Automobile - Fuels Essay Example for Free

Automobile Fuels Essay General Motors has been at the center of one of the nation’s largest controversies over clean emissions-cars. In 1996 the company introduced the EV-1 electric car in California and Arizona. Hundreds of the electric cars were soon on the road. Then they all disappeared. The mystery behind their disappearance is the subject of the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? Electric vehicles had many advantages over their competitors in the early 1900s. They did not have the vibration, smell, and noise associated with gasoline cars. Changing gears on gasoline cars was the most difficult part of driving, while electric vehicles did not require gear changes. Even though the cars seemed to be the next big thing, they ended up being not so successful. There have been many allegations to whom or what happen to kill the electric car. In 2000, tragedy struck as all EV-1’s were recalled. In 2003, California’s zero emissions vehicle mandate was killed and General Motors officially closed down the entire EV-1 project despite the long waiting lists and positive feedback from EV-1 drivers. This terrible crime did not go unnoticed by the public. Consumers were outraged by the recalling of EV-1’s. They wanted to know why someone would get rid of a car that would help out the environment and would make things better for the future. Someone is to blame for killing the electric car, but who? Was it the big oil companies and their fear of losing money? Could it be the battery technology in the EV-1’s that was faulty?

Techniques to Generate Sustainable Fuels and Biofuels

Techniques to Generate Sustainable Fuels and Biofuels SUSTAINABLE FUELS LIKE BIOFUELS Vishal Kaatal[1] University of Toronto Institute of Aerospace Studies, Toronto, Ontario I have studied different ways to generate Sustainable fuels like Biofuels. My focus is whether Biofuels can help the future of Aviation industry as a fuel source of energy, is it easy to produce in environmental without damaging it. What are the ways of generating Biofuels. Whether any country is focusing to produce Biofuels in abundant quantity and difficulties faced by them. Following selected papers have been selected to start my work but will not be limited to find various answers throughout the project and can be added when required. [1]In recent years, it has been seen drastic change in Climate, Natural resources got reduced, and fossil fuels are in the situation of extinction in near future which triggered scientist and researchers to find an alternative source of energy. They came up with an idea of Biofuel which is generated from the waste of trees, sewage, grass, etc. popularly known by Biomass. Biomass is available in abundant quantity in the world as well as cheaper in cost. In this paper, it shows how to produce Biofuel from Biomass for safer world. [2]This paper talks about the development of aviation biofuels. Aviation biofuel has been tested in various test flights which shows positive result but will take time for commercialized. The constrains which were discussed in interviews with leading global aviation biofuel stakeholders between October and December 2011 are costly production, feedstocks limitation and lack of policy for aviation biofuel throughout the world having rules and regulation at different countries. Paper discussed how to apply these problems for future development of global market for aviation biofuel. [3]This paper talks about Biofuels as a transport alternative fuel in Australia because it the 2nd largest about 24% of total energy consumption.ÂÂ   This large amount of energy demand can be meet with biofuels. It shows different biofuels sources available in Australia which can be produced and used by thinking of future projects.ÂÂ   In future, how to develop biofuel supply chain from different generations of biofuel. [4]This paper deals with the implementation of Biofuels in India as a substitute of fossil fuels and target to use biodiesel and bioethanol for the substitution of 20% fossil fuels by 2017. Also, it shows implications for land use, food production in India. [5]It talks about the use of many algae species to produce biofuels. It also talks about the issue of sustainability of commercial-scale microalgae to produce biofuels with the requirement of environmental conditions. [6]This paper talks about the advantage of algae over first and second generation biomass feedstocks to produce biofuels. It shows the scope and possibilities of Algal biorefineries and how the future of biofuels will be developed using algae. [7]In various ways algae is used to produce Biofuels but did anyone wonder whether the production is possible to meet our requirement. In this paper, the author talks about the limitations to commercialization of algae fuels should be learned and addressed for future commercialization. [8]It is notable that when another source of energy like solar, wind and biofuels usage increases concerns over environmental issues mostly in land use which effects on wildlife. In this paper, it talks about the several uncertainties and limitations to establishing energy production at airports, how to overcome these challenges. [9]In current situation, microalgae used for energy production seem not to be economically feasible. When microalgae cultivated under stress condition produces high-value compounds along with lipids or carbohydrates has been discussed here. [10]The extraction of oil consists of various steps which require energy, the cost of biodiesel from microalgae cost more compared to plant oil. Here sustainable approach for utilization as well as emerging cost effective methods has been discussed. References [1] S. Chakraborty, V. Aggarwal, D. Mukherjee and K. Andras, Biomass to biofuel: a review on production technology, ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. S254-S262, 2012. [2] P. K. Gegg, L. C. Budd and S. G. Ison, The market development of avaition biofuel: drivers and constraints, Journal of Air Transport Management, vol. 39, pp. 34-40, 2014. [3] A. K. Azad, M. Rasul, M. Khan, S. C. Sharma and M. Hazrat, Prospect of biofuel as an alternative transport