Evidence Rule Essay Example for Free

Evidence Rule EssayThe opera hat evidence radiation diagram pertains to the rule that the evidence that is permissible on the court is that evidence which is original. It is because when copies of evidence are made, there is a possibility that the copy ordain be alter or tampered so copies are not the best evidence. The best evidence to be presented would be the original evidence. The best evidence rule implies that copies or stock(prenominal) evidences be not permissible to the court. I think it is because the only thing that could prove the document and the involvement of that document would be the evidence itself. And the content cannot be compromised because it may lead to false conclusion of the proceedings. It is also called the original writing rule (Bergman Berman-Barrett, 2008) This will be discussed further later. However, a secondary winding source may be used as the evidence to be presented on a court trial if the original is not available. The original is pert ained as the primary source. A primary source is that which is original and has come or created during an event. A secondary source would be those sources that resulted from the primary source.The content of a secondary source contains development or opinions regarding to the primary source (Eamon, 2004). It means that the secondary source comes only after the primary source and is just related to the source. So, a copy is not necessarily a secondary source. It may be a copy of a primary source. In a court trial, the primary source is what is usually preferred to be introduced. When it is not available, secondary source can be used, as said earlier. The best evidence rule states that as long as the original document is available, that should be produced for a court trial.A secondary source will only be admissible if the original document is not available. So when the original document is difficult to produce, it doesnt mean that the secondary source can be used as an alternative. The lawyer should do his best to produce that original document. This is what it meant for the original writing rule. As Ive mentioned earlier, the content of a document would be the document itself. There can be biases if secondary sources will be used in place of the original document.An example of introducing a secondary source in place of the primary source will be when a document that would prove that there really has been a contract been lost, say, in a fire. A secondary source, in a mildew of a testimony can be used as evidence. References Bergman, Paul and Sara Berman-Barrett. 2007.RepresentYourself in Court How to Prepare and Try a Winning Case. ground forces NOLO. Eamon, Michael. 2004. Defining Primary and Secondary Resources. Library And Archives Canada. Retrieved 10 May 2009 from http//www . collectionscanada. gc. ca/education/008-3010-e. html.

Zen masters Essay Example for Free

point masters EssaySame as Buddhism, battery-acid became accommodated for those, who practice it. So, it obtained new characteristics in the West. This process of alteration was repeated in each country where Zen appeargond. Nowadays masters, who learn Zen in Vietnam, China, Korea or Japan, established their own schools in the Western countries. tout ensemble these established schools have unchangeable elements, but at the same time they contain a lot of elements, which differ for each country. It is hard to image both challenges non-theistic, oriental teaching can meet while assimilating in the West.Zen becomes transformed by Western society but the society itself as well gets transformed by Zen. There argon several basic challenges Zen practitioners meet in the West. North Americans and Europeans have implemented new traditions to Zen Buddhism. yearly meeting of representatives of different Zen Buddhism schools if one of such innovations. Such practice is not accepted in Asian counties, where Zen masters did not go on much with each other. In the annual meetings, organized in the west practitioners and masters from different Zen schools, come together to share their experience and handle important issues. As Bodhin Kholhede, an abbot of Rochester Zen Center, states, Within individual Sanghas, too, we have seen a general horizontalization of authority since the first generation of (mostly Asian) Zen teachers founded their centers (Kholhede, 340). There are major changes inside the monasteries and Zen centers, as well. They also get influenced by secular tendency and the balance between phantasmal and secular is often locomote to the side of secular. Zen originates from China, the country where Confucian traditions have influenced all social, religious and political processes.Propriety, filial piety and obedience to authority are the main principles of Confucianism, which had big(p) influence on all religious movements and Zen is not an exceptio n. Special relations between masters and disciples became one of the distinctive features of Zen Buddhism. Master had some unlimited power on his students and there were even cases when masters killed their disciples. It is evident that these principles could not have been accepting by the Western society and North American one. Confucian principles could not be used for Western tradition of Zen.First Western Zen centers based on these principles could not attract many pursual and had to adapt to Western ideology. Zen had to undergo serious transformation in the question concerning an attitude to women. In Asian countries women were not usually allowed to participate in Zen practices, especially they were not allowed to become masters. As Bodhin Kholhede notices, The largely invisible role of women in Asian Buddhism is no secret. Official teacher lineages, or venerable lines, are by definition composed exclusively of men (Kholhede).It is not that women were not seeking for awaken ing and did not want to commit their life to spiritual quest. Such a role of women in Zen and Buddhism was conditioned by the role of women in Asian society. Women were not considered to have same spiritual and religious abilities as men did. It is evident that such ideas could not have been accepted by Western Zen practitioners. Western women took active part in Zen practice and this finally caused the change in behavior, and attitude towards women. Introduction of women to Zen practice had another important meaning.Nowadays Western Zen centers try to flip-flop hard and exhausting practices with more moderate ones in order to make them suitable for both, male and female practitioners. The change of female role also influences Zen vocabulary. Some phrases which could have been addressrd to male practitioners only now become gender neutral. For example, the very term patriarchal line, which means the line of masters who copy each other, is some monasteries is now replace to ancestr al line in order to underline that women also can be Zen masters. Western individualism has become a serious obstacle for Zen in the West.All Western culture is distinguished by striving to individualism and self-autonomy. While these notions are not widely developed in Asian countries, they have become central in the West. Individualism is peculiar to all Western countries, but it is qualitatively different from the traditional Asian conception of self, in which a person is defined within a nexus of social relations, and dependent on a contextual web consisting of other persons as well as place, time, and history. This definition resonates strongly with Buddhist doctrine, in which the self is so thoroughly interdependent that it has no essential reality (Kholhede, 342).

Team Performance And Strategic Objectives

aggroup accomplishment And Strategic Objectivesteam proceeding pretending involves the development of a number of interrelated paradees that together carry an impact on the procedure of the firm through its the great unwashed in such aras as yieldionivity, quality, and levels of customer service, growth, profits, and ultimately the delivery of increase shargonh obsoleteer value. This is achieved by enhancing the skills and engaging the earnestness of employees. The starting point is leaders, vision and benchmarking to create a judgement of momentum and direction.Team Performance Man seasonment is focused directly on the performance of the police squads central business objectives. It bridges the gap between the aggroup twist enablers and business performance entrusts. It removes the reliance on faith the need to believe that group up building endures before investing in it and establishes a direct connection between collective behaviors and team performance.T eam Performance Management is predicated on the pursuit three principlesTeam Behaviors are different to Individual Behaviors.Most competency frame tends include team counterfeit, but these unremarkably refer to what an individual does inwardly a team, non what a team does collectively together. E.g. whilst all told the individuals in a team ordure be assimilate in trustworthy ways, this does non guarantee that the team result build trust together this is also dependent on other factors such as the environment they puzzle out in, or the team processes they use for communicating, deciding, payoffing, etc..The behaviors that make a team successful varyfrom team to team and from time to time. E.g. the profile of behaviors that makes a forge team successful is different from the profile that makes a financial audit team successful. And if the design team is using a top-down approach, for optimal performance, it needs to change its behaviors once it gets beyond the outline de sign and starts playact on the detailed implementation of the ideas.Team behaviors fag end be changed using a team performance care process. In essence, performance steering involves establishing behavioral cultures, measuring current behaviors to identify the gap between the current and desired behavior profile, and then planning, implementing and monitoring changes in order to close that gap. in that respect are both similarities and signifi lowlifet differences between performance management processes for individuals and teams.The backbone difference between traditional team building and team performance management is that the former engages in activities in the belief that they allow indirectly lead to improvements in team performance ( whatsoevertimes they do, sometimes they dont). Team Performance Management, however, identifies the team behaviors that entrust lead directly to business success, and then uses a process to change the behaviors accordingly.Evaluate also ls and techniques available to set team performance targetsMost performance measures fag end be grouped into one of the following six general categories. However, certain organizations may develop their own categories as appropriate depending on the organizations mission dominance A process characteristic indicating the degree to which the process output (work product) conforms to requirements.