Roe v wade Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Roe v wade - Research Paper Example Conversely, proposition for abortion is most intense in New England. One case in the US attributed to greatly influence abortion was the Roe v. Wade 1973. In this case, the US Supreme Court overruled the trimester framework argument and promoted abortion as a fundamental right. In Roe v. Wade (1973)2 case, the Supreme Court’s decision disallowed numerous states and federal restrictions on abortion and declared it as a fundamental right. The court ruled that abortion should not be allowed in all states where the fetus had the potential to survive outside the mother’s uterus. Consequently, the Supreme Court required that no state denies abortion for women in their first trimester, while abortion was only allowed on grounds of medical conditions during the second and third trimester3. Additionally, only the grounds of protecting the life of the fetus were acceptable for abortion in the third trimester. Upon the Supreme Court’s decision at Roe’s time, numerous states passed severe restrictions on any abortion practices as pro-lifers increasingly contended that life began at conception, thus making abortion unethical murder of acquitted humans. Additionally, other states passed laws that imposed hurdles on all women seeking abortion in defiance with the Roe decision. Defiance of Roe also saw the enactment of the federal Unborn Victims of Violence Act4 by the US government to protect the unborn fetus from being killed and assaulted. According to the US federal constitution, the protection of the unborn resulted in punishment for those intentionally attempting or committing murder of the unborn. A child is also declared as a full member of the Homo sapiens species for being a child in the uterus. Through the promotion of abortion, human life is deemed to be disposable on the basis of the mother’s fundamental rights. Kovnvitz5 reveals that rationally, human life has nothing known as

Critical analysis of ''The National Council for Voluntary Essay

Critical analysis of ''The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)'' - Essay Example His vision has multiplied and is felt all over the world. Individuals such as S.P.Grundy could be accredited with the success and the loyalty that he has shown his friend from the commissioning before he died .He told him, Grundy â€Å" If I am scuppered I’m leaving $ 1,000 to do some of the things we talked about†. It is from this inheritance that the organization has grown to be what it is today. This is a big challenge to many organizations and they should be encouraged to partake in such kinds of acts. This has been the spirit since its inception with many companies have coming up as a result.( National Council For Voluntary Organizations) . The organizations which would essentially be regarded as projects of the NCVO include;- 1. Citizens Advice Bureaux 2. Age Concern 3. Charities Aid Foundation, 4. ACRE 5. Community Matters 6. Marriage Guidance Councils 7. SIA 8. Standard Committee of Women’s Social Services 9. Young Hostels Associations 10. Young Farmersâ €™ Club among many others These are some of the main projects that through which the NCVO has seen considerable change and impact. Most of these movements for instance the Young Farmers’ Club has gone global to reach continents such as Africa and to be incorporated into the curriculum of these schools. The company conducts its operations from its head office at Regent’s Wharf, London. NCVO as began by Edward was to do its operations in the spirit of helping the community. The organization has over 8300 organizations or members under its umbrella and makes to be the largest organization in the world to have such following. (National Council For Voluntary Organizations ) In the year 2009, the organization celebrated 90 years of serving the world in voluntary and community service. During the celebration, the company indicated that it looks forward to serving the people for another 90 years. The organization has various numbers of functions. These functions are specif ically a reflection of its vision and mission statement. The company’s vision is that whereby all people are influenced and in fact driven to make a positive impact in their diverse communities. The organization’s mission on the other side is such that it aims at being the voice of the people and to provide support for the people especially the voiceless in their communities. The organization also has certain values that it upholds and considers that for every organization under its umbrella has to observe. These values are Independence , it encourages the independence of all organizations under its umbrella, Innovation, in this the organization believes that its members are creative and it will help and uphold this value, collaboration in the sense that NCVO believes that if these organizations interact and do work as a team , then this will aid in the achievement of the goals, Inclusiveness, the NCVO appreciates that these organizations are diverse and it helps this in the sense that it focuses on including all these aspects in the work of the organization, Passion ,the NCVO believes that success of these members is driven by their passion and in so doing it shall uphold ,promote and enhance this value.( National Council for Voluntary Organizations ). Some of the aims of the organizatio

