Saturday, August 31, 2019

Public Administration Essay

DEFINING PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION When people think about government, they think of elected officials. The attentive public knows these officials who live in the spotlight but not the public administrators who make governing possible; it generally gives them little thought unless it is to criticize â€Å"government bureaucrats.† Yet we are in contact with public administration almost from the moment of birth, when registration requirements are met, and our earthly remains cannot be disposed of without final administrative certification. Our experiences with public administrators have become so extensive that our society may be labeled the â€Å"administered society†. Various institutions are involved in public administration. Much of the policy-making activities of public administration is done by large, specialized governmental agencies (micro-administration). Some of them are mostly involved with policy formulation, for example, the Parliament or Congress. But to implement their decisions public administration also requires numerous profit and nonprofit agencies, banks and hospitals, district and city governments (macro-administration). Thus, public administration may be defined as a complex political process involving the authoritative implementation of legitimated policy choices. Public administration is not as showy as other kinds of politics. Much of its work is quiet, small scale, and specialized. Part of the administrative process is even kept secret. The anonymity of much public administration raises fears that government policies are made by people who are not accountable to citizens. Many fear that these so-called faceless bureaucrats subvert the intensions of elected officials. Others see administrators as mere cogs in the machinery of government. But whether in the negative or positive sense, public administration is policy making. And whether close to the centers of power or at the street level in local agencies, public administrators are policy makers. They are the translators and tailors of government. If the elected officials are visible to the public, public administrators are the anonymous specialists. But without their knowledge, diligence, and creativity, government would be ineffective and inefficient. HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Large-scale administrative organization has existed from early times. The ancient empires of Egypt, Persia, Greece, Rome, China, and later the Holy Roman Empire as well as recent colonial empires of Britain, Spain, Russia, Portugal, and France – they all organized and maintained political rule over wide areas and large populations by the use of quite a sophisticated administrative apparatus and more or less skilled administrative functionaries. The personal nature of that rule was very great. Everything depended on the emperor. The emperor in turn had to rely on the personal loyalty of his subordinates, who maintained themselves by the personal support from their underlings, down to rank-and file personnel on the fringes of the empire. The emperor carried an enormous work load reading or listening to petitions, policy arguments, judicial claims, appeals for favors, and the like in an attempt to keep the vast imperial machine functioning. It was a system of favoritism and patronage. In a system based on personal preferment, a change of emperor disrupted the entire arrangements of government. Those who had been in favor might now be out of favor. Weak rulers followed strong rulers, foolish monarchs succeeded wise monarchs – but all were dependent on the army, which supplied the continuity that enabled the empire to endure so long. In the absence of institutional, bureaucratic procedures, government moved from stability to near anarchy and back again. Modern administrative system is based on objective norms (such as laws, rules and regulations) rather than on favoritism It is a system of offices rather than officers. Loyalty is owed first of all to the state and the administrative organization. Members of the bureaucracy, or large, formal, complex organizations that appeared in the recent times, are chosen for their qualification rather than for their personal connections with powerful persons. When vacancies occur by death, resignation, or for other reasons, new qualified persons are selected according to clearly defined rules. Bureaucracy does not die when its members die. BUSINESS MANAGEMENT AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION In the studies of the 1880s and later scholars have collected an impressive body of data how best to carry out and manage routine operations to gain productivity in industry. Principles of scientific business management were worked out and people were trained to follow them. Later successful business was seen as the model for the proper management of government, and the field of public administration was seen as a field of business, because management of all organizations in both the fields involves planning the activities and establishing goals; organizing work activities; staffing and training; directing or decision-making; coordinating to assure that the various work activities come together; report-  ing the status of work and problems to both supervisors and subordinates; and budgeting to assure that work activities correspond to fiscal planning, accounting, and control. Some scholars argued that administration is a more general term and a more generic process than management. Administration takes place at factories, schools, hospitals, prisons, insurance companies, or welfare agencies, whether these organizations were private or public. Accordingly they started speaking about business and public administration. There is an obvious difference between administration of business, or private organization, and administration of public organizations. Thus, the word public in ‘public administration’ is meaningful, and the study of public affairs will have to take into account not only management subjects common to both public and private sectors, but also the special environment in which the public servant has to live, an environment constituted of the mix of administration, policy making, and politics. And then, public organizations are more dependent on government allocations, more constrained by law, more exposed to political influences, and more difficult to evaluate than business organizations. These differences suggest caution in applying business management techniques to government agencies. Public Administration as an Academic Discipline Originally the discipline of public administration was not strong on theory. Early public administration was marked by a concern for applying the  principles of business management to a higher level of business – public affairs. The method of case study was borrowed from business schools and applied to public administration. It was a prescriptive method and it told the student what he â€Å"ought to do† and what he â€Å"should not do† in specific situations of managing of public agencies. But by and by public administration developed a theory and a method of investigation of its own. In the 1950s it began to borrow heavily from sociology, political science, psychology, and social psychology that led to the formation of organization theory that helps to understand the nature of human organizations. Then, the 1950s and 1960s witnessed a dramatic upsurge of professional and academic participation in comparative administration studies. Comparative administration was focused on the developing nations and the analysis of â€Å"transitional societies†. Considerable attention was paid to studies of particular areas of the world. There were detailed case-by-case examinations of administrative situations in both the developing countries and the older, established bureaucracies of the industrialized world. They developed elaborate and highly generalized models of development administration and managed to explain many development situations. Another situation that has drawn from the management science traditions is the emergence of public policy analysis as a major branch of public administration studies. Writings on decision-making took into account economic, political, psychological, historical, and even nonrational, or irrational processes. The National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) advocates public policy analysis as one of the subject areas that should be included in any comprehensive program in administration. An interesting development in American public administration in the late 1960s is known as the New Public Administration which was a reaction against the value-free positivism that had characterized much of American public administration thought since World War II. It reasserted the importance of normative values, particularly social justice. The disclosures of the Watergate scandals have reinforced these positions and stressed anew the importance of integrity, openness, and accountability in the conduct of public affairs. This concern for the needs of human beings in the modern world can be seen in the growth of consumer and environmental protection functions domestically, and pressure for human rights around the world. The politics  of public administration becomes increasingly interesting. Citizens, students, and scholars all round the world have come to understand the enormous impact of public administration on all of us, which is an important reason for the renaissance of their interest in public administration. SOME THEORETICAL ASPECTS   OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Though there are different approaches to the field of public administration, this interdisciplinary subject nowadays has a quite strong theory that tries to take into account not only management subjects, but also the mix of administration, policy making, and politics. Let us consider some issues of this theory and start with organization theory common to both public and private sectors. The basic aspects of organization theory The terms public and private convey very different connotations to the general public. Public organizations are commonly pictured as large mazes that employ bureaucrats to create red tape; private organizations, on the other hand, are viewed to be run by hard-nosed managers who worry about profit and consumers. Public organizations are pictured as wasteful; private organizations are often presented as efficient. Yet these perceptions of their differences do not withstand careful scrutiny. Both types of organizations have much in common. Organization as bureaucracy Whether in business or government organizations, a dominant form of any administration is bureaucracy. Bureaucracies are generally defined as organizations that (1) are large, (2) hierarchical in structure with each employee accountable to the top executive through a chain of command, (3) provide each employee with a clearly defined role and area of responsibility, (4) base their decisions on impersonal rules, and (5) hire and promote employees taking into account their skills and training related to specific jobs. Bureaucracy has promise but it may also create problems  and abuses of power, especially in the absence of effective coordination. Organization as a dynamic change Then, both public and private organizations have a dilemma – the need for both stability and change. All organizations resist change as organizational change is often painful and destructive. Despite the need for new ideas, new approaches, and new types of employees, stability need usually dominates in organizations. And the forces of stability are stronger in public organizations. These institutions are generally insulated from survival concerns by legal mandates. Few of them declare bankruptcy despite serious doubts about their efficiency. Organization as human relations Both organizations, especially public organizations, are crowded with individuals. Individuals bring to organizations a complex mix of needs (both fundamental needs, as food, shelter, health care, and future security which are bought with money earned through work, and our highest spiritual needs to belong to a social group and to contribute to it, the need of self-actualization, esteem and recognition). To attract and keep people and to encourage dependable and innovative performance, organizations must take into account individual needs and motivation and satisfy them. Organizations should also make a system of various rewards that are powerful incentives for above-average performance. Pay, promotions, recognition, and others rewards are distributed by managerial staff. Social rewards like friendship, conversation, impact, satisfaction received from meaningful work appear in the process of work itself. The social rewards of some jobs are more obvious than others. Jobs with greater variety, responsibility, and challenge are inherently more rewarding while routine can generate lack of interest and boredom, and managers should take it into account. Organization as a structure of subgroups Most work in organizations depends on ensemble rather than solo effort, and is a mix of collaboration and interdependence. There are two basic groups in organizations: formal and informal. Formal groups (departments, committees) are identified and selected by organizational leaders, and their major  characteristics are organizational legitimacy and task orientation. Informal groups (sport groups, common lunch hours, etc.) are not created by management but evolve out of the rich social environment. Though people in these groups get together to share common interests, not to work, their activities in them (supporting friends, trading rumors, and so on) have a profound effects on work and are as important as formal assignments. Organization as a cultural product Organizations have not only tangible dimensions such as an office building, an organizational chart, products and services, specific individuals and groups. Organizations are cultural and meaning systems as well as places for work. The concept of culture is difficult to define. But when comparing organizations in different countries, their cultural differences are extremely vivid and important. Despite similar work and procedures, police departments, for example, in India, Germany and Japan differ greatly. Offering a small gift to a policeman may be considered corruption in one nation and a sign of respect in another. Organizations are also meaning systems as they provide meaning to our lives. Feelings and emotions as well as purpose are very important to work life of an organization. The despair of the unemployed goes deeper than financial worries; many feel lost, without significance. Both culture and emotions influence structure, effectiveness, and change in organizations. Organizations are not only places of production; they are also sites rich with symbols and bureaucrats and executives act as tribal leaders: they tell stories, repeat myths, and stage rites and ceremonials. The symbolic and cultural dimensions of organizations are increasingly viewed as essential to understanding individual organizations and their role in society. The environment of public administration When many people think of public administration as an activity, they visualize large offices crammed with rows of faceless bureaucrats sitting at desks and producing an endless stream of paperwork. But this view captures only few of the important things that professional civil servants actually do. Public administration also has many more participants, such as the  executive, the legislature, the courts, and organized groups, which are involved in the formulation and implementation of public policy. And if a public administrator focuses the attention on only some of them then others may become neglected and that may lead to the jeopardy of the entire program. Summing up what has been said, it is important to underline that the theory of public administration is very diverse, is rapidly developing and depends much on what we know about why humans behave as they do when they interact with each other. PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION PERSONNEL:  ROLE-TYPES, ROLE CONFLICTS, ROLE OVERLOADS Large organizations employ many individuals. Charismatic leaders, caring supervisors, innovative program directors, and numerous street-level employees lend individuality to the collective and character to the whole organization. One should also remember that higher moral and ethical standards are expected of public employees than of private employees, and that public managers work within very strict limits of legislation, executive orders, and regulations surrounding government. But unique contributions of individuals do not obscure their general patterns of behavior, or roles. A role is a predictable set of expectations and behaviors associated with an office or position. Like an actor assigned a part, cabinet secretaries, police officers, and policy analysts step into roles that are already largely defined. A person usually performs several roles and it may become a source of stress and overload. Role overload is more than just too much work, or overwork. Role overload exists when the demands of various roles overwhelm an individual’s ability to balance expectations, when the demands of one role make it difficult to fulfill the demands of others. The lawyer who must cancel an appointment to care for a sick child or the professor who neglects his students to fulfill administrative obligations is experiencing a role conflict. Viewing organization as a system of roles helps to identify rights and obligations of each employee. Roles provide the consistency that holds an organization together. An organization that falls apart when individuals leave has not built an adequate structure of roles. Although public organizations contain  many specific roles, five role-types – the political executive, desktop administrator, professional, street-level bureaucrat, and policy entrepreneur – are the most common. Political executives Political executives (the secretary of a State Department, the city manager, or the county administrator) occupy the top of public organizations. Although their jobs and responsibilities are different, they all perform the functions of a political aide, policy maker, and top administrator. In most cases, political executives are political appointees – elected officials give them their jobs. That is why, their position, their tenure, and their influence while in office derive from the authority of elected officials. The official who wins the election most commonly appoints loyal supporters. They are advisors for selected officials. Elected officials cannot do everything. They can do little more than point the general direction and scrutinize the final result. That is why political executives appointed by them are also policy makers. The political executive initiates, shapes, promotes, and oversees policy changes. They may also have responsibility for major decisions. The ultimate authority, however, rests with the elected official. Political executives are also top-level administrators. It is a difficult role. Public executives are legally responsible for implementing policy They must cut through the red tape, resistance of change, intra-organizational conflict to assure that the public is served well.. Those political executives who fail to reach down and get the support and enthusiasm of their agency personnel will effect little change in policy. But if they completely disregard the preferences, knowledge, and experience of their agencies, stalemate ensues. If they uncritically adopt the views of their elected officials or their agencies, they may lose influence with elected officials. Desktop administrators Desktop administrators are career civil servants down the hierarchy a few steps from political executives. They are middle managers and closely fit the