘enormous’ used to described the old man’s wings are strewn with mud and rotting, full of small insects and parasites. The characters in the story immediately perceive the old man to be a fallen angel, because of the state of his wings. Also, the enormity of the wings give emphasis on Marquez use of the magic realism genre in the story. The shape and size of the wings may be exaggerated in a realistic point of view but the use of enormous gives the reader a more realistic approach to the old man. It also presents an ordinary experience on part of the characters – since Pelayo and Elisenda did not express shock of the old man’s appearance but of his condition – lying in the mud and in a downcast state. As the story revolves on the theme of magical realism, the characters in the story do not express shock over the old man’s appearance. They exhibit behaviour as though they see kinds of magical creatures often in their lives. Indeed, the first reaction of the couple is more a contradiction toward the whole theme of the story – a realistic perspective. They deduced that the old man may be a castaway from a ship across the sea that was wrecked by some storm. They based their judgement when they tried to ask the old man and responded in a strong sailor’s voice with a foreign dialect. However, the couple was not convinced and decided to ask a woman who had experience with such matters. The old woman needed only a glance and immediately concluded that the old man was an angel sent to take the couple’s ailing child (Marquez, 388). Thus, the themes of magic and realism come together from different point of views. The old man’s effect on the community, upon hearing the suggestion of the old woman, also became magical in one point. As exhibited by the behaviour of the townspeople in the story, they immediately associate the angel with various miracles and scenarios – that the angel was sent to be the leader of the world, to be a five star general in order to end wars, and such. The angel is also viewed by the community not as a supernatural creature but rather as a circus animal. After all the commotion the old man brought to the community, the couple decided to charge a fee for everybody who wanted to see the angel. Its popularity declined when a circus act visited the town with a spider-lady as its main attraction. The people favored the spider-woman over the angel as the spider had a personal story on why she turned to such while the angel did nothing but sit on the chicken coop. Marquez presents an alternative conception of the angel – that the spider, with all its grotesquery and exhibiting usual emotions like pain and emotional suffering, greatly amused the people rather than an old, mute angel rotting in its place. People favored amusement, even if the object is supernatural in nature. Apart from this, Marquez presents the angel to be a mere object of interest for only a limited time until the townspeople shifted their attention toward the spider. Angels are often regarded to be holy beings, that are capable of miracles, and provides ‘good’ in people’s lives. But the angel in the story remains isolated from the community and only act as though he had no care of his condition. His characteristics were also a downfall toward the perception of the community – he was old, toothless, with rotting wings and a pronounced stench. Even though the old man was first conceived as an angel, people did not pay the same amount of attention compared to the spider-woman, who exhibited an emotional plight that greatly amused the people. The paranormal presence of the angel did not stir bewilderment on the characters of the story – instead they presented keen interest and ill-disguised curiosity. Also, their immediate association of the old man as a universal solution to all their worldly-problems became the definitive character of the angel. Yet, they did not bother to place the angel in greater prominence, as they ignored him until one day, he grew new wings and began to fly toward the ocean horizon. The disappearance of the angel also coincided with the growth of Pelayo and Elisenda’s child, and deduced that the angel took away the child’s sickness. And because of the fee they charged to see the angel, the couple became rich from their profits. Marquez persuades the reader into a personal interpretation of the old man – just like the people in the story. He presents the old man with its characteristics and it is up to the reader to decide whether it is an angel or not. However, Marquez also utilizes several peculiar situations and characteristics that coincide with the angel’s presence in the story. His enormous wings is the main point. It appears as though it was nothing out of the extraordinary; that the characters in the story were accustomed to seeing wings deeply implanted in a person’s structure. Also, as the angel grew another set of wings, it could have been assumed that it would resemble the pearly-white color of a real angel but the old man’s wings were that of a scarecrow (Marquez, 392). Marquez leaves room for interpretation on the part of the reader as to what the old man really is. He presents a wholly different perspective of an angel, as presented by the examples of the people in which the old revolved upon. It may be an angel or just an old, toothless man with enormous wings.

Strategic Management of Ford Motor Company Essay

Strategic Management of Ford Motor Company - Essay Example The paper tells that one of the key challenges of firms operating in the modern market is to locate the resources required for the development of their activities. The recession of 2008 onwards has led firms in all industries to develop innovative strategies – aim to compete with their rivals and stabilize their position. The industries, which have already reached their higher level of growth, like the automotive industry, are expected to proceed to key strategic measures in order to ensure their survival. In the last two years, the performance of the automotive industry indicates that the specific industry has already reached a high level of performance – compared to the most industrial sectors worldwide. It is for this reason that most firms of the specific industry have started to report losses – which, in certain cases, are extremely high. However, the survival of the firms operating in the specific industry can be achieved through additional measures  œ such the ones developed by managers in Ford Motor Company. Ford was first established in 1903. Since then, the firm has managed to expand its activities at such point, that it is now considered as the third major competitor in the global automotive industry. The firm’s growth is highly based on its brands, which are well known in the global automotive market. On the other hand, the firm has managed to achieve a stable growth, a fact that indicates its ability to transform its strategies in order to meet the market trends. The performance of the firm during the first quarter has been encouraging – compared 2008 when the effects of the crisis on the organizational profitability were made clear. The firm’s external environment should reveal the changes that should be promoted across the organization aiming to ensure the stabilization of the firm’s performance. The major competitors of the firm in the context of the global market are General Motors, Chrysle r, and Toyota – after the bankruptcy of the two first companies, Toyota has been left as the main competitor of Ford.

Definition of Marketing and Nutritional Supplements Assignment

Definition of Marketing and Nutritional Supplements - Assignment Example As a management process, it believe that it must incorporate the 4ps where the organization initiate a new product, sets the price, ensure that it is in the right place to a certain channel of distribution, and familiarization is enhanced through the right promotional techniques. Therefore, I can generalize and argue from a philosophical perspective that the entire process of marketing is social process in nature for it involves taking action to meet clients’ needs and realize organizational goals of increased sales through an exchange of products and customer’s value. To discuss marketing from my point of view, I will consider GNLD, a nutritional supplement company in the U.S. Nutritional supplements have increased tremendously due to the increased importance of essential vitamins and minerals that lack in people’s body. These important are not available in the normal diets. However, the increase in the Nutritional Supplements selling companies has increased havoc since medical practitioners have noted with concern that some of these companies are money making since their productions are not regulated increasing controversy surrounding the products. However, GNLD is an example of such a company, which for over 50 years has ensured good health to millions of people. Its purpose is ideally to empower individuals with essential knowledge and through their scientifically proven products realize long life health. The history of this company is unique. The founder, Jerry Brassfield, introduced this company at a very young age when he realized that quality supplements played a profound impact in restoration of people health. This was after his life was sa ved by his mother who healed his long allergy and asthma through addition of nutritional products in his food. Since the introduction of the company, it has achieved national and international success hence through the founder; the company

Traditional Absorption Costing versus Activity Based Costing Assignment

Traditional Absorption Costing versus Activity Based Costing - Assignment Example In fact Geri and Ronen (2005) indicate that cost accounting systems do not normally command a high ranking in the hierarchy of most organisations, it is the information that they generate that plays a critical role in the performance of organisations and in the decision making process. The range of systems available and the claims made by the proponents of each have led to several debates. However, some of the arguments have some merits in as much as they allow for a better understanding of the methods that are being utilised. Some of the techniques and systems in use are of traditional management accounting domain while others are of the more recent strategic management accounting domain. Some of the criticisms that have been put forward in relation to traditional systems are that they fail to provide the necessary information that would improve the strategic decision making process (Johnson and Kaplan, 1987; Bromwich and Bhimani, 1989; Roslender and Hart, 2003). Suggestions like th ese are based on the perceived inability of the traditional systems to provide information that would make the organisation more competitive and therefore improve long run performance. In fact, Benjamin et al (2009) indicates that the inefficiencies of traditional systems especially in the area of absorption costing in coping with modern business environments have been of great concern. The gaps that are thought to exist as well as changes in the manufacturing industry including the move from being labour intensive to being capital intensive have provided the impetus for innovation in this very critical area of business (Benjamin 2009; Chenhall 2003; Lukka and Shields 1999). Johnson and Kaplan (1987) indicate that this change can be found in the application of ABC to manufacturing concerns. This paper looks at two forms of full costing systems - traditional absorption costing and the more recent activity based costing (ABC). Both methods take a different approach in assigning cost t o products. 1.1 Absorption costing Absorption costing has it roots in the manufacturing industry (Benjamin et al 2009). BPP (2011) indicates that the objective of this method of costing is to include an appropriate share of an entity’s overheads in the cost of a product. What is appropriate should be reflective of the time and effort that was used in the production of the product. The method becomes complicated when an organisation produces a mix of products and activities or resources used do not bear any relationship with the volume of items produced. Geri and Ronen (2002) indicates that the use of this method requires the allocation of a proportional rate of the fixed cost of production to units produced but which has not yet been sold (Geri and Ronen 2005). 1.2 Activity Based Costing Activity based costing (ABC) was developed as an alternative to absorption costing. (BPP 2011). This method of costing identifies the cost drivers of the activities of an entity’s prod uction process. Overheads are then charged to products based on how they utilise a particular activity. 2.0 Literature Review This review while critically assessing the literature examines the features of two costing methods and looks at the justification for their use. It also provides a comparison while it examines the advantages and disadvantages of using

Popular Music and the Moving Image Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Popular Music and the Moving Image - Essay Example Historically silent films are characterized by certain elements that defined them. These are Projection Speed, title cards, physical acting techniques and music and sound. In the absence of the spoken dialogue, title cards that comprised of printed or drawn frames of text inserted between the film frequencies to serve different roles. The particular types of title cards used in the silent films included dialogue and expository interties. The former were primarily used in conveying dialogue while the latter was used in providing supplemental narrative material whenever what was photographed could not express the full situation by itself. Essentially, the title cards were utilized by the filmmakers in the silent era to add more detail to the films in case the films developed into novelties that entertained a lot. Fundamentally, filmmakers were able to expand their potential to enhance on their storytelling by including some aspects of dialogue and in a way, the title cards served as na rration techniques (Marks, 1997).Another historical element of the silent films was live music and sound. Contrary to today’s films containing spoken dialogue and synched music in the background. The silent films were accompanied by a phonograph recording or live music such as a guitarist or pianist that was critical in reinforcing the mood of a movie and also provided the audience with emotional cues. The above narration explains why there were piano accompaniments in small towns plus the singers.

