The Telecommuting and Its Effects

On September 20, 1994, some 32,000 AT&T employees stayed home. They weren†t sick or on strike. They were telecommuting. Employees ranging from the CEO to phone operators were part of an experiment that involved 100,000 people. It†s purpose? To explore how far a vast organization could go in transforming the workplace by moving the work to the worker instead of the worker to work. Today AT&T is just one of many organizations pioneering the alternative workplace (AW-also known as telecommuting) – the combination of nontraditional work practices, settings, and locations that is beginning to supplement traditional offices (Apgar, 121). According to IDC/Link Resources, New York, approximately 8 million Americans currently telecommute. A survey conducted by Olsten Corp., Melville, N.Y., reports that 62 percent of North American companies encourage telecommuting (Riggs, 46). In addition, research shows about 50% of all employees either have a job that lends itself to telecommuting or want to get involved in telecommuting. Most researchers agree that telecommuting growth is fastest in companies employing more than 1,000 and in those with under 10 employees (Harler, 26). Telecommuting came into existence out of necessity. First, increasing global competition has brought pressures and opportunities to businesses, consultants, and service vendors. As a result, the Yankee Group predicts that as many as 80 percent of all employers will have to adopt remote work in order to compete in world markets by mid-to late nineties (Manire, 51). Second, the Information Age necessitates that companies move faster and thus act and react to business conditions sooner. Third, telecommuting has been increasingly enforced at state and federal levels due to the Clean Air Act (CAA) of 1970, as amended in 1990. The CAA affects any firm with over 100 employees in areas with â€Å"severe ozone attainment levels†, which covers every good-sized city in the nation (Harler, 27). The Impact of the Internet on Telecommuting The Internet is widely becoming part of the plan when implementing and integrating telecommuting solutions. The Internet can add a powerful dimension to the management of both internal and external information functions and strengthen the organization†s human resource management information systems. Communicating Internally. The Internet is redefining how we communicate at all organizational levels – with individuals, teams and groups, and the corporation†s entire labor force (Kuzmits and Santos, 35). While the Internet is not about to eliminate phones, fax machines, or the U.S. postal service, it will gradually wean us from our reliance on traditional forms of communication, and will reduce the need to conduct one of the biggest time-wasters: face-to-face meetings. This can be effectively achieved by using e-mail, which reduces toll charges on phone calls and rounds of frustrating attempts via voice mail. Internet â€Å"phones†, while limited, currently allows for free communication without the toll charges of traditional phone networks (Kuzmits and Santos, 36). Communicating Externally. With the Internet†s links to millions of computers across the world, human resource professionals can now tap into a rich array of external information resources. There are numerous links to human resources and management associations, consultants, research organizations, and local, state, and federal government organizations. Publishers of human resource information and journals are also on the Internet, providing an important source of articles on current human resources issues and trends (Kuzmits and Santos, 37). Telecommuting provides many benefits to both employers and employees. Telecommuting increase productivity, decrease office space (and thus fixed costs), improved morale, and absenteeism. Disabled workers can benefit enormously from working at home, and can save companies some of the costs of in-depth compliance with the American Disabilities Act (Harler, 27). In addition, the following benefits could be derived: Achievement of the balance between work and personal time Geographic dispersion of staff resources (Berhard, 22). Implements a means to distribute resources strategically and accommodate customers with measurable satisfaction ratios (Berhard, 22). Achieve new levels of operational efficiency Contemporary trend toward executive management using remote connectivity for video conferencing and global access to mission-critical application systems (Berhard, 22). Gives companies an edge in vying for – and keeping – talented, highly motivated employees. In addition, compensation will eventually be changed to reflect the new work environment. The valued role of incentive rewards may increase as a result of the extra hours that employees are now clocking (Hein, 9). Closer teamwork and greater flexibility (Apgar, 127). Value that employees place on increased personal time and control (Apgar, 127). There are also numerous issues and disadvantages to telecommuting that human resources should be aware of and anticipate. Among these include: Human Resources should be able to handle ending an AW relationship, especially if the company feels it must eliminate a person from its program for poor performance. There is difficulty in anticipating deterioration in the employee†s at-home situation. For example, a divorce can result in the company losing an established office address, phone and fax number. What processes is or should be in place to assure invoices or work documents delivered to the former home are forwarded to the new location? Cost considerations for the telecommuter go above the basic infrastructure requirement. Integrating telecommuting into the corporate culture involves cautiously estimating personnel considerations, support issues, long-term investment strategy and productivity standards. Higher recurring expenses and a steeper cost impact to support remote computing. Corporations must start investing capital dollars in security economics-the analyzed loss of corporate information as a result of data piracy. Proper planning and careful review of security procedures helps corporations overcome this problem. The alternative workplace provides both tremendous tangible and intangible benefits. However, as most economists would point out, â€Å"There†s no such thing as a free lunch†. There are many human resources problems and issues that must be addressed before telecommuting can be optimally and positively impacted. Examining the Obstacles to Telecommuting First, companies wishing to utilize telecommuting should uncover any potential obstacles that could deter or impact its effectiveness. During the planning process for telecommuting, it is important to brainstorm to uncover any possible problems or threats. In addition, access to the Internet, inappropriate transmission of potentially offensive materials and electronic mail are also concerns for companies wishing to deploy telecommuting should address (Courtenay, 67). Among the potential obstacles that must be overcome include ingrained behaviors, cultural and system improvements, and legal and tax ramifications. Ingrained behaviors and practical hurdles make telecommuting hard to implement (Apgar, 121). This may result in employees who will resist the effort to this new paradigm. A special concern for human resources should be old-line managers. Old-line managers are one of the biggest obstacles to the alternative workplace. The problem is they manage by observation, not by results (Harler, 27). Managing both the cultural changes and the system improvements required by and AW initiative are substantial (Apgar, 121). Human Resources must â€Å"retool† to support the new type of employee. For example, at Levi Strauss. A family task force was created to assist in reconciling between work and family life. The task force was formed to examine the changing needs of employees in terms of flex time, part-time jobs and other issues. The task force, which meets monthly, is chaired by the CEO, a fact that underscores its credibility and organizational priority (Riggs, 47). Among the system improvements include time management. Managers in an AW environment, particularly one in which employees work from a distance, must also pay close attention to time management. Failure to do so will severely impact the workflow of a telecommuter (Apgar, 128). Companies should look at the legal and tax ramifications of a corporate telecommuting program. Among those legal issues that must be addressed include insurance, liability and workers compensation, and local legal and union issues. What would happen if company owned property is stolen or damaged from a worker†s home? Does the worker†s homeowners insurance cover it, or does the employer? While liability and workers compensation is a concern for employers, the issues have not been totally defined, and therefore not worth of much worry. In addition, court cases have not defined this area (Harler, 28). When companies research local legal issues, they should particularly look at zoning in the employee†s hometown. Some condominium bylaws, for example, forbid working out of the home (Harler, 28).

Dow Rohm and Haas

DOW chemical company The year 2009 was the most active an challenging year for Dow in its whole history. It was the turning point for the transformation to the† leading global specialty chemical and advanced materials Company†. On April 1 2009 DOW finally completed the acquisition of specialty chemicals maker Rohm and Haas after eight months â€Å"fight†. On July 10 2008 DOW pronounced to pay $78 per share to buy Rohm and Haas (current stock price on 9 July, $44, 83) because they expected more than $7 billion in pretax process from the joint venture, K-DOW, with a state owned Kuwait company. Due to the global financial crisis, the decrease of the oil prices and the governmental rating for the deal as â€Å"too risky† the Kuwait Company withdraw their $17. 4 billion offer in December 2008. Dow was now unwilling to pay the $15. 3 billion for Rohm and Haas and consequently tried to delay the process. With this situation, the dilemma of DOW was perfect, a global economic meltdown and a promise which DOW was not able to finish because of a deal break. The whole economy changed after the pronouncement in July that the second largest chemical company would like to by Rohm and Haas. Stock prices of chemical companies increased immense and the shareholder of Rohm and Haas expect a large profit from their shares especially in the ongoing global downturn, pressing the stock values to the bare bone. Rohm and Haas forced DOW to finish the promised acquisition but DOW never got a specific plan how to handle this complex and significantly changed situation. Just an email from the chairman of DOW explained that it would be better to wait till June 2009 in order to finish the deal. After they heard that Dow invested in different other projects it was simply too much for Rohm and Haas, as they could not understand why other deals were made but the acquisition was still delayed, so they started a litigation to enforce the merger. Rohm and Haas and DOW conducted several meeting to find a way to resolve the situation, but without any success and to the great disappointment of Rohm and Haas as their expectations were not met at all. Analysts said: â€Å"It was a â€Å"CLASH OF TITANS†Ã¢â‚¬ . Finance Projects Clinical Research Case- DOW Chemical Company Silke Rahden In terms of the second half of 2008 and beginning of 2009 we notice a dramatically decrease of the DOW stock price. Well, it is in the middle of the financial crisis in the USA but the more important â€Å"deal† which caused the decline was the acquisition of Rohm and Haas, pronounced in July 2008 and finally finished in April 2009. During this time the stock prices slide into free fall/ drop to the pits from $32,52 (July 2008) to $8,81 (April 2009). The absolutely low point was on 30 March 2009 with $8. 30 per share. The main reason for the â€Å"death† point, in addition to the financial crisis, was the finish of the acquisition of Rohm and Haas after eight months up and downs. Income Statement: Finance Projects Clinical Research Case- DOW Chemical Company Silke Rahden References: http://finance. yahoo. com/q/is? s=DOW+Income+Statement&annual http://phx. corporate-ir. net/phoenix. zhtml? c=80099&p=irolstockcalculator&t=Calc&control_type=256&control_ http://crisisexperts. blogspot. com/2009/02/dowrohm-and-haas-acquisition-crisis. html Finance Projects Clinical Research Case- DOW Chemical Company Silke Rahden

