TQM Research Paper

TQM Research Paper Introduction The past two decades have witnessed the rise and fall of countless short-lived fads. Some have attracted a flurry of book, articles, and seminars; others have been completely discredited. Businesses have realized that there is a need to restructure their business practices and become more customer-focused. All recent business approaches and techniques have generally aimed at improving performance, increasing profits, gaining market share, and most importantly satisfying the customer who has become more educated and more demanding than ever. In the last two decades two organizational development models have dominated the business world for a considerable period of time namely Total Quality Management (TQM) and Business Process Reengineering (BPR). Statement of Objective This paper aims to shed a novel light on the two most recent and prominent management approaches, namely TQM and BPR. In an attempt to examine the interaction between radical BPR and incremental TQM with respect to change management, I shall briefly discuss the two constructs and contemplate the roots and basic tenets that underlie each. BPR has been referred to in the literature as the successor of TQM and has been treated as an equal. I shall treat the similarities and common grounds among the two, as well as the differences between them. Next, I shall touch upon the weaknesses and highlights that distinguish each, and then move on to construct an integrated model in an attempt to reconciliate the two opposing camps. In this model, BPR cannot withstand, but be an integrated part of the more comprehensive TQM effort, which is the broader platform for organizational change. As such, BPR is rendered as a technique to be employed under the more exhaustive TQM approach. I shall support my presentation by recent books and articles that have dealt with the issue, in addition to examples and case studies from the literature that have implemented change programs based on TQM and BPR principals. This research paper gains significance, as the debate is more heated than ever concerning the survival, decline, or assimilation of the two strategies. Total Quality Management Over the past 20 years, quality has been hailed as the key factor for success. However, the organizational world has been increasingly moving away from the traditional quality concept, as a function of inspection, control, audit, and review, as these are all now seen as non-value adding. Some of TQMs basic concepts came out of Bell Telephones labs in the early 1920s. Refined and developed by Deming, Juran, Crosby, and then Ishikawa and Taguchi, and later on others TQM calls for continually improving quality by using statistical measures to track, both, problems and the results of efforts to fix these problems. Edwards Deming, the guru of the quality approach, describes quality as having no meaning other than that defined by customer needs and desires. A satisfied customer is not enough, says Deming in one of his early lectures of the 1950s in Japan. Business is built on the loyal customer, one who comes back and brings a friend. A more recent definition of TQM offered by Almaraz in 1994 maintains that: TQM refers to a management process directed at establishing organized continuous improvement activities, involving everyone in an organization in a totally integrated effort toward improving performance at every level. The TQM philosophy provides the overall concepts that foster continuous improvement in an organization. This philosophy stresses a systematic, integrated, consistent, organization-wide perspective involving everyone and everything. It focuses primarily on the total satisfaction for both, internal and external customer, within a management environment that seeks continuous improvement of all systems and processes. The TQM philosophy emphasizes the use of al people, usually in multifunctional teams, to bring about improvement from within the organization. It stresses optimal life cycle cost and uses measurement within a disciplined methodology to target improvements. The prevention of defects and emphasis on quality in design are key elements of the philosophy. The elimination of losses and reduction of variability are important aims. Further, it advocates the development of relationships between all parties: employee, supplier, and customer. TQM provides a flexible, responsive managem ent approach able to act and react to all the forces of todays and tomorrows economic world. It focuses the resources of an organization on identifying and acting on the internal and external forces that will influence an organizations operations. TQM gears an organization toward continually improving quality, increasing productivity, and reducing costs to ease economic pressures. It focuses on total customer satisfaction through highest product and service quality at lowest life cycle costs to compete in the global environment. TQM stresses constant training and education, downsizing, and service value. A further understanding of Total Quality Management comes from the terms that make up the name. Total means total comprehensive participation, i.e., the involvement of everyone and everything in the organization in a continuous improvement effort. Quality is total customer satisfaction, whether internal or external customers. Management is the leadership of an organization that creates and maintains the TQM environment. The basis of quality in TQM is a process-based structure consistent with the Deming PDCA Cycle: Plan, Do, Check, Act. Although it has been recently suggested that TQM is Ð ¡outÐ ¢ or that it was essentially a 1980s phenomenon, the interest in TQM has scarcely subsided . Today such diverse practices are being done under the name of TQM that it seems to have lost its boundaries. Some consider TQM as a management attempt at cultural transformation and treat it as synonymous with cultural change and excellence. (12) Others consider it a method of cutting losses and, among other things, reducing waste and scrape while boosting customer satisfaction. There is no one agreed upon definition for TQM. Total Quality Management is both a philosophy and a set of guiding principles that are the foundation of a continuously improving organization. The terminology differs from one organization to another; however, there are four essential elements of all definitions of TQM and these are: continual improvement, people orientation, quantitative methods, and, last but not least, customer focus. TQM integrates fundam ental management techniques, existing improvement efforts, and technical tools under the disciplined approach focused on continuous improvement. TQM has been especially remarkable for its long tenure atop the heap and has been labeled King of the Hill. Business Process Reengineering Business reengineering is the concept of changing the fundamental way work is done in order to achieve radical performance improvement in speed, cost, and quality. The term BPR first appeared in the Information Technology (IT) field and was then used in the broader context of organizational change processes to refer to the use of modern information technology to radically redesign business processes. BPR will shatter assumptions and simplify processes utilizing IT as an enabler. According to its originators, Hammer and Champy, reengineering refers to the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical contemporary measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service, and speed. BPR can be better understood by analyzing the terms of its original definition. Fundamental rethinking is the reconsideration of the basic questions of why do they [organizations] do what they do? And why do they do it the way they do? Radical redesign means uprooting the old and creating new structures and processes. As such reengineering is about reinventing the business and not improving or modifying it. Dramatic refers to the achievement of quantum leaps rather than incremental improvements in BPR application, which demand blowing up of the old and replacing it with something new. Hammer and Champy define the fourth term, business process, as a collection of activities that takes one or more kinds of input and creates an output that is of value to the customer. BPR is, above all, an improvement philosophy. It aims to achieve step improvements in performance by redesigning the critical processes through which an organization operates, maximizing their value added content and minimizing everything else. This approach can be applied to an individual process or to the whole organization.(the essence of BPR:20) Povey explains that the basic premise of BPR, the rapid redesign of critical core processes of an organization, generates breakthrough improvements in the performance and result in a competitive advantage in the global market place. Hammer and Champy speak of three types of organization that undertake reengineering.. The first is the desperate type, in which crisis management has taken control in an organization whose costs keep piling up, products and services keep falling behind, and nothing seems to be going right. The second type is the organization that is not facing any immediate threat, but would want to improve its status before b eing caught up in the storm. The third type includes organizations that are ambitious and aggressive. They want to enhance their performance and get a better leverage over their competitors. Reengineering requires a shift to process orientation, teamwork, IT, and customer focus. Some good BPR tools include process mapping, value analysis, and half-life principle. The reengineering effort is characterized by focusing n process mapping, product and process elimination, process simplification and integration, process improvement, teamwork, and the active leadership and participation of top management in change. Recent field studies have provided evidence that reengineering, is applicable, without any variations to the concept, to all types of organizations, be they manufacturing, service, non-profit, private, or public. I. TQM BPR: Common Grounds and Similarities Before trying to point out the differences between TQM and BPR, it is more useful to find the similarities. These points represent a wide viewpoint and are meant to highlight the broad commonalties between the two approaches, not to suggest that BPR and TQM are similar in their application methodologies. It is worth to note that while BPR and TQM share many of the same dimensions and goals, the two are not mutually exclusive and need to be done jointly. A. Quality Improvement and Process focus: Both, TQM and BPR, are quality movements that seek to enhance an organizations capabilities for the future. Quality goals concentrate on the reduction of variation in processes and the application of effective measurement systems. Customers play a central role in being the determining factor of the standards of quality. In todays world, quality is in the eyes of the beholder, i.e., the customer. It is the customers perception that counts. BPR has much in common with TQM in hs respect. The definition of the process to be reengineering is in part a technical matter, concerning judgements about where the problem actually lies in the light of available information. Within the organization, this customer-defined quality is translated into process-focus. At the heart of TQM is the idea that improvement comes from addressing the processes, which deliver the defective or inadequate end-results, rather than on concentrating on the results themselves. As for BPR, the process focus is an intrin sic paradigm of the reengineering strategy. Critical success factors are used to identify the organizations core processes, which will undergo redesign. Conformance quality (meeting customer requirements) and perceived quality (exceeding customer requirements) improve profitability. Reducing waste and increasing productivity are natural by-products of a systematic process of quality improvement. As such, both TQM and BPR aim at improving an organizations operations to enhance its ability in delivering quality products and services with the ultimate aim of augmenting productivity, increasing profitability, and gaining market share. B. Top Management