Barriers to Dutch Infrastructural Project Planning

Barriers to Dutch Infrastructural Project Planning Interactive planning of Dutch infrastructural project A case-description of Mainport Schiphol and the A12 national expressway Interactive Planning of Sustainability 1. Introduction Since the beginning of the ‘90s, the implementation of new infrastructural projects in The Netherlands became increasingly problematic. Related environmental issues had a lot of societal attention. The Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, responsible for maintaining a high quality of mobility in the Netherlands, identified three major problems with earlier attempts to solve the infrastructural problems; little social acceptance for new projects, procedures for realizing new projects took too long, and the proposed solutions were not really original and often ‘more of the same’. For solving these problems, this Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management proposed a change from top-down decision making to a more open and interactive form of policy making for planning, developing, and implementing new infrastructure (Enthoven and de Rooij, 1996). With interactive policy making, the main goal is to make more creative and effectiv e plans, by involving all stakeholders like citizens, (local and/or national) governments and experts. For this paper, 2 cases are selected, related to a Dutch infrastructure issue and dealt with on an interactive way; Mainport Schiphol near Amsterdam and the A12 national expressway near The Hague. The first one is selected because of its elaborated description in Susskind et al. (1999), its high degree of complexness and the fact the outcomes were fairly positive, the second one is selected also because of its suitable description in Glasbergen en Driessen (2005), but with a more straight-forward problem definition and its positive outcomes. Discussing these two Dutch cases, we will focus on four critical issues, related to interactive planning and often discussed in literature: Participant selection, Power and Access, Roles of facilitators, and Use of knowledge. Although more critical issues can be defined, like Roles op participants, Modes of evaluation and Use of outcomes by policy makers, only these four are chosen because of the fact that these are clearly discussed in the selec ted case-descriptions and these seemed to be crucial for the success of these cases. Chapter 2 will discuss each critical issue shortly. Chapter 3 will discuss the two cases in the light of the four different critical issues, and chapter 4 will give a conclusion. To structure this research the following research question is formulated: How do the four critical issues (Participant selection, Power and Access, Roles of facilitators, and Use of knowledge) contribute to the rate of success of 2 infrastructural cases in The Netherlands (the Schiphol case and the A12 national expressway)? 2. Critical Issues This chapter will elaborate a bit more about what is actually meant with the four different critical issues: Participant selection, Power and Access, Roles of facilitators, and Use of knowledge. 2.1 Participant selection The question of which parties to involve is answered by a set of four considerations that should be taken into account when selecting the participants (De Bruijn et al., 2002). Firstly, parties with blocking power in the decision-making are important. Involving these parties in the process may keep them from using their blocking power in ways that are unforeseen. Secondly, parties with productive power should be part of the process. These parties will actually have to implement the decisions that are taken, and can influence the decision making with their control over the productive resources. Thirdly, parties that have an interest in the decision-making should be considered. These are parties that do not have substantial power in the decision making process (like blocking power or resources), but nevertheless are confronted with the outcomes of the group process and therefore can provide important information and moral considerations. Finally, this moral aspect of decision-making ca n by a reason to invite certain parties to join the process. Moral and ethical considerations can be important to embody the voice of those who are affected by the potential decision, but are not invited to the process for different reasons (De Bruin, 2002). 2.2 Power and access One of the key goals of interactive policy making is that it should reduce the influence of dominant elites and enable the less powerful groups to give input. Those parties or actors, who do not have access to formal decision-making processes or who cannot exert enough influence by the way of discussion and negotiation are more likely to initiate legal proceedings. Public’s ability to participate in decisions can be assessed according to three elements (as defined at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992): access to information, access to the decision-making process, and access to redress or change decision. These three elements will shortly be explained below. ‘Access to information’ can be seen as the first foundation of access and also one of the most passive forms of access seen from the perspective of the public. With access to information is meant the ability the public has to easily get access to forms of relevant information in which they are directly or indirectly involved, such as environmental impact assessments, reports from industries about their emissions etc. But one also can think about getting informed about potential relevant activities, which possibly can affect the public’s environment. ‘Access to the decision-making processes’ wants to give the public a more active role. Once this form of access is attained, one can even speak of a certain form of power. One must not focus on only the opportunity to provide input on specific subjects, but also the ability to influence more general decisions, such as the making of new laws or national policies. ‘Access to redress or change a certain decision’ is also related to a form of power, since the ability to change a certain decision gives a citizen the power to influence the decision-making process. This form of access can be translated into making judicial or administrative remedies accessible to the public, when officials fail to do their work in a proper manner (Mock et al., 2003). 2.3 Roles of facilitators The roles that a facilitator can play in group decision processes constitute of consistent packages of specific tasks within the group process combined with a more general ‘attitude’ towards the group members and the process. In literature, three major roles of a facilitator are commonly distinguished: a role as process architect or process manager, a mediating role and a convening role. As a process architect, the facilitator lays down the backbone of the group process. The process should be structured in such a way that all relevant insights from the participants will play a role in the process. Four core principles for designing a group process can be discriminated: openness, protection of core values, speed and substance (De Bruijn et al., 2002). These four ‘core elements of process design’ should be included and safeguarded in any process design in order to satisfy all the participants. The facilitator focuses on the process so that group members can focus on the substance and can suggest different ways of discussing problems, ensuring that all group members can freely express there comments and are free of any abuses of power or personal attack (Susskind et al., 1999). Especially in environmental issues, the interests, values and problem perceptions of different parties may often be far apart form each other. With such large contrasts of interest within the group, a facilitator often is faced with disputes and conflicts within the group process, that are hard to solve with mere changes in the structure of the process. In such case, the role of the facilitator can be very closely related with a mediating role in which the facilitator is mediating between parties, even to establish a general structure of the process. In addition, an external mediator can be asked to solve the conflicts. An external mediator is a neutral person that specializes in solving disputes between different participants in the group process, often using a variety of negotiation techniques and (psychological) methods of reframing problems and solutions (Acland, 1995). In a convening role, the facilitator has a say in which parties should be involved in the group process, and at what roles they will have. The convening role of a facilitator is sometimes not far apart from the role that a facilitator has as a process designer. Proper management of a group decisions process clearly has a very import influence on the effectiveness of that process. The facilitator can influence that process to quit a large extent. The consensus of all group members on the final decision depends for a large part on the level of agreement within the group with the approach that facilitators takes in structuring and managing the process. 2.4 Role of knowledge Knowledge is a crucial ingredient of interactive planning. However, the significance of the use of knowledge depends on one’s view. Over the years, the view on the role of knowledge has changed. The rational actor model has gradually been replaced by adaptive decision and learning strategies interacting with the environment. Before, planning would be perceived as proceeding in an orderly and linear fashion (Friend Hickling, 2005). Today some authors state that knowledge is a result of collective social processes. This implies that knowledge is a social construct, rather than an objective entity. In the new approach, linear progression of the process is seen as unrealistic. Instead, the uniqueness, ambiguity and unpredictability of real world processes are emphasized. With the recognition that planning is an interactive and communicative process, the notion of the interrelationship between expert and experiential knowledge has become more and more crucial. Interactive planning is now seen as ‘organized rituals’ where ‘deliberating participants’ listen to one another, search for new options and learn to find new ways of going on together (Khakee et al., 2000). 3. Case description For a complete description of each of the two cases, see appendix 1 and 2. This section will only discuss the previously mentioned four critical issues related to interactive policy making (Participant selection, Power and Access, Roles of facilitators, and Use of knowledge), related to the experiences of these two cases. 3.1 Mainport Schiphol Schiphol Airport is situated in a highly urbanized area, and deals with national, continental and intercontinental air traffic. Although its presence is causing many ‘stress’ on its environmental surroundings, the Dutch government wants it to expand, so it can act as a hub for continental and intercontinental air traffic. With this expansion there are two interests at stake: on national level an economic one (because an enlarged Schiphol would increase economic activities), and on regional level an environmental one (because a bigger Schiphol will cause an increase of nuisances of noise, pollution, and safety). These two opposite interests caused a stalemate to occur since the 1950s. In the 1980s, one of the government authorities took the initiative to change the ‘common way of working’ and activated the policy network, to address the issues (Driessen, 1999). 3.1.1 Participant selection The most important actor in this case was the Dutch Government, who made the prefigured decision to expand the airport into an international hub. All other participants had to find their ‘win-win’ outcomes within this context of developmental growth. From the beginning, various government organisations have been involved in the development of Schiphol Airport. The main players are three ministries. The ministry of Transport and Public Works is by far the most important actor, responsible for the economic development of the airport as well as the abatement of noise nuisance. Second, the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment is also involved, responsible for physical planning in The Netherlands and implementing policies regarding the rest of the environmental effects of the activities of the airline industries, namely air pollution, stench and hazard. Finally, the Ministry of Economic Affairs plays and important role, pursuing further economic development in the region of Schiphol (Driessen, 1999). Lower tiers of governments involved were the province of North Holland, responsible for environmental policy and planning for the region, and the municipalities surrounding the airport, both benefiting (by increased employment and tax-incomes) and enduring the aggravation (caused by noise, stench, air pollution, and other activities that degrade the environment) of having the airport close by. The municipality of Haarlemmermeer is a special case, because this municipality is authorized to create a land use plan for the airfield. Additionally, two enterprises play a crucial role: NV Luchthaven Schiphol (operating the airport and completely state owned) and KLM (the major Dutch carrier and partly owned by the state) (Driessen, 1999). Because the Ministry of Transport and Public Works occupied a pivotal position, being both responsible for the economic development of Schiphol and the abatement of noise nuisance, it was agreed that noise regulation would be regulated by the Aviation Act, which was under the responsibility of the Ministry of Transport and Public Works. Nevertheless, little actions were made to reduce noise nuisance, because all participants believed that technical solutions would solve all noise-problems in the near future. Because no agreement could be made between these participants on how much the airport should be allowed to grow, or how to tackle the environmental problems, the Dutch government asked the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment to make an integral plan for the Schiphol region, ensuring both economic development as well as environmental improvements. In the following process, a project group and a steering committee were established. The steering committee was comp osed out of all above-mentioned parties, while the project group contained all interest groups. Any party with interest in the case could join the project group (Driessen, 1999). Based on the case-description and related to the four considerations described in section 2.1, it must be concluded that parties with blocking and productive power were strongly involved in the interactive planning process, by joining the steering committee. Other parties with interest were also involved, by joining the project group, but their influence was relatively small. If parties were involved, based on moral considerations, does not become clear from this case-description. 