Science and technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Science and technology - Essay Example However, even through the years of all the research, the AI project remains a failure (Kassan 1). Despite of this, Hawkins is certain that humans are capable of producing artificial intelligence (qtd. in Kassan 1). Honda, a Japanese mobile company, proved that Hawkins’s statement is rather accurate by creating ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility). The robot is said to be the most human-like creation Honda has ever made. By 2005, ASIMO is â€Å"better, stronger, and faster.† ASIMO â€Å"can do things like turn on light switches, open doors, carry objects, and push carts† (Orbinger and Strickland). Robots pretty much do the things that humans cannot do or simply do not want to do. This is a good deal for people who are too busy to do the chores at home or for someone who does not want additional burden when he comes from work. Yet, the question still remains: â€Å"Do we really need robots to do all these things?† In a brighter perspective, robots ca n do things more efficiently, â€Å"and without the continuous cost and social upheaval† (â€Å"Ethical Issues†). Is this not an insult to the capacity of humans to these jobs? It seems like the term â€Å"more efficiently† degrades the value of human work. Robotics, though a proof of humans’ intelligence, should not be taken as â€Å"slave machines† and made them do all the humans are capable of doing because first, it will affect human resources and job displacements, it would alter the natural, and it would forcibly pass through human limitation and eventually leading to the realization of the concept of â€Å"Singularity.† Necessity is the mother of invention; the seed of all production, or is it? The concept of necessity seems to have changed through the course of dynamic technological revolution. In the different kinds of industry, cutting the production costs without risking quality

Culture debasing Essay Example for Free

Culture debasing Essay The mass media is constantly around us, through newspapers and magazines, the internet, television and film etc. these are used by us everyday in our spare time and academic work. So are we influenced by this form of secondary socialisation in our lives to create a mass culture? And does this mass culture debase ordinary culture? In this essay I will use secondary research and my own opinion to answer this question. The media itself plays a big part in creating images through the way they report and advertise consumer products and moral panics. I feel that the type of media presentation demonstrated influences different subcultures into believing that what they are seeing is true, hence the change in their attitudes to different topics, music and fashion. Especially young people today can be nai ve and believe everything they see or hear on television or the internet, which could cause primary socialisation to change for the children, because of these views. This mass culture, I believe could destroy and make an ordinary culture into extinction through too much influence of babble and consumer products on television. Although you could ask what is ordinary and normal? Normal does not have a clear definition; as no one is completely normal, but ordinary seems to be defined as routine or customary, so an ordinary culture is considered the norm way of living. So what is mass culture? An extra- ordinary way people live, or is it a negative perception of some peoples choice of life? By using the textbook seventh edition Sociology Themes and Perspectives. I found that the development of the media was debasing the culture of ordinary people, which could cause problems for western societies. This comment could back up my opinion of a negative effect of media through a mass culture which could destroy the traditional thoughts and practices of western life. Dwight Macdonald had a theory about mass culture. He claimed that mass culture was very different from high culture and folk art. He states that mass culture is standardized and a commercial kitsch (popular culture which could be considered worthless) used by business to create a profit. This shows that Macdonald as well as I believe that mass culture is kitsch- worthless babble used to sell products, which also influences or brainwashes people into believing that anything merchandised is right or sick as teenagers of today say. Dwight also stated that mass culture takes less mental effort and that it tended to undermine high culture. So basically he is saying that mass culture is maybe for a different class of person.

