The citizens of a small rural community near Canad Essay Example For Students

The citizens of a small rural community near Canad Essay as Wonderland are marching up and down the road with signs and noble voices: Down with Grier!, Say no to Proposition 36!, Childrens Futures!, 36 makes us Sick! What are these people yelling about? Raising taxes? Higher Unemployment? No, these peoples pleas are about a simpler, yet harder to combat problem. Garbage. Ruth Grier wants to put a dump here, and the people wont stand for it. And with good cause! Living near a dump makes thing infinitely more difficult, or at least unpleasant. But what else can the government do? There arent any more acceptable ways to get rid of access garbage. Also, people are creating more garbage than at any point in all of history! This essay will prove that people are creating garbage faster than we can dispose of it. We will write a custom essay on The citizens of a small rural community near Canad specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Years ago garbage wasnt anyones concern. There was plenty of land to ship trash to, and if somehow you ran out of places to put it, you could burn it, or put it in the sewers, or put it in closed mines, or many other ways. No longer. The governments of the world are quickly running out of environmentally sound ways to dispose of trash, and no one is coming up with usable new ideas. In Canada it seems like it would be easy to dump garbage. Canada has low population density and lots of land ripe for dumping. But what town is going to stand for being next to a dump? No one wants to live near one, and with good cause. In a 1988-1992 study of one small town right next to a new dump, one a mile from the same dump, and one far away from any dump, research found a number of things. A)The population, while the same at the beginning of the survey, reduced to almost nothing in town #1, reduced very little in town #2, and increased in town #3. B)The drinking water was very un!healthy in town #1, just as bad in town #2, and normal in town #3. C)There was a huge infestation problem in town #1, but none in any other town. D)The land values in town #1 were so bad many people simply left without selling their homes, turning it into a virtual ghost town. Again there was no problem in the other towns. And finally E)Towns #1 and #2 tended to have more sick people than the control, #3 (Wenton 2-4).As one can see by this survey, living in a town near a dump is a major problem. But the more serious repercussions are part B and E. While people are very careful to try to contain dumps from the bottom so that toxins dont escape, the chemicals were proven to have gotten into the ground water, and then into peoples homes as far as a mile away. The government thought they had found the perfect plan for dumping in Kirkland Lake, but even that idea fell through. People just cant dump garbage anymore it seems. But what else to do with it? The governmen!t cant ship it to other countries, they all have the same problem no matter what the country. They cant burn it, it causes more pollution problems in the air than in dumps! If they put it in the sewage system it will contaminate, and if they put it underground, it has serious geological reverberations. As the famous comedian George Carlin said, You just cant throw way garbage in this town no more. Getting rid of garbage is even more complex and difficult when it is recognized that people are creating more garbage nowadays than ever before. In the past, people threw out very little. People would have a small pile of garbage that would fit in a paper bag for the entire family for a whole month (IWRP 1), unlike our piles of garbage weekly. People arent reusing our garbage enough, even with programs like recycling. Of Canadian garbage, 20.1% is yard wastes, and 8.9% is food wastes, both of which can be composted, reducing our garbage by almost 30%! Then theres the 8.4% of glass, 8.9% of metals and 7.3% of plastic, all of which is recyclable, for another 25%. And finally theres paper or paperboard, which takes up a phenomenal 35.6% of garbage, all recyclable. Thats a total of 90% of our garbage thats reusable, but is thrown out!!! Also, the remaining 10%, aside from the chemicals and the like, consists of wood, leather, rubber and textiles, which is often reus!able by other people (Glad). One mans garbage is another mans gold indeed. The benefits of this recycling would be huge. For each ton of newspaper recycles, 19 whole trees are saved (Robinson 20B)! Recycling an aluminum can will save enough energy to run a television for three hours (Pigg A3)! One ton of waste material recycled saves three cubic yards of landfill space (Pittaway C2). But people continue to throw out this material despite the benefits, and at a sky-high rate! Each person in Canada throws out an average of 1.7 kg of garbage per day. The annual garbage created by two average families, if squeezed into garbage cans, would be almost as high