Support: Setting the stage for quality improvement involves everything that the business does from becoming aware of the need for significant change to establishing a commitment to actually follow through. The desire to actually deliver quality involves senior managements initiation and continued commitment, constituting the basic drive behind the whole process. It involves goal setting, barrier reduction, training, and leadership. Setting the stage means that one must create an environment in which business improvement is encouraged and nourished. A vision of change for quality must accompany such efforts and be dispersed through out the organization. As management establishes the vision of what it wants to accomplish and where it wants to go, it must put in place support systems to help employees understand and implement the forthcoming change. To ensure positive results, steering performance must be consistent with the vision. Without executive sponsorship, the quest for quality, whether in TQM or BPR, is a joke. Leadership is the most important ingredient for launching and sustaining a quality improvement process. Leaders of firms need to establish clear, result-oriented goals and communicate their expectations. Management has the total responsibility for effective management of its quality campaign. Top management must take part in a companys quality operation and to guide its quality systems. Executive commitment is not only about management, but also about leadership. Leaders establish unity of purpose, direction, and create an environment in which people can become fully involved in achieving the organizations benefit. The role of management can be sensed in every step along the way. It provides leadership, develops the vision, establishes objectives, pursues strategy, establishes and monitors planning, monitors implementation, provides policy, conveys commitment, assures resources, eliminates barrier s, participates, appoints responsibilities, assures customer satisfaction, presents information and the list goes on and on. Senior managements role is to lead the change, not to manage it. It is responsible for shaking the barriers, i.e. removing road-blocks set up within the organization by people opposing change. Senior management must provide inspirational vision of the ultimate goal to be achieved C. Serious investment in the human resource: Empowerment, Teamwork, Training For any quality campaign to be successful, you need top-down active leadership that facilitates real change and a bottom-up quality management improvement process in order to achieve real sustainable bottom line results. Managements role is to invest in the campaign by motivating and involving others through broadening the ownership base of the idea. Only when employees develop a sense of ownership, will they embark upon it with true enthusiasm and motivation. Ownership must ultimately rest with the line operations in terms of engagement and accountability, for it is this human element of the organization that will ultimately deliver the quality and present the organizations image to the final customer. Delivery of quality implies a commitment and dedication, not only by senior management, but also by every single person within the organization, and sometimes outside of it. Harnessing the skills and enthusiasm of everyone is conditioned on providing employees with the adequate skills, tools, and authority to adapt to and adopt their new roles. TQM and BPR rely for their success on an active subject with interpretive powers. Empowerment and other associated ideas such a participative management, delegation of authority, and decentralization are based on placing responsibility for making decisions in the hands of workers. As one CEO put it: we are only as good as our employees and our employees are as good as we allow them to be. Despite the risks associated, such concepts have proved to boost job satisfaction, increase motivation, reduce absenteeism, lower turnover, and improve the work environment. Empowerment is not optional, rather a pre-requisite and can be considered one of the basic pillars of both technique. Hammer and Champy assert that empowerment is an unavoidable consequence of the reengineering project. Nevertheless, such concepts are under u sed during application phase of BPR, resulting in various people related problems. From the concept of empowerment follows the concept of group-work or teamwork. Teamwork is a technique where by individual members of a team work together to achieve a common goal. Teams are an essential structural ingredient of both approaches. Teams are needed to meet the challenges of the environment. The increased value placed on empowering employees as a means of improving productivity while simultaneously improving employee satisfaction leads to increased reliance on teams. Employees need to work together to meet new challenges. The theme is central to both TQM and BPR, as it aids communication, improves cooperation, reduces internal competition and duplication of effort, and maximizes talents of employees on a project. Teams are a vital management tool given that collaborative decision making allows for creativity. The need for fewer layers of management and more information for better communication and more efficiency will arise. Decreasing hierarchy will also remove organiza tional blockages to critical change. Hence, employee empowerment will facilitate and quicken the pace of work. Jack Welch, CEO of General Electric and leader of its rebirth in the 1980s and the 1990s, has become the spokesperson for organizational change. He described the critical importance of cross-functional teams and project teams in the new flattened architecture of GE with fewer layers of management. Cross-functional teams are essential to implement the new managerial role to yield increased value to customers. Teams go hand in hand with managements assumptions of its new role and flattened organizational culture. As such, reorienting an organization towards quality requires teamwork, both horizontally and vertically, given the fact that teamwork can be very powerful as weaknesses and strengths of individuals are balanced, brainstorming enhanced, and skills and knowledge concentrated. It is vital to build profound knowledge in teams about the business, customers, associates, b est practices, technology, and other factors related to the organization. As such, training is a must. Learning must precede thinking and a solid foundation for creative thinking need be established through benchmarking. In his book, The Circle of Innovation, Tom Peters speaks of the eraser mania. The problem with moving on is not about learning new things, but about forgetting the old ones. Organizations are so intent on pushing forward with the new that they forget to help employees let go of the old, thus, overlooking the personal losses of employees involves with change. They often hold on, resisting change. The reasons for this resistance include perceived loss of identity, value and worth in the eyes of the organization, disorientation, and the risk of failure. Continually training and educating employees is necessary due to the pace of change in todays world, not to mention a TQM or BPR undertaking. Providing training is imperative, especially in the area of team member effectiveness that focuses on skills of active listening, resource sharing, conflict resolution, negotiation, and interpersonal skills including how to handle contributions, input, and feedback from others about the work. At th e same time, upper level management may require training in self-directed team activities to understand what their employees are doing. While an organization may have had in place an extensive training program prior to TQM or BPR, there is no guarantee that the program in place will focus on the skills and abilities needed after the change has occurred. Training should focus on both the technical abilities in the new roles as well as interpersonal skills. Training on teamwork, trust, and decision-making must be emphasized to aid employees in adapting to their new roles. Enhanced individual skills and attributes will better enable teams to be more flexible and responsive to change. Successful change attempts are heavily dependent on training the human resource. An organization stands and falls with the people in it. It is therefore imperative to understand and anticipate individuals expectations, emotions and behavior. This includes managing for fear and resistance to change. Communication is crucial factor not only to an organizations employees, but also to all its stakeholders, including owners, external customers, suppliers, press, Еetc. These aspect are frequently neglected in implementation of TQM, and more so in BPR. While these are intrinsic aspects of the Total Quality Approach, they are only marginal where BPR is concerned. In comparison with TQM, BPR under-rates the Ð ¡humanÐ ¢ dimension. C. Metrics and Measurement: The selection and application of relevant performance metrics is critical to achieving success. Performance metrics must fit the business objectives and must be customer focused and driven. Todays quality standards are defined by the customers whose needs, desires, and expectations vary considerably. As such, a company should use the same measures as their customers in order to create a common ground for evaluating performance. Results should be directly measurable in terms of customer satisfaction, process cost, process quality, process speed, and ultimately in increased shareholder value and capital creation. II. TQM vs. BPR: Strategy Differences A. Radical vs. Incremental The major substantial difference between TQM and BPR, it has been argued, is the principle of radicalization. This Ð ¡radicalÐ ¢ element of BPR change is a striking departure from the incremental change of TQM projects. Process reengineering approaches process improvement in a drastic manner wiping out the old and putting in place new processes. While process management is based on the concept of continuous, evolutionary improvement, process reengineering searches for breakthrough improvements and revolutionary methods for doing work. To encourage a radical organizational rethink, the starting point for reengineering is a blank sheet of paper. The reengineering effort tears apart the current process and systematically rebuilds it. Continuous improvement of TQM responds to growing customer needs and expectations and ensures a dynamics evolution of the quality management systems in a slow, but sure mode. The pace of reengineering is ambitious, in comparison with TQMs conventional cha nge programs. B. Innovation vs. Improvement: The other major difference between TQM and BPR has to do with the level of change. A number of authors view organizational improvement activities as points on a continuum ranging from incremental improvement to radical change. Due to its focus on existing processes, TQM will rarely lead to radical innovation; rather it brings about change in a snowball effect so that the end result shows significant departure from the initial state of affairs; but still change and improvement are no more than incremental. It is within this context that the debate arises as to whether or not BPR, as a vehicle of radical change and innovation, is becoming a substitute for the incremental improvement of TQM. The logic behind it is that as the external environment is becoming more volatile and a more radical approach to change is needed. The clean slate approach in implementing BPR is in itself a thrust for creative thinking. Separating those responsible for scrutinizing the process from those charged wi th identifying the role of IT guards against any biases or hindrances created by current system limitations, processes, people, or activities. The above argument leads to another theoretical debate concerning implementation and the relative merits of clean slate verses a dirty slate. While, in theory, the clean slate allows projects to be modeled without contamination from the status quo, the dirty slate approach is regarded as more pragmatic. Michael Hammer advocated beginning the reengineering process with a clean slate ignoring past business approaches and working toward a complete redesign of the entire