Friday, June 7, 2019

Value Creation and Business Success Essay Example for Free

Value Creation and Business Success EssayCopy sound 1998 Pegasus Communications, Inc. (www. pegasuscom. com). All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced or transmitted in both form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, without written permission from Pegasus Communications, Inc. If you wish to give out copies of this article, please contact our Permissions Department at 781-398-9700 or emailprotected com. The most successful organizations understand that the purpose of any job is to create value for customers, employees, and investors, and that the involvements of these three groups be inextricably linked. Therefore, sustainable value bottomlandnot be created for one group unless it is created for exclusively of them. The first focus should be on creating value for the customer, tho this cannot be achieved unless the right employees argon selected, developed, and rewarded, and unless investors receive cons istently attractive outlets. What do we mean by value creation? For the customer, it entails making products and providing services that customers find consistently useful. In todays economy, such(prenominal) value creation is base typically on product and process innovation and on understanding unique customer needs with ever-increasing speed and precision. further companies can innovate and deliver outstanding service unless if they tap the commitment, energy, and imagination of their employees. Value must therefore be created for those employees in order to cause and enable them. Value for employees includes being treated respectfully and being involved in decision-making. Employees also value meaningful work excellent compensation opportunities and continue training and development. Creating value for investors means delivering consistently high returns on their capital.This generally requires both strong revenue growth and attractive profit margins. These, in turn, can be a chieved only if a companion delivers sustained value for customers. If the purpose of business is value creation, it follows that the mission of any company should be defined in terms of its primary value-adding activities. Simply put, Honda should think of itself primarily as a maker and marketer of quality automobiles. McDonalds should think of itself as providing meals of consistent quality passim the world, in a clean, friendly atmosphere, etc.While this may seem obvious, many managers and strategists be take on as though the day-to-day business of a libertine is irrelevant. Hence, an oil company might buy a hotel chain, while a national chain of automobile service centers is caught systematically charging customers for unnecessary repairs. What conception of business lies behind these actions? Typically it is a very narrow definition of purpose to maximize the wealth of the sh atomic number 18holders, or to achieve a set of short-term pecuniary goals.Managers are expected t o address shareholder wealth, pay growth, and return on assets, just the most successful firms understand that those measures should not be the primary targets of strategical management. Achieving attractive financial performance is the reward for having aimed at (and hit) the real target i. e. , maximizing the value created for the primary constituents of the firm. Paradoxically, it is when an organization thinks of itself as a financial railway locomotive whose purpose is to generate attractive financial returns that the company is least likely to maximize those returns in the great run.Often, finance volume end up shuffling a portfolio of assets in a self-destructive quest for growth businesses or superior returns, with no real understanding of the value-creation dynamics of the businesses they are acquiring and selling. Or, as with the automotive service chain, attempts to profit without delivering superior value end in lost business, long-term customer alienation, and cor porate disgrace. Redefining an Organizations Self-Interest Why do managers so often choose not to focus on value creation and instead ake decisions that systematically decrease the long-term value of their businesses? One reason may be that their training and education lead them to define their organizations interests too narrowly.This narrow observe is powerfully reinforced by financial accounting systems that were well altered to the industrial economy, exclusively are inadequate in the information economy. The accounting and finance conventions of the industrial age are good at valuing tangible assets, but they largely ignore the value of harder-to-quantify assets like employee satisfaction, learning, RD effectiveness, customer loyalty, etc.In the information age, those intangible assets are far more important than the bricks and mortar that tralatitious accounting systems were designed to measure. If management defines the organizations egoism (and consequently its goals) too narrowlyfor example, to maximize this years or this canton reported earningsit will view that interest as being at odds with the interests of customers and employees. Given that perspective, in the short term every dollar spent on employee training is a dollar of lost profit.Every additional dollar squeezed out of a customer, even if it comes at the cost of poor service or price gouging, improves this quarters results. This approach is based on pull round/ drop or zero-sum thinking The underlying assumption is that there is a fixed pie of value to be divided up among customers, employees, and investors, so the interests of the three groups must be traded off against one an another(prenominal) (see Zero-Sum Versus take in/Win Thinking). Companies that act on this myopic conception of self-interest may stumble into a downward spiral of poor decision-making that is difficult to reverse (see When Customers Defect).For example, as rock-bottom employee training and compensation l ead to low employee team spirit and poor performance, and as underfunded RD allows a product line to age, customers can become dissatisfied and begin to defect. In situations where customers are locked-in owing to large investments in branded equipment or some other temporary monopoly effect, they may not defect immediately.Instead, they will become increasingly alienated and defect as soon as a technology shift, regulatory change, or competitive offering allows it. When customers inally do defect, profits shrink, tempting management to cut back even further on training, compensation, and RD, thus accelerating the spiral of customer dissatisfaction and defection. Expanding the Pie Alternatively, if managers define their companys interests broadly enough to include the interests of customers and employees, an equally powerful spiral of value creation can occur. Highly motivated, well-trained, aright rewarded employees deliver outstanding service, while effective RD investments lea d to products that enjoy a significant value-adding advantage and generate higher margins.Satisfied, loyal customers (and new customers responding to word-of-mouth referrals) ingest revenue growth and profitability for investors. Clearly, the undesirable reinforcing processes described in When Customers Defect can work in reverse. This win/win scenario is illustrated in the figure Zero-Sum Versus Win/Win Thinking. An expanding the pie approach to management requires that a company alter its thinking along several dimensions. Time horizons and perceived self-interest.The time horizon within which you adjudicate a business decision dramatically influences your notion of self-interest. Considered at an instantaneous moment in time, virtually any transaction is a win/ misplace or zero-sum game. At the moment you spend a dollar on employee training, that dollar is in fact lost to the shareholder. Conversely, in a well-designed value-creation system, almost any transaction can become a win/win or positive-sum game, if it is managed within the context of an appropriately long time frame.For example, if a companys rate of return on the dollar invested in employee training is 20 percent (in the form of higher productivity, increased sales effectiveness, etc. ), then the shareholder hasnt lost a dollarhe has gained a stream of future cash flows that represents an attractive return on investment. One way to build an understanding of these dynamics is to rank the key capabilities, resources, and relationships that are the basic ingredients of value creation for a particular firm, and to think of those ingredients as assets that either grow or diminish over time, depending upon how they are managed.It is useful to map a companys key assets by grammatical construction four Strategic Balance Sheets focused on customers, employees, processes, and investors (see Balance Sheet Dynamics). In building the balance sheets, managers must first decide which assets are the most important drivers of the companys value-creation system. For example, employee learning and job satisfaction are two assets that could be tracked on the Employee Balance Sheet. As managers identify the strategic assets that belong on the various balance sheets, they also must articulate the relationships among those assets.By tracing the dynamics by which customer, employee, and process assets accumulate, interact, and ultimately drive profitable growth, a company will be well on its way to managing the fundamentals of value creation and avoiding the pitfalls of managing by a set of narrow financial measures. Expanding the pie between a company and its employees. In a true win/win dynamic, two or more parties aim first to create more total value, then concern themselves with distributional issues (who gets what share).When the parties focus first on dividing the pie, they are diverted from the innovative strategies that could have made everyone better off. One way in which companie s and employees can expand the pie is flexible work schedules. If an employee has the freedom to see to personal business (while completing all required work), the employee is better off, and the employer is likely to benefit from higher morale and the ability to attract and hold onto the best people. A key element of win/win scenarios is that they are aimed more at creating opportunity than at minimizing costs.Outback Steakhouse has become a very successful, rapidly growing business by resisting the temptation to view a dollar of additional compensation to employees as a dollar of lost income to the shareholder. Outback has made its restaurant managers partners, attracting the best, most experienced people in the constancy with a compensation system that more traditionally managed chains would view as ludicrously extravagant. Outbacks general managers sign a five-year constrict and invest $25,000 up front.In return, each manager receives 10 percent of her units cash flow (earnin gs before interest, taxes, and depreciation) on top of a base lucre of $45,000. In 1994, total manager compensation averaged $118,600. In addition, managers receive 4,000 shares of shopworn, which vest over the five-year contract period. All hourly employees participate in a stock ownership plan as well. Another Outback innovationnot opening for lunchgenerates benefits for investors, employees, and customers. Because they dont compete for lunch business, restaurants can be located in less costly suburban locations instead of overpriced business centers.The benefit to managers and employees is that they work only one shift per day. Outback also insists that managers work only five days per week to avoid burnout and high turnover. Finally, focusing on dinner allows the restaurants to maintain high levels of food quality. From its 1987 founding, Outback grew to 420 restaurants by the end of 1996 in a very crowded, competitive industry. Over the last five years, revenues have grown at a 55 percent annual rate, while earnings have increased 36. 5 percent per year.For the year ending September 1997, Outbacks 20. percent return on equity placed it in the top 5 percent of restaurants (restaurant industry average ROE was 10. 6 percent). The Outback story illustrates one of the key characteristics of successful win/win thinking The companys strategy is based on a systemic view of the inviolate value-creation process, and it seeks to align the key elements of that process. For example, if the restaurants were in higher rent locations, they might be more tempted to open at lunch to cover that cost. If managers worked lengthy hours, turnover would be higher and the partnership model that motivates those managers would be unworkable.If the quality of the food dropped, the number of meals from repeat customers would decrease, putting haul on margins and tempting the owners to cut compensation to restore profits, etc. Expanding the pie between a company and its custome rs. As markets become increasingly competitive and one industry after another is forced to deliver greater value in the form of lower prices, higher quality, or both, companies in those industries respond to the mounting pressure with one of two broad approaches.Many firms focus narrowly on cost-cutting measures, playing an intensified win/lose game with their suppliers (pressuring them for cost concessions) and their employees (squeezing them to work longer hours for the same compensation or to do their own jobs plus the jobs of their laid-off former colleagues). This approach can slacken off some short-term profit increases, but it is not sustainable. You can only squeeze so hard for so long. A smaller number of forward-thinking firms innovate their way out of this zero-sum dilemma.For example, instead of focusing on individual transactions, such as the cost of a particular product, these firms examine the entire value-creation chain associated with their products (and their cust omers use of those products) and devise ways to make the entire system more effective. This increase in effectiveness often creates enough new value that the buyers total costs can be significantly reduced while the suppliers margins can be maintained or even increased. One example of this kind of value-chain innovation is the Custom Sterile program of Allegiance, Inc. a principal healthcare cost management and product distribution company.Under the Custom Sterile program, all of the supplies needed for a particular surgical procedure are collected, packaged together, and sterilized in advance at an Allegiance facility. This helps hospitals to standardize and optimize their use of surgical supplies, and creates dramatic savings compared to the traditional process, in which expensive nursing labor locates the supplies from storage facilities within the hospital, collects them, and sterilizes them for each operation.The innovation is also good for Allegiance. Instead of having their margins relentlessly squeezed in a series of transaction-focused, commodity sales, the company has created a relationship-focused, high-value-added offering that justifies higher margins. This is the best kind of win/win outcome using innovation to create a value (and margin) umbrella from which all parties can benefit. Competition and Customer ValueAnother fallacy that has cropped up in much of the literature on strategy is that the purpose of business is to thrash the competition. There is no question that competition, like profit, is an important dimension that companies must be aware of and manage to successfully create value in the long run. For example, a company typically creates value for customers and superior returns for investors by producing goods or services that are better than their competitors at meeting a set of distinctly defined needs for a specific set of customers.So competition is a key variable in determining whether a product or service provides a different iated benefit to the customer, and one that she is willing to pay a premium for. However, competition should never divert management from the primary lying-in of creating those benefits by understanding and anticipating target customers needs, excelling in product and process innovation, providing outstanding service, etc. Thus, we need to think of competition not as a goal, but as part of the business environmenta key element of the context in which a firm seeks to create value.What then become faultfinding are the alternative responses to competition undertaken by different firms, some of which are more likely to succeed than others, given the nature of the business environment. In the rising information economy, the most successful responses to competition focus on two areas (1) innovation that drives down the cost of products and services while increasing their quality and variety, and (2) building a deeper understanding of changing customer needs within increasingly specific market segments.Responses that are rooted in a win/lose framework, such as taking share from existing competitors in a zero-sum game, gaining power over customers (for example, by locking them into a proprietary computer direct system), or seeking to become the low-cost producer without simultaneously driving for world-class quality, are extremely dangerous. Many of them pit the interest of the company against the interest of the customera prescription for customer alienation and long-term disaster.The most fundamental weakness of those win/lose responses to competition is that they divert management from the more important engines of value creation in the information economy innovation, imagination, cooperation, and knowledge. Managements time, creativity, energy, and imagination are among the scarcest organizational resources. At the same time, they are by far the resources that yield the highest returns.So it is important to recognize that all of the time, energy, and imaginati on expended on win/lose activities entails a high (sometimes fatal) opportunity cost. Managers are more likely to bond focused on the higher return, win/win levers if they aim not to beat the competition, per se, but to create more value than the competitionin other words, if they seek to achieve a value-adding advantage. And by doing so, they are likely to be more successful than their competitors in the long run.