as the CN tower, 554 meters tall (Ministry of the Environment 2). Of course, a large part of the problem is that a lot of the products people bring into their home are, quite simply, garbage. Think about all those little Snickers bars O.D.S.S. sold. There was a large box, inside of which there were twenty medium b!oxes, each of which was filled with about twenty individually wrapped chocolates. Most of what people buy is packaged like this, for one reason, as quoted by the ex-buyer for Boots: Shelf Space. Thats the reason. If our product is bigger from more packaging then we no one else gets the space we take up. Plus theres the bonus that people see the product and assume theyre getting more for their buck by buying this bigger product (Wright). Consumers become so used to seeing items over-wrapped that they start to assume its necessary. Many other products have similar problems. It all boils down to that we are making and tossing far to much garbage. .u8409adb2a4140fff9a9f2967d061b208 , .u8409adb2a4140fff9a9f2967d061b208 .postImageUrl , .u8409adb2a4140fff9a9f2967d061b208 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u8409adb2a4140fff9a9f2967d061b208 , .u8409adb2a4140fff9a9f2967d061b208:hover , .u8409adb2a4140fff9a9f2967d061b208:visited , .u8409adb2a4140fff9a9f2967d061b208:active { border:0!important; } .u8409adb2a4140fff9a9f2967d061b208 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u8409adb2a4140fff9a9f2967d061b208 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u8409adb2a4140fff9a9f2967d061b208:active , .u8409adb2a4140fff9a9f2967d061b208:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u8409adb2a4140fff9a9f2967d061b208 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u8409adb2a4140fff9a9f2967d061b208 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u8409adb2a4140fff9a9f2967d061b208 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u8409adb2a4140fff9a9f2967d061b208 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u8409adb2a4140fff9a9f2967d061b208:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u8409adb2a4140fff9a9f2967d061b208 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u8409adb2a4140fff9a9f2967d061b208 .u8409adb2a4140fff9a9f2967d061b208-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u8409adb2a4140fff9a9f2967d061b208:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Peking Opera EssayGarbage. It seems its hard to get rid of it, and people are throwing it out like theres no tomorrow (which there might not be if we keep throwing this much out). So does this mean garbage is going to be the death of Earth? That its a problem that wont go away? That the next generation will all live in garbage filled towns, that they will have to wear gas masks and use water purifiers? Maybe not. What people need to do is keep coming up with ideas for garbage disposal until they find one that works. People also need to watch our garbage flow, but with some creativity they can reduce our garbage dramatically. But for now, people are creating garbage faster than we can dispose of it.

The Gaia Hypothesis A Living Planetary Organism essays

The Gaia Hypothesis A Living Planetary Organism essays The notion of a living Earth is hardly a "new" perspective; ancient human history and archeological evidence suggests that most primitive incorporated at least some general beliefs in a conscious "Mother Earth". paying homage to or praying to this entity is a theme central to many Both the ancient Greeks and early Christians believed in a conscious St. Thomas Aquinas, to a lesser degree (Sagan). In fact, the etiology of based on the word Ge (or Gaia), the name of the Earth goddess of the (OceansOn-line). Likewise, interpreting weather phenomena as a purported communication between man and his gods and the practice of sacrificial triggered by weather or seasonal changes is evident, in myriad variations, early theistic philosophical perspectives. Even the more modern or scientific notion that the Earth is, in many living organism rather than an inanimate biosphere merely supporting biological life is not entirely new. Renowned eighteenth century geologist considered the Earth to be a super organism of some sort almost two hundred before James Lovejoy and the biologist Lynn Margulis reintroduced the more scientific form in the 1960's and 70's. Writing shortly before James description of a living planet, Lewis Thomas, a physician and contemporary wrote The Lives of a Cell, a series of essays in which he expressed the "Viewed from the distance of the moon, the astonishing thing the earth, catching the breath, is that it is alive. The photographs the dry, pounded surface of the moon in the foreground, dry as an old bone. Aloft, floating free beneath the moist, gleaming, membrane of blue sky, is the rising earth, the only exuberant thing in this part cosmos. If you could look long enough, you would see the swirling of great drifts of white cloud, covering and uncovering the half-hidden masses of land. If you had b...

