Boeing corporation crisis Essay Example for Free

Boeing corporation crisis Essay Attached is a report of the biggest crisis that the Boeing Corporation has ever faced in its existence. First it will describe the events leading up to the problem before it became a public issue. Then we will discuss in extensive detail exactly what the problem is that Boeing is facing and how they can overcome it. The team of xxx completed the research and the written report of the crisis. Boeing is an international supplier of commercial airline planes, military defense aircraft, and surveillance. Partially due to the September 11th attacks on the United States, the Boeing Corporation will be laying off 30,000 employees from their nationwide facilities. The layoffs will affect cities such as Los Angeles, Seattle, Houston, St. Louis, Philadelphia, and will affect employees from entry level to executive offices. The announcements of these issues have caused Boeings stock to fall to a surprising low and production levels to drop dramatically. XXX would like to thank XXX for giving us the opportunity to complete this research assignment. The research helped us learn how to more efficiently utilize the different databases available to us and put it into a format so it can be presented to a public organization or the media. The skills learned in the duration of completing this report will be able to be utilized when presenting to upper management a detailed issue and solutions to a specific problem. Boeing Corporation Crisis Cal State Fullerton Jean Fuller May 28, 2002 Executive Summary Today the Boeing Corporation is facing one of the largest crises in the history of the company. They are in the process of laying off a total of 30,000 employees from their facilities nationwide. The layoffs will take place in cities such as Los Angeles, Seattle, St. Louis, Philadelphia, and Atlanta. Most of the layoffs affect the commercial airline division, but the military defense and aerospace divisions will also be affected. The plan for the reduction in employee size began in July 2001, but the attacks on the United States on September 11th left the company having to lay off more employees. At the present time, Boeing is mainly focusing on reducing the amount of mandatory layoffs. This is going to be hard to accomplish because of the reduced demand for the companys goods and services. In the future, Boeings focus will be on returning to a high level of production and profitability. They will be focusing on competing with the competition by increasing product innovation and reducing expenses that the company incurs during production in an effort to keep prices low. Due to economic slowdown and reduced spending by consumers, the Boeing Corporation was beginning to experience loss in revenues and a decline in production. Not more than three months later, the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York impacted the demand for commercial aircraft because of fear to travel by airplane. Also, heavy competition with Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, Boeing is not being awarded as many contracts with the United States military, which is causing a decline in revenues for the aerospace and military defense divisions. There are not many ways to overcome the entire problem, but there are some alternatives that the company can consider in order to reduce them. The alternatives are to distribute hours equally among the employees, reallocate employees into different divisions, offer severance pay, and to continue to layoff employees. Boeing has to be careful in the way that this particular situation is handled. If employees feel as though they are being treated unfair, they will not have job satisfaction and production may decrease. The best possible solution for the Boeings problem is to equally distribute the hours among the employees. By doing this employees will maintain their jobs. This will result in higher job satisfaction than other alternatives, and Boeing will not have to go through an extensive process to rehire when they return back to a stage of profitability. Boeing Problem Statement As Boeing faces one of the greatest financial crises in the history of the airline industry, Boeing plans to cut production workers, engineers and support staff by mid-2002 (Nyhan, September 2001). Because of a declining economy as well as terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11th, Boeing is laying off a total of 30,000 employees in all divisions of the corporation: aerospace, commercial aviation, and military defense. The layoffs will happen in Los Angeles, St. Louis, Seattle, Oklahoma, and the Puget Sound area, and will affect everyone from salaried executives to the hourly paid maintenance employees. Layoffs are a sign of company turmoil and should be avoided to maintain the company stockholders. Short and Long-Term Goals Boeings primary short-term objective is to maintain a reasonable level of profitability given the recent occurrences. It will attempt to accomplish this by reducing the amount of dollars that are paid to the current employees by either reducing their hours, or completely terminating their employment with the company. Because of current supply and demand of the company, profits will be reduced if the current level of employees is maintained. Boeings long-term objective is to be the number one supplier of commercial, aerospace, and military aircraft and technology. They aim to accomplish this by maintaining a level of profitability that satisfies the stockholders and corporate executives. They also want to maintain a high level of competition with the current competition: Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin. If Boeing loses government aerospace and military defense contracts to the competition, there is a high probability