12 Angry Men Analysis 2

In the first part of the film when the stage of forming, as it is claimed by the Tuckman’s Team Model, occurs, we notice the main characteristics of this group(David A. Buchanan Andrej Huczynski, 2010). The group consists of 12 male middle aged white men probably coming from the middle class. Even from this first impression, admiring the effort of the film to achieve diversity, signs of prejudice appear. Specifically, the fact that all of them are men and moreover white men represents main biases of that period. Additionally, as it is mentioned to Sheldon’s Theory about the biases, the somatotype of each person declares in a certain way its character and this can be noticed by the selection of the characters and their match with the roles (Big guy is the tough one, smaller and thinner is the most innocuous, the handsome is the sensible and sensitive one etc. ) (David A. Buchanan Andrej Huczynski, 2010). Despite the fact that the movie is trying to accuse such biases (which will be underlined later) certain ways of projection of that period could not be avoided. This is one of the reasons why in the remake of the film in 1997 black actors participated as well and later there even women were introduced in the team for certain theatrical versions. (Eirini Flouri Yiannis Fitsakis 2007). The existence of a â€Å"one-off† situation like this in the movie leaves space for less inhibition for conflicts. Moreover, specific factors like the size, the external-internal environment and the definition of the process play a crucial role in the structure of the group. Obviously, the size of this group is 12, but the question is: why so many? The reason is that by having a greater number of juries the system of justice achieves higher levels of democracy with less possibilities of getting unfair decisions combining the memory, the knowledge and the experience of each member and eliminates any prejudiced behaviors. On the other hand as Social Impact Theory mentions the more members there are, the less responsibility they feel (Latane and Nida, 1980). In the external environment we could enclose the time of the procedure, which is unlimited at first but with a deadline coming up afterwards, and the conditions of the place of action, which is characterized by the humidity and the high summer temperatures, the broken air-conditioning, the unavailability of space. Such details could become the cause of stress, aggressiveness and as it was shown desire for fast result (just finish the procedure). In the internal environment issues like experience of previous similar situations, cultures, personalities, knowledge, mood, health, personal schedule and specialization could affect the result. Ending, a matter of significant importance is the definition of the procedure. In this case, we observe that after the release of the 2 alternatives there are 12 juries left. The juries have to decide if the boy is guilty or not guilty but there must be a full agreement (12 to 0) in each case; A democratic method which proves the importance of the situation. Alternatively, if they cannot reach an agreement they can decide a hung jury and then another trial will take place with different juries this time. The role of the foreman is usually for the most experienced person in this field or the first jury or for anyone who claims the desire and gets accepted by all. In the movie, juror1 supports this role setting the basic norms of the procedure. It is worth mentioning that nowadays, in the selection of the juries there is a specific procedure that is called â€Å"Voir Dire† procedure that clarifies the capability of the juries (Michael T. Nietzelt and Ronald C. Dillehayt 1982). Undoubtedly, the conviction of the biases of any kind is one of the main objects of this film. Primarily, in the first scheme, the judge seems really ninterested about the outcome and he seems to be sure about the result. The Halo Effect is â€Å"a judgment based on a single striking characteristic† and is being remarked in many cases during the film (Edward Thorndike, 1920). Moving to the main part of the film and the central procedure we can emphasize on the juror3 and juror10 who are the main rep resentatives of such prejudiced behaviors. Both of them were trying to fill the gaps of their knowledge using selective attention in certain facts and their personal experience (â€Å"Principle of closure† by Max Wertheimer 1880-1943). Everyone has his stereotypes and if we imagine stereotypes as pictures in our head, jurors 3 and 10 have the image of a dangerous criminal for the defendant, raised to act in certain ways (Lippmann, 1922). More specifically, juror3 expresses, from his first lines in the film, his perception against the young boy (â€Å"I ‘d slap those kids before†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). But as the movie goes on, he expresses again and again his personal beliefs connecting them with his personal disappointment from his own son (â€Å" it’s these kids they are these day†, â€Å"I used to call my father Sir†). Even more he presents his cultural stereotype against the elderly (â€Å"How could he be positive about anything? †) Eventually, juror3 stands alone with his perceptions, believing in the boy’s guiltiness and through a psychological outburst admits that all his statements were based on biases. Similarly, juror10 uses his own belief to create his racial prejudice against the defendant (â€Å"I‘ve expected that†, â€Å"You know what we are dealing with†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ) as well as his past experiences (â€Å"I’ve lived with them†¦ they are born liars†). Adding to this, juror10 weights the value of the young boy less than the cost of a trial. Finally, his â€Å"explosion† made the apocalypse of his real personality and the group’s mechanism accused his behavior through a visual isolation and oral prohibition. The existence of biases in each group can create an unpleasant internal environment for each member and be the reason of conflicts. The productivity or the effectiveness of the group is in danger if such behaviors are being tolerated. Apart from the complexity which is created there is also a matter of fairness of the group’s function. As the movie flows, the influence of the group to each individual separately is obvious but a vice versa phenomenon is noticed as well. In this part, the different roles of the jurors and their influence on each other through the communication style of all-channel are being presented, as well as with some strategies followed by the leader-juror8. One thing that is common for most of the jurors is that they have common BATNA(Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement) and this is the hung jury. However, this is not the case for jury8 claims that his only purpose is the delivery of the justice (Fisher and Uri, 1981). Starting with juror1 we can notice signs of leadership in the early beginning but he ends up being more like a manager, organizing the procedure. Excluding the moment he reaches his breaking point and suggests if anyone would like to take his place, juror1is the one who sets up the norms, accepts propositions, guides the conversation and the voting procedure, avoids conflicts and respects privileges keeping a democratic way of thinking. Being the foreman can be characterized as the â€Å"co-ordinator† (Beldin’s Team Role Theory 1996, 2007). Many of the jurors (2, 5, 6, 7, 11, and 12) seem to have low self-esteem not only because of their character but also because of the number of the team that forces them to get lost in the crowd or just finish the procedure and leave (â€Å"I just think he is guilty†, â€Å"Can I pass? †, etc) This is obvious from the first vote where only 5 of the 11 votes come directly and the rest are raised slowly just to avoid being pointed out. They are becoming followers(2, 5, 6 and 11) or entertainers (7) or just dreamers (12). Of course most of them are open to hear more and accept different opinions (2, 5, and 7). The rest just do not care so much about the result and these â€Å"free riders†, as Frohlich and Oppenheimer called them in 1970, are the proof that social loafing (or Ringelmann Effect) is a common phenomenon in big teams. The role of juror9 has a vital meaning for the outcome because he takes part in all the breaking points of the process. Firstly, he is the first supporter of juror8, secondly it is him who explains the old witness’s psychology (â€Å"Attention†) and lastly he is the fire starter for the fall of the woman’s testimony. The main opponents to the boy’s exoneration are jurors 3, 4 and 10. As was mentioned previously jurors 3 and 10 are mostly based on biases and stereotypes for children from slums. They are all concentrated on general facts and obvious details. The extensive use of loud voice is frequently the main argument of jurors 3 and 10, which could never strengthen their position. Alternatively, juror4 is using his logic and cleverness to support his facts and admits his fault proving his maturity, once he is convinced. Focusing on juror8 we can claim that he owns the position of the leader as his bargaining power is unique. Max Weber (1947) claimed that â€Å"bargaining power is the ability someone has to achieve his goals no matter of the resistance he faces†. Juror8 follows a series of strategies in order to be flexible and adapt to the needs of each occasion. In the beginning, as it is shown from Jo-Hari’s Window, everyone has a bigger unknown-black side, so juror8 wants to get information as an input. Eventually, he adopts the strategy of a listener in order to get knowledge from the others without revealing himself. Afterwards, in the first vote he stays neutral mentioning his points aiming to make some of the rest see the facts from a different angle avoiding any conflict. The brainstorming procedure just began. In order to wake up their consciousness he uses specific words like â€Å"maybe†, â€Å"supposing†, â€Å"possible† and â€Å"assume†. In the main part he listens carefully and argues with all the elements one by one. There is also an extensive use of rhetorical questions and irony just to make his point clear. The first action scheme is when he places the similar knife on the table. The leader breaks the law in order to prove his point. He becomes more active for the first time and gets the whole team upset. Eventually, he creates the first doubts. At this specific time he calls for a new vote. Apparently, the timing is not random. Probably he recognizes some voices like his and decides that it is time to set up a coalition strategy. He needs just one vote which will strengthen amazingly his arguments and he gets it. The fact that he uses his emotional intelligence to point out his views, while he realizes that some other jurors are playing, proves once again his leading abilities. The next step is to create personal relations with some of the jurors. So, he finds the weakest of the group who are about to change side and ask for their opinions. It is not by accident that these jurors were mainly followers until this time. Having established these connections, he uses logic and science as well as the experience and the knowledge of the group in order to persuade the others. As soon as he realizes that one of his main opponents (juror3) loses his self-control, juror8 becomes aggressive and pushes him to the limits using the technique of the irony to apocalypse the existence of his personal prejudice against the defendant. After completing his task, he shows his sympathetic character and supports the worried opponent. Based on Moscovici (1976) and his 5 Aspects juror8 is loyal to his beliefs(Consistency), responsible for his acts(Autonomy), flexible whenever it is appropriate(Rigidity), risky in the first secret vote(Investment) and willing to bring justice(Fairness). The impact of this movie in our modern times is initially proved by the fact that after so many years it is still being taught in courses not only in Law schools but also in Business and Psychology schools. Definitions like brainstorming, social loafing, diversity, team-working, biases and preconceptions, attribution, personality, leader’s abilities, democratic voting and many others are part of any organization nowadays. This movie is the omen for the evolutionary development of a team structure, a team-worker’s behavior and a leader’s characteristics. References Atkinson G. 1990 â€Å"Negotiate the best deal† Director Books, Cambridge Barkan, Steven E. , Steven Cohn, 1994, ‘‘Racial Prejudice and Support for the Death Penalty by Whites’’ in â€Å"Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency† pp. 202–209 Buchanan A. David Huczynski A. Andrej, 2010, â€Å"Organizational Behaviour†, seventh edition, Pearson Ed ucation Limited, Harlow Cialdini R. B. , 1993 â€Å"The psychology of persuasion†, Quill William Morrow, New York Ellsworth C. Phoebe, 1989, â€Å"Are Twelve Heads Better Than One? † in â€Å"Law and Contemporary Problems†, Duke University School of Law Fisher R. Ury W. 1981 â€Å"Getting to yes: Negotiating agreement without gining in† Penguin, New York Flouri Eirini Fitsakis Yiannis, Oct 2007, â€Å"Minority Matters: 12 Angry Men as a Case study of a successful Negotiation against the odds† in â€Å"Negotitation Journal† pp. 449-461 Hackley Susan, 2007 â€Å"One Reasonable and Inquiring Man:12 Angry Men as a Negotiation-Teaching Tool† in â€Å"Negotiation Journal† pp. 463-468 Hall M. Eisenstein (Eds. ), 1980, â€Å"Voir Dire and jury selection†, Clark. B. M. , in â€Å"Criminal Defense Techniques†, New York: Mathew Bender Hay B. L. 2007 â€Å"Fiftieth anniversary 12 Angry Men† Kent-Law Review 82(3) Chi cago Heuer L. Penrodt St. , Sep. 1988, â€Å"Increasing Jurors’ Participation in Trials A Field Experiment with Jury Notetaking and Question Asking† in â€Å"Law and Human Behaviour† Vol. 12 No. 3 Janis I. , 1972 â€Å"Victims of groupthink† MA: Houghton Mifflin, Oxford Kaplan M. , Jones Christopher S. , 2003 â€Å"The Effects of Racially Stereotypical Crimes on Juror Decision-Making and Information –Processing Strategies† in â€Å"Basic and Applied Social Psychology† pp. 1-13 Kew J. Stredwick J. , 2010, â€Å"Human Resource Management in a business context†, CIPD, London Martin R. , 1992 â€Å"Bargaining Power† Clarendon Press, Oxford Moscovici S. , 1976 â€Å"Social influence and social change† Academic, London Nietzelt T. Michael Dillehayt C. Ronald, 1982, â€Å"The Effects of Variations in Voir Dire Procedures in Capital Murder Trials†, in â€Å"Law and Human Behaviour† Vol. 6 No. 1 Rojot J. , 1991 â€Å"Negotiatation: From theory to practice† Macmillan, London Scheepers, Daan, et al, 2006, ‘‘Diversity in In-Group Bias: Structural Factors, Situational Features, and Social Functions,’’ in â€Å"Journal of Personality and Social Psychology† pp. 944–960 Weber M. , 1947 The theory of social and economic organization† Oxford University Press, New York 