ctitique on utilization pattern of Olympic parks and its application in Beijing
The article, “utilization pattern of Olympic parks and its application in Beijing”, written by a group of Chinese researchers, He Yan, Chen Tian, and Zhang Men, is published on a website to be read by any interested viewer. In this article, the researchers try to discuss the planning process of the construction of Beijing Olympic park for its current use as a host for the Olympic Games and also its future function and use. They state that the first and easiest way to start planning is to look at previous Olympic Games and the preparation made by hosting cities to the tournament. This involves consideration of the investors’ involved, different situations and characteristics and the manager assigned to organize the Olympic Games. The researchers assert that, once feasibility studies are performed, the Beijing Olympic stadiums shall be designed to have sufficient capacity and proper function. The design of these stadiums must be in such way that these stadiums will have multiple purposes. Moreover, the demand from people of Beijing city and the city administration shall be considered during the design process. As a conclusion the researchers state that, the pre-study and planning of the design Beijing Olympic Games is necessary in order develop a sustainable and attractive Olympic park, where local residents and tourists will be looking forward to heading to different multi-disciplinary activities.
In the very beginning, the researchers state that Olympic Games are among the major tournaments that are famous and have so many spectators worldwide. The budget or the money that will be spent on the construction of the Olympic parks and re-facilitation of the city for tourists and guests attending the tournament is a big headache for the hosting city. But the fact is that, the more the preparation made by the host cities is better, the more that the hosting nation will get tourist attraction and other incentives in the long term.
In Beijing Olympic, surveying forms, were distributed to spectators attending the tournament in the stadium. These surveying forms were questioners having different questions regarding the tournament. These forms will be collected, and will be used as a reference to compare them with the pre-planning study and make a feasible judgment on the tournament. This method has worked pretty much in case of Beijing Olympic.
To sum up, the Olympic Games are tournaments where the world will be united as one for some period of time. The planning and the construction of the Olympic parks by hosting nations shall be as perfect as possible. These will have a great importance not only for Olympic Games but also for the host cities and the worldwide spectators in the long run.
In ”Islam’s response to terrorism”, Abdul Ghany Jahangeer Khan emphasizes the true meaning, purpose and core values of Islam. In addition to pointing out that Islam, in fact, means peace, Khan further gives a range of scenarios to support the argument of purity and anti violence, which he claims are central concepts. Moreover, Khan further stresses Islam’s denunciation of terrorism as well as its opposite nature to any behavior connected to anything other than “kindness and sympathy for all”.
I’m not cracking down on Islam per se, but rather the narrow-mindedness of people genuinely believing that a communiqué, like a religious text, are subject to only objective interpretation. What one must realize is that every set of eyes and every individual will and should read, analyze and interpret text individually as to come to terms with what impact it has on his or her own situation. Hence, anyone or anything with the ability to receive a message and a brain to further analyze it will also form an opinion of its own. Therefore, it is crucial that one realizes that subjectivity is hard to overcome and that objectivity is even harder to achieve. Finally, the ambiguity in religious texts makes it even more difficult and assists in the justification of acts made in the name of religion.
Firstly, Khan makes it perfectly clear that from the beginning of the article that Islam means peace. Interestingly enough it seems as though throughout the entire text one stumbles upon description upon description of ways to retaliate or punish oppressors or those inflicting unwanted behavior in one’s environment. Personally, it seems rather ambiguous that a religion with peace as a guiding light would promote and present situations in which one is entitled to “punish them to the extent that you have been wronged”. Sounds a lot like “an eye for an eye”…
“Islam strictly forbids the killing of innocent, non-aggressive people:…no hostility is allowed except against the aggressors.” (Ch.2: v.194) For a religion denouncing violence and promoting peace, it oddly enough makes clear statements concerning the line of action when violence is needed. What is particularly interesting about statements as such is the total oblivion when it comes to the subjective nature of the individual and her interpretation. An oppressor or aggressor to one person of a specific religion can differ immensely to the next individual of the very same belief. Put simply, the friend of one may be the foe of another while sharing the same belief.
“In Islam, an amazingly powerful emphasis is laid on developing love for mankind and on the vital importance of showing mercy and sympathy towards every creature of Allah Almighty, including human beings and animals.” In Islam, as in other religions, the love for mankind and the world around it is highlighted. But is that all there is to it? What about homosexuals? Are they not a part of mankind or maybe they do not deserve the mercy and sympathy everyone else? In reality, homosexuals are, at best, denounced or worse persecuted due to their sexual preferences. This is the case in many religions – however, the concept of “love all” does apparently not include them – the homosexuals.
To sum up, the lack of in sight in the power of subjectivity when it comes to interpretation of religious texts is a global headache that infect relationships between cultures, arm nations and subsequently harm or kill innocent human beings. In addition to subjectivity, there is also the issue of ambiguity in religious texts where in one paragraph the love for mankind is portrayed and the denouncement of a certain group is done in the other. Both the blindness of subjectivity and the ambiguity of religious texts are today, and have been historically, cause of war and destruction. Let’s open our eyes and our hearts to make a difference for future generations and learn from our past.
The Safety & Health Practitioner published an article on March 18th 2000, written by Butterworth and titled it as “Contaminated Land”. In this article, Butterworth introduces three different types of wastes that cause contamination. He also emphasizes the significance of regulatory bodies and liability in order to solve the problem. However, I think he has overestimated the power of liability. More seriously, he ignores the noise pollution, which is also one of the major sources of pollution in our land.
Along with the development of modern industries, environmental pollution problems have become increasingly critical to human life and nature. Wastes with different nature could be found either in a derelict site or under the land surface. However, noise pollution cannot be ignored as it exists pervasively and as a result, it becomes a major contamination in our daily life. It will cause very severe damage to people who work in a noisy environment or live close to the noise resource.
In this paper, the visual angle is limited by solid wastes, spillages and gassing wastes, all of which are well known for a long time. However, industrial noise, which was ignored in this article, could also cause hearing impairment, induce different diseases and influence the normal life of living creature. There are several reasons which lead to the ignorance of industrial noise. First of all, noise is one sound with its own acoustic property. The difference between noise and other pollutions is that there is no waste generated from noise. Second, the influence of noise pollution will stop as long as noise resources disappear. Finally, people tend to have higher tolerable range to noise pollution because of the nature of sound.
Pollution prevention could always be more important than remediation after pollution. We could not consider “Suitability for use” as the bottom level when we treat the environmental problems inappropriately. Liability will have its maximum power when a complete and efficient legislation system has been built up in our society. The responsibility of pollution prevention and remediation need to be clearly defined. Liability itself is undependable in the profit-driven industrial times.
Butterworth fails to discover the noise pollution as one of the major sources for the contamination. Liability overestimation could possibly be less effective without legitimate regulations. Government could put more attention on environmental legislation issues. Meanwhile, Industries also need to share the governance environmental problems with their technology and prevent pollution. We could create a sustainable world with our talent rather than “suitability for use”.
In the article “Collisions with Passenger Cars and Moose” the authors Björnstig, Eriksson, Thorson and Bylund present investigations of accidents with passenger cars and moose. For the study they selected 650 crashes, which involved moose over a period of one year. The data concerning the actual accidents was provided by police, the description of injuries sustained was provided by hospitals and additionally drivers had been interviewed for statistical purposes. The authors then put the deformation of the cars in relation to the injuries of the car occupants.
The deformation of cars depends on three factors: size of the car, mass of the moose and driving speed. In my opinion the authors should also keep in mind that driving skills play a major roll. Questions like “Is the driver accustomed to drive in rural areas” or “is he or she trained on how to behave in traffic situations that involve moose?” I am convinced that only very few well trained individual drivers would be able to cope with such a situation properly. Fortunately, there exist several online platforms where everybody can train to get the necessary skill to act properly in a near crash situation with moose.
In a publication of 1981, L. Åberg, a scientist from Uppsala, asserted that every 10th Swedish driver, who drives more than 20,000 km per year is involved in an accident with moose at least once in his lifetime. I believe that there should be set limits in this statistic at hand, because many Swedish drivers are only accustomed to city traffic and never use ordinary countryside highways. These city drivers should be excluded from the statistic.
The following point of the study I have to criticize – the authors assume “standardized” crashes with moose. They are the opinion that collisions always happen the same way, i.e. that a car hits a moose right in the side. Unfortunately, crash situations are highly unlikely to be the same in every case. Even though it is true that most collisions happen from the side, it is highly improbable that in real life the angle of attack is the same in all cases. An additional point of criticism is that the study neglects what would happen when a moose is being hit from the front? In my opinion, the damage must be even worse.
Finally, we know how crashes harm car occupants, but what about the moose? In the article there is neither an explanation in which way, and how badly the moose are injured, nor if they can be saved in an appropriate way. Can they even survive a collision like that?
To conclude, in the 1970s, when the study was conducted there were a lot of collisions of passenger cars with moose, sometimes with serious injuries sustained by the car drivers. Nowadays, with the ever-advancing automotive industry and improved on-board safety devices, such as airbags or the crush-absorbing zone, I cannot imagine that injuries, as described in the article, would occur nowadays.
This article published at year 2000, written by an employer from a company called The Log Homes and is titled as ”Thermal Mass Benefits Of Log Homes Recognized”. In this article the writer talks about a building material called Thermal Mass and that it's a good insulated frame wall. It is true, but it isn't officially acknowledged and that's why they needed to gather evidence to support their statement.
The R-value present the resistance for transferring heat in a material and its the standard measurement tool for resident construction in USA. The Logs has low R-value, because they absorb and store heat. Therefore owners of Log house had to overbuild for meeting the R-value standard.
Thermal Mass is a material that can absorb, store and slowly release heat over time. One important issue that's noticed in this article is if this technique works in cold climates. Therefor studies in this area has been made and have come up to conclusion that it's energy efficiency, but still some sentience has their doubts.
“So, over the past 13 years, the LCH has gathered scientific statistics from independent research projects to substantiate its assertion. ”. I can't understand why it took so many years , they could just build several houses with the same structure, but with different material. After that they could compare the energy consumed.
“Since the situation was a crisis, and the R-value methodology existed, it became the standard”. So typical that governments take the easiest way,instant of conducting accurateness research to find the best method for measure household energy efficiency.
“Thermal mass is a material's capacity to absorb, store and slowly release heat over time. Logs do this well”. So how does it work when it is vary cold outside ? Shouldn't the thermal mass release heat because it colder outside then inside ?
The article is interesting but I would like to have some more details in the conclusions that they takes up . They're saying that this technique works well in a cold climate , but they don't really explain why. They just prove it by comparing with other residential construction but they should give some scientific explanation.
Daniel Samuel.