Thursday, June 6, 2019

Death of a Salesman Essay Example for Free

Death of a Salesman EssayArthur moth miller distinctly adopted the approach of a classical Greek tragedy by asserting that Willy Loman is as appropriate as a subject for tragedy as Kings are. Miller portrays Willy as a hardworking man struggling to reach the intangible American dream by challenging Aristotelian convention and by use prison term as a structural motif to successfully portray the lead up to his demise. This ultimately portrays him as a modern tragic hero. The mobile concurrency repeatedly employ is of a great importance to the play. They serve as a recollection of his past memories, a dream world offering to escape the harsh existence of what he is facing at the current moment in time. Leah Hadomi, in Fantasy and Reality Dramatic Rhythm in Death of a Salesman state When reality becomes too painful, Willy retreats into a dream world, consisting of his recollections of the past and of fantasies in which he ful? lls the aspirations, the attainment of which has el uded him in life.This statement is, to or so extent, true as the dream installment implementms perfect, with a repetition of Well by Willy and Happy, when they discuss carrying bags, an ultimate perception of Willys dream world. However, even within this regularizeed dream world, Bernard pops the bubble in which order was maintained, as he asks Biff to study. The use of the word anaemic is interesting, as it can mean a lack of colour on the skin. Perhaps Miller is saying how Bernard doesnt fit into Willys category of normal, as normal means you have to be well liked, something that Willy maintained which ultimately lead up to his demise.We see in this mobile concurrency how Willy is trying to maintain order by dreaming yet this order subtly becomes disorder as the world doesnt exist as a floating balloon, there needs to be someone to anchor us, and in this case, it is Bernard. Disorder and order are part of Aristotelian convention the fact that in a tragedy, disorder is after th e catastrophe, yet order will try to be maintained (e. g. in Ot the pitso, Lodovico will try to maintain order in society after the death of the moor).The catastrophe here can represent the delusional present state he is living in, and the order can be maintained financially as Linda is now free. So even in his mind, there is disorder which arouses sympathy from the audience as we realise how minds are so complex. The use of place and atmosphere too brings out an Aristotelian convention. There is a cyclic quality in the play the fact that the stage directions at the split up promote an heavenly quality and towards the end there is some spiritual sense. Miller here challenges the classical tragedy approach by using long stage directions, whereas in a play like Othello, there wasnt any.The dream rising out of reality sharply contrasts with were free which Linda repeats. This reflects on the supposition of the mass of the souls of the dead, and the freedom in movement. Miller clear ly uses this cyclical ability as a structural time motif to reinforce the message of faith. The coronach serves to be concentrated, and allows us to make a comparison between faith as a spiritual guidance, and Willys tragedy. In classical Greek tragedy, there was some guidance in one way or the other Othello being a Christian so he would look to god, or others having kings to look up to.However here, there is no religious grounding within the Loman home, so we understand how a lack of religion and grounding can lead to irreversible consequences. The stage directions at the start of the play also show oppressive urbanisation in the sense that the buildings are towering, angular shapes, which represent the limiting forcefulness of individualism. This backdrop against the city shows how the Loman home is insignificant. Andy Warhols paintings express the express the fragility of the American dream through his paintings, yet in this play, we see the disastrous effects of how the capita listic society leads to his demise.The fact that Miller manipulated this to allow these long stage directions be at the start portray how he wanted emphasis the corruption the capitalist society brings onto us, and this is reinforced by Howards inhumane treatment towards him You didnt crack up again, did you? . The actual time period is also an important factor. The play was written at around the time of the 1940s, after the great boom in the 1920s had occurred, so Miller must have used the idea of the boom and how the American dream was an endless promise where one would dream of possibility and a high social status.As the Wall Street crash occurred in 1929, we see that perhaps Miller wrote this play to underline the theme that the American dream was always intangible without religion, or some grounding force, yet the Loman family didnt realise this, and this was their hamartia. integrity may say that because Miller himself was involved in communist activities (Arthur miller a cri tical study), he had a Marxist attraction, and perhaps wants to show how Willy was all in all destroyed by the capitalist society which was grappling with a much superior force (Tragedy and the Common Man).His social gabfest made at the start of the play that Willy was past 60years of age shows how Miller is not economically viable, as in the American post war society, he is redundant. This shows how the society is mainly utilitarian, and how muckle can be disposed when they are out of value. Miller enforces our knowledge on the post war American society and allows us to make our decision, on whether or not his demise was due to the grappling society, or the fact that he had the wrong dreams. Miller carefully took a risk by carefully casting aside dramatic convention by focusing on overlooked people in society.He built salesman around the accumulation of atrophied and discomforting details and discoveries such as the rubber tubing which Biff finds (draws out a length of rubber t ubing). It is only the time of when this is taking place is when these sensitive details discomfort us a lot. For example, Biff finds the rubber tubing at night, before the end of act 1, which traumatises not only the characters, but us too. This breaks the linear narrative convention and allows us to dwell on the concept that Biff exists in the way he is, (e. g. not respecting him by saying what the hell is the matter with him).Biff had no grounding from the start as we can see in the mobile concurrency (Willy leading him along by stealing), so the nigh act serves as false hope to the Loman family, the hope that Biff will understand his father, in which the audience play the supporting role which Linda usually plays. It also helps the audience feel cathartic, a sign of relief, before the major catastrophe of his death occurs. Miller successfully manipulated the time in order to show a recurring death image towards the end, and to show skewed ideas on life The use of time literall y slowing down the text on the rogue is quite significant too in act 2.Willys lines are very much fragmented, and portray the sense of Willy slowing down time. This portrays some sense of hope in the sense that the family will be normal again and the house will be argument free. The pastoral elements such as the time of the day, the cocoa and the saccharine emphasis the outward appearance as some sort of synaesthesia and artifice. Perhaps it portrays how even though Willy wants to slow down time, he is more than ambitious from his rest, and therefore it prepares us for his downfall later on in the play.Willys downfall is also due to the woman and Linda, and in the time the play was written, women were treat as sexual objectification, also known as the Madonna Syndrome. The repetition of the woman laughing throughout the play emphasises the fragmented state of mind Willy has and the wrong he has, associated with the woman. With Linda, we do not see any social life associated wit h her all we see is that she is merely Willys supporter as she always makes excuses up for him, and the treason that she knows his flaws lead to his downfall.The fact that Linda leaves Willy responsible (I cant understand it, Willy) shows incapability to guide her, and we see her character disintegrate. We therefore see, as a modern audience, how women are imprisoned, and clearly we could see that the woman was imprisoned in Willys mind (through mobile concurrency), and Linda being physically imprisoned. Miller again manipulated time to echo a social comment about women being imprisoned, so do we therefore see Linda as a tragic victim, more than Willy in society?To conclude, Miller effectively manipulates time through many ways such as mobile concurrency. Willys demise was merely his obstructions from the past which stopped him from leading on his delusional present. Miller effectively portrayed how he fell from a mediocre man to a state even lower than that on the hierarchy scale . On a private level, the cyclical quality Miller presents in the fact that there was no religious grounding shows how nothing can be possible without faith the cyclical quality reinforced it by using time at the start, and at the end, to see what message Miller was reinforcing.

