Company Risk Avoidance Plan

Risk management is an essential aspect of modern business aimed at ensuring the profitability of diverse ventures for the business owners. In this report the discussion presented will focus risk avoidance strategies that can be used in the management of companies, avoidance of risks associated with securities regulations, avoidance of risks associated with accountant liability and avoidance of agency associated risk.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Company Risk Avoidance Plan specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More According to Oren, Risk Avoidance involves setting of margins and thresholds that are used to avoid unacceptable risk where acceptability limits are typically established by experts (2001). In the management of companies risk avoidance may be as a result of poor decision making. For managers interested in mitigating risks one approach could be the use of decision analysis tools (Oren, 2001). These tools will provide several scenarios taking into consideration objective and subjective information as well as the decision maker’s preference. The tool can then be used to identify the best alternative. It has been reported that the approach has been successfully implemented in various decision making contexts such as product development decisions, assessment of investment options, etc. Another approach that can be used by management with a view to Risk Avoidance is to enlist the services of regulatory bodies. BGP technology is a biotechnology company and as such the products produced pose some degree of risk to the public. Regulatory bodies such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) perform a set of expert designed tests that are highly reputable (Oren, 2001). The FDA approval seal on the company products is one essential component that management can use to avoid legal risks associated with products. Upon approval of a product in case of any complaints about the drug the company can share the blame with the FDA. The environmental protection Agency (EPA) can also be called upon by management to carry out inspection on facilities and provide certification on emission levels and toxic waste management (Oren, 2001). With regards to regulation of securities the management of the company can avoid risk by implementing strategies such as hedging. Hedging is a strategy that avoids risk by spreading the risk or financial consequence associated with a particular risk (Oren, 2001). In this approach the management will make an investment portfolio that selects companies whose trading outcomes are correlated so as to reduce the overall variability. An area of risk avoidance that has been the cause of much debate in recent years is the degree of liability a company should commit to in the case of a company agent. In the scandals that saw companies such as Enron fall, investors lost huge sums owing to the poor decisions by the auditors and the company directors. Followin g such losses constructs such as proportionate liability have been established to avoid risks associated with company agents (Faure, 2009).Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More As a result of such actions it has been observed that many firms have stopped provision of audit services within high risk business categories (Linville, 2002). This scenario has led to a situation where on very knowledgeable and well capitalized firms are ready to risk undertaking audit activities. These new regulations have further raised the costs associated with auditing. One advantage of such measures is that they have led to a decline in litigation against firms with deeper pockets that were typically the target of litigation in earlier times (Faure, 2009). This is possibly through the increased motivation by agents to fully comply with industry regulations thus leaving very little room for error. N evertheless despite the disadvantage of increased cost the proportionate liability regulation has helped in regulating industry players with regards to compliance. For successful implementation of the proportionate liability entity the various agencies associated with a business entity must be properly classified. An agent is a vehicle that can be used to perform a specific function on behalf of the business entity. Categories that typically are categorized as agents include legal services, accounting services, trading companies, etc (Peterson, 2007). In light of current legislation in the SEC, agents and principals are required to comply with specific regulations in a view to protection of client interests. It has been established that for the agency to perform their duties well adequate incentives must be offered to ensure that the agent does not under perform (Peterson, 2007). This suggests that to avoid risk selection of agents should be done with care and results from the regul atory bodies within those industries used to confirm performance criteria. In addition to hedging with regards to investment on the stock market another possible solution that could be used in the avoidance of risk by BGP technology is making improvements in the Business Process Management (BPM) cycle. BPM is an essential aspect that can be used to improve the competitive advantage by ensuring the smooth flow of all business processes. A biotechnology company such as BGP is likely to be involved in manufacturing. Through appropriate analysis of the supply chain adjustments can be made to ensure product prices are maintained and profitability is sustained (Muehlen Ho, 2006). An example of improvement of the business processes in this case could involve the use of hedging in the supply chain. It is likely that the cost of raw materials fluctuates and affects the cost of the finished products.