Critique of the article "Cultural and Language Barriers in the Workplace"
On February 2002, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Workforce Development Board published an informational guideline prepared by planning consultant, Carol Morris, concerning the big barriers language and cultural differences bring into the workplace. I intend to give reason to my agreement with the guidelines proposed in this article as to what should be done in order to avoid misunderstandings and confrontations due to cultural differences.
Morris explains foreign-born workers are increasing and are a vital part of the community and local workforce citing that, especially, Hispanic population is increasing at a rate of 10 million people every day for every 10 years nationwide. This is an important factor that, besides being true, strongly affects companies’ recruitment options. Morris also enlists some of the major factors that influence social and laboral relationships in business, from which I think the most important one is religion and personal space. These factors, in my opinion, greatly affect our personality traits and the way we interact and behave in front of our colleagues.
He also mentions the importance of paying attention to what can be done to improve work environment and conditions for immigrants. This is totally worthwhile for companies to take into consideration, since the immigrant population is increasing fast and because usually, as quoted, “immigrants are very motivated and have a stronger work ethics” that could benefit the company greatly.
Also, Morris comments about the English speaking barrier that immigrants have to face and sometimes gives them a hard time to fully express their ideas. For which I think patience, which should be developed by employers, really plays a major role. Giving others the chance learn might, in fact, improve their communication skills making them feel more confident and at the same time be more productive and efficient.
In conclusion, Morris develops from an objective point of view what factors influence language and cultural barriers leading to misunderstandings in the work environment. As well as efficient means of sorting this out, stressing that a company’s future strongly depends on this increasing immigrant labor force and must be concerned, for this matter, to ensure the best job conditions for everyone in order to succeed.
The main idea in the article, which was published on Sharp Log Homes in 2000, is to convince the reader that log homes are as energy efficient as frame houses. Building materials ability to transfer heat is measured in a resistance called R-value. A low R-value means that heat can transfer quickly through the building material and that the house needs more energy to keep a comfortable indoor temperature. Logs have a low R-value but LHC, The Log Homes Council, claims that logs instead store energy which will be used when the indoor temperature drop. Therefore, a log home is as good as any frame house.
However, it is the logs thermal mass that tribute to log homes good insulating capacity. Even though the log homeowners had the heat bills to prove this, it was not an acknowledge fact. Therefore, LHC have collected data from scientific research projects to convince the Department of Energy and codes officials that log homes are energy efficient.
Furthermore, the R-value method does not consider all different aspects within building materials and there have been a debate about this for many years. It was during the energy crisis in the 1970’s that the governments felt a pressure to unite behind a method to standardize the energy loss of different building materials. Because of the short time, they had to choose R-values because it was the only known method.
Moreover, previous studies have shown that thermal mass absorb, store and then releases the heat. Still, energy experts are not convinced that it is possible for the log homes to use less energy during the winter months. Two recent studies, of sixteen households in uptown New York and Montana, have shown that the log homes have the exact same air leakage and use energy as efficient as any other house during the winter months.
The above statements might be true but this article does not convince me. Even though the article has a scientific approach, its purpose is way too commercial to be reliable. The article does not have an actual author and it is not published in any scientific magazine but on the homepage of a log homes company. This is not satisfied characters for an article that wants to enlighten its reader with new revolutionary facts.
The statement about how they made the R-value a standardized method makes it clear that they want us to be suspicious about the former methods so it is easier for them to convince us with their theory. The only parameter they mention in the way they choose the standardization method was time, so it is not clear how the rest of the parameters in the research were doing. This is an overall pattern in the article; it does not provide any data and not much information about how the different studies were made. This is important features in an article that wants to provide the reader with new information. Even though the statement might be true, no one will believe it if it is impossible to trace back the information to reliable sources.
The article “Contaminated Land” is written by J.S Butterworth and published by The Safety & Health Practitioner (2000). As the title says the article deals with a great problem in the UK, namely contaminated land, which affect up to 200,000 hectares of the country. In my opinion the large scale of contaminated land in the UK primarily depends on a lack of laws and regulations for industries dealing with hazardous substances.
Butterworth claims in his article that pollution that causes contaminated land mainly comes from solid wastes, spillages and gassing wastes. A liquid storage tank will at some point leak and contaminate the land. Even drainage systems and wells are likely to leak and cause pollution in the surrounding land. Some industries have used and are still using landfills for waste disposal and those are big sources of pollution, both solid and gas. I think there has to be some control of old landfills, storage tanks and other potential pollution sources to assure they do not cause contamination. I also believe that there has to be a law that regulates the construction of new landfills.
Butterworth argues that contaminated land entails risks to people, controlled water and structures. The risk assessment has become better with modern computing power and it is now easier to get a good result. Soon there will also be a formal risk assessment in use, but up till now not very much has been published. I believe it is important to be updated with new technology because you can analyze more data and get more precise values. It is also important to have a risk assessment that everyone follows.
There is so far no standard method to investigate the land in terms of pollution. Therefore the result differs depending on where the soil sample is analyzed and different samples can not be entirely comparable. Geophysical methods have a limit and work best on a homogeneous land, for example a landfill. In my opinion there has to be a common method to investigate the land and the method also needs to work on all types of land.
The legislation concerning contaminated land has for a long time worked with the principle “The polluter pays”, says Butterworth. This is probably the fairest way to deal with contaminated land but it is hard to implement in practice. To facilitate who is responsible for the contaminated land a concept of Class A and Class B was introduced. According to me this was necessary because there has to be someone responsible and someone that pays for the pollution.
With legislations approaching, a formal risk assessment in use and a standard method to investigate already contaminated land on its way I think the future for the contaminated land in the UK is looking good. All that is left is to clean up.
David Herbert (2010) in his article “Pakistan's water woes and the science that can solve them”[1] has explained the water problems which underdeveloped countries like Pakistan are facing. Every year lots of children lose their life by drinking contaminated water and more than 30 percent deaths in the country are caused by diseases originated from polluted water. Moreover, Pakistan is not aware of managing its water resources efficiently so lots of water is wasted due to lack of planning. Thus if this situation will remain persistent, Pakistan will run short of water in next few years. In my view, these water tribulations have always been a big issue for Pakistan. Therefore, I strongly agree with the author that negligence of most of the governments in Pakistan has further aggravated this issue. So, this situation must be dealt seriously, otherwise future generations of Pakistan will have water resources that are both limited and of bad quality.
Besides Pakistan governments own carelessness, there are many external and internal problems that the country is facing at present. On one side, in Afghanistan war against terrorism is going on and lots of refugees are coming to Pakistan for shelter, which is a burden on economy. On the other side there is tension between Pakistan and India on Indus river water. Furthermore, Pakistan itself is becoming the victim of terrorism from last few years and in some parts of country military operations are going on against terrorists. In my view, the author has certainly assessed the actual issues inside and outside Pakistan, which are diverting the attention of government from such an important water issue. However, in addition to this I would say that the current government is also considered, and has proved itself to be the most corrupt and incapable among all past governments. Therefore, in my opinion some significant changes are required in Pakistan, especially to have honest leadership and to strengthen rule of law and justice.
Despite the acute shortage of water dam reservoirs, which are also a cheap means of producing electricity, the Pakistani government has not been able to make any new dams. Besides this the other main issue is to maintain the quality of water to avoid diseases which is not being considered at all. Some efforts have been made by building offices and laboratories to maintain the quality which has been a good positive step. The U.S. State Department, the USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) is actively working with Pakistani responsible authorities of water management and a new Water Program is also announced recently by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for efficient management of water resources. Though the future does not seem to be promising regarding water issues for Pakistan considering the entire situation but Pakistan has the history of overcoming the problems and its scientists are also capable of playing their role. Here again the author has explained pretty well the current situation of Pakistan and I strongly agree with him. I also in consent with the hopes of overcoming these problems because I feel that once Pakistan will come out of his main issues of security and political instability, there is no shortage of talent and knowledge to resolve these water issues.
To conclude, I must say that the problems and their severity that Pakistan is facing currently are very well analyzed and discussed by the author. To a larger extent, the authors concerns are correct and up to date; some serious and abrupt attention is required by Pakistani government if they want to sustain and give a better future to their people.
In the article titled ”Collisions with Passenger Cars and Moose, Sweden”, written by Björnstig, Eriksson, Thorson and Bylund, collisions between passenger cars and moose are closely investigated. The authors present statistics based on a large number of collisions. In addition to statistics, however, they also present a suggested improvement to passenger cars in order to lessen the injuries suffered by the driver and passengers when colliding with moose. I intend to give my view of why this suggestion is ridiculous and what I believe should be done instead.
When a moose is hit it by a car, the legs of the moose, which are quite tall, will take the initial impact. This sends the moose flying over the hood, hitting the windshield with massive force. Since the moose is most likely to be hit while attempting to cross the road, they are usually struck in the side, which means that the whole side of the moose will hit the windshield. The weight of the moose in combination with the speed of the vehicle generates a tremendous force at impact, often shattering the windshield and denting the front part of the roof.
Björnstig, Eriksson, Thorson and Bylund suggest that by strengthening the windshield pillars, also referred to as A-pillars, the car would be able to withstand a collision with a moose better. They further state that aerodynamic cars which are built to have a low roof and tilted windshield, to reduce air resistance in order to minimize gas usage, are worse off when colliding with a moose. Therefore cars should rather have reinforced A-pillars and a big cabin. Do we really want to produce cars that can withstand a collision with a moose better than a car that cuts down on emissions and at the same time saves us money? I think that it's a ridiculous idea. Actually, it instantly reminds me of the movie Resident Evil where a bus is equipped with armored plates to be able to drive through a horde of zombies. Why don't we try to minimize the collisions rather than trying to minimize the damage sustained from them?
Fences have had limited success in reducing the number of moose-related accidents(Lehtimaki, 1981). We could still, however, take several steps towards minimizing them. First of all, lowering speeds will give both the moose and the driver a chance to react in time. Furthermore, teaching drivers to be on the lookout for wild life and teaching them how to recognize areas where there is likely to be animal activity is another step in the right direction.
It is hard to predict when an animal may attempt to cross the road, however, I believe that reinforcing cars to better withstand collisions is the wrong way to go about it. We cannot compromise with our responsibility regarding emissions and pollution in order to prepare for a collision with a moose, that is very unlikely to happen for the individual driver. Considering that only 5 out of 989 persons in the study was killed, I think that it's too much work for too little benefit.
References:
Lehtimaki R: Fences for protections of traffic and deer. The Central Organization for Traffic Safety 37/1981, ISSN 0355-6670: Helsinki, 1981.