Nuclear Power Versus Renewable Energy

Nuclear Power Versus Renewable Energy One of the biggest problems that we face in todays modern power hungry times is the decision on a single source of power. As we continue to consume as a society we are very quickly burning through our supplies of fossil fuels to the point at which in a couple of decades we will have all but exhausted existing supplies. It is for this reason that decisions need to be made on what source will generate future generations electricity. The future of energy production will lie with the criteria set out by fossil fuel energy production and how well they fit these criteria. Any new fuel source will have to be readily available and provide a constant supply of energy; it will need to be cheap and safe to produce; the same or fewer emissions than that of fossil fuels, although with todays current eco standards the later will probably need to be true. One particular source of energy seems the logical choice for the main replacement for fossil fuels and that is nuclear power, but how do other more renewable sources of energy compare to nuclear power? In 2002 it was reported by an MIT study that nuclear power supplied 17% of the worlds electricity consumption [1] and if this is compared to renewable sources such as wind power, geothermal and biomass generators which accounts for just 19% as calculated in 2008 [2]. The aim of this paper is to compare and contrast the viability of different energy sources for the future. What is nuclear power? Nuclear power in its current state is the controlled fission of radioactive material for the generation of electricity. Nuclear power uses Uranium primarily as a fissible material, the first safety issues come from obtaining a source of uranium that is viable to use for energy generation. Uranium occurs naturally in a compound ore form, comprised of 99.3% U238 and 0.7% U235 [3]. Uranium 238 is not a suitable isotope for fission, infact in its natural ore it prevents the uranium from sustaining any sort of nuclear reaction. This can be explained by the energy of absorbed neutrons in the nuclear material, U235 will undergo fission at all energies of neutrons, but U238 will not. To overcome this problem, uranium ore needs to be enriched with a higher percentage of U235 (usually so that U235 comprises 3% to 5% of the ore [3]). The enrichment process introduces safety issues that are not present in other forms of energy production, the process produces uranium hexafluoride that is a highly toxic chemical that is difficult to store due to its corrosive nature. The main waste product is depleted uranium that the radioactive waste from extracting U235 from natural Uranium ore. There has been much controversy over Depleted uraniums use as a weapon and its difficulty in being stored due to its radioactive nature, current estimates put global stockpiles of depleted uranium at 1.5 million tonnes [3]. The generation of power from radioactive sources makes use of a compound nuclear reaction. Neutrons are absorbed by enriched uranium, usually a uranium ore composed of mainly U235, which forms an excited compound nucleus. A compound nucleus will be inherently unstable and result in the fission of the excited compound nucleus and emission of two new nuclei and neutrons. Figure 1 illustrates a possible nuclear reaction inside a nuclear reactor: Figure 1- Example of nuclear reaction. n+U235 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ U*236 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Xe139 +Sr95 + 2n As can be seen from figure 1 the example fission reactions require a single neutron to induce fission of U235 but the final products of the reaction include 2 neutrons which allows the reaction to become self perpetuating, this neutron feeding process is known as a chain reaction. This chain reaction will only occur in enriched uranium. Nuclear power is generated using two different types of reactor that both have their merits and faults with regard to safety: The fast reactor is a reactor based on an equal mix of Uranium 235 and 238 that can sustain the chain reaction required to generate energy. Fast neutrons, hence the name, sustain the reaction, in the case of the fast reactor neutrons interact with U238 whicch forms a nucleaus that does not under go fission but forms plutonium 239 instead. Although Pu 239 is able to undergo fission, it does not do so at the speed required to sustain the chain reaction and infact most of it becomes unused waste in the form of spent fuel. The fast reactor is designed to navigate around this by using the fast neutrons to produce more fissile Pu239 than spent Pu239 by not using a moderator to slow neutrons down this reduces the problem of producing lots of unused fuel as waste. Because this type of reactor does not use a moderator to control neutrons and due to the highly fissile material in the reactor core, it does require an efficient cooling system which does introduce certain safety issues. Fast reac tors require a liquid sodium coolant, chosen due to its highly conductive nature, to remove heat from the core. The use of sodium though has its associated risks because its highly reactive and becomes corrosive when reacting with air which is obviously a problem when surrounding a radioactive core. Thermal reactors use enriched uranium to produce energy instead of an equal mix and the enrichment produces the waste products as discussed earlier. Unlike fast reactors which do not use moderators thermal reactors, and the ones in question use a moderator and coolant. In the case of Pressurised water reactors and boiling water reactors they both use water as a coolant and moderator due to waters inherent property that it is a good neutron absorber. The water based thermal reactors are one of the most widely used nuclear reactors due to the availability and safety of the coolant and moderator. There are contamination risks with the boiling water reactor, as water is pumped through the reactor and boils it will pick up fragments of radioactive contaminants which could be released into the atmosphere via the cooling towers. For note the worlds largest nuclear power plant uses 7 different boiling water reactors to generate electricity and is capable of generating