Figurative Language versus Literal Language Assignment

Figurative Language versus Literal Language - Assignment Example Amphiboly An amphiboly is a misleading notion that relies on either a vague word or a grammatical formation and meant to puzzle or give a wrong impression to an audience. In essence, amphiboly is created from fallacies through modification of sentence structures in such a way that the sentence will have two or more meanings. A speaker may choose to create a sentence in a careless manner in order to arouse peoples’ attention for instance in an advert. An amphiboly is best demonstrated in the advert below. â€Å"Four rooms apartments for rent inclusive of; cooking room, private phone, river sight and bathroom†. Someone might e tempted to think that the advert talks about a four bed roomed house that has a private phone, a private kitchen and a private bathroom. But in reality, the only thing that is private in this room is private phone. The other utilities are to be shared somewhere within the apartments. Analogy This is a logical argument which shows similarity between two things or situations while pointing out that if two things or situations are similar in one way, then they should be similar in others. Example; after John was jailed, he felt like a fish out of water. This means the conditions under which John was is comparable to the conditions a fish moved out of water would be. It means that he was very uncomfortable as a fish would die outside water. Flame word Flame words are words that give an impression of an insult in their use. Flame words are used in conjunction with other figures of speech when a speaker wants to give an insulting comment. Example, â€Å"You are such a snob†. The phrase can often be misused to mean that though the speaker is a liar, the subject is a better liar. This phrase may sometimes be misunderstood to mean an intentional accusation and cause a conflict. Metaphor It is a figure of speech that uses one thing to mean another. It is used to make a comparison between two things. For instance, â€Å"the old l ady cried until he became a child†. Literally the audience may be tempted to think that the lady cried until he changed into a child but this is not true metaphorically. In fact, it means that he cried like a child. Hyperbole This is the use of exaggeration to produce a comic effect. Hyperboles are therefore comparisons that are excessive and outrageous in nature. Example, â€Å"The comedy was so funny the crowd died of laughter†. The above sentence does not mean that anybody died. It rather means that fun was extreme so people laughed a lot. It is used to show extremity of actions or events. Simile â€Å"A simile is a figure of speech that gives a comparison between two dissimilar things to give a different meaning† (Myers & Smith, 2008). It uses the words â€Å"like or as† in comparison. For example, he is a coward like a hyena or he is brave as a lion. The first example compares the cowardice of the subject to that of a hyena while the second example co mpares the subject’s gallantry to a lion’s bravery. Similes are used in speech to arouse the attention of the audience. Euphemism It is a polite term that is used in place of other words or phrases to pass harsh or unpleasant information to the audience. It can also be used to pass a harsh or bitter truth in a friendlier manner. For instance, the old woman passed away yesterday. The words ‘passed away’

BFS 3430-09D, PRINCIPLES OF FIRE BEHAVIOR (BFS3430-09D) Essay - 2

BFS 3430-09D, PRINCIPLES OF FIRE BEHAVIOR (BFS3430-09D) - Essay Example Be sure to divert the spilled fuel away from the cockpit or cabin; and take extra precaution against any possibility of fuel burst out, set up a safety border within the region of the incident site (Union County Standard Operating Guidelines n.d.). 3. For fire related incidents, full protective gear must be worn including SCBAs and move towards the fire from the windward side. If no hazardous materials or explosives are present, go about the procedure as a flammable liquid fire (Union County Standard Operating Guidelines n.d.). Foam must be used in fire fighting when Jet A fuel is involved. If foam is not available make use of a semi-fog stream to push the fire away from the cockpit or cabin. Make sure that the fuel spill and fire does not flow back behind you while protecting the crew and advancing towards the fire as this may trap you (Union County Standard Operating Guidelines n.d.). 4. If the fire involves hazardous and explosive materials, follow the Hazardous Materials resources guide for the product involved, and set up a safety perimeter around the incident site (Union County Standard Operating Guidelines

Does An Individual Enjoy Freedom Of Occupational Choice