Drucker (1998) highlight the influence of information affecting almost all levels of the economical and societal spheres in our daily lives. The information has become the bottom line to any kind of organization to compete and operate in addition to traditional physical assets that lose relevance since information has got such strategic position in society. Drucker’s main argument stated that data is not equal to information; therefore, current revolution is portrayed to convert simple data in useful information to support strategic decisions. I propose to consider the concept of knowledge in order to expand the scope that by information is given in Drucker’s statement.
Managers have started to ask about the meaning and purpose of information, next to concerns regarding the function of business enterprises in the current society. Drucker suggested that the answer is linked with the creation of value and wealth rather than just profits. However a more important question arises as: for whom organizations create value within their own list of stakeholders.
In fact, it is a strategic point in the current economical debate. I consider of relevance the identification of theoretical frameworks to face the information revolution and convert this information in tools for decision makers in order to create value. Similarly several authors have discussed among different conceptualizations of knowledge such as tacit and explicit knowledge. However Drucker (1998) does not focus on the conceptualization of knowledge but on information itself, arguing that it is a revolution about concepts.
In the early days of computers, information coming from the accounting department was one of the first sources of data within organizations. In addition cost accounting was the major improvement to accountability keeping control of cost in organizations. Drucker stated that this information became insufficient for business decisions. I agree with this proposition as well as the comments that data manage in the first computer systems installed in organizations were mainly aimed to accountability issues.
Improvements in technology facilitate the use of more information to evaluate the whole chain of cost. Then managers concentrate on internal information. Drucker address that computers aggravated the vision to look just in internal information. I argue that neither computers nor technology but the strategic vision of managers to use computers for such kind of data, was the problem to concentrate on internal information.
Back on the time Drucker (1998) wrote this paper, he forecasted that for the next 10 to 15 years collection of information from the outside will be one of the most important issues. We are seeing that his prediction has become a reality with the emergence of a whole industry of companies delivering content, analyzing business environments and the consolidation of business intelligence systems to collect, filter and report information to the top and middle management in several companies. Consequently to business intelligence systems the generation of knowledge that is appropriate and understood rather than plain information have to be the main result of those systems.
In conclusion I agree with most of Drucker’s statements; however the concept of knowledge should be clarified to be included as a strategic asset within business organizations. Especially topics on how to handle tacit knowledge need further research and how the new information technologies can help to cope with the appropriation of this kind of knowledge from external sources.
Reference: DRUCKER, P. F. 1998. The next information revolution. Forbes, 162, 47-54.
In February 2002 an organisation working in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, North Carolina, USA published a guide called “Cultural and Language Barriers In the Workplace” on how companies can help both employees and themselves. By having a well structured system for immigrant workers they will be able to break down the different barriers at a workplace. The authors divide the barriers into two sections, culture and language.
As cultural barriers they define parameters as roles and status, personal space, body language and religion. The language barrier is just as simple as the difficulty in communication when not speaking the same language. In today’s business and society it is very important to make use of all different cultures and people with different background. Therefore I will take a deeper look at the statements made and strengthen them or weaken them with my personal experiences.
Some might say that I do not have the experience to relate those parameters to an existing working place but I say I do. After more than three years at an industry working along people of different ages, nationalities, religions, educations and more I think I have seen a lot of these barriers, both successfully broken down but also, and mostly, still being a problem.
The first of the guides’ examples of barriers is the one regarding roles and status. The writers claim that in some countries the women are subordinate to men. My experience is that this is not just a problem in some particular countries. This is still a problem at workplaces in developed countries and should not just be pointed at developing countries. Therefore, I think this is an even more important issue to deal with at a workplace and it should also regard the natives, not just the immigrants.
Another culture barrier is the personal space. By that the writers suggests that there are differences in for example how far we stand from each other when having a conversation. As always it is hard to generalise but I might agree that in some cultures it is more accepted to for example put a hand on the shoulder on the one you speak to, at least it is my experience. The same is to say about body language. To use your hands, your face and your body to express yourself is a way of communication which is more used in some countries than others.
Religion is a complex barrier which can both be a gain and a disadvantage. The writers only discuss the problem of workers not able or wanting to work at the same time due to religious reasons. I would like to highlight the fact that it can be turned into something positive, for example in an industry with production lines running without breaks.
The language barrier must be broken, as stated in the guide. Without being able to communicate in a decent way there is not much room for effective work. However, I do think that the guide misses out on the social contact you miss if you can not handle the language.
To summarize, it is very important to define those barriers and try to avoid them at a workplace. It is also important to get to know your employees; there might be some rough diamonds around.
Jimmy Johansson
ISLAM’S RESPONSE TO TERRORISM (Assignment 2 : critic)
In his article “Islam’s response to terrorism”, Abdul Ghany Jahangeer Khan explains some foundations of Islam, using citations from the Holy book, the Qur’an. He defines Islam as the religion of peace and explains Allah defined himself as “the source of all goodness”. On the contrary, terrorists are people who use “violence and intimidation” at politics ends or who force the other to do something using violence.
As the author said, the Qur’an calls Muslims to respect of everyone without distinction of race, religion or social status. The citation “the Jews will follow their own religions and the Muslims will follow their own” shows that the Holy Qur’an doesn’t call people to violence or hatred. The use of citations in this article allows the author to argue his purpose that Islam is the religion of peace. The author also shows that terrorism and Islam have no link using three verses. First, “do not kill yourself”. Second, “don’t cast yourself into ruins”. Third, “Islam forbids killing innocent”. So why? Why there are so many wars, bomb attacks, plain attacks and suicide attacks in this world? And why Islamic organizations claim responsibility for these attacks?
The author shows how Islam has been founded and how it must be. But is it really reality? He didn’t explain why Islam is used as an excuse for politic ends. And what about the interpretation of the Holy Qur’an? Kahn quotes a very interesting verse : “Then if you desire to punish the oppressors, punish them to the extent you have been wronged”. This sentence seems to be contradictory with the idea of peace but it also calls people not to be submissive, for example against dictatorship. Isn’t it what is happening in Maghreb currently? The interpretation of this kind of sentences can be really different for everyone and can have different consequences.
In my opinion, this article is very interesting because it makes reflect and raise questions. Moreover, the author used a lot of citations which shows the exactitude of the fact that Islam is the religion of peace. Something interesting could be to explain why the interpretation of the Holy Qur’an is different depending on the geographic situation and the politic vision. My feeling after reading this article is that both terrorists and occidental armies use Islam to justify their own crimes. But religion and politics should be separately considered.
Clément PAURIOL Is the Olympic parks fully used after the Olympic Games? The summary article written by Jimmy Johansson which named “how to use the Olympic parks afterwards and a deeper look at Beijing” introduced that the use of the Olympic parks is one of the important considerations during the planning, and also it presented the utilizations of the Olympic parks recently. However, from my research, I don’t think what the Olympic parks used currently is like what the planning said. From the article, it mentioned that the Olympic parks were designed for multiple uses, and also listened to the demand from the public people who were living in the city. From the last paragraph of the article, we can know that the Olympic parks now are mostly used for travelling and hold some activities. From my research, I got the information that there is a few stadiums were removed after the Olympic Games immediately. And most of the rest of them are also not open for the public people; they are sold to some companies for exploitation and investment. For example, the main stadium which named Bird Nest now belongs to ZhongXin Limited Company; this stadium now is not open for the public, so tourists can only look around outside the stadium. The other one is the national swimming centre or called “Water Cube”, it is very limited because there is only swimming pools inside, so the Water Cube now is only for holding some swimming competitions or activities. So if there are no competitions or activities, it’ll be useless. In my opinion, the “Bird Nest” can be visited by people from all over the world not just let them have a look outside the stadium, maybe the company should decide one or two days per week for public visiting instead. For the “Water Cube”, perhaps, it can be used as a swimming training centre or a center of overwater leisure and recreation. Like what “Wukesong Stadium” does now, it satisfies the demand from the people who are living in the western part of Beijing; here people can do gyms or exercises, and also enjoy music as there are many vocal concert hold. So from the examples explained previously, I think the Olympic parks are not fully used for public people. Maybe the companies which are in charge of the stadiums can use “Wukesong Stadium” for their reference. I hope the Olympic parks can seriously become multiple used like what the planning said through the support of the government and improvement of the companies’ strategies. Yao Pei
In the article "Powertrain for a New Compact Sporty Hybrid Vehicle" from 2010, the author Masaharu Hosoda presents a new powertrain for a 2011-model compact sporty hybrid vehicle. The basic for that development are existing mass-produced car components. As an example for those components, Hosoda mentions the Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) system, but he does not explain that it is a hybrid system developed for an earlier Honda car. Therefore all readers that are not familiar with the recent developments of Honda, have to look it up. Hosoda also describes the new approach which was taken; instead of compensating power reduction due to a smaller engine , the aim here was to create a better driving feel. In my opinion, that is a really good way to convince also sporty drivers to use a hybrid car.
In a short introduction part, the author states some problems on the existing car market. On one hand side, CO2 emissions and increasing fuel prices require fuel efficient vehicles, however existing sporty vehicles are equipped with big engines, they are heavy and have low fuel efficiency, i.e. a high fuel consumption. On the other hand, hybrid vehicles are expensive due to complex components. I would like to have also fully electric vehicles, small vehicles with a high fuel efficiency included in this comparison. Furthermore, Hosoda states the goal to combine existing hybrid systems and powertrain components, to achieve a sporty car at low cost.
After the introduction, an overview over the different components is given. The author describes briefly, which modifications had been made to combine an existing 1.5l gasoline engine with the electric components of an existing hybrid system and how the emission levels are reached. Furthermore the changes made to the six-speed manual gearbox, for both, integrating in the hybrid system and giving a sporty behavior for a better commercial appeal are mentioned. Although this part contains a lot of specific technical information, it is good to understand due to a good use of figures and tables.
The results of the presented development are mentioned using less text but a Table and a figure. The most important statement is, that the new powertrain delivers a better performance than a conventional 1.8l engine while consuming less fuel than a 1.5l engine. To give a better possibility to follow that statement, it would be good to include data from compared powertrains not only in the figure, but also in the table.
Before coming to a conclusion, the author explains, supported by a table and some figures, the 3-mode drive system, which changes the behavior of the control system in order to optimize it for fuel consumption, sporty driving or a compromise between those. Finally the most important facts are summarized and stated in the conclusion sentence. The article has a clear structure and is good understandable due to figures and tables. However I am missing some content, especially when it comes to comparisons. One reason for that might be, that the article describes a development within a company and therefore marketing aspects have to be considered.
AVRO Computing, inc. have published an article written by Peter Drucker on their homepage. In the article which is called The Next Information Revolution, the author argues that the next information revolution is not a revolution in technology, machinery, techniques, software, or speed. Instead he believes that the next information revolution is a revolution in concepts. In this critique I intend to analyze the main points and evidences of the article and argue of their credibility.