a total of 8,212MW and a typical fossil fuel turbine is capable of generating 1000MW so a typical fossil fuel plant can be compared to outputting a similar amount of energy to that of a nuclear power plant [3b]. Safety of Nuclear Power With the explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and the recent meltdown risks of the Fukushima reactors safety concerns are always inherent when discussing nuclear power. Meltdowns are often a buzz word when associated with nuclear power plants and is often the biggest safety concern when considering nuclear power, but what exactly is a nuclear meltdown? A nuclear meltdown is not as serious as the word suggests or as the world media have suggested. A meltdown will occur when there is more heat inside the reactor core than that being removed by any coolant mechanism that are put in place. If this does happen then the nuclear fuel will literally melt causing it to melt through the reactor. This will result in damage to the reactor core and a possibility of the fuel escaping the reactor, but nuclear reactors are contained within a containment structure that is designed to prevent any radioactive material from contaminating the atmosphere and allowing coolant to be pumped into the structure. This only becomes an issue when the containment structure is damaged as was the case during the Fukushima earthquakes, with the exception of natural disasters modern nuclear power plants are designed with the up most safety in mind and have many different precautions in place to prevent and exposure and risk to the general public. Control rods are one of the best designed safety features within a nuclear reactor, they are designed to avoid any rapid increase in reactor core temperatures. When fuel temperatures rise to a temperature at which coolant will be contaminated and need to be ejected, the control rod safety mechanism kicks in. They are designed to slow the neutron flux with in the reactor, much like the moderator does, and hence slow down the rate of energy generation so that coolant can carry heat away without the risk of contamination. Systems are in place so that this precaution is activated immediately when any reactor threat is detected. This safety measure reduces the risk of any radioactive material being ejected via cooling systems. In fact studies suggest that exposure to radioactive sources due to nuclear power stations and nuclear fuel plants are less than 0.1% of human annual exposure to radiation, this can be seen from figure 1. So although there is a high chance of radioactive contamination the safety mechanism that are in place prevent this risks from occurring and keeping exposure down to a minimum. Figure 2- Figures showing annual sources of radiation exposure [4] With this in mind although there are danger risks when considering nuclear fuel as a replacement for fossil fuels, the number of design features installed to prevent this is more than adequate to ensure the safety of the technology. Proliferation concerns One concern with Nuclear power is not the safety risks of the power station or the waste they produce but instead that enrichment facilities can produce Uranium that is enriched for use in nuclear weapons. This is much a concern in the developing world where governments are not as stable and it would not take long for a fuel enrichment facility to start producing weapons grade uranium. Renewable energy sources So far we have looked at some of the pros and cons of nuclear power and it seems like a viable alternative to fossil fuels, but technological advances have allowed renewable energy sources to become a viable option for industrial production of energy. Renewable sources of energy cant produce energy on the scales that nuclear power plants can but they do not suffer from the contamination complications that nuclear power does. Solar power Solar power exploits natures biggest source of energy the sun, which outputs a massive 3.8410^26W [5] of which we receive 1.7410^17 W or 1.366kW/m^2 [6]. This is a huge amount of energy to exploit and an obvious choice for renewable energy because the sun is expected to remain in the sky for the next four and a half billion years. This seemingly perfect candidate for energy production seems relatively unused as solar power accounts for just 0.9% [7] of worlds energy production. One of the main issues with solar technology is the photovoltaic cell, this being the standard solar panel technology, it has a relatively low efficiency and as a result the amount of energy outputted does not represent the full potential from the energy put in, also with the sun being an intermittent energy source, the only way photovoltaic cells can produce energy at nights is with the use of large banks of batteries, which are expensive and an environmental hazard. There are seemingly new technologies creeping into the solar market, much simpler than the photovoltaic cell and much more efficient. One such technology is the solar tower. The solar tower uses a large field of heliostats which are mirrors that track the sun to focus the suns light on a single point which is a central tower. The central tower uses the heat supplied to drive a steam turbine capable of generating between 10 and 100 MW (dependant on the number of mirrors), for example the PS10 solar power plant in Spain uses 624 heliostats to generate 11MW and is still being constructed[8]. This may seem like a small amount of energy but a larger area solar power tower could provide much more energy, by increasing the area of the plant, by increasing the number of heliostats. One such project is currently under way in the Mojave desert which covers 4000 acres and aims to generate enough electricity to power the city of San Francisco [9]. Unlike Photovoltaic cells solar power towers hav e the capability of producing energy at night. When the suns energy is focused on the central tower some of the heat which is used to drive the turbines is also used to heat salts to molten temperatures in excess of 200 C, molten salts can keep their temperature very well if insulated properly, and when required can be pumped through the turbine to generate steam to generate electricity [10]. Given enough time Solar power could become a replacement for fossil