(Are we doing the right things?)Efficiency A process characteristic indicating the degree to which the process produces the required output at minimum resource cost. (Are we doing things right?)Quality The degree to which a product or service strikes customer requirements and expectations.Timeliness Measures whether a unit of work was done correctly and on time. Criteria essential(prenominal) be established to define what constitutes timeliness for a given unit of work. The criterion is usually based on customer requirements.Productivity The value added by the process divided by the valu e of the labor and capital consumed.Safety Measures the overall health of the organization and the operative environment of its employees.The following reflect the attributes of an i circulate unit of measureReflects the customers needs as well as our ownProvides an agreed upon basis for decision reservationIs understandableApplies broadlyMay be interpreted uniformlyIs compatible with existing sensors (a way to measure it exists)Is precise in interpreting the resultsIs economical to exercisePerformance data must fight the mission assignment(s) from the mellowedest organizational level downward to the performance level. Therefore, the measurements that are used must reflect the assigned work at that level. Within a system, units of measure should interconnect to form a pyramid. Technological units start at the base. These are measures of individual units of products and of individual elements of service.1.2.1. Performance EvaluationsPerformance evaluation is a very consequenti al activity which entrust be initiated to evaluate and appraise the performance of every employee in the organization. This process can be done twice a year and few companies do the same process for every quarter. Majorly, employee performance can be evaluated based on 5 categories those are Productivity, quality, communication skills, intersomebodyal skills, professional behavior initiative. Promotions and performance rewards for an employee is decided based on this criteria only.Productivity is nothing but the quantity of work items or assigned work performed by an employee. On a daily base employee should be given a target or set of work and that should be completed by the end of the day. If employee couldnt achieve the target in a particular day, can compensate the balance work in subsequent works long time.Quality means the accuracy levels of work which an employee has performed. This processed data exit be randomly revaluationed or audited by senior associates in the comp any. If all the work items which were reviewed are perfect and accurate then, the employee quality of work is 100 %, in case any error found, quality decreases. Hence need to discover agreement in quality.Communication skills also play an important role in performance appraisals. It includes written and oral communication skills. If employee cannot communicate in a puritanical way, he or she cannot elevate themselves in work and share their views, suggestions in marchess of development and growth of the process. Hence always concentrate on ameliorate communication skills.Interpersonal skills professional behavior are nothing but your way of approach and behavior with fellow team members and superiors. Always need to maintain a cool environment within the team, should not be any ego feelings in learning and always solve any personal issues in a professional way in the presence of supervisor.Growth of project or process, always try to share the ideas with supervisor to implement and if employee has any suasion due to which manual working hours may reduce and helpful for the process then such things must share with the supervisor so that in performance evaluation employee can gain a very good rating.1.2.2 . FeedbackFeedback is such an important communication skill. Openness, honesty, candor, trust all of these are hallmarks of advanced performance teams and organizations. severe feedback skills are inseparable to any team relationship.Feedback is important becauseIt prevents small issues from festering into unmanageable problems.It builds trust in relationships.It promotes personal and professional growth.It ac chicaneledges individual and team accomplishments.It clears up mis dreads.It is a way to acknowledge and contend team members skills and contributions.As a result, effective team feedback makes life at work a great deal easier and to a greater extent rewarding.There are two types of feedback Positive feedback and feedback for improvement (some times called negative feedback).Positive Feedback Positive feedback is cultivation about(predicate) what someone did well. Theres a very childlike approach you can use when giving positive feedback.Describe what the team member actually did or utter, and Why this statement or action was effective.Feedback for ameliorationFeedback for improvement is given about situations which did not go well, or which could have been better. In this case, its important to tell the team member specifically what could have been said or done differently, and why that would have been more effective.1.2.3. Development PlanningDevelopment Planning is broadly defined as the planning of any nonionised endeavor that aims at promoting development. It encompasses a wide range of thrusts in economic, social and institutional fields at miscellaneous societal levels, from the local to the international and usually emphasis the relation between societal spheres and units. It addresses the values, objective s, resources, organizational ability and a range of variables of environment of the development organizational its pursuit.The main concerns of development planning may be expressed by the concept of strategy and derivatives of that concept. The term strategy has wide application and is used with numerous shades of meaning.Assess the value of team performance tools to measure future team performanceA team needs to know how its results will help the organization. Individuals on the team need to know what the team requires of them to reach the teams goal. The seven-step processes for measuring team performance areTerminologySeven-Step ProcessMeasurement PointsTerminologythe terms performance standards, goals, and objectives interchangeably and sees them as descriptions of some future, desirable state that the team is trying to achieve. As depicted below, performance below the standard is considered unacceptable, and performance exceeding the standard is considered exceptional.Seven-St ep Process.Review existing organizational measures. Ensure that the measures above and around the team are known and linked to the teams measures.Define whats going to be measured. Selecting the best alternatives and using them to identify the teams key accomplishments fork out the basis for all further measurement.Identify individual team member accomplishments that stake the team. Identify the results each team member must produce to support the teams results or work processes.Weight the accomplishments. Discuss and agree upon the relative importance of each accomplishment.Develop team and individual performance measures. Identify the measurement (either numerical or descriptive) that will be used to gauge how well the results have been achieved.Develop team and individual performance standards. Define how well the team and individuals have to perform to meet expectations.Decide how to track performance. Identify how the data for each performance standard will be collected and fed back to team membersMeasurement Points.Elaborating on step two of his seven-step process, Zigong describes four ways to identify what should be measured. These methods can be used singly or in cabalIf the team exists to satisfy the requirements of its customers, the measurement point(s) should be the product or service the team provides to the customer.If the team exists to help the organization make an improvement in a specific measurable goal, the measurement points should be determined by asking, What value-added results does the team produce that can help the organization achieve its goal?If the team exists to support the organizations function, the measurement point(s) are determined by identifying the hierarchy of results that the organization must produce and selecting those that link the team to the organizations results.If the team is used to support a work process, the measurement points are found by mapping the process and using the map to identify whats worth measur ing.2.1 Analyse how to determine required performance targets within teams against current performancePerformance measurement is primarily managing outcome, and one of its main purposes is to reduce or eliminate overall variation in the work product or process. The goal is to arrive at toilsome decisions about actions affecting the product or process and its output.Performance measures quantitatively tell us something important about our products, services, and the processes that produce them. They are a tool to help us understand, manage, and improve what our organizations do. Performance measures let us knowhow well we are doingif we are meeting our goalsif our customers are satisfiedif our processes are in statistical controlif and where improvements are necessary.They provide us with the information necessary to make intelligent decisions about what we do.A performance measure is composed of a number and a unit of measure. The number gives us a magnitude (how much) and the unit gives the number a meaning (what). Performance measures are always tied to a goal or an objective (the target). Performance measures can be represented by wiz dimensional units like hours, meters, nanoseconds, dollars, number of reports, number of errors, number of CPR-certified employees, length of time to design hardware, etc. They can show the variation in a process or deviation from design specifications. Single-dimensional units of measure usually represent very basic and fundamental measures of some process or product.2.1.1 Know what it looks likeIt will be impossible to know when youre achieving high performance if you dont know what it looks like. From an organisational perspective, high performance means not only running a financially sound business, adhering to essential policies and ensuring regulatory demands are observed, but also understanding the capability of your workforce to deliver high performance. all in all too often, concerns about what they might find ones elf and the time it may take prompt organisations to adopt the three wise monkeys strategy dont see, dont hear, dont speak with the result that low performance goes unchecked for years until it is too late and competitors have overtaken you. Too often, individual high performance is defined as simply getting the job done in the short term rather than looking to the long term and focusing on behaviors.2.1.2 Make a commitmentStrong and active commitment from leaders and managers, and the pursuit of dogging learning throughout the organisation, are crucial to building a well-defined high-performance culture. Commitment means not leaving it to