Project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Project - Assignment Example The culture of accomplishing simple results through complicated means ensured his works became perceived as increasingly unique. This fame of his cartoons led to the syndication of his works, which brought increased popularity of these cartoons. The machine I would design would be for lifting utensils into a utensil sink form the table. There would be a lever which would swing when the utensils are placed on the rack. The rack would them be connected to a rod similar to a fishing rod which an individual can utilize to move the lever to the direction of the sink. Through moving the roller of the fishing rod, the lever would swing to the other side and enable the utensils fall into the sink. This Rube Goldberg machine would include a fishing rod, a beam balance, a roller and a pulley fitted at the end of the fishing rod. The utilization of these simple machines would create an effective machine for lifting utensils from table into the sinks after an individuals has completed having a meal. This would effectively ease the work of making clearance after

The Rape of Africa in Heart of Darkness Essay -- Heart Darkness essays

The Rape of Africa in Heart of Darkness At the threshold of the twentieth century, when exploitation of colonies was still widely spread and the problem of abuse of natural resources and native inhabitants was largely ignored, Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness invites us to reflect on and ask ourselves when does progress and expansion become rape. Joseph Conrad presents us with this, unfortunately, ageless book. It sheds a bright light onto the inherit darkness of our human inclinations, stripped of pretense, in the middle of the jungle where those savage tendencies are provided with a fertile ground. The combination of greed, climate and the demoralizing effect of frontier life brought out the worst in people. They were raping the land, practically stealing the ivory from the natives, whom they were treating like slaves, or even worse than slaves, for slaves in America were an expensive commodity and therefore it was in the best interest of slave-owners to keep them well fed and healthy; these poor chaps, however, were allowed to starve to death once they fell ill. ...

Milgram experiment Essay

The infamous â€Å"Milgram experiment† on obedience, done in 1963, is, perhaps, the most commonly known of all psychological experiments. It gained its infamy for its use of subjects who did not know they were being tested. Since the experiment dealt with a highly stressful situation – the necessity to inflict pain at command – upon the publishing of its result, it raised a wave of debate on whether such an experiment is acceptable ethically. Nonetheless, the experiment produced interesting and controversial results – at the very least in the fact that it utterly disproved the claims of most psychologists. The psychologists had argued that only a tiny, sadistic percent of the population would be able to commonly inflict pain on command, simply obeying orders. The experiment clearly showed that 65 percent would obey authority if required, giving an alternative explanation to the phenomenon of concentration camps. Rather than sadism, the experiment shows, most people are simply obedient when the appropriate stress factors are applied. This experiment, naturally, had a variety of interesting consequences, both for psychology and the study of the later social reaction to the experiment itself. The †legend† told to the participants of the experiment was that the scientists were studying the effect of punishment on learning. The subject had to deliver an electric shock when an actor who was playing the role of the learner answered a question incorrectly. Naturally, no real shocks were given. As time passed, the subject was ordered to give progressively â€Å"stronger† punishment shocks. Most of the subjects eventually delivered what they thought were high-intensity, potentially lethal shocks in spite of serious distress on the part of the person who was playing the role of the learner. The result also gave interesting variations: many more people stopped earlier when the main scientist was not present in the room and gave his orders by voice, without the use of facial expression; when two experimenters who gave conflicting orders were present, the subject halted the instant conflicts in authority began; when another â€Å"teacher† was present, and started protesting, most joined into the protest; and, finally, if the test subject was not ordered to inflict the pain, but merely to read the words, 37 out of 40 people assumed an instrumental role, and passively watched the scientist inflict pain (Milgram, 1963). As the Milgram experiment clearly demonstrates, most people will react positively to having authority taken from them. After giving consent, most will protest weakly, passively. The test subject known as Prozi, for instance, voiced his complaints, but at being told firmly that the experiment was a necessity, continued to go on (Milgram, 1963). Despite the fact that, once explained what the experiment was, many people experienced regret, still, quite a few people trusted authority. One of the reasons not commonly noted is the effect of specialization of labor. In American society, where one goes to a specialist for every single bit of work that requires even a small bit of knowledge above the general level, it becomes almost a reflex to trust specialists. This is because most people are largely ignorant of their surroundings, and this feel assertive only within their sphere of competence. When encountering something beyond it, very few people will initially attempt to experiment. Most will try to find â€Å"an expert†, someone who is knowledgeable about a certain phenomenon