The Concept Professionalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Concept Professionalism - Essay Example From this paper it is clear that  professionalism is earned, rather than being called. A real "Professional" is a brand, which is tagged with respects that one gains. Professionalism has many benefits as it can increase the productivity and maintain the organizational culture of an organization. A business concern with professional   employees can increase the product or service value with less effort .If an employee is unprofessional he can bring chaos, unproductivity and conflict in an organization. An unprofessional employee has the ability to  Ã‚   damage the reputation of him and that of an organization.This essay declares that professionalism is an important criteria as it forms the basic foundation of any organisation. Professionalism is utmost important as it builds the career of a person and the social infrastructure of a firm. The more professional are the employee more benefit it can reap the employee and the organization.  Professionalism is a concept which relate to the competency or skill expected from an employee in relation to a profession .Professionalism is the attitude of a worker towards his work. Professionalism means the knowledge, understanding, attitude, obligation and responsibility one has towards his work.  The word ‘profession’ is, today, almost synonymous with occupation: the term professional is now applied to a wide range of such individuals as footballers and cricketers.

Proposals.. riding a bicycle in aruria campus Essay

Proposals.. riding a bicycle in aruria campus - Essay Example The proposal also covers the cost of the project. Moreover, it gives details of the team that will be performing this project. Furthermore, there is a detailed schedule of tasks and time required to carry out these tasks, followed by a Gantt chart which gives a visual display of the tasks and time required for their completion. This proposal focuses on the target audience which mainly comprises of the students, faculty and staff at the Auraria campus. The proposal also gives an overview as to why bicycles should be allowed at campus and what benefits can be. For the purpose of achieving results, the proposal also suggests that surveys should be carried out on different campuses to get the opinions of other student bodies. Also, surveys should be carried out at the Auraria campus in order to learn what the students want and how they think this problem can be solved. It is highly possible that with these surveys, the management and the team working on this project, might be able to wor k out something better and more student friendly. The proposal has details that will explain the pros, cons, cost, and qualifications that will help get this plan started. The plan is easy and

Mobile Phones Should Be Banned While Driving Essay Example for Free

Mobile Phones Should Be Banned While Driving Essay The risk of getting into a car accident while talking on a mobile phone while driving is growing as the number of mobile phone subscribers increases. Engaging in a phone conversation on a mobile phone while driving distracts the brain and delays reaction times which are more likely to cause drivers to swerve between lanes, slow down and miss important signs. Mobile phones should be banned while driving because they are risky. An Australian study conducted in 2005, estimated that the risk of a collision when using a mobile phone was four times higher than the risk when a mobile phone was not being used. 456 drivers who owned phones, were involved in crashes. By collecting these drivers’ mobile phone records, scientists determined those who made telephone calls just before the time of the crash. Case crossover analysis of mobile phone habits enabled the scientists to calculate the increase in risk. Even hands-free devices were not that safer. An earlier study in 2003, integrated data from questionnaires, mobile phone companies and crash records kept by the police. It found that the overall relative risk (RR) of having an accident for mobile phone users when compared to non-mobile phone users averaged 1.38 across all groups. The RR was then adjusted for kilometers driven per year and other crash exposures. When this was done RR was 1.11 for men and 1.21 for women. The study also revealed that increased mobile phone use correlated with an increase in RR. However, there are some objections to the call for the ban of mobile phone use while driving. According to the Associated Press, CTIA – The Wireless Association, a mobile phone trade group in America, objected to a complete ban. Its vice-president, John Walls, is reported as saying, â€Å" we think that you can sensibly and safely use a mobile phone to make a brief call.† Although there are objections, there is sufficient evidence to prove that using a mobile phone while driving is risky. Using a mobile phone while driving, taxes the cognitive skills of the brain at the expense of driving. The vast majority of drivers have no idea that using the mobile phone while driving is risky. argumentative essay

The theme in The Lord Of The Flies by William Golding Essay Example for Free