Drucker argues that although the computer along with the information technology have had a huge impact in organization they have had no impact on the different decisions that are important for expanding businesses or increasing yields. For example on the decision of a major bank to acquire another major bank Peter Drucker doesn’t think that IT has any impact. He also writes that for top management, information technology so far has been a producer of data instead of a producer of information. But I think that the data leads to information which the management uses to come to a decision. When a major bank should decide whether to acquire another major bank the management uses computers and other information technologies to get information of the new bank and to know if it will be profitable. Without the information technology this would require more risk-taking decisions. He defines that the three previous information revolutions were the invention of writing, the invention of books and the invention of the printing press. He also says that the fourth information revolution is “redefining the tasks to be done with the help of information”. Most people would agree that the three first where great information revolutions but his idea of the fourth doesn’t really keep up. The invention of writing for example made it possible to share information and therefore to spread it a lot easier. The invention of the book made it possible to gather a lot of text in one place which also made it easier to help spreading information and making it more accessible. The invention of the printing press made it possible for everyone to use books and take part of the information within them. But in his arguments of the fourth information revolution his main argument is that it is important when you want to increase income. In my opinion a far more important characteristic of an information revolution is lowered costs and wider spread of information. In my opinion the author focus too much on how companies can expand instead of how the spread of information can increase. A better idea for the fourth information revolution would, according to me, be the internet which has made it possible for everyone to obtain almost every piece of information no matter where they are. It could also be the ability to share information using e-mail and the accessibility of information using nothing but a modern cell phone, these are better suggestions for the fourth information revolution than a revolution in concepts.
Karl Toresson
Critique of“The Cultural and Language Barriers in the Workplace”, Carol Morris, Planning consultant for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Workforce Development Board, 2002
In February 2002, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Workforce Development Board (WDB) published a study about the Cultural and Language Barriers in the Workplace. Convinced that foreign-born workers can represent a real advantage for the employers, the author uses the results from studies about common cultural barriers to give tips to the businessmen. Those tips should help to bridge the cultural divide in the workplace. In spite of some relevant examples which prove a real try to understand other cultures, in my view, this paper does not completely fulfill its objectives.
According to the author, in addition to the language barriers, role and status given in each culture, the religion practices or the way to talk are ones of the most common cultural differences often shown up in workplaces. Thus, these divergences create misunderstanding between foreign-born workers and native workers. Based on these observation, Carol Morris highlights three main advice to reduce this “cultural incomprehension gap”, which should lead to the respect and the recognition of the broad ethnic diversity. However, in my view, among the seven “best local examples of a company”, none seems to apply these advice. Admittedly, a lot of measures are implemented to fill the gap, such as the hiring of bilingual employees, information in both languages… Nevertheless, contrary to what I could expect, the “successfully integration” of the foreign-born workers is clearly more an assimilation as American citizen than a recognition of their individual personalities. Moreover, learning English, recognized as essential but insufficient by the WDB, is finally the first priority of all these companies. One can even notice, that only two companies mention positive benefits of these foreign-born workers.
In her text, Carol Morris argues that immigrant workers can heavily improve the productivity of companies and, as a consequence, presents her advice only to the employer. The role that the native workers can play in reducing the cultural gap is only briefly shown in T.J.Maxx company. Moreover, it seems that only the managers are involved in this process of integration. As far as I am concerned, integration of foreign workers can be really slowed down by a non-acceptation of the others employees. Immigration is indeed still a sensitive topic and in this special case, we all know that people can be really unfriendly between each other. Thus, the WDB should, in my point of view, also provide suggestions which involve more native workers.
As presented, according to me, the examples of companies are not relevant of the conclusions drawn previously in the text. Moreover, by addressing her text only to the employers, the author cannot fulfill her aim to bridge the cultural divide among a company. To sum up, in spite of relevant remarks, in my view, this paper presents some incoherence, which can prevent the reader from believing in the efficiency of the given advice.
Audrey Chaudot, 18/02/2011
Critique of “Islam’s Response to Terrorism”, Abdul Ghany Jahangeer Khan
In his paper “Islam’s Reponse to Terrorism” Abdul Ghany Jahangeer Khan discusses how Islam handles the terrorism issue. I think that the author managed to show how Islam reacts against terrorism and that terrorists have nothing to do with religion. I will intend to expand on the points discussed by Khan.
First of all, the author begins by saying that Islam means the religion of peace, that the believers are surrounded by noble teachings and that the final aim of this religion is to establish peace between men. Moreover, to build and support his ideas, he quotes statements of the Holy Qur’an, the sacred book of Islam. The word Islam means “submission to God” and linguistically comes from the root word “Salaam”, meaning peace ([1] Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam), so why sending suicide bombers to blow up innocent civilians on behalf of the religion? Those who do that have well understood the “devotion to God” part, but they have an odd vision of the “peace” part.
Then Khan goes further on how Islam deals with terrorism. For example, he says that Islam teaches Muslims not to become terrorists in the first place and, that Muslims are taught highly moral and excellent behaviors between people. Moreover, he reports that Islam only advocates lofty human values turning Muslims into people who sincerely love humankind without distinction of religion, race or social status. What does the word terrorist mean? In dictionaries, one can find the following definitions: “A terrorist is a person who systematically uses violence and intimidation to achieve political ends” or “one who controls or forces others to do something by violence, fear or threats”. Once again, terrorists have their own vision of religion because religion taught them not to become like this and to love all humans without any kind of distinction, but where is the love in a bloodshed? Moreover, in the Qur’an, it is stated that no one has the right to force others into complying their demands or compelling others to follow their line of thinking. How can one do such monstrosities saying that it was on behalf of his religion if his religion strictly forbids him to do so?
Further, he emphasizes the fact that when things get out of control, Islam encourages discussion rather than violence and that reasonable force should be used to restore peace as a last resort only. “Reasonable force”, do you really think that crashing airplanes into buildings is using reasonable force to bring back peace? Furthermore, was peace really disrupted the 11th of September 2001? I don’t think so.
Finally, Khan strongly stresses that this religion aims at developing love for mankind and showing mercy and sympathy towards each other. He concludes by summing up three steps against terrorism and saying that terrorists have nothing to do with religion and must be fought at every level. As far as I am concerned, terrorists try to use religion as an excuse for their actions. So either they didn’t read the same holy book as the true believers, either the real name of their “religion” is madness and madness has nothing to do with religion, it is just a disease.
This article, by Peter F. Drucker published by AVRO Computing, inc., is about the ongoing and the yet to come information revelutions. The ongoing information revelution has its focus on data and how the data can be collected, stored, shared and presented. The next revelution however is about the meaning and purpose of information.
Drucker also writes that these revelutions are revelutions of concept and not of technology or software. This is the part were I disagree. In my oppinion, the informational revelution that’s going on as we speak need tons of technology and a technical revelution that goes on in the same pace. Without the technological methods of spreading and storing data, there would not be an information revelution. The way I see it we are constantly in a technological and an informational revelution that works in symbiosis with each other, one can’t go on without the other.
There is, according to Drucker, still some problems for business corporations to use the new technology because they don’t have the information needed to perform their own tasks. This issue is what triggered the new information revelution and they have now realized that it’s not more data or technology that’s needed. What’s needed is a new concept. A concept that redefines information.
I totally agree with Drucker that it’s often not the amount of information that causes problems. But more how to use the information to create value rather than preventing waste. This particular example is about accounting and I really like that the idea is to maximize yields instead of minimizing costs. This was a brand new concept in accounting and it seems to work really well. I also think it’s important to mention that the amount of data are not enough in all fields. We still need huge amounts of research in many fields but in some businesses a change of concept is more imortant than collecting new data.
It seems like the other information rvelutions have all been aborted just as people have been trying to create new concepts. The reason have been the same every time. A new information revelution. From at first beeing able to wright to the first book to the printing of books and to be able to digitalize the information. This is more or less te first time that we have been able to take the nextstep and start working on the concepts of information rather than the data itself.
I think Drucker is right about that we need to start working on more efficiant concepts to use our data but I also think it’s important to continue to collect data and develope the methods of storage and avallability of the gathered data.
The article, “There Won’t Be Blood”, written by Timothy Egan, was published in the webpage of New York Times on February 17, 2011 to be read by any interested readers. In this article, Timothy Egan, considers that American people should not defend their liberty by regulated militia. However, this is not true. The well regulated militia by people sometimes insures a more balanced negotiation with government for obtaining the liberty and equity. He also suggest Americans should not self consider the thoughts Americans have are always right, which I also have the same opinion.
The author points out that the American’s bloody insurrection against British rule is not appropriate by comparing with recent Egypt liberty revolution. However, the two movements are different in its situation. As Americans is never organized and united to do one thing to show their determination for liberty, so the British rulers did not show respect to them, resulting in a not well negotiated talk with Americans for their requirement, so the violent movement can not be avoided. In Egypt, people were so angry and upset about the 30-years dictation and were well regulated and united, so government tried to avoid conflict with Egyptians because the army knew how much influence the Egyptians can make. Therefore, a well organized and regulated militia is the foundation of political movement. In the negative role model, one issue discussed by the author in the article is Russian revolution, as Czar had been tortured the Russian people for many years, which make the Czar totally disrespect on the liberty requirement of Russian people, so they had to struggle for the liberty with fights. The transformation of Russia is also the proof of a well regulated militia can truly avoid the large scale bloody conflict by showing this potential power to change the regime.
In last sentences, the author demonstrates that the way Americans think is not always true, sometimes it can produce disaster. I would agree on that, just like the example showed in the article, the homegrown terrorist Timothy McVeigh, who killed 168 Americans by bombing. So Americans should rethink profoundly which kinds of thoughts make America prosper and what thought makes Americans suffer the tragedy. This is the suggestion implied by the author.
To sum up, at first the well regulated militia should not be abandoned, which makes Americans independent and free. Secondly, “tree of liberty”, written by Thomas Jefferson, should re-originate the hope and desire which makes Americans pursue for almost 200 years.
Assignment 2
Here you can upload your critiques along with a link to the article you critique. Similarly to the assignment 1 exercise, you need to post the link first and then write the critique below it. For step-by-step instructions for how to do this, see the page assignment 1 summaries.
http://www.springerlink.com.proxy.lib.chalmers.se/content/kr86418503070018/fulltext.pdf
ctitique on utilization pattern of Olympic parks and its application in Beijing
The article, “utilization pattern of Olympic parks and its application in Beijing”, written by a group of Chinese researchers, He Yan, Chen Tian, and Zhang Men, is published on a website to be read by any interested viewer. In this article, the researchers try to discuss the planning process of the construction of Beijing Olympic park for its current use as a host for the Olympic Games and also its future function and use. They state that the first and easiest way to start planning is to look at previous Olympic Games and the preparation made by hosting cities to the tournament. This involves consideration of the investors’ involved, different situations and characteristics and the manager assigned to organize the Olympic Games. The researchers assert that, once feasibility studies are performed, the Beijing Olympic stadiums shall be designed to have sufficient capacity and proper function. The design of these stadiums must be in such way that these stadiums will have multiple purposes. Moreover, the demand from people of Beijing city and the city administration shall be considered during the design process. As a conclusion the researchers state that, the pre-study and planning of the design Beijing Olympic Games is necessary in order develop a sustainable and attractive Olympic park, where local residents and tourists will be looking forward to heading to different multi-disciplinary activities.