that the company will become insolvent and declare bankruptcy. Details of the Problem Prior to September 11th, Boeing was going through trying times. Their satellite manufacturing operations were in a recession. This was due to the bursting of the internet and telecom bubbles (Laing, 2002). The Commercial Airline Industry was also facing a slowdown. This was a result of high fuel prices, labor cost increases, a softening of the national economy and low passenger traffic (Smith, 2001). Also, improvements in production efficiency for Boeing led to a plan to decrease up to 15% of its employees in the commercial-aircraft business. This efficiency in production was due to the industrys first ever-moving assembly line for the final phase of the production process, which cuts unneeded steps (Holmes, 2001). Likewise, by the end of 2001, Boeing lost out on the largest military contract ever when the Pentagon picked rival Lockheed Martin to build the Joint Strike Fighter for shared use by the Air Force, Navy and Marines. This next generation manned fighter is expected to flow more than $200 billion in revenues over the next 20 years (Laing, 2002). But most traumatic for Boeing were the terrorist attacks on September 11th. They transformed what had been shaping up as a mild downturn in commercial jet orders into a veritable collapse in demand (Laing, 2002). After the attacks, the need to fly drastically declined due to fear and security issues that made flying a nuisance. This left the US Airline Industry in a serious crisis. Companies such as Continental, US Airways, American, and Delta cut up to 20% of their capacity (Smith, 2001). Source: www.bloomber.com The terrorist attacks resulted in Boeings stock to plummet. Prior to September 11th, Boeings stock was falling because of the downturn in the economy. From the graph above, we can see that the attacks made the stock price to fall from $50 a share to $30. This was a sign that investors knew the impact the terrorist attacks had on Boeings industry. After September 11th, Boeing planned to respond to these problems by cutting production rates by 50 percent (Nyhan, November 2001). On September 18th, one week after the attacks, Boeing announced at a press conference that it would layoff up to 30,000 employees by the middle of 2002 (Smith, 2001). On that day, Boeing reduced the level of employees by 12,000: 3,000 through retirement and attrition, and 9,000 through layoffs (Farley, 2001). Boeing also stated that their jetliner orders would decrease drastically. In the next three years 80% of their 2001 orders would be delivered (Smith, 2002). They also planned to cut their monthly production of aircraft by half, from 48 to 24. The director of people at Boeings commercial airplane unit said, In order to match our reduced production rate, we will need to accomplish the majority of the 20,000 to 30,000 reductions in 2002 employment by midyear. Members of the Associated Press and Kiro 7 Eyewitness News stated, Last week Boeing officials announced plans to layoff as many as 30,000 employees, mostly in the Puget Sound area, by the end of next year because of plummeting demand for new planes and postponed deliveries since the terrorist attacks. Boeings commercial airplane division is not the only division that the layoffs will effect. Surprisingly 5,000 of the 30,000 layoffs are predicted to come from the military division. The military division cutbacks are also due to the September 11th attacks, but they are mainly due to global economic slowdown (Klein, 2001). This comes as a surprise because the military division is expected to grow in a time of war or terrorist attacks. Stockholders may assume that the government will request an increased level of production of fighter jets and military bombers so that the United States can dominate in the war against terrorism. In addition, the layoffs will not only affect the Boeing employees, but also people outside the company. As many as 20,000 of the Boeing layoffs may occur in the Seattle area alone, resulting in an additional 34,000 jobs lost by Boeing suppliers, subcontractors, and others (Klein, 2001). Alternatives Before Boeing implements any solutions they must maintain a good level of communication with their employees. The employees must know the reasons for a particular action taken by Boeing in order to avoid any mistrust and confusion (Hoffman, 2001). For example, an employee will wonder why layoffs are taking place when Phil Condit, Boeings CEO, is making an annual bonus of $1.13 million (Webber, 2002). Boeing must carefully explain their plans and what they are hoping to accomplish through their actions. Boeing can reduce the amount of layoffs by implementing any of the following solutions: Distribute Hours Among Employees The first solution for Boeing is to spread the hours among the employees for each department. Every department is given so many hours it can use for each week at the beginning of the quarter, depending on the amount of business Boeing has. If those hours taken and spread among the employees for each department, not as many layoffs will occur. The hours will be spread out by reducing the workweek from five days to four. By cutting one day out of an employees schedule Boeing is able to give those hours to another employee, which under the circumstances would be laid off. Once four employees each receive a deduction in their workweek one employee will be able to maintain their job and not be laid off. The advantage to this solution is that fewer employees will have to be laid-off. Employees will have their hours cut according to seniority. Some employees that have been with the company for a number of years will not be affected by the action. By holding onto the employees and not laying them off Boeing will be prepared to handle new contracts