Oscar Romero and Post Vatican II Church Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Oscar Romero and Post Vatican II Church - Essay Example Prior to these sessions, mass were conducted in a way that priests turned their backs to the congregation, modern forms were not accepted, masses were conducted in Latin language only, and sacraments were not updated or simplified. The council introduced new documents which saw landmark transformation of the Catholic Church. (http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0505787.htm). Alters were altered, and priests were made to face the congregation, priesthood and religious life were renewed, liturgy was modernized, lay Catholics participation in church affairs was enhanced, Catholic church opened dialogue with other churches and non-Christians and the church was recognized as ‘the people of God’. Way was given for people around the world to conduct masses in their vernacular language. All these changes were not immediate. This saw the church began a long and contentious process of every aspect of the Catholic Church. The council regarded this transformation as a way of opening dialogue with the modern world and facing modern challenges that were inevitable. It is believed that were it, not for these changes introduced by the Vatican II council, the church would be a small minority in the modern world. These transformations brought modern-day men and women nearer to the gospel and made the gospel important to them which was not the case before. One of the goals of the council documents was to enlighten the modern believers to see the world as an opportunity to announce the gospel and not a threat to the gospel. Prior to this, many catholic believers viewed the modern world as a threat to the gospel and existence of the church. These transformations greatly changed the spiritual view of the church. Another ongoing spiritual task since the inception of these transformations has been to enlighten the young generations not to see the Vatican as an ancient history of the church

Kill a mocking bird 1.2.3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Kill a mocking bird 1.2.3 - Essay Example In the early chapters, he is known as a child who fights every conflict and never refuses dares thinking that those actions are expressions of bravery. In chapters 13-18 though different lines from the text showed Jem’s transformation. In the part where Jem and Scout’s father and aunt were having a discussion about Calpurnia, Jem told Scout in private to â€Å"try not to antagonize† their Aunt since she is still young to understand that â€Å"it’s different with grown folks.† In the said line he presented himself as an adult (Lee Chapter 14, p.139). Another evidence of Jem’s growth is the manner by which he handled the situation with Dill. Although, Dill did not like it, Jem told his father that the child run away from home and explained to him that he â€Å"cannot run three hundred miles off without his mother’s knowing† about it. This showed concern for other people (p.143). The third evidence of Jem’s maturity is his a wareness and understanding of the issues being discussed in court during the trial of the rape case. He explained to Dill that the matter was about. In addition, when Scout pointed out the fact that they had been seen by Mr.