3.1.2 Power and access The three different Governmental agencies (the ministry of Transport and Public Works, the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs) with jurisdictional authority over airport expansion, had accepted the mandate for airport expansion, but each with more at stake than achieving this outcome. Interagency rivalry and power played a critical part in the positions the ministries adopted and the coalitions they build during negotiations. The creation of a project group composed of all interest groups and of a steering committee of essential power brokers gave much power to the steering committee alone. From the case description, it does not become clear that the members of the steering committee, who were eventually excluded from the decision-making, were those who could not benefit in a ‘win-win’ situation, or were simply not powerful enough to block or advance progress. Nevertheless, the exclusion of interests cannot lead t o a ‘win-win’ solution and has encountered difficulties building consensus and achieving compliance (Driessen, 1999). Based on the case-description and related to the three elements described in section 2.2, it must be concluded that ‘Access to information’ does not form an obstacle. Perhaps the overload on information and the opposed and contradicting information gave bigger problems. The public was given some access to the decision-making process when they joint the project group, by commenting the ideas of the steering committee. However, the steering committee made all final decisions, so there was certainly no access to redress or change a decision. 3.1.3 Roles of facilitator After the developed deadlock between the initially participants, the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment was made primary responsible for the task of making an integral plan for the Schiphol region, ensuring both economic development as well as environmental improvements. The fact that this ministry had a strong affiliation with environmental issues raised initial suspicion among the other governmental bodies. They wondered whether this ministry would be able to take a neutral position in the ensuing discussions. However, their initial wariness soon gave way to a realistic attitude, and actively joined the process (Driessen, 1999). The Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment designed an organizational framework for the discussion whereby the coordinated approach would be given a concrete form by activating the policy network. With this, the ministry acquired a dual function in the project, because it was the convenor, chair and facilitator of the planning process, and had to secure the input of environmental interest in the decision-making (Driessen, 1999). In the initial stage, the strategy of the project leaders of the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment was to bring the various parties closer together by conducting investigations and exchanging information, assuming that this might contribute to a better understanding and more appreciation for each different standpoint. The was no need for a professional facilitator, because all information was being collected, analyzed, and disseminated in an orderly way, although a professional facilitator could have helped structuring the problem. At the end of this stage, the project leaders formulated a plan, which could not be released because of the rain of criticism it caused (Driessen, 1999). Because of this setback, the project leaders decided to recruit a professional facilitator, with the task not to increase the supply of information, but to let parties sought to digest what they had and to arrive at a decision. From the case-description, it does not become clear if this facilitator had staff support and whether he/she had analytical, problem solving skills. The approach taken by the facilitator was aimed at bringing the main bottlenecks to the fore, in order to reach agreements at least on key points. The approach was characterized by the creation of a strong interaction between the project group and the steering committee. The later reviewed the issues that the project group had pared down in size, and either approved the solutions offered by the project group or send them back to the project group for reconsideration (Driessen, 1999). After this process, the facilitator presented the choices made by the project group and the steering committee to the public. The central aim of this was, to gain social and political legitimacy; the plan was opened up to the public discussion and the reactions were taken into account in the final version. Unfortunately, the public was hardly informed about the process preceding the plan and therefore it was generally received with great suspicion. Adding to this, the public discussion did not proceeded in a coordinated fashion, but each government resorted to its own method of public discussion. At the same time of these public hearings, the facilitator had to focus on the steering committee, because each party could take criticism of the plan as a lever to reopen discussion on subjects already discussed. At the end, the facilitator wrote the final text of the plan, shaping the final agreements also including the difficult topics of a reduction of noise nuisance and hazard (Driessen , 1999). From this description of the facilitator, it becomes clear that the facilitator had both the role of process architect, and mediator. The facilitator designed the entire framework of decision-making and mediated when problems occurred. If the facilitator also had a convening role is unclear. Which stakeholders could join the steering committee was already decided before the facilitator got involved. How actually the project group was formed, stays unclear from this case-description. 3.1.4 Role of knowledge Especially in issues related to airfield, experts disagree on numerous crucial uncertainties. This makes the role of knowledge both important but not of the same tenor. Research plays a key role in these controversies. This relates to research on, for instance, the need to build a new airport or expand the existing one, it may concern the most desirable infrastructure in and around the airport, it may deal with the profitability of operation, it may investigate the economic impact of the airport, or it may consider possible negative effects on the environment. However, this research must never be judged as ‘objective’ and will always play a role in the conflict of interest, expressed in this case, in the frequency of requested ‘second opinions’ (Driessen, 1999). In the case of noise nuisance, it took long time to be acknowledged as a problem and to find a way of calculating the level of distress. In the mid-1960s, a system was developed to measure noise nuisance, but no agreement could be made on how it should be applied. For instance, there was discussion about how to determine the threshold value for maximum admissible noise nuisance. Furthermore, options differ on setting a specific norm for night flights. The disagreement revolves around the degree to which departing and arriving airplanes disturb the sleep of nearby residents, and whether such disruption is detrimental to public health. There was also uncertainty about, the rate air traffic would increase, and the degree to which technical developments in aeronautics could help reduce noise levels by changing the aircrafts design (Driessen, 1999). Therefore, as also stated in section 2.4, knowledge is very important in decision-making processes, but as these processes get more interaction with a broad scale of actors, knowledge becomes more a result of collective social processes and loses its objective entity. From this case-description, it does not become explicitly clear if the decisions were based on knowledge provided by ‘experts’ or that it was formed in an interactive learning process. Implicitly, one could state that the agreement on noise nuisances could only have been established, when such interactive knowledge development occurred. 3.2 A12 national expressway The ease of accessibility of The Hague depends to a large extent on the A12 national expressway. Its final 30 km stretch is marked by many access and exit ramps, and the intensity of traffic in this area has increased dramatically in recent decades. This is partly thanks to the enormous increase in the volume of vehicular traffic, and partly to the proliferation of new urban development locations around The Hague. Much of the traffic is ‘destination traffic’ which enters the city in the morning and leaves at night. As a result of the higher volumes, congestion became a big problem (Glasbergen and Driessen, 2005). 3.2.1 Participant selection The planning agency initially saw itself as the owner of the problem at stake and formulated a classical solution of road widening. This approach failed because of public resistance and of a budget problem at the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management. Because of this, the ministry stepped back, which un-deliberately created opportunities for other parties to take initiative. The government authorities of The Hague took the initiative to develop a new architecture for interaction among the different stakeholders. They organized a public dialog and a series of workshops involving local politicians and private businesses from the region, resulting in a new definition of the problem, focussing on the underutilization of existing capacity. The role of the planning agency changed from orchestrator of the infrastructure project to a partner in the wider regional consultation on issues of mobility and livability. They also made subsidies available to the business community , enabling them to work out individual, sometimes innovative, mobility plans (Glasbergen and Driessen, 2005). Before concluding the analysis of participant selection in this case, the fact that there were no objections to the planes made by this interactive planning-process is probably the best evidence that all relevant stakeholders were included in the process. Nevertheless, from the case-description and related to the four considerations described in section 2.1, it does not become clear how all relevant stakeholders were defined, if all parties with blocking and productive power were added to the process, or if parties with moral and ethical considerations were included. 3.2.2 Power and access This case can bee described as a restricted interactive process, because it was intended to promote the cooperation of public authorities with the private sector. Civic organizations and individual citizens were kept informed through a public relations center. The governmental authorities of The Hague decided which stakeholders were included in the process. Despite this fact, no opposition to this project did arise (Glasbergen and Driessen, 2005). The access to information was well looked after, in the form of the public relations center. They kept civic organizations and individual citizens informed about the plans and progress. More power was not given to the public in this case. 3.2.3 Roles of facilitator In order to link the government agencies (where the plans were developed), and the business community, a ‘godfather’ was appointed. This honour was given to the director of the public transport company in the region, and he served as a contact between the project and the private sector. He kept all relevant firms informed about the development of the project and called these firms to task with respect to their responsibilities for the region’s accessibility, by reminding them that they might be lagging behind other firms in the development of their mobility plans (Glasbergen and Driessen, 2005). From the case-description, it must be concluded that the government authorities of The Hague acted as a convener, initially selecting the different stakeholders. Facilitating the process and mediating in conflicts were partly done by the ‘godfather’ and partly by the government authorities of The Hague. The precise division of responsibilities does not become clear from the case-description. 3.2.4 Role of knowledge According to this case-description, it was the government agencies of The Hague who decided what knowledge was used in the decision process. The only organization consulted for information was the planning agency, also participating in the planning process (Glasbergen and Driessen, 2005). Although knowledge is crucial in interactive planning (see section 2.4), the role of knowledge in this case is not very big. This probably has two reasons. One is the relative simple problem at stake (congestion) and secondly the fact that all parties agreed on the content of the relevant knowledge. Nevertheless, the fact that only one party provided the relevant knowledge could potentially have caused major problems afterwards. 4. Conclusion This research started with the question: How do the four critical issues (Participant selection, Power and Access, Roles of facilitators, and Use of knowledge) contribute to the rate of success of 2 infrastructural cases in The Netherlands (the Schiphol case and the A12 national expressway)? How each criterion added to the success of the case is described at the end of each subsection in chapter 3. Overall, it can be concluded that the success of interactive planning depends on the care each criterion is taken care of. If one of these criteria is neglected, it will be reflected in the outcomes. If, for example, participants are forgotten, power is not distributed evenly, facilitators are not adequate, or knowledge is not as objective as possible, the process will take much longer time and the change of good end-results and thus consensus will diminish. Both cases make clear that solutions were impossible to reach in the traditional way of policy making and that interactive policy mak ing contributed to good end results. Nevertheless, in future comparable processes, more attention should be given to the four discussed critical issues, and probably to the seven mentioned in the introduction. Only than, the rate of success of these kind of processes will increase. References Acland, A.F. 1995. Resolving Disputes without going to Court. London, Century Business Books. Bruijn, H. de, E. ten Heuvelhof and R.J. in ’t Veld. 2002. Process management: Why Project Management Fails in Complex decision making Processes. Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic Publishers. Driessen, P. 1999. Activating a Policy Network; The Case of Mainport Schiphol. in Susskind et al., 1999, The Consensus Building Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Reaching Agreement. Enthoven, G.M.W. and A. de Rooij. 1996. InfraLab; Impuls voor open planvorming en creativiteit.Bestuurskunde, Vol. 5, Issue 8, p. 1-8. Friend, J. and A. Hickling. 2004. Planning Under Pressure, The Strategic Choice Approach. Oxford, Buttorworth/Heinemann. Glasbergen, P. and P.J. Driessen. 2005. Interactive planning of infrastructure: the changing role of Dutch project management. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, Vol. 23, p. 263-277. Khakee A., A. Barbanente and D. Borri. 2000. Expert and experimental knowledge in planning. The Journal of the Operational Research Society, Vol. 51, No. 7, p. 776-788. Mock, G.A., W. Vanasselt, and E. Petkova. 2003. Rights and reality: Monitoring the public’s right to participate. International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, Vol. 9, p. 4-13. Suzzkind, L.S., S. McKearan and J. Thomas-Larmer. 