Research Paper Essay

Abstract This research paper will evaluate the biological aspects of addictive substance or behavior and how it affects the brain and organs. Biological aspects include dopamine levels that are replaced in the brain due to the reward system being overtaken and the absorption rate of the drug once it is ingested will be discussed. The biological aspects are extensive and permanent if the individual does not get the help they need. Furthermore the clinical issues of addictive substance or behavior will be discussed along with medical treatments and ethical issues. This includes treatments such as counseling and treatment programs that are effective. Lastly the Christian worldview implications and how it affects Christian counselors will be addressed. How the church may view individuals who have an addiction and how a counselor approaches a client with an addiction. Addiction is something that is an epidemic in the world of the devil and it should be evaluated and taken seriously. People use drugs for a variety of reasons, some may be to self-medicate, to overcome anxiety, to deal with a past that they want to forget, or even just to fit in with a crowd. However, most of the users, initially, do not think or care of the after side effects which could include addiction. There are many factors that come into play on if a person will be more susceptible to addictions such as â€Å"heredity, environment, psychoactive drugs and compulsive behaviors† (Inaba & Cohen, 2011). Substance/Behavior Drugs affect many areas of a person’s body, the central nervous system (CNS) is effected â€Å"causing mental, emotional and physical changes† (Inaba & Cohen, 2011). Pharmacokinetics describes this process by which a drug is â€Å"absorbed, distributed, metabolized, eliminated, and excreted by the body† (Inaba & Cohen, 2011). The factors that contribute to this process include: â€Å"route of  administration, speed of transit to the brain, rates of metabolism, process of elimination, affinity for nerve cells and neurotransmitters† (Inaba & Cohen, 2011). All of these factors contribute to how the drug biogically affects the person administering the drug. A person who injects heroine on an empty stomach will not have the same effect as a person who digests a pill of heroine after a meal. There are more aspects that involve if the person will become addicted to the drug. Metabolism and excretion also play a part in the effects on the brain. Metabolism is â €Å"the body’s mechanism for processing, using, and inactivating a foreign substance that has entered the body† (Inaba & Cohen, p. 2.7, 2011). Metabolism applies to everything that is ingested into our bodies, including food. Excretion is â€Å"the process of eliminating the foreign substance and its metabolites from the body† (Inaba & Cohen, p. 2.7, 2011). When a drug is ingested the metabolic process begins along with the excretion process by the kidney. This explains why alcoholics have kidney problems and sometimes failure after years of alcohol abuse. An example of how a drug travels from Inaba and Cohen is: â€Å"when someone swallows a 10 milligram tablet of Vicodin or drinks a beer the drug passes through the esophagus and the stomach into the small intestine, where it is absorbed into the capillaries enmeshed into the intestine walls. The capillaries transport the drug into the veins which carry it to the liver where it is partially metabolized. It is then pumped back to the heart and subsequently to the rest of the body.† That is just one example of how a drug is passed through the body and absorbed into the users system. There are many other ways that the drug can enter into the body. The first time alcohol or drugs are ingested â€Å"dopamine levels spike higher than they do with food†¦and that experience is remembered,† the experience is stored in the amygdala which controls emotion and hippocampus which controls emotion. After using the substance over and over the brain no longer produces its own dopamine. (Carlson & Carlson, 2013). There are more side effects that occur if the substance is not taken again, including depression and sometimes physical symptoms. (Carlson & Carlson, p.35, 2013). If the person stopped filling the void they have created with the substance their brain will eventually start reproducing its own dopamine again. There are addictions that can develop from behavior disorders, non-substance abuse disorders. These could be gambling, shopping, and many other compulsive/impulse control disorders. There are studies that suggest that â€Å"26-37% of those with alcohol dependence also had a lifetime history of a mood disorder (with depression being the most common), whereas 32-37% met lifetime criteria for an anxiety disorder† (McLachlan & Starkey, 2012). When a person who is addicted to a compulsive disorder is going through withdrawals â€Å"the urge or craving while abstaining from the behaviors may have a similarity with cravings during drug withdrawal in substance addictions† (El-Guebaly, Mudry, Zohar, Tavares,& Potenza, 2012). To a person who is withdrawing from a gambling addiction they will feel the same way as a person who is trying to stop drinking. There are groups such as Gamblers Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous that help these individuals through the process of overcoming their addictions. When a person who is suffering from an addiction decides to make a change they can go through a process before they decide to take action. The stages are pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation/ready for action, action, maintenance, and possibly relapse. (James, p. 74, 2012). Pre-contemplation is when the person is not considering change and denying they have a problem. Contemplation is when the addict is sitting on the fence about if they have a problem or not. Preparation/ready for action is described as when they are making a mental plan for how and when they are going to act. Action is practicing the new behavior for three to six months. The maintenance stage is continuing to maintain the new behavior for more than six months after the action plan. Relapse occurs if the old behaviors happen again, (James, 2012). An important part of overcoming the behaviors that go along with addiction is the creation of memories. Memories are created from the time we are born, we learn things about ourselves such as what makes us laugh or what makes us cry. A person may have a bad experience with a drug or alcohol and that memory stays with them. It could even deter them from trying it again or the person could be pressured into giving it one more try before they decide. Memories are actually â€Å"solid bits of protein imprinted on the brain as microscopic memory bumps called dendritic spines† (Inaba & Cohen, p. 2.12, 2011). When people use psyc hoactive drugs the memories are imprinted on the brain. These memories include, â€Å"where they got the drug, the reason they used it, and what feelings resulted† (Inaba & Cohen, 2011). These memories are problematic because they are especially  powerful for the user’s brain. The memories will affect how often a person uses in the future. If a person has a euphoric and amazing experience when they use a drug they will remember it vividly and have a hard time forgetting the experience. If something happens to them that causes depression or makes them have a bad day they will go back to this euphoric state and want to recreate that situation again. Furthermore, if the person has a preconceived susceptibility to addiction to a substance they are more likely to continue to go back to this substance to solve their problems rather than dealing with them in a healthy way. Many factors such as environment when the person was raised will also play a factor, if the person was not taught the proper coping skills in dealing with issues their only memory of how to escape a problem will be the occurrence of the drug use. The same instance occurs with a person who suffers from a behavioral disorder such as gambling. When a person gambles they feel valued and appreciated. A person with a gambling addiction is treated like a king when they walk into a casino or a place that caters to gamblers. They bring them drinks to their table, they have beautiful girls around them, and they a re treated as if they are someone important. To a person who has never been treated like that in their life, it can develop into an addiction, an addiction to winning the money and an addiction to being treated like a king. Their memories and reward systems are replaced with this experience and it is hard to overcome. The reward/control pathway of the brain â€Å"encourages a human to perform or repeat an action that promotes survival† (Inaba & Cohen, p. 2.14, 2011). A psychoactive drug urges a person to take the drug again because it closely resembles the natural reward system of the brain. For substance abusers this pathway is seriously altered, â€Å"the go circuit becomes overactive and the stop circuit becomes dysfunctional and does not shut off the craving† (Inaba & Cohen, 2011). The craving to do the drug again becomes seemingly unbearable for the individual because their reward system is in overload. The individual may wish that they could stop the addiction or not even want to but they cannot stop because of the affect the drug/habit has had on their brain. The reversal of the reward system also makes normally enjoyable circumstances not enjoyable to the individual suffering from an addiction. A person who may have enjoyed painting or walking around the park will be able to think about nothing other than  taking another hit of cocaine because their brains reward system is not happy until that is experienced. It takes a very strong individual to be able to overcome this and recognize it in their own brains. That is why there are programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous to help individuals process these changes in a step by step basis, because it is so hard to just quit something that has such a hold on the person. Clinical Issues There are aspects of treatment that dominate in the field of treatment of a behavioral or chemical dependency. These aspects begin with the fact that medications are used more to treat addictions, there are many reasons that a drug may be used in the treatment process including; â€Å"drugs lessen the withdrawal symptoms, drugs lessen cravings, substitute medications that are less damaging than the primary substance of abuse, nutritional supplements, and antidepressants† (Inaba & Cohen, 2011). Some addicts do require drug use but some do not, it depends on how addicted to the substance or behavior the person was as well as how long they were using. Another issue in treatment is that new imaging techniques are being used to â€Å"visualize the structural and physiological effects of addiction on the human brain† (Inaba & Cohen, 2011). These techniques include CAT (computerized axial tomography) scans to show the damage to the brain tissues, MRI (magnetic resonance imagin g), fMRI (functional MRI), PET (positron emission tomography), SPECT (single-photon emission computerized tomography, and DTI (Diffusion tensor imaging) (Inaba & Cohen, p. 9.5, 2011) These techniques allow doctors to study the brain as the addict goes through such things as the reward cycle when using a drug. These tests will help to better understand the processes of the brain and possibly be able to further combat the problem of addiction. The more a process in understood, the more educated a doctor can be with their patient the better treatment process they can prescribe for the patient. Internet-based therapies involve â€Å"structured, treatment programs delivered via the internet that incorporate some degree of therapist interaction† (Blaszczynski, A., Gainsbury, S., 2011). The internet based therapy mostly occurs via e-mails, telephone or face to face between the client and the counselor; it can benefit a wide range of people including those with alcohol and drug addictions. It is also beneficial for those with behavioral addictions such as gambling. Internet based therapy  has been largely successful with less than â€Å"25% of people with addiction-related problems ever entering formal treatment† (Blaszcynski, 2011). The internet based therapy could be widely popular as well because it is anonymous and they do not have to attend a meeting or go out of their way to a counselor’s office. The appointments are on the person’s own time when they are available. Treatment for individuals such as the elderly depends on patient placement after they are evaluated for abuse or addiction as well as physical or psychiatric problems. Treatment is then evaluated on the risks that could affect the elderly person. There are six dimensions â€Å"established by the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM): acute intoxication and/or withdrawal potential; biomedical conditions and complications; behavioral conditions and complications; treatment acceptance/resistance; relapse potential; and recovery environment† (Clay, 2010). An elderly individual struggling from addiction can also be placed in an outpatient treatment such as â€Å"brief intervention, motivational interviewing and pharmaceuticals† (Clay, 2010). It is recommended that the least intensive approach be considered first and then the condition be further assessed. Individuals who are addicted to heroin have a treatment that is called Opioid Substitution Treatment (OST) this involves prescribing opioids to those who are opioid dependent. A person who is addicted to heroin will go through â€Å"daily withdrawal symptoms, and are at increased risk of persisting in use of heroin and other drugs.