Sense Making and sustainability in Petroleum industry Dissertation

Sense Making and sustainability in Petroleum industry - Dissertation Example The emergence of globalization along with a fast information exchange and cross cultural amalgamation has led business dynamics to incorporate several new aspects within it (Weiss et al, 2008, p.377). No doubt, the companies are making new ventures in foreign territories for optimizing their profit port folios, but the social and environmental aspects of international productions form a crucial part which forms the main trajectory of several new aspects as stated above. Relying only on maximizing profits and generating mammoth revenues will fetch only short run gains with dynamic decline. In order to become a dominant player in this globalised market with a goodwill establishment, the companies have to first of all become good corporate citizens. They have to incorporate the notion of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) with various codes of conduct which will ensure socially responsible business practices within the business and its overseas as well as domestic operations. But app lying the attributes of CSR is not at all an easy task. Several challenges are faced by the management of companies in its proper implementation and maintaining the proper code of conduct. Geographical, economical, legal, cultural and political barriers act as hindrances in the proper implementation of CSR policies. Adverse conditions like agency problems, moral hazard, corruption and malpractices creep into the system which results in non compliance of the rules and regulation implementation and leads to sub optimal results.... Geographical, economical, legal, cultural and political barriers act as hindrances in the proper implementation of CSR policies. Adverse conditions like agency problems, moral hazard, corruption and malpractices creep into the system which results in non compliance of the rules and regulation implementation and leads to sub optimal results. In case of non compliance the initiator will face negative customer sanctions, capital loss, damaged brand values and so on (Pedersen & Andersen, 2006, p. 228). The oil industry bears a historical trend of malpractices, corruption and violent activities (Beri & Sinha, 2009). The prime agenda with oil is that it is generally scarce and the companies have a tendency to explore it wherever it is available. Thus in the oil companies, there has been a natural trend in participating within a global business paradigm and the emergence of CSR practices becomes a more robust parameter in conducting business in an ethical manner (Spence, 2011, pp.59-60). Hi gh vulnerability comes in short term and long term ways. In the short term, there may occur natural hazards like that of oil spills as well as improper sewage of excess natural gas and so on. The long term vulnerabilities include social risks like poorly paid labor, inadequately maintained equipment and threat to the indigenous people at stake facing atrocities and negligence and in some cases they are even killed (Multiple uses of the coastal zone, n.d.). Thus the historical evidences backed by this obnoxious phenomenon have urged the oil and gas TNCs (Transnational Corporations) to play a pioneering role in developing strong leadership roles in the development of good corporate practices as well as rules of behavior in the place of work and engagements in diverse

