Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Bp Pipeline Case Regarding Ethical Behavior And Decision...

BP Pipeline Case regarding Ethical Behaviors and Decision-Makin British Petroleum (BP) has been operating in the United States for decades. They have required most of their refineries through acquisitions in the med the 1900’s, which helped them to become one of the leading oil producers in the world. The acquisition of the Prudhoe Bay, Alaska refineries produces more than five percent of America’s oil. Therefore, it guaranteed BP’s economic goals by continuing producing oil in the United States. However as soon as 2001 through investigations, BP started having severe safety issues, in addition to this, by 2005 started a chain of unethical operational and maintenance safety hazards that lead to deaths, injuries, environment and ecosystem disaster in Texas, Alaska, and in the Gulf of Mexico. In early 2006 over 265,000 gallons of oil leak was one of the most dangerous pipeline leaks in history. This paper will discuss the case of BP’s unethical sadistic negligent and environmental behaviors that lead to billions of dol lars in fines for failure to act and operate in accordance to the safety laws. Discuss in detail the ethical, negligence, and environmental issues you see in this case. In this case BP PLC is another multi-national name brand corporation that operates under three different segments: â€Å"Exploration and Production; Refining and Marketing; and Gas, Power, and Renewables† (Jennings, 2012, 411), They used â€Å"green† and â€Å"socially responsible† in its marketing

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Perception of Transgenerational Family Relationships †Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Perception of Transgenerational Family Relationships. Answer: Introduction: The essay concentrates on the improvement in the structures of the family. It succinctly elucidates the emerging problems pertaining to nostalgia or looking back to the history of the structures management. The process of looking back has often been observed as a merry moment as well as a moment full of lamentation that has been impacting upon the family members psychologically. Several questions have been raised in due course of time. These are: Whether it is healthy to dwell in the past Whether the habit of living in the memory is impactful in terms of dwelling in both ways- past and present It has been found that nostalgia has worked as remedy and healing process for the soldiers during wars in barren land. However, whether it is as healing to the civilian families who spend day to day common life, is a matter of huge concern for the psychologist. It has often been found that there has been a thorough conflict between individualism and collectivism thus affecting the structure of the family. In the United States, there has been a tendency to become nostalgic towards a collective family where they would live with their parents and other family members maintaining a strong tree line. However, the importance of family in the Asian countries is significantly noticed thus tending the European countries, where nuclear family structure is often observed, to a nostalgic mode by missing the old structure. This essay, hence tries to find out possible ways to mitigate negative effects of nostalgia in terms of creating effective concern to the families. The rationale for having chosen this topic is that nostalgia and family structure has seldom been dealt with. However, no profound study has been identified so far. In this regard, it has been taken into certain consideration pertaining to the effective understanding of the process. It deals with the techniques and the concepts of the systems that have been applied to the family relationships management and the influence of the origin of the family and the transgenerational dynamics, which is required in the development, and the role of a counselor in the development of the family relationships. The further aim of the essay is to understand the strengthening and the supportive factors which affect the relationship between the family members that can affect anytime throughout the life. The essay analyses this from a multi-contextual perspective. It consists of the application of the principles in the analysis of the selected family relationships and the identification of the principles of the well-being and development of every member of the family and the relationships between them. The dealings of this include the potential therapeutic interventions. The family systems therapy relies on the systems judging it from the point of family as an emotional institution . The therapy is offered to those families that are facing any kind of emotional crisis. The seeking of help by the members of the family in this case is many times helpful. The professional counselor is able to solve the issues through the application of the therapies that are useful in such cases (Munson Bardill, 2015). The development is family systems therapy is helpful in this case. The family systems therapy is completely based on Murray Bowen`s family systems theory. This therapy consists that not every individual can be separated from the networks of their surroundings and their other relationships. Many psychoanalysts tried to arrange different therapies for development of the human behavior in case of treatment of the behavior of the people. Bowen introduced the family systems theory after many researches (Nemesh, 2017). He came to this conclusion by viewing the people and the process of the family patterns of people with schizophrenia. The traditional individual therapy often concentrates on the inner psyche of an individual in order to introduce the change in the relationships and the other aspects of life. Bowen in his theory suggests that the behavior and the structure of the broader relationship should be dealt. He opined that a change in the behavior of the members brings a disturbance in the functioning of the family. Many therapists have proposed many forms of family therapy. The systems of family in