1999. The Consensus Building Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Reaching Agreement. London, SAGE Publications. Appendix 1 – Case sheet Mainport Schiphol (Driessen, 1999) 1. Position Initiative: several governmental ministries Time period: 1980-present Level of used policy process: regional/national Phase in policy process: in process 2. Background This case is about plans to expand Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport and the disputes related to it. Schiphol Airport is situated in a highly urbanized area, and deals with national, continental and intercontinental air traffic. Although its presence is causing many ‘stress’ on its environmental surroundings, the Dutch government wants it to expand, so it can act as a hub for continental and intercontinental air traffic. With this expansion there are two interests at stake: on national level an economic one (because an enlarged Schiphol Airport would increase economic activities), and on regional level an environmental one (because a bigger Schiphol Airport will caus Barriers to Dutch Infrastructural Project Planning Barriers to Dutch Infrastructural Project Planning Interactive planning of Dutch infrastructural project A case-description of Mainport Schiphol and the A12 national expressway Interactive Planning of Sustainability 1. Introduction Since the beginning of the ‘90s, the implementation of new infrastructural projects in The Netherlands became increasingly problematic. Related environmental issues had a lot of societal attention. The Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, responsible for maintaining a high quality of mobility in the Netherlands, identified three major problems with earlier attempts to solve the infrastructural problems; little social acceptance for new projects, procedures for realizing new projects took too long, and the proposed solutions were not really original and often ‘more of the same’. For solving these problems, this Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management proposed a change from top-down decision making to a more open and interactive form of policy making for planning, developing, and implementing new infrastructure (Enthoven and de Rooij, 1996). With interactive policy making, the main goal is to make more creative and effectiv e plans, by involving all stakeholders like citizens, (local and/or national) governments and experts. For this paper, 2 cases are selected, related to a Dutch infrastructure issue and dealt with on an interactive way; Mainport Schiphol near Amsterdam and the A12 national expressway near The Hague. The first one is selected because of its elaborated description in Susskind et al. (1999), its high degree of complexness and the fact the outcomes were fairly positive, the second one is selected also because of its suitable description in Glasbergen en Driessen (2005), but with a more straight-forward problem definition and its positive outcomes. Discussing these two Dutch cases, we will focus on four critical issues, related to interactive planning and often discussed in literature: Participant selection, Power and Access, Roles of facilitators, and Use of knowledge. Although more critical issues can be defined, like Roles op participants, Modes of evaluation and Use of outcomes by policy makers, only these four are chosen because of the fact that these are clearly discussed in the selec ted case-descriptions and these seemed to be crucial for the success of these cases. Chapter 2 will discuss each critical issue shortly. Chapter 3 will discuss the two cases in the light of the four different critical issues, and chapter 4 will give a conclusion. To structure this research the following research question is formulated: How do the four critical issues (Participant selection, Power and Access, Roles of facilitators, and Use of knowledge) contribute to the rate of success of 2 infrastructural cases in The Netherlands (the Schiphol case and the A12 national expressway)? 2. Critical Issues This chapter will elaborate a bit more about what is actually meant with the four different critical issues: Participant selection, Power and Access, Roles of facilitators, and Use of knowledge. 2.1 Participant selection The question of which parties to involve is answered by a set of four considerations that should be taken into account when selecting the participants (De Bruijn et al., 2002). Firstly, parties with blocking power in the decision-making are important. Involving these parties in the process may keep them from using their blocking power in ways that are unforeseen. Secondly, parties with productive power should be part of the process. These parties will actually have to implement the decisions that are taken, and can influence the decision making with their control over the productive resources. Thirdly, parties that have an interest in the decision-making should be considered. These are parties that do not have substantial power in the decision making process (like blocking power or resources), but nevertheless are confronted with the outcomes of the group process and therefore can provide important information and moral considerations. Finally, this moral aspect of decision-making ca n by a reason to invite certain parties to join the process. Moral and ethical considerations can be important to embody the voice of those who are affected by the potential decision, but are not invited to the process for different reasons (De Bruin, 2002). 2.2 Power and access One of the key goals of interactive policy making is that it should reduce the influence of dominant elites and enable the less powerful groups to give input. Those parties or actors, who do not have access to formal decision-making processes or who cannot exert enough influence by the way of discussion and negotiation are more likely to initiate legal proceedings. Public’s ability to participate in decisions can be assessed according to three elements (as defined at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992): access to information, access to the decision-making process, and access to redress or change decision. These three elements will shortly be explained below. ‘Access to information’ can be seen as the first foundation of access and also one of the most passive forms of access seen from the perspective of the public. With access to information is meant the ability the public has to easily get access to forms of relevant information in which they are directly or indirectly involved, such as environmental impact assessments, reports from industries about their emissions etc. But one also can think about getting informed about potential relevant activities, which possibly can affect the public’s environment. ‘Access to the decision-making processes’ wants to give the public a more active role. Once this form of access is attained, one can even speak of a certain form of power. One must not focus on only the opportunity to provide input on specific subjects, but also the ability to influence more general decisions, such as the making of new laws or national policies. ‘Access to redress or change a certain decision’ is also related to a form of power, since the ability to change a certain decision gives a citizen the power to influence the decision-making process. This form of access can be translated into making judicial or administrative remedies accessible to the public, when officials fail to do their work in a proper manner (Mock et al., 2003). 2.3 Roles of facilitators The roles that a facilitator can play in group decision processes constitute of consistent packages of specific tasks within the group process combined with a more general ‘attitude’ towards the group members and the process. In literature, three major roles of a facilitator are commonly distinguished: a role as process architect or process manager, a mediating role and a convening role. As a process architect, the facilitator lays down the backbone of the group process. The process should be structured in such a way that all relevant insights from the participants will play a role in the process. Four core principles for designing a group process can be discriminated: openness, protection of core values, speed and substance (De Bruijn et al., 2002). These four ‘core elements of process design’ should be included and safeguarded in any process design in order to satisfy all the participants. The facilitator focuses on the process so that group members can focus on the substance and can suggest different ways of discussing problems, ensuring that all group members can freely express there comments and are free of any abuses of power or personal attack (Susskind et al., 1999). Especially in environmental issues, the interests, values and problem perceptions of different parties may often be far apart form each other. With such large contrasts of interest within the group, a facilitator often is faced with disputes and conflicts within the group process, that are hard to solve with mere changes in the structure of the process. In such case, the role of the facilitator can be very closely related with a mediating role in which the facilitator is mediating between parties, even to establish a general structure of the process. In addition, an external mediator can be asked to solve the conflicts. An external mediator is a neutral person that specializes in solving disputes between different participants in the group process, often using a variety of negotiation techniques and (psychological) methods of reframing problems and solutions (Acland, 1995). In a convening role, the facilitator has a say in which parties should be involved in the group process, and at what roles they will have. The convening role of a facilitator is sometimes not far apart from the role that a facilitator has as a process designer. Proper management of a group decisions process clearly has a very import influence on the effectiveness of that process. The facilitator can influence that process to quit a large extent. The consensus of all group members on the final decision depends for a large part on the level of agreement within the group with the approach that facilitators takes in structuring and managing the process. 2.4 Role of knowledge Knowledge is a crucial ingredient of interactive planning. However, the significance of the use of knowledge depends on one’s view. Over the years, the view on the role of knowledge has changed. The rational actor model has gradually been replaced by adaptive decision and learning strategies interacting with the environment. Before, planning would be perceived as proceeding in an orderly and linear fashion (Friend Hickling, 2005). Today some authors state that knowledge is a result of collective social processes. This implies that knowledge is a social construct, rather than an objective entity. In the new approach, linear progression of the process is seen as unrealistic. Instead, the uniqueness, ambiguity and unpredictability of real world processes are emphasized. With the recognition that planning is an interactive and communicative process, the notion of the interrelationship between expert and experiential knowledge has become more and more crucial. Interactive planning is now seen as ‘organized rituals’ where ‘deliberating participants’ listen to one another, search for new options and learn to find new ways of going on together (Khakee et al., 2000). 3. Case description For a complete description of each of the two cases, see appendix 1 and 2. This section will only discuss the previously mentioned four critical issues related to interactive policy making (Participant selection, Power and Access, Roles of facilitators, and Use of knowledge), related to the experiences of these two cases. 3.1 Mainport Schiphol Schiphol Airport is situated in a highly urbanized area, and deals with national, continental and intercontinental air traffic. Although its presence is causing many ‘stress’ on its environmental surroundings, the Dutch government wants it to expand, so it can act as a hub for continental and intercontinental air traffic. With this expansion there are two interests at stake: on national level an economic one (because an enlarged Schiphol would increase economic activities), and on regional level an environmental one (because a bigger Schiphol will cause an increase of nuisances of noise, pollution, and safety). These two opposite interests caused a stalemate to occur since the 1950s. In the 1980s, one of the government authorities took the initiative to change the ‘common way of working’ and activated the policy network, to address the issues (Driessen, 1999). 3.1.1 Participant selection The most important actor in this case was the Dutch Government, who made the prefigured decision to expand the airport into an international hub. All other participants had to find their ‘win-win’ outcomes within this context of developmental growth. From the beginning, various government organisations have been involved in the development of Schiphol Airport. The main players are three ministries. The ministry of Transport and Public Works is by far the most important actor, responsible for the economic development of the airport as well as the abatement of noise nuisance. Second, the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment is also involved, responsible for physical planning in The Netherlands and implementing policies regarding the rest of the environmental effects of the activities of the airline industries, namely air pollution, stench and hazard. Finally, the Ministry of Economic Affairs plays and important role, pursuing further economic development in the region of Schiphol (Driessen, 1999). Lower tiers of governments involved were the province of North Holland, responsible for environmental policy and planning for the region, and the municipalities surrounding the airport, both benefiting (by increased employment and tax-incomes) and enduring the aggravation (caused by noise, stench, air pollution, and other activities that degrade the environment) of having the airport close by. The municipality of Haarlemmermeer is a special case, because this municipality is authorized to create a land use plan for the airfield. Additionally, two enterprises play a crucial role: NV Luchthaven Schiphol (operating the airport and completely state owned) and KLM (the major Dutch carrier and partly owned by the state) (Driessen, 1999). Because the Ministry of Transport and Public Works occupied a pivotal position, being both responsible for the economic development of Schiphol and the abatement of noise nuisance, it was agreed that noise regulation would be regulated by the Aviation Act, which was under the responsibility of the Ministry of Transport and Public Works. Nevertheless, little actions were made to reduce noise nuisance, because all participants believed that technical solutions would solve all noise-problems in the near future. Because no agreement could be made between these participants on how much the airport should be allowed to grow, or how to tackle the environmental problems, the Dutch government asked the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment to make an integral plan for the Schiphol region, ensuring both economic development as well as environmental improvements. In the following process, a project group and a steering committee were established. The steering committee was comp osed out of all above-mentioned parties, while the project group contained all interest groups. Any party with interest in the case could join the project group (Driessen, 1999). Based on the case-description and related to the four considerations described in section 2.1, it must be concluded that parties with blocking and productive power were strongly involved in the interactive planning process, by joining the steering committee. Other parties with interest were also involved, by joining the project group, but their influence was relatively small. If parties were involved, based on moral considerations, does not become clear from this case-description. 