To what extent does personality predicts employee performance Essay - 4

To what extent does personality predicts employee performance - Essay Example While hiring people the human resource personnel have the belief that the employees will have certain skills, abilities and personalities that will make sure that they add positively to the performance of the organization they are being hired into. The concept of personality and its effect on employee performance comes in management of the workforce and in synchronizing the different workers to make them work in harmony for the better goal of delivering the expected goals in the organization. In this work we shall look at how the employee’s personality can be used to predict their performance. For instance, in any organization, the managers or the supervisors are mandated to oversee the other employees and see unto it that what is supposed of them is being done in the correct way. An employee’s personality can hinder the supervisor from interacting well with her if maybe he/she is temperamental and usually takes the advice given personally. This way it will prove very hard to incorporate such a person in the team of employees that is deliberating in achieving the goals of the organization. This paper will address that in details and look at various cases and ways that can be used to harmonize different personalit ies and make all the employees productive in an organization. The personality of a person may have an impact on his/her performance according to the work h/she is doing and the amount of interaction that is required in the specified job. While hiring employees, human resource personnel usually conduct interviews to assess the candidates’ personalities and traits together with their beliefs and attitudes and then allocate them the duties in departments that they feel they will deliver best and feel best working. For instance, while looking for a person to hold the position of a salesperson in a given organization, the best candidate should be the one who exposes high levels of

Compare and contrast ANY TWO of the following approaches to the Essay

Compare and contrast ANY TWO of the following approaches to the governance of transnational corporations (TNCs) - Essay Example Governing international corporations ensures that business runs as it is supposed to. It also ensures that the corporations do not take advantage of prevailing situations to enrich themselves at the expense of other people in society. In other words, global business governance ensures that everyone gains from the operations of international business (Zadek, 2001). There are many theories that can be used to analyze the governance of global business. For the purposes of this paper, I will examine global business governance using the Neoliberal Approach and the Social Democratic Approach. These two approaches have been used to propagate the idea of prosperity through international commerce (Epstein, 1999). The Neoliberal approach to global business governance can be described as the theory that supports economic freedom, which is an important factor in international business policy discussions. The neoliberal approach gained popularity after being adopted by the World Trade Organization in 1970. The main objective of this perspective is to remove all the barriers to international commerce and the privatization of services and resources. Reduced restrictions on all or some economic activities means that the governments of the involved countries do not have the mandate to interfere with how the multinational corporations run their businesses. The neoliberal model’s support for free market methods also means that there should as little restriction on business operations as possible. The multinational corporations are also are entitled to full property rights in their areas of operations (Hill, 2008). In this approach there is limited government intervention in international corporate governance. Instead, it supports the multilateral political influence from such bodies as the World Bank and the WTO. Privatization is a major component of neoliberalism. This means

The New England Aquarium Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The New England Aquarium - Case Study Example The Aquarium has a multi-year diverse plan, which explains where we are at the moment, as well as acknowledges the successes we can use. It also recommends what we should do in order to make the institution become more inclusive and diverse in intended areas and better-equipped to serve and reach the diverse community. In this memorandum, I will provide a political and symbolic frame analysis of the case study, Diversity Programs at the New England Aquarium from the point of views of the COO, Cynthia Mackey. Additionally, I will also analyze the whole organization in frames, as well as three political recommendations and three symbolic recommendations that Cynthia can implement, discussing possible ramifications of the actions. The aquarium has tried formulating policies with the aim of making it an institution that attracts the broadest audience as possible. These efforts began in one side of the aquarium, the education department to try bring different people into its folds. These kinds of initiatives were funded by the government, in which it focused on bringing together adolescents to participate in the available youth programs, in addition to being paid. The youth programs were successful but were disruptive within the institution because of the longstanding assumptions and practices that clashed with expectations and needs of other people. With such feelings running high, Cynthia Mackey who is the department senior understood the crisis and therefore, sought to find ways to resolve the tensions. The New England Aquarium should engage the broadest constituency in its efforts to protect the aquarium or rather the blue planet. A work force which is diverse should provide skill; perspectives and experiences which will enrich the available programs in the institution, add creativity, enhance the working environment and strengthen their problem solving skills. If a diverse workforce is implemented, the community will stop regarding the institution as a preserve for wealthy families because every culture will be implemented. Additionally, when a diverse community comes together, they bring in new ideas, skills and experiences, and therefore, the institution will benefit from the diverse ideas from each community. Additionally, if a broadest constituency is engaged in the preservation of the blue planet, the institution will be well represented as well as benefit from a broad perspective of each community represented. When different people, with different ideas work together, they are able to make good decisions based on each represented culture within the institution. Therefore, representatives of each communi ty will represent each culture and as a result, the aquarium will be attracting everyone as its mission statement states. Additionally, as it name suggests, Diversity Programs at the New England Aquarium is an international community aquarium and therefore, coming up with a diverse workforce, will help the institution to work together towards the pursuit of a common vision and ideal. International community comes in all sizes and shapes, and therefore, they will represent an amazing diverse people in their values, in terms of economic, social, political, ecological as well as spiritual. The Aquarium opened its doors in 1969, and constructed the very first successful modern day aquarium. Its designs are innovative and the giant ocean tank

Empowerment supports organisational objectives at the expense of the individual worker Essay Example for Free