Does An Individual Enjoy Freedom Of Occupational Choice Why do working- class individuals continue to enter working- class, gender stereotyped jobs? Why do working- class boys look for heavy manual work (Willis 1977), in trades such as plumbing, electrical engineering and forestry? Why do working- class girls still swarm towards traditional female occupations, such as nursing and rarely for example, seek training as electricians, joiners, technicians and computer operators? We might expect that new production patterns, and new systems of education and training, coupled with the promise of lifting barriers to opportunity, might have dislocated the processes of class and gender reproduction of careers- but little has happened to counteract the influence of class race and gender on career choice. (Wilson 2010: 51) In view of the above statement, critically evaluate the contention that the individuals enjoy the freedom of occupational choice. Occupational choice is without doubt one of the most important decisions an individual makes in their lifetime. Sofer (1973) reiterates this by stating that; It is often critical in determiningincome; standard of living; health; self- esteem; social relationships; the quality of ones life; and the environment one can provide for ones family, including the chances of ones children to enter particular occupations. (Williams 1974:15) The above statement reflects how it is often perceived that if a person is satisfied within their working environment, then other aspects of their lives will follow on from this. Work plays a huge role in our life and we contribute a large majority of our time and effort to ensuring that we have chosen the right career, beginning from very early childhood when we embark into the education system, right through to when we leave school and decide where to go next. The past twenty years have seen rapid advances in the theories of occupational choice, but to date there has been little agreement as to exactly how and why we preside in a certain occupation over another. More traditional theories sided with the belief that we either happen upon a certain role, or that it is down to the development of the individual thanks to a rational process of decision making. These concepts have recently been challenged by theorists who believe that alongside the developmental and chance aspects of occupational choice, there are structural factors which make a massive impact. The objective of this essay is to determine the extent to which an individual enjoys freedom of occupational choice. This will be addressed by firstly defining occupational choice, then exploring how the theory has developed, critically evaluating the contrasting opinions and providing necessary academic literature where needed. The essay will logically move through these theories in refer ence to the objective provided and then arrive at a conclusion, reviewing all of the above. According to Watson (2003), occupational choice is an individualised process through which the self concept grows as abilities, aptitudes and interests develop (Watson 2003: 183). This definition has developed over many years after numerous studies have been conducted into occupational choice and its determinants. Preliminary theorists deemed it to generally rely on chance events whether they are planned or unplanned, that would eventually influence an individual to make certain decisions (Bright et al 2004: no page). This was referred to as the happenstance theory of occupational choice, which is now seen as highly inaccurate since it did not consider the individual and their personality alongside occurring events during their lifetime (Bright et al 2004: no page). Back in 1951, Ginzberg et al carried out a major study into occupational choice which has become known as one of the originating theories on the topic. Ginzbergs research focus was on the individual, and how by making decisions through defined life stages, the self concept is adapted. They deemed the process to be largely irreversible which has formed the basis of the argument for many critics (Slocum 1959:183). Super (1957) is probably the most notable critic of Ginzberg et als theory. He argues that elements such as values and previous research had been ignored (Slocum 1959:184) and he also believed that an individual is matched to an occupational role not only because of their character and merit, but also by the opportunities which are available at the time (Williams 1974:31). Super had recognised the more vocational aspect of occupational choice that a child is subjected to whilst growing up, such as work experience and changing job roles. Supers work contained situational exper iences that highlight more structural factors such as the socio- economic status of the childs parents (Watson,T :2008:230) and the current availabilities within the labour market. Although Supers work delved into the subject much deeper than the proceeding research by Ginzberg, it has limitations due to the way that it only highlighted the potential influence of parents and peers on a child- nor does he examine how this impact can be either positive or negative. The weaknesses of the two studies mentioned so far include that both were carried out on white middle class American males, and therefore cannot be