The Dimensions of Inter-Professional Practice

Abstract The essay examines a situation encountered by the student during her placement on a hospital ward: the regular ward meetings to discuss patient care and progress. The essay reflects upon the experience using the reflective cycle model proposed by Gibbs. It also draws upon SWOT analysis and the PDSA cycle model for nursing practice. While rooted in the student’s experience, the essay also looks at relevant theoretical concepts including those of multidisciplinary teamwork and patient-centred healthcare. 1. Introduction This essay aims to consider a situation I have encountered during my placement, using principles of reflective practice to outline an appropriate change to established procedure which, I feel, will benefit service users and staff. I want to discuss ward reviews, and show how these can be improved by extending the range of people who attend these reviews. I want to use principles of reflective practice and evidence-based practice to examine this area. The essay will use Gibbs reflective cycle as a structure within which to understand a situation I encountered, and plan for change. The essay will also look at some relevant theory, including notions of interprofessional team work, change theory and team dynamics.The current situation will be discussed in terms of these. I will also draw upon the PDSA cycle model for nursing practice (NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement 2012 [online]), which provides a way to structure and implement change. I will also use a tool widely used in business called ‘SWOT’ analysis, which helps in change planning by formalising the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in a given situation, and which is also useful for healthcare (Marquis and Huston 2009). Gibbs (1988) model of reflective practice will also be influential. The essay will be structured according to this 6 sta ge cycle, from description of event through evaluation and analysis to action and further reflection. While there are several different models of using reflectivity in practice including Bortons’ (1970), Kolb’s (1984) and Johns’ (1995), I use Gibbs model as it seems to best express the dynamic process of learning and change for me.These tools will be used to demonstrate the things I feel are inadequate with the present situation whereby a limited number of healthcare professionals attend ward reviews, and suggest a change whereby key workers also attend, offering a deeper perspective on patient needs. The nomination form, which assesses my placement, is included in the Appendix. 2. The Situation: Description The situation in question occurred when I was on placement. The hospital at which I was working, like others, carried out regular ward reviews. In these, the patient was discussed. A number of key staff involved in patient care were involved, and the aim was to review the patients care, treatment and prognosis. At the hospital where I carried out my placement, the members of staff who were involved were the consultant, the occupational therapist and the review nurse, sometimes also a student attended. The patient did not attend this meeting. I attended a number of these reviews. In general, all members of the team who attended were respected and respectful, and took care to listen to what each person had to say. One person led the meeting, making sure all were included and also ensuring that discussion did not go on for too long. Realistic goals and a date for the next meeting were set at the end, and the items discussed were formalised in writing. 3. The Situation: My Feelings I had two sets of feelings. On the one hand, I felt pleased that everyone who attended the meetings seemed to have the best interests of the patient at heart. Where there were disputes it was regarding what would work best for the patient. Also, I was pleased with how professionally staff members conducted themselves, I seldom witnessed rudeness or ‘shortness’ when one person spoke to another. People took turns and really seemed to listen. In part, I felt, this was due to the way the meetings were led, which was very sensitive. However, on the other hand, I felt quite annoyed and disappointed that not all staff who were involved in patient care were included in the meetings. I felt that a whole side of the patient’s experience was being missed out. The staff who attended seemed to understand the patient’s condition only generally, from their records and discussing the situation, not through contact with the patient daily. The holistic side of patient car e, understanding what the patient was feeling, seemed to have been missed out. 4. Evaluation In terms of the ‘SWOT’ framework, widely used in business but also useful for understanding healthcare (Williamson et al 1996), I evaluated the experience as follows. As Gibb’s evaluation stage is concerned mainly with what is good and bad about the experience, I have omitted the ‘opportunities’ and ‘threats’ from this analysis, as they will be covered later.StrengthsGood communication between team members Respectful awareness of other points of view Developed clear goals and actions to followWeaknessesPatient seems to lack a ‘voice’ Those involved in caring regularly from patient are not included in the review Those who know the patient well are not included in the review Lack of holistic and person-centred care 5. Analysis The following sections looked at what happened, how I experienced it and what sense I made of it within my own parameters. In order to make wider sense of the situation, I need to draw upon notions of interprofessional teamwork, user perspectives and team dynamics, all concepts central to the current health service. Interprofessional teamwork, also known as multidisciplinary teamwork (MDT), has been part of healthcare policy in the UK since 1997 (Davis 2007). As an approach, it means professionals from a range of disciplines involved in patient care meeting to discuss and agree on care plans for patients (Hostad 2010). There are a number of benefits, for example multidisciplinary teamwork seems to meet user needs better, and to deliver better outcomes. However, there are also some drawbacks including the time needed for teams to work effectively, and difficulties with perceived status differences (Housley 2003).For effective MDT, the ways in which team dynamics work has to be unde rstood. There are many attempts to understand how people work together, both generally and in the healthcare context, for example Bale’s (1950) model. Maslow’s model is also influential in healthcare. He suggested that all human’s need to be respected by others in order to feel valued, and have a need to feel part of a group, and want to have their social and emotional needs met within the work context (Borkowski 2009). The notion of incorporating user perspectives is also very influential in the NHS currently, as ‘patient-centred healthcare’. This was introduced in the late 90’s, and involves patients being involved as much as possible in decisions which are made about their care. The relationship between healthcare professional and patient is no longer one in which the professional is at the top of a hospital hierarchy, but one of partnership in which mutual respect and communication exist (Chambers et al 2003) Overall, I feel that both MDT and patient-centred healthcare could be improved here through including the key workers, or support workers of the named patient. The key worker acts as a co-ordinator on behalf of the patient, keeping the patient informed of what is going on and co-ordinating care and ensuring continuity of treatment (NICE 2004). Support workers or healthcare assistants act in a supporting role to other professionals, and are very ‘hands-on’ in well-being and looking after the patient.Both these professionals have much closer contact with the patient and as such have important insights into the patient’s situation. Multidisciplinary teamwork emphasises including all viewpoints relevant to the situation, and I feel that these workers would add valuable insights to enhance the teamwork. In addition, how can patient care be really holistic and patient-centred if the meetings do not include those people who get to know patients as individuals, understa nding their feelings, hopes and fears Including support and key workers would allow those people who are not involved in daily care to really understand how the patient is feeling.In addition, if support and key workers were present at the meeting, it would be much easier and quicker to feedback to the patient what is going on with their care. As it stands, patients hear second hand. 6. Conclusion Gibbs suggests reflecting upon what else I could have done here. Given that I was on placement, I feel that the opportunities for changing the situation are practically limited. At the time, I felt it was not appropriate for me to speak up and question the accepted meeting structure. Later, however, I did question whether I should have mentioned this to my supervisor on the ward. I felt that the emphasis on MDT meant that I would be heard sympathetically, even though I had very little experience. If I was able, I would change the meeting structure to ensure that either a support worker or a key worker was included as a matter of principle. I feel that the existing meeting structure is very good, and that if it was part of protocol that staff closely involved in the patient’s care were included, they would be welcomed into the meetings, their opinions heard and the patient’s viewpoint better understood. This would, I feel, ensure that the care delivered to the patient was more truly patient-centred and holistic, as it would take into account not only quantitative data about their condition but also their feelings and emotions. In addition, I feel wider meetings would be more reflective of multi-dimensional teamworking, as they currently don’t include all staff perspectives. It also seems that including key and support workers is more ethical. All hospitals have detailed code of conducts which set out the ways in which they expect their staff to behave, and the care of the patient is generally the first priority in these. Working as a team is also one of the central tenets of most ethical codes in UK hospitals (Melia 2004). 7. Action Plan Here I draw upon the PDSA model to suggest a way to structure the change:PlanDiscuss and agree new format for meetings (including key worker or support worker) Inform key / support worker and other staff of new meeting formatDoCarry out a series of 4 pilot meetings over agreed time period Agree and implement mechanisms for review of new meeting format (gather data from key/support workers, staff already included, and patients)StudyAnalyse data collected, assess changes against clearly defined criteria (for example, do patients feel more informed, happier; did key/support workers feel included; did other staff value new structure) What worked wellWhat worked less well?ActPlan new meetings on basis of what was learnt during study phase. If including key/support workers beneficial, change meeting structure so that they are now part of meetings. Ensure that repercussions of this are understood, for example allowing them extra time for preparing for meetings. References Borton, T (1970) Reach, Teach and Touch, Mc Graw Hill, London. Gibbs, G (1988) Learning by Doing: A Guide to Teaching and Learning Methods, Further Educational Unit, Oxford Polytechnic, Oxford. Johns C (1995) Framing learning through reflection within Carper’s fundamental ways of knowing in nursing Journal of Advanced Nursing, 22, 226-234 Kolb, D A (1984) Experiential Learning experience as a source of learning and development, Prentice Hall, New Jersey Marquis, B L and Huston, C J (2009) Leadership roles and management functions in nursing: theory and application (6th edn), Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Melia, K M (2004) Health care ethics: lessons from intensive care, SAGE, Thousand Oaks, CA NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement (2012) ‘Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA)’, [online] (cited 14th February 2012), available from http://www.institute.nhs.uk/quality_and_service_improvement_tools/quality_and_service_improvement_tools/plan_do_study_act.html NICE (2004) ‘Improving Outcomes Guidance for Supportive and Palliative Care’, National Institute of Clinical Excellence 2004, London. Williamson, S, Stevens, R E, Loudon, D L (1996) Fundamentals of strategic planning for healthcare organizations, Routledge, UK Appendix CLIENT – INCLUDE NOMINATION FORM HERE Assignment In writing the 1500 word reflective commentary focussed on service improvement you should consider/address the following: The context and setting for your placement. Your reflective commentary should focus either on a service improvement initiative that you have identified with your mentor, or on a service improvement that has previously been implemented in your practice area. You should examine this initiative in terms of the inter-professional team and identify actual or potential ways that inter-professional working can facilitate its implementation. You should also discuss potential barriers to implementation. You MUST include the Service Improvement Activity notification form with your assignment including a discussion of future plans in terms of the service improvement initiative. An evidence based model of reflection or reflective writing should be used. You should offer a rationale to support what you have used (fixed resource sessions on the use and application of reflective models and writing are included in the delivery of this module). You should also demonstrate the use of the PDSA cycle in terms of service improvement. For assessment purposes you are not expected to move beyond the planning stage of the PDSA cycle. As this assignment is a reflective commentary your reflection must be supported and referenced by using appropriate sources (as per learning outcomes). You may wish to use a structured reflective model e.g. Gibbs’, Rolfe et al or John’s; or you may wish to write in a reflective style, encompassing reflection on action e.g. Schon or Borton. This is your choice but either way you must show evidence you have done this. A reflective commentary requires that you use subheadings. The structure of this piece of work can be informed by using either learning outcomes or the stages of a reflective model to do so. If you say you are going to use a model of reflection, then you must demonstrate clearly that you have done so. Which ever process you use must be briefly explained and rationalised within your introduction. Ensure that you have supported your assignment with appropriate, contemporary and relevant sources, including published literature, professional standards key texts and policy. You need to apply theory to practice and use paraphrasing to demonstrate understanding of the sources you have used. Make sure you address the relevant learning outcomes for this piece of work (l,2,5) in this commentary: Learning outcome one requires you to analyse the unique role of the nurse within the inter-professional team and also to apply this to your experience in your placement area. For example, do nurses in your placement area require any additional skills or knowledge to work with the client/patient group Learning outcome two requires you to evaluate the contribution of all members of the inter-professional team in providing holistic care to clients/patients. For example, which guidelines and policies inform holistic care in your placement area and how did this impact on practice in your areaHow did the team work togetherWhat quali ties did you note in the team and how did this impact on care delivery Learning outcome five asks you to reflect on learning and transfer newly gained knowledge. For example, what did you learn and how will what you learned in your placement help to prepare you to be a registered nurse