In the very beginning, the researchers state that Olympic Games are among the major tournaments that are famous and have so many spectators worldwide. The budget or the money that will be spent on the construction of the Olympic parks and re-facilitation of the city for tourists and guests attending the tournament is a big headache for the hosting city. But the fact is that, the more the preparation made by the host cities is better, the more that the hosting nation will get tourist attraction and other incentives in the long term.
In Beijing Olympic, surveying forms, were distributed to spectators attending the tournament in the stadium. These surveying forms were questioners having different questions regarding the tournament. These forms will be collected, and will be used as a reference to compare them with the pre-planning study and make a feasible judgment on the tournament. This method has worked pretty much in case of Beijing Olympic.
To sum up, the Olympic Games are tournaments where the world will be united as one for some period of time. The planning and the construction of the Olympic parks by hosting nations shall be as perfect as possible. These will have a great importance not only for Olympic Games but also for the host cities and the worldwide spectators in the long run.
Fitsum Teshome
http://www.alislam.org/response.html
Critique on “Islam’s response to terrorism”
In ”Islam’s response to terrorism”, Abdul Ghany Jahangeer Khan emphasizes the true meaning, purpose and core values of Islam. In addition to pointing out that Islam, in fact, means peace, Khan further gives a range of scenarios to support the argument of purity and anti violence, which he claims are central concepts. Moreover, Khan further stresses Islam’s denunciation of terrorism as well as its opposite nature to any behavior connected to anything other than “kindness and sympathy for all”.
I’m not cracking down on Islam per se, but rather the narrow-mindedness of people genuinely believing that a communiqué, like a religious text, are subject to only objective interpretation. What one must realize is that every set of eyes and every individual will and should read, analyze and interpret text individually as to come to terms with what impact it has on his or her own situation. Hence, anyone or anything with the ability to receive a message and a brain to further analyze it will also form an opinion of its own. Therefore, it is crucial that one realizes that subjectivity is hard to overcome and that objectivity is even harder to achieve. Finally, the ambiguity in religious texts makes it even more difficult and assists in the justification of acts made in the name of religion.
Firstly, Khan makes it perfectly clear that from the beginning of the article that Islam means peace. Interestingly enough it seems as though throughout the entire text one stumbles upon description upon description of ways to retaliate or punish oppressors or those inflicting unwanted behavior in one’s environment. Personally, it seems rather ambiguous that a religion with peace as a guiding light would promote and present situations in which one is entitled to “punish them to the extent that you have been wronged”. Sounds a lot like “an eye for an eye”…
“Islam strictly forbids the killing of innocent, non-aggressive people:…no hostility is allowed except against the aggressors.” (Ch.2: v.194) For a religion denouncing violence and promoting peace, it oddly enough makes clear statements concerning the line of action when violence is needed. What is particularly interesting about statements as such is the total oblivion when it comes to the subjective nature of the individual and her interpretation. An oppressor or aggressor to one person of a specific religion can differ immensely to the next individual of the very same belief. Put simply, the friend of one may be the foe of another while sharing the same belief.
“In Islam, an amazingly powerful emphasis is laid on developing love for mankind and on the vital importance of showing mercy and sympathy towards every creature of Allah Almighty, including human beings and animals.” In Islam, as in other religions, the love for mankind and the world around it is highlighted. But is that all there is to it? What about homosexuals? Are they not a part of mankind or maybe they do not deserve the mercy and sympathy everyone else? In reality, homosexuals are, at best, denounced or worse persecuted due to their sexual preferences. This is the case in many religions – however, the concept of “love all” does apparently not include them – the homosexuals.
To sum up, the lack of in sight in the power of subjectivity when it comes to interpretation of religious texts is a global headache that infect relationships between cultures, arm nations and subsequently harm or kill innocent human beings. In addition to subjectivity, there is also the issue of ambiguity in religious texts where in one paragraph the love for mankind is portrayed and the denouncement of a certain group is done in the other. Both the blindness of subjectivity and the ambiguity of religious texts are today, and have been historically, cause of war and destruction. Let’s open our eyes and our hearts to make a difference for future generations and learn from our past.
Stefan Eriksson
Critique on Contaminated Land
The Safety & Health Practitioner published an article on March 18th 2000, written by Butterworth and titled it as “Contaminated Land”. In this article, Butterworth introduces three different types of wastes that cause contamination. He also emphasizes the significance of regulatory bodies and liability in order to solve the problem. However, I think he has overestimated the power of liability. More seriously, he ignores the noise pollution, which is also one of the major sources of pollution in our land.
Along with the development of modern industries, environmental pollution problems have become increasingly critical to human life and nature. Wastes with different nature could be found either in a derelict site or under the land surface. However, noise pollution cannot be ignored as it exists pervasively and as a result, it becomes a major contamination in our daily life. It will cause very severe damage to people who work in a noisy environment or live close to the noise resource.
In this paper, the visual angle is limited by solid wastes, spillages and gassing wastes, all of which are well known for a long time. However, industrial noise, which was ignored in this article, could also cause hearing impairment, induce different diseases and influence the normal life of living creature. There are several reasons which lead to the ignorance of industrial noise. First of all, noise is one sound with its own acoustic property. The difference between noise and other pollutions is that there is no waste generated from noise. Second, the influence of noise pollution will stop as long as noise resources disappear. Finally, people tend to have higher tolerable range to noise pollution because of the nature of sound.
Pollution prevention could always be more important than remediation after pollution. We could not consider “Suitability for use” as the bottom level when we treat the environmental problems inappropriately. Liability will have its maximum power when a complete and efficient legislation system has been built up in our society. The responsibility of pollution prevention and remediation need to be clearly defined. Liability itself is undependable in the profit-driven industrial times.
Butterworth fails to discover the noise pollution as one of the major sources for the contamination. Liability overestimation could possibly be less effective without legitimate regulations. Government could put more attention on environmental legislation issues. Meanwhile, Industries also need to share the governance environmental problems with their technology and prevent pollution. We could create a sustainable world with our talent rather than “suitability for use”.
Datong Li
Critique on Collisions with passenger cars and moose
In the article “Collisions with Passenger Cars and Moose” the authors Björnstig, Eriksson, Thorson and Bylund present investigations of accidents with passenger cars and moose. For the study they selected 650 crashes, which involved moose over a period of one year. The data concerning the actual accidents was provided by police, the description of injuries sustained was provided by hospitals and additionally drivers had been interviewed for statistical purposes. The authors then put the deformation of the cars in relation to the injuries of the car occupants.
The deformation of cars depends on three factors: size of the car, mass of the moose and driving speed. In my opinion the authors should also keep in mind that driving skills play a major roll. Questions like “Is the driver accustomed to drive in rural areas” or “is he or she trained on how to behave in traffic situations that involve moose?” I am convinced that only very few well trained individual drivers would be able to cope with such a situation properly. Fortunately, there exist several online platforms where everybody can train to get the necessary skill to act properly in a near crash situation with moose.
In a publication of 1981, L. Åberg, a scientist from Uppsala, asserted that every 10th Swedish driver, who drives more than 20,000 km per year is involved in an accident with moose at least once in his lifetime. I believe that there should be set limits in this statistic at hand, because many Swedish drivers are only accustomed to city traffic and never use ordinary countryside highways. These city drivers should be excluded from the statistic.
The following point of the study I have to criticize – the authors assume “standardized” crashes with moose. They are the opinion that collisions always happen the same way, i.e. that a car hits a moose right in the side. Unfortunately, crash situations are highly unlikely to be the same in every case. Even though it is true that most collisions happen from the side, it is highly improbable that in real life the angle of attack is the same in all cases. An additional point of criticism is that the study neglects what would happen when a moose is being hit from the front? In my opinion, the damage must be even worse.
Finally, we know how crashes harm car occupants, but what about the moose? In the article there is neither an explanation in which way, and how badly the moose are injured, nor if they can be saved in an appropriate way. Can they even survive a collision like that?
To conclude, in the 1970s, when the study was conducted there were a lot of collisions of passenger cars with moose, sometimes with serious injuries sustained by the car drivers. Nowadays, with the ever-advancing automotive industry and improved on-board safety devices, such as airbags or the crush-absorbing zone, I cannot imagine that injuries, as described in the article, would occur nowadays.
Sandra Hutterer
Energy efficiant log homes due to thermal mass
This article published at year 2000, written by an employer from a company called The Log Homes and is titled as ”Thermal Mass Benefits Of Log Homes Recognized”. In this article the writer talks about a building material called Thermal Mass and that it's a good insulated frame wall. It is true, but it isn't officially acknowledged and that's why they needed to gather evidence to support their statement.
The R-value present the resistance for transferring heat in a material and its the standard measurement tool for resident construction in USA. The Logs has low R-value, because they absorb and store heat. Therefore owners of Log house had to overbuild for meeting the R-value standard.
Thermal Mass is a material that can absorb, store and slowly release heat over time. One important issue that's noticed in this article is if this technique works in cold climates. Therefor studies in this area has been made and have come up to conclusion that it's energy efficiency, but still some sentience has their doubts.
“So, over the past 13 years, the LCH has gathered scientific statistics from independent research projects to substantiate its assertion. ”. I can't understand why it took so many years , they could just build several houses with the same structure, but with different material. After that they could compare the energy consumed.
“Since the situation was a crisis, and the R-value methodology existed, it became the standard”. So typical that governments take the easiest way,instant of conducting accurateness research to find the best method for measure household energy efficiency.
“Thermal mass is a material's capacity to absorb, store and slowly release heat over time. Logs do this well”. So how does it work when it is vary cold outside ? Shouldn't the thermal mass release heat because it colder outside then inside ?
The article is interesting but I would like to have some more details in the conclusions that they takes up . They're saying that this technique works well in a cold climate , but they don't really explain why. They just prove it by comparing with other residential construction but they should give some scientific explanation.
Daniel Samuel.
Critique of the article "Cultural and Language Barriers in the Workplace"
On February 2002, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Workforce Development Board published an informational guideline prepared by planning consultant, Carol Morris, concerning the big barriers language and cultural differences bring into the workplace. I intend to give reason to my agreement with the guidelines proposed in this article as to what should be done in order to avoid misunderstandings and confrontations due to cultural differences.