fuel energy production, but in the meantime it suffers from high initial costs, a large carbon footprint and a lack of backing. Currently Spain appears to be the pioneers of this technology and have already constructed numerous solar power towers including PS10 as discussed earlier. Wind power One by-product of the suns energy that has yet to be mentioned is that it supplies energy into the atmosphere causing temperature and pressure differences, this produces a bulk movement of air molecules resulting in the wind. The wind is a much more exploited energy source compared to solar power, with wind power producing 2.5% of the worlds electricity[11]. Wind power generates electricity in a very similar manner to a conventional power generator, but instead of using water as a fluid to turn a turbine, the wind is the fluid that turns the turbine. Although there is a significant amount of power available in the wind not all of it can be extracted and a theoretical limit has been calculated for the amount of energy that can be [12]. This limit means that 59.3% of energy in the wind can be used for energy generation. In reality much less than this is extracted because wind is not a uniform medium and as such suffers from intermittency issues similar to solar power, in that wind is not a constantly accessible resource. Hydroelectric Power One already established form of renewable energy is Hydroelectricity, the generation of energy using the conversion of gravitational potential energy of falling water through a turbine. Its currently the 4th largest form of power generation behind coal, gas and nuclear power producing 20% of the worlds current electricity demands [13]. Interestingly though Hydroelectricity has been exploited in the 1st world, with almost all possible sites being developed for hydroelectricity, its only in the developing world where hydroelectricity could be utilized to improve renewable energy generation, this would explain why it is the 4th largest energy provider [13]. Unlike wind power and solar power, hydroelectric power does not suffer from intermittency issues. The idea behind a hydroelectric dam is that it uses the water at a higher gravitational potential to fall through a turbine generating electricity. When there is a smaller demand for electricity the flow rate can be reduced and the reservoir can be used to store excess water, this provides the dam with water on demand, which is a unique feature of hydroelectric power. Three gorges dam in china is a fantastic example of a 21st century hydroelectric plant, for reference it is capable of producing 22500MW [14] this is greater than 100 times the amount of energy produced by a solar power tower, and 5 times more energy than the largest nuclear power stations, so obviously hydroelectric dams are useful and utilizable replacement for fossil fuels. Hydroelectricity does have its environmental faults, and is probably the most hazardous of the renewable power sources. In order to construct a hydroelectric plan a large enough volume of water is required with a big enough drop for potential energy conversion to warrant building a hydroelectric plant. To do this a river must be dammed which upriver will flood a large area of land, this causes huge amounts of destruction to natural habitats, downriver there is a chance that drinking water is contaminated which has obvious human impacts. Conclusion on energy types We have discussed the different aspects of nuclear power and many different types of renewable energy sources. It is my opinion that despite certain renewable already being established they have still not reached their potential to replace fossil fuels, especially with certain intermittent issues and as a result are not ready to replace fossil fuels. On the other hand, while renewable sources develop into a more viable energy source nuclear power is ready to replace fossil fuels in the interim. If we compare energy production it would appear as if hydroelectric dams are the best option, but as discussed all sites in the developed world have been exploited and for comparison nuclear power stations are still being built as many possible sites still exist. Despite its safety issues and the non-renewable nature of nuclear fuel, nuclear power is capable of producing a steady supply of power that will meet demands upon request. In reality there is no one replacement for fossil fuels, as a society we have created a huge dependence on them and it is going to require a mixture of different power sources in order to develop a secure energy future and as a result our future probably lies with renewable energies and nuclear energies working in conjunction with each other. References 1. Deutch J.M et al, Future of Nuclear Power, An interdisciplinary MIT study, 2009, page 1. 2. El-Asjry M. et al, Renewable energy policy network for the 21st century, REN21, 2010, page 9. 3. Falk J. Bodman R.,Uranium Enrichment, Energy Science, November 2006, page 2. 3b. Power and technology, Full statistics of turbine energy generation, http://www.power-technology.com/projects/kashiwazaki/, accessed 16 April 2011. 4. Nuclear safety, The institution of engineering and technology, 2006, page 3. 5. Zeilik M. et al, Introductory Astronomy and Astrophysics, Saunders college publications, 1992, page G-11. 6. Wilson R. C., and Mordvinov A. V., Secular total solar irradiance trend during cycles 21-23, Geophys. Res. Lett, 2003, page 1199. 7. Wirman C., Electrical power annual: generation, US energy information administration, 2009, page 3. 8. Garcia-Sobrinos G., Tower of Power, Civil engineering, 2009, page 42-49. 9. Zook D., County supervisor concerned by Brightsource Mega Solar Project Impacts calls for a full review, Best Syndication News, 2011. 10. Barth D., Development of a High Temperature, Long-Shafted, Molten-Salt Pump for Power Tower Applications, Journal of Solar Energy Engineering, 2002 11. Ragheb M., Wind Power Systems:Harvesting the Wind, College of Engineering University of Illinois, 2011. 12. Gijs A.M. van Kuik, The Lanchester-Betz-Joukowsky Limit, Wind Energy Journals, 2007, 10:289-291 13. Hydropower and the Worlds Energy Future, International energy agency publication, 2000, update 2009. 14. Fabian A., Taming the Yangtze, IET publications, 2009.