The theme in The Lord Of The Flies by William Golding Essay The pristine stillness of the sandy knoll was set off by the crystal shine of the waves slowly rolling toward shore. The waves gently lapped at the pure white sands of an island in the Pacific Ocean. The only object that stood out of from the perfectly even surface that only an undisturbed course of nature could create, at first glance appeared to be only a rock. The rough spiky surface of the object made the glass-like smoothness seem like a mahogany table with a nail driven into it. If one were to pass by it on a lonely beach they would think it only to be an odd stone, but if the shell were to be flipped over, it would reveal an aurora of pinks and creams. The smoothness to the touch is unsurpassed in almost any element of creation. Many are fooled by the unsurprising outside but the few who take the time to examine it closely are treated a sight incredible beauty. None could guess that this shell would play a strategic role in the survival of a group of boys stranded on that very island peace and euphoria. The theme of this book is the inevitable decline of civilization without rules and order. In almost every thing we do there is an order and society and everyone has a place in that society. A huge example could be government where the head of government rests mainly with the president and he decides how the country should run. While on a Soccer team there is a captain who decides many things for the team and how the game should be played. Its not always a leader but it could be a symbol of leadership, a scepter is a symbol of the kings power and it granted the right to state the persons opinion. Just like the scepter was a leadership symbol, and played an essential role in the society of the kingdom. The conch plays a vital role in the order of the boys society. The sound of the conch reverberated throughout the island and soon children the thick jungle and beach became alive with running children. Ralph and Piggy are the first ones to find the conch. From the very start the conch is the thing that brings the boys together and gets organized. At the first meeting of the children who were stranded on the island, Ralph began by making rules and putting to the vote that should become leader. Another rule, which was clearly defined, was that whoever was holding the conch had the right to say anything that he wished. Throughout the rest of the story the conch is used mainly to call meetings. During these meetings whomever had the conch had the right to speak. The conch was like a scepter, which granted rights to the speaker. Ralph and Jack, the rival leaders, one represents order and civility under desperate situations, the type of society and logic that would have made the best British proud. The other leader led his group the inevitable social decline of a society with no regulations or boundaries. The wild savagery of this group was displayed in their brutal murder of both Simon and Piggy who posed no harm to any of them. Every modern civilization has a symbol of justice and supremacy. The conch is the symbol of Ralphs tribe which looked for ways to be rescued and survival instead of becoming uncontrollably wild. Jack, who was the chief of the other tribe, immortalized the pig and hunting, the killing and eating of it. When Jack formed his own band, it is a turning point in the story. Ralphs plan of survival and rescue becomes threatened and eventually destroyed by the escalating savagery and cruelty of the savage tribe. It started innocently, almost a game. Jack and the choirboys were going to be the hunters for the boys stranded on the island. Unfortunately the pig hunting became an obsession and when they finally did kill a pig with their primitive means they began to act primitively. This is illustrated by when the boys during their feast at the castle rock failed to recognize the conch as the supreme authority. Piggy said right before he died: Stop it you are acting like a bunch of kids. Piggy was referring to what we would call terrible two-year-olds. They thought that they knew better, and like most two year-olds led them only to trouble and they always think that they are the authority on every issue. That is exactly what the hunters were doing, not listening to authority. They refused to pay attention to the voice of wisdom (Piggy) and not only did not listen but destroyed Piggy and the conch. Throughout the book Ralph had blown the conch to assemble meetings. They had used it as a symbol of authority, something to give the boys a sense of order and dignity. When Jack didnt listen to the call of wisdom all order and society collapsed. The theme of this book is the inevitable decline of civilization without rules and order. In almost every thing we do there is an order and society and everyone has a place in that society. A huge example could be government where the head of government rests mainly with the president and he decides how the country should run. While on a Soccer team there is a captain who decides many things for the team and how the game should be played. Its not always a leader but it could be a symbol of leadership, a scepter is a symbol of the kings power and it granted the right to state the persons opinion. Just like the scepter was a leadership symbol, and played an essential role in the society of the kingdom. The conch plays a vital role in the order of the boys society. This story clearly illustrated the fragility of civilization. The conch represents the systematic order that hold it all together. As was exemplified in this story man can easily go back to their wild unruly state. Draft horses can illustrate this point, The only thing that holds them from doing their own way is the bit in the horses mouth. Even though this piece of metal is puny compared to the half-ton of meat and muscle, without this vital part of equipment the horse would have no idea what to do or where to go. And all order and discipline would go to the dogs.