How the human race has become dependent on technology and how this Research Paper

How the human race has become dependent on technology and how this negatively influences the human race individually and as a w - Research Paper Example The introduction of nuclear weapons, luxury items, television, computer and daily used appliances has become a target of these opponents. These opponents argue that technology is making things difficult for mankind and these problems would be felt in the latter years of life. On the other hand the proponents of technology argue that it is a blessing for the whole mankind as it is making things a lot easier for people. The question then remains â€Å"Is technology really affecting us adversely or not?† This essay would further address this question by revolving around the negative influence of technology on our daily lives. The introduction of internet and computers in our life has turned out to be joyful for many as individuals enjoy surfing and chatting on the internet. Internet not only helps one to surf and chat but also helps to find out useful information about different topics. But the opponents argue that internet has turned out to be a disaster for many. Experts on tec hnology believe that excess usage of computers and internet makes one impulsive and forgetful in his daily life. Excessive usage of internet has been termed to be fall under the category of addiction. Different types of self assessment tests have been designed to check if one falls under the category of internet addiction or not. ... In other words internet is causing people to be distracted from education and family both at the same time. Cell phones also fall in the category of the internet as they seem to be causing dependence amongst the people too (Parker 2010). The introduction of nuclear power and nuclear weapons has also turned different aspects of the world. Nuclear power has helped countries to increase their capacity to generate energy so that the scarce resources can be preserved. However on the other hand the negative aspects of nuclear power are not being considered over its advantages. One of the most potential disadvantages of nuclear power is that it creates waste which can be harmful to the environment. Although the nuclear plants have a refining plant through which they reduce their waste but this refinery is not successfully able to contain the radioactive material inside the waste. The chance of accidents in these nuclear plants is also high and certainly causes high risk to the life of a hum an being. Similarly these nuclear power plants are also capable of producing enough plutonium every year so that nuclear warheads can be built (Swain 2007). Nuclear warheads are of serious concern to the whole society as they may be harming the society as a whole. In the World War II it was seen that the atom bomb was able to destroy a large area of Japan which harmed the integrity of the human race. These nuclear weapons have been a cause of concern for the whole world as they may fall in the hands of the wrong people. Nowadays even some of the third world countries like India and Pakistan possess these nuclear warheads. A study showed that the nuclear warheads in Pakistan are susceptible to being stolen by the terrorists. This clearly shows that the invention of nuclear weapons in

Net-a-Porter Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Net-a-Porter - Case Study Example Since its launch in the year 2000, the company Net-A-Porter have been able to successfully establish itself as a premium luxury brand selling online designer fashion clothing for women. Net-A-Porter with its innovation strategy along with highly developed offering have been able to achieve huge success and had also won award for the best shop at â€Å"British Fashion Week† and the best e-retailer in â€Å"UK Fashion Export Awards.† The online fashion retailer sells more than 150 top luxury fashionable brands and offers express delivery throughout the globe and delivery the items on the same day in Manhattan and London (Net-A-Porter, â€Å"About Us†). The paper aims to discuss the case study on Net-A-Porter and answer to some of its question in relation to the brand and its strategy. Therefore below are the answers to the questions asked for in the case study â€Å"Net-a-Porter.† What are the considerations that need to underpin decisions on the pricing str ategy? Pricing is one of the 4ps that a marketer needs to take into consideration before deciding on the strategy. It is an important aspect of marketing and also for branding strategy as it tends to be one of the first indicators of brand positioning for the consumers and also regarded as the most flexible Ps. It has been seen that prestige and luxury brands adopts the premium pricing strategy in order to emphasise the strength of the brand, high quality associated with luxury goods which also helps them to differentiate from mass fashion brands. The target audience for the luxury brand are comparatively less price sensitive and actually expects that luxury products to be highly priced rather than to be priced economically. Pricing tends to form branding process as the consumer tends to judge the position of the respective brand and its value through the adopted pricing strategy. In addition, luxury brands are those brands whose ratio of functionality towards price is low and the r atio towards situational utility and intangibility with respect to price seems to be high. This indicates that price of premium products is relatively higher as compared to the price of products having similar kind of tangible features but with high intangible quality along with associated benefits of premium products teds to justify the high price (Okonkwo 140). In