Earth Science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Earth Science - Essay Example As a rule, their relationship with different creatures, for example, that portrayed in a natural way of life, gives an impression concerning the spot or territory a specific evolved way of life is available. With regards to the model over, one should seriously think about a meadow as where this natural pecking order happens. Unquestionably, this isn't something you will see on a marine biological system. Then again, scientists take a gander at living beings at a closer way. They take a gander at their anatomical structures, and how these structures permit them to work and live in the natural surroundings where they are found. They additionally concentrate how living beings recreate with the goal that it can exist for many years Biomes are general portrayals of zones dependent on the sorts of vegetation present and the adjustments that the creatures need to experience to thrive in such territories. It is not quite the same as a zoogeographical locale, in that the last are explicit ter ritories on Earth characterized by the creatures living around there. These districts are partitioned by seas, mountain reaches, or sweets (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/point/202763/faunal-area). Two kinds of biomes are desert and tundra. Deserts are dry territories of the Earth where precipitation is under 50 cm/year. Thusly, the plants present in these zones have water holding properties, such a thick fingernail skin to forestall unnecessary water dissipation. Too, they will in general be nearer to the ground, and their leaves have restricted surface territory (http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/shows/biomes/deserts.php, 2007). Then again, plants in tropical timberlands display wide assorted variety, with enormous shelters blended with little bushes in the middle of them. The plants are likewise tall, boosting the measure of light present without making up for the water misfortunes that may happen upon vanishing http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/displays/biomes/forests.php, 2007). 2. Forrested zones will in general have acidic and less organized soils than that of meadows since timberland tree leachates are acidic in nature (http://www.soils.wisc.edu/courses/SS325/formation.htm#organisms). Beside the life forms present in the dirt, the atmosphere, parent material, and time are significant elements that influence soil advancement. In particular, parent material influences extraordinarily the dirt turn of events. The substance and mineralogical sythesis of parent material decides the adequacy of enduring powers. For instance, that comprised of for the most part silica may not be as adequately endured as that of soil made out of calcium carbonate. Too, the descending development of water is constrained by the penetrability of the material. Be that as it may, on specific events, other soil-shaping elements are a higher priority than the parent material. For instance, a plant developing on sandy soil with low dampness content is still better than another which is dev eloped on dirt, given that the previous is in zone with preferable precipitation over last mentioned. Also, time is significant, with the end goal that a generally old and endured soil contain more supplements, both natural and inorganic, than a moderately youthful soil that has not experienced much enduring yet http://www.soils.wisc.edu/courses/SS325/formation.htm#climate. Through time, the outside of the Earth is altered by outer and inside procedures. Outside procedures are driven by sun powered vitality, and incorporate breeze conveyed debris, glaciation, stream disintegration, water cycle, the maritime course framework and enduring. Then again, inside procedures driven by radioactive rot underneath the Earth’

Comparative Analysis of Qualitative and Quantitative free essay sample

Research in sociologies to a great extent relies upon estimations and examination and translation of numerical just as non numerical information. Quantitative research strategies center around measurable methodologies and subjective techniques depend on content investigation, relative examination, grounded hypothesis, and understanding. Quantitative strategies accentuate on target estimations and numerical examination of information gathered through surveys, polls or overviews and subjective research centers around understanding social marvels through meetings, individual remarks and so on. Quantitative and subjective strategies are concentrated inside the setting of positivist and henomenological ideal models. The utilization of research techniques could be concentrated with regards to business and the executives or in social brain research to comprehend a social procedure. A portion of the fundamental instruments for subjective or quantitative research are identified with information assortment strategies which can be contextual analyses, polls or meetings. Research strategies are centered around things like administration issues or social procedure for instance; an investigation on the connection between age, physical exercise and sexual orientation. We will compose a custom exposition test on Near Analysis of Qualitative and Quantitative or then again any comparative theme explicitly for you Don't WasteYour Time Recruit WRITER Just 13.90/page A few hindrances and potential defects of such strategies might be identified with misuse or isuse of meeting procedures, insufficiency of information assortment techniques and dependability of information. The methodological methodology and information assortment strategies are significant in research and structure a significant part of study. The contextual investigation approach is particularly valuable in examination of business situations and perceptual mapping strategies are utilized for showcasing research. Center gatherings and reviews are utilized as other favored strategies for information assortment, particularly inside business conditions. Interpretive research can be considered as a significant part of subjective nalysis, in spite of the fact that similarly as with every single subjective datum, abstract predisposition can be an impediment in the legitimacy of such methodologies. In examining research techniques, it is important to feature the contrasts among subjective and quantitative strategies despite the fact that it has likewise been contended that an incorporated way to deal with social examination could shut in the hole among quantitative and subjective strategies and both these techniques could be utilized for social research contemplates. Indeed there may not be a predetermined right strategy for explore as every technique appears to have its qualities and shortcomings and

Credit Card Skimmer Found in Chicago Store - OppLoans

Credit Card Skimmer Found in Chicago Store - OppLoans Credit Card Skimmer Found in Chicago StoreInside Subprime: August 26, 2019By Lindsay FrankelChicago police are cautioning consumers about credit card safety after finding a credit card skimmer in an ATM at a Target store downtown. The skimmer was found in an area with a high concentration of Chicago payday loan stores, which are known to target financially vulnerable people.Police responded to the store on South State Street after a technician located the skimming device. It remains uncertain how long the skimmer was there, and there aren’t currently any suspects in custody.A credit card skimmer is a device typically installed at a gas pump or ATM that is designed to steal your credit card information for the purpose of making clone cards.According to Consumer Reports, as recently as 2016 there was 70 percent jump in credit and debit cards being compromised at ATMs and card readers. Gas stations are an easy target for crooks because most have not updated their payment terminals wit h chip technology, which can help prevent skimming.Representatives from the Better Business Bureau along with Chicago police have several suggestions for detecting skimming technology. The simplest way to find out if there’s a skimming device installed at an ATM or gas pump is to “jiggle the card port before you insert your card, because normally youll be able to tell if there is a device thats put there to compromise your account information,” said Officer Zeyad Matlock.There are also apps you can download that will help detect the presence of a credit card skimmer.Steve Bernas, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois, also suggests putting your hand over the PIN pad while entering your information, since hidden cameras are sometimes used to steal PIN information.In addition, activate text alerts for your credit card account so you can uncover fraudulent transactions right away. Report your suspicions to your bank or credit card issuer immediately.Credit card skimming drains Americans of about $2 billion annually. To avoid becoming a victim, consider taking steps to find out if there’s a device installed before using an ATM or gas pump.Learn more about  payday loans, scams, and  cash advances  by  checking out our  city and state financial guides, including  Florida,  Illinois,  Chicago,  Ohio,  Texas, and more.Visit  OppLoans  on  YouTube  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  LinkedIn

Presidential Elections - ESL Lesson

Its the presidential election season in the United States and the topic is quite popular in classes around the country. Discussing the presidential election can cover a wide range of topics beyond just the two candidates. For example, you might discuss and explain the U.S. electoral college and process of collecting and counting votes. Advanced level classes might find the topic especially interesting as they can bring in observations and comparisons from their own electoral systems. Here are some suggestions and short activities that you can use in class to focus on the election. Ive put them in the order in which Id present the exercises in class in order to build up vocabulary. However, each exercise could certainly be done as a standalone activity. Definition Match Up Match the key vocabulary concerning elections to the definition. Terms attack adscandidatedebatedelegateElectoral Collegeelectoral voteparty conventionparty platformpolitical partypopular votepresidential nomineeprimary electionregistered voterslogansound bitestump speechswing statethird partyto electto nominatevoter turnoutvoting booth Definitions choose who will be the next presidenta state which does not typically vote either Republican or Democrat but swings back and forth between the partiesa short phrase which is used to encourage voters to support a candidatea political party which is neither Republican nor Democratthe person who runs for president  the person who is chosen by the party to run for presidentan election to decide who will be chosen by the party  a representative from a state who can vote at the primary conventiona gathering of a political party to choose a candidate and vote on other issues important to the partya standard speech that is used repeatedly during a campaignadvertising which is aggressive and tries to hurt the other candidatea short phrase which sums up an opinion or fact and is repeated throughout the mediahow many people vote in the election, usually expressed in a percentagethe group of state representatives which cast the electoral votea vote by someone in the Electoral College for the votethe number of people who vote for the president Conversation Questions Here are some questions to get the conversation going. These questions use the vocabulary in the match up to help start using the new vocabulary actively. Which parties have candidates?Who are the nominees?  Have you seen a presidential debate?How do presidential elections differ from the US election in your country?Do voters have to register in your country?Whats voter turnout like in your country?Do you understand the difference between the Electoral college and the popular vote?What do you think are the main planks in each partys platform?Which candidate appeals to you? Why? Electoral Points of View In this day and age of media sound bites, it can be a helpful exercise to remind students that media coverage almost has its own point-of-view despite claims of objectivity. Ask students to try to find examples of articles that are biased from both the left and the right, as well as from a neutral point of view.   Have students find an example of a biased Republican and Democratic news report or article.Ask students to underline the biased opinions.Each student should explain how the opinion is biased. Questions that cant help include: Does the blog post represent a specific point of view? Does the author appeal to the emotions or rely on statistics? How does the writer try to persuade the reader of his or her point of view? Etc.  Ask students to write a short blog post or paragraph presenting either candidate from a biased point of view. Encourage them to exaggerate!As a class, discuss what types of signs they look for when looking for bias. Student Debate For more advanced classes, ask students to debate the issues being presented as themes of the election. Students should base their arguments on how they think each candidate would address the issues.   Student Polling Activity A simple exercise: ask students to vote for either candidate and count the votes. The results may surprise everyone!   Finally, students might also find this presidential election dialogue helpful, as well as this longer reading comprehension on presidential elections.

Play Therapy Is Used As A Modality - 1398 Words

Play therapy was presented in class by Kallie Kraweitz, who was a guest speaker. Ms. Kraweitz is in the process of completing her online Education in Counseling and Play therapy from University of Mississippi. She is not an expert in the subject but she is currently in the program and she came to share some basic information that she has learned in her course work and also the experiences that she has acquired during her journey in the course. She defined play therapy as â€Å"the systematic use of theoretical model to establish an interpersonal process wherein trained play therapist use the therapeutic powers of play to help clients prevent or resolve psychological difficulties and achieve optimal growth and development† ( Kallie Make a†¦show more content†¦When this is accomplished that is when the clinician is able to help their clients and find intervention that will help elevate the problem. In addition, this is a way that the clinician will establish a relation ship with their client. By so doing the clients will be able to establish trust with the clinician because without trust the client will not be comfortable to share deep information about what is going on with them but when they gain their trust, that is when the clinician will really get to know what is going on with their client. Still Alice is a movie that we watched in class. This movie is about a Harvard psychologist named Alice Howland who is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease at the peak of her career. We notice some symptom of disorder when she is invited to speak at Stanford and she could not remember simple words during her presentation and also when she went to Los Angeles to visit her daughter Lydia, she becomes forgetful and when she returns home to Cambridge and she goes for a run and she forgets her way home and although she eventually remembers her way and she gets home. Alice does not think that she has Alzheimer, instead she thinks that maybe it is menopause so she decided to make an appointment with a doctor to find out what is going on with her. She does go to her appointment, the doctor does not really know what is going on with her she they request for an MRI to be performed on her and

The Vengeful Heart That Ignites The Hysteria Of The Salem...

Alexa Graham AP English/5thPeriod Mrs. Garner December 17, 2014 The Vengeful Heart That Ignites the Hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials The ability to live one’s life to the fullest is a God-given right that no one should have to suppress. In the rigid structure of Puritan settlements, there was minimal room to explore life, especially if you were a young Puritan woman. Women were required to sit silently and obey their husbands, take care of the children and the house, and attend church like good Christian wives. However, as in all human beings, these women had temptations and sinful natures. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller illustrates the relationship between Abigail Williams and John Proctor to portray the themes of pride and lust, and the part they played during the Salem Witch Trials. John Proctor struggles against his lethal attraction to Abigail, fighting with his own moral qualities. When Proctor and Abigail are alone in Betty’s room in Act 1, he reveals that he is still attracted to her rebellious nature when he smiles at her mischief. â€Å"Ah, you’re wicked yet, aren’t y’!† (Miller 23). However, as she advances towards him temptingly, thinking he still feels the same as her, he remembers himself and tries to back track, feeling sympathy for her, but knowing it is the right thing to do. â€Å"Child-†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ â€Å"But I will cut off my hand before I reach for you again† (Miller 23). Proctor’s desire for Abigail centered on the fact that she was so willing to disregard the Puritan

Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus. Answer: Introduction Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) is an infection caused by a human bacterial microorganism called Staphylococcus aureus (S.aureus). According to Bogestam et al (2018), S.aureus is responsible for various infections in humans such as bullous impetigo, folliculitis, boils, cellulitis, septic arthritis, osteomyelitis, post-surgical wound infection as well as intravascular line infections. The author further adds that S.aureus can also lead to deadly infections such as meningitis, septicemia and endocarditis. The main aim of this essay is to analyze MRSA by identifying its risk factors and evaluating its prevalence in Australia. With specific reference to Mrs. Jenkins, a patient admitted with MRSA, the paper will first identify the incidence and prevalence of MRSA in Australia. Secondly, there will be an examination of Mrs. Jenkins diagnosis and the relationship between her infection and other factors such as hand hygiene, transmitted-based precautions, and standard pre cautions. Lastly, the paper will examine the role of both community registered nurse and occupational therapist in relation to Mrs. Jenkins case. The identification of incidence and prevalence of MRSA in Australia has largely been the responsibility of the Australian Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (AGAR), an organization that has been monitoring the prevalence of MRSA in Australia since 1985 (Wang et al 2018). According to the author, there exist two main types of MRSA namely the hospital-acquired MRSA and the community-acquired MRSA. Community-based MRSA (CA-MRSA) are MRSA infections acquired by individuals who have not had a recent hospital and may not have undergone any clinical procedure such as catheter, dialysis or surgery. CA-MRSA is mostly manifested in the form of boils, pimples and skin infections that may otherwise occur in healthy individuals (Askura et al 2018). On the other hand, according to Hongo et al (2018), hospital-acquired MRSA (HA-MRSA) occur among individuals who might have been in the hospital in the recent past for clinical procedures such as surgery, catheter or dialysis. They mainly occur where pa tients undergo invasive medical procedures or where patients have low immune systems and are mainly transmitted when a physician touches an HA-MRSA carrier and fails to wash their hands (Heckel et al 2017). Research has it that the hospital-acquired MRSA in Australia (Aus-2/3) is associated with most MRSA infections and originated from Australia after becoming established in most Melbourne Teaching hospitals in the 1970s. According to Kuonza et al (2017), the first survey done by AGAR in 1985 revealed that Aus-2/3 was responsible for 25% of all S.aureus infection in most big hospitals in Sidney, Canberra, Eastern Seaboard, and Melbourne. These revelations called for intensive efforts by the Australian Department of Health to reduce the prevalence and address the possible risk factors. A recent study by AGRA indicate that the Aus-2/3 may be existing in two types of clones, a phenomenon suspected to have been the cause of an increase in the prevalence of MRSA in the period of 2001 and 2005 especially within New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria (Becker et al 2018). However, studies by Guimaraes et al (2017) indicate a decline in Aus-2/3 prevalence in the year 2009 and the decline is estimated to have continued at a rapid rate since then. Nonetheless, Sorensen et al (2017), Naidu et al (2017) and Herrera et al (2016) acknowledge that Aus-2/3 has largely contributed to various community-onset infections especially among patients with a history of admission into facilities characterized by its prevalence. As illustrated by Sato et al (2017) in figure1 below, the decline in the prevalence of Aus-2/3 has largely been attributed to an improvement in infection control within Australian hospitals, an introduction of The National Hygiene Program in 2008, and the implementation of policies that demand public reporting of MRSA infection trends in Australia. Sato et al (2017) also note that the decline in the prevalence of Aus-2/3 has largely been boosted by the implementation of National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards which mainly advocates for preventing and controlling infections associated with healthcare. Naro et al (2018) believe that CA-MRSA had its first onset in Australia in 1980s and has since increased in prevalence to exceed the prevalence of HA-RMSA in Australia. In fact, according to the author, CA-MRSA is largely believed to have rivaled HA-MRSA as the cause of hospital-onset infection in Australia. Part of the reason for their high prevalence is its high resistance to antibiotics and it is estimated that this resistant is likely to increase over time (Ghaznavi-Rad et al 2018). Blanco et al (2017) claim that CA-RMSA was first noted in Australia in 1985 and became more prevalent in Kimberley region in 1989. By 2004, a number of CA-RMSA clones are believed to have gained much prevalence in Western Australia. Fast forward to 2014, CA-RMSA is believed to have accounted for 45% of all hospital-onset infections as compared to HA-MRSA which was at 48% (Sato et al 2017). The following figure (figure 2) illustrates AGRAs survey of CA-MRSA prevalence between 2001 and 2014: In the case of Mrs. Jenkins, her MRSA infection could be a HA-MRSA because she has a history of sustaining an injury and was admitted in the hospital where her wound was dressed and cleaned before discharge. He has now been readmitted again and the doctor has diagnosed her with MRSA. According to Carfora et al (2016), HA-MRSA usually occurs on patients who have recently had a hospital admission and therefore it is highly likely that Mrs. Jenkins earlier admission might have exposed her to HA-MRSA. Because both HA-MRSA and CA-MRSA occur in different settings, Mrs. Jenkins might have been exposed to HA-MRSA as a result of three main factors namely: Being hospitalized Undergoing an invasive medical procedure, and Longer residence in the hospital. Being hospitalized is a great risk factor for HA-MRSA because a hospitalized patient is highly exposed to carriers of MRSA bacteria (Wang et al 2018). In the case of Jenkins, the physician might have touched his wound during dressing with gloves which may have earlier been used to handle a HA-MRSA carrier patient. Likewise, the hospital might not have been at a good hygienic condition when Jenkins was fist admitted in the hospital. This is because according to Bogestam et al (2018), MRSA bacteria spread rapidly in hospitals that have poor hygiene practices. Jenkins could have also been exposed to HA-MRSA as a result of getting into contact with invasive medical devices especially if the physician used them during wound dressing. According to Hongo et al (2018), invasive medical materials such as scissors, catheters, and surgical knives provide a pathway for HA-MRSA to invade the patients body. The hospital bedding could have also been a risk factor for Jenkins to contact HA-MRSA if a t all she lay on some that were not properly washed or sanitized. According to Heckel et al (2017), HA-MRSA bacteria tend to reside on unclean or poorly kept hospital linen such as bed sheets or blankets. Other risk factors for RMSA include keeping wounds uncovered, using other peoples personal items such as razors, towels, clothing and sheets, keeping unclean hands especially after touching other peoples personal objects, and lack of protective gadgets such as gloves in hospital settings. While some of these risk factors may not relate to Jenkins case, being aware of them minimizes the likeliness of getting MRSA (Askura et al 2018). Hand hygiene and HA-MRSA Nearly a decade ago, Ignaz Semmelweis discovered a relationship between health workers hand hygiene and infections to patients. Indeed, several years after his death, a slew of evidence (Kuonza et al 2017; Becker et al 2018; and Bogestam et al 2018) are still emerging to show that there is an association between healthcare-associated infections and health workers hand hygiene. As a result, scholars have proposed improved hand hygiene as a major prevention remedy for HA-MRSA. In fact, while there is still no consensus among scholars over the best control mechanism for HA-MRSA, a majority of them (e.g. Heckel et al 2017, Kuonza et al 2017, Becker et al 2018 and Bogestam et al 2018) agree that keeping hand hygiene is a cornerstone remedy. For instance, Pittet et al (2009) launched a quasi-experimental study to investigate the effects of maintained hand hygiene on the infection rates of HA-MRSA. The intervention included an increased access to alcohol hand scrubs and visual hand washing reminders. Feedback from the hospital staff indicated an increase in hand washing compliance by 18% with a reported decrease in HA-MRSA episodes in the hospital by 0.5 incidences per 10000 patient-days. This and other studies (Hongo et al 2018, Heckel et al 2017 and Sorensen et al 2017) reveal that keeping high-level hand hygiene by washing hands with antibiotic soaps after touching body fluids, secretions, excretions, blood or contaminated items reduce the chances of Jenkins contracting HA-MRSA. Kuonza et al (2017) also recommend that when hands (with gloves or not) are visibly soiled with body fluids or blood when handling the same patient, physicians should wash them with clean water and soap to prevent cross-contamination of the patients different body parts. Apart from hand hygiene, the other standard precaution required to be maintained to prevent HA-MRSA include gloving, eye, mouth and nose protection, gowning and proper laundry handling. According to Hongo et al (2018), wearing non-sterile and clean gloves when a physician is likely to handle blood or other infectious fluids such as non-intact skin (e.g. Jenkins wound), mucus, or contaminated intact skin is extremely important. The gloves should also be carefully removed after handling the patient to prevent hand contamination. While handling mucous membrane, the physician should wear protective gear such as masks, face shields, goggles, or a combination of both; on the nose, eyes, mouth, and ears to avoid contact with splashed blood or infectious fluids (Wang et al 2018). According to Bogestam et al (2018), it is also a standard precaution to wear gowns to protect the physicians skin from contamination and to ensure that the physicians clothes are not contaminated by body fluids or s ecretions. After dressing Jenkins wound, it was necessary to transport or handle his bedding/linen carefully to avoid contamination of air or the nearby surfaces (Askura et al 2018). Transmitted-Based Precautions Transmitted-base precautions for HA-MRSA are categorized into droplet, airborne and contact precautions. According to Kuonza et al (2017), contact-based precautions are normally meant to prevent the transmission of HA-MRSA through direct or indirect contact with a carrier and may include placing patients diagnosed with HA-MRSA in private rooms or together with other patients with similar diagnosis. It also involves keeping the patients quarantined in their respective rooms unless they are to be moved for a medical procedure (Wang et al 2018). According to Hongo et al (2018), other contact-based precautions include wearing gloves before handling the diagnosed patient and observing all the other standard precautions related to HA-MRSA. Droplet precautions are meant to prevent transmission from infectious agents that can drop from the patient through sneezing or coughing. According to Bogestam et al (2018), they include keeping the patient in surgical masks when out of the room, keeping them in private rooms unless they are to be moved for a medical procedure, keeping patient care items such as pressure cuffs dedicated to the patients only, and teaching the patients to cover their nose when sneezing or coughing. Being an old-age patient, these precautions should be implemented with care to ensure that she does not perceive her isolation as a disregard to her health situation or age (Sorensen et al 2017). It is also important to explain to Jenkins the importance of each procedure to gain her best cooperation. Hongo et al (2018) write that a community registered nurses major role is to attend to patients receiving health care services outside the hospital setting. In the case of Jenkins, a community registered nurse would help meet her health needs in respect to her old age situation especially owing to the fact that she is highly prone to forgetting to take her prescribed medication, and maintain the required hygiene for the wound to heal faster. Typically, the nurse would be responsible for cleaning and dress Jenkins wound, ensuring Jenkins maintains the oral medication until the end of the dosage, and maintain Jenkins general hygiene to ensure that she does not infect other people around her with MRSA. On the other hand, an occupational therapist majorly offers therapy services to patients with chronic musculoskeletal illness. In the case of Jenkins, an occupational therapist would be responsible for helping improve her performance of daily activities such as valued daily roles, social interaction and leisure activities (Wang et al 2018). According to Bogestam et al (2018), an occupational therapist would also assist Jenkins to adapt to life routine disruptions as a result of her wound and maintain her physiological balance as a result of her health and age condition. References Asakura, K, Azechi, T, Sasano, H, Matsui, H, Hanaki, H, Miyazaki, M, Takata, T, Sekine, M, Takaku, T, Ochiai, T, Komatsu, N, Shibayama, K, Katayama, Y, Yahara, K 2018, 'Rapid and easy detection of low-level resistance to vancomycin in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry', Plos ONE, 13, 3, pp. 1-10, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 19 April 2018. Becker, K, van Alen, S, Idelevich, E, Schleimer, N, Seggewi, J, Mellmann, A, Kaspar, U, Peters, G 2018, 'Plasmid-Encoded Transferable mecB-Mediated Methicillin Resistance in Staphylococcus aureus', Emerging Infectious Diseases, 24, 2, pp. 242-248, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 19 April 2018. Bogestam, K, Vondracek, M, Karlsson, M, Fang, H, Giske, C 2018, 'Introduction of a hydrolysis probe PCR assay for high-throughput screening of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus with the ability to include or exclude detection of Staphylococcus argenteus', Plos ONE, 13, 2, pp. 1-14, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 19 April 2018. Blanco, N, Perencevich, E, Li, S, Morgan, D, Pineles, L, Johnson, J, Robinson, G, Anderson, D, Jacob, J, Maragakis, L, Harris, A, null, n 2017, 'Effect of meteorological factors and geographic location on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin-resistant enterococci colonization in the US', Plos ONE, 12, 5, pp. 1-13, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 19 April 2018. Carfora, V, Giacinti, G, Sagrafoli, D, Marri, N, Giangolini, G, Alba, P, Feltrin, F, Sorbara, L, Amoruso, R, Caprioli, A, Amatiste, S, Battisti, A 2016, 'Methicillin-resistant and methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus in dairy sheep and in-contact humans: An intra-farm study', Journal Of Dairy Science, 99, 6, pp. 4251-4258, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 19 April 2018. Ghaznavi-Rad, E, Fard-Mousavi, N, Shahsavari, A, Japoni-Nejad, A, Van Belkum, A 2018, 'Distribution of staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec types among methicillin-resistant coagulase negative staphylococci in central Iran', Iranian Journal Of Microbiology, 10, 1, pp. 7-13, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 19 April 2018. Guimares, F, Manzi, M, Joaquim, S, Richini-Pereira, V, Langoni, H 2017, 'Short communication: Outbreak of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)-associated mastitis in a closed dairy herd', Journal Of Dairy Science, 100, 1, pp. 726-730, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 19 April 2018. Hongo, M, Miyakoshi, N, Fujii, M, Kasukawa, Y, Ishikawa, Y, Kudo, D, Shimada, Y 2018, 'Pyogenic Spondylitis Caused by Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Associated with Tracheostomy followed by Resection of Ossification of the Anterior Longitudinal Ligament', Case Reports In Orthopedics, pp. 1-5, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 19 April 2018. Heckel, M, Geidrfer, W, Herbst, F, Stiel, S, Ostgathe, C, Bogdan, C 2017, 'Nasal carriage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) at a palliative care unit: A prospective single service analysis', Plos ONE, 12, 12, pp. 1-14, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 19 April 2018. Herrera, F, Garca-Lpez, M, Santos, J 2016, 'Short communication: Characterization of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolated from raw milk fresh cheese in Colombia', Journal Of Dairy Science, 99, 10, pp. 7872-7876, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 19 April 2018. Kuonza, L, Shuping, L, Perovic, O, Musekiwa, A, Iyaloo, S 2017, 'Hospital-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: A cross-sectional analysis of risk factors in South African tertiary public hospitals', Plos ONE, 12, 11, pp. 1-14, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 19 April 2018. Naidu, D, Quinones, J, Lutschg, K, Balaguru, D 2017, 'Healthy Adolescent with a Mycotic Aortic Aneurysm from Community-Acquired Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus', Texas Heart Institute Journal, 44, 4, pp. 279-282, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 19 April 2018. Narayanaswamy, V, Giatpaiboon, S, Wiesmann, W, Baker, S, Townsend, S, Uhrig, J, Orwin, P 2018, 'In Vitro activity of novel glycopolymer against clinical isolates of multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus', Plos ONE, 13, 1, pp. 1-16, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 19 April 2018. Nori, Y, Matsuo, D, Hideharu, H, Hisao, Y, Norihisa, Y, Shoji, H, Yukihiro, A, Kazunori, T, Yoshioka, N, Deguchi, M, Hagiya, H, Yoshida, H, Yamamoto, N, Hashimoto, S, Akeda, Y, Tomono, K 2018, 'Available, Bed-sided, Comprehensive (ABC) score to a diagnosis of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection: a derivation and validation study', BMC Infectious Diseases, 18, pp. 1-7, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 19 April 2018. Pittet D, Allegranzi B, Boyce J, 2009 World Health Organization World Alliance for Patient Safety First Global Patient Safety Challenge Core Group of Experts The World Health Organization guidelines on hand hygiene in health care and their consensus recommendations. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol.;30(7):611622. Sato, T, Usui, M, Konishi, N, Kai, A, Matsui, H, Hanaki, H, Tamura, Y 2017, 'Closely related methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates from retail meat, cows with mastitis, and humans in Japan', Plos ONE, 12, 10, pp. 1-11, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 19 April 2018. Srensen, A, Toft, N, Boklund, A, Espinosa-Gongora, C, Grsbll, K, Larsen, J, Halasa, T 2017, 'A mechanistic model for spread of livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA) within a pig herd', Plos ONE, 12, 11, pp. 1-18, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 19 April 2018. Udo, E, Al-Sweih, N 2017, 'Dominance of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus clones in a maternity hospital', Plos ONE, 12, 6, pp. 1-12, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 19 April 2018. Wang, H, Lee, T, Tseng, Y, Liu, T, Huang, K, Chang, Y, Chen, C, Lu, J 2018, 'A new scheme for strain typing of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus on the basis of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry by using machine learning approach', Plos ONE, 13, 3, pp. 1-16, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 19 April 2018.