Self Directed Work Team (SDWT) Advantages and Disadvantages

Self Directed Work Team (SDWT) Advantages and Disadvantages A Briefing on Self Directed Work Team (SDWT) by Group 5 Self Directed Work Team is a powerful concept since the ancient Roman legion and today approximately 68% of fortune 1000 companies implement SDWT concept including Ford, GM, PG, FedEx, etc. (Lawler, Mohrman, Ledford ,1995). Definition Vecchio (2003, p.107) defined Self Directed Work Teams (SDWT) as â€Å"a highly trained group of six to eighteen employees that is fully responsible for creating a specific product†. And according to an article in Entrepreneur Connect   (Anon, 1995) â€Å"self -directed teams are small groups of employees who have responsibility for managing themselves and their work†. Success in todays challenging competitive environment is based on employee empowerment and team work (Boyett Boyett, 1998). This could be closely related to Herzbergs motivating factor which was later simply defined by Barbara (n.d.) as â€Å"what makes you work well†. Many companies are attracted to this innovation because of the prospect of flattening the organizational structure in these times when downsizing, flattening and work process reengineering are so crucial (Coates and Miller, 1995). SDWT leads to increased organizational effectiveness and employee satisfaction (Forsyth, 1999) which in todays business is being the competitive advantage (Ron Williams, n.d). Advantages of SDWT General Motors, Proctor Gamble Xerox by implementing SDWT resulted in approximately 30-40% improvement in productivity (Bruce,n.d.). In Kodak customer assistance centre SDWT resulted in 100% increase in profits (Anon, n.d.).FedEx improved their service by reducing the loss of packages and incorrect billing by 13%. Rubbermaid increased sales by 50% above projections Quality improvement. Increased productivity and reduced cost. Highly flexible. Simpler job classification and each member know every process through job rotation which will reduce dependency one person. Better innovation and creativity. Team members are motivated by job satisfaction, empowerment, trust, feel of ownership personal growth which in turn benefit the company as a whole. SDWT is being a vehicle for bringing in the Total Quality Management concept in an organization (Vecchio,2006,p.112) Following statistics based on a review of organization that transferred to SDWT (John Cotter, n.d.) well prove the positive impact. 93% reported improve productivity 86% reported decreased operating cost 86% reported improved quality 70% reported better employee attitudes Given the above advantages and success stories there are consequences and problems in challenging the success of SDWT and even driving to the opposite direction to failure. Consequences of SDWT Elimination of supervisory position. The need for shift from holding the decision making power to delegation and allowing autonomy. In other words supervisor should act as a facilitator and provide guidance to teams especially outside the teams areas of expertise. Supervisors should manage communication and monitor the effectiveness. Leaders promote team work and corporation (Brillhart, 1983). The key in supervisory role is to motivate â€Å"Self-Direction†. In an interview with Sterling Health USA, employees often quoted that â€Å"Before, the group leader made all the decisions. You didnt know why the decisions were madenow we do† (Peter, 1999). But is the team leader ready to accept the transition from holding the power to delegation? Is S/He ready to improve the skills to qualify as a facilitator? Requirement for heavy investment in training. Training needed for both supervisors and team members in building various skills. Cloke and Goldsmith ( 2002, pp 205-214 ) identified ten skills those are essential for members of the work teams to develop self management, communication, leadership, responsibility, supporting diversity, feedback and evaluation, strategic planning, shaping successful meeting, resolving conflicts and enjoyment. Williams (n.d.) mentioned â€Å"It is not uncommon for self-directed work teams to spend 20% of their time in ongoing training†. Organization willing to implement SDWT should have a clear training strategy including cross training opportunity and resources. Top management should design the training policy and budget for it. Need for more flatter and flexible organizational structure. The decision making authority is transformed to the team members to eliminate waste of time relying on approvals from managers. Self-direction, autonomy, empowerment are the key players in success of SDWT which is facilitated only on flat structures. Responsibilities assigned to workers in GM clearly indicate the need for flat structure.