† (Bell,2012). The i dea is to prescribe low dosage methadone (30-60 mg a day) or buprenorphine (4-8mg/day) to help control the withdrawal symptoms. Another reason for this approach is, â€Å"at higher methadone doses, people become more tolerant to opioids, and blocking the effects of heroin and suppressing continued heroin use† (Bell, 2012). Another approach to treatment is coerced treatment. Coerced treatment is when it is â€Å"mandated by the criminal justice system, through drug courts mandatory sentencing, probation/parole stipulations, and state or federal legislation requiring compulsory treatment† (Inaba & Cohen, 2011). The Drug Treatment Alternative-to-Prison program measured the effectiveness of the treatment programs that were mandatory and found reductions in the re-arrest rate, reconviction rate and return to prison rate. The downfall to the coerced programs is that there may not be space available for people who want to voluntarily get help before they are  arrested or in trouble with the legal system. The reduction in the economy over the years has caused a lot of government funded programs to be closed due to funding issues, leaving less places for addicts to go for help. (Inaba & Cohen, 2011). Christian Worldview Implications Addictions can come in many shape and forms to a Christian counselor. There are sexual addictions, gambling addictions, alcohol addictions, substance addictions etc. From a biblical standpoint a Christian counselor would want to introduce biblical morals and values so the person can rely on a higher power other than themselves to overcome the addiction. Addictions come straight from the devil when they are attacking a person and causing them to sin. A counselor should consider themselves to be warriors of God in the war against addictions. There are many in the Christian environments that consider addiction to be an act of will. A church congregation may not take an addiction as seriously as they would take someone who was diagnosed with cancer. It is important that the counselor help the client see that their addiction is important to overcome, confessing their addiction and the problem with it can be the first step when a person is struggling with an addiction. The person may feel that it is easier to hide the addiction rather than admit there is a problem, but to confess the sin is the most important first step. References Bell, J. (2012). Buprenorphine in The Treatment of Heroin Addiction. Dusunen Adam: Journal Of Psychiatry & Neurological Sciences, 25(2), 93-100. doi:10.5350/DAJPN20122502001 Blaszczynski, A., Gainsbury, S. (2011). A systematic review of Internet-based therapy for the treatment of addictions, Clinical Psychology Review. Vol. 31(3). Carlson, D., & Carlson, H. (2013). Addiction : The brain disease. Madison, CT, USA: Bick Publishing House. Clay, S. W. (2010). Treatment of addiction in the elderly. Aging Health, 6(2), 177-189. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.2217/ahe.10.14 El-Guebaly, N., Mudry, T., Zohar, J., Tavares, H. and Potenza, M. N. (2012), Compulsive features in behavioural addictions: the case of pathological gambling. Addiction, 107: 1726–1734. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2011.03546.x Inaba, D. S. & Cohen, W. E. (2011). Uppers, downers, all arounders: Physical and mental effects of psychoactive drugs. (7th ed.). Medford, OR: CNS Productions James, R. L. (2012). Sexuality and addiction. Westport, CT, USA: ABC-CLIO. McLachlan, A. D., & Starkey, N. J. (2012). The classification of substance and behavioural addictions: a preliminary investigation. New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 41(1)

The Universal Credit Program: Project Management

Management This report is addressed to the Universal Credit Project Board. Number of words: 1582 Executive Summary The Universal Credit Programme has failed in many eyes because of a lack of good project management. I researched the reasons of the lack of good project management and come to some good conclusions on the following subjects: 1. Project Initiation The programme was underestimated and the goals where to optimistic, the effects of the project initiation are clearly linked back of the complications which appeared later on the project.For example the project has changed project manager 5 times because of a lack of transparency. The lack of transparency can be linked back to setting to many goals in the project initiation. The project should have research the details better on making an IT programme this big. 2. Project organisation and structure The programme has been approached with an agile method, a lot like scrum-method. The biggest mistake that was made is the lack of u se of an agile project framework. It is logical that a programme from this size always includes Waterfall project management'.But in the Universal Credit programme the waterfall-managing ethod was counterworking the agile approach that was used. The project also lacks of a good stakeholders communication department, the communication with the stakeholders has been a big problem with the Universal Credit programme. More details about these conclusions can be found in the rest of the report. Introduction to the report For the course Project Management (344SAM) I am asked to write an report addressed to the Universal Credit Project Board. This is regarding the bad publicity the project has gotten lately from the press.The case study consists of an article form Brian Wernham where he claims that the Universal Credit Program has suffered from bad Project Management and a â€Å"lack of transparency'. In my research I will only use the information available till 5 September 2013, because this is the date when the report was published. In my research I will be focussing on the following 2 subjects: 1. Project initiation Brief background on project For this project I will be do research on the project management of the Universal Credit Programme.This program is developed to make a single monthly payment instead of all sorts separately benefits and tax credit top-ups payments. This rogram includes a ‘subsidy to work, people will be encouraged to work this way. To establish this project there must be a solid and reliable IT system. A lot of calculations have to been made and a lot of external influences must be taken in account. I'm going to research: What where the project goals, scope, organisation, business case, constraints? Which organisation and structure has been used?At the end of the report I will write my conclusions and recommendations. Project Initiation When the project was initiated at the end of 2012, there was a lot criticism on the project. This w as mainly because of a lack of transparency; people didn't really know what the programme meant. 1 1(The Ethical Deficit of the Proposed Universal Credit, Harley Dean, 2012, The Political Quarterly, Vol. 83, No. 2) The project initiation can be divided in 5 segments, which I will describe separately.Project Goals They are a lot of project goals for the universal credits programme: Good outcomes for claimants, Improved health (mental health especially), Increase the overall level of competencies and qualifications. Get more people from welfare into work. Reduce the amount of people getting homeless. And there are a lot of smaller goals stated in the report. They want to aim to process 95% of new housing benefits within 1 5 days. Also all the claims will merely be online processed. 3 Scope Entrepreneurial Council Board, Corporate Strategy and Governance Board.Project Organisation The project organisation consists of: 1 . Project Manager 2. Administrative employee 3. Trainee's for staf f 4. Online development 5. Communications and marketing 6. WMT The Entrepreneurial Council Board and WMT monitor the project. Business case There is no business case in the Project initiation document (PID). Constraints The PID says: â€Å"The current financial constraint being placed on the Council means we need to be creative about how we continue to deliver our services† 2 The budget and the quality are fixed. l will discuss this part in part 2. ) 2 (Project Initiation document. rtf, Alan Robinson, 2012, https:// knowledgenub. local. gov. uk/) 3 (Project Initation document (PID), Ali Ghanimi (project manager), John Magness (Project sponsor), August 2012, https://knowledgehub. local. gov. uk/) Criticism on the project initiation I will criticise all the parts of the project initiation separately. The project has a lot of goals and sub-goals. This (as seen in the future) will lead to a lack of transparency because there can't be send out one universal project goal.Also becau se of this high amount of goals there will be a lack of focus within the own organisation and even at the project manager. Project organisation The project organisation is monitored by the WMT itself; it could be useful to have influences from external parties. Also as seen in the future the complexity of the IT- part of this program is underestimated in this report. There should be more focus on how this IT-part is going to be set up and what kind of recourses are needed to chieve this. There is stated that no detailed business case is required.As shown in the future it would have been useful if they have done this part more detailed. The report would have set more directions for the programme as a whole. The price and quality are going to be fixed, getting the price fixed for an programme this size will require a lot of research in advance of the programme starting. This will take a lot of time and money and will exceed the 100million maximum development money that was agreed of i n 2012 by the council office. 4 The universal credit has spent over 425 million pound on the development ofUniversal Credit, this could have been prevented by focussing more on the use of project management frameworks and a detailed business case which is supported with reliable research. 1 1 (Universal Credit, Incremental IT, Brian Wernham,2013, Course work briefing 344SAM, moodie) project INITIATION DOCUMENT (Pid) Project organisation and structure As seen in the previous part the project used ‘an agile development approach'. The costs and quality were fixed in advance. This is to ensure that the final product is really going to work.The development method, scrum, has been used, this is a flexible way of developing a roduct. The scrum was used without the use of a project management framework such as the Dynamic Systems Development. The programming was done by the scrum-like approach but as seen in section one of this report; this project has a lot of ‘big picture goal s'; these goals fixed and are mainly in the Waterfall' world. The board wanted a big up front design, which is crossing the scrum-like programming approach which is changing it's goals and methods in an much higher speed.This big picture is counterworking the programmers. Below a illustration how the water-scrum-fall model works. In the Universal Credit System the ‘scrum' didn't have a change to be agile, once they went in a direction it was impossible to â€Å"swim back†. 