Indentured Servants Vis-a-Vis Slaves

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The criminal justice system in England and Wales Essay

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Improving Patient Flow in Emergency Departments Research Paper

Improving Patient Flow in Emergency Departments - Research Paper Example He added that the increased number of admissions and unscheduled patients has significant impacts on the entire emergency care delivery system. In the throughput phase, there were delays in the operating suites because it is mainly done in specific days of a week. He said that surgical operations are done on Mondays and Tuesdays rather than spreading out the operations throughout the week. It, therefore, means that surgeons and other clinical officers are very busy in some days and free in others. The administrator of Provicence Hospital added that the various problems faced experienced in the output phase include prolonged time of discharge or referral and incomplete treatments. He noted that the incomplete treatments is a common problem in ED because it leads to delayed discharges and referrals and can last for many weeks when patients are instructed to visit the ED again in specific dates (Hall, 2013). Bottlenecks and the metrics used to identify them as well as the challenges of the patient were also identified during the interview. Note that the term ‘bottlenecks’ is the part of the emergency care delivery systems that is obstructed to cause delays and waits. Metrics and the methods used to measure the efficiency of the system (Hall, 2013). Based on Mr. Johnson’s response, the bottlenecks in the emergency care delivery system can be divided into three groups. In the group for inputs, the major bottleneck is the delayed admission and registration of patients due to the fact that clinical care responsibilities are not separated from the paper and information flow. The metrics used to identify this issue involved the measurement of the time taken for patients to be registered. Do they wait for long on the benches? Based on his response, most of the patients admitted to the ED wait for around 40-45minutes before they are treated. In the group addressing the throughput, the main bottleneck identified is the creation of idle time

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Histroy - Essay Example Henry IV killed Rudolph and this increased the conflict between Henry IV and George VII. These issues caused the tone and the language with which the two used to express themselves. From the story, it is clear that Henry IV and Gregory VII chose to use the language they used because they were wounded by pride and large ego. With pride and ego, Gregory VII says that â€Å"of the pope alone all princes shall kiss the feet.† This statement signifies how the pope was burning with so much pride and ego. Similarly, Henry IV had his own pride and ego that drove him to want to retaliate. In his letter to Gregory VII, he says, â€Å"Hildebrand, at present not pope but false monk.† (Ernest 396) This shows how much pride he feels. Here, he condemns Gregory as a usurper. Secondly, the two leaders chose to use the words they used because they wanted to receive the ceremony and honor at the top of the medieval hierarchy. They wanted to be celebrated by the people as achievers and to be seen as heroes and better than others. That is why Gregory exalted the title of a pope while he was a pope, and Henry IV referred to himself as a king and condemning Gregory VII as an

NCPC Web Field Trip Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

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History of the Department Store Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

History of the Department Store - Essay Example As our cities changed, the department store changed to meet the needs of the new demographics. While some suburbs flourished, inner cities fell into decline. By examining the history of the department store we can get a better look at the evolution of our American cities, and create a more effective plan for their future. The department store had its beginnings in New York when A T Stewart opened his legendary Marble Palace in 1846. This would be followed by Lord & Taylor, Macy's, Marshall Field, and Wanamaker who spared no luxury in opulent buildings, window displays, and the quality of merchandise. By the turn of the twentieth century the department store had become the hub of American inner city commerce. Owned by giants such as R. H. Macy, Marshall Fields, and A. T. Stewart, the stores reflected the name and reputation of their owners. The department store concept catapulted the owners to fame and notoriety as a1900 account of A T Stewart refers to him as "the acknowledged head of the mercantile world in this city and the sights on New York included AT Stewarts marble store downtown and Stewart's marble palace uptown" (From cellar to garret, 1900). These men that pioneered the department store helped define the geography of our cities and shape the demographics of consumerism. Department stores were created when the ability to move goods to a central location coincided with the ability to move customers to that location. Department stores were unique in their ability to offer a huge array of goods under one roof arranged in departments. "Such large retailers only became feasible when the horsecar or streetcar could deliver crowds to the central city. Department stores exploited economies in purchasing and distributing to a large market, which made them cheaper than the alternative, local neighborhood stores" (Nye, 1990, p.113). In addition, the stores utilized the concept of fixed pricing, which eliminated the need to haggle or bargain on a price. This would open the door for relatively inexperienced salesclerks that were often women. Of course, the success of the department store would be dependent upon attracting enough customers to make it a profitable venture. The introduction of the trolley car and railroad made this possible. The early department sto res were located along these lines of transportation and created the core of commerce and the inner city. In Chicago, P. Palmer ran a dry goods and carpet store in the downtown area and had foreseen the coming of the department store, and the importance of the inner city, with the success of the Marble Palace and Macy's in New York. "Palmer had correctly foreseen that State Street would become the burgeoning city's new central business district because of its location near an important transportation junction, and he invested wisely in real estate there" (Benes, 2006, p.72). In 1893, Marshall Field opened a store on Palmer's property amid the fanfare of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. The store was an instant success as, "People would visit the store and then go home and tell their neighbors about it. The neighbors would come to marvel at the huge store-and to buy its rare and high-quality goods" (Benes, 2006, p.72). These department stores located in downtown areas would attract other