fate, but truly understanding what high performance looks like, trusting different approaches and working with all stakeholders, including the human resource2.1.3 Define your starting pointKnowing where your organisation currently stands will make it much easier to create a vision for the future and to secure buy-in. One of the intimately effe ctive strategies is to define explicitly what creates high performance in your organisation. Ensure that these behaviors are distinct, while being comprehensive enough to cover different levels of the organisation. Include areas such as how people collect and make sense of information and how they influence and build confidence in stakeholders.2.1.4 Put a stake in the groundOnce you have agreed what the behavioral high performance indicators look like, it is essential to observe and measure them. The best way to capture current performance is through objective observation, such as work shadowing, behavioural event interviews and subjective feedback via online and facilitated 360-degree analysis. This should clearly distinguish between behavior that impedes performance helps to do the task in hand makes a sustainable and long-term positive contribution promotes beneficial and long-term behavioral change in teams and divisions.2.2 Discuss the need to encourage individual commitment t o team performance in achievement of organisational goalsThe definition of the group dynamics is the social process by which people interact face-to-face in small groups. The group controlled through leadership rather than force, ensured discipline through internal pressure, pooled thinking, respected the individual, and allowed all its members to participate in deciding on things that directly affected them in their work.Teamwork is much more important than the sum of the individual part since a nominal engineering team can succeed under a well-managed project. The success of a computer software project relies very much on a good management and control system which allows the development to satisfy the project objectives Team process skills are- (a) communication, (b) leadership, (c) goal setting, (d) cross training, (e) problem solving/decision making, (f) conflict resolution are the essential elements for successful teamwork.Team members and leaders must play their roles if they are to be high-performing.The roles of a team leader as followsCoordinate the activities of the team (tracking progress, scheduling work).Motivate the team.Ensure the team communicates effectively.Interface with supervisor arrange meetings with client when necessary. set up agendas for meetingsHelp to set the team goals (project goals, task allocations).Help the team move towards these goals.Accomplish tasks given to them.Meet deadlines.Attend team meetings.Contribute to developing a productive atmosphere within the team2.3 Relate the application of delegation, mentoring and coaching to the achievement of the organisational objectivesA mentoring relationship is usually where one wiser and more experienced person assists another person to grow and learn. It is not a new management technique. Since humans have lived in social groups we have learnt our norms, values and behaviours by the deterrent example and coaching of others.The business world has adopted the tradition of an older and wiser person fostering the growth and development of the younger generation. This has sometimes resulted in perpetuation of old ways at the expense of diversity and development. However, new adaptations of mentoring allowing individuals to interact as colleagues in a helping relationship, on a more equal basis, can cultivate growth and learning to mutual benefit.Experience, skills and a genuine desire to help are more valuable assets in a mentoring relationship than age or position. Open and assertive communication and the trust of both parties are essential. Both partners in the mentoring relationship benefit. Learning must be a lifelong process and one of the most effective ways to learn is to assist in the development of others. The best teachers learn much from their students, counselors constantly learn from clients and partners in any successful relationship grow and develop along the way.Coaching is suitable for the successful achievement of many different objectives in working life. What is essential is the importance of the objectives for both the person being coached and the organisation. Motivation from the person to be coached is required for the coaching process to be successful, and without organisational objectives coaching will not result in real success at work. The main focus of coaching is on the development of managerial work and leadership competence, and on the coaching of key persons. Persons on different organisational levels have different objectives, but some challenges are shared by all.2.4 Evaluate a team performance plan to meet organisational objectivesAlthough there is no guaranteed how-to recipe for building team performance, we observed a number of approaches shared by many successful teams.Establish urgency, demanding performance standards, and direction. All team members need to believe the team has urgent and worthwhile purposes, and they want to know what the expectations are. Indeed, the more urgent and meaningful the rationale, the more likely it is that the team will live up to its performance potential, as was the case for a customer-service team that was told that further growth for the entire company would be impossible without major improvements in that area. Teams work best in a compelling context. That is why companies with strong performance ethics usually form teams readily.Select members for skill and skill potential, not personality.No team succeeds without all the skills needed to meet its purpose and performance goals. Yet most teams figure out the skills they will need after they are formed. The wise manager will choose people for their existing skills and their potential to improve existing skills and learn new ones.Pay particular attention to outset meetings and actions. Initial impressions always mean a great deal.When potential teams prototypic gather, everyone monitors the signals given by others to confirm, suspend, or dispel assumptions and concerns. They pay particular a ttention to those in authority the team leader and any executives who set up, oversee, or otherwise influence the team. And, as always, what such leaders do is more Important than what they say. If a senior executive leaves the team kickoff to take a phone call ten minutes after the Session has begun and he never returns, people get the message.Set some clear rules of behavior.All effective teams develop rules of conduct at the outset to help them achieve their purpose and performance goals. The most critical initial rules pertain to attendance (for example, no interruptions to take phone calls), discussion (no sacred cows), confidentiality (the only things to leave this room are what we agree on), analytical approach (facts are friendly), end-product orientation (everyone gets assignments and does them), constructive confrontation (no finger pointing), and, often the most important, contributions (everyone does real work).Set and seize upon a few immediate performance oriented task s and goals.Most effective teams trace their advancement to key performance-oriented events. Such events can be set in motion by immediately establishing a few challenging goals that can be reached early on. There is no such thing as a real team without performance results, so the sooner such results occur, the sooner the team congeals.Challenge the group regularly with fresh facts and information.New information causes a team to redefine and enrich its understanding of the performance challenge, thereby helping the team shape a common purpose, set clearer goals, and improve its common approach. A plant quality improvement team knew the cost of poor quality was high, but it wasnt until they researched the different types of defects and put a price tag on each one that they knew where to go next. Conversely, teams err when they evolve that all the information needed exists in the collective experience and knowledge of their members.Spend lots of time together.Common sense tells us t hat team members must spend a lot of time together, scheduled and unscheduled, especially in the beginning. Indeed, creative insights as well as personal bonding require spontaneously and casual interactions just as much as analyzing spreadsheets and interviewing customers. Busy executives and managers too often intentionally minimize the time they spend together. The successful teams weve observed all gave themselves the time to learn to be a team. This time need not always be spent together physically electronic, fax, and phone time can also count as time spent together.Exploit the power of positive feedback, recognition, and reward.Positive reinforcement works as well in a team context as elsewhere. Citing outgod stars helps shape new behaviors critical to team performance. If people in the group, for example, are alert to a startle persons initial efforts to speak up and contribute, they can give the honest positive reinforcement that encourages continued contributions. There are many ways to recognize and reward team performance beyond direct compensation, from having a senior executive speak directly to the team about the urgency of its mission to using awards to recognize contributions. Ultimately, however, the satisfaction shared by a team in its own performance becomes the most cherished reward.Initial performance planUnderstanding and posterior on discussing a teams performance is central to managing team performance. To work effectively, teams must regularly and objectively review their teamwork. In addition to concentrating on their short-term outputs, team members must examine work processes to ensure that the team is working creatively, that the team is effectively promoting itself to others, and so on. Too often in managing team performance the team review focuses on subjective individual evaluation, as opposed to an objective team assessment.Performance improvement planA Team Performance Plan is a detailed plan used toIdentify the desired p erformance levels of the teamIdentify how these performance levels will be achievedProvide guidance and direction to the teamMeasure progress towards the desired performance levelsAlthough there are no strict rules as to the format of a Team Performance Plan they ordinarily contain the following informationSpecific goals for team developmentPerformance measuresActions required to achieve goalsAn indication of how long goals will take to achieveThe Team Performance Plan should align with the organisations overall objectives. This can be achieved by1. Aligning the Team Performance Plan with the Team Purpose2. Aligning the Team Purpose with the organisations objectivesTeam Performance Plans might include the following types of goalsKey Performance Indicators (KPIs)Goals to improve team competencyTeam