organization. While this is the ideal approach, Hammer concludes that it may not be feasible in some organizations where limited resources demand that reengineering proceed one division at a time, beginning with the area of the organization that is most amenable to change; Davenport explains that while restricting possibilities for process innovation, and although more difficult in design, the dirty slate approach is more realistic, financially viable, and easier to implement. One thing is for sure, BPR, most definitely, does not mean tinkering with what already exists or making incremental changes that leave basic structures intact. C. Risk and Pay-back Period: The pace of reengineering is ambitious, in comparison with TQMs conventional change programs. As such, high risk due to radical change is a natural consequence of BPR. Reengineering programs promise significant benefits higher margins, lower expenses, and improved productivity, to name a few. But these efficiencies are seldom gained without trade-offs. The sweeping changes brought about by reengineering cannot fail to influence a companys risk profile. Risk managers need to devise training programs that will help minimize the impact of change. Reengineering without training and education is unthinkable. Risk management is an inherent part of reengineering. Companies must assess the risks associated with changing business processes. TQM, in contrast to BPR, if of a much lesser risk. It involves neither the radical nor the dramatic changes that are an intrinsic part of BPR; rather TQM addresses the organization from a cultural standpoint that works on changing attitudes and behaviors over a long time period. A short-term focus in TQM weakens the organization and rarely ensures that the ultimate goal is achieved and sustained. It frustrates the people involved because they quickly realize that it takes time to develop the skills, attitudes, and knowledge required to make a difference to customers and to the bottom line. A long term focus, however, signals strong unwavering commitment and eventually wins over the people who must make it all happen. A long-term focus and a sense of urgency are entirely compatible attitudes in TQM and, in fact, are the right ones. BPR, on the other hand, is a one strike or one shot thing. Its relative short time frame results in quick outcomes, which renders it even more risky. TQMs incremental improvement-oriented changes are a long-term investment. Miraculous results will not appear overnight, especially because TQM is addressing a culture issue. Changing attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs is the most difficult and lengthy process and organization can undergo. D. Focus: Strategy and Customer TQM programs have highlighted the role of processes in delivering quality. In his book Out of Crisis, Deming stated, I should estimate that in my experience, most troubles and most possibilities for improvement add up to proportions like 94% that belong to the system and 6% to special causes. Peppard and Rowland explain that the systemÐ ¢ here refers to the process, i.e., the way things are done, and not who does them. However, TQM programs have placed greater emphasis on the people and techniques aspects rather than on the process elements. TQMs process focus is towards control and measurement so that variation could be eliminated and quality raised. Implementations of TQM programs, in addition, have often reinforced functional boundaries, overlaying the concept of the internal customer as a means of improving the process interfaces between departments. The clear focus of BPR is processes and minimizing the non-value added content in them. In his book Beyond Reengineering, Michael Hammer speaks of the shift to process centered organizations and explained that such a shift is about eliminating non-value adding work and establishing higher performance. Becoming process oriented is all about being customer outcome oriented. BPR seeks to generate ideal processes either from a clean slate design, or from systematic redesign of existing processes. The target of the organizational change is the business process, and not the organizational culture, as is the case with TQM. The effectiveness of the change effort can, thus, be assessed with respect to the performance of those processes, not with respect to changes in attitudes, values, and beliefs. As to the customer focus, Peppard and Rowland assert that while BPRs primary concern is the external customer, while TQM has introduced more than one type of customer s through the concept of the internal customer. III. Advantages and Disadvantages While most researchers and practitioners agree that failures of TQM and BPR, in most cases, are mainly due to misapplications, this does not abolish theory pitfalls. A review of the literature reveals the major strengths and weaknesses of TQM and BPR. Both approaches have their advantages and disadvantages and bring about improvements, as well as handicaps. BPR rates highly in terms of innovation and IT utilization, while TQM provides the best practices for continuous improvement and customer satisfaction. A. BPR In addition to its dramatic quantum leaps, innovative opportunities, and short time frame, BPR possesses the privilege of exploiting Information Technology capabilities. However, its revolutionary nature can be very stressful on the human component of the organization and financially exhaustive. 1. Information Technology: BPR was the first large-scale systematic application of Information Technology (IT) to management. Information technology has become a key enabler for organizational change and is conceived as a mandatory component of all reengineering efforts. It is viewed as a one of the tools for achieving business process redesign. Information technology can provide help in managing large amounts if information efficiently. It can also provide significant improvements in operational performance by short-circuiting supply chains and industry value systems, and it can allow companies to re-consider their business scope. On an operational level, technological solutions can reduce manual work by creating electronic workflow and automating clerical routine tasks. IT also plays an important role in supporting knowledge workers by delivering information timely and accurately, and by facilitating communication and networking. 2. BPR and Downsizing BPR calls for making major changes to a businesss fundamental operations, with cost reduction as the primary goal. Because change associated with BPR often calls for reducing the number of workers, it has been closely associated with concepts like downsizing and rightsizing. The terms have been so confused, that many criticize BPR as resulting in corporate anorexia and hollow-shell-corporations the terms referring to organizations that have viewed BPR as a short-term way to boost profit by gutting a companys work force that it has lost its essential functions by such trimming. During implementation, BPR often translates into wholesale staff cuts. However, while downsizing may be an often-cited by-product of BPR projects, it definitely does not summarize the reengineering effort. Hammer did tackle this issue and has explained that downsizing and restructuring mean doing less with less, whereas reengineering means doing more with less. It is worth noting that, cost cutting approaches is a means for improving efficiency, but does not necessarily elevate effectiveness. 3. Neglecting the Human element The threats and risks that BPR brings along are scary to the people of the organization. Obliteration of existing processes as advocated by Hammer in his very first article on BPR is not only impractical, but also potentially disastrous and doomed to failure in the absence of a culture of change that soothes employees. Reengineering can impose a cultural upheaval on a company. In the absence of a clear vision, fear and turf protection become the main drivers of behavior as people worry that their skills become obsolete or will not be utilized in the new organization, thus loosing their jobs. Most cited BPR downfalls have been due to a failure of adequately addressing human resource questions and a general lack of management understanding and commitment to the reengineering effort. Such failures have been categorized into four elements: failure to translate the future vision of the company into appropriate cultural and behavioral expectations that can be communicated to all employees; the absence of systematic means to benchmark current practices against those required to achieve the vision; the lack of a focused development process to help individuals close the gaps between their current levels and those required by the reengineering vision; and the inattention to the supporting HR systems that must maintain the vision. Reengineering neglects to deal adequately with the people of the organization who ultimately determine whether reengineering works or not. The horrific effects of typical reengineering efforts on the morale and motivation of the survivors are often overlooked. Initiatives often fail because focus has been concentrated on the processes and ignored the people who make them work. Common long-term losses include moral problems B. TQM Total Quality Management has also been claimed to have its own pros and cons. 1. Functional Culture TQM possesses the asset of an effective culture that emphasizes the role of the customer, whether internal or external. It is well known that corporate culture can have a significant impact on an organizations economic performance. The culture that has resulted in an organization that has undertaken a quality campaign is greatly conducive to corporate goals and strategies. The customer, as well as process focus, the prevention versus inspection policies, fact-based decision making, the highlight on feedback, and most importantly, the care bestowed upon employees install an open responsive culture. The weight placed on continuous improvement through continual learning is significant. Today, organizations have become information-processing networks capable of enhancing their positions only through learning. Learning is a major core value for an organization seeking excellence, as it has become synonymous with quality. A total quality management campaign entails a complete involvement o f the entire organization in a management led attempt to achieve success. In such a culture, the employee is king, as he/she is viewed as the ultimate pronouncer of quality. Employees are trained and empowered to take responsible decisions and are considered as collaborates in organizational work. It is such a culture that distinguishes flourishing organizations and allows them to acquire the competitive advantage necessary in order to compete. 