Feminism in Film Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Feminism in Film - Movie Review Example The first is a romantic comedy romp set in stylized candy colors with serious underlying tones. The second is a true-to-life drama that is serious and heavy from the get-go. But both speak volumes on female oppression and the primacy of the "male gaze" in film and popular culture. Laura Mulvey (1990) has come up with the theory of the "male gaze", a theory that visual pop culture is tailored around pleasing the heterosexual male spectator and satisfying his desire for pleasure. Says Mulvey: In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure, which is styled accordingly. In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote looked-at-ness. Woman displayed as sexual object is the leitmotif of erotic spectacle: from pin-ups to striptease, from Ziegfield to Busby Berkeley, she holds the look, plays to and signifies male desire. This paper will explore two movies where the issue of sexual roles, and the objectification of women, come into fore. These two movies are But I'm a Cheerleader and Boys Don't Cry. ... The film is a virtual commentary on stereotypes and the deleterious effects of stereotyping. For instance, the "evidence" used to demonstrate that Megan is a lesbian or has lesbian tendencies is the fact that she is a vegetarian, the photos she keeps of girls, and a displayed poster of Melissa Etheridge, known to be a gay icon admired and loved by lesbians. Equally disturbing are the activities they are made to undergo at the camp. For instance, they are bombarded by images of women performing tasks that are stereotyped as being for women and men performing tasks that are widely regarded as being for men. What this does is that it pigeonholes women and relegates them to certain roles in society, and conveys the message that they cannot nurture dreams that defy social conventions or venture beyond the parameters that have been set out for them. In effect, this supports the theory of the "male gaze", for in fact, these roles and these boxes have been created by a largely patriarchal and heterosexual society, where women are judged according to the yardsticks set up by men. Th e attractiveness of women, for instance, is judged through male lenses. If a woman behaves in a manner disapproved by men, then she is castigated, or in this case, called a lesbian. For example, the lead character's abject refusal to make out with a male character in the movie, Jared, is perceived as a deviation from the norm. This springs from the assumption that women jump at the chance to make out with men. The look and feel of the movie is very cotton-candy. There are deep hues of blue and pink. This suggests that the director is using color to further emphasize the point on stereotyping. Deep blue is