Empowerment supports organisational objectives at the expense of the individual worker Essay Introduction Companies today are designed in someway, at some level, to develop individuals either for their own sake, the companys sake or hopefully for both. The team has become a sophisticated structure. I t is finely engineered, maintained to a high standard, and when running smoothly it is highly productive (Cole, G, A, 1997: 63). It provides an environment in which energy can be maximised towards corporate needs, which also allows the individual to satisfy his or her own needs within work, rather than only outside of it. So often seemingly dull unimaginative and uncreative employees surprise their companies when they reveal the depth of their energy outside work. However it is the corporate attitudes (Legge, K, 1995: 104) that stifled them, and when released companies recognise they have a pool talent, a wealth of resources, at their fingertips. In the 1980s and 1990s rationalisation and downsizing (Legge, K, 1995: 53) were very much the order of the day therefore empowerment became a business necessity. Empowerment has been in the forefront of quality improvement efforts (Cole, G, A, 1997: 23). Several businesses worldwide have been and still are currently closely watching quality the ability to produce superior and distinguished goods and services to meet customer needs. The commitment to quality today is very present in service industries, non-profit organizations, government agencies, and educational institutions (Mabey at el, 1998: 48). Total Quality, also known as Total Quality Management (TQM), is seen differently by different people. Organizations are reportedly introducing soft and hard (Cole, G, A, 1997: 67) employee relations policies associated with the shift to human resource management (HRM). Softer aspects of HRM, based on the encouragement of employee commitment in support of management aims, have received particular attention given their proposed linkage with improved organizational performance (Cole, G, A, 1997: 67). This has, in turn, led many organizations to adopt schemes designed to encourage employee involvement. The concept of empowerment has been identified as a recent and advanced manifestation of employee involvement (Cole, G, A, 1997: 68). Empowerment has been defined in different ways. Some have claimed it is a fundamentally different way of working together (Spencer Pruss, 1992: 271) and quite different from the traditional notion of control (Cole, G, A, 1997: 94). Cole (1997) is able to define the concept of empowerment as an application to none managerial roles such as team members. However, he argues there are several possible meanings. These can range from having increased authority (Cole, G, A, 1997: 53) and therefore their ability exercise a wider range of choices at work and to be given a more varied and interesting job in the form of job enrichment. At best empowerment increases individuals discretion over how they do their work. It may also provide additional opportunities for group problem solving on operational issues. Empowerment is seen as ways of giving people more opportunity or power (Mabey et al, 1998: 38) to exercise control over, and have responsibility for, their work. It is intended to encourage individuals to use their abilities by enabling them to take decisions. According to Potterfield (1999), empowerment will be best defined as a way of bestowing upon employees the power to use more judgment and discretion in their work and to participate more fully in decisions affecting their working lives (Legge, K, 1995:84). Others are more sceptical. Armstrong (1996) points out that Empowerment, for example, may mean little more than giving employees the opportunity to make suggestions for change (Armstrong, 1996: 76). In practice, empowerment is intended to release active employee engagement only so long as it falls within the parameters for which it was selected as a strategy. In most organisations it is management which defines and adjudicates and ultimately exercises control (Armstrong, 1996: 78). The concept of empowerment is based on the belief that to be successful, organisations must harness the creativity and brain power of all the employees not just a few managers (Graham Bennett, 1995: 3). The idea that everybody in the business has something to contribute represents a radical shift in thinking away from the old idea that managers managed and the workforce simply followed orders. The fact that empowerment does represent a radical shift in thinking explains why, in many organisations, the initiative has failed. Empowered organizations are composed of empowered persons, although it is not necessarily true that a group of empowered persons automatically creates an empowered organization. Organizations that are truly empowered have moved out of the old paradigm of competition and beliefs in limitation and scarcity (Sparrow Marchington, 1998: 291). The face of the contemporary workplace is drastically changing. More and more companies are realising the value of more flat democratic organisational structure (Mabey et al, 1998: 23) over the traditional autocratic, hierarchical management styles. In contrast to empowered workplaces, disempowered workforce suffers from poor self-esteem, lack of a personal vision and a feeling of hopelessness. These attitudes and beliefs form inner barriers that block growth and proactive development (Legge, K, 1995: 63) and manifest in the worker in the form of reluctance to accept responsibility, hesitance to communicate openly, lack of commitment and ownership and, ultimately, in below average performance. Such employees become passive passengers who are more focused on having their personal needs met than on contributing fully (Sparrow Marchington, 1998: 82) so that the company can grow. Because they feel afraid, uncertain and insecure, they will unconsciously sabotage new interventions and approaches. An example of this is the resistance management often experience when implementing a quality management system (Sparrow Marchington, 1998: 82). In this way employees become a stumbling block to progress instead of much-valued assets. In companies where managers make a concerted effort to delegate and share power and control, the results are not always impressive (Graham Bennett, 1995: 93). The reason for this is either a lack of understanding of the nature of empowerment, or a greater focus on applying a set of managerial techniques than on creating conditions that are essential for empowerment to thrive. Where empowerment does not work it is because people do not think it through (Mabey Salaman, 1997: 83). To avoid such failures it is important to gain commitment for the senior management team, and then to cascade this down to other levels of management. The hardest group to convince about empowerment are middle managers (Spencer Pruss, 1992: 92), because it is their jobs that are most likely to be affected. It is because these managers often have the most to lost that they may have a tendency to undermine or delay implementation of a new policy. The implementation of empowerment in organisations instead of the traditional hierarchies means a flatter organisational structure (Cole, G, A, 1997: 57), which can give rise to considerable resentment and individual resistance. There are, naturally, many problems that can arise in the empowerment process. Many workers may resist these new responsibilities (Mabey et al, 1998: 23); they in fact like having their decisions made for them and will resent the extra burdens (and work). There still may be those workers who resent the implications of greater self-direction, possibly even arising from an obvious fear. There is an interesting theory underlying this reaction. Maslow has called this the Jonah Complex, the fear of ones own greatness (Maslow, 1971: 34). While Maslow discussed this term in a more mystical, spiritual context, it is associated as a sort of classic block to self-actualisation. Since empowerment speaks to the same sort of needs as self-actualisation, it could be drawn that there is the possibility of a collective sort of Jonah Complex at the heart of many conflicts in organizational transitions. Employees may also be cynical and suspicious of this approach (Gennard Judge, 1997: 235, Hitchcock and Willard, 1995:27) as another way to get more work out of them for less money. However allowing employees to take an active part in the change process from the very beginning, and showing them that their organization is truly changing will remove some of their wariness. There is also the danger of the employees feeling too empowered (Legge, K, 1995: 57); in feeling so independent of other facets of the organization that there might also be troubles in transitioning to teams. Empowerment supports organisational objectives at the expense of the individual worker to speed up the decision making processes and reducing operational costs (Sparrow Marchington, 1998: 293) by removing unnecessary layers of management such as staff functions, quality control and checking operations. In retrospect empowerment is usually advocated to release the creative and innovative capacities of employees (Armstrong, M, 1996:386), to provide greater job satisfaction, motivation and commitment and giving people more responsibility enables employees to gain a great sense of achievement from their work therefore. The reasons for empowerment emerging as a concept for our time (Armstrong, M, 1996:385) is the need to generate energy release in employees by providing them with visionary leadership and a supporting environment and by treating them as a valuable asset to be invested in rather then as a cost despite the fact that organisations are driven by profit generating, cost reduct ion and market pressures. Empowerment at workplace level has greater justification for management in HRM terms (Beardwell Holden, 1994:582). Management needs to decide how much power to delegate to employees while controlling their levels of creative energies and at the same time not undermining managerial prerogatives (Beardwell Holden, 1994: 582). TQM (total quality management) suggests a system whereby worker empowerment is restricted very much within the boundaries set by the management (Beardwell Holden, 1994: 582). Training can provide an opportunity to empower and motivate employees (Honold, L, 1997). Empowering workers in this small way (i.e., schedule the training sessions) during the actual implementation of the organizational change can provide workers with a small degree of control over what is essentially a change in process over which they have no control. Empowerment can be argued as an objective in its own right as a means of extending worker satisfaction (Gennard Judge, 1997: 211). This can be related to the concept of Quality of Working Life (QWL). It refers primarily to how efficiency of performance depends on job satisfaction, and how to design jobs to increase satisfaction, and therefore performance. The early psychological basis of QWL and of justifications of empowerment relating to increased worker motivation was Herzberg (1968). Herzberg developed a theory called the two-factor theory of motivation. Herzberg argued that job factors could be classified as to whether they contributed primarily to satisfaction or dissatisfaction (Spencer Pruss, 1992 : 64). There are conditions, which result in dissatisfaction amongst employees when they are not present. If these conditions are present, this does not necessarily motivate employees. Second there are conditions, which when present in the job, build a strong level of motivation that can result in good job performance. Management very rarely discusses the practical problems in attempting to apply empowerment through quality management (Mabey Salaman, 1997:34) therefore employee views and feelings are unheard. The argument in supporting quality management requires an increase in workers skills and results in genuine employee empowerment (Mabey Salaman, 1997:34). However, in contrast to the optimistic approach is the argument that empowerment through quality management results in the increasing subordination of employees in return for little or no extra reward (Mabey Salaman, 1997:35). Recently, empowerment has become an important Human Resource Management tool (Graham Bennett, 1995: 93) in many organisations. It has been portrayed as the ultimate tool to access unleashed potential and help leaders get the best from their people. In reality, however, organisations that are trying to empower people may be fighting an uphill battle. Managers who harbour a fear that affirmative action may jeopardise their jobs, may be more worried about keeping their jobs than about empowering others. With the rationalization of layers of management, promotion is becoming less realistic and, therefore, middle managers share with non-managerial employees growing feelings of cynicism as well as a heightened sense of estrangement from the predominant goals and values of their employing organizations (Denham, N et al, 1997). According to Maslow (1998), people need a sense of self-determination, autonomy, dignity, and responsibility (Legge, K, 1995: 221) to continue to function in a healthy, growth-motivated way. When placed in an environment where any or all of these qualities are removed from them and they are instead forced to submit to anothers will and think and act under constant supervision (Legge, K, 1995: 221), their sense of esteem and self-worth is robbed from them. The implementation of empowerment can be used successfully as a HRM tool as it provides a competitive advantage ensuring organisational survival (Mabey Salaman, 1997:25) and at the same time protecting employees jobs. However, employees maybe compelled to work harder and more flexibly for their own good (Mabey Salaman, 1997:25) otherwise they might be made redundant