building goalsCollate the information regarding poor performancePerformance = Ability x MotivationWhereAbility is the persons aptitude, as well as the training and resources supplied by t he organizationMotivation is the product of desire and commitmentSomeone with 100% motivation and 75% ability can often achieve above-average performance. But a worker with only 25% ability wont be able to achieve the type of performance you expect, regardless of his or her level of motivation.Incorrect diagnoses can lead to lots of problems later on. If you believe an employee is not making enough of an effort, youll likely put increased pressure on him or her to perform. But if the real issue is ability, then increased pressure may only make the problem worse.Low ability may be associated with the followingOver-difficult tasks.Low individual aptitude, skill, and knowledge.Evidence of strong effort, contempt poor performance.Lack of improvement over time.People with low ability may have been poorly matched with jobs in the first place. They may have been promoted to a position thats too demanding for them. Or maybe they no longer have the support that previously helped them to per form well.Meet with the relevant team member(s) and discuss the issuesCreating a Performance good PlanSo how do you do this in practice? This is where you need to develop a Performance Improvement Plan. Armed with the strategies weve looked at, you first need to evaluate the performance issue that youre facingHave you discussed with the person what he or she feels the problem is?Have you evaluated your organizations motivation system? Are you doing everything you can to recognize and reward peoples contributions?Are you rewarding the things that you actually want done?Do you have regular goal setting and development meetings with members of your team?Do you help your people keep their skills current?From there, its important that you and the employee discuss and agree upon a plan for improving performance. Write down what youve agreed, along with dates by which goals should be achieved. Then monitor progress with the team member, and use the techniques weve discussed above for incr easing motivation and dealing with ability-related issues.Recognize that the actions needed to close ability gaps need high motivation on the employees part to be successful. The two causes of poor performance lack of ability and low motivation are inextricably intertwined, and goal setting, feedback, and a supportive work environment are necessary conditions for improving both.Develop a Performance Improvement PlanSuccessfully managing team performance starts by identifying where the team is performing well and where it needs further development. The Team Performance Profile Questionnaire and associated analysis gives team members an objective assessment of how the team is doing. It provides opportunities to compare the various viewpoints of team members and outsiders and relate them to the team vision and purpose. The common language ensures that everyone is focusing on the critical team performance factors and the measured gaps can then be translated into action plans for impro ved performance. It is the diagnosis of the problems that is essential. Once we know what is wrong, it is usually easy to fix itTuckman (1965) presented the four stages of teamwork which are now widely used by work teams throughout the world to assess their progress. The model describes the stages as followsTuckmans Stages of Teamwork ModelOnce teams are formed, they go through an unpleasant storming stage before ground rules and norms are established. Eventually the performing stage is reached. In the 1980s it was acceptable to take maybe six months or so to reach the performing stage. However, in the 90s, such is the speed of change and the intensity of competition that some teams have to get to good performance levels in six weeks or even six daysFollow upEnsure that you monitor, follow up and evaluate the performance improvement as set out in the plan.A Performance Improvement Plan should clearly conveyThe area of performance that requires improvement or developmentThe action(s) to be takenAny parties required to assist in the achievement of the set actionsThe timeframe for achieving each action3.1 Assess the process for monitoring team performance and initiate changes where necessarySometimes poor performance has its roots in low motivation. When this is the case, you need to work closely with the employee to create a motivating environment in which to work. There are thre

Factors Affecting Millennium Development Goals Progress

Factors Affecting Millennium Development Goals ProgressAbstractwater system and sanitization is a international canker facing the close to bena population e specially in Africa. Policy makers anticipate 80 zillion Euros are assumeed every year to declare oneself canonic sanitisation to the country-style poor to ease poverty, in that locationfore the need to get an in depth enamour of sanitization lagging behind is paramount. This penning aims to assess the pointors causing the soft of progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals(MDG) in low-income countries. The pace are due to infair to middling basis systems, skilled labour constraints, insufficient policy-making pull up stakes and maturement of population. It impart appraise current studies in the sector and analyse different constraints that jeopardise the turn overment of the sanitisation development precisely gold coast. In this check over article, published journals, distinguishs, confere nces are discovered. As a results of the above review factors that is hampering MDG sanitation for Goal 7, it was concluded that policy framework should be put in transmit whereas government and donor organisations enforced and invest more in sanitation. The research should assist in the development process in an optimised way of addressing pee and sanitation issues and allow better understanding of milieual differing that is triggering the success of MDGs.KeywordsMillennium Development Goals Ghana Factors affecting body of water tally and sanitation development1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUNDCurrently, 2.6 billion people in the world has no access to adequate sanitation(Marion W.jenkins ,2007) and 1.1 billion drop safe tipsiness water . (Water attention,2008)representing to two fifth of the world population, spark advance up to range of diseases like cholera, a devastating cause of child deceases(Marion W. 2007). In Asia 675 one thousand million people are with surface ameliorate inebriety water sources and in sub-Sahara Africa, save 36% has no access to basic sanitation (Christine L. And Richard D.2006).The ability of low-income countries to productively solicit external verify to scale up aid is the major confronting issue today. As vast numerate of international organisations on the verged to address the problem in growth world whiles envisaging the need for every humanity to pretend access to basic sanitation, Ghana as part of the sub Saharan Africa will not be able to achieve the MDGs (DFID,2006).UNICEFThe demesne Summit on sustainable Development(WSSD) in Johannesburg in 2002 adopted an international sanitation marker to halve the number of people without access to basic sanitation by 2015.This calculate now transform its self for water supply in support of the Millennium Development Goal of ensuring environmental sustainability(WELL,2003). Considering figures above, indicates the progress and geo lifelike areas of where water and sanitation has covered as of the year 2002.The enormity of the constraints comes with the acknowledgement that poor state of infrastructure impediments are the cause of not achieving the MDGs(refer to appendix2 ) because 50% of the population cannot access improved function serving as an issue(Antonio E.2005), (UN,2007).William Easterly,2008 argued that the MDG are unfair to Africa because MDGs are poorly and arbitrarily designed to measure progress against poverty and deprivation, and that their design makes Africa looks worse than it sincerely was. Most importantly, another article stated the need for external donors to accession funding although infrastructure systems is another challenging(hlsp, 2009).Contrary the (UNDP,2008) report reveal that lack of framework make monitory intemperate to measure and therefore data availability in other events was un screamable for the priming been poor system of infrastructure in roughly countries for collecting appropriate statistics . Empirically, programmes in sanitation in developing countries has been fruitful and yielding results (Marion W. Jenkins and Beth Scott,2007) yet there is an overwhelming number of people who keep on installing latrines or toilet facilities in their homes without subsidy from donors to improved sanitation. Moreover, the global climate convert that policy makers have been preaching, the impact in Africa where water crisis is escalating and water table been high up especially in the region of Tamale where is terribly hard to drill a sunken borehole a get water make up if there is then is possible it may contained 40% of salt(REVSODEP/SIMAVI,2003). Other studies have shown that climate change is a challenge to the success of the MDG(United Nations Economic and social council,2007). A number of studies have reported MDG trend progress of sanitation in Ghana as shown in (appendix1 and appendix 5) shows a series of attainable indicators how Ghana is progressing even though comments re garding poor infrastructure systems exist (Christine L. And Richard D.,2006) which tends to propel the success of sanitation projects in the developing nations . Similar findings have been made via (UN ,2006)department of economic and social affairs. However, most of these studies were based on different country orientations and gross domestic product(GDP) performance raised at the time the survey was made. As such, Aid scaling up(Peter S.Heller,2005) to the override . International Journal on environment resource public health in Zambia 2006 found that lack of well staffed health wield facilities, electricity, portable water, roads, adequate transportation and communication facilities contributed immensely to not meeting the sanitation target quiet apart from the political instability of other African region. This analysis is similar to less development of in topical anaesthetic and national institutions in south Africa(Neville,G.2003) although south Africa is progressing well as compare to Ghana and others. The following Other objectives will enable us dig out further factors.To make a literature review of MDG in sanitation and evaluate current technology options used. pick up factors seen in other studies.To develop, discuss and analyse data.Make recommendations/strategy for promoting sanitation development.1.2 GhanaThe republic of Ghana is a country in west Africa with a population of about 22.1 million people(iicd,2007).The country was the first sub-Saharan Africa country to obtain independence from