fuel in Australia, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 43, pp. 331-351, March 2015. [4] N. Ravindranath, C. S. Lakshmi, R. Manuvie and P. Balachandra, Biofuel production and implications for land use, food production and environmnet in India, Energy Policy, vol. 39, no. 10, pp. 5737-5745, October 2011. [5] M. A. Borowitzka and N. R. Moheimani, Sustainable biofuels from algae, Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 13-25, January 2013. [6] J. Singh and S. Gu, Commercialization potential of microalgae for biofuels production, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 14, no. 9, pp. 2596-2610, 2010. [7] Y. Chisti, Constraints to commercialization of algal fuels, Journal of Biotechnology, vol. 167, no. 3, pp. 201-214, September 2013. [8] T. L. DeVault, J. L. Belant, B. F. Blackwell, J. A. Martin, J. A. Schmidt, L. W. Burger Jr and J. W. Patterson Jr, Airports offer Unrealized Potential for Alternative Energy Production, Environmental Management, vol. 49, no. 3, pp. 517-522, March 2012. [9] G. Markou and E. Nerantzis, Microalgae for high-value compounds and biofuels production: A review with focus on cultivation under stress conditions, Biotechnology Advances, vol. 31, no. 8, pp. 1532-1542, December 2013. [10] B. Singh, A. Guldhe, I. Rawat and F. Bux, Towards a sustainable approach for development of biodiesel from plant and microalgae, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 29, pp. 216-245, January 2014.

A Review On What Is Nationalism Cultural Studies Essay

A Review On What Is Nationalism Cultural Studies Essay Nationalism can be defined as a potential ideology that engenders a strong identification of a group of individuals with a nation. This ideology strives toward a common culture, including shared meanings, symbols and recognition of mutual rights and duties to each other as part of a shared membership of the nation. It therefore claims on behalf of the nation a right to constitute an independent autonomous political community based on a shared history and common identity. For many years, sociologists have argued that the identification of people or categorization into homeland cultures and origins is very complex. (Appaduarai 1990, said, 1986, Gifford 1998) and that the word identity is too ambiguous (Brubaker and Cooper 2000). They state that its meaning depends on the context of its use and the theoretical tradition from which the use in question derives. Nationalism can also be interpreted as the idea of sameness which manifests itself as solidarity in share dispositions and consci ousness or in collective action[from old essay] Throughout history and to this present day, sport has been frequently viewed as reinforcing national identification. For example the biggest championships are organised in ways to ensure that individuals represent their nation states. However with the effects of globalisation there has been a developing marked post-national dimension in national sport. For example, e.g. Englands premier league now includes a large and increasing proportion of foreign players. This has impacted domestic football and has ultimately led to a increase in foreign ownership in Englands Major clubs simultaneously affecting other sports too. In this essay, I will explore two contrasting theoretical models of nationalism: Ernest Gellners structuralist perspective and Andersons more culturalist theory of imagined communities and consider their applicability to modern sport. I will also attempt to demonstrate through several levels of sporte.g. national, transnational and local levelsthat nationalism plays an important role in each case. I then consider the effects of globalization on nationalism in sport. Ernest Gellner defines nationalism as primarily a principle that holds that the political and national unit should be congruent. (citation). He, thus, establishes nationalism as a political category, that is, the ideological agenda of delimiting the boundary of the polis to the ethnos, nation, or race. Gellner positions the rise of nationalism within the long-term shift from agricultural to industrial societies. Gellner suggests that industrialism has ultimately affected society, from basic social relationshow people interact with each otherto the overall political structure of communities. Gellner, like many scholars of nationalism, is a hard core modernist, his definition of modernity basically overlaps with industrialisation. Due to the changing structure of modern, industrial societies, a standardised high culture becomes necessary as work becomes more technical and impersonalised. Especially important in this process is the emerging system of mass education, which indoctrinates students as citizens of the nation. He makes the point that it is nationalism which engenders nations and not the other way round (citation) Among the contradictions nationalism generates, Gellner advances his characterisation of eastern nationalism: state enforced homogenisation, which he uses the metaphor to describe it as the empire of megalomania which provokes the reaction of those who have been excluded or opted out on their own choice in order to protect and preserve their own culture. [include a few other examples from text] As a society-focused structural functionalist, Gellner argued that ideology did not figure prominently in the development of nationalism. The LSE scholar Klie Kedourie on the other hand, a historian of ideas, maintains the opposite view (citation). Similarly, Benedict Anderson suggests that the idea of nationalism is vitally linked to when someones identity and persona are formed. Though a Marxist, and structuralist in this sense, Anderson argued that we were about to enter in a fundamental transformation in the history of Marxism and Marxist movements are upon us (citation). He claimed that the recent wars between Vietnam, Cambodia and China relax this and there are visible signs of cultural transformation. Connecting the emergence of nationalism with the structural transformations of print capitalism Anderson noted that England with the help of the printing press by Gutenberg made great strides to develop their own unique language to rival the