for the greater good. The aim of empowerment is to enable employees to actually have to deal with problems to implement solutions quickly and without recourse to supervisors (Gennard Judge, 1997: 71) and or higher levels of management. This is increasingly necessary as large and bureaucratic organisations delayer (Beardwell Holden, 1994: 91) management hierarchies in the search for administrative efficiency and lower costs. Employee empowerment is a very important aspect when considering human resource management. The failure of employers to give employees an opportunity to participate in decisions affecting their welfare may encourage union member ship (sparrow Marchington, 1998: 53). It is widely believed that one reason managers begin employee involvement programs and seek to empower their employees is to avoid collective action by employees (Cole, G, A, 1997: 83). Employee empowerment offers the employers and the employees the chance to be on the same level, so to speak. Empowerment allows them to help make decisions that affect themselves, as well as, the company. Basically, through empowerment, employers and employees are in a win-win situation. The employees feel like they are needed and wanted, while the employers gain satisfaction through their prosperity (Mabey Salaman, 1997: 64). Employee empowerment can be a powerful tool. The now advanced leadership style can increase efficiency and effectiveness inside an organization (Graham Bennett, 1995: 13). It increases productivity and reduces overhead. Overhead expenses are those needed for carrying on a business, i.e. salaries, rent, heat and advertising (Mabey Salaman, 1997: 39). It gives managers the freedom to dedicate their time to more important matters. Managers can highlight the talents and efforts of all employees. The leader and organisation take advantage of the shared knowledge of workers (Beardwell Holden, 1994: 64). Managers at the same time develop their own job qualifications and skills attaining personal advancements (Spencer Pruss, 1992: 38). Empowered employees can make decisions and suggestions that will down the line improve service and support, saving money, time and disputes between companies and their customers (Gennard Judge, 1997: 291). Empowerment of qualified employees will provide exceptional customer service in several competitive markets; therefore it will improve profits through repeated business (Beardwell Holden, 1994: 76). Customers prefer to deal with employees that have the power to manage arrangements and objections by themselves, without having to frequently inquire of their supervisors (Beardwell Holden, 1994: 76). Empowerment is a strong tool that will increase revenue and improve the bottom line (Sparrow Marchington, 1998: 280). Empowerment is also the best way to promote a good long-lasting employee-customer relationship (Sparrow Marchington, 1998:32). Empowerment also brings benefits to employees. It makes them feel better about their inputs to the company; it promotes a greater productivity, and provides them with a sense of personal and professional balance (Cole, G, A, 1997: 91). It exercises employees minds to find alternative and better ways to execute their jobs, and it increases their potential for promotions and job satisfaction. It results in personal growth (Mabey at al, 1998: 174) since the whole process enlarges their feelings of confidence and control in themselves and their companies. It is a process that makes workers utilize their full potentials. This enables them to stay behind their decisions, assume risks, participate and take actions. It is a win-win situation (Wilkinson, A, 1998); customers benefit from sharp employees; organizations benefit from satisfied customers and sharp employees; and employees benefit from improving their confidence and self-esteems. Benefits come with changes in the organizations culture itself. Benefits require changes in management and employees (Mabey at al, 1998: 54). For empowerment to succeed, the management pyramid (Mabey et al, 1998: 54) must be inverted. Old-fashioned managers must take a step back and for the first time serve their subordinates and give up control. Old-fashioned employees must also agree to changes. They could see empowerment as a threat (Spencer Pruss, 1992: 147), especially if they became use to the convenient old style of management structure where the rules and decisions always came from above (Legge, K, 1995: 94). Employee involvement and participation schemes are to enhance job responsibility (Legge, K, 1995: 24) by providing individuals with more influence over how they perform their tasks (employee empowerment). Each individual can make a personal decision on how to perform his or her task instead of being instructed on how to do so by management. When employees are involved, they have some influence on how they perform their job. This in turn is likely to increase their contentment with the job (Mabey at al, 1998: 134), the probability that they will remain in that job and their willingness to except changes in the task that make up the job. Individual employees are more likely to be effective members of the workforce (Sparrow Marchington, 1998: 76) if management taps into their knowledge of the job by seeking their opinion on how the job should be performed and how it can be organised better. For employees, the greater empowerment and control given to frontline staff and to their teams has meant a great degree of freedom than ever before in controlling their own working lives (Sparrow Marchington, 1998:166). The power that managers have, the capacity that managers have to influence the behaviour of employees and work responsibilities, must be now shared with employees (Gennard Judge, 1997: 73) through the creation of trust, assurance, motivation, and support for competitive needs. Work-related decisions and full control of the work is being pushed down towards the lowest operating levels (Armstrong, M, 1996: 58). Self-conducted teams have also emerged, which are groups of empowered employees with no or very little supervision. These groups are able to solve work problems, make choices on schedules and operations, learn to do other employees jobs, and are also held accountable and responsible for the quality of their outputs (Beardwell Holden, 1994: 12) Guest (1987) argued under high commitment management workers would be committed to managements vision, and that management would favour individual contracts over collective agreements as a mean of furthering worker commitment and dependence, thus making unions redundant. Employees who feel they are in a stable work environment will feel more secure and empowered (Cole, G, A, 1997: 94). Advancement opportunities and rewards/incentive programs should also be implemented, as they feed into how committed and employee feels to making positive contributions and whether or not they are recognised for their efforts. Morale, too, provides a good measure of the culture of the organisation. Organisations with a restrictive, secretive environment where information is tightly controlled (Beardwell Holden, 1994: 162) will have less informed less empowered employees. Organisations with a more open environment, where ideas are encouraged from all levels will have a freer flow of information, better-informed employees, and thus higher empowerment. Through the process of employee empowerment, employees feel more valued (Beardwell Holden, 1994: 40) because they are able to participate in the planning process and the decision making process. Empowerment gives employees the opportunity to contribute to the companys overall success (Beardwell Holden, 1994: 40). This helps an employee feel that he/she is truly valued, rather than that they are just a back to be stepped upon by those trying to reach the top. All in all, if the employee is happy with their job, than a paying customer will see that and want to return. Empowerment allows an employee to find new ways to express their creativity (Armstrong, M, 1996: 161). Through creativity, employees are able to make sales or transactions an unforgettable and pleasurable experience for customers, thus ensuring the customers return. Employee empowerment can have a profoundly beneficial impact on the bottom line if used correctly (Mabey et al, 1998: 18). Empowerment allocates responsibility to an employee and creates the motivation to surpass customer expectations. In order to keep customers for life, employers must empower their employees to make their own decisions. Empowerment gives employees the opportunity to make decisions and suggestions (Cole, G, A, 1997: 39) that will down the line improve service and support, saving money, time and disputes between companies and their customers. Empowerment is an aspect, which must be considered in negotiating an effective team contract (Spencer Pruss, 1992: 69) .The team must be empowered to seek and find information across the existing management structures. The communication aspect of empowerment means that the team must be clearly shown where their work adds value to the company, where their effects will show results and where their work fits in with the companys objectives. Organizations wishing to instil a culture of empowerment must find a way of establishing systems and processes that do not restrict employees. By concentrating on what behaviour is considered optimal for the employees and what they do well, management can adapt, develop and change the organizational structure to produce the sought after behaviour (Erstad, M, 1997). Culture changed programmes are commonly promoted (Mabey et al, 1998: 132) to increase the power of the worker, through empowerment. However, critics have argued empowerment is a means of increasing work intensity and gaining greater managerial control over labour (Brambell, 1995, Legge, 1989). Conclusion Work place attitudes such as praising teams for success and punishing teams for failure are inherent in our society (Mabey et al, 1998: 32) where winning and survival have become synonymous. Businesses are installing empowerment into their organisations to give people more responsibility and asking them to test the corporate boundary limits (Graham Bennett, 1995: 91). A t the same time, organisations are asking staff to be more entrepreneurial, and take more risks. It can be argued employees who empower themselves can be called troublemakers and those who take entrepreneurial risks and fail are referred to as failures. The business ethic which condemns failure as a bad thing is going to restrict its best people (Beardwell Holden, 1994: 12), force them to avoid taking risks that may one day be beneficial and will prevent the team experiencing the excitement of the empowerment which is vital to motivation and team dynamics. The advantages gained through empowerment are numerous. Employee empowerment allows an organization to unleash the vital, untapped forces of employee creativity and motivation to solve business problems (Legge, K, 1995: 50). Empowering employee also allows them to make decisions on the spot. This is very important when you work in an industry where you work directly with a paying customer. When employees are empowered, the employer enables them to offer full service to their clients and protect them from the competition. The rewards of empowerment outweigh the risks of losing the employees themselves (Spencer Pruss, 1992: 203). The retail industry is a perfect example. Managers are learning to give up control and employees are learning how to be responsible for the actions and decisions (Cole, G, A, 1997: 34). It is fundamental that management shares information, creates autonomy and feedback, and trains and creates self-directed teams for empowerment to work properly. Managers often prefer not to communicate with employees, and not to share some extremely important information (Beardwell Holden, 1994: 247) with them, but an effective leader must have no hidden agendas. They must treat employees as stakeholders for the road of success (Beardwell Holden, 1994: 247). Employees must have a clear vision of success, because if they are not aware of what success means to the company and where the company is heading, there is no way they can feel empowered to help accomplish this success. Empowerment is not something, which can be passed over from management to employees as a pen is handed from one person to another. It is a complex process, which requires a clear vision, a learning environment both for management and employees, and participation and implementation tools and techniques in order to be successful (Erstad, M, 1997). Bibliography Armstrong, M (1996) A Handbook of Personnel Management Practice, Sixth Edition, Kogan Page Beardwell, I Holden, L (1994) Human resource Management- A contemporary perspective, Pitman Cole, G, A (1997) Personnel Management, Fourth Edition, Letts Denham, N, Ackers, P Travers, C (1997) Doing yourself out of a job? : How middle managers cope with empowerment , Employee Relations; Volume 19 No. 2; Erstad, M (1997) Empowerment and organizational change, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management; Volume 9 No. 7; Gennard, J Judge, G (1997) Employee relations, Institute of Personnel Development Graham, H, T Bennett, R (1995) Human Resources Management, Eight Edition, M+E handbooks Honold, L (1997) A review of the literature on employee empowerment, Empowerment in Organisations; Volume 5 No. 4 Legge, K (1995) Human Resource Management-Rhetorics Realities, Macmillan Business Mabey, C Salaman, G (1997) Strategic Human Resource Management, Blackwell Business Mabey, C, Skinner, D Clark, T, (1998) Experiencing Human Resource Management, Sage Sparrow, P Marchington, M (1998) Human Resource Management-The New Agenda, Pitman Spencer, J Pruss, A (1992) Managing your team, Piatkus Wilkinson, A (1998) Empowerment: theory and practice, Personnel Review; Volume 27 No. 1