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Religious and Ethnic Groups Essay Example for Free

Religious and Ethnic Groups EssayThe apparitional collection is chose was churchmans Witnesses. I did close to online research and besides asked my childrens Foster Mother, Regina Metzger the questions. I unavoidablenessed to see what the differences of what I found online and what she said the beliefs were. So this is a mixture of what I got from my online sources and what she said. noblemans Witnesses differ from other religious free radicals because they believe that their entire record book is the inspired word of god, and instead of adhering to a religious doctrine based on human tradition, they hold to their bible as the standard for all their beliefs. Based on their bible, they believe that Jesus Christ is son of god, the first of gods creations, that he had a pre-human earthly concern and that his life was transformed from heaven to the womb of a virgin. They believe that gods kingdom is the only hope for mankind. They argon m any different acresalities. The y contract no prejudices against any race or color. Their worship is through prayer, meetings and telling others or so(predicate) their bible. They believe that their bible is the inspired word of God, and instead of adhering to a creed based on human tradition, they hold their bible as the standard.The experience of the Jehovahs Witnesses that other religious groups do non sh be is that they are viewed with moral standards that coincide with their bible. They are law abiding citizens that respect authority. They show, what they believe is, genuine Christian love to their neighbors. For example, lets say there are two girls. One of which is a Jehovah Witness and peerless that is not. They both were asked to spit on the American Flag. In this situation, the Jehovahs Witness wont and the other would. One might ask Why dont you spit on the flag even though you dont solute it? The answer from the Johanas Witness would be simply, I dont pledge my allegiance to the flag, but I wouldn t disrespect it either. They are neutral. Jehovahs Witnesses contribute to the American Culture because they feel they are the advocates of their Gods kingdom. They are not of the political, economic, or social system of any commonwealth of the old world. They did gather in their modern day start in the United States. They do pay taxes, which means they work regular jobs just ilk any other person. Jehovahs Witnesses do not interfere with what others do about sharing in patriotic ceremonies. standardised, sharing in the armed forces and connection a political party or even voting. They worship their god only. They believe that if Christians under one nation go to state of war against another nation they would be fighting against fellow believers. They believe that fighting against the same people who prayed for help to the same god is wrong. That is why they wont go to war and will serve time in jail or prison to avoid killing their Christian brothers and sisters. However they a re not afraid to come apart for their faith. If they are threatened with death or to renounce their faith, they will die for what they believe in.I know that before my children went into foster care I had check information on what Jehovahs Witnesses were all about. I was under the impression that they only went house to house on Saturdays knocking on doors. I model they were annoying. Feeling like everywhere I went I was approached by one saying that they are the only true word of God, when I thought my god was. I learned quickly that everyone has a different idea of what their God was. Jehovahs witnesses mother been known to not celebrate holidays like birthdays, Christmas, or thanksgiving.I would use their faith as a type of threat toward my children saying If you dont knock it off we will baffle Jehovahs Witness and then you wont lounge around presents during birthdays or holidays. Since, my children are in a home with this as the main godliness and belief system, I feel like I should apologize to them because I must have sounded like a bigot. I think that the inequality and stereotyping that Jehovahs Witnesses experience comes from a lack of understanding by anyone of a different belief.I think that what I have learned about this religious group did help me understand it. It helped me to realize that Jehovahs Witnesses, like any other religion, just sine qua non to show everyone that what they believe is not bad. They want to show what their religion means. They want the same as others do, the belief that you can be saved by a god. The racial/ethnic group that I chose is the peace-loving Islanders. I chose this group because I dont know nothing about it. I think getting information on this group will be extremely interesting. Pacific Islanders are from numerous different places.American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Hawaii, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Norfolk Island, Mariana Islands , Palau, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna, and the Independent State of occidental Samoa. (http//www. pica-org. org/websurf/websurf. html). In 2011 there were approximately 1,371,564 Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders who live within the United States. They significantly reside in California, Washington, Utah, Texas, New York, Texas, and Florida. They make up about .4% of the U. S. Population (http//minorityhealth. hhs. gov/templates/browse. aspx? lvl=2lvlID=71) On May 29, 2013 President Obama spoke about AAPI (Asian-American and Pacific Islander) Heritage Month. (http//www. whitehouse. gov/administration/eop/aapi/blog) I thought that was very interesting. He talked about his Pacific Islander ethnic background. He said We value these voices because from the very beginning, ours has been a nation of immigrants a nation challenged and shaped and push ever forward-moving by diverse perspectives and fresh thinking.And in order to keep our edge and stay ahead i n the global race, we need to figure out a way to fix our broken immigration system-to welcome that infusion of newness, while still maintaining the enduring strength of our laws. And the service and the leadership of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have proved that point in time and again. Listening to him give a speech about the greatness of Pacific Islanders made me appreciate that ethnic group even more.Pacific Islanders speak over 100 different languages and come from more than 56 ethnic groups. (http//www. cdc.gov/features/aapiheritagemonth/). They are parts of many a(prenominal) different religions. Like the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Growing up in my church there were many Pacific Islanders members of our church. I can remember many of them having big families with many children. The Pacific Islanders do many things to contribute to American Culture. They contribute by working jobs. 7. 4 million Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are employed in the United States. They make up 5. 3% of the total workforce in the United States.About 300,000 workers are Pacific Islanders. (http//www. cepr. net/index.php/publications/reports/diversity-and-change July 2011, Hye Jin Rho, illusion Schmitt, Nicole Woo, Lucia Lin and Kent Wong) Like many other cultures, they bring their delicious foods. They have a multitude of food from different countries. They bring that all to the table here in the United States. Although some of them have changed their diets to a more of an American way of eating, some still eat the foods of their lands. Throughout history, there has been many instances of racism and sexism toward Pacific Islanders in the United States Pacific Islanders continue to face oppression, racism, and discrimination in the United States.Since Pacific Islanders have a higher(prenominal) rate of diabetes they were charged higher rates for health insurance. The Affordable Care Act Will be a very good change for Pacific Islanders. They a re known to affirm from higher rates of all types of circular diseases like, stroke, hypertension, and coronary heart disease. They also have the highest rates of obesity. The Affordable Care Act will change it so that it will be easier to get health care for them. Some states have had an English-only type of initiative.They seem to be for people who only speak English. I had no idea they were even allowed by law. It seems as though that people find ways to discriminate even with the laws that have been put in place. Just because some people cannot speak any other language, besides English. For them everything needs to be in English and no other language. About a century before, European-Americans did not allow people who didnt speak English to learn English because they were afraid that they would become a minority. They were afraid of being out-smarted by others.They didnt want to have to compete for fear of losing. I dont believe this is fair. That is why I am glad there are som e many laws coming into effect as well as more to come to make this country an even better place. (http//aspe. hhs. gov/health/reports/2012/ACAAsianAmericansPacificIslanders/rb. shtml) Most European Americans have discriminated against Pacific Islanders because they didnt know English. The European Americans were afraid that if the Pacific Islanders learned English they would exceed them in many ways.They would become the minority. Many of the European Americans were believed to be threatened by this. I think I now have a better understanding of what it is like to be a Pacific Islander. The discrimination they have faced has seemed to make them a stronger people. I am happy to have them as part of my country. In conclusion, both Jehovahs Witnesses and The Pacific Islander, people have experienced a discrimination that seems to have happened because of people who do not understand what they go through daily.They both seem to stick with in their lives because of the discrimination th ey have experienced. The Jehovahs Witnesses hold up to their beliefs like the Pacific Islanders stand strong with their ethnic background. They are different because one is a religion and one is an ethnic group. An ethnic group is a group of people who have the same customs or origin. A religion is a belief in a god or a group of gods. I think that both the Pacific Islanders and the Jehovahs Witnesses get discriminated against because of a lack of understanding.

Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Factors in the Ethical Codes in Research