3.1.2 Power and access The three different Governmental agencies (the ministry of Transport and Public Works, the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs) with jurisdictional authority over airport expansion, had accepted the mandate for airport expansion, but each with more at stake than achieving this outcome. Interagency rivalry and power played a critical part in the positions the ministries adopted and the coalitions they build during negotiations. The creation of a project group composed of all interest groups and of a steering committee of essential power brokers gave much power to the steering committee alone. From the case description, it does not become clear that the members of the steering committee, who were eventually excluded from the decision-making, were those who could not benefit in a ‘win-win’ situation, or were simply not powerful enough to block or advance progress. Nevertheless, the exclusion of interests cannot lead t o a ‘win-win’ solution and has encountered difficulties building consensus and achieving compliance (Driessen, 1999). Based on the case-description and related to the three elements described in section 2.2, it must be concluded that ‘Access to information’ does not form an obstacle. Perhaps the overload on information and the opposed and contradicting information gave bigger problems. The public was given some access to the decision-making process when they joint the project group, by commenting the ideas of the steering committee. However, the steering committee made all final decisions, so there was certainly no access to redress or change a decision. 3.1.3 Roles of facilitator After the developed deadlock between the initially participants, the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment was made primary responsible for the task of making an integral plan for the Schiphol region, ensuring both economic development as well as environmental improvements. The fact that this ministry had a strong affiliation with environmental issues raised initial suspicion among the other governmental bodies. They wondered whether this ministry would be able to take a neutral position in the ensuing discussions. However, their initial wariness soon gave way to a realistic attitude, and actively joined the process (Driessen, 1999). The Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment designed an organizational framework for the discussion whereby the coordinated approach would be given a concrete form by activating the policy network. With this, the ministry acquired a dual function in the project, because it was the convenor, chair and facilitator of the planning process, and had to secure the input of environmental interest in the decision-making (Driessen, 1999). In the initial stage, the strategy of the project leaders of the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment was to bring the various parties closer together by conducting investigations and exchanging information, assuming that this might contribute to a better understanding and more appreciation for each different standpoint. The was no need for a professional facilitator, because all information was being collected, analyzed, and disseminated in an orderly way, although a professional facilitator could have helped structuring the problem. At the end of this stage, the project leaders formulated a plan, which could not be released because of the rain of criticism it caused (Driessen, 1999). Because of this setback, the project leaders decided to recruit a professional facilitator, with the task not to increase the supply of information, but to let parties sought to digest what they had and to arrive at a decision. From the case-description, it does not become clear if this facilitator had staff support and whether he/she had analytical, problem solving skills. The approach taken by the facilitator was aimed at bringing the main bottlenecks to the fore, in order to reach agreements at least on key points. The approach was characterized by the creation of a strong interaction between the project group and the steering committee. The later reviewed the issues that the project group had pared down in size, and either approved the solutions offered by the project group or send them back to the project group for reconsideration (Driessen, 1999). After this process, the facilitator presented the choices made by the project group and the steering committee to the public. The central aim of this was, to gain social and political legitimacy; the plan was opened up to the public discussion and the reactions were taken into account in the final version. Unfortunately, the public was hardly informed about the process preceding the plan and therefore it was generally received with great suspicion. Adding to this, the public discussion did not proceeded in a coordinated fashion, but each government resorted to its own method of public discussion. At the same time of these public hearings, the facilitator had to focus on the steering committee, because each party could take criticism of the plan as a lever to reopen discussion on subjects already discussed. At the end, the facilitator wrote the final text of the plan, shaping the final agreements also including the difficult topics of a reduction of noise nuisance and hazard (Driessen , 1999). From this description of the facilitator, it becomes clear that the facilitator had both the role of process architect, and mediator. The facilitator designed the entire framework of decision-making and mediated when problems occurred. If the facilitator also had a convening role is unclear. Which stakeholders could join the steering committee was already decided before the facilitator got involved. How actually the project group was formed, stays unclear from this case-description. 3.1.4 Role of knowledge Especially in issues related to airfield, experts disagree on numerous crucial uncertainties. This makes the role of knowledge both important but not of the same tenor. Research plays a key role in these controversies. This relates to research on, for instance, the need to build a new airport or expand the existing one, it may concern the most desirable infrastructure in and around the airport, it may deal with the profitability of operation, it may investigate the economic impact of the airport, or it may consider possible negative effects on the environment. However, this research must never be judged as ‘objective’ and will always play a role in the conflict of interest, expressed in this case, in the frequency of requested ‘second opinions’ (Driessen, 1999). In the case of noise nuisance, it took long time to be acknowledged as a problem and to find a way of calculating the level of distress. In the mid-1960s, a system was developed to measure noise nuisance, but no agreement could be made on how it should be applied. For instance, there was discussion about how to determine the threshold value for maximum admissible noise nuisance. Furthermore, options differ on setting a specific norm for night flights. The disagreement revolves around the degree to which departing and arriving airplanes disturb the sleep of nearby residents, and whether such disruption is detrimental to public health. There was also uncertainty about, the rate air traffic would increase, and the degree to which technical developments in aeronautics could help reduce noise levels by changing the aircrafts design (Driessen, 1999). Therefore, as also stated in section 2.4, knowledge is very important in decision-making processes, but as these processes get more interaction with a broad scale of actors, knowledge becomes more a result of collective social processes and loses its objective entity. From this case-description, it does not become explicitly clear if the decisions were based on knowledge provided by ‘experts’ or that it was formed in an interactive learning process. Implicitly, one could state that the agreement on noise nuisances could only have been established, when such interactive knowledge development occurred. 3.2 A12 national expressway The ease of accessibility of The Hague depends to a large extent on the A12 national expressway. Its final 30 km stretch is marked by many access and exit ramps, and the intensity of traffic in this area has increased dramatically in recent decades. This is partly thanks to the enormous increase in the volume of vehicular traffic, and partly to the proliferation of new urban development locations around The Hague. Much of the traffic is ‘destination traffic’ which enters the city in the morning and leaves at night. As a result of the higher volumes, congestion became a big problem (Glasbergen and Driessen, 2005). 3.2.1 Participant selection The planning agency initially saw itself as the owner of the problem at stake and formulated a classical solution of road widening. This approach failed because of public resistance and of a budget problem at the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management. Because of this, the ministry stepped back, which un-deliberately created opportunities for other parties to take initiative. The government authorities of The Hague took the initiative to develop a new architecture for interaction among the different stakeholders. They organized a public dialog and a series of workshops involving local politicians and private businesses from the region, resulting in a new definition of the problem, focussing on the underutilization of existing capacity. The role of the planning agency changed from orchestrator of the infrastructure project to a partner in the wider regional consultation on issues of mobility and livability. They also made subsidies available to the business community , enabling them to work out individual, sometimes innovative, mobility plans (Glasbergen and Driessen, 2005). Before concluding the analysis of participant selection in this case, the fact that there were no objections to the planes made by this interactive planning-process is probably the best evidence that all relevant stakeholders were included in the process. Nevertheless, from the case-description and related to the four considerations described in section 2.1, it does not become clear how all relevant stakeholders were defined, if all parties with blocking and productive power were added to the process, or if parties with moral and ethical considerations were included. 3.2.2 Power and access This case can bee described as a restricted interactive process, because it was intended to promote the cooperation of public authorities with the private sector. Civic organizations and individual citizens were kept informed through a public relations center. The governmental authorities of The Hague decided which stakeholders were included in the process. Despite this fact, no opposition to this project did arise (Glasbergen and Driessen, 2005). The access to information was well looked after, in the form of the public relations center. They kept civic organizations and individual citizens informed about the plans and progress. More power was not given to the public in this case. 3.2.3 Roles of facilitator In order to link the government agencies (where the plans were developed), and the business community, a ‘godfather’ was appointed. This honour was given to the director of the public transport company in the region, and he served as a contact between the project and the private sector. He kept all relevant firms informed about the development of the project and called these firms to task with respect to their responsibilities for the region’s accessibility, by reminding them that they might be lagging behind other firms in the development of their mobility plans (Glasbergen and Driessen, 2005). From the case-description, it must be concluded that the government authorities of The Hague acted as a convener, initially selecting the different stakeholders. Facilitating the process and mediating in conflicts were partly done by the ‘godfather’ and partly by the government authorities of The Hague. The precise division of responsibilities does not become clear from the case-description. 3.2.4 Role of knowledge According to this case-description, it was the government agencies of The Hague who decided what knowledge was used in the decision process. The only organization consulted for information was the planning agency, also participating in the planning process (Glasbergen and Driessen, 2005). Although knowledge is crucial in interactive planning (see section 2.4), the role of knowledge in this case is not very big. This probably has two reasons. One is the relative simple problem at stake (congestion) and secondly the fact that all parties agreed on the content of the relevant knowledge. Nevertheless, the fact that only one party provided the relevant knowledge could potentially have caused major problems afterwards. 4. Conclusion This research started with the question: How do the four critical issues (Participant selection, Power and Access, Roles of facilitators, and Use of knowledge) contribute to the rate of success of 2 infrastructural cases in The Netherlands (the Schiphol case and the A12 national expressway)? How each criterion added to the success of the case is described at the end of each subsection in chapter 3. Overall, it can be concluded that the success of interactive planning depends on the care each criterion is taken care of. If one of these criteria is neglected, it will be reflected in the outcomes. If, for example, participants are forgotten, power is not distributed evenly, facilitators are not adequate, or knowledge is not as objective as possible, the process will take much longer time and the change of good end-results and thus consensus will diminish. Both cases make clear that solutions were impossible to reach in the traditional way of policy making and that interactive policy mak ing contributed to good end results. Nevertheless, in future comparable processes, more attention should be given to the four discussed critical issues, and probably to the seven mentioned in the introduction. Only than, the rate of success of these kind of processes will increase. References Acland, A.F. 1995. Resolving Disputes without going to Court. London, Century Business Books. Bruijn, H. de, E. ten Heuvelhof and R.J. in ’t Veld. 2002. Process management: Why Project Management Fails in Complex decision making Processes. Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic Publishers. Driessen, P. 1999. Activating a Policy Network; The Case of Mainport Schiphol. in Susskind et al., 1999, The Consensus Building Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Reaching Agreement. Enthoven, G.M.W. and A. de Rooij. 1996. InfraLab; Impuls voor open planvorming en creativiteit.Bestuurskunde, Vol. 5, Issue 8, p. 1-8. Friend, J. and A. Hickling. 2004. Planning Under Pressure, The Strategic Choice Approach. Oxford, Buttorworth/Heinemann. Glasbergen, P. and P.J. Driessen. 2005. Interactive planning of infrastructure: the changing role of Dutch project management. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, Vol. 23, p. 263-277. Khakee A., A. Barbanente and D. Borri. 2000. Expert and experimental knowledge in planning. The Journal of the Operational Research Society, Vol. 51, No. 7, p. 776-788. Mock, G.A., W. Vanasselt, and E. Petkova. 2003. Rights and reality: Monitoring the public’s right to participate. International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, Vol. 9, p. 4-13. Suzzkind, L.S., S. McKearan and J. Thomas-Larmer. 1999. The Consensus Building Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Reaching Agreement. London, SAGE Publications. Appendix 1 – Case sheet Mainport Schiphol (Driessen, 1999) 1. Position Initiative: several governmental ministries Time period: 1980-present Level of used policy process: regional/national Phase in policy process: in process 2. Background This case is about plans to expand Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport and the disputes related to it. Schiphol Airport is situated in a highly urbanized area, and deals with national, continental and intercontinental air traffic. Although its presence is causing many ‘stress’ on its environmental surroundings, the Dutch government wants it to expand, so it can act as a hub for continental and intercontinental air traffic. With this expansion there are two interests at stake: on national level an economic one (because an enlarged Schiphol Airport would increase economic activities), and on regional level an environmental one (because a bigger Schiphol Airport will caus

