Positive Impacts of Sex Education on Teenage Pregnancies

Introduction Sexual behaviors and attitudes have changed overtime, although not completely. These changes have been attributed to the cultural transformations that have occurred in societies. Some reasons for this include the increased emphasis on sex education especially in schools and in the mass media, the increasing concern on HIV/AIDS and STDs as well as the general formal education acquired by individuals in formal schools and churches, and other organizations.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Positive Impacts of Sex Education on Teenage Pregnancies specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More These have helped change people’s perception on sexual behaviors. According to Gordon, Lottes and Weinberg (1997), education has played a key role in changing people’s sexual behavior, either positively or negatively. According to Baltzer and colleagues (2008), most teenagers seem to be responsible regarding the issue of sexuality, although some areas of concern still exist. Such areas include teenage pregnancy, AIDS and STDs infection, and their consequences on the health of the teenagers. Newspaper overview ‘’CDC: One-third of sex ed omits birth control.’’ Written by Stobbe Mike on the 15th of September, 2010. According to Stobbe, most teenagers in the US have obtained formal sex education but not all have received formal education on matters of birth control methods. According to the government’s report released on 15th of September, 2010, only two-thirds of those who have received formal education have the knowledge on birth control methods (Stobbe, 2010). Stobbe argues that most of the students do not absorb what they are taught in class about sex education. Therefore, teenage pregnancies have increased, especially between 2005 and 2007, with a slight decrease in 2008. Most students argue that they do not obtain sex education in their earlier ages and they only get it at the age of 18. They also argue that much of the teaching content provided through formal education mainly deals with saying no to sexual advances and STDs but lesser attention is paid towards the use contraceptives and other birth control methods. According to the data provided by the government, only two-thirds of teenagers acquire knowledge on birth control methods by the end of their high school education. The report released by the government also notes that most parents tend to discuss sex and birth control with their teenage daughters more than their teenage sons. According to Stobbe (2010), other research studies carried out on sex education in US seem to suggest that sex education declined between 1995 and 2002 and has not improved since then. This was mainly attributed to the government’s policies on sex education that only stressed on abstinence.Advertising Looking for term paper on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first pa per with 15% OFF Learn More The program only taught students about STDs but did not focus on how to apply birth control methods. However, over the last two years, much of the federal funding has focused on sponsoring teaching programs that discuss the use of birth control methods. A CDC report that was released at the beginning of this year show that teenagers attitude towards pregnancy and birth control methods have not changed. Education and Teenage Pregnancy Positive Impacts of Sex Education on teenage pregnancies Teenage pregnancy may be defined as pregnancy in a girl or a young woman who has not yet celebrated her twentieth birthday regardless of whether the woman is married or not (Boyce et al, 2002). Education has played a major role in guiding teenagers to change their behavior and attitude towards sexuality. They are able to understand themselves better and carry themselves in an appropriate manner. Most teenagers today play safe sex (Baltzer, et al.). According to Luong and Sen (n. d) and Sex Life Canada (2010), teenage pregnancies have reduced in Canada and British Colombia. This has been as a result of provision of a comprehensive sex education and health information to teenagers. Sex Life Canada, (2010), states that teenage pregnancy in Canada and British Colombia reduced by 37% and 35% respectively from 1996 to 2005. Sex education has enabled teenagers in Canada to apply birth control methods of using contraceptives. Some public hospitals in Ontario, Canada, have reported low birth rates of about 9.5% for young women between the age of 15 and 19 (Chen, Fleming, Demissie, Rhoads, Wen and Walker, 2007). The data above show that education can effectively help teenagers change their behavior and attitude towards sexuality and be able to avoid unplanned teenage pregnancies. According to Baltzer et al (2008) and Mackinnon (2002), majority of teenagers in Canada have acquired knowledge on sexuality and about 29% of boys are ready to abstain and wait till their get the right partners for marriage. Failures of Sex Education in reducing teenage pregnancies According to the article by Stobbe, education has not achieved much in terms of helping students change their attitudes and behavior on sex and use of birth controls. Although education has been perceived to help young women and girls avoid teenage pregnancies, it has not been able to fully achieve this goal. According to Hana (2010), America has seen tremendous increases in teenage pregnancy for girls aged between 15 and 19, over the recent years. According to her, about 0.75 million teenage girls get pregnant every year and out of these pregnancies about 82% is unplanned. These teenage pregnancies have severe impacts on girls especially when they are not planned. These may include problems with their emotional, social, psychological and physical health.