(William,1999,p.11) Responsibility for quality control. Responsibility for maintenance and small repairs. Responsibility for safety. Responsibility for capital budgeting and operational budgeting. Responsibility for staffing. SDWT to begin performing takes long period. As per William (1999) SDWTs cannot be created instantly; it can take 2 to 5 years to fully implement. Some companies might not have the time or resources to go through this process Stages of forming SDWT: Stage one: (Start-Up) Goal preparation, explanation of purpose, member selection and building trust (6-9months). Stage two: (State of confusion) Technical assistance, feedback, implementing procedures to support self direction, and training. (6-9months). Stage three: (Leader centered team) Encouraging leadership activity among team members. (6-12months). Stage four: (Tightly formed teams) Resolving conflicts, start managing on own, communicating resource requirement and goals.(6-12months). Stage five: (Self direction) Maintain self confidence and self esteem of others. Strong partnership with internal and external customers. Consequently, if you look at the time and training involved in SDWTs it might not be suitable for an environment with a high employee turnover. Need for greater leadership development. As the organization would no longer function in a traditional manner the leaders or managers need to build their ability to allow and encourage such a high level of empowerment, which can be tackled with specially created programs (Coates and Miller, 1995). Problems of SDWT Team members approached the saturation point of learning through job rotation and would have achieved the maximum level of earning i.e. plant rate where no more room for psychological or financial boosts (Vecchio, 2006, p.113). Again while talking about pay as a motivator does it really matter? Can rewarding and recognition be the motivator to ensure continuing performance of the employees (Vecchio, 2006, p.84).   Also the performance measurement system should not create any competition within team members which will reduce co-operation and affect the success of SDWT. Another major challenge is getting people to remain committed to the improvement of the processes when they realize that they may be working themselves out of a job. The employees involved in self-directed work teams must have a great deal of trust so that employees are not concerned about their job security (Anon, 1995). Conflict management would be another critical and sensitive issue. Again each team member has different personalities and perceptions. Here comes the importance of required skills from facilitator. A culture of knowledge sharing has to be built in. Another question is that, are employees ready to be self directed? Whether they have capacity and skills? Of course proper training would be in place but still some employees prefer managers direction on what to do rather than deciding on their own. Here comes the need for selecting appropriate team members which is again depending on the talent of facilitator. Is the organization policies and culture is supportive in transferring power and authority to team members? Other problems would be signs of overconfidence which lead to members willing to take extra ordinary risk, members ignoring the ethical consequences, collective rationalization and underestimating capabilities of other groups which may lead to failure and financial losses.