Not Everyone Can Be a Servant Leader Essay -- Servant Leadership

There are ten characteristics of a servant leader: listening (communication between leaders and followers as an interactive process that includes sending and receiving messages), empathy (â€Å"standing in the shoes† of another person and seeing the world from their point of view), healing (to make whole by caring about the well-being of their followers), awareness (being acutely attuned and receptive to physical, social and political environments), persuasion (clear and persistent communication that convinces someone to change), conceptualization (ability to be a visionary for an organization and providing a clear sense of its goals and direction), foresight (ability to know the future and predict what is coming based on what is happening now and what has occurred in the past), stewardship (taking responsibility for the leadership role and accepting responsibility to carefully mange the people and organization), commitment to the growth of people (helping each person grow per sonally and professionally), and building community (fostering the development of the community), (Spears, 2002 as cited in Northouse 2013). I think that most people are probably capable to be servant leaders; however, I do not agree that everyone can learn to be a servant leader or even desire to be a servant leader. A servant leader as stated above has to have certain characteristics. Not everyone has all of these characteristics nor do I think these characteristics can be learned. It seems to me, either you have them or you don’t. If you don’t have all these characteristics, it would seem to me that servant leadership wouldn’t be as effective and therefore, would have greater chance of failure on both the leader and the follower. For example, some people sim... ...ply don’t want to put forth such a tremendous amount of behavior that is required to be a servant leader. I think that if the right type of individual is selected, servant leadership can produce very good results not only for the leader, but also the follower and ultimately the organization. As Norhouse (2013), explains, servant leadership has been used in a variety of organizations including Starbucks, AT&T, Southwest and more. It has also been taught at many colleges and universities as well. I think that with the right individual and the right training, it is a very successful type of leadership; however, I still don’t agree that everyone can learn to be a servant leader. References: Northouse, P.G. (2013). Servant Leadership. In L.C. Shaw & P. Quinlin (Eds.), Leadership theory and practice (6th ed.) (pp.219-252). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Background Screening and the Fair Credit Reporting Act

Recent incidents with domestic and international significance have compelled employers to give more weight and attention to the practice of conducting background checks not only on job applicants but on their current employees as well. Some of these events prodded employers to resort to background screening on their own initiatives while others had been the subject of state and federal requirements. One of the most noteworthy events were the 9/11 terrorist attacks which have made employers more security conscious, leading them to subject the backgrounds of both their prospective and present workers to more rigorous examination.A recorded increase in lawsuits filed against employers involving all sorts of negligence in the hiring of employees, on the other hand, caused employers to stop hiring applicants based solely on their instincts about human nature. Corporate frauds and scandals similar to the Enron case of 2002 had also impelled employers to scrutinize both the private and prof essional lives of the members of their upper management teams such as â€Å"corporate executives, officers, and directors† in efforts aimed at preventing financial losses.Newspaper reports claiming that as high as 40% of job applicants in the country have been submitting fabricated resumes and false information have similarly alerted employers into ascertaining the backgrounds of people approaching them for employment (Privacy Rights Clearinghouse). A heightened interest on background checking also resulted from the observed rise in cases involving abductions and abuse of children, older people, and persons with disabilities.This resulted to majority of the states requiring employers to conduct â€Å"criminal background checks for anyone who works with children, the elderly, or disabled. † In fact the database of the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is now accessible to state officials under the authority of the National C hild Protection Act primarily for this purpose (Privacy Rights Clearinghouse). Employers conduct background checks under the authority of the â€Å"Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA),† a federal law.Although background checks are not a requirement under the FCRA, employers nevertheless do so in order to comply with the standards set by the national government concerning screening of employees. These national standards are established by the FCRA. Under the FCRA, external organizations should undertake the investigation into the backgrounds of applicants or employees and include the same in a â€Å"consumer report. † Employers are not allowed to apply the provisions of the FCRA to checks which they themselves have done (Privacy Rights Clearinghouse).Examples of information and/or records that could be obtained or accessed through a background check are: â€Å"criminal convictions, driving records, social security number, property ownership, past employees, vehicle regist ration, character references, personal references, credit records, court records, neighbor interviews, state licensing records, incarceration records, workers’ compensation, drug test records, sex offender lists, educational records, military service records, dental records, and bankruptcies within the preceding ten years.† The following information could likewise be available to a check conducted under the FCRA as long as the investigation should cover only the preceding seven years: â€Å"civil suits, civil judgments, paid tax liens, and accounts placed for collection† (Privacy Rights Clearinghouse). Under the provisions of the FCRA, before an employer could have a background check conducted, the written consent of the applicant should first be obtained.If after reading the report the employer decides to take an â€Å"adverse action† i. e. he/she decides not to hire the applicant, terminate an employee, rescind an offer of a job, or refuse to promote an employee, he/she is required to provide the applicant or employee with a notice or a â€Å"pre-adverse action disclosure† together with a copy of the result of the background check.After undertaking the â€Å"adverse action,† the name and address of the screening entity should be provided to the applicant or employee in an â€Å"adverse action notice† together with an advice that he/she â€Å"has the right to dispute the accuracy or completeness of any of the information in the report† (Privacy Rights Clearinghouse). Reference Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. Employment Background Checks: A Jobseeker’s Guide. July 2007. 23 September 2007

Article Example

Thomas Sowell said, â€Å"The first lesson of economics is scarcity: There is never enough of anything to satisfy all those who want it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  In this paper the author will define economics, microeconomics, macroeconomics, the law of supply and demand and will identify the factors that lead to a change in supply and demand. The author will also analyze the basis for the trends in consumption patterns as discussed in the article â€Å"Alcoholic Beverage Consumption in the U. S. : Patterns and Trends.Economics Defined According to our text, â€Å"Economics is the study of how human beings coordinate their wants and desires, given the decision-making mechanisms, social customs, and political realities of the society (Colander, 2008). Economics can be simply defined as the study of production, allocation and consumption of goods and services. There are generally three central problems that an economy must solve, they are: what, and how much to produce, how to produce it, and fo r whom to produce it.This paper will discuss microeconomics, the law of supply and demand, and the factors that lead to a change in supply and demand. Micro and Macroeconomics Economics is important and used in all facets of life. There are many issues across the world that are based on economic aspects, especially when making decisions that involve profit sharing, income allocation, minimizing unemployment, and price gauging.Some businesses will use economics to drive prices and determining on purchases or investments. Microeconomics is â€Å"The study of individual choice, and how that choice is influenced by economic forces† or also known as the invisible hand theory. Decisions that are based on microeconomics are typically motivated by costs; those costs can be of financial costs which include average fixed or total variable. Macroeconomics is the study of the economy as a†¦