Chemical Hazards In The Working Environment Environmental Sciences Essay

Chemical Hazards In The Working Environment Environmental Sciences Essay Chemical Engineering is defined as the branch of engineering which is involved in the application of physical science and mathematics to processing and converting raw materials and chemicals into more useful forms. The outputs and methods of these processes are not always safe and chemical hazards need to be overcome to make the working environment a satisfactorily hospitable for everyone that the process affects. This includes the general public and the environment as well as the workers involved. Chemical Engineers need to ensure that the safety measures which they devise regarding certain processes are adequate enough not to pose hazards and to meet the regulations of the law. This term paper will outline some of the hazards which Chemical Engineers and other workers in the industry need to neutralise to ensure that the working environment is safe for those involved. A hazard is defined as anything which could result in an accident. Such hazards include those caused by the release of noxious chemicals which can prove damaging to the health of people and the environment. Chemical hazards can be especially dangerous due to the toxic nature of the substances used in the industry. Plant Safety The health and safety of plant workers is a major concern to the chemical industry. Accidents which result in loss of life or injuries are especially damaging due to the high costs they inflict. Costs in retraining personnel, repairing equipment damaged in have huge costs, as well as the interruption in business that ensues after an accident. The trends have shown that over the years fatalities have decreased but property costs have increased. This trend is due to the increased automated systems used in plants. These systems have increased complexity and productivity to older designs. In earlier designs the workers were more exposed to the chemical processes taking place in the plant, and were in turn exposed to more hazards. This however poses another problem because if workers are more isolated from a process, even if this greatly reduces health and safety hazards then if a malfunction occurs in the plant it is much more difficult to have experienced personnel available to fix a process problem. Due to this action compensation must be made in the case of higher property costs as opposed to loss of life and injury to workers. As of the early 1990s, annual worker fatalities ran about 9 per 100,000 employees; annual lost time disabling injuries ran about 4,000 per 100,000 employees. Property Losses increased fourfold from the 1970s. Safety assessments are now undergone on chemical plants to ensure that they adhere to safety levels proposed by regulation standards. Quantification of hazards such as overpressure potential and flammability were done by measurements of vapour pressure and of flash points and flammability limits. The process designers need to make use of data that gives information pertaining to the hazards of a process such as information of reaction rates and the energies involved in exothermic reactions in which heat is given out, that of unstable chemicals, of temperature limits in which explosive decomposition can occur, rates of generation of gas and vapour and emergency fail-safes such as pressure releases for high pressure systems. Citing Wikipedia, Fault tree analysis (FTA) is a failure analysis in which an undesired state of a system is analyzed using Boolean logic to combine a series of lower-level events. This is used to quantitatively combine the characteristics of human and component failure rates to obtain a safety assessment for that process. Many changes arose in the 1980s and 1990s regarding safety requirements in the petrochemical and chemical industry. These were presented by industrial groups such as Chemical Manufacturers Association as and the American Petroleum Institute as consensus guidelines. The objective of these changes was to make sure that all members of these industries were designed, maintained and controlled in the safest way that would be economically viable. Kirk Othmer (1991-1998). Hazard Analysis and Risk Assessment Hazards associated with in facilities can be in the order of hundreds or thousands if the facility is large enough. These hazards occur as a result of factors such as the type of physical materials being used, the processes that are designed to make a product, the operating conditions and the design of a plant to name but a few. If hazards arent controlled a sequence of events can occur which will result in an accident. A hazard can result in an accident which is an unplanned sequence of events which can result in the loss of life, damage to the environment, damage to products and inventory and damage to equipment. Risk involves probability and consequence of something undesirable occurring. It is impossible to completely define a risk without taking both of these components into consideration. For example a hazard could involve a large consequence but also could have a very low probability of causing an accident or vice versa. In both these cases it would be classed as a moderate risk. The purpose of hazard analysis and risk assessment is therefore to characterise hazards, determine the probability of them occurring and then to consider and evaluate the consequences if an accident did occur. This procedure can be summed up by this flow chart in Figure 1. Flow chart describing the full hazard analysis and risk assessment procedure Fig. 1 Kirk Othmer (1991-1998) Flow Chart Explanation A committee is required to perform hazard analysis and risk assessment. Each member of the committee must have adequate experience to the chemical process that is being considered. The first step is to consider a detailed account of the process which describes it completely. This has to include the physical properties of the materials being used, instrument diagrams of processes, operating temperatures and pressures, materials for the construction of the equipment being used and any other detailed design specifications. The more detailed and updated this is, the more effective the analysis will be. The next step involves identifying the hazards involved in the process. This is done by a certain number of established procedures. In this step it is not uncommon to find hundreds of hazards for complex processes. The next step involves identifying all the scenarios which could result in the loss of control of the system, therefore resulting in an accident. This can be seen to be the most difficult step in the analysis. Most accidents occur due to improper accident scenario characterisation. Many complex chemical processes can have hundreds of different accident scenarios for each hazard but the most important part of this analysis is to pick the scenarios which are most dire but at the same time credible. Risk assessment is the next part of the procedure. This involves determining accident probability and the consequences involved. This procedure is performed for all the accident scenarios that were identified in the last step. Statistical models used to represent failures are the method preferred for determining the probability of each accident. Source models are used to provide information about how material would be ejected from equipment, along with dispersion and explosion models, a good estimate can be made to the cost of the damage to the affected areas. Thus the consequence is now determined. The final part of this procedure is to decide whether the risks involved are acceptable. If they are not then changes must be made and the process must be restarted to ensure that they are subsequently neutralised. If the risk is an acceptable one then the process can go ahead and be implemented. Hazard analysis or risk assessment can be undergone at any time during the course of a process life. It is however, must more cost effective to perform this procedure at the initial stages where changes would be less costly to implement. Process Safety Management Several incidents which occurred in the late twentieth century indicated that there needed a significant improvement in the management of process hazards. There are three incidents that have produced the greatest legislative response. These incidents are as follows The Flixborough disaster, U.K. 1st June 1974 in which a temporary bypass pipe ruptured causing 40 tonnes of cyclohexane to form a vapour cloud 100-200 metres in diameter. The cloud came in contact with an ignition source and exploded causing 1,800 buildings within a mile radius of the site were damaged. 28 dead. 89 serious injuries. Wikipedia, Flixborough Disaster (2010) The Bhopal disaster, India. 3rd December 1984 in which a runaway reaction caused by water entering tank 610 containing 42 tonnes of methyl isocyanate vented to the surrounding areas forming a toxic cloud. ca. 3,000 dead. ca. 200,000 serious injuries. Wikipedia, Bhopal Disaster (2010) Polyethylene Plant Explosion, Pasadena, Texas. 23rd October 1989 in which a valve failure caused a large amount of flammable gas to be released which subsequently exploded. 23 dead. 130-300 serious injury. (www.cholarisk.com//Philips%20PE%20Pasadona%20Explosion.ppt). Standards and guidelines have been developed to ensure that these types of accidents do not occur again by improving management of process safety. The Health and Safety at Work Act developed by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) was devised following the Flixborough disaster this meant that the HSE would require that the type or quantity of chemical used or produced was to be registered and also the HSE submitted recommendations for maintenance functions plant design and methods for evaluating process hazards. The Occupational Safety and Health Act devised by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) which was enacted in 1970 established standards for occupational hazards such as toxicity, equipment guarding and protection against falling, noise and electrical shock. The New Jersey Toxic Catastrophe Prevention Act was developed after the Bhopal disaster and several other incidents such as that of Institute, West Virginia in 1985 and several chemical release incidents in New Jersey in 1986. This required for each of the 109 materials listed in regulations to be registered based on attainment of a material that can cause acute toxicity at a distance of 100m from a source of 1 hour release. Kirk Othmer (1991-1998). Safety and Hazard symbols A hazard symbol is defined as a recognised symbol that is designed to warn about dangerous locations or materials. NFPA 704- National Fire Protection Association NFPA 704 or the fire diamond is a standard maintained by the National Fire Protection Agency in the US. This standard is used by emergency personnel to easily and quickly identify the types of nearby hazards and to help determine what sort of equipment, precautions or procedures would need to be adhered to following an emergency response. There are symbols attached to the fire diamond which each signify a particular type of hazard. They are colour coded. Red signifies a flammability hazard, blue signifies a health hazard, yellow signifies an instability or reactivity hazard and white signifies a specific hazard such as a material that reacts unusually with water such as sodium or certain alkali metals, a specific hazard can be anything from a biological hazard to a corrosive hazard. Each of these hazards is ranked according to the level of risk they pose to personnel. It is ranked with 5 gradations, 4 being the highest and 0 being the lowest; this would pose no hazard at all. For each of the different types of hazards this high level of risk has a different definition. For a flammability hazard of 4 this would mean that the material has a flash point below that of room temperature and will burn readily at regular pressures and temperatures. Propane is an example of such a hazardous substance. For a health hazard of 4 this would signify that if one were exposed to the material for a short amount of time that it could cause death. An example of this would be hydrogen cyanide or phosphine. For an instability or reactivity hazard of 4 this would signify a substance that would be readily capable of detonation or decomposition at normal temperatures and pressure, such an example of this would be nitroglycerine. On the other end of the scale, a flammability hazard of 0 would be a substance that would not burn under any conditions such as water. A health hazard of 0 would be a substance that would pose no health hazard at all such as that of lanolin ointment. An instability/reactivity hazard of 0 would be a substance that is normally stable, even if it is exposed to fire, such as helium or any inert gas. These are some examples of the fire diamonds for various substances nfpa_diamond.png fire diamond for ethanol.jpg caffeine fire diamond.jpg Fig 2.1 Nitroglycerine Fig 2.2 Ethanol Fig 2.3. Caffeine Another method by which hazards can be averted is by specifying the types of precautions needed in handling potentially dangerous chemicals. The Hazardous Materials Identification Guide (HMIG) and Hazardous Materials Information System (HMIS) use a different system which signifies what type of protective equipment is needed when handling a certain chemical. This method is similar to the NFPA 704 (fire diamond). The differences lie in the white bar. In this system the white bar holds letters corresponding to different types of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) which are needed. The letters used are A-K and X and mean the same for both the HMIG and HMIS. They are also augmented with pictures of what icons are pictures showing the types of PPE that would be needed. HMIG.gif Fig 2.4 (HMIG) Safety Glasses Safety Glasses, Gloves Safety Glasses, Gloves, Apron Face Shield, Gloves, Apron Safety Glasses, Gloves, Dust Respirator Safety Glasses, Gloves, Apron, Dust Respirator Safety Glasses, Gloves, Vapour Respirator Splash Goggles, Gloves, Apron Vapour Respirator Safety Glasses, Gloves, Dust and Vapour Respirator Splash Goggles, Gloves, Apron, Dust and Vapour Respirator Air Line Hood or Mask, Gloves, Full suit, Boots X- Ask Supervisor or Safety Specialist for handling instructions Hazardous Materials Regulations In an operation where chemicals are manufactured and distributed the role of packaging these chemicals safely is an important priority to the chemical industry. Careful consideration must be made to ensure that the packaging used provides adequate containment of any hazards that may be held in the packaging so as to ensure that it can be transported safely from the place of manufacture to where it is being used. Not only that, but the product must be packaged as to contain the product adequately to ensure that it does not become contaminated by the surroundings, to provide vital information about product identity, handling information and any potential hazards to shippers and users. Due to environmental concerns packaging practises have undergone scrutiny by governments, regulatory agencies, consumer groups and environmentalists. It is becoming increasingly important that packaging is produced in a reasonable manner, is recycled when economically feasible and permitted by regulation, and is used in an efficient manner so as to ensure no wastage occurs where possible and to minimise usage of materials. Most products can be stored and transported by most means of packaging; the choice of the type of packaging is taken usually by the manufacturer for economic or marketing reasons. For a chemical however the choice of packaging is mainly dictated by safety priorities and chemical compatibility factors. In this case, for physical distribution the cost of the packaging can be comparable to the manufacturing costs of the product and this in turn will have a knock-on effect for the cost of the product for the consumer. Regulations regarding how a chemical product is packaged and shipped depend on whether the chemical is classified as hazardous or nonhazardous. Nonhazardous chemical substances are shipped and packaged subject to the rules of the carrier. The most common rules are those published in National Motor Freight Classification for trucks and Uniform Freight Classification for railroads. If items are not packaged according to the classification requirements then the carriers have a right to collect a surcharge and refuse paying handling or damage claims on such items. The regulations controlling packaging for hazardous materials are different. The primary document The Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) devised in the Code of Federal Regulations was changed in order to bring it to par with international rules and to enhance safety through better classification and packaging. The primary change was to replace specific containers with performance oriented packaging. This means that as long a s a packaging system passes test requirements it can be used. Certification of a package is now the responsibility of the shipper. Tests on packaging must be approved by a test laboratory and in turn this laboratory must be approved by the Department of Transport (DOT). Hazardous materials are regulated according to how they are classified. The HMR provides a table classifying the types of hazardous materials. There are 9 classes some with subdivisions. HMR Classification Class Subdivision Explosives 1.1 Mass Explosion Hazard 1.2 Projection Hazard; no mass explosion hazard 1.3 Fire hazard and minor projection or blast 1.4 No significant blast hazard 1.5 Very insensitive mass explosion hazard 1.6 Extremely insensitive detonating substances Compressed Gases 2.1 Flammable Gas 2.2 Non-flammable Gas 2.3 Poison Gas Flammable Liquids Flammable Solids 4.1 Flammable Solid 4.2 Spontaneously Combustible 4.3 Dangerous When Wet Oxidising Substances and Organic Peroxides 5.1 Oxidizer 5.2 Organic Peroxide Poisonous and infectious Substances 6.1 Poisonous Substances 6.2 Infectious Substances Radioactive Materials Corrosives Miscellaneous dangerous Substances Fig 3. Kirk Othmer (1991-1998) Packaging requirements for hazardous materials are determined by finding them listed in Hazardous Materials table of 49 CFR, section 172. From this the hazard class, packaging group, identification number, label requirements, packaging authorisations and special provisions can be ascertained from this. All types of designed packaging must be tested before approval. If approved, it must be marked with the UN packaging marking which specify any details pertaining to the packaged material such as the type of material, relative density of the material and maximum gross weight for which the packaging has been tested, the packaging group for which the package has been approved, whether the material is solid or under pressure, the state or country of origin, the year of manufacture and the testing facility. When the package is ready for shipment it must be labelled with the identification number and shipping name in the top left corner, the hazardous materials label in the centre of the pan el, and the package marking in the bottom left corner. Shipping documents must also show the hazardous materials identification, the hazard class and an emergency telephone number. Improper packaging procedures including improper shipping documents, marking or handling can result in civil and/or criminal liabilities against the carrier, shipper or the packaging manufacturer. Hazardous Pollutants The chemical process industry is one of the most highly regulated industries in the world. It is regulated regarding areas of environmental protection, health and safety. Everything is affected by the chemical industry, the siting of a new location for a facility, the transportation of raw materials and finished products, working conditions for employees, packaging of finished materials and interactions with the community. The chemical industry also develops additional regulations alongside the regulatory agencies to ensure the proper protection of the community, the environment and the employees. For example, The Chemical Manufacturers Association (CMA) brought out the Responsible Care Initiative. This initiative, initially started in Canada, is a commitment on behalf of the chemical industry to continuously improve health, safety and environmental standards and to respond to public concerns. The initiative is implemented by 6 codes of management practices which cover Community Awar eness and Emergency Response (CAER), Employee Health and Safety, Distribution, Process Safety, Pollution Prevention and Product Stewardship. More than 35 countries in the world have taken on responsible care and are developing their own means of implementation. Uniformity to environmental standards was attempted by the International Standard Organisation (ISO) by following up the ISO 9000 series of quality standards with the ISO 14000 environmental management standards. For example ISO 14001, Environmental Management Systems, is a statement of environmental policy which includes the commitment to comply with environmental legislation and a commitment to ensure continual improvement; it also ensures that environmental objectives within the plant are identified, management representatives that ensure that the companies plans are implemented and procedures that might detect any noncompliance to such standards by means of periodic environmental management system audits are carried out. Any company wishing to do business in the international market will need ISO 14001 certification. Environmental Protection Water For a long time in the US water pollution control were taken on a basis of water quality standards for bodies of water such as streams, lakes and rivers, receiving bodies of water. There was no effective, national legal authority which limited the discharge of pollutants into bodies of water and was regulated more so on a state-by-state basis. In the late 1960s the US revived the 1899 Refuse Act which prohibited discharging anything into navigable water unless certain permits were obtained. This provided a new control over discharges of materials by industry. Along with this, legislation from the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments (FWPCA) was put forward with an objective to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nations waters. Kirk Othmer (1991-1998). New water quality standards were introduced by means of stream use classification. This gave control to states to decide what they would use their water for. The EPA defined 4 categori es. Class A Primary water contact recreation Class B Propagation of desirable aquatic life Class C Public water supplies prior to treatment and Class D Agricultural and industrial uses After this, water quality criteria were to be developed. This means that for each designated water use there were going to be limits to the allowed concentration of pollutants. Limits of discharged effluent were controlled by means of regulating the unit weight of pollutant discharged per mass of product manufactured, rather than measuring the overall concentration of pollutant in a discharge stream. In this way chemical industries would be unable to dilute chemical pollutants to avoid surpassing concentration limits. Air 2500 years ago lead pollution produced by silver smelters in Rome and Greece were a major cause of concern. Analysis of lake sediments has shown that this lead pollution has spread across the northern hemisphere. Air pollution caused in the modern working environment is usually due to burning of fossil fuels and as early as the 13th century this has been attributed to the burning of coal. The main cause for concern with coal burning was the unpleasant sulfurous odour released and the soot produced but the health effects caused by this has not been made clear until recently. National Ambient Air Quality Standards 6 pollutants that cause major concern have been classed by the EPA under The Clean Air Act 1970. These are Sulfur Oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx), lead, particulates i.e. (subdivisions of solid or liquid matter suspended in a gas), and photochemical oxidants (ozone).The EPA developed National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) to combat levels of air pollution based on the level of highest concentration that would have no adverse effects on the environment or on human health. These standards are expressed by ground level concentrations where the concentrations of pollutants are measured at ground level in measurements of parts per million or micrograms per cubic metre. Solid and hazardous waste Implementation of laws concerning the control of pollution due to solid waste disposal was formulated much slower than for those were for water and air. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act 1976 (RCRA) was the first act passed where newer substantial controls were authorised. The objective of the RCRA was to conserve public health, the environment and natural resources. It was implemented to ensure that practices regarding the production, storage, transportation and disposal of waste would minimise or completely eradicate the hazard to human health and the environment. The section of the RCRA that caused the most concern to the Chemical Industry was subtitle C. This was the hazardous waste management regulations. The objective of this was to monitor and regulate hazardous waste from the time of production to its disposal. Facilities which would work in the transportation, storage, treatment or generation of hazardous waste are covered by these regulations. The definition of a s olid waste to the RCRA covers a broad category of substances including solids, semisolids or liquids or any contained gaseous materials. A hazardous waste is a substance that must be either listed by the EPA or have a hazardous characteristic Kirk Othmer (1991-1998). Certain types of solid wastes are excluded from the hazardous materials regulations specifically for the large volume by which they are produced or other reasons. These would include household wastes, fossil fuel combustion, exploration wastes and some agricultural and mining wastes. A solid waste is considered hazardous if it is listed in the EPA or has a specific characteristic hazard. There are four characteristics of hazardous wastes: reactivity, corrosivity, ignitability and toxicity. Toxicity refers to how leachable the waste is and the toxicity in the groundwater that would result using Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure, an analytical method. Some examples of hazards included in TCLP are listed in the ta ble below. Maximum Concentration of Contaminants for Toxicity Characteristic Contaminant Regulatory Level (mg/L) Arsenic 5.0 Benzene 0.5 Silver 5.0 Lead 5.0 Mercury 0.2 Chloroform 6.0 Chromium 5.0 Selenium 1.0 Fig 4. Kirk Othmer (1991-1998) It is the responsibility of the producer of the substance to determine whether it is hazardous. They are required to hold records; label substances correctly, inform transporters and report to the EPA periodically. Groundwater and air quality are monitored for any facility that could potentially produce emissions. Any regulations concerning nonhazardous waste are controlled by the local and state authorities. Due to increased pressure on landfill sites these regulations are getting more stringent for nonhazardous solid waste. Better management of nonhazardous waste is encouraged through recycling, reduction and reuse. Industrial Hygiene Industrial hygiene is a profession devoted to anticipating, evaluating and recognising any environmental factors or stresses arising in the workplace which could cause impaired health and wellbeing, sickness, inefficiency and significant discomfort between workers and those of the local community. In the U.S., industrial hygienists are usually members of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) or other groups such as the American Academy of Industrial Hygiene (AAIH). Industrial Hygienists work with other professions concerning health in the workplace such as safety engineers and occupational health nursing. All these groups work in implementing the laws regarding the regulation of health and safety in the workplace. The principal laws are the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) in the U.S. but similar laws are put into place all over the world which are proposed by International Organisations such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the World Health Or ganisation (WHO). Hazards arising from the workplace which industrial hygienists are interested in would include the following categories. Chemical Carcinogens, Reproductive Hazards, Acute Poisons, Irritants, Corrosives, Neurotoxins Ergonomic Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI), Back injury, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Human-Machine interaction Physical Noise, Cold, Heat, Ionising Radiation, Extremely Low Frequency Radiation (ELF), Ultraviolet Radiation, Laser Radiation, Infra Red Radiation Industrial Hygienists must be able to detect what potential hazards might result from workplace materials, to evaluate hazards and determine how much risk is posed by it, and to recognise hazards as they occur. The best and cheapest way to approach workplace hazards is to anticipate them and if possible to completely prevent them from happening. When a new chemical process is conceived an industrial hygienist must check the toxicology of the substance produced, either by animal testing or by human epidemiology. Some substances are self limiting, others are potent and carcinogenic but most chemicals lie somewhere in between. Wherever possible it is encouraged to abstain from using potentially dangerous chemicals. Also potentially damaging physical hazards which arise from certain processes such as excessive heat, noise or pressures must also be anticipated and avoided where possible. Usually industrial hygienists are capable in devising methods of using hazardous chemical substances safely. To recognise potential hazards industrial hygienists must have an extensive knowledge of the kind of hazards that may occur in types of industry. Recognising hazards is done by looking for sources of harmful chemical or physical agents that would cause damage if exposed to workers. Fugitive emissions are an example of an industrial hazard, and occur when there is a break in the barrier which provides containment for the chemical process. The main source of loss can be attributed to seal and flange leaks where material could escape. Even though the emissions can be incredibly small so that they are undetectable by a material balance, they can however build up in the work area which could lead to overexposure to harmful chemicals. Valve stem leaks are one example. These can worsen over time if not corrected. Pump seal leaks which are usually quite small can become large if there is total seal fail