invasion of Latin and French vocabular y. This constituted a development of power, which Britain extended into money with the help of colonialism, and the expansion of power into imperialism. Andersons core thesis is that nations are an imagined political community and imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign (citation). He argue that nations are imagined because the members of even the smallest nation will never know most their fellow-members, meet them, or even hear of them, yet in the minds of each of them lives the image of their community. The nation is imagined as limited because even the largest of them, encompassing perhaps a billion living human beings, has finite, if elastic, boundaries, beyond which lie other nations Like Gellner, Anderson notes that nations are a product of nationalism, noting nationalism is not the awakening of the nations to self-consciousness: it invents nations where they do not exist (citation). However, Andersons attention to ideological influences is less structuralist than Gellner. In relation to sport, Andersons conception of imagined communities seemed to be much more salient. The ideological coherence engendered with sport connects the symbolic and emotional effervescence of sport and nation in complex ways irreducible to the structural changes from agrarian to industrial societies. This is even more so the case during the recent changes in the context of globalisation. Nationalism is an important factor in sport as observable at several levels of analysis. Sport can be broken down into three levels: national, transnational and local levels. Much literature has been written on the connection between sport and globalization in particular soccer and globalization. In Un) bounded soccer demonstrates nationalism on a national level, Ben Porat discusses the interrelationship between football (soccer) and globalization in Israel. Globalization has, as many scholars would argue become a part of everyday life. The link between globalization and sport deserves attention and study because sport is big enough to not only reflect the process of globalization, but to also leave an imprint and affect the way globalization as an idea is thought about. Porat examines the development of soccer in Israel through several stages, adopting the view that globalization does not pound everything into the same mould (Mittleman, 2000) but instead its process is not even and the outcomes are affected by developments on a global and local scale. Porat believes Is raeli soccer, like the rest of society is affected and altered by the changing global context and key interactions between globalization and the local structure and dynamics. He(?) argue that soccer in Israel came about under certain boundaries within a state-centred economic and political context that outlined a political model for the organization of soccer. As Israel gradually became more capitalist and as globalization took place this lead to a transformation from a political model towards a economic model- as Israel went through the process of becoming capitalist this ultimately lead to it opening up to globalization The article ( When they studied the impact the globalization had on soccer they broke it down into three categories: the flows of capital, labour and culture. It is logical to initially assume that the impact of globalization probably is uneven and certain flows may occur first or be more dominating. The article is based on a general study of globalization in Israel (G. Ben Porat 2002) and the transformation of soccer from a game to a commodity (A. Ben Porat 2003), all of the information was gathered from the Israeli soccer association (IFA), the Wingate Institute, The soccer budget control authority and the sport sections of daily newspapers and finally interviews with IFA officials. They begin with a brief theoretical overview of globalization, then in the second part talk about Israeli soccer and its setting as an institution. In the final part they analyse the change or transformation of Israel soccer- the three global flows capital, labour and culture. Nationalism can also been found in sport at local levels and this is shown in the article Territory, Politics and Soccer Fandom in Northern Ireland and Sweden by Alan Bairner and Peter Shirlow- they compare two completely unconnected football clubs in two very different societies and show how in fact they are very similar in the way nationalism is observed and demonstrated at each club on a local level. It has been noted on several occasions that football fandom and identity politics are linked and widely interchangeable. How their linked more is more complex than it may initially seem. In this paper two sets of fans are analysed and they are complete polar opposites in terms of the societies them come from. The first group are Linfield supports who come from Northern Ireland and use their team as a means of expressing cultural resistance where the club and stadium is a safe haven for people with similar views due to the division of political and religious views in Northern Ireland- it has become their own (as Bairner and Shirlow put it) imagined community. The second group is a set of AIK supports from Sweden- they show than soccer fandom can turn a group of supports into a collective self which can turn in defiance against a perceived threat of the other. For a large number of people in the modern world, sport plays a vital role in the construction and reproduction of part of peoples identity and partially more in males. Two Australian sociologists Roy Jones and Phillip Moore argue that in a football stadium ethnic minorities can reinvent their identity to become part of the wider group. Even though players can detach themselves for the social and political aspects of the game, for the supporters Vic Duke and Liz Crolley (1996) believe that football matches never take place in isolation:The participants (the fans) do not cut themselves off from external matters. In a sense, football does not cut out external factors but acts more like a sieve that a solid wall, and the sieve is that only selecting but modifying what it filters (Duke and Crolley 1996) Linfield