Management Strategy Models

Introduction Comprehensive business situation analysis can take many forms. Situation analysis involves the evaluation of the situation and the trends in a particular company’s market. The commonest is the analysis on the basis three C’s. According to Orcullo (2007), his particular situation analysis refers to the study of the major elements of the businesses that crucially affect the direction that any business takes.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Management Strategy Models specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Gotz and Mann (2006) say that customers, costs and competition traditionally form the core of the three C’s analysis. Strauss (2008) says that, nowadays business situation analysis includes collaboration, the company itself and competitive advantage that the company holds over its rivals. According to Bohn (2009), another model that will be used to evaluate Morison’s company is th e SWOT analysis. The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that Morrisons is experiencing relative to its competitors will be analyzed to determine the situation and recommend the possible remedies and strategies it should take to avoid losing ground to other supermarket chains. The C’s Business Situation Analysis Customers Like the other leading three stores, Morrisons has focused on the mid low-end segment of the population. The company has pursued a strategy focusing on offering unbeatable customer service and a favorable shopping environment. Again, it regularly competes on special offers and other promotions that aim to convince customers as savings oriented. The strategy has had considerable success evidenced by the number of customers who visit the stores every year. For instance, the store announced that a whooping 10.8 million customers visited the store in the three months leading to November 2009. The figures were way ahead of predictions and further ser ved as a vote of confidence in the customer service polices that is in place. Competition Morrisons supermarket faces competition from many other retails chains in the UK that already control a big share of the market. Waitrose, Sainsbury, ASDA and Tesco provide for the major competition for Morrisons in the UK. Apart from Waitrose, the rest are way ahead of the Morrisons in the market in terms of diversity of goods and services and regional presence.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Company Morrison Supermarkets plc. is classified as the fourth largest super market in the United Kingdom. It is got a sizable market share in the UK that was estimated at 11.8% in 2008. Currently, it is estimated to employ more than 124, 000. However, compared to its competitors, Morrisons was the smallest in terms of the market share segment. It is way behind market leader Tesco with a market s hare of 30.9%, Asda with 16.8% and Sainsbury with 16% (Li 2008). The company majorly deals with groceries and consumer goods that form the core of its revenue sources. Its revenue in the year 2010 is estimated to have hit 14, 528 million pounds. It is made a net profit of 460 million pounds in the year 2009. SWOT Analysis The C’s analysis above brings out many strengths and weaknesses of the Morrison’s retail chain. Similarly, it analyses the opportunities that can be exploited and the threats that are encroaching on its survival in the market (Fine 2009). Any strategy therefore that the new leader is going to carry out must address the elements identified in the SWOT analysis. Strengths It is apparent that Morrisons has a distinct advantage in the Northern part of the UK. Its historical ties with the place and success in courting low and mid low-end customers is one of the strengths that it boasts over its smaller rivals. The acquisition of Safeway’s retail gro up has only served to reinforce that advantage of consolidating Northern UK and other parts of the country. Again, unlike its competitors who have diversified in the products they offer, Morrison is yet to diversify universally beyond groceries and non-food offers. It therefore provides an area of strength that can be exploited by the retail chain to its advantage. The chain also has enormous strength among the upper middle class segment of the population. Morrison too has its â€Å"good quality food† tag that it has cultivated over time and which accords strength that its competitors do not have. Morrisons has a strong balance sheet besides owning majority of its store portfolio which is estimated at 89%. Estimates put its value of property to be 7.5 billion pounds higher than its market capitalization. With only 19% as its debt equity, Morrisons comes out top in the sector.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Management Strategy Models specifically for yo u for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The company therefore is stable as far as asset worth and accumulation is concerned. The above are financial strengths that the company can use to its advantage to increase business Weaknesses The supermarket however seems unsure which direction it should take. Failure to establish presence in the south when all other major chains did so was a case in point where the retail chain’s top management failed to make quick decisions and take risks to increase its market share in the UK. Opportunities Concentration on the low-end market means there still is an opportunity for the supermarket to grow its customer base in the high sections of the population. The fact that its leading competitors have larger market share and make more profits with their low-end client base is reason enough that there is still opportunity in expanding the customer base. Though Morrisons has ventured into the southern part of the UK, there st ill is an opportunity to expand its operations throughout the country to make it a nationwide chain hence access a larger client pool. While Tesco for instance has 2282 stores, Morrisons has 447 stores, giving it a huge opportunity to grow its branches to effectively compete with the leading three stores. All of Morrisons rivals have developed online shopping options for their customers. They have expanded their market reach to accommodate those that rely on the internet for shopping. Morrison’s new CEO has acknowledged the company is looking into the possibility of developing such a system. It is an opportunity that if exploited could see is customer base grow while the market share will be increased. Threats The price war between Morrisons and Tesco placed Morrisons at the receiving end. A Tesco advert in 2007 sought to inform prospective customers how Tesco had over 3000 items priced cheaper than at their rival Morrison. The financial muscle and the greater market share of the competitors will always be a threat to Morison’s position and progress as a market leader in the UK.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Strategy development Given the stiff competition among supermarkets in the UK, it is important that Morrisons develops a strategy aimed at maintaining its competitive advantage. Its strengths as identified in the SWOT analysis will be consolidated while the measure will be put in place to stem the weaknesses. The strategy has to focus on exploiting the existing opportunities to increase the revenues of the company. Porter’s Generic Business Model According to Porter’s generic business opportunities model, innovation, quality enhancement and cost reduction form the core of any business strategy (Rundle and Johnson 2010). Innovation aims to increase the differentiation of products and adds value to them. Kossowski (2007) asserts that differentiation will enhance creativity that will ensure uniqueness of products giving a company’s good s and services an edge over the others. Quality enhancement on the other hand will involve concentration of particular market segm ents and development of highly developed products for those markets. Provision of cost leadership involves reduction of costs while remaining competitive on pricing. Charging lower prices will ensure while maintaining an acceptable profit margin on each unit of goods sold will effectively manage costs leading to profitability. Porter’s generic business opportunities model suits Morrisons as it seeks to increase its market share while raising its revenues. The new Chief Executive Officer needs to focus on new innovations that will bring new customers on board. Their marketing ways have to change so as the message goes beyond the mid low-end customer base that forms its core clientele. Innovation is also critically needed if the company is to increase the variety of goods that it has offering its customers. Pricing has been one of the fronts that the super markets have engaged each other. Morrison’s has a strong financial backing which can easily be turned to price offer s to customers. The new CEO will need to focus on specific market segments like they are doing now with a reduced margin and an intention to win the price war. A price war can easily turn against the company especially if the rivals have a considerable financial muscle like that of Tesco and the other two leading supermarkets. Morrisons has numerous factories where its products are manufactured. Possession of these factories gives them an advantage over their competitors. In the quest to improve sales, the new management should focus on improving the quality of their goods. This will be easier especially because they have control over the production of a majority of goods for their outlets. The leadership of the company should focus in making goods difficult to imitate by competitors and counterfeits. That way they are able to lock in any intended onslaught on their products by the competitors. Diversification beyond food products is necessary if market leaders like Tesco are to be challenged. Considering all leading supermarkets target the low-end segment of the market and regularly engage in price competition with Morrisons, it is important the new CEO carefully reviews the strategy. Caution will need to be applied in order to ensure costs are minimized while profits are maximized. Five forces Model Five forces model is another strategy model that is popular with businesses (Hax 2009).This strategy model suits into Morrisons current needs and the new management can use it to improve its market share while combating the challenges that face the company. According to Shaw-McMinn et al.(2001), the model involves analysis of the market through five fronts which touches on almost every aspect. Threat from new entrants in the market, the industry, bargaining power if suppliers, the bargaining power of buyers and the threat of substitute products constitute the five forces that shape strategy formulation in many companies. There are likely to other new entrants in the UK market. Though they present no considerable threat, it is important that the new management of Morrisons take note of them. New entrants normally enter the market with the intention of capitalizing on the existing player mistakes. Lack of online shopping for Morrisons may be one of the weaknesses that new entrants may be targeting. Considering they will be competing for the same clientele, it is important that Morrisons take steps to consolidate the customer base and ensure loyalty of customers. One way the new CEO can do it is through introduction of the shopper’s card that promises rewards for loyal and consistent customers. The supermarket industry in the UK is vibrant and any innovation player is guaranteed to keep its place. The new management of Morrisons should increase industry presence through offering diverse types of goods. Morrisons has already consolidated its position on the food sector. Its time the new management focused on other fronts that as a result will net new customers hence increase customer base. Keeping competitive advantage should also be top of the agenda. Morrisons would want to keep its superb infrastructure that greatly aides its domination of the groceries market. All goods that Morrisons distributes are obtained from suppliers. Considering it is largely a grocery oriented chain, suppliers come in handy. Suppliers determine the quality of the goods sold by the supermarket. Good relations with suppliers are therefore critical to Morison’s survival in the market. A few years back some industry analysts in the UK felt supermarkets in the UK including Morrisons were being too tough on suppliers. It is understandable because Morrisons has packaged itself a store that offers quality products compare with its rivals. Considering suppliers too have power and they can decide to sell their produce to other willing industry players, it is important the new management develop a relationship that is beneficial to both pa rties. It will be important for the new CEO to avoid the common hostilities that normally characterize supplier-buyer relationships. Buyers or customers are the main backbone of any business that has intentions of surviving in the market. The bargaining power of customers if not checked and carefully dealt with can easily lead to losses. Businesses have to perform a delicate balancing act where they need to make a sale and gain profit and ensure a customer is not lost or the reputation of the company is not damaged. The financial strength that Morrisons has plus an expected jump in profits through sound management will be enough for the new management to offer promotions that can double up as bargaining events. Substitute products offer reprieve to customers when they feel that do not experience maximum utility from the products they are interested in. It is therefore important that Morrison’s stock substitute products that will offer customers a wide variety to choose from i f their original intentions are not met. That calls for diversification of the products on offer in the stores in an effort to go beyond food products as earlier said. Conclusion The models described above do not offer the ultimate solution to Morrisons quest of increasing its market share in the UK. It is important for the management to note that its other leading competitors have overseas operations which gives them a competitive edge over Morrisons. The new CEO should consider taking Morrisons operations abroad in order for the company to increase its revenues and to improve its international market share. References Bohn, A. (2009) The SWOT Analysis. Berlin: GRIN Verlag. Hax, C., A. (2009) The Delta Model: Reinventing Your Business Strategy. New York: Springer. Fine, L. G. (2009) The SWOT Analysis: Using Your Strength to Overcome Weaknesses, Using Opportunities to Overcome Threats. New York: Booksurge Llc. Kossowski, A. (2007) Strategic Management: Porter’s Model of Gener ic Competitive Strategies Theory and analysis. Berlin: GRIN Verlag. Li, E. (2008) Supermarket Chains and Grocery Market in the UK. Web. Mann, C. J. and Gotz, K. (2006) Borderless business: managing the far-flung enterprise. London: Greenhood Publishing group. Orcullo, N. (2007) Fundamentals of Strategic Management’ 2007. Manchester: Rex Bookstore, Inc. Rundle, S. and Johnson. N. C. (2010) Business As Mission: A Comprehensive Guide to Theory and Practice. New York: Inter-Varsity Press. Shaw-McMinn, Peter, G. and Moss, Garry L. (2001) Eyecare business: marketing and strategy. London: Elsevier Health Sciences. Strauss, S. (2008) The small business bible: everything you need to know to succeed in your small business. London: John Wiley and Sons. This essay on Management Strategy Models was written and submitted by user Spencer L. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Race in a Southern Community