The 1960s :: American America History

The 1960s Mr. Basiuk is the person I chose for my interview. Rather than immigrating to Canada, Mr. Basiuk was born in Canada, Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1936. He was educated in high school to the north end of Winnipeg at St. John's Technical High School. He spent two years altogether in grade 10 and 11 then attended five years in the University Of Manitoba and graduated as an electrical engineer. Unfortunately, he was not able to find a job in this profession in this area, and therefore began his career as a teacher; and has been teaching for the last thirty years. Interview Who was in political power and how affective was he in accomplishing his goals? I wasn't really interested nor paid much attention to politics, therefore I cannot answer this question. What things did you want to see changed by the government? What sort of problems did the government face and how were they solved? I wanted to see the government have more concern for the poor people. Things such as Medicare, OHIP, and pension plans. The government faced many problems, one of the most toughest, I think, was the deep recession occurring in the 60's. What special events or figures were most significant to you? Name some of the social trends you took part in. Well, I didn't have any hero's or someone to look up to until later on in my 20's when someone invited me to Montreal to watch a folk singer called Pete Seager. From this time on, I became really dedicated and interested in music and this really influenced my life. I was a teacher than, so I didn't really take part in social events, yet there was a building north of Jarvis called Yorkville and teenagers would usually gather there to dance and have fun. I would occasionally go to that place. State the differences in fashion from the 60's and today. Which music group or band did you enjoy listening to? What types of dances did you enjoy? First of all, teenagers and especially woman would wear clothes with more colour and beads. Bellbottoms were in back at that time. There are certain people who wear lots of flowers and turned out to be called the flower power. This name was given because they believed that being "nice" to others would help change the country-so they gave many people flowers and asked them to be their friend. The 1960s :: American America History The 1960s Mr. Basiuk is the person I chose for my interview. Rather than immigrating to Canada, Mr. Basiuk was born in Canada, Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1936. He was educated in high school to the north end of Winnipeg at St. John's Technical High School. He spent two years altogether in grade 10 and 11 then attended five years in the University Of Manitoba and graduated as an electrical engineer. Unfortunately, he was not able to find a job in this profession in this area, and therefore began his career as a teacher; and has been teaching for the last thirty years. Interview Who was in political power and how affective was he in accomplishing his goals? I wasn't really interested nor paid much attention to politics, therefore I cannot answer this question. What things did you want to see changed by the government? What sort of problems did the government face and how were they solved? I wanted to see the government have more concern for the poor people. Things such as Medicare, OHIP, and pension plans. The government faced many problems, one of the most toughest, I think, was the deep recession occurring in the 60's. What special events or figures were most significant to you? Name some of the social trends you took part in. Well, I didn't have any hero's or someone to look up to until later on in my 20's when someone invited me to Montreal to watch a folk singer called Pete Seager. From this time on, I became really dedicated and interested in music and this really influenced my life. I was a teacher than, so I didn't really take part in social events, yet there was a building north of Jarvis called Yorkville and teenagers would usually gather there to dance and have fun. I would occasionally go to that place. State the differences in fashion from the 60's and today. Which music group or band did you enjoy listening to? What types of dances did you enjoy? First of all, teenagers and especially woman would wear clothes with more colour and beads. Bellbottoms were in back at that time. There are certain people who wear lots of flowers and turned out to be called the flower power. This name was given because they believed that being "nice" to others would help change the country-so they gave many people flowers and asked them to be their friend.

Sports Injury :: essays research papers

Alcohol use and behaviors in women long-distance race participants reporting a history of bulimia and/ or anorexia nervosa   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  women long-distance racers were more likely to report a past history of an eating disorder than the control population and that reported in the general population. We cannot say that running was responsible for the development of the eating disorder. It may be that running can prevent or control eating disorders. High achieving, disciplined, organized women with a history of an eating disorder may be attracted to long-distance running. The method of defining a case was based simply on the respondent replying affirmatively to the questions â€Å"Do you have a history or bulimia/† and/or â€Å"Do you have a history of anorexia nervosa?† This method of case definition is based on a history of such a disorder and does not necessarily reflect an active problem.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Researchers found that women reporting a past history of bulimia and a history of problem alcohol behavior as noted by other investigators and were more likely to report a biologic family member with a history of problem drinking. Even with their history of problem alcohol behavior, the runners reporting a history of bulimia did not differ from other runners or the control population in their drinking patterns in a recent two-week period. Total amount of alcohol consumed, occasions of drinking and occasions of binge drinking were not significantly different among any of the women. Researchers were unable to ascertain if running helped control alcohol consumption in a person prone to problem alcohol consumption in a person prone to problem alcohol behavior or if the decreased alcohol consumption predated the onset of running.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Those women reporting a past history of a mixed type of eating disorder, perhaps reflecting severity, ran more days of the week and more miles per week than other runners. These women also had the lowest weight and desired weight of any group. The drive for thinness is a hallmark of anorexia but anorexics with bulimia generally are more prone to use vomiting and/or laxatives for weight control than intense exercise or severe food restriction. This subtype of anorexia is also more likely to be prone of problems with alcohol. This was not true for the women in this study.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A limitation of the study is the small numbers in the eating disorder groups. With a larger series of cases, the small differences in alcohol consumption could be significant.