general description of a bureaucrat. Whether a social worker supervisor or the director of a major government program, the desktop administrator  spends days filled with memoranda and meetings. The desktop administrators are torn between the promises and practicality of governing. Desk administrators guide policy intentions into policy actions that actually change, for better or worse, people’s life. If there is, for example, a public and political consensus that the government should assist poor blind people, the definition worked out by a desktop administrator to answer the question who is poor and who is blind, has a dramatic influence to the nature of the program. Desktop administrators differ fundamentally from political executives in that most of them are career civil servants. After a short probation period, most earn job tenure, and usually are not fired. Tenure insulates the civil service from direct political interference in the day-to-day working of government. Job tenure protects civil servants from losing their jobs, but they may be reassigned to less important jobs of equal rank if they lose favor with political executives. Professionals Professionals make up the third major role-type in public organizations. The original meaning of the term profession was a ceremonial vow made when joining a religious community. This vow followed years of training and some certification that the acquired knowledge and appropriate norms of behavior justified an individual’s initiation. Modern professionals receive standard specific training that ends with certification. They also learn values and norms of behavior. Increasingly the work of public organizations depends on professionals and more and more professionals are involved in public administration. The work of professionals involves applying their general knowledge to the specific case and requires considerable autonomy and flexibility. An important difference between professional and non-professional work is who evaluates performance. Nonprofessionals are evaluated by their immediate supervisors. Professionals assert their independence from supervisors. Their work is evaluated by peer review of their colleagues and that has flaws: fellow professionals are sometimes more willing to overlook the mistakes of colleagues for different reasons. Street-level bureaucrats Street-level bureaucrats (social workers, police officers, public school  teachers, public health nurses, job and drug-counselors, etc.) are at the bottom or near the bottom of public organizations. Their authority does not come from rank, since they are at the bottom of hierarchy, but from the discretionary nature of their work. They deal with people and people are complex and unpredictable, they are not the same and require individual attention. A common complaint about public bureaucrats is that they treat everyone like a number; they ignore unique problems and circumstances. But there are only general guidelines how to deal with people (an abusive parent, an arrested, poor, old or sick person), and it is impossible to write better guidelines to make everyone happy. Street-level administrator must use judgment to apply rules and laws to unique situations, and judgment requires discretion. Given limited resources, public organizations want fewer, not more clients, and this is an important difference between public and private organizations, which attract more clients to earn more profit. And dependence of clients on street-level bureaucrats often create conflicts. Street-level bureaucrats work in situations that defy direct supervision. Even when supervisors are nearby, much work with clients is done privately. Most paperwork and computerized information systems attempt to control street-level bureaucrats, who in turn become skilled in filling out forms to satisfy supervisors while maintaining their own autonomy. Street-level bureaucrats are also policy-makers. They often decide what policies to implement, their beliefs can affect their work with clients, they may interpret the policy to benefit clients and vice versa, and thus they may change the policy while implementing it. Policy entrepreneurs The policy entrepreneur is generally considered to be the charismatic person at the top, though they can exist at all levels of an organization. They are strongly committed to specific programs and are strong managers. They are skilled in gathering support and guiding an idea into reality. The role requires conceptual leadership, strategic planning, and political activism. This role is both necessary and dangerous. They take risks and push limits, which is necessary for a dynamic government, but they also bend rules and sometimes lead policy astray. PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION: STAFFING  AND TRAINING THE AGENCY An important task in the management of any enterprise, private or public, is the recruiting, selecting, promoting, and terminating of personnel and employee training. Recruiting Once jobs have been created, the recruitment starts, i.e. finding people to fill those jobs. Public administration in the United States has come a long way from the time of Andrew Jackson, when, in the popular view, government jobs could be performed by any individuals (or at least any men) with normal intelligence. Under Jackson and his successors, frequent rotation on office was encouraged; no particular prior training or experience was necessary for most jobs. Merit systems were designed for the most part to keep out the grossly incompetent, not to attract the highly qualified. Gradually, the pattern changed. The government began attracting especially competent applicants. Openings were more highly publicized, recruiting visits were made to college and university campuses, and wages were made more nearly competitive with those in the private sector. Active efforts were made to attract individuals who, in earlier times, would have been excluded from public employment because of their ethnic or racial backgrounds or because they were women. Examining and selecting Once applications have been received, the next step in the personnel process is examination. The term examination does not refer only to a pencil-and-paper test. Some judgments are made on the basis of an unassembled examination. That is, the application form itself may require sufficient information to permit the assignment of a score based on reported experience and education and on references. Another possibility, especially important for jobs requiring particular skills, is performance examination. Some jobs call for an oral examination, particularly those for which communication skills are especially important. One examination of special importance is the Professional and Administrative Career Examination (PACE). PACE is intended to select candidates for federal government careers rather than for particular jobs. The personnel agency (e.g. Civil Service Commission) considers the list with the names of the individuals with the highest examination scores from which it chooses the new employee. Considerable discretion is allowed in making the final choice. Following selection, the new employee is likely to serve a probationary period, often six months, during which removal is relatively easy. Personnel managers encourage supervisors to see this as an extension of the testing procedure, but few employees are, in fact, dismissed during this period. Evaluation The evaluation of employee performance is a further personnel function. Recently, the trend has been to formalize rating schemes and to regularize feedback to employees. Where possible, objective measures of the work completed are employed. In jobs where this is not possible, supervisors are encouraged to judge performance as accurately as possible using impressionistic techniques. By supplying a continuing record of performance, such evaluation can protect employees from capricious actions of a subjective supervisor. Continuing education in the public service Government is deeply involved with the further education and training of the employees. This involvement may range from relatively simple, in-house training sessions – even on-the-job training – to the financing of undergraduate or graduate education. Many universities, in cooperation with government agencies, have developed special programs for public employees, and the courses typically lasting for a week, may be conducted either at a university campus or at an agency site. The Federal Executive Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia, established in 1968, operated by the Civil Service Commission, provides managerial training for high-level federal executives. The commission also has regional training centers located throughout the country. Public personnel are also often given leaves for a semester or a year by their agency to pursue a degree at the doctoral level (the Doctor of Public Administration) or to fulfill a master’s program. ELEMENTS AND MODELS OF A DECISION-MAKING PROCESS We all make decisions all the time. Some are small; some will have ramifications throughout our lives. Sometimes we make snap judgments that in retrospect seem wise. Other times we carefully weigh the pros and cons but are betrayed by fate. Often the most important decisions are nondecisions: we put things off, choose to ignore problems, or to avoid situations or people and later discover that inaction has consequences just as important as those resulting from action. Four processes of decision-making Whether small or large, short- or long-term, studied or impulsive, decision-making involves four major elements: problem definition, information search, choice, and evaluation. They are not sequential, they occur simultaneously. And it is often difficult to identify when a decision process begins and ends as most important choices are ongoing. Problem definition The first step in defining a problem is recognizing that it exists. Then, problems are plentiful; attention is scare. Selecting a problem for attention and placing it on the policy agenda is the most important element in policy making. When a problem is given attention, it gains focus and takes shape. How a problem is defined affects how it is addressed. The problem of the homeless is a good example. The people without home have always been with us. Most often they have been seen as people who because of their own weaknesses could not find work and afford homes. They were dismissed as drunks and drifters. So defined, the homeless remained a problem in the background – a problem for the Salvation Army, not the government. But as their number grew, we began to take a closer look. We saw individuals discharged from mental institutions, the unemployed whose benefits had expired, and families unable to afford decent home. And we started seeing â€Å"the homeless† as people in desperate situations. This change in our perception altered the decision process. Homelessness is now a focus of policy debate. Information search When we are only vaguely aware that a problem exists, our first step is often to learn more about it, and this learning is an important step in the decision-making. Acid rain is a good example. First in Europe and then in North America, people noticed that trees were dying, and a few scientists began to ask why. Pollution and changes in climate were explored. Out of this active search for information the problem gained definition: air pollution is killing trees. Then, the solutions were considered. Reducing acid rains requires costly reduction in pollution created in regions often at great distance from the dying trees. Thus, the information defined the nature of the policy-making. Information has always been central to governing, and governments are primary sponsors of research both in the sciences and humanities. Such research is driven by the interests of scholars and may not have immediate relevance to policy debate. But it may have important policy implications. For example, advances in lasers and genetic engineering influence defense and social policy in ways unanticipated by scientists or their government sponsors. Choice As problems are defined and information about problems and outcomes is examined, choices emerge. Weighing options and selecting are the most visible decision-making processes.  Sometimes choices are difficult and taking decisions is very hard, especially when choices are not clear and their results are unpredictable. Should we negotiate with terrorists? Do we want to save the lives of hostages, as family members prefer, or do we want to eliminate any incentive for future terrorism? The selection process does not necessarily require reasoned judgments; the compromises of group decision-making often produce results that only few individuals prefer; satisfying single interests often means ignoring the interests of others. Evaluation Decisions do not end with choices among alternatives. Decision-making  involves evaluating the effects and actions. Evaluation may be formal (an official study of the results produced by a new government program) or informal (scanning the news, talking to colleagues). Whether formal or informal, evaluation is another form of information gathering after the choice. The distinction between information search and evaluation is arbitrary. Before decision makers reach conclusions, most try to anticipate outcomes. The most difficult aspect of evaluating choices is establishing the criteria. The most common criterion is the result – if things turn out well we feel that we made the right choice. But in this case we may confuse good luck with good decision-making (consider the decision to have a surgery: all surgery involves risk, and if a person chooses to take the very slight risk to remove a small tumor and dies during surgery, was the decision wrong?). Results are not universal criteria for the quality of a decision. The evaluation of any decision-making must involve looking at results and processes as well as the situation faced by decision makers. Models of decision-making There is no right or wrong way to make decisions. Sometimes cautious deliberation is the best path; at other times risks are required. But scholars speak about two broad categories of models of decision-making: rational and nonrational models. Rational decisions are choices based on judgment of preferences and outcomes. They are not always turn out best and they do not eliminate the possibility of failure. Sometimes the goal is so important that it is rational to choose an option with little promise of payoff. Opting for experimental surgery is a rational choice over a life of pain. In nonrational models choices do not result from the deliberate balancing of pros and cons. These models share the assumption that the mix of rules and participants shape choices, and that decisions result from the varying (though not necessarily accidental) mix of ingredients. Most of governmental decisions are within these models. The decision process there is too complex to take into account multiple goals, alternatives and impacts of every alternative; the time required to take a decision is too short; the  finances are too thin to provide long researches. Taken to extremes, rational models reduce human judgment to computation, and nonrational models portray decision outcomes as the result of forces beyond individual control.  Both rational and nonrational models of the decision process are products of value-neutral social science. Values enter rational decision models only in the form of preferences, but they are generally defined in terms of self-interest. An emerging view of decision-making places a stronger emphasis on decisions as value statements. LEADERSHIP Leadership is the direction and guiding of other participants in the organization. Leadership differs in degree. Transactional leaders exchange rewards for services. They guide subordinates in recognizing and clarifying roles and tasks. They give their subordinates the direction, support, and confidence to fulfill their role expectations. They also help subordinates understand and satisfy their own needs and desires. They encourage better than average performance from their subordinates. They are good managers. Transformational leadership is more dramatic. Transformational leaders change the relationship of the subordinate and the organization. They encourage subordinates to go well beyond their original commitments and expectations. If transactional leaders expect diligence, transformational leaders foster devotion. These leaders have the ability to reach the souls of others to raise human consciousness. They raise the level of awareness and encourage people to look beyond their sel f-interest. Both forms of leadership are important. When people in positions of authority encourage subordinates to believe that their work is important – not merely a fair exchange of pay for work – motivation, commitment, and performance surpass routine expectations. Leadership is required for major changes and new directions, and without leadership government easily stagnates. When things go well or poorly we credit or blame the leader. We look for leadership in candidates for high office. But can we determine which job candidates are â€Å"natural born† leaders? Can we train employees so that they develop the required personality characteristics to become effective leaders? Over many years, investigators have hoped to identify leadership traits. It is  extremely difficult to know precisely what traits such diverse political leaders as Napoleon Bonaparte, Luther King, Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Indira Ghandi, and Adolf Hitler shared in common. Yet many researches have attempted to identify universal characteristics of leadership and the following classification of the leadership traits is suggested: 1)capacity (intelligence, verbal facility, originality, judgment); 2)achievement (scholarship, knowledge, athletic accomplishments); 3)responsibility (dependability, initiative, persistence, aggressiveness, self-confidence, desire to excel); 4)participation (activity, sociability, cooperation, adaptability, humor); 5)status (socioeconomic position, popularity). Yet this list is not very helpful. Particular traits are neither necessary nor sufficient to become a leader. There are brilliant thinkers and talkers who are not leaders, and there are people who are not very intelligent and not blessed with verbal facility who are obvious leaders. The holding of a degree does not say enough of the holder and whether he would fit into a particular situation. In some situations the manager’s superior education may be even resented by less well educated organization members. It is obvious that some managers are better leaders than others, and if psychological traits do not explain the variations, what is the explanation? Some investigators emphasize the situational character of leadership. The ingredients of this parameter of leadership are the following: †¢status, or position power – the degree to which the leader is enabled to get the group members to comply with and accept his or her leadership (but leadership should not be confused with high position – holding high office does not guarantee impact; despite the leader’s formal power, he or she did not always get from subordinates the performance that was desired); †¢leader-member relations – acceptance of the leader by members and their loyalty to him or her; †¢task-structure – the degree to which the jobs of the followers are well defined; †¢ability to recognize the most critical needs for organization members at the moment (physiological needs for food, sleep, etc. or safety needs for freedom from fear, for security and stability; needs for love, friends and contact; esteem needs for self-respect and the respect of others or needs for self-actualization, for a chieving one’s potential). Defining leadership is a very difficult task but  rejecting the study of leadership would impoverish our understanding of governing.