Criteria For Performance Excellence Business Essay

Criteria For Performance Excellence Business Essay The Baldrige framework benefits any organization whether it is starting a journey toward performance excellence or fine-tuning its current improvement efforts. Use of the Baldrige framework leads organizations to identify industry best practices guided by feedback provided by experts. Thus organizations using the this framework improve and align processes, go for measurement and analysis, and strategic planning, further leading to better decision making, stronger leadership, and greater organizational alignment and success. Criteria for performance excellence The Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence provide a systems perspective for understanding performance management. They reflect validated, leading-edge management practices against which an organization can measure itself. With their acceptance nationally and internationally as the model for performance excellence, the Criteria represent a common language for communication among organizations for sharing best practices. The Criteria are also the basis for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award process. The Baldrige criteria form an excellent model of Total Quality Management (TQM). The criteria are divided into seven key categories: Leadership Strategic Planning Customer Focus Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management Workforce Focus Process Management Results Each category is scored based on the approach used to address the category, how well it is deployed throughout the organization, the cycles of learning generated, and its level of integration within the organization. An excellent way to improve your TQM maturity is to use the criteria as a self-assessment and then compare your organizations methods and processes with winners of the Baldrige award. An integral part of the Baldrige process is for winners to share non proprietary information from their applications so you have a ready-made benchmark for your organizations TQM maturity. As part of our assignment we would focus on the category 4 that is Measurement, Analysis and Knowledge Management and category 5 which is Workforce Focus. Category 4: Measurement, Analysis and Knowledge Management The Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management category looks at how an organization uses data to improve its operations. This includes how data is gathered, analyzed, managed as well as the use of information technology. This category holds 90 points. These 90 points are further divided into two parts which are Measurement, Analysis, and Improvement of Organizational Performance (45 pts.) that is how do you measure, analyze, and then improve organizational performance? And Management of Information, Knowledge, and Information Technology (45 pts): that is how do you manage your information, organizational knowledge, and information technology? The division and sub- division of category 4 can be illustrated in the diagram below: 4.1: Measurement, Analysis, and Improvement of Organizational Performance: This item examines your organizations selection and use of data and information for performance measurement, analysis, and review in support of organizational planning and performance improvement. It serves as a central collection and analysis point in an integrated performance measurement and management system that relies on financial and nonfinancial data and information. Its aim is to guide your organizations process management toward the achievement of key organizational results and strategic objectives, to anticipate and respond to rapid or unexpected organizational or external changes, and to identify best practices that may be shared. Performance Measurement Here it is mostly about how the organisation select, collect, align and integrate data fro tracking daily operations and overall organisational performance. These include progress related to strategic objectives and action plans. They should identify the key organisational performance measures, both long term and short term financial measures. The frequency of tracking these measures as well as how they use this information to support corporate decision making and innovation should be included. Alignment and integration are key concepts for successful implementation and use of your performance measurement system. They are viewed in terms of the extent and effectiveness of their use to meet your performance assessment and improvement needs and your strategy development and execution; it also include how the performance measurement requirements are deployed by senior leader to track group work and process- level performance. Baldrige also lays emphasis on the use of comparative data and information to know the organisational needs to know where they stand compared to competitors and the best practices. Comparative performance projections may reveal organisational challenges as where innovation is needed. It may also support business analysis and decisions relating to core competences, partnering and outsourcing. Another point is customer data. Here it is about how the organisation makes use of the voice-of customer data and information to support operational and strategic decision making and innovation. The goal is to achieve customer engagement. Voice of customer can be in terms of customer complaints and feedback for services to improve offerings. Measurement agility is about how you ensure that your performance measurement system is able to respond to fast pace growing, unexpected, or external changes. Performance Analysis and review Here it is about how the organisation reviews and analyses organisational performance and capabilities. How they use these information to assess organisational success, competitive performance, financial health, and progress relative to strategic objectives and action plans. Also how the organisation uses the information to assess its ability to respond quickly to the changing organisational needs and challenges in the operating environment. Performance Improvement Here is about how the findings from reviews are used for lesson learnt and best practice sharing across departments to improve performances. It also includes how the competitive and comparative data is used to project future performance. Also, how these information are used for continual improvement and identify opportunities for innovation. How these are deployed to workgroup, functional-level operations, suppliers, partners and collaborators to ensure organisational alignment. 