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Company Risk Avoidance Plan specific ally for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Just as in agriculture a hedge fund can be established using a suitable price for raw material (Oren, 2001). This fund thus acts as a buffer protecting the company from changes in prices. This can ensure that the company can withstand the risk associated with increases in cost of raw material. Though the material provided in this report is not conclusive, it attempts to highlight various risk avoidance schemes. These schemes are among several risk avoidance schemes that can be used in addressing issues related to management, securities, accountant liability and agency associated suits. References Faure, M. (2009). Tort Law and Economics. Massachusetts: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. Linville, M (2002). CPAs’ Awareness of Litigation Risk. Academy of Accounting and Financial Studies Journal, 6(3), 11-21. Muehlen, M. Z. Ho, D. T. (2006). Risk Management in the BPM Lifecycle. Business Process Management Workshops, 454-466. Oren, S. (2001). Market based Risk Mitigation: Risk Management vs. Risk Avoidance. White House OSTP/NSF Workshop on Critical Infrastructure Dependencies, 1-10. Peterson, C. L. (2007). Preemption, Agency Cost Theory, and Predatory Lending by Banking Agents: Are Federal Regulators Biting off More than they can chew? American University Law Review, 56(3), 515-549.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This report on Company Risk Avoidance Plan was written and submitted by user Tony Valenzuela to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Emotion vs The Intellect, The Heart vs The Mind Essays

Emotion vs The Intellect, The Heart vs The Mind Essays Emotion vs The Intellect, The Heart vs The Mind Paper Emotion vs The Intellect, The Heart vs The Mind Paper Over the generations as academia and civilization have transformed, changed, and grown there has always been a tear down the hearts and minds of this worlds greatest scholars. Questions of whether to follow the heart, its emotions and instincts, or the mind, and its intellect, land close to the hearts of anybody involved in academics. In a Merriam-Webster dictionary emotion is defined as 1 a : the affective aspect of consciousness : feeling b : a state of feeling c : a psychic and physical reaction (as anger or fear) subjectively experienced as strong feeling and physiologically involving changes that prepare the body for immediate vigorous action. 1 Websters dictionary defines the emotion as a sort of sixth sense, a human reaction to an action, feeling. Emotion, is related to instincts, and is an important factor in the survival of humans. However, this same dictionary defines the intellect as 1 a : the power of knowing as distinguished from the power to feel and to will : the capacity for knowledge b : the capacity for rational or intelligent thought especially when highly developed2. Intellect is thus the ration seeking part of human thought. The manner in which one may differentiate between an impulse and judiciousness is through the intellect. One may ask if this means the intellect reigns supreme over emotion, yet I disagree. The debate between emotion and intellect is not a new one. In The Future of Illusion, Freud comments on the issue in respect to instincts. He articulates, We may insist, as much as we like that the human intellect is weak in comparison with human instincts, and be right in doing so. But nevertheless there is something peculiar about this weakness. The voice of the intellect is a soft one, but it does not rest until it has gained a hearing. Ultimately, after endlessly repeated rebuffs, it succeeds. This is one of the few points in which one may be optimistic about the future of mankind, but in itself it signifies not a little. And one can make it a starting-point for yet other hopes. The primacy of the intellect certainly lies in the far, far, but still probably not infinite, distance. (Freud, 92, 1928) In this passage Freud states clearly states that the human intellect does not have as much force behind it as human instincts, emotion and instincts come from a heart while facts, lacking passion, are all that finance the intellect. The power in the intellect is, however, in its ability to continue deeper, into a vast abyss of the unknown and undiscovered. Freud believed this abyss not to be infinite, due to the ability to have an answer for everything. While none has achieved this, but were they to, there would be no more answers beyond that, creating an end for all answers. However, this does not mean that intellect is absolute, due to the manner in which knowledge is flawed there is still room for instincts, even in Freuds eyes3. The topic of emotion as opposed to intellect, feeling vs. act, is often a heavy and heated topic. There are those whose lives center around the following of instincts to the extreme, such as Hindu sadhus in India and other spiritual seekers across the seven continents. There are also those who follow their intellects to the maximum, without using and having any interest in emotion, seemingly more common in academic circles than the former. Being a nihilist one would think Nietzsches ideas on the concepts of emotion are fairly disheartening, to any believer in the importance of emotion. His perceptions of the intellect are at times surprising and immensely interesting. In a passage from What is the Meaning of Ascetic Ideals, the third essay in On the Genealogy of Morals, Nietzsche comments on the intellect from a very different and unusual angle, for a nihilist. He begins the segment by influencing against pure reason, absolute spirituality, and knowledge itself. He urges toward understanding and contemplating a diversity of ideas, in order to gain a greater understanding as a collective. A little further along in a passage he declares, There is only a perspective of seeing, only a perspective knowing; and the more affects we allow to speak about one thing, the more eyes, different eyes, we can use to observe one thing, the more complete will our concept of this thing, our objective, be. But to eliminate the will altogether, to suspend each and every affect, supposing we were capable of this -what