IKEA Children Labor Reaction

After the publication of the documentals that showed and proved that IKEA used children labor for the production of it's company in India IKEA was forced to react, to try to stop the media crisis and to be concerned and active to stop children labor in non-developed countries like India. The first reaction when all the information appeared was to deny it, saying that IKEA never contract companies that use children labor to do their products, but they accepted the possibility that maybe the companies they were contracting, sub-contract at the same time other corporations that could have children working for them.The spokesperson for IKEA defended the company, saying the contract with its suplier in the Philippines and India has been suspender, when under-age children were found to be making wicker baskets. But that was only the first reaction but sure not last. From that point IKEA changed the way of acting, taking more seriously this aspect and having it as a principal part of the co mpany and of the foundation IKEA owns. From that IKEA addressed the event and it â€Å"sent a legal team to Geneva to seek input and advice from the International Labor organization on how to deal with the problem.Also the company â€Å"added a clause to all supply contracts, stating simply that if the supplier employed children under legal working age, the contract would be cancelled†. This clause, a two-pages code of conduct, is based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). The third thing IKEA decided to do is to contract a Third-party that controls and take care of avoiding child labor practices at its suppliers in India and Pakistan. This action was very profitable for the company because it showed a different point of view and favored good publicity and made thing seem fairer from the public's view.In that way the bussines manager of the corporation did some research with well known organizations like Save the Children ( an organization that received on May 15 of 2012 a pledge of $10 million to end child labor in India cotton industry) or UNICEF to get advice. With all that information the manager could travel around the world, see the real situation and developed a label certifying that the carpets to which it was attached were made without the use of child labor.