2 1 (Water-scrum-fall model, Cristian Mesaros, Marketing Manager ,2013, www. iquestgroup. com/en/iquest-news/water-scrum-fall-model-life-sciences') 2 (Universal Credit, Incremental IT, Brian Wernham,2013, Course work briefing 344SAM, moodle) The Overall governance structure is shown in the image below.It must be said that the project manager has been replaced 5 times in over a year of this programme running, how is this possible? The lack of transparency from day 1 has resulted in nclear targets. The project has been monitored by the WMT, this monitoring should have been more in collaborating with the lower-level mangers who where working with a way more flexible approach. Also is there a lack of a good stakeholders communication department, the communication with the stakeholders has been very bad and should have gotten more attention. (Preparing for Universal credit, London Borough of Lewisham local authority led pilot, August 2012, https://knowledgenub. local. gov. uk/) Conclusions The Universal Credit System is a project that has cost 4 times what was counted on. How is this possible and where can we put the blame? I'm going to give my conclusions on this research in 2 departments: Project Initiation The project had too much goals, which has lead to haziness for the overall The project has a lot of goals and sub-goals. This (as seen in the future) will lead to a lack of transparency because there cant be send out one universal project goal.Also money that was agreed of in 20 12 by the council office. Project organisation and structure The project has changed 5 times of project manager because of a lack of transparency, intern and extern. Credit programme. I think the board underestimated he complexity ot this programme; overall the Universal Credit programme should have used project management a lot more. Recommendations Below a list of recommendations I make on what could have done better on the Universal Credit programme: Divide the programme in separate parts, with separate goals.

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

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Book Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 7

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Proportion Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Proportion Paper - Essay Example for a proportion, sample size required for a proportion, confidence interval for the difference of two proportion, comparison of a proportion with hypothesized proportion, and comparison of two proportions will be discussed. Central Limit Theorem (CLT) for a Proportion state that â€Å"As sample size increases, the distribution of the sample proportion p = x/n approaches a normal distribution with mean Ï€ and standard deviation.† The statistic p = x/n is assumed normally distributed when the sample is large. A conservative rule of thumb that normality may be assumed whenever nÏ€ ≠¥ 10 and n(1 − Ï€) ≠¥ 10. This rule requires a very large sample size to assume normality when Ï€ differs greatly from 0.50 (Doane & Seward 2007). Using the Central Limit Theorem, the probability that a sample proportion will fall within a given interval can be stated. The confidence interval for a population proportion, Ï€ at a given confidence level (1 – ÃŽ ±) is given by The value of z can be obtained using normal table (Z table) or using Excel function NORMINV(ÃŽ ±/2). The width of the confidence interval for a population proportion, Ï€ depends on the sample size, confidence level (1 – ÃŽ ±), and the sample proportion p. The estimate of difference and standard deviation of two-population proportion can be given by and , respectively. Using this estimate, a confidence interval for the difference of two population proportions, (Ï€1− Ï€2), is given by For normal sampling distribution, the test statistic for the hypothesis test will be z score. This test statistic is compared with critical value of z score at the selected level of significance, ÃŽ ± for retaining or rejecting null hypothesis (H0). The test statistic for a population proportion with hypothesized proportion Ï€0 is the difference between the sample proportion p and the hypothesized proportion Ï€0 divided by the estimated standard error of the proportion (denoted ÏÆ'p) as given below The assumptions of comparison

China Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

China - Research Paper Example The paper attempts to look into areas addressed by experts, organizations and nonprofit bodies and the conclusions drawn by them. The study will reveal that resource depletion cannot be controlled, since their consumption is inevitable, unless the variables which have potential adverse effects on this issue are monitored. Problem Statement: The ecological footprint of China has increased two fold since 1960’s and its demand is twice than what their ecological system can sustainably provide (WWF). The coming 20 years will be decisive relative to what path the Chinese will take for sustainable development and consequently the effects it will have on the Asian economy. Method: This paper will look into the published research on sustainable development in the modern world specifically China. The majority of the analyzed papers are from last 10 years. The projections and findings identify what variables are perpetuating this problem, the works of the concerned bodies, efforts by th e Chinese government and the regulatory authorities. The reports on issues of sustainable development in China, by World Wide Fund for Nature (one of United Nation’s coveted organization) are pivotal to the research input that has been utilized. Background: Chinese consume more industrial and agricultural goods than the United States of America. According to Earth Policy Institute, China is the world’s largest consumer of steel, coal, grain and meat with a booming economy holding 1.3bn people (BBC News). This increasing demand consequently results in more frequent utilization of China’s natural resources which is proving to be a burden on China’s ecological system’s capacity. Ecological Footprint is a very relative term while discussing the limitations of the world’s ecological system. Ecological Footprint is one of the most comprehensive measures of an individual’s average demand from the nature. Ecological Footprint of a nation is d efined as the total threshold area which is required for food production, fiber and timber that the inhabitants consume, capacity of land and depth of waste absorption, and the space for its infrastructure (WWF). This demand of nature is compared to the planet’s biocapacity, which means the area which is biologically productive and sustains life. In comparison to the world, Asia-pacific region has a lower size of ecological footprint. This region holds 50% of the total world’s population and its demands from nature constitute about 40% of total biocapacity of this planet, the current world demands 25% more than the planet can provide (BBC News). Introduction: China is significant in this region because of its large ecological footprint which is due to its large population. China’s massive use of goods from grain to platinum has made it a raw material economy. China is suffering an ecological deficit since quiet a long period of time. The emission of carbon dioxi de from the fossil fuels is one of the biggest sources of this deficit in China. Chinese import resources to meet their ever mounting needs. This indicates that the consumption of natural resources in China is also influencing and integrated with other countries’ consumption of natural resources too. This also points out to the fact that China’s need for resources is more than the capacity of its land. They import from

Constitutionality of Stop and Frisk Essay Example for Free

Constitutionality of Stop and Frisk Essay The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution guards against unreasonable searches and seizures. It also states that no warrants shall be issued without a probable cause. Modern jurisprudence has afforded police officers an incentive to respect the amendment. The Stop and Frisk law allows police officers to stop someone and do a quick search of their outer clothes for weapons if the officer has a reasonable suspicion that a crime has or is about to take place and the person stopped is armed or dangerous. The reasonable suspicion must be based with specific articulable facts and not on just an officer’s hunch. The Stop and Frisk law balances crime control, protects an individual’s right, and prevents unreasonable searches. The Fourth Amendment states, â€Å"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be seized (Lehman 471-476). This amendment can be broken into 2 distinct parts the reasonableness clause and the warrant clause. In the beginning, the U. S. Supreme Court adopted the conventional Fourth Amendment approach, which says the warrant and reasonableness clauses are firmly connected. The reasonableness clause protects the people’s right against unreasonable searches and seizures. The reasonable clause has to pass the reasonableness test, which consists of two elements that the government has to prove; balancing element and objective basis. The balancing element is the need to search and/or seize outweighs the invasion of liberty and privacy rights of the individuals. The objective basis is when there are enough facts to back up the search and/or seizure. The warrant clauses states that only warrants and probable cause are reasonable. It was not until the 1960’s when the Supreme Court shifted from the conventional approach to the reasonableness Fourth Amendment approach. It states that the 2 clauses are separate, and address separate problems. The warrant clause tells us what the Fourth Amendment requires only when law nforcement officers want to obtain warrants. Since a small percentage of searches and seizures are made with warrants and many searches and seizures don’t require probable cause either, the warrant clause isn’t very important. Today’s stop and frisk law grow out of the practical problems police officers face in preventing and investigating crime on the streets and other public places in our largest cities. In investigations, officers are usually dealing with people they don’t know or probably won’t ever see again. Usually these stranger’s suspicious behavior doesn’t add up to the probable cause needed to arrest them. An example would be that officers don’t have enough facts and circumstances viewed through their professional experience and training to arrest two men, who peer into a store window, look around to see if anyone’s watching them and pace up and down repeating the pattern for 10 minutes. What should the officers do at this point? Keep watching? Do nothing about the situation? Detain the men and pat the down for weapons? Take them to the police station? These issues were raised in the famous Terry v. Ohio, 392 U. S. 1 (1968) case. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U. S. 1 (1968), was a decision by the United States Supreme Court which ruled that the Fourth Amendment prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures on unreasonable searches and seizures was not violated when a police officer stopped a suspect on the street and search him without probable cause. On October 31, 1963, a Cleveland police detective named Martin McFadden saw two men, John W.  Terry and Richard Chilton, standing on a street corner looking suspicious. One would walk by a certain store window, stare in, and walk back to the other to confer. This was repeated several times, and the detective believed that they were plotting to do a store robbery. The officer approached the men and addressed himself as a policeman, and asked their names. When the men appeared suspicious in their answers, Officer McFadden patted them down and discovered that both men were armed. He proceeded to remove their guns and arrested them for carrying concealed weapons. Terry was sentenced to three years in prison. Terry appealed the case, claiming that the guns found should be inadmissible as evidence since his Fourth Amendment rights were violated. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court, where it was it was ruled that his rights had not been violated. In an 8-to-1 decision, the Court held that the search undertaken by the officer was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment and that the weapons seized could be introduced into evidence against Terry. The Court found that the officer acted on more than a â€Å"hunch† and that â€Å"a reasonably prudent man would have been warranted in believing Terry was armed and thus presented a threat to the officer’s safety while he was investigating his suspicious behavior. † The Court found that the searches undertaken were limited in scope and designed to protect the officer’s safety incident to the investigation. In reference to the Fourth Amendment searches and seizures, officers need to prove fewer suspicions facts and circumstances to back up stops and frisks than they do arrests and full-blown searches. Stops and frisks represents the beginning of a chronological path through the criminal process from more frequent and more visible searches and seizures in public to more intrusive searches and seizures out of sight in police stations. Stop and frisks aren’t just fine points for constitutional lawyers and courts to debate. They also reflect broad public policies aimed at balancing the values of crime control and individual liberty and privacy. Since stop and frisks take place in public, the display of police power is there for everybody to see. Because of this visibility, stops and frisks probably shape public opinion of police power more than the greater invasions of arrest and searches that we never see. Deciding which is more important in a constitutional democracy – crime control by means of less intrusive public stops and frisks affecting more people or often invisible arrests and searches affecting fewer people – is both a constitutional and public policy question. The key facts are: 1) Officers are going to stop many people who haven’t done anything wrong; and they’ll frisk lots of people who aren’t armed. 2) Most of the same people want police protection and (at least in high-crime neighborhoods) need it more than people who live in safe neighborhoods. 3) Both lawbreakers and law abiders in high-street-crime neighborhoods from lasting opinions about the police from street encounters they’ve watched or experienced.

Applications of Sustainable Architecture

Applications of Sustainable Architecture ‘Sustainability: What it means for Architecture’ Abstract This thesis considers what sustainability means to architecture, and how architects can utilise their knowledge to not only ensure a greener future for buildings, but to promote a better understanding of sustainability on a far wider scale. The areas under study include an appraisal of the technical, social, and financial and energy-saving aspects of sustainable development. Research proposes that systematic research and study into what sustainability means can help the concept to be more fully understood and better implemented in industry. Research is secondary, and uses three case studies which I have selected for their relevance to my design interests and which I believe represent a unique and innovative approach to the concept and interpretation of sustainability in architecture. Introduction Contemporary definitions of sustainability suggest that it is a generic term which encompasses many areas of society and industry, including buildings, transport, and public space. Sustainable architecture has been defined as a ‘cultural construction in that it is a label for a revised conceptualization of architecture [†¦] A sustainable design is a creative adaptation to ecological, sociocultural and built contexts (in that order of priority), supported by credible cohesive arguments.’[1] This dissertation seeks to address and discuss the varied ways in which sustainability relates to architecture, including physical constraints, impact of sustainable design, political and social trends and needs, and the availability of resources with which to build sustainable architecture. For architects sustainability and its implications have become of great value and importance ultimately changing the direction of architecture as a discipline and practical science. I believe that the term sustainability is a term thrown around very often without much thought as to what it means often because it is a concept of such great depth with potentially world-changing consequences and that the concept requires far more research if it is to be fully implemented on a mass scale. Throughout this thesis, I seek to define my own professional and creative interpretation of sustainable architecture by examining and learning from the work of others. In my structuring of the thesis I have narrowed down these interests to focus on three key areas as represented by three chosen case studies. These are to include: Chapter One. Technical sustainability: Werner Sobek This chapter examines how German engineer and architect Werner Sobek has integrated sustainable technical features into the design of his ecological home. The social housing Bed Zed project in London is also examined for its contributions to developing a clearer understanding of how architects might incorporate sustainable technology into their designs. Chapter Two. Social Sustainability: Seattle Library OMA. This chapter considers the impact and function of the public building for the immediate neighbourhood, and why the development is socially important. Chapter Three. Economical and Energetic Sustainability at Beddington. This chapter examines the key features of the Bed Zed project and what energy-saving and economic incentives the project offers to the wider community. Now one of the most well-known sustainable social housing developments, designed by Bill Dunster Architects, Bed Zed provides a useful and insightful point of comparison for the other studies. This allows me to assess the changes and improvements which sustainable development has undergone over the last decade. Chapter One: Technical Sustainability: Werner Sobek As outlined by Stevenson and Williams the main objectives of sustainability include significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions, conserving resources, creating well-structured and cohesive communities, and maintaining a consistent and successful economy[2]. For architecture these concepts have opened up a new industry involving use of alternative often re-usable materials, which offers the architect space to experiment with new designs. A considerable body of research exists into the best use of construction materials, offering guidance to architects and construction companies. For example, in 2000 The Building Research Establishment published a paper called a ‘green’ guide to construction materials which presents Life Cycle Assessment studies of various materials and their environmental impacts[3]. Whereas Energy Efficiency Best Practice in Housing have already established through research that there is global pressure to ensure that construction materials are susta inable.[4] Sobek’s design of his own sustainable home has been described as ‘an ecological show house of precise minimalism.’[5] Its principal design is of a cube wrapped in a glass shield, where all components are recyclable. The most obviously sustainable technical feature is the building’s modular design glass panels and a steel frame, which forms a lightweight structure. Sorbek’s work illustrates a high degree of thought behind the architect’s conceptual understanding of sustainability. Sorbek has obviously thought about what sustainability means and has implemented his knowledge to create an example from which future practitioners will learn. In Sobek’s work we see the high degree to which he has embraced new technology and made sophisticated use of new materials, while also maximising user comfort by incorporating sensor and controlling technology. Furthermore, the use of arbitrarily convertible ducts makes the use of traditional composites unnecessary. Thus, Sorbek is progressing the discipline of sustainable architecture, branching out into bolder, and stranger designs, which displace the functionality and detract saleability from traditional designs. In contemporary sustainable designs there needs to be a regularity and simplicity of form as this seems best to reflect the sustainable philosophy of the architect. As Papenek said of the designs of ecologically sensitive projects: ‘common sense must prevail when a design is planned.’[6] Considering the example of Sobek it is clear that sustainable building although fairly simple can nevertheless draw from a range of theoretical models in its designs. For example, the influence of traditional, even classical traditions will never be entirely absent from contemporary design; moreover contemporary sustainable designs require a re-assessment of architectural theory and practice. As Williamson et al phrases it: ‘green, ecological, and environmental are labels that embody the notion that the design of buildings should fundamentally take account of their relationship with and impact on the natural environment [..] labels refer to a particular strategy employed to achieve the conceptual outcome, and the strategies that occur in a discourse must be understood as instances from a range of theoretical possibilities. The promotion of a restricted range of strategic options regulates the discourse and the ways of practising the discipline [..] Overall, practitioners modify their concept of their discipline to embrace these new themes, concerns and ways of practice.’[7] Ways in which these theoretical influences might be expressed include experiments in symmetry, and regularity of form. Very often, as shown by Sobek’s work, the sustainable features require certain areas of space which can be unified under the more common purpose of working collaboratively. At Bed Zed in London any aesthetic compromises are more than compensated for by the provision of its own renewable energy. Forms, although not ambitious or ornamental do adhere to the Vitruvian principles of symmetry, where symmetry is defined as : ‘A proper agreement between the members of the work itself, and relation between the different parts and the whole general scheme, in accordance with a certain part selected as standard.’[8] In the BedZed project the regular layout, consisting of the assimilation of many component parts, reflects the sense of collaboration amongst the different companies which joined forces to create BedZed, and also the community feel amongst the people who live there. There is certainly a sense of completeness, deriving from the presence of many different units, fortified by sustainable features, where vents of varying colours detract from the strict regularity of forms, creating a light-hearted and ‘sunny’ aspect. Order and symmetry are integral to the design, as without these principles the amalgamation of materials and technological apparatus has the potential to look untidy. In both Sorbek’s project and at Beddington the presence of many windows, and solar panelled roofs, will come to symbolise not a lost tradition of architecture, but the securing of conceptual ideologies which aim to combine practicality with ecological sound principles and materials. Chapter Two. Social Sustainability: Seattle Library OMA. The Seattle Central Library, that opened in 2004, offers a unique blend of technical and social sustainability; where multi-functional spaces are combined with the most recent and efficient methods of construction. An important feature of the library’s placement is that it occupied the same site as the previous library. All too often new developments such as the newly proposed re-building of the Thomas Cooper Library at USC, Columbia involve purchasing a bigger site, often removed from the original location. This changing of location alters the layout of the city or town and thus changes the social dynamic of the area as well as the ways in which the public use the building. Designed by OMA Architects (Rem Koolhaas) and LMN Architects, the Seattle library has become one of the most famous buildings in North America[9]. Athens attributes this rise to fame to the building’s ‘daring form, soaring spaces, and unique interpretation of library functionality’, a s well as being a primarily green building with a LEED certification. The building is an irregular shape; this is necessary in order to maximise the exposure of the high performance glazing system to the light. A triple-layered glass wall allows for people within to have a shaded view out, while having plenty of daylight in the interior. One of the most sustainable features of contemporary projects should be to maximise daylight within the building and make best use of the energy that the sun affords. This not only means a greener ethic behind the building’s construction but also encourages people to make more use of the building as a public space, eg: for conferences, functions etc. The Seattle Library seeks to mark out a new definition of what public space means to the public, and how such a space can be multi-functional and dynamic in nature and design. Furthermore, the function of the building is not entirely contained to the immediate area or immediate society. For instance, the library has a rainwater collection system that is combined wit h a storm water detention tank. This means that the 40,000 gallon tank makes use of the required stormwater detention tank and increases its size by about 50% offering additional storage capacity for landscape irrigation, thus both conserving natural resources and benefiting the local farming and economic community. This library project is of particular relevance to the subject of this dissertation as it made use of LEED NC points an assessment method for the sustainable ‘points’ of a building as it is created. The Seattle library LEED NC points check highlighted social credits as being 28%: This project is a good example of how sustainable development can benefit the community and promote social engagement within the design process. As expressed by Athens,[10] ‘by its very nature, design process can represent the social side of sustainability because it is all about the people involved—their vision, creativity, and collaborative skills.’ Because the library project was aiming to provide a large community of people with an important service, and because the project needed to ensure a high level of longevity for the building, an extra three months was taken before the actual project design in order to research and map out the future of libraries their evolution, functionality and use of technology. Athens explains that ‘this process served to question assumptions regarding the core purpose of the project, and assess fundamental concepts for how needs could be met.’[11] The Bed Zed project in London although a social housing development provides a useful point of contrast to the Seattle project. For example, Bed Zed is a good example of how local government can work with local society, in a community-based project. While Athens expresses, ‘social aspects are harder to define as value propositions within the triple bottom line, and are often thought of as â€Å"externalities,†[12] it was the primary objective of the Bed Zed project to ensure that all parties were represented and consulted throughout the course of the project. In this way the social sustainability of the project is best achieved as once completed, the residents of the 82 homes have expressed their enthusiasm for the project, highlighting its convenience, its thoughtfulness in design, and its energy-efficiency. As Buckingham said of the social cohesion that went into the Bed Zed project, and which the project itself precipitated: ‘There is a synergy from building on these links so that capacity building is achieved through partnership in delivering local environmental sustainability projects and policies. Greater capacity as the sum of the collective work done in various initiatives is greater than the individual parts or partners, and, overall, individual projects and initiatives have a positive impact locally regarding environmental sustainability[..] The design provides a carefully researched balance between the needs of residents, businesses and community activities; the need for sunlight and daylight; an economic construction system and high levels of insulation without losing contact with the outside world.’[13] As designers Bill Dunster Associates have noted, ‘the true value of any site is determined by the amount of accommodation the local planning area sub-committee will allow to be built on it-empowering local communities to promote zero emissions developments, without relying on large central government grants, or asking the developer to pay for the increased building costs of super efficient urban fabric.’[14] Thus, in the design and implementation of sustainable projects it is necessary for architects to work closely and liaise with the local planning committee, stakeholders, and potential residents. Chapter Three: Energetic and Economic Sustainability In this chapter I seek to define the nature and importance of low-energy expenditure in construction and how to lower the building’s eventual energy output through new and innovative designs. Bed ZED Project, or Beddington Zero Energy Development, is the UKs largest carbon-neutral eco-community in the UK. It was built in 2002 in Wallington, within the London Borough of Sutton, and offers 82 residential homes. The Project was developed by the Peabody Trust, a social housing initiative in London, that aims to fight poverty within the capital. The aim of this project was to build in partnership with both an architect and an environmental consultancy firm, in order to create a housing project that incorporates new approaches to energy conservation and sustainability, and to develop a thriving community to live within it[15]. The BedZed design is unique for having incorporated a zero energy policy, where the energy that the building’s inhabitants need is produced by renewable sources generated on site.[16] Reclaimed materials were used, including floorboards, bollards, and timber.[17] It is a large site, including a sports field, offering 50 dwelling spaces per hectare, 120 workspaces per hectare, and over 4000m2 of green open space per hectare.[18] Utilisation of space is a key component of the design; the roofs of workspaces are used as gardens, where in comparable circumstances, most densities might only have room for a balcony.[19] According to the designers of BedZED, the â€Å"combination of super-insulation, a wind driven ventilation system incorporating heat recovery, and passive solar gain stored within each flat by thermally massive floors and walls, reduces the need for both electricity and heat to the point where a 135 kW wood fuelled combined heat and power plant (chp) can meet the en ergy requirements for a community of around 240 residents and 200 workers.†[20] The community treats all its black and grey water on site, and collects rainwater to minimise mains water consumption. A photovoltaic installation provides enough solar electricity to power 40 electric cars and the community has the capability to lead a carbon neutral lifestyle-with all energy for buildings and local transport being supplied by renewable energy sources. Other environmentally sensitive practices include community composting and plans for urban gardening on part of the adjoining Metropolitan Open Land, subject to local authority approval. Using the Bio-Regional principles of local material and labour sourcing stimulating the local economy, and minimising pollution from transportation, the team is now developing a site based prefabrication technique. Buckingham records that on-site workshops took second hand materials directly from demolition sites, cleaning up both timber and steel, and using simple jigs to build structural frames. Materials for this development such as new hardwoods, including oak and chestnut were sourced from local WWF Forest Stewardship Council approved woodland. Whereas local brick, concrete aggregate and precast floor planks were all sourced within 35 miles of the site, thus ‘ensuring that all bulky materials have a reduced embodied energy.’[21] It is important for architecture to embrace and promote new sustainable housing as a viable and prosperous alternative to renovating older style homes and installing sustainable features as to the potential home-owner an affordable, sustainable home is far more likely to be a more valuable asset of the future, offering them more efficient use of energy and a better quality of life. As highlighted by Glasgow Housing Association[22] the most toxic build up of emissions occurs within the home, rather than outside the home, which is why new developments have greater viability for meeting the needs of housing associations and potential inhabitants. As stated in The Architectural Review, BedZed is ‘a piece of radical architectural design, and deserves to be seen within a wider context as a model for future volume housing.’[23] In terms of sustainability BedZed betters the Millennium Village as it includes photovoltaic cells and individual power units, and the heating require ments of BedZED homes are around 10% of that of a typical home.[24] On their design of BedZed, Bill Dunster Architects is quoted as saying that it was a ‘high profile housing development: designed to be carbon neutral eco-housing with ostensible eco styling’[25]; one where the houses were designed around a heat and power unit that operates on heat and electricity from tree waste[26]. The project, did however, run over budget and well over its timescale due to problems in implementing the design and generating a truly sustainable outcome. As discussed by Williamson et al, sustainable design can be problematic in decision processes being made throughout the design process: â€Å"In practice an architect must make many decisions quickly and simply, on the basis of apparent fittingness with the right thing to do rather than deep analysis. Designers are also typically concerned with many decisions at the same time, switching from one to another in an attempt to find a fit between them, and initially regard most decisions as provisional anyway. Moreover, design problems are notoriously difficult to manage, to the extent of being labelled wicked.† Whereas traditional strategies for decision-making and overcoming problems might rely upon an architect’s experience and ability to identify key features of a new situation and apply their knowledge correctly, within the relatively new field of sustainable architecture, architects have to make decisions based on the work of others. As Williams and Radford suggest: ‘skilful practitioners learn to conduct frame experiments in which they impose a kind of coherence on messy situations and thereby discover consequences and implications of their chosen frames. Long webs of what if I try this? speculations are spun out in the process of making a design. In this way designers come to understand the possibilities and scope of a problem through a circle of making proposals and reflecting on their implications. From time to time, their efforts to give order to a situation provoke unexpected outcomes back talk that gives the situation a new meaning. They listen and reframe the problem.’[27] It is this ability to problem frame; to on-the-spot experiment, and detect the consequences and implications of sustainable designs that will allow architects to succeed in creating truly sustainable designs designs which do not overrun budget or time-frames, but which seek to make a compromise between the interests of all parties and the resources available. As suggested by a number of researchers including Buckingham and Healey, ‘building local knowledge and building on local knowledge within civil society is key to the development of social capital and institutional capital.’[28] Healey comments on the importance of local knowledge within different areas of civil society, and suggests that there is a need for local government to learn about different social worlds from which stakeholder groups and organisations come.[29] Analysis The case studies under discussion have exhibited the varied considerations and implications that sustainable development involves. Contemporary projects require an interdisciplinary approach one that consolidates information and can be used as a resource for future projects and research. As expressed by Hinchcliffe et al calculations and projections for the economic viability of sustainable projects require making ‘what formerly might be held to be no expertise as a resource for possible innovation, and to think of a project whereby expertise is less about distant judgments and more about learning to gather together in innovative ways.’