Race in a Southern Community North Little Rock is ranked number six in the population density among all the cities in Arkansas. This city was founded as Argenta in 1866, but it was incorporated in 1901 under the name North Little Rock. The population of this city in the 2000 census was approximately 60,500 people inclusive of about 25,000 households and 16,000 families. This community is made up of people from different cultural backgrounds though the whites’ population is the majority at around 63%, followed by the blacks at around 34%.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Race in a Southern Community specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The other ethnic communities in this city include Native Americans at around 0.4%, 0.6% being Asians and 0.03% being the pacific Islanders. 1.18% of this community is made up of the other races which include minority races such as the Hispanic and Latino (Pitts, 2002). The government of this city is head ed by a mayor together with eight other aldermen serving to a maximum of four years period. In many discussions on racism, the most famous races are usually the whites and blacks. The main difference between these two races is their skin color though their cultures also differ a great deal. Blacks for example are known to be rowdy though this is more of a stereotype than a fact. Other elements that bring about differences between whites and blacks are their entertainment industries. Music done and listened to by blacks is generally hip-hop which contrasts with the soft classical music preferred by the whites. Their preference in terms of movies also differs a lot with the whites preferring the romantic movies while the blacks are mostly inclined to thrillers and action movies. The existence of these two ethnic communities in the same region has always been a problem especially where the whites are dominant. They are known to discriminate against the blacks asserting that they are cr iminals and they typically work towards eliminating them in their neighborhoods. This has however never worked particularly after bills against blacks’ discrimination were passed in parliament, and this tendency was now being treated an offense against the law chargeable in court. Just like in any other region in America in the 1950’s the Arkansas state, was thoroughly dominated by cases of racial discrimination against the black community. They were being referred to as the colored people who were never allowed access to most of the social amenities including the learning institutions. A movement was formed dubbed National Association for the Advancement of Colored people and the main aim of this movement was to attempt to terminate the discrimination especially in the learning institutions (Egelman, 2002).Advertising Looking for research paper on ethnicity studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It w as believed that the black people would always remain servants if they were never given the opportunity to obtain higher education and become professionals. The court however, came up with a conclusion that there was nothing wrong with there being independent schools as long as they were equal. This movement however, did not agree with the ruling stating that blacks, and whites schools had never been equal, and they would never be. The information provided by the movement to the court was proof enough that these schools were not equal and therefore, the previous judgment was overruled, and the separate schools policy was declared unconstitutional. The state of Arkansas was one of the states that refused to abide by the new rulings of abolishing the independent schools policy. A good example of this is that of a student who had been admitted to a previously white’s only school and ended up facing unbearable humiliation on the first day. She had enrolled at the Little Rock Cent ral High School, and when she went on the reporting date, she happened to be the only black on site. On her arrival, the people who were at the entrance moved away as she approached and they began shouting insults at her. There were guards on site whom she thought would protect her in case the crowd turned violent but she was wrong about that. She was forced to leave the school neighborhood for her safety as she realized the extent of racial discrimination in this community was way beyond what she had thought. This is just an example of the severity of racial discrimination in North Little Rock city. The municipality leaders made up of the mayor and the aldermen are also highly affected by racial discrimination issues. A good example of this is whereby the governor once hired guards to prevent blacks from accessing a school’s premises. The fact that there are different joints in town for whites and the colored is enough indication that the leaders are in the front line in pro moting racial discrimination. There are shops for whites and for blacks and as expected those for the whites have an advantage over the blacks. When it comes to the payment of government dues such as taxes, complains have been raised that blacks are charged more than the whites especially in investments (Pitts, 2002). When it comes to the elections, the whites stand a better chance of winning owing to their great numbers and so the black contestants have never gotten the chance to acquire positions in the government. This explains why the battles against black discrimination are always lost.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Race in a Southern Community specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The whites however are usually treated in a different way. They are given all the privileges denied to the blacks including well- kept facilities and more investment opportunities. They freely attend the best schools in the cit y and as a result end up taking up the best professional jobs. This is owed to the fact that the leaders of the city are largely whites. The joints allowed for the whites in the city are more in number compared to those allowed to the blacks. These facilities are also well kept and stocked in a way that the whites are able to access whatever services and products at their own convenience. Their stores for example are located in the largest malls in the city while those for the blacks are located in the outskirts of the city. The products are also sold at lower prices in the most of the white’s stores and this discrimination issue is blamed on the local government because they are never take any action against this despite the fact that they are in a position to do so. The texts used in the study of race and ethnicity mostly address the blacks’ discrimination owing to the fact that this has been the most recognized category of people who have suffered this ordeal. An ex ample of such texts is the Racial and ethnic groups by Richard T. Schaefer. This book presents the different races in the city of North Little Rock which includes the whites as the dominating population followed closely by the African Americans. Others include Native Americans, Asians, Hispanics, and other races in the world. The text however concentrates more on the blacks/whites relationships in relation to racial discrimination (Schaefer, 2006). It brings out the challenges brought about by racial discrimination in the local government, the service groups, and clubs as well as in schools. According to the text, this problem has been persistent for a long time and this has resulted in an almost permanent hatred between the whites and the blacks communities. Most of the texts and manuals that are published however contain little information on the blacks and the challenges they face as a result of racial discrimination. This is mainly due to the fact that such information always ra ises eye brows especially in the international community. To prevent this therefore, the local government of North Little Rock city prevents much publication of the levels of discrimination in the city. Some black writers have however tried to publicize this whole issue and one of such successful attempts was by Daisy Bates who was at that time the president of NAACP in Arkansas. She wrote a book titled The Long Shadow of Little Rock and this was aimed at bringing up the issue of how the blacks suffered under the segregation policies. This book showed how the students were treated in the schools and the leader’s utterances concerning this problem. One of the local government leaders was heard saying â€Å"blood will run in the streets if Negro pupils continue with their attempts to enter central high school† (Schaefer, 2006). The leaders attempted to stop the publication of such books but since they are constitutionally permitted, they writer was protected by the const itution.Advertising Looking for research paper on ethnicity studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The local media in the North Little Rock city have also been affected by racial issues a great deal. The media is biased in producing its reports in the sense that the black community is only mentioned in relation to crimes and other bad things in the city such as drug trafficking and other forms of hooliganism. The whites on the other hand are mostly displayed as being the victims of crimes committed by the blacks. This therefore brings about the idea that blacks are the bad people in the society and they fall victims to police harassment. Young people walking on the streets in the evening are most likely to be arrested if they are blacks with the assumption that they are about to commit some sort of crimes. This is owe to the portrait had been painted by media concerning the black youths. As a result of this harassment, these people automatically turn into criminals alleging that they had better be harassed for what they have done rather than suffer innocently. At the end of the d ay, they believe they have nothing much to lose compared to what they have already been stripped of, that is their dignity. In most parts of the United States, the leadership positions are dominated by the whites and so racial discrimination against the blacks seems inevitable. These people are usually mean to the point of preventing the other races from developing and obtaining relevant positions in the leadership circle. This is why despite the many years of campaigning, racial discrimination still remains a big problem. Rules are passed and implemented in writing but when it comes to practicing, things are different. People are not in a position to incorporate non -discriminatory policies because they even do not know how to handle them. The blacks for example are used to being discriminated against such that they do not believe whites can treat them well without any ulterior motives. The result of this therefore is that both parties are not able to embrace a non- discriminatory society even when it is created. It therefore proves difficult to fully represent the interests of the minority groups because of the whites’ supremacy. From the text, it is notable that the main concept in relation to race is that of discrimination. In most cases, the term race is usually followed closely by discrimination and this is an indication that different races in the United States have never been able to coexist without there being some sort of discrimination, whether direct or indirect. This is therefore considered as an issue that will never be fully settled though the government is trying its best to reduce the magnitude of the same. In the study of racial discrimination, the relationship between the whites and blacks features most of the discussions owing to the fact that these people have been in a constant conflict since the days of the slave trade to date. This explains why these two ethnic communities have always been important in the study of racial discrim ination. Reference List Egelman, W. (2002). Understanding racial and ethnic groups: Critical thinking and analysis. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon. Pitts, P. (2002). Anti-Racism Leadership: The strategic response to Neo-Racism. Little Rock Nine Remembered, 10(3), 23-28. Schaefer, R. T. (2006). Racial and ethnic groups. Upper saddle River, NJ: Prentice hall.

Case study Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Case study - Assignment Example However, profit and loss account does not provide information about future. (1.b) Profit and Loss Account Review: When looking at the profit and loss account of the Modern Furniture of both years, there are some items that are worth considering for decision making. The gross profit has declined by 10.75% from 2011. The major reason is the increase in the inventory cost. The other important thing to notice is that, there is a sharp decline of 5.8% in the net profit from last year which clearly indicates that there are no effective controls over the cost. Specially, salaries, maintenance and cleaning costs have increased to a significant amount. In addition to the facts mentioned above the Modern Furniture has also paid a bank interest of ?5200 due to the bank overdraft facility availed by the business in 2012; whereas, there was no such facility in the previous year. Marketing cost has also increased to ?51,500 from ?45,000 which is normal in a growing business like Modern Furniture. (2.a) Purpose of Balance Sheet: As the profit and loss account shows the results of revenue and expenses for the whole year, the balance sheet reflects the financial position of the entity on a particular point of time including the details of total assets, liabilities and owner’s equity. ... It is a picture that shows the strength and weaknesses of the business. (2.b) Balance Sheet Review: There are many observations in the balance sheet. The liquidity position has deteriorated since last year. There is no cash balance available at the end of year 2012. Investment in the non-liquid assets such as inventory and prepayments has increased together with the investment in receivables since last year. In addition to this Modern Furniture has also availed the bank overdraft facility so, there are major problems regarding liquidity. The business is holding more inventory than the previous year due to the growth in the business. Higher inventory levels will counter the threat of stock out at the price of higher inventory cost. The business has also made heavy investment of ?70,550 in fixed assets keeping in view the future expected demand. The overall position of the business is reasonable except the liquidity issue which requires prompt action from the owner. To overcome the cur rent situation the business should make investment in the liquid assets such as cash and securities otherwise it will be difficult to pay the liabilities in due time. (3 a) Purpose of Cash Flow Statement: Cash flow is also one of the most important parts of the financial statements which reflect all the receipts and payments made by the company during the financial year. The purpose of preparing the cash flow statement is to ascertain whether there are sufficient cash flows available to finance the operations. Cash act as a blood to run any organization. If the business is unable to produce sufficient cash, there will be going concern threat due to severe liquidity problems. The most important of all three activities in the cash flow statement is the

Analysis of The Allegory of the Cave Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Analysis of The Allegory of the Cave - Essay Example Glube’s analysis will be considered. The cave is incredibly dark since there is no adequate light inside it, making difficult, even for the inhabitants to see objects. Inside the cave, there are chained people on their feet and necks making it difficult to move. Equally, there is another world just out of the cave, which is separated by a wall. Numerous people walk on this wall causing reflection of the shadows into the cave, which the prisoners perceive as real. However, in actual sense, this is just an illusion. This scenario contrasts sharply with the outer world, which is characterized by light and visibility of everything (Grube, 112). This makes a prisoner released from the cave to dazzle in the light, however as he stays longer, he is acclimatized. He expresses sympathy to the prisoners in the darkness. He sees it better for one to be a prisoner in the other outer world. As a point of departure, the Allegory of the cave represents a dialogue between the protagonist Socrates and Glaucon, the interlocutor. The people in the cave are seen bound by chains and believing that the reality lies in the shadows of the artifacts. It is unbelievable how these people manage a life confined in darkness, because the fire represented is behind them. This is a metaphorical application, which gives a picture of their state while in the cave. Their senses are bound and they are confined to their sense of ignorance, which makes Socrates to wonder how these people will respond if they were â€Å"released from their bondage and cured of their ignorance† (Grube 187). Socrates believes that there is a possibility that, the prisoners will be confused to differentiate between the real artifact and its shadow. Accordingly, Grube notes that the primary intention of education as articulated by Plato is not to impart knowledge but to change the behavior and