would that mean but to castrate the intellect? - (Nietzsche, 119) Nih ilism as a doctrine deems traditional values and ideals as unsubstantiated, and survival or existence as futile and useless. This is a very interesting vantage point. Throughout the writing of Nietzsche the necessity to take others ideas and opinions into account is underlined. In this section were told that without the ideas of the other ours cannot possibly be so strong. In affect, if we do not take those who disagree into account we may very well castrate our intelligence, our intellect. Nietzsche insists that we not take any one opinion as superlative, whether it is abundantly positive or negative, yet to browse and discuss in order to understand an issue more fully. The style of philosophy of which Nietzsche partakes in is which views perspective as a tool for infinite understanding. Similar to those who believe in Karma, Freidrich Nietzsches beliefs center on each particular situations perspective and which side of the situation or problem you are on, though he does not comment on Karma in any of his works. Darwin, in The Origin of Species, brings the importance of several vantage points rather than a supreme emotion or intellect into light. He pronounces the human intellect as inappreciable, microscopic or negligible4. The intent behind Darwins statement on this matter is that humans are well, just as the clichi goes, only human. Yes, that statement refers to both intellect as well as emotion. Human lives, and their understandings, are imperfect. Darwin is an expert on the varied species as a growing, changing, mechanism. His expertise noticed in The Voyage of the Beagle5 that the intellect became far keener when his subject back passionately excited about something, both passion and excitement being emotionally charged. Thus the argument for either intellectually based or emotionally based supremacy is at fault. When the question is what do I think of the Oedipus complex, of course one searches within their intellect for a greater understanding of the concept. When an old companion sends a letter, upon its reception ones heart, and more emotional side are contacted. However, what happens when and issue is not solely in the court of your heart or intellect? Unfortunately there is no supreme answer of which to follow, just as there is no supreme answer as which is more accurate, the heart or mind. Just as Nietzsche suggests, as mankind ventures deeper into the 21st century, we must attempt to see situations with our heart and minds, together. Whether the topic is politics, compassion, or hatred, as people we will have a obligation and ability to call on and utilize both heart and mind into use.

Design a scientific study to investigate the effects in any of green Research Paper

Design a scientific study to investigate the effects in any of green M&Ms (libido) on men - Research Paper Example Therefore, it is important to regard how this cultural myth might actually affect males in terms of their self report on libido and green M&Ms. A trend sampling analysis will be used as a sampling design. The sample will be chosen regarding one determination, that the respondent be involved in, having knowledge about what M&Ms are currently, but not have been involved in, receiving money or employed by M&Ms or its parent company, or in the past five years. The sample size will be small, consisting of less than one hundred individuals contacted for participation. The population the research wants to draw conclusions about is a sample group consisting of males only. Since self report is being used, ethical problems seem to be limited. However, self-report surveys often bring inherent limitations to a survey methodology, because the information obtained tends to be superficial and encourages non-contradictory responses, when actual issues may be more complicated and contradictory. There is also the danger that those surveyed will not respond appropriately to the presented issues because they are not instantaneous in terms of r esponse time. The collusion of independent variables also represents a sensitive subject for many, and of course there is no way to match words and actions in definitive terms provided in the current report. Those studied do represent larger populations, because this research will use qualitative sampling. The degree of randomization in sampling will have to be restricted somewhat due to geographical and cost constraints. The selected group for sampling is that of those males familiar with M&Ms who can reasonably be assumed to have some cognition of the issues presented in this report, due to their proximity to and involvement in the American cultural and advertising systems. There are no specific criteria for selecting participants other than proximity, gender and knowledge of M&Ms, so to that extent,

How to Maintain Reciprocity in Intimate Relationships Article

How to Maintain Reciprocity in Intimate Relationships - Article Example This will be enhanced through critical evaluation of scholarly research. Reciprocity in any relationship motivates each partner’s behavior. In every form of union, there exists either positive or negative reciprocity. This helps ensure that in society violent reactions due to anger are minimal. Negative reciprocity encourages the violent reactions and even mistreatments while positive reciprocity encourages praiseworthy deeds and humility enabling one to endure hard situations (Vetere et al, 2005). There are different types of reciprocity. It may be one on one relationship between either individuals or governments or institutions. Research conducted by Solomon & Samp (1998) shows that most of them are usually long-term relationships that expect either direct reciprocity. One-to-many or many-to-one reciprocity is usually experienced in informal ties like bridal showers, and even community comes together. There is also generalized reciprocity that happens over a large group of i ndividuals or institutions. Citizens also need to practice