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Positive Impacts of Sex Education on Teenage Pregnancies sp ecifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The reasons for the failure of the formal sex education are varied. According to Stobbe (2010), formal education failed to have an impact on teenagers due to the lack of its comprehensive approach. The policies on sex education laid by the government only focused on providing formal sex education on abstinence and awareness of STDs leaving out a very important part of birth control. This means that most students step out of high school with little or no information on application of birth control. Besides, According to Bruce (2001), the average age in which most young girls in America experience their first menstrual period is 12. However, much education on sexuality is mostly concentrated on the upper secondary schools, thus neglecting most of the girls who are also vulnerable to teenage pregnancies. According to the United Press International, (2006), most teenagers do not use condoms while having sex. According to the article, only 28% of teenage girls use protection while having sex. Evidence has shown that young girls even with ages below twelve years have conceived and given birth under normal circumstances. Researches have also shown that most parents do not find it appropriate to discuss matters of sexuality with their children. Only a smaller percentage has been able to this effectively. Most parents shy away from discussing matters of birth control with their children, especially the boys, assuming that boys are not psychological affected by young fatherhood (Dryburgh, 2002). Effective sex education can not be achieved without reinforcement from the parents and those close to the teenagers. Most mothers prefer to take their children to doctors to discuss matters on sexuality rather than discuss it with them since most mothers lack the full information on sexuality to provide for their children (Baltzer et al 2008). They also feel that the terminologies on sexuality are to o strong to be discussed with their teenage children. However, according to the research carried out by the Paediatr Child Health to determine the extent of sex education among the youth in Canada, only 7% of the teenagers had acquired sex education services from doctors (Baltzer,et al, 2008). Formal sex education does not cover all aspects that contribute to teenage sex and how to go about them. It has limited information on playing safe sex since much of the content provided only discusses about STDs and abstinence. They are also not taught how to deal with the influence from their peers who normally convince them into having teenage sex. Most teenage girls are pressured by their boyfriends into having sex. According to Treffers (2003), about 29% of teenagers are pressured by their peers into having sexual intercourse.Advertising Looking for term paper on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The education provided on sexuality also does not cover matters of post pregnancy psychological consequences on the young mothers and fathers. The content does not discuss on how to deal with post pregnancy trauma. Thus the impacts of pregnancies are really felt by those who become pregnant. Some knowledge about the risks and post pregnancy psychological consequences would better help the teenagers to adapt safe sex while having intercourse. Conclusion Education is very important in changing the adolescent’s attitude and behavior towards sexuality and teenage pregnancy in particular. It is therefore essential to identify factors that bar the youth from getting full information and knowledge about sexuality. Therefore, providing a comprehensive formal sex education should be considered in order to reduce these cases of teenage pregnancies. Teachers, parents and health care professionals should provide a comprehensive and accurate sex education to teenagers. It is also importan t to ensure sexual health information is accessible to all teenagers. Reference List Baltzer, F, Elliot, A, Frappier, JY, Kaufman, M, Lane, M, McDuff, P and Pinzon, J. (2008). Sex and sexual health: A survey of Canadian youth and mothers. Pulsus Group Inc, Rockville Pike. Boyce W, Doherty M, Fortin C and Mackinnon D. (2002). Canadian youth, sexual  health and HIV/AIDS study. Web. Bruce, A. (2001). Adolescent Pregnancy. In Alex Gitterman: Handbook of Social  Work Practice with Vulnerable and Resilient Populations (2nd ed). Columbia University Press, New York. Chen, X.K, Fleming N, Demissie K, Rhoads G.G, Wen S.W., Walker M. (2007).  Teenage pregnancy and adverse birth outcomes: a large population based  retrospective cohort study. Int J Epidemiol. Dryburgh, H. (2000).Teenage pregnancy. Health Reports. Web. Gordon, L.E, Lottes I.L., Weinberg, G. (1997). Social class background, sexual  attitudes, and sexual behavior in a heterosexual undergraduate sample. HighBeam Business . Hana, M. (2010). Psychological Effects of Teenage Pregnancy. Web. Luong, M., Sen, A. (n. d). Sex, Teen Pregnancies, STDs, and Beer Prices:  Empirical Evidence from Canada. Stobbe, M. (2010). CDC: One-third of sex ed omits birth control. The Associated Press. Treffers, P. E. (2003). Teenage pregnancy, a worldwide problem. Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd. United Press International (2006, August 3). Report says teens don’t often use  condoms. United Press International. This term paper on Positive Impacts of Sex Education on Teenage Pregnancies was written and submitted by user Amel1a to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