as they arise. Boeing is predicting that the recent decline in contracts is only short-term and business will soon return to their previous levels. The disadvantage to the solution is that some employees will not be able to afford a reduction in hours. In this scenario employees will not be satisfied and hold each other responsible for less hours. If employees are not satisfied then their production will decrease due to their dissatisfaction. Re-Allocate Employees The second solution for Boeing is to train employees in other departments within the company. This will allow Boeing to reallocate employees in different departments rather than laying them off. With the commercial airline department being hit the hardest by the recent terrorist events, employees in that department could transfer to other departments if they possessed the knowledge. The advantage in training employees outside their departments is the value it will add to the employee. If an employee has the knowledge and know how to be productive and efficient in other departments, not just his own, they become an instant asset to the company. Due to their flexibility Boeing can move the employee around in accordance with demand. A disadvantage to this solution is that Boeing will incur high costs for training employees to do other jobs. A slowdown in production will also result due to the time spent on training. The transition for an employee to move from one department to another is difficult because the employee will not be as efficient. Severance Pay Early retirement packages will be available to qualified employees. The retirement packages to be offered will vary depending on the number of years an employee has with the company. For each full year of service an employees has with the company, up to twenty-six years, they will receive one week of pay (Hoffman, 2001). The employee can take the severance pay in either a lump sum or as an income continuation. The single lump sum plan pays the severance pay to the person in one check within one month of leaving the company. The income continuation plan will pay the severance pay on the regular paydays every two weeks (Boeing, 2000). The advantage to this solution is each individual makes their own decision and they have total control of what they want to do. Also high salaries will be eliminated as management personnel take the package. Once management leaves, the ones that find early retirement appealing, Boeing will be able to promote employees into those positions without having to pay the large salaries. The disadvantage to this solution is that not many jobs will be saved because not many employees will go for the early retirement package. Boeing will also lose experienced managers if they decide to take the early retirement package. If this solution is implemented Boeing will continue to layoff employees because not enough jobs will be cut. Continue Layoffs The last solution is to continue to layoff employees as necessary. This will allow Boeing to keep revenues high because the layoffs will occur according to the market. If Boeing does not get as many contracts as they expected for a particular quarter, the layoffs will help the companys finances. The disadvantage to this alternative is the potential of business picking backup. The market for commercial jetliners is expected to boom in two years and Boeing needs to be able to handle the new contracts. If Boeing has to constantly train new employees as business increases, in an effort compensate for the ones that were laid-off, they will not be operating at full efficiency. Solution Boeing realizes that layoffs cant be completely eliminated, however they want to reduce layoffs to the lowest possible amount. Boeing will accomplish that by distributing the hours in each department among the employees. This solution will allow Boeing to save jobs by reducing the employees workweek from forty hours to thirty-two hours. The management of each department will determine the hours to be cut and the number of employees that are affected. This will be implemented on June 1, 2002 throughout all departments. Most employees will be affected by the reduction in hours, and management must be prepared to cope with the initial negative reaction. In order to measure the results of the solution, Boeing must evaluate the impact on its bottom line along with the toll its taking on their employees. An evaluation will occur every six months and will be lead by top executives and the department managers. Once evaluated, a decision will be made by the board of directors on whether or not to continue with the reduction of hours or to incorporate a different action. The thirty-two hour workweek is expected to be temporary as analysts are predicting a turn around in demand for planes (Holmes, 2001). As production returns to capacity, hours will be returned back to employees according to seniority. Reference List Airlines slash workforces. (n.d.) retrieved April 10, 2002, from www.proquest.com . Airwise News. (2001, September 22). Majority of Boeing layoffs in aircraft sector. Retrieved April 10, 2002, from www.dowjonesinteractive.com Associated Press Newswires. (2002, March). More Boeing layoff notices. Retrieved April 10, 2002, from www.dowjonesinteractive.com. Article No. A71327300 Associated Press Newswires. (2001, September). First Boeing layoffs set to take effect Dec. 14. Retrieved May 7, 2002, from www.seattleinsider.com/news/boeing.html Boeing Company. (2002). A Brief History. Retrieved April 8, 2002, from www.boeing.com/companyoffices/history/boeing/html. Boeing Company. (2002). Layoffs Benefits Plan. Retrieved May 7, 2002, from www.boeing.com/companyoffices/benefits/boeing/html. Carlton, D.R. (2002, January) Boeing bleak outlook. The Economist, 362 (8257), 58. Corliss, B. (2002, April). Boeing deliveries drop 10%. Retrieved May 7, 2002, from www.msnbc.com Farley, G. (2001, December). Union leaders file grievances. The Associated Press. Retrieved April 15, 2002, from www.king5.com/cgi-bin/gold.cgi Genna, C.A. (2002, April 19). More layoff notices to be issued at Boeing. Retrieved May 8, 2002, from www.latimes.com Gillie, J.F. (2001, November). Lost jobs in Puget Sound area. The News Tribune, Tacoma. Retrieved April 10, 2002, from www.dowjonesinteractive.com Gillie, J.F. (2001, December). 