considered to be a true reflection of developmental occupational choice. More valuable research would include information on both sexes, and also recognise the impact of different social class status in the United Kingdom. Musgrave (1967), Mead (1934) and Miller and Form (1951) reinforce the latter point that the main drawbacks of Supers studies was that he failed to fully recognise the significance of parental and peer influence on a child (Slocum 1959: 142-3). Musgrave (1967) took the work of Ginzberg and Super and applied a more sociological stance to give recognition to the way in which we as individuals learn, watch and observe even before entering the labour market, which helps to shape our perception of society (Watson 2003:183). He formulated four stages through which an individual passes; pre-work socialisation, entry to the labour force, socialisation into the labour force and lastly, job changes (Williams 1974:101). The pre work stage focuses on how children imitate adults by games such as doctors and nurses where they take on an imaginary job, and act out how they perceive the role to be. This role playing or role-taking as Miller and Form (1951) refer to it then develops in the second and third stages which cover the individuals entry into a working environment and the career path they eventually decide on, whilst the fourth stage considers any changes that may happen occupationally (Slocum 1959:142). Role- playing shows the influence adults, and more specifically our parents can have on our career choice. A more recent study into the importance of parental roles has been carried out by Dryler (1998). Although on a Swedish cohort, she confirmed that parents in a specific industry will encourage their child to follow in their footsteps. In addition to this, she discovered that the parent of the same sex as the child is more influential if they are in a particular line of work (Dryler 1998:394). There are similarities between the work of Dryler (1998) and Greico (1987). Greico recognised that some individuals are not merely influenced by their parents, but physically supported toward a certain job by being sponsored or recommended (Watson 2003:185). The work of Dryler (1998) and Greico (1987) mirrored earlier observations by Bandura (1977) and Kohlberg (1966) that focussed on social learning and cognitive development, theories that both acknowledge how children emulate their parents, specifically those of the same sex to themselves (Dryler 1998: 377). Interestingly, Dryler also denoted t hat if the parent and child are of different sex, then the opposite is true (Dryler 1998:394). Whipp (1980) and Ram (1994) carried out research which is consistent with the findings of Dryler and Grieco, agreeing that a child can literally be pushed into a job of their parents choosing, which differs greatly from Ginzbergs original theory that individuals have freedom of occupational choice. This also demonstrates how children are not necessarily exposed to all the career opportunities available, and that their parents can be a driving factor in limiting this. These findings also support the theories of Marshall, Swift and Roberts (1975) that ability is nurtured which Hollingshead (1949) suggested can relate to where our parents are situated in the class structure as to how a child portrays a particular job role, which will be looked at in more detail in the next section of this paper (Abercrombie and Warde 2003:141, Slocum 1959:147). However, it must be recognised that childhood observation of our parents may have totally the opposite impact, and a job role may be chosen simp ly to be different. The research discussed so far has mainly focussed on the individual and our behavioural maturation alongside values and beliefs, and how these achieved roles affect our occupational choice. Whilst the work into the developmental aspects of occupational choice is invaluable, it does not help to fully explain the issues mentioned by Wilson (2010) and Willis (1977) in the question. Therefore it is necessary to look at how the theory has developed, and widened to incorporate structural factors which are outside of the individuals control- also known as ascribed roles. Three advocates in the structural related factors field of theory are Roberts (1968), Kiel et al (1966) and Miller and Form (Furlong 1996: 561- 65, Williams 1974: 78 97). They understand that whilst psychology plays a huge part in our occupational choices, we are often faced with issues including, the current economy, gender, ethnicity and class which will be now be analysed in more detail. Traditionalists such as Kuh and Wadsworth (1991) believe that as individuals, we are born into one class- and it is very hard to migrate into other classes (Kuh and Wadsworth 1991: 537-555). In contradiction to this is the notion of social mobility, which is the ability of an individual to move from one class to another (Goodhart 2003). The Government is working hard to increase social mobility, and has appointed Alan Milburn to assist them