[30] A thorough means of assessing to a specific degree the sustainability of projects can be achieved by measures such as the LEED NC, which should be a valuable and essential element of architectural practice. What the case studies have shown is that all sustainable projects need to be cohesive stakeholders, interested parties, need to be involved and to work with the architect, if the sustainable aims are to be achieved. What all the sustainable developments under study have shown is that sustainable development is concerned with creating a build that is durable, while being economically, energetically, and practically sustainable. The overriding principle as expressed by company ‘Sustainable Build‘ is that ‘less is more’, and it is easy for a design to run over its budget simply by trying to include too much or be too clever. Thus, a professional architect will need to aim for simplicity and functionality, and aim to make optimum utilization of space, often by thinking dual-purposefully as shown by the water tank at Seattle Library. Peter Fawcett sums up the contemporary relationship between architecture and sustainability offering an explanation to the question posed at the beginning of this thesis: ‘People may ask what does sustainability mean for architecture? but perhaps the proper question is what does architecture mean for sustainability? The former question suggests a weak approach to sustainability, i.e. an implicit assumption that sustainability has implications (possibly serious) for our present ways of procuring the built environment but those ways are basically appropriate. The latter question recognizes sustainability as the overarching concern, in terms of which all social disciplines and conduct must be reinterpreted and reformulated.’[31] As mentioned above, sustainable development is about keeping within the means of a realistic and attainable budget and within the aims and scope of the people involved. It is not only about ‘installing energy efficient and environmentally friendly appliances, some of which can be expensive and where the paybacks may not materialise for some time but also about recycling and making the most use out of natural materials and other materials which may have been discarded or dismissed.’[32] Different people have different environmental goals that they wish to achieve, and each sustainable development will thus reflect these goals. Benefits to the community and to the individual can be huge, and often simultaneous. Yet more than this, sustainable development is more of an umbrella term that affects (or should affect) the ways in which people live and build within their environments, and how these attitudes and practices can evolve and make best use of these environments. In an article for the Guardian, architect Bill Dunster expresses his concerns that green-living should not mean ‘dull’ living: ‘I find the checklist-orientated green movement very dull. I am worried about eco-fascism and a distinct loss of joie de vivre‘[33] With respect to the designs studied in this thesis there is certainly a lively, contemporary feel to the design of the Seattle project, combined with an optimum utilisation of space. Again, in the Bed Zed project, the symmetry of design and the colours used in the materials created a fun, individual look, that could not easily be replicated. Taking all the above into consideration my own research into what sustainable development means has led me to the conclusion that sustainable architecture does not mean dull or simple living for buildings’ inhabitants. Rather, the use of sophisticated technology as exemplified by the work of Sorbek can mean a wholly different form of living to traditionally constructed buildings which are not sustainable. This new way of living where space is used differently and more efficiently, and the impact of a person’s existence is immediately reduced and made to feel ‘sustainable’ offers a unique and more wholesome existence for the occupier. Conclusion In conclusion, research for this project has highlighted the term ‘sustainable’ to relate both directly and indirectly to architecture. While depending upon the social, technical, and financial structure of a project and its outcomes, sustainable development necessitates a flexible and dynamic understanding of energy, it’s potential, and its conservation. Sustainable development is all too often restricted by the options available, whereby practitioners modify their concept of their sustainability to suit individual projects. Although a degree of flexibility is required in order to modify design projects to suit the needs of all parties involved, it is essential for a professional architect to keep a clear focus on his or her definition of sustainability and what sustainability brings to the discipline and to their working life. In this way architects such as Sorbek can ensure that they create examples of truly sustainable architecture that can be used to teach younger architects entering into the profession. As explained by Williamson et al, the practice of the discipline of sustainable architecture is necessarily subject to ‘concepts and strategies based on common themes or concerns’ where ‘the continuation, small shifts, fundamental transformations, or replacement of issues can be affected by institutional settings such as political events, changes in technologies, scientific discoveries, calamities (actual or imagined) or economic practices and processes.’[34] Seen in this way, says Williamson et al, green, ecological, and environmental are ‘labels that embody the notion that the design of buildings should fundamentally take account of their relationship with and impact on the natural environment’, but the practice of implementing these concepts into physical realities requires a much deeper and more intrinsic understanding of what sustainability means for design, operation, and budget of a project. Designs of longevity thus require an intellige nt assimilation and interpretation of cultural trends and the ability to envision how a design might be embraced by future generations. Designs for the BedZed project might appear to have compromised some aesthetic elements in favour of cost and time efficient means of production. Yet these principles are essential to the future of housing design if the demands of the housing market are going to be met. Design thus involves incorporating aspects of the traditional, and the classical, in a new and dynamic housing solution, whereby the traditional principles of an architecture will never disappear from design, but will necessarily adopt a more subtle position in the ideologies of contemporary architects. The potential remains for further research into the construction of more gracious buildings than the BedZed project, but perhaps less expensive than the Seattle library. Sustainability is about finding middle ground between sustainable objectives and availability of resources and the type of budget available. Research has shown that it is possible to construct buildings which can incorporate the fundamental technologies to propitiate sustainability, but remain aesthetically impressive or even monumental in their design. Yet it is important to remember that building with sustainability in mind is still a recent trend, and one that has not yet overridden the non-ecological techniques of mass housing developments which are all too often seen as the easier, cheaper option for local governments. Therefore, sustainable designs remain very much in their infancy and future research will require sustained interest and financial support from both architects and from Governments alike if they are to be incorporated into mainstream architectural

Management Information On Decision Making Information Technology Essay

Management Information On Decision Making Information Technology Essay In today advance technological and competitive business environment Management Information System plays a vital role. This assignment report explains how information management changes the overall structure of the organisation and how it effects the different aspect of organisation business such as strategic decision making, Information sharing, production, financial, marketing and customer interaction. Some data and information evaluation methods are discussed which provides high quality information to the management information system for the completion of important task. Finally decision-making tools such as SWOT and ASHEN are discussed that how these tools helping in decision-making. ASSIGNMENT GUIDELINES 7004-STRATEGIC INFORMATION MANAGEMENT ASSIGNMENT QUESTION With reference to your organization, identify strategic information system (IS) issues and critically analyze and evaluate the organizations practice to solve the problems connected with implementing strategic information systems. Also discuss the wider organizational implications of the steps taken by the organization in the use of IS and their consequences. Your report should cover the following learning outcomes and assessment criteria:- LO1: Understanding the impact of management information on decision making The basic concern of Management Information System (MIS) is the collection, processing, storing, exchanging and transmission of the appropriate information in the organization for the support of management operations. Therefore with help of this appropriate information collected from different process, an organization can make a successful decision. In the absence of Management Information System (MIS) there is small chances for an organization to achieve its targets and business growth. Assessment Criteria 1.1 Identify the features of data and information Data: Data is defined as the collection of facts about events. This collection of facts is in raw form means that an unorganised and unprocessed form, which cannot be use for meaningful purpose for example Name, Age, Price etc. Information: Information is defined as a well-organised, well-processed and meaningful form of data generated from raw data. The end users utilises this meaningful data for making a decision easily for example Employees Records, Sale Report etc. Accessibility, Relevance, comprehensibility, timeliness and accuracy: In any organisation it is important that accessibility to information must be provided to all departments employees it means that availability of information to the management and other staff. The accessible information must be relevant to the processes, functionality and operations of that department. The information must be comprehensible i.e. clear, well organised and structured, must be timelines i.e. suitable to complete related task and must be accurate to generate the expected result properly. Determine the criteria to be applied when selecting data and information to support decision-making In business environment data is a valuable asset for any organisation. The data must be collected carefully because organisation decision-making processes are based on the generated information from this data. While selecting data and information for decision-making we must apply some criteria to this selection such as accuracy, validity, clarity etc. Data selection criteria: Accuracy, completeness, validity, consistency Accuracy: Data accuracy is vital role in management information because an accurate data can generate highly valuable results. For data accuracy timeliness is important otherwise there will be errors in the result. Completeness: The completeness of the data means the availability of latest data for decision-maker. The incomplete data can lead to poor decision-making management information. Validity: The validity of data mean data must be collected carefully and from an authentic source. The source of data must be known and verified. Consistency: The consistency of data is key role in good management information because it generates reliable, steady, well-organised and well-structured information. Information selection criteria: Data quality, definition clarity, relevance, presentation, timeliness, availability Data quality: To generate highly valuable and standard information data must be according to certain quality standards such as data must be in the appropriate format, well structure, well-organised and standard transferring method must be used. Definition clarity: The generated Information must be clearly and easily understandable, this will allow organisation employees to use the right information in the right place. Relevance: Information must be relevant to a task that it can be examined and packaged into an effective format. This is helpful that the management information is having to the point information but the information must not be incomplete. Presentation: The management information must be able to present information in the right format, order, well-structured and attractive design. This will