addition to the above consideration while deciding on the pricing strategy, Net-A-Porter is an online luxury brand and thus online pricing premium strategy is also a consideration for the brand. The premium pricing strategy involves setting a higher price as compared to similar products. The premium pricing strategy also referred to as skimming pricing strategy as it is an attempt to â€Å"skim the cream† from the market. Based on the above definition Net-A-Porter premium pricing strategy will help it to maximise profit in areas where the customers are willing to pay more for the desired product. In the process of adopting the premium pricing strategy, price quality signaling is also an important and essential factor. With the premium pricing strategy Net-A-Porter can use to improve its brand identity in the specific given market. The higher price the brand demands signifies highest quality product and thus it will be convenient for the brand to charge high price. The next consideration is the level of competition among the brands in the same product segment. Premium pricing is a short term strategy; the longer

The Global internet backbone industry analysis paper Essay

The Global internet backbone industry analysis paper - Essay Example This essay will examine the global internet backbone industry and how it is organized. Internet is an open worldwide network that helps to interconnect computer networks using a number of standardized protocols in order to allow the exchange of data among them. Internet backbone is used to designate the core physical infrastructure that carries Internet Protocol traffic. The leading players in global internet industry include some big companies, governments, network center internet exchange points and network access points. Internet is both a point-to-point and point-to- multipoint medium: it connects individuals but also speaks to and interacts with vast numbers of people simultaneously (Dwyer, 2010). Internet is provided at first hand by tier 1 which consists of very large network service providers that own their own fiber optic or satellite links across nations and around the world. Many of these tier one companies operate a number of internet service providers that sell services to final users, others focus mostly on the wholesale market, selling bandwidth to tier 2 and tier 3 providers (Castells, 2011). Tier 1 providers have access to the global Internet routing table but do not purchase transit from anyone. Tier 2 Internet service providers buy capacity from tier 1 providers for resale. Tier 2 have networks with a more limited geographical coverage. Most of Tier 2 have their own PoPs and backbone nodes. The customers of Tier 2 internet service providers tend to be final users and they include businesses and households. On the other hand Tier 3 operators that include small internet service providers provide services exclusively to end users and normally they cover a small geographical area. Tier 3 Internet service providers should connect to either Tier 2 or tier 1 provider in order to access the Internet through the latter’s backbones: they may also have to lease their PoP facilities. The industry

Benefits of Organizational Reflection

Benefits of Organizational Reflection A successful organization can be described as thinking and seeing organization. Such organizations are characterized by high levels of information flow and awareness among all its members. The availability of information improves the awareness and understanding of organizational weaknesses, strengths, threats and opportunities (Reynolds and Vince 2004). The organization members are also able to understand the history and strategic future plans for their organization as well as full awareness of the resources within the organization and the changing competitor environment. On the other hand, a thinking organization is an understanding organization that has a well stipulated vision, mission, objectives and the business environment that are well understood by all the stakeholders. Many organizational businesses collapse because they lack both foresight and hind sight necessary for understanding the current position of the organization. In ensuring an organization adopts the thinking and seeing style, reflection must become a part of the organizational practices and culture. Reflection must be integrated in all the organizational activities because generation of organizational knowledge can be done by any member of the organization irrespective of the level or the location in which s/he operates. Reflection is therefore a process that involves spending critical time away from the normal work routine in which individuals or groups think and interpret both personal or organization issues with the aim of getting previous experiences and lessons that may benefit a present situation (Boud, Cressey and Docherty 2006). At the corporate level, organizations set retreat days for its staff as well as reflection sessions so that staff can reflect on what their have achieved, the way they have performed, their compliance with the organization strategies, the challenges and threats they have faced as well as the experiences weaknesses and registered strengths. Reflection allows organization present ideas and previous experiences into usable knowledge and actions. Reflection can be necessitated by personal experiences as well as organizational performance especially if the organization isnt meeting its set goals and objectives. Reflection process is very dependent on knowledge management because it deals with intangible assets that need to be created and shared both inside and outside the organization to create a database of important information and knowledge that can be utilized later