further with their plans to eradicate the so called barriers to opportunity that Wilson (2010) refers to (Stratton 2010 and Wilson 2010). Hutton (2010) believes that the working class are simply not presented with as many opportunities as those in the classes above them, and Sennett and Cobbs (1972) went as far as to say that being working class creates psychological barriers acknowledging how it may not only be economic difficulties that affect an individual (Reay et al 2001:855-74). Goldthorpe (2003) counteracts this, stating how the class syst em is in decline in Britain, whilst Goodhart (2009) observes that there is no viable way of measuring who belongs in what class therefore statistics on class mobility are often complex and flawed (Goldthorpe 2003:239, Goodhart 2009). In his own studies, Goldthorpe (2003) draws heavily from the previous work of Ginzberg and Super with relation to the self concept development theory, but is distinguishable by the way in which parental class is addressed in more depth and he also incorporates modern empirical evidence to support his work (Goldthorpe 2003: 234). Although he deems class as important, he makes clear that this is only in the entry and lower levels of the labour market (Goldthorpe 2003:238). This is supported by Layder et al (1991), Giddens (1984) and Blau et al (1956), who agree that an individual is affected by different factors at different times in their life, particularly when they enter the institution system and the job market (Watson 2003:184, Williams 1974: 31). Goldthorpe (2003) refers to the rich as risk averse, highlighted by the recent stock market collapse where high paid city bankers still received huge bonuses and pay packets after losing millions of the nations money in risky transaction s. This translates the way in which the working class have to rely on education more heavily as they do not have as much to fall back on as their higher class peers (Goldthorpe 2003: 235). Pakulski and Waters (1996) disagree, stating that parents class makes no difference to their childs eventual occupational choice (Abercrombie and Warde 2003:130). In stark contrast to the earlier research, Garner (2008) states that social class is the single most influential factor in educational attainment, suggesting that our parents class is directly related to the grades we will eventually achieve, and also for what institution we gain them from (Garner 2008). Savage and Egerton (1997) and Westergaard (1995) agree with Garner (2008), claiming that children can do well in education purely because of the distribution of wealth (Abercrombie and Warde 2003:130-1). The Government seems to sit on the fence with regards to the impact of parental class on occupational choice; Nick Clegg and Harriett Harman are both of the opinion that whilst parents play a crucial role, ultimately class inequalities still remain (Stratton 2010, EHRC 2010)- explaining why the Government is taking such a stance on social mobility. The above discussion on social class shows how the stereotypical roles referred to by Willis (1977) may be undertaken by working class in dividuals purely due to the opportunities that are available to them and the class status inherited from their parents. Although Wilson (2010) suggests that this is still the case, the research mentioned has proved that this debate is not easily settled since there are strong arguments from either side by numerous theorists and influential figures. Another structural factor which may affect an individuals choice of occupation is that of gender. In todays modern society, the hypothesis is that gender inequalities have been eradicated, but the National Equality Panel found recently that men are still paid up to twenty one percent more per hour than women who have the same job role and qualifications (EHRC 2010). This report has been devastatingly critiqued by numerous academics, including Saunders (2010) and Caldwell (2010) who both believe that the EHRC have confused the meaning of inequality with that of prejudice and discrimination (Caldwell 2010:7 and Saunders 2010:14). This demonstrates how, like class, gender is a hard topic to define and quantify, therefore its affects on occupational choice are very difficult to measure. In 1984, Martin and Roberts looked at the relationship between gender and career choice, and found that a womans decision making process is related to the assumption that she will become a mother and therefore be more dedicated toward child rearing and domesticated duties (Watson 2003:192). This study suffers due to the fact that it is over fifteen years old and therefore cannot be considered as accurate in the present time. However, more recent work has been carried out by Riddell, Gaskell and Banks (1992), who discovered women are more likely to be pulled towards domestic subjects in early schooling (Abercrombie and Warde 2003:472), which illustrates how gender is already affecting occupational choice at a very young age by implying stereotypical roles to each sex . Although Riddell et als research is newer than Martin and Roberts it still has limitations because times have changed so much in the past ten years or so and it does not properly consider the aspirations of males compar ed to those of females. In 2000, Hakim demonstrated that preferences had changed dramatically, women were being offered more opportunities, and businesses had adapted to become more flexible towards them. She identified three work life preference groups; home centred, work centred and adaptive, claiming that most women in America and the United Kingdom could be placed into the adaptive group- therefore achieving a balance between their work and home lives (Watson 2003: 194). More recent studies have also found there to be a more wide range of job opportunities available to both sexes, with the armed forces being an example of how gender atypical roles have deteriorated. The Royal Air Force now offers over ninety percent of its roles to women, whilst the Navy and the Army have approximately three quarters of their roles available to both sexes (MOD, no date). This does however insinuate that not all opportunities are entirely equal- although progress has been made over the last century as attitudes have chan ged and women are looking for self fulfilment from their occupations (Watson 2003:194). Formal institutions have often been blamed for the different educational development of boys and girls. Timperley and Gregory (1971) found that there were approximately four times as many females wanting to continue on in education after school, whereas males were more likely to go straight into the labour market (Wilson 1974:193). Timperley and Gregorys paper would have been far more persuasive if it had been carried out in the last ten years and also if it had covered a nationwide cohort rather than just one particular area. Since this study, research has also begun to cover individual attitudes toward occupational roles, it cannot be said that women nowadays subscribe to the assumption that they will have children- many women are in fact the total opposite and careers are becoming first priority. Harper and Haq (2001), support this by stating that British women who delay motherhood, are likely to be more ambitious in terms of their educational and occupational achievements (Harper and Haq 2001:713). This can also be related to the way in which gender roles have in some cases switched altogether, with some men choosing to stay at home with the children whilst the woman of the household is the main breadwinner. However, this is hard to measure since studies cannot clarify individual aspirations and boys may not apply themselves as much as girls if they believe that the occupation they want to go into does not need high grades, particularly if they are looking at trades or the armed forces. Although class and gender are two of the most prominently researched structural factors that may impact on an individuals occupational choice, Wilson (2010) also mentions the issue of race. The afore mentioned EHRC report found that white working class boys and black Caribbean boys historically have bad attainment grades (EHRC 2010), whilst Haw (1998) concluded from her study that some staff were confused with regards to the treatment of Muslim pupils (Abercrombie and Warde 2003:474-5). Blackwell (2003), looked at the impact of ethnicity in greater detail, and implied that occupational choices in different ethnic groups can largely be related to historical and political reasons. She also noted that ethnic segregation in occupational roles is less than gender segregation, highlighting how differentials can be created by the individual, rather than by the market (Blackwell 2003:726-7). Most studies in racial impact on occupational choice have been slanted towards the opportunities avai lable in the market, but it would be more useful if the authors had considered individualistic factors that relate to culture and political views. Taking into account the studies mentioned; it would seem that ethnicity is not a deciding factor of an individuals occupational choice- and further studies could focus on whether this is true. Returning to the question posed at the beginning of this paper, it is now possible to state that whilst an individual does have freedom of occupational choice to some extent, there are, as Wilson (2010) states, many factors which also have an impact. The findings of this essay suggest that when the individual proceeds through the development of self concept, they can be influenced by parents, peers, class, formal institutions, the current economy, gender and their ethnicity. Further work needs to be done to establish whether individuals in the present times are still impacted by the socio-cultural factors mentioned by Willis (1977), and also to attain whether aspirations are affected by opportunity availability. It is now more acceptable to see women in roles such as plumbing and engineering, but the impact of gender and class is still being argued. Structural factors