1,700 new layoff notices today. The News Tribune, Tacoma. Retrieved April 10, 2002, from www.dowjonesinteractive.com. Article No. TCMA0135500 Global general aviation industry delivery breakdowns for jets. (n.d.). Retrieved April 10, 2002, from http://rdswebl.rdsinc.com/texis/rds/suite.html. Hoffman, R. (2001, June 29). The Dynamics of Downsizing. Retrieved May 18, 2002, form www.hradvice.com Holmes, S.C. (2001, November 26). Aerospace industry downsizing. Business Week, (3759), 108-109 Klein, A. (2001, October 13). Boeing faces massive layoffs. The Washington Post. Retrieved April 15, 2002, from http://detnews.com/2001/business.html. Laing, J.R. (2002, April). Gaining Altitude: Corporate profiles. Barrons, 82 (17), 21-25. Lloyd, M.K. (2001, December). Losing Altitude; Aviation. The Economist, 361 (8253), 81-83. More Boeing layoff notices going out. (n.d.) Retrieved April 26, 2002, from www.seattleinsider.com Nyhan, P.J. (2001, September). Boeing expects to layoff up to 10 percent in commercial division. Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved April 10, 2002 from www.dowjonesinteractive.com. Article No. SEPI012700. Nyhan, P.J. (2002, February). Boeing lays off 1,000 local workers. Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved April 10, 2002, from www.dowjonesinteractive.com. Nyhan, P.J. (2001, November). Majority of Boeing layoffs to hit by June. Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved April 10, 2002, from http://seattlepi.nwsource.com Schneider, R. (2001, December). Losing Altitude: aftershocks from September 11th. The Economist. Retrieved April 10, 2002, from www.infotrac.com. Article No. A81118376. Smith, B.A. (2002, January 21). Boeing continues its production cost focus. Aviation Week Space Technology, 156 (3), 43-44. Smith, B.A. (2001, September 24). Boeing cuts delivery estimates, prepares for major layoffs. Aviation Week Space Technology, 155 (13), 29-32. Song, K.M. (2001, December). Boeing layoff face challenge. The Seattle Times. Retrieved April 10, 2002, from www.dowjonesinteractive.com. Article No. SETL0135600. Song, K.M. (2002, April). Effects from Boeing cutbacks felt. The Seattle Times. Retrieved May 18, 2002, from www.dowjonesinteractive.com. Article No. SETL0211100. Standaert, J. (2002, January). Boeing trims 2,300 more jobs. The News Tribune, Tacoma. Retrieved April 10, 2002, from www.dowjonesinteractive.com. Article No. TCMA0201900. Thomas, G.D. (2002, April). Tough times ahead. Air Transport World, 39, (4), 31-33. Webber, J.P. (2002, April 19). Boeing hurt by slowdown. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 8, 2002, from www.latimes.com

How Gender Inequality Is Explained Sociology Essay

How Gender Inequality Is Explained Sociology Essay How has gender inequality been explained? (Answer with reference to a range of theories and approaches) Critically assess the attempt of one of the feminist group to overcome gender inequality. Social stratification A system by which a society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy (Macionis and Plummer: 2005: 190). Social stratification is common in different aspects throughout society and throughout history some of the most substantial categories affected are class, race, disabilities, sexuality and globally. However this essay shall be investigating the stratification by gender, referred to as gender inequality. There are many reasons for the disparity of gender circumscribed by its underlying social, legal, political, economic, and cultural characteristics (Rives and Yousefi 1997:1). Gender stratification categories people in regard to their sex, this can be defined as anatomical differences and physiological differences between male and female for example the difference in chromosomes, sex organs and hormones. The word gender has been socially constructed through the means of a stereotype and ideology of the social role, identity, position and behaviour of male and feminine through different institutions and aspects like the media, religion, culturally and historically. Up until the era of Suffragettes in the late 19th Century women were always deemed lower than men and inequality was highly significant society it was fundamentally a patriarchal society. The traditional preconceptions were that men were strong, intellectual beings that were the hunter gatherers and providers for their household. Whereas, women were passive objects that would cook, clean, cater for their husbands wants and desires, and doing nothing more than bear and raise children. To the woman he (God) said, I will greatly increase your pain in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for you husband, and he will rule over you. (Genesis 3:16). This interlinks with religion and reiterates traditional and religious view from The Bible. There are a substantial amount of reasons why there is clear gender inequality in society, this essay will assess and show the many theories into the existence of this. Biological determinism is a theory that asserts that males and females appearance, mental and general behaviour and position on the social hierarchy is all in relation to their genetic make-up and genes, the differences between male and females socially is dependant on the fact of them being different sexes alone. The Evolution of Sexes written by Geddes and