Religious Message Of Steve Jobs Biography Essay

Religious Message Of Steve Jobs Biography - Essay Example This is particularly apparent in the transition that Jobs faced when he was ousted from his own company Apple but carried on to be a founder of Pixar, and took big steps in terms of opening up and being vulnerable to the presence of others in his life, for example, accepting his daughter Lisa. This message present and demonstrated through the idea of redemption because Jobs provides a second chance to many others in his life, and is also given a second chance to improve relationships with people, before he finds out that he has been diagnosed with cancer. Steve Jobs was a great man. The reason why I have chosen Steve Jobs as the reference to this article in terms of underlying a religious message is because Steve Jobs propogated through his practices and his speeches, the importance of doing what we love, the importance of connecting the dots in terms of following the gut feeling, ands lastly the importance to live tastefully. This paper will underline the moral story with respect to living life in the way we believe and without listening to other’s opinions. Steve Jobs also believed in doing great things, and this will be an added part of the moral story which will be discussed in this paper. Each and every paragraph has detailed instances from Steve Jobs’ life and will demonstrate the religious and moral message throuugh the examples from his life. When Steve Jobs was a budding entreprenuer, he often labelled himself as an artist. He ofent remarked that he saw himself as an artist, and also mentioned the fact that every beautiful thing in this world was conceptualised to be an art, and we were mere propogators of art. This leaves a very strong message of religious morality that in life, we should see beauty in every way possible, and should not discard any object in order to negate its beauty. At times, we embark on things and find ourselves craving for our notion of beauty and aesthetics, however, according to the experience of Jobs, it is very crucial to understand the aspect of beauty in every form it is in present to us. Jobs beileved that the present is a gift which has been given to us by God, and that we hsould live in the present and try to make it better without having the regret of making mistakes in the past, along with living without the mountain of guilt surrounding our negative feelings of the past. The best way to live without it is to defeat the mountain, negate the bad feelings and look forwards from a fresh perspective in life. Another aspect from Steve Jobs’ life which can be mentioned here to demonstrate the moral message sent by him was when he had ust started the company called Apple. He laid the foundation of Apple on a note which is quoted below: â€Å"We are going to change the status quo, we are the pirates, we have come to refute the nacissm of the giant IBM† The aboe mentioned quote sent shockwaves to the computing world. No one before had the courage to challenge the might of IBM. At that time, the morality of Steve Jobs was governed by the belief that everthing is supposed to change, change is the only constant, and the old should be changed with the new to bring a fresh perspective in life. With this idea and philosphy, Steve Jobs challenged the might of the IBM. The moral of the story is that one should not confine to the same things for ever and ever, as there is a potential to change. The might of the old and big will come down if the services they provide do not land up in the right context. It is unhealthy to live without competition, and with

Current Events and U.S. Diplomacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Current Events and U.S. Diplomacy - Essay Example The current status of relationships between Russia and the United states cannot be termed as friendly by any means because the relationships which were strained by the US withdrawal from ABM treaty and which were further deteriorated by Iraq war and Kosovo independence crisis continued to go from bad to worse. Another significant down came in March 2007 when US announced its plans to build an anti-ballistic missile defense installation in Poland along with a radar station in the Czech Republic. According to the United States officials, the motive behind such plans is to safeguard the international peace and ensure international security against the threat posed by Iranian and North Korean nuclear weapons to the world. However Russia considered this move as an aggression against them because Poland and Czech Republic are former Warsaw Pact countries and US military influence in these countries means creating an imbalance of power in Europe once again. Russian President issued various statements to protest against this action and warn the US president about the consequences of such a move while on the other side Russia continued to test its intercontinental missiles and claimed that these missiles can defeat all kinds of missile defense systems. Russia also started establishing missile defense basis along the now US backed Poland (Kegley & Blanton, 2011). The relationships between the two countries have reached another historical low at the moment and the Russian-Georgian clash. and Russian military cooperation with Venezuela are the most recent incidents which mark the strain in the relationships. The diplomatic dialogue between both countries has almost ceased to a zero level at the moment and there are no hopes of an improvement in the relationships in recent future. The relationships between the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and United States are a matter of very frequent discussion in international politics today and the subject has many complexities associated with it. The diplomatic ties between the two countries exist from the year 1947; Pakistan emerged on the map of the world during this year. From the very beginning the basis of

African American Struggle Essay Example for Free

African American Struggle Essay The story of African immigration is unique among immigrant groups, just as the African experience in America has been exclusively essential to the course of American life. Unlike other immigrants, most Africans came to North America against their will, caught up in a cruel system of human exploitation. The treatment we endured in the United States was of a harshness hardly ever surpassed in recent history, and their role in U. S. society was contested with a rage that nearly tore the nation apart. The centuries-long battle African Americans waged for freedom, for dignity, and for full participation in American society completely transformed the nation, and shaped the world we live in today. Today, there is no aspect of life in the United States that has not been touched by the African American experience; there is no institution, custom, or daily practice that has not been influenced or remade by the efforts of African American thinkers, workers, artists, activists, and organizers. African Americans faced every form of racism, prejudice, and segregation possible. We were not allowed to eat, drink, or even sleep in the same places with white people. They had everything marked whites or colors, and that was considered segregation. If an African American were to break one of those â€Å"rules† they would suffer great pain whether mentally or physically. When segregation came to an end, blacks were still not welcome to partake in the world comfortably. We were constantly going through life feeling like a slave although freedom was granted. Affirmative Action, in the United States, was to overcome the effects of past discrimination by allocating jobs and resources to members of specific groups, such as minorities and women. The policy was implemented by federal agencies enforcing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and two executive orders, which provided that government contractors and educational institutions receiving federal funds develop such programs. The Equal Employment Opportunities Act (1972) set up a commission to enforce plans. The establishment of racial quotas in the name of affirmative action brought charges of so-called reverse discrimination in the late 1970s. By the late 70s, however, flaws in the policy began to show up good intentions. Reverse discrimination became an issue, epitomized by the famous Bakke case in 1978. Allan Bakke, a white male, had been rejected two years in a row by a medical school that had accepted less qualified minority applicants-the school had a separate admissions policy for minorities and reserved 16 out of 100 places for minority students. The Supreme Court outlawed inflexible quota systems in affirmative action programs, which in this case had unfairly discriminated against a white applicant. In the same ruling, however, the Court upheld the legality of affirmative action.