is supported to almost in its entirety working class protestant men. They use their football clubs as a means of expressing and vocalising there resistance. The Swedish club identity is equally tied up with its affection towards a particular stadium and its landscape or territory that it is suppose to represent. Just like the Northern Irish fans, fans of AIK- the black army have been involved, even if subconsciously with the creation of iconographies and an imagined community and there expressions of devotion to it. The article conveys a sense of the localised nature of politics of territorial control and resistance Fletcher explores nationalism in sport on a transnational scale. The article commentates on the events that took place in the historic cricket group of Lords in 2009 (citation). The article explores British Asians sense of nationhood, citizenship, ethnicity and how they manifest themselves in relation to sports fandom. Fletcher uses the example of Cricket and how it is used as a way of expressing British Identities. He looks to Norman Tebbits cricket test to help understand the intricacies of being a British Asian supporting the English national cricket team. The first section looks at Tebbits test and attempts to locate its place within the wider issue of multicultarism. Later the analysis focuses on the discourse of sports fandom and the idea of the home team advantage placing forward the concept that sports venues represent sites for the expression of nationalism and cultural expression due to their connection for national history. The article states that supporting anyone but England and therefore ultimately rejecting ethically exclusive notions of Englishness and brutishness continues to define British Asians cultural identity. The inspiration for the paper came on the 14th June 2009 when England played India at Lords the Home of English cricket. Despite of the fact England won comfortably the contest was overshadow by the days earlier events off the pitch. In the warm up match prior to the game it was revealed that the team had been jeered and booed by hundreds of British Asians who had come to support the Indian team (Indian Express). Following this event there was uproar within the cricket community as to British Asians sporting allegiances, their British citizenship. The data was collected during fieldwork undertaken between June 2007 and January 2010 with two amateur cricket clubs in south Yorkshire. One was mostly white in membership, the other British Asian. The predominately white club is known in the local area to be middle class and had been criticized by those within the game as failing to move with the times. Those from the British Asian club had either been born in Britain or had emigrated during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Research was based on semi-structured interviews, focus groups interviews and participant observation. Matchs training sessions and even social gatherings were attended (when possible). Yorkshire cricket had been known to be racist and suffer from racial inequality for a long time. The north of England on the whole had been plagued with a number of racially motivated civil disturbances such as the Bradford Riots (1995) and the Oldhan Riots (2001).As recently as August 2010 Bradford- known for its large south Asian communities, hosted English defence league demonstrations. This highlights the interaction between nationalism at the local level. Interestingly Scotlands whole sporting identity is formed around their hatred of England- We are the England Haters is a common chant which is sung about football and other sporting events. Whether this chanting is self-parodying or a genuine attempt to antagonise the English fans it is ironic that there whole identity is reliant on Englands existence. Perhaps more sinisterly the scots hatred of England runs deeper than just in football and is in fact a part of their national identity as a whole. It could be argued that Scotlands attempt in recent years to become a independent nation and be free from the crown represents this. To a large number of people in America sport plays a important role in creating a sense of what it means to be an American. It also represents a field where individuals can assert their dominance over their subordinates. Probably one of the clearest examples of this in American sport is in Ice Hockey, where its actually legal in the game if the gloves are thrown off to fight each other and the referees will often let them fight until one is tripped over. Hockey is a sport created by the Canadians. However it didnt gain the popularity it has now in the country overnight. It wasnt until the earlier 20th century that it really become recognised as an international sport. However it has become so popular in the country that in terms of its symbolic power it has been placed alongside other national institutions such as the federal government the public health care system and the Canadian broadcasting corporation. So it has encorporated what it means to be a candian Canada is hockey is a common slogan which can apparently be found on t-shirts being sold on many NFL games. In conclusion it can be seen that nationalism is prevalent in the world of sport, and it seems to be ever present regardless of how big the stage is. As I discussed earlier nationalism can be found at a local, national and transnational scale. Nationalism put simply is a ideology where individuals are linked by there strong identification with their home nation. Nationalism can be observed in many parts of society not only in sport but in many parts of culture. Out of the two perspectives which were discussed throughout this essay (gellners structuralist perspective) and Bendicts andersons imagined communities his more culturist argument seems to have more substance and is more of a solid argument. It was interesting to seem just have nationalism was engrained in the world of sport not just through Britain and the western world but seemingly throughout the whole world as well. Gellner diferiantes nationalism in the east as being state enforced homogenisation where he used his example of calling it a empire of megalomania.