colonial rules on the 6th of march 1957.Despite the country replete in natural resources such as cocoa, gold, timber, bauxite, salt and lately the discovered crude oil, the country is subdued in perennial sunk with water and sanitation diseases. After colonial rule the country is divided into 10 different regions which include, Northern region-Tamale, Bolgatanga, upper west region, Ashanti region, Volta region, Brong ahafo region, Central region, Easter n region, Greater Accra and occidental region(see appendix8) . In Ghana untaught population who have access to safe water in 2005 stood at 54%, rural population with access to kinsfolk latrine 25%, urban population with access to safe water 78% whiles 45% of urban citizens can boost of household latrine(WELL,2004).2. Skilled labour constraintsIt has been observed that for the Millennium Development Goal to achieve the set target in the sector of water and sanitation the human resources are vital. Shortages of skilled persons (World bank report,2005), (Lancet,2004)affect the health systems as indicative to progress of the MDGs.Erica User in 2005 indicated that international migration is associated with the non achievement of the MDG which seems to be increasing alarming and no resourceful person to deliver free burning latrines. The popular conception that the success of MDG 2015 will be met only when african government invest more in sanitation(Arne B. And Abebe S. 2006) than th ey do now can be in approperiate in round countries without the necessary manpower skill needed. Conventionally, it will also matter to the international community to realiseing the poverty nature in developing countries are more than the recoarse (IWA,2008)and therefore should be examine in different perspective way, progress has been hampered by population growth, unbattled HIV/AIDS, wide spread poverty.The view supported by working policy No.45 of (Goerge Essegbey et al 2007) who discovered that innovation in water and sanitation systems were made but was beyond the capacity of of the local people. Unlike in Kumasi a population of 19% of Ghana population census 2000 where technical drawings were made by a consultants for a contractor to follow through the work and due to lack of skills required to execute the Ventilated improvement project with respect to the design specifications ,errors were degenerated due to the fact that local people unified bamboo sticks in the facility leading to unsuccessful work done. Comparing the business office in Asia to Ghana,(Ljiljana and Ram,2006) in 32nd WEDC international conference in Sri lanka vividly verbalize institutional capacity building can been noticed as the most hindering factor for MDGs. Professional such as engineers who are knowlegeable, skillful and are suppose to assist Non governmental organisation and community based organisations in advocating and trainning the latter were seen non available. Again, sanitation projects were constructed in Nepal as shown in the figure3 at a lower place similarly describe by (JMP ,2008)is a latrine constructed without a slab cover can be considered unimproved. The latrine was contracted to unskilled contractor without the trainee. Moreover, (Maguire,1990) arguable said Lack of knowledge of lower personify technologies and use of technologies in appropriate for developing countries was given in 1988 as one of the obstacles to decade success.3. Political willSome stu dies have shown knowledgeablly that lack of political (appendix 11) williness contributed to the slow progress of water and sanitation development in the south(Trocaire,2005),(IWA,2006), (macho ventura,2008). In Ghana for example,Rural areas and small towns had benefited from cross-subsides on water made possible higher tariffs in larger urban areas. But in preparing for privatisation, the government has eliminated such subsidisation by separating out the more lucrative urban water services. This jeopardised the financial sustainability of rural services(UNDP,2007) policy research brief illustrated. On the other hand, this was been carried due to two or more reasons after the implementation of the scheme and as developing change comeby some policy of government will need to change in order not to cause future catastrophe in the long run. Although Subsides need to be provided in oder to promote equitable access to utility services. Some utilitties have introduce life line tariffs in which minimal levels of utility services are provided free or at a low cost. Essentially, the UNSGAB,2008 undeniably illustrate that 12% of sub-saharan africa national health budget is spend only in providing sanitation and cerebrate health services and 50% of the hospital beds are occupied for the same reason. However, experts predicts by 2015 2.1 billion people will still lack sanitation especially in sub-sahara africa untill 2076 (ENS,2008) news.In contrast, some sub saharan African leadership invest a lot of funds in the area of infrastructure and services in water and sanitation primarily into public sectors with other development partners even though these funds are decrease for non-homogeneous reasons and the share commercial is backing is still very low. The Ghana water and Sewerage Coporation(GWSC), a public utility charged with the responsibility, among others, of achieving self financing status however due to lack of political will by the government over the years to institute adequate tariffs devastated the finances of the GWSC(George Akosa,1995).This situation ,coupled with the general declined of Ghana economy,resulted in most of the operational water supply projects being in a poor state of repair of lacking the installed capacity to provide adequate service.We will probably say the government does invest is only the population in Africa growing leading the people in an extreme poverty from 44.6% to 46.4% as shown in appendix 4,10. Furthermore, Ghana is reported to be on track to meet the target of halving poverty by 2015(UNESC,2008) it is yet uncertain if sanitation will be met. There is an improvement in the HIV but the deadlock is still unmet in basic sanitation.USAID argued that should the current progress continue as it is now only water and sanitation in all countries will be met by 2015 whiles (UN News Center,2008)secretary general Ban Ki Mo actualize lack of political will will be the biggest obtacle to imrpoving sanitation on worl d water day. (vandemoortele,2002) ,considering the perceptions incurr by similar reports and journals that government investment is far less.(Ekow.E,2008)demonstrated that special issue of energy policy on energy in Africa with case studies on Zambia, etc explained at least the political will of many another(prenominal) governments to improve the tint and quantity of energy services as a prerequisite for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. More significantly, unwillginess of government or political interest in sanitation per say,J.Edgardo campos and sanjay pradhan(2007) found that tackling corruption in the water and sanitation sector in some part of Africa was the primary reason for the MDGs not been on target as stipulated. Osumanu Issaka Kanton in Ghana mentioned African governments, like most countries in the developing world, face daunting tasks in their attempts to provide effective and equitable water and sanitation services for their ever increasing urban population,the opus however, contrasted that since the early 1990s the government of Ghana and many local authorities have entered into various public-private partnerships in urban water and sanitation using Tamale as a case studies where private has done nothing invigorated public sector not have achieved and therefore concluded that there can be no sustainable improvement in water and sanitation provision without political commitment, stakeholder willpower and strong support for community driven initiatives(2008)4.Over populationPoulation change seen as the major propeling factor for the MDGs in developing country with regards to water and sanitation(UNWPP,2005), (ENS,2008). fig 8 shows summary in the graph. The data from these graph was available from mainly from the estimates an medium variant. USAID monitoring report for 2006 MDGs, for instance, found that family planning practice will enhance the unmet MDGs to achieve the Goals by reducing the size of the targetted populatio n groups which will then lowering the costs of meeting the MDGs in Sub-saharan Africa. Fig 9 table I.1 illustrates the report survey.Untill recently, (Esmarie Swanepoel,2008) publised article detailing africa falling behind on millennium development goals-UN as the proportion of people in sub saharan africa living below poverty decreased from 55.7% in 1990, to 50.3% in 2005. However, because of the population growth, the number of people in the region living in extreme poverty, grew by 100 million over the period. Using the below projections, the author (Dr.Jean C. 2006 ) and others have reported distinct effect population growth has on Sub-sahara in terms of unsafe drinking water and sanitation in meeting the MDGs by the anticipated or stipulated year. Factually, the world health organisation (WHO,2004) annual assessment report substaintiate by motto that the world is on track to meet the drinking water target, but sub-sahara africa lags behind and conflict and political instabili ty is a contributory factor with high rate of population growth and low priority given to water and sanitation will be a mirage. The paper concluded that whats more is the reason been the breakdown of water supply systems in rural africa is of high rates. One of the effective approaches shown to be accetable and helping the progress process drawn by the paper was decentralising responsibility and ownership and providing a choice of service level to communties based on their willingness and ability to pay.Urban population growth was estimated to increased in growth in developing countries from 1.9 billion to 3.9 billion 2030, averaging 3.2% per year which is a major challenge for achieving MDG sanitation(UNESCO IHE,2007). The diagramme in fig 8 and fig9 indicates the percentage of the population living in major cities. The arguement goes to intensify the fact that water supply and sanitation will be an acute shorter for a decades to come.SourceUNICEF(data online)5. ConclusionIn short this paper looks at the slow progress of Millennium Development Goals with focus in developing countries especially sub saharan africa with respect to water and sanitation and various factors affecting the progress.The article then went further in reviewing various studies and literature presented by authors , analysing other views in the subject area and detailing sanitation situation in the case of Ghana.It was found that the systems of infrastructure has made it difficult for the MDGs team to montior effectively the progress and concrete availability of data was inevitable for correlation in knowing the exact people in sub saharan africa that are not covered as far as water and sanitation is