12 Angry Men Analysis 2 In the first part of the film when the stage of forming, as it is claimed by the Tuckman’s Team Model, occurs, we notice the main characteristics of this group(David A. Buchanan Andrej Huczynski, 2010). The group consists of 12 male middle aged white men probably coming from the middle class. Even from this first impression, admiring the effort of the film to achieve diversity, signs of prejudice appear. Specifically, the fact that all of them are men and moreover white men represents main biases of that period. Additionally, as it is mentioned to Sheldon’s Theory about the biases, the somatotype of each person declares in a certain way its character and this can be noticed by the selection of the characters and their match with the roles (Big guy is the tough one, smaller and thinner is the most innocuous, the handsome is the sensible and sensitive one etc. ) (David A. Buchanan Andrej Huczynski, 2010). Despite the fact that the movie is trying to accuse such biases (which will be underlined later) certain ways of projection of that period could not be avoided. This is one of the reasons why in the remake of the film in 1997 black actors participated as well and later there even women were introduced in the team for certain theatrical versions. (Eirini Flouri Yiannis Fitsakis 2007). The existence of a â€Å"one-off† situation like this in the movie leaves space for less inhibition for conflicts. Moreover, specific factors like the size, the external-internal environment and the definition of the process play a crucial role in the structure of the group. Obviously, the size of this group is 12, but the question is: why so many? The reason is that by having a greater number of juries the system of justice achieves higher levels of democracy with less possibilities of getting unfair decisions combining the memory, the knowledge and the experience of each member and eliminates any prejudiced behaviors. On the other hand as Social Impact Theory mentions the more members there are, the less responsibility they feel (Latane and Nida, 1980). In the external environment we could enclose the time of the procedure, which is unlimited at first but with a deadline coming up afterwards, and the conditions of the place of action, which is characterized by the humidity and the high summer temperatures, the broken air-conditioning, the unavailability of space. Such details could become the cause of stress, aggressiveness and as it was shown desire for fast result (just finish the procedure). In the internal environment issues like experience of previous similar situations, cultures, personalities, knowledge, mood, health, personal schedule and specialization could affect the result. Ending, a matter of significant importance is the definition of the procedure. In this case, we observe that after the release of the 2 alternatives there are 12 juries left. The juries have to decide if the boy is guilty or not guilty but there must be a full agreement (12 to 0) in each case; A democratic method which proves the importance of the situation. Alternatively, if they cannot reach an agreement they can decide a hung jury and then another trial will take place with different juries this time. The role of the foreman is usually for the most experienced person in this field or the first jury or for anyone who claims the desire and gets accepted by all. In the movie, juror1 supports this role setting the basic norms of the procedure. It is worth mentioning that nowadays, in the selection of the juries there is a specific procedure that is called â€Å"Voir Dire† procedure that clarifies the capability of the juries (Michael T. Nietzelt and Ronald C. Dillehayt 1982). Undoubtedly, the conviction of the biases of any kind is one of the main objects of this film. Primarily, in the first scheme, the judge seems really ninterested about the outcome and he seems to be sure about the result. The Halo Effect is â€Å"a judgment based on a single striking characteristic† and is being remarked in many cases during the film (Edward Thorndike, 1920). Moving to the main part of the film and the central procedure we can emphasize on the juror3 and juror10 who are the main rep resentatives of such prejudiced behaviors. Both of them were trying to fill the gaps of their knowledge using selective attention in certain facts and their personal experience (â€Å"Principle of closure† by Max Wertheimer 1880-1943). Everyone has his stereotypes and if we imagine stereotypes as pictures in our head, jurors 3 and 10 have the image of a dangerous criminal for the defendant, raised to act in certain ways (Lippmann, 1922). More specifically, juror3 expresses, from his first lines in the film, his perception against the young boy (â€Å"I ‘d slap those kids before†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). But as the movie goes on, he expresses again and again his personal beliefs connecting them with his personal disappointment from his own son (â€Å" it’s these kids they are these day†, â€Å"I used to call my father Sir†). Even more he presents his cultural stereotype against the elderly (â€Å"How could he be positive about anything? †) Eventually, juror3 stands alone with his perceptions, believing in the boy’s guiltiness and through a psychological outburst admits that all his statements were based on biases. Similarly, juror10 uses his own belief to create his racial prejudice against the defendant (â€Å"I‘ve expected that†, â€Å"You know what we are dealing with†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ) as well as his past experiences (â€Å"I’ve lived with them†¦ they are born liars†). Adding to this, juror10 weights the value of the young boy less than the cost of a trial. Finally, his â€Å"explosion† made the apocalypse of his real personality and the group’s mechanism accused his behavior through a visual isolation and oral prohibition. The existence of biases in each group can create an unpleasant internal environment for each member and be the reason of conflicts. The productivity or the effectiveness of the group is in danger if such behaviors are being tolerated. Apart from the complexity which is created there is also a matter of fairness of the group’s function. As the movie flows, the influence of the group to each individual separately is obvious but a vice versa phenomenon is noticed as well. In this part, the different roles of the jurors and their influence on each other through the communication style of all-channel are being presented, as well as with some strategies followed by the leader-juror8. One thing that is common for most of the jurors is that they have common BATNA(Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement) and this is the hung jury. However, this is not the case for jury8 claims that his only purpose is the delivery of the justice (Fisher and Uri, 1981). Starting with juror1 we can notice signs of leadership in the early beginning but he ends up being more like a manager, organizing the procedure. Excluding the moment he reaches his breaking point and suggests if anyone would like to take his place, juror1is the one who sets up the norms, accepts propositions, guides the conversation and the voting procedure, avoids conflicts and respects privileges keeping a democratic way of thinking. Being the foreman can be characterized as the â€Å"co-ordinator† (Beldin’s Team Role Theory 1996, 2007). Many of the jurors (2, 5, 6, 7, 11, and 12) seem to have low self-esteem not only because of their character but also because of the number of the team that forces them to get lost in the crowd or just finish the procedure and leave (â€Å"I just think he is guilty†, â€Å"Can I pass? †, etc) This is obvious from the first vote where only 5 of the 11 votes come directly and the rest are raised slowly just to avoid being pointed out. They are becoming followers(2, 5, 6 and 11) or entertainers (7) or just dreamers (12). Of course most of them are open to hear more and accept different opinions (2, 5, and 7). The rest just do not care so much about the result and these â€Å"free riders†, as Frohlich and Oppenheimer called them in 1970, are the proof that social loafing (or Ringelmann Effect) is a common phenomenon in big teams. The role of juror9 has a vital meaning for the outcome because he takes part in all the breaking points of the process. Firstly, he is the first supporter of juror8, secondly it is him who explains the old witness’s psychology (â€Å"Attention†) and lastly he is the fire starter for the fall of the woman’s testimony. The main opponents to the boy’s exoneration are jurors 3, 4 and 10. As was mentioned previously jurors 3 and 10 are mostly based on biases and stereotypes for children from slums. They are all concentrated on general facts and obvious details. The extensive use of loud voice is frequently the main argument of jurors 3 and 10, which could never strengthen their position. Alternatively, juror4 is using his logic and cleverness to support his facts and admits his fault proving his maturity, once he is convinced. Focusing on juror8 we can claim that he owns the position of the leader as his bargaining power is unique. Max Weber (1947) claimed that â€Å"bargaining power is the ability someone has to achieve his goals no matter of the resistance he faces†. Juror8 follows a series of strategies in order to be flexible and adapt to the needs of each occasion. In the beginning, as it is shown from Jo-Hari’s Window, everyone has a bigger unknown-black side, so juror8 wants to get information as an input. Eventually, he adopts the strategy of a listener in order to get knowledge from the others without revealing himself. Afterwards, in the first vote he stays neutral mentioning his points aiming to make some of the rest see the facts from a different angle avoiding any conflict. The brainstorming procedure just began. In order to wake up their consciousness he uses specific words like â€Å"maybe†, â€Å"supposing†, â€Å"possible† and â€Å"assume†. In the main part he listens carefully and argues with all the elements one by one. There is also an extensive use of rhetorical questions and irony just to make his point clear. The first action scheme is when he places the similar knife on the table. The leader breaks the law in order to prove his point. He becomes more active for the first time and gets the whole team upset. Eventually, he creates the first doubts. At this specific time he calls for a new vote. Apparently, the timing is not random. Probably he recognizes some voices like his and decides that it is time to set up a coalition strategy. He needs just one vote which will strengthen amazingly his arguments and he gets it. The fact that he uses his emotional intelligence to point out his views, while he realizes that some other jurors are playing, proves once again his leading abilities. The next step is to create personal relations with some of the jurors. So, he finds the weakest of the group who are about to change side and ask for their opinions. It is not by accident that these jurors were mainly followers until this time. Having established these connections, he uses logic and science as well as the experience and the knowledge of the group in order to persuade the others. As soon as he realizes that one of his main opponents (juror3) loses his self-control, juror8 becomes aggressive and pushes him to the limits using the technique of the irony to apocalypse the existence of his personal prejudice against the defendant. After completing his task, he shows his sympathetic character and supports the worried opponent. Based on Moscovici (1976) and his 5 Aspects juror8 is loyal to his beliefs(Consistency), responsible for his acts(Autonomy), flexible whenever it is appropriate(Rigidity), risky in the first secret vote(Investment) and willing to bring justice(Fairness). The impact of this movie in our modern times is initially proved by the fact that after so many years it is still being taught in courses not only in Law schools but also in Business and Psychology schools. Definitions like brainstorming, social loafing, diversity, team-working, biases and preconceptions, attribution, personality, leader’s abilities, democratic voting and many others are part of any organization nowadays. This movie is the omen for the evolutionary development of a team structure, a team-worker’s behavior and a leader’s characteristics. References Atkinson G. 1990 â€Å"Negotiate the best deal† Director Books, Cambridge Barkan, Steven E. , Steven Cohn, 1994, ‘‘Racial Prejudice and Support for the Death Penalty by Whites’’ in â€Å"Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency† pp. 202–209 Buchanan A. David Huczynski A. Andrej, 2010, â€Å"Organizational Behaviour†, seventh edition, Pearson Ed ucation Limited, Harlow Cialdini R. B. , 1993 â€Å"The psychology of persuasion†, Quill William Morrow, New York Ellsworth C. Phoebe, 1989, â€Å"Are Twelve Heads Better Than One? † in â€Å"Law and Contemporary Problems†, Duke University School of Law Fisher R. Ury W. 1981 â€Å"Getting to yes: Negotiating agreement without gining in† Penguin, New York Flouri Eirini Fitsakis Yiannis, Oct 2007, â€Å"Minority Matters: 12 Angry Men as a Case study of a successful Negotiation against the odds† in â€Å"Negotitation Journal† pp. 449-461 Hackley Susan, 2007 â€Å"One Reasonable and Inquiring Man:12 Angry Men as a Negotiation-Teaching Tool† in â€Å"Negotiation Journal† pp. 463-468 Hall M. Eisenstein (Eds. ), 1980, â€Å"Voir Dire and jury selection†, Clark. B. M. , in â€Å"Criminal Defense Techniques†, New York: Mathew Bender Hay B. L. 2007 â€Å"Fiftieth anniversary 12 Angry Men† Kent-Law Review 82(3) Chi cago Heuer L. Penrodt St. , Sep. 1988, â€Å"Increasing Jurors’ Participation in Trials A Field Experiment with Jury Notetaking and Question Asking† in â€Å"Law and Human Behaviour† Vol. 12 No. 3 Janis I. , 1972 â€Å"Victims of groupthink† MA: Houghton Mifflin, Oxford Kaplan M. , Jones Christopher S. , 2003 â€Å"The Effects of Racially Stereotypical Crimes on Juror Decision-Making and Information –Processing Strategies† in â€Å"Basic and Applied Social Psychology† pp. 1-13 Kew J. Stredwick J. , 2010, â€Å"Human Resource Management in a business context†, CIPD, London Martin R. , 1992 â€Å"Bargaining Power† Clarendon Press, Oxford Moscovici S. , 1976 â€Å"Social influence and social change† Academic, London Nietzelt T. Michael Dillehayt C. Ronald, 1982, â€Å"The Effects of Variations in Voir Dire Procedures in Capital Murder Trials†, in â€Å"Law and Human Behaviour† Vol. 6 No. 1 Rojot J. , 1991 â€Å"Negotiatation: From theory to practice† Macmillan, London Scheepers, Daan, et al, 2006, ‘‘Diversity in In-Group Bias: Structural Factors, Situational Features, and Social Functions,’’ in â€Å"Journal of Personality and Social Psychology† pp. 944–960 Weber M. , 1947 The theory of social and economic organization† Oxford University Press, New York