2. Lack of Strategic Impact TQM has been criticized on many accounts. Some have argued that the element of continuous improvement mentality inhibits learning. Others have condemned it on the grounds of lacking innovation and radical capability, stating that Ð £incremental change isnt enough for many companies today. They dont need to change what is; they need to create what isnt. Yet, others have denounced it as deficient in IT focus and utilization. However, the most captious criticism of TQM has been its lack of strategic impact. VI. Reconciliation and Integration It is apparent that that there are major problems within the foundations of each individual approach. However, there is also a clear opportunity to unite them to fill each others gaps. In an attempt to re-conciliate the two approaches, two theories have erupted. The first integrates BPR under TQM by using the former as a tool or a subset of the latter. Leach considers TQM more likely to lead to success and concludes that BPR is more of a designed tool for TQM, but it is not a substitute. The agreed upon view in this camp is that it is more constructive to incorporate BPR as a valuable tool within the framework of TQM. As Macdonald put it, TQM provides the essential cultural framework to enable BPR. The second camp, on the other hand, entertains the idea of applying TQM after BPR as the latter builds the platform and prepares the stage for the former. TQM can be used to continually improve the company after BPR has radically changed it. Many supporters of this view have summarized it with the cliche revolutionize and then evolutionize. But even so, BPR cannot stand on its own without follow up. This follow up is incorporated in the continuous improvement offered by TQM. While both approaches offer valid arguments, there seems no need to adopt an either/or position. Practitioners can create an integrated model where both incremental and quantum improvements are possible within a continuous improvement environment. In such a model, the building blocks are an integration of the best practices of the two methods building on the strengths of both and eliminating most of their individual weaknesses. TQMs stable culture, people participation, and evolutionary nature can be used to eradicate or neutralize the stress and fear caused by BPRs revolutionary nature. The changes commensurate with BPR usually scare employees and de-motivate them. For true success in todays environment, management needs to consider employee participation, for which TQM creates the proper cultural milieu for change. BPR, on the other hand, provides the quick strike and innovative capabilities, in addition to the best practices of IT. TQMs main contribution would be a continuous change and improvement methodology, without which the solutions that BPR offers will bear little fruit. Both kinds of change can and should be pursued, even though their requirements are different. A. Common Weaknesses: Nevertheless, the two approaches fail to address some common weaknesses, which, if left un-addressed, become weaknesses of the integrated model, rendering it insufficient and ineffective. 1. Lack of strategic impact: Not conducting strategic business planning to set the future direction of the company prior to starting the TQM initiative has caused major failures. The inherent lack of strategic integrity embodied within TQM is considered to be one of its main flaws. Similarly, in most cases BPR is undertaken to achieve medium-term cost and time saving rather than longer term strategic benefits. A greater focus on learning at the expense of the preoccupation with cost and time could increase the strategic impact of many BPR applications. 2. Lack of `people focus: The survey conducted by the authors (1998) suggested that TQM offers more people focus than BPR. However, the impact of change on people, and the way organizations are dealing with their people, is still considered a problem within both. The failure of many recent large-scale efforts at corporate change can be traced directly to employee resistance, lack of support, lack of enthusiasm and generally lack of the right culture to support the framework. Managing business productivity has essentially become synonymous with managing change effectively. To this end, companies must not only determine what to do and how to do it they, but also need to be concerned with how employees will react to it. It is becoming increasingly clear that the engine for organizational development is the people who do the work. Without altering human knowledge, skill, and behavior changes in technology, processes, and structures is unlikely to yield long-term benefits. Human development has been viewed as a more suitable alternative to `traditional organizational development in a strategy for bringing about dramatic performance improvements. The new work pattern is flexible working hours, knowledge workers, working from home, etc. So while these patterns emerge, organizations must change the way they deal with their people to yield maximum benefits. The success of an organization lies more in its intellectual capabilities than in physical assets. The cap acity to manage human intellect and to convert it into useful products and services is fast becoming the executive skill of the age. Thus, the model to be developed will be people oriented where high performance can be achieved only through people. B. The Proposed Model for Performance Excellence: Organizations are unique and each must find its path to success by continuously learning and customizing best practices. Thus, this model shall be set up in such a way so as to present a broad framework of generic ideas applicable to all organizations. The model can be considered a recipe; a mixture of best practices from BPR and TQM. However, it is not suggested that such a model will be a silver bullet. Its effectiveness depends on thoroughly understanding the business and the people in it. The aim of the model is to help organizations achieve performance excellence by ensuring a healthy balance between stability and continuous change. Stability comes from a bedrock of culture and values shared by organizational people, supported by a stable strategy, and systems that change only in a `creation or reorientation effort. Continuous change comes from continuous learning, and both aspects rely on fully committed and educated people. Hence, the objectives of the model will be to focus o n delighting the customer, to emphasize organizational people as the main competitive advantage and to develop a commitment to continuous learning and improvement. The model proposes turning organizational attention from cost-cutting and staff reduction to employee well-being by proposing an equal emphasis on the three main pillars of organization development, i.e. process, people, and information technology. The `process and `IT aspects, however, are continuously changing subject to daily improvements, and can easily be copied by competitors. Thus, the only source of competitive advantage is the organizations people (96.7% of the respondents agreed that having trained, motivated and well-led organizational people would result in performance excellence). According to John Jr. Welch, CEO of General Electric, the pace of the 90s will make the 80s look like a picnic a walk in the park. Competition will be relentless. The bar of excellence in everything we do will be raised everyday. Successful organizations in the next century will work on the edge of chaos where they must be spontaneous, adaptive, and alive. This, in turn, suggests the need for human and system flexibility and continuous learning within an organization held together by consistency of purpose, through a clear shared vision and open communication. Processes and people surround, and work for, the customer, and are held together by a clear set of organizational values and goals. As such, the main building blocks of the model are as follows: 1. Customer obsession: Past attempts to achieve and retain competitive advantage have largely looked internally within the organization for improvement. However, more so in the future, a major source for competitive advantage will come from more outward orientation towards customers and competition will focus on superior customer value delivery. The customer who should enjoy all the attention is the end user, as opposed to internal customers, suggested by TQM. 2. Vision and values: is he substance that binds the organization together. This includes the strategic planning and management capability, and outstanding leadership. The model proposes integrating the latest techniques of strategic management and thinking within the planning, implementation, and assessment stages. It is also suggested that the main competitive advantage for which organizations must aim is creating a `self-renewal learning culture, with the main competitive weapon being its people. The function of strategic planning in the new management model is to align all the efforts of the organization to customer satisfaction, quality, and operational performance goals. Companies use their strategic planning processes to drive the whole improvement process. 3. Business process excellence: Process excellence combines the incremental improvements of TQM and the more revolutionary steps associated with BPR. The major enabler for the coming century will be IT. Potentials of IT cannot be left unrealized by an organization aiming to survive in the future. However, businesses must creatively integrate IT with human expertise to meet customer needs. 4. People: Organizational people development should be the focal point as the source of future success. Workforce development is a top priority because it is the leverage of an association. The model aims to set out best practices in a culture of participative management, team structure, reward, training and development, recruitment, motivation, commitment, communication and knowledge management. TQM is based on a set of philosophies that emphasize continuous improvement in processes to increase customer satisfaction. To accomplish this objective, TQM requires flexibility and cross-training, cross-functional team problem solving, employee empowerment and ownership of the process. These are also essential to reengineering. For managers and employees ignorant of TQM and its requirements, a jump into the reengineering bandwagon may spin out of control. Reengineering is certainly risky, but it should be a calculated risk. Professionals experienced with TQM possess the skills necessary to organize and plan the changes designed to increase customer satisfaction, and are, thus, better prepared to utilize those skills on a large scale. In the external environment, for any company, change has become the only constant. Technology changes, information change, competition changes; everything changes and the organization itself need to change. In the midst of this flux rises the need for another constant to counter the effect of change, and that would be a culture of change: a culture that adapts the organization to new trends, introduces innovations, fosters creativity, and above all prepares its human element to the turbulence of change paving the way and soothing along the way. An Example: BTNI, a semi-autonomous unit subsidiary of British Telecommunications plc. is regarded as having a leading edge in managing quality and change. The company is an example of an organization that believed reengineering in a crisis situation is inappropriate as crisis in itself promotes fear, confusion, and panic, none of which is conducive to focused BPR. As such, BTNI undertook a number of change strategies before embarking upon BPR, namely BS 5750 / ISO 9000 accreditation, total quality, and finally process redesign. Senior management views incremental change brought about by TQM as greatly valuable, but on its own is not enough. They note that TQM has introduced some surface changes to behavior, while underlying processes, which maintain sub-optimal performance, remained untouched. Sometimes shots of radical change that can only be brought by BPR are also necessary. BTNI also notes that upon embarking upon the BPR project, teams made great use of already documented end-to-end proces ses as part of the TQM efforts. The reengineering implementation teams had to take risks in pursuit of excellence, relying on change management skills and techniques acquired from the TQM experience. (7) VII. Conclusion: TQM and BPR have arguably been so influential due to the amorphous and comprehensive nature of their philosophies. All things considered, TQM, as well as BPR, are applicable to all business sectors, encompassing all aspects of the business and touching upon all corners of an organization without any constrictions. Neither approach guarantees success. It is not a case of follow the rules in the book and youll hit the jackpot. It all depends on organizational intelligence and ability to adapt either approach to its own size, form, products, and management. This research paper has presented an argument for integrating BPR and TQM. The individual strengths and weaknesses of each have been shown to complement one another. From the evidence presented, it can be concluded that the way forward for organizational development is an integrated model, one that builds on the best practices of BPR and TQM and adds strategic planning and a stronger focus on people. Although processes and Ð ¡ITÐ ¢ (the main focal areas in TQM and BPR, respectively) are crucial components for success, they are the easiest to perfect in an organization, and can be easily replicated by competitors, thus, providing little competitive advantage. People and knowledge management are perceived to be the main sources for competitive advantage in the future.