Analysing Abuse Of Migrant Domestic Worker Social Work Essay

Analysing Abuse Of Migrant Domestic Worker Social Work Essay In year 2004, the first ever recorded of the nation worst abused and tortured of migrant worker, Nirmala Bonat. The news has brought to light the sad and painful incidents as a 19th year old Indonesian maid told a harrowing story of how she was repeatedly burnt with an iron and scalded with boiling water by her Malaysian employer. The Malaysian image of a caring nation has been tarnished when pictures of abused Indonesian domestic workers were featured in major newspapers. The reports made great impact as it drew series of reaction from disgusted and angry Malaysians who could not believe the fact that members of our very own community could commit such cruel acts. I just could not bear by looking at the images of Nirmala Bonat being brutalized by her employer. What has she done to deserve such severe punishment from her employer? If indeed, Nirmala Bonat is incompetent in her daily routines work, she should have been returned to her agent for replacement. Manhandling a human being or soul, who is here to earn a better life and living is like committing a merciless crime. Five years later in 2009, another similar Nirmala Bonat case making the headlines once again. An Indonesian maid by the name, Siti Hajar was tortured by an old Malaysian lady without any sense of humanity at all towards her. Abusing migrant domestic worker or helper is no longer something new in the society. Siti Hajars plight made the Malaysian and Indonesian media a headlines once more. News says that she being allegedly scalded with boiling water, tortured and starved. The worst still she is only fed with plain rice and occasionally her employer have asked the maid who is a Muslim to digest pork meat is merely unforgivable at all. One after another, Siti Hajar cases has led to an alleged rape, physical abuse, denial of salaries and basic rights of three Indonesian women by their employer in Sungai Siput, Perak. Such acts are simply inhumane. Up to dated, statistics shows more than hundred of thousand Indonesian women are believed to work in Malaysian homes as hoping to earn a better life. Malaysia as the second largest destination for Indonesian maid after Saudi Arabia besides Kuwait, Jordan, Hong Kong and some other countries including maid working in the United States of America. There are few question that I would like to raise up here; are the Indonesian maids working aboard under a good condition? Do they have the right for their salaries or even getting a freedom of human right? Never, I do understand why the Philippines maids were not abused or even being tortured physically. Is it due to the communication breakdown between the maid and the employer? By having a maid or migrant domestic helper, would it make things much easier or difficult for us? Not to forget, most maid from Indonesia which are brought into the country, merely are from a lower grade. This is because a much more skilled and quality ones would be sent to other countries which offer a greater lucrative sum of money, countries like Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia. This would lead to Malaysian employer felt that they are being cheated as they have to be prepared to accept those lower grades migrant domestic worker. While the agents are allowed to capitalize on a lucrative business as they often wash their hands off as soon as the workers are delivered to the employers. Such situation left no option for the employer as they would need to train the lower grades domestic worker in household management from basic; How to get the laundry done? Cleaning up the bathrooms? Getting the rubbish out of the house? Baby-sitting? Helping our wives in the kitchen or even thinking of he lping you and your family with cooking? With all this situations, the employer would end up with lots of burden and misery. Before I go any further in discussing the possible measures that can be taken as to curb these issues effectively, let us take a glance at the Malaysian law and policies on migrant workers. The system that is being practice in Malaysia has put migrant domestic workers at complete disadvantage as far as seeking for justice is concerned. This is because the migrant domestic workers are at a bigger disadvantage as they are not even considered workers and as such do not fall under the provisions of the Employment Act. Laws and policies are enforced with great speed and efficiency when migrant workers violate these laws and the situation is different when the employer does the same offences. Even tough, migrant workers make complaints against their employers, they will be subjected to various form of abuses including verbal and physical threats. This again causes them to live under severe stress and fear. I have seen and heard many cases where workers are immediately got their contract terminated and being repatriated back to their home country where they are laden with huge debts and poverty. Therefore, domestic workers especially would put up with the abuses and torture rather than returning to their countries empty handed. The next point that I would like to include in this essay is the forms of abuses endured by migrant domestic workers in Malaysia. Press reports merely stated that the wages to workers are not paid as per the contract even after they have fulfilled all the contract terms. Nevertheless, migrant domestic workers spend a lot of money to come to this country and most of the wages earned are often used to pay up loans and debts, which they have secured and as to feed their families back home. When employers do not pay the wages, the workers suffer the most. Beside that, migrant domestic workers are often forced to live in cramped, dirty and badly furnished shacks or crowded into houses meant for a small family. Some even sleep on the kitchen floor with just a piece of thin mattress. To be exact, domestic workers are not given a proper rooms of their own and such housing facilities that are not fit for living would lead to promote unhealthy conditions. The situation, which I have pointed out, brought an environment where employers feel they have the immunity power. Hence migrant domestic workers are virtually at the mercy of their employers who are confident that they would be able to get away with almost anything. Some employers are fully aware that even if the matter is brought to the attention of the authorities such as the civil courts or industrial court, the immigrant policies in Malaysia would make it almost impossible for the migrant worker to successfully seek justice or redress without first either running out of money or time both which is completely controlled the policies stipulated by the Immigration Department. It is not until the sole reason of Nirmala Bonats case received so much attention and quick redress was given because the severity of her injuries making the headlines of every local newspaper front page. Public outcry on her case has prompted the Malaysian authorities to swing into immediate action. The responds show that Malaysian can administer justice swiftly and effectively when it chooses to do so. It is pertinent to note that many cases go unreported in the media. High profile cases that drew attention has forced Malaysia taking up the measures to check on maid abuses by inspecting on homes, interviews of maids and employers and also by introducing a helpline. Therefore, as to curb the problems effectively, I call on the government to grant swift action to migrant workers in seeking justice and protection. Employers who break the law must be made accountable. The government should impose heavier punishment to maid abusers. Law and policies that impede or delaying the justice system must be either amended or removed together. The Malaysian government need to ensure that enforcement agencies such as the Immigration Department, Civil or Industrial Court and the Police Force to enforce the law without bias and prejudice. Whereby there are cases been brought to my attention that migrant workers have often been subjected to extortion by enforcement personnel. Enforcement personnel have also been known to take the employers side in coercing workers to comply with unfair terms of employment. These allegations of extortion and gross misconduct by enforcement personnel must be investigated. Enforcement must be carried out swiftly and impartially against employers who do not obey the law. The authorities must not wait till there is a public outrage as to get into action. In other words, all relevant authorities are to stop all type of harassment on migrant domestic workers immediately. I personally think that the government should set minimum work and living environment standards that employers must adhere to. These can be achieved effectively as the government must ratify the International Convention on Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1990 and ensure its full implementation. The cultural differences in Malaysia as for a domestic worker to work 24 hours, seven days a week with no off day while being paid wages below the national poverty line. I would like to urge all migrant domestic workers who have been abused to bravely step forward and expose their employers as to put a stop of mistreating them. The agents too should be accountable for their carelessness and irresponsibility as most Muslims maids who work in non-Muslim homes were required to bath dogs and handled pork. Such act would utterly insensitive on the part of the employers and the agents. The solution would be that non-Muslim employers should be allowed only to hire non-Muslim maids while Muslim employers to bring in Muslim maids. The phrase Learn to live without maids struck my mind as I was watching Nanny 911, a television series of a Nanny assigned to homes as to help out American couples in handling and managing their families. I would like to state that men and children should also do housework. House chores are not as easy as you think it would be. We Malaysian are a lucky lot as we can afford to have maids with affordable rates and yet there are complaints of Indonesian maids now are asking for a little more. Therefore, I would say we should do the daily chores, home and outside ourselves. I have seen how typical it can be as only the women do everything at home as the men and children just laze around. Mind you there are tones of work to be done in the house besides caring for the children. There is the sweeping and mopping, cleaning the toilets, washing dishes, the laundry, the ironing, the cooking, dusting the windows and cabinets and the list goes on. This is not fair to women especially, we should have a balance and as for the men and children should lend a helping hands in assisting with the household chores. I think it is about time for us to learn to do something ourselves as this is something that we should ponder over. I would like to suggest that we should not solely depend on maids from aboard. We could train our local women especially the single mothers or purely a fulltime housewife. We could have them to come over on daily basis or even by the hours as another alternative in curbing the problems. This will lead to a cost effective and less risk of domestic helper or maid being abuse as they are not require to stay with the employer. Career women with families to take care of should change their mindset as placing the whole responsibility of the household works solely to the maid as their servant. Therefore to ease their worries especially those having children could send them to a nursing or a childcare center during the days and pick them up after work. The aspects of managing time with work and household duties are really hard to manage. I would say, why not we do it ourselves as life has become much more easier with new inventions with the latest technology of electrical appliances in doing household works. Children are very much a fast pace learner in everything if they were taught on how to do handle household chores. We should train our children to be more discipline and independent from a younger age as to get rid off the sole hope on maids. Parents can start by telling them how to keep their space clean and tidy, like make up their beds as they got up from sleep, wash their own plates or even get the rubbish out of the house. I would love to Live a life without the maid, the wife should ask the male spouse for assistance, cooperation and shares the responsibility in managing the house and their children. In most develop countries especially the westerner, we could see that the male gender does not feel ashamed when come to household works. The husband and wife would take turns and share equal responsibilities in raising and taking care of the family. It is about time as the long-standing issue on the supply of maids is finally nearing a conclusion between Malaysia and Indonesia with the signing of the Letter of Intent (Lol) on amendments to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Recruitment and Placement of Maids from Indonesia on the 18th May 2010. The Indonesian government is expected to lift its ban since June last year as to allow its citizen to work in Malaysia again. Both government officials have been holding meetings to resolve issues in relation to the maids issue. Among the issues agreed to is that maids in Malaysia will be given one day off weekly and their right to hold on to their passports. However, employer and the maid concern could agree to forego the day off in lieu of compensation and an employer could also hold onto a maids passport if both parties agreed. The only issue that is still pending is the wage paid to migrant domestic workers as it requires more discussions. Finally, I hope the government would recognize Migrant Domestic Workers as workers and grant them all the rights that come with the status. This hopefully will resolve the problem. Perhaps the employers should also be required to sign an undertaking not to physically abuse the maid and if they are unhappy, the maids are to be returned to the agency for further training or getting a new replacement. BIBLIOGRAFI 1. Prof Datuk Dr. Nik Safiah Karim, Head of PERTIWI (2009). The Maids: Ease vs Burden. Pertubuhan Tindakan Wanita Islam (PERTIWI). 2. Prof Madya Dr. Rusinah Siron, Social Analysis. (2009). Overcome your life without Indonesian maid. Universiti Tenaga Malaysia (UNITEN), Kuala Lumpur. 3. Article Maid deal soon, The Star, 19th May 2010. 4. Article Learn to live without maids, The Star, 24th May 2010. 5. Immigration Department of Malaysia. 6. Malaysian Employment Act. 7. http://thestar.com.my/news/story/ Nirmala Bonat case: Housewife found guilty, 18 years jail.

The Impact of Immigration on The United States Essay -- American Econo

The United States is a country that was built on immigration. The first settlers, Native Americans, represent less than 2% of the total population; the remaining 98% of the population are immigrants or decedents of immigrants. Today, the US still has the highest immigration rate in the world with 757,434 naturalizations in the 2012 fiscal year only (US Naturalizations 2012, Department of Homeland security). People try to immigrate to the United States for many reasons. Some people immigrate because they have been granted a refugee status or asylum and other people immigrate to fulfill their dreams. Immigration has an effect on the American society and economy. The US cannot survive without immigrants. Every year, many people immigrate to the US for several reasons. There are those who come to look for a safe place to stay because their countries are in war. Some immigrants have left their home countries to escape war or fear of persecution. They are refugees and have a legal right to remain the United States. Others come to the US to seek protection; they are granted an asylum and are also lawful residents. Besides that, most immigrants leave their countries and come to the US to fulfill their dreams. More so, the majority of the immigrants are unauthorized immigrants who are all foreign born nonresidents. According to Population Estimates, Office of Immigration Statistics, Department of Homeland Security (2011): 4. The number of unauthorized immigrants in US was estimated to 11,510,000.Regarding only to this large number of the unauthorized immigrants we can think about an eventual impact of immigration on US. First of all immigration has a huge impact on demography and social change because it raises the US population. M... ...ates: January 2010." Population Estimates, Office of Immigration Statistics, Department of Homeland Security (2011): 4. Kica, Matos. "13 years is too long for people to wait." USA Today n.d.: Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. Laura Parker ‘’US just wouldn’t work without immigrant labor’’USATODAY’’7/22/2001 updated 11:21 PM ET http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/washington/july01/2001-07-23-immigrant.htm Melanie Oubre Population ‘’Growth Fueled by Immigration Puts U.S. on Fast-Track to Depletion of Natural Resources’’Number USA Friday, December 28, 2012, 11:40 AM EST https://www.numbersusa.com/content/nusablog/moubre/december-28-2012/population-growth-fueled-immigration-puts-us-fast-track-depletion-n Murphy,Dean E ``Imagining Life Without Illegal Immigrants’’ New York Times January 11,2004 http://www.wright.edu/~tdung/ Immigrants.htm