Big Fish in a Small Pond :: Essays Papers

Big Fish in a Small Pond While living in Costa Rica last summer I was introduced to a new culture and way of life. The national slogan, â€Å"Puravida,† was the daily greeting while riding my bike down the dirt rode into town for Spanish class. The country’s belief in â€Å"Puravida† translated - ‘pure life’ is one component that makes Costa Rica distinct in this ever-globalizing world. In the small town I lived the people would work for a day, fishing or tour-guiding, and spend the next three days off, displaying an extremely different lifestyle than that of an American entrepreneur. Similarities between Costa Rica and the US, however, were visible. In some of the bigger cities of San Jose and Heredia I was surprised to see the familiar signs of McDonalds, Burger King and Kentucky Fried Chicken mixed in with the local restaurants. In my trip to San Jose I was even more surprised to see a large Intel building. Seeing the Intel building I questioned what they were doing in Costa Rica. From my experience it was odd to see a high-tech American corporation in the middle of an ever-developing country. After the initial shock I was more interested in what effects Intel has had in Costa Rica economically, socially and politically. In particular, did the move of Intel into Costa Rica have positive or negative consequences on the small country? In this paper I will examine the dynamics of the relationship between Intel and Costa Rica and will consider the implications of this interaction for large corporations relationships in developing countries. Using the case study of Intel in Costa Rica I will use a costs-benefit analysis to show why foreign direct investment has positive effects on the host economy. Costa Rica Costa Rica is located in Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and North Pacific Ocean, between Nicaragua and Panama. Costa Rica enjoys the political environment of a democratic republic. The country is open to economic integration of the greater region, being a member of the Central American Common Market(CACM), subscribing to a uniform external tariff and to free-trade internally. Costa Rica also supports the Puebla-panama plan, initiated by Mexico’s president Vincent Fox, which intends the ‘Mesoamerican’ integration of Mexico’s struggling southern states and all seven Central American countries. In addition, since 1948, Costa Rica has not had a military, and despite severe turbulences and civil wars in Central America and border conflicts with Nicaragua and Panama, it has successfully maneuvered itself through these times.