concern. Governments interest in investing much funds in sanitary projects was seen lagging other projects in Africa even like health sectors was seen stampeding such as water sector was progressing steadily as compared to specifically sanitation due to high poverty in some countries and HIV /AIDS among others demanding. Therefore,the was the need for donor organisations to increase aid for the developing world.High population growth and inapproperiate use of low technologies were another contributory constraints in achieving the MDG since the number of populates in african countries was increased drastically by a substantial amount with diseases and malnutrion been high among children 0-5 years of age and rising in birth was due to either unexpected pregnancy or unaware or mis natural covering of resurrectily planning medicine at their possession.Skilled labour constraints therefore was one of the impediments that contributed tremendously bad towards the goals of the MDG in wardly due to the fact that skilled migrates leave the developing countries not only for better salaries and rumerations but virtue of better health care systems in developed world. In some cases institutional capacity building was seen as vital challenge for the MDGs in africa which some where in Asia for example Nepal it was much the same similarity.However, despite various studies been carried out by viable institutions and authors with different methods of approaches in addressing the Millennium Development Goals in water and sanitation, the plans has little consistency between different countries , thus making it difficult for policy makers to measure and track progress and so therefore Septentie appraisal of attitudes of stakeholders to the factors limiting progress to MDG.AcknowledgementsThe Author wish to acknowledge other writers for their assidious and great workdone and for the support provided by Dr.John Williams of Portsmouth University.It is also our pledge to send our sincere gratitude for the University Liberians for their kind gesture and contributions towards and during the literature review session.8. ReferenceSummary of referenceJOURNALS PLUS PDFs REPORTS FROM INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS regime WEBSITES and ICE TWO BOOKSMarion W. Jenkins and Beth Scott(20 07).Behavioural indicators of household decision-making and demand for sanitation and potential gains from social marketing in Ghana. Journal of Social science and medicine,64(2007),2427-2442.Frederick Dubee (2008) Water Aid International-water Aids key facts statistics http//www.clubofrome.org/eng/meetings/winterthur_2008/presentations/Prof_Frederick_Dubee_Wateraid.pdfChristine L. Moe and Richard D. Rheingans (2006). Global challenges in water, sanitation and health. Journal of water and health Vol .04DFID (2009) factsheets water and sanitation //www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/mdg-factsheets/water-factsheet-2006.pdfRebecca S. 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Pity the Finance minister issues in managing a substantial Scaling up of Aids Flows. www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2005/wp05180.pdfDESA,(2006).International symposium on international migration and development. Journal number UN/POP/MIG/SYMP/2006/04 International migration and the achievement of MDGs in Africa http//www.uneca.org/sdd/documents/P04_ECA.pdfIICD(2007) Ghana population. www.iicd.org/countries/ghanaWEDC,(2004). WELL countr y note1.1. The poverty millennium development Goalwhat water,sanitation and hygiene can do in Ghana. www.Iboro.ac.uk/well/resources/publications/country%20notes/CN1.%20ghana.htmBookJ.Edgardo Campos and Sanjay Pradhan(2007). The many faces of corruption tackling corruption in the water and sanitation sector in Africa-starting dialogue.publish 2007 by world bank.Osumanu Kanton,(2008). Environmental management vol.42 pages 102-110 published july 2008. By ringer 233 spring st.New york, Ny10013 USA.Esmarie S.(2008). Africa falling behind UN millennium Goals-UN http//www.polity.org.za/article/africa-falling-behind-on-millennium-development-goals-un-2008-09-12Dr.Jean et al(2006), powerpoint presentation. The effects of population growth on the achievement of the MDG on child mortality in Urban sub-saharan Africa. www.app-popdevrh.org.uk/publication%20hearings/evidence/jc%20fotso%20oral%20evidence%20paper.pptArne B.and Abebe S. (2006). Economic comission of Africa ,policies for growth and poverty reduction in africaHow to reach the Millennium Development Goals. http//www.uneca.org/prsp/cairo/documents/Theme1_Growth.pdfIWA(2008),Globalworld water day messages predict MDG problems for Africa. http//www.iwapublishing.com/template.cfm?name=news133George Essegbey et al (2007),Assessment of community water and sanitation in Ghana. ATPS Working paper series No.45. published by the aAfrican technology Policy studies network. http//www.atpsnet.org/pubs/workingpaper/Working%20Paper%20Series%2045.pdfLjiljana and Ram(2006). Sustainable Development of water resources , water supply and environmental sanitation. Capacity needs to achieve the UN MDG target 10 in Asia http//wedc.lboro.ac.uk/publications/pdfs/32/Rodic-Weirsma.pdfJMP (2008), Core questions on drinking water and sanitation for household surveys. http//www.wssinfo.org/pdf/WHO_2008_Core_Questions.pdfD.P.Maguire(1990). Appropriate development for basic needs. Institution of Civil engineers published by thomas Telford 1991 ,london p.145water and sanitationKhatri K.B and Vairavamoorthy K. (2007), UNESCO-IHE institute for water education. Challenges for urban water supply and sanitation in the developing countries -Discussion Draft paper.Published in Delft Netherlands www.unescoihe.org/content/download/1016/11873/file/9.paper%20urbanisation%20kala% 20draft.pdfEmmanuel Ekow Asmah(2008). Assessing the links between energy services and the MDGsIsa MAMs application for Ghana possible? An interim paper presented at the CSAE conference 2008 on Economic Development in Africa at St. Catherines College, Oxford.Trocaire(2005)Dublin. The MDGsA critical discussion. Trocaire development review ,dublin 2005,pp.43-56 ISSN 0790-9403 http//www.nuigalway.ie/dern/documents/tdr_2005_mdg_a_critical_discussion.pdfUNDP(2007),Policy research brief. Privatising Basic utilities in sub-saharan Africa The MDG impact. No.3 http//www.undp-povertycentre.org/pub/IPCPolicyResearchBrief3.pdfGeorge Akosa(1995), Efficiency of water-supply and sanitation projects in Ghana. Journal of infrastructure systems vol. 1 paper No. 6118.USAID(2006). Making the case for U.S. International family planning assistance. The contribution of fulfilling the unmet need for family planning. http//www.jhsph.edu/gatesinstitute/_pdf/policy_practice/Papers/MakingtheCase.pdfErica Usher(2005).The millennium Development Goals and Migration. International organisation for migration research series NO.20 http//www.iom.int/jahia/webdav/site/myjahiasite/divided up/shared/mainsite/published_docs/serial_publications/mrs20.pdfJan vandemoortele (2002), Are the MDGs Feasible? United Nations Development Programme Bureau for Development Policy. http//www.socialwatch.org/en/acercaDe/beirut/documentos/VANDERMOORTELE.pdfUN(2007).UN news center, UN mark world water day with calls for compound management of vital resource. http//www.un.org/apps/news/storyAr.asp?NewsID=21951Cr=waterCr1=WHO/UNICEF(2004).Meeting the MDG drinking water and sanitation target A m id-term assessment of progress. http//www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/monitoring/jmp04.pdfKhatri K.B. (2007) UNESCO-IHE institute for water Education. Challenges for urban water supply and sanitation in developing countries. Discussion draft paper. www.unesco-ihe.org/content/download/1016/11873/file/9.paper%20isation%20kala%20.pdfHealth and PovertyAll over the world, the cost of health care is usually quite high. Poor families have worse health conditions than those with higher incomes. Health is paramount for poor people and in most instances, their very environment is a threat to them. Improving environmental conditions including providing water, sanitation and solid waste management services is basic to the creation of sustainable livelihoods and the elimination of poverty.Water related diseases like guinea worm and trachoma still plague portions of West Africa. A person suffering from guinea worm looses a lot of productive farm time which reduces their income. Ghana is curre ntly one of the leading guinea worm endemic countries in the world.Lack of political will biggest obstacle to improving sanitation Secretary-General22 March 2008 A lack of political will remains the greatest obstacle to efforts to drastically reduce the number of people without access to basic sanitation and clean, running water, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, calling on the international community to take firmer and faster steps to tackle the problem.If we take up the challenge, the overbearing impact will reverberate far beyond better access to clean water, Mr. Ban said in a message to mark World Water Day, which is celebrated today. This years Day also coincides with the International Year of Sanitation.Every dollar invested in water and sanitation yields an estimate seven dollars expense of productive activity. And that comes on top of the immeasurable gains in cutting poverty, improving health and raising living standards.The Secretary-General described it as unc onscionable that a child dies on average every 20 seconds because of sub-standard sanitation conditions a situation endured by an estimated 2.6 billion people worldwide, or more than a third of the global population that are preventable.Poor sanitation combines with a lack of safe drinking water and inadequate hygiene to contribute to the terrible global death toll. Those who survive face diminished chances of living a healthy and productive existence. Children, especially girls, are forced to stay out of school, while hygiene-related diseases keep adults from gentle in productive work.Halving the proportion of people without access to basic sanitation is one of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) devised at a global leaders summit in 2000, but the world is far behind the pace to achieve that by the target date of 2015, Mr. Ban said.Experts predict that by 2015, 2.1 billion people will still lack basic sanitation. At the present rate, sub-Saharan Africa will not reach t he target until 2076.This years World Water Day also coincides with the International Year of Sanitation.Population growth, widespread poverty and insufficient investment are among the key obstacles, but the Secretary-General noted that the biggest culprit is the lack of political will.Events are being held around the world this weekend to highlight World Water Day, including the staging of a public toilet queue notification to raise awareness about the sanitation crisis around the globe. A similar event was held in New Yorks Central Park on Thursday. Wold bank graphic showing the failure of Africa to meet the MDGs.