Industry Life Cycle of Nokia Company

Social Sustainability Process Industry Social Sustainability Social Indicators for Sustainable Project and Technology Life Cycle Management in the Process Industry Carin Labuschagne1 and Alan C. Brent1* 1 Chair of Life Cycle Engineering, Department of Engineering & Technology Management, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 0002, South Africa * Corresponding author (alan. [email  protected] ac. za) DOI: http://dx. doi. org/10. 1065/lca2006. 01. 233 Abstract Goal, Scope and Background.The importance of the social dimension of sustainable development increased significantly during the last decade of the twentieth century. Industry has subsequently experienced a shift in stakeholder pressures from environmental to social-related concerns, where new developments in the form of projects and technologies are undertaken. However, the measurement of social impacts and the calculation of suitable indicators are less well developed compared to environmental indicators in order to assess the pot ential liabilities associated with undertaken projects and technologies.The aim of this paper is to propose a Social Impact Indicator (SII) calculation procedure based on a previously introduced Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) calculation procedure for environmental Resource Impact Indicators (RIIs), and to demonstrate the practicability of the SII procedure in the context of the process industry in South Africa. Methods. A framework of social sustainability criteria has been introduced for the South African process industry.The social sub-criteria of the framework are further analyzed, based on project and technology management expertise in the South African process industry, to determine whether the criteria should be addressed at project or technology management level or whether they should rather form part of an overall corporate governance policy for new projects and technologies. Furthermore, the proposed indicators for criteria that are considered appropriate for project or technology evaluation purposes are constrained by the type of information that is available, i. e. he calculation methodology relies on the availability of regional or national social information where the project will be implemented, as well as the availability of project- or technology-specific social information during the various phases of the project or technology development life cycle. Case studies in the process industry and statistical information for South Africa are subsequently used to establish information availability for the SII calculation procedure, demonstrate the SII method together with the RII method, and determine the practical use of the SII method.Results and Conclusion. The case studies establish that social footprint information as well as project- and technology social data are not readily available in the South African process industry. Consequently, the number of mid-point categories that can be evaluated are minimal, which results in an impaired soci al picture when compared to the environmental dimension. It is concluded that a quantitative social impact assessment method cannot be applied for project and technology life cycle management purposes in industry at present.Recommendation and Perspective. Following the outcomes of the case studies in the South African process industry, it is recommended that checklists and guidelines be used during project and technology life cycle management practices. Similar to the environmental dimension, it is envisaged that such checklists and guidelines would improve the availability of quantitative data in time, and would therefore make the SII procedure more practical in the future.Keywords: Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA); Life Cycle Management (LCM); process industry; Resource Impact Indicator (RII); Social Impact Indicator (SII); social sustainability Introduction The last decade of the twentieth century marked significant steps to draw the social dimension of sustainable development into the open [1]. The inclusion of social aspects in the sustainability debate and practice has nevertheless been marginal compared to the attention given to the other two dimensions, especially from a business perspective [1,2,3].However, stakeholders are forcing companies to address the inclusion of social sustainability by shifting pressure from environmental to social related concerns [4,5]. The social dimension is commonly recognised as the ‘weakest' pillar of sustainable development due to a lack of analytical and theoretical underpinnings [5] and it is believed that the state of development of indicators or measurements for social business sustainability parallels that of environmental performances about 20 years ago [6].Nevertheless, there is a definite need for practical tools to introduce social sustainability into business evaluation processes [1,7,8]. This paper proposes a methodology to assess the social sustainability of projects and technologies in the process industry by calculating social impact indicators, and addresses the following two questions: 1) What social criteria must such an assessment methodology consider and measure? 2) How must these criteria be addressed and measured?To address the first question, a framework of social business sustainability criteria is defined, which is relevant for operational initiatives in the process industry. Social sustainable development indicators are then introduced, demonstrated and discussed, based on the defined framework. Int J LCA 11 (1) 3 – 15 (2006)  © 2006 ecomed publishers (Verlagsgruppe Huthig Jehle Rehm GmbH), D-86899 Landsberg and Tokyo †¢ Mumbai †¢ Seoul †¢ Melbourne †¢ Paris 3 Process Industry Social Sustainability Responsibility (CSR) literature and guidelines, and other international guidelines were undertaken (Table 1) [9].The analysis showed that a comprehensive social sustainability framework should define appropriate criteria to address the comp any's impacts on the social systems in which it operates, as well as the company's relationship with its various stakeholders. A sustainable development framework for operational initiatives was subsequently developed and proposed, the social dimension of which is shown in Fig. 1. Table 2 provides the definitions of the criteria at the different levels of the framework, which are described in detail elsewhere [9]. 1 1. 1 Social Sustainability Criteria FrameworkDevelopment of a framework for business management purposes in the process industry The current indicator frameworks that are available to measure overall business sustainability do not effectively address social aspects of sustainability at operational level in the process industry, especially in developing countries such as South Africa [9]. The question arises what the exact scope of social sustainability should entail from a business management perspective. An analysis of current available frameworks, Social Impact Assessm ent (SIA) guidelines, Corporate SocialTable 1: Analysis of the social criteria addressed by current frameworks and guidelines [9] Name and type of literature Health Education Environment Housing / Living conditions ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Criteria Society Security / Crime Facilities & Services Population characteristics Community characteristics Economic welfare / Employment ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Indicator frameworks United Nations 1 ? ? 3 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Global Reporting Intitiative2 IchemE Sustainability Metrics Wuppertal Indicators 4 European Conceptual Framework for Social Ind. SIA literature Interorganizational Committee on Guidelines and Principles6 Socioeconomic impacts for Energy Efficiency Project for Climate Change Mitigation7 South Sydney Council SIA 8 checklist SIA categories for development 9 projects in South Africa South African social criteria for CDM project evaluation10 Classification of social impacts 11 according to Vanclay Classification of social impacts 11 according to Juslen Classification of social impacts according to Gramling and 11 Freudenburg SIA Series’ Guide to Social Assessment12 Government actions European Greenpaper on CSR World Bank’s Social Analysis 14 Sourcebook SRI Indexes Dow Jones Sustainability Index FTSE 4 GOOD16 JSE SRI Index 17 18 15 13 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Pressures from international financing organisations ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Dominini 400 Index Global Compact19 International standards and guidelines Global Sullivan Principles20 Caux Round Table OECD Guidelines SA 8000 23 21 22 AA 100024 Investors in People CSR standards Ethos Indicators 27 25 26 Ethical Trading Initiative ? 29 ? ? ? ? ? Standards of CSR28 Danish Social Index 4 Int J LCA 11 (1) 2006 Social Sustainability Process IndustryTable 1: Analysis of the social criteria addressed by current frameworks and guidelines [9] (cont'd) Name and type of literature Society Community cohesion Indicator frameworks 1 United Nations 2 Global Reporting Intitiative ? 3 IchemE Sustainability Metrics 4 Wuppertal Indicators European Conceptual Framework ? 5 for Social Ind. SIA literature Interorganizational Committee on ? 6 Guidelines and Principles Socioeconomic impacts for ? Energy Efficiency Project for 7 Climate Change Mitigation 8 South Sydney Council SIA checklist ? SIA categories for development ? 9 projects in South Africa South African social criteria for CDM project evaluation10 Classification of social impacts ? 11 according to Vanclay Classification of social impacts ? 1 according to Juslen Classification of social impacts ? according to Gramling and 11 Freudenburg SIA Series' Guide to Social ? Assessment12 Government actions 13 European Greenpaper on CSR ? Pressures from international financing organisations World Bank's Social Analysis ? 14 Sourcebook SRI Indexes 15 Dow Jones Sustainability Index FTSE 4 GOOD16 17 J SE SRI Index 18 Dominini 400 Index International standards and guidelines 19 Global Compact 20 Global Sullivan Principles Caux Round Table21 22 OECD Guidelines 23 SA 8000 ? AA 100024 ? 25 Investors in People ? 26 Ethical Trading Initiative ? CSR standards 27 Ethos Indicators 28 Standards of CSR Danish Social Index29 1Criteria Society and company (interlinkage) Product Community Stakeholder Training, responsibility involvement participation / education of of company Engagement staff Equity Company internal Fair Human labour rights practices Employee health and safety ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (2001): Indicators of susta inable development: guidelines and methodologies. United Nations. Available from ;http://www. un. rg/esa/sustdev/ natlinfo/indicators/indisd/indisd-mg2001. pdf;, visited on 19 November 2003 Global Reporting Initiative (2002): Sustainability Reporting Guidelines 2002. Global Reporting Initiative, Boston Institution of Chemical Engineers, (2002): The Sustainability Metrics: Sustainable Development Progress Metrics recommend for use in the Process Industries. Institution of Chemical Engineers. Rugby Spangenberg JH, Bonniot O (1998): Sustainability Indicators – A Compass on the Road Towards Sustainability. Wuppertal Paper 81 Centre for Survey Research and Methodology (ZUMA) (2000): Conceptual Framework and Structure of a European System of Social Indicators.EuReporting Working Paper no 9, Mannheim Interorganizational Committee on Guidelines and Principles for Social Impact Assessment (1995): Guidelines and Principles for Social Impact Assessment. Environmental Impact Assessment R eview 15 (1) 11–43 Vine E, Sathaye J (1999): Guidelines for the Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting, Verification and Certification of Energy-Efficiency Projects for Climate Change Mitigation. US Environmental Protection Agency through the U. S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC03-76SF00098 South Sydney Council (2004): The South Sydney Plan: Social Impact Assessment Checklist. ;http://www. sscc. nsw. gov. au/router? model=c=1704;, visited on 21 January 2004. Khosa M (2000): Social Impact Assessment of Development Projects. In: Khosa M (ed), Infrastructure Mandate for Change 1994–1999.Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) Publishers, Pretoria Brent AC, Heuberger R, Manzini D (2005): Evaluating projects that are potentially eligible for Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) funding in the South African context: A case study to establish weighting values for sustainable development criteria. Environment and Development Economics 10 (5) 631–649 Vanclay F (200 2): Conceptualising social impacts. Environmental Impact Assessment Review 22 (3) 183–211 Branch K, Hooper DA, Thompson J, Creighton J (1984): Guide to Social Assessment: A framework for assessing social change. Westview Press, London European Commission: Employment and Social Affairs (2001): Promoting a European framework for corporate social responsibility. European Communities, Luxembourg Social Analysis and Policy Team (2003): Social Analysis Sourcebook: Incorporating Social Dimensions into Bank-supported projects.Washington DC, The World Bank: Social Development Department SAM Indexes (2003): Dow Jones Sustainability World Indexes Guide, Version 5. 0. SAM Indexes GmbH, Zollikon-Zurich FTSE (2003): FTSE4Good Index Series: Inclusion Criteria. FTSE The Independent Global Index Company, London Johannesburg Stock Exchange (2004): JSE SRI Index: Background and Selection Criteria. ;http://www. jse. co. za/sri/docs/;, visited on 9 January 2004 Domini Social Investments (2003): T he Domini 400 Social IndexSM. Available from ;http://www. domini. com/Social-screening/creation_maintenance. doc_cvt. htm;, visited on 31 December 2003 Kell G (2003): The global compact: origins, operations, progress and challenges.The Journal of Corporate Citizenship, Autumn, 35–49 Global Sullivan Principles (2003): The Global Sullivan Principles of Social Responsibility. Available from ;http://www. globalsullivanprinciples. org;, visited on 27 December 2003 Caux Round Table (2003): Caux Round Table Principles for Business, English Translation. Available from: ;http://www. cauxroundtable. org/ENGLISH. htm;, visited on 20 January 2003 Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (2000): The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises 2000 Revision. OECD Publication, Paris Social Accountability International (2003): Overview of SA8000. Available from ;http://www. cepaa. org/SA8000/SA8000. tm;, visited on 4 March 2003 AccountAbility (1999): Overview of the AA1000 fr amework. AccountAbility Publication, London, available from ;http://www. accountability. org. uk/uploadstore/cms/docs/AA1000%20Overview. pdf;, visited on 29 December 2003 Investors in People UK (2003): The Standard. Available from ;http://iipuk. co. uk/IIP/Internet/InvestorsinPeople/TheStandard/default. htm;, visited on 29 December 2003 Ethical Trading Initiative (2003): Ethical Trading Initiative Homepage. Available from ;http://www. ethicaltrade. org;, visited on 29 December 2003 Ethos Institute for Business and Social Responsibility (2001): ETHOS Corporate Social Responsibility INDICATORS.Instituto Ethos de Empresas e Responsabillidade Social, Sao Paulo Goodell E (ed) (1999): Social Venture Networks: Standards of Corporate Social Responsibility, Social Venture Networks, San Fransisco Danish Ministry of Social Affairs, KPMG, Socialforskningsinstituttet (2000): Social Index: Measuring a Company's social responsibility, Danish Ministry of Social Affairs, Copenhagen Int J LCA 11 (1) 2006 5 Process Industry Social Sustainability Social Sustainability Internal Human Resources External Population Macro Social Performance Stakeholder Participation Employment Stability Human Capital Socio- Economic Performance Information Provision Employment Opportunities Employment Renumeration Employment Practices Health Economic Welfare Trading Opportunities Socio- Environmental Performance Collective Audience Selected Audience Stakeholder Influence Education Productive Capital Disciplinary & Security Practices Employee Contracts Equity Housing MonitoringDecision Influence Potential Stakeholder Empowerment Service Infrastructure Mobility Infrastructure Regulatory & Public Services Community Capital Legislation Enforcement Labour Sources Health & Safety Health & Safety Practices Health & Safety Incidents Capacity Development Sensory Stimuli Cultural Properties Social Pathologies Security Economic Welfare Social Cohesion Research & Development Career Development Fig. 1: Framework to assess the social sustainability of engineering projects and technologies [9] Table 2: Definitions of Social Criteria [9] Internal Human Resources focuses on the social responsibility of the company towards its workforce and includes all aspects of employment.The criterion addresses a business initiative's impact on work opportunities within the company, the stability thereof as well as Employment Stability evaluating the fairness of compensation. Disciplinary and secrecy practices as well as employee contracts are addressed under this criterion. These are evaluated to Employment Practices ensure that it complies with the laws of the country, international human rights declarations as well as other human rights and fair employment practice standards. The criterion focuses on the health and safety of the workforce and evaluates preventive measures as well as the occurrence Health & Safety and handling of health and/or safety incidents. Capacity Development The criterion addresses two different, aspects namely research and development, and career development.External Population focuses on the external impacts of the company’s operational initiatives on a society, e. g. impacts External Population on the availability of services, community cohesion, economic welfare, etc. Human Capital refers to an individual's ability to work in order to generate an income and encompasses aspects such as health, Human Capital psychological wellbeing, education, training and skills levels. The criterion addresses Health and Education separately. Productive capital entails the assets and infrastructure an individual needs in order to maintain a productive life. The criterion Productive Capital measures the strain placed on these assets and infrastructure availability by the business initiative.This criterion takes into account the effect of an operational initiative on the social and institutional relationships and networks of Community Capital trust, reciprocity and sup port as well as the typical characteristics of the community. Macro Social Performance focuses on the contribution of an organisation to the environmental and financial Macro Social