to handle challenges in the organization. Reflection starts with raw experiences which are analyzed to information then associated with relevant skills and values to become knowledge which is main focus of many organizations. Just like knowledge management, reflection involves capture and identification of ideas, information or knowledge then distributing it to appropriate individual within the organization leading to its application in a particular situation in the organization. The sole purpose of reflection is to create important knowledge that any organization will need in its present or future performance. Reflection is also part of organizational learning that is a knowledge management facet intended to equip staff wit h important knowledge and skills that will improve the operations and performance of the organization. Greenwood (2000), notes that the success and growth of organizations is highly depended on learning and knowledge generation (p. 126). Learning in an organizational setting is not only limited to individual knowledge acquisition but also involves the combined learning abilities of all staff in that organization. Notably, individual learning is a subset and component of organization and without it, organizational learning wont exist. Organizational learning is a result of challenges that face employees in their working activities thus initiation of learning and advancement in knowledge to solve such challenges. Though, challenges do not guarantee learning to occur, they combine with experiences to provide data and information which form the basis for learning. Generation of actions and problem solving are the key components of reflection at the workplace. Organizational reflection has presented required environment for self directed learning, action learning, problem and challenge based learning and to a greater extend the organizational learning (Reynolds and Vince 2004). Managers have noticed the necessity of reflection in their organization and they acknowledge that failure to reflect in the organization is equal to inviting the collapse of the operation of the organization. However, organizations have failed in implementing reflection strategies such that execution processes that go beyond individual mandate and involve groups of members or the whole organization are not usually implemented thus compromising the use of organizational experience and limit implementation of expected actions. The application of reflection in organizational operations has received considerable attention in the last few decades. Organizations have created independent departments with adequate resources to enable reflection process to occur and to work on the results of the reflection processes. The increased attention to reflection has been triggered by recognition of learning and generation of knowledge as components of organizational productivity and performance. Though learning and generation of knowledge may not be the only factors that can contribute to organizational change and performance, they play an all-round function in ensuring that all other resources in the organization are well coordinated to realize organizational goals. Reflection is therefore an important human process that involves reviewing and understanding past experiences then drawing lessons from them. Reflection is less known in work places and managers have little knowledge concerning its role and importance in the organization of activities and improving performance (Boud, Cressey and Docherty 2006). There have been fewer opportunities for the practice of reflection at work particularly because many organizations have not yet established the role that can be played by real and guided reflection. However, the 21st century has witnessed increasing concern and appreciation of the role that organizational reflection can play in fostering work results as well as improving employee learning. The recognition of reflection as an integral part of organizational management has triggered different kind of organizational learning and education that are in line with the traditional processes of organizational learning. Boud, Cressey and Docherty (2006) point out that productive organizational reflection is an adoption of the general individual reflection that is focused much on the use of past experience to generate important solution to present and future problems as well as promoting organizational training and learning (p. 12). Productive organizational reflection has several important elements that combine to provide a structured system to guide generation and analysis of actions from experiences. Organizational intent and collective orientation element tries to create a distinction and a point of convergence between individual and organizational reflection. While previous reflections have focused on individual experience and generation of knowledge, productive organizational reflection is focused on collaborative review of experiences that lead to taking appropriate actions with and for other participants with an aim of benefiting the organization as well as the whole group involved in the ref lective activity. Such reflection is done in a situation of the organization and must be incorporated and address the target of the organization. Collective reflection may be done at different levels of the organization depending on the organization management structure. Reflection may take place at the top management, middle management level, and low level or at the small working groups and this may happen internal or external to the organization. However, collective reflection always starts at individual level after which separate reflections are combined and actions drawn from them. This element of organizational