reciprocity with their states and communicate any possible conflict in ideas or even complains or gratitude to their rulers. According to Van Lange, & Visser (1999) research, for people to get in any relationship, they experience strong feelings towards each other. A feeling of lust, liking, and love starts to grow towards each other. Close relations start growing, and with time, they become compassionate and committed into each other. These attractions may be due to their skin color, walking styles, the way they talk, or their thinking. It may also because these two people share beliefs and have common interests. Psychologists argue that love is usually a passionate feeling, both physical and emotional. One gets utterly absorbed into the other and helps each other realize and understand themselves better by the compliments they get. Intimate relationships are cultivated as strong sexual feelings and feeling of completeness also onset. Passion and dependency on each other also are cultivated. This closeness between individuals results to complex emotions that grow for each other. Dependency for emotional support helps ensure of the well-being of each other. Partners offer each other with enthusiasm and positive personal view on their self worth. In his scholarly work, Cole (2001) depicts that the level of intimacy develops in stages. It is not cultivated within hours or one day. The links established with one another foster the closeness and trust feeling for one another. However, peer relationships that are based on curiosity may tend to be more intimate briefly only for periods of self-discovery. The anxiety to explore on new areas may cultivate intimacy but only to encourage accessibility to what they intent to explore on (Vetere et al, 2005). Adult intimate relationships are expected to have communications and expression of one’s feeling freely. Feelings of gratitude or any other significant feelings both negative and positive can be communicated without barriers. The response that one gets may be corrective, encouraging, or even punishing. In case of negative reciprocity the individuals should turn to the community for help on how to resolve the conflict. In an intimate relation, pain infliction is not encouraged and but rather repairing the harm done should be the main thing. Consoling should

Root Causes of Accidents on Construction

Root Causes of Accidents on Construction The construction industry is one of the biggest industries in the whole world. The contribution of this industry towards the global GDP is enormous. The construction industry is also a potential employment generator and employs large number of skilled and unskilled labors. In UK the construction industry employs more than 2.1 million people and accounts for around 9% of the total employment within UK (Howarth and Watson., 2009). Since the industry employs large number, it also has a significant impact on the health and safety of the people working in it. The process of construction involves various activities such as working at heights, working in confined spaces, manual handling, lifting operations, demolition works and ground works. These all activities involve risks and are very hazardous in nature, so the chances of accidents taking place on construction sites are high. Now in order to reduce the level of risk it is very important to implement proper safety management systems on construction sites. The UK construction industry is successful in many respects. The construction industry in UK has shown a steady improvement in the safety performance after the Egan Report (1998) but still faces numerous challenges with regard to safety on its journey to improve its performance record whilst delivering increased volume and complex construction projects (Howarth and Watson., 2009). According to HSE statistics, more than 200 people are killed at work in United Kingdom every year excluding work related road accidents. In 2006, 30 million working days was lost in UK to occupational ill health and injury which imposed an annual cost of  £30 billion i.e. more than 3% of GDP. As per Lingard and Rowlinson (2005), the construction industry consists of several SMEs and small amount of large firms. These small and medium size firms lack knowledge and resources required to implement safety management activities so the issues related to health and safety are more in small and medium size firms. Eakins (1992)stated that international research confirms that the issues related to health and safety are more in SMEs as compared to larger firms and also smaller firms are poor in implementation of safety programmes. Therefore smaller firms have higher injury frequency rates as compared to larger firms. The Company- Millennium Contractors Ltd. Millennium Contractors Ltd. is a small and medium size firm which has been working in the UK construction industry for the last 25 years. The company has a much diversified work force, employees from different cultural background and of different age group works in the company. Diversity in construction organizations in terms of culture and ethnicity has many advantages but at the same time there are many disadvantages related to it. In the condition of uncertainty and complexity diversity does not fare well which may lead to confusion and frustration. In a multicultural organization it is very hard to arrive at an agreement on a particular course of action, and can result in negative dynamics and cultural clashes. The other main disadvantage of multicultural organization is the lack of coordination and communication between the workers which can be a contributing cause of an accident. Apart from this the company is committed to prevention of injuries and ill health at work place but has failed in promoting an incident injury free culture. The recent record of the company related to health and safety has not been very good. There have been many accidents which included one fatal accident resulting from the fall from height and other major/minor injuries and also