Bureaucratic Management

Bureaucratic management refers to a management style in which strict adherence to law and rules is emphasized, hierarchy is followed and flexibility is not tolerated but rather the following of laid down procedures. Such a style is lacking in terms of ‘enterprising’ freedom and rarely do employees produce or perform to their maximum. In this paper, the bureaucratic management style will be discussed with an aim of highlighting the main characteristics of the bureaucratic style.Secondly an effort will be made in order to establish where the bureaucratic management owes its origin from as well as what factors contributed to the development of the management style. After careful assessment of the system, the author hopes to make a balanced assessment on the appropriateness of the system as well as to briefly compare it to other management systems.As well as discussing the post-bureaucratic management, this paper will highlight the main characteristics of post-bureaucratic t radition as well as making a judgment on its suitability to today’s business and to asses whether it has replaced bureaucratic management. However in this paper neither of the management styles is supported but on the contrary the author raises pertinent issues on the characteristics identified as well as merits. According to, Clegg, Kornberger, and Pitsis, (2005.62-100. ) how values, power, rules and discretion are interconnected determines the performance of the organization and are core to bureaucratic management. Organizational structure forms in bureaucratic management a very critical role. In bureaucratic management, organizational structure is usually rigid and relations amongst workers are determined by their respective positions in the organization something which makes the style very impersonal.Bureaucracy can be said to promote and advocate for the protection of the individual from organizational discrimination something which is favorable especially due to the fac t that, too much vulnerability of a manager to the superiors in the organization may not augur well for managers. In such an environment, management is not affected by secondary factors such as ethnicity, class, gender, economic status and race as rising to such positions does not call for one to be loyal to any senior authority but rather to follow the proper and laid down organizational rules.The above is very crucial for smooth functioning of organizations and makes bureaucratic management very ideal management style. While bureaucratic management instills order and control in an organization, abuse of bureaucracy by managers is always a possibility in bureaucratic management. Although it is counterproductive, bureaucratic management can thrive where staff is keen on following the laid down procedures. Clegg, Kornberger, and Pitsis, (2005.99-108) argues that bureaucracy is too restrictive and rule bound although such claims have been echoed by other critics of bureaucratic manage ment who argue that the above arises due to the fact that, it is based on equality before law, ones qualifications for management positions as well as the fact that it is based on liberal norms, such as equal representation and equal opportunities for all those who qualify. In addition, modern bureaucratic management has tended to encourage gender mainstreaming in the offices.While civilization was a major catalyst for the evolution of bureaucratic management, some have questioned the claim arguing that bureaucratic management at its best fails to be responsive to the fast unfolding scenario of civilization. A major characteristic of bureaucratic management is the fact that they are rule-driven. In fact, organizations which use bureaucratic management style are known to follow properly laid down procedures for executing any function and deviation from such is detrimental and could cost the â€Å"offender his/her job†.Therefore, bureaucratic management depends on strict rule i nterpretation in order to determine what should be done and not done as well as to determine the way forward for the organization. Although there is a clear need nowadays for organizations to be market responsive, bureaucratic management rarely achieves that goal something which can explain why such organizations are fast being avoided by an increasing number of business enterprises and a quite a substantial number of public offices and departments. Clegg, Kornberger, and Pitsis, (2005. 56-79.) warns that the crave to migrate from bureaucratic management to other market responsive management styles may at the long run not achieve the change desired but rather serve to cause a further craving for further management reforms. He further notes that a good understanding as well as knowledge of bureaucracy is necessary if success is to be achieved in management. It’s easiness to implement stems from the fact that since it is naturally founded and deep rooted in the rule of law, it becomes easy for subjects to relate with it and therefore it naturally attracted traditional managers as the ideal type of management in most situations.On top of that, subordinates are more likely to adhere to rules and procedures under bureaucratic management because of the authority the system accords to supervisors over subordinates as compared to other systems which do not accord much power to superiors (Ackroyd, 2002. 80-123). Bureaucratic management mainly conforms to hierarchical structures which have clear defined roles and responsibilities for every single employee in an organization and hence well defined and curved out duties for every single employee.The system also encourages the adherence to rules and therefore career growth, promotions are easy to sort out as every one is often aware of all that is required by the organization in order to be promoted. Like wise, recruitment follows the traditional jobs filling methods in which superiors appoint or interview subordina tes for staffing. Bureaucratic management can cause limitation of individual’s freedom in some cases but that is necessary especially in military organizations which deal with security matters very sensitive and needing much control.Whilst bureaucratic management is grounded on principles aimed at regulating its application it at the same time causes the management to curtail freedom of worker to conduct individual affairs under the desired privacy. In bureaucratic management rules are designed to meet the wishes of the top management and subordinates are expected to comply with orders of superior authorities without questioning something which has led to many people branding the type of management as dictatorial.The fact that it emphasizes the division of businesses into hierarchical thus putting the organization under strict lines in which authority and control is the goal makes the style to loose supporters in the modern business environment. In addition bureaucratic manag ement favors a system whereby, duties, rules and procedures are generally fixed something which is fast loosing support in post bureaucratic management tradition evident in most organizations today.In bureaucratic management, a lot of emphasis is put on experience and qualifications for one to be employed and it is characterized by the supervision of lower and subordinate officers by the higher office. Bureaucratic management is monocractical while office workers or state servants are expected to follow the laid down rules (Clegg, Kornberger, and Pitsis, 2005. 56-79). Another major characteristic of bureaucratic management is that it is characterized by impersonal relationships amongst the workers in the organizations. It is also characterized by the formal division of labor.In the USA evidence of bureaucratic management is seen in the functioning of the government, the Department of Defense as well as in schools and large corporations. Bureaucratic management is different from othe r forms of management such as scientific management in that the latter is more concerned with the association between employees and machines. Other management theorists such as Henri Fayol advocated for administrative management in which emphasis is laid on management functions as well as the roles of managers in the functioning of organizations through the principles of management.Bureaucratic management therefore entails a system whereby the bureaucratic manager at the helm passes judgment and his/her will is followed without compromise. In bureaucratic system, the will of the boss is the authority and their words final and not subject to any challenge. Bureaucratic management does exist even in democratic environment but it calls for a careful balancing in order to achieve positive growth of organizations in terms of functionality of the different departments as well as to ensure orderliness.While bureaucratic management advocates for mandatory adherence to laid down laws and rul es as well as procedures, whenever failure to do so happens, it is met with punishments according to the laid down punishment laws. Bureaucratic management has been accused as a system which discourages one’s freedom space and also for not doing anything to tap the potential in people. Although such accusations are not necessarily true, bureaucratic management cannot be termed as good or bad but rather should be viewed as sometimes the most ideal when some situations prevail.History of bureaucratic management Bureaucratic management can be traced back to military and religious leadership which preceded the emergency of big businesses and organizations ( ). In the pre industrial era when trade was not well organized and little or no industries existed, the need for management existed. Public order was a necessity and therefore there was a need for governments to guarantee that. One method of management came to be very popular especially due to its ability to ensure the smooth running of activities.That called for establishment of law as most of the management then depended on adherence to strict and well laid out rules. Naturally only a bureaucratic management could augur well for managers who did not enjoy today’s access to management tools nor the advantage of technology un like today’s mangers and therefore bureaucratic management which puts little demands on the managers was viewed as the ideal system of management.In the 18th century, the subject of bureaucracy was studied in depth even by fathers of sociology such as Max Weber who supported its adaptation in management due to its suitability to management of large organizations. He contended that for effective management of large organizations, managers needed to be empowered and protected from environmental threats and the only way to do so was to have a management style which was simple but effective.In the 18th century, bureaucratic management gained much acceptance especially from the religious organizations, governments and military due to attributes such as the fact that it is easy to execute functions under bureaucratic management, and the belief that the system is logical as well as the fact that it advocates for procedures. The above factors were favored in order to achieve the smooth running of organizations. In terms of religion, there were in the ancient times religious clergy who due to the role they played in religious festivals were functioning in strict bureaucratic management.The development and division of society into social classes and the widening gap between state and society therefore creating the need for control, enforcement of law and order, introduction of tax collection, all this called for another group known as ‘officials’ to fill the gap of overseeing activities in both public and private business all contributed to the introduction of bureaucratic management. Post-Bureaucratic Management The twin issues of power and k nowledge management are crucial for a post-bureaucratic management system ( ).The fact that in any given organization there is quite a number of contradicting elements, such as human beings with different needs from the organization, the organizational goals which the same human beings must achieve calls for effective organizational management so as to address needs at all levels. While human beings constitute a very important part of the organization, that they must be managed in order to play their roles effectively is a fact that cannot be wished away.Human beings as a key resource in any organization must be managed in every way possible to achieve organizational goals as well as a positive organizational culture, a positive working environment and the achievement of the objectives of the organization. Characteristics of post bureaucratic management. Post bureaucratic management encourages employee participation. Post bureaucratic tradition advocates for a business environment w hereby employees are empowered to contribute in terms of ideas and skills towards the growth and development of the organization.The bureaucratic management style is considerate of the fact that, people are talented differently and rather than suppressing the potential in individuals, management is supposed to discover and nurture any special skills as well as capabilities in the workers or staff through programs such as training and refresher courses. The above is only possible in an environment whereby management encourages its employees to participate fully in the decision making process.In a modern world in which technology especially information technology and internet has changed drastically how business is carried out as well as how people interact, bureaucratic tendencies are fast becoming outdated. The above is a clear sign of a fast changing business world and this is pointing to the fact that time for post bureaucratic management tradition has come. That fact is further s trengthened in view of the concept of globalization which favors the communication structure in many organizations to shift from vertical to horizontal as time plays a crucial role in determining how profitable a company is likely to be.Team work is also another characteristic of post bureaucratic management. While most bureaucratic management systems are a one man show in that, the manager and the superiors are the brains behind every innovation the organization aims to achieve, post bureaucratic management advocates strongly for team spirit. There are numerous benefits associated with team work the most important of all is the synergetic effect that results when staff in an organization function as a whole rather than individuals.Another pointer to the fact that today’s managers have shifted from bureaucratic management to a post bureaucratic management system is the fact that most organizations have dropped the rigidness earlier associated with the decision making process as evident in bureaucratic management in favor of a more flexible decision making system. Today most organizations take less time to make decisions and resolves issues which under the bureaucratic management system would take weeks to settle.The above can be attributed to the involvement of many people in the decision making process as opposed to leaving the function of decision making and deliberations to a small clique of managers. The above coupled with the popularity of being flexible is gaining ground and many organizations are dropping that culture whereby decision making process was inflexible. Open discussion as well as deliberations of