Discrimination Against the Deaf Culture Essay -- Discrimination Again

The deaf community does not see their hearing impairment as a disability but as a culture which includes a history of discrimination, racial prejudice, and segregation. According to an online transcript,â€Å"Through Deaf Eyes† (Weta and Florentine films/Hott productions Inc., 2007) there are thirty-five million Americans that are hard of hearing. Out of the thirty-five million an estimated 300,000 people are completely deaf. There are ninety percent of deaf people who have hearing parents (Halpern, C., 1996). Also, most deaf parents have hearing children. With this being the exemplification, deaf people communicate on a more intimate and significant level with hearing people all their lives. â€Å"Deaf people can be found in every ethnic group, every region, and every economic class† (Weta and Florentine films/Hott productions Inc., 2007). The deaf culture and hard of hearing have plenty of arguments and divisions with living in a hearing world without sound however, that absence will be a starting point of an identity within their culture as well as the hearing culture (Weta and Florentine films/Hott productions Inc., 2007). In today's times, it is possible for a deaf family to characterize themselves as an all American family. For many centuries hearing people classified deafness as a horrendous misfortune. As reported by a historian at the University of Iowa, Doug Baynton, in the early 1800's most of the deaf people in America lived in segregated rural areas from one another, and with little communication with the people around them. â€Å"They also had a limited understanding of what they could do – of their own possibilities. People with deaf children really had no idea of what their children could achieve† (Baynton, D., 2007). There... ...eline of hearing devices and early Deaf education [Fact sheet]. Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO: Author Gallaudet University. (1997). Public relations Gallaudet University: The beginnings. Gallaudet University, 1-17. Retrieved from http://pr.gallaudet.edu/ Halpern, C. (1996). Halpern: Listening in on deaf culture. University of Colorado Journals, 1-6. (Original work published 1995). Retrieved from http://www.colorado.edu/ National Institute of Health. (2011). National Institute on Deafness and other communication disorders: Improving the lives of people who have communication disorders. National Institute on Deafness and other communication disorders,2-2. Retrieved from http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/ (Weta and Florentine films/Hott productions Inc. (2007). Film transcript: Through Deaf Eyes. PBS, 1- 69. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/

Echinacea Essay -- Plants Botany Plant Papers

Echinacea What is it? Echinacea is a spiny looking plant with purple leaves radiating from the center and is a derivative of the purple coneflower. It grows to be one to two feet in height and is a member of the daisy family. Three types of the plant are used for medical purposes. They are Echinacea purpurea, Echinacea angustifolia, and Echinacea pallida. Mainly the roots, the seeds, and the leaves are extracted for medicinal usage. Many people believe the herb to be a remedy for ailments such as the common cold or the flu, which explains why the citizens of the United States spend $3 million annually on the drug. As a consequence of its popularity however, certain places in both the United States and Europe have restricted the harvesting of Echinacea and have put it on the endangered species list. The herb has not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration as either safe or effective in the forms that manufactures are distributing. (http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/alt/echinacea.htm) History The Native Americans were the first people to use Echinacea for medical purposes. They believed that sufferers with minor disorders such as colds to more serious conditions like snakebites could benefit from usage. They even utilized the herb for veterinary medicine for horses. In the early 1900’s, the herb gained commercial popularity and was widely sold throughout the United States. Consumers had high hopes that Echinacea would cure or prevent many different illnesses. In 1910 however, the American Medical Association claimed that the drug was useless but many people continued to purchase and use the supplement until about 1930. Th... ...iratory Tract Infections. Western Journal of Medicine, 171, 3 Lindenmuth, G., Lindenmuth, E. (2000). The Efficacy of Echinacea Compound Herbal Tea Preparation on the Severity and Duration of Upper Respiratory and Flu Symptoms: A Randomized, Double-Blind Placebo-controlled Study. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine,6, 327-334 Melchart, D., Walther, E., Linde, K., Brandmaier, R., Lersch, C. (1998). Echinacea Root Extracts for the Prevention of Upper Respiratory Tract Infections: A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Randomized Trial. Archives of Family Medicine, 7,6 Percival, S. (2000) Use of Echinacea in Medicine. Biochemical Pharmacology, 60, 155-158 Turner, R., Riker, D., Gangemi, D. (2000). Ineffectiveness of Echinacea for Prevention of Experimental Rhinovirus Colds. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 44, 1708-1709

Impact of Cultural Differences, Internal and Environmental Factors at Airbus Essay