are very much related to the individual in the sense that certain job roles have historically been filled by certain class origins or by a particular gender- and it has proven difficult to change peoples perceptions of certain careers. New government policies are attempting to eradicate inequalities, although it will be difficult to change individual attitudes and values towards certain jobs- especially in the tough economic climate that is being experienced due to the recession. Overall, it could be said that if an individual is given a fair and varied exposure to all job roles available, then it will be down to their own choice, but in reality this will be very hard to achieve because what may be a good job for one person, may not be perceived as that to another. Word Count: 3260 words (Excluding bibliography) References Abercrombie, N. and Warde, A. (2000) Contemporary British Society. 3rd ed. Cambridge: Polity Press Blackwell, L. (2003) Gender and Ethnicity at Work: Occupational Seggregation and Disadvantage in the 1991 British Census British Journal of Sociology, Vol 37, pp. 713-31 [online] Available at: [Accessed 16/11/2010] Bright, J.E.H. et al. (2005) The Role of Chance Events in Career Decision Making Journal of Vocational Behaviour, Vol 66, Part: 3: pp. 561-576 [online] Available at: [Accessed 19/11/2010] Caldwell, C. (2010) Inequality in a Meritocracy Financial Times, 30th January, p. 7 [online] Available at: [Accessed 20/10/2010] Carol, A, Parry S. (1968) The Economic Rationale of Occupational Choice. Industrial and Labor Relations Review. 1968. pp183-196 [online] Available from Business Source Premier [Accessed 20/10/2010] Chang, T.F.H. (2003) A Social Pyshcological Model of Womens Gender-typed Occupational Mobility Career Development International, Vol 8, Part: 1: pp. 27-39 [online] Available at: [Accessed 15/11/2010] Dryler, H. (1998) Parental Role Models. Gender and Educational Choice The British Journal of Sociology, Vol 49, Part: 3: pp. 375-398 [online] Available at: [Accessed 20/10/2010] EQUALITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE (2010) How Fair is Britain? Executive Summary The First Triennial Review. EHRC [online] Available at [20/10/2010] Furlong, A. et al. (1996) Neigbourhoods, Opportunity Structures and Occupational Aspirations British Journal of Sociology, Vol 30, Part: 3: pp. 551-565 Garner, R. (2008) Social Class Determines Childs Success The Independent, 18/09/2008, [online] Available at: [Accessed 19/10/2010] Goldthorpe, J. (2003) The Myth of Education Based Meritocracy- Why the Theory Isnt Working New Economy, pp. 234-239 [online] Available at: [Accessed 20/10/2010] Goodhart, D. (2009) Oh Do Keep Up: Social Mobility Is Far From Dead Sunday Times, 26/07/2009 Harper, B. Haq, M. (2001) Ambition, Discrimination, and Occupational Attainment: a Study of a British Cohort Oxford Economic Papers, Vol 53, Part: 4: pp. 695-720 [online] Available at: [Accessed 15/11/2010] Hutton, W. (2010) Extract: Them and Us: Politics, Greed and Inequality- Why We Need a Fair Society The Guardian, 26/09/2010, [online] Available at: [Accessed 19/10/2010] Kuh, D. Wadsworth, M. (1991) Childhood Influences on Adult Male Earnings in a Longitudinal Study British Journal of Sociology, Vol 42, Part: 4: pp. 537-555 [online] Available at: [Accessed 16/11/2010] Ministry of Defence (MOD) (no date) Equality and Diversity in the Armed Forces [online] Available at http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/WhatWeDo/Personnel/EqualityAndDiversity/. Accessed 15/11/2010 Reay, D. et al. (2001) Choices of Degree Or Degrees of Choice? Class, Race and the Higher Education Choice Process British Journal of Sociology, Vol 35, Part: 4: p. 855-874 Saunders, P. (1997) Social Mobility in Britain: an Empirical Evaluation of Two Competing Explanations British Journal of Sociology, Vol 31, Part: 2: pp. 261-288 Saunders, P. (2010) Difference, inequality and unfairness: the fallacies, errors and confusions in the Equality and Human Rights Commission report- How Fair is Britain Civitas Online Report, October [online] [Accessed 20/10/2010] Slocum, W.L. (1959) Some Sociological Aspects of Occupational Choice American Journal of Economics and Sociology. January 1959. pp 183-196 [online] Available from Business Source Premier [Accessed 19/10/2010] Stratton, A. (2010) Nick Clegg Outlines Plans For More Social Mobility The Guardian, 18/08/2010, [online] Available at: [Accessed 19/10/2010] Watson, T.J. (2003) Sociology, Work and Industry. 4th ed. London: Routledge Williams, W.M. (1974) Occupational Choice. London: George Allen and Unwin LTD Willis, P.E. (1977) Learning to Labour: How Working Class Kids Get Working Class Jobs. Farnborough: Saxon House Wilson, F.M. (2010) Organisational Behaviour and Work. a Critical Introduction. 3rd ed. Abingdon: Routledge

NASAs Contribution to Technological Advances on Earth Essay -- Exposi