(Craig, 2005, p.219) Given the fact empowerment is a key to succeed in SDWT; will all the managers support this? Foegen (1999) stated on the loss of control: If one individual makes all the decisions in a given department, for example, his or her control is all-encompassing. Focus is obvious and unequivocal. But when authority is delegated, that focus becomes blurred, decision making is diffused, and responsibilitys locus is often less certain. He also stated delegation and empowerment can decrease the self image of the managers. The other pitfalls of empowerment would be lack of clarity, managements view as shared control / loss of control etc. Finally it would require numerous changes in processes and procedures and require a lot more time to make SDWTs successful in a unionized department. Conclusion Before a company can decide to implement self directed work teams, Coates and Miller (1995) point out certain situations or job fields in which this method may not work. These include: When there is a requirement for direction or supervision. This is often needed for jobs which may be unpleasant, arduous, fast paced or risky. When minimal team interaction is required. In jobs such as these employees may find it difficult to lead each other. When a lack of professional maturity exists among team members. An unwillingness to make the effort exists. The inability to meet regularly as a team. Work groups with any of these five characteristics would find it difficult to function effectively and may have to resort to the traditional method of management. Statistics shows that empowerment has about a 50% success rate and it is found that major reason for this is lack of management commitment to the change process. One of the companies failed by using SDWT is The Airline peoples Express. (Fisher, 2000, p.26). References: Anon. (1995) Taking the Mystery Out of Self -Directed Work Teams, Entrepreneur Connect [Online]. Available from:  http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/17227174.html   (Accessed: 21 August 2009). Anon (n.d.) Teams, the good, the bad and the ugly [Online] Available from: http://faculty.css.edu/dswenson/web/TDlearnCo/gains-lossesofteams.html (Accessed: 22 August 2009) Boyett, J. Boyett, J. (1998) The guru guide: The best of the top management thinkers. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Brillhart, J.(1983) Effective group discussion. 5th ed. Dubuque, Iowa: William Brown Co. Bruce K.Bernard (n.d) Preparing for Self-Directed Work Teams [Online] Available from: http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:rEhTVduzfRMJ:www.ux1.eiu.edu/~bkbarnard/preparing2.ppt+self+directed+work+teams+pptcd=7hl=enct=clnkgl=ae (Accessed: 21 August 2009). Cloke, K and Goldsmith, J (2002) The End of Management and the Rise of Organizational Democracy. Questia Online Library [Online] Available from: http://www.questia.com/read/111621737?title=The%20End%20of%20Management%20and%20the%20Rise%20of%20Organizational%20Democracy (Accessed: 21 August 2009). Coates, D. Miller, M. (1995) ‘Self Directed Teams: Lessons Learned for Local Government, Public Management, 77 (12), p. 16, Questia Online Library [Online]. Available from: http://www.questia.com/read/5001654373?title=Self-Directed%20Teams%3a%20Lessons%20Learned%20for%20Local%20Government (Accessed: 21August 2009). Craig E. Johnson. (2005) Meeting the ethical challenges of leadership. 2nd ed. USA: Sage Publications Inc. Ed Rose Steve Buckley. (1999) Self Directed work Teams, A Trainers Role in the Transition. USA: Intersil Coporation. Foegen, J.H. (1999) Why not empowerment, Business and Economic Review, Apr-Jun 1999  Ã‚  [Online]. Available from: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5313/is_199904/ai_n21437565/  (Accessed: 22 August 2009) Forsyth, D. (1999) Group dynamics. 3rd ed. New York: Brooks/Cole-Wadsworth. Jeffrey Christopher Bauer (2002) A Longitudinal Evaluation of The Impact of Organizational Structure on Role Ambiguity and Work Group Performance [Online] Available from: http://www.ucclermont.edu/~BAUERJ/JCBauerDissertationFinal.htm (Accessed: 21 August 2009). Kimball Fisher. (2000). Leading Self Directed Work Teams, A Guide to Developing New Team Leadership Skils. USA: McGraw-Hill. Peter B.Grazier (1999) Living with a self directed work team why self-direction works: A review of Herzbergs Concepts [Online] Available from: http://www.teambuildinginc.com/article_selfdirected.htm (Accessed: 21 August 2009). Robert P. Vecchio (2006) Organizational Behavior, 6th ed. Mason, OH, USA: Thomson Corporation South-Western. Robert T.Howell (2001) Fostering Self-Directed Team Members [Online] Available from: http://www.teambuildinginc.com/article_selfdirected.htm (Accessed: 21August 2009). Williams, R. (n.d.) Self-Directed Work Teams: A Competitive Advantage [online] Available from: http://www.qualitydigest.com/nov95/html/self-dir.html (Accessed: 20 August 2009).