describe a clearer picture of the organisation. Timeliness: The information must not take longer time i.e. must be concise and to the point that the management information can quickly response. Availability: The regular availability of information must be guaranteed to the management information that all tasks can run smoothly and the management information is able to generate up to date results. Evaluate the impact of a management information system to an organisation Increasing productivity and creativity: Management information system provides knowledge to workers accessing information resources. Using this knowledge the productivity of organisation is increased rapidly i.e. manufacture more products in short time. Not only this but also it brings new ideas and inspiration into the organisation. Developing policies: Management information system helps organisations to get maximum benefits from the extensive use of these information resources in developing policies i.e. planning, implementation and evaluation in the organisation. Use of strategic information resources: In the management information system the strategic information resources helps organisation in increasing productivity and brings new innovation. Organisations are able to do better planning, implement new policies efficiently. Strategic information resources improve the use of information resources in business, government and non-profit organisations strategies. Understanding ICT as a tool for accessing information In the management information system the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools are the most commonly used source for accessing information. These tools allow organization to access any type of information such products, researches, new developments, quality standards, communication with employees and customers etc. Managing external, corporate and internal information in organization The management information system systematically and efficiently manages the external information i.e. customer needs and choices, corporate information i.e. organisation values, brand names, advertising and marketing procedure, and internal information i.e. effectiveness of tasks, quick processing, interpretation and response of the organisation staff. Using information to support business processes Information supports the following business process. Market and customer information Using Market information organisation can learn about the competitors in the market allowing them to improve product quality, increase productivity etc. using customer information organisation will have a better understanding of customer needs and choices. Product information Using product information organisation can improve products quality, increase production, price comparison and easily availability. Specialist knowledge Using specialist knowledge organisation can manufacture new innovative products, add new customer to business, reduced cost and expenditure. Business process information Business process information supports the internal information about the performance of the organisation such Finances, Customer, internal process and learning and growth. Management information and plans Management information and plans supports the developing policies, future planes, and improvement of services of the organisation. Human resource information Human resource information is essential for organisations reputation, product support, future planes and innovations. Supplier information The Supplier information allows the organisations to choose from a large number of suppliers offers affordable price, best quality and quick service. LO2: Understanding the importance of information sharing within the organisation Information sharing within the organisation making employees as team allowing them to put forward their ideas, inspiration, new creations, discuss different matter and find solution for critical issue. This improves the overall efficiency of the organisation in terms of employees, products, policies, customers and competitors. Assessment Criteria 2.1 Determine the legal responsibilities in sourcing, sharing and storing information Confidentiality and privacy: Special care must be taken when sourcing, sharing and storing information such that this must fully compliance with the Data Protection Act. Information about organisation and employee must not be disclosed with out their consent. Copyright and software protection Any type of data, information and software must be used under copyright and software protection Act. This means that using someone work must be authorised by that person or any organisation to which it belongs. Contractual obligations In case of conditional agreement information sourcing, sharing and storing must not breach the conditions i.e. all these operations must be according to the terms and conditions of contract. IS and Crime (criminal not civil law) This includes frauds i.e. dishonestly use of information, infringement i.e. violation of rules and regulation, miss used of information i.e. for the purpose of making organisation or individual unpopular. 2.2 Discuss when information should be offered and access allowed. Information obtaining, accessing and processing must be according to the Data Protection Act, which gives the right to individuals Person, organisation etc to know what information is held about them, the purpose of information holding as well ensures them that personal information is handled properly. Anyone who is processing someone personal information must comply with the eight principles of Data Protection Act, which are explained below. Fairly and lawful process: According to 1st principle, Personal data must be processed fairly and lawfully. This means that the data subject i.e. person, organisation permitted the processing of their personal information for any legal and legitimate purposes such as employment, justice, health and safety etc. Process for limited purpose: According to 2nd principle, Personal data must be obtained and process for a limited purpose only i.e. one or more particular and lawful purposes. If the further processing of personal information is required for other purposes than the specified then the data subject must be informed and further processing should be according to the data object consent. Adequate, relevant and not excessive: According to 3rd principle, Personal data must be adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purpose it is obtained and processed. This must ensure the data subject that the processing of personal data is relevant to the specified purpose and is not unnecessary. Accurate and up to date: According to 4th principle, Personal data must be accurate and up to date if necessary. This means that the accuracy of the data must be ensure whatever it is directly obtained from the data subject or it is through third party. It is the responsibility of the data object to inform the about any changes or inaccuracy in the data. Not kept for longer than is necessary: According to 5th principle, Personal data must not be kept longer than is required for the purpose or purposes after it is processed. Process in line with a persons right: According to 6th principle, Personal data shall be processed with the data subject rights under the Data Protection act. This means the data subject has the right to request for the correction, blocking and deleting of their personal data after processing. Secure: According to 7th principle, the security of personal data must be ensures. This means that in case of unauthorised or unlawful processing, accidental loss and destruction to the personal data appropriate technical and organisational measures should be taken to prevent such incidents. Data Transfer According to 8th principle, Personal data must not be transferred outside the European Economic Area i.e. to outside countries. If the outside countries can ensures that personal data will have adequate level of protection and will be processed with the consent of data object and for the specified purpose, then in such situation data can be transferred. 2.3 Evaluate the formats in which information can be offered. Electronic/manual: In Electronic format information are provided through electronic means computer generated such as E-mail, Ms Word file, Excel sheet, Data Bases etc. while manual information are almost are provided on papers i.e. printed or handwritten such as log books, manual order book, letters, books, reports etc. Lists of Individuals List of individual could be computer generated or manual, which contains details about organization employees, managerial stop and other staff responsible for different task. Usually this contains names, designation, contact etc. Libraries: Libraries are well organized and well-structured data storage system used in computer to holds data files, folders, records, pictures, and videos in a proper order etc. now days there are many electronic libraries holding e-book, e-journal etc. not only electronic libraries are used still most organization using large number of manual libraries contains books, journal, research papers, reports etc. Folders Folder is container used by computer system for organizing folders, programs and files on a disk in graphical user interfaces mostly represented with a graphical image (icon) of file folder on the screen. Manual folders normally used for holding papers i.e. invoices, report, expenses etc. Documents Computer generated document is any self-contained piece of work created with help of any application program is saved with a unique file name. This unique name is used to retrieve that document. While manual documents are hard copies or handwritten records, personal detail, manual etc. List items inside the lists This is heretical or tree structure, similar items are list under single category the inside list are known as sub categories of the main category. This keeps items in an organized structure and it is easy to find and locate a specific item. List items present in the libraries: In the libraries all items are divided in categories, each category contains a list of interrelated items as well sub items, this categorization helps in searching and locating items within the vast amount of the available items. LO3: Use information to inform and support strategic decision-making Assessment Criteria 3.1 Analyze information to identify patterns and trends With the help of information system organisations can identify and predict the patterns and trends in all aspect of the business such as market, competition, customer demands etc and based on the information analysis they can make good strategic decisions. The market The Information system analyses the data collected from the market and based on the analysis the organisation can decide about the product quality improvement, increase productivity, adjust product price and can decide about the launching of new products and organisation future planes. The competition Based on the Information system analysis of the market data organisation can decide about the product price reduction, improves quality, improve advertising campaign, more facilities to customer and shareholder, easily availability etc as competition with other organisation. The state of economy Based on the Information system analysis organisation can manufacture economical product with low cost and can utilise available resources efficiently i.e. reduction in manufacturing time, proper use of material, required amount of product, reduction in manufacturing defects etc. Legislative development Information system improves the legislative system of the organisation. They are fully compliance with the data protection act, international laws and standards, legal rights. Based on the information analysis the organisations can take legal steps to attract Customers, compete with their competitors, can utilise information resources, shares informations, utilise hardware and software etc. Customer demands Based on the Information system analyses of the collected data from the market organization can predict the customer demands such as what customer wants, is their need of improvement in products, is there a possibility to launch new product, are products easily available to customer, is there a need of change in the policy and legislation, are customers able to commits complains and advices etc, are they happy with prices etc. Evaluate a range of decision making tools and techniques available