4.2: Management of information, Knowledge, and Information Technology This item examines how your organization ensures the quality and availability of needed data, information, software, and hardware for your workforce, suppliers and partners, collaborators, and customers, normally and in the event of an emergency. It also examines how your organization builds and manages its knowledge assets. The aim is to improve organizational efficiency and effectiveness and to stimulate innovation. Data, information , and knowledge management This section lays emphasis on the different properties that the organisation should focus on. That is, how do they manage organisational data, information and knowledge to ensure accuracy, integrity and reliability, timeliness and security and confidentiality? Also how you make data and information available to your stakeholders that is workforce, suppliers, partners, collaborators, and customers. MBNQA also lays emphasis on knowledge management that is how do you manage organizational knowledge to accomplish the collection and transfer of workforce knowledge, the transfer of relevant knowledge from and to customers, suppliers, partners, and collaborators, the rapid identification, sharing, and implementation of best practices, the assembly and transfer of relevant knowledge for use in your innovation and strategic planning processes Management of information resources and technology It deals with how you ensure that hardware and software are reliable, secure, and user-friendly. In the event of an emergency, how do you ensure the continued availability of hardware and software systems and the continued availability of data and information to effectively serve customers and business needs? Category5: Workforce focus 5.1 Workforce Environment 5.2 Workforce Engagement Research has brought evidence that high level of psychological well-being and employee engagement play a central role in delivering some of the important outcomes that are associated with successful, high performing organisations. (Robertson and Cooper, 2009). In an interview by Bob Gorman from Robert E. Gorman Communication, Ray Baumruk from Hewitt Associates (2006) talks about three interesting general behaviours that characterise engaged employees. These are: Say: the employee advocates for the organisation to co-workers and refers potential employees and customers. Stay: the employee has an intense desire to be a member of the organisation despite opportunities to work elsewhere. Strive: the employee exerts extra time, effort and initiative to contribute to the success of the business. Workforce Performance. To achieve workforce performance it is vital for managers or leaders to firstly understand the elements inhibiting engagement within employees through workforce surveys and focus groups for instance. An organisational culture that works towards achieving workforce engagement should be created to eliminate those inhibiting elements. In an article written by Krugel (ManpowerGroup Russia CIS) published by the Moscow Times (February 2013), four areas of action are recommended for immediate managers to enhance workforce performance: Communicate! Help your people understand change. Conversations make change management possible since they clear out doubts and confusions employees may have. Managers cannot assume that employees understand; employees should know what exactly is expected from them, what is the organisations mission, how they contribute to meeting customers needs and what is the business strategy. Provide learning and development opportunities. Employees may feel less secured and frustrated by a sudden reduction of workforce or by major changes in the workplace. Hence they worry about their future in the organisation. The same situation is faced by employees who are asked to take on new responsibilities. A solution to this could be to show such employees you are committed to them by providing them with learning and  career development opportunities. Empower your people. Managing change often means learning to  manage differently. This implies changing the traditional command and control modes of management to respond to the needs of a diverse workforce and to retain employees with specialised skills. According to  ManpowerGroup Surveys, engagement is positively impacted when employees are empowered to  succeed. Therefore everyone should be treated with respect, their opinions counted, encouraged to  take ownership of  their work and  provided with the  authority they need to  do their job well by managers or leaders. Organise work processes to minimize stress. Engagement impacts on productivity and empirical evidence from the ManpowerGroup Russia CIS research shows that engagement is strongly impacted by the appropriateness of  an employees workload, by  the pressure he or she experiences at  work, and  by his or her ability to  balance work with family life and  personal interests. Hence too much pressure on employees and high demands from them will lead to their low engagement and poor productivity. Managers should play a  significant role in  engaging their employees. They should at least recognise that emphasizing balance could actually lead to  higher productivity. This could be achieved by optimizing work processes. Assessment of Workforce Engagement. Organisations should make use of indicators showing workforce engagement to assess how engaged their employees are. For instance, the institute for employment studies (IES) carried out extensive research on defining and measuring engagement and identifying engagement drivers. In 2004, the IES came out with a report on the