Friday, August 30, 2019

The Social Psychology of the Salem Witch Trials

There are several other terms that could replace mob psychology such as group think, group control, social psychology. Social psychology is termed as a branch of human psychology dealing with the behavior of groups and the influence of social factors on the individual. (Donahue) â€Å"An individual is subjected to a more powerful control when two or more persons manipulate variables having a common effect upon behavior†. (Skinner 323) The psychology behind this simply states that two people are more influential than one and four people more Influential than two, etc.In the case of the Salem witch trials, this Is extremely evident. Having started with just two young girls from the same household and to grow into a state wide panic at such a fast rate supports this idea. In 1692, Salem was a Puritan village outside of Boston. The puritan teachings and beliefs were deeply revered and a way of life for the followers. The preacher of the church was Reverend Samuel Paris. His sermon s were fiery, emphasizing on spiritual warfare between the saved and the dammed. Norton 18) Before the trials began, Pearls preached a series of sermons about the first verse of Psalm 1 10: â€Å"Sit thou at my right hand, till I make thin enemies thy footstool. † (Norton 1 8) His reticular style of teaching emphasized on the vast differences between â€Å"us† and â€Å"them†; â€Å"us† being the saved and â€Å"them† being the dammed, thus instilling fear in the congregation and giving him control of his followers. To put it in a better perspective, David Hackett Fisher wrote concerning Puritan religion â€Å"Anyone outside of or contrary to that church was an agent of the devil†¦It was the responsibility of the church to help such a person by introducing him to confess the indwelling of an evil spirit and free himself. If he did not confess, it were better he be killed, lest he be a vehicle through witch the devil contaminate others. (Eleph ant 134) With this being the Puritan mindset, it would be common to fear the repercussions of not conforming to the rules and standards of the religion. Some religious leaders use the fear that sin will keep you from Heaven and that only the leader could save you from damnation. Skinner 3 The Puritans were on a crusade against evil and those who practiced witchcraft. (Schnapps, Ties 133-148) Samuel Paris was not the only religious figure who was preaching these messages at the time. Cotton Matter was a very well known and prestigious minister at Boson's Old North Church. He firmly believed in the practice f witchcraft. His father, Increase Matter, was extremely influential as well at the time. Both had published works about evil in the very real presence of witchcraft. These, as well as other writings were available to the public and influenced public thinking.Cotton Matter's first book length publication was Memorable Providence's, Relating to Witchcraft. This publication was based on his experience with the Goodwin family. Their children became â€Å"possessed† and Matter was personally involved in the children's deliverance. (Hill 20) Eighteen months after the Goodwin trial in Boston, Samuel Paris' young daughter ND niece began exhibiting the same strange behavior. Having read Cotton Matter's book, he feared the worst for the children. Once examined by Dir. Grids, and finding no plausible reason for their illness, the doctor concluded that it must be witchcraft. Starkey 45) The Paris' owned a slave couple named Tuba and John Indian. Tuba's growing concern for the girls inspired her to bake a witch cake. This cake contained the young girls' urine and was to be fed to a dog. If the dog were to behave strangely, the presence of witchcraft would be confirmed. (Hill 23) Samuel Paris was horrified of these actions. After hearing what Tuba did, the girls announced that it was in fact Tuba who had bewitched them. Along with these accusations, the girls also stated two other women in the community were responsible: Sarah Osborne and Sarah Good. Norton 44) The three women were of lower nobility which made the accusations much more plausible. These women were typical suspects of witchcraft. In both Europe and America, witches were mostly female, in their forties or older, had no social power, and did not conform to the social norm. (Elephant 136) â€Å"It was easy to make that assumption because they seemed more obnoxious, that kind of seasoning is dangerous. † (Borer 137) Many references to the accused are merely called Hags thus placing the women beneath those accusing her. In no time at all, the number of accusations and accusers increased rapidly.Young women were receiving attention and had access to public power. The girls could shriek and scream and not be punished, but instead be looked upon as victim. (Elephant 137) The amount of fear greatly increased through out the village. To be against the group would put you in danger , thus the group grows out of fear. (Skinner 323) The girls not only grew in number but in age as well. Each girl would vary in heir emotional patterns and would feed off of each others reactions. (Starkey 45) Those who were imprisoned were accusing others and chaos rapidly ensued.The community response became more agitated as the trials continued. Those who confessed were neither tried nor sentenced. (Elephant 138) The number of confessions only supported the girls' accusations allowing them more credibility. Those who claimed to be innocent were hung following their trial or for one man tortured. At this point, the presence of a strong governing body could have brought a more peaceful solution and calmed the growing fear of the people. Instead, the Judges a owe ten tentacles In ten courtroom anon ten solution spun quickly out AT control.This is an example of how mob psychology affected the outcome of these trials. The peoples' fears were compounded by the girls' emotional out burs ts, the religious view points being expressed at this time and growing distrust of people seen as different from themselves. There was no governing body, civil or religious, that was willing or able to control public response. On the contrary, the establishment of Court of Ore and Determiner, in May of 1692, brought a new level of seriousness. Norton 194) Grand and petty Juries were formed, witnesses were called in and the charades escalated.On December 23, the court appointed new Juries of men who felt the proceedings were too violent and they would use â€Å"another method† while conducting future trials. (Norton 291) Once these men took control of the trials, order was slowly becoming restored into play and the storm began to calm. Many who were still imprisoned were only there because they could not pay the fees to be released. Tuba was one of the last remaining to be freed since Samuel Paris refused to pay her cost of imprisonment. Norton 292) When the trials finally cam e to an end, twenty people had died.This tragic and unfortunate event could have had a much more positive out come had the control of the group been enforced at an earlier time. It is clearly evident that the force of the mob caused the Salem witch trials to become so overwhelming. Increase Matter played a major influential part toward the end of the trials by opposing the manner in which Salem officials handled the allegations. (Norton 291). Luckily for the town of Salem, new laws were put into action as to how to conduct a witch trial properly. Works Cited Borer, Paul S, and Stephen Einsteinium.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Unit 6 Big Ideas in Science SEMINAR Research Paper

Unit 6 Big Ideas in Science SEMINAR - Research Paper Example Atmospheric Carbon also comes from decomposition of dead animals. Sedimentary rocks like limestone, as well as seashells also contain carbon. Nitrogen, on the other hand, exists in the atmosphere as nitrogen gas. This nitrogen gas is converted to ammonia gas through the process of nitrogen fixation, and the ammonia is converted to nitrites then oxidized to nitrates through the process of nitrification. Nitrogen fixation is accomplished by nitrogen fixing bacteria as well as lightning. The resultant nitrites and nitrates are converted back to nitrogen gas by denitrifying bacteria through denitrification process. Nitrogen present in organic matter is converted into ammonia gas via ammonification process. Human activities affect the natural processes of water, carbon, and nitrogen cycles. Activities like burning of fossil fuels and coal releases nitrogen compounds, sulfur, and carbon compounds to the atmosphere, which, in addition to causing air pollution, leads to the formation of acid rain. Acid rain causes great damage to plants and animals. Increase of nitrogen in the atmosphere causes imbalance of nutrients available for plants, affecting their health and biodiversity. Other problems like leaching of nitrogen into the soil and resultant pollution and eutrophication results from increasing nitrogen in the air. Furthermore, the use of chlorofluorocarbons, CFCS, causes the breakdown of the ozone layer leading to the formation of Ozone hole. The result is an increase in occurrence of skin cancer due to penetration of ultraviolet light into the

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 143

Case Study Example Consequently, this may result to psychological harm to the client depending on how the situation will ensue. In that case, whether the client consents to any kind of physical contact with the social worker, it is best to think through the idea. Although, it is the duty of a social worker to be hospitable, there are limits that should be adhered to. Therefore, Dr. Kim’s situation can be summarized as a painstaking moment. This is because he was keen to safeguard his professionalism but at the same time please his client. Thus, it is fair to conclude that Dr. Kim had the client’s best interest at heart, then again, he did not want to jeopardize his professionalism, and thus, he was quick to seek guidance from another therapist who had more experience in the field. If Dr. Kim had gone along with the act in secrecy, then at that moment he would be more liable to accusations of breach of ethical standards. Nevertheless, he chose to make things right before they get out of hand. NASW (2008). Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers. Texas State Board of Social Worker Examiners. Retrieved from

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Globalization Photo and Statement Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Globalization Photo and Statement - Assignment Example In economics, globalization is essentially the convergence of prices, rates of interest, product wages and profits. The mentioned are directed towards developed country norms on the role of international trade, human migration, and integration of financial markets and movement of capital. The International Monetary Fund has noted the growing economic independence of many countries through the through the steady increase in volume and variety in the cross-border transactions. It has also noted the economic independence through free international capital flows as well as the rapid and widespread diffusion of technology. Those supporting free trade point out that advantage suggest that comparative trade mostly leads to efficient allocation of resources. The trade therefore benefits generally leading to lower prices, more employment and higher living standards (Schaeffer

Monday, August 26, 2019

Karl Marx & Political Life Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Karl Marx & Political Life - Term Paper Example It was these that guided these revolutionaries in their struggles to change the status quo and introduce a new system in society. At the core of Marxist ideas is the tool of analysis that is to be used in understanding the essential features of society. The Marxist social analysis is actually the most essential principle behind the socialist ideology. Without social analysis, it is apparently impossible to discover the factors that could lead to the progress of society from one historical stage to another. Without it, the leadership of such movements for change would not be able to identify the motive forces as well as those that would seek to maintain the status quo. As a social scientist, Marx was among the first to articulate that to understand society, it is necessary to focus on the material basis of its existence, the economy. He actually began his investigations of society by first understanding the dynamics of capitalist economy, particularly its mode of production. It was th rough his observations in the relationship among the people involved in production that he was able to formulate a theory about social classes and the political structure arising from it. Therefore, Marx does not consider politics as independent from economic life. Instead, he considers it to be a reflection of the relations in production. At the same time, however, he also explains that the nature of the economy can also be altered by changes in politics. Even as Marx formulated a social theory that eventually led to the organization and mobilization of the working class for social change, he was not a worker himself. A lawyer by training and education, he belonged to the middle class. Therefore, it was impossible for him develop the political standpoint and ideological viewpoint of the proletariat. However, he was drawn to socialist ideas and was also a Hegelian; both of which were contributing factors to his determination in learning about the potential elements that could lead t o radical social transformation. As a socialist, Marx appreciated the benefits of a society where there are no distinctions based on wealth and participation on labor. As a Hegelian, he was also very interested in discovering dialectics in society; the contradictions that could lead to change. Aside from being a socialist and a Hegelian, Marx also upheld the principal aspects of political economy as articulated by Adam Smith and David Ricardo, especially in the concept that the wealth of society originates from the combination of nature and human labor. All these were vital to the development of Marx’s systematic theory. Inspired by his socialist principles and Hegelian-influenced methods of analysis, Marx went on to investigate the mode of production. As a result of his investigation he concluded that â€Å"the increasing value of the world of things proceeds in direct proportion to the devaluation of the world of men† and that labor produces not only commodities; it also produces itself and the worker as a commodity – and does so in the proportion in which it produces commodities generally.† (Marx 43) As the working class reproduces itself, individuals who are not involved in labor but are related to production emerge. These are the capitalists or the bourgeoisie; the class whose existence is based on the appropriation of a certain percentage of the wealth created by