Employees are affected by a number of internal and external forces that when combined produce given behaviours and attitudes. In this paper, I will consider the key factors affecting individual and groups’ behaviour and their corresponding relationship to the personal and organisational performance. The scenario, Airbus’ manufacturing plant in Toulouse, is dominated by tensions amongst groups of workers with different cultural background. The impact of those cultural challenges, the pressures of delivering the A380s in time and the demands from the external environment will be some of the factors that will be considered in the analysis below. In order to understand the multiple forces and the organisational change processes undertaken by Airbus, two influential frameworks for change have been examined in this paper. The model introduced by Burke and Litwin (2002), and the approach presented by Kotter (1995), based upon the authors’ research into corporate change. 1. Individual factors Attitudes and personal behavioural codes consist of an organisation of feelings, thoughts and cognitions in a defined situation. Airbus’ employees appear not to be motivated to fulfil the group’s objectives as â€Å"there are too many tensions and too much suspicion† (Hollinger & Wiesmann, 2008), as reported by an official of the French union. As work motivation and job satisfaction are closely linked with the overall performance of workers, it is important to identify factors leading to job dissatisfaction at Airbus. The arrival of two thousand electricians to resolve wiring problem has impacted negatively on the Toulouse plant resulting in overcrowding, sudden change in industrial processes and dispositions against other individuals with a number of differences. The temperament and individual emotions are difficult to understand for people with diverse cultural upbringing. There are also differences in pay which are perceived as unequal an d negative, particularly for those employees not on secondment. In summary, individuals are often resistant to change which involve loss and uncertainty. One of the most common reasons for human resistance is the focus on their own best interests instead of the organisation’s (Kotter & Schlesinger, 1979). 2. Work group factors Although team diversity can potentially create a positive organisational synergy, the same can also create unique challenges resulting from social integration, tension, and conflict (Jehn, Northcraft & Neale, 1999). In the case of Airbus, it appears there are two leaders from different groups and cultures bringing different attitudes and dispositions to the groups, giving birth to nationalistic tensions between French and German employees. Management rivalries become a detrimental model for working groups (Drucker, 1986). Team engagement and social integration are then increasingly difficult as the majority of Germans are temporary employees coming from outside the company. Furthermore, the organisational culture of Airbus is affected by the lack of trust and transparency from management. In this situation, fear and suspicion emerge and French groups start to perceive the growing influence of German managers as unfair and unequal. All these factors create frustr ations amongst the teams and individuals thus producing uncertainty which affects the plant performance and the company’s ability to meet delivery schedules. 3. Organisational factors The organisational structure and culture as well as its policies and systems, together with the set goals influence employee and team behaviours. With this in mind, it is important to consider that Airbus and its parent company EADS were merged in the name of European unity and intended to be more competitive in the aerospace industry. With the internal pressures of company restructuring consisting of the A380 delivery targets and current production delays, Airbus workers become dominated by uncertainties and tension between different working groups. As Kotter and Schlesinger (1979) highlighted in their study, human resistance often emerges during organisational change efforts. Power 8, Airbus’ restructuring programme which consisted of undertaking a number of changes including job cuts, factory sales, new areas for components sourcing and leadership turnover, produces social tensions and management rivalries inside the organisation. 4. External environment An analysis of the national and global context of Airbus is crucial to understanding the influence of external forces producing both opportunities and threats to the organisation. Amongst those factors, pressures from politics, unions and public opinion are dominant forces in the case of Airbus. Competition in the global market, mainly between Airbus and Boeing, is also intense. Each company is under pressure and suffering from severe delays in delivery targets. State shareholders naturally makes the company subject to political interests and government rules and regulations affect Airbus’ operations management and its decision making process. Questions are raised about the compatibility of the company’s economic goals and its commitment to more political and social objectives. The leadership team need to engage and negotiate with trade unions, political parties and public movements to ensure success in the company’s outcomes. Thus pressur e from different groups makes it problematic for Airbus to align the internal organisation with the external forces. 