reflection ensures the interests of the individual members, the workgroup and the organization are taken into consideration. The other element of organizational reflection is its importance in integrating knowledge, learning and work. Productive organizational reflection can occur in any location, but its always confined to the working activities and any reflections outside it wont be considered a practice of organizational reflection. Reflection is therefore triggered by work activities though there might be selected cases where importance and valuable reflection occur outside the context of working environment. Organizational reflection operates in the space that is created between the connections of work activities, the process of learning and generating knowledge. It therefore provides the link between knowledge acquisition and its production. Therefore, a productive organizational reflection will always seek to strike a balance between learning from past experiences to generate appropriate knowledge that will help in improving the work activities. The relationship between the individual and organizational development is another controversial element of productive organizational reflection. Reflection in organization fosters both organizational and individual development. Organizational reflection has a developmental value to the organization and the staff because it has become part of the main organizational practices that are relied upon in designing solutions to present and future organizational problems while placing the staff at better positions to deal with organizational and individual challenges that may pose a thereat in future. Thus distinguishing individual from organizational reflection may be a challenge in cases where staff does not get special time to reflect on the organizational operations. Furthermore, organizational reflection is open, dynamic but unpredictable process because it can happen at anytime when organizations do not have procedures to guide the process of reflection. Just like other form of reflect ion, results of organizational reflection cannot be wholly predicated. In many instances, it doesnt yield the expected results but unintended consequences which may be used to address another organizational issue. This type of reflection is very dynamic in that a present successful refection may create an organizational barrier in future. Therefore, organizations rely on past experience to modify the future thinking and behavior of the organization through the ability to reflect on its previous operations by identifying past performances and activities (Kazi 2005). Organizational reflection is manifested though inquiry and evaluation that involves establishing problems, determining their meaning and developing appropriate solutions. According to (Kazi 2005) organization reflection is a wide process that involves conversion of explicit knowledge to tacit knowledge that produces interpretive knowledge necessary for enhancement of individual knowledge through revisiting common issues and problems (p. 121). Reflective practice isnt an individual process but an organizational procedure that requires individual members of an organization to learn and modify their actions that are vital for organizational progress and performance. Reflection in organization is very important because of its contribution to individual learning which translates to organizational learning. Combination and sharing of individual learning is crucial to realization of organizational learning because individual learning may not present enough experience needed to tackle identified challenges facing an organization. However, some organization do not have appropriate standards that can facilitate sharing of knowledge and experiences especially when mechanisms for such sharing dont exist or the regulation of the organizations do not allow sharing or possibly if the staff do not know how to share such knowledge and experiences. Organizational management and particularly, the reflective manager must device and develop appropriate methods that can facilitate acquisition and sharing of organizational knowledge and experiences. The reflective manager in an organization is responsible for all processes and procedures involved in integrating and transfer of new knowledge, experiences, behavior and skills within and outside the organization. As such, the manager must prove to the employees that reflection is an important activity that is all round and should involve every member of the organization. The manager must ensure that employees learn from previous mistakes, that they know what they think and feel as well as device procedures that will ensure that the employees understand and manage the barriers and challenges that face the organization and then develop strategies for future use through applying learned knowledge and skills. Reflective manager therefore provides appropriate environment for employees to focus on their past experiences as well as current activities that may help in generating required knowledge for use in the current organizational situation. As such, a reflective manager in an organiza tion plays an important role in ensuring generation of knowledge and ideas from past experiences, repackaging of such experiences and ideas for the future use by the organization. Though many organizations have realized the value of reflection in their operations and the many stimuli that encourage reflection, there are equal detractors that hinder reflective practice. The most common challenge that faces organization in trying to use reflection in the management of their operation is the little time allocated for reflection and analysis. The lack of importance that may accrue from