Antony & Cleopatra essays

Antony & Cleopatra essays Life's events often cause an individual to re-evaluate what his or her priorities are. In Antony and Cleopatra, Antony is constantly examining his priorities through experiences as he changes or affirms what is truly important in his life. Antony is forced to decide between the Roman lifestyle which he found great success with as a political leader and the frivolous Egyptian lifestyle of the East. After his experiences in battle, Antony makes an initial priority adjustment as he leaves his political success for his emotion dominated relationship with Cleopatra in Egypt. Soon he recognizes, through his experiences in Egypt, that his relationship is playing a negative role in his political involvement, and his strong Roman qualities are losing effect in his character. When he begins to fail in his role as a leader of the Roman Empire, he begins to doubt his priorities are where they should be. Antony finally reassess his life and his values after he has gone to battle ag! ain, and in turn, he accepts that his priorities are no longer found in politics, but are with Cleopatra; and so Antony proceeds to makes the ultimate sacrifice for what he found to be truly important in his life. Antony's initial priority adjustment is the most drastic, as he abandons his political responsibilities as a member of the Triumvirate for his passionate relation with Cleopatra. Caesar states about the Antony who was a great leader: "When thou once wast beaten from Modena... Thou dist drink the stale of horses and the gilded puddle Caesar acknowledges that Antony had such success in the past as a Roman leader as he was inspirational to his men in battle. This potential is abandoned in his infatuation with Cleopatra in the East. Thus, Caesar realizes Antony's potential to be a great leader in the Second Triumvirate in the Roman way of life. At the start of the play, Philo expresses his distrust of Antony and his doubt of Antony's pri...

Measuring Customer Satisfaction Index at Maruti True Value Essays

Measuring Customer Satisfaction Index at Maruti True Value Essays Measuring Customer Satisfaction Index at Maruti True Value Essay Measuring Customer Satisfaction Index at Maruti True Value Essay Measuring Customer Satisfaction Index at Maruti True Value In a competitory market place where concerns compete for clients, client satisfaction is seen as a cardinal discriminator and progressively has become a cardinal component of concern scheme.Customer satisfaction is an unsure and abstract construct. Customer satisfaction is a step of client outlook from the merchandises and services supplied by a companyThe province of satisfaction will change from individual to individual and product/service to product/service. In concern term I The province of client satisfaction depends on: Psychological variables which covers motive ( safety, love, self assurance, belongingness ) , Personality ( aggressive, unprompted, dogmatic, introvert ) , Perception ( low hazard, high hazard, quality, monetary value ) , Attitude ( positive, negative ) , Learning engagement. Psychographic variables- is a description of consumers on the footing of their behavioural features derived from psychological factors.It screens Activities ( avocations, holiday, shopping, athleticss ) , Interests ( manner, diversion, nutrient, media ) , Opinions ( social/political issues ) , Lifestyles etc.The degree of satisfaction can besides vary depending on other options the client may hold and other merchandises against which the client can compare the organisation s merchandises. Measuring Customer Satisfaction There are several ways to garner input from clients. The simplest manner to happen out how clients feel and what they want is to inquire them.Customer studies with standardised study inquiries insure that will roll up the same information from everyone. The client is asked to measure each statement and in term of their perceptual experience and outlook of public presentation of the organisation being measured.Focus groups are good ways to acquire informal input from a group of clients or chances. You bring in 5-10 clients or chances and inquire them inquiries or have them respond to stuff.Few of the possible dimensions for mensurating Customer Satisfaction Index at Maruti True Value are ; quality of service velocity of service pricing ailments or jobs trust in the employees of the company types of other services needed placement of the company in clients headsFor mensurating Customer Satisfaction Index at Maruti True Value inquiries from clients are asked in following countries: Sat isfaction degree Documentation Loan Availability Availability of theoretical account After gross revenues service ChargingHarmonizing to the undermentioned steps a set of questionnaires is develop to happen the client satisfaction index at Maruti True Value. Satisfaction degree: 1 ) Are you satisfied with the procedure of rating of your auto?2 ) What do you hold to state about the expertness of check-up squad?3 ) Did they follow proper check-list process? Documentation: 4 ) Are you satisfied with the certification providedI. Insurance record of vehicle?II. Registration certification of vehicle?III. Transfer missive from original buyerIV. Police record, if anyV. Accidents, if any5 ) What did you felt about the response clip? Loan Availability: 6 ) How will you rate reactivity of recognition section?7 ) Ease in availing loan in footings of paperss demanded?8 ) Transparency in regard of footings and conditions account? Handiness: 9 ) Did you got the theoretical account you were looking for?10 ) Are you satisfied with the status of vehicle?11 ) Did they provide you the specifications that you wanted? After gross revenues service: 12 ) How much are you satisfied with figure of free check-up services?13 ) Are you satisfied with their response clip? Charge: 14 ) Responsiveness in charging procedure on graduated table of 1 to 5.15 ) Transparency adopted in footings of proper and elaborate charge on graduated table of 1 to 5. Aid: 16 ) What do you state about attitude of employees?17 ) Expert aid in footings of certification.18 ) Aid in taking right theoretical account harmonizing to your budget.19 ) Aid provided in managing ailments From the Survey it is found that Maruti Udyog was ranked highest in client satisfaction because every True Value Maruti Car which is sold consists of following comfortss with it: gt ; gt ; 120-Quality Checks by Maruti Suzuki trained Engineers. gt ; gt ; Bonafides of the Seller are verified gt ; gt ; RTO documents are transferred in your name. gt ; gt ; All autos refurbished with Maruti Genuine Parts. gt ; gt ; Maruti Suzuki Warranty up to 1 twelvemonth gt ; gt ; 3 free services. gt ; gt ; Get a Warranty brochure and certification. gt ; gt ; Nationwide True Value web While buying Maruti Car, it satisfy both Psychological variables A ; Psychographic variables gt ; gt ; Provides auto of every scope, i.e. for every category. gt ; gt ; Offer trial thrusts gt ; gt ; Explaining the vehicle s characteristics. gt ; gt ; Available in assorted theoretical accounts A ; colourss. gt ; gt ; Minimum paper work. gt ; gt ; Make available the auto at their doorsill. gt ; gt ; Customers describe higher satisfaction because they are able to have their vehicles with no engagement clip gt ; gt ; Have its ain the zero tenseness auto insurance policy gt ; gt ; Easy finance installation through ICICI Car Loans, CITI Finance, etc.

Let Your Nights Before Exams Be Less Traumatic

Let Your Nights Before Exams Be Less Traumatic 10 Revision Techniques For The Examination Eve The eve of the examination day is here. All the efforts, long hours of studying and revising have brought you to this moment. This night is the time when you need to take a breather to unwind, rejuvenate and recollect your thoughts as this will boost your confidence and poise when writing the exam. To assist you to prepare, here are top 10 reading techniques we have gathered from some performing scholars. 1. Stick to What You Know In sports, there is the perception of ‘nothing new, In a marathon, one of the first instructions is not to wear new shoes. This canon applies to foods, clothes and in this case, academics. The night before the examination is not the time to adopt new ways of doing things, for instance, revision techniques, sleeping routines or energy drinks whether legal or not. Stick to the things you have been doing in the past whose impact and effect you are fully aware of despite the advice to try something different, and that comprises to what extent you will consider using the directions given below. 2. Be Prepared We cannot further state the importance of adequate preparation and as the saying goes, ‘failing to prepare, is preparing to fail. The preparations should never begin on the eve of the examination day rather, days or weeks before this moment. Books and all the writing materials should be at your disposal to avoid wasting time looking for them at the last minute. The time you could have utilized doing final touches on specific areas. 3. Bountiful Relaxation The better part of students’ population has the belief that burning the midnight oil the night before the exam is the logical thing to do. Research, however, disapproves this belief and explains that getting sufficient rest is the best approach to digesting new information by the learner. When you get home from school, take a nap (preferably 20-30 minutes) and afterward start reading from the first page. 6.5 – 8 hours is the idle amount of time you should have your night sleep, and for this to happen, you need to retire to bed early. First thing in the morning, study and go through the material for the examination. Depriving yourself of sleep will make you exasperated and frustrated, and this is not a good condition to be doing an exam. Even so, this is our proposal but remember to check out rule #1. 4. Watch What You Eat A healthy meal will go a long way in making the whole experience pleasurable. A balanced diet of carbs, proteins, and fats is recommended particularly in the morning of the exam as you want to keep off the high intake of carbs that will stuff you up with sugar that will make you sleepy. Equally important, low quantities of caffeine should be consumed to evade the risk of overusing them beyond the level of maximum satisfaction. But as always, remember rule #1. 5. Develop a Mock Test for Yourself Developing a mock exam is one of the best ways to prepare for an examination as it will brace you mentally for what to expect. Read and study all the materials provided; they could be, lecture notes, textbooks, discussion notes and more and identify the prime areas examiners like to test. To effectively do this, assume the role of a tough examiner and set the hardest questions that you come across assuming that the examiner will do the same. Attempt to write the exam with no cheating. The pretend exam will give a clue about where you need to polish up and where you are proficient. 6. Have Revision Partners It is quite probable you are not the only one getting ready to perform well in the coming exam. Before the exam, it is practical for you to look for another person you can study with comfortably. The person could be a serious individual you are confident will help you through the revision process or someone who does better than you in that particular subject. Nevertheless, to obtain the best results and reduce distractions, it is vital to keep the number of people joining the group small. 7. Keep off the Internet The internet can be as disruptive as it can be entertaining when preparing for an exam and lest there is a valid reason for you to be online, you should disengage from all the social media platforms. You could start by genuinely searching up a word you have come across while reading but end up watching funny clips and other videos. How you spend the last 12-24 hours before the exam matters a lot and keeping off the internet will help you focus all your concentration on your books. 8. Minimize Disturbances and Interruptions Some people can handle reading in a loud environment with commotions everywhere. The disturbances in this scenario refer to things that divert your attention from your books or make studying impossible. Unluckily, keeping off social media is not enough to guarantee you quality time for studying. Family, friends or a neighbor wanting to catch up pose disturbances that could potentially eat into your study time and to mitigate this situation, try to be as unreachable as possible. 9. Slot in the Pomodore System of Productivity Developed by Francesco Cirillo, the Pomodore system of productivity was designed to imitate the tomato kitchen timers. The model is not the worst style to use to manage your time. In simple terms, the model suggests that a person deals with one thing at a time for 20-25 min after which they can take a break (visit the restroom, go up and down the stairs or do whatever it is that relaxes them) and then resume what they were doing. Repeat the process 4-5 times and then take a 15-30 minutes break and start the process from the top. The Pomodoro method is effective because, for the 20-25 minutes, the individual concentrates on accomplishing a precise mission. 10. Get Set to Go As the exam day approaches, the more nervous and worried you will get anticipating how the day will be like and probably play the day out in your head, perfectly normal. These activities put a lot of pressure on you especially in the morning trying to do everything at once while tensed. However, to ease the confusion on the morning of the exam, it will be wise to prepare everything you will need the day before. Pick out your outfit putting into consideration the weather, prepare breakfast and pack your lunch, arrange your bag pack and even take a shower. The next morning, getting ready will be fast and easy-going. But remember to refer to rule #1.