some incidents of dangerous occurrences. The main areas of concern for the company have been; manual handling; hit by falling objects; hit by moving vehicles; collapse of temporary structures and scaffoldings. The company was also served with a prohibition notice because of a fatal injury caused by falling from mobile elevated working platform. The companys policy towards health and safety is also not up to mark. The management has been irresponsible in implementing the policies in an organized manner, which has contributed to the main cause of accident. According to Baxendale and Jones as cited in (Kashyap et al., 2005), the majority of the accidents are not caused by the carelessness of the worker but by the negligence or by the failure to control by the management. Moreover the management should be able to judge the capabilities of the employee before allocating the job and the employees in response should be capable of doing the allocated work. Hence with an involved and committed staff a positive health and safety culture can be maintained. According to Cooper (1998), the impact of organizational safety culture not only affects the accident rates but has significant impact on work methods, absenteeism, quality, commitment, loyalty and satisfaction. According to HSE the positive health and safety culture can only be ach ieved through 4Cs; competence- recruitment, training and advisory support; control- allocating responsibility, commitment, instruction and supervision; co-operation- between individual and group; communication- spoken, written and visible (Clarke, 1999). Issues related to Health and safety in Millennium Contractors Limited As mentioned above, the company has failed to implement structured policy towards health and safety, as a result of which there has been regular incidents of dangerous occurrences. The common issues that the company is facing regularly and the legal action that could be taken against the company are as follows. Manual handling The manual handling regulations (1992) defines manual handling as any transporting or supporting of a load (including the lifting, putting down, pushing, pulling, carrying or moving thereof) by hand or by bodily force. In effect, any activity that requires an individual to lift, move or support a load is classified as manual handling operations (Stranks, 2006). Manual material handling is one of the most significant risk factors for back problems, whole body vibration, bent and twisted positions (Roy et al., 1999). If proper safety measures are not involved while manual handling of materials, it may lead to injuries and occupational diseases. According to HSE, manual handling injuries are the most common type of occupational ill health in UK. As per Helander (1991), 15% of the back injuries due to manual material handling occur in the construction industry. The main causes of incidents due to manual handling were; The use of poor techniques to move materials. Lack of proper training and guidelines provided to the workers by the management. Lack of communication and co-operation among the workers. The above figure shows the proper method of moving and lifting materials which can be very effective in reducing the injuries caused by manual handling of materials. Legal aspects related to manual handling; Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and regulations 10 and 13 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 states that it is the duty of employers to provide their employees with health and safety information and training. This should be supplemented as necessary with more specific information and training on manual handling injury risks and prevention, as part of the steps to reduce risk required by regulation 4(1)(b)(ii) of the Regulations (HSE). Hit by Falling Object The other main issue faced by the company is hit by falling objects. The small objects like bricks, hammers, nails and tiles when dropped from the height can cause fatal head injuries and other serious injuries to the worker working below it or any other person passing by it as shown in the figure. The main causes of this type of injury were; Poor standards of housekeeping. Failure of management in providing safety nets at heights. Inadequate project planning which leads to inadequate storage of materials. Lack of proper guidelines provided to the workers working at height. Absence of cautionary sign boards. Legal aspects related to hit from the falling object; Regulation 8(b) part 1 of schedule 3, of the Work at Height Regulation, 2005, states that it is the duty of the employer to prevent, where necessary, injury to any person so far as reasonably practicable and also the employer shall provide enough storage space so as to prevent risk of movement of such material. Fall from height The company has a record of one fatal accident resulting from the fall from height. According to the data of HSE in 2005/06 falls from height accounted for 46 fatal accidents at work and around 3350 major injuries. This was the single biggest cause of workplace deaths and one of the main causes of major injury. The workers working at heights are prone to have fatal injuries such as skull fractures. Therefore it is absolutely necessary to provide proper training and guidance to the workers working at height. The main causes of this type of incident were; Lack of proper training and guidelines provided to worker by the management. Negligence and unsafe action of the worker. Inadequate use of personal protective equipments. Lack of planning and supervision. No barrication provided. Legal aspects related to fall from height; The Work at Height Regulation 2005 applies to all work at height where there is a risk of fall liable to cause personal injury. It place duties on workers, employers, the self-employed, and any person who controls the work of others (eg facilities managers or building owners who may contract others to work at height) to the extent they control the work. Hit by moving vehicle The other issue of the company is