my stance on war Essays

my stance on war Essays my stance on war Essay my stance on war Essay Essay Topic: All Quiet On the Western Front English 101 Evils of Wars Wars break out for various reasons. There are wars between countries or nations and within the nation. The latter is generally known as a civil war and can occur as a result of differences based on race, religion, socio-economic dissatisfaction among others. Whether wars are waged between countries (interstate) or inside the country between different sections of the communities, the effects are very damaging. There are a number of viewpoints for deciding when war is appropriate, some based on morals, and some based on costs and benefits. There are four theories that serve as justification for violence and wars. The main theories that explain policy decisions about war and peace are the theories of realism, pacifism, Just-war, and the requirement of discrimination theory. l, of course, dont support the idea that war is necessary because it destroys innocent minds, it is bad for the economy, and it is terrible for the environment. War does not always physically injure someone, but it can emotionally scar them for the rest of their lives. First, one thing that we can learn rom war is the recognition of universal similarities. Oftentimes, the soldiers are constantly told that the enemy are beasts and deserve no reason to live. But what makes the enemy different from them? Both sides believe in fighting for the homeland. Also, both sides encounter the destruction that a war brings to soldier mentally and physically. In the book All Quiet on the Western Front, author Erich Maria Remarque explains how even though in war the soldiers may have survived the attacks, they did not always survive the war itself(23). By this statement, Remarque is trying to inform readers that war has negative effects on people, not only physically but also mentally. War destroys innocence. Soldiers in the war never had a chance to live their youth because they had to go to war. Just as they should be starting their teenage years, they were forced to drop everything at once and put their life on the line. If war does not kill you physically, then it will emotionally. Its a simple fact; war is destruction at its best. It does not only destroy lives and emotions, but the economy as well. War has influenced economic history profoundly across time and space. Above all, recurring war has drained wealth, disrupted markets, and depressed economic growth. Wars are expensive in money and other resources. In the book The Real Price of War: How You Pay for the War on Terror, author Joshua S. Goldstein informs that one estimate put World War Is total cost at $400 billion five times the value of everything in France and Belgium at the time(14). Goldsteins point is that in order to maintain a war and be fully prepared for it, a single country will eed to spend billions of dollars on weapons, food, shelter, training, etc. Yet many people might believe that it is worth it to squander billions of dollars Just to kill innocent people, and destroy countries, I think it is an aimless action to act upon. One way governments pay for war is to raise taxes, which is non-beneficial to society. Another way to pay for war is to borrow money, which increases government debt and can drive states into bankruptcy. In addition to draining money and resources capital such as farms, factories, and cities. Throughout history, war has invariably resulted in environmental destruction. Nuclear weapons pose a terrible threat to the environment and human health. The earths environment is battered by war, its preparation, practice and aftermath. It is destroyed as an act of war; it is used as a weapon of war; and its destruction is expensive and sometimes irreversible. In the article The Aftermath of Invasion: A Field Report from Nasiriyah, author Norman Sheehan stated that during the most recent warfare in Iraq, individuals were forced o cut down city trees to use as cooking fuel(1 1). This statement, which Sheehan uses in his article, adds weight to the argument that war destroys the environment. Cutting down trees has many negative effects on the environment, animals, and people. The real risk that conventional weapons pose to the environment is through indirect effects. For example, war affects the quality of our air; emissions from the use of tanks and other military machinery and the use of air bombs leave chemicals and debris in the air, which results in inhaling chemicals that are dangerous for our body. The start of a war only leads to harmful and negative outcomes. There is no doubt that war is an evil one, and it should never occur in history because it destroys innocence, it is bad for the economy, and it is terrible for the environment. There are, doubtless, people who consider war as something grand and heroic and regard it as something that brings out the best man. But this does not in any way alter the fact that war is a terrible dreadful calamity. This topic matters to the world because, us, people need to put ourselves first and think about how much we are going to be ffected when a war breaks down. In one way or another, everyone is affected by war. Therefore, starting a war should never be an option in solving disputes. Goldstein, Joshua S. The Real Price of War: How You Pay for the War on Terror. New York: New York UP, 2004. Print. Remarque, Erich Maria, and A. W. Wheen. All Quiet on the Western Front. Boston: Little, Brown, and, 1929. Print. Sheehan, Norman. The Aftermath of Invasion: A Field Report from Nasiriyah. Environmentalists Against War. Environmentalists Against War, 01 May 2003. Web. 06 Nov. 2013.

Best analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Best analysis - Essay Example Jahdi and Acikdilli (2009) note that Australia ranked third worldwide in terms of political stability. The Australian Government has set aside a very strong business policy known as the Gillard Government Trade Policy Statement. According to Jahdi and Acikdilli (2009), it has a central theme of ‘Trading our way to more jobs and prosperity.’ This set out various guiding principles. These were separation, non-discrimination, unilateralism, transparency and indivisibility. Since its inception, Australia has improved its trade intensity from 28% to 40%. Australia has a very strong GDP growth which expanded by 0.4% in the fourth quarter of 2011. There is low business risk and the interest rates are very stable. The inflation rates are very low at 1.60 in 2012. Imports were also seen to be on the rise; in February 2012, imports were worth 24,905 million AUD. In a research carried out by the Melbourne Institute, the index for consumer sentiments fell by 1.6% in April to 94.5%. One of the components measured in this research was the buying conditions of major household items. Business confidence surveys provide useful tips about the current economic conditions. According to the Australian Bank monthly survey, business confidence improved from 3 in March 2012 to 4 in April 2012. Australia had a population of 22.5 million by March 2011, which was an increase of 1.4% from the previous year (Charter and Polosnky 2011, pp 5-9). There were 11.12 million males in comparison to 11.21 million females. The median age was 36.8 years. This shows there is an already existing market for Garnier products. The media in Australia will play a very vital role in propelling the sales and marketing of Garnier. There are various radio stations, TV channel, news papers, magazines, the Internet and other avenues that are already established and reach out to the general population. The levels of technology in Australia are at an advanced stage. This means the best