5. Change dynamics Burke and Litwin (1992) present a causal model that helps to define and establish a cause-and-effect relationship between a number of organizational elements which are key to organizational change. The linkage between these is the key to effective change. They identify the external environment as the dominant factor driving change in organisations which affects their mission, culture, leadership and strategy. The company’s structure, systems, management practices, and climate are in turn linked to those dimensions and impact the overall performance. In the case of Airbus, the merger between Airbus and EADS and the strong competition of Boeing in the global aerospace market are the most dominant external forces. Those trigger a series of further changes in the company, which together, affects the motivation level of employees and work groups. 6. Change management issues Kotter (1995) in his corporate change analysis provides a number of lessons learnt which help understand the complex issues outlined in the Airbus case study. One of the issues in Airbus’ strategy is the lack of cooperation from individuals and teams. Morale and motivation are important factors to control and influence, especially in the first phase of the transformational process. Additionally, the role of leadership in terms of establishing a vision, communicating it and being the example of the new behaviours is also crucial. Airbus’ past rivalry between the former French and German management sides have been detrimental for the change effort. As Drucker (1986) points out â€Å"managers’ inability to change their attitudes and behaviour as rapidly as their organizations require† (Drucker, 1986) is a barrier for organisational growth. It is important to consider that changes take a long time to naturalise into the company cult ure. The benefit of Airbus’ restructuring programme, Power 8, cannot be judged before its time. The change in habits and rules destabilise people and the company’s exposure to public opinion and political interest increases the process of change in its complexity. Conclusion Today’s workforce is becoming more diverse in terms of age, gender and ethnicity. Managers are duty bound to develop skills to influence the relationship between team diversity and team outcomes by analysing the current situation and possible issues to be avoided. Changes are generally needed; in the instance of Airbus, they are implementing a large scale change affecting the organisational leadership, culture, structure and operations. Consequently, people affected by change experience some level of discomfort but leaders can increase their level of success by selecting the right strategy and approach to use with workgroups and individuals. Effective change management strategy should be consistent with the company’s management behaviour and the overall company’s culture, ensuring alignment of people internally and externally in the public environment. The change process in every organisation requires a length of time and readiness for individual chang e which proceed through stages which should not be overlooked for a successful outcome.

Supplier and Partnering Processes Essay

For many businesses, goods and services provided by suppliers or partners account for a significant portion of the cost and value of the final product. Suppliers include not only companies that provide materials and components, but also distributors, transportation companies, and information, healthcare, and education providers. Key suppliers might provide unique design, technology, integration, or marketing capabilities that are not available within the business, and therefore can be critical to achieving such strategic objectives as lower costs, faster time-to-market, and improved quality. Organizational partners might include educational institutions that collaborate on research and training. (Conversely, a company might be viewed as a partner for an educational institution.) Increasingly, suppliers are viewed as partners with customers, because there usually is a co-dependent relationship. A powerful example of supplier partnerships is the response that occurred when a fire destroyed the main source of a crucial $5 brake valve for Toyota.1 Without it, Toyota had to shut down its 20 plants in Japan. Within hours of the disaster, other suppliers began taking blueprints, improvising tooling systems, and setting up makeshift production lines. Within days, the 36 suppliers, aided by more than 150 other subcontractors, had almost 50 production lines making small batches of the valve. Even a sewing-machine company that had never made car parts spent 500 person-hours refitting a milling machine to make just 40 valves a day. Toyota promised the suppliers a bonus of about $100 million â€Å"as a token of our appreciation.† Strong customer/supplier relationships are based on three guiding principles: 1.Recognizing the strategic importance of suppliers in accomplishing business objectives, particularly minimizing the total cost of ownership, 2.Developing win-win relationships through long-term partnerships rather than as adversaries, and 3.Establishing trust through openness and honesty, thus leading to mutual advantages. One example of these principles is the Baldwin Piano & Organ Company, which set up a 10-year agreement with Southland Marketing Inc. for piano plates to get  Ã¢â‚¬Å"higher quality, more consistent supply, and lower cost.