general fall under many categories. The categories include the structural family therapy, the strategic family therapy, the intergenerational family therapy, the family systems therapy and the Genogram and the Eight Interlocking Concepts of family Systems Theory (Abbott, 2014). Jay Haley, Milton Erickson and Cloe Madanes have designed the designer of structural family therapy. These therapists commented that the family relationships, the behaviors of the members of the family and the patterns that the family follow is important as they exhibit those same traits while the therapy. The therapists also keep in mind the system and the structure that is followed in the family and the system of the siblings as well (Caldwel Senter, 2013). The strategic family therapy on the other hand concentrates on the processes of the family and the functions of the family, which are based on the communication, and the patterns of solving the problems. It follows the pattern of evaluation of the family behavior outside during the sessions of the therapy. It actually consists of the reframing or the redefining a problematic situation for which the individual has gone to take the therapy. It includes a suggestion where the family takes the action, which seems to be the opposite of their therapeutic goals. This is done to bring the change, which is the ultimate goal of the therapy. This technique applies that the in order to bring the change it is not necessary to have an intensive analysis of the source of the issue (Carr, 2012). The intergenerational family therapy is another process of therapy, which includes that the problems that the patients face are due to the influence of the generation. It is predicted that the generation plays an important role in the occurrence of the disease. The best example in this case is the transference of the anxiety. The anxiety in many cases has been found to be transferred genetically. In this therapy, Bowen designed it use in case of family therapies. This therapy is used in the treatment of the individuals, the entire family and the couples as well (DeMaria, Weeks Twist, 2017). The therapy includes a psychological treatment of the entire family and the treatment is interrelated. The genogram includes the pictorial representation of the history of the disease that occurred in the family. The family`s medical history is taken into account in this case. Sometimes it is found that the past illness has played important role in transferring the mental disorder. For example, the case of schizophrenia takes three generations to be transferred in the next generation. However, this is a rough estimation of the time. It sometimes takes more years than this (Durtschi Wetchler, 2014). The eight interlocking concepts of family systems theory includes, the formation of the foundation of the Bowenian approach. These concepts are interconnected and a dense understanding of one is necessary in order to understand the others. It includes the differentiation of the self where a person is able to separate the feelings and the thoughts and the person is able to cope up with the goals of the life. It includes an emotional triangle which includes the representation of the small but stable network of human relationship systems. The family projection is another process of this therapy. This includes the transmission of the anxiety of the parents, the difficulties in the relationship and the emotional concerns of a child. The multigenerational transmission process contains that the individuals searches partners who have similar problem with the similar intensity. In this case it has been observed that usually a couple who is having a low level of differentiation have children w ho have the same deficiency (Moaveni, 2012). While understanding the stressors and the supportive factors that affect a family, it is necessary to understand the nature of risk and the problems that resides in the families. It is treated as the source to prevent and dealing the abuse of drugs and alcohol in families. The substance abuse is one of the most important issues that are being faced by the family. According to many critics, it has been observed that the children in a family have faced substance abuse in many cases. This is the reason they indulge themselves in the consumption of the drugs and the alcohols. They remain in the custody of the parents. It has been found that the children found their parents involved in the problems of drugs and alcohol. The result of the substance abuse of the parents is the neglect of the children. Due to the involvement in drugs and alcohol, the parents tend to neglect their child and pay less attention to their children. The children who get neglected from their parents land up in cons uming drugs, alcohol and they land up in experiencing depression. The prenatal substance exposure is another by-product of parental substance use. The prenatal exposure to alcohol sometimes causes the alcohol syndrome, which is fatal. It has long-lasting effect on the children. In this case, it is necessary for the parents to support their children and bring them out of the worst phase of depression (Miller-Graff, 2016). The concept of risk and resilience are necessary factor in this case. They have always remained the agent of development. It has been the agent of the critical review. The exact reason behind this problem is not exactly known yet. The problem becomes more potent while it is not paid attention to. An effective support should be there to the ones who are affected due to this (von Schlipp Schneewind, 2014). The risk includes the environmental effects like the no positive social support, which includes the parental dependency of drug and the increased substance abuse. On the other hand, it has been viewed that the environmental and the risk factor is required to reduce the risk. The availability of the drugs and the low monitoring of the parents give rise to an increased substance abuse. It has also been found that the environment increases the expression of the risk factor. The chaotic and the poor school environment give rise