Distribution channel Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

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Cellphone Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cellphone - Essay Example As the West has imbued items with value and importance, centering much of one’s life on materialism, the cell phone has become an extension of personal identity through connectivity to people and services that organize, make more efficient, and allow for personal expression. The home phone was an instrument through which people would communicate to one another when at home, people staying at home near the phone and waiting when they expected an important call. Communication though telephone usage was limited to within a confined space, which was only slightly expanded with voice mail and additional services, and the invention of the cordless phone. Still, the nature of a telecommunications experience was within the home. The cell phone, on the other hand, increased the space in which telecommunications could take place. Through ever increasing expanses, which have now reached worldwide, an individual can have a phone that will let them contact others from almost any space. Meanwhile, the cell phone as a device became smaller and smaller. According to Gancarz, â€Å"Cell phones have†¦pushed the small is beautiful tenet† (202). The idea is to provide a lightweight, highly portable device that can manage one’s whole life. Thus, not only have they expanded the space in which telecommunications can take place, but made each device a personal item with individual family members each having their own cell phone. With the development of text messages communications changed to a system of short phrases with high use of abbreviations. Through text messaging, the way in which communications was accomplished changed dramatically, instantaneous written phrases in which a whole new language has emerged replacing longer forms that required waiting time and responses. Where e-mails required patience, text messages are most often an interactive communication that is almost

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Marketing Management and Strategy - Assignment Example The paper starts by explaining the meaning of relationship marketing and the main part of the paper will discuss the relevance of this concept to today’s business. Relationship marketing is perhaps one of the most important concepts of marketing during the contemporary period. Basically, â€Å"customer relationship management (CRM) or relationship marketing is the overall process of building and maintaining profitable customer relationships by delivering superior customer value and satisfaction,† (Kotler & Armstrong, 2010, p. 27). On the other hand, (Gartner, 2007, p.4) defines CRM as a â€Å"business strategy with outcomes that optimize profitability, revenue and customer satisfaction by organizing around customer segments, fostering customer-satisfying behaviours and implementing customer-centric processes.† Essentially, many organizations have realised that customer loyalty is very important since it determines the success or failure of their operations. This has prompted the marketers of different firms to forge ahead with different strategies that are meant to create long lasting relationships with the customers. In every business, it can be observed that the quality of the relationship that exists between the company and its customers has a bearing on its performance. Lamb et al (2008) posits to the effect that relationship marketing is a philosophy that emphasises on creating long term relationships with the customers so that the company can sustain its operations in the long run. Customers are compelled to buy certain products that are offered by different firms as a result of the quality of service they get when doing business with them. During the contemporary period, it can be seen that stiff competition characterises different markets and this is the main reason why efforts should be made to retain the customers that already exist in the organization (Athanasopoulou N.D). One viable strategy that can be implemented by the organi zation is to try to create quality relationships around services offered to the customers so that they can be in a position to identify with the organization. When this identity has been created, the customers are likely to have a predisposition towards the products that are offered by the company. The customers in any business are the main component of the relationship mix which ought to be created around value of the products offered. According to Ferrazzi (2006), the quality of the relationship that exists between the organization and the customers is determined by the attitude of the targeted audiences by the firm towards the value of the products and services offered. This point is also supported by Wang et al (2004) who state that the customers specifically purchase different products so that they can derive various values from using them. There are different values that are derived from consuming a certain product and these include the following: â€Å"emotional value,† utility derived from the affective state of goods or services; â€Å"social value,† social utility obtained from using a product â€Å"functional value† utility derived from the perceived quality of a product as well as â€Å"perceived sacrifice† which is loss that is likely to be encountered from purchasing a particular product or service. In most cases, the

Health Topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

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Paintings - Amalgam of Emotions and Cultures Essay

Paintings - Amalgam of Emotions and Cultures - Essay Example The paper "Paintings - Amalgam of Emotions and Cultures" will focus on how the art of paintings has been viewed in two different cultures namely the African culture and the Asian culture by throwing ‘light’ on the rock art and paintings that was practiced by the Asian and the African people. The painting media followed in both the cultures will also be discussed. â€Å"African paintings first emerged as those that still appear on rock and in caves.† The African paintings were discovered in Nambia and are thought to be approximately 27,000 years old. (Plessis). In addition, there were nearly 30,000 rock paintings scattered throughout the Drakensberg Mountain in South Africa. (Plessis). Thus these artistic medium was used by the ancient Africans to convey certain types of information, depict the day to day activities, to relate to certain key events and importantly to communicate with the spirits of the ancestors. Thus in this manner the rock art was used a vital li nk between the physical and the spiritual worlds. On the other hand, the Asian Paintings encompasses a wide array of paintings and sculptures from different parts of Asia. Thus each geographical area has developed their unique style of expression, painting styles and methods, techniques, etc. They were the blend of various cultures and traditions. â€Å"The Asian paintings reflect influences from different religions and cultures.†The Chinese paintings are considered to be one of the oldest paintings among the Asian paintings. The Japanese paintings are known for their varied styles. The themes of historical significance and the Buddhist themes are portrayed in the Korean paintings. The Indian paintings on the lines of African paintings originated from the caves and they date to the pre-historic period. Thus all form of the Asian cultures has their unique style and history. With this brief introduction about the Asian and the African paintings, the next concept about the views of the rock art and paintings in the Asian and the African culture will be discussed. Rock art was a common way of expressing emotions among the ancient Africans. Thus it has been estimated that Africa has more number of Rock art sites than any other continent and they are widely distributed. (Plessis). Archeological reports reveal the fact that in most parts of the African continent namely Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa has the densest concentration of the rock art. â€Å"The region has both the rock engravings (Petroglyphs) and rock paintings (Pictographs).†(African Rock art and Painting). Especially the South African rock art encompasses the rock paintings of the hunters-gatherers, farming communities, etc. On the other hand the Asian rock art was considered to be the mixtures of aesthetics which reveals the events and philosophy of the past. Thus in the evolution of mankind from the Homo erectus to the Homo sapiens, these Asian rock art depicts the images of the early man. The Asian rock art unlike the African art started 40,000 years ago during the upper Paleolithic era. The custom of rock art also followed in the Mesolithic age and it gained its final development in the Chalcolithic era. Among the Asian rock art paintings, the Indian Rock art are considered to be the most ancient and significant since they reflect the development of the Indian civilizations of Indus and