workers being hit by moving vehicles. This type of issues is very dangerous in occurrence and can cause fatal injury. The accident involved vehicle like trucks. The main causes of this type of incident were; Inadequate site planning Improper signs and absence of cautionary (speed limit) boards Unsafe conditions of working Legal aspect related to hit by the moving vehicle; Section 2(2)(a) of HSWA 1974 states that it is responsibility of the employer to maintain plant and system at workplace, so far as is reasonably practicable. According to Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulation (17), there should efficient segregation of pedestrian from vehicular traffic of incoming and outgoing. Collapse of temporary structures and scaffolding The other main issue of the company related to health and safety was collapse of temporary structures and scaffoldings. The incident took place due to lack of inspection. Incompetence of the inspectors to identify risk and hazard involved. Moreover the employer failed to provide the workers with suitable equipment and provide collective measures along with personal protective measures. Legal Aspect: The Work at Height Regulation 2005, Regulation6(4)(b), 6(5)(a,b), 7, 8, 12 and 13, states that it is necessary for the employer to provide suitable equipment, take account of working condition and rigorous inspection by a competent person. Further according to section 2(2)(a) of HSWA 1974, there should be provision and maintenance of plant and machinery at work. Apart from these issues the company was served with three enforcement notices and one prohibition notice by HSE because of dangerous occurrences at work place. The company failed to implement proper structure of health and safety policy due to inadequate management system. Hence for successful implementation of the policy the company should have proper safety management system. Safety Management aims at minimizing the chances of risks, injuries and accidents by implementing risk management techniques and safety management operations, improving the standard of health of the employees, monitoring the operating systems and bolstering the safety measures of an organization. Management practices and documentation In order to reduce the risks of accidents in the company the company should have proper management practices and associated documentation relating to safety induction procedures, tool-box talks, training requirement, accident record book and method statements. The proper safe management practices involve; Risk assessment: During risk assessment, the hazards or hazardous work is first identified before commencement of any work activity. The rating information is then passed on for preparation of method statement, which must be read and understood by every worker undertaking the activity before the commencement of work. Method statement: It is the document that shows or states how an activity needs to be carried out in a safe manner. The statement is usually prepared by a competent person and passed to the principle contractor and the safety coordinator for its inclusion in sites health and safety plan. Site induction and training: The site induction and training is usually provided to the worker before the start of any work by the employer. The workers are informed about the various precautions that are to be taken while working on sites. The site induction includes brief on welfare facilities, brief on site hazards, brief on how to report onsite injury or accidents and the use of PPEs. Accident record book: The accidents that take place on sites are to be entered in this book. Any reportable accident should be reported under RIDDOR, to the site supervisor immediately. Tool box talks: Toolbox  talks  are safety lectures aimed at the construction trade. The lectures are intended to educate workers about creating and maintaining safer work conditions, and attendance is mandatory with many companies. Many companies provide toolbox  talks  in modular form, so that a safety educator has a  curriculum  readily available. The Millennium Contractors Ltd do not have organized structure of management and have failed in implementing the health and safety polices due to which the company is unable to follow safe management practices. Overcoming the Barriers The potential barriers that the company needs to overcome to aim for zero accident policy on sites are as follows; Cultural and language barrier: The company has mixed workforce, workers from different cultural background works in the company now because of ethnic diversity the management might find it difficult to convey all the messages efficiently, resulting in difference in understanding of instructions which may cause problems regarding safety on sites. Fear of change: New ways and methods of working may create confusion and sense of uncomforting amongst workers, leading them to traditional ways of working which can cause some problems related to safety. Therefore in order to overcome this barrier the company should motivate the workers and should train them properly. Difference in education level: Different workers might have studied till different levels in education. It may affect their ability to understand instructions clearly. Conclusion Although the company has vast experience it had failed in implementing the safety policies which are very essential for reducing the risks of accidents. The company has inadequate safety management system which has resulted in several major and minor incidents. An effective safety management system will be most effective if a safety culture permeates the organization and this can only be achieved through communicating leadership, personalizing safety outcomes, engaging individuals in safety responsibilities, improving understanding of safety system and increasing hazard/risk awareness and preventive behaviors. In order to improve the safety management system the Millennium Contractors Ltd must follow these steps which would indirectly help them in reducing the accidents.