issues. In bureaucratic management, management reserves the right to discuss any issues which arise.However in post bureaucratic management, management encourages the participation of all employees in the system before any changes are incorporated. This has become very popular especially with employees as more and more feel important to the o rganization something which boosts employee motivation to work. Today that trend is evident as the use of market research as well as surveys has become very popular as management of most organizations tend to seek for the input of all employees before any major changes are instituted in the organization.It tries to nurture employees into an intellectual capital. There is a growing trend of organizations to nurture and even shop for talented employees in post bureaucratic management. This is in sharp contrast to bureaucratic management in which to fill some vacancies, one has to undergo some rigorous process in the organization so as to achieve promotions. Evidently, an organization’s culture, its systems, as well as the process of effecting change are very crucial for organizations nowadays.Therefore today’s managers play a very important role in management of organizations. While in bureaucratic management, the use of mediation apparatus, theories of management, busin ess tools, the use of decision support systems and also other tools such as white boards is not very common, in the recent times that have become a key part of management process. That is yet another pointer to the fact that, organizations are drastically shifting to post bureaucratic management tradition and practices.With analytical business tools such as SWOT analysis, balanced scorecard, porters 7 principles and PEST analysis constantly being applied by business that points to yet a drifting away pattern from bureaucratic management to post bureaucratic management. Post bureaucratic management is based in the belief that the production of knowledge is a process which can be learnt and perfected while bureaucratic management proponent believe that it production of knowledge is a social practice in which individual people performance rather than teams is more important.There is clear evidence today that, organizations are laying more importance to team work and communal spirit rat her than individual effort. Post bureaucratic management is the undisputed and ideal management system that can save organizations from the effects of today’s business challenges as well as solve and counter challenges of this global knowledge based economy in which the rate of discoveries, innovativeness and the crave to be ahead of others is forming the centre piece of organizations.The amount of administration related duties in the contemporary society is evidence enough for the continuing relevance of bureaucratic management in the post-modernism era. There is an increased relevance businesses are attaching to division of labour coupled with the growth of multinational companies with extremely enormous sales turnover. Future without Bureaucratic Management Many have experimented with the idea of a future without bureaucratic management in that there will be a minimal need for supervision due to a highly responsible and self disciplined society.Although the above argument leaves more on socialism ideals it is however a feasible possibility. Modern bureaucratic management has been applauded for being impersonal. Comparison between bureaucratic management and post bureaucratic management The advent of mass production catalyzed the introduction of post bureaucratic management due to the high demand put on the organizations in terms of production as well as the need for routines and procedures in production.The advancement of technology has led many to imagine that bureaucracy would be abandoned. However the truth of the matter is that no matter how high technology has contributed to the mechanization of production the need for workers is still very evident. This is due to the fact that still people are needed to operate the technological equipment in the design of the computer systems so central to today’s organizations as well as to oversee the process of production. Therefore, bureaucracy remains very relevant in the post-bureaucratic era.Burea ucratic management is characterized by high costs making it a less ideal management Accusations against bureaucratic management it is rigid in decision making hence slowing down the decision making process. The fact that officials feel threatened by lack of adherence to rules may affect unity of the organization as suspicion is likely to arise. Bureaucratic management has been accused of being insensitive to morals. Bureaucratic leadership does not encourage empowerment of followers.Bureaucracy leads to a lot of dependency on a few people to chart the way forward for an organisation even when it is clear that contribution of subordinates may matter. Bureaucratic management suppresses talent and while it may augur well for governments its effectiveness for private business is questionable. Bureaucratic management is accused of being inflexible and that it is argued that it would affect economic growth were it to be implemented in wholesome therefore compared to entrepreneurship and i n a capitalistic setting bureaucratic management may not be ideal in some cases.While bureaucratic management advocates for high levels of accountability, post-modernism management dwells on employee capability unlike bureaucratic management which emphasizes on employee competence. While bureaucratic management lays emphasis on age in terms of who is allocated the more complex work and is likely to be promoted, post-modernism lays more emphasis on the capability of people to analytically resolve matters inspite of experience or their age.Bureaucratic management lays emphasis on the organizational design, that is structure in terms of roles and responsibilities, on top of that, the mode adopted by an organization in as far as decision making process is concerned as well as the style of human resource management is concerned it is very rigid for bureaucratic management. The governance of human resource in post-modern management is accommodative. Post-modernism management puts a lot of emphasis in cultural relevance to organisation management but bureaucratic management comes short of this.Bureaucratic management lays emphasis on value such as responsibility, loyalty and accountability as well as adherence to fixed rules ad regulations. Bureaucratic management puts more emphasis on the existence of formal authority to superiors. Bureaucratic demands for obedience of higher authority. In bureaucratic management, emphasis is laid on the monopolization of information by the top hierarchy. Promotion process is clear, thus moving up the corporate ladder is something which follows certain pre-set patterns.The decision making process is often pegged on fixed steps. There is emphasis on equality at work, because of emphasis on vertical communication there are clear set boundaries which are very hard to break in bureaucratic management. Post-bureaucratic Management emphasizes on role of dialogue amongst people as opposed to the authority imposing their word and therefore consensus is achieved through involvement of dialogue. Unlike in bureaucratic management whereby internal trust is not critical, post-modern management thrives on high level of loyalty from subordinates.The migration from bureaucratic management has been occasioned by the introduction of market reforms. In addition, it is not easy to permeate boundaries as vertical communication is highly valued unlike in post bureaucratic management where there is a high degree of information sharing. The decision making process in post-bureaucratic management is highly flexible. Unlike in bureaucratic management in which things remain the same for long periods, in post modern management change is often welcome.Bureaucratic management has been accused of lacking in terms of motivation to employees. Conclusion From the above discussion it is evident that bureaucratic management is totally irrelevant relevant to today’s management. It has for long been used in both public and private managemen t. The major characteristics of bureaucratic management identified above are, that is highly pegged on rules and roles, adherence to strict procedures, and it is hierarchical, that it does not call for loyalty as well as the fact that it is not flexible.On the other hand post bureaucratic management is more flexible, it advocates for loyalty and internal trust, it is permeable and not rigid, it is not hierarchical and finally it encourages open discussions in as far as decision making process is concerned. References Ackroyd, S. (2002. 80-123). The Organization of Business, Oxford. OUP. Clegg, S. R. , M. Kornberger, and T. S. Pitsis (2005. 56-79). Management and Organizations: An Introduction to Theory and Practice, London: Sage Word Count: 3,697 words. Bureaucratic Management Under industrialisation, bureaucracy was the dominant form of organisation and management. The factory was designed to produce standardised products; the bureaucracy was designed to produce standardised decisions. Many major corporations of today developed in an industrial society, based on a bureaucratic model of machine-like division of function, routine activity, regularity, seeming permanence, and a long vertical hierarchy. For a long time bureaucracy thrived in a world of mass markets, uniform goods and services, and long production lines.During the 1990’s, however, the top-down bureaucratic and authoritarian style of management began yielding to a networking style of management. Horizontal communication in a networked environment is freer and more fluid, with few bureaucratic barriers. In the new style of management, people learn from one another, peer to peer; everyone is a resource for everyone else, and each person gets support and assistance from many different direc tions.Interestingly, the corporations of today are only getting ever bigger, and yet in most of these organisations that demand more than simple mechanical work from the employees, alternatives to bureaucratic form of management are being actively explored and experimented with. Bureaucratic management is one of the three branches of the traditional approach to management. The other two are scientific management and administrative management.All the three emerged around the turn of the 20th century as theorised models. The traditional styles of management aimed at getting the organisation run like a lubricated, smooth-running machine. It may also be noted that while the first systematic theory of bureaucratic management originated from Germany, scientific management or Taylorism emerged from the United States, and the theoretical system of administrative management had its roots in France.These so-called traditional approaches to management as well as the other approaches such as be havioural approach, systems approach, contingency approach, and quality approach — all of them developed based on varying assumptions about the behaviour of people in organisations vis-a-vis the key goals of an organisation, the types of problems faced vis-a-vis the methods to reach to their solutions. All these various approaches to management have contributed in their own ways to development of modern management thought, and continue to influence managers' thinking in the modern corporate context.However, of all these traditional and non-traditional management approaches, the bureaucratic form can be considered the earliest and still the most commonly prevalent. In many ways, it is also the most outdated. Bureaucratic form of management is based on the use a set of rather rigid rules. There is a clear hierarchical order involved, an unambiguous division of labor, and a detailed system of procedures of transaction. Bureaucracy existed for centuries in different forms and in different contexts, but a word for it did not exist until the mid-18th century (Walker 2001).Coined by a French Physiocrat, ‘bureaucracy’ literally meant â€Å"government by desk. † Today, the name of Max Weber (1864 – 1920) is most closely associated with bureaucratic management. Weber did the foundational work on the development of the mechanistic industrial organisation form, the bureaucracy. He was a German social historian whose works began to be widely recognised only from the mid-twentieth century, when they were translated into English. Weber based his studies significantly on his observations of the governmental bureaucracy that existed in Germany during his time.He is today considered as one of the pioneering sociologists, and his study of bureaucracy forms part of a much wider framework of social theory that concerns general social and economic issues facing society. Weber’s concept of bureaucratic management provides a functional model o n how a large-scale organisation should operate efficiently. Weber observed parallels between the mechanisation of industry and the proliferation of machine-like bureaucratic form of organisation. He noted that the bureaucratic form routinises the process of administration exactly as the machine routinises production.This was a logical outgrowth of the thinking of the time; an industrial revolution, with mechanised productive apparatus (one form), would naturally inspire a mechanised organisation (another form) to complement it. In Weber's work we find the first comprehensive description of the bureaucratic form as one that emphasises speed, efficiency, clarity, regularity, reliability and precision. As the Industrial Revolution got underway in the United States this form was ideally suited to the situational constraints of the era (Banner 1995).For a long time now, the very word bureaucracy has had many negative connotations, but as originally envisaged by Weber, it was a strong po sitive force for bringing order and coherency into the running of an organisation, based on the cornerstones of efficiency, stability, consistency and predictability. Weber's model stipulates seven essential characteristics for a well-functioning bureaucracy. These characteristics join together to a form of management style that emphasises regulation and control, even at the cost of being rigid and non-conducive to individual initiative and innovation.These characteristics are: a formal system of rules, impersonality, division of labour, hierarchical structure, an elaborate authority structure, lifelong career commitment, and rationality (Hellriegel et al, 2005). Rules: These are formal guidelines imposing order on the activity of the employees, providing a discipline that can help an organisation to run smoothly and reach its goals. Bureaucracy is rule-based governance. It can be viewed as an institutional method for applying general rules to specific cases, in order to make the ac tions of people working in an organisation fair, equitable and predictable (Wilson 1989) .The rule of rules brings uniformity of procedures and operations, facilitating organisational stability and integrity, making the work of an organisation relatively immune to erraticness of individual behaviour of the employees or the management. Mises (1969) observes the following on the importance of rules and regulations in bureaucratic organisation: Bureaucratic management is management bound to comply with detailed rules and regulations fixed by the