Impact of Human Activities on Natural Hazards Essay Example for Free

Impact of Human Activities on Natural Hazards Essay Natural hazards are naturally occurring phenomena that have disastrous impact on humanity. These phenomena had been in existence even before the advent of humanity. The hazardous dimension of these natural phenomena are in the context of the impact that such a phenomenon would have on human population in the area affected by that phenomenon. In this essay, the effect that human activity has on these natural hazards would be analyzed. Some human activities may be exacerbating the factors that cause the natural hazard, like the impact of excessive and unplanned logging on floods and droughts. In certain other cases the human activities may cause subsequent or supplementary hazards to a primary hazard event, like building dams in earthquake prone zones may lead to flash floods and landslides in the event of a rupture. A hazard can be defined as an event that has the potential to cause harm. This potential may be on account of its unexpected timing of occurrence or the actual intensity of the event itself. Human societies can withstand these events within a normal scale of occurrence. However, human societies become vulnerable when these events occur unexpectedly or are of an intensity or duration that falls beyond that normal scale (O’Hare and Rivas, 2005). Natural hazards can be broadly classified under the heads of geological, hydrological, climatic and diseases. This essay would limit its scope to analyzing causal relationships, if any, of human activities on landslides, floods and drought and the secondary hazards triggered by those activities in the event of an earthquake. Of all human activities that have a direct or indirect impact on natural hazards, deforestation is by far the most significant. Deforestation is the removal or destruction of forest cover of an area. It may occur due to unscientific logging practices without regeneration and may be accompanied by subsequent conversion to non-forest usage like agriculture, pasture, urban, mining or industrial development, fallow or wetland. At a very broad level, it has been argued that deforestation is a major cause of global climatic changes. It has been predicted that removal of forest cover will lead to violent and unpredictable environmental fluctuations. At a smaller landscape, deforestation has a direct bearing upon the climatic, hydrological, edaphic and biological aspects of that area. Deforestation is associated with higher levels of soil erosion and landslides, sedimentation in river beds and changes in fluvial geomorphology (Haigh, 1984). Quite a few of these effects of deforestation have a direct bearing on the natural hazards that will be covered in this essay. One of the major functions of a forest is to maintain the humidity level in the atmosphere. Trees withdraw groundwater through their roots and transpire the excess water through their leaves. Forests return a major part of the rainfall received by them through evapotranspiration. Annual evapotranspiration in tropical moist lowland forests ranges up to 1500 mm per year, with transpiration accounting for a maximum of 1045 mm per year (Bruijnzeel, 1990). This process of evapotranspiration in the leaves of trees takes the latent heat of evaporation from the surrounding atmosphere. Thus evapotranspiration has a cooling effect on the atmosphere that aids precipitation. Deforestation denies the atmosphere of this cooling effect and is thus a contributing factor to lowering of annual rainfall in an area. Further, the effects of deforestation generally compound the severity of drought. Lack of trees translates to the lack of root fibers that hold the topsoil. In the event of a drought, the topsoil flakes and gets blown by the wind, leading to severe dust storms. This phenomenon had devastated the American Great Plains for close to a decade in 1930s. The dust bowl covered farming areas in Colorado, Kansas, north west Oklahoma, north Texas and north east New Mexico. The fertile soil of the plains was exposed due to lack of vegetation cover and actions of the plow. These farming techniques that led to severe soil erosion, coupled with prolonged periods of extremely low rainfall, led to a series of severe dust storms that ranged up to the Atlantic coast. Much of the fertile topsoil was lost in the Atlantic (Cartensen et al. , 1999). Direct causal relationship between human activity and drought is yet to be conclusively established. However, there are studies available that point to a positive correlation between the two. For example, climate-modeling studies have indicated that the 20th century Sahel drought was caused by changing sea surface temperatures. These changes were due to a combination of natural variability and human induced atmospheric changes. The anthropogenic factors in this case were rise in greenhouse gas levels and aerosols (GFDL Climate Modeling Research Highlights, 2007). The effect of human activities like deforestation is rather more direct and pronounced in case of hydrological hazards like fluvial floods. Fluvial floods occur when the discharge of a river exceeds its bankfull capacity. Forests create deep, open textured soils that can hold large quantities of water. When the forest cover is removed through logging, the soil becomes compacted. More rainwater is converted to runoff or near surface flow and less proportion percolates as groundwater. Research has shown significant increase in monthly runoff following logging activities (Rahim and Harding, 1993). The runoff rainwater carries with it considerable amounts of loose soil particles. Removal of vegetation cover through excessive logging activities or overgrazing leaves the soil bare. In such a situation, the upper layer of the soils becomes susceptible to erosion by surface runoff. These suspended soil particles are deposited on the riverbeds. The effect of this type of soil erosion by surface runoff is even more pronounced when the deforestation happens in the riparian zones as well.