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Reaction Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reaction Paper - Essay Example On the other hand, its placement within the Kyper belt makes it part of other debris floating in this space. Its long distance away from Sun and the estimated 560 year orbiting time, also demarcates it from the eight well-established planets. Fascinated I was with Dr. Brown’s free-flowing narrative of the events in the lead-up to the eventual discovery, I was also impressed by his mastery of scientific technique and methodology. The way he explained how digital cameras and high-power telescope were used for the project was quite lucid. Toward the end of the lecture, Dr. Brown expressed his displeasure about the tendency among the community of astronomers to give importance to precise definitions of what a planet is. As per the newly coined definition of a planet, both Eris and Pluto do not qualify, thereby leaving the number of recognized solar planets to be eight (stopping with Neptune). Upon hearing this decision to drop Pluto and Eris from the class of planets, I was a tad disappointed. But as Dr. Brown explains at length, such rigid formalizations go against the spirit of astronomy and cosmology. I agree with his view that it is the concept and description which matters, not narrow definitions. Lecture Notes: Lecture organized by Astronomical society - Dr.

Saturday, August 24, 2019

The shortcomings experienced in the adult learning system syllabi that Dissertation

The shortcomings experienced in the adult learning system syllabi that is implemented by prisons departments - Dissertation Example This essay discusses that the British prison educational system has many challenges to overcome if it desires to address its mandate of rehabilitating prisoners. The British government must deal with the fact that the vast majority of the people it incarcerates have tremendous learning problems, including suffering from high levels of illiteracy and innumeracy than the general population. As a result, education in prisons is filled with many obstacles that the British government, staff, and prisoners must overcome. In order to ascertain the efficacy of its educational programmes in prison, the British government provides tests and diagnoses to seek if it can remedy the problems of prison learning. The issue of evaluating inmates remains a central concern for the prison educational system because of the particular characteristics of inmates that impact their learning, including the fact that some serve shorter sentences versus longer sentences, the lack of funding for classes, the abs ence of a system of transferring school records to the next prison, the lack of a uniform educational system for all, the constraints of prison life, the lack of access to the Internet and library, the lack of high level courses, etc. All of these factors and more militate against inmates learning in the prison educational system. However, in giving these tests, the thesis of this dissertation argues it has uncovered even more problems in terms of making these prisoners take them over and over again, which is called repetitive assessment diagnosis. Finally, it makes recommendations on how to address this problem. The construction of the syllabi design and implementation should not have any items that will cause monotony, such as repetition. Major academic theories of syllabi design and the implementation argue that the learning environment of learners may be definitive of the actual outcome of the learning. Repetition serves as a particular problem of the prison educational system w ith compromising syllabus implementation for inmates. One of the problems that plague the prison educational system is the routine practice of the relocation of prisoners and their subsequent successive subjection to diagnostic assessments. On the other hand, it underscores plausible solutions with respect to the prison educational system in the United Kingdom. With the collaboration of A4E (Action for Employment), adult education system, and prison’s setting training are carried out. The concept of assessment in the learning process and its coordination in successive procedures are important in facilitating education among students. The learning experience of students should to be facilitated with the use of assessment techniques that encourage active participation. Repetition in assessments could result in alienation and loss of interest from students. A well designed assessment should facilitate self-evaluation and progression in personal development rather than be punitiv e and repetitive. This study examines the problems in the prison educational system of the United Kingdom in regards to the assessment failures in its tests, especially in regards to repetitive evaluations of transferred prisoners. In order to understand the impact of successive

Friday, August 23, 2019

Comparison of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution Essay

Comparison of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution - Essay Example The Constitution responds to that requirement. The most apparent forms of Constitutional response can be found in its architecture. Government powers are divided into executive, judicial, and legislative branches (Allen 1). The legislative takes the central position; it is well elaborated in Article 1 and it bears the most careful description of principles and powers of representation. This fulfills the Declaration concerns in which particular tyrannical oppressions are listed; the Declaration lists ten executive power violations, one judicial power violation, and fourteen legislative power violations. The legislative powers are listed in Article I, Section 8, and they serve as a template through which the charges made against the King may be assessed as mainly one or the other tendency. The Constitution offered protection where the experience written in the Declaration recognized dangers. A similar pattern is shown in the Bill of Rights, which opens with a strong limit, â€Å"Congr ess shall make no law †¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Allen 1). Both documents affirm that the legislative powers go back to the people. Every charge made against King can be transformed into positive assertions of the government’s obligations. ... The liberty of citizens entails free movement of a person into and out of the nation. The judicial power must be independent of the will of the executive, and they must be given the power to render justice to individuals. The citizens are not supposed to be burdened with the (excessive) need to sustain public officers. Public liberty and the military administration are not compatible, and the military ought to be subordinate to and reliant on the civil power (Allen 1). Second, both the Constitution and the Declaration hold the principle of equality. The most compelling evidence of the Constitution’s principles is offered in its architecture. Furthermore, considerable dimensions are contained in the tenor and the language of the document. The Preamble has generally been identified as keynoting the document in its recognition of â€Å"â€Å"We the People† as the authorizing power of the government established under the Constitution† (Allen 1). This responds to the instance made by the Declaration that the public good is the purpose of a limited constitutional union. Additionally, it further argues that the artificial and political bodies do not create the United States of America. It is the people who exercise a native God-given right have the ability to do so (Allen 1). It is important to note that the authorizing individuals are recognized in the document as fully entitled to serve within the government and to gain from its ministrations. The Constitution has its own terms, which determine an individual eligible to hold office. The individuals are distinguished based on citizenship restrictions and by reasonable age. The document does not admit any religious test, and no gender or race is excluded. In other words,

The Music of Hollywood Films Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

The Music of Hollywood Films - Assignment Example Then one day an engineer comes to the village to build a dam. The engineer Rajeev had a very strange problem since his childhood and that was his inferiority complex regarding his looks. He thinks that he is very ugly and no one would like him. Then one day hears Roopa singing religious songs in the temple and meets her. As they continue to meet, both fall in love each other while Rajeev had no idea about the facial disfigurement of Roopa. Roopa did not tell him anything wither as she was scared of losing the only love of her life and kept Rajeev in dark. Rajeev falling deeper and deeper in Roopa’s loves goes to her father one day and seeks his permission to marry Roopa. Roopa’s Father happily agrees as He knew they both loved each other and all He could ask for was the happiness of her daughter. After getting married, Rajeev gets to know about the reality of Roopa and He thinks that she is not the girl he fell in love with and this was all a plan to cheat him. Disappointed and frustrated both, He kicks Roopa out of his house while Roopa pleaded and begged him to believe that she is the same girl he fell in love with and she did not cheat. Desperate for her love Roopa decides to meet her husband daily in the night with her face covered. Rajeev with this supposedly different girl falls in love and they start to meet every night. One day Roopa realizes that she is pregnant. Rajeev, when gets to know about this, suspects her again of cheating as he did not know that Roopa and that girl are the same people. Then one day, due to heavy rain, the dam breaks out and everything gets washed away in the rain. There Rajeev realizes how wrong he had been and saves her wife Roopa from the flood and gets her back to his home. There are many archetypes and stereotypes displayed in the movie. For example, how could two people fall in love with each other without even seeing each other face?