Tacit Knowing and Education :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Tacit Knowing and Education How is tacit knowing or tacit knowledge utilized in the classroom? This has been my question since discovering the term coined by Michael Polanyi and reading the excerpt of The Tacit Dimension. I have reflected on my experiences in a second grade classroom and observations of students being able to or not being able to refer to the tacit dimension in the classroom. In rethinking through Polanyi's assertion that "we can know more than we can tell", I will review ways in which students (children and adults) use intuition and other forms of tacit knowing in the classroom. I will also speak to the detrimental effects of particular school reforms such as the No Child Left Behind Act, which diminish the student's ability to use tacit knowledge in the classroom. What is tacit knowing/knowledge? It is something that is "implied or indicated but not actually expressed." It is what we already know by way of previous experience, or, habituation that has become second nature. This is not a far-fetched idea. If we go back to Plato's Republic, even he believed that humans have the capability to know the right thing to do because we were born with that information already in our minds. A life of study was a way to reflect on this knowledge and use it for the good of all. Children respond to material in the classroom using tacit knowledge. All we learn in some way relies on us connecting it somehow to something we already know. Tacit knowledge requires a synthesis of previous experience into the inner workings of the mind and memory. Certainly, other educational theorists saw the importance of this in the classroom. Some ways children use tacit knowledge is in the different interactions between other children and to adults, crying in the classroom to signify pain, confusion, and anger, etc. John Dewey's Experience and Education speaks specifically to this concept. "Every experience is a moving force." I equate "tacit knowing" to having previous experiences. Regardless of our being conscious of the importance of an event, our mind holds on to that experience and becomes a knowledge that we can utilize in the future. Can tacit knowing be utilized in the classroom? It is my opinion that it is becoming increasingly more difficult, particularly in public schools that must adhere to the strict testing of children for the sake of compliance to the No Child Left Behind Act, to rely on previous knowledge to help students learn in the classroom.

A Review of the Employee Relations in the British Airways

According to One World (n. d. ), a global union of the world’s ten biggest airlines, the British Airways, which is a founder member of the alliance, is the largest airline in the United Kingdom and is the leading international airline in the world. It has always been the first on the line at everything it did – they were the first to provide jet and super passenger services, and fully-flat beds, and the first to carry out â€Å"weather-beating autolandings†. The purpose of this paper is to discuss and clearly evaluate the quality of employee relations within the British Airways.It will cover the context of employee relations, employee relations and employee relations strategies with the said organisation. In addition, theories and theoretical perspectives will be used to explain the kind of employee relations in the British Airways. However, to begin with, two definitions of Employee Relations will be provided. Employee Relations Defined According to Heery and No on (2001), â€Å"Employee Relations is a common title for the industrial relations function within personnel management and is also sometimes used as an alternative label for the academic field of industrial relations.†On the other hand, according to the NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre Office of Human Relations (2001), â€Å"Employee Relations involves the body of work concerned with maintaining employer-employee relationships that contribute to satisfactory productivity, motivation and morale†¦is concerned with preventing and resolving problems involving individuals which arise out of or affect work situations. † Both definitions treated Employee Relations as a part of something that is bigger – a function of industrial relations and a â€Å"body of work†.Also, both pointed out that Employee Relations deals with the people that works at a company or organisation – the employer and employee. Lastly, both have the same purpose and tha t is to manage the relationships of these people with one another as both definitions aims on the development of the company or the organisation. However, Heery and Noon’s definition of Employee Relations is more inclined as a term that refers to a certain function of industrial relations that is concerned to managing personnel in a company, organisation or a simple workplace.It gives another face to industrial relations, making it appear that it has a broad scope, it shows that the industrial relations does not only focuses on trade union but also with employee management (Heery & Noon 2001). In other words, Employee Relations, in Heery and Noon’s definition, appears to be a function under industrial relations. On the other hand, the definition of NASA focuses on the very significance of Employee Relations and not regarding it as a â€Å"branch† of industrial relations.Although it pointed out that it is a â€Å"body of work† which can be understood as a part of work that focuses on a specific task which is preserving the relationship of the employer and the employee with one another in order to sustain a healthy work environment. Context of Employee Relations and the Balance of Power Though Employee Relations always deals with the employer-employee relationship, its manner of management will vary whether in every country an environment, even between a company and an organisation. In this paper, the focus would be on an organisational context.According to Heathfield (2007), organisations should maximise their employees’ strengths or they will transfer somewhere else. The employers should make their employees feel that they are useful in the organisation in order for them to gather confidence and self-worth. They should trust them since they have a certain kind of maturity that can handle important matters in the organisation and, also, when a work is done, the employees should be given compliments and positive reactions. In a ddition, since employees are important is organisations, thus, they should not ignore them (Capital Outsourcing Solutions n. d. ).They should also be treated equally and with respect in order for them to give out â€Å"positive attitudes† in the organisation that can greatly help its â€Å"productivity, competitiveness and profits†. According to Capital Outsourcing Solutions (n. d. ), agendas like providing employee handbook, suggestion programmes, policy manuals, employee performance appraisals, employee