to support a strategic decision SWOT SWOT (Strength weaknesses opportunities and Threats) analysis tools provide an organization a structural analysis of its Strengths, Weaknesses, the opportunities and threats they are facing. The SWOT analysis is based on the discussions and people viewpoints and it is not the end but step before any action planning take place. The organization use the analysis result to appreciate its strength (personal, competition, knowledge, production etc) for taking decision to minimize its weaknesses (improve developments, competition, product quality, customer communication etc), utilize most of the opportunities (possibilities, value in next five years, product demands etc) available and treating possible present and future threats (limitations, losing product values, equipment and software fault etc) in a planned and well organized way. Critical success factor (CSF) Critical success factor is an approach takes by the organisation to determine organisational need for information. There are a numbers of key factors required for any organisation to be successful, these factors are known as critical success factors. If organisation is unable to achieve these critical success factors, then this will have a high impact on the organisation and as a result there is possibility of organisation failure. The diagram below describes how CSF helping organisation in the determination for need in key decision (KD) and information Required (IR) CSF KD KD KD IR IR IR IR IR IR Where CSF represents Critical success factor, KDs represents key decision and IR represents information required to support key decisions. Model Driven DSS Model-driven is a complex Decision Support System (DSS) system helping in analyzing decisions or choosing different options between the available. This type of system is used by the organization / Business managers and staff members, or by other peoples usually interact with the organization. The use of the system is for a number of purposes, which is depending on the setup of the model such as scheduling, decision analyses etc. there are a number of ways for the deployment of Model Driven DSS system such as in stand alone PCs through hardware and software in, through client / server systems, or through the web. Data Driven DSS The organization manager mostly uses the Data Driven Decision Support System (DSS) system as well staff and the product/service suppliers used it. The use of the system is for a specific need by sending query to a database or data warehouse, which then returns the requested specific information. This type of system is mostly deployed through a mainframe system, client/server system and trough the web. Computer-based databases are the example such system, having the capability to response to query and valuable results value from existing databases. Data Mining Data Mining is the data analyzing process from different perspectives and after processing generation of useful information summary. This summary information are utilized by the organizations to increase revenue, cuts costs etc. Data mining software is one of the analytical tools available to analyze data. This tool allows users to do analysis of the data from different angles, categorize data, and finally identification of the relationships in a summarized data. Determine the source available to assist in analyzing data information Information resources such as Data, Information and knowledge In business environment information resources are the most valuable assets for any organisation. The information i.e. data, information or knowledge must be collected carefully and with authenticity because the organisation decision-making processes are based on these information. These sources of these information resources could be organisation employees, customer and other organisations but there must be some criteria for using these resources such as accuracy, validity, clarity etc. Technology resources such as hardware and software For the processing of organisation data and information such as products detail, employees details, manufacturing, stock and accounts information appropriate technology resources such hardware i.e. computer systems, printers etc and software database system, data analysis tools etc must be available to managers and staffs of the organisation. Using such resources reduces production time, cost, improves communication within the organisation and with the customers. People resources such as employee and managers in organizations Organisation employees and managers are the vital part in analysing data because they provides the organisation internal data such as manufactured quantity, cost, stock etc and as well they are operating the available equipments, computer systems and software. In organisation mostly there are people specially trained for operating specialised hardware and software for information processing, analysing, report generation. LO4: Monitor and review management information Assessment Criteria 4.1 Identify methods of evaluating management information within an organization For high level of management information organisations utilise different information evaluation methods to ensure a reliable, trusted and quality of information management system. Data governance Data governance (DG) is the overall management of the data employed in the enterprise. The Data governance ensures the availability, usability, integrity, and security of the employed data. A governing body or council runs a well-organized data governance program with a well-defined set of procedures and plans for the execution of defined procedures in the right direction. The followings are the three key elements of the successful data governance in an organization. The ability to use timely, reliable, trusted information to drive the business The data governance program must be able to ensure the information availability within the prescribed time frame to the recipients that it can be processed at in early stage. This information must be reliable i.e. consistent that execution of different processes can be performed in proper order and in the right direction. As well the information must be trusted i.e. accurate, update and must be gathered from the trusted source otherwise it will lead to program failure. Improving the quality of business decision- making The data governance programme must be able to utilise certain standard decision support systems for the achievement of high quality of business decision-making such as Model Driven DSS, Data Driven DSS etc. The available data for decision-making must be according to certain quality standard, appropriate format, well structured and well organised. Ensuring consistent use of information The data governance program must ensure the consistent use of information in organisation for reliability and smooth flow of business different process. The information flow must be regular to different component of the overall system that the system can generate reliable, trusted and high quality of result otherwise inconsistency will generate incorrect result and will lead to system failure. Management information value Timeliness Timeliness is a high importance in management information, which means that the recipients must receive information within the prescribed time frame. The timeliness can ensure an early stage information execution, which generates the accurate information result. The characteristic of timeliness of information must be effective as well must includes the current up to date information. Content Management information system provides valuable contents for organisation internal and external process support. These contents support business different process such as contents for decision making process, for manufacturing process, for marketing process, financial process, customer and services support etc. Format Management information system provides information in an appropriate and clear format, which is easily understandable. The provided information clearly describe the need, the purpose and place where it can be used such as market related information clearly describes the value of the organisation and its product that can be used to improve quality and services. Cost Management information systems help organizations in cost reduction in the overall business i.e. internally and externally. It allows organizations to deliver their products and services to customers at lower price than their competitors. Therefore, due to information system organizations can survive in difficult situations and can grow rapidly. 4.2 Discuss process for analyzing impact of information on strategic decision made Set objective of process or organization The information analysis allows the decision-maker in the organization to develop and set objectives and allocates resources required for the achievement of these objectives. Thus the organization top-level management is benefiting from information analysis in making strategic planning. Evaluate weather goals achieved The information system allows the organisation to evaluate weather the desired goals are achieved from the information analysis or not. In case of failure the process is refined with utilising more resources, expertise, care and thoroughly investigation to make sure a quality of result achieves. Gap analysis is used for the evaluation of weather goals achieved or not. Assess reasons for variance from target to actual The performance diagnosis is done by applying knowledge to performance to check weather the processes, operations and functions are generating the quality results or not. Each process is judged thoroughly weather the overall process is running smoothly and will complete successfully. Revise and implement new approaches or modify goals If there is any mistake in the process it is revised and retest. Some times the achievement of the desired resulted new approaches is implemented and some time the difficulties in achieving result can lead to modification in goals. 4.3 Determine methods of developing information capture to inform and support strategic decision-making DIKAR: Data Information Knowledge Action Result The DIKAR model is used for information quality, which is very helpful in understanding the attributes of management information quality. The diagram below is the description of the overall model. Source: Dr.L.Ali, 7004_Strategic Information Management, 2009, Lecture Notes, Cromwell college of IT Management As shown in the diagram the DIKAR model is based on the attributes of the Data, Information, Knowledge, Action and results. These attributes ensure the quality of the each component of the DIKAR model as from the start to the end quality is maintained in all processes. The table below explains the attributes of each component. Data Quality The provided data must be accurate i.e. up to date, the whole data to complete that task i.e. completeness, collected from authentic and trusted source i.e. validity and regularly available for smooth flow i.e. consistency. Information Quality Information must be generated from a quality data, all definition must clearly describe the purpose, only relevant information should be used related to a task, the presentation of information should be in the proper order and right format, information must be provided to the recipient in the prescribed time frame and finally availability of information must be ensure to the end user related to that task. Knowledge Quality For knowledge quality the information quality must be maintained as described in the previous section, ASHEN factors (is explained in the next section) must be taken into account, the end user must be experienced in using such knowledge i.e. prior experience, knowledge must be clear and easily understandable i.e. explicit knowledge and finally must be understood clearly by the end user i.e. tacit knowledge. Action Quality An appropriate action must be taken for the solution of the task, this action must be with in the prescribed time frame and must generate results with clarity that ends user can utilise results in the right place and in the right direction. Result Quality The generated output must clearly state the achieved objectives and consistency of results. The achieved result must be the right and desired and efficient for the task. ASHEN: Artefacts Skills Heuristics Experience Natural talent The ASHEN factors is used for the assessment of knowledge quality at the points des