Factors in the Ethical Codes in ResearchSecond Draft of Training MaterialsTiffany StewartThe Ethical article of beliefs are part of the Ethics Code that psychologists follow when practicing. unmatched area of psychology that will be discussed makeout this paper is counseling. The regardable principles will be defined as well as an example of an ethical dilemma that goes against each principle in counseling.There are five ethical principles that emergency to be followed when practicing professional psychology. These five ethical principles are beneficence and nonmaleficence, faithfulness and responsibility, integrity, justice, and respect for peoples rights and dignity. teaching A Beneficence and NonmaleficenceBeneficence and nonmaleficence can be described as doing good and avoiding harm (Fisher, 2013). Doing good in counseling can be providing services to guests/patients that will hit them. These services can be look atments that will help the undivided with a disorder or deal with problems that occur in their life. Avoiding harm to clients/patients in counseling can be making sure the individuals are being diagnosed accurately, and providing treatment that will benefit them for years to come. dogma A Ethical DilemmasAn ethical dilemma that would go against beneficence and nonmaleficence is a treatment program that will not provide substantiative side effects. The program might help the client/patient in the beginning but end up with negative side effects. An example of this is a client/patient is diagnosed with depression. The psychologist thinks it would be a good idea for the individual to talk to their doctor about getting on an antidepressant. The antidepressant is helping the individual to not be as depressed, but her sex drive drops. Now the client is feeling depressed again because, she does not have that limited truss with her spouse anymore.Another ethical dilemma is a client (Anna) that was seeing a counselor (Dr. Smith) for depression emails her two years later. Anna states that her partner has been going through depression and is having issues with other counselors. Since Anna could trust Dr. Smith, she thinks it would be a good idea for her partner to see this counselor. Dr. Smith is not accredited if she should see her partner since Anna employ to be a client (Fisher, 2013, p.358).Principle B Fidelity and ResponsibilityThe second principle fidelity and responsibility is defined as being sure and making sure psychologists are keeping promises to their clients/patients (Brown Newman, 1992). This means that psychologists need to build a trust with their clients or their coworkers and keep trust by being professional.Principle B Ethical DilemmasAn ethical dilemma that goes against fidelity and responsibility is a psychologist not being confidential with client/patients information. An example of this is recounting coworkers personal information about the client. Unless the client is harming themselves or ano ther, the information being told to the psychologist needs to be confidential in the midst of the two. The trust is also broken between the psychologist and the client when information is told to others that can lead to major consequences like being sued or the psychologist losing their license.A second ethical dilemma that goes against Principle B would be a drug abuse counselor shares information with her colleagues about her sons drinking problem in college. She asks them for advice on occasion on what she should do about the problem (Fisher, 2013, p. 106).Principle C IntegrityThe third ethical principle, integrity, helps psychologist to be honest, accurate and truthful in practicing psychology (Bodner, 2012). This can focus on a psychologists work in not cheating or stealing other peoples work and making it theirs. Psychologists also need to be aware of deception can be used in experiments. When deception is included in experiments, the researchers need to make sure that harm i s avoided.Principle C Ethical DilemmasAn ethical dilemma that goes against integrity in counseling is a psychologist gives out information that is not accurate. This could be changing the title of their line of business on their business card or on their website even though that is not what they got their degree in. This gives false information to individuals that are looking for a particular counselor.In addition to the set-back ethical dilemma under this principle is a psychologist finds out his patient does not have insurance but her missy does. He decides to help her out and bill the insurance company under the daughters policy (Fisher, 2013, p. 193).Principle D JusticeThe fourth principle, justice, is to treat people fair and equal. This chooses using the appropriate treatments that fit the needs of clients/patients (Fisher, 2013). Psychologists also need to remember that they cannot be biased when it comes to treating patients.Principle D Ethical DilemmasAn ethical dilemma that goes against justice could be that psychologist decides to provide a shorter treatment for a single mother that does not make a lot of money. The psychologist has never done this before but knows the mother cannot afford the cost of the normal treatment time.The second ethical dilemma that goes against Principle D is a school psychologist considered certain factors, including age and language to help determine where to place children in educational recommendations (Fisher, 2013, p. 92).Principle E Respect for Peoples Rights and DignityThe fifth principle, respect for peoples rights and dignity, remind psychologists to give respect to the people that they work with as well as knowing that the people that they work with have rights (Lowman, 2005). These rights involve knowing their personal information is confidential and being informed of information to help them understand what is going on in the experiments they are involved in.Principle E Ethical DilemmasAn ethical dilemma t hat can bring problems with the fifth principle is if a psychologist has problems with a homosexual client/patient. The psychologist decides to work with a client that is homosexual. After a few sessions, the client states that he is starting to have feelings for the psychologists. The clinical psychologist no longer felt he could help the client and decides to come out him to another psychologist without explanation (Lowman, 2005).Another ethical dilemma would be a counselor informing the parents that their child has attention deficient disorder on the first session. The psychologist would base this information by just observing the child instead of appropriately diagnosing the child (Fisher, 2013, p.268).These five ethical principles are defined to apologize why counselors should follow them when practicing psychology. Two ethical dilemmas were provided for each principle to show what can happen when they are not being followed. It is important that counselors become well-known (prenominal) with the terms to avoid any possible consequences that can occur.ReferencesBodner, K. E. (2012). Ethical Principles and Standards That Inform Educational Gatekeeping Practices in Psychology. Ethics Behavior, 22(1), 60-74. doi10.1080/10508422.2012.638827Brown, R. D., Newman, D. L. (1992). Ethical Principles and Evaluations Standards Do They Match? development Review, Vol. 16, No. 6, 650-663Fisher, C. B. (2013). Decoding the ethics code A practical guide for psychologists. Thousand Oaks, CA Sage Publications.Lowman, R. L. (2005). Respect for Peoples Rights and Dignity. Journal Of Aggression, Maltreatment Trauma, 11(1/2), 71-77. doi10.1300/J146v11n0106

Monday, June 3, 2019

Should Parents Be Allowed To Choose Sex?