†2 Baldwin helped finance the purchase of the equipment needed to finish the plates. The contract is expected to save Baldwin 10 percent a year on its plate costs. Successful suppliers have a culture where employees and managers share in customers’ goals, commitments, and risks to promote such long-term relationships (recall one of Deming’s 14 Points about supplier relationships–not purchasing solely on the basis of price). In many companies, suppliers are treated as if they were actually a part of the organization. For example, functions such as cafeteria service, mailroom operations, and information processing are being performed by suppliers at their customers’ facilities. As more and more of this type of outsourcing is done, the lines between the customer and the supplier become increasingly blurred. Many companies segment suppliers into categories based on their importance to the business and manage them accordingly. For example, at Corning, Level 1 suppliers, who provide raw materials, cases, and hardware, are deemed critical to business success and are managed by teams that include representatives from engineering, materials control, purchasing, and the supplier company. Level 2 suppliers provide specialty materials, equipment, and services, and are managed by internal customers. Level 3 suppliers provide commodity items and are centrally managed by purchasing.3 Measurement plays an important role in supplier management. Texas Instruments measures suppliers’ quality performance by parts per million defective, percentage of on-time deliveries, and cost of ownership.4 An electronic requisitioning system permits a paperless procurement process. More than 800 suppliers are linked to Texas Instruments through an information exchange system. Integrated data systems track the incoming quality and timeliness of deliveries as materials are received. Analytical reports and on-line data are used to identify material defect trends. Performance reports are sent each month to key suppliers. Joint customer-supplier teams are formed to communicate and improve performance. A supplier management task force of top managers directs current and strategic approaches to improving supplier management practices. Finally, communication, feedback, and recognition or awards are important practices in supplier and partnering processes. For instance, the Fastener Supply Corporation, which distributes fasteners, electronic hardware, and other products to over 300 customers makes frequent contact with its 250 suppliers, invites them to company functions and shares such information as customers’ forecasted requirements.5 Feedback should provide timely and actionable information to suppliers to lead to improvement and ensure that suppliers meet the organization’s performance requirements. At Fastener, any potential performance problems are brought to attention with prompt notice and immediate feedback. An annual award dinner recognizes outstanding suppliers for quality and continuous improvement. Many companies such as Bethlehem Steel, Miller Brewing, and Honda, make a point of delivering supplier awards not only to upper management at a fancy banquet, but also to the workers on the shop floor. â€Å"It’s one thing for the boss to say that quality is important, but another thing entirely for the customer to come out and say it,† says Jerry Schiedt, corporate purchasing director for Miller Brewing Company in Milwaukee. â€Å"When we actually visit a plant to present an award to the folks who made the award possible, then we build a relationship with the company and the folks on the floor who do the work to ensure the quality of the products we buy.†6 Supplier Certification Many companies use some type of supplier certification systems as the focal point of their supplier management system. These systems rate and certify suppliers who provide quality materials in a cost-effective and timely manner. For example, the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association defines a certified supplier as one that, after extensive investigation, is found to supply material of such quality that routine testing on each lot received is unnecessary. Certification provides recognition for high-quality suppliers, which motivates them to improve continuously and attract more business. The details of supplier certification processes vary by company. For instance, Florida Power and Light has a three-tier certification program.7 Vendors (another term for suppliers) can be certified as a â€Å"Quality Vendor,† â€Å"Certified Vendor,† and â€Å"Excellent Vendor.† To become a Quality Vendor, a  supplier’s products or services must meet basic requirements of quality, cost, delivery, and safety. In addition, the supplier must have a quality improvement process in place and be able to demonstrate that this has achieved significant improvements. It must also have an audit system to certify the process and the results. To become a Certified Vendor, the supplier must have demonstrated the use of statistical process control and prove that its processes can meet FPL’s specification requirements. It must also be able to document capability and have a plan for continuous quality improvement. To achieve Excellent Vendor status, suppliers must demonstrate the ability to exceed FPL’s specification requirements, employ reliability assurance techniques, and show that quality improvement is a central part of their management system. At the Gillette Company, the supplier certification program begins with Gillette identifying those suppliers with a proven ability to meet its specifications.8 Once a supplier is selected to participate, Gillette expects them to establish a pre-production planning system to assess the capability of their process to meet Gillette’s specifications. Feedback is offered in the form of recommended changes that will improve quality, reduce cost, or facilitate ease of manufacture. Supplier certification programs can be time-consuming and expensive to administer. One approach to avoiding unnecessary audit costs and helping to assure buyers that specified practices are being followed is to create a uniform set of standards–an independent and transportable supplier qualification system, such as ISO 9000.