Thompson shows a generalisation of a biological determinist analysis of gender. They claim that social, psychological and behavioural traits were caused by metabolic state. Women supposedly conserve energy (being anabolic) and this makes them passive, conservative, sluggish, stable and uninterested in politics. Men expend their surplus energy (being katabolic) and this makes them eager, energetic, passionate, variable and, thereby, interested in political and social matters. These biological facts about metabolic states were used not only to explain behavioural differences between women and men but also to justify what our social and political arrangements ought to be. Due to all these factors it is apparent biological determinism theorists that gender stratification is fate, females are meant to be inferior to males and this cannot be fought or changed in society and therefore is highly beneficial. Functionalists would argue that gender stratification is universal and positive for society. A key functionalist thinker Talcott Parsons explained how the differences in the sexes (gender) have provided complementary roles for both male and female (Instrumental and expressive), and how the difference in roles which are biologically based helped traditionally integrate society. He believes that gender differentiation and the understanding of division of labor means social stability. Women labeled expressive by Parson should typically be in control of the family units be the emotional support, take care of the household chores and the security and well being of the children. Opposed to men, labeled instrumental whose role is to connect the family to the larger world primarily by participating in the labour force(Macionis and Plummer 2008:381), work and focus on issues outside of the internal family unit. Parson theorises that gender identity is social, formed through numerous means of social control and is needed for both male and female to gain appropriate skills to succeed in life. The knowledge of these specific skills and understanding of the difference of gender identities to the opposite sex (expressive and instrumental)are in a sense indoctrinated so that, for example if a male is not deemed instrumental he is therefore unattractive and is rejected by the expressive women. This clear distinction of the division in the family unit ensures harmony in the family and thus benefits society on a whole Functionalists view the potential for social disorder only when all of the aspects of traditional gender stratification are disturbed. (Schaefer and Lamm 1998). During the 20th Century there were huge upheavals in the traditional view of women and their roles and the view of a predominately patriarchal society they were living in. Women now wanted to be able to work and have an education, not deemed less able due to biological determinism and be treated equally, which gave birth to a collection of huge movements in sexism and inequality and also different views with in feminism (Liberal, Socialist/Marxist and radical). One point that is evident throughout all the different interpretations of feminism is that women have not been seen as equal throughout the social structure. Liberal feminists do not see womens oppression as part of large system structure but however believes that biological determinism as a source for inequality within the political and justice realm as completely barbaric. There may be some slight procreative differentiation but that should not be any differences in relation to the law, politics, employment or educational institutes, they believed the only way of reformation was through the reform of these institutes. Liberal feminists believe in the rights for every individual woman in society. Socialist/Marxist feminism is adopted through two major writings, Firstly in Engels writing in 1884 The origin of the family, private property and the State and through Marxs conflict theory evident in the Communist Manifesto, which is a struggle between the oppressors (capitalists/ bourgeoisie) and the oppressed (working class) to maintain an equal social structure one needs to overthrow capitalism. Beasley wrote that the base-superstructure model of society, that is, social relations- including those related to sexual inequality- are conceived as crucially shaped by the economic base of society, rather than ideas and attitudes (Beasley 1999:61) Marxist Feminists believed the only way to end this patriarchy was through social revolutions against capitalism for equality. As males dominated the means of production and owned all the property women Engels contended were alienated due to the economic reliance on their husbands. Engels links the modern oppression of women to the instituti on of private property. Correlatively , he argues that the economic system of capitalism draws women into the public workforce and thus sets the conditions for their equality (Carver and Steger 1999:254) The only way women would be able to throw the unfair justice of capitalism would be to be free of marriage, laundry, cooking, childcare and childbirth and reforming the structure of the family. So that women can get full-time jobs through revolting equaling out the inequality in gender. This essay has briefly summarised the main theories and some brief approaches of gender inequality, Radical feminism is similar to that of Marxist feminism but more extreme, it is similar in the aspect of it fundamentally believing that the oppression and control of women is to do with how Capitalism promotes gender exploitation. Women are segregated into a sex class and therefore should stick together. Radical feminists believe that the only way for gender equality is the complete eradication of patriarchal society and any aspect of society that males dominate, this is the only way for