authority of a superior body. The task of the bureaucrat is to perform what these rules and regulations order him to do.His discretion to act according to his own best conviction is seriously restricted by them. Impersonality: This means objectivity. Employee performance is evaluated and issues are resolved in as objective manner as possible. Although this term may sound intimidating, Weber viewed the objectiveness ensuing from adherence to rul es and impersonality as essential to guarantee fairness for all employees — eliminating personal bias and favouritism from the system. Division of Labour: The overwhelming importance of this concept of course originated in economics, with Adam Smith and others, in the early nineteenth century.Division of labour promotes efficiency. A high degree of compartmentalisation of work in a precise manner enables a medium to large-scale organisation to use its workforce efficiently. Everyone is circumscribed to perform duties on the basis of his or her own field of expertise. Further, by splitting a large task into much smaller and more easily manageable parts, and assigning each part to an individual, the ease of learning and carrying out that each divided segment of the task is enhanced. At the expense of possible monotony and tedium, the principle of division emphasises efficiency and output.Narrow division of labor also makes it easier to replace the employees, especially in facto ries that involve routine, mechanical tasks. Hierarchy: The traditional pyramid-shaped hierarchical structure positions each employee at a level commensurate with the amount of authority he or she exerts in the job. This authority can be equated to the scope of decision-making power of the employees, and increases at each higher level of the pyramid. People in the higher levels direct the work of people at lower level positions.A well-defined hierarchy can bring clarity in an employee's relationship and responsibility towards his or her work as well as well as towards other employees in the organisation. Hierarchy establishes a chain of command through superior and subordinate levels, helping ensure a smooth flow of work. Hierarchy is also based on a sharp distinction between the management and the workers. Bureaucracy's fundamental tenet has been that the job of the management is to design and coordinate workers' jobs (Pinchot, Pinchot, 1993).Hierarchy, like rule-orientation, divis ion and a number of other characteristics of bureaucracy, is a common feature of any social organisation and has been so throughout human history, but all these characteristics are particularly stressed upon in a bureaucratic setting within an organisation. The intensity with which these features are emphasised differentiates an organisation with a high bureaucratic structure from another with a low bureaucratic structure, which together form the two ends of a continuum.Authority Structure: This is merely another way of looking at the hierarchical nature of bureaucracy. Authority structure refers to a clear association of people and their scope of decision-making power at various levels within the organisation. The authority-structure can be based on different criteria. Weber identified three types of authority structures (Hellriegel et al, 2005): a) Traditional authority structure: This is based on custom, gender, seniority, birth order, ancestry, and so on.The succession of kings, and the authority of the king, in various cultures throughout the history of humanity, for example, was primarily based on such criteria. A king inherited and wielded power simply because it was his birthright. b) Charismatic structure: Within any group or organisation, some people can exert a predominant influence by virtue of their charisma or special talents, although technically speaking they are not superior to their co-workers. Charisma can come into play inside a bureaucratic organisation also, although mostly not as a primary determinant of leadership but a complementary one.c) Rational-legal authority: Bureaucratic organisations for the most part tend to rely on this form of authority where leadership is defined in a framework of rules and regulations. A superior's orders are complied with because of his or her position in the formal hierarchical structure of an organisation, and not because of some special abilities or privileges he or she may possess. Though authority ma y be based on a rational basis, bureaucratic management is fairly authoritarian, and many people would resent this.By its very nature, bureaucracy is a structure defined by chains of dominance and submission (Pinchot, Pinchot, 1993). Lifelong Career Commitment: Traditionally, typical large-scale bureaucratic organisations emphasised stability, order and steady progress. They did not attract potential employees by offering a promise of adventure, excitement and rapid rise as many modern-day software companies are prone to do, for instance. Instead, their allure was job security together with slow and steady salary increases for deserving candidates.The opportunity for promotion is used as the main incentive to ensure that the employees perform satisfactorily. Though the notion of lifelong commitment looks completely outmoded and out of place in most modern business organisations surviving in turbulent ever-changing market conditions, it still prevails in many Japanese or South Korean organisations such as Toyota or Samsung, and can be seen in many governmental bureaucracies in the West, such as the postal service or the civil service. When an employee joins these services, virtually a permanent employee contract is being made.Rationality: It is the orderly and efficient allocation of financial and human resources to achieve the desired ends. In principle, managers operating in a bureaucratic environment are supposed to take decisions logically and scientifically. All the other characteristics of bureaucracy, such as division of labour and hierarchy, are meant to promote the element of rationality within the mechanisms and dynamics of the organisation. Rationality also implies assigning specific goals to each division of the organisation in such a manner that, working together, all these various divisions accomplish the larger goal of the organisation.Rationality, based on goal-directed activity, gives more chance for an organisation to be successful. The bureau cratic form of management is best suitable when routine or repetitive tasks need to be done in an efficient and consistent manner. Adhering to rules and regulation by the employees in performing tasks ensures quality and quantity of output. In fact, phenomenal amounts of work can be accomplished when the bureaucratic structure is effectively deployed and the management is run in a streamlined manner.But these very same aspects of bureaucratic management that can foster efficiency in one setting can lead to ponderousness and inefficiency in another. Though vertical and rigid bureaucratic structure is dismissed as a viable basis for an increasing number of vast thriving multinationals of today which put a special premium on innovation and change or adapting to change, it had indeed been adopted widely in the commercial and industrial sector until the recent decades. Max Weber viewed bureaucracy as a ‘rational' instrument for collective achievement.And even Joseph Schumpeter (188 3-1950) who was a pioneering researcher in the field of entrepreneurship, and who extensively studied the role of the entrepreneur as an innovator, defended Weber's position on bureaucracy (Wood 1991). Though Schumpeter believed that bureaucracy can lead to efficient allocation of resources, other major thinkers in this field such as Hayek and Mises rejected such a possibility. Mises (1969) held the position that bureaucratic management is â€Å"management of affairs which cannot be checked by economic calculation.† Therefore, he argued that it is only suitable for public administration and not private enterprises driven by the overriding profit motive. However, even in the conduct of public affairs, down the decades, bureaucratic style of management has become associated with maladministration, corruption, irresponsibility, wastefulness, inefficiency, slackness, tardiness, and red tape across the majority of the countries of the world. Schumpeter lauded many features of bure aucracy, but also recognized its limitations. He also commended Hayek for his presentation of dangers in bureaucratic planning and management (Wood, 1991).. Though bureaucratic management has been much maligned, and for good reasons, the fact is that many successful organisations have been successful over generations very much under tight bureaucratic patterns of organisation and control (Pinchot, Pinchot, 1993). The bureaucratic management structure emerged in the most distant past of human history, from the time a higher social order emerged among clusters of people, and is still the most widely prevalent form of management, though there is a pronounced tendency to loosen its seemingly rigid grip.Karl Marx traced the origin of bureaucracy to four sources: religion, the formation of the state, commerce and technology (Wikipedia 2006). Bureaucratic structures existed in religious institutions, as those in Egypt and Greece, thousands of years ago. But bureaucracy primarily evolved as the state apparatus evolved with the growing complexity of the civil society. Over a thousand years ago, the Chinese had in place an elaborate centralised bureaucratic structure to manage the affairs of the state.In the medieval times, new administrative structures were needed to meet the growing demands made upon central government in Europe (Argyle 1994). In fact, bureaucracy was the default style of administration and management until the modern times. It was so easy and common for bureaucratic structures to prevail and proliferate because, ultimately, the top-down hierarchical pattern of management was rooted in the human psychology. But human psychology is changing. For example, for centuries, people desired to have a father-figure in the form of a king to rule and protect them.They did not consider it dehumanizing to be subjected to an arbitrary ruler. However, to the enlightened sensibilities of people during the modern epoch which can be said to have gradually emerged from the times of Renaissance and Reformation and fully flowered in the twentieth century, the notion of being ruled by a king who possessed some divine right would seem abhorrent. Similarly, being dominated by the superiors from all quarters may have been quite acceptable to the majority of employees until very recently.But workers of the â€Å"knowledge era† prefer to be individualistic, independent or working in a team of peers as far as possible. Bureaucracy flourished in an age of mechanisation, but today ideas and creativity are in high demand, and corporations find it making more economical sense than ever to nurture a work culture that is anti-bureaucratic. Bureaucracy is past-oriented in many ways, and innovation is thoroughly future-oriented. At its very root, the entrepreneurial process of innovation and change is at odds with the administrative process of ensuring repetitions of the past.Structures and practices that may work well for the perpetuation of the known are not generally conducive to the process of innovation. In their book, The End of Bureaucracy & the Rise of the Intelligent Organization, Pinchot and Pinchot (1993) note that bureaucracy is no more appropriate to the sophisticated work culture of today than serfdom was to the factory work of the early Industrial Revolution. New forms of organisation are emerging, but to sustain them in the long run is a different proposition.The mega corporations of today are intrinsically geared towards efficiency, but increasingly they will now need to also master creativity in order to survive. There is a dilemma here. Firms will not survive in the long run unless they are proficient at exploring new technologies, and they will not survive in the short run unless they are proficient at exploiting existing technologies. Herein lies a great dichotomy at the heart of modern business organisation. A dynamic balance has to be struck between a host of conflicting factors.In their constant quest for manag ing the balance between centralisation and decentralisation, between interdependence and diversity, between integration and flexibility, and between control and creativity, large organisations still manifest a strong tendency to favor efficiency and productivity gains over and above creativity and innovation (Johansen 2003). The rational-bureaucratic model of organisation still remains dominant, although there is a clear paradigm-shift in management practices.In many large organisations, which happen to be inherently bureaucratic, one would find a plethora of ideas and potential ideas that go unnoticed because there are some structural impediments to their realisation, or little or no incentive for employees to bring such ideas forth. For instance, incentive structures in large firms are designed to minimise surprises, yet innovation is inherently full of the unexpected. From a managerial point of view too, the reward system for general managers is typically based upon annual profit s or ROI of corporate resources managed.They are therefore rewarded for achieving short- rather than long-term profit. Moreover, apart from the greater inherent risks involved, the rewards associated with the profits from any longer-term, more radical innovations are unlikely to accrue to the manager originally involved in initiating a novel project, since he or she is likely to have moved on to other responsibilities before they are achieved. As such, innovative efforts often fall through the cracks inherent in most large organisations.In fact, in these organisations there could usually be strong â€Å"disincentives† for innovative activities (Martin 1997). If hierarchy was central to traditional organisation, the lack of hierarchy is central to innovative organisation. As for division of labour, Jaffee (2001) observes that, In the postbureaucratic organization, social and functional integration takes precedence over differentiation and specialization. The postbureaucratic o rganisation is much flatter , with fewer levels of managers.Most work will be horizontal knowledge work performed by multidisciplinary teams. Rather than satisfying their immediate supervisor (vertical relationship), team members concentrate on satisfying he needs of the next person in the process (horizontal relationship). Teams will be given considerable autonomy and will be expected to carry out the intent of the company's mission and vision. Project managers and network managers will replace most of the middle managers and functional staff in the traditional bureaucratic-style organisation.Companies can only succeed by tapping the talent and dedication of their people and by combining that talent and dedication in a team effort. The building of trust is emphasised in innovative enterprises. Politics, infighting, and departmental jealousies that are common features of bureaucracies are to be minimised. Leaders work hard to earn their team mates' trust and vice versa, thus creatin g conditions in which trust can flourish. In such dynamic companies, there is widespread enthusiasm, a spirit of doing whatever it takes to achieve organisational success (Martin 1997).