Critique of Artificial Intelligence Essay

Journalist John Markoff wrote the article â€Å"Computer Wins On ‘Jeopardy!’: Trivial, It’s Not†. He discusses how the super computer â€Å"Watson† defeated the all time champion of â€Å"Jeopardy!† Ken Jennings. The author, throughout the article, agrees that the supercomputer â€Å"Watson† was a fair match against Ken Jennings. I disagree with Markoff for multiple reasons. This was in no way a fair match because the computer had a remarkable ability to answer questions at super speeds. Also, the computer has access to all available questions and the ability to answer them. This was in no way a fair battle between the computer and Ken Jennings. The author’s main idea of this article is mainly to say how the supercomputer was a fair match between the two. The computer has ways to answer questions that humans have no way of doing. The computer can answer questions within seconds and even milliseconds when the question is asked. It has a super speed ability to answer these questions, which gives no time for the competitor to even have a chance to answer the questions given. So, when the competitor has no time to even have an attempt to answer the question, there is no way to win. â€Å"Watson† is so smart that almost every question that is asked, he answers correctly. Since I don’t agree with Markoff’s statement about â€Å"Watson†, I don’t think his argument is valid. The reason I don’t believe his argument and points are valid is that a computer that has remarkable and inhuman-like abilities is obviously going to win in a competition of speed and knowledge. Ken Jennings had no chance against this computer. So, if a human has no chance against a machine, how can anyone call this a fair fight? Now, Markoff did define his terms clearly and specifically describe his reasons for why he thinks what he thinks, so I do give him credit for that. Still, I disagree with his argument. I disagree with most of Markoff’s view about the competition between the computer and Jennings. His main point of the fair competition is totally undebatable. â€Å"Watson, on the other hand, does not anticipate the light, but has a weighted scheme that allows it, when it is highly confident, to hit  the buzzer in as little as 10 milliseconds, making it hard for humans to beat† (Markoff 212). This statement made by Markoff proves that this was in no way possible for Jennings to beat the super computer. The computer can buzz in at amazing speeds as little as 10 milliseconds, which is way faster than any other human could possibly buzz in. Plus, the computer is programmed with so much information, that it would most likely be able to defeat Jennings, just because of the intelligence of this machine that the creators programmed into it. Overall, I do not believe that this piece published by John Markoff is in anyway valid. Markoff does however succeed in persuading people his ideas and describing his ideas and arguments very specifically. He does a good job with his argument and stating what he thinks. I do not agree with his argument though. My reaction to this piece is actually astonished because I am not sure how anyone could think that a computer competing against a very intelligent human was fair at all. The weakness of this passage is probably how it can be hard for someone to understand how a computer can manage to accomplish all this, but the strengths are good description and expression of the passage. Although he argues very well of his points, I in no way agree with his argument that the battle between â€Å"Watson† and Ken Jennings was fair.