female liberation. Radical feminists believe women are oppressed through their ability to reproduce and the sexualisation by men, they should be seen as the enemy. The only way women can free themselves is through any aspect of association with males, this includes not having heterosexual relationships and not producing off spring in order to liberate. Alice Echols and Ellen Willis wrote about radical feminism in their book Daring to Be Bad: Radical Feminism in America that Radical feminism was a political movement dedicated to eliminating the sex-class system(Echols and Willis 1989:4) The sex class system also included the sex-role system which sees marriage, family, prostitution, and heterosexuality as repressive. They believed gender inequalities root cause was sexual oppression, women need to gain control over their bodies/biology and relatedly to value and celebrate womens bodies(Beasley, C 1999:55) . This interlinks with a psychoanalytic feminist such as Sigmund Freud where he shows that gender is embedded in language and through sexualisation and thought from the earliest state of childhood. This is through the penis envy theory, this is when girls realise they dont have a penis and from being attached to her mother, finds a stronger attachment to the father. She accepts her inadequacy and subordination in society by accepting her mothers values and containing her craving for her father. According to many theorists Radical feminism is also about generating widespread support for campaigns around issues such as rape, domestic violence and sexual harassment (Dean 2011) as well as the promotion of contraception, sterilization and abortion. The word radical in itself holds factors for criticism; this is an extreme view that has many factors that can be deemed incorrect. You cannot categorise all women into a sex class as there is no substantial evidence that supports the idea of this. How is it possible that all women just because of their biological similarities are the same, and can be generalised so flippantly? It doesnt entail any other aspects such as culture, psychological, class or economic factor in a way of determining gender construction.Radical feminism not only ignores important differences among women but also reproduces exactly the stereotypical vision of women and men (Beckham and DAmico 1994:80) Isnt this exactly what radical feminism is fighting against, the generalisation? Radical feminism ignores legislations like the Equal Pay Act 1970 and The Sexual Discrimination Act 1975 and how politics are constantly changing in regard to sexism and the maltreatment as women as a class. Radical feminism suggests that society should be matriarchal, this would continue the process of gender inequality but just the other way round. Another limitation of radical feminism is that instead of promoting marriage it does the opposite, that women should be rid of all these stereotypical roles, this in a way promotes promiscuity and even unhealthy relationships. Radicalism is damaging to society as a whole because society cannot reach its maximum potential if one group is more domineering than another.

Transcendental Meditation :: Blood Pressure Tranquility Papers

About forty years ago, Maharishi Mahesk Yogi pioneered the Transcendental Meditation program. The Transcendental Meditation technique is a natural, unforced practice that reduces stress and increases an individual’s mental and physical potential. TM (Transcendental Meditation) is often experienced for fifteen to twenty minutes twice a day. Typically, one meditates in the morning before eating breakfast; this practice helps the person start his day both alert and energized. The second meditation session occurs in the afternoon before dinner. During this practice, one washes away the stress accumulated over the day, and this session is the basis for a pleasurable evening and a restful night’s sleep (http://www.tm.org/book/chap_1.html). Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation causes the mind and body to enter a unique, insightful state of mind that is both restful and alert. As the body benefits from a deep state of rest, the mind goes into a state of inner tra nquility and awareness. TM advocates claim that Transcendental Meditation is unlike any other forms of mediation or relaxation techniques. The TM program is more effective in reducing apprehension, improving mental health, increasing self-awareness, and reducing the abuse of cigarettes, drugs, and alcohol. Unlike hypnosis, Transcendental Meditation is normal and entails no proposals. The technique is simple to learn, is easy to practice, and does not include concentration or contemplation, which other forms of meditation and self- improvement do (http://www.tm.org/book/chap_9.html). â€Å"The result: Do less and accomplish more with greater energy, success, and satisfaction in everything you do† (http://www.tm.org/book/chap_9.html). A qualified teacher of the TM program is said to be the only person capable of teaching Transcendental Meditation. The course consists of seven steps. The first phase consists of an introductory lecture during which the individual is exposed to all of the possible benefits of the TM program. The second step, the preparatory lecture, teaches each person the procedure and the origin of the TM technique. Then, the individual must have an interview with a qualified teacher of the TM program. The fourth step includes personal instruction about how to learn the Transcendental Meditation technique. â€Å"Verification and Validation of Experiences† encompasses the final three phases. In the first of the three, the individual verifies the precision of the program and receives further instruction. Then, the person develops an understanding of the TM technique’s mechanics based on personal experiences.