Thursday, August 22, 2019

The Importance of Photosynthesis and Respiration Essay Example for Free

The Importance of Photosynthesis and Respiration Essay The Importance of Photosynthesis and Respiration Explain how photosynthesis and respiration are linked in order to provide you with energy from the food you eat: Photosynthesis is the process in which certain life forms are able to use sunlight to create energy. This energy is created by making carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water in the presence of chlorophyll. Plants release large amounts of oxygen into the atmosphere as they produce much more than needed during the photosynthesis process. Aerobic respiration is an important process in life as we know it. This process further breaks down molecules and sugars using oxygen. During this process adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is created, used to store and transfer energy to cells throughout the body. (Aerobic respiration, 2010) Photosynthesis and aerobic respiration are both needed for each other to be able to perform their primary functions. One without the other would not work properly. Between both of these processes we receive three main sources; water, carbon dioxide and oxygen. Plants and animals require all three of these in order to live. Carbon dioxide and oxygen are a lot like a circle. Animals need oxygen to live and emit carbon dioxide, while plants need carbon dioxide to produce carbohydrates and omit oxygen, thus completing the circle. (Photosynthesis, 2005) During the photosynthesis stage a plant produces oxygen that aerobic respiration will use in order to break molecules, during this process electrons are released creating energy and a substance called adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is created. Through ATP, complex molecules are broken down into simple ones, allowing them to be used appropriately. (Photosynthesis, 2005) In the absence of oxygen some cells and organisms can use glycolysis coupled to fermentation to produce energy from the sugar created by photosynthesis: Fermentation allows for the production of energy without oxygen using organic compounds. Fermentation produces ATP with organic compounds like carbohydrates as the electron acceptor instead of oxygen, although less than cellular respiration. Yeast and muscle cells are capable of both cellular respiration and fermentation to harvest energy. When yeast cells are in a non-oxygen placement, the cells are forced to ferment. This is partially what it means when brewers ferment there beer. Our bodies use cellular respiration, to produce ATP, as our primary source of energy during normal activity. Although when we exert large amounts of energy all at once like running sprints would do, the normal cellular respiration would be unable to keep up with the required amount of oxygen to create ATP, therefore fermentation begins to assist making ATP. Cells use enzymes as biological catalysts to increase or accelerate the rate of reactions, such as those in photosynthesis or glycolysis. This allows reactions to occur under conditions that sustain life: An enzyme is simply a catalyst; also something extra that’s only purpose is to speed a process up that would otherwise take a very long time. Our bodies have copious amounts of these enzymes whose only purpose is to speed up needed reactions and bonds between separate chemicals throughout the body. This bonding process is completed through what is known as enzyme substrate interactions. (Enzyme, 2005) An enzyme-substrate is most easily explained as being an extremely specific key whole in which only a specific enzyme has access to, allowing that enzyme to enter the key whole and pushing to molecules into one. An enzyme-substrate complex substrate undergoes a chemical reaction forming a new product. The substrate still has the ability to break away from the enzyme at this point allowing it the ability to form with a different substrate. An enzyme product is simply a solution. The eventual mating of two chemicals to bond together forms a new enzyme product. Enzyme activity is regulated a couple of different ways, one is known as allosteric inhibition and the other is known as competitive inhibition. Competitive inhibitors bind with the active site forcing the substrate to compete with it, hence the title competitive inhibition. Allosteric inhibition is when an ion bonds to something physically on the enzyme, no on the site, changing the shape of the enzyme. (Enzyme, 2005)? References Aerobic respiration. (2010). In The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather guide. Retrieved from http://www. credoreference. com. proxy. cecybrary. com/entry/heliconhe/aerobic_respiration Enzyme. (2005). In The American Heritage Science Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www. credoreference. com. proxy. cecybrary. com/entry/hmsciencedict/enzyme Photosynthesis. (2005). In The American Heritage Science Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www. credoreference. com. proxy. cecybrary. com/entry/hmsciencedict/photosynthesis

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Hewlett Packard: Porters Five Forces, SWOT and PEST