Politics Essays Advertisements Campaigns Voters

Politics Essays Advertisements Campaigns Voters Advertisements Campaigns Voters Political Advertisements reflecting Political Orientations This paper tries to argue, and somehow support, that political advertisements during electoral campaigns reflect the political orientation of the voters. The Philippines is known for its festive mood all year round done through fiestas and other celebrations showcasing the very Filipino among us. To bring this to home is to mention our annual celebration of the Sinulog. The Sinulog 2007 Magazine presents the colorful celebration of the whole country in honor of the child Jesus Senor Sto. Nino. This celebration along with the other celebrations all over the country signifies the dynamics of our culture and this had been passed from one generation to another. Making the young ones realize and appreciate its value and importance. But festivals are not the only colorful features of the Philippines, we are likewise known to have very festive conduct of elections. Yes, elections in the Philippines resemble the celebration of fiestas. In the very recently concluded May 14, 2007 Congressional and local elections the whole country have witnessed how politicians have used almost all forms of campaigning just to be properly known and eventually be voted by the electorates. In fact, as a result of campaign many of the politicians’ tarpaulin were left scattered prompting a businesswoman to convert them into bags, which were distributed to the fire victims somewhere in Metro Manila. The reason for this was the huge volume of tarpaulin spent for by the candidates all for their desire to vote. To add, flyers and sample ballots were voluminously reproduced for the same purpose. However, for those who have a broader financial base they took advantage of the mass media in airing (broadcast and print) their political advertisements. The patronage of politicians to the use of media is itself a statement of the wide reach of the latter as well as the extent of its possible impact on the decisions of the electorates. Most studies about the media try to look into how it operates in the â€Å"democratic† Philippines or how it influences the behavior of people, especially during elections. However, it is likewise interesting to explore what is reflected by the media as the society’s character, behavior and culture. Hence, this essay describes the electorates’ political orientation that is projected or reflected in the political advertisements of politicians. However, it is bounded by the following delimitations: only the political advertisements of the Mayoral and Vice-Mayoral candidates of Cebu City are considered, this is for purposes of a more focused analysis. Furthermore, I made use of only print ads from newspapers, this is due to limited access to television advertisements. These delimitations may in the end limit as well the conclusion of this essay, however this can also serve as an initial study for a broader consideration by other scholars. Culture, Politics and Media From the sociological point of view, Giddens (2002) defined culture broadly to be the way of life of the members of society or groups within a society. It is that â€Å"something† that unites a society together and that which stitches the relations of people and social structures. However, culture is by nature not easily definable due to the fact that it’s merely manifested, such as its tangible and intangible aspects. Many theorists have imparted their own share of conceptualization about culture. Worth mentioning in this essay are the contributions of Jules Henry (1980). Jules Henry postulated the anthropological idea that culture is preserved and perpetuated, and it is necessarily reproduced through the process of interaction among people in society. From here it can be deduced that culture is by its very nature transmissible therefore learned. Hence, the culture of a society is passed on to the next generations in a dynamic fashion of learning. The example highlighted by Henry is the cultural dreams turned nightmare of the Americans because of the highly consumeristic culture projected by the media. Jules Henry is decisive in prescribing the idea that the media is constructing a culture that is not reflective of the real needs of the public. From this contribution of Henry we can understand that the process of transmitting culture can be facilitated by a number of ways and means or agents. Socialization is a primary channel for the transmission of culture over time and generation. There had been a continued discourse on culture and many scholars were engaged in more cultural studies during the heights of the behavioral revolution and the participation explosion after World War II. The behavioral revolution did not exclusively affect the cultures of the world but also the functioning of polities. If in the past the study of politics was focused on the state, being the only institution which can authoritatively allocate the values to the society (Easton, 1953: 146) the behavioral revolution had inspired other political scientists to engage in scholarships involving politics and culture. Among them were Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba in their breakthrough study published in 1963. They studied about the Civic Culture of five countries by looking into the political attitudes as well as the practice of democracy in said five nations. In the study of political culture, culture must be understood as an individual’s psychological orientation toward social objects (Almond and Verba, 1963: 14). Almond further emphasized that political culture refers to the political system as internalized in the cognitions, feelings and evaluations of its population. From here, the specificity of culture as applied in understanding politics is clarified. Hence, political culture refers to the specifically political orientations attitudes toward the political system and its various parts, and attitudes towards the role of the self in the system (Almond and Verba, 963: 13). Verba also contributed his definition of political culture to consist of the system of empirical beliefs, expressive symbols, and values which defines the situation in which political action takes place (1965:513). The polity’s political culture is only one aspect of politics at the same time only an aspect of culture. From such definitions we can draw the different modes of political orientations referred to by Almond and Verba, which are considered of high relevance because these help us understand how an individual may potentially react to political stimulus. They are: 1) cognitive orientation; 2) affective orientation; and 3) evaluative orientation. Cognitive orientation refers to the knowledge of and belief about the political system. Ranney added that this include the information that an individual has about political affairs (1995:65). Moreover, other scholars look into the person’s level of awareness as a way of knowing his/her cognitive orientation. Example of this is whether a person is aware of the list of local officials in their local government. Or it could be an inquiry into the various political issues s/he is aware of. From here the level of a person’s cognitive orientation is defined. Therefore, if the kind of information presented before the public is more knowledge-based we can infer that the presumption is that the public still need to be fed with pertinent information to be aware. Affective orientation refers to the feelings an individual may have about the political system, its roles, personnel and performance. This orientation includes how individuals feel for a political phenomenon. For instance, how the people feel about the cheating issues posed against the Arroyo administration last 2004 elections. The emotions or the mood developed on the individual constitute his/her affective orientation. Hence, if the information presented for the public appeals more to the recipient’s emotion, it be could under the presumption that people already know the information and have developed shared emotion with the messenger. Lastly, Evaluative orientation, this refers to the judgments and opinions formulated by individuals as a response to political objects which involves the combination of value standards and criteria with information and feelings. This is considered to be the most important type of political orientation because it determines the type of political culture of the polity. Furthermore, public opinions, to be useful, must be translated to public judgment and the latter must be manifested through public action. There is a need for an individual to translate one’s judgment to action in order to substantially affect how political objects function. Good examples for this were EDSA 1 and 2. The people’s knowledge and feelings about the abuses of Marcos’ dictatorship were eventually translated to a public judgment of discontent hence, making possible the flooding of people in EDSA as a manifestation of their feeling of discontent and disappointment, very similar to the EDSA 2 circumstances. Therefore, if an information ignites action it presupposes that the people are already aware and have similar affect to a particular issue and would just need to share such sentiment to the rest. These three will be the basis in analyzing the campaign advertisements of the candidates for mayor and vice-mayor in Cebu City. I will look into the kind of messages they have and from there try to understand the orientation they believe the voters have. Both references did not only provide definitions of socialization but went on to say that this processes proceeds from an individual’s early stage in life up to one’s old age. This only means that this is continuous and dynamic. They also added that since this process is continuous there are various agents which help transmit the necessary political orientations. These agents are but not limited to the: Family; School; Peer Groups; Church; Mass Media; Government; and International Community (Ranney, 1995: 61-65; Almond and Powell, 2004: 58).On the other hand, understanding political culture with the general concept of culture would mean that political culture is also transmissible, and is best facilitated through political socialization. Almond and Powell defined socialization to be the way in which political values are formed and the political culture is transmitted from one generation to the next (2004: 52). Austin Ranney also gave his conception of political socializ ation to be the developmental process from which people acquire their political orientations and patterns of behavior (1995: 58). Each of these agents has their respective ways of influencing an individual about the political. Among the most popular of these are family and mass media. In fact, most literature describing the political culture of Filipinos propound the idea that it is governed by familism, kinship ties and patron-client relations (Lande, 1965; McCoy, 1994; Sidel, 1999). On the other hand, the next most popularly regarded to influence an individual’s political orientation is the mass media. In fact, scholars have concluded that the media really have social and political effects to the public. Furthermore, they contend that â€Å"every culture has means of preparing and conditioning its members to adopt expected social roles and activities and the mass media often times have an unrecognized role in this process.