Performance performance of a region or nation, e. g. contribution to exports. Socio-Economic Performance This criterion addresses the external economic impact of the company's business initiatives. Economic welfare (contribution to GDP, taxes, etc. ) as well as trading opportunities (contribution to foreign currency savings, etc. ) are addressed separately.Socio-Environmental This criterion considers the contributions of an operational initiative to the improvement of the environment for society on a Performance community, regional and national level. The extension of the environmental monitoring abilities of society, as well as the enhancement of legislation and the enforcement thereof, are included in this criterion. Stakeholder Participation focuses on the relationships between the company and ALL its stakeholders (internally and Stakeholder Participation externally) by assessing the standard of information sharing and the degree of stakeholder influence on decision-making. The quantity and quality of information shared with stakeholders are measured.Information can either be shared openly with all Information Provisioning stakeholders (Collective Audience) or shared with targeted, specific groups of stakeholders (Selected Audience). The degree to which the company actually listens to the stakeholders' opinion should also be evaluated. Two separate subStakeholder Influence criteria are included: Decision Influence Potential and Stakeholder Empowerment. Internal Human Resources 6 Int J LCA 11 (1) 2006 Social Sustainability Process Industry The conclusion was reached that no social aspect of the ten projects could be found that could not be classified into the criteria framework. In addition, all of the social criteria did not manifest in each asset life cycle phase. However, ther e may be social aspects that did not manifest in either the case studies or the framework.Nevertheless, the basis on which the individual case studies were chosen makes these cases adequately representative of the current social environment in which construction, operation, and decommissioning occurs in the process industry. It is subsequently concluded that the framework is complete enough to be used as an initial basis to develop a social assessment methodology, which can incorporate social sustainability into project and technology management practices. The social sustainability framework was further validated by means of a Delphi Technique survey [12]. The survey focused on the relevance of the proposed social criteria for the evaluation of projects or technologies and attempted to answer whether the project team, a functional unit within an organisation, or an organisation's corporate governance framework should address the different social aspects.A total of 23 project managem ent experts in a process industry company in South Africa participated in the survey, which established the suitability of the social criteria, as well as the relevance of the criteria in terms of sustainable business practices. The outcomes of the survey support the conclusion reached by the case studies, but also suggest, according to the opinion of project management experts, that all the criteria are not relevant to project and technology management, but should rather manifest as part of corporate policy (Table 3) [11]. 1. 2 Verification and validation of the completeness and relevance of the social criteria of the framework The social sustainability framework was verified by means of case studies testing the completeness and relevance of its criteria.Since the aim of the framework is to assess the social sustainability of projects and technologies in the process industry, ten case studies were chosen that represent the three phases of the asset, or technology, life cycle with t he greatest potential to cause social impacts, i. e. the Construction Phase, the Operation Phase, and the Decommissioning Phase. The rationale for focussing on the three asset life cycle phases, as well as the interaction between asset and project life cycles, can be found in literature [10]. The case studies aimed to describe the significant social impacts that may occur during the life cycle phases in relation to the proposed framework, and to identify any social impacts that cannot be classified into the framework [11]: †¢ The construction of three process industry facilities: an incinerator, a mine, and a gas pipeline. The operation of four chemical manufacturing facilities, one in Germany, one in the USA, and two in different provinces in South Africa. †¢ The decommissioning of three process industry facilities: a cyanide manufacturing plant, an acrylic fibre manufacturing plant, and a mine. Project related documentation, pertaining to each of the case studies, was ev aluated and personal interviews were held with project responsible individuals [11]. It must be noted that in case study research it is not easy to generalise results, since statistical analysis cannot necessarily be applied. Cases are not sampling units and cannot be treated as such. Table 3: Delphi Technique survey results [11]Criterion Employment Opportunities Employment Remuneration Disciplinary & Security Practices Employee Contracts Equity & Diversity Labour Sources Health & Safety Practices Health & Safety Incidents Research Development Career Development Health Education Housing Service Infrastructure Mobility Infrastructure Regulatory & Public Services/ Institutional Services Sensory Stimuli Security Cultural Properties Economic Welfare Social Pathologies Social Cohesion Economic Welfare Trading Opportunities Monitoring Legislation Enforcement Information Provisioning Stakeholder Influence Project x The criterion should be addressed by†¦ Business Strategy x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x Functional Department x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x Int J LCA 11 (1) 2006 7 Process Industry Social Sustainability CC = Characterisation factor for an impact category (of intervention X) within the pathway. As a first approximation no characterisation factors are assumed and social LCI constituents are considered separately.NC = Normalisation factor for the impact category based on the social objectives in the region of assessment, i. e. the inverse of the target state of the impact category. The information is obtained from social footprint data in the region of the assessment. And, Significance (or relative importance) of the impact category in a social group based on the distance-to-target method, i. e. current social state divided by the target social state (see section 1. 2). 2 Social Impact Indicator (SII) Calculation Procedure The main focus of this paper is the development and testing of a quantitative so cial sustainable development indicator calculation method.A life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) approach has been proposed before for the evaluation of the social impacts of life cycle systems from compiled LCIs [13,14]. An introduced LCIA methodology developed specifically for the South African context, termed the Resource Impact Indicator (RII) approach [15], is thereby used as basis for the development of social indicators. The environmental RII approach considers the current and target ambient state or ecological footprint through a conventional distance-to-target normalisation and weighting calculation procedure [15]. A similar calculation procedure is proposed for Social Impact Indicators (SII), using the four main social criteria (shown in Fig. 1) as Areas of Protection (AoP).Three of these criteria represent the main groups of social resources on which the company can have an impact, while the fourth criterion represents all relationships between the company and stakeholders . The general SII calculation procedure is described through Eq. 1. (1) Where: SIIG = Social Impact Indicator calculated for a main social resource group through the summation of all impact pathways of all categorised social interventions of an evaluated life cycle system. QX = Quantifiable social intervention (X) of a life cycle system in a midpoint impact category C, i. e. project or technology specific information with regards to social impacts. Table 4: Midpoint categories and evaluation methods [17] Social Impact Indicators (SIIs) Internal Human Resources Midpoint category SC = CS = TSTo develop the calculation method, the same case studies used for the verification of the social criteria (see section 1. 2) were used to compile a list of possible social interventions, i. e. a social Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) of assessed operational initiatives in the process industry. However, the RII method makes use of mid-point categories. To define midpoint categories, the list of social i nterventions was mapped against the social criteria at various levels within the proposed social sustainability framework. A causal relationship diagram was consequently established for each of the four main social criteria, which define the midpoint categories. These causal diagrams are shown in the Appendix [16].Three measurement methods are proposed to express the defined midpoint categories in equivalence units (Table 4) [17]: †¢ Established risk assessment approaches, which require a subjective evaluation of the probability of occurrence, the projected frequency of the occurrence, and the potential intensity thereof; Measurement methods to establish equivalence units Quantitative Risk Quantitative Quantitative Risk Qualitative Quantitative Qualitative Quantitative Quantitative Quantitative Quantitative Quantitative Quantitative Quantitative Quantitative Quantitative Qualitative Quantitative Qualitative/Quantitative Quantitative External Population Stakeholder Participation Macro-Social PerformancePermanent internal employment positions Internal Health and Safety situation Knowledge level / Career development Internal Research and Development capacity Comfort level / Nuisances Perceived aesthetics Local employment Local population migration Access to health facilities Access to education Availability of acceptable housing Availability of water services Availability of energy services Availability of waste services Pressure on public transport services Pressure on the transport network / People and goods movement Access to regulatory and public services Change in relationships with stakeholders External value of purchases / supply chain value/Nature of Purchases Migration of clients / Changes in the product value chain/Nature of Sales Improvement of socio-environmental services 8 Int J LCA 11 (1) 2006 Social Sustainability Process IndustryTable 5: Proposed Midpoint Categories for the four main social criteria together with proposed units of equivalence Social AoP Internal Human Resources Midpoint Category Permanent Internal Employment Positions Possible Health and Safety Incidents Internal Research & Development Capacity External Population Comfort Level/Nuisances Units of equivalence Number of employment opportunities equivalent to a specific position Fatality or Disability Injury Rate Cost spend on R capacity Risk of uncomfort/ Kilo tons of pollutants emitted per annum Intervention Information, i. e. project Social Footprint Information needed or technology information Number and type of employment Employment by type, i. e. osition and opportunities created or destroyed full-time/part-time, for municipality Risk of health and safety incidents with prediction of number based on similar previous undertakings Investment by project in R as part of project budget Predicted emissions that can smell or risk of emissions Industry fatal accident or disability injury rate Municipality budget on R or industry budget Emissions and noise le vel of municipality as well as acceptable levels by standards, e. g. SABS standards Predicted noise levels or risk of noise Aesthetics Level of perceived acceptability Risk of structure and location having a negative impact on aesthetics of community Perceived level of aesthetic acceptability by community Local Employment Fraction of employable community hours Number of permanent job type equivalents Calculation: permanent positions multiplied by conversion factor Employment by type for community or municipality Local Population Migration Access to health facilities Level of short-term demographic changes People per qualified doctorPredicted change in local population Predicted increase or decrease in ratio, focus only on public health sector Predicted impact on the number of literate adults The predicted need for houses which must be build multiplied by the average size Quantity of water used or supplied Quantity of electricity used or supplied Quantity of waste generated and/or qu antity of waste removed from municipal area Number of additional public transport seats required Tons of good transported on roads and or kilometre of road infrastructure provided Percentage of turnover or expenses spend locally Monetary amount spend on services, resources or information that will improve macro environmental performance Predicted Percentage improvement or deterioration in perceived stakeholder trust Demographic profile of community or municipal area National ratio of people per qualified doctor or international ratio Literate adults in municipality area or region Size of municipality area Access to Education Availability of acceptable houses Availability of water services Availability of energy services Availability of waste services Pressure on public transport services Pressure on transport network/ People and goods movement Macro Social Performance Literate adults Zoned residential area per capita Water of drinking quality per capita kWh of electricity per capita Capita per G:h landfill siteWater of drinking quality used by municipality Electricity usage by municipality Landfill sites (type and size) used by municipality Public Transport seats available in municipal area Ton kilometres per capita (in region or nationally) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per region and/or per industry. Monetary amount spent on Environmental Services by the region, i. e. provincial government or municipal council Perceived stakeholder trust based on community questionnaires or surveys Seat kilometres per capita Ton kilometres per capita External value of purchases Fraction of purchased locallymanufactures goods Improvement of SocioEnvironmental Services Cost spent on SE services per capita Stakeholder Participation Change in relationships with stakeholders Level of stakeholder trust Quantitative evaluation approaches, including, but not limited to, costs and direct measurements in society; and †¢ Qualitative evaluation approaches, which require appropriate subjective scales and associated guidelines, and have been proposed for the industrial ecology and streamlined LCA disciplines (see section 1. 2). The defined midpoint categories, which, from the validation survey (see section 1. 2), are considered appropriate at project or technology management level, together with pro- posed units of equivalence for evaluation purposes are shown in Table 5. The units of equivalence were determined from the characteristics of the social interventions identified from the ten case studies.The definitions of the midpoint categories make it evident that the normalisation and significance steps will be constrained by what is practicably measurable within a society where an operational initiative, i. e. project or technology (from an industry perspective), will typically occur. The availability of information is likely to differ be- Int J LCA 11 (1) 2006 9 Process Industry tween developed and developing countries. Furthermore, the projection of the socia l interventions of a project or technology may be problematic or at least differ from case to case. Separate studies may be required for some of the social sustainability criteria, e. g. stakeholder participation, even at project-specific level, which may be problematic. Case Studies to Demonstrate and Test the SII Calculation Method Social Sustainability 3. 1 Construction of an open cast mine 3. 1. 1 Background The SII calculation method was applied to three case studies to determine the current feasibility thereof in terms of data availability. In the third case study, environmental Resource Impact Indicators were also calculated using the RII method [15]. All case studies are set in South Africa and project information was obtained from Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) studies as well as interviews with members of the respective project teams. Due to the hindsight application of the SII method no additional data could be collected from a project perspective.Social footprint information was obtained from: †¢ Statistics South Africa [18]; †¢ South African Department of Transport [19]; †¢ South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) [20]; †¢ South African Department of Health [21]; †¢ South African Department of Labour [22]; †¢ NOSA International [23]; and †¢ Municipal Demarcation Board South Africa [24] and individual municipalities, e. g. some municipalities have undertaken Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs) in certain regions of South Africa. In the case studies, mid-point categories were evaluated in respect of whether both project and social footprint information are available, and if the respective information is comparable. It is noted that whereas LCA normally considers a product's life cycle, these case studies focus on the asset, or technology, life cycle (as described in section 1. 2) with the functional unit being one operational year of the asset.However, since the asset life c ycle and the associate product life cycle interact through the asset’s operational phase [10], the indicators could be translated to a typical product-manufactured functional unit. In 1996 a petrochemical company in South Africa announced its intention to develop an Open Cast Strip Mine on the banks of the Vaal River between the Gauteng and Free State Provinces. The project was motivated on the basis that the reserves of the company's main mine in the area had reached the end of its economic life and that this posed a threat to the future of a large chemical manufacturer in a nearby town, which was supplied by the mine from 1952.Ultimately, a threat to the existence of the chemical manufacturer is a direct threat to the existence of the town and in a sense the province since the manufacturer contributes 12% to the geographical economy of the region. The project was met with a lot of resistance from the public, especially owners of riverside properties. The project was stopped after a non-governmental organisation took the company to court and won a legal battle, which changed the mining legislation of South Africa. 