MKT DB1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

MKT DB1 - Essay Example One of the functions of the marketers drawn from these departments is to help customers and potential customers know about the product. This paper will discuss the role of a marketer in light of helping customers and potential customers know about the product. Helping customers is one of the major roles of a marketer in today’s business. In this regard, a marketer ensures that the existing and potential customers of the organization understand the product they are buying by demonstrating to them why they need to buy the product. It starts by identifying the needs of these customers and developing a marketing strategy that is most suitable in meeting the needs and wants of these customers. To be able to meet the needs of these customers, a marketer must come up with an appropriate marketing mix. This entails developing products to satisfy their needs, charge the right price, makes goods available at the right place and use promotion as a means of making known the existence of the products. For instance, the marketer must ensure that the company’s products meet the needs of the customers. This implies that the marketer must ensure that the product offered to the customers is of the right quality, quantity and branding as this will make customers identify with the product and the business easily (Pride and Ferrell, 2006). Promotion is another element of the marketing mix that marketers may use to create an awareness of the company’s products to its customers. For customers who can be reached directly through face to face communication, it will be very advisable that the marketer does this as this gives an opportunity to explain to the customers every aspect of the company’s product, location of the company and the reasons why they should purchase the products(Pride and Ferrell, 2006). Branding is also a marketing tool use in marketing products. This is because branding creates a distinctive image and

Enhancement of Polymeric Materials through Nanotechnology

Enhancement of Polymeric Materials through Nanotechnology Performance Enhancement of Polymeric Materials through Nanotechnology Dr. P.C. Thapliyal Abstract: In the last decade or so, nanotechnology has gained tremendous and widespread attention. Currently, nanotechnology is being applied in many fields to formulate materials with novel functions due to their unique physical and chemical properties. The major nanotechnology applications are identified as energy, agriculture productivity, water treatment, disease diagnosis, drug delivery system, food processing, air pollution control, construction, health monitoring etc. In the construction sector, nanotechnology is being used in a variety of ways to produce innovative materials. Using nanotechnology as a tool, it is possible to modify the nano/basic structure of the materials to improve the bulk properties. The applications of nanomaterials in construction improve the essential properties of building materials and novel collateral functions such as energy saving, self healing, anti fogging and super hydrophobic. Present paper focuses on how nanotechnology has improved and enhan ced the performance of polymeric materials in buildings. Introduction Nanotechnology is gaining widespread attention and being applied in many fields to formulate materials with novel functions due to their unique physical and chemical properties. Major nanotechnology applications are identified as energy, agricultural productivity, water treatment, disease diagnosis, drug delivery system, food processing, air pollution control, construction, health monitoring etc. In the construction sector, nanotechnology is being used in a variety of ways to produce innovative materials. Using nanotechnology as a tool, it is possible to modify the nano/basic structure of the materials to improve the materials bulk properties such as mechanical performance, volume stability, durability and sustainability. The applications of nano materials in construction improve the essential properties of building materials such as strength, durability bond strength, corrosion resistance, abrasion resistance, novel collateral functions such as energy saving, self healing, anti fog ging and super hydrophobic. Newer applications in the field of advanced materials are related to matter for which the surface-to-volume ratio is very high. Nanotechnology significantly improves and enhances the performance of these materials. In fact nanotechnology based polymeric materials can be developed into multifunctional materials. Therefore, the combination at the nano size level of inorganic/ organic components into a single material may lead to an immense new area of materials science leading to development of multifunctional polymeric materials (Cao et al., 2001; Kowalczyk and Spychaj, 2009; Lee et al., 2010; Thapliyal, 2011; Zhao et al., 2012). Role of nanotechnology in polymeric materials Today’s buildings contain many polymeric materials including neoprene, silicone, poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC), ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), laminated glass using polyvinylbutyral and fiber-reinforced polymer composites. Many of these polymeric materials were discovered and used successfully in industry decades before their application in buildings. Polymeric materials are also important components of paints and coating systems. These polymeric materials are expected to have characteristics such as (a) excellent weather ability (exterior durability), (b) film integrity, (c) tunable mechanical performance, (d) process ability, (e) amenable for environmentally friendly coating