† Hence, the importance in looking into how the media influence or reflect the public is very much important. Most often the influences of these agents are best manifested every time an individual takes part in a democratic exercise such as elections. The paragraphs to follow will be devoted into discussing the relevance of the media in politics as well as the evolution of the conduct of elections in the Philippines. Media In general terms, understanding the media inevitably requires understanding of communication which, in its simplest context, is the act of sending ideas and attitudes from one person to another. Moreover, communication of people may either be intrapersonal, interpersonal, or through mass communication. Communicating within one person is intrapersonal communication. While, communicating with another person is interpersonal. Lastly, communication between a person or a group of persons to a larger audience through a transmitting device is mass communication. In mass communication there are important elements that need to be present: a) sender or the source who is responsible in putting in the message on the channel; b) channel, which is the medium that delivers the message to the receiver, an example of this would be the television, newspapers, magazine and the like; c) receiver, who is the intended (or unintended) audience of the message the public; and d) the feedback from the receiver, this occurs when the receiver responds to the message sent by the sender. Mass communication is best characterized by: a) the message is sent out using some form of mass media (newspaper or television); b) the message is delivered rapidly; and c) the message reaches large groups of different kinds of people simultaneously or within a short period of time. The idea of mass media really brings as much information to as wide an audience as possible, this makes the transmission of information easier and corollary to this would mean a more precise message. There is more to mass media than merely transmitting messages. Other theorists propounded that â€Å"a person who takes a steady diet of mass media messages may be conditioned to believe that the world presented by the media is an accurate reflection of reality.† This is very much related to the concept of Jules Henry wherein the media, through its various advertisements, create a â€Å"cultural dream† for the public as evidence by growing consumerism among the people (1980). This brings me to the book of Dan Nimmo and James Combs Mediated Political Realities (1983). The book centers on the public having mediated realities. Walter Lippman said that â€Å"people act on the basis of pictures they carry around in their heads, pictures of the way they think things are† furthermore, he added â€Å"these pictures are derived from and changed by one’s direct experiences as well as those which they don’t deal directly.† This only means that not all realities are experienced firsthand, rather, our realities are complemented by things we are made to believe to be realities this is facilitated by a medium which is the mass media. Hence, it becomes a valid inquiry of whether the realities we see reflected by the media are in fact real. The authors went on to postulate that â€Å"each of us forges our own reality† which means that what we may consider reality may not be conceived similarly by others. In addition, a situation may mean various realities to various people hence, there cannot be a universal reality because they are all mediated. The concept of mediated realities is brought by the influx of other means of communications, which is mass communications sometimes complementing and in competition with other means or agents (Nimmo and Combs, 1983: 5). The authors went on to say that â€Å"social reality is constituted, recognized, and celebrated with media.† Meaning that the media indeed has a huge role to play in the process of making and unmaking realities. This pushes us to another level of looking into realities, whether they are truly real or otherwise. From here, a caveat is better put in place, that what we see and experience through the media may simply be a construction we are made to believe or could be a reflection of what is truly real. The second postulation is taken adeptly by this essay for a number of reasons: a) the context of this essay is in the Philippines wherein a number of legislations are in place to govern the media; and b) such regulations highlight the importance of responsibly delivering the news to the public. Media in the Philippines As initially stated above, studies about media are often centered on its role/s in a society. For example, the role of the media during the time of Marcos it was noted that the media during the Martial Law years were either under the payroll of some politicians or were frankly against the reign of Marcos. Furthermore, Sussman also mentioned that there were over twenty journalists documented to have been killed during the time of Marcos for expressing disagreeable opinion against local warlords. The struggle for press freedom was also strong but was forcefully countered by a number of Presidential Decrees issued by Marcos to curtail any free expression through the press. Marcos even ordered the closure of media companies which were directly countering the mandates of his government, one of them was ABS-CBN of the Lopezes. However, the tides took a different turn on the eve of EDSA 1, the airwaves were useful when Cardinal Sin through Radio Veritas urged the people to pray and defend democracy. The remaining media strength who looked into the political situation in the Philippines were the foreigners as they covered most of the fraudulent activities, especially during the conduct of previous elections. Moreover, the change of government from dictatorial to democratic also paved way for a freer mass media. To further ensure its free exercise, the same is guaranteed in Sec. 4, Art. III of the 1987 Constitution Freedom of Speech and Expression and of the Press. The â€Å"press† specifically cover every sort of publications: newspapers, periodicals, magazines, books, handbills, leaflets, other written materials, television and radio broadcasting are also included. This only proves how much we regard, in terms of importance, the sector of the media in our country. Media and Philippine Elections The conduct of Philippine elections is likewise filled with a rich experience. The Documentary Eleksyong Pinoy is actually a very rich resource in terms of the evolution of our electoral exercise. To make it very comprehensive, the producers included personalities who have been actively engaged in the conduct of elections in the country such as former Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Commissioners Haydee Yorac, Christian Monsod; former National Citizens Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) Chairperson Jose Conception; Philippine Center for Good Governance (PCGG) Chairperson; His Eminence Jaime Cardinal Sin (due to his role in EDSA 1); a UP History Professor and other significant personalities. In all the documentary showed how elections were so limited in the past. In fact, it presented that the elections during the later part of the Spanish colonial rule were exclusive only to those who have the stringent qualifications biased for the males, literacy, taxing capabilities, ownership of properties and others. Corollary, the chance to run for public office is also limited to those who have landholdings and were educated. But this limited access have been widened by the institutionalization of the democratic institutions by the American colonial rule as prepared by a number of US legislations. These organic acts essentially installed democratic ideals upon which people are given the chance to actively participate in the affairs of government, initially through elections. Proof to this was the right to vote granted to women in 1937 after a massive success reaped from a nationwide plebiscite on the matter. Philippine elections have long been open to the participation of the public, though there were interruptions as to how free it is during the Martial Law years. In fact, based on the well-researched documentary, elections during the time of Marcos were noted to be fraudulent ones due to massive cheating and anomalies. Elections according Mojares is a â€Å"collective rite of collective passage, with liminal phases, beginning with the preliminal period of ‘presubjectification’; the ‘limen’ of Election Day; and the postelection period of resubjectification during which results are validated, winners are proclaimed.† As for the progress of this essay, I will focus on the presubjectification period or the course of campaigns. It was noted that the way Filipinos conduct campaigns are actual replica of that of US. Luz Rimban, writing for the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, stated that when US introduced elections in the Philippines it likewise included in the package its own style of campaigning, and this includes the use of mass media to somehow ‘manipulate public images’; the hiring of public relations and advertising professionals, and employing other sophisticated tools for campaign. The mass media had since then been useful in projecting the image of the Filipino politician the newspaper, radio and television were proven useful. The mass media exposure includes presentation of news coverage of the affairs of politicians. However, the use of mass media was strengthened by the passage of Republic Act 9006 otherwise known as the Fair Elections Act in February 2001. Section 3 of this legislation provides that: Lawful Election Propaganda. Election propaganda whether on television, cable television, radio, newspapers or any other medium is hereby allowed for all registered political parties, national, regional, sectoral parties or organizations participating under the party-list elections and for all bona fide candidates seeking national and local elective positions subject to the limitation on authorized expenses of candidates and political parties, observance of truth in advertising and to the supervision and regulation by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC). This opened the doors for a free use of the mass media as a means of launching a politician’s campaign. The most common among these mass media is the television. In fact, aside from the television and newspapers, other politicians made use of new technologies such as mobile phones and launching ‘text brigrades’, while others used the world wide web to introduce and sell themselves to the voters, especially the younger ones. In fact, for this May 14 elections, many political parties and candidates used Friendster as a means of inviting potential voters. Hence, the old type campaigning buttressed by the new legislation truly expanded the campaigns of running politicians. Included in the list, and the focus of my paper, are newspapers. They are as well tapped by politicians to place their advertisements in. Therefore, we can really say that the media has a huge role to play in Philippine elections. It is then a challenge to look deeper into these campaign ads and determine what particular political orientation are projected about the Filipino, in particular Cebuano, voters. How to look into this? I will look into the used and the face value of the print advertisement and from there analyze themes or connotations that would somehow clearly define the political orientation of the voters as reflected by it. To call this process content analysis or semiology would be an overstatement. Rather, this analytical framework is simply innovated. Campaign Ads: Cebu City Elections The candidates for Cebu City mayoral and vice-mayoral posts are Tomas Osmena VS. Mary Ann delos Santos and Michael Rama VS. Raymond Alvin Garcia, respectively. Both Tomas Osmena and Michael Rama are incumbent Mayor and Vice-Mayor of the City. Mary Ann delos Santos, on the other hand, was the Barangay Captain of Lahug, while Raymond Alvin Garcia is the son of former Cebu City Mayor Alvin Garcia. Each camp had been organizing their respective campaigns: the use of streamers, tarpaulin, leaflets, mobile ads and print advertisements were taken advantage. Hence, for the latter I decided to look into one of the leading local newspapers in the islands: Sun-Star Newspaper. I was able to scan the consecutive issues of Sun-Star Newspaper from April 1 up to May 12, 2007. Among the 42 issues the following were the breakdown:

Energy Efficiency: Directives and Legislation

Energy Efficiency: Directives and Legislation 2.1 Introduction The debate is ongoing, but there is now overwhelming scientific evidence that mans activities are causing significant climate change. Climate change has the potential to affect all aspects of life on earth and will have major detrimental social, economic and environmental impacts. The best response to these challenging issues is to change. Change the way we think. Change the way we act. (Get source) 2.2 Background to Directives for Climate Change The International climate change agenda containing the Directives and Legislation that drives for energy efficiency began in 1992 with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The objectives of the UNFCCC were to: stabilise the atmospheric greenhouse gases at a level that would prevent dangerous interference with the climatic system, to be achieved in a time frame to ensure food production is not threatened and to enable economic development proceeds in a sustainable manner. The UNFCCC is the parent treaty of the Kyoto Protocol (1997) which was developed to implement the UNFCCC effectively and properly. (www.euroace.org/reports) Irelands relation to the Kyoto Protocol is outlined in the subsequent sub-chapter. In December 2007, the latest climate change conference took place in Bali, Indonesia and it included representatives of over 180 countries. The two week period included the sessions of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, as well as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. The ‘Bali Roadmap was adopted from the conference which charts the course for a new negotiating process to be concluded by 2009 that will lead to a post 2012 international agreement on climate change. The next meeting of the parties to the climate change convention is scheduled to take place on December 2008 in Poland. After the Kyoto Protocol was established, Europe needed to take action to succeed in cutting its greenhouse gas emissions to 8% below 1990 levels by 2008-2012, as required by the Kyoto Protocol. This action was taken by launching the European Climate Change Programme (ECCP) in June 2000 which was then ratified in October 2005. The main goal of the ECCP was to develop all of the necessary elements of an EU strategy to implement the Kyoto Protocol. From this European Climate Change Programme, the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD 2003) was developed. This is explained in chapter 2.4 of this text. (www.euroace.org/reports) In order for Ireland to meet its Kyoto target of limiting the increase of greenhouse gas emissions to 13% above 1990 levels by 2008-2012, a National Climate Change Strategy was implemented. 2.3 Ireland and the Kyoto Protocol The Kyoto Protocol was adopted to tackle the threat of climate change. It contains legally binding greenhouse gas emission targets for developed countries for the post 2000 period. The Protocol promises to move the international community one step closer to achieving the Conventions (UNFCCC) ultimate objective of preventing man-made interference with the climate system. As a first step towards tackling the threat of climate change, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) required developed countries to put in place policies and measures with objectives of returning emissions of greenhouse gases to 1990 levels by the end of the decade. However, in recognition of the need to take more substantial and urgent action, industrialised or developed countries committed to reduce their combined emissions of greenhouse gases by at least 5% compared to 1990 levels by the first commitment period 2008-2012. The protocol came into force on 16 February 2005. As of November 2007, 174 parties have ratified the protocol. Of these, 36 developed countries are required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the levels specified for each of them in the treaty. The EU has an overall reduction target of 8% below 1990 levels and has agreed a burden sharing agreement that recognises the different economic circumstances of each member state.   Irelands target is to limit the increase in its greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol to 13% above 1990 levels by 2008-2012. To date Ireland has struggled to get on target and at this stage looks unlikely to meet the 13% figure. With the help of the National Climate Change Strategy and the Protocol flexible mechanisms, this target may yet be achieved. The National Climate Change Strategy 2007- 2012 provides the national policy framework for addressing greenhouse gas emission reductions and ensuring that Ireland meets its target for the purpose of the Kyoto Protocol. Ireland may achieve their individual targets through domestic actions and use of flexible mechanisms provided for in the Protocol. The Government has decided that it will use the Kyoto Protocol flexible mechanisms to purchase up to 3.607 million Kyoto Units in each year of the 2008-2012 period. (www.environ.ie) 2.3.1 Kyoto Protocol Flexible Mechanisms / Emissions Trading An important part of the Kyoto Protocol was the introduction of three flexible mechanisms to reduce the costs of achieving emission reductions for the member states with emission reduction or limitation targets. The mechanisms enable Parties to purchase Kyoto Units from other Parties or to invest in cost-effective opportunities to reduce emissions. While the cost of reducing emissions varies considerably between projects and between countries, the effect for the atmosphere of limiting emissions is the same no matter where the action occurs. The three mechanisms are outlined below: Joint Implementation (JI) This is provided for under Article 6 of the Protocol, and enables Parties with reduction commitments to implement projects that reduce emissions in other member states with reduction commitments, in return for credits. The tradable unit under the JI mechanism is an Emissions Reductions Unit (ERU). Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) This is provided for under Article 12 of the protocol and enables Parties with targets to participate in projects that reduce emissions in those Parties that do not have targets under the protocol. This mechanism is aimed at developing countries. Credits generated using the CDM mechanism can be used by the investing Party for compliance purposes. The tradable unit under the CDM mechanism is a Certified Emissions Reduction (CER). International Emissions Trading This is provided under Article 17 of the Kyoto Protocol and enables Parties or member states that have a greenhouse gas emissions limitation or reduction target under the Protocol to acquire Kyoto Units from those Parties that have reduced their emissions beyond their target under the Protocol. The tradable unit under emissions trading is an Assigned Amount Unit (AAU). The National Treasury Management Agency is the designated purchasing agent for Ireland and will administer and manage purchases of Kyoto Units on behalf of the Government. A dedicated Carbon Fund has been established for this purpose. All purchases will be made in accordance with the following objectives: That they contribute to the ultimate objective of the United National Framework Convention on Climate Change That risk is minimised, particularly in relation to the timely delivery of credits That they represent good value for money The National Treasury Management Agency will use the following mechanisms to purchase Kyoto Units: Direct purchase of Kyoto Units from other Kyoto Protocol member states Direct investment in joint implementation and clean development project activities Direct market purchases of Kyoto Units Any surplus Kyoto Units held by the State at the end of the 2008-2012 commitment period can be banked and used in a subsequent commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol or any successor treaty. (National Climate Change Strategy 2007-2012, Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government) Below is a graph illustrating the total greenhouse gas emissions for all sectors of all the member states up to 2005. As we can see, Ireland is somewhat off reaching its Kyoto target. 2.4 The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) 2.4.1 Introduction â€Å"Energy performance demands in the building sector within the EU range from rather demanding energy regulations and already established energy certification schemes in countries like Denmark and Germany, to the situation in countries like France and Spain with low regulation demands and without certification processes established at national level† (Casal, 2006). EU legislation and policies, implemented through the Energy Performance of Building Directive (EPBD), aim to provide a more uniform approach to implementing building energy saving measures and reaching Co2 emission goals. Each member state is required to translate and implement the policies and guidelines within the context of its legal and economic framework. The EPBD was enacted by the European Union in line with the Kyoto Protocol to: reduce European building energy consumption by 10 per cent by 2010 and 20 per cent by 2020; complete energy ratings of 2 million existing buildings by 2010; and cut Co2 emissions by 45 million tonnes by 2010 (Casal, 2006). The directive is the first move to target buildings specifically to reduce emissions and overall energy consumption in the construction sector. 2.4.2 Overview of the EPBD The EPBD is a legislative act of the European Union which requires member states to achieve particular results with respect to the energy performance of buildings. The directive 2002/91/EC (EPBD, 2003) of the European Parliament and Council on energy efficiency of buildings was adopted by member states and the European Parliament on 16th December 2002 and came into force on 4th January 2003. This directive is a very important legislative component of energy efficiency activities of the European Union designed to meet the Kyoto commitment. The directive concerns a large number of participants on all levels with different impacts and different motivations: designers, housing associations, architects, providers of building appliances, installation companies, building experts, owners, and tenants effectively all energy consumers in the European Union. It will greatly affect awareness of energy use in buildings, and is intended to lead to substantial increases in investments in energy efficiency measures within these buildings. The EPBD has created a great challenge for the transformation of the European building sector towards energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy resources. The 4th of January 2006 was the official deadline by which the 25 member states had to transpose the directive. 2.4.3 Objectives and Requirements of EPBD The objective of the EPBD is to improve the energy performance of buildings within the community, taking into account outdoor climate conditions as well as indoor climate requirements and cost effectiveness. The directive lays down requirements regarding: The framework for a methodology of calculation of the integrated energy performance of buildings The application of minimum requirements on the energy performance of new buildings The application of minimum requirements on the energy performance of large existing buildings that are subject to major renovation The energy performance certification of buildings The regular inspection of boilers, an assessment of the heating installation in which the boilers are more than 15 years old and an inspection of air conditioning systems in buildings The requirements for experts and inspectors for the certification of buildings, the drafting of the accompanying recommendations and the inspection of boilers and air conditioning systems. The requirements of each member state are set out in the EPBD under different articles. (EPBD, 2002) 2.4.4 Summary of Articles 2.4.4.1 Adoption of a methodology Each member state is required to have a method of calculating the energy performance of buildings. This calculation method can be set at a national or a regional level. This is an extract of the directive on article 3: ‘Member States shall apply a methodology, at national or regional level, of calculation of the energy performance of buildings on the basis of the general framework set out in the Annex. Parts 1 and 2 of this framework shall be adapted to technical progress in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 14(2), taking into account standards or norms applied in member state legislation. This methodology shall be set at national or regional level. The energy performance of a building shall be expressed in a transparent manner and may include a CO2 emission indicator (EPBD, 2002) 2.4.4.2 Setting of energy performance requirements These minimum requirements shall be reviewed every five years. Some categories of buildings may be exempted from the requirements. These include: Protected buildings and monuments Buildings used as places of worship Temporary buildings Residential buildings intended to be used for less than 4 months of the year Stand alone buildings with a total useful floor area of less than 50m ² 2.4.4.3 Setting of energy performance requirements for new buildings Each member state will set minimum energy performance requirements for new buildings. For large new buildings with a floor area of over 1000m ² member states should consider alternative energy systems before construction starts. These include: Decentralised energy supply systems based on renewable energy CHP (combined heat and power) District or block heating or cooling, if available Heat pumps, under certain conditions The consideration of the alternative energy systems should take technical, environmental and economic feasibility into account. 2.4.4.4 Setting of energy performance requirements for existing buildings Each member state will ensure that when buildings over 1000m ² undergo major renovation that their energy performance is upgraded to meet minimum requirements. The minimum standards may be applied to the whole building or limited to the renovated part. 2.4.4.5 Energy performance certificate Each member state must ensure that when a building is constructed that an energy performance certificate is made available to the owner. When a building is sold or rented out an energy performance certificate must be made available to the prospective buyer or tenant. The certificate is valid for 10 years. For buildings over 1000m ² occupied by public authorities, an energy certificate must be placed in a prominent place clearly visible to the public. 2.4.4.6 Independent experts Member States shall ensure that the certificate of buildings, the drafting of the accompanying recommendations and the inspection of boilers and air-conditioning systems are carried out in an independent manner by qualified or accredited experts, whether operating as sole traders or employed by public or private enterprise bodies. (EPBD, 2002) Implementing EPBD in Ireland 2.5.1 Building Control Act 2007 The Building Control Act provides for the legal transposition of the EUs Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) into Irish law. This will lead to energy efficiency becoming an important aspect of design concern for all buildings, both residential and non-residential. It is essential that the general public and companies involved in the industry understand the impact of the directive on residential and commercial property in Ireland. The Act requires that there will have to be mandatory building energy rating (BER) certificates for some buildings. This means that when a building is constructed, sold or rented out, the owner must provide a BER certificate to the prospective buyer or tenant. The BER will be accompanied by an advisory report setting out recommendations for cost-effective improvements to the energy performance of the building. This is further explained in chapter 3. ‘‘The successful implementation of the directive will require that systems are in place to guarantee the day-to-day delivery of assessment and inspection services by qualified people in a way that is consistent, practical and cost efficient, and with acceptable response times that maintain levels of service in the construction and property markets. (www.lkshields.ie/htmdocs/publications/newsletters) www.sei.ie www.epbd.ie http://www.euroace.org/reports/CIBSE_EUBD.pdf Casal, X.G. (2006), ‘‘Analysis of building energy regulation and certification in Europe: their role, limitations and differences, Energy and Buildings, Vol. 38 No.5, pp.381-92 Energy Performance of Buildings Directive 2002