Quantum and Thermochemical Structure lap report Assignment

Quantum and Thermochemical Structure lap report - Assignment Example Because of the difficulty of maintaining clean metal surfaces under vacuum, quantitative measurements of the photoelectric effect could not be made for many decades. However, as technology improved, it became evident that the energy of ejected electrons was not related to the intensity of the light waves used, and also that below a certain light frequency - for a given material - no electrons at all could be ejected. Eventually it became possible to determine the relationship between the kinetic energy of the ejected electrons and the frequency of light used to eject them, and this was one of the major factors leading to the development of the quantum model. The kinetic energy of photoelectrons (E) can be measured by determining the voltage required to just stop the ejection of electrons (V) and multiplying this by the charge on an electron (e). Equation 1: V (J C–1) x e (1.602 x 10–19 C) = E (J) Experimentally, the dependence of E on frequency turned out to be: Equatio n 2: E (J) + k1 (J) = k2 (Js) x ? (s–1) Where k1 was different for every metal and k2 was exactly the same for every metal. What’s more, k2 was exactly the same as a ‘fudge factor’ that had been introduced into a theory developed a few years earlier to explain a completely different phenomenon. In this experiment you will carry out solo measurements to determine k1 and k2. Unlike early 20th century researchers, you will not need to spend several years constructing your apparatus from scratch, but will use a demonstration apparatus designed to measure the stopping voltage of electrons ejected from Cs3Sb in a vacuum. Experimental: The EP-05 photoelectric effect apparatus was used to measure the stopping voltage of light at 8 different wavelengths. A modified spectrometer was used t o provide UV-visible light. The wavelengths tested were 400 nm, 425 nm, 450 nm, 475 nm, 500 nm, 525 nm, 550 nm, and 575 nm. The photoelectric apparatus was set up such that the ap erture in front of the photodiode was positioned near the light source. The dials with labels â€Å"zero† and â€Å"voltage† was set to minimum before the shutter was closed. The plotting was initiated using the Lab View window. The voltage dial was set to maximum while the other dial was turned until nanoampere readings reached zero. The voltage dial was set back to minimum before the shutter was opened to increase the nanoampere reading to 10. The voltage dial was maximized once again to recheck that the â€Å"zero† dial was adjusted properly. Once everything was set, the stopping voltage was minimized and the plotting of nanoamperes versus stopping voltage was reset and started at the Lab View window. The output current in nanoamperes were determined by slowly turning the voltage dial. The measured current was recorded and then plotted according to its stopping voltage reading. The measurement is ended when the critical value for stopping voltage where there is minimal change in nanoamperes with respect to voltage is achieved. The whole procedure was done for each of the 8 chosen wavelengths. Results: The experiment was done properly and all the needed data were acquired. The numerical values obtained from the use of the apparatus can be found at the attached document. The plot of the graph and the summary of the derived values are the following: Figure1. Compiled plots for output current versus stopping

Family and marriage ten theories Essay Example for Free

Family and marriage ten theories Essay 1. Family Ecology- The ecological context of the family affects family life and children’s outcomes. It explores how the family is influenced by the environment.This theory studies how family lives and decisions. It basically brings forth the idea that every choice that you make affects your family, your lifestyle, the surrounding events as well as historical events. Key Concepts Natural physical-biological environment- This concept deals with climate and climate change, soil, plants and animals. Social- Cultural environment- This concepts deals with human made things as well as cultural artifacts. Theorist/ Individual- This concept was discovered/ or created by ecologist Strength and Weaknesses- Some strengths of this theory is that What You Think- I think that this theory is totally correct. I feel like every choice I make does affect my family. It affects their lifestyle as well as how they view things, as well as how they form their opinions. These decisions that I am making now, affects how we live and will affect how they decide they will live when they get older. These decisions are things like, where we live, how we live, work ethics, as well as the food we eat. 2. The Family Life Course Development Framework Families experience predictable change over time. This basically brings forth the idea that families go thru unpredictable changes, which add and subtract from their family composition. This means birth, death and the leaving home of a family member. Key Concepts Family Life Course- Events that add and subtract from a family’s composition Developmental Tasks- tasks that have to be completed before you can transition to the next stage. On Time Transitions- Events that occur when they are supposed to, as opposed to being too early, or too late. Role Sequencing- The order in which major transitions take place. Theorist/ Individual- Life Course Therapist, and Ueker and Stokes Strength and Weaknesses Some of the strengths of this theory is that it analyzes the family as a unit. What You Think- This theory basically states that family life begins with marriage. This is crazy and untrue. I say this because nowadays family life begins when you have a kid as opposed to when you get married. 3. The Structure- Functional Perspective- The family performs essential functions for society. This deals with the way families fulfill basic societal needs, such as raising children responsibly, providing economical support, and emotional security. Key Concepts Social Institution- Family Structure Family Functions Functional Alternatives Theorist/ Individual- Social Scientist Strength and Weaknesses- Some of the strengths is that it analyzes the way families raise their kids, as well as how the family meets the needs of its members. The weaknesses of this theory is that it analyzes the family as a whole, as opposed to analyzes each person individually and how they deal with each other. What You Think- I think that each perspective is uniquely different and this perspective analyzes how families fulfill its members needs. The needs that they analyze, are basically what makes a family functional. These needs are things that each members needs to feel like they play a part in the unit. 4. The Interaction- Constructionist Perspective By means of interaction, humans construct socio-cultural meanings. The internal dynamics of a group of interacting individuals construct the family. Key Concepts Interaction Symbol Meaning Role Making Social Construction of Reality Destruction Postmodernism Theorist/ Individual Strength and Weaknesses- The strengths of this theory is that it looks at the family as a whole to see what is being done collectively to create the closeness. One of the weaknesses is that it does not look at the obvious, it should analyze the person that keeps the family together. Each member is following the lead of one person, who’s main goal is to keep the family together. What You Think- I think this theory basically analyzes family practices and what things, like rituals, bring them together, or create a apparent closeness. These are things that can be used to identify, or analyze another persons behavior, when they don’t come from a family like structure. 5. Exchange Theory- The resources that individuals bring to a relationship or family affect the formation,continuation, nature and power dynamics of a relationship. Social exchanges are compiled to create networks and social capital. This meaning that when people are engaged in social exchanges they limit their costs and maximize their rewards. Key Concepts Resources Rewards and Cost Family Power Social Networks Social Support Theorist/ Individual- Social Therapist Strength and Weaknesses- The strengths of this theory is that it analyzes relationships and people’s economic perspective on forming the relationships. The weaknesses are that the perspective analyzes the people’s economic perspective on forming relationships but it doesn’t analyze thoroughly what type of person they are, and how they attract friends, and form relationships. What You Think- I think this is a great theory. It basically means that when you are forming relationships with people you are analyzing what you can get from the relationship, as opposed to what you are giving in return, or what you have to bring to the table. It basically states the person with less committment to the relationship has more power.  This is because the person with less committments not the person competing for the relationship,as if they don’t care either way, whereas the other person actually cares and wants the relationship to bloom. 6. Family Systems Theory- The family as a whole is more than the sum of its parts. This meaning that the family, becomes whole, although it is comprised of interrelated parts. Key Concepts System- a combination of elements or components that are integrated and organized as a whole. Equilibrium- balance Boundaries- ideas about who is in the family and who is out  Family Therapy- Theorist/ Individual- Psychotherapist Strength and Weaknesses- Some of the strengths are that the theory is that it bases its theory off of research of the family and how it is comprised of different parts. One weakness is that it does not analyze the different personalities within the family as well as the family interactions to determine what keeps them balanced. What You Think- I think that the Family Systems theory is a theory that basically researches the family and it looks at a system as a combination of elements. This is good because it looks at how the family actually interacts together. 7. Conflict and Feminist Theory- Gender is central to the analysis of the family; male dominance in society and in the family is oppresive of women. It is the opposite of structure functional theory. The theory argues that human physiology, genetics, and hormones predisposed individuals to certain behaviors. Key Concepts Male dominance Power Inequality- Theorist/ Individual- theoretical scientist/ social scientist Strength and Weaknesses- Some strengths of these two theories are that they basically analyze what causes certain people to be treated unfair and unequally. It basically tries to ask and answer the question as to what makes males more dominant than females. One of the weaknesses is that it can not effectively  answer this problem, nor solve it because it still exists. What You Think- Conflict Theory analyzes unequal Power. Feminist Theory analyzes gender issues. 8. The Biosocial Perspective- Evolution of the human species has put in place certain biological endowments that shape and limit family life choices. Key Concepts Evolutionary heritage Genes Hormones Brain Processes Inclusive Fitness Theorist/ Individual- Behaviorist Strength and Weaknesses- One of the strengths is that it analyzes the fact that a persons environment helps shape them. One of the weaknesses is that their research found that they could not the factors considered were dependent upon each other, as opposed to just one. What You Think- I think that this theory basically analyzes how a person sees the world and how their behaviors are affected by their environment and family life. 9.Attachment Theory- Early Childhood experience with caregivers shape psychological attachment styles. This brings forth the idea that during infancy and childhood a young person develops a style of attaching to people. Key Concepts Secure Insecure Anxious Attachment Styles Theorist/ Individual- Behaviorist Strength and Weaknesses- some of the strengths are that it analyzes why kids act the way they do and how they get attached to people. The weaknesses are that it does not leave the door open to explain if they are conditions that worsen the child’s ability to attach to a person, or What You Think- I think that the theory is dead on and it explains why a child acts a certain way towards people they don’t know, meeting new people, and why they don’t want to be seperated from their care giver.