Morris explains foreign-born workers are increasing and are a vital part of the community and local workforce citing that, especially, Hispanic population is increasing at a rate of 10 million people every day for every 10 years nationwide. This is an important factor that, besides being true, strongly affects companies’ recruitment options. Morris also enlists some of the major factors that influence social and laboral relationships in business, from which I think the most important one is religion and personal space. These factors, in my opinion, greatly affect our personality traits and the way we interact and behave in front of our colleagues.
He also mentions the importance of paying attention to what can be done to improve work environment and conditions for immigrants. This is totally worthwhile for companies to take into consideration, since the immigrant population is increasing fast and because usually, as quoted, “immigrants are very motivated and have a stronger work ethics” that could benefit the company greatly.
Also, Morris comments about the English speaking barrier that immigrants have to face and sometimes gives them a hard time to fully express their ideas. For which I think patience, which should be developed by employers, really plays a major role. Giving others the chance learn might, in fact, improve their communication skills making them feel more confident and at the same time be more productive and efficient.
In conclusion, Morris develops from an objective point of view what factors influence language and cultural barriers leading to misunderstandings in the work environment. As well as efficient means of sorting this out, stressing that a company’s future strongly depends on this increasing immigrant labor force and must be concerned, for this matter, to ensure the best job conditions for everyone in order to succeed.
Ana Cecilia Garcia
Critique on Thermal mass benefits of log homes recognized
The main idea in the article, which was published on Sharp Log Homes in 2000, is to convince the reader that log homes are as energy efficient as frame houses. Building materials ability to transfer heat is measured in a resistance called R-value. A low R-value means that heat can transfer quickly through the building material and that the house needs more energy to keep a comfortable indoor temperature. Logs have a low R-value but LHC, The Log Homes Council, claims that logs instead store energy which will be used when the indoor temperature drop. Therefore, a log home is as good as any frame house.
However, it is the logs thermal mass that tribute to log homes good insulating capacity. Even though the log homeowners had the heat bills to prove this, it was not an acknowledge fact. Therefore, LHC have collected data from scientific research projects to convince the Department of Energy and codes officials that log homes are energy efficient.
Furthermore, the R-value method does not consider all different aspects within building materials and there have been a debate about this for many years. It was during the energy crisis in the 1970’s that the governments felt a pressure to unite behind a method to standardize the energy loss of different building materials. Because of the short time, they had to choose R-values because it was the only known method.
Moreover, previous studies have shown that thermal mass absorb, store and then releases the heat. Still, energy experts are not convinced that it is possible for the log homes to use less energy during the winter months. Two recent studies, of sixteen households in uptown New York and Montana, have shown that the log homes have the exact same air leakage and use energy as efficient as any other house during the winter months.
The above statements might be true but this article does not convince me. Even though the article has a scientific approach, its purpose is way too commercial to be reliable. The article does not have an actual author and it is not published in any scientific magazine but on the homepage of a log homes company. This is not satisfied characters for an article that wants to enlighten its reader with new revolutionary facts.
The statement about how they made the R-value a standardized method makes it clear that they want us to be suspicious about the former methods so it is easier for them to convince us with their theory. The only parameter they mention in the way they choose the standardization method was time, so it is not clear how the rest of the parameters in the research were doing. This is an overall pattern in the article; it does not provide any data and not much information about how the different studies were made. This is important features in an article that wants to provide the reader with new information. Even though the statement might be true, no one will believe it if it is impossible to trace back the information to reliable sources.
Jennifer Löfvendahl
Critique on Contaminated Land
The article “Contaminated Land” is written by J.S Butterworth and published by The Safety & Health Practitioner (2000). As the title says the article deals with a great problem in the UK, namely contaminated land, which affect up to 200,000 hectares of the country. In my opinion the large scale of contaminated land in the UK primarily depends on a lack of laws and regulations for industries dealing with hazardous substances.
Butterworth claims in his article that pollution that causes contaminated land mainly comes from solid wastes, spillages and gassing wastes. A liquid storage tank will at some point leak and contaminate the land. Even drainage systems and wells are likely to leak and cause pollution in the surrounding land. Some industries have used and are still using landfills for waste disposal and those are big sources of pollution, both solid and gas. I think there has to be some control of old landfills, storage tanks and other potential pollution sources to assure they do not cause contamination. I also believe that there has to be a law that regulates the construction of new landfills.
Butterworth argues that contaminated land entails risks to people, controlled water and structures. The risk assessment has become better with modern computing power and it is now easier to get a good result. Soon there will also be a formal risk assessment in use, but up till now not very much has been published. I believe it is important to be updated with new technology because you can analyze more data and get more precise values. It is also important to have a risk assessment that everyone follows.
There is so far no standard method to investigate the land in terms of pollution. Therefore the result differs depending on where the soil sample is analyzed and different samples can not be entirely comparable. Geophysical methods have a limit and work best on a homogeneous land, for example a landfill. In my opinion there has to be a common method to investigate the land and the method also needs to work on all types of land.
The legislation concerning contaminated land has for a long time worked with the principle “The polluter pays”, says Butterworth. This is probably the fairest way to deal with contaminated land but it is hard to implement in practice. To facilitate who is responsible for the contaminated land a concept of Class A and Class B was introduced. According to me this was necessary because there has to be someone responsible and someone that pays for the pollution.
With legislations approaching, a formal risk assessment in use and a standard method to investigate already contaminated land on its way I think the future for the contaminated land in the UK is looking good. All that is left is to clean up.
Sofia Öjerborn
http://www.earthmagazine.org/earth/article/3a4-7da-a-5
Critique on “The water woes in Pakistan”
David Herbert (2010) in his article “Pakistan's water woes and the science that can solve them”[1] has explained the water problems which underdeveloped countries like Pakistan are facing. Every year lots of children lose their life by drinking contaminated water and more than 30 percent deaths in the country are caused by diseases originated from polluted water. Moreover, Pakistan is not aware of managing its water resources efficiently so lots of water is wasted due to lack of planning. Thus if this situation will remain persistent, Pakistan will run short of water in next few years. In my view, these water tribulations have always been a big issue for Pakistan. Therefore, I strongly agree with the author that negligence of most of the governments in Pakistan has further aggravated this issue. So, this situation must be dealt seriously, otherwise future generations of Pakistan will have water resources that are both limited and of bad quality.
Besides Pakistan governments own carelessness, there are many external and internal problems that the country is facing at present. On one side, in Afghanistan war against terrorism is going on and lots of refugees are coming to Pakistan for shelter, which is a burden on economy. On the other side there is tension between Pakistan and India on Indus river water. Furthermore, Pakistan itself is becoming the victim of terrorism from last few years and in some parts of country military operations are going on against terrorists. In my view, the author has certainly assessed the actual issues inside and outside Pakistan, which are diverting the attention of government from such an important water issue. However, in addition to this I would say that the current government is also considered, and has proved itself to be the most corrupt and incapable among all past governments. Therefore, in my opinion some significant changes are required in Pakistan, especially to have honest leadership and to strengthen rule of law and justice.
Despite the acute shortage of water dam reservoirs, which are also a cheap means of producing electricity, the Pakistani government has not been able to make any new dams. Besides this the other main issue is to maintain the quality of water to avoid diseases which is not being considered at all. Some efforts have been made by building offices and laboratories to maintain the quality which has been a good positive step. The U.S. State Department, the USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) is actively working with Pakistani responsible authorities of water management and a new Water Program is also announced recently by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for efficient management of water resources. Though the future does not seem to be promising regarding water issues for Pakistan considering the entire situation but Pakistan has the history of overcoming the problems and its scientists are also capable of playing their role. Here again the author has explained pretty well the current situation of Pakistan and I strongly agree with him. I also in consent with the hopes of overcoming these problems because I feel that once Pakistan will come out of his main issues of security and political instability, there is no shortage of talent and knowledge to resolve these water issues.
To conclude, I must say that the problems and their severity that Pakistan is facing currently are very well analyzed and discussed by the author. To a larger extent, the authors concerns are correct and up to date; some serious and abrupt attention is required by Pakistani government if they want to sustain and give a better future to their people.
Name: Malik Ahzaz Ahmad
Critique on Collisions with passenger cars and moose
In the article titled ”Collisions with Passenger Cars and Moose, Sweden”, written by Björnstig, Eriksson, Thorson and Bylund, collisions between passenger cars and moose are closely investigated. The authors present statistics based on a large number of collisions. In addition to statistics, however, they also present a suggested improvement to passenger cars in order to lessen the injuries suffered by the driver and passengers when colliding with moose. I intend to give my view of why this suggestion is ridiculous and what I believe should be done instead.
When a moose is hit it by a car, the legs of the moose, which are quite tall, will take the initial impact. This sends the moose flying over the hood, hitting the windshield with massive force. Since the moose is most likely to be hit while attempting to cross the road, they are usually struck in the side, which means that the whole side of the moose will hit the windshield. The weight of the moose in combination with the speed of the vehicle generates a tremendous force at impact, often shattering the windshield and denting the front part of the roof.
Björnstig, Eriksson, Thorson and Bylund suggest that by strengthening the windshield pillars, also referred to as A-pillars, the car would be able to withstand a collision with a moose better. They further state that aerodynamic cars which are built to have a low roof and tilted windshield, to reduce air resistance in order to minimize gas usage, are worse off when colliding with a moose. Therefore cars should rather have reinforced A-pillars and a big cabin. Do we really want to produce cars that can withstand a collision with a moose better than a car that cuts down on emissions and at the same time saves us money? I think that it's a ridiculous idea. Actually, it instantly reminds me of the movie Resident Evil where a bus is equipped with armored plates to be able to drive through a horde of zombies. Why don't we try to minimize the collisions rather than trying to minimize the damage sustained from them?
Fences have had limited success in reducing the number of moose-related accidents(Lehtimaki, 1981). We could still, however, take several steps towards minimizing them. First of all, lowering speeds will give both the moose and the driver a chance to react in time. Furthermore, teaching drivers to be on the lookout for wild life and teaching them how to recognize areas where there is likely to be animal activity is another step in the right direction.
It is hard to predict when an animal may attempt to cross the road, however, I believe that reinforcing cars to better withstand collisions is the wrong way to go about it. We cannot compromise with our responsibility regarding emissions and pollution in order to prepare for a collision with a moose, that is very unlikely to happen for the individual driver. Considering that only 5 out of 989 persons in the study was killed, I think that it's too much work for too little benefit.
References:
Lehtimaki R: Fences for protections of traffic and deer. The Central
Organization for Traffic Safety 37/1981, ISSN 0355-6670: Helsinki, 1981.