assistance program, performance incentives, wage surveys, social activities, and management/employee committees are effective in boosting up the morale of the employees and to establish an environment of teamwork.Teamwork is important in an organisation since it enables the organisation to achieve things that cannot be done by a single person alone (Heathfield 2007). British Airways is proud to say that they are involved in every aspect of the Human Resources. One of the topmost priorities of the Human Resources of the British Airways is to treat each and every one with respect and with paramount professionalism. Another significant aspect they wish to maintain good staff morale, in addition, they make sure that every employee will work as a team through a â€Å"clear management structure† to assist them all throughout (British Airways Recruitment, n. d. ).The organisation also certify that their managers are flexible enough to take on the changes that constantly occur, in addition, they also help out in simplifying their working process in order to enable their employees to help the organisation manage its performance. They threw in their every effort on these matters to give good quality of service to their customers and to motivate the employees to work at their best. According to the British Airways Recruitment (n. d. ), the organisation values and promotes diversity and equality even at the point of recruitment.They believe that in o rder to achieve the value of respect, which is very important to an employer-employee relationship, they are responsible to treat each other equally when it comes to every opportunities. The British Airways also aims to maximise the employee’s full potential in their training and career development methods. They are proud to say that they have every extraordinary training resources which consists of computer-based interactive learning centres, library facilities, reference materials, audiotapes and video-based learning (British Airways Recruitment, n. d. ).in addition to the learning facilities, there are also various programmes that aims to develop one’s leadership skills, team-building skills , presentation and negotiation skills, etc. As for rewards and benefits, the organisation provides reduced air fare travel and travel discounts, holiday entitlements, pension and private healthcare schemes, profit share schemes, bonuses, employee share schemes, sports and social amenities and a chance to join British Airway clubs, and subsidised staff restaurant (British Airways Recruitment, n. d. ). They also keep an eye on the wages in all their industries and assure the sufficiency of the salaries.Actions mentioned above are necessary as proven by the motivations theories. There are many motivation theories since the act of motivating varies from person to person. Motivation is the most common and effective way in accomplishing work and in improving oneself and the organisation. Among the theories of motivation are Theory X that is attributed to Sigmund Freud, Theory Y by Douglas McGregor, Theory Z by Abraham Maslow, the Hygiene/Motivation Theory by Frederick Herzberg, Contingency Approach that is being supported by Fred Luthans, Expectancy Theory of Victor Vroom, and other theories by Chris Argyis, Rensis Likert (Accel Team 2008).Theory X assumes that people do not like to work at all and that in order for them to work is through giving them a reward o r through coercion and punishment while Theory Y is just the opposite, according to McGregor, people on the contrary likes to work in order for them to achieve self-discipline and self-development. On the other hand, Maslow’s Theory Z states that people has needs that they need to satisfy – â€Å"physiological needs, safety needs, love needs, esteem needs and self-actualization needs† – and he only fulfils them by working hard.Still based from the human needs is the Hygiene/Motivation Theory of Herzberg whom divided the needs into two groups – â€Å"animal needs† (supervision, interpersonal relations, working conditions and salary) and â€Å"human needs† (recognition, work, responsibility and advancement). According to Herzberg, people work to accomplish the mentioned needs and by fulfilling them one by one do they get even more motivated to work for â€Å"work accomplishment† is their â€Å"self-enlightened interests†.W hen it comes to Argyris, organisations should fully utilise their employees by involving them in decision making in order for them to be satisfied in their workplace since, according to Heathfield (2007), employees should feel relevant in the organisation and that can be only achieve in involving them in making important decisions. In connection to Argyris’ theory, Likert also agree that decision making should be done by a group involving the employees in it in order to achieve outstanding outcomes sine being able to participate in such are great way to be motivated.However, Luthans supported the Contingency Approach and believed that not all practices fit every job and organisations, thus, flexibility in leadership should be needed. Likewise, Vroom’s Expectancy Theory talks about that an employees’ rewards also varies, some will want an increase in salary while other would want promotion, that means, employers should rewards employees with something that is imp ortant to them. In the past, employees prayed and wished for them to be chosen by the employer, however, due to the changing times, it is now the vice versa.According to Rousseau and Shperling (2003), the shift in the balance of power was due to the rise of high-technology and the sudden increase of dependence of organisations in the employees. In addition, the shift was also caused by the development of the global economic conditions which result for opportunities to widen for employees in the field of the information technology, finance, sales, marketing and general management (New South Wales Higher Certificate Education 1999).The shift of the balance of power in the employer-employee relations is said to be due to the growth of knowledge-based organisations, beginning of an organisation to appreciated the intellectual and relational assets of human, and sudden necessity for them to hold on to important employees and to draw talented ones towards them (Rousseau & Shperling 2003). There is already an extra need for organisations to make themselves as interesting as possible for employees to consider them working for them.According to the New South Wales Higher Certificate Education (1999), the labour market is no longer controlled by the employers since it is already been taken over by the employees. British Airways is also affect of this shift in the balance of power; they always use their business’ diversity and the excitement one can experience in an airline industry in order to attract employees for they know that graduates or employees in general are looking for an organisation where they can develop a lot of skills and a competitive and challenging