informed reflection is the main reason why many managers dont allocate sufficient time for employees to reflect on their experiences and establishes their failures. Organizations allocate very little or no time for their employees to reflect on their accomplishments and performance through individual thinking or group thinking. Many organizations spend most of the time making decisions, building strategies, training and orientations. Such activities must be accompanied by required information and knowledge so that expected results may be achieved. Reflection will therefore help in p rior understanding of a particular task before such task is accomplished so that preparations can be made for anticipated challenges and problems. Organizational reflection as opposed to individual reflection is a very expensive process not only on time allocation but also physical resources. For reflections to be productive, reflecting members must be in an appropriate environment that is free from the normal activities. Creating such an environment is quite expensive and organizations dont usually agree to organize staff retreats to quiet and conducive places that can ensure good results from reflection process. However, managers who have realized the real importance of reflection in their business operations create time and allocate adequate resources for the process of reflection as well as following out the results of such reflection sessions Another significant challenge that face application of reflection in an organization include poor communication systems that an organization uses especially if an organizations uses top-down communication system. The relationship among the individuals with the organizations, the relationships among different workgroups as well as the relationship between the organization and others hinders the creation of openness that is needed in the reflection process. The power of fear for uncertainty may also derail the process of reflection. Additionally, the style of management that an organization uses may affect reflection especially if the organization uses authoritarian style of management where control, leadership and power is centralized to a single individual or group in the organization. Conclusion Reflection is a complex and new organizational process that involves contemplation of tacit knowledge, explicit knowledge and experiences to create new information, knowledge and ideas that can be used to address a challenge within the organization. Through the reflection of the experiences and knowledge, learning capabilities of the staff are enhanced thus dealing with challenges and threats becomes easy for the organization because it has well informed and knowledgeable staff. Therefore, reflection improves the organizational visualization of unexpected realities and results and how to react to them. Organizational reflection is currently gaining attention in many organizations as opposed to ancient times when it was considered to be of no value to the operations and performance of the organizations. Though there are more challenges facing application and implementation of reflection strategies in organizations, positive progress in available which is indicated by the value that or ganizations attach to information and knowledge in accomplishing business activities and solving organizational challenges and problems.

Utopian Society :: essays research papers

Virtually every culture has strived to achieve a Utopian society. A Utopian society is basically a society, which has surpassed aggression, war, hate, and crime while establishing â€Å"peaceful† and orderly communities. A Utopian society could not exist with the individuality that nature has bestowed on the human race. So long as humans remain unique in their state of mind, utopia is a mere fantasy. To work around this problem a society must adapt itself to achieve a utopian-like state. This can be achieved by one of two ways. One way could be known as a â€Å"hostile transfer.† This way is shown in the novel â€Å"farenheight 451† by ray Bradbury. Bradbury shows how the society creates a career of burning books (specifically historical books). The semi communistic semi utopian government then fills in their own twisted version of the past to maintain a stable state of control by keeping their citizens oblivious to their true rights and privileges. This achieves a semi utopian society in the scene that any resistance, crime, aggression is either insignificant to the â€Å"big picture† or easily overcome. Utopia is dismissed in this case because of the extreme force used to maintain.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The second way to achiever a semi utopia could be called a â€Å"Manipulative utopia†. A strong example would be the utopia created for the novel â€Å"1984† by George Orwell. Within this utopia the society is manipulated by the leading organizations/ government to take pleasure in what would be most profitable to the organizer of the event/product, or be intimidated yet assured with protection by the government. This type of utopia-communistic government dismisses the true utopia factor when the ability to show signs of individuality is disabled through manipulation. The two utopia-like societies have their similarities as well. They both operate independent of other state/country/ or province; both seem to strongly oppose the democratic systems. Both central governments are very cryptic when the issue of past societies is brought up. The commanding organizations also controlled one other aspect of civilization... the media. Newspapers revolving around a â€Å"one sided† political, or military event. The media seems to be very controlled by the governments or leading parties in both cases.