or circumstance. Moral imperatives only truly come into play when a person has to make a choice without outside pressure. However, when pressured by someone who supposedly knows better, not too many question authority. This is a case of personal morality versus the trust in the experimenter’s morality: most people assume the better of the experimenter, and deduct that, without a necessity, the experiment would not be conducted. It is also interesting to note that when experimenters were in conflict, the test subject stops immediately. This reaction to divided authority also confirms the thesis given above. However, the stronger the emphasis on necessity and responsibility – both qualities enforced culturally as necessary for survival within society – the subjects become much more submissive. This may be interpreted as the fact that most people have a different real moral code than the one they announce. As Milgram duly notes, only the illusion of necessity was created. The subjects were not threatened, nor were they explicitly told they would be punished, and thus, the choice was much easier than under any explicit threat. The stress factor is the most common reason this experiment is criticized as â€Å"inhumane†, and even â€Å"torture†. Specifically, the scientist Diana Baumrind raised the ethical points of the study to public concern. She spoke of the experiment as being emotionally distressing, destructive to the self-image of the subject once he realizes the true cruelty of his actions, and the fact that the study creates a distrust of authority (Baumrind, 1964). Out of these three points of rebuttal, none are legitimate. The experiment was emotionally distressing, true, and yet 84 percent of the subjects said that they were glad they had participated after the experiment. Indeed, for a great many of them it was equivocal to an awakening as to the things they were able to do, a reason to reconsider their own behavior. The second point is also true only in a certain way. The experiment was destructive to the self-image of these people, but in a positive way. It removed a number of illusions and taught lessons. This debunking is how a human being learns how to deal with perpetual dissuasions about his own validity, and most well-adapted humans should accept this as yet another such case – as the exit survey by Milgram demonstrates rather clearly. Her third point is that belief in authority would be undermined. Once more, the debriefing only reinforces this belief. Despite what seemed to be, initially, a situation in which authority is undermined, once the test subject is informed of what has happened, he is once more reassured that the experiment has done no real and lasting harm. In short, the experiment only reinforces the authority of the scientifical community and its concern with the good of mankind, which is not created at the expense of its certain members. Thus, we can see rather clearly that ethically this experiment was flawless. . Still, if flawless ethically, the question arises of whether the experiment is so flawless methodologically. Ian Parker, in his article â€Å"Obedience† raises the question of whether the experiment was not so easily debunked by the test subjects. Some interviews with those who participated also show that many had suspicions, and a certain amount even said that the experiment was a fraud from the beginning and they knew it. Parker thus argues that the results are flawed: the whole point of deceiving the test subjects is gone when they understand that the experiment is only a test (Parker, 2000). However, this assumption is also rather faulty. What Parker seemingly fails to take into account is that the subjects enter a situation of uncertainty. As the interviews show, even when the subjects expressed guesses towards being tested, the actors continued the game. If their suspicions had been confirmed immediately, Parker’s argument would have made sense. But in this manner, they are put into a situation, where it suddenly becomes irrelevant whether this is an experiment of some kind or not. One simply does not know whether it is real or a game. In any case, those who would accept the situation as possibly real, are, once more, faced with the consequences of a dire moral dilemma. And I would also surmise that most people with at least average courage would assume the reality of such an experiment, if only out of fear of the consequences if it somehow turns out to be real. Even outright disbelief will not necessarily destroy the experience of doubting whether one is included in this experiment or not. Thus, Parker’s criticism is also irrelevant to the bulk of the data in question. Thus we can see how Milgram’s experiment effectively demonstrates the mechanisms and reasons for obedience. Milgram shows the extent to which the human mind is much like an animal’s, and how easily it can be conditioned, and also how cultural conditions add to the basic instinct of obeying someone with higher social status. The experiment is rather educational in demonstrating how much the average human examines his own behavior and learns of how he will behave in a particular situation, and how such examination might be crucial to making life-and-death choices. It is not cruel – in effect, it could have been made much harsher by invoking even further uncertainty and examining the subjects’ long-term reactions to their own behavior. Yet most of the post-effects have been beneficial without any significant damage to the participants. And not ineffective – in fact, the data gathered could be useful for an even further analysis on the effect of uncertainty on the psyche. To conclude: this is one of the more interesting, beneficial and effective experiments done in psychology, and it gives us an insight into the human mind that should not be ignored or derailed for false reasons.