Economic Development In Zimbabwe Essay -- essays research papers

Economic Development in Zimbabwe The country of Zimbabwe is one of the most economically developed on the African continent . A fairly young political entity, Zimbabwe has only enjoyed recognized autonomy since 1980, the year in which the United Kingdom repealed its imperialistic claims to the African nation . Despite its youth the country has achieved a level of economic development uncharacteristic of sub-Saharan African nations. Second only to South Africa in economic development, Zimbabwe's economic system is one indicative of a transitional country, a country making the transition from dependency underdevelopment to self-reliant industrialization. The purpose of this essay is to make a cursory but adequate examination of Zimbabwean socio-economic and political system, as means to analyzing the countries economic development. The ultimate purpose of this study is to provide a model of the structure necessary to achieve economic development where none previously existed. Zimbabwe is an appropriate model because the dynamics of underdevelopment to development in this country are readily apparent. This model can be useful in understanding underdevelopment in other so called "third-world" countries and in determining what is necessary for these countries to make the transition to industrialization. Geography Zimbabwe is a landlocked country in the southern, sub-Saharan area of the African continent bordered by South Africa to the South, Botswana to the West, Mozambique to the East and Zambia to the North. With an area of 391,090 km2 Zimbabwe is only slightly larger than the state of Colorado. Harare is Zimbabwe's capital and largest city with a population of 1,100,000. Containing vast amounts of rare mineralogical resources and possessing a favorable growing climate Zimbabwe's economy is drawn almost equally between the mining of minerals ($2.2 billion) and the production of staples and cash crops ($2.1 billion) . People Zimbabweans are comprised of two primary ethnic groups, the Shona, comprising 74% of the population and the Ndebele comprising 20%. Other ethnic black groups and Asians make up 4% of the population while whites make up just over 1% of the population. Zimbabwe has a population of 10.35 million people with a population density of 24 persons per km2. 1992 census figures estimate Zimbabwe's growth at 3.0% with 90% of this growth ... ...ble workforce. Finally, Zimbabwe participates in non-aligned trade for non-strategic products such as textiles. This greatly reduces the countries chance of becoming dependent on a trade partner. Conclusion In many ways Zimbabwe is a model for third-world economic development. Although not yet fully developed Zimbabwe clearly has the potential to be a full fledged developed nation. Beyond its vast resources Zimbabwe is structured in a way to promote development. This fact in and of itself distinguishes Zimbabwe from most other Lesser Developed Countries (LDC). Zimbabwe's economic structure is one in which they are essentially self-sufficient and trade only for profit or for consumer goods. Also they perform trade with many partners with no single partner comprising garnering more than 15% of import or export goods. By structuring the Zimbabwe's economic system in a way that keeps its partners diversified and its imports non-strategic, Mugabe has successfully led his nation to the path of development. The barriers left to full development are quite minimal compared to the ones already dominated, The structure of Zimbabwe's economic system is truly a model of economic development.

Problems with Drinking and driving Essay

Driving under the influence, driving while intoxicated, drunken driving, drunk driving, operating under the influence, drinking and driving, or impaired driving is the crime of driving a motor vehicle while impaired by alcohol or other drugs including those prescribed by physicians. In the case of alcohol, a drunk driver’s level of intoxication is typically determined by a measurement of blood alcohol content or BAC. A BAC measurement in excess of a specific threshold level, such as 0.05% or 0.08%, defines the criminal offense with no need to prove impairment. In some jurisdictions, there is an aggravated category of the offense at a higher BAC level, such as 0.12%. In most countries, anyone who is convicted of injuring or killing someone while under the influence of alcohol or other drugs can be heavily fined in addition to being given a lengthy prison sentence. In the United States, DUI and alcohol-related crashes produce an estimated $45 billion in damages every year. In some U.S. and German studies BAC level 0.01-0.03% predicted a lower crash risk than BAC 0%, Blood alcohol content With the advent of a scientific test for blood alcohol content, enforcement regimes moved to pinning culpability for the offense to strict liability based on driving while having more than a prescribed amount of blood alcohol, although this does not preclude the simultaneous existence of the older subjective tests. BAC is most conveniently measured as a simple percent of alcohol in the blood by weight. Research shows an exponential increase of the relative risk for a crash with a linear increase of BAC as shown in the illustration. BAC does not depend on any units of measurement. In Europe it is usually expressed as milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood. However, 100 milliliters of blood weighs essentially the same as 100 milliliters of water, which weighs precisely 100 grams. Thus, for all practical purposes, this is the same as the simple dimensionless BAC measured as a percent. The per mille measurement, which is equal to ten times the percentage value, is used in Den mark, Germany, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The validity of the testing equipment/methods and mathematical relationships for the measurement of breath and blood alcohol have been criticized. Driving while consuming alcohol may