Prefeasibility Study of Upper Khudi -A Hydropower Project

Prefeasibility Study of Upper Khudi -A Hydropower Project CE1.1.1 This project entitled Prefeasibility Study of Upper Khudi -A hydropower project is one prepared by group of five students in partial fulfilment of requirement for the bachelors degree in civil engineering. This project was carried out at Kantipur Engineering College, Dhapakhel, Lalitpur, affiliated to Tribhuwan University. Our team comprised of five members and the project itself was supervised by Er. Baburam Bharadwaj (Project Manager of Khudi hydropower limited) CE1.1.2 Being the final year project of our engineering program, the timespan for this project was 1 year. We worked on it from June 2010 to November 2010. During this period, we presented the proposal, conducted the feasibility analysis, project analysis, project design, project defence, final presentation and final report. I was the team lead for my project and was a dedicated member from start to finish CE.1.2 Background CE1.2.1 As the name suggests, Prefeasibility Study of Upper Khudi -A hydropower project, is prefeasibility study aimed to use the theoretical knowledge we had from out text books to better understand the feasibility and optimization of the design of small scale hydropower project centered on Upper Khudi River in Lamjung district of Western Nepal. Majority of Nepalese households rely upon hydropower for their energy needs. So, developing small scale hydropower energy plants can be very efficient energy solutions as the rivers in Nepal are mostly mountain rivers with enough water throughout the year. CE1.2.2 Khudi River has an average slope of 1 in 30 with gravels and boulders forming the river bed. It has a high sediment transport capacity. Upper Khudi Hydropower Project is a run of the river type hydropower scheme designed to produce power using the discharge of the Khudi River. It begins from the confluence of two Rivers, Sundar Khola and Khudi Khola. The catchments area of the River is 133 km2 at the Department of Hydrology Metrology (DHM) station located at Khudi Bazar, which when transformed to our catchments is 25 km2, running from north to south. CE1.2.3 The learning exercise included optimizing schemes per project capacity, sizes of hydraulic structures, penstock and electromechanical equipment and check the sensitivity analysis for the financial parameters which comprised of a significant result of in this feasibility analysis report. The study shows the feasibility of project with sufficient alternatives. We made sure we followed all the organizational rules and regulations of the University as well as the Hydropower Project. CE1.2.4 The project was divided into five parts namely Data collection, Design and modelling, Cost estimation, Project planning and scheduling, Economic and financial analysis. Each member of the team was given one sector each as a main area of study and was responsible for the literature review of that part. I was given the Project planning and scheduling and the Design and Modelling part. CE1.2.5 Organisational Chart CE1.2.6 Project Objective The objective of this study is to find the best project alternative and carry out the pre-feasibility study of the same. The main objectives are highlighted below: To be acquainted with the various aspects of hydropower planning and development. To find out the feasibility of project To know about the major components of the hydropower project. To select the best project alternative. To carry out the engineering design of hydropower components. To calculate the power and energy generated from the project. To carry out the quantity estimation and their cost. To prepare implementation schedule of the project. To carry out optimization of project capacity and components. To carry out financial analysis and sensitivity analysis of the project CE1.3 Personal Engineering Activities CE1.3.1 I have always been passionate about renewable energy and it is the main reason I took engineering as my career. In the context of Nepal, hydropower energy has a lot of scope. Most of the country in the upper hilly and mountainous parts are deprived of energy which is not a hard goal to achieve if small-scale hydropower projects implemented. I consulted my friends to form a group of five. We prepared the proposal to study for a hydropower project that could be used for a real project in the future. Then we prepared the proposal and submitted to the Dept. Of Civil Engineering with a detailed timeline graphed in a Gantt Chart. We consulted with the head engineer designated for this project and proposed that we would submit a study that could somehow facilitate the funded government project. He agreed to help us in every possible way and agreed to become our supervisor. CE1.3.2 Before we started, we decided that we visit a similar small scale hydropower project. We drove to a similar hydropower project that powered a small city called Banepa east of Kathmandu. We talked to the authorities and they allowed us to walk through the entire project and see the dam, the turbines control room, and allowed us to take the specifications of the turbine so that we could have a rough idea of what equipment we had to choose to prepare the analysis of the hydropower project we had to do the project for. I also conducted weekly progress meetings with the team and supervisor to tackle any hurdles that we faced. We consulted with senior professors about my problems and ideas. CE1.3.3 The entire work of this study is done by desk Study and field visit and survey by minor instrument such as Tape, and Abney level etc. All the data and information available from different sources were carefully analyzed to perform the preliminary study of all the necessary components. For the hydrological study of the project, mean monthly discharge of 13 years records of Khudi Khola at Khudi Bazar station (439.3) are obtained from DHM and analyzed using catchment area correlation method to find necessary hydrological parameters. Topographic maps (1:50000) of proposed site was studied for the allocation and design of civil as well as electro-mechanical components of the project. The methodology employed to undertake the study were desk study and map study, field survey and social interaction, literature review, hydrological analysis, screening and selection of the best alternative, hydraulic design of the components of the chosen alternative, cost analysis and preparation of bill of quantities and finally report preparation and presentation. CE1.3.4 The topography of the site is steep and rocky and thus we proceeded deciding that tunneling is the best possible alternative for waterway. As I was given the responsibility of design and modelling, I am explaining what the engineering design from the headwork to the penstock is comprised of in brief. CE1.3.5 The headwork was located at 1290 m elevation. The trench weir was provided for diversion of flow to the intake and passage of high flood water. For design of the weir with length 10m, the design flood is taken as 40.073 m3/s for hundred years-return periods. The trench size has been calculated considering 50% of the trash rack is clogged and the design discharge will be conveyed. The intake was designed to allow abstraction of water from the source with as little sediment as possible, thereby minimizing maintenance and operational costs and providing some measure of protection against damage too (e.g. blocking of the conduit by incoming sediment and debris). A.) Design Aspects of Gravel Trap and Settling Basin: The main design principle of the gravel rap was that the velocity through it should be less than that required to move the smallest size of gravel to be removed. Since the water abstracted from sediment loaded river not only reduces the capacity of the conveyancesystem but also damages the hydro turbines, thereby causing operation and maintenance problems. To cope with economy of energy generation from this, I wanted to design and construct a settling basin before water enters the plant, which helps to limit the entry of sediment into the plant by trapping the particle size greater than 0.2 mm. B.) Headrace Tunnel: The shape as well as the dimensions of the tunnel should be selected such that it should be readily accessible from every direction for control, maintenance and repair. In pressure tunnels operating under high heads, the provisions of lining of concrete (PCC or RCC) and even steel lining including steel pipes may be embedded. To reduce construction costs, relatively high flow velocities should be permitted in tunnels, higher ones than those of open canals. In addition to this I also calculated Friction losses Darcy Weisbach formula. The resulting dimension of the tunnel after all analysis was Inverted D shape 2m in diameter and 1500 m in length. C.) Surge tank: A surge tank is generally constructed immediately prior to penstock or pressure shaft so as to damp out the oscillation in water level as soon as possible and to store water during load rejection until the new velocity has been established. Final design composed of a circular surge with diameter 2 m and height of 13.5 having upsurge and down surge of 6.256m and 4.704 m respectively. D.) Penstock: Penstock is usually the pipeline in between surge tank and turbine inlet. Penstock may be low pressure or high-pressure penstock. Usually it is high pressure. The materials used are usually of steel, reinforced concrete. The pipe diameter and the thickness are such that the stress in steel computed from hoop stress criteria is well within the allowable limit. The hoop stress developed is given by the thin cylinder theory. I design we used inclined underground shaft made of mild steel. E.) Turbine: To maintain the supply even in peak load conditions, two units of Pelton turbines with horizontal Shaft are in housed in the Powerhouse. Two units of generator are used to generate electrical energy. Turbine was selected on the analysis based on available head and design discharge. Two units are provided for continuation of supply on maintenance of one unit also. Also, a tailrace was set to convey the water leaving the power plant back to the river. The tailrace should be designed to maintain the water surface at the elevation specified by the turbine manufacturer and to protect the power plant against flooding by the expected design flood level in the river. E.) Power generation: A 66 KV transmission line has been proposed for the safe and economic transmission of the generated power, along a length of 30 Km for the interconnection of the supply to the national grid at Udaypur. CE1.3.6 The subjects that I was enrolled in the undergraduate like fluid mechanics, hydraulics, water supply, engineering hydrology, survey, engineering drawing etc. helped me a lot to complete and prepare my project. I tried to utilise all my knowledge in utmost way to realise a hydropower project. While doing this project, I not only experienced the applied part of civil and hydropower engineering but also learned a lot of practical skills like communication skills, time management, project presentation and team work. During this project interval, being a group leader I had to solve not only my own but I have to help my group members in technical and other calculation part as well. CE1.3.7 Me along with my team members worked together very hard and could complete the project in the defined time. We could study the pre-feasibility of Upper Khudi and prepare the final report in the designated time. After the completion of this project, I felt a big rise in my confidence level as an engineer and I felt I could easily tackle the obstacles by studying about it, applying the solutions in real life problems. We used various software like MS-Word, MS-Excel, MS-PowerPoint to document the report, prepare presentations and analyze available data. I feel like my reporting skills, drafting skills and drawing skills also utilised professionally over the course of this project. CE1.4 Summary Undertaking this project helped me to use my theoretical knowledge on practical and real life work scenarios relating design and construction of a hydro power plant. We were very happy that the project met all the initial objectives. The project has a conventional B/C ratio of 2.1 and modified of 2.13 and IRR of 23.4%. The total cost of the project is NRs 605,089,628.69 and cost per kilowatt is within the range of prevailing Cost per KW for the projects recently built in Nepal. Hence, the project was financially, technically, socially and environmentally viable, and can be forwarded for further study. In a nutshell, I was efficiently and successfully able to undertake, manage and complete the project ensuring that it met all its objectives within a designated time frame.