Effect of video games on children Essay

During the course of this research, a number of significant facts were found. The original topic question for the research was â€Å"the psychological and physical effect of video games on children†. The amount of information researched on the psychological effect was a lot and thus the topic question for the research was then changed to â€Å"the psychological effect of video games on children†. The main reason for researching this topic was the fact that there are a lot of young children in the world who play immensely violent games. Many children and their parents ignore the game rating. Many parents do not understand the adverse effect that those video games would have on the young child’s growing brain. Research which is discussed below in detail has proven that violent video games have a great psychological effect on the children which causes them to become aggressive adolescence. This in turn affects their social and personal life in a major way. The researched information shows that violent video games are clearly harmful to children and both parents and children must obey the game rating if they want healthy and rather peaceful children. Video games have been available to the customer for around 30 years now. The games have evolved greatly. They merely started off as 2D arcade games and now they have evolved to 4D virtual reality. One of the main researched subtopic has been video games and the time children spend playing them. The time that children spent playing video games varies greatly according to gender. A research/ study conducted in 2004 by Gentile, Lynch, Linder & Walsh stated that adolescent girls played video games for an average of 5 hours a week whereas boys played an average of 13 hours. Now this extended amount of time spent playing video games affects the children in many ways. The time which they could’ve spent studying is spent playing video games. This may appear to be a decline in academic achievement. The same study conducted by Gentile, Lynch, Linder & Walsh also states that teens also tend to become more aggressive in nature, more prone to confronting their teachers and also get into a lot of fights with their peers. The research shows that video games not only affect the child psychologically but also socially. It affects the person’s relationship with friends and close ones. In a study by Walsh in 2000, majority of the teenagers admitted that their parents don’t impose time limit. In a survey conducted by myself, the results clearly show that 30% of the people play video games more than four times a week. Another deeply researched subtopic has been video game rating. Parents tend to ignore the game ratings of a game and also the warnings on the game that say that they are unsuitable for children. A research authorised by the UK game industry found that parents let young children play adult games. The main reason for this was the fact that parents thought their children were mature enough to play games way beyond their age level. This thought process of parents is much objected by Modulum researcher Jurgen Freund. He suggests that parents think their children are mature and that the game will not have an influence on the child. Parents seem to perceive age ratings as a guide but not as a prohibition according to him. It has been reported that 39% of UK parents ignore the rating on videogames. A survey conducted by myself indicated that 50% of the children do not follow the game ratings. Video games are very addictive. This is because, once the player engages into the game, he/she is in the game world. The real world is switched off for him/her for that period of time. As the player has no idea about the real world, he/she do not realise the amount of time spent playing the game. Addiction of video games has caused many serious effects on children over the past years. These serious effects also include death. On December 27th 2004, a thirteen year old Warcraft player committed suicide by jumping off a building in order to join the heroes of the game. This aim of joining the heroes was indicated by his suicide note. In conclusion it is clearly evident that video games have a very negative effect on children and their growth. Firstly, children should be monitored throughout their young life so that nothing bad affects them in their childhood as this will affect the child in his later years. Parents should also have a hold on the amount of time the child spends playing video games. The time spent should not interfere with the time that the child could have spent playing with friends and socialising. Parents should strictly follow the game ratings and should instil the idea of following the game rating into their children. Young children should not play adult games. This should be done because violent games cause the children to become more aggressive and in turn it grows the kids into violent adolescents. These violent adolescents grow into aggressive, angry and rather violent adults. If the person is violent it is highly likely that that person will not have many friends and will not often socialise. This will cause that person to be lonely and rather depressed. The parents should enforce strong rules regarding the time spent playing the video games and set a certain time weekly that the children may play the video games. The parents must also strictly follow the game ratings and make sure that they only buy games for their children which fit their age group. Parents should make sure that their kids do not become ‘gameholics’ but rather should spend more time with friends and be out socially. If all the above are followed by parents then there is a reduced risk of psychological problems developing in children from a very young age. If looked carefully it is evident that parents play a very important role in the child’s growth and development. Gentile, D. A. , Lynch, P. , Linder, J. & Walsh, D. (2004). The effects of violent video game habits on adolescent hostility, aggressive behaviors, and school performance. Journal of Adolescence, 27, 5-22 [ 2 ]. Walsh, D. (2000). Interactive violence and children: Testimony submitted to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, United States Senate. (March 21, 2000. ) [ 3 ]. Andrea Norcia, (26/06/2010) The Impact of Video Games on Children, http://www. pamf. org/preteen/parents/videogames. html, 18/11/2011 [ 4 ]. Swiss research association [ 5 ]. Chief executive officer of Modulum [ 6 ]. Alfred Hermida , (27/04/2010) Parents ’ignore game age ratings’ , http://news. bbc. co. uk/2/hi/technology/4118270. stm, 17/11/2011 [ 7 ]. Ricky Lam, (November 7, 2010 ) Top 10 Cases of Extreme Game Addiction, http://listverse. com/2010/11/07/top-10-cases-of-extreme-game-addiction/, 16/11/2011.