to an increased substance abuse. Final situation is while t he environment exacerbates the effect of the risk factor. The few employment opportunities give rise to the increased substance abuse. The factors that influences the use of the substances are poverty, drug-abusing guardians, when the family relations starts getting poor, the impoverished house, the chaotic home and the physical and mental abuse. To avoid these problems the family must remain strong, the family members should be supportive, and they must understand each other. To deal the problems the family members must share a good bond among them and understand each others problems. In case of addiction, the family members must make efforts to bring the victim back in the balanced world (Lee, 2014). The approach of the counselor should be organized in this case. For solving the problems of the families, the term denial is important. In this case the denial implies to the denial by the individual of consuming the substances. The person who is abused does not do it willfully or deliberately. It is because of the use of the substance that the person uses the set of defenses. The resistance is another part of this process (Whiston, 2012). It consists of the negative response to someone. The therapist can minimize this situation by understanding the stage and the condition of the client. It is based on the client who is unable to do something. It has been found that the resistance on the part of the person who is affected in the family to engaging family members into the therapy appropriately might reflect the dynamics of the family into the treatment and the correct the maladaptive interactional structure that are related to the problem of the substance abuse (Yoshida Busby, 2012). The family relation gets destroyed because of the substance abuse treatment. The counselors base their idea on the understanding of the relations of the family members. They lay their focus on the disease model. In this case, the principles framed out in the Satir Model and Harry Apontes Model are being taken into consideration to see how the models help in identifying implications for the well-being and development of family members and also their relationships and for potential therapeutic interventions (Hostetler Feinberg, 2014). The most effective solution of this situation is the emotional understanding between the family members. The therapies can work only if the support of the family members is huge. The members of the family can bring the patient back from the traumatized situation to the normal and the real world. The members of the family have a major role to play. It acts more strongly than a therapy. The therapy has certain limitations. The limitations can be avoided only with the support of the members of the family. Problems can arise in any family but with the proper treatment of the depression by the members of the family and the avoidance of any neglect can keep the person away from the upcoming depression. Just like any therapy model, which is based on the solid foundation of assumptions, hypothesis and certain beliefs, Satir Model sits perfectly with the basic principles to understand the issues related to family therapy (Schonert-Reichl Weissberg, 2014). Satir Model is set on the belief that there is always a possibility of change, even if that change takes place within a particular individual which actually gets influenced by the kind of perceptions, that individual carry, the way he feels and kind of expectations he carries. The model comes up with the belief that sessions conducted for therapy purposes, need to be conducted by way of experiments, which gradually helps to bring forth an overall change in the well-being of an individual, not only in terms of doing some activity but also in the way he feels. This change which comes from within lays great impact an individuals relationship management with the family members in a positive way. The fundamental aspect which this model f ocuses on is to let individuals cope up with the problems that crop up in their lives. Occurrence of problems is a common feature in everybodys lives but the important aspect which individuals need to focus upon, is how to tackle those problems rather than look for solutions (Galvin, Braithwaite Bylund, 2015). The solution highly depends on the support of the family. The support of the family members is of prime importance. There are many relations, which become a part of any family. Relation between parents and their children, relationship between the siblings, relationship among the cousins and between uncles and aunts, all carry significance in the lives of an individual. This model comes up with the idea that, the ones seeking therapy for bringing about personal development and well-being, are encouraged to be in a state of Congruence (Pilecki Jzefik, 2013). Congruence is believed to provide individuals with a sense of empowerment, which implies that they are in complete control of their situation and hence they do not get influenced negatively. An empowered individual would always remain calm and composed, due to which the relationship with the family members will not get hampered as a sense of understanding shall prevail within. Ability to tackle tough situations and being in control of those situations go a long way in not only maintaining harmonious relationship among the family members and all ow for personal growth and development (Galvin, Braithwaite Bylund, 2015). Harry Apontes theory is based on certain principles which, when applied by the individuals seeking therapy, would invariably instill well-being in the relationships and allow an individual to grow and develop in all respects. The principles of intervention formulated are as follows: Aponte stressed on the fact that people should aim to have their focus on concrete issues, around which the therapy should be organized. Ideally, the issues should be relevant enough to grab the attention of the family members, which should contain the dynamics of a familys integral issue (Fawcett, 2013). The attention of the family members