The UK Voting System

The UK Voting System Should the United Kingdom general election voting system be reformed in order to give the electorate more choice and accountability, and increase turnout? We will answer the research problem presented in this dissertation in five distinct chapters. In the first chapter we will consider the nature of the problems in the current electoral systems and here we will also offer a general introduction to the dissertation, outlining the structure that will be used in answering the question. In the second chapter we will examine the current UK electoral system in detail, offering arguments for and against the current system. In the third chapter we will address some of the problems of the current system in terms of voter turnout before moving on to present the reforms toward alternative electoral systems currently on the table. In the fourth chapter we will assess the likelihood of the reforms coming into effect and the reluctance of major parties throughout history to accept electoral reform. In the fifth and final section we will offer a summary and conclusion of the evidence and findings presented within this dissertation as well as a brief discussion of the limitations of this study. Methodology The object of this dissertation is to ascertain whether electoral reform in the UK general election voting system would increase accountability, voter choice and voter turnout. In order to answer this question we will conduct an extensive literature review, providing a theoretical framework from which to assess the arguments in favour and against electoral reform. This theoretical framework will be re-enforced by the empirical evidence presented by studies from pressure groups such as the Electoral Reform Society and political scientists engaged in the study of this field. Extensive engagement with the literature of political scientists on electoral reform will provide us with the necessary conceptual dexterity in approaching this research question and the data presented will offer quantifiable yardsticks by which we can accurately measure the extent to which electoral reform would increase each one of the three factors outlined in the question, those of accountability, voter choice and voter turnout. This will allow us to offer a clear conclusion on whether electoral reform is needed in the UK general election voting system based on an appreciation of the scholarship and empirical evidence available in this field. Chapter 1 Introduction to problem The most recent UK general elections have seen the worst voter turnout since the end of the First World War. Whilst there are undoubtedly many reasons for this increase in voter apathy, the electoral system has been highlighted as an important contributory factor in undermining the accountability of representatives and in restricting voter choice. In this dissertation we will examine the current electoral system used at UK general elections and highlight the extent to which it restricts voter choice and hinders accountability. In order to do so it will be vital to clearly define the current electoral system and we will also outline the arguments for and against the present system. We will undertake this task in Chapter 2 and it will be seen that the present system fundamentally undermines the accountability of representatives because of the minimal levels of voter support needed in order to win seats to the House of Commons, often less than 40% of the total vote share. In addition to this, the current system wastes an enormous number of votes, because as soon as the winner is declared using the first-past-the-post system all the votes for other candidates count for nothing. It is clear, therefore that the minimal levels of public support necessary and the enormous number of wasted votes pose a direct challenge to ensuring that MPs are held accountable by their constituents. The current first-past-the-post system also severely restricts voter choice. We will see that the current system is designed to exaggerate the proportion of seats won by the dominant parties, thereby ensuring that the UK electoral system continues to encourage the formation of a two-party political system. Smaller political parties are therefore marginalized under the first-past-the-post system and this has a direct impact upon restricting voter choice. This dissertation we will focus upon measuring the accountability of representatives, the extent of voter choice and levels of voter turnout under different electoral systems. We can clearly measure the effect of different electoral systems upon accountability, voter choice and voter turnout. In this dissertation we will examine the current UK electoral system, the proposed reform by the government to the Alternative Vote (AV) system and the system advocated by electoral reformers, known as the Single Transferable Vote (STV), a system of proportional representation. We will outline the arguments in favour of reform of the current electoral system and directly measure the impact of such systems in other countries, which have moved from first-past-the-post to alternative systems. We will also highlight evidence from the Electoral Reform Society that analyses the 2005 UK general election and offers the election results under the Single Transferable Vote system. This will allow us to cle arly establish whether reform of the current electoral system would offer the electorate more choice and accountability and we will also examine evidence that suggests that such reforms lead to greater voter turnout in other countries. The proposed reforms currently on the table will be analysed in Chapter 3. In Chapter 4 we will examine the extent to which reform of the current electoral system is likely to become reality. We will argue that the switch to the Alternative Vote system is very likely whilst the move towards a system of proportional representation is far less likely. We will also produce an analysis of the reasons why dominant political parties have historically been so reluctant to accept electoral change. In the fifth and final section we will offer a summary and conclusion on the evidence and findings presented in this dissertation and we will argue that the evidence clearly suggests that broad electoral reform is necessary in order to produce greater accountability , voter choice and voter turnout. We will also briefly examine some of the limitations of this study. Chapter 2 The present UK electoral system Under the current electoral voting system general elections are decided using the first-past-the-post system (FPTP) and Members of the House of Commons are elected in single-member constituencies. The first-past-the post system is renown for its simplicity, because under this system voters simply put a cross next to the box of one candidate on their voting forms and the candidate that accrues the most votes wins. Candidates, therefore, are elected by simple majority voting and such a majority constitutes more than half the votes cast in an election. However, under the first-past-the-post system very few candidates ever register more than half the votes cast, because in most cases there are more than two candidates and therefore some have described it as being a furthest-past-the-post rather than a first-past-the-post system. According to this interpretation it is more sensible to think of the post as a starting point rather than a finishing point (Electoral Reform Society). For this reason it is more apt to consider UK general elections to be determined by a relative majority rather than by an absolute majority. Under the FPTP system the highest polling candidate wins and the other votes cast count for nothing. This type of system is referred to as plurality voting and more broadly it falls under into the category of a majoritarian system. One feature of majoritarian systems that has been commonly noted is that they tend to work to the benefit of larger political parties, because larger parties often obtain far more seats than their share of the vote merits. As Heywood points out, majoritarian systems enable larger parties to win a significantly higher proportion of seats than the proportion of votes they gain in the election (Heywood 2000: 199). The result of this is that it increases the chances of a single party gaining a parliamentary majority and being able to govern on its own (Heywood 2000: 199). Let us now move to assess the arguments in favour and against the FPTP system. It has been argued that the first-past-the-post system provides accountability in UK general elections. According to Norton, there has been an assumption amongst many political scientists that elections are solely concerned with choosing a government. However, this view fails to take into account the extent to which UK general elections serve as a means of removing a government from office. In the UK, a government knows that it may be out in the cold after the next election. Consequently, it has to be sensitive to what electors want (Norton 1997: 84). Popper argues that the possibility of a removal from power at any given election is a powerful spur for political parties and that it fosters a self-critical attitude within political leaders that is beneficial for democracy as a whole. A democracy needs parties that are more sensitive and constantly on the alert. Only in this way can they be induced to be se lf-critical (Popper 1988: 28). Those proposing an account in favour of FPTP argue that two-party systems tend to produce single-party governments, which means that firstly voters can express a clear preference for the party of their choice and that secondly, the governing party does not need the support of other parties in order to pass legislation and effectively run the government. Indeed, Duvergers Law states that FPTP produces two-party systems. Duvergers law proposes that the simple-majority single-ballot system favours the two-party system. Duverger described this sentence by saying, of all the hypotheses in this book, this approaches most nearly perhaps to a true sociological law (Riker 1982: 754). Another argument put forward in favour of the first-past-the-post system is that it is easy to understand. As we have seen, the system is very simple in nature and it means that the candidate with the most votes wins. Such a concept is readily grasped by the electorate and it is fo r this reason that Norris argues, majoritarian systems are the oldest electoral system, dating back at least to the 12th Century, and also the simplest (Norris 1997: 298). Let us now turn to assess the arguments against the first-past-the-post system. Critics of the FPTP system argue that the system undermines the legitimacy of elected representatives, because MPs can be elected on the basis of minimal amounts of public support. The Electoral Reform Society shows, for example, that in 2005, George Galloway polled the votes of only 18.4 per cent of his constituents, yet ended up in the House of Commons (Electoral Reform Society). This lack of legitimacy is put into further focus when one considers that only three MPs elected in 2005 secured the votes of more than 40 per cent of their constituents (Electoral Reform Society). This lack of public legitimacy carries with it two fundamental problems. Firstly, it allows for the election of governments with minimal public support and in some cases such governments can have radical agendas that are at odds with the majority of public opinion. In Britain, in the 1980s, the first past the post system came to be i dentified with the re-election, twice, on a minority (barely more than 40%) of the popular vote, of a parliamentary majority used contentiously for the introduction of radical policy changes (Criddle 1992: 108). The second problem with the FPTP system is that it wastes an astonishing number of votes. Due to the fact that the only votes that count are those that lead to the election of the winning candidate and due to the fact that the winning candidate almost always polls below 40% of the total vote, this means that a majority of the total vote is actually wasted. These votes count for nothing and in 2005, 70 per cent of votes were wasted in this way thats over 19 million ballots (Electoral Reform Society). It could, therefore, be argued that the first-past-the-post system has led to unaccountability amongst governments, because political leaders are aware of the fact that they do not need an actual majority of over 50% to govern effectively. This can in turn lead to voter apathy a nd lower turnouts, further fuelling a downward spiral of electoral legitimacy. It has also been argued that FPTP restricts voter choice, because the preponderance of the two-party system leads to a situation in which the dominant two parties marginalize the smaller parties in the system. Norris shows that this is not an unintended consequence of the FPTP system, indeed it is engineered precisely in order to achieve this result and thus goes to the very heart of the first-past-the-post system. Its aim is to penalise minor parties, especially those whose support is spatially dispersed. In winner take all, the leading party boosts its legislative base, while the trailing parties get meagre rewards. The focus is effective governance, not representation of all minority views (Norris 1997: 299). The Liberals and Liberal Democrats have suffered particularly under the FPTP system and it is not surprising that they are the most enthusiastic proponents of proportional representation. However, Lijphart shows that electoral reform in this direction is unlikely because the dominant two parties have too much to gain from the status quo. Because plurality has greatly benefited the Conservatives and Labour, these two major parties have remained committed to the old disproportional method (Lijphart 1999: 15). The situation is even more desperate for new political parties, which stand little chance of succeeding under the current UK electoral system. Lucardie argues that a first-past-the-post electoral system offers few political opportunities to new parties, unless they cater to particular regional interests (Lucardie 2000: 182). Voter choice is, therefore, restricted because in many cases there is simply no point in voting for smaller parties, because the huge majorities of larger parties are virtually impossible to overturn. Chapter 3 The proposals on the table In this chapter we will begin by assessing the extent to which these problems create voter apathy and low turnouts in UK general elections. As we have already seen, majoritarian systems such as first-past-the-post encourage a two-party system and single-party governments. The expectation amongst voters that the electoral system will produce such an outcome has a clear and direct effect on their voting behaviour, especially in instances where no change of government is anticipated. The 2001 UK general election is a clear example of voter apathy and low turnout caused, at least to some extent, by the FPTP system. Harris points out that the turnout for the 2001 general election in Britain was the lowest ever after full adult suffrage (Harris 2005: 2). The first-past-the-post electoral system had a direct impact upon the election in 2001, because Labour was able to use the system in order to continue to dominate the UK political system despite the fact that support for the party and for the government had decreased. The extent of the electoral victory in 1997 was a key factor influencing the 2001 election. In 1997, the Labour Party achieved an electoral landslide, gifting it a Commons majority of 179, the largest in the partys history on 44.4 per cent of the votes cast (Chadwick 2003: 49). Due to the fact that the margin of victory for the Labour Party was so enormous in 1997, the electoral system had in-built advantages for the continued dominance of the Labour Party in future elections. The mechanisms of the first-past-the-post electoral system allowed the Labour Party to lose votes without losing seats (Harris 2005: 7). The FPTP system had