Hewlett Packard: Porters Five Forces, SWOT and PEST 1.0 Background The organization being chosen to carry out such change process analysis is the computer industry and the organization company in focus is amicably regarding HP Computers. Thus, change processes in business organizations involves the reality behind every process and is considered as a daily cycle in dealing to various issues and concerns of the organization as it depends on the managements actions and its respected change of nature in dealing with effective change management as directed at overcoming anger and resentment evolving into a program that supports acceptance and internalization. As a consultant commenting on the organizational change process choosing HP organization as the focal point for discussion and analysis for this presentation, role to the organization is to have a clear emphasis dealing to the external and internal change drivers and other essential points needed for the realization of purpose for this report presentation for the senior management of the HP in provi ding factual information that will be able to give a better substantive spontaneity of understanding of such organizational state needed for selection and the application of the appropriate management models as well as concepts per se. This essay utilized HP Corporation as the model organization to review its present visions for renewed organization and how they dealt with critical situations. From the analysis, key trends in the change strategies of HP Corporation were then identified, how they worked and their effectiveness in dealing with critical situations was ascertained. The paper then moved on to assess these change strategies with regard to their suitability to critical situations, during which the internal capabilities of these change strategies in relation to the strategy being followed by HP Corporation was determined also. An overall analysis of the performance and effectiveness of the change strategies was also conducted to assess and compare the capabilities of these change strategies with those of others. Gaps in the change capabilities and environment were then identified. Finally, several choices of strategies to improve the change strategies of HP Corporation as effective means in critical situations were recommended and evaluated in terms of appropriateness to the issues reviewed, feasibility in carrying out the options and acceptability within the key stakeholders and decision makers. Several key implementation issues related to managing strategic change were also addressed as well. 2.0 Introduction: Typically, the concept of organizational change is in regard to organization-wide change, as opposed to smaller changes such as adding a new person, modifying a program, etc. Examples of organization-wide change might include a change in mission, restructuring operations (e.g., restructuring to self-managed teams, layoffs, etc.), new technologies, mergers, major collaborations, rightsizing, new programs such as Total Quality Management, re-engineering, etc. Some experts refer to organizational transformation. Often this term designates a fundamental and radical reorientation in the way the organization operates. Change can be defined as the efficient and effective implementation of the policies and tasks necessary after takeover or merging of one or more companies or organizations. Change management focuses on the careful management of the processes involved in the gradual adjustment of the new management and its workforce. More often than not, the newly merged or acquired business entities dont really have an easy time adjusting to the changes brought about by the acquisition or take-over. As a result, these entities engage in activities that are somehow resisting to changes. Therefore, the major activities of the company such as the manufacturing of products, product development, production and distribution become severely hampered. However, change deals with all operations done within companies and organizations. Activities such as the management of purchases, the control of inventories, logistics and evaluations are often the focus of change. A great deal of emphasis lies on the efficiency and effectiveness of processes. Therefore, change includes the analysis and management of internal processes. 3.0 Hewlett-Packard (HP) SWOT Analysis: 3.1 Strengths: The new product offering New innovation for RD Competitive Price After sales service 3.2 Weaknesses: Internal control issues Lack of in-house management consulting division No aggressive investments in RD compared to historical spending Unrest among internal employees due to pay cuts and lack of people care Intellectual Capital is under estimated No Good People retention policy or HR practices to ensure IC is protected 3.3 Opportunities: Emerging markets, particularly countries e-Commerce expansion Restructuring of internal IT structure Imaging and printing businesses 3.4 Threats: Intense competition from other PC manufacturers Increasing competition on imaging and printing Slowdown in economic conditions Product recalls and supply chain disruptions 4.0 Hewlett-Packard (HP) Porters five forces Analysis: 4.1 Rivalry within the Industry: The centre area represents the rivalry in the industry. On the left are the main traditional players in the industry, with an indication that there is a large amount of consolidation occurring between these companies. On the right are the areas in which the market is being fought. In the basic access/basic services arena, many companies are offering the same deal access and basic services, and so those that are doing it more cheaply than others will attract customers. Otherwise, ISPs will have to offer something special to differentiate them from others. 4.2 Threat of Substitute Products: There is a tremendous attraction for companies other than offer computer accessories and services, especially if they know they can enter the market at a high level. Competitors have the resources and computer accessories know-how to be successful in this industry. They are also aware of the threats of not being a part of this industry, and are entering at a tremendous rate, either by acquisition, merging, or simply. 4.3 Threat of New Entrants: Due to the nature of the computer market, the threat of new entrants is reasonably strong. There are low barriers to entry all that is needed to become is a small amount of capital and some technical know-how. Much of the activity can be outsourced, which can reduce initial costs. 4.4 Bargaining Power of Suppliers: The suppliers are those that own the networks. These tend and backbone providers. Backbone providers generally own what is the absolute backbone of the Internet, and control routing and switching of traffic. Own the local loop copper pairs, which most customers use to connect and the lines that lease to connect to the Internet, and much of the Internet backbone. 4.5 Bargaining Power of Buyers: Although an individual consumer has little or no say about how much an ISP charges, due to the rivalry within the market, ISPs generally have to offer their services at reasonable prices. They will lose their customer base if they charge more for a service someone else provides more cheaply. Switching costs are low, and so churn rates are high. 5.0 The External Environment A PEST Analysis of Hewlett-Packard (HP): A PEST (Political, Economic, Sociological and Technological) analysis is a scan of the outside environment to try to spot changes that might impact upon business. These changes might be seen as opportunities or threats. 5.1 P Political: HP operates as a global business within 145 countries world wide. It is organized into three global business groups which roughly correspond. HP is subject to various regional regulations and policies within the associated trading blocks. The key factors at play include trade regulations and tariffs, legal framework for Intellectual property and contract enforcement. The advent of globalization has mitigated against the more adverse impacts of such policies, Europe to America and Visa Versa. In addition, Japan and China and Korea are large important markets for HP and general movement to free markets has encouraged expanding trade here. 5.2 E Economic: HP is directly impacted by general economic trends. The Server, PC and storage business are barometers of general business economic climate, for example the 2001 technology crash impacted various areas of these business units. Also the mobile PC business, printer and ink business are directly tied to consumer spending and sentiment. The back to school consumer market is a very large component of the HP sales in summer months. HP is a mature company and with lower than average employee attrition rates, particularly within the United States, this aging workforce has negative financial implications for pension and downstream Medicare costs. 5.3 S Sociological: HP is subject to a number of macro social trends. One key trend is the market and political focus on green issues. HP as a large ink and printer manufacturer, people use a lot of paper and ink with HP products so its indirect carbon footprint is large. Also as the worlds largest PC and laptop manufacturer, HP will have to address potentially stricter environmental policies in the coming years. We already have seen recent European legislation concerning end of life disposal for consumer white goods. There is a large change in social interaction with technology, wireless and mobility are now key product and user demanded attributes. Peoples expectations relating to technology are accelerating. People are also using technology in new ways, HP must map and maintain coherence with these social trends to be successful. 5.4 T Technological: As HP is a technology enterprise, there are many macro factors at play in this category. The most salient are discussed here: Emergence of Linux This impacts HPs core enterprise platform business, HP has invested and developed over many years its own enterprise version of Unix called HP-UX. Convergence of standards and technologies Computing infrastructure is now viewed as a utility by many large enterprise customers, an intel based platform running windows is practically identical in terms of price /performance from any vendor. Scale of Technological Advancement The price /performance scalar for computing platforms is well documented but this rapid advancement has large impacts on how enterprises configure supply chains and routes to markets. Lower Cost Computing Improvements in technology have led to rapid advances in mobile technologies and lower cost have yielded large price /performance gains for consumers. Service revenues mix changing The advent of new technologies such as virtualization, standardization of the platforms and lower cost of hardware / software is changing the way customers now purchase value added services from HP. 6.0 Vision for Renewed Organization: It all started in 1939 when Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard created HP when they worked on an audio oscillator in a garage in Palo Alto, California. After Walt Disney bought several of these oscillators for their latest movie, Fantasia, the company was off and running. While HP began as a company that produced all sorts of electronic products, their first focus was on test products like counters and voltmeters. Later on in the sixties, HP ended up becoming the founder of Silicon Valley. They got into semiconductors in the early sixties and by 1966, they entered the computer market with the HP 2100and the HP1000. These were sturdy models that lasted for a good twenty years before more advancements saw screen keys and the HP 2640 rise to the occasion. HP is one of the few companies in the world to successfully marry the technologies of measurement, computing and communication. The company makes new advances in portable computing, enters the home-computing market and continues to invent new printing and imaging solutions. For most of the decade, HP enjoys growth rates of 20 percent. Early in the 90s, John Young retires and is replaced by Lew Platt, under whose leadership HP continues to grow. HP becomes recognized as a company whose policies on work-life balance, diversity and community involvement help attract and retain top employees. At the end of the decade, HP spins off its measurement and components businesses to form a new company, Agilent Technologies. It also brings on board a new CEO, Carleton (Carly) Fiorina, who focuses the company on reinventing itself for growth and leadership in the 21st century. HP has approximately 39,000 employees around the globe and has a large and diverse corporate organization. HP company has lot of computer systems in many locations such as Austin, Texas and Nashville that could be of high staffing cost and value that has contributed in maintaining sales to over thirty four offices around and then serve as the front line in terms of selling its products and services worldwide. In human resource side, HP conducts training for all employees in order to reduce absenteeism and human errors as well because the high-quality staff is required in enhancing the best quality performance of the company. HP Corporation aims for change in order to pursue sustainable growth as a broad market leader in mobile computing as well as for segment leadership. In both cases, the HP brands will play a crucial part. HP Corporation is able to establish its broad leadership usually by acquiring other strong mobile computing companies and their products, which are then combined into a new, larger company. Offering training to its employees, improving the company operations, and the introduction of new technologies then reinforces the positions of the various HP products. This practically results in economies of scale that is able to create a distribution network for both the local and international HP products. If a market is already in the control of other mobile computing companies, HP Corporation devotes its attention towards the development of a premium segment with its various HP products. The vision of HP Corporation for renewed organization is to secure the growth of the business in a sustainable manner, while at the same time constantly improving the companys profitability. The strategy to achieve this involves four elements: Striving in order to reach a leading position in attractive markets Focusing on securing a competitive share of the mobile computing market segments. Working in order to improve the companys efficiency and cut costs in operations. Continuous growth through selective acquisitions for as long as they are able to create shareholder value. 7.0 Scope of Change: 7.1 The Change for Staff: Human resources are an organizations most important asset. Ultimately an organizations distinctive competences lie in the skills and abilities of its employees. Because these skills and abilities give an organization a competitive advantage, organizations must continually monitor their structures to find the most effective way of motivating and organizing human resources to acquire and use their skills. Employees basically refer to people who work for another in return for wages or salary. Legally, an employee is referred to a person hired to provide services to a company on a regular basis in exchange for compensation, and who does not provide these services as part of an independent business. However, stated that employees are more than any of those definitions. Employees are the lifeblood of the organization because they are the ones who provide products and services that define corporations, organizations and government entities. They are referred to as the most precious assets of the organization because without them, the organization is crippled and cannot function effectively. Because of the important role of employees, HP Corporation has the responsibility to motivate them so as they can function more effectively. Theories of motivation such as Maslows theory, Alfelders theory, McClellands theory, and Herzbergs theory explain why employees and staff should be motivated and why organizations should take this concept into consideration. But what really constitutes effective employee motivation? Building a positive communication with employees is important because they are the organizations best ambassadors or loudest critics, depending on how fast they get relevant information and the context in which it is received. Information consistency affects the success of the company and if it fails to communicate information internally and externally, the reputation of the company may fall. Communication basically uplifts the morale of an employee as it makes them feel that they are valued by the organization. This also builds employee loyalty and satisfaction. 7.2 The Change for System: Organizational function needs to develop procedures that allow it to manage the particular environment it faces. As the environment changes. Organizations often transfer resources to the functions where the most value can be created. Crucial functions grow in importance, while those whose usefulness is declining shrink. An organization can improve the value that its functions create by changing its structure, culture, and technology. The change from a functional to a product team structure, for example, may speed the new product development process. Alterations in functional structure can help provide a selling in which people are motivated to perform. The change from traditional mass production to a manufacturing operation based on self-managed work teams often allows companies to increase product quality and productivity if employees can share in the gains from the new work system. There was a period when HP Corporation was generating its first surplus which was the effect of the cost-cutting activities imposed by their management. This was the time when HP Corporation had also realized that the organization needs to pay attention on it customer service so as to ensure that the industry will continue to earn profit. In order to initiate such change, HP Corporation hired Consultants to gather data about staff and customer attitudes. The result of such evaluation shows that there is a significant gap between what the staff is providing and what the customer actually needed. Hence, another management initiative was the change of the system from staff- oriented to customer oriented industry through the creation of customer is king culture within the organization. 7.3 The Change for Strategy: The organizational structure of HP Corporation also changed to a much flatter and slimmer structure. Five sections of the industry are directly reporting to the CEO and eleven profit centers were created. This structural alternation aims to enhance the staff integration and communication, within HP Corporation. The performance-related pay was also introduced by the management based on an appraisal system which values the significance of customer service and organizational cohesion. This change also includes major investments in ground facilities and IT in order to adhere to the needs of its customers. 8.0 Speed of Change: The speed of change can be two types_ Evolutionary Change is described as incremental, gradual and narrowly focused. This change is constant. Evolutionary change may be a carefully developed, long-term goal that an organization is moving toward. One tool that can promote and direct evolutionary change is strategic planning. Revolutionary Change Revolutionary change is dramatic, rapid and broadly focused. This radical shift may mean new ways of doing things, new goals or a new organizational structure. The three important components of revolutionary change are reengineering, restructuring, and innovation, as described by Jones and George. Revolutionary change is appropriate within the technology industry, where swift advancements often happen. Although an organization cannot plan for every situation, scenario planning may be most appropriate to predict potential revolutionary change. In scenario planning, a business envisions possible future outcomes and creates a plan to deal with each one. Reengineering involves rethinking and redesigning business processes to increase organizational effectiveness. Instead of focusing on an organizations functions, the managers of a reengineered organization focus on business processes Although the management change had been able to enhance the competitiveness of HP Corporation, this does not mean that the company felt the changes immediately and became free from any other problems and issues. Definitely, the employees and staff took time before they became fully adjusted with the changes as HP Corporation imposed a more comprehensive human resources management through its Staff Development Initiative. However, not all employees had been able to meet the objective of such initiative. Hence, the problem encountered by HP Corporation during and after the management change is a concrete evidence of the lengthy time that the company experienced getting accustomed with the changes. 9.0 Proposed Action: Strategy 1: Product Development The retailers represent HP Corporations largest sales and marketing channel which encompass national and regional office supply stores and mass merchants. Distributors represent HP Corporations second largest channel and generally sell to both traditional and Internet resellers and retailers. In Europe and Asia, HP Corporations market share is still relatively high. HP Corporation has more than 100 international distributors located worldwide. Strategy 2: Product Penetration The company uses the online store as a venue to sell its products. This is accomplished through the use of e-marketing campaigns and product bundles. The company is able to build awareness of its products and brands through mass media advertising, public relations efforts and branded Internet properties. The company also makes it a point to receive feedback from its customers through market research. The company then uses these feedbacks to refine its product development efforts and marketing strategies. The company also initiated an e-commerce strategy to increase online sales and provide new innovations in business class which increases customer satisfaction. Strategy 3: Enhancement of Operations / Efficiency and Effectiveness HP Corporations direct to customer model solve the problem for additional capital for marketing and sales. By selling directly to consumer it eliminated retailers along the way. One advantage of this kind of system is that the firm is continuously in contact with its customers and they are benefiting in two areas concerning sales and marketing, seeing sales trends and learning about unmet costumer demands. Strategy 4: Technology Improvement Technology is an important source of competitive advantage. And this is considered a strength of HP because the firm enjoys better access to technology. HP introduces the latest relevant technology much more quickly than companies with slow-moving indirect distribution channels. 10.0 Leadership: The existing style of leadership HP uses is the transformational leadership style as the CEO Michael HP applies this particular style of leadership that involves inspiring employees to transcend their own self interests and work for the larger good of HP company. HP articulates a vision that convinces subordinates to make important and positive changes in business process and management and relates to profound belief on beliefs and values that goes beyond its changes and achieving ways to transcend proper decision making engaging through such utilization factors as HP utilizes the IT as a factor for the successful running of its business. The acquisition by means of using some of the leadership styles as HP will make sure to value their customers and business partners in a form of interpersonal style of expressing to a level of virtually integrated as if theyre inside the company and by having customer information as used for analyzing and forecasting customer demand and achieving th e mass customization. HP expect that the success would be forever and they expect that other companies might implement such leadership models and believed that Information Technology would play a vital role in the success of the business as well as the centerpiece of the business per se. 11.0 Communication Change: Communication is important in HP Corporation because its business environment is the place where many interactions are needed, and where much information is acquired. It always involves openly competitive activity, in which working professionals in HP Corporation debate issues, defend positions, and evaluate the arguments of others. Most working professionals in HP Corporation, particularly those in middle and upper management, routinely produce a variety of messages, many of which are in the written form of memoranda, electronic mail, letters, reports, performance reviews, instructions, procedures, and proposals. It is also argued that a fuller understanding of organizations is a vital ingredient at every forward step of the career process, and that communication is a primary element for understanding how organizations function and how members of the organization should, even must, behave in organizations if they are to advance their careers. The practice of effective communication within HP Corporation is also linked with the development of a healthy corporate culture, job satisfaction of employees, and the happiness and productivity of employees. Communication skills are also important to the leaders of HP Corporation because it helps them manage the company more effectively. 12.0 Conclusion: It seems that the major cause of the problems encountered by HP Corporation is due to the unplanned management changes imposed. In addition, the problems also arise because of the inadequate knowledge of its management about the use of strategic management and other management systems. This way, the empire of HP Corporation will remain unscathed amidst the advent of consolidation and globalization.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