Alcoholism and Drinking - Alcohol Abuse and the State :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Alcohol Abuse and the State    In our country today there is a serious problem plaguing families and people everywhere. This problem is alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction, and it is not something that will go away. According to many sources this problem can cause many implications and can casue severe harm to those it touches(Venturrelli 222). And one of the main problems with the disease of alcoholism, is that it does not effect just the drinkers, but everyone who cares about them. It is seen as impossible to ever cure all situations of alcohol abuse, but is possible to help those who have a problem and to try and prevent others from becoming addicted. Most poeple do not realize what they are getting themselves into when they drink, and some who do drink never engage in aproblem. But there are also people who have a disorder in their genes, and those are the ones who have the most serious problems. Alcohol abuse can skip generations in families and show up only in one or two family members every couple of genera tions(Martin 676). What this means is that Jane's(fictious name) great- grandfather may ahve been an alcoholic and no one else in the family will have a problem, and then Jane begins to have a problem. It is impossible to predict who this disease will strike, but when it does it strikes very hard and very deadly. Many times alcohol abuse begins as just ahving a good time, throughout high school I drank a lot and I enjoyed it. I don't think a week went by that I didn't drink at least four times a week, but I never let it get out of control and I knew my limits and when to quit for the night. When I got in to college things cahnged, I still drink but my priorities became more clear and I know when to draw the line. There are a lot of people that never got to experiment in high school and they got to college and really screwed up. Many people can not react well with alcohol in their bodies and that is where a problem starts with them. A main area of alcohol abuse is in 'greek' organiza tions, I'm not saying that they are bad because there are amny non- 'greek' that drink, but these organizations help many to have access to alcohol.

The Role of Foreshadowing in the Prologue of Harry Mulischs The Assaul

The prologue of a novel plays a crucial role in introducing the setting of the story. The prologue also sets the tone of the tale and can sometimes hide vital information from the reader. The art of foreshadowing is often used in the prologue, and after reading through the story, reverting back to the prologue can help connect the many themes and motifs that are prevalent throughout the narrative. A high-quality example of a prose with a prologue that is riddled with underlying foreshadowing is The Assault, by Harry Mulisch. By analyzing a single passage of the prologue and comparing it with other small potions of the text, the foretelling of events in the prologue of The Assault by Harry Mulisch can easily be related to how Anton believed the killing of his family was a simple affair, when in reality, it was a more complicated incident than Anton could have fathomed. During the prologue, the narrator spoke of when Anton used to hang out near the canal. It was at this point when Anton was ?lying on the grassy bank and staring in to the distance? that a numerous amount of foreshadowing occurred (Mulisch 5). The last thirteen lines of the prologue in The Assault, when the motorboat created a ripple effect, corresponded to how complicated the killing of Anton?s family really was. Anton saw the motorboat do the following: Pitching, their prows would tear the water into a V shape that spread until it reached both sides of the canal. There the water would suddenly begin to lap up and down, even though the boat was already far away. Then the waves bounced back and formed an inverted V, which interfered with the original V, reached the opposite shore transformed, and bounced back again-until all across the water a complicated ... ...d and left. Mulisch?s use of foreshadowing in the prologue allayed to how the rest of the novel would play out. His hints gave a broad scope of how that fateful night seemed so simple, yet the underlying complexities led it to be a burden upon many people. The parallelism of the waves created by the motorboat and the cause and effect relationship of the night when Anton?s family was killed was prevalent throughout the novel. What Anton thought was a night that only affected him, in actuality affected many different people throughout the story. By reverting back to the prologue after the novel has been made and making connections throughout the book, the foreshadowing that Harry Mulisch used was clearly present. By analyzing a short and seemingly simple, yet deeply insightful, passage of the prologue, The Assault by Harry Mulisch can be understood at a higher level.