NASA's Contribution to Technological Advances on Earth Abstract   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  NASA is more than just a space administration; it shows itself everyday in the world although at first it might not be apparent. There are not many people that know the variety of what it has brought to everyday life. NASA is not limited to just aerospace technology. The three main fields of development have been medical, environmental and consumer products. Each field is equally important to technological development. NASA’s space exploration is essential for the advancement of technology on Earth. History   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On October 1, 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was created. It was the day of beginning a rich history of unique scientific and technological achievements in human space flight, aeronautics, space science, and space applications. It was formed because of the Sputnik crisis of confidence. NASA inherited the earlier National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), and other government organizations, and immediately began working on options for human space flight (Roland, 1999).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  NASA was first called upon to find out if humans could survive in space in Project Mercury. This was then followed by Project Gemini, which built upon the successes of Project Mercury and used a spacecraft built for two astronauts. NASA then turned their attention to the moon in Project Apollo, which was successful in 1969 when the Apollo 11 mission first put a man on the moon. The Skylab and Apollo-Soyuz Test Projects soon followed in the early and mid-1970s. NASA then resumed their human space flights in 1981, with the Space Shuttle program that is still continued today to help build the International Space Station (Launius &... ...ar System Exploration. Retrieved March 9, 2003, from http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/whatsnew/pr/021113B.html McDonough, B. (2002, March 28). NASA names top inventions. News Factor. Retrieved March 9, 2003, from http://sci.newsfactor.com/perl/story/16989.html NASA selects commercial, government inventions of the year.(2000, April 14). Aerotech News and Review. Retrieved March 5, 2003, from http://www.aerotechnews.com/ starc/2000/041400/NASA_Inventions.html Roland, A. (1999). "National aeronautics and space administration." World Book Encyclopedia (Vol. 14) Chicago: World Book, Inc. Watson, C. (2003, January 17). A JSC engineer turns the sun’s heat into a cool invention. NASA Human Space Flight. Retrieved March 14, 2003, from http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/support/people/mewert.html#xml=http:// da spaceflight.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/webinator/search/xtml.txt

Locke vs. Rousseau Essay

?According to Rousseau, the original condition of mankind was a peaceful and quixotic time in which people lived solitary, uncomplicated lives. This differs from Locke’s concept of the state of nature in that, his natural condition of mankind was a state liberty in which one was able to conduct one’s life as they saw fit. Like Rousseau’s, it was a time of peace between the people, but Locke’s was not necessarily a solitary life. ?The state of nature for Locke was a state wherein there were no civil authorities or governments to punish people for transgressions against laws, but was not a state without morality. It was pre-political, but was not pre-moral. In it, persons were assumed to be equal to one another, and therefore equally capable of realizing and being obliged by the law of nature. (The law of nature being one internal, which commanded that no one should harm another as concerning their â€Å"life, health, liberty, or possessions† [p. 4]). In Locke’s pre-contract condition, one was not at absolute liberty to do whatever one chose to do; they were inherently bound by the law of nature. ?Rousseau’s state of nature had no private property. Private property was something which arose from the stages leading up to the need for authority. Where Locke saw property as something which was naturally protected in the state of nature, Rousseau conceived of property ? the result of greed, competition and vanity- as humanities reason for abandoning such a time and entering into the contract. ?For Rousseau, the few needs of the people in the pre-contract condition were easily satisfied by nature. Because of the abundance of nature and the small size of the population, competition was non-existent, and persons rarely even saw one another, much less had reason for conflict or fear. ?Moreover, for Rousseau, the simple and morally pure persons in the pre-contract condition were naturally endowed with the capacity for pity, and therefore were not inclined to bring harm to one another. There were no inherent ? laws’ forbidding transgressions on another; it was an internal aptitude for pity. It was the division of labor (once families and communities had developed and leisure time had resulted) that led to value and property, whereas Locke saw property as something that was existent in the natural condition.