History of the Roman Baths

History of the Roman Baths Hala Ahmed Albinali Ms. Jessica Lund The Roman Baths The Roman baths are immense and outstanding complex structures designed for bathing, relaxing, and socializing. The Romans believed the baths were essential to the Roman civilization and that they were an example of their superiority and power. The Roman baths were an important part of daily life in ancient Rome’s architectural and social role, since it fulfilled Romans’ concerns about health and cleanliness, as well as allowed all social classes to mix freely, relax, communicate, and bathe while being drivers of the evolution of architecture. The Roman baths were centers of leisure, socialization, business, and gossip. They were originally built as a somewhat private gym in the households of wealthy Romans. The baths also existed in early Egyptian palaces. The Romans took the idea of a hipbath from the Greeks and expanded it into a high degree of sophistication. The baths were usually located near the forum, which is a marketplace or Public Square of an ancient Roman city, the center of legal and business affairs and a place of assembly for the people. At an excavation site in Pompeii, where the first and earliest entry fee box was discovered, that the cost of entry at the Roman baths was simple one â€Å"quadrans† − the smallest coin currency in Rome, thus the Roman baths became a daily regime for people of all classes. On holidays, the entrance fee was free, and during Diocletian’s reign the fee cost two denarii, which was more expensive than usual. The wealthy Romans had balnae in their villas, whic h were smaller, private bathhouses. The Roman baths, which are called thermae, were immensely large bathhouses built for a state and it typically took several blocks. Mixed bathing was unacceptable by most citizens, so there were times for both men and women at the Roman baths. Roman men would work around the afternoon and finish by 2PM or 3PM. At 2PM, the baths were open for mainly men to sport, bathe, and communicate until the baths close. On the other hand, Women had less time, they went in the morning while the men were at work to bathe, gossip, exercise if they were athletes, and meet friends until 2PM. Republican bathhouses had separate bathing facilities for men and women instead of having times for both men and women. As the Roman baths’ popularity grew, men began to use the baths daily, even the Emperor Commodus− who ruled from 180 BC to 192 BC as well as ruling as co-emperor with his father, Marcus Aurelius, from 177 BC− liked bathing so much he says he visited as much as eight times a day. From the beginning of 2nd Century BC, the Roman Baths grew in popularity and size since each Emperor tried to outshine the last Emperor by building more improved bathhouses for the citizens of Rome. By 5th Century AD, the Roman baths became a fundamental part of ancient Roman culture and could be found all over the Roman Empire − there were over nine hundred in Rome alone. Some amazing examples of the Roman baths are the baths of Caracalla, which covered more than thirty-two acres and could hold sixteen hundred bathers at once. It is among the most magnificent bathhouses of the entire Imperial era, but Diocletian’s baths outdid that since they have held up to three thousand people. Some Roman bathhouses were built on natural hot springs, which were known for their healing properties. According to writings and the ritual offerings found in excavations that the water, usually as hot as forty-six degrees Centigrade, that the healing was thought to be the work of the gods. Some ancient Roman bathhouses had temples built either on the site or very close to it, thus they became sacred places. For example, Sulis was the Celtic goddess of the spring, and when the Romans arrived, they worshipped her too. They recognized her with their own goddess of healing, Minerva. On the hot spring, the baths were built, and next to it, a temple to Sulis-Minerva in a walled enclosure. There were no services in the temple, but priests sacrificed animals, and after that, people went in for private prayers. They prayed standing in front of the statue with their hands out, palms up, and when they finished they kissed the statue’s feet. Most ancient Roman baths were places of enter tainment rather than worship. The bathhouses were built to provide a regular ritual that Romans repeated every time they visited the Roman baths. When entering the baths, they would first go to the dressing room, or apodyterium, where there werecabinets to store their clothes and shoes which were guarded by slaves for a fee. The slave(s) would also escort the bathers while carrying the bather’s gear. Sometimes the dressing room had multiple purposes, for example, in the Stabian Baths in Pompeii, thewomens dressing roomwas also a frigidarium, a room with a small cold-water pool. There is no clear evidence that shows what the Romans wore when bathing, but they may also have worn some light covering in the baths. Within the baths, they may have worn special sandals with thick soles to protect their feet from the heated floors. In the baths, there was a large central courtyard, whichwas the exercise ground, or palaestra. A shadyporticothat led into the bathing rooms surrounded it. The palaestra has a natationà ¢Ë†â€™a large outdoor pool such asone in the Stabian Baths. Since the Romans had no soap, they would use oil instead. After changing clothes and oiling their bodies, male bathers would usually begin their routine with exercise, by doing exercises such as wrestling, mild weight lifting, numerous types ofball playing, running, and swimming. After exercise, the bathers would have the dirt and oil scraped from their bodies with a curved metal tool called astrigil. A slave carried their towels,oil flasks,and strigils, while the bathers would start bathing through rooms of various temperatures. They may start in the warm room or tepidarium, which had heated walls and floors, but sometimes no pool, and then proceed to the hot bath, or caldarium, which wasclosest to the furnace. The caldarium had a large or small pool with very hot water and awaist-high fountainor labrum with cool water to splash on their face and neck. After this, the bather could spend some time in thetepidariumagain befo re finishing in thecold roomor frigidarium, a room with acold pool. They would sometimes repeat the same progression of rooms but backwards. Other rooms provided moist steam such as sudataria, dry heat like a sauna or laconicum, as well as massages with perfumed oils. After their baths, they could stroll in the other places the Roman baths offered. The bathers could watch performances of jugglers or acrobats, stroll in the gardens, visit the library, buy a snack from food vendors, or listen to a literary recital. The baths seem to be a quiet, leisurely place, but the baths were noisy, as one philosopher−Seneca−complained when he lived near a bathhouse in Rome: The sturdy man does his exercise with lead weights. When he is straining hard (or pretending to) I can hear him grunt; when he breathes out I hear him panting and his hoarse gasps. Or I might hear the blows of the massagers hands slapping his shoulders. To all this, add the man who dives in with a lot of noise and splashing. And if a ball player comes along and begins to count his score out loud, I am definitely finished. The baths were made to be very attractive and striking places. Although most of the decorations have not survived, many writers commented on the luxury of the bathhouses, describing them with words such as, â€Å"well-lighted, lovely mosaics, airy rooms with high vaulted ceilings, silver faucets and fittings, and paintings and colored marble panels.† There was also a large entrance or meeting area, where people could walk, talk, or sit on seats around two large fountains. Roman engineers invented a system of heating the baths called thehypocaust. Pillars and spaces were left inside the walls so that hot air from the furnace, or praefurnium, could circulate and flow through the space in the walls. Rooms that required the most heat were placed closest to the furnace and the heat could be increased by adding more wood to the furnace. Many heated rooms and pools were positioned to make the most of the heat of the sun. At the Baths of Caracalla, the hot room was an enormous hall th at was one hundred and fifteen feet wide with a pool three feet deep.In order to heat it, approximately fifty large furnaces were needed as well as millions of fireproof terracotta bricks or special bricks called tegulae mammatae. Bathhouses also had largepublic latrines, usually with marble seats over channels whose continuous flow of water that established the first â€Å"flush toilets.† These toilets were a vital part of the plumbing system as well as another common area in which to sit and talk. There was a continuous water flow underneath the seats. A shallowwater channelin front of the seats providedsponges attached to sticksfor people to wipe themselves. The Roman baths were among the most splendid and luxurious of all the outstanding works, and it allowed all, no matter what their social role was, to enjoy the magnificent baths. With their exquisite furnishings, high vaulted ceilings, paintings, brightly colored mosaics, marble panels, and silver faucets and fittings. As well as its organization and planning. The Roman baths were an important part of Rome’s superiority, social role, and advancements in architecture and more. Ancient Roman Baths: Ancient Roman Architecture in Action.Web. 18 February 2015. Camelot International: Britains Heritage and History.† Web. 18 Feb. 2015. James. Roman Baths: Facts and Information.† 25 Mar. 2013. Web. 18 Feb. 2016. McManus, Barbara F. Roman Baths.† June 2011. Web. 16 Feb. 2015. Cartwright, Mark. Roman Baths.† 2 May 2013. Web. 17 Feb. 2015. McGuire, Lela. Baths in Ancient Rome.† Web. 18 February 2015 ROMAN BATHS.† Web. 18 Feb. 2015. Carr, Karen. Roman Baths.†. 10 Feb. 2015. Web. 18 Feb. 2015. Baths. PBS. Web. 18 Feb. 2015. The Romans The Bath House.† 8 Mar. 2014. Web. 18 Feb. 2015. Roman Baths.† Web. 18 Feb. 2015. The Scribe. Ancient History Blog.† 14 Jan. 2011. 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