International Management Decisions UK Pharmaceutical Industry - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 6 Words: 1674 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Management Essay Type Analytical essay Level High school Did you like this example? International Management Decisions: UK Pharmaceutical Industry The pharmaceutical industry engages in researching, developing, manufacturing, and marketing drugs used in healthcare (Shah 2012, p. 36).According toKesic(2008, p. 59), the global pharmaceutical industry has changedmuchover the past few years; because, the intensive globalization is reinforcing a consolidated pharmaceutical industry. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "International Management Decisions: UK Pharmaceutical Industry" essay for you Create order Moreover, mergers and acquisitions are creating alliances that will strategicallyorientatethe global pharmaceutical industry. Kesic(2008, p. 59) points out that alliances are creating strategic synergies within the pharmaceutical industry as competition between various global companies intensifies. Therefore, multinational peer companies dominating UKà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s pharmaceutical industry, face new challenges in international management decisions that influence their operations (Brown Grundy 2004, p. 57). As the industry becomes more competitive, scholars conclude that strategic management will play a key role in international management decisions that are industry-specific to the UK. As an example The University of Manchester, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and AstraZeneca announced the creation of the Manchester Collaborative Centre for Inflammation Research in May 2011, a unique collaboration to establish a world-leading translational centre for inflammatory diseases. The industry-sp ecific approaches that UK pharmaceutical companies use to adapt to competitive environments have effects on management decision-making and will always be debatable. Project uncertainty has created precise, yet unrealistic plans for the pharmaceutical industry in the UK (Burgel et al. 2014, p. 14). The pharmaceutical business depends on calculated risks, researches, and innovations to optimize on its defined goals. Therefore, international management decisions made in this industry affect even company-independent institutions, including hospitals (Burgel et al. 2014, p. 14). The UK pharmaceutical industry seeks advice andcooperationfrom institutions that take part in the scientific and therapeutic process to acquire partner specific research and development topics. Since attaining, the scientific and therapeutic economic progress is the main aim of pharmaceutical industries, project management, strategic management and all relevant techniques work to meet the UK industryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s overall goal (Tzeng 2014, p. 3). Thus, international management decisions play a key role in the process to solve the risks that the UK pharmaceutical industry faces. The pharmaceutical industry leads all industries in terms of RD spend. Jaruzelski et al. (2011) report that four out of the top five global RD spends and eight out of the top twenty global RD spends are by pharmaceutical firms. Of these firms, six (Roche, Pfizer, Novartis, Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, and AstraZeneca) increased RD spend from 2009 to 2010 (ranging from 0.3 to 53 % increase) despite volatile global economic conditions. This suggests that pharmaceutical firms continue to invest heavily in their portfolios with the top eight spending between $5 billion and $10 billion per year, translating to between 11 and 21 % of annual sales. To make sane decisions for the pharmaceutical industry in the UK,Pharmaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s New Productivity Challenge: Perspectives from Europe(2014) recommends that the RD operations should track country-specific regulations. They should also track industry specific trends and accept future developments. Furthermore, since country-specific regulations, just as trends, often change, UKà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s pharmaceutical companiesneedmanagers to watch the trends and regulations in the market.KofinasandSaur-Amaral(2008, p. 257) state that lacking knowledge of language and culture specific to a particular country is inefficient for UKà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s pharmaceutical companies. Furthermore, it has little effect on the innovation strategies of UKà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s pharmaceutical companies. Thus, it is important to optimize resources and time, by applying project expertise, strategic management, and business administration across the decision-making processes. Strategic decision-making covers portfolio management, long-term planning, projectselection, and technological commercial indicators (Stonier2011, p. 6). Decision-making at this level cuts across RD, finance, marketing, and management. Therefore, strategic management will play an important role in creating a competitive business performance for pharmaceutical companies in the UK industry. Portfolio management in new drug development is extremely challenging due to long drug development cycles and high probabilities of failure. According to the Min Ding and Jehoshua Eliashberg (2014) In 2010, a pharmaceutical company like GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) spent over USD 6 billion in RD expenditure and managed a total of 147 RD projects across 13 therapeutic areas in different stages of development. Additionally, managers with a strong commitment to strategic management will focus more on global thinking, enabling pharmaceutical companies to make customers their center of attention (Stonier2011, p. 6). Focusing their management decisions on satisfying the needs of consumers will give them the necessary competitive advantage. Just as Buckley and Carter (2002, p. 29) emphasize, future s uccessful pharmaceutical companies are those that focus on global effectiveness. This requires keen focus on global learning, consistent innovation, and increased global effectiveness. After the financial crisis, most UK pharmaceutical companies desired to improve their international management decisions (Pharmaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s New Productivity Challenge: Perspectives from Europe2014). Due to the value of the pound, it has become more expensive to do business in the UK and so firms like GSK are starting to do more research in the US and Asia. With the many risks among portfolio managers, the pharmaceutical industry is embarking on a plan to raise awareness on the different approaches of optimizing risk management. According to Tzeng(2014, p. 3), the bias in investor performance is also raising awareness on the different approaches that optimize decision-making. Recognizing the value of decision-making identifies investments that are undermining international management decisions.Tzeng(2014, p. 3) points out that the pharmaceutical industry has developed various interventions that international managers can use to mitigate biases. Building development programs using behavioral economics has facilitated decision-making within the pharmaceutical industry. The outcome is