Your College Application in 650 Words or Less

Your College Application in 650 Words or Less Last August, Sarah Vander Schaaff interviewed me about working with college students on their application essays. Here is her article, edited for The Essay Expert and updated for 2015-16! In 650 words or less, describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there and why is it meaningful? Or In 650 words or less, recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn? Or In 650 words or less, discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family. You are now sitting in the shoes of a high school senior, thank you very much. These questions are a few of the prompts on the 2015-16 Common Application for college. They are slightly changed from last years’ says Brenda Bernstein, the professional resume writer, personal statement coach, and business copywriter behind the Essay Expert, and for some students facing the questions, answering them is hardly simple. â€Å"High school students don’t all have life coaches standing by,† Brenda told me when I spoke to her on the phone this summer. â€Å"They don’t step back and reflect on their lives.† Sometime between August and five days before applications are due, Brenda gets a call for help. If the student has already written an essay, she takes a look at it and determines the level of help it might need–anything from some minor fixes to  an overhaul.  And it’s here when Brenda goes back to the basic creed that good writing requires good thinking. â€Å"By the end of the first conversation they have an outline for a new essay and new thoughts. I have the students tell me what they see as the way the essay is going to go.† Bernstein says students struggle when they â€Å"†¦ know stuff that happened in their lives and they’ve drawn broad conclusions or they have conclusions that they think they should draw.† Parents divorcing, for example, is a major life event that sometimes deserves a deeper look. â€Å"They know they got a lesson from it,† she said. But the true lesson is not always the one they initially thought. Bernstein says she got an early start thinking about college applications. Her father interviewed applicants for Yale as part of the school’s alumni committee. Later, he’d let her read the interview reports. â€Å"I would read a lot of them,† she said. While at Yale herself, friends applying to graduate schools often asked her to edit their essays. Later, while working as a public interest lawyer in New York, she started posting flyers offering her editing services. And in a move that would make a pretty good essay itself, she decided she didn’t want to practice law, sought advice from an astrologer, and moved to Madison, Wisconsin where she still lives seven years later. Her site offers help not only for students, but also for professionals seeking a better resume or LinkedIn profile. The Essay Expert’s essay consultations range in price from $697 for Common Application essay help to $247 for a personal statement review- far less than some boot camps described in The New York Times that cost $14,000 for 4 days. Essays, Bernstein says, are 6th on a list of 10 criteria colleges look at for admissions. â€Å"If students can’t write this type of essay without help, should they get into the college?† I asked Bernstein. She said pretty much all students get help, whether that’s from a parent, a teacher, or a paid professional (26 percent employing the latter). In school, students also have access to writing help if they need it. â€Å"A smart student- and professional- will get input and support on every important piece of writing they submit, especially when so much is riding on it. What’s important is that they write it in their own voice.† Furthermore, explains Bernstein, â€Å"I find that as they work with me they become much better writers.† Part of what she teaches them, she added, was to look at what about their lives and experiences fit together as a story. What The Essay Expert is doing appears to be the counterpoint to the technique explained by Frank Bruni in his June opinion piece in The New York Times, Naked Confessions of the College-Bound: Oversharing in Admissions Essays. Bruni tells of one Yale applicant’s essay.  A highly qualified student wanted to highlight her complete absorption with French and her teacher, â€Å"she described their one-on-one conversation at the end of a school day. And then, this detail: During their talk, when an urge to go to the bathroom could no longer be denied, she decided not to interrupt the teacher or exit the room. She simply urinated on herself.† Bruni cites similar examples, and quotes author Sally Rubenstone, who calls this type of behavior, â€Å"†¦the Jerry Springer-ization of the college admissions essay.† Coaches like Bernstein can help rein in the conflicting messages our children receive when they mistake the shock-factor for good writing. But the real work for these essays begins long before the fall of senior year. As parents, we need to give our children moments to reflect on their own lives, and genuine experiences to mull about as individuals without the constant pressure to document every minute of it. When I taught public speaking, I asked students to give a biographical speech touching on three major aspects of their lives. Many talked about a sport, or a hobby, or a pet. But almost all included this as part of those three defining elements of biography: a family tradition. The next time you fret about not giving your kid every opportunity to fill his or her resume, think about what it takes to be able to reflect on one’s own life. As the Essay Expert asks, â€Å"How well did you know yourself at the end of high school?†

Personal paper on SoHo, NYC. First-person Essay

Personal paper on SoHo, NYC. First-person - Essay Example . Geographically, Soho is a neighborhood located in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It is a zoned neighborhood bounded by Houston Street and Lafayette Street, with the Centre Street on the East and Canal Street on the South. As a place, one can immediately observe that there is more to the city than its geographical location evident with the characters of its more than 250 iron cast buildings. Indeed there is more that meets the eye because what made Soho special are not only its buildings but its inhabitants and its history. Dreams and perfection were created in that community, a dwelling place were great artworks were conceived and worked during the stillness of its night and the brightness of its day. Soho’s nature to become the nest and breeding place of so many artists can be said to be a happy accident or perhaps even by Divine Providence. In the early part of Sohos history, the place was virtually empty where its historic buildings became unattractive to factories or any form of business. At some point, it was thought of as a miserable place, without place to work, all space and no money from industry where abandoned buildings litter the community. For a time, there may be no money coming in during in Soho but its historic buildings and its lofts that has large unobstructed space where light can get in freely, has a special charm to artists. It could provide them the space to work and for their art to flourish. Its bane of being absent of industry and factories actually became an advantage and an asset because it afforded artists rent cheap to do their creative works. Just imagine a place, or a community where all of its residents are dreamers or purveyors of beauty whose heads are always on the cloud even if their feet touches ground. Many may have been gone but you can still feel that artistic aura, to explore and to open up, and pour ourselves in creative ways that only God understand.

Ibn al-athir Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ibn al-athir - Essay Example The document was perhaps written in Mesopotamia since the Arab historian lived in Mosul, a place located in Northern Iraq. The document seems to be a narrative of secondhand information about the Tatars. The author had described the stories he heard about the atrocities of the Tatars. For instance, he stated â€Å"It is now time for us to describe how they first burst forth into the lands. Stories have been related to me, which the hearer can scarcely credit, as to the terror of the Tatars, which God Almighty cast into men’s hearts; so that it is said that a single one of them would enter a village or a quarter wherein were many people, and would continue to slay them one after another, none daring to stretch forth his hand against this horseman†. Ibn al-Athir wrote a document about the exploits of ‘horsemen’ from China, specifically referring to the Mongols led by Genghis Khan. The document was written for those who are interested in knowing the nature or characteristics of Mongol invaders. The author specifically addresses the Muslims who were victimized by the cruelties of these conquerors. It seems that the author wants to rekindle the religious zeal of the Muslims who, historically, were insulted and slighted by the ‘bizarre’ religion of the Tatars: â€Å"As for their religion, they worship the sun when it rises, and regard nothing as unlawful, for they eat all beasts, even dogs, pigs, and the like†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The main point of the document is that the Tatars were obviously mighty conquerors, whose conquests should be admired by all, but were clearly ‘barbaric’, ‘profane’, and ‘savage’. The author described how these invaders inflicted sufferings in the lands they swept into. They were successful conquerors but the unspeakable horrors they perpetrated should cast them as savages in the eyes of God. The author enumerated the territories conquered by this invading horde and, at the same time, commenting about the

European Imperialism :: Papers

European expansion was almost a certainty. The continent was relatively poor place for agriculture, which pushed Europeans outside of Europe in search of new soil. Different countries sent explorers, like Columbus and Magellan, to find unknown trade routes to India and Asia. They stumbled onto new sources for raw materials and goods and Europe was suddenly substantially profiting. The exploration of Africa, Asia, and South America provided new wealth. It increased the standard of living for Europeans, introduced them to spices, luxurious goods, silver, and gold (class notes). Later revolutions and reformers throughout the 19th and 20th centuries transformed European society and continually provided the continent with new interests, experiences, and ideas. As a result, Europeans developed new technology, which enabled them to explore unknown territory and expand their influence overseas. European imperialism began in the 14th and 15th centuries. There were a variety of factors that allowed for expansion. First of all, because the population of Europe was low there was a potential for rapid population growth. Secondly, Europe was relatively small which made it venerable to invasion and provoked the need for strong armies. The fact that it was divided into states provoked the need for strong governments and because there was no one power that could change things in Europe they obtained a relatively strong freedom of thought. This solidarity gave Europe the power to send voyages and explorations around the globe to help find new resources. Futhermore, Europe sent explorers to find different and needed trade routes to Asia and India because the land routes were extremely long (class notes). Also, public opinion played an important role in the support of imperialism. Many people who weren't pleased with their economic and political status could migrate to new re gions to find other opportunities. Others were inspired to spread the word of Christianity and sought a new standard of living. But most importantly, Europeans were concerned with the quest for material goods and to grow rich (textbook pg. 878). There were many changes in the methods from early imperialism to late expansionism. For example, unlike "new imperialism" early European expansion focused on establishing trading posts in different countries, instead of actually taking over the land and adding empires like later imperialism.