Essay --

1) What is Six Sigma (6S) ? 1.1 The concept The sigma’s concept comes from the Greek letter ‘ÏÆ'’ which the statisticians use to describe the â€Å"the standard deviation of a population†. So, Sigma represents the variability within a population. A high quality level of Sigma demonstrates the possibility of defective products. The higher the Sigma’s level, the lower the rate of the defective. Hence, the use of Six Sigma helps to reduce the variation, achieving small standard deviations and improving the product’s quality.(Pande et al 2002, Breyfogle 1999, Breyfogle et al 2001, Oakland 1999) 1.2 The background Six Sigma was developed by Motorola in the late 1980s with a view to improving the quality (Bhote 2002). In 1990s, General Electric and Allied Signal implied Six Sigma successfully. After that, more and more organisations firstly in United States and after worldwide developed 6S and it won the attention of the business world. The strategy of Six Sigma includes the use of statistical tools within a structured methodology for obtaining of knowledge needed to achieve faster, better and cheaper products and services from the competitors. The disciplined and the repeated implementation of the main strategy are the key of the 6S. (Breyfogle 1999, Urdhwareshe 2000) 1.3 Definition of Six Sigma Six sigma has many definitions depending on the authors, it can be defined as a strategy, an operational initiative, a statistic method, a tool for measurement, a target, a comparative performance’s measure, a vision, a philosophy and other. Breyfogle (1999) supports that Six Sigma is considered an operational strategy that uses a well-structured continuous improvement methodology. The aim is to reduce the variability of processes and the c... ...Six Sigma is not a technique or a method, according to the definition of Mario Perez-Wilson (1999), the 6S targets an optimized performance level with almost zero defects in a process that produces products, services or transactions. It indicates an achievement and maintenance of a world-class performance. Six Sigma is the result, not the journey. Accordingly, Perez-Wilson does not consider the Six Sigma as a methodology, but as a target. Consequently, according Knowles (2011), as output of the different views, Six Sigma has three aspects and it is: 1) A measure: How far is the organisation from the target and the perfect quality ? 2) A target: 3.4 defects per one million opportunities. 3) A philosophy: It focuses on sustainability and on a long term strategy which targets on the reduction of expenses, decreasing the variability in the process and the products.

Essay --

Cyber Teenagers: An Addiction The time teenagers spend using social media, in front of the computer and with their cellphones, is excessive. People judge social media with different opinions: some people look at social media as an interesting and useful tool and some people just do not like social media at all. What people do not know are the consequences social media can bring to teenagers. The common view most teenagers have about social media is different to what many people think about social media in many ways. Most teenagers think that the use of social media has a positive impact on their social and emotional lives. Most teenagers think that social media helps them keep in touch with friends they do not see on a daily basis, and they think social media is a tool that helps them communicate with other students at their school and meet new people. Although most teenagers think social media is good for them, my position on social media is different from what most of the teenagers believe. Social media, in my opinion, is bad for society and even worse for t...

Greek Myth Book Report: Prometheus Steals Fire From Heaven :: essays research papers

Greek Myth Book Report: Prometheus Steals Fire From Heaven Title - Prometheus Steals Fire From Heaven Author - Shortened, Simplified version of real story. Author Unknown I. Setting:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The setting for the story Prometheus Steals Fire From Heaven is In heaven, Earth, Olympus, and Mt. Caucasus. The time period is that of when there were only the (Greek) gods, and no men on earth, and none of the animals seemed worthy to rule the rest. II. Point of View: Omniscient point of view III. Characters: Zeus - Zeus is the ruler of the universe. At one point in the story Zeus was Jealous of others' powers. Zeus also had a bad temper and was mad at Prometheus for stealing heavens fire and chained Prometheus high on Mt. Caucasus, forever. He is one of 2 antagonists in the story. Hera - Queen of heaven, no significant part in story. Prometheus - The major protagonist in the story. Prometheus was one of the Titans (parents of the gods). He always thought of the positive side of things, and never let anyone or thing phase him. He proudly endured pain and showed his agony to none, all for inferior humans. Epimetheus - A minor part in the story. Epimetheus was the brother of Prometheus. Hephaestus - This minor character is heaven's lame smith. His part is somewhat significant later in the story, but he has no say in what he does, even if it is wrong. Pandora - Pandora was made by Zeus. She was made to curb man's power. As beautiful as a goddess, the immortals bestowed gifts on her to make her more captivating. Pandora is the 2nd antagonist in the story. IV. Theme   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The hero's mission is to create a man like figure on the Earth, with the power of fire. Pandora accidentally opened a jar full of disease, envy, revenge, spite, and other evils which went on man, down on the earth, but she closed it. The only thing left in it was hope. That is all man had now - hope. Prometheus completed his mission, even though he was chained up on the side of the mountain and tormented the rest of his life. V. Plot   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There was a time when there was no gods, and Heaven and Earth alone existed. From their union sprung the Titans, and the children of the Titans, the gods rebelled and overthrew them. Now there was no men on Earth so Prometheus had a task of making one. He mixed clay with water, kneaded it, shaped it, and made it look rather god like in shape. He made it stand upright Greek Myth Book Report: Prometheus Steals Fire From Heaven :: essays research papers Greek Myth Book Report: Prometheus Steals Fire From Heaven Title - Prometheus Steals Fire From Heaven Author - Shortened, Simplified version of real story. Author Unknown I. Setting:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The setting for the story Prometheus Steals Fire From Heaven is In heaven, Earth, Olympus, and Mt. Caucasus. The time period is that of when there were only the (Greek) gods, and no men on earth, and none of the animals seemed worthy to rule the rest. II. Point of View: Omniscient point of view III. Characters: Zeus - Zeus is the ruler of the universe. At one point in the story Zeus was Jealous of others' powers. Zeus also had a bad temper and was mad at Prometheus for stealing heavens fire and chained Prometheus high on Mt. Caucasus, forever. He is one of 2 antagonists in the story. Hera - Queen of heaven, no significant part in story. Prometheus - The major protagonist in the story. Prometheus was one of the Titans (parents of the gods). He always thought of the positive side of things, and never let anyone or thing phase him. He proudly endured pain and showed his agony to none, all for inferior humans. Epimetheus - A minor part in the story. Epimetheus was the brother of Prometheus. Hephaestus - This minor character is heaven's lame smith. His part is somewhat significant later in the story, but he has no say in what he does, even if it is wrong. Pandora - Pandora was made by Zeus. She was made to curb man's power. As beautiful as a goddess, the immortals bestowed gifts on her to make her more captivating. Pandora is the 2nd antagonist in the story. IV. Theme   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The hero's mission is to create a man like figure on the Earth, with the power of fire. Pandora accidentally opened a jar full of disease, envy, revenge, spite, and other evils which went on man, down on the earth, but she closed it. The only thing left in it was hope. That is all man had now - hope. Prometheus completed his mission, even though he was chained up on the side of the mountain and tormented the rest of his life. V. Plot   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There was a time when there was no gods, and Heaven and Earth alone existed. From their union sprung the Titans, and the children of the Titans, the gods rebelled and overthrew them. Now there was no men on Earth so Prometheus had a task of making one. He mixed clay with water, kneaded it, shaped it, and made it look rather god like in shape. He made it stand upright