A Comparative Analysis of Semco Engineering and Grimsville Borough Counsil (GBC) company

The structure, culture, and teamwork of an organisation have significant effects in its performance and operations. The structure and design are chosen depending on a company’s objectives and functions. Culture and teamwork, on the other hand, are achieved based on the organisation’s design and structure.That is, coordination and cooperation among the stakeholders are dependent on the organisation’s structure. Therefore, organisational structure is a very critical issue in every organisation. This paper investigates on organisational structure and its importance by examining and analysing cases studies of two different organisations.Comparison of Organizational Structure and DesignSemco and Grimsville Borough Council (GBC) are very different in terms of their organisational structure and design. Defining organisational structure, â€Å"it involves issues as how the work of the organisation will be divided and assigned among positions, groups, departments or divi sions and how the coordination necessary to accomplish total organisational objectives will be achieved† (Dalton et al, 1970).In other words, an organisation should be designed based on a structure which can help an organisation achieve its objectives. Semco, has a very flat structure with only four organisational level, utilising a decentralised approach. Basically, a company is said to implement a decentralised structure when decision making is disaggregated into a number of divisions, each making its own decision (Siggelkow & Levithal, 2003).Semco has managed to have a democratic and non-bureaucratic type of organisation by reducing the level of management and allowing the employees to participate in decision making.   The primary purpose of flat organisations is to rapidly respond to customers’ needs or changes in the business environment (Allen, 1998). Semco utilised this type of organisational structure because as an engineering company, it is always subject to technological changes and other changes in its environment.Contrary to the flat structure of Semco, bureaucratic organisation like GBC is tall in structure, consisting of hierarchies with many levels of management (Allen, 1998). GBC has many levels of management and supervision; each department’s management reports to the councillors and to the chief executive while they handle member staff and employees which are at the bottom of the hierarchy.The organisational structure of GBC is considered to be centralized and bureaucratic. This type of structure is obviously the opposite of the decentralised; its decision-making is made only at the upper level of management.Additionally, bureaucracy is a form of organisation which is characterised by a rational, goal-oriented hierarchy, impersonal decision making, formal controls, and subdivision into managerial positions and specialisation of labour (Allen, 1998). Bureaucracy is common to government agencies in which there should be sp ecialisation in different types of public services such as education, social services and others, and formal controls must be practiced in order to ensure satisfactory public service.Comparison of Approaches to Teamwork and TeamworkingAccording to Allen (1998), flat organisations have strong emphasis on teams while Cohen & Bailey (1997) added that team-based organisations, with flat structures can respond quickly and effectively in the fast changing environments. Semco possesses such characteristics as it has become a profitable company with enhanced organisational performance.A team-based organisation also enables the organisation to learn more effectively and because of the combination of team members’ diverse perspectives, decision making is comprehensive (Anonymous, 2006). Diversity of ideas in a team leads to high quality decision making and innovation (West, 2002).Because Semco allows work teams to make decisions, employees and team members are empowered. Employees also undergo training programmes that help them develop and learn new skills within the team, making them an effective and productive part of the team. In other words, Semco gives high acknowledgement on teamwork that almost every decision such as pay rates and working times and pattern are decided by teams.On the other hand, teamwork is not highly regarded at GBC. Senior management are aloof and hard to be approached by their subordinates. Decision making are also performed only by council leader and the chief executive, thus processing of plans and completion of projects are slow. Moreover, GBC is departmentalised but each department is not working together but instead they compete among each other and undermine other department’s activities, resulting to diminished level of services and poor overall performance.The problems of GBC mentioned in the case such as unhappy employees, slow decision making and competition instead of coordination exist because GBC has no teamwork. Tea m-based working can lead to improvements in organisational performance in terms of efficiency and quality (Applebaum & Batt, 1994 on Anonymous) while employees working on teams were found out to have higher levels of involvement and commitment to the organisation (Anonymous, 2006).Comparison of CulturesGenerally, Semco is considered to have a better organisational culture compared to GBC as reflected by each organisation’s performance. Defining organisational culture, it is an organisation’s set of shared behaviours, artefacts, values, beliefs and assumptions that it develops as it learns to cope with the external and internal aspects of survival and success (Oden, 1997).Culture was said to be developed as an organisation interact with its environment thus organisational culture is unwritten. Because Semco and GBC has different organisational structure, its culture also differs; Semco’s culture can be classified as task culture or the type of culture in which or ganisations has strong and cleared implemented objectives and mission and in which teamwork is emphasized because it is the basis on which jobs are designed (Anonymous, 2006).On the other hand, GBC’s culture can be classified as role cultures which is highly formalised, bounded with authority and in which hierarchy dominates relations (Anoymous, 2006).Semco believes in employee empowerment and it is one of their motivations to make employees satisfied and happy with the company. Transparency is also part of Semco’s culture since the company practiced profit-sharing scheme. Employees can have access on financial and strategic data to be able for them to participate actively in decision making. Trust and discipline are the core values of the company, ensuring that each employee is well committed to the organisation.On the contrary, GBC’s value is centred on power; that is, the authority has the right to decide and the employee must only follow resulting to unhappy and unmotivated employees. Employee empowerment is not practice and management does not even acknowledge lower level employees’ concern. Corruption is also suspected to be practiced at GBC along with overused of power because transparency is not being practiced by GBC.