Anders Axner
Critique of The Next Information Revolution
Author: Peter DruckerDrucker (1998) highlight the influence of information affecting almost all levels of the economical and societal spheres in our daily lives. The information has become the bottom line to any kind of organization to compete and operate in addition to traditional physical assets that lose relevance since information has got such strategic position in society. Drucker’s main argument stated that data is not equal to information; therefore, current revolution is portrayed to convert simple data in useful information to support strategic decisions. I propose to consider the concept of knowledge in order to expand the scope that by information is given in Drucker’s statement.
Managers have started to ask about the meaning and purpose of information, next to concerns regarding the function of business enterprises in the current society. Drucker suggested that the answer is linked with the creation of value and wealth rather than just profits. However a more important question arises as: for whom organizations create value within their own list of stakeholders.
In fact, it is a strategic point in the current economical debate. I consider of relevance the identification of theoretical frameworks to face the information revolution and convert this information in tools for decision makers in order to create value. Similarly several authors have discussed among different conceptualizations of knowledge such as tacit and explicit knowledge. However Drucker (1998) does not focus on the conceptualization of knowledge but on information itself, arguing that it is a revolution about concepts.
In the early days of computers, information coming from the accounting department was one of the first sources of data within organizations. In addition cost accounting was the major improvement to accountability keeping control of cost in organizations. Drucker stated that this information became insufficient for business decisions. I agree with this proposition as well as the comments that data manage in the first computer systems installed in organizations were mainly aimed to accountability issues.
Improvements in technology facilitate the use of more information to evaluate the whole chain of cost. Then managers concentrate on internal information. Drucker address that computers aggravated the vision to look just in internal information. I argue that neither computers nor technology but the strategic vision of managers to use computers for such kind of data, was the problem to concentrate on internal information.
Back on the time Drucker (1998) wrote this paper, he forecasted that for the next 10 to 15 years collection of information from the outside will be one of the most important issues. We are seeing that his prediction has become a reality with the emergence of a whole industry of companies delivering content, analyzing business environments and the consolidation of business intelligence systems to collect, filter and report information to the top and middle management in several companies. Consequently to business intelligence systems the generation of knowledge that is appropriate and understood rather than plain information have to be the main result of those systems.
In conclusion I agree with most of Drucker’s statements; however the concept of knowledge should be clarified to be included as a strategic asset within business organizations. Especially topics on how to handle tacit knowledge need further research and how the new information technologies can help to cope with the appropriation of this kind of knowledge from external sources.
Reference:
DRUCKER, P. F. 1998. The next information revolution. Forbes, 162, 47-54.
Hermann Fuquen
http://www.charlotteworks.org/clbpositionpaper.pdf
Critique on “Cultural and Language Barriers In the Workplace”
In February 2002 an organisation working in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, North Carolina, USA published a guide called “Cultural and Language Barriers In the Workplace” on how companies can help both employees and themselves. By having a well structured system for immigrant workers they will be able to break down the different barriers at a workplace. The authors divide the barriers into two sections, culture and language.
As cultural barriers they define parameters as roles and status, personal space, body language and religion. The language barrier is just as simple as the difficulty in communication when not speaking the same language. In today’s business and society it is very important to make use of all different cultures and people with different background. Therefore I will take a deeper look at the statements made and strengthen them or weaken them with my personal experiences.
Some might say that I do not have the experience to relate those parameters to an existing working place but I say I do. After more than three years at an industry working along people of different ages, nationalities, religions, educations and more I think I have seen a lot of these barriers, both successfully broken down but also, and mostly, still being a problem.
The first of the guides’ examples of barriers is the one regarding roles and status. The writers claim that in some countries the women are subordinate to men. My experience is that this is not just a problem in some particular countries. This is still a problem at workplaces in developed countries and should not just be pointed at developing countries. Therefore, I think this is an even more important issue to deal with at a workplace and it should also regard the natives, not just the immigrants.
Another culture barrier is the personal space. By that the writers suggests that there are differences in for example how far we stand from each other when having a conversation. As always it is hard to generalise but I might agree that in some cultures it is more accepted to for example put a hand on the shoulder on the one you speak to, at least it is my experience. The same is to say about body language. To use your hands, your face and your body to express yourself is a way of communication which is more used in some countries than others.
Religion is a complex barrier which can both be a gain and a disadvantage. The writers only discuss the problem of workers not able or wanting to work at the same time due to religious reasons. I would like to highlight the fact that it can be turned into something positive, for example in an industry with production lines running without breaks.
The language barrier must be broken, as stated in the guide. Without being able to communicate in a decent way there is not much room for effective work. However, I do think that the guide misses out on the social contact you miss if you can not handle the language.
To summarize, it is very important to define those barriers and try to avoid them at a workplace. It is also important to get to know your employees; there might be some rough diamonds around.
Jimmy Johansson
ISLAM’S RESPONSE TO TERRORISM (Assignment 2 : critic)
In his article “Islam’s response to terrorism”, Abdul Ghany Jahangeer Khan explains some foundations of Islam, using citations from the Holy book, the Qur’an. He defines Islam as the religion of peace and explains Allah defined himself as “the source of all goodness”. On the contrary, terrorists are people who use “violence and intimidation” at politics ends or who force the other to do something using violence.
As the author said, the Qur’an calls Muslims to respect of everyone without distinction of race, religion or social status. The citation “the Jews will follow their own religions and the Muslims will follow their own” shows that the Holy Qur’an doesn’t call people to violence or hatred. The use of citations in this article allows the author to argue his purpose that Islam is the religion of peace. The author also shows that terrorism and Islam have no link using three verses. First, “do not kill yourself”. Second, “don’t cast yourself into ruins”. Third, “Islam forbids killing innocent”. So why? Why there are so many wars, bomb attacks, plain attacks and suicide attacks in this world? And why Islamic organizations claim responsibility for these attacks?
The author shows how Islam has been founded and how it must be. But is it really reality? He didn’t explain why Islam is used as an excuse for politic ends. And what about the interpretation of the Holy Qur’an? Kahn quotes a very interesting verse : “Then if you desire to punish the oppressors, punish them to the extent you have been wronged”. This sentence seems to be contradictory with the idea of peace but it also calls people not to be submissive, for example against dictatorship. Isn’t it what is happening in Maghreb currently? The interpretation of this kind of sentences can be really different for everyone and can have different consequences.
In my opinion, this article is very interesting because it makes reflect and raise questions. Moreover, the author used a lot of citations which shows the exactitude of the fact that Islam is the religion of peace. Something interesting could be to explain why the interpretation of the Holy Qur’an is different depending on the geographic situation and the politic vision. My feeling after reading this article is that both terrorists and occidental armies use Islam to justify their own crimes. But religion and politics should be separately considered.
Clément PAURIOL
Is the Olympic parks fully used after the Olympic Games?
The summary article written by Jimmy Johansson which named “how to use the Olympic parks afterwards and a deeper look at Beijing” introduced that the use of the Olympic parks is one of the important considerations during the planning, and also it presented the utilizations of the Olympic parks recently. However, from my research, I don’t think what the Olympic parks used currently is like what the planning said.
From the article, it mentioned that the Olympic parks were designed for multiple uses, and also listened to the demand from the public people who were living in the city. From the last paragraph of the article, we can know that the Olympic parks now are mostly used for travelling and hold some activities.
From my research, I got the information that there is a few stadiums were removed after the Olympic Games immediately. And most of the rest of them are also not open for the public people; they are sold to some companies for exploitation and investment. For example, the main stadium which named Bird Nest now belongs to ZhongXin Limited Company; this stadium now is not open for the public, so tourists can only look around outside the stadium. The other one is the national swimming centre or called “Water Cube”, it is very limited because there is only swimming pools inside, so the Water Cube now is only for holding some swimming competitions or activities. So if there are no competitions or activities, it’ll be useless.
In my opinion, the “Bird Nest” can be visited by people from all over the world not just let them have a look outside the stadium, maybe the company should decide one or two days per week for public visiting instead. For the “Water Cube”, perhaps, it can be used as a swimming training centre or a center of overwater leisure and recreation. Like what “Wukesong Stadium” does now, it satisfies the demand from the people who are living in the western part of Beijing; here people can do gyms or exercises, and also enjoy music as there are many vocal concert hold.
So from the examples explained previously, I think the Olympic parks are not fully used for public people. Maybe the companies which are in charge of the stadiums can use “Wukesong Stadium” for their reference. I hope the Olympic parks can seriously become multiple used like what the planning said through the support of the government and improvement of the companies’ strategies.
Yao Pei
Critique of “Powertrain for a New Compact Sporty Hybrid Vehicle”
In the article "Powertrain for a New Compact Sporty Hybrid Vehicle" from 2010, the author Masaharu Hosoda presents a new powertrain for a 2011-model compact sporty hybrid vehicle. The basic for that development are existing mass-produced car components. As an example for those components, Hosoda mentions the Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) system, but he does not explain that it is a hybrid system developed for an earlier Honda car. Therefore all readers that are not familiar with the recent developments of Honda, have to look it up. Hosoda also describes the new approach which was taken; instead of compensating power reduction due to a smaller engine , the aim here was to create a better driving feel. In my opinion, that is a really good way to convince also sporty drivers to use a hybrid car.
In a short introduction part, the author states some problems on the existing car market. On one hand side, CO2 emissions and increasing fuel prices require fuel efficient vehicles, however existing sporty vehicles are equipped with big engines, they are heavy and have low fuel efficiency, i.e. a high fuel consumption. On the other hand, hybrid vehicles are expensive due to complex components. I would like to have also fully electric vehicles, small vehicles with a high fuel efficiency included in this comparison. Furthermore, Hosoda states the goal to combine existing hybrid systems and powertrain components, to achieve a sporty car at low cost.
After the introduction, an overview over the different components is given. The author describes briefly, which modifications had been made to combine an existing 1.5l gasoline engine with the electric components of an existing hybrid system and how the emission levels are reached. Furthermore the changes made to the six-speed manual gearbox, for both, integrating in the hybrid system and giving a sporty behavior for a better commercial appeal are mentioned. Although this part contains a lot of specific technical information, it is good to understand due to a good use of figures and tables.
The results of the presented development are mentioned using less text but a Table and a figure. The most important statement is, that the new powertrain delivers a better performance than a conventional 1.8l engine while consuming less fuel than a 1.5l engine. To give a better possibility to follow that statement, it would be good to include data from compared powertrains not only in the figure, but also in the table.
Before coming to a conclusion, the author explains, supported by a table and some figures, the 3-mode drive system, which changes the behavior of the control system in order to optimize it for fuel consumption, sporty driving or a compromise between those. Finally the most important facts are summarized and stated in the conclusion sentence. The article has a clear structure and is good understandable due to figures and tables. However I am missing some content, especially when it comes to comparisons. One reason for that might be, that the article describes a development within a company and therefore marketing aspects have to be considered.