should be grabbed to identify the issue, for which the therapy is getting conducted, in the present moment. Considering the current scenario, rather than relating them with any past incident is really important to get to the root of the problem. This theory works with the principle of primarily understanding the issue and then make the family members go through those similar situations in the therapy sessions. This enactment of the issues can take place either among the members of the family or between the one conducting the therapy and the family members. No matter what issues on which the therapists work, they make sure that families get attended to from time to time, which require to be rebuilt for enabling them to have a lasting impact. The therapeutic process followed to let the families get rid of the problems primarily focus on nurturing the strong points within the family (Payne, 2015). The therapeutic sessions help in bringing about positivity among the family members by getting out of the issues, for which they had gone for the therapy So, the different ways through which the therapies get conducted on the family members facing certain issues and problems, imply that they would genuinely be extremely effective to help people get things sorted out (Parker, 2017). Making families enact their problems in front of the therapists, allow them to get a clear idea about the exact problem, which in turn help the family members to understand clearly about the approach which they should adopt, in case such situation arises in future. All the activities will surely help in letting individuals grow and develop themselves even further, improve their personal relationships through better understanding (Echterling Stewart, 2014). It can thus be recommended that proper therapeutic understanding has to be taken into account. In terms of creating an effective environment for the family members, this has to be implemented. Nostalgia indeed compensates for sore states of human psychology. However, it often ruins the present. Hence, it shall be the obligation of therapeutic strategy for the psychologists that the families ought to be brought back to cohesive culture where reciprocity in terms of decision making is highly prioritized. In this case, a counselor needs to provide a situation to the family members whereby all the family members are to be driven to close bonding with each other so that they feel that their present is however better than their past. This report concludes that family relationships hold importance for each and every member within the family, which must be taken care of in times of crisis, through adoption of certain measures and principles. To be in control of the environment, so that individuals do not get carried away or influenced by external factors, is of paramount importance as they tend to have adverse affect on the relationships among the family members. This will allow people to become composed and attain a distinct level of personality which invariably help in their growth and development. Family members have to focus upon the core issues and look to deal with them in the current scenario. The families members undergo therapeutic sessions not only for seeking solutions to their problems but also take positive vibes out of those sessions. These therapeutic sessions would be effective, only if the members apply the tricks and solutions put forward to them by the therapists and hence develop the maturity to tackle tough situations. The insights garnered from the sessions attended should be put to use on a regular basis. It is suggested that the counselor can only provide the patient with some therapies but the practice of such therapies can only be done in homes. A regular check has to be kept at home so that the patient or the effected members of the family can recover soon. The neglect of the parents can make the situation worse. The children need attention always from his parents. The upbringing of a child has always remained a serious issue. The behavior of an individual depends upon the family culture that can be maintained only by the interaction of the family members with each other. Therefore the role of the family is of extreme importance. References Abbott, L. M. (2014).A portrait of one woman's resilience in navigating her multiple worlds' challenges within community, family, school, and individual/peer experiences(Doctoral dissertation, Iowa State University). Caldwell, K., Senter, K. (2013). Strengthening family resilience through spiritual and religious resources. InHandbook of family resilience(pp. 441-455). Springer New York. Carr, A. (2012).Family therapy: Concepts, process and practice. John Wiley Sons. DeMaria, R., Weeks, G. R., Twist, M. L. (2017).Focused genograms: Intergenerational assessment of individuals, couples, and families. Taylor Francis. Durtschi, J. A., Wetchler, J. L. (2014). Structural family therapy.An Introduction to Marriage and Family Therapy, 43-64. Echterling, L. G., Stewart, A. (2014). Resiliency During Early Childhood.Encyclopedia of Primary Prevention and Health Promotion, 877-886. Fawcett, A. L. (2013).Principles of assessment and outcome measurement for occupational therapists and physiotherapists: theory, skills and application. John Wiley Sons. Galvin, K. M., Braithwaite, D. O., Bylund, C. L. (2015).Family Communication: Cohesion and Change (Subscription). Routledge. Goldenberg, H., Goldenberg, I. (2012).Family therapy: An overview. Cengage Learning. Healy, K. (2014).Social work theories in context: Creating frameworks for practice. Palgrave Macmillan. Hostetler, M. L., Feinberg, M. E. (2014). Sibling Relationships During Childhood.Encyclopedia of Primary Prevention and Health Promotion, 918-925. Lee, C. C. (Ed.). (2014).Multicultural issues in counseling: New approaches to diversity. John Wiley Sons. Miller-Graff, L. E. (2016). Multi-contextual Influences on Resilience in Young Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence.Contexts for Young Child Flourishing: Evolution, Family, and Society, 246. Moaveni, M. (2012).Ethnic pride, self-esteem, and educational