Should P arents Be e rattlingowed To Choose Sex?Sex- survival of the fittest is the attempt to master a desired sex by controlling the sexuality of the offspring. The infusion can be accomplished through pre- and post-implantation of an embryo, as nearly as at birth. Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) and Microsort proficiency are two new technological methods used to achieve the embryonic sex selection. Prenatal sex discernment, a blood test to test the fetal DNA after(prenominal) the s make upingth week of pregnancy, is performed after implantation. Microsoft technique is the process where the sperm is sorted to increase the chance the lump is fertilized by a sperm which carrying the desired chromosome. A much than precise and accurate, but in any case more expensive and invasive technique is PGD, a method where the embryos are created and analysed impertinent the distaff body or in test tubes onwards embed into the females womb. The genetic disorders at the em bryonic stage are screened exploitation PGD. Unfortunately, more American clinics offer PGD as a way to fill their babys sexuality by implanting only the fertilized eggs of desired gender into the m separates uterus. Unfortunately, sex selection is illegal in or so parts of the world. Several countries analogous Canada, Australia and as well as the United ground all arrive banned the use of PGD for sex selection for nonmedical purposes. In other words, PGD is only justified if a couple has the family history including any sex-linked genetic disorder.Sex selection has raised a lot of arguments whether parents should allow to choose the gender of their future sister or non. Before that, what is the factors causing gender selection? roughly of the parents are hoping and praying for a baby of a particular gender. First, Male offspring is desired due to the ethnic factors. in that respect are a variety of factors causing males more economically and accessiblely valuable th an females. For example the property inheritance and the family name of the male heirs, and the workforce can contribute more to the income of once family.1 Women, on the other hand, require the expensive dowries and leave the family upon marriage which are unproductive investment. Since on that point are some(prenominal) arguments in gender selection, there besides rise up the controversy regarding to the spontaneous miscarriage or the female infanticide. Although sex-selective infanticide and sex-selective child abandonment is illegal in approximately parts of the world, they still live on in some countries. The development of ultrasound scanners which can use to determine the sex of un born(p) children in womb led to the sex-selective abortion, especially in china and India.2 Due to the cultural factors and also the exclusive-child policy in the 1980s and 1990s, male is the only child that ensured or determined by most of the families. In 2000, cxx boys were born in eve ry 100 Chinese young ladys. 3 Similarly in India, the illegal ultrasound scanning and also the sex selective abortion of female fetus are widespread.4 The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) study indicated that there are 112 boys for every 100 girls born in Albania, while the figures contain at 110 and 109 boys per 100 girls in Kosovo and Montenegro, respectively.5 Besides, the president of1 Miller, B.D. (1997). The Endangered se Neglect of female children in rural North India. Oxford Oxford University Press.2 Greenhalgh, S. (2008). sound sensation child Science and policy in Dengs China. University of California Press.3 The Economist (2011, April 7). Add sugar and spice.4 Lakshimi, R. (2013). Study Sex-selective Practises May Be super acid in Families of Indian Doctors. The working capital Post.5 United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)the population Research Institute, Steve Mosher also provided some alpha information on sex-selection abortions in the United States throu gh an article at National Review.6 Dr. Sunita Puri who wanted to find the reason on why many immigrant Indian women in the United States were so eager to know the gender of unborn children and went through abortion if they found out it was not the gender they wanted. Surprisingly, 89% of the women conceiving girls wanted for abortion and nformer(a) fractional had aborted girls before.7 Sex selection has raised a lot of arguments whether parents should allow to choose the gender of their future child. Another root problem led to the famous gender selection is from the couples with one or more particular gender of children, in which they has an intensified to realise another gender of the child. There was a case of a Scottish couple, Mr and Mrs Masterton who had four sons and lost their only daughter in an accident. They were preparing to challenge the HFE Authority in judicial review due to its refusal in granting the fertility clinic the permit to select the right gender on their embryo to throw off a girl.8There are some points and its corresponding argument in whether the parents should allow to choose their future childs gender. First, the incidence of infanticide can be rule out through gender selection. Some of the cultural places still have high incidence although that it is important of having at least one of the particular gender of the child. So, we can prevent the trauma and stress of not having a desired gender of the child which might have negative cultural connotations. The advance of engineering doesnt enable us to find which gender the child is. Thus, some couples forget be disappointed, then, they abort it and try to call back again. So, wouldnt it be perfect for the person to choose instead of aborting it until they get the right one? Furthermore, the abandon of children is the most common consequence of the gender selection.9 Some of the parents are willing to throw away their children or hating them because of the undesirable gender. In the past, infanticide was seen the only solution if the infants did not have the desired gender that the parents want. But, now, with the advanced medical technology, many parents are going to have an ultrasound scan to determine the sex of the baby. As the ultrasound test and abortion became more available, the trend toward more boys than girls speed steadily after 1986.10 A former medical director from the pastorals largest abortion provider had mentioned that it was common for the women to go under to terminate their pregnancies because of the gender of the baby.11 Besides, the Dr Vincent Argent had a equal opinion and he believed that some of the doctor felt it is reasonable and had arranged the resultant roles relating to the gender of the foetus.12 The performance of the abortions for the purpose of sex selection is widespread, especially those in southwestern and East Asia like China and India. In India, parents are often willing to pay for an abortion if6 Mosher, S. W. (2011). Sex-selective Abortions Come Home. National Review Online.7 Puri, S., Adams, V., Ivey, S., and Nachtigall, R.D. (2011). There is such a thing as too many daughters. But not too many sons A qualitative study of son mouthful and fetal sex selection among Indian immigrants in the United States. Social Science Medicine,72(7) 1169-1176.8 London HFEA, 2003 www.hfea.gov.uk/docs/final_sex_selection_main_report.pdf9 Jha et al. (2006). Low femalecorrected-to-male corrected sex proportion of children born in India national survey of 1.1 million households. Lancet, 367 211-218.10 Lafraniere, S. (2009). Chinese bias for baby boys creates a gap of 32 million. The New York Times.11 Newell, C. and Watt, H. (2012). Sex-selection abortions are widespread. Telegraph.12 Newell, C and Watt, H. (2012). Paragraph 2.it is a girl. Although sex selection test and abortion have been banned for 15 classs in India, the figures still state that there are 750,000 girls are aborted each year.13 From an article, tart reality of Indias unwanted girls, some Indians believe it is much better that a girl is murdered before born sort of after.14 Although they know it is a sin to abort, they still turn themselves as a blind eye to let the experienceing incidence of gender selection. Well, the counterpoint of this is the population of course might become asymmetryd if most people just choose a particular gender. These imbalances are detrimental because it will interrupt or damage the gene population. The imbalance is expected to steadily worsen among people of childbearing age over the next two decades and could trigger a shorten of social problems. If youve got highly sexed teenaged men, there is a concern that they will all get together and, with high levels of testosterone, there whitethorn be a real risk, that they will go out and commit crimes says coauthor Therese Hesketh.15 An investigative research published in the British Medical journal, attributed the imbalance jus t about completely due to the decision of couples to terminate female fetuses. About a million female fetuses are terminated and 10 in thousands of girls are missing.16 Most of the Chinese families in China preferred sons which directly change magnitude the rate of female fetus abortion due to the one-child policy. This policy not only increased the abortion rate, but it also led to a gender imbalance. A study has found that there are currently 32 million more boys than girls under the age 20.17 A similar situation is adventure in India too.The data sh make that 914 girls are aborted in every 1000 boys in India.18 The termination of female fetuses is not occurred because the parents do not want and love their daughters, but due to the social reasons making them prefer sons.19Second, the parents should have their own immunity of choice. why shouldnt the parents to decide their own childs gender, given that no harm is done to others in their decision? The article of the usual Decl aration of forgiving Rights states that Men and Women of full age have the right to marry and to found a family. 20 With this right, it should understand and cover the right in making decision on how one family should be construct up. Besides, why should a family having a large issuance of one gender be expropriated of the chance to have a different gender of a child if the technology exists? As the director of the Fertility Institute states these are grown-up people expressing their reproductive choices are really happy when they get what they want. 2113 Prasad, A. (2007). Harsh Reality of Indias unwanted girls. BBC News.14 Prasad, A (2007). Part 2 Dowry burden.15 Strickland, E. (2009). Sex-selective Abortions in China have produced 32 Million extra boys. The Discover.16 Leung, M. (2011). A structural model of sex selective abortion the effect of one-child policy on sex ratio imbalance in china. University of Minnesota and Washington University in St Louis, p.1-49.17 Zhu, P.W .X., Lu, P.L., and Hesketh, T. (2009). Chinas excess males, sex selective abortion, and one child policy from 2005 national intercensus survey. BMJ, 338.18 Lakshimi, R. (2013)19 The Economist. (2011)20 U.N General Assembly. (1948, December 10). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Retrieves from United Nations.21 Stein, R. (2004). A Boy for You, a Girl for Me Technology Allows Choice. The Washington Post.Well, there is the argument where the freedom of choice is important but it should not be conferred at the unconditional love for ones children. According to the Georgetown professor, the sex selection is a threat to the main value of parenthood that commonly expressed by the commitment to unconditional love.22 As Harvard professor Michael Sandel notes, consider the father who wants a boy in hopes of having as a son the athletic supporter he had never been. Suppose the son isnt interested in sports what sorts of expectations will burden a child who has intentional with cer tain purposes in mind? 23 So, the children should be loved whoever they are, not because they are who we wanted. For that reason, parents should be encouraged to love their children equally regardless of gender, and the freedom of choice should not be allowed in this regard.Third, the other argument point regarding to the sex selection should be allowed is with sex-specific, the genetic diseases can be prevented. Some family are carriers of the known sex-specific diseases, it is obviously by gender inclination can ensure that the disease will avoid from passing to the next generation or their child. Nearly most of the sex-linked diseases are either more serious among one gender or more common in one gender. For example, haemophilia, HIV, colour blindness, and muscular dystrophy are more common to a male suffering from one X chromosome.24 While, the disease of the immune system is most commonly affected by women.25 Therefore, the Microsoft technique used in screen the sperm carryin g the Y and double X chromosome to determine the gender as well as determining the genetic disorder is carried out. This technique is not harmful to the human genes. Statistical data has shown that over 1200 babies have been born using this advance technology.26 On the other hand, 100% accuracy is not happened for all technology in determining the genetic disease that carries on. Therefore, the medical costs should be considered together with medical benefits. Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis involved the embryo development outside the womb and then tested for gender. Only the desired gender is implanted in the womb and how about those are not of the desired gender? All the undesired embryo is destroyed. Over a dozen of embryos or human life has been created with the purpose of destroyed, its also a kind of abortion. The data shown that by using the gender selection technologies, the accuracy rate for choosing a girl is 93% and 82% go to the boys which inevitably most of the selec tions go for males.27 Thus, most of the couples are so keen to have a child with particular gender and unwilling to take the risk of having one of other gender. Although the Microsort technique is harmless to the parents, some scientists like Lord Winston expressed the fear that the technique will damage the sperm and genetic mutation might be more seeming to occur.22 Stein, R (2004). Page 4.23 Stein, R (2004). Page 4.24 Macnair, D.T. (2010). Fragile X syndrome. BBC Health.25 Doe, J. (2000). Immune System Disorders. Time.26 genetics and IVF Institute. (2008). Microsort. Genetics and IVF Institute.27 Genetics and IVF Institute. (2008).However, one of the points against in sex selection is the pre-selection of sex uses costly medical care for frivolous purposes. The treatment required for gender pre-selection was initially designed to prevent the disease. But many of the patients using the treatment which is capable of conceiving healthy children. A director from the Genesis Genetic s Institute said that 70% of patients would not have needed IVF, in other words healthy and fertile couples are choosing this higher risk, some clock times painful and also expensive treatment when they could suppose a baby naturally.28 But, it still depends on the individuals to make decisions whether this treatment is worth or not. There is an raise from parents who has gone through the treatment. They said that the sex selection of their children was not a frivolous or ridiculous purpose. Sharla Allen replied They are. Theyre totally everything I could ever want but why arent having two daughters that will be just as wonderful as they are? when she was asked whether her three boys had still not been enough for her.29 So, no-one is harmed in this treatment thus, it should be the parents choice to have the treatment since they know the risks beforehand. On the other hand, the abortion rate can be reduced with this expensive medical technology. The abortion, especially sex select ion, is illegal in most of the country. Its same to India where most of the clinics doing illegal abortion were shut down. However, the reality is that sex-selective abortion is still happening behind the door. Thus, it is difficult to control and its not only restricted to the poor.30 There is an prove that happened to Pooja who married to a multi-millionaire industrialist and had 10 years old twin girls. When she pregnanted another girl, his husband forced her to abort it even he was rich and afford to grow another daughter. She claimed that a girl would only take money with her to her-in-laws without bringing any wealth in.31 Due to the this negative mindset, sex-selective abortion becomes even worse from year to year.Another debate points against the gender selection is the children should not be designed or created to specifications. Children are not pets or toys. So, they are no meant to be designed to let their owner more convenient. Harvard philosopher Michael Sandel argued that it runs the risk of turning procreation and parenting into an extension of the consumer society and it is also one step forward in designing baby.32 The selection of eye colour, hairy ears or hair colour soon will be requested by the parents if the gender selection is allowed. That is only the beginning. This is because we are encourage the false ideas of perfection if we allowing sex selection. Moreover, there has been no justification for supporting such indulgence at public expense. The gap will grow even bigger between poor and rich people, as the rich designer will want both their design and the appearance of their children to reflect their property or wealth. Let say, if a gay gene is discovered, would parents be allowed to eliminate embryos containing it? We should follow the idea that we appreciate on everything what we are given. Otherwise, the people will reject their own child more likely when they did not get whatever they want.28 Gajilan, C. (2005). Gender selec tion a reality, but is it ethical? CNN Health.29 Gajilan, C. (2005).30 Lakshimi, R. (2013)31 Prasad, A. (2007), Part 3 Tolerated Abortion.32 Stein,R (2004). Page 1.In contrast, parents have their own right to choose the gender to build up of their family if the technology is available. This can improve the chances of the child to fit into the dream of their family and they are more likely to get loved. Every individual can choose their own partners, and also have their freedom to choose the time of getting pregnant harmonize to their age, wealth or prosperity.33 Parents sacrifice so much for their children. They invest a huge mount of their wealth and years of their lives in growing up their children. So, Isnt fair that in return, they get to choose their child with the gender that they want? This is also an extension of the rights of reproductive field. But, according to the report of Nuffield Council on Bioethnics, an attitude of natural humility, where the parents accept their c hildren is an important feature of parental love. The love the parents owe their children and not dependent on the characteristics of a child.34Besides, it is a wonder or surprise process in having a child. So, the childbirth should not interfere with human motives. Some people have an opinion that the time of conception is decided by God and do not attempt to play with God. Dr. Mark Hughes, who helped in pioneering the procedure, intended it in preventing the disease of the gender, unfortunately, is not a kind of disease which has no illness and no suffering.35 Furthermore, many people view that there is no morally difference between the new technologies and the abortion where a potential life is taken away. In 2011, there are 196,082 abortions in England and wales.36 How many cases is the consequence of gender selection? The recent news or articles published that the illegal abortion on the grounds of gender might take place in Britain within immigrant communities by analysing the birth statistics.37 As we know, the termination of pregnancy based on the gender is illegal in the UK. But, the abortions of fetuses up to 24 weeks are allowed if the pregnancy was on ground of physical and caused psychological risk to the mother, or in cases the child was severely physically or mentally abnormal.38 According to the recent article by Elena Ralli, there are also evidence shown that the sex-selective abortion is spreading in Europe and the U.S. too.39 If the sex selection is legalized, it will cause the selective abortion became more common and parents will simply kill a human life legally because they want to choose the desired gender of their child. While, there are some arguments stating that the mystery of childbirth is not well-heeled to shatter. Sharla Miller, who go for gender selection, denies the suggestion that it is like playing God. She believed that it is just like every procedure that medical can do for us.40 For example, when the elder child suffers f rom spina bifida, they stock-still it out. Were they playing with God? Moreover, the gender selection is important and helpful for parents to plan their childs future like choosing the clothes, naming etc. The sex selection happened in many countries and cultured by abandonment of unwanted babies or selection abortion. Everyone felt that this is a cruel and terrible waste of human life and also very dangerous for the mother. Obviously, many people strongly object the abortion on moral grounds. The development of new technologies in determining the gender in the early stage of pregnancy will definitely reduce and eventually stop the use of selective abortion.33 Meek, J. (2001). Baby Blues. The Guardian.34 Nuffield Council on Bioethics, Genetics and Human Behaviour (2002). The ethical context, Para13.7835 Leung, R. (2004). Choose the sex of Your Baby. CBS News.36 Harker, R. (2012) Statistics on Abortions. Page 2.37 Mason, R. (2013). The abortion of unwanted girls taking place in the UK. Telegraph.38 HFE Act 1990, Schedule 2, para 1ZB.39 Ralli, E. (2013). Alarming rise in abortion of female fetuses in Europe. New Europe Online.40 Leung, R. (2004).After stating the arguments arising in whether the sex selection should be permitted and the most serious effect- abortion because of gender selection. So, what is your opinion on sex-selection? Should the parents be permitted to pre-determine their future childs gender? In my opinion, sex selection should not be permitted to the parents to choose the gender of their future child. From my perspectives, gender selection is extremely bad for women. In other words, girls are discriminated by the social. As mentioned above, the cultural preferences for boys led to the male children are more likely to be educated and employed in good jobs which can earn enough income to support a family. Besides, boys are also expected by the families to contribute to the familys well-being and take care of aging parents. Unfortunately, the girls were not only treated as liabilities rather than assets, they also did not have the same treatment in education and employment.41 But, these ideas were no longer establish in 21st century global culture. We know, of course, that women can also success in education and workplace if there is no sex discrimination and they are given the same opportunities as men. Furthermore, women can be the one to help in raising their families and communities out of poverty. Therefore, we should not offer the sex-selection services that support false and outdated aristocracy system.Next, again sex-selection is not fair to women and even to the baby girl. We know, of course, conceiving a baby need man and woman to work together. It is actually known that the male plays an important role to determine whether the baby conceive is boy or girl. In other words, man is the one who produces heterogametic sperm which containing either X chromosome or a Y chromosome to decide the gender of their child. Why I argued that it is not fair to women? This is because a huge number of husbands keep blaming his wife for not conceiving a boy. Whats wrong with the women? Women only provide an immotile egg to let sperms (which decide the sex) to fertilise. Unfortunately, many husbands still push this responsibility to women and give pressure to their wife. The reason why the women felt that they were unable to save their daughter because many women became the victims of family violence when they were carrying girls. Some had been slapped, bumped and shoved around by aggressive husbands and in-laws, or even kicked in the stomach in an effort to let them miscarry.42 While, some denied food and pissing in order to coerce them to abort their unwanted girl babies.43 Most women, who come to the fertility clinic to ask for help in conceiving a boy, are likely under pressure from her husband or her husbands families to avoid from any mishap happened to them. It is not fair to let a woman to undertak e this heavy responsibility. Although the reproductive technology today is able to help women free from coercion or pressure, it is actually bringing to the severe problem later on. It will turn to the unvarying controversial if gender selection services are allowed. After helping in relieving the pressure of women from their husband, it comes to other problems where the imbalance sex population occurs. Due to this imbalance population, again more and more problems happened.41 Pande, R., and Malbotra, A. (2006). Son preference and daughter neglect in India What happened to living girls? Washington, D.C. International Center for Research on Women.42 Raj et al. (2011). Abuse from in-laws during pregnancy and post-patrum qualitative and quantitative findings from low=icome mothers of Infants in Mumbai, India. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 15(6)700-712.43 Puri et al. (2011). Pg. 1174If gender selection is permitted, it will bring to the social and economic consequences. Although not every family prefers son over daughter, but it sure will lead to the imbalance of population. For example, the one-child policy which has a limitation on the number of children in each couple, causing the couples with strong son preference.44 Consequently, the shortage of women in China has disastrous and serious social effect. . For example, in China and India, many young men are unable to find a partner, resulting in the rising of sexual violence, prostitution, kidnapping and forced marriage.45, 46 In addition, due to the selfishness of the parents to have a male heir and abort the girl fetuses, it may increase the mental health problems and severely abnormal social behaviour among men as well as leaving some men unable to get married and having their own family.47 The sex-selection problem might lead to the marriage squeeze problem which is happening now in China. This problem has commonly happened between the uneducated male in rural area. A study indicated that 15% of unedu cated men at age 40 were still single, whereas there are only 0.5% among those were university-educated men in the early 1980s.48 The percentage keeps increasing from year to year. The Chinese officials predict that after 2030 some 30 million young men will be unable to find a marriage age.49 Besides, the sex-ratio imbalance in one country not only increases the crime, but also the number of sex workers with HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases. There is evidence that young single men with HIV positive are more likely to pay for sex.50 There are many negative consequences of sex selection which we can all the way know from some of the country like China and India. So, should the gender selection permitted because of ones individuality?Moreover, gender selection reinforces in oppressing and false gender roles. This problem is most probably happened to the population which utilizes gender selection technology after having one or more same gender of children. An evid ence from the Slate article How to deprave a Daughter, profiled a woman named Megan Simpson who was grown up in a family of four sisters and like to sew, bake, make up and so on and she give careed to share these interests with her girl who can dress in pink. 51 The problem, of course not every little girl like sewing, baking or even dressing up in pink. Thats same go to the boys, not every little boy like sports, blue colour shirt. So, the relationship between the gender of children and their preferences is unpredictable, changeable and not exactly like what we think. Why we need to have a thought that which things are suitable for girls and which one is for boys? Is that good to allow parents to engineer their children based on their interests or the purpose of achieving the cultural norms? The sex-selection should not be allowed due to this reason. The child will be the one to suffer if their interests are entirely opposite with their parents wish or cultural norms. In this si tuation, obviously either the child or the parents will disappoint with each other.44 Leung, M. (2011). Pg 12.45 Christakis, E. (2013). Rape in India A Result of Sec Selection? Time.46 Dagar, R. (2001). Life enhancing mechanisms, life depriving outcomes case of female foeticide. Chandigard Institute for Development and Communication.47 Leung, M. (2011). Pg 12.48 Wang, F. (2005). Asia Pacific Issues. East wolfram Centre.49 Vermeer, E.B. (2006). Demographic Dimensions of Chinas Development, Population and Development Review, 32 115-144.50 South, S.J., and Trent, K. (2010). Imbalanced Sex Ratios, Mens Sexual Behaviour, and Risk of Sexually Transmitted Infection in China. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 51 (4) 376-390.51 Sidhu, J. (2012). How to Buy a Daughter. Slate.In conclusion, so far we have discussed the use of sex selection in a reproductive field, where it is practiced for the purpose of preventing hereditary sex-linked disorders. We see no reason why, if a method to de termine the sex of a child before fertilization is developed, this technology should not offer to a couple who have good medical reasons and purposely want to choose the gender of their child. But, if an easy and in effect(p) technique of ensuring the conception of the particular sex of the child became available, some couples would obviously hope to make use of it for the purpose of social reasons.51 Such decision will affect the family and the children involved and somehow would bring the implications to society. It is actually hard to predict, either in the short or long term, this practice effect on the ratio of the males to females within society. Studies have shown that the majority of couples would choose the boy as their first child. If this happened, it again raises the controversy where there is considerable evidence that the first child may enjoy more advantages over the younger siblings. Since there are difficult to predict the outcome of any such practice, we have not found it attainable to amend the laws and regulation in the sex selection.52 Cmnd 9314, London HMSO, 1984.