Safeguarding Adults And Personalisation

This essay will focus on adult safeguarding and how law and policy applies to working with vulnerable adults, which in turn will recognise how this can protect or hinder their rights. In addition to this, it will also demonstrate my understanding of what the role and responsibilities of a social worker is in regards to safeguarding and personalisation. The adult safeguarding national policy agenda was set out in 2000 by the department of health called ‘No Secrets’; named such to outline that there can be no secrets or somewhere to hide when it comes to exposing the abuse of vulnerable adults.This guidance defined a vulnerable adult as ‘a person who is or may be in need of community care services by reason of mental or other disability, age or illness; and who is or may be unable to protect him or herself against significant harm or exploitation’. (Department of Health, 2013) However, safeguarding services have considerably developed since then and in the dra ft Care and Support Bill 2012, a new term, ‘adult at risk’ has now replaced ‘vulnerable adult’ as a more acceptable alternative and because the term ‘vulnerable adult’ may wrongly imply that some of the fault for the abuse lies with the adult abused.It was proposed by the Law Commission and it is now defined as: ‘anyone with social care needs who is or may be at risk of significant harm’. Although this is a much shorter definition it is still clear that no matter what your circumstances, anyone can be classed at risk and is entitled to be safeguarded and protected from abuse. (Department of Health, 2013) Many social workers feel frustrated by the fact that when dealing with adult abuse cases there is no statute that is equivalent to the Children Act 1989.However, there are several pieces of policy and legislation that social workers can draw upon to support their practice that will both empower and protect individuals who find them selves in vulnerable situations. (Pritchard, 2009) Legislation dating back from 1948 to the present day provides a range of duties and powers based on various definitions and criteria. In England and Wales there is not a statutory duty to investigate abuse, however, No Secrets clearly places a responsibility on social services as the key agency responsible for adult protection and this position is strengthened by the Human Rights Act 1998.(Wilson et al, 2008) The Human Rights Act didn’t come into force in the UK until October 2000 and it meant people could take cases regarding breaches of their human rights into a UK court. This would have provided a breakthrough to victims who thought that their perpetrators would always get away with abusing them. Although, without the help of a social worker encouraging them to seek help and support this would not be able to happen.  (Galpin&Bates, 2009)There are particular articles within the Act that are relevant to safeguarding adults such as; Article 2, everyone has a right to life; Article 3, the prohibition of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment and Article 5, everyone has the right to liberty and security. In addition to this, the right to respect a person’s home, private and family life under Article 8; investigating and responding to the risk of abuse will almost invariably involve this article; interventions must be lawful, justified and proportionate given the risk.  (Pritchard, 2009)The Mental Capacity Act 2005 provides a framework to support individual decision-making, allowing choice of appointing their own decision maker and to also promote decision-making in a person’s best interests should they lack capacity. The Act encourages forward planning, for example, people who have capacity but feel that they would lack capacity in the future they can nominate others to act for them under a Lasting Power of Attorney which would involve decisions about welfare, health and financial matt ers.Where decisions have to be made regarding serious medical treatment, long-term accommodation moves or an adult protection investigation, an Independent Mental Capacity Advocate (IMCA) may be appointed to support and represent the individual. (Wilson et al) The IMCA service started in 2007 when it provided a service for 5,266 people and has been providing a statutory service for five years. Although the IMCA service is a statutory service, it is provided by the voluntary sector and is a national service provided by 60 local providers which sets out to both empower and to safeguard people.It is accountable to local commissioners as well as local clients; it works with both the NHS and 152 local authorities and it is designed to support and represent people as well as challenge and change organisations and their practices. In 2009, IMCAs were given additional duties under the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DOLS). Their focus was to safeguard some of the most vulnerable circumst ances that people can find themselves in.Therefore, where, for their own safety and in their best interests, people need to be accommodated under care and treatment regimes that have the effect of depriving them of their liberty, but where they lack capacity to consent to the regime. (Department of Health, 2013) Another act that is relevant to adult services is the NHS and Community Care Act 1990 which provides a framework for all assessments of vulnerable adults. It emphasises the importance of case monitoring and reviewing. (Pritchard, 2009) Prior to the act there had been criticism about the way in which community care services were organised.Therefore, when the Act was implemented, qualified social workers were given the task as care managers and many going into adult services for the first time. A key aspect of care management was that the assessment process should be based on an individual’s needs rather than the service they require which would enable user empowerment and choice; and in turn provide a personalised approach. (Parker&Bradley, 2010) Personalisation means starting with the person rather than the service and it reinforces the idea that the person should know best what their needs are and how they can be met.The social workers job working with adults at risk would be to ensure they had the right information and support to access the appropriate services. Personalisation is about giving people much more choice and control over their own lives and good social work practice is about putting the individual first. (SCIE, 2008) The personalisation agenda was outlined in three important documents. Firstly, Fair Access to Care Services (FACS) which called for local authorities to set eligibility criteria for providing services based on balancing resources against need.Secondly, Transforming Social Care which was introduced to develop a personalised approach to the delivery of adult social care through the use of direct payments and personal bu dgets. Finally, the document, Putting People First placed personalisation at the centre of social care policy, practice and performance. These policies were introduced to promote independent living and the funding for these initiatives took on two forms in the way of Direct Payments and Personal Budgets. (Trevithick, 2012) The legislation for direct payments is incorporated in the Community Care Act 1996.The Act gave local authorities the power to implement direct payments. However, it was not until 2000 that the service was extended to people over 65 which obviously led to them being more vulnerable and unable to access services. Direct payments is a way of enabling people to manage their own care and support services; it is seen as a right not a privilege. (Parker&Bradley, 2009) Although direct payments are seen as central to the government’s agenda for the modernisation and transformation of adult social care, it needs to be noted that there are concerns regarding risks an d possible reduction in rights for people who use direct payments.  (Galpin&Bates, 2009)The main concern is that people will use their direct payments to employ unregulated care workers or relatives or will not manage well which may leave them open to a greater risk of poor quality care or even abuse through neglect, exploitation, physical, etc. (CommunityCare, 2013) On the other hand, whom the service user employs is generally their choice and responsibility which would give them a sense of independence. However, regulation and training of personal assistants is not compulsory, therefore, evidence of qualifications or certificates is at the employer’s discretion.This in itself poses a risk to service users who take this route. (Galpin&Bates, 2009) Personal budgets or individual budgets refers to funding that is allocated by the local authority to enable service users to buy services in regards to their personal and social care needs which can include domestic, social leisu re and educational activities. Administration is viewed as less intrusive than direct payments, for example, receipts are not required for individual expenditure. It is the responsibility of a social worker to play a key role in delivering this personalised service.  (Parker&Bradley, 2010)In 2010, the UK Coalition Government confirmed its commitment to the principles which are embodied in the personalisation agenda and the target was for local councils to offer personal budgets to one million social care service users by 2013 as part of its social care provision. (Trevithick, 2012) However, a joint discussion document on the future of services for older people called ‘The Case for Tomorrow Facing the Beyond’ was produced in 2012. The document addressed that the opportunities of personal budgets and direct payments have not been a constant acceptance by all those who are entitled to them.Whilst people have usually been very positive about the impact of personal budgets on their lives, older adults report less satisfaction than other adult groups. More older people receive adult social care services than any other age groups but the amount that are actually receiving personal budgets or direct payments is small. In addition to this, the legal responsibilities of the personal budget holder are also presenting some challenges in the way of the holders acting as employers. When a service user directly employs someone to deliver a service, issues of employment law, quality and safeguarding still remain.There is a challenge for policy makers, local authorities and their partners to balance concerns about the impact of less well monitored systems on quality, reliability and safeguarding on one hand and the bureaucracy and cost of additional monitoring on the other. (Adass, 2013) As mentioned previously, FACS is a national eligibility framework which allocates social care resources to individuals, carers and communities based on four eligibility bands â €“ critical, substantial, moderate and low risk to independence.However, in 2010 it was said to have proved difficult to adhere to, especially in the economic climate with rising cost pressures and an increasing need to ration services. The BASW’s joint manager noted there was a need for a national framework and more should be left to the professional discretion of social workers, working with the personalisation agenda and a person-centred approach. However, this can only happen if councils are given enough resources to manage peoples care.  (CommunityCare, 2013)Putting People First; a shared vision and commitment to the transformation of adult social care was a key document from the government to outline the future of adult service provision. It sets out the government’s commitment to independent living for all adults. In addition to this, it seeks to develop a collaborative approach between local and central government, providers and regulators to facilitate t he development of a personalised system of adult social care. The first step in a personalised approach to social work practice is Person Centred Planning (PCP).PCP addresses issues of exclusion that can be overlooked in the assessment process because it focuses on the person’s capacities and not their impairments. The listening involved in PCP is good social work practice and can be used to understand a person’s choices and abilities. It also helps to ensure that the person is placed at the centre of the assessment and planning process. However, there is an issue of funding when it comes to PCP for all individuals with a learning disability and can rely heavily on the trust of the individuals informal or unpaid support network to make their aspirations and plans a reality.Although in my opinion I do think PCP is the way forward and should be used more frequently in social work practice. (Galpin&Bates, 2009) In conclusion to this essay and with the information gathered it can be noted that there are several policies and legislation that support the safeguarding of adults. Therefore, it seems unimaginable as to why vulnerable adults or adults at risk find themselves in a position of abuse or neglect. However, unfortunately due to the recent Winterbourne View scandal and others like it, abuse obviously still remains of individuals who are clearly too vulnerable to speak out.It does appear that although guidance and policies are in place to safeguard adults who may be at risk, it obviously doesn’t seem to be enough or it is simply that abusers are getting away with their crimes. The future of adult safeguarding must be improved and to do this, all agencies should work together in partnership and ensure the implementation of policies; procedures, etc. are in place. Outstanding social work practice is of the utmost