3. 1. 2 Available project and social footprint information Tables 6 and 7 summarise the available project information and social footprint information that have been obtained from the Environmental Management Programme Report [25] and the specialist study on the macro social economic impacts [26]. 3. 1. 3 SIIs for the projectThe information presented in Tables 6 and 7 highlights the mismatch between available project and social footprint information. SIIs were calculated as far as possible where both appropriate project and social footprint information was available for midpoint categories (Table 8) using Eq. 1. The project will have an overall positive social impact, although job creation could not outweigh the negative impact on the comfort level on the neighbourhoods in a close vicinity to the plant. The overall positive impact is mainly d ue to the large contribution the project will make to the Gross Geographic Product (GGP) of a relative small area, which relies strongly on mining.Table 6: Available project social intervention information for the proposed mine Construction Employment Opportunities created Employment Opportunities destroyed Indirect Employment Opportunities Contribution to GDP (added or lost) Reduction in property values Increases in Ambient Noise levels (dBa) on Average Dust (mg/day/m2) 450 people [24:138] Operation 300a employment opportunities over a 20 year life span [24:121] Multiplier effect of 2. 8: 840a a 20 employment opportunities on farmsa [24: 267] Multiplier effect of 2. 8: 1260 R52 million per annum (in 1999/2000) [25:32] 9-19% (year 1–10) [24: 258] ;2 [24: 195] Between ;50–250 [24: 187] 2–6% (after year 10 till mine closure) [24:258] ; 2 [24: 238–239] ;100a [24: 231] a a These values are used as quantifiable social interventions (Qx) in the SII calculation procedure. The South African Rand is equal to approximately 0. 12 Euros (as at the end of October 2005). 10 Int J LCA 11 (1) 2006 Social Sustainability Process IndustryTable 7: Available social footprint information for the region of the proposed mine Labour Force: Potentially Economically Active [25: 55] Total 736,721 100% Estimated ambient noise level (dBA) [24: 97] Time of day Morning Midday Evening Night Over 24 hours Sasolburg GDP (1991) due to kind of activity [25: 59] Mining & Quarrying Dust Pattern [25] March–July August–December January–February Dust Figures [25] September October (2 x sites) November (1 site) a b c Employed 308,826 41. 9% a Unemployed 149,335 20. 3% a Not-economically active 278,560 37. 8% Typical weekday 50. 9 46. 9 41. 4 34. 7 44. 6 b Typical weekend 49. 2 48. 0 46. 9 42. 3 46. 8 b R 259 677 000 per annumc Low Higher Lower 251–500 mg/day/m2 501–1200 mg/day/m 501–1200 mg/day/m 2 2 Moderate Heavy Heavy The sum of t hese values are the target state for the region. The current tate refers to only the value 308,826. The average of these two values are used as the target state for the region. The current state is assumed equal to the target state. Value used for target and current state for the region. The South African Rand is equal to approximately 0. 12 Euros (as at the end of October 2005) 3. 2 Operation of a chemical facility 3. 2. 1 Background The chemical facility is located on a 6,798 ha industrial site in South Africa. The construction of the site started in the early 1970s and was finished in 1980. It employs approximately 7000 permanent employees. The facility contributes 13% to the economy of the geographic region. 3. 2. Available operation and social footprint information †¢ A Strategic Environmental Assessment of the area; †¢ South African Census Information; and †¢ South Africa’s Compensation Fund Statistics. References of these sources are withheld to protect the company's identity. Table 9 summarises the available plant information and social footprint information that were obtained. 3. 2. 3 SIIs for the operation The following sources of information were used to calculate SIIs: †¢ The company's Sustainable Development Report; Table 10 shows the calculated SIIs using Eq. 1. Table 10 shows that the operation of the plant has in total a negative social impact. The positive contribution to GDPTable 8: Calculated Social Impact Indicators for the proposed open cast mine from the available case study information Area of Protection Internal Human Resources External Population Intervent. Employment Creation Permanent Positions b Noise & Dust 1 Generated 2 Nature of Sales Midpoint Category Permanent Positions Local Employment Comfort Level Intervent. Value 300 in total 2195200 hrs a Normalisation Value (Ts–1) –06 2. 183 x 10 1. 11 x 10 –09 Significance Value (Cs/Ts) 0. 674 0. 674 1 1 1 Midpoint Indicator Value 4. 41 x 1 0 –04 SII Value 4. 4 x10 –04 1. 65 x 10 –03 –7. 5 x10 –02 –01 External Value of 2. 0 x 10 Macro Social Purchases Performance No information available Stakeholder Participation –01 Final Social Impact Value 1. 5 x10 a Total of 1140 permanent positions at 40 hours per week assumed for 49 weeks (three weeks vacation, etc. ). b A target (and current) state is taken as the weighted average for the region, i. e. 916 mg/day/m2. 1 Since no characterisation factors for noise to dust or dust to noise is available, the midpoint. category was calculated as a weighted average with equal weights to each constituent. 2 The units of equivalence have been changed to contribution to GDP due to the information available. 2 dBA 2 100 mg/d/m R 52 mil. 2. 19 x 10 –03 1. 09 x 10 –03 3. 85 x10 –02 –4. 38 x 10 –01 –1. 09 x 10 –01 2. 0 x 10 –02 Int J LCA 11 (1) 2006 11 Process Industry Social Sustainabili tyTable 9: Available operational and social footprint information for the region of the chemical facility Interventiona Employees Plant Informationb  ± 7,000 Social Footprint Information Target: To have everyone employed excluding people who prefer to be not economically active. Govan Mbeki Municipality: Employed: 60,681 Unemployed: 40,189; Total Labour Force: 100,870. Employable Community Work hours – assuming all full-time employees – 40 hours – 49 weeks (3 weeks leave). 13 019 (target and current state assumed equal). Not available Not available Not available 197 kilo ton 138. 8 kilo ton 394 kilo ton 90 kilo ton (Permit: 101) 44,109. 2 kilo ton Atmospheric Emissions (concentration information from SEA) NOx 1 Hour Maximum NO2 concentration Average of 5 3 receptor points: 539.  µg/m Acceptable Target (WHO guideline): 200  µg/m3 (1-hour NOx average) Current State: 1 Hour Maximum NO2 concentration based on maximum predicted concentration: 801  µg/m3 Accep table Target (WHO guideline): 125  µg/m3 Current State: 24 Hour Maximum SO2 Concentration based on based on maximum 3 predicted concentration: 152  µg/m Target: (1:200 year firm yield) 150 million m per annum Current (predicted 1998/2000 average) 183. 6 million m3 per annum R 49,707 million Not available Not available 3 Indirect Employment Creation  ± 21,000 (applying the rule of 3 used in SIAs) Total Injuries Disabling Injury Rate (no/200,000 hours) Health & Safety Incidents (Spillages) Atmospheric Emissions: SO2 NOx VOC H2S CO2 541 0. 59 70 Not available Not available Not available Not available Not available SO2 24 Hour Maximum SO2 Concentration based on average of 5 receptor points: 127. 4  µg/m3 Water Usage – River Water 89,963 m 3 Financial Turnoverc Transportation Incidents Complaints a b R 7835 million 12 36 cOnly those quantifiable social interventions for which plant and social footprint information is available, are used in the SII calculation procedure. Al l plant information has been obtained from the Sustainable Development Report where the average of data available has been used unless otherwise stated. The South African Rand is equal to approximately 0. 12 Euros (as at the end of October 2005). Table 10: Calculated Social Impact Indicators for the chemical facility from the available case study information Area of Protection Internal Human Resources Intervent. Midpoint Category Permanent Positions Possible Health and Safety Incidents Local Employment Comfort Level Availability of water services External Value of Purchases Intervent.Value 7,000 541 Normalisation Value (Ts–1) 9. 91 x 10–06 7. 68 x 10 –05 Significance Value (Cs/Ts) 0. 602 1 Midpoint Indicator Value 4. 17 x 10–02 –4. 16 x 10 –02 SII Value Employment Creation Health & Safety Incidents 1. 9 x10–04 External Population Permanent Positions Atmospheric Emissions (SO2) Water Usage 41,167,000 hrs 127. 4  µg/m 89. 963 m 3 3 5. 06 x 10 0. 008 0. 007 –09 0. 602 1. 216 1. 224 0. 125 –1. 239 –0. 734 0. 158 –1. 85 Macro Social Performance Stakeholder Participation Nature of Sales R 7835 mil. 2. 01 x 10 –05 1 0. 158 No information available –1. 69 x10 –01 Final Social Impact Value 12 Int J LCA 11 (1) 2006 Social Sustainability nd employment cannot outweigh the negative impacts on comfort level, people (in the form of health and safety accidents), and the water usage. The biggest social impact is the impact on comfort level due to atmospheric emissions, i. e. secondary environmental impacts. 3. 3 Decommissioning of a fibre manufacturing plant Process Industry In addition, environmental RIIs were calculated using standard RII values, which were calculated for selected process parameters [27]. Table 11 shows the available project and social footprint information. 3. 3. 3 Environmental and social impact indicators 3. 3. 1 Background Tables 12 and 13 show the calcula ted Social and Environmental Impact Indicators.The values in Tables 12 and 13 show that although a similar methodology was followed to calculate SIIs compared to RIIs, the indicator outcomes are vastly different. This highlights that the interpretation of indicators remains challenging. Assessing the overall sustainability performance of a project or technology by allowing trade-offs between the contributions and damages should be seriously considered before it is applied. Ultimately, the trade-offs between the different dimensions would be the responsibility of the specific decision-makers, and therefore reflect the preferences of the decision-makers. 3. 4 Conclusions from the case studies In the early 1990s a second-hand acrylic fibre plant from a manufacturing facility in France was dismantled and relocated in the KwaZulu Province of South Africa.However, the decreasing acrylic fibre market in South Africa, combined with a lack of import protection, led to the decision to decommi ssion the plant in March 2002. The plant manufactured its last products in May 2002, which were sold in August 2002. The plant was dismantled and the site rehabilitated by March 2003. 3. 3. 2 Available project and social footprint information Using the company's sustainable development report, the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of the region, as well as the sustainable development indicator data of the municipal area in which the plant operated, the SII calculation procedure was applied to calculate the social impacts. As stated before it is not easy to generalise from case study research.However, the case studies showed that it is not possible to calculate all social midpoint category indicators, Table 11: Available project and social footprint information for the region of the fibres plant Interventiona Nature of Jobs Project Information 250 employment opportunities lost (5% relocated = 12 ) Social Footprint Information eThekwini unemployment: 591,024 eThekwini employmen t: 782,933 Target: To have everyone employed excluding people who prefer to be not economically active. Employable Community Work hours – assuming all full-time employees – 40 hours – 49 weeks (3 weeks leave). Indirect Employment Destruction  ± 750 (applying the rule of 3 used in SIAs) Work-hours lost due to injuries Disabling Injuries 475. 25 hours 6. Although social footprint information is available the definition of disabling injuries is not given and therefore information is not comparable. Not available Not available eThekwini Emissions 0. 488 kilo ton per annum 0. 111 kilo ton per annum 0. 005 kilo ton per annum 1,429,200 kilo litre per annum 54. 50 kilo ton per annum 54. 50 kilo ton per annum No information available eThekwini – with water loss: 168,090 ML – without water loss: 280,149 ML eThekwini: 9098 GWh per annum Not available Durban South Basin: 45,000 ton per annum Not available GDP of Kwa Zulu Natal: R 113,047 million Disabling In jury Rate (no per 200 000 hours) Health & Safety Incidents (Spillages) Atmospheric Emissions: SO2 NOx VOC Water Usage 2. 375 0. 75 per annumEnergy Usage Solid Waste: General/Domestic Non-Hazardous Industrial Nature of Sales c 48. 384 GWh per annum 5. 25 x 10 m per annum 2. 575 x 10 m per annum b 1,545 tons per annum 2. 675 x 10 m per annum Annual turnover of R 500 million 0. 5 per annum 3 3 3 3 3 3 Stakeholder Complaints a b c Only those quantifiable social interventions for which plant and social footprint information is available, are used in the SII calculation procedure. The South African Department of Water Affairs and Forestry's minimum requirements for waste density was used for the conversion. The South African Rand is equal to approximately 0. 12 Euros (as at the end of October 2005). Int J LCA 11 (1) 2006 13 Process Industry Social SustainabilityTable 12: Calculated Social Impact Indicators for the decommissioning of the fibres plant from the available case study informati on Area of Protection Internal Human Resources Intervent. Employment Creation Permanent Positions Energy Usage External Population Water Usage Waste a Generated Atmospheric Emissions (SO2 & NOx)b Macro Social Performance Stakeholder Participation Final Social Impact Value a b c Midpoint Category Permanent Positions Local Employment Availability of energy services Availability of water services Availability of waste services Comfort Level External Value of Purchases Intervent. Value 262 1,983,520 hrs 48. 384 GWh 1,429,200 kl 1 545 t 0. 65 kt SO2 eq. R 500 mil. Normalisation Value (Ts–1) 7. 28 x 10–07 3. 71 x 10 –10 Significance Value (Cs/Ts) 0. 570 0. 570 1 1 1 Midpoint Indicator Value –1. 09 x 10–04 –4. 20 x 10 –04 SII Value –1. 1 x10–04 1. 1 x 10–04 3. 57 x 10 –09 5. 32 x 10–03 5. 10 x 10 –03 5. 47 x10–04 2. 22 x 10–05 2. 84 x 10–02 7. 98 x 10–06 3. 43 x 10– 02 1. 04 x 10–02 –3. 99 x 10–03 –4. 0 x10–03 a Nature of Salesc 1 No information available 5. 06 x10 –02 Based on information available the units of equivalence have been changed to domestic waste generated in tons. Comfort level is measured quantitatively in kilo tons SO2 per annum using CML characterisation factors.The units of equivalence have been changed to contribution to GDP due to the information available. The South African Rand is equal to approximately 0. 12 Euros (as at the end of October 2005). Table 13: Calculated environmental Resource Impact Indicators for the decommissioning of the fibres plant from the available case study information Process Parameter (annual quantities) Waste Electricity used Coal Used Steam used Water used 1,545,000 kg 174,182,400 MJ 46,368,000 kg 354,960,000 kg 1,429,200,000 kg Resource Impact Indicator Water 7. 29 x 10–02 7. 88 x 10 0 2. 60 x 10 7. 00 x 10 8. 84 x 10 4 4 5 Air 2. 33 x 10– 06 1. 79 x 10 0 2. 51 x 10 0 1. 81 x10 +04 2 4 Land 4. 2 x 10–02 1. 68 x 10 0 4. 41 0 1. 72 x 10 +02 2 Mined 0 8. 81 x 10 1 1. 67 x 102 1. 52 x 10 0 4. 07 x 10 +02 2 +05 either because of a lack of project information, or because of a lack of social footprint information. In addition, the units of equivalence cannot be fixed since they depend on the available information. This complicates indicator comparisons between various projects. The limitation of available social footprint information results in the fact that only some midpoint category indicators are possible, i. e. permanent positions, water usage, energy usage, nature of sales, and comfort level, which leads to an impaired social picture.In addition, the midpoint category indicators for water usage, energy usage and comfort level are much higher than permanent positions, thus resulting in a net negative social impact for any proposed development, which may not be a representation of the true social influence of the project or technology. 4 Conclusions and Recommendations sions of sustainable development [29]. The research therefore concludes that a quantitative social impact assessment method cannot be applied for project and technology life cycle management purposes in industry at present. It is emphasised that these conclusions were reached from a process LCA perspective, which is industry sector-wide.Research with a product LCA focus may lead to different outcomes. Although a comprehensive top-down approach was followed, a bottom-up approach may be more appropriate for product LCAs [30], as the selection of suitable criteria would be constrained to the specific scope of a LCA study. 4. 1 Further steps to quantify social impact indicators A case study independent analysis of available social footprint information in South Africa confirmed the main finding of this paper that social footprint information is not available for all midpoint categories [28]. It is regarded as an international prob lem that current available statistics are incapable of providing an integrated view of various dimen-It is proposed that social sustainability should be incorporated into project and technology life cycle management by means of guidelines and checklists. Similar to the environmental dimension, it is envisaged that such checklists and guidelines would improve the availability of quantitative data in time, and would therefore make the SII procedure more practical in the future. Although such guidelines and checklists have been developed from a theoretical perspective [28], practical guidelines and checklists from a project or technology life cycle management perspective are yet to be dem- 14 Int J LCA 11 (1) 2006 Social Sustainability onstrated. Further cases are subsequently required for demonstration and analysis purposes.While the guidelines and checklists may lead to a paradigm shift in industry towards obtaining and evaluating social impact-related information, it is also suggest ed that a lesscomprehensive list of social criteria is used as a starting point to develop social LCA-specific methodologies, possibly using those midpoint category indicators that were quantifiable in the case studies of this research, i. e. permanent positions, water usage, energy usage, nature of sales, and comfort level, or other midpoint categories that are currently proposed [30]. However, social issues are highly influenced by cultural perceptions, and it would be best to undertake such a task at national level.National indicator sets can then be compared and combined on an international level. 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