aspirations: Treatment implications for at-risk youth(Doctoral dissertation, The Wright Institute). Munson, C., Bardill, D. R. (2015).The relational systems model for family therapy: Living in the four realities. Routledge. Nemesh, B. (2017). Family-based music therapy: from dissonance to harmony.Nordic Journal of Music Therapy,26(2), 167-184. Parker, J. (2017).Social work practice: Assessment, planning, intervention and review. Learning Matters. Payne, M. (2015).Modern social work theory. Oxford University Press. Pilecki, M. W., Jzefik, B. (2013). Perception of transgenerational family relationships: Comparison of eating-disordered patients and their parents.Medical science monitor: international medical journal of experimental and clinical research,19, 1114. Schonert-Reichl, K. A., Weissberg, R. P. (2014). Social and emotional learning: Children.Encyclopedia of primary prevention and health promotion, 936-949. Schutzenberger, A. A. (2014).The ancestor syndrome: Transgenerational psychotherapy and the hidden links in the family tree. Routledge. von Schlippe, A., Schneewind, K. A. (2014). Theories from family psychology and family therapy.SAGE handbook of family business, 47-65. Whiston, S. C. (2012).Principles and applications of assessment in counseling. Cengage Learning. Yoshida, K., Busby, D. M. (2012). Intergenerational transmission effects on relationship satisfaction: A cross-cultural study.Journal of Fa

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Social clock A comparison on women today and in the ‘50s Essay Example

Social clock: A comparison on women today and in the ‘50s Paper The idea that there are descriptive and prescriptive age norms regarding adults during their developmental change comprises the view of the social clock. The social clock hinges on its explanation of society’s outlook where time to get married and have children at the same time meeting more of life’s share of stresses. For example, the traditional or what has been considered as the perception of women who have not yet entered into matrimony as individuals who are negatively appraised during their middle adulthood stage in contrast to the young adults. Social clock has something to do with an expectation that a person must somehow behave or conduct him/herself according to established developmental milestones or else, risk the consequences that may happen because the individual has allowed it to slip through (Altenbernd, 2004). The concept is not strange to anyone today, this despite the fact that many among Americans have grown to know in informal set-ups that the social clock exists and must be followed. However, there are some changes that are worth noting. Though there are still the sorts of expectation that are in place in various developmental stages, an inevitable subtle yet profound transformation was already in motion. Today, roles of women and society’s expectations have become less rigid than it was fifty years ago; quite a short time for major shift in women’s functions. We will write a custom essay sample on Social clock: A comparison on women today and in the ‘50s specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Social clock: A comparison on women today and in the ‘50s specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Social clock: A comparison on women today and in the ‘50s specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer In today’s culture where individualism is emphasized and especially that women are encouraged to assume equal roles as men would normally take, two or three decades ago, it is very difficult to see eye to eye with how women are portrayed in the 1950s. â€Å"Girl power† or women empowerment is the rule of the day for women nowadays. Although, of course, all women as all men have the right to lead in the sense that they have the same intrinsic capacity to influence, the role of leadership has been blown out of proportion by feminist groups as they apply it to women. The result of this over blown leadership role of women has been the constant battle between members of opposite sexes in many significant areas within society. It has affected the homes, government and non-government institutions, down to the smallest entity that has within its membership men and women (Farber, 2005). While at the moment, the common cry of women is equality to both genders as it is reflected i n women’s roles in the family, in public places, and the obliteration of the stereotyped designation of females in past decades which until now has its bearing in the minds of the general public the consequent outcome of this campaign is prevalent in almost every area where function is concerned. In the late 1960s, women’s movement began to blossom. It was stirred by the then sentiment of repulsion to the tasks being typecasted among women. Women’s movement of the 60s aimed to question the menial duties relegated to women such as getting married, becoming a housewife and afterwards attending to household chores (including raising children), and when outside opportunity comes for them to work, they’re consigned to answering phones, photocopying, etc (Farber, 2005). The scenery has been changed and is no longer the same as in the past 30 or 40 years. The typical woman today is one that is among the working class – no longer confined to house premises, but working and providing as much as her male counterparts. She can be the manager or an executive of an established firm where most of the male employees are under her command. Equality in roles has now been achieved. However, instead of seeing male and female partnership as complimentary to both sexes , the danger of too much emphasis on equality especially when it is defined merely in domestic and public functions is the threat that masculinity poses to womanhood. It is good for women to fight for their basic equal rights with men as members of this global community, but if it results in certain imbalances because the aim has become the dethronement of the opposite gender, then the battle for equality has now turned into fight for superiority of the female sex.