Christian Amersbach 18/02/2011 The Next Information Revolution
Critique of: The Next Information Revolution by Peter Drucker
AVRO Computing, inc. have published an article written by Peter Drucker on their homepage. In the article which is called The Next Information Revolution, the author argues that the next information revolution is not a revolution in technology, machinery, techniques, software, or speed. Instead he believes that the next information revolution is a revolution in concepts. In this critique I intend to analyze the main points and evidences of the article and argue of their credibility.
Drucker argues that although the computer along with the information technology have had a huge impact in organization they have had no impact on the different decisions that are important for expanding businesses or increasing yields. For example on the decision of a major bank to acquire another major bank Peter Drucker doesn’t think that IT has any impact. He also writes that for top management, information technology so far has been a producer of data instead of a producer of information. But I think that the data leads to information which the management uses to come to a decision. When a major bank should decide whether to acquire another major bank the management uses computers and other information technologies to get information of the new bank and to know if it will be profitable. Without the information technology this would require more risk-taking decisions.
He defines that the three previous information revolutions were the invention of writing, the invention of books and the invention of the printing press. He also says that the fourth information revolution is “redefining the tasks to be done with the help of information”.
Most people would agree that the three first where great information revolutions but his idea of the fourth doesn’t really keep up. The invention of writing for example made it possible to share information and therefore to spread it a lot easier. The invention of the book made it possible to gather a lot of text in one place which also made it easier to help spreading information and making it more accessible. The invention of the printing press made it possible for everyone to use books and take part of the information within them. But in his arguments of the fourth information revolution his main argument is that it is important when you want to increase income. In my opinion a far more important characteristic of an information revolution is lowered costs and wider spread of information.
In my opinion the author focus too much on how companies can expand instead of how the spread of information can increase. A better idea for the fourth information revolution would, according to me, be the internet which has made it possible for everyone to obtain almost every piece of information no matter where they are. It could also be the ability to share information using e-mail and the accessibility of information using nothing but a modern cell phone, these are better suggestions for the fourth information revolution than a revolution in concepts.
Karl Toresson
Critique of“The Cultural and Language Barriers in the Workplace”, Carol Morris, Planning consultant for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Workforce Development Board, 2002
In February 2002, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Workforce Development Board (WDB) published a study about the Cultural and Language Barriers in the Workplace. Convinced that foreign-born workers can represent a real advantage for the employers, the author uses the results from studies about common cultural barriers to give tips to the businessmen. Those tips should help to bridge the cultural divide in the workplace. In spite of some relevant examples which prove a real try to understand other cultures, in my view, this paper does not completely fulfill its objectives.
According to the author, in addition to the language barriers, role and status given in each culture, the religion practices or the way to talk are ones of the most common cultural differences often shown up in workplaces. Thus, these divergences create misunderstanding between foreign-born workers and native workers. Based on these observation, Carol Morris highlights three main advice to reduce this “cultural incomprehension gap”, which should lead to the respect and the recognition of the broad ethnic diversity.
However, in my view, among the seven “best local examples of a company”, none seems to apply these advice. Admittedly, a lot of measures are implemented to fill the gap, such as the hiring of bilingual employees, information in both languages… Nevertheless, contrary to what I could expect, the “successfully integration” of the foreign-born workers is clearly more an assimilation as American citizen than a recognition of their individual personalities. Moreover, learning English, recognized as essential but insufficient by the WDB, is finally the first priority of all these companies. One can even notice, that only two companies mention positive benefits of these foreign-born workers.
In her text, Carol Morris argues that immigrant workers can heavily improve the productivity of companies and, as a consequence, presents her advice only to the employer. The role that the native workers can play in reducing the cultural gap is only briefly shown in T.J.Maxx company. Moreover, it seems that only the managers are involved in this process of integration. As far as I am concerned, integration of foreign workers can be really slowed down by a non-acceptation of the others employees. Immigration is indeed still a sensitive topic and in this special case, we all know that people can be really unfriendly between each other. Thus, the WDB should, in my point of view, also provide suggestions which involve more native workers.
As presented, according to me, the examples of companies are not relevant of the conclusions drawn previously in the text. Moreover, by addressing her text only to the employers, the author cannot fulfill her aim to bridge the cultural divide among a company.
To sum up, in spite of relevant remarks, in my view, this paper presents some incoherence, which can prevent the reader from believing in the efficiency of the given advice.
Audrey Chaudot, 18/02/2011
Critique of “Islam’s Response to Terrorism”, Abdul Ghany Jahangeer Khan
In his paper “Islam’s Reponse to Terrorism” Abdul Ghany Jahangeer Khan discusses how Islam handles the terrorism issue. I think that the author managed to show how Islam reacts against terrorism and that terrorists have nothing to do with religion. I will intend to expand on the points discussed by Khan.
First of all, the author begins by saying that Islam means the religion of peace, that the believers are surrounded by noble teachings and that the final aim of this religion is to establish peace between men. Moreover, to build and support his ideas, he quotes statements of the Holy Qur’an, the sacred book of Islam. The word Islam means “submission to God” and linguistically comes from the root word “Salaam”, meaning peace ([1] Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam), so why sending suicide bombers to blow up innocent civilians on behalf of the religion? Those who do that have well understood the “devotion to God” part, but they have an odd vision of the “peace” part.
Then Khan goes further on how Islam deals with terrorism. For example, he says that Islam teaches Muslims not to become terrorists in the first place and, that Muslims are taught highly moral and excellent behaviors between people. Moreover, he reports that Islam only advocates lofty human values turning Muslims into people who sincerely love humankind without distinction of religion, race or social status. What does the word terrorist mean? In dictionaries, one can find the following definitions: “A terrorist is a person who systematically uses violence and intimidation to achieve political ends” or “one who controls or forces others to do something by violence, fear or threats”. Once again, terrorists have their own vision of religion because religion taught them not to become like this and to love all humans without any kind of distinction, but where is the love in a bloodshed? Moreover, in the Qur’an, it is stated that no one has the right to force others into complying their demands or compelling others to follow their line of thinking. How can one do such monstrosities saying that it was on behalf of his religion if his religion strictly forbids him to do so?
Further, he emphasizes the fact that when things get out of control, Islam encourages discussion rather than violence and that reasonable force should be used to restore peace as a last resort only. “Reasonable force”, do you really think that crashing airplanes into buildings is using reasonable force to bring back peace? Furthermore, was peace really disrupted the 11th of September 2001? I don’t think so.
Finally, Khan strongly stresses that this religion aims at developing love for mankind and showing mercy and sympathy towards each other. He concludes by summing up three steps against terrorism and saying that terrorists have nothing to do with religion and must be fought at every level. As far as I am concerned, terrorists try to use religion as an excuse for their actions. So either they didn’t read the same holy book as the true believers, either the real name of their “religion” is madness and madness has nothing to do with religion, it is just a disease.
Ludovic Ventalon, 18/02/2011
Critique – The Next Information Revelution
This article, by Peter F. Drucker published by AVRO Computing, inc., is about the ongoing and the yet to come information revelutions. The ongoing information revelution has its focus on data and how the data can be collected, stored, shared and presented. The next revelution however is about the meaning and purpose of information.
Drucker also writes that these revelutions are revelutions of concept and not of technology or software. This is the part were I disagree. In my oppinion, the informational revelution that’s going on as we speak need tons of technology and a technical revelution that goes on in the same pace. Without the technological methods of spreading and storing data, there would not be an information revelution. The way I see it we are constantly in a technological and an informational revelution that works in symbiosis with each other, one can’t go on without the other.
There is, according to Drucker, still some problems for business corporations to use the new technology because they don’t have the information needed to perform their own tasks. This issue is what triggered the new information revelution and they have now realized that it’s not more data or technology that’s needed. What’s needed is a new concept. A concept that redefines information.
I totally agree with Drucker that it’s often not the amount of information that causes problems. But more how to use the information to create value rather than preventing waste. This particular example is about accounting and I really like that the idea is to maximize yields instead of minimizing costs. This was a brand new concept in accounting and it seems to work really well. I also think it’s important to mention that the amount of data are not enough in all fields. We still need huge amounts of research in many fields but in some businesses a change of concept is more imortant than collecting new data.
It seems like the other information rvelutions have all been aborted just as people have been trying to create new concepts. The reason have been the same every time. A new information revelution. From at first beeing able to wright to the first book to the printing of books and to be able to digitalize the information. This is more or less te first time that we have been able to take the nextstep and start working on the concepts of information rather than the data itself.
I think Drucker is right about that we need to start working on more efficiant concepts to use our data but I also think it’s important to continue to collect data and develope the methods of storage and avallability of the gathered data.
/David Ekstrand
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/17/there-wont-be-blood/?ref=opinion
Critique on “”
The article, “There Won’t Be Blood”, written by Timothy Egan, was published in the webpage of New York Times on February 17, 2011 to be read by any interested readers. In this article, Timothy Egan, considers that American people should not defend their liberty by regulated militia. However, this is not true. The well regulated militia by people sometimes insures a more balanced negotiation with government for obtaining the liberty and equity. He also suggest Americans should not self consider the thoughts Americans have are always right, which I also have the same opinion.
The author points out that the American’s bloody insurrection against British rule is not appropriate by comparing with recent Egypt liberty revolution. However, the two movements are different in its situation. As Americans is never organized and united to do one thing to show their determination for liberty, so the British rulers did not show respect to them, resulting in a not well negotiated talk with Americans for their requirement, so the violent movement can not be avoided. In Egypt, people were so angry and upset about the 30-years dictation and were well regulated and united, so government tried to avoid conflict with Egyptians because the army knew how much influence the Egyptians can make. Therefore, a well organized and regulated militia is the foundation of political movement. In the negative role model, one issue discussed by the author in the article is Russian revolution, as Czar had been tortured the Russian people for many years, which make the Czar totally disrespect on the liberty requirement of Russian people, so they had to struggle for the liberty with fights. The transformation of Russia is also the proof of a well regulated militia can truly avoid the large scale bloody conflict by showing this potential power to change the regime.
In last sentences, the author demonstrates that the way Americans think is not always true, sometimes it can produce disaster. I would agree on that, just like the example showed in the article, the homegrown terrorist Timothy McVeigh, who killed 168 Americans by bombing. So Americans should rethink profoundly which kinds of thoughts make America prosper and what thought makes Americans suffer the tragedy. This is the suggestion implied by the author.
To sum up, at first the well regulated militia should not be abandoned, which makes Americans independent and free. Secondly, “tree of liberty”, written by Thomas Jefferson, should re-originate the hope and desire which makes Americans pursue for almost 200 years.
Bobin Wei