Analyzing Fiction Essay

In â€Å"Where are you going, where have you been†, this story makes me frustrated with the main character Connie. She comes off to me as an immature little girl who wants to live the life of a mature woman, but when faced with reality she is still just a little girl. I felt Connie feels the need to rebel or act a different person when she leaves her house and in a sense lives a double life and has two personalities. In the story the author writes, â€Å"She wore a pull-over jersey blouse that looked one way when she was at home and another way when she was away from home† (Oates 325). This was an example of how Connie lived this double life. Connie made herself very vulnerable when she goes out with Eddie and exposes herself as a â€Å"woman† when she is not. What I feel is significant about this piece of literature is the story that is being told and the reality behind it. Many young girls face this kind of reality everyday and don’t have a good outcome. The authors’ intention in the story was to portray a little girl named Connie and show her struggle with adolescence and wanting to become a woman far too fast. The themes that stand out to me in this story are Connie’s constant fantasizing and daydreaming. She is always worried about her appearance and fantasizing about boys, but when it comes down to the reality of actually engaging and being confronted with a man, she reverts to being a child again. Another theme that stands out to me is Connie leaving herself extremely vulnerable. She has her friends’ dad drop them off at a shopping plaza, but sneaks off to a drive in to meet boys. Then she meets with Eddie and hangs out in an alley. This exposes her to Arnold Friend. She portrays herself with a lot of independence, but when she has the confrontation with him at her house, she tries to scare him away with saying, â€Å"But my father’s coming back. He’s coming to get me† (Oates 330). She says this because she is still a little girl and doesn’t quite know how to handle this situation. The reality of this type of story is what makes this piece of literature valuable. The author wrote a story about a young girl wanting to grow up too fast and puts herself in situations that portrays her independence, but then exposes her vulnerability. As a reader, I felt this story is a reality for many young girls. I think the authors’ goal here was to allow the reader to see what many young girls face and how easy it is to be manipulated by a man who has aggressive attributes. It was very creepy for this man to know everything about Connie when they were never formally introduced, but Connie’s appearance led him to believe she was open to her sexuality than what she really was or could handle. References Oates, Joyce Carol. â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been.† Lit. Eds. Laurie Kirszner and Stephen Mandell. Boston: Wadsworth, 2012. 325-331. Print

My Last Duchess

My Last Duchess My Last Duchess by Robert Browning Question: Can you please help me understand My Last Duchess by Robert Browning? Answer: The poem is a monologue by a Duke (we hear the Duke talking to us).He is showing a private portrait of his dead wife (we know it is private because it is hidden behind a curtain) to an anonymous viewer. Fra Prandolf was the artist. It is not until near the end of the poem that we realise that the viewer is a the messenger from a Count who has been sent to the Duke to arrange his next marriage! (A dowry is mentioned, which was the money paid to a new husband from the new wife's father as 'payment' for taking her off his hands!) As the poem unfolds, we find out more and more about the Duke and about the relationship that he had with his first wife.- He seems to be very proud of her Will't please you sit and look at her? - He knows that she was susceptible to flattery 'Twas not Her husband's presence only, called that spot Of joy into the Duchess' cheek - He knows t hat she was popular with men She had A heart ...too soon made glad - He is jealous of the other men who charmed her! He calls one admirer some officious fool.- He is cross that she did not seem to appreciate marrying a Duke (and taking on a 900-year old name) and this wounded his pride.- He complains that she never allowed herself to be lessoned (she would not listen to him). It is interesting that now he is talking to a complete stranger about his wife's faults! When he commanded her to do things, her smiles stopped altogether.(What does this suggest about the real extent of his love for her and hers for him?) - At the...