The Oresund Fixed Link Project Construction Essay

The Oresund persistent subsume Project buildion EssayThe Oresund Fixed Link was a discombobulate initiated in 1991 by the Swedish and Danish governments and consummate and opened in July 2000. The bridge, island and dig combination connects the two metropolitan areas of the Oresund region, Copenhagen, Denmark and Malmo, Sweden. The Link consists of the Oresund Bridge, a two-level ( superstar for traffic, one for rail) pylon-supported structure, the Oresund Tunnel, a 4km-long tunnel, and the Peberholm Artificial Island which would transfer the traffic from the submerged tunnel to the bridge. It was undertaken in a cooperative effort surrounded by the Swedish and Danish governments whereby they would each form half of the owner company (resundsbro Konsortiet) in 1992, which in drama was responsible for financing, planning, concepting, building and eventually operating the link (Oresundsbro Konsortiet, 2009).We will attempt to demonstrate that the Oresund Fixed Link is one of t he much successful mega-projects. has argued that mega-projects such as the analogous Channel Tunnel, Sydney opera house house or Millennium Dome are subject to cost and time overruns and quality shortfalls. The component parts behind those deficiencies include a politicization of the tendering and project proposal process, the legacy complex which buns besiege governmental spending and the inefficient management of projects on a public level. The experience of the Oresund Fixed Link, whilst non without short-comings, is recognized as being a project that in terms of the QCD paradigm was satis cypherily managed and far removed from the problematic projects of its time. To this end, in May 2003, the Oresund Bridge won the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE) Outstanding Structure Award, recognizing not only its design and construction notwithstanding more importantly in our context, its adherence to the pro represent deliverables.Project Phase s ConceptIdentifying the need and probabilityThe need for a link between Denmark and Sweden which crossed the Oresund sound was not a novel one in 1991. In fact, the region had been the subject of territorial disputes between the nations dating back to the 1600s and had fallen under owner enter of two nations at various times (Oresundsbro Konsortiet, 2009). Lack of political will and unstable economic conditions had prevented the Link from being properly canvassed before the late 1980s.There were a range of economic, infrastructural and political factors which created a need for a bridge between the two nations in the early 1990s. Firstly, although Sweden was not member of the European Union (then EEC) at that time, its attention had been directed to accession during the European recession of the late 1980s (Oresundsbro Konsortiet, 2009). Denmark had already acceded to the EEC in 1986. The increased focus on European integrating meant that links, proposeing the movement of good s and labour in item would be required. Furthermore, Denmark as part of continental Europe, could act as a gateway to Sweden and Finland in the north. European desegregation was thus a driving factor behind the Link and the potential benefits it could have in bringing the two nations and indeed Europe and Scandinavia closer together.A more practical consideration in determining the demand for the Link was that of offering an alternative to the ferrying-based transport service that was in place at the time. The ferry service, with irregular timetabling and being subject to good weather conditions, could be allowed to operate more efficiently if there were an alternative link which allowed both trade, leisure and commuter train traffic(Oresundsbro Konsortiet, 2009).The need for the link between Denmark and Sweden to increase efficiency and integration provided an opportunity to create a single Oresund metropolitan area. The conglomeration of the two separate Copenhagen and Malmo ma rkets would allow for a common housing and labour market and increased commercial and educational opportunities. As Denmark and Sweden became more involved in the European process, and Europe became more integrated and markets more competitive, it was apparent that the Oresund region could become a leading metropolis and hub if connected. The opportunity was also present for both nations as the Scandinavian banking crisis brought both nations into recessions and paved the way for stimulatory spending on infrastructure and other projects.Initial Risk AssessmentAn immediate luck at the time of conception was posed by the economic conditions brought about by the Scandinavian banking crisis (IMF, 2002). Although this presented an opportunity, the economic climate at that time was far from certain and that uncertainty could have strong implications on financing interest rates and resource and supply costs from overseas in the light of exchange rate fluctuations. The division of the stake in the pond overseeing company between Swedish and Danish governments allowed the mitigation of risk by reducing cost of borrowing (Oresundsbro Konsortiet, 2009).Another unmistakable risk faced by the project initiators was that being a mega-project, handing over responsibility for design and construction to just one company places strong burden on that firm. In society to mitigate this risk, the initiators separated the project into three parts the Tunnel, the Bridge and the artificial island linking the two so as to hopefully improve delay, cost and quality. Whilst this reduces the risk of thoughtlessness and delay on the contract, it does pose an additional risk of non-communication or worse still non-compliance between the separate components of the design.The risk that the Link would damage the environment was very much in the consciousness of the project initiators from the outset (Oresundsbro Konsortiet, 2009). This may be because Denmark and Sweden are traditionally a ctive in the conservation sphere, place emphasis on sustainable development and have the worlds tightest controls on offshore construction. Or it could be as a result of strong lobby-group pressure which raised concerns regarding the potential environmental impacts of the Link (American University, 2005). Whichever it may be, the initiators committed, with some spurring on, to the creation of a project which was as much environmentally friendly as possible. The potential bad promotional material and financial losses from environmental damage was something which the initiators wanted to avoid.Alternative ApproachesThere were few alternative approaches to the Oresund Link project, given the set parameters of joining Sweden and Denmark and creating value (Oresundsbro Konsortiet, 2009). The opportunity to link Malmo and Copenhagen metropolitan areas implied long-term, quantifiable value creation. One alternative may have been the Danish city Elsinore and Swedish Helsingborg, which are closer than Copenhagen and Malmo across the Sound, besides the initiators believed that more benefit would be derived by joining two large cities and offering a connection near Copenhagen Airport to benefit air travelers (Oresundsbro Konsortiet, 2009). Alternatives to the 3-part project were also few. This is because the land under the Sound was not even. As such, it would not be possible to build a bridge which spanned the whole sound nor a tunnel without incurring extra cost.Scope Management Project DefinitionThe project offered the following opportunities for the project initiatorsCreate stronger trade and investment links between Denmark and Sweden as two nationsCreate further integration between continental Europe and ScandinaviaProvide an alternative transport mechanism crossing the Sound so as to increase the efficiency of trade and business and leisure travelDevelop the Malmo-Copenhagen metropolitan area into one of the leading hubs in Europe offering a symbolic and impres sive structure to the two nationsThe overall objective, by which the success of the project might be gauged, was, as stipulated in the treaty, to construct a Link which was ecologically motivate, technically possible and financially reasonable to prevent any detrimental effects to the environment.The scope of the project would includeTender for the design of the LinkConstruction of the LinkConstruction and development of the surrounding areasTime ManagementUnlike other mega-projects such as sites for the Olympic Games, the time was not especially short for the Oresund link. The initiators evidently wanted to keep it as short as possible, to capitalize on the growing links in Europe and to provide the service to consumers as quickly as possible. Additionally, by minimizing time, the two states could attempt to reduce cost overrun. The initial time span was set at 10 years from the signing of the treaty in 1991 (Oresundsbro Konsortiet, 2009).Quality ManagementQuality was seen as perha ps the most important parameter to be satisfied in the project, above cost and time. The consortium was charged with ensuring that the quality of the Link met all European safety and structural standards (Eurocodes) (Kjaer, 2001). In addition it was stipulated that in terms of safety, The Link should be no more dangerous than using the national roads or railroads (Kjaer, 2001). The Link also had to improve transport time across the Sound. A very important parameter set for the fashion designers and constructors was to limit the environmental impact of the Link.Cost ManagementThe budget for the construction cost was set at 13.9billon DKK or 2.4billion USD in 1990 prices (Kjaer, 2001). The consortium was charged with the financing, budgeting and planning. Since the Consortium was owned by the Swedish and Danish governments the financial resources, within reason, were not as constraining a factor as the quality objective. Furthermore, the fact that project was financed outside of stat e budgets by the consortium meant it was not subject to restrictions on resource allocation by the various(prenominal) governments.Project Phases DevelopmentDesign Selection of the LinkAs we mentioned in the precedent chapter, after the Swedish and Danish government set up a 5050 joint venture resundsbro Konsortiet in 1992, the company then organized a design contention for the bridge in early 1993. The competition took over for 2 months the result came out in July that year with two entirely different bridge concepts chosen by the owner for further treatment before the final decision taken-Group ASOs two-level, mainly steel, structure, with the motorway placed above the railway, ASO Group was initiated by Arup(specialized in structural engineering and who has carried out the Sydney Opera House and the Pompidou Center in Paris) and formed as well with SETEC (France), Gimsing Madsen and ISC (both Denmark), Tyrns (Sweden), and with Georg Rotne (Denmark) as