Napa Valley Winery Inc

Quintal realized that the quantity of red table wine produced is closely associated to the sales. Ms. Quintal reviewed her past sales in order to predict future sales based on the amount of wine produced in 2008. The issue Quintal faced was the seasonality of wine sales; December being its peak time in sales. After careful consideration, Quintal determined that although her previous forecasting method had worked from an operational standpoint, however, there was still room to improve its accuracy.Quintal has to determine what the forecasting profits will be for the next 16 months (Septet's to DCE 2009) prior to the conclusion of any business deals with Transcontinental. The software that was used in order to predict the future sales was Stools. Stools provided me with four different methods (Moving Averages, Simple, Halt's & Winters' exponential smoothing) of forecasting to identify the most accurate prediction possible. With a Means Absolute Percentage Error (MAPS) of 3. 72% the Hal t's exponential smoothing method was determined to be the best method of predicting monthly wine sales for the next sixteen months (Figure 2).Background/Additional Research on Nap Valley Wineries The Nap valley is known for its stylish and exquisite wine blends. The highly acclaimed Paradox Winery was founded in 1994 and its current wine maker is David Marches'. Paradox is the only winery that is truly devoted to wine blends in the Nap Valley. Paradox has four different estates that produce grapes with distinct attributes that reflect the variations in soil, terrain, micrometer, and exposure. This vineyard has created a blend of zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, along with smaller amounts of Merlot and Petite Sarah to create the first Paradox vintage.One of Paradox's quality wines is the 2006 Postmark Monitor Ledge Vineyard Red Wine. This lend of Zinfandel paired with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot originates solely from our Monitor Ledge Vineyard which is known for producing concentrat ed and structured wines. This wine highlights red cherry and rose petal aromas, with notes of blueberry, blackberry, smoky cedar and cola. The flavors of the red fruit and warm blackberry with a dash of cinnamon spice. Analyzing the Problem The data used was gathered from previous sales from Jan. 2000 through Gauge. 2008.This data will be used in forecasting sixteen month time period starting with Septet. 2008 and all of 2009 wine sales. The forecasting tool used was Stools, which eloped in determining the total wine sales for the next sixteen months. The question that will be addressed: What is Northern Nap Valley Winners projected sales for the upcoming sixteen months? To better answer this question there are four different methods of forecasting (Figure 5 Moving Averages, Figure 4 Simple, Figurer Halt's & Figure 3 Winters' Exponential Smoothing) that will be used, of those four one will give the best prediction based on the past data.Forecasting methods where done dissocialized. The Mean Absolute Percentage Error is important when forecasting data. The closer the MAPS is to zero the more accurate the forecast. This will be the catalyst in determining the accuracy of the forecasts. Runs test (Null Hypothesis of Randomness) Prior to doing any forecasting it is important to determine whether or not the data is random or nonrandom. The software used to conduct the Runs Test for Randomness was Stool's. This test was used in order to determine if there were too many or too few runs in a series of data.Figure 5: Moving Averages I I Forecasting Constant I Forecast I Span 13 Mean Abs Err 1683. 03 631. 59 I I Moving Averages 1460. 00 1480. 16 I Root Mean Sq Err 14. 12% By using Stools a graph was formulated to show the fluctuation of sales from Jan 2000 through DCE. 2009. The moving average in this case for the next sixteen months produced a MAPS of 4. 12%. A MAPS of is considered to be very good so 4. 12% has limited forecasting errors and would be considered an exc ellent forecast. Although, the MAPS for the moving average was considerably accurate, the Halt's method produced a MAPS of 3. 2% which indicative of a more accurate forecast. The difference between the Moving Averages method and the Halt's method is the MAPS of . 4%, which makes the Moving Average less accurate than the Halt's Exponential Smoothing Method. Conclusion and Recommendation It is apparent that wine sales fluctuate monthly which could be based upon changes in the economy, climate, or preference. Annual forecasting is not conducive to wine sales since wine fluctuates on a monthly basis. An example of wine lactating would be in August sales are low but, in sales are at its peak.Ms. Quintal should forecast future sales on a monthly basis in order to maintain a more accurate account sales activity. It is recommended that Ms. Quintal utilize Stools as a means of automating her forecasting task and maintaining continuity of records. According to the sixteen month forecast the a mount of wine produced is closely related to the amount of wine sold. Reference Nap valley wineries. (2011, November 16). Retrieved from http:// www. Banqueters. Com/nap_valley_wineries. HTML (2011, November 16). Retrieved from http://www. Wisped. Org/

Management and Workbook Process Essay

As a leading pioneer in outdoor retailing and a company at the forefront of the movement for environmental sustainability, we write this letter in response to your request to evaluate your current Workbook Process and appraise the advantages as well as the drawbacks to the system. We are not in favour of the current Workbook Process for reasons that we will list for you. We feel that a company with such a reputation as Patagonia, Inc., needs to adopt a less sophisticated but progressive system. MAIN FINDINGS With the research we carried out it was very clear and apparent to us that the Workbook Process was ineffective. However, it did open up communication among employees, and it also encouraged employees to share their ideas with some upper level management. We do feel that the process can be improved upon. OVERVIEW OF THE WORKBOOK PROCESS The Patagonia Workbook Process in our view was designed to make information about the company’s planning, budgeting and quality improvement flow more fluently amongst all the employees. The Process was also designed to encourage the employees to take a more active role in the company’s planning, operating review and decision making process. We will start our analysis by critiquing and listing what we feel are major concerns of the workbook process. CONCERNS OF THE WORKBOOK PROCESS * The Process of sharing information could weaken the managers’ powerbase, because selective disclosure of information can be used to control and to manipulate employees to do their work. * Expensive system because training is required for the employees to learn and to understand the system. In addition, training is time consuming. * The poor deliverance of financial information, due to the fact that some employees did not want to participate in the Process. * The one to two months lag behind of paperwork. Thus information was never relevant for that specific time period. * Large proportion of employees refused to engage in the Process because they found it tedious. * The plan was not accepted by all levels of management. * The Workbook Process focuses mainly on planning in advance for the longer term rather than on a day by day basis. * The Workbook Process had difficulty in judging environment, quality and distribution objectives, which are crucial success factors for Patago nia, Inc. * The Workbook Process is very complex and time consuming. The level of planning and the enormous amount of meetings needed to discuss company plans leaves very little time for constructive work to be done. * The Process could be limiting in the sense that it does not promote innovations; if anything it encourages people to just stick to a set plan and nothing else. * The profit sharing plan that was introduced was not based on merit; it was just allocated in equal percentages of the base salary. On the contrary, the workbook process also has some benefits. Although, the concerns outweigh the benefits, it is for your benefit and to give you a better perspective of the Process. BENEFITS OF THE WORKBOOK PROCESS * The Workbook Process has been significantly embraced amongst the employees at Patagonia, Inc. * A significant amount of the employees feel that the Process is worthwhile and that it has given everyone an opportunity to bond; and also optimized better solutions for the company. * The Workbook Process being a much longer term strategy can detect problems or issues before they arise, which is a more proactive approach, rather than waiting for an issue to arise before it gets attended to. * The Workbook Process gave a chance for employees at the top of the hierarchy a better understanding of what lower ranked employees where up to, therefore it created an atmosphere whereby everyone was interested in what was happening within the company. EVALUATION On the basis of our evaluation, we would like to recommend that Patagonia, Inc. discontinues with the Workbook Process. We are of the view that the Process has served its intended purpose. The Process has worked in the sense that it has educated the employees on how the company operates and how their jobs interface with each other. A control system is applied to ensure that an organization strategy is implemented which is not the case with the Workbook Process. The Workbook Process focuses on long term rather than looking at each scenario as it arises. In looking back at the time dedicated to achieving company objectives is lacking, which we feel is a key component of the future success of the company. A value driver is an objective which can indicate future success. An example would include product design, quality and design, quality and customer service, which are all qualities that Patagonia, Inc. values. MAIN RECOMENDATIONS AND MODIFICATION Our recommended replacement for the Workbook Process is a Balanced Scorecard. A Balanced Scorecard is a less sophisticated and more grounded evaluation method. A Balanced Scorecard not only focuses on financial but also non-financial contributors to the success of the company. Management can set objectives that involve different areas of the business. For example the production and distribution could qualify as efficiency objectives, research and development would focus on innovations, and the human resources would look after the quality of life for the employees. We are of a strong view that these aspects are key elements to the success of the company. The Balanced Scorecard will not guarantee success for Patagonia, Inc. but, we see it as a step in the right direction. The Balanced Scorecard does have some drawbacks as well as advantages. The drawbacks are, a Balanced Scorecard can add a new type of reporting without necessarily improving quality or financial numbers; it could be viewed as a non-value adding report method and a distraction for achieving actual goals. One more disadvantage is that Balanced Scorecard goals are easy to reach but hard to quantify. The advantages of the Balance Scorecard are that, it caters for employees who are both financially and non-financially literate, a Balanced Scorecard is less technical and easier to understand, and the last advantage is that the Balanced Scorecard is less time consuming and will allow workers to focus more on their real tasks. CONCLUSION In concluding, we feel that the time and effort required to keep the Workbook Process operational are too costly. The staff within the organization are only partially committed, which in our view is causing complications with the success of the Workbook Process. The level of training required is exhaustive. The employees who are not financially literate regardless of how much training they receive might never fully grasp the concepts of the Workbook Process. When an organization focuses all its efforts on financial results, other tasks that cannot be measured objectively are neglected. We hope that you will take all of our advice and recommendations into consideration and, we wish you and Patagonia, Inc. all the success in your future endeavours.