environment.They accept anyone regardless of age, sex, status, race, sexual orientation, religion and whether you are disabled or not. By doing this, they are confident to be able to gather the most talented and capable people for the job they provide. Employee Relations Issues Like in other environme nts, there would always be issues and conflicts, thus, Employee Relations is no exception. Conflicts in Employee Relations will always be present and the best thing for the â€Å"manager† – the one who maintains the relationship of the employer and employee – is to resolve it as early as possible so that it would not affect the organisation’s productivity.These conflicts exists due to the diversity of people working in the organisation, no individuals are the same, thus, disagreements are most like to occur due to differences. According to Kelly Services (2008), conflicts in a workplace can waste a huge amount of time and can really affect the performance of the organisation through lost productivity, perception costs and team erosion. On a more personal note, conflicts can result to withdrawal (physically and emotionally), job resignation, cutting of personal relations and violence (Rau-Foster 2000).However, conflicts do not always bring negativity to th e organisation for it also helps to strengthen the relationship of each people that are involved. It can improve their creativity, productivity, decision making skills, performance and interpersonal relationships (Kelly Services 2008; Graves 2007). According to Graves (2007), the conflicts that materialised can be classified into three: task conflict, process conflict and relationship conflict.Conflicts comes from disagreements over â€Å"business ideas, decisions and actions† difference in personality, vague classification of responsibility, limited resources and private interests or can easily be classified into thee – task conflict, process conflict and relationship conflict. (Kelly Services 2008; Rau-Foster 2000). The conflicts from the said causes with the exception of the personality differences are easy to solve through compromise, however, personality clashes are entirely a different matter for its resolution lies within the person.A change to a person’ s behaviour and attitude is needed, unfortunately, turning a person into another is never an easy task, and so the best solution is for the person to remain civil towards the others (Kelly Services 2008). Since British Airways is a diverse organisation with diverse employees, most conflicts may come out because of age, disability, unbalance lifestyle, gender, harassment and bullying, race, religion and sexual orientation.According to the British Airways (n. d. ), in order to maintain a positive Employee Relations, the organisation challenged all the suppositions and stereotypes regarding about age, gave additional trainings to disabled employees to maximise their potential, provides flexible working options to help the employees to balance their professional and home life, established numerous flexible working initiatives for women, guaranteed that employees know their policy regarding harassment and bullying to continue promote respect in the organisation as well as dignity, listen ed to the ideas of employees from racial minorities, provided prayer facilities and published monthly religious festivals newsletters for employees with different religions and beliefs, lastly, they offered inclusive working environment for every employees which includes those with different sexual orientation.The British Airways also joined other organisations that are concerned with disabled, racial minorities, harassment and bullying, other religions, and different sexual orientation. Employee Relations Strategies In order to maintain a positive relationship between the employer and the employee different strategies are used.According to New Zealand Qualifications Authority (2003), strategies are developed based on the external and organisational environment, current status of the organisation’s Employee Relations, influences and changes in the organisation, wants of the employees, logical conclusion, and in the process of the organisation’s decision making. To impl ement these strategies, resources should be considered, and is based on the organisational policies and legal practice. Once a strategy is implemented, it should be assessed whether it is effective or not and this can be done quantitatively (analysis and statistics) and qualitatively (survey and opinions). Changes within a strategy are necessary if problems surfaced. Back in the year 1974-1981 when the British Overseas Airways Corporation and British European Airways came together to form the British Airways, one of the major problems that they encountered was about the cultural background of the employees.In the merging of the two organisations, one culture is required to embrace the methods and practices of the other and it is here that the organisation got its biggest problem. In order to solve this cultural conflict, a Staff Development Initiative was applied, a cultural training to help the employees to do their jobs efficiently and to help them to be motivated to do their best (British Airways Case Study, 2008). In addition, the British Airways used its strategy called â€Å"Putting People First as Putting People First Again† and gave updated courses to the personnel to improve the relationship of the employees to one another for the organisation experienced another set of problems during a management change during the early 1990s.Back to the present, there is the Diversity Strategy of the organisation, which was discussed earlier, where they cater to any employees regardless of age, religion, sex, sexual orientation and also to disabled ones. To see where the British Airways is now, it is safe to say that the strategies that the organisation developed and implemented at effective and helped them to be the largest airlines in the world. The Staff Development Initiative helped to solve the problem of cultural clash that was brought by the merging of two organisations and the â€Å"Putting People First as Putting People First Again† strategy contributed in to resolve the conflicts brought by the change of management.Lastly, at present, the Diversity Strategy is currently helping the organisation to gather all the talented people to work for them. The Employee Relations of the British Airways helped them to sustain its status in the airline industries. From maximising the potential of its employees, to respecting and giving them the benefits they needed and deserved, and to resolving possible conflict at the early point in time, the employees are always motivated to work with the team for the improvement of service and productivity of the organisation. Reference:Accel Team. 2008. Employee motivations. Retrieved April 25, 2008 from http://www. accel- team. com/motivation/theory_02. html British Airways. n. d. 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