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

An Evaluation of the Relevance and Utility of Lean Manufacturing Approach to the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain The WritePass Journal

An Evaluation of the Relevance and Utility of Lean Manufacturing Approach to the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Introduction An Evaluation of the Relevance and Utility of Lean Manufacturing Approach to the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain : 113), the principles of Lean manufacturing are â€Å"customer value, value stream analysis, demand pull, continuous flow, and waste elimination.†   The purpose of a Lean supply chain network is to bring the lowest cost in differential customer value, which can be met through collaborative priorities in demand, real-time information on markets, and logistics delivery efficiencies, to name a few. The concept of networks of supply chain partners suggests that the success of companies is through their constant origination from new networks of supply chain partners in order to meet certain objectives. As a general rule, these constantly developing networks can act in response to the dynamic characteristic of customer demand (Sople 2012). The manufacturing function must not be the only domain to which Lean principles must be applied. Rather, it must also be applied across organisations in the supply chain to decrease the wastes usually associated with supply chain operations. Th e full benefit of Lean manufacturing and supply chain management necessitates that the scope of Lean implementations must go beyond a single function and must be structured as a part of managing relationships with customers and suppliers (Lambert 2008). It may therefore be analysed that with the adoption of Lean techniques, the management is tasked to align corporate activities with Lean manufacturing in supply chain management across organisational functions. Lean thinking also allows the organisation to direct business relationships with customers and suppliers. Application of Lean Principles Lean thinking is apparently applicable to pharmaceutical development and manufacturing (Wigglesworth and Wood, 2012). Lambert (2008) states that whilst the various material flows as well as flows of goods and information are the focus of Lean supply chain operations, Lean application to the management of supply chains is further from the physical flows of inventory. It also takes account of the entirety of the business relationship amongst firms. When a firm applies Lean manufacturing concepts to its supply chain management, it begins to focus on value drivers; revenue development; asset efficiency, and reductions in cost, inventory, and working capital. All of these are apparently beneficial to an organisation. Applying Lean thinking to supply chain management is very likely since both of them share commonalities, such as long-term perspectives, value and customer creation; systems view; and structured business relationships;   Ã‚  amongst others (Lambert 2008). These commonalities indicate how much Lean thinking and supply chain management lend to each other. Based on this, one can conclude that Lean approaches are aligned to supply chain management and that the two are generally not in contrast with each other. Potential advantages of Lean approach to managing quality and efficiency in the pharmaceutical industry One of the potential advantages of Lean approach in the pharmaceutical industry is the reduction of cost of goods in pharmaceutical development and manufacturing. The implementation of Lean thinking can be carried out by developing workflows and infrastructures to reduce inventories (Ende 2011), which are in fact a target of quality and efficiency efforts within pharmaceutical companies. The concept of continuous manufacturing in pharmaceutical companies deals with the challenge of overproduction, which leads to surplus inventory and longer cycle teams. These are the focus of efficiency on which pharmaceutical companies must be engaged. Its significance is seen in the fact that   excess inventory is considered the greatest waste because it brings upon itself certain costs related to the management, storage, and transport of inventories adding to the waste (Schneider 2010). Therefore, when Lean techniques are used, such wastes are reduced, if not totally eliminated within the pharma ceutical firm. Novartis and H. Lundbeck case studies Novartis is one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical firms (Abreau 2013). The upstream part of its supply chain indicates flow of information and full visibility. Novartis uses product-to-demand technique based on demand, whereby its daily variable demand stream is integrated to production (AMR Research 2006). Between its levels of supply chain are limited visibility and flow of information (Abreau 2013). Despite being ranked number 2 behind Pfizer in cost of goods sold in 2006, Novartis decided to take on Lean principles and become the â€Å"Toyota of pharmaceuticals.