Environment
Essays

Theme -- Environmental Cognition -- the way humans imagine, create, remember and think about the environment as a whole. The cognitive tools that humans use to understand and move about the earth.

Michael Alfonso is a man who is envied by his peers having moved up the ranks and taken charge of Trident submarine because very few officers qualified for such commands hardly get them. The paper applies the various leadership theories in this case scenario, also looks at the several behavior theories applicable.

Background of Agency -- as a direct response to the terrorist attacks on the United States in September, 2011, the Office of Homeland Security was created, specifically with the mission:

There are several factors that can influence companies' success and well functioning. Their organizational structure is one of them. Companies' organizational structure relies on their processes and systems, but also on the organization of human resources. Specialists in the field have focused on developing theoretical models intended to address the problems that companies face in their attempt to strengthen their organizational structure in accordance with the requirements of the business environment.

Alcan's continued revenue growth is the result of the combined success of increasing sales in four main business units, in addition to growth through acquisition. The cumulative effects of these two factors have served to create a profitable business and one where a highly decentralized organizational structure dominates (Chang, Wang, 2011). The catalyst of the organization becoming so decentralized is the continued revenue gains made across four businesses, each competing in market areas that face heavy pricing and commodity-like market conditions. Despite the heavily process-centric based approaches the industry takes to supply chain management, production and distribution, Alcan has been also able to profitably grow sales in the more mature markets they compete in. The senior management and IT departments credit the highly decentralized nature of the enterprise-wide systems that run the company. During the time period of the case, Alcan generated $23.6B in sales in 2006, and has 68,000 employees throughout its global operations that span 61 countries. The four major groups include Primary Metal, Engineered Products, Packaging and Bauxite & Alumina. Each of these business groups have their own Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and IT infrastructure. They each also have their own maintenance contracts with enterprise software vendors including SAP who the company pays approximately $100M a year in maintenance fees to. There are also the costs of operating over 400 different pricing systems, many of which duplicate functions across divisions as well. The new CIO of the company, Robert Ouellette, enters into a challenging situation and one that will require a completely different IT and organizational structure to succeed. Organizational Environment The Alcan organizational environment is highly decentralized to the point of there being four separate companies in the same corporation, each with its own entire value chain and supporting functions. As with the value chain concept, each of the four divisions has created its own main and supporting functions, and no two business units or divisions are the same. From the initial supply chain management and supplier quality management processes and systems to the supplier qualification, new product development, production and fulfillment including logistics, each business unit is significantly different than the other. When information systems and processes become unique to a given organizational business unit or division, the information and intelligence shared redefines the identity and over time, the core competencies of a business unit (Boh, Yellin, 2007). This is exactly what's happening in the four business units of Alcan during the time period of the case study. The Primary Metal, Engineered Products, Packaging and Bauxite & Alumina have in effect become their own companies, each with its own ERP, Manufacturing Execution System (MES), Supply Chain Management (SCM) and myriad of pricing and distribution systems. The case states that there are over 400 different pricing systems in place across the four business units or divisions. CIO Robert Ouellette and other senior executives see the potential for consolidating all systems together and creating a centralized IT architecture. Creating a highly centralized IT architecture and framework would require the fundamental structure of the company to change significantly. It would also require an entirely new IT architecture, followed by redefinition of processes, systems and procedures throughout the company. As the information platforms or technologies of a business define not only the performance of divisions but the structure and performance of business models over time, Robert Ouellette and his staff must think strategically as to how they will modify the overall organizational structure.

The paper is based on the communication theory and the aspect of interconnection between the theories of communication. There is a case scenario described and how communication breakdown happened. There after there is the appropriate communication theory applied to the scenario and the reasons why it is the most suitable given.

The aviation company is steadily growing and numerous companies are putting up technological efforts to ensure that necessary paraphernalia needed are availed. In doing so, the Honda Aviation Sector has set up departmental sections that deal with the production of executive and efficient jets, suitable for all air purpose. The following is an analysis of strategies that Honda Jet Corporate Flight is setting up in addressing the demands of air transport.

The study examines how the al-Assad family, members of a religious minority, came to power in Syria, and what that has meant for the Syrian people. To this end, this study examines how the Alawi sect came to power in Syria from a historiographic and religious studies perspective, and what the implications of the Arab Spring uprisings might be for the ruling elite in Syria. A summary of the research and important findings are presented in the study's conclusion.

Long ago in the dying years of the 17th century, the authors of a satire on human society, called The Roaring Girl, criticized the jail system noting that it was a place that bred criminals rather than reformed them. Abbot‘s book, I Cried, You Didn't Listen: A Survivor's Expose of the California Youth Authority, is evidence of the truth of this statement. Taken from his family when young, one wonders who is more to blame, - Abbot's family (particularly his parents) who didn't provide him with the needed care or the national system that so cruelly exploited him and turned a naïve, innocent child into a hardened, unrepentant criminal.

This paper provides a review of the relevant peer-reviewed and scholarly literature concerning police ethics and how ethical training can help achieve improved ethical conduct in police departments. The point is also made that an ethical culture promotes ethical conduct. A summary of the research and important findings are provided in the conclusion.