Ultrasound Imaging Systems

Ultrasound Imaging Systems 1.1 INTRODUCTION An ultrasound scans also known as ultrasonography. Ultrasound will form the image by scanning using the high frequency sound waves. This device suitable to evaluate some part inside of the body. In physics, ultrasound is a sound with a frequency humans cannot hear. In diagnostic sonography, the ultrasound is usually between 2 and 18 MHz. (Anon 2012) 2.0 THE ULTRASOUND IMAGING SYSTEM Figure 1 : The principal functional components of an ultrasound imaging system.(Perry Sprawls n.d.) 2.1 TRANSDUCER The ultrasound transducer converts an electrical signal into the ultrasound beam. The signal transmitted into the patient’s body, and then alters the returning echo into an electrical signal for processing and display. It use single-element circular disk to both transmit and receive ultrasound. (Hedrick et al. 2005) 2.1.1 CONSTRUCTION OF TRANSDUCER Crystal of piezoelectric material with electrodes is the main part of the transducer. The electrodes are formed by plating a thin film of gold or silver on the crystal surface. The matching layer is located adjacent to the electrodes. The function is to improve the transfer of energy to and from the patient. All this part of the transducer is placed in an electrically insulating casing. This casing will give structural support. An acoustic insulator is made of rubber or cork it works to prevents the transmission of ultrasound energy into the casing. (Hedrick et al. 2005) 2.1.1.1 PIEZOELECTRIC MATERIALS When we change the transducer it will change the frequency too. A higher frequency transducer that produces a shorter wavelength has a thinner crystal. Normally the material that always almost used in transducer is lead zirconate titanate (PZT). PZT represents a piezoelectric ceramics with various extracts. It will change the properties to equal a particular application. In medical, PZT-5 is used because it has the properties of high electromechanical coupling coefficient, high dielectric constant, and ability to be formed in a particular size and shape. (Hedrick et al. 2005) 2.1.1.2 BACKING MATERIAL The functions of backing material will deliver the maximum amount of energy in the form of heat to the patient. This is will give a continuous output of ultrasound waves from the transducer. The other function is to absorb all the energy except for the one cycle of sound. Meaning’s that one that produced from the front face of the transducer. Backing materials should have acoustic impedance so that maximum energy transfer will occur. Besides that, backing material should have a high absorption coefficient. This is to prevent ultrasonic energy from reentering the crystal. In the backing material, they will use an epoxy resin and tungsten powder combination to damp the ultrasonic pulse. Next, the rear surface of the backing materials is slanted to prevent reflection of sound energy into the crystal. (Hedrick et al. 2005) 2.1.1.3 MATCHING LAYER The matching layer is placed in the transducer on the exit side of the crystal. This material with acoustic impedance is placed between the crystal and the patient. The function of the acoustic impedance to produced ultrasonic energy to be largely reflected at this interface. This creates a long pulse and reduces the beam intensity that enters the patient, which is we did not want it in the ultrasound. The reason why we need the matching layer is to shorten the pulse and the improve energy transfer across the crystal-tissue interface. However, the matching layer must have low-loss properties since high attenuation would stabilize the desired effect of high transmission. (Hedrick et al. 2005) 2.2 PULSE GENERATOR The pulse generator produces the electrical pulses. The size of the electrical pulses can be used to change the intensity and energy of the ultrasound beam. (Perry Sprawls n.d.) 2.3 AMPLIFICATION After the echo is received by the transducer, amplification is used to intensification the size of the electrical pulses. Gain setting will controls the amount of amplification. The time gain compensation function is to alter the increase in relationship to the distance of echo sites inside the body. (Hedrick et al. 2005) 2.4 SCAN GENERATOR Controlling the scanning of the ultrasound beam is done by the scan generator. The way is by control the procedure when electrical pulses are functional to the piezoelectric elements in the transducer. (Perry Sprawls n.d.) 2.5 IMAGE PROCESSOR The digital imageis to produce the chosenforms for display. This includes giving it specific contrast characteristics and reformatting the image. (Perry Sprawls n.d.) 2.6 DISPLAY The digital ultrasound images are observed on the monitor and transmitted to work station. The other part of the ultrasound system is the digital storage device. The function is to store images for later viewing.(Perry Sprawls n.d.) 3.0 THE ULTRASOUND PULSE Figure 3 : The production of the ultrasound pulse. (Perry Sprawls n.d.) 4.0 ULTRASOUND CHARACTERISTIC 4.1 FREQUENCY Frequency is the number of wave cycles passing a given point in a given increase of time. The unit is cycles/ second or hertz. Frequency is the inverse of the period. (Hedrick et al. 2005) Figure 4 : The ultrasound pulse frequency. (Perry Sprawls n.d.) 4.2 VELOCITY Velocity is the rate and direction at which sound propagates through a medium. The average velocity of sound in soft tissue is 1540 m/s. (Hedrick et al. 2005) Figure 5 : The ultrasound of velocity. (Perry Sprawls n.d.) 4.3 WAVELENGTH Wavelength is a physical characteristic of a wave that is the distance for one complete wave cycle. (Hedrick et al. 2005) Figure 6 : The wavelength of the ultrasound. (Perry Sprawls n.d.) 4.4 AMPLITUDE Amplitude used to refer to the particle displacement, particle velocity or acoustic pressure of a sound wave. Amplitude also show the strength of the detected echo or the voltage induced in a crystal by a pressure wave. (Hedrick et al. 2005) 5.0 INTENSITY AND POWER Intensity is a physical parameter that describes the amount of energy flowing through a unit cross-sectional area of a beam each second. This is the rate at which the wave transmits the energy over a small area. The unit of intensity is the watt per square centimeter or joule per second per square centimeter. (Hedrick et al. 2005) Power is a measure of the total energy transmitted summed over the entire cross-sectional area of the beam per unit time. The unit of power is the watt. (Hedrick et al. 2005) 5.1 TEMPORAL CHARACTERISTICS As the transducer emits pulses, it causes large instabilities of intensity in the region through which the pulse move. Each pulse consists of multiple cycles that produce intensity variations within the pulse itself-the maximum intensity, designated temporal peak (TP). Pulse average (PA) will controls the intensity averaged over the duration of a single pulse. Temporal average (TA) will controls the intensity averaged over the longer interval of the pulse repetition period. The TA intensity is related to the PA intensity by the duty factor (DF): TA = DFÃâ€"PA or by the pulse duration (PD) and pulse repetition frequency (PRF):TA =PD Ãâ€" PRF Ãâ€" PA.(Hedrick et al. 2005) 5.2 SPATIAL CHARACTERISTICS The maximum intensity of all measured values within the sound field is designated as the spatial peak (SP). The designation of spatial peak is not well-defined. In some applications it refers to the maximum intensity in a plane perpendicular to the beam axis at a particular distance from the transducer. The maximum intensity throughout the ultrasonic field which usually occurs along the beam axis. The focusing of the transducer is the most important determinant of spatial peak.(Hedrick et al. 2005) 5.3 TEMPORAL/SPATIAL COMBINATION Spatial averaging over the cross-sectional area of the beam for each temporal intensity is also specified. A cutoff point of 0.25 times the SP intensity has been established to the limit area over which the intensity is averaged. These three combinations are possible to happen are I(SATP)-spatial average, temporal peak intensity, I(SAPA)-spatial average, pulse average intensity and I(SATA)-spatial average, temporal average intensity.(Hedrick et al. 2005) 6.0 INTERACTIONS OF ULTRASOUND Figure 7: The interaction within a body of ultrasound (Perry Sprawls n.d.). 6.1 ABSORPTION AND ATTENUATION Absorption is the procedure whereby energy is placed in a medium by converting ultrasonic energy into other energy forms, primarily heat. It is an exponentially decreasing function and is the major factor in the total attenuation of the beam. (Hedrick et al. 2005) Attenuation is the decrease in intensity as a sound beam travels through the medium. Attenuation depends on all the interactions of ultrasound with tissues which include scattering, divergence, and absorption. (Hedrick et al. 2005) Scattering is the rerouting of sound energy resulting from the sound beam striking an interface whose physical dimension is less than one wavelength. It is also called non specular reflection. (Hedrick et al. 2005) 6.2 REFLECTION Reflection is an interaction that results when the sound being redirected into the medium after striking an acoustic interface. The angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection. The intensity of the reflected wave is depends on the composition of the interface. (Hedrick et al. 2005) 6.3 REFRACTION Refraction is a process whereby sound enters one medium from another that will result in a bending or deviation of a sound beam from the predictable straight-line path. Refraction obeys Snell’s law, which is based on the ratio of the velocity of the sound in the respective media. Refraction will make artifacts in the image by the misregistration of structures (Hedrick et al. 2005) 7.0 PULSE DIAMETER AND BEAM WIDTH A low-Q transducer has a short pulse length and a broad bandwidth while a high-Q transducer has a long pulse length and narrow bandwidth. The objectives beam width is to transmit a beam that would be directional with a narrow beam width. An echo is created anyway of the lateral position of the object in the ultrasonic field. The lateral dimension of the object in the image is defined as the same size as the beam width. Multiple small objects equidistant from the transducer are not resolved when encompassed by the beam. Focusing reduces the beam width at specific depth to enhance the spatial mapping of received echoes.(Ding et al. 2014) Sampling is restricted laterally by the width of the beam. Objects located outside the beam do not contribute signals. (Small 1971) 7.1 TRANSDUCER FOCUSSING The focusing transducer made-up with an indented active element exhibits much broader bandwidth and higher sensitivity. To fabricate focusing transducers, we can add a lens and shaping the piezoelectric element. Among the focusing transducer designing methods, the shaping element used in transducers was reported to be much effective for fabricating high sensitivity device. Hard pressing and pressure defection techniques are the usual ways to shape transducer elements. For the flexible composite and polymer materials, the focusing transducer can be easily fabricated using those techniques.(Chen et al. 2013) Figure 8: The width and pulse diameter characteristics of both unfocused and focused transducer. (Perry Sprawls n.d.) 7.2 ADJUSTABLE TRANSMIT FOCUS Transmit focusing happen when the depth of the focal zone is altered by varying the delay times between crystal excitations. (Wright 1997)The scanning of the region of interest is conducted with a depth of focus selected by the operator. After review of the real-time image, a new focal zone may be certain to rescan the same area with dissimilar focusing in the scan plane. The beam is focused to a new depth simply by changing the delay times. The transducers that have the capabilities of this focusing are phased linear arrays. (Kossoff Eng 2000)Electronic phasing of the elements allows variable focusing along the scan line which in turn controls beam width in the plane direction. High resolution images with multiple focal zones throughout the images are also possible using this adjustment delay lines. Multi zone transmit focusing reduces the frame rate, because the data must be composed for all the lines of sight across the array with a set focal zone depth before the lines of sight are repetitive with a different focal zone depth. 7.3 DYNAMIC RECEIVE FOCUS Dynamic focusing is in the receive mode. It does will reduce the effective sampling volume.(Kossoff Eng 2000) Dynamic focusing will operate at all depths. The wave front from the object appears to be in phase for all the crystals resulting in a focused beam from the depth of interest. Beam formation is the delay and sum of strategy. The master synchronizer sends timing messages to the receiver-delay lines to indicate the elapsed time from transmission to reception. The elapsed time determines the delay times for each crystal. The depth for receive focus is always known, and thus receive-delay times are constantly changed to yield continually focused beam at all depths. During acquisition of image data the receive times delays are varied dynamically to sweep the focal zone to each point along the scan line. (Hedrick et al. 2005) 8.0 CONCLUSION In ultrasound, high frequencies provide better quality images, but cannot penetrate through skin and organ deeply. Low frequencies can penetrate deeper, but the image quality is poor. Ultrasound is useful to view part inside of the body. They may also be useful in helping the surgeon when carrying out some types of biopsies. Ultrasound is a one of the safe procedure in imaging department.