the effect of producing an election result that was highly biased in favour of Labour and whilst that may have been good news for New Labour whether it is good for the health of Britains democracy is a far more debatable point (Harris 2005: 7). The nature of the electoral system meant that many people felt it pointless to go o ut and vote, because there was effectively no way of displacing the enormous Labour majority in place since 1997. This meant that turnout plummeted from 71.5% to 59.4% and four out of ten voters stayed at home (Norris 2001: 569) and according to the Electoral Commission this was surely the single most important aspect of the 2001 general election (Electoral Commission 2001: vii). It can be argued, therefore, that the first-past-the-post system directly led to voter apathy and low turnout in the 2001 election. Let us now move on to consider some of the proposals on the table for reform of the electoral system. The government has recently put a proposal before MPs in order to amend the electoral system and move it from a first-past-the-post to an alternative vote (AV) system. The government has received the backing of MPs to put a referendum on the alternative vote system before the general public in the form of a referendum in the autumn of 2011. Under an alternative vote electoral system, voters would mark the candidates on the ballot paper in order of preference instead of simply placing a cross next to their preferred candidate, as is currently the case under the FPTP system. This means that voters would place a 1 next to their first choice candidate, a 2 next to their second choice candidate and so on. If a candidate received more than 50% of the vote they would be elected in exactly the same way as the under the present system, but if a candidate received less than 50% then the second choice preferences would be redistributed and this process would be repeated until one candidate ascertains an absolute majority. However, despite the fact that the alternative vote system is different from the FPTP system, AV similarly falls under the category of majoritarian electoral systems. Prime Minister Gordon Brown advocated this reform on the basis that it offers the electorate more choice and gives candidates a stronger mandate whilst simultaneously retaining the link between an MP and their constituency. In short it offers a system where the British people can, if they so choose, be more confident that their MP truly represents them, while at the same time remaining directly accountable to them (BBC 2010). The Liberal Democrats, renown as keen supporters of electoral reform have labelled the alternative vote system as a small step in the right direction, but the most minimal change a Labour government could devise (Huhne 2010). Critics of the AV system argue that there is little difference between the alternative vote and first-past-the-post and indeed claim that AV often manages to undermine the electoral system further than FPTP. For example, in Australia the alternative vote system in place stipulates that voters must express a preference for every single candidate on the ballot paper. Theoretically, this should serve to give voters more choice and accountability and therefore increase voter turnout, but the reality of this system in operation can produce very different results. In Australia, it has opened the door for party machines to produce how to vote cards, which direct voters on how exactly to complete their preferences. Arguably it diminishes the whole point of preferential voting if the order of preferences is pretty much determined in advance by party strategists (Farrell 2001: 66). However, the most damning indictment of the AV system is that it does not deal with the problem of wasted votes. When Brown advocated the AV system it was on the basis that it offers voters greater choice and makes MPs more accountable, but the evidence from Australia suggests that there is little difference between the alterative vote and FPTP. There is still a large number of wasted votes under the Australian system: 49.7% of those who voted in the Hinkler division in 1998 did not support the winning candidate (Farrell 2001: 66). It is clear, therefore, that under the alternative vote system a large proportion of voters remain unrepresented and that it offers only minimal change when compared to the first-past-the-post system. Advocates of electoral reform argue that the electorate can only be given more choice and accountability if the UK electoral system is fundamentally reformed. Such reformers call for electoral systems to be based upon proportional representation (PR). Systems of proportional representation focus upon ensuring that the percentage of votes match the number of seats in any given election and, as we have seen, this is in total contrast to the disproportionate number of seats obtained by large parties under majoritarian systems. Therefore, if a party receives 20% of the share of the vote, they will receive 20% of the seats. Pitkin claims that it may be argued that the fundamental principle of proportional representation is the attempt to secure a representative assembly reflecting with more or less mathematical exactness the various divisions in the electorate' (Pitkin 1984: 61). The Single Transferable Vote (STV) is regarded as the most suitable reform to the UK electoral system. Under t his system, each constituency would elect a certain number of MPs depending on its size, usually between 3 and 5 MPs. Voters would rank candidates in the same manner as under the alterative vote system, but the critical difference between the two systems is that under the STV system if the first choice candidate does not need the vote, either because they have already won or has too few votes to win, then that vote is transferred to the second choice candidate of the voter and so on. This means that votes are almost always used positively in order to directly elect candidates and as a result far fewer votes are wasted. As Karp points out, where the outcome of an election is determined by proportional representation, rational voters are free to cast a sincere vote without fear of it being wasted (Karp 2002: 3). There are many arguments put forward in favour of reforming the UK electoral system to one based upon proportional representation (Electoral Reform Society). As we have seen with both AV and FPTP one perennial criticism is that both systems waste an enormous number of votes. The Single Transferable Vote wastes far fewer votes and this means that under STV candidates are far more accountable to their constituents, because they have been directly elected by the support of their voters. This means that most voters can identity a representative that they personally helped to elect. Such a link in turn increases a representatives accountability (Electoral Reform Society). It has also been noted above that the current UK electoral system places too much power in the hands of political parties, whereas under the STV system candidates need to be far more responsive to the electorate rather than to their party machines. As Horowitz points out, it is generally thought that electoral systems wh ich limit the power of central party leaders to choose candidates produce more responsive representatives (Horowitz 2003: 117). Advocates of proportional systems such as STV argue, therefore, that electoral reform would increase the accountability of candidates. In addition to this, they also argue that the STV system would offer the electorate more choice. Hallett argues that under the STV system the voter is saved from any worry about wasting his vote. His preferential vote is insurance against that. He can safely vote his real order of choice and therefore, voting will always be worthwhile (Hallett 1984: 119-120). Commons agrees with this assessment stating that, proportional representation promises, above all, the independence of the voter, and freedom from the rule of the party machine (Commons 2009: 143). Grofman analyses electoral patterns in Japan and Korea and concludes that STV systems offer voters greater choice and that such systems make possible ballot splitting to expr ess highly differentiated preferences (Grofman 1999: 1). All of these arguments about an expansion of voter choice agree on one key point, that the increase in voter choice would instil the belief amongst voters that their decision at the ballot box matters and makes a real difference. It increases competition amongst candidates, abolishes the necessity of tactical voting and abolishes the notion of safe seats. The increased accountability and voter choice has been shown to directly increase voter turnout in other countries. A study of voter turnout for 509 elections in 20 countries by Blais showed that voter turnout is 8% higher in proportional representation systems than in single-member plurality systems such as FPTP (Loenen 1997: 184). Another study undertaken by Lortie showed an increase in voter turnout of 11.4% (Loenen 1997: 184). Blais also points to evidence from several studies on advanced democracies and post-Communist countries to conclude that turnout is higher in proportional representation systems (Blais 2006: 113-114). It s eems clear therefore from the evidence of other countries that if UK general elections were reformed on the basis of the STV system voter turnout would increase and tactical voting would diminish. In addition to this, Lijphart points to evidence from PR elections to the Australian senate to show that the single-transferable vote in Australia, as in other countries increases the strength of smaller parties by changing the two-party into one of multi-partism. PR is generally associated with a change from two-party to multi-party systems or an increase in multi-partism. Australian Senate elections show a very clear trend toward multi-partism (Lijphart 1999: 319). He shows that the Australian elections before 1980 had produced two party-systems but that since 1980, the system has been more like a two-party-and-a-half party system (with between 2.40 and 2.68 effective parties) (Lijphart 1999: 319-320). There is also evidence that the European countries that changed from plurality to proportional representation changed from a two-party system to a multiple-party system (Riker 1982: 758). Even within the context of European elections within the UK the use of PR systems has shown a clear increase in the number of small parties gaining support. Whenever voters exercise their choices in proportional systems of voting they assign significant support to at least six parties, as in the 2004 European election when electors in the median British region supported 5.3 effective parties (Dunleavy 2005: 503). A report on the 2005 election by the Electoral Reform Society shows that if the 2005 election had been held along the lines of the STV system the results would have been radically different. The number of Labour seats would have decreased by 92 seats, the Conservatives would have gained 2 seats but the Liberal Democrats would have almost tripled their number of seats, gaining 85 extra seats in the House of Commons. There would also have been small increases for almost every other small party, such as the Green party, which would have gained 1 seat and the SNP, which would have gained 3 seats (Electoral Reform Society). It is clear, therefore that proportional systems produce a larger share of votes for smaller political parties, but this development is not seen as universally positive. Whilst those in favour of PR argue that giving small parties a larger share of the vote is fairer, Norton argues that it is not necessarily fairer to transfer disproportionate political power from the largest single party to the smallest political parties. Creating a system that facilitates a king-making role for the third party, for example, is not demonstrably a fair thing to do (Norton 1997: 86). However, despite these objections such a system is surely preferable to one in which small parties are marginalized to such an extent that they cannot realistically wield any effective power . We have seen that a preponderance of small parties offers the electorate more choice and that this is a factor that clearly increases voter turnout. It is for these reasons that a number of pressure groups and political parties have been calling for reform of the UK electoral system at general elections. The Electoral Reform Society represents people that believe passionately in reforming the electoral system and it seeks to influence the general public via measures such as lobbying politicians, publishing books and leaflets and via high-profile media campaigns. It has four stated aims, which are to ensure all votes have equal value, give effective representation to all significant points of view within the electorate, allow electors to vote for their preferred candidates without fear of wasting their votes and to ensure the accountability of individual representatives to their electorates (Electoral Reform Society). Another important pressure group is Unlock Democracy. This group is also in favour of switching to an electoral system based upon proportional representation and it calls for fair, open and honest elections, rights, freedoms and a written constitution, a stronger parliament and accountable government, bringing power closer to the people and a culture of informed political interest and responsibility (Unlock Democracy). Unlock Democracy is entirely owned by its members and similarly to the Electoral Reform Society seeks to provide an outlet for people passionate about electoral reform to campaign in the UK. The most important political party calling for reform along the lines of proportional representation in the UK is the Liberal Democrat Party. The Liberal Democrats have over 60 seats in the House of Commons and are the third largest party in the UK political system and are therefore the most powerful force in favour of proportional representation and the STV system. As Chris Huhne, the Shadow Home Secretary states only the Single Transferable Vote in multi-member seats would abolish MPs meal tickets for life, and we will fight to amend this proposal (to an AV system) to give people a real cho ice for a more significant change (Liberal Democrats). During the recent vote concerning a move towards the alternative vote system the Liberal Democrats put forward an amendment to hold a referendum earlier and on a different voting system, namely the Single Transferable Vote but this was amendment was defeated by 476 to 69 MPs. Chapter 4 Is reform ever going to happen? In this chapter we will examine whether the goal of electoral reform will ever realistically be put into practice. The reform of the UK electoral system to the alternative vote system is highly likely to come into practice for a number of reasons. Firstly, the bill, although it has not yet been made into law, has been approved by a majority of MPs in the House of Commons and a pledge has been made to bring the question of switching to the alternative vote to the general public in a referendum in the autumn of 2011. It was the size of the Commons majority more than any other factor that makes it likely that the AV voting system will become reality. As the Independent pointed out, Gordon Browns plan to hold a referendum next year on scrapping the first-past-the-post system for elections for Westminster won a convincing majority (Independent 2010). In addition to this, the fact that public opinion is largely in favour of electoral reform and the fact that AV is an improvement upon first -past-the-post make it highly likely that there will be a yes vote in the referendum. This will be a victory for the government, which believes that only a set of minor changes is needed in order to improve upon the present system, but that the present system should remain more or less intact. However, it is far less likely that the more broad and sweeping reforms advocated by various pressure groups and the Liberal Democrats will come into for