importance. Safeguarding Adults and Personalisation This essay will focus on adult safeguarding and how law and policy applies to working with vulnerable adults, which in turn will recognise how this can protect or hinder their rights. In addition to this, it will also demonstrate my understanding of what the role and responsibilities of a social worker is in regards to safeguarding and personalisation. The adult safeguarding national policy agenda was set out in 2000 by the department of health called ‘No Secrets’; named such to outline that there can be no secrets or somewhere to hide when it comes to exposing the abuse of vulnerable adults.This guidance defined a vulnerable adult as ‘a person who is or may be in need of community care services by reason of mental or other disability, age or illness; and who is or may be unable to protect him or herself against significant harm or exploitation’. (Department of Health, 2013) However, safeguarding services have considerably developed since then and in the dra ft Care and Support Bill 2012, a new term, ‘adult at risk’ has now replaced ‘vulnerable adult’ as a more acceptable alternative and because the term ‘vulnerable adult’ may wrongly imply that some of the fault for the abuse lies with the adult abused.It was proposed by the Law Commission and it is now defined as: ‘anyone with social care needs who is or may be at risk of significant harm’. Although this is a much shorter definition it is still clear that no matter what your circumstances, anyone can be classed at risk and is entitled to be safeguarded and protected from abuse. (Department of Health, 2013) Many social workers feel frustrated by the fact that when dealing with adult abuse cases there is no statute that is equivalent to the Children Act 1989.However, there are several pieces of policy and legislation that social workers can draw upon to support their practice that will both empower and protect individuals who find them selves in vulnerable situations. (Pritchard, 2009) Legislation dating back from 1948 to the present day provides a range of duties and powers based on various definitions and criteria. In England and Wales there is not a statutory duty to investigate abuse, however, No Secrets clearly places a responsibility on social services as the key agency responsible for adult protection and this position is strengthened by the Human Rights Act 1998.  (Wilson et al, 2008)The Human Rights Act didn’t come into force in the UK until October 2000 and it meant people could take cases regarding breaches of their human rights into a UK court. This would have provided a breakthrough to victims who thought that their perpetrators would always get away with abusing them. Although, without the help of a social worker encouraging them to seek help and support this would not be able to happen.(Galpin&Bates, 2009)There are particular articles within the Act that are relevant to safeguarding adults such as; Article 2, everyone has a right to life; Article 3, the prohibition of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment and Article 5, everyone has the right to liberty and security. In addition to this, the right to respect a person’s home, private and family life under Article 8; investigating and responding to the risk of abuse will almost invariably involve this article; interventions must be lawful, justified and proportionate given the risk.(Pritchard, 2009)The Mental Capacity Act 2005 provides a framework to support individual decision-making, allowing choice of appointing their own decision maker and to also promote decision-making in a person’s best interests should they lack capacity. The Act encourages forward planning, for example, people who have capacity but feel that they would lack capacity in the future they can nominate others to act for them under a Lasting Power of Attorney which would involve decisions about welfare, health and financial matters.W here decisions have to be made regarding serious medical treatment, long-term accommodation moves or an adult protection investigation, an Independent Mental Capacity Advocate (IMCA) may be appointed to support and represent the individual. (Wilson et al) The IMCA service started in 2007 when it provided a service for 5,266 people and has been providing a statutory service for five years. Although the IMCA service is a statutory service, it is provided by the voluntary sector and is a national service provided by 60 local providers which sets out to both empower and to safeguard people.It is accountable to local commissioners as well as local clients; it works with both the NHS and 152 local authorities and it is designed to support and represent people as well as challenge and change organisations and their practices. In 2009, IMCAs were given additional duties under the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DOLS). Their focus was to safeguard some of the most vulnerable circumstances that people can find themselves in.Therefore, where, for their own safety and in their best interests, people need to be accommodated under care and treatment regimes that have the effect of depriving them of their liberty, but where they lack capacity to consent to the regime. (Department of Health, 2013) Another act that is relevant to adult services is the NHS and Community Care Act 1990 which provides a framework for all assessments of vulnerable adults. It emphasises the importance of case monitoring and reviewing. (Pritchard, 2009) Prior to the act there had been criticism about the way in which community care services were organised.Therefore, when the Act was implemented, qualified social workers were given the task as care managers and many going into adult services for the first time. A key aspect of care management was that the assessment process should be based on an individual’s needs rather than the service they require which would enable user empowerment and c hoice; and in turn provide a personalised approach. (Parker&Bradley, 2010) Personalisation means starting with the person rather than the service and it reinforces the idea that the person should know best what their needs are and how they can be met.The social workers job working with adults at risk would be to ensure they had the right information and support to access the appropriate services. Personalisation is about giving people much more choice and control over their own lives and good social work practice is about putting the individual first. (SCIE, 2008) The personalisation agenda was outlined in three important documents. Firstly, Fair Access to Care Services (FACS) which called for local authorities to set eligibility criteria for providing services based on balancing resources against need.Secondly, Transforming Social Care which was introduced to develop a personalised approach to the delivery of adult social care through the use of direct payments and personal budgets . Finally, the document, Putting People First placed personalisation at the centre of social care policy, practice and performance. These policies were introduced to promote independent living and the funding for these initiatives took on two forms in the way of Direct Payments and Personal Budgets. (Trevithick, 2012) The legislation for direct payments is incorporated in the Community Care Act 1996.The Act gave local authorities the power to implement direct payments. However, it was not until 2000 that the service was extended to people over 65 which obviously led to them being more vulnerable and unable to access services. Direct payments is a way of enabling people to manage their own care and support services; it is seen as a right not a privilege. (Parker&Bradley, 2009) Although direct payments are seen as central to the government’s agenda for the modernisation and transformation of adult social care, it needs to be noted that there are concerns regarding risks and pos sible reduction in rights for people who use direct payments.(Galpin&Bates, 2009)The main concern is that people will use their direct payments to employ unregulated care workers or relatives or will not manage well which may leave them open to a greater risk of poor quality care or even abuse through neglect, exploitation, physical, etc. (CommunityCare, 2013) On the other hand, whom the service user employs is generally their choice and responsibility which would give them a sense of independence. However, regulation and training of personal assistants is not compulsory, therefore, evidence of qualifications or certificates is at the employer’s discretion.This in itself poses a risk to service users who take this route. (Galpin&Bates, 2009) Personal budgets or individual budgets refers to funding that is allocated by the local authority to enable service users to buy services in regards to their personal and social care needs which can include domestic, social leisure and ed ucational activities. Administration is viewed as less intrusive than direct payments, for example, receipts are not required for individual expenditure. It is the responsibility of a social worker to play a key role in delivering this personalised service.(Parker&Bradley, 2010)In 2010, the UK Coalition Government confirmed its commitment to the principles which are embodied in the personalisation agenda and the target was for local councils to offer personal budgets to one million social care service users by 2013 as part of its social care provision. (Trevithick, 2012) However, a joint discussion document on the future of services for older people called ‘The Case for Tomorrow Facing the Beyond’ was produced in 2012. The document addressed that the opportunities of personal budgets and direct payments have not been a constant acceptance by all those who are entitled to them.Whilst people have usually been very positive about the impact of personal budgets on their liv es, older adults report less satisfaction than other adult groups. More older people receive adult social care services than any other age groups but the amount that are actually receiving personal budgets or direct payments is small. In addition to this, the legal responsibilities of the personal budget holder are also presenting some challenges in the way of the holders acting as employers. When a service user directly employs someone to deliver a service, issues of employment law, quality and safeguarding still remain.There is a challenge for policy makers, local authorities and their partners to balance concerns about the impact of less well monitored systems on quality, reliability and safeguarding on one hand and the bureaucracy and cost of additional monitoring on the other. (Adass, 2013) As mentioned previously, FACS is a national eligibility framework which allocates social care resources to individuals, carers and communities based on four eligibility bands – critic al, substantial, moderate and low risk to independence.However, in 2010 it was said to have proved difficult to adhere to, especially in the economic climate with rising cost pressures and an increasing need to ration services. The BASW’s joint manager noted there was a need for a national framework and more should be left to the professional discretion of social workers, working with the personalisation agenda and a person-centred approach. However, this can only happen if councils are given enough resources to manage peoples care.(CommunityCare, 2013) Putting People First; a shared vision and commitment to the transformation of adult social care was a key document from the government to outline the future of adult service provision. It sets out the government’s commitment to independent living for all adults. In addition to this, it seeks to develop a collaborative approach between local and central government, providers and regulators to facilitate the development o f a personalised system of adult social care. The first step in a personalised approach to social work practice is Person Centred Planning (PCP).PCP addresses issues of exclusion that can be overlooked in the assessment process because it focuses on the person’s capacities and not their impairments. The listening involved in PCP is good social work practice and can be used to understand a person’s choices and abilities. It also helps to ensure that the person is placed at the centre of the assessment and planning process. However, there is an issue of funding when it comes to PCP for all individuals with a learning disability and can rely heavily on the trust of the individuals informal or unpaid support network to make their aspirations and plans a reality.Although in my opinion I do think PCP is the way forward and should be used more frequently in social work practice. (Galpin&Bates, 2009) In conclusion to this essay and with the information gathered it can be noted that there are several policies and legislation that support the safeguarding of adults. Therefore, it seems unimaginable as to why vulnerable adults or adults at risk find themselves in a position of abuse or neglect. However, unfortunately due to the recent Winterbourne View scandal and others like it, abuse obviously still remains of individuals who are clearly too vulnerable to speak out.It does appear that although guidance and policies are in place to safeguard adults who may be at risk, it obviously doesn’t seem to be enough or it is simply that abusers are getting away with their crimes. The future of adult safeguarding must be improved and to do this, all agencies should work together in partnership and ensure the implementation of policies; procedures, etc. are in place. Outstanding social work practice is of the utmost importance.