WWI Peace Settlement :: essays papers

WWI Peace Settlement The First World War started in 1914 and ended in 1918. Germany and her Allies, Austria - Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria lost the war with the British Commonwealth, France, Belgium, Russia and Serbia, who with Japan formed the Allies and who were later joined by Italy, Rumania, USA and some other countries. Millions of people were killed during the war, empires were broken up, countries were half bankrupt so the First World War left whole nations suffering. Idealists on both sides vowed that a disruption like this should never repeat. So The Treaty of Versailles was the way to maintain peace among nations. So, in January 1919, President Woodrow Wilson of the United States, Georges Clemenceau of France and Lloyd George, Prime Minister of Britain who were otherwise known as the ^Big Three^ and representatives of twenty nine other victorious nations met in Paris to draw up a peace treaty. The Treaty of Versailles, which was based on Wilson^s Fourteen Point Programme for Peace, dealt with Germany and the rest of the losers of the First World War. The Peace Treaty mainly dealt with three kinds of arrangement which were territorial, military and war guilt. The treaty was signed on the 28th of June 1919. The Germans considered the treaty to be too harsh, inhuman and unfair. Germany was not allowed to be represented at the Peace Conference, they had no say. The Germans were appalled at the severity of the treaty the Allies expected them to sign. The treaty was practically forced upon them followed by a threat by the Allies saying that they will invade Germany if they do not agree to sign, there was no room for negotiation. The Germans were bitter and felt extremely humiliated and embarrassed. Another reason which caused ill feeling between Germany and the Allies was the treaty terms itself. Germany hated having to be disarmed with her army reduced to a very low number as 100 000 volunteer men and been forbidden to have tanks, only a small navy and no air force and moreover no troops were to be allowed into the Rhineland. The Rhineland was handed over to the League of Nations. War guilt was another major point. Germany had to agree with the allies^ statement that Germany and her allies alone were to be blamed for starting the war. They had to pay for damage and were forced to pay heavy reparations. They had to pay some payments in goods as well. Germany lost 13 1/2 per cent of

Recipe for Stroganoff Essay example -- Expository Process Essays

Recipe for Stroganoff    This simple, yet elegant meal can serve a family of five, mainly because at least four of them will refuse to eat it. The leftovers can be kept in the refrigerator for a long time, though no one I know has ever actually eaten them except the dog, so I can't speak to how well they keep.    The ingredients are as follows: one frozen loaf of bread dough; one bag of the noodles that are thick and curly; one onion; one six pack of beer; one and a half pounds of frozen ground meat; a tub of sour cream; two cans of Cream of Mushroom soup. A low fat version can be made by substituting water for any of the above (except the beer).    Though the instructions on the frozen bread suggest four to six hours of gentle thawing, I recommend you show it who is boss around here and don't pull it out of the freezer until about an hour before you're going to eat it. Grease the thing with butter until it feels like a slippery brick and stick it in a bread pan. Put a towel over the top because you have seen other people do this. Pre-heat the oven--the more frozen the loaf, the hotter you're going to want the oven to be. I usually shoot for between four and six hundred degrees. Open your first beer.    Chop up the onion until you are sobbing and dump it into a pan. Heat the pan on medium until you get impatient, then flip it to high. Gradually, a sizzling sound will attract your attention. This is the noise onions make as they adhere themselves to the bottom of the pan. Don't overreact: scraping the onions and flipping them over just means they will wind up being burned on BOTH sides. When the smoke alarm begins blaring, it is time to add the frozen block of ground beef.... ...ell of the bread is filling your house, and your children are calling their friends in a desperate attempt to be invited somewhere else for dinner. Pull the bread out and extinguish the flames by pouring water on it. Dump the noodles in the sink where, interestingly enough, they will all be stuck together in one large, starchy mass. Chop this up with the screw driver, toss on a hunk of bread, and pour the sauce liberally over the top. Open your last beer and enjoy!                                                                                  The best way to find a good topic is to look at your personal hobbies and interests--just remember to define your audience very carefully.      