† Using Lean principles, the company is focused on reducing its cycle time to 70 per cent and reducing spending by 40 per cent, as well as pursuing continuous manufacturing with raw materials going in one end of the chain and finished products coming out the other (AMR Research 2007). Along with this is the reengineering of every process and role, leveraging information technology, and setting up process-oriented teams in the absence of first-line supervisors so that personnel would report directly to one team leader (Shanley 2004). Here, one can see the application of Lean techniques to Novartis’ supply chain, thereby helping the company to improve its internal processes and eliminate waste. Lundbeck, on the other hand, is an international pharmaceutical firm that began its Lean adoption in 2005. The company went through certain phases in its Lean adoption, such as building consensus in the management group and running a range of Lean events and building a culture around these events. In the first phase, Lundbeck implemented 40 Lean events assisted by external experts, followed by 70 to 80 Lean events each year, with all personnel in the supply chain being involved (Simpler Consulting 2010). Through its adoption of Lean principles in its supply chain, the company was able to cut costs by 25 per cent. Workflow analysis within the organisation is also aided by video cameras, which leads to further improvements. Part of its Lean techniques adoption is the use of large bags instead of small box packaging, which reduced production delays from four hours to only an hour (Miller 2012). Is Lean appropriate to the pharmaceutical supply chain? Yes, Lean techniques are appropriate to the pharmaceutical supply chain. Despite Lean thinking’s origination from Toyota manufacturing, its adoption is still suitable to the pharmaceutical industry. In fact, its applicability is seen in the number of pharmaceutical companies that continue to adopt Lean manufacturing techniques. Although many of these techniques cannot be taken on to the more complex pharmaceutical manufacturing plants, their adoption mirrors the pursuit of increased optimisation (Shanley 200). Boyer and Verma (2010) surmise that whilst the original focus of developing Lean thinking is the manufacture of automobiles, it can still be applied to other industries. This is because Lean approach is more than a set of techniques but is a mindset for all personnel and managers who are focused on waste elimination and reduction of variability in the entirety of the business process. The advantage of Lean’s adoption in the pharmaceutical industry is the ability of pharmaceutical companies to experience logical rhythm through the supply chain. With the Lean enterprise, adaptive supply chain is carried out, causing the whole organisation to possess real-time process visualisation (Hafeli 2006).    Argument for agility in the pharmaceutical supply chain Pharmaceutical companies are inclined to be bureaucratic, which results in several wastes in internal processes. With the application of Lean principles, pharmaceutical companies are able to strengthen their relative agility (Radeka 2013).   This would mean that despite the relative limitation of the application of Lean principles in the pharmaceutical supply chain as pointed by WCI Consulting Limited (2011), the result is still improved agility in the supply chain. Apparently, the need for agility in supply chain management is founded on decreasing product life cycles and demand patterns of increasingly volatile markets. Sweeney (2009) points out that Lean is not enough, that agility in supply chain is required because of emphasis on speed, with time being a major competitive weapon. This argument is reasonable given the rapidly changing market in which pharmaceutical companies operate. However, as emphasised above, Lean thinking is also applicable to the pharmaceutical industry. An argument arising about the adoption of Lean thinking in the pharmaceutical industry is the risk that goes with it. Such adoption is said to put the supply chain to increased vulnerability to disruptions and unpredictable events due to lack of slack on which to withdraw. With Lean techniques making the supply chain vulnerable, a question that may come up is whether this would mean Lean is not suitable at all. The answer is pharmaceutical companies can apply Lean techniques to cut costs and adopt agility in order to obtain supply chain resilience, as pointed out by WCI Consulting Limited (2011).    Conclusion This paper provides a critical analysis of the relevance and utility of Lean techniques in the pharmaceutical supply chain. Lean thinking allows the elimination of wastes and cost reduction in pharmaceutical companies. Lean supply chain considers the entirety of the business relationship amongst firms. Reduced costs of goods and reduced inventories are the potential advantages of Lean approach in the pharmaceutical industry. Novartis and Lundbeck case studies provide an example where Lean techniques and supply chain management become integrated. Despite the effectiveness of agility in supply chain management, Lean cannot be set aside as a valuable tool.                      