Drivers of Employee Engagement and according to the report, an engaged employee: believes in the organisation works to make it better understands business context and the bigger picture respects colleagues and helps others is willing to go the extra mile Therefore the latter brings business benefits. Moreover, according to Smythe (2007 cited in Certificate in Internal Communication, 2008) engagement is quite a recent development of older theories of motivation and communication which originates from social psychology. Hence classic theories of employee motivation such as McGregors Theory X and Y (1960), Hertzberg Two Factors'(1966), Alderfer s ERG Theory (1969) and Maslows hierarchy of needs (1943) could be used as indicators of engagement. Others, such as absenteeism rate, workforce retention, grievances, safety and productivity could also help to assess employee engagement. All these factors should be linked to business results and analysed so as to make improvements to workforce engagement and business results. Workforce and Leader Development. Each organisation may have its own workforce development, learning and career development systems. Nowadays knowledge is a critical business asset, hence organisations should do their best to capture and retain that knowledge which is significantly stored is employees minds. A set of core and complementary HR practices were proposed by Evans(2003) namely competency framework, recruitment and selection, induction, performance management, reward and recognition, resource management, learning environment, training and development, career development, and retention. In fact all these HR aspects are essential to achieve organisational performance. Training and development needs of both the leaders and the employees should be identified. Self-directedness in learning has been recognised by various authors as having an important role to play in the competitiveness of enterprises in the 1990s (Smith et al. 2007) and hence should not be ignored. According to a recent BusinessWeek.com/Hay Group survey, the twenty best companies in leadership share some common characteristics. They address leadership development from various dimensions, from articulating how leadership behaviour needs to change to meet the challenges of the future to managing their pools of successors for mission-critical roles and make leadership their top priority despite of bad situations. Baldrige and Other models There are different alternatives to achieve the Total Quality Management implementation for instance, the ISO standards, the Malcolm Baldrige model and the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model. The first quality model was established in Japan. Business Excellence model is a crucial mechanism for refining the performance of organisations, along with national competitiveness. The EFQM model The EFQM is a non- profit foundation created in 1988 by fourteen leading European organisations with the aim to become the leading force of excellence in Europe. Nowadays, EFQM has a population of 30000 members across the world. This model is similar to excellence models used in Japan (the Deming prize) and America (the Malcolm Baldrige). EFQM is a model used for self-assessment that an organisation of any size can use by applying the criteria. EFQM provides assistance to understand the gaps and to find the appropriate solution. This model is updated every three years to ensure if it corporates with the current environment. The European Quality Award (EQA) was established in 1992 with the aim to encourage and access the development of quality improvement activities and also to identify the business excellence companies in Europe. The EFQM provides for guidance through 3 important components: The Fundamental Concept of Excellence The Criteria The Radar The Fundamental Concept of Excellence Achieving Balanced Results It is a must for any organisation trying to achieve excellence to meet their mission and progress towards the vision set and also to meet both the short and long term needs of stakeholders. Adding Value for customers Due to fast moving trend customers will be attracted to innovating and creative organisation. Leading with vision, Inspiration and Integrity The leaders must act as role model to shape others so as to achieve the targeted aim. Managing by processes The main vein of organisation is the processes. It must be managed in a structured manner to generate stable and continuous results. Succeeding through people The organisation must value the talents of its employees and encourage them to participate in the empowerment projects for the company to achieve organisational goals. Nurturing Creativity and Innovation Organisation generates increased value and levels of performance through continual improvement and systematic innovation by joining the creativity of their stakeholders. Building Partnerships Organisation maintains good relationship with various partners that can contribute to success. Taking responsibilities for a sustainable future A good culture must prevail and processes must be ethical as consumers are attracted to such company. The Criteria The Enabler Criteria: Leadership This relates to the behaviours that the leaders adopt to facilitate the achievement of mission and vision. People The organisation helps to improve the skills of the employees and promote justice and equality. In addition they cater for the proper communication and rewarding people. Strategy The organisation reviews its mission and vision and implements it with the concept of continuous improvement. Partnership and Resources It refers how the organisation manages and develops its external partnerships and internal resources so as to accomplish the mission. Processes, Products and Services This is related how the organisation designs, manages its processes with the intention of satisfying its stakeholders. The Results Criteria: People Results Excellent organisations systematically measure and achieve outstanding results that meet or exceed the needs and expectation of their people. Customer Results Measures what the organisation