Sunday, June 2, 2019

Green Concept In Local Commercial Complex Environmental Sciences Essay

Green Concept In Local Commercial Complex Environmental Sciences EssayConstruction industry is one of the al al more or less(prenominal) great industries in Malaysia. This is beca subprogram spin industry has direct or indirect influence with another(prenominal) 142 industries much(prenominal) as substantial processing, mining, quarrying, machinery, manpower etc. It plays an important role in national economy as government always manipulate the construction industry to govern the local economy. As proven re cently, the 10th Malaysia Plans with planned duration of 5 years (2010-2015) argon with few infrastructural facilities earmarked for development to facilitate the nations growth. One of the mega projects which the government had launched recently is the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) projects which charge a total around RM36.6 billion covering a 20 kilometers radius around the Kuala Lumpurs city center leave alone carry two one million million passenger-trips per day when co mpleted. Unfortunately, all the developments and constructions be the burden to the indwelling eco outline.Sadly, construction industry is well known for its 3Ds which is dirty, dangerous and questing. In the precondition of dirty, large amount of wastes both chemical and non-chemical or solid wastes are produced during the production of mental synthesiss. Undeniably, landfill is limited and improper waste commission testament cause serious pollutions to the environment affecting the wellness of the locals. Further much, enormous sinew is supernumerary or impairment by the envelope of the structures. This ontogenesiss the workload of the HVAC arrangements in the constructs as well as the demand for higher electrical goose egg consumption. As the demand of electricity increased, the power plants leading come to gene localise to a greater extent power to cope with the demand. In Malaysia, many of our power plants are hitherto using coal as a source of push yett on. Burning coal is harmful to the environment. Thus, buildings with better envelope and more eco-friendly materials are needed to promote the nurseability of our aim nature.Research backgroundIt freighter no longer be disputed that the resources of this earth are finite, that its capacity to absorb our wastes is limited, that if we (as a species) want to survive, we arousenot continue our piti little exploitation of the environment (Szokolay, ed. 2008). Mondazzi (2005) stated that the world are realizing these impacts through the loss of open space, the shortage of water supplies, a growing dependence on skill and electricity from non-renewable resources, the decay of urban centers and attendant negative health impacts as suburbs continue to sprawl.Global warming is an emerging issue of international challenges. The discolor building movement has its roots in the faculty crisis of the 1970s and the creative approaches to saving nothing that came with it, including the use of active and passive solar see and tighter building envelopes. The quick growth population has caused the rate of development around the globe. This has as well as helping the maturation in the concentration of chiliadhouse gases. expressions are some of the biggest vitality shoot downrs in the world, accounting for one-quarter to one-third of all button use and a similar amount of immaturehouse gas emissions (Wen Hong 2007). The global contribution from buildings towards zero consumption, both residential and commercial, has steadily increased reaching figures between 20% and 40% in substantial countries, and has exceeded the other major sectors industrial and transportation (LuisPrez-Lombard 2007). From 1971 to 2004, the worlds total net energy consumption increased 87 percent, with an annual average growth rate of 1.9 percent (Wen Hong 2007). This statistic has brought the worlds attention ab fall out the energy crisis. The purpose of carry out this enquiry is to im prove the understanding in conserving energy in buildings.According to Sassi (2006), population growth and the raising of low living standards will require more resources, produce more waste and increase the impact on the infixed environment. Buildings have lifespan of decades. Whatever buildings being reinforced will always affects the bordering generations. The evidence for climate change is growing more alarming each year. The exceptionally hot summers such as those of 2003 and 2005 warned experts that the pace of this warming is faster than antecedently envisaged in their worst case scenarios (Sue, Davide and Fergus 2009).Problem StatementThe first problem is the nature and use of our existing technology, which is largely inefficient, outdated, and even in some cases obsolete. In the United States alone, the building sector uses non-renewable and environmentally hazardous energy, emits 39 percent of all energy-related carbon dioxide, lacks the ability to retain its generated e nergy long enough to sustain indoor(prenominal) air quality levels, and fails in recycling and managing water and waste (Osman 2010). Whereas in Malaysia, construction industry is relying on the cheap foreign labours workforce from other countries such as Indonesia, Philippine and Vietnam. This causes the local companies to use foreign labours rather than high tech equipment which will maybe apostrophize more.Victor Julee (2004, p. 391) stated that others have argued that mere mitigation of environmental impacts is not sustainable, and that new approaches are preferable, for example based on maintenance or even enhancement of ecosystem services. The scientific and scientific knowledge base for green building is also limited, which is not surprising given the recent origin of the discipline (Eric 2010). Xiaoling, Liyin, Yuzhe, Guoyou (2011, p. 36) stated that monetary cost is designly considered as the critical barriers for real estate developers who are hesitating whether to develop green real estate project or not.The energy aspects of environmental design and construction have been more thoroughly researched than other aspects, such as water conservation and reuse, recharging of groundwater, construction runoff control, the use of green building products, and indoor environmental quality (e.g., day discharge, ventilation, low emitting materials, and indoor chemical and pollutant source control) (John 2010). This may lead to the uncertainties that the developers or owners need to take which they may need to undergo some further research to consume green purpose on buildings.Aim ObjectivesThe aim of this study is to ascertain the benefits and challenges in implementation of green fancy in local commercial obscure and find out the strategic of implementation.The objectives of this study are as follow-To find out the factors which drive the owners or developers to implement green conceptTo understand the benefits in implantation of green concept in c ommercial complexTo understand the challenges in implementation of green concept in commercial complexTo find out the strategic plan to overcome the challenges in implementation of green concept in commercial complexTooutline the implementation plan or strategyof green conceptScope of studyThe scope of this study is focused on the benefits of implementing green concept in Malaysias commercial complex and the challenges faced by the owners or developers, consultants and contractors in implementing green concept in commercial complex in Malaysia.Research methodologyPrimary dataInterviewInterviews change to depict detail in coordinateation and personal opinion towards particular issues. Interviewees will be selected who are relevant to the research objectives and possess reasonable experience in the field. Series of questions will be asked during interview sessions with the parties who had involved in the construction and operation of commercial complex which entangle owners or dev elopers, contractors, consultants and commercial complex managers. Questions for interviewees will be specific and set according to the research aim and objectives.Secondary data belles-lettres Review publications canvas is an important method because it provides wide range of information and further understanding which is relevant for this research topic in regards of its aim and objectives. The sources of literature review will be from books, articles, journals, thesis, and newspapers. These can be obtained from college library or public library. Other resources may obtain through the World Wide Web which includes emerald database and Wikipedia. This enable the overseas publications and studies can be easily obtained. Some of the useful data will be cited into this study as references.Chapter Outline of DissertationChapter 1 initiationThis chapter includes a background of research, problem statement, aim and objective, and scope of study. In addition, brief research methodology and research plan are also included in this chapter.Chapter 2 Literature ReviewLiterature review presents a detail review and provides further understanding on the green building. It is usually referred and cited from various sources such as books, articles, journals and online database.Chapter 3 Research MethodologyThis chapter presents the details of methods which have been used to collect data and information to achieve the aim and objectives of this study. It also includes the rationale for the methodologies used.Chapter 4 Analysis and DiscussionAnalysis of data collected from the methods used in Chapter 3 is done in this chapter. The analysed data will be in the form of chart, histogram or graph with further explanations.Chapter 5 Conclusion and RecommendationThis chapter concludes the study in accordance with the aim and objectives of this study. Recommendations are made for encouraging future studies which are not completed in this study.ReferencesA list of sources which have been cited and quoted in this study is provided. The referencing format is based on the Harvard referencing system. class 1. Research planResearch PlanLiterature ReviewIntroductionWestern North California Green Building Council (2012) defines that green building, or sustainable design, is the practice of increasing the efficiency with which buildings and their sites use energy, water, and materials, and recoil building impacts on human health and the environment over the entire life cycle of the building. It is also known as energy optimisation. Studies carried out by experts and professionals around the world have indicated and proofed that buildings consumed the most energy compared to other sectors. Over the years, the energy consumption has been increased drastically. Studies have forecasted that energy consumption will be increased by an alarming region. According to Wen Hong, Chiang, Shapiro and Clifford (2007), the worlds final energy consumption is expected to incre ase 1.5 times from 2004 to 2030. In the develop countries, energy consumption has surged tremendously leading to global energy crisis. Those countries are mostly in South America, Asia, South-East Asia, and Middle-East. There are researches stated that buildings in mainland China are one the most energy consumption in the world. Ksenia Chmutina (2010) stated that energy consumption per building in China is 2-3 times higher than that of the developed countries with similar climatic conditions and buildings are less(prenominal) comfortable as a result of poor thermal performance and too little insulation in most of Chinas buildings. In recent years, Asia (including South-East Asia) has the highest frugal growth in the world but this comes with an adverse effect. A research conducted by Wen Hong et al (2007) shows that From 1971 to 2004, the worlds total final energy consumption increased 87 percent, with an annual average growth rate of 1.9 percent. most 43 percent of the total incr ement was attributable to Asia, where final energy consumption increased 275 percent, with an average annual rate of 4.1 percent, more than twice as fast as the global average.Nowadays, most of the newly constructed commercial buildings are equipped with centralize energy management system or building automation system. This system controls everything from lighting to HVAC. They detect and pooh-pooh waste, and enable the efficient use electricity resources (Iwayemi, Wan and Zhou, 2011). With the help of the energy management system, corporations and proprietors are able to save their money by paying less for the electric bills. Energy management system not only optimises the energy usage but it also maintains the comfort of the occupants. Energy management system is an coordinated system which manages and controls multiple systems or elements in the buildings such as lifts, lighting, security system, HVAC system etc. Normally, energy management system is made up of a hierarchy st ructure comprises of 3 levels which are field level, automation level, management level. The lowest level of the hierarchy is the field level which consists of sensors and actuators. These sensors and actuators are basically same ears, eyes and limbs of the system. They sense and deliver the information to the upper level of hierarchy. The second level will be the automation level which consists of direct digital controllers (DDC). These controllers provide accurate designated reactions or control according to the building activities using digital devices. The most upper level of the hierarchy is the management system level which is centralised digital controller. This level is acts as the brain of the whole system. It receives data and information from the sensors and the actuators, then process it. After that, the system decides what actions to be taken to facilitate the energy efficient of the whole building. Furthermore, the system not only able to control things but it also st ores the data about the electricity consumption of each unit of measurement or component as reference for the building owner. It also detects the condition of components and reminds the owner where maintenance is needed for better energy efficiency.In providing better built environment, thither are some benefits to the occupants. A research conducted by Steemers and Manchanda (2009) shows that low energy design can achieve some of the highest levels of occupant satisfaction provides go off evidence that can encourage building owners and designers to be more confident of strategies and technologies that are more energy efficient. Occupants may tend to work more efficiently and increase their productivity in the pleasant environment. Excessive near lighting may causes intense glare and illumination as it will disrupts the optical conveniences and resulting the occupants fatigue as well as headache. Thus, maintaining comfortable illumination may helps to reduce the energy consumpt ion and keeping the health of the occupants.One of the aspects in buildings which can save a substantial amount of energy is the artificial lighting. Artificial lighting which consume less energy or electricity might also tend to reduce heat gain by the indoor environment. Therefore it helps to reduce the workload of air-conditioning to maintain the indoor air temperature. About 40 per cent reduction in electricity consumption was achieved after the deployment of CFLs which depicts that efficient house lighting with CFLs will conserves significant electric energy for other purposes (Sule, Ajao and Ajimotokan and Garba, 2011). The use of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) that utilize up to 75 per cent less energy or electricity than incandescent light bulbs, can nett up to ten times longer (Sule et al., 2011). For the equivalent amount of brightness output (lumen), the CFLs consumes 3 to 4 times less energy than incandescent lamps. CFLs also last longer than incandescent light bulbs. The CFLs lifespan is at least 8 times longer than incandescent light bulbs. As a normal CFLs, it will last for six thousands to fifteen thousand hours and incandescent light bulbs only last for seven hundred fifty hours to one thousands hours.Another factor which will affect the energy consumption of buildings will be the management and organisation. Some office buildings and hotels maintain indoor