Penicillin Essay -- essays research papers fc

Penicillin was accidentally discovered at St. Mary's Hospital, London in 1929 by Dr. Alexander Fleming. As test continued, Fleming began to realize that he was on the verge of a great discovery. However, he still did not know the identity of the fungus, and had little knowledge of fungi. His crude extracts could be diluted 1,000 times and still be effective in killing bacteria. After years of working on penicillin and going nowhere, many of his co-workers grew tired of hearing about it. The first real test for penicillin came when a 48-year-old police officer nicked himself shaving. After a time, Alexander's face became infected and he developed a temperature. When he was rushed to the hospital, the doctors believed that he had only hours to live. Then Dr Fleming and his crew started to treat this patient. This was the first person that penicillin was used on. After five days, he was getting better. Unfortunately, because it was in such short supply, it had to be extracted from his urine, and the penicillin had been used up. The police officer died five days l ater. Their next attempt was successful. It involved a punctured eye. The stone was still in the eye, and normally the eye would have been amputated, but penicillin allowed the man to make a full recovery. By this time, it was now 1941, it was now acknowledged that penicillin was indeed a worthwhile drug and could save thousands of lives.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During World War I, death rate from pneumonia in th...

Preparation of Acetanilide

Synthesis of Acetanilide Reaction O NH2 + H3C C O O C CH3 O N C CH3 H + H3C O C OH Aniline Acetic anhydride Acetanilide Acetic acid Purpose: Acetanilide is a useful precursor to many pharmaceuticals such as acetaminophen and penicillin. Experimental Procedure. (Estimated time: 1. 5 h. ) Unless otherwise noted, all manipulations should be done in the chemical fume hood. Place 100 Â µL of aniline into a tared 10 X 75-mm test tube (standing in a small beaker or Erlenmeyer flask). Now add 0. -mL of distilled water; with swirling, followed by 3 drops of concentrated hydrochloric acid. Add 10 mg of powdered decolorizing charcoal, or the pelletized form (Norit) to the resulting solution. Fit the test tube with a cork stopper and take it back to your hood. Gravity filter this suspension (25-mm funnel fitted with fluted fast-grade filter paper – see instructor) into a 3. 0-mL conical vial containing a magnetic spin vane. Wet the filter paper in advance with distilled water and blot th e excess water from the stem of the funnel.Use an additional 0. 5 mL of distilled water to rinse the test tube and pass that through the filter paper into your vial. Your aniline hydrochloride solution is ready for reaction. Assemble the apparatus as shown below: CONICAL VIAL W/ MAGNETIC SPIN VANE AND AIR CONDENSER Dissolve 150 mg (1. 10 mmol) of sodium acetate trihydrate in 0. 5 mL of distilled water in a 10 X 17-mm test tube. Cap the tube and set the solution aside for use in the next step. Feature Article –Â  Free-Radical BrominationAdd, with stirring, 150 Â µL of acetic anhydride to the solution of aniline hydrochloride, followed quickly by addition (Pasteur pipet) of the previously prepared solution of sodium acetate. Stir to thoroughly mix the reagents (~5 min. ). You should see the formation of a white precipitate. Allow the reaction mixture to stand at room temperature for approximately 5 min and then place it in an ice bath for an additional 5-10 min to complete the crystallization process.Collect the acetanilide product by filtration under reduced pressure using a Buchner funnel. Rinse the conical vial with two 0. 5-mL portions of distilled water and use the rinse to wash the collected filter cake. Characterization. Weigh and determine the percent yield of the product. Obtain an IR spectrum using the total internal reflectance attachment. Take a 1H NMR of your product – if there is not enough we will pool samples together. Take the melting point of the product and compare it to the literature value. BUCHNER FUNNEL

Evaluation of Critical Theory in Tourism Essay

In spite of the consensus on the importance of research, the existing literature in hospitality and tourism research does not contain any commonly agreed upon ways of evaluating research performance. The most frequently used proxy for assessing research performance is authorship and institution analyses by counting the number of published articles in selected research journals (Jogaratnam, McCleary, Mena, and Yoo, 2005; Malhotra and Kher, 1996; Sheldon, 1991; Weaver, McCleary, and Farrar, 1990; Zhao and Ritchie, 2006). 4 While counting the number of published articles in selected journals may be simple to perform and interpret, this approach is subject to many methodological problems. Wood (1995), as well as Losekoot, Verginis, and Wood (2001), argued that counting publications in selected journals as an indicator of academic productivity is too narrow and geographically-based. Similarly, Ryan (2005) and Hall (2005) stated that focusing on publications in research journals would exclude many researchrelated activities such as writing books, supervising postgraduate students, and taking on leadership roles in the international academic community. Likewise, the conjecture which this paper makes is that using the number of published articles in selected tourism and hospitality journals as an indicator of research performance is an incomplete, if not biased approach, as other research-related activities are simply excluded from consideration. Such a statement is made on the basis that many established academics do not publish in the selected journals. In addition, in order to obtain a more comprehensive measurement of research performance, other scholarly activities such as participation in research projects, editorship of research journals, membership of editorial boards and conference committees, participation in international conferences, and memberships of international/national organisations should also be incorporated into the overall evaluation process. In response to the absence of prior studies on determining research performance for tourism and hospitality academics in a comprehensive way, this exploratory study makes an attempt to fill the void by investigating the perception of university program heads on the importance of different research-related activities. Program heads are the academics who assume key responsibilities in academic departments or  divisions. Examples of these key responsibilities include research leadership and evaluations (Wikipedia, 2006). Findings are thus anticipated to lead to 5 further insights on research performance evaluation, which in turn help academics appropriately set their own career development plans.