is doing to meet the expectation of its targeted customers. Society Results It is concerned with what the organisation is achieving in satisfying the needs and expectations of relevant stakeholders within the society. Key Results This determines the success of the organisations strategy and the satisfaction of stakeholders. The Radar This model can be used to assess the current capabilities of the organisation. Meaning that, the organisation can know its strengths and opportunities by performing the RADAR. The application of the RADAR logic helps an organisation to: Determine the Results it is targeting to accomplish as part of its policy and strategy making process. Plan and Develop an integrated set of sound Approaches to deliver the required results both now and in the future. Deploy the approaches in an efficient way to ensure implementation. Assess and Review the approaches by monitoring and analysing the results achieved through ongoing activities. Comparison between the MBNQA and EFQM: Both are results oriented awards Both the awards give maximum weight to customer satisfaction results The European Quality Award include the impact of society as one of its criteria while Baldrige covers this point in the leadership criteria The Baldrige Awards does not include the financial performance whereas the European Awards in broad-based due to the inclusion of financial performance. Analysis The 4th criterion of Baldrige which is the Measurement, Analysis and the Knowledge Management is similar to the Radar which is the Assess and Review approaches and their deployment. Both models lay emphasis on measuring and analysing past performance in order to improve their processes to achieve the desired results. Besides, the Knowledge Management focuses on the knowledge that employees will need to increase their performance together with the improvement of the processes so as to bring innovative solutions. Moreover, Baldrige and EFQM criteria help the organisation to know where it actually stands compared to its rivals and also where there is scope for improvement to reduce the gaps in their processes and performances. The Workforce focus criterion of Baldrige can be compared to that of the People criteria in EFQM. The similarity between both is that they take into consideration the importance of an effective working environment for supporting their personnel. The crucial concept is to have a motivating workforce for the achievement of organisational and personal goals. Both models lay emphasis on compensating and rewarding the workforce. Such actions will motivate people which will result for benefiting the organisation as many studies have shown that motivated employees generate positive impact on the organisations performance. ISO 9001:2008 ISO 9001:2008 Certification has been in place for over a decade now. Both customers and companies use ISO 9001:2008 as a method of controlling their quality. ISO 9001:2008 is an international standard for quality management system. The standard provides a framework to manage your business and ensure a common sense approach to the management of your business activities to consistently achieve customer satisfaction by providing a set of principles to the company. The eight principles are: Customer focus organization It is where the organization depends on their customers and therefore the organization need to shape activities around the fulfillment of market need. Leadership Leadership is needed in order to provide unity of purpose and also a direction. Involvement of people The organization should create an environment where people become fully involved in achieving the organizational objectives. Process approach In order to achieve organizational objectives, resources and activities need to be managed as processes. Systems approach to management The effectiveness and efficiency of an organization depends on a systemized approach to work activities. Continual improvement An organization key objective is to adopt continual improvement as a part of everyday culture. Factual approach to decision making Effective decisions are based on the logical and intuitive analysis of data and factual information. Mutually beneficial supplier relationships Such relationship between an organization and its supplier will enhance the ability to create value for both of them. The above eight principles are structured into the following 5 major section with reduced documentation requirements with high emphasis on continual improvement and customer satisfaction. Quality management system Management responsibility Resource management Product realization Measurement, analysis and improvement ISO 9001:2008 and Baldrige Just like baldrige provides a category on workforce, in the same way ISO 9001:2008 provides a section on resource management. However the main difference is that baldrige provides quantifiable data whose weightage is 85 points and it allows an organization to self-assess itself whereas ISO does not allow to self-assessment and also ISO allows you to have part of your organization to be ISO certified because of economic reason whereas with baldrige this is not possible. Section 6 of ISO 9001:2008 Resource management Section 6 of ISO 9001:2008 consists of resource management which relates to resource needed for an organization which includes human resource, hardware and software. However baldrige talks about assessing your workforce capability and capacity needs. Section 6.1 provision of resources, here resources can be in terms of manpower or machine. The organization must determine and ensure that the determined resources are available. It should be ensured that the implantation maintain and continually improve the effectiveness of ISO 9001 system and make sure that customer are satisfied whereas baldrige focus on how to recruit and retain your workforce. 