What Caused The Dust Bowl Essay - 2374 Words

What Caused the Dust Bowl? One of America’s most beloved books is John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. The book portrays a family, the Joads, who leave Oklahoma and move to California in search of a more prosperous life. Steinbeck’s book garnered acclaim both from critics and from the American public. The story struck a chord with the American people because Steinbeck truly captured the angst and heartbreak of those directly impacted by the Dust Bowl disaster. To truly comprehend the havoc the Dust Bowl wreaked, one must first understand how and why the Dust Bowl took place and who it affected the most. The Dust Bowl was the result of a conglomeration of weather, falling crop prices, and government policies. The Dust Bowl, a tragic era†¦show more content†¦For example, in February much of the United States had recorded frigid temperatures and North Dakota hit an all-time extreme record low of minus sixty degrees (Hutchinson, 35) . In contrast to the high temperatures, in the summer of 1936 strong upper-atmosphere high pressure systems locked over North America which caused very high temperatures. All but two states experienced protracted temperatures in excess of 100 degrees. Seventy-five percent of those states experienced temperatures that exceeded 110. The high for Kansas in 1936 was in Alton which reached 121 degrees in July. Conditions were so severe that federal officials warned that America’s agricultural belt was in real danger of being transformed into a desert. The heat wave cost $1 billion in crop and livestock losses. On July 15th of 1936, the Chicago Tribune estimated that 1,000 people a day were dying and continued at that pace for several days. In addition to the extreme temperatures, lack of rain was also a major factor in the Dust Bowl. The 1934 drought was the most devastating in American history. In 1934, twenty-four states suffered sufficiently from the drought. There was no significant amount of rain from 1930 to 1939. The drought was so bad people started to believe they could produce rain. Tex Thorton, in Delhart Texas, believed that if he set off explosions on the ground it would rattle the atmosphere and cause it to rain. He was paid three hundred dollars to set off explosions, butShow MoreRelatedWhat Caused the Dust Bowl?753 Words   |  4 Pagesplowing year after year and the lack of rainfall, the soil was quickly losing its fertility. With unfertile, dry land, the wheat crop started dying, and then blowing away with wind. Due to the improper farming, along with a long drought, dust storms made life in the Dust Bowl very burdensome. During the 1930s, the Great Plains was plagued with a drought, a long period of dryness, which brought demise to many of the farmers in the region. This horrible drought started in 1930, a year that saw heavy rainsRead MoreThe Dust Bowl Essay1436 Words   |  6 PagesIn what was one of the most fertile areas of the United States, one of the Nation’s worst agricultural disasters occurred. No rain came so crops did not grow, leaving the soil exposed to the high winds that hit the area in the 1930s. Stretching over a 150,000 square mile area and encompassing parts of five states—these being Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico—the Dust Bowl was a time where over 100 million acres of topsoil were stripped from fertile fields leaving nothing but barrenRead MoreThe Great Depression And Dust Bowl1165 Words   |  5 PagesDepression/Dust Bowl The ‘Dirty Thirties’ is perhaps one of the most known time periods in American History. During the 1930s, the worst and longest drought occurred in the United States, this was also know as the Dust Bowl. According to Christopher Klein, the Dust Bowl is considered both a man-made and natural disaster. In fact, many events contributed to the Dust Bowl such as poor farming techniques, a severe drought, and economic depression. One of the main causes of the Dust Bowl was the poorRead MoreThe Dust Bowl and Agriculture Essay1070 Words   |  5 Pages One has not experienced the life of living in dirt until he has been in the dust bowl. It was a decade-long dust storm that impacted hundreds of farmers and their farmlands. Hardship was among one of the influences of the storm, which affected both farm workers and city folks. The storm also brought the elements of destruction and darkness, which reigned chaos across the Plains. Together, these issues gave the storm its popular name, â€Å"black blizzard† (Documentary, 2014). Such a name was given dueRead MoreDust Bowl Bt Donald Worster Essay764 Words   |  4 PagesDust Bowl: Donald Worster The 1930s are a decade marked by devastation; the nation was in an economic crisis, millions of people were going hungry, and jobless. America was going through some dark times. But if you were living in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas (or any of those surrounding states) you had bigger things on your mind than being denied the money in your bank account. From 1935-1939 Winds and dust storms had left a good portion of our country desolate; however our author takes a slightlyRead MoreThe Dust Bowl Of The United States1132 Words   |  5 Pageshardly quintessential. A notable provoker for this adversity was the dust storm known as the â€Å"Dust Bowl†, that lasted until about 1940. The Dust Bowl had consequences all over the United States. Besides causing the largest migration in American history when people began fleeing the midwest, it lead to the deaths of thousands of people and prompted soil conservation campaigns that called forth on the federal government. The Dust Bowl was an entirely avoidable tragedy rooted in greed and ignorance whereRead MoreThe Dust Bowl Of The Great West1172 Words   |  5 PagesLucia Martinez Professor Kim Wombles English 1302 September 21, 2015 The Dust Bowl Imagine a great wall closing in on you with nowhere to run. Imagine sweeping a floor of sand that will never go away. Imagine having a terrible cough that leaves your throat irritated and raw to the point where you are coughing up blood. Imagine the disappointment of realizing a possible rain cloud is really a wall of dust rushing your way. For people living in the Midwest during the 1930s this wasRead MoreThe Dust Bowl And The Great Depression By Margaret Larason1599 Words   |  7 Pages The Dust Bowl and the Great Depression were catastrophic events that occurred in the mid-1930s and affected the Great Plains. One place in particular that suffered was the Oklahoma panhandle. The dust storms were so bad that farmers could not make a living, and the land was almost un-inhabitable. This drove many families to leave the panhandle and flee to places like California. Margaret Larason is a woman who was born in the pan handle before the Dust Bowl and Great Depression, and she even livedRead MoreThe Black Blizzard And The Dust Bowl1570 Words   |  7 PagesDuring the Dust Bowl many people and kids have suffered, many lost their home and their towns got ruined. One of the people who has suffered in the Dust Bowl is Ashton. When Ashton went to his school he was immediately pulled in by his teacher Mrs. Kam. He was then told that the entire middle east was affected by the Dust Bowl and that a black blizzard will hit very soon. Then the winds outside started to get faster, th e windows getting hit by all the dust gathered from the storm, but luckily forRead MoreEffects Of The Dust Bowl On The United States And The Eastern Europe1285 Words   |  6 PagesTeaching environmental responsibility is an important aspect of students’ education. The lesson will focus on studying the consequences of the Dust Bowl and the Chernobyl Disaster on the U.S. and the Eastern Europe. Discovering reasons and analyzing impacts of these catastrophic disasters will help raise students’ awareness and understanding of the importance of making responsible environmental decisions. By instilling in students environmental awareness, the lesson also contributes to building lifelong