architect to the Group A single-level, mainly concrete, bridge, with the motorway between the two railway tracks, developed by the LC consortium. They both had a cable-stayed main span.Following the awards, as to make an easier and wiser decision for the selection of designer, a continuous scheme designs were prepared to assure the concepts developed during the short competition period, along with the consultants be givened with the Owner to develop the project and get ready for the construction phase.Thus the further design process can be delimitate as Consultations with authorities to obtain their approval establish a design basis and a contract strategy set up administrative procedures develop the design in some detail prepare tender documentsWhereas it turned out that ASOs strong and robust design concept was safely carried through this whole design process with only very few and insignificant modifications. Tender documents were issued for proposals from both semi-final winners- ASO and LC in Dece mber 1994, for two contracts for each one for the approach spans, and the other for the cable-stayed spans. The tenders were returned in June 1995, and after the evaluation, the single contract was signed with Sundlink asseverators in November 1995 for the whole of ASO Groups two-level design for the bridge.The other two main contracts one for Dredging and renewal and one for the Tunnel had been let during the summer, and several coast-to-coast contracts were let during 1997-98 for the railway and for various installations such as SCADA / traffic control, communications, toll system and the terminal area.Design and Construct Contract StrategyThe Owner had early decided to let the contracts as design-and-construct contracts, precisely modified so as to safeguard the conceptual designs that had been prepared. In substance the contracts were for detailed design and construction. As we have emphasized that such a Design Construction contract allowed avoiding any possible incompat ibilities caused by different designer and constructor so that Owner were able to play down the risks in this aspect.According to the contract documents, we can clearly identify the principles behind the Owners contract strategy which include Detailed design-and-build A 100 years service life Application of well-known technology Control and documentation of quality Division of risks attributable to object and weather conditions and obtaining permits.The contract documents were written expressly for the project, and defined the Owners requirements regarding function, aesthetics, safety, and environmental protection. Everything required to fulfill those requirements was included in the Contractors scope of work, with only specified duties on the Owner. The Contractor was responsible for the detailed design as well as for the construction of the work, and was given considerable freedom regarding the means and methods of doing his work which is also a factor key for the success of thi s mega project.In essence the Owner specified what the Contractor should achieve, and the Contractor determined how to achieve it. The Contractor was responsible for supervising his own work and for providing documentary evidence that he had done so and that the quality of the work he had done was of the standard required by the Contract.The Owner monitored the Contractors performance but this did not relieve the Contractor of his obligations under the contract. This contract strategy led to several special documents being included in the tender documents issued to the bidders, in particular definition drawings, an illustrative design, reference conditions, and quality system requirements. The definition drawings described the design features, geometry, and materials that should be retained in the Contractors design, and at the same time defined the limits within which he had the freedom to choose. The illustrative design showed the bidders, for information only, a comprehensive des ign that fulfilled the Owners requirements.Risk AssessmentSo as to minimize the possible risks could ever take place during the construction phase, the Owner assigned ASO as the developer of the Operational Risk Assessment of the entire resund link. But since ASO itself was involved in it, the process would benefit from the contribution of external reviewers, so Professor Tendrup Pedersen from the Danish Technical University was appointed to review the marine aspects and Arup to review the remainder. As far as we know, it is the first time such a comprehensive risk analysis has been undertaken during the design of a major fixed link.A fully quantified risk sound judgement of the human safety and traffic delay risks was carried out for a comprehensive list of hazards fire explosion train collisions and derailments road accidents ship collisions and groundings aircraft collisions toxic spillages environmental loads beyond design basis.Initially, the assessment attempted solel y to identity the risks beyond those of typical stretches of motorway and railway on mainland Denmark or Sweden. However, it soon became obvious that this approach could be improved by considering total risks and being able to compare the Links risks with international risk acceptance criteria. We found out that the risk assessment was carried out along with the design process and influenced several design decisions, the most significant being the size of the bridge pier foundations to withstand ship impact, the realignment of the main shipping channel to reduce groundings, and the provision of passive fire protection on the tunnel walls and ceilings.

Performance Assesments Essay -- essays papers

Performance AssesmentsDue to the implementation of this new law, fixs are compulsory to annually test all students in public schools. Anthony Rebora (2004) states that by the 2005-2006 school years, states must begin testing students in grades 3-8 in the areas of reading, math, and writing (p. 1). In the 2007-2008 school years, science will be added in to the testing material. The tests must meet the requirements of the states academic standards. They are supposed to bring all students up to the proficient level on their assessments by the 2013-2014 school years. Rebora (2004) likewise observed that the academic content and achievement standards define what all children should know in order to be considered proficient in each state (p. 2). These state assessments are a mechanism for checking whether schools have been successful in teaching students the knowledge and skills characterized by the content standards.In an article, titled test and punish in NEA Today, the number of schools that missed Adequate Yearly Progress for two or more years reached 6, 794 or 12 percent of the schools in those states (Lochert, 2004, p. 10). Although former fosterage Secretary, Rod Paige believes that results show that No Child Left fanny is working and test lots are rising, other officials say that the credit associated with the rising scores go to other factors. These factors include, teaching students test taking skills, the new regulations that permit some to exempt some students scores, and there are more students taking the required tests. In previous years, some schools were labeled inadequate because not enough students took the assessments. (Toppo, 2004) It has become largely popular for teachers to focus more on... ...ents being able to move with their environment.Lochert, K. (2004, November). Test and Punish. NEA Today, 10.This article talks about Adequate Yearly Progress. The standards that each school must meet to comply with the No Child Le ft Behind Law. It gives statistics that attempt to show that many schools will not reach the goal. Schemo, D. J. (2004, March 25). 14 States Ask U.S. to Revise Some Education Law Rules. The New York Times.thither are many states that disagree with the law and feel that its requirements are far too strict. This article explains why the states think the law is unfair. They feel that any fare in the academic rates or proficiencies of students should be more important than ensuring that one hundred percent of students are at a sufficient level by a certain date. They signed a letter asking for it to be redesigned.

Queen Elizabeth I Essay -- Biology

She was never married and was known as the Virgin power because she had no children. She brought England a victory when beating Spain, at the time the well-nigh powerful country in the world, in war. Her birth was a disappointment because her father wanted a boy so he could be King. Who was this arouse and bold person? Queen Elizabeth I. Brave and intelligent, Queen Elizabeth I achieved many important thing when she was Queen and England would never be the way it is now if it wasnt for her.Queen Elizabeth I was born on September 7, 1533. Her father was Henry VIII and her mother was Anne Boleyn (Elizabeth I, Queen of England par 1). Elizabeths birthplace was at Greenwhich Palace, England (Elizabeth I living par 2). When she was born her father did not even want a girl so Anne Boleyn was executed in 1536 for suspicion of infidelity. Elizabeth father had married and she had Edward VI and bloody shame as her half siblings. She grew up without a mothers care but was intelligent and w ell educated. Elizabeth knew a number of languages and loved music(Elizabeth I, Queen of England par 1 and 9). Elizabeth was taught by famous scholars such as William Grindal and Roger Asham. She did enjoy many recreations including horseback riding, hawking, hunting, and bear baiting (Elizabeth I Biography par 5 and 8). Through her early childhood she wasnt really considered the next queen or great ruler. Elizabeth was just considered the Kings daughter and was actually barely seen by him (Queen Elizabeth I par 9). Something other that was real present in her life was that she inherited a feud between the Catholics and Protestants (Elizabeth I 1558-1603 AD par 2). Queen Elizabeths father died in January of 1547 (Elizabeth I Biography ... ... thought of it as The Golden Age. Even though she didnt have a huge impact on the world, Queen Elizabeth I was able to recreate her citizens together after they were in poverty. People started to believe a man can lead a war just as well as a woman (Elizabeth Tudor par 9-10). Queen Elizabeth had a live or die situation when she went out to fight in war sort of of being guarded in her castle. She wanted to die fighting with her people (The Spanish Armada par 11). Elizabeth had a friend named Robert Dudley that she knew since she was eight years old. He had a big influence in her life because he was such a friend to her (Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester par 2). Finally Elizabeth wanted to be known as Gods vas on Earth (Elizabeth I and the Church par 3). I have the heart of a man. not a woman, and I am not scared of anything. (Queen Elizabeth I)