be illegal within a jurisdiction. In some it is illegal for an open container of an alcoholic beverage to be in the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle or  in some specific area of that compartment. There have been cases of drivers being convicted of a DUI when they were not observed driving after being proven in court they had been driving while under the influence. In the case of an accident, insurance may be automatically declared invalid, i.e. the drunk driver is fully responsible for damages. Within the American system, citation for driving under the influence also causes a major spike in car insurance premiums—94.1% in the first year, and still 63.5% higher by the third year. The German model serves to reduce the number of accidents by identifying unfit drivers and removing them from until their fitness to drive has been established again. The Medical Psychological Assessment works for a prognosis of the fitness for drive in future, has an interdisciplinary basic approach and offers the chance of individual rehabilitation to the offender. George Smith, a London Taxi cab driver, ended up being the first person to be convicted of driving while intoxicated, on September 10, 1897. He was fined 25 shillings, which is . BAC and risks Studies show that a high BAC increases the risk of accidents whereas it is not clear of a BAC of 0.01%-0.05% slightly increases or decreases the risk. One study suggests that already a BAC of 0.04-0.05% would slightly increase the risk whereas some studies suggest that a BAC of 0.01-0.04% would slightly lower the risk, possibly due to the drivers being more cautious. Both the influential study by Borkenstein et al. and the empirical German data on the 1990s demonstrated that the risk of accident is lower or the same for drivers with a BAC of 0.04% or less than for drivers with a BAC of 0%. For a BAC of 0.15% the risk is 25-fold. The 0.08% BAC limit in Germany and the limits in many other countries were set based on the study by Borkenstein et al. Wuerzburg University researchers showed that all extra accidents caused by alcohol were due to at least 0.06% BAC, 96% of them due to BAC above 0.08%, and 79% due to BAC above 0,12%. In their study based on the 1990s German data, the effect of alcohol was higher for almost all BAC levels than in Borkenstein et al. Also in the Grand Rapids study by Alsop, 0.01-0.03% BAC lead to a mere 80%-96% crash risk, possibly due to extra caution. Many employers or occupations have their own rules and BAC limits; for example, the United States Federal Railroad Administration has a 0.04%  limit for train crew. Certain large corporations have their own rules; for example, Union Pacific Railroad has their own BAC limit of 0.02% that, if violated during a random test or a for-cause test—for example, after a traffic accident—can result in termination of employment with no chance of future re-hire. Some jurisdictions have multiple levels of BAC for different categories of drivers; for example, the state of California has a general 0.08% BAC limit, a lower limit of 0.04% for commercial operators, and a limit of 0.01% for drivers who are under 21 or on probation for pr evious DUI offenses. Many states in the U.S. and the Federal government of Canada have adopted truth in sentencing laws that enforce strict guidelines on sentencing, differing from previous practice where prison time was reduced or suspended after sentencing had been issued. Some jurisdictions have judicial guidelines requiring a mandatory minimum sentence. DUI convictions can result in multi-year jail terms and other penalties ranging from expensive fees to forfeiture of one’s license plates and vehicle. Some jurisdictions require that drivers convicted of DUI offenses use special license plates that are easily distinguishable from regular plates. These plates are known in popular parlance as â€Å"party plates† or â€Å"whiskey plates†. The specific criminal offense may be called, depending on the jurisdiction, driving under the influence, driving under the influence of intoxicants, driving while intoxicated, â€Å"operating vehicle under the influence of alcohol or other drugsâ⠂¬ , operating under the influence operating while intoxicated, operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, driving under the combined influence of alcohol and/or other drugs, driving under the influence per se or drunk in charge . Many such laws apply also to motorcycling, boating, piloting aircraft, use of motile farm equipment such as tractors and combines, riding horses or driving a horse-drawn vehicle, or bicycling, possibly with different BAC level than driving. In some jurisdictions there are separate charges depending on the vehicle used, such as BWI, which may carry a lighter sentence. In the United States, local law enforcement agencies made 1,467,300 arrests nationwide for driving under the influence of alcohol in 1996, compared to 1.9 million such arrests during the peak year in 1983. In 1997 an estimated 513,200 DWI offenders were in prison or jail, down from 593,000 in 1990 and up from 270,100 in 1986. Drunk in charge  In British law it is a criminal offence to be drunk in charge of a motor vehicle. The definition depends on such things being in or near the vehicle, and having access to a means of starting the vehicle’s engine and driving it away. Health care, working, and prescription drugs If a worker who drives has a health condition which can be treated with opioids, then that person’s doctor should be told that driving is a part of the worker’s duties and the employer should be told that the worker could be treated with opioids. Workers should not use impairing substances while driving or operating heavy machinery like forklift trucks or cranes. If the worker is to drive, then the health care provider should not give them opioids. If the worker is to take opioids, then their employer should assign them work which is appropriate for their impaired state and not encourage them to use safety sensitive equipment.