Disease in the News

The article Tuberculosis in Africa- Combating an HIV-Drive Crisis is written by a Dr. Richard E. Chaisson, a medical doctor and Dr. Neil A. Martinson, deputy director for the Perinatal HIV Research Unit at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa (Chaisson and Martinson, 2008 ). According to the biography sketch of Dr. Chaisson listed at the website of CREATE (Consortium to Respond Effectively to the AIDS TB Epidemic), Dr.  Chaisson is a professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and is currently a director for the Center for Tuberculosis Research and the Clinical Preventive TB Services in Baltimore City Health Department (Consortium to Respond Effectively to the AIDS TB Epidemic 2008). He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Massachusetts and studied medicine from the University of Massachusetts Medical School in 1982 (2008). From then on, Chaisson interned at the University of California, interning at the Moffitt Hospital. (200 8).Previous to his current position at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Chaisson was the director for the AIDS Service of Johns Hopkins Hospital (2008). He also served as attending physician in the AIDS Division of The Medical Service in San Francisco General Hospital (2008). Likewise, he has written more than 50 case reports, peer and non-peer reviewed articles on topics concerning HIV and tuberculosis (2008). Needless to say, his educational and professional background [in tuberculosis and AIDS] make him a credible source for this article which focuses on tuberculosis and AIDS.On the other hand, Neil Martinson, as stated earlier, is a deputy director for the Perinatal HIV Research Unit at a university in South Africa (Chaisson and Martinson, 2008). Aside from his, Martinson is a Research Associate for the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, JHU Center for TB Research (Consortium to Respond Effectively to the AIDS TB Epidemic 2008). Martinson’s credential as listed from the CREATE website s tate that Martinson took up his bachelor’s degree from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, obtained his Membership of the Faculty of General Practitioners (MFGP) in College of Medicine in South Africa (2008).Furthermore, he completed his post- doctorate studies at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health (2008). Prior to his present position, Dr. Martinson served for the Johannesburg Community and the Johannesburg Urban Environmental Management (2008). He has since co-written peer-reviews research articles and non peer-reviewed publications on AIDS, focusing primarily of the South African health status (2008). While Dr. Chaisson’s fortes are tuberculosis and AIDS, Dr. Martinson’s strong points gear towards AIDS and South Africa.This makes Drs. Chaisson and Martinson credible in writing such article. Tuberculosis in Africa- Combating an HIV-Drive Crisis appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine on its Volume 358 (Chais son and Martinson 2008). The journal is a weekly medical journal publishing review articles and medical research findings on areas such as â€Å"immunology, cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, hematology, kidney disease, oncology, pulmonary disease, rheumatology, HIV and infectious diseases† (New England Journal of Medicine, 2008).The article tackles the growing tuberculosis outbreak in Africa, a dangerous disease driven yet another perilous epidemic in the nation- AIDS and how it is being dealt with (Chaisson and Martinson, 2008). The article starts off by stating that Africa is facing the â€Å"worst tuberculosis epidemic,† one that is driven by the HIV prevalence (Chaisson and Martinson, 2008). The authors cited a World Health Organization (WHO) data affirming the status of tuberculosis incidence in African nations (29% of total global cases) (2008).It also exclaimed, based on two separate studies, that tuberculosis is the â€Å"most common coexisting cond ition† in deaths occurring in people with AIDS (2008). Said studies were published in 2002. The article was written just this year, in March. While the studies proved to be useful in preparing the article, this reviewer feels that the assertion would have been more forceful had the authors included studies that are up to date. For one, the WHO citation came from a 2007 WHO report. It is without a doubt, an updated report.The impact is still fresh. The article talks of a prevalent epidemic so it is rather important to have supporting data that are latest. Earlier studies would only serve as basis for comparison. In the article, the authors explained how tuberculosis and HIV are associated (2008). The explanation is simply stated and since this article is intended for a medical journal, this critic thinks that the explanation is written well, no beating around the bush. Instead, the elucidation is done matter of fact.There is no need for supporting statement or evidence since th e article is targeted for those in the field of medicine. Hence, an explanation like this is something that they know of well. They probably memorize it. Since the disease is focusing only on Africa, the authors are able to provide a national perspective on the epidemic. Figures culled from Africa-related studies are enumerated, making it plain for the readers to realize that that this article is about Africa related incident alone.The focus is Africa so the authors did not include statistics from other countries. This provides a clear focus on the subject. The authors also explained how the nation is dealing with the epidemic. They said that while NGOs have helped tremendously in solving Africa’s health plague, a huge chunk of the money is allocated from HIV and not for tuberculosis. There is no supporting evidence to back this statement. Hence, this reviewer believes that this bold statement would have made more impact had the authors gave further corroboration.However, thi s critic also believes that this would have been difficult to make. Funding agencies would probably just state that they are donating money to help Africa solve its health problems and that would encompass HIV, tuberculosis, etc. A donation is still a donation and any help extended should be received with gratitude. Perhaps, it would have been easy if further studies regarding HIV-driven tuberculosis deaths are published. By then, prospective donors would be the first to extend their arms in funding.The authors enumerated ways on how Africa could deal with this dilemma – taking on new strategies regarding its health care system. They also cited WHO’s intervention. Additionally, they listed a study conducted in 2005 on the impact of antiretroviral therapy involving HIV infected patients in Brazil. This is promising, especially for those directly involved with the African health care system. It is good that the authors included this recent development for it would be som ething that Africa could look into.On the whole, the article is well-written. It is easy to read. The organization of data is presented in a way that the readers, technical or non-technical, would be able to follow it. Furthermore, the authors are two authorities in their respective fields and that alone makes them credible in writing such piece. The statements (majority) are backed with supporting evidence. They did not claim on how to eradicate the outbreak. They merely provided suggestions, again with evidence, on how it could be done.

Why Whaling Should Be Banned

Whales have been hunted by humans for their meet, bones and blubber.Whaling, during the 19th century, wiped out most of the world's whale populations.Whales grow and breed slowly; numbers will take a long time to recover. This means that they will more easily become more extinct.InformationThe International Whaling Commission (IWC) banned whaling in 1986.There are some countries that issue permits to kill whales for research; Japan uses this to hunt whales and the meat from their research. The Japanese whaling people left for the Antarctic in December 2006, with the intention of killing 850 Minke whales and 10 fin whales.Whales are hunted for their: Liver – oil * Skin – Belts/ shoes/ handbags and luggageBone – animal feed and fertilisersTeeth – buttons/ piano keys and jewellery Why?1. Lots of different types of whales are hunted, including: Right Whale: It was considered the perfect whale to hunt because it had lots of blubber for oil lamps; (that is why it is called â€Å"Right† whale. ) Blue Whale: Considered too dangerous to hunt mostly, but some of the more brave hunters went after this whale because, it is bigger and so it provides more blubber, meat and bone. Arguments against Whaling Anti-whaling extremists claim that the whale is an intelligent mammal, that is able to feel pain the same way humans do, and that they should be treated as humans. Those supporting whaling think that, and claims that man is above the whales and man has been put on this earth by God to maintain the natural resources, in which includes the lords of the sea, – the whales.Maintain meaning both making sure they don’t become extinct but as masters of this earth, we are allowed to hunt them. Whaling is a tradition, especially in Norway, but also in other countries, like Japan, and for some, keeping traditions alive is very important. The strongest argument against whaling is simply the pain it has to go through. As stated above, anti-whalers say that the whale feels pain the same way humans do, and when a harpoon hits a whale, it might take up to 10 minutes before it is dead. If the whale is dead 10 seconds after impact with the harpoon, the whale is killed instantly, they claim, but this is rare.In 1996, whaling-inspectors reported that the average time the whale had to suffer rated from 4-6 minutes. But that is just the killing process. Before you can shoot the whale, you have to find the whale, and because the whale is only up to breathe a couple of seconds the shooter has 2-3 seconds to fire. Anti-whalers say that the hunting, which may take up to several hours, must scare the whale, and they want us to imagine the fright the whale must feel when being hunted. There is no question about it, whaling provides work, and whaling provides meat.Whale meat is very popular in Norway, but Norway also has a big surplus of meat ever year, so why keep hunting whale? Sure, whalers say, Norway has a big surplus of meat, but whale meat is considered a luxury. Ità ¢â‚¬â„¢s expensive and it’s tasteful. It seems, anti-whalers want to bring us back to the idea about man being equal to animals when they want us to imagine the pain the whale must go through, and try to imagine what we, as humans would feel if we were being hunted like that. Whalers do it for the money, and for them it is a tradition. There grandfathers have been doing it for several hundred years, so why stop now.In 1996 there were 110’000 whales in the Atlantic, and it was wiped from the list of endangered species. There is no question about it; whalers also do it for the provocation and the media attention.Reasons for WhalingWhaling provides workWhaling provides meat.Whale meat is very popular in NorwayWhale meat is considered a luxury.It’s expensive and it’s tasteful.Product of Whale The main source of these products comes from the Sperm Whale and the Right Whaling

Nestle SWOT analysis Essay

â€Å"SWOT is an acronym for the internal Strengths and Weaknesses of a firm and the environmental Opportunities and Threats facing that firm. SWOT analysis is a widely used technique through which managers create a quick overview of a company’s strategic situation. The technique is based on the assumption that an effective strategy derives from a sound â€Å"fit† between a firm’s internal resources (strengths and weaknesses) and its external situation (opportunities and threats). A good fit maximizes a firm’s strengths and opportunities and minimizes its weaknesses and threats. Accurately applied, this simple assumption has powerful implications for the design of a successful strategy.† Nestle Nestlà © is the largest food and beverage company in the world. The group’s products include beverages, milk based products, ice creams, prepared dishes, and pharmaceutical products. Nestlà © primarily operates in Europe, the Americas, Asia, Oceania and Africa. The group is headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland and employs 283,000 people. Nestle SWOT Analysis Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) Location of Factor TYPE OF FACTOR Favorable Internal Strengths Unfavorable Weaknesses Ability to leverage Increasing strong brand name to instances of product generate sales recalls hampering Ability to customize   brand equity products to the local market conditions Strong global operations with diversified revenue base Research and development capabilities   

Transport Is Important Since It Enables Trade Between People, Which in Turn Establishes Civilizations

Transport is important since it enables trade between people, which in turn establishes civilizations Is the choice of transport important? There are many kinds of transport, such as : air, water and rail. Transport is the movement of people, animals and goods from one location to another. It is important since it enables trade between people, which in turn establishes civilizations. Transportation in the past was slower and harder to access. Not everybody could afford transportation. Now transportation is faster, easily available, and most people have access to it, such as public transportation.In spite of similarities between air and rail transport, there are greater differences like speed, rules and price. The most obvious similarity lies in the their role. Air and rail transport were invented for movement from one location to another. Day after day we use both of them. Actually it is very useful for us. Relocation of travelers and cargo are the most common uses of transport. Howe ver, other uses exist, such as the strategic and tactical relocation of armed forces during warfare, or the civilian mobility construction or emergency equipment.Despite their similarity in role, they have some differences which shows us that they are mostly different. According to the article â€Å"Transportation Then and Now† we can see that the price of air transport is more expensive than rail. Because of this some people can’t allow themselves to use air transport. In contrast, the are some reasons to pay such price and as a result the price proves its’ quality. In average the price of air transport bigger than rail for about 40% Another difference between them is the rules. As we know, each industry has its own rules.However, air transport has more rules than rail. For example in airplane you should absolutely follow all rules. In spite of this fact rail rules are also very important, but air transport includes to be more careful. The final and most import ant difference is that most long distance travel is by air. Despite an extensive road and rail network, the fastest way to travel is by air. The aircraft is the second fastest method of transport, after the rocket. Commercial jets can reach up to 955 kilometres per hour (593 mph), single-engine aircraft 555 kilometres per hour (345 mph).However, modern high-speed rail is capable of speeds up to 350  km/h (220  mph), but this requires specially built track. In conclusion, according to this facts. The results illustrate us that air and rail transport have more differences than similarities. The price of air transport is more expensive than rail. Even though these types of transportation existed, they were very different from what we use today. Not everybody could afford transportation. Now transportation is faster, easily available, and most people have access to it, such as public transportation.