I Don; T Know

Unit Eight Project Danielle Cripe Kaplan University Unit 8 Project Questions: Part I 1. Under HIPAA, are you legally allowed to view this patient’s medical information? Why or why not? All personal and confidential information should be limited to the bare amount of health care professionals. Only to carry out medical treatment (MLAE). 2. In this case, how would you be able to correct your error and provide the missing documents to the patient while still protecting patient confidentiality under HIPAA? You should contact the patient inform them you still have the documents, and ask if they ould like to come to get them (MLAE). 3. Besides a HIPAA Patient Release of Information form, list 4 other items that are found in the medical record. A privacy notice, acknowledgment that the privacy notice was received, a trading partner agreement, and an agreement reached with a healthcare professional business associates (MLAE). 4. Legally, does the patient or the physician/healthcare fa cility own the medical record? Why? The healthcare facility, but the patient can access them any time as long as the physician feels it will cause no harm to the patient (MLAE). 5.List 3 ways patient confidentiality is maintained in the reception/waiting area of a medical office. Not discussing patient information in the lobby. Making sure computer screens are out of patients sight. Also making sure patients files are not left open (MLAE). 6. A breach of confidentiality can result in what consequences for a health care professional? This could result in possible termination, or possible civil action being taken (MLAE). 7. From the list of Interpersonal Ethics (found in Chapter 1 of the Fremgen text), please describe how any of those traits were demonstrated in your actions in this case scenario?Respect by looking to make sure you could access his information (MLAE). Unit 8 Project Questions: Part II 1. Would the action taken in this second scenario be within your scope of practice f or your chosen field? Why or why not? No only physicians should be giving out prescriptions, and they should have never even looked in the file. They should have just taken a message for the doctor (MLAE). 2. What determines your scope of practice for your chosen career? What you study, and what the office you are working in tells you to do (MLAE). 3.Would Respondeat Superior apply in this case scenario? Why or why not? I would not think so, because this person was not acting within their scope of Employment (MLAE). 4. Would the Good Samaritan Law apply in this case scenario? Why or why not? No because this was not any emergency situation (MLAE). 5. What role does the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) play in regards to prescription medication? The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the regulation and supervision of food safety, tobacco products, dietary supplements, prescription and ver-the-counter pharmaceutical drugs (medications), vaccines, bi opharmaceuticals, blood transfusions, medical devices, electromagnetic radiation emitting devices (ERED), and veterinary products (MLAE). 6. What role does the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) play in regards to prescription medication and a physician’s ability to prescribe narcotics? Physicians must have a DEA license to write prescriptions, and it must be for the state they are practicing in (MLAE). References Bonnie F Fremgen, Ph. D. (2009). MEDICAL LAW AND ETHICS. New Jersey : Pearson Education Inc.

Relative Pronouns on ACT English Tips and Practice

Relative Pronouns on ACT English Tips and Practice SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Relative pronouns tend to inspire a lot of confusion. Is it the boywhocried wolf or the boywhomcried wolf? All's wellthat ends well or all's well which ends well? As much as we may think we need the fancier pronouns, like whom and which, more often than not, the ones we're more familiar with are just fine. In both of those cases, the first version of the saying is the correct one. In general, this principle holdstrue on the ACT, but we'll cover all the rule you'll need to know, as well as the special cases that may trip you up! Agreement for Relative Pronouns Using Relative Pronouns to Correctly Connect Clauses Tricky Cases: Who and Whom, Which and That, Where and In Which Strategy Round Up

Using a and an Before Words

Using a and an Before Words Using a and an Before Words Using a and an Before Words By Daniel Scocco Raphael asks: When should I use â€Å"a† and when should I use â€Å"an† before the different words? For example, should I say â€Å"a hour† or â€Å"an hour?† I stumble over this everytime and dontt know if Im getting it right, as Im not speaking and writing English natively. The Rule The rule states that â€Å"a† should be used before words that begin with consonants (e.g., b, c ,d) while â€Å"an† should be used before words that begin with vowels (e.g., a,e,i). Notice, however, that the usage is determined by the pronunciation and not by the spelling, as many people wrongly assume. You should say, therefore, â€Å"an hour† (because hour begins with a vowel sound) and â€Å"a history† (because history begins with a consonant sound). Similarly you should say â€Å"a union† even if union begins with a â€Å"u.† That is because the pronunciation begins with â€Å"yu†, which is a consonant sound. Abbreviations Deciding which version you should use with abbreviations is the tricky part. First of all you need to understand if the abbreviation is pronounced as a single word or letter by letter. While we say â€Å"a light-water reactor,† the abbreviation is â€Å"an LWR.† Similarly, you should use â€Å"an NBC reporter† (because â€Å"NBC† is pronounced â€Å"enbisi†) and â€Å"a NATO authority† (because â€Å"NATO† begins with a â€Å"ne† sound). Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Rhetorical Devices for Rational WritingStory Writing 101The Two Sounds of G