Le Petit Chef Case Study Essays

Le Petit Chef Case Study Essays Le Petit Chef Case Study Paper Le Petit Chef Case Study Paper Le Petit Chef Case 1) What should Gagne do? Specifically, which projects should she fund and why? How should she handle the executive meeting? A fair assessment of the situation at Le Petit Chef is that there are far too many projects on the table. This overflow has led to missed deadlines and therefore missed profit. The gap between LPC and other microwave manufacturers is closing fast and action is required. Essentially, Le Petit Chef needs a cornerstone development. There are five proposed projects: A new intelligent (fuzzy logic) line of microwaves, a low-cost version of an existing microwave line, an entirely new low-cost line, a quick heating model, and a larger cavity Liberte. When choosing which projects to fund, Gagne must evaluate them on three basic criteria: will this project differentiate one product from the next? Will this project spread the rd team too thin? , and will this project provide a competitive advantage? For the short term, LPC should not attempt to enter the low-cost microwave market. Le Petit Chef is correlated with high end, high performance appliances and trying to tackle a low cost market that is dominated by large companies such as Samsung and GE would not be appropriate. Because of this, both projects associated with a low end line should be crossed off Gagne’s list. However, perhaps in the future when the company is on more solid footing a low-end line can be attempted. Adding a larger cavity to the Liberte should also be cut because this just adds another component into the mix. Too many components that don’t overlap from one product to the next increases total cost and adaptability. Another reason to cut the larger cavity is because it really does nothing major to differentiate the product. Next, LPC should fund the implementation of a Fuzzy Logic microwave line. This would differentiate the product among high-end competitors, not put too much strain on rd according to a senior design engineer, and promote the high-class label associated with Le Petit Chef. This project is absolutely necessary to undertake. Another project that should be funded is the development of a â€Å"Liberte-express† with a more powerful magnetron. This adds another vital differentiating feature, will be easy to develop, and be finished relatively quickly (6 months). At the meeting, Gagne simply needs to list the facts to the executives since there shouldn’t be too much convincing to do. She needs to present her product choices listed above rationally and stress the need for the company to stay true to its reputation by focusing on high-end appliances. She needs to alert the execs about how thin rd is spread and she should probably prepare a list of projects that could be easily axed. She needs to stress the importance of allowing rd to focus on less projects. The primary theme of her presentation should be realigning Le Petit Chef as the frontrunner in the microwave business. She also needs to outline the current financial issues and how the proposed projects will affect them. 2) What factors explain Le Petit Chef’s poor performance? What actions would you recommend to remedy the situation? Le Petit Chef’s poor performance can be largely attributed to the recent influx of competition from abroad. Essentially, the Asian manufacturers such as Samsung and Sharp infiltrated the low-end market which in turn forced European microwave companies to move into the previously Le Petit Chef dominated high end market. One statistic that basically tells the entire story is that the price of the microwave oven had dropped by 10% each year from 1996 to 2000. In an attempt to ward off competition, LPC spent hefty sums in advertising. This was overkill and caused financial issues. Another key factor was the rd team being spread so thinly across so many products. Exhibit 9 highlights this by showing the products branching out in an almost ridiculous manner. Quite frankly, LPC needs to reduce its projects. In order to remedy the situation, LPC needs to do a handful of things. First, they need to realize that they cannot compete with the large foreign companies. Therefore, any thoughts of entering the low-cost market should be heavily discouraged. LPC has a niche in the high end market and they need to stick to their guns. By focusing on the high end marked, RD is also not as overextended. Next, LPC needs to differentiate their products from the competition. They need to give the buyer some incentive to fork over more cash for their expensive microwaves. Another thing that LPC should try to do is to make more components that are interchangeable between models in order to lower costs. LPC should also focus on the appearance of their microwaves, because to sell a high-end product it has to appear that way. Essentially, the appearance is the ultimate differentiating factor.

Definition and Examples of Overwriting

Definition and Examples of Overwriting Overwriting is a wordy writing style characterized by excessive detail, needless repetition, overwrought figures of speech, and/or convoluted sentence structures. For writers striving for color, advises author and editor Sol Stein, try, fly, experiment, but if it shows strain, if it isnt accurate, cut it (Stein on Writing, 1995). Examples and Observations Overwriting is the failure to make choices. . . . Linguistic bric-a-brac is literatures Elvis on velvet.(Paula LaRocque, Championship Writing: 50 Ways to Improve Your Writing. Marion Street, 2000)[Andrew] Davidsons approach is scattergun: for every lovely image (the unholy yoga of his crash), there is a horrible, almost parodic piece of overwriting (a cheese strand dangled from her mouth to the edge of her nipple, and I wanted to rappel it like a mozzarella commando).(James Smart, The Gargoyle. The Guardian, September 27, 2008)Even Great Writers Can OverwriteNote that some critics deeply admire the following passages by John Updike and Joan Didion. With uncommon perception, says Thomas L. Martin, Updike offers the beauty of these several figures which, lined up, converge in a significatory pattern as do these dropsin a single figurative mosaic (Poiesis and Possible Worlds, 2004). Likewise, the excerpt from On Self-Respect, one of Didions best-known essays, is frequently quoted approv ingly. Other readers, however, argue that Updikes images and Didions figurative comparisons are self-conscious and distractingin a word, overwritten. Decide for yourselves.- It was a window enchanted by the rarity with which I looked from it. Its panes were strewn with drops that as if by amoebic decision would abruptly merge and break and jerkily run downward, and the window screen, like a sampler half-stitched, or a crossword puzzle invisibly solved, was inlaid erratically with minute, translucent tesserae of rain.(John Updike, Of the Farm, 1965)- Although to be driven back upon oneself is an uneasy affair at best, rather like trying to cross a border with borrowed credentials, it seems to me now the one condition necessary to the beginnings of real self-respect. Most of our platitudes notwithstanding, self-deception remains the most difficult deception. The tricks that work on others count for nothing in that very well-lit back alley where one keeps assignations with oneself: no winning smiles will do here, no prettily drawn lists of good intentions. One shuffles flashily but in vain through ones marked cardsthe kindness done for the wrong reason, the apparent triumph which involved no real effort, the seemingly heroic act into which one had been shamed.(Joan Didion, On Self-Respect. Slouching Towards Bethlehem, 1968) Weltys WordinessSometimes writers get so excited about specificity and description that they begin to confuse them with mere wordiness. This is called overwriting and is a common early malady in apprentice writers. . . .Heres one of Eudora Weltys early first sentences: Monsieur Boule inserted a delicate dagger in Mademoiselles left side and departed with a poised immediacy.The solution to overcoming overwriting . . . is simply to exercise restraint and to remember the notion of immediacy. Weltys sentence, short of its too-fancy verbs and its excess of adjectives, might simply have read, Monsieur Boule stabbed Mademoiselle with a dagger and left the room in a hurry.(Julie Checkoway, Creating Fiction: Instruction and Insights From Teachers of the Associated Writing Programs. Writers Digest Books, 2001)Daniel Harris on OverwritingEven as my prose congealed into epic similes that grew more and more outlandish, I displayed absolute intolerance for the overwriting of others whose prose all owed me to study my own shortcomings at several removes, from a vantage point far above the vendetta I was waging as the self-appointed hatchet man of minority fiction. Often I was so blind to my tendency to write purple prose that I overwrote in the very act of criticizing overwriting, as . . . when I praised Patricia Highsmith, who, unlike other American writers, was so committed to telling her story that she never had any time to single out something for its own sake, to pluck it up from its context, and pet it from head to toe with long, voluptuous strokes of adjectives and metaphors. Far from being smug about my skills as a writer, I was bitterly frustrated, divided between my need to entertain my audience and my abhorrence of the prose that resulted from my acrobatic efforts to maintain my readers interest.(Daniel Harris, A Memoir Of No One In Particular. Basic Books, 2002) Do Not OverwriteRich, ornate prose is hard to digest, generally unwholesome, and sometimes nauseating. If the sickly sweet word, the overblown phrase are a writers natural form of expression, as is sometimes the case, he will have to compensate for it by a show of vigor, and by writing something as meritorious as the Song of Songs, which is Solomons.(William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White, The Elements of Style, 3rd ed. Macmillan, 1979)

The Templars were certainly adept at making money even though they Essay

The Templars were certainly adept at making money even though they existed as part of the church - Essay Example Over the time, Templars amassed huge money and property, first as donations and then through their commercial dealings and political machinations. The Templars owned lands in France, Portugal, Scotland, England, Spain, Italy, Austria, Germany, Aragon and Hungary (Baignet & Leigh 1991, 43). To a great extent the position of the Church as a primary spiritual guide to the kingdoms of Europe, eventually passed on to the Templars, in practice if not in theory. The Templars who came into existence to serve the Holy See and to establish the writ of the Church in the Holy Land, in the later days emerged as a parallel power centre to the Catholic Church, which though professed allegiance to the Church, in practice did not hesitate to assiduously indulge in unscrupulous dealings and arrangements. Thus the Templars undermined the political hold and power of the Church over the Christian kingdoms of Europe. Since the times of Christ and the apostles, the true strength of the Church had been its message of love and austerity. However, Templars initiated various steps that diluted the very essence of the message of Christ. In 1153-4, the Templars in England attempted a translation of the Old Testament into the vernacular (Baignet & Leigh 1991, 44). This translation sounded like a chivalric romance, very unlike the simplicity and piousness of the original work. One could certainly conclude that Templars must have attempted many other such unknown translations, which were explicitly worldly and compromised the crux of Christian dogmas. Also, though knowing that usury was abhorrence to the Church, Templars arrogantly indulged in financial operations and transactions, hiding their rapaciousness under the garb of â€Å"semantics, euphemism and circumlocution (Baignet & Leigh 1991, 48)†. So, the biggest damage that Templars inflicted on the Catholic Church was by being the living examples of the distortion and pollution of both the Word and the Way. The lifestyle, business and politics of Templars must have definitely disheartened and discouraged the lay believers, who were earlier attracted to the sobriety and humility of the Church. No doubt, the very existence of Templars was a visible mockery of the Christian values. Both, owing to the military and temporal power of the Templars and their massive financial clout, the feudal lords and the kings and queens of Europe became more than vulnerable to their influence. The sovereigns not only relied on Templars for safety and military assistance, but also hired Templars to collect taxes. Templars in turn, exhibited such a savagery and ruthlessness in their operations that they conveniently surpassed the excesses of their political customers. One other reason, the sovereigns became a toy in the hand of Templars was because of their need to procure loans. Hence, Templars’ alliance with the Mammon, proved more effective and utilitarian than the piety and poverty of the Church. Not to mention, the Crus ades which were initiated with much religious zeal and fervor, in a way weakened the Church in the sense that from being Holy Wars, they eventually degenerated into cheap Witch hunts. The