Critically analyse the extent to which the courts rely on policy Essay

Critically analyse the extent to which the courts rely on policy considerations when determining international trade cases - Essay Example This aspect has been the most significant hindrance to solving international trade cases. However, with globalization being on the increased, this notion can be easily changed. Major international bodies have come up with common policies, rules and regulation that create equality in the international market. According to Economist1 (2008) equality in the international market can only be achieved through creation of common international trade policies. This move has gone a long way in ensuring even small countries get the maximum market exposure as the market heavyweights. International market policies did not favor such countries. As much as these policies have been formulated, the courts and the judicial systems have the obligation of ensuring that these policies are adhered to. Just like any other court or justice system, the law governing international trade cases has an extent that a court may alter when need be. This has been a source of debate from many analysts who argue that international trade policies should not be altered regardless of the situation in question. Should there be an extent at which a court should adhere to international trade policies? What conditions should a case have in order to have the international laws stretched? What are the positive and negative effects of stretching the international trade polices? . According to Ahn, Fukao & Ito2 (2005) the reliance of the courts to international policies has enabled justice to prevail in the international market. The extent of the court reliance on the international policies is stipulated by the law. These laws are formulated in regards to the norms of the international market. These laws are a formulated by the joint opinion of major financial regions. This enables the laws formulated to be efficient and considerate to all requirements of these zones. After these laws are formulated the courts are given the responsibility of ensuring that the laws are practiced in full force. Major laws an d policies involved in the international market are based on licensing and legality. In licensing the courts only require to adhere to the requirements of the international law. In the international market, licensing involves legalizing business enterprises to export and import goods and services across the globe. Legalizing of business enterprises is based on their mode of operation and organization structure. The operations an organization carries out should be in line with the legal and international market requirements. For instance, the trade of illegal goods is strictly prohibited in all market regions across the globe. In ruling on a case involving the trade of illegal goods, the courts need to pass judgment regarding the requirements of the international policies. However, in this scenario there may exceptions which are due to different policies in different nations. For instance, with the legalization of the marijuana in a state in the United States, international law prohi biting the trade of marijuana should not govern this particular state. In this case, the court is forced to consider the law governing the trade of a particular product in a particular region. It is in such a scenario that the court needs to alter the international trade policies. From this scenario, one could argue that the court may alter the international trade policies to a certain extent. For instance, if two countries in different

SLP 2 Writing about Issues and using Third person Essay

SLP 2 Writing about Issues and using Third person - Essay Example oning them this way, but there was something so magnetizing about Aunt Hilda and her yellow house, something that makes her the second mother of all children of whoever leaves their children there. She has a canary yellow, two-story house, with a large tree house at her expansive, meadow-like backyard, which goes right to the woods. All I know is that for many children, her house is a palace stripped from an adventure book. Aunt Hilda’s house smelled like the perfect parent’s house, where something good was always cooking. She is a great and efficient cook, so her house smelled like different food at different times of the day. In the morning, it smelled like eggs, cereal, pancakes, and maple syrup. Sometimes, at my children’s special request, brown-sugared cinnamon bread rolls dominated the atmosphere. At noon, it smelled like baked chicken, or fried beef, or anything else simmering in her kitchen. In the mid-afternoon, it often smelled like chocolate chip cookies and fresh milk. She gets a large bottle of fresh cow milk everyday from a nearby farm. By supper, scents of salad, olive oil, and roasted chicken filled my nostrils. I asked Aunt Hilda how she manages to cook and to keep her house in order all the time. She said: â€Å"Well, it’s all about time management. I tell the kids what not to do and to do, or else I won’t have time to cook their favorite stuff and they obey me like good pups.† Then she laughed. She laughs so heartily, so from the heart. I always love her more when I hear her laugh. Breakfast is often chaotic for other families, but not at Aunt Hilda’s. She wakes up at four A.M. to clean up the house and to prepare breakfast. She sleeps by 10 PM. My husband and I eat there during breakfast. I make sure to give Aunt Hilda money every week for food, since she feeds my children most of the time, or I do the grocery for her. She has a large pension, so she did not have to work. She also has a simple life, and she does not to spend on

INTRODUCTION TO WESTERN PHILOSOPHY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

INTRODUCTION TO WESTERN PHILOSOPHY - Essay Example It targets at cogent understanding and utilizes discursive techniques in handling the perceptions drawn from experience, work, history, or any other domain of human life. The same conception is articulated in the old saying that the purpose of philosophy is to conceal the delusion of knowledge where none in actuality exists. Answers can be offered, but they remain to create the residue, which is called philosophy. Put it another way, philosophy, like all other studies focuses chiefly on knowledge. The knowledge concentrates on this form of knowledge, which offers unity and system to the organ of the sciences. Nevertheless, this is, just the truth considering the ambiguity of philosophy. The value of philosophy, in reality, needs to be sought completely in its improbability. Philosophy, although incapable of telling us with sureness what is true answer to the uncertainty, which it raises, is able to propose many probabilities, which broaden our thoughts and free them from the despotis m of value. Thus, this largely augments the understanding as to what they may be, and it sustains our sense of wonder by displaying recognizable things in an unknown element (Russell 20-35). My view is that philosophy is an activity of thought, a kind of thinking. Philosophy is essential and exhaustive thought, the most fundamental and exhaustive mode of thinking which human beings has nevertheless devised. This intellectual procedure integrates both an systematic and artificial means of function. Philosophy is an essential and exhaustive procedure of thought that involves putting an end to uncertainty, revealing presumptions, unmasking deduction, differentiating significance, assessing world reviews and questioning perceptual perspectives. Rescher (14-25), argues that the activity of the mind plays a responsibility and makes essential contribution to understanding, whilst legitimate knowledge contributes to sensible success. According to Rescher (30), in the philosophy of science, also asserts, in protest to any type of instrumentalism any many postmodern authors as well, that natural science can authenticate a reasonable devotion to the real subsistence of its hypothetical bodies. Rescher acknowledges that ethical standards are randomly part of the values of a society, but he refutes that morality comprises in orthodoxy to the customs. Methodical perceptions target at what in reality subsists in the universe, but just hit defectively. Rescher (45) argues that rationality is matter of idealization. He compares objectivity to rationality by stating that the two are expressions of humankind’s capability to witness not just how things apparently are, but also how they might have been. Philosophy is important because as a procedure operates as an activity which reacts to societal requests for wisdom, which is bringing together all that we understand in order to acquire what we value (Russell 50-78). Ethics is a division of philosophy that deals with system izing, defending, and extolling perceptions of right and wrong of demeanor. Virtue of ethics is an extensive word for hypothesis that stresses the responsibility of trait and virtue in ethics and/or moral philosophy, as opposed to either doing or acting in order to bring about good outcome. According to Curzer (13), an honorable individual is somebody who has best character aspects. These aspects draw from natural internal inclinations, but require to be