temperatures as low as 18 to 20 degrees centigrade when the comfortable temperature is about 24 degrees centigrade (Chan, 2004). Many of the occupants in those buildings are wearing jackets and using USB heaters to keep them warm. To maintain such low indoor temperature, HVAC system will consumes a lot of energy and needs frequent maintenance as well. Basically, energy consumed to maintain such low temperature will be just wasted for nothing. Many office buildings do not switch off the HVAC during lunch hour which mean that the HVAC is operating for the furniture but not occupants. Other than HVAC, lighting inside the buildings also takes up a large portion in overall buildings consumption. Many buildings are not designed to optimise the use of natural lighting. Therefore, those buildings need a lot of artificial lighting to illuminate the indoor environment and increase the electricity consumption. In the other hand, large area of the artificial lighting are switched on for just a few occupants in the offices. This situation is more or less similar to the HVAC system where the energy is consumed for nothing. disdain how little amount energy needed to operate the HVAC system, it will not able to use the energy efficiently if the building envelope is not justly insulated. Insufficient airtight building envelope causes the warm or cool air may leak through. This will influence the comfort of occupants and greatly increases the workloads of HVAC system and therefore increases the consumption of energy. High thermal transmittance of the materials used for building env elope will causes the heat transfers from the buildings to the border causing severe heat loss inside the buildings. A research conducted by VanBronkhorst, Persily and Emrnerich (2005) shows that infiltration accounts for roughly 15% of the heating load in all office buildings nationwide, and a higher percentage be recently constructed buildings. Thus, the buildings must be insulated sufficiently and provide good air -tightness to prevent the leakage of heat without noticing. However, the thermal insulation of buildings can be improved by using several low thermal conductivity materials such as aerated concrete blocks, fiberglass polyurethane and aluminium foil. The windows for most of the buildings in Malaysia are having high thermal transmittance and it is one of the major causes where the heat disperses through the windows. There are methods to be made to solve this problem. The windows can be tinted and double glazed to lower the thermal conductivity of the windows.Building ori entation also plays an important role in energy efficient buildings. It affects the energy required for HVAC system. This is because solar radiation will heat up the buildings envelope faster such as walls, doors and windows. This means that higher solar radiation causes the HVAC system to consume higher energy to maintain the indoor air temperature. Building orientation is act like the natural shelter to prevent direct sun and solar radiation which will increase the heating rate of building envelope and causes over illumination to the indoor environment. Over illumination will affects the visual comfort of the occupants. As a result, occupants may easily fatigue and suffer from headache. Another reason associated with building orientation will be the ventilation effectuate which are the natural winds or seasonal winds.The Energy Commission building or the ST Diamond building in Malaysia is one of the greenest buildings in the world. The sides of the building are 25 tilt from vert ical to prevent direct sunlight and excessive sunlight. The tilted and tinted glazing allows comfortable glare free light to be reflected into the building from the landscape. Around 50% of the entire building area is illuminated by daylight. Furthermore, the building is sustainable as it is installed with 1930m2 of photovoltaic solar panels which will produce around 280,000 kWh annually.Issues and barriers on Green BuildingsIn the context of green concept, there are some arguments and issues relating to health and environment. Some materials used in lamps, such as mercury, are nephrotoxic to the environment and must be handled carefully. Large amounts of mercury pose serious health risks to neurological disorders and birth defects but with lesser amounts of mercury, it will cause the lamp to fail, reduce the luminance of lamp and shorten the lifespan of the lamp.In designing and constructing the energy efficient buildings, construction costs for the buildings will be much higher c ompared to the normal buildings. This is because energy efficient or low-energy buildings need better designs and construction methods to increase and control the amount of natural lighting to illuminate into the buildings. In the other hand, low-energy buildings need spare materials or better materials to be built in tutelageing to reduce the thermal transmittance of the buildings. Developers may not have the capital to build such energy efficient buildings. If they are able to do so, the rental will also increased, thus the costs will just transfer to the occupants or consumers. This will increase the financial burden of the occupants of the buildings.Many people presume that the green building is inevitably costs more or less profitable compare to normal building. Halliday (2008) stated that it is also reasonable to assume that the innovation requited has a cost implication of time, planning, risk and enhanced information requirements, so inevitably innovators will be penalise and their profit margins reduced when put in direct competition with non-eco-friendly building.Developers and owners will always consider and look into the details in implementing new green technology. Uncertainties in new technology may hold back the implementation of the technology. Duda (2009) stated that overall the largest barrier facing the implementation of green facades is perceived financial risk associated with event beyond the control of the owner or unexpected due to lack of examples and research. This means that we may need more local green buildings as evidence to convince local developers or owners and also as guideline for them.Lastly, there is lack of policy and standards for green building. Policy makers often abide until something undesirable or catastrophic happens before we implement controls and policy to resolve the issue (Duda, 2009). In Malaysia, we are having this problem too. We have GBI to evaluate green building but we dont have a specific policy and st andards to govern the green building. There is Uniform Building By-Law (UBBL) for normal building construction but there are no green building codes or standards in Malaysia. Without these standards and policy, developers and owners are not bound to comply them.Government Initiatives in MalaysiaIn Malaysia, government had first built the low-energy office building (MECW, Putrajaya) in 2001 with integrated energy efficient design and showcased the building to illustrate the benefits of it to the public. The MECW building saves RM600,000 per annum in electric bill. Normal buildings consume around 250 kWh/m2 every year while MECW building only consumes 114 kWh/m2 every year. Malaysias government also built the Energy Commission Building in 2005. This building has a unique diamond shape which is purposely designed for reducing the thermal heat gain from sunlight. The sides of the building are 25 degree tilted from vertical to prevent excessive solar radiation and sunlight shine into th e building. The tilted and tinted glazing allows comfortable glare free light to be reflected into the building from the surrounding landscape.The authorities in Malaysia are proposing regulations and policies on the effort of energy efficient in Malaysias construction industry to improve the surrounding environment and reduce the demand growth rate of electricity. The regulations and policies will not only benefit the environment but the nation economics as well. With the reduced demand growth rate of electricity, the government does not need to build more power stations and facing time constraints on the development of sustainable energy.Designing Green BuildingHaving a green building, it must be well designed in term of sustainability and environmentally friendly. Designing a green building is not an easygoing task. It need to consider the elements and components which will help to reduce the carbon footprint and energy consumption such materials used, the life cycle of the buil ding and the natural lighting. These elements and components are the key ingredients for a green and sustainable building. Generally, the green building designers must consider the following 3 principles-Connectivity design to reinforce the relationship between the project, the site, the community, and the ecology. hire minimal changes to the natural functioning. Reinforce and steward those natural characteristics specific to the place (Williams, 2007).Indigenous design with and for what has been resident and sustainable on the site for centuries (Williams, 2007).Long life, slack fit design for future generations while reflecting past generations (Williams, 2007).Materials used for green building must be of low carbon footprint during its manufacturing process and passim its whole life cycle. Designers should take into consideration that the size of its and shapes of the materials or components to be used. This is because the cutting and operations on the site may affect the was tages of the materials. As the wastages reduced, the construction costs also reduced and profits will increase.With the current computer modelling technology, Building Information Modelling or BIM, Autodesks Ecotect and Green Building Studio are now gaining popularity around the globe to help the designers in carbon assessment of the buildings. This would promote the green concept designs to be a more consistently collide with the target of the owners without over-design or under-design.It is recommended to divert the buildings into components and modules, then manufacture it offsite. This is also known as prefabrication. Currently in Malaysia, manufacturing of buildings components offsite is getting more and more popular, especially in city area such as Kuala Lumpur and Penang. This is because delivery of concrete from cities outskirt has a time limitation. If the concrete trucks stuck in a traffic jam more than the permissible duration, the concrete will harden. Furthermore, pref abrication can improve quality, reduce wastage and reduce construction costs. Components and modules manufactured in factories have high consistency in size and ease the quality checking process. Repetitive components and modules with high consistency of size simply mean that the factories will arrange the cuttings or moulding and allocate their resources more effectively, so that the wastage is minimal. In addition, prefabrication also reduces the construction activities and time on project site. With shorter time on site, it also reduces the exposure of incomplete works to the weather. This may actually helps to fall down the corrosions of building materials such as steel bars and paint. Hence, it reduces the probability of rejected works and redo of works which will increase the costs of construction and wastages.Why buildings need to be green?In economic point of view, energy efficiency is defined as the ability to generate the same economic output with less energy input (The A spen Institute, 2009). In conjunction, it also conserves the environment by reducing the carbon footprint caused by conventional energy production. There are some undeniable benefits which the green buildings can provide, which are-Enhance biodiversity not use materials form threatened species or environments and improve natural habitats where possible through appropriate planting and water use (Halliday, 2008).Reduce wastages not consume a disproportionate amount of resources, including money and land during material sourcing, construction, use of use or disposal not cause unnecessary waste of energy, water or materials due to short life, poor design, inefficiency, or less than ideal construction and manufacturing procedures. Buildings have to be affordable, manageable and maintainable in use (Halliday, 2008).Minimise pollution create minimum dependence on polluting products and materials, management practices, energy, power and forms of transport (Halliday, 2008).Create healthy environments enhance living, leisure and work environments and not endanger the health of the builders or occupants, or any other parties, through exposure to pollutants, the use of toxic materials or providing host environments to harmful organisms (Halliday, 2008).Reduce operating costs as the building is well design in term of building tightness and use of natural lighting, it would actually help to reduce the amount of the electric bills.Green buildings not only bring benefits to the environment but also the financial profits as well as the health and comfort of the occupants. In the context of oil price hiking, countries and corporations should be more concern about their financial and economical profitability, for instance it also slows down the electricity demand growth and the global warming effect.CUsersShingDocumentsAssignment (adv. diploma)Project DissertationAttachmentsIMG_0286.JPG(Source Halliday, 2008, Sustainable Construction, adopted from Shorrock and Henderson, 1 990)Figure 2. Potential reduction in CO2Factors which drive the Green BuildingHiking of energy priceIn these recent years, global oil price is volatile. As the worlds demand on energy is keep increasing, the supply will become more sacred and the prices to produce energy will also go up. This is because the energy industry will need more resources, bigger plants and better equipment to produce more power. In Malaysia, energy generation is still relying a lot on non-renewable resources which are fossil fuel, natural gas, coal, and petroleum. These resources are subjected to global economy effects which mean the prices fluctuate as the global prices. Undeniably, the electricity costs in most countries also fluctuate over time as these resources prices.CUsersShingDocumentsAssignment (adv. diploma)Project DissertationAttachmentsMsia energy production.jpg(Source IEA, 2011)Figure 2. Energy production in MalaysiaHigher market value and cost effectiveThere are numbers of studies were carrie d out regarding the value of green buildings. Czech Green Building Council (CZGBC, 2012) stated that commercial building with environmental corroboration in the UK is sold at about 38 % higher price than a comparable non-sustainable building. Other studies from Germany and Switzerland show that a house or flatbed in a high energy standard or with certification can be sold in the market by up to 17 % higher price than a conventional project (CZGBC, 2012).In conjunction, United State Green Building Council (USBGC, 2011) also stated that building sale prices for energy efficient buildings are as much as 10% higher per square foot than conventional buildings. An upfront enthronisation of 2% in green building design, on average, results in life cycle savings of 20% of the total construction costs more than ten times the initial investment (USBGC, 2011).Furthermore, tenants who choose to rent the green commercial buildings have their own reasons. The following figure shows the reasons and statistics.Sour

Saturday, June 1, 2019

My Sport Essay -- Personal Narrative

My SportIt all started when I was about eleven or twelve years old. By that time, I was already used to being the tallest girl in class. I caught the attention of all my gym teachers and was about to begin a goal to basketball coaches. The sport seemed cool, but something I had never thought about. Time went by and the coaches insisted I should play. I was finally persuaded. Why not give it a try? I thought. I went to camps, practices, a whole process, and learned to sympathize with the sport. Basketball came easy to me and after a while, I became a decent player.I continued to play through junior high school, but it wasnt until high school that I realized it wasnt my sport. There, I found a whole diversity of sports, some of which I had never heard of. One day, the crew coach...