Bullying and Harrasment in the Workplace Essay

In hard times people tend more to be willing to find out why things aren’t working and so a growing awareness of satisfying employees lead to a more detailed picture of bullying in the workplace. Due to great changes in hotel and hospitality industry caused by the economic crisis and its cumulative effects on the behaviour of managers as well as on employees, volition emerged to do more against bullying in the workplace. This paper critically analyzes the reason for the occurrence of bullying and gives impacts on relationship between bullying, work and health. Furthermore it shows emerging problems for the hotel and hospitality industry and gives advice to find appropriate solutions to provide a bullying-free working place. Several published definitions of bullying make it hard to find the genuine meaning of it. According to the Department of Education? s article, published on their homepage www. education. gov. k in October 2010, bullying can be defined as â€Å"Behaviour by an individual or group usually repeated over time, that intentionally hurts another individual or group either physically, emotionally or mentally†. This definition is accepted and used by various organisations in the UK for anti-bullying publications and treatment policies. Unfortunately this definition covers an array of bullying types, so Zapf D. (1996) categorised five types of bullying behaviour in the workplace to get a closer look on what bullying really is. They are work-related bullying which may include changing your work tasks or making them difficult to perform, social isolation, personal attacks or attacks on your private life by ridicule, insulting remarks, gossip or the like, verbal threats where you are criticised, yelled at or humiliated in public and physical violence or threats of such violence. Referring to those statements it is possible to critically analyze bullying by keeping in mind the definition in relationship with Zapf? s five types of bullying. Nowadays it is well-known that bullying is common in almost every Industry whether in small businesses or international companies. Especially in tourism-related businesses like hotel and hospitality industry, bullying causes capacious damage in different dimensions concerning areas like staff turnover and revenue but also number of staff away sick and motivation of employees. To avoid long-term impacts of harassment, bullying or mobbing has to be nipped in the bud according to Dolan C. (2010):1 who said that â€Å"Bullying can? survive in workplaces that won? t support it. † To provide such a workplace, is today? s great challenge for managers. Generally reasons for bullying are minor problems which aren’t obviously inflicting damage to somebody like discontent about matters, problems in private live, unintended aspersions compared to a co-worker or sometimes a harsh tone in stressful situations. In Hotel and Hospitality industry the constant contact with different people, whether new staff members or guests, provides an excellent breeding ground for such problems. It could be an annoying guest, a challenging situation or an excessive period of work strain which gets people to offend a colleague. All these minor incidents are harmful for working climate and interpersonal relationships in long-term. These problems could be categorised, in alleviated acceptation, into different types of physically and psychologically violence, referring to Fineman S. (2003), who splits workplace violence into intrusive, consumer-related and organizational violence. Intrusive violence rarely occurs in hotel and hospitality industry but is not entirely excluded. On August 21, 2010 the Intercontinental hotel in Rio de Janeiro was scene of a taking of hostages. 10 employees of the hotel were restraint for several hours until they have been released, after the police took some action towards the criminals. Attacks by terrorists against hotels and employees infrequently take place in most countries, but witnessing crime related situations could be an immense strain. A more eminent factor in tourism-related businesses is consumer related violence. Demands of customers which couldn? always be measured, are causing complaints about e. g. delays or bad handling. Especially front office employees have to deal with enormous pressure by being consistently confronted with complaints, and personal affronts from customers. Furthermore Fineman S. (2003):164 describes the occurrence of organizational violence in the workplace as a failing in the ethnically opinions of entrepreneur and characterizes this form of bullying as follows, â€Å"It translates into practices that systematically cause danger, risk or exploitation to employees. Emotionally, the employer can feel indifferent, even derisory about its workers and their psychological or physical well-being: ‘there are always more out there’. The worker may feel equally indifferent but trapped in the job. † Actually frequent occurrence of such, as in the majority of cases irrelevant sensed incidents, leads to a growth of troubles and personal antipathy against fellow-workers and employers is growing until the straw that breaks the camel? s back and physically or psychological damages are the immediate consequences. As has been proved in an array of researches by organisations dealing with the problems of bullying and harassment in the workplace, like ACAS, bullying affects a company in a tremendous variety of ways. Hotel and Hospitality industry is a very people-intensive branch primarily composed of small businesses. According to ACSA a main impact of bullying is the increase in rates of absence, especially concerning small firms where cover for sick employees is difficult to arrange. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), Europe’s largest HR and development professional body, releases every year a survey report pointing out the consequences of days of absence. In 2009 the average in days of absence, concerning all business sectors, was 7. 4 days per employee per year. The amount in hotel and hospitality sector was below average with 6. 0 days per employee per year but in comparison between hotel and hospitality and other businesses, the average annual costs of absence per employee per year are superior. Relating to the CIPD the average annual costs of absence per employee per year, enfolding all business-sectors, are 692 pounds. In this area hotel and hospitality businesses are the tragic top of the table with 1199 pounds per employee per year. The survey also shows that stress (often a result of bullying) is the major cause for long-term absence. Other consequences of bullying, described by ACAS, are poor morale and poor employee relations, loss of respect for managers and supervisors, poor performance, lost productivity, resignations, damage to company reputation and tribunal and other court cases and payment of unlimited compensations. Taking a closer look on stress it is to say that in hotel and hospitality industry it is a necessity for employees to know how to handle stress because there will always be periods of strain. The big problem in coping stress is that no two people respond to the same stressor in the same way and this is the perfect point where management should intervene. According to Stranks (2005) different strategies can be considered in dealing with work-related stress, first of all it is important recognizing the evidence of stress which could manifest in sickness, alcoholism or decreasing motivation. A second strategy is to prevent stress through e. g. personal stress audits for employees to identify causes of stress, to monitor stress levels and to report and discuss stressful elements of work to identify the measures necessary at organizational level to alleviate the problem. A third way is to give employees the opportunity to develop a personal stress-tackling technique by providing training and education. Stranks (2005):113 in this point said that employees need advice on identifying their own personal stress response and the measures necessary to coping with it. † Advice to handle stress could be found from organisations like Health and Safety Executive (HSE) releasing handbooks for employees (2003, Tackling Work-Related Stress: A Guide for Employees) as well as for managers (2001, Tackling Work-Related Stress: A Manager’s Guide to improving and Maintaining Employee Health and Well-being). These strategies work very well as reported in many case studies e. g. on United Biscuits by HSE in 2007. The case study points out that United Biscuits benefited from taking action against stress in many ways. From 2005 to 2007 reports of work related stress cases decreased from 24 to 6 per year. Furthermore HRS mentions that each case where absence is prevented, it is estimated the cost of 4 weeks wages and other associated costs is saved. As a matter of fact it is a necessity to override bullying and its consequences by management to keep costs low and protect employees from physical or psychological injuries caused by bullying. As mentioned in ‘bullying and harassment at work’, an advisory booklet publicised by ACAS, the first step to provide a bully-free working environment is to set up a formal policy including a statement of commitment from management and acknowledgement that bullying and harassment are problems for the organisation. The policy could also comprise a clear statement that bullying and harassment is unlawful, that it will not be tolerated, that it may be treated as disciplinary offences and that decisions should not be taken on the basis or whether someone submitted to or rejected a particular instance of harassment. Furthermore the policy is to comprehend steps the organisation takes to prevent bullying, responsibilities of supervisors and managers and confidentiality for any complainant. The policy should involve grievance, investigation and disciplinary procedures with timescales for action. Another point should deal with protection from victimisation and the importance and possibility of training for managers to avoid bullying. Involving staff into the process of developing such a policy will help achieving additional authority. Such a policy is supported by Stale Einarsen (1999):23 in the international journal of manpower who said â€Å"If not being permitted or supported by the people in power, a bully knows he/she may find him/herself the victim of aggressive counter-attacks and severe punishment. † In reference to ACAS the second step is to set a good example in behaviour, like discussing problems and consult employees instead of a too authoritarian management style. A current negative example for this point is the discussion about Gordon Brown? s abusive treatment of staff. The Guardian (21. 2. 2010) advertised that several employees from Downing Street No. 10 contacted the National Anti-bullying Helpline which raises discussions about Mr. Browns management style. Mr. Brown is being denoted as a bully by employees including assertions that he swore at staff, grabbed them by lapels and shouted at them. Third step to deal with bullying and harassment as a manager is to maintain fair procedures for dealing promptly with complaints from employees by using clear grievance and disciplinary procedure described in the Employment Relations Act 1999. Fourth step is to set clear standards of behaviour, to provide training and information about how to deal with bullying and to communicate the organisation? s views on it. Fifth, make clear that complaints will be dealt with fairly, confidentially and sensitively. By following these five steps of ACAS it is getting a lot easier to provide a good working climate and satisfy employees. In conclusion bullying is a problem affecting all businesses with different strength, in different ways and with different consequences, but the reason for occurrence of bullying is the one constant in all companies. It all starts with recurring minor problems that aren’t recognized until they grow big, so discussing problems and communicate them will help companies save money and satisfy employees. By using a metaphor to describe bullying, the strength in which bullying affects humans as well as companies could be expressed as follows A single thunderous gust could disroot trees, but a permanent breeze transforms mountains into grains of sand.