References Abreau, P. E. M. (2013) An ANP Model to Support Decision-Making in a Portuguese Pharmaceutical Supply Chain. Reterived on March 22, 2014 from http://run.unl.pt/bitstream/10362/10724/1/Abreu_2013.pdf AMR Research (2006) Supply Chain Saves the World. US: AMR Research, Inc. AMR Research (2007) Risk!: Navigating an Uncertain World. US: AMR Research Inc. Boyer, K. and Verma, R. (2010) Operations and Supply Chain Management for the 21st Century. First Edition. Mason, OH: South-Western, Cengage Learning. Ende, D. J. (2011) Chemical Engineering in the Pharmaceutical Industry: RD to Manufacturing. New Jersey: John Wiley Sons. Hafeli, R. (2006) Enabling Lean and Compliant Manufacturing at Novartis with SAP. Denver: SAP Adaptive Manufacturing Summit, September 28. Lambert, D. M. (2008) Supply Chain Management: Processes, Partnerships, Performance. Sarasota, FL: Supply Chain Management Institute. Miller, G. (2012) Lean Earns Lundbeck Big Prize, Cost Cuts. Retrieved on March 22, 2014 from fiercepharmamanufacturing.com/story/lean-earns-lundbeck-big-prize-cost-cuts/2012-01-18 Radeka, K. (2013) The Mastery of Innovation: A Field Guide to Lean Product Development. NW: CRC Press. Schneider, O. (2010) Adding Enterprise Value: Mitigating Investment Decision Risks by Assessing the Economic Value of Supply Chain Initiatives. Zurich: vdf Hochshulverlag AG Shanley, A. (2004) Novartis Goes Lean. Retrieved on March 22, 2014 from pharmamanufacturing.com/articles/2004/111/ Simpler Consulting (2010) Lean Management of the Pharmaceutical Sector Brings Increased Efficiency and Improved Quality While Increasing Profits. Retrieved on March 22, 2014 from simpler.com/success-stories/Lundbeck_Case-Study.pdf Sople, V. V. (2012) Supply Chain Management: Text and Cases. New Delhi: Dorling Kindersley Pvt. Ltd. Sweeney, E. (2009) Lean, Agile and Resilient Pharmaceutical Supply Chains: Jargon or Action? Irish Pharmachem Buyers Guide (September), 38-39. WCI Consulting Limited (2011) Keeping the Supply Chain Agile. Retrieved on March 22, 2014 from wcigroup.com/Nostrapharmus/Keeping%20the%20supply%20chain%20agile.pdf Wigglesworth, M. and Wood, T. (2012) Management of Chemical and Biological Samples for Screening Applications. Germany: Wiley-VCH Verlag Co.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Jane Eyre, compare and contras essays

Jane Eyre, compare and contras essays In the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, Jane encounters two men of considerable power that profoundly change her life. One man, Edmund Rochester, is the love of her life, however, he is in an unfortunate marriage with a savage woman. The second man, St. John Rivers, will not be able to fulfill Janes emotional needs and desires like Rochester can. Janes relationships with Rochester and St. John become evident by the settings in which they interact with each other. Through her comparisons and contrasts of characters and settings, Charlotte Bronte is able to guide the reader through the turbulent chapters of the novel that ultimately decide the fate of the title character, Jane Eyre. Charlotte Bronte uses settings to represent relationships and to interconnect events throughout the novel. Thornfield is the primary setting because it is in the middle of the plot and it attributes structural unity to the novel (Napierkowski 172). Thornfield is the ideal home for Jane in that every other place she has ever or will ever reside in is subject to comparison to the mansion. Moor House is Thornfields antithesis because Moor House is a place where Jane is cared for, whereas in Thornfield, she is one of the caretakers of Adele (Craik 10). The teachers cottage that the Oliver family provides for Jane is also much different from Thornfield in that it offers the bare necessities of life; physical, mental, and emotional (Craik 10-1). Jane lived alone, with the exception of an occasional visitor, and had the simplest furnishings possible. In Thornfield, Jane had all of lifes luxuries at her fingertips; fine furnishings, agreeably nice companions, entertainment, and the love of her life were contained within the walls of the mansion. Thornfield also differs from the Lowood Institution; in Thornfield, freedom and happiness are in its gardens and landscap...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Synopsis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Synopsis - Essay Example They are the young men and women who seek to know about their ancestors (Nelson 270).The audience can also be students of history who are seeking knowledge about the cultures and traditions of the Americans and the Metis. Moreover, the target audiences are the Metis, especially those challenged to integrate different parts of their lives. The essay highlights the relations between humans and nature. It talks of people from different ethnic backgrounds living and interacting together in different aspects of life. Consequently, it addresses the tapestry of lifestyle. According to the culture of Hindus and other religions, the writer reveals different values and importance of trees and the nature in general (Nadkarni 1). Finally, the essay advocates for the protection of trees or nature. The audience here is a panel of environmentalists. The writer argues out key reasons on why we need to embrace science and protect the environment especially trees. This is in connection to what environmentalists do. Spiritual leaders can also form the audience, since they need the information concerning their spiritual beliefs and nature. In this way, they can effectively pass the knowledge to the congregation. The essay talks about nature in terms of the soil, water, sun and vegetation (Bell). It starts from the early days when man was completely tied to nature. In connection to this, the black folks found hope and strength to live from the soil itself. Consequently, they used to farm during the colonial periods. Moreover, nature is depicted to bring out a sense of peace and harmony as is seen in the lives of country men who conserve nature and stick to farming. This is in contrast in the life experienced in the urban areas where nature has been compromised. The audience of this essay is the history students who need to know the capitalism of the white men on the lives of the black folks who