a catalyzed cultural shift towards excellent decision-making (Tzeng2014, p. 3). Managers are able to use these frameworks to find the biases that may deter decision-making. This gives managers the ability to transform optimal behaviors into good management decisions. Behavioral decision-making is, thus, an important strategic priority for most pharmaceutical companies. The global economic downturn drew attention to deficiencies in the management practices of many organizations (European Commission2014). Specifically, the pharmaceutical industryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s risk management decision-making had notable shortcomings. Industry-specific analysis revealed that for large pharmaceutical companies in the UK, personalization created strong links between people and teams engaged in risk management decisions. In addition, the results of the decisions created personal responsibilities towards a particular risk. Therefore, personalized risk management requires supporting elements such as high quality insight, supportive culture, and personal accountability (European Commission2014). The author notes that high quality insight is valuable since decision-making requires quality information, good analytical skills, and competence in interpreti ng relevant industry information. Porterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s approach to analysing the global environment also includes related supporting industries which are left out by traditional PEST analysis. This includes infrastructure available in the industry of a particular country. Governments have increasingly focused on encouraging clusters and science and technology parks offering shared facilities and experience, as well as government support. UK examples in the pharmaceutical industry include Oxford and Cambridge, where various industrial links and universities are widely available. Pharmaceutical companies have to engage in decision-making at risk management levels, to allow them transform information into deeper insight. Personal accountability is another attribute that requires decision-making to relate to risk management, thereby creating feelings of genuine responsibility (Shah 2012, p. 121). Organizations have to make sure that they reward personal accountability well and t hat high quality insight teams are engaged in decision-making. Last,leadership teamsneedsupportive behavioral culturesto enforce accountability and insight. The personalization approach applies to UKà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s pharmaceutical industry, given that they make significant investment in new drugs. Companies are increasingly seeking to unlock the power of patients and data, working closely with clinicians and researchers. The NIHR has committed a record investment of  £800m over five years to the creation of Biomedical Research Centres and Units within the UKà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s leading teaching hospital-university partnerships, and the establishment of two new Translational Research Partnerships. Although the firms have astute formal systems and strict external regulations, they also depend on ethics and standards existing in pharmaceutical industries to make their decisions (Shah 2012, p. 121). This paper holds that the approaches of UKà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s pharmaceutical companies in adapting to competitive environments have effects on international management decision-making. Project uncertainty has created precise, yet unrealistic plans for the pharmaceutical industry. The clamor for strategic advantages has created a deep interest in the decision-making trends of UKà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s pharmaceutical industry. In todayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s global marketplace, pharmaceutical companies are facing many challenges that need astute international management decisions. From the study, UKà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s pharmaceutical industry has knowledge managers whose decision-making practices adjust according to global operations. These managers adjust their practices and behaviors to inspire others towards creative thinking. By itself, sufficient knowledge management is important in responding to the existing challenges. As RD functions are mutating and changing, structural arrangements in decision-making are diversifying to meet this growing challenge. The UK ph armaceutical industry is undergoing increased regulation and knowledge processes that need astute decision-making skills to adapt to new challenges flexibly. Therefore, only improved management experiences in decision-making will enhance production and performance. Brown L., Grundy, T 2004, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Project Management for the Pharmaceutical industry,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Aldershot, Hants, England, Gower. Buckley, P., Carter, M 2002, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Process and structure in knowledge management practices of British and US multinational enterprises,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Journal of International Management, vol. 8, pp. 29-48. Burgel, O., Fier, A., Licht, G., Murray, G n.d., à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Timing of International Market Entry of UK and German High-Tech Start-Ups,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Centre for European Economic Research Discussion Paper, vol. 1, no. 51, pp. 1-17. European Commission 2014, Pharmaceutical Industry: A Strategic Sector for the European Economy, viewed 15 Novembe r 2014, https://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/healthcare/files/docs/pharmastrategy_en.pdf Kesic, D 2008, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Strategic Analysis of the World Pharmaceutical Industry,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Management, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 59-76. Kofinas, A., Saur-Amaral, I 2008, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"25 years of knowledge creation processes in pharmaceutical contemporary trends,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Organizational Behavior and Management, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 257-280. Pharmaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s New Productivity Challenge: Perspectives from Europe 2014. viewed 15 November 2014, https://www.janssen-emea.com/sites/default/files/Pharmas-New-Productivity-Challenge-Perspectives-from-Europe.pdf Shah, B 2012, A Textbook of Pharmaceutical Industrial Management, Australia, Elsevier Health Sciences. Stonier, P 2011, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"An insight into careers for doctors with the UK pharmaceutical industry,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ viewed 15 November 2014, https://www.abpi.org.uk/ourwork/library/industry/Docume nts/careers-doctors.pdf Tzeng, I 2014, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Finding Value in Europe,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Executive Insights vol. 15, no. 6, pp. 1-7. Jaruzelski B, Loehr J, Holman R (2011) The global innovation 1000: why culture is key. Strategy+Business 65(Winter):31à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"45