6.2 human resources; is another critical resource for an organization and therefore ISO 9001 emphasis on human resource competency and training but baldrige makes sure that you organize and manage your workforce. According to the general requirement people who are performing the task will directly or indirectly affect the conformity of product requirement. Therefore the workforce must be competent base on education, training, knowledge, skills and experience. However in order to handle this requirement the competency must be well defined. In baldrige there is workforce change management which emphasize on changing your workforce capability and capacity needs. The next section which is based on competence, training and awareness makes sure that an organization must identify the training needed for each job or task and review the gap between the people who perform the job to the requirements. Baldrige however focus on exceeding performance expectations by organizing and managing your workforce. Moreover the organization must identify, provide and maintain the facilities needed to ensure to achieve conformity of product. This includes facilities like equipment, building, transport, communication method and so on. The last section argues that organization must determine and manage the work environment needed to achieve the conformity of product requirement. One example can be the availability of enough lighting. Section 8 of ISO 9001:2008 Measurement, analysis and improvement ISO 9001:2008 provides a requirement for measurement, analysis and improvement. The standard now requires that measurement and monitoring activities needed to ensure conformity. Moreover the achieve improvement must be defined, planned and implemented. In order for this to occur there must be appropriate measurement methods. Baldrige also focus on performance measures which will collect information on the overall organizational performance. Section 8.2.1 which is customer satisfaction states that organization will monitor information on customer satisfaction/dissatisfaction. There must be a system in place which will address customer complaints and general feedback. Baldrige also ensure the effective use of voice-of-the-customer data and information to support operational and strategic decision making and innovation. Section 8.2.2 which is internal audits argues that organisation should review their internal audit procedures to ensure the inclusion of responsibilities, requirements and methodologies for conducting the audits. However Baldrige focuses on benchmarking. Furthermore organisations are required to determine the measurement and monitoring methods which will be used in order to ensure that both processes and product requirements are met. Baldrige also review the performance and capabilities of the organization. Organisations must take action related to the consequences of non-conformity owing to the requirement control of nonconforming product. Baldrige also has a criteria on best practice sharing where the lessons learned are shared. Section 8.4 consists of analysis of data where organization must collect and analyse data to determine system sustainability and effectives so that improvements can be made. Baldrige focus on future performance. Based on the section on improvement organization must facilitate continual improvement through the use of the quality policy, objectives, audit results, analysis of data, corrective and preventive action and management review. ISO 9001:2008 clearly establishes top management responsibility for an organization improvement. It also states that actions taken must prevent recurrence. When reviewing actions taken over time, organization must ensure that repeat occurrences are addresses on the other hand Baldrige focuses on continuous improvement and innovation. To conclude, Baldrige and ISO are quite similar, the only difference is that with baldrige you can do benchmarking but with ISO it is not possible. Organisations who applied the Baldrige Performance Excellence Framework The Baldrige framework is uniquely different than any other framework for organizational excellence and management. It contains criteria that relate to any organization in any sector which are as follows: Manufacturing Service Small Business Nonprofit Education Healthcare The Baldrige Criteria are recognized globally as a premier excellence framework, and approximately 80 international quality or performance excellence awards either use the Baldrige Criteria or a derivative of it like for example the Japan Quality Award. The award is presented to Japanese companies displaying excellent overall management qualities that continue to create new values through the continuous improvement process. The Fukuiken Saiseikai hospital in Japan is the recent winner of the Japan Quality Award 2012. There are many organisations who have won the Baldrige National Quality Award in the United States. We shall take examples of some companies having won this award which are as follows: Motorola Inc. which was the first company to have won the first edition of Baldrige award in year 1988 and in 2002 made it twice. Employing approximately 99,000 employees in 53 different locations in the world, it aims at having the highest sales volume in world markets for electronic components and equipment. The only thing that counts is quality improvement leading to total customer satisfaction. In order to achieve this, the company made use of some techniques such as the six-sigma quality which aims at reducing the defects rate in the processes and manufacturing consistent products. Second one is the reduction in total cycle time where the time a customer placed and order and the time at which it was delivered to him was reduced. Another concept adopted is the benchmarking programs that were used to compare the processes, resources, performance and products of rivals with that of the company. The company had what they called Participative Management Program where the employees had the opportunity to participate in the decision making process of the company helping in analyzing the past performances and results in order to set strategic objectives for the future. Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company is another big company that has applied the Baldrige Framework. It has 23 business and resorts hotels in United States and 2

Hurricanes Essay -- essays research papers fc

Hurricanes Hurricanes summer is over and fall has arrived but many people to the south of us are observing another season hurricane season. According to the Montshire Museum of Science, hurricanes usually occur in the North Atlantic from June to November, with most of them in September. On average, between six to eight hurricanes form in the North Atlantic or North Pacific each year (Montshire), however, as many as 15 have occurred in the Atlantic in a single year. Hurricanes are powerful, whirling storms that measure several hundred miles in diameter. The winds near the center of a hurricane blow at speeds of 74 miles per hour or more (World Book, 400). Many hurricanes leave a trail of widespread death and destruction. The definition of a hurricane, according to World Book Encyclopedia, is an area of low pressure that forms over oceans in tropical regions. Such a storm in the North Pacific Ocean is called a typhoon, and one in the South Pacific or Indian Ocean is called a cyclone. Most hurricanes originate within the doldrums, a narrow equatorial belt characterized by intermittent calms, light variable breezes, frequent squalls, and lying between the northeast and southeast trade winds (Encarta). Hurricanes consist of high-velocity winds blowing circularly around a low-pressure center, known as the eye of the storm. The low-pressure center develops when the warm, saturated air prevalent in the doldrums is under run and forced upward by denser, cooler air. From the edge of the storm toward its center, the atmospheric pressure drops sharply and the wind velocity rises. The winds attain maximum force close to the point of lowest pressure. Encarta Encyclopedia states that hurricanes generally move in a path resembling the curve of a parabola. Also, that in the Northern Hemisphere the storms usually travel first in a northwesterly direction and in the higher latitudes turn toward the northeast. In the Southern Hemisphere the usual path of the hurricane is initially to the southwest and subsequently to the southeast. Hurricanes travel at varying rates. Those areas in which the hurricane winds blow in the same direction as the general movement of the storm are subjected to the maximum destructive violence of the hurricane. According to the research team at Storm Central, hurricanes go through a set of stages from birth to dissipation. Tropical disturbance ... ... of friends and loved ones, etc. Much advancement has been made over the years to forewarn potential victims of these horrendous storms. Hurricanes are an act of nature that no one can ever control. As long as there are bodies of water, wind, and warm air, we will still be searching for the perfect warning system for those on the coast. We just have to be thankful that technological advancements have brought us thus far, now we have only the future and further experimentation to look forward to. Bibliography Works Cited Why hurricanes form over warm oceans USA Today Weather http://www.usatoday.com/weather/whur7.htm, 11/4/99 Montshire Minute: Hurricanes Montshire Museum of Science http://www.montshire.net/minute/mm99027.html, 11/6/99 How are Atlantic hurricanes ranked? Hurricanes 99 http://www.hurricanes99.com/huricanesSSS.html, 11/10/99 What are Hurricanes? Hurricanes 99 http://www.hurricanes99.com/FAQ.html, 11/10/99 Hurricane Stages of Development Storm Central http://www.stormsearch.com/stages, 11/11/99 Hurricanes Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 98 Microsoft, 1993-1997 Hurricanes World Book Encyclopedia World Book-Childcraft International Inc. Volume 9: 400-403.

Do Magnet Schools Work? :: essays research papers

Do Magnet Schools Actually Work? The 1954 decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, represented a turning point in the history of the United States. (144) Reversing the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling, which said that racially "separate but equal" public institutions were legal, the court held that segregated public schools were "inherently unequal" and denied black children equal protection under the law. It later directed that the state provide desegregated educational facilities "with all deliberate speed." Kansas had been only one of many states that had "separate but equal" schools that were affected by the decision. Although Southern white officials sought to obstruct implementation of the Brown decision, many blacks saw the ruling as a sign that the federal government might intervene on their behalf in other racial matters. The court ruled that the schools would have to come up with a solution to the problem of desegregating the schools. Special schools called â€Å"Magnet Schools† were set up. These schools were designed as a desegregation method. There were three methods used in the desegregation of the schools. Black students were bussed out to the suburbs to attend white schools, white children were bussed into the city to attend black schools, or both races were mixed in different schools. There are two types of magnet Durham 2 schools. The full site school is where all students in a particular district transfer into the school and are mixed together in the magnet program. Partial site programs offer a special magnet program within a â€Å"non-magnet† general school, even though students still transfer into the school to participate in the magnet curriculum. The focus of these schools is to achieve racial balance and increase educational quality. (146) Some of the problems with magnet schools were that they would â€Å"siphon† off the better students from a school district, leaving all the educationally at-risk students. (147) Most of these students that were left behind were members of a minority group such as Black or Hispanic. Another problem with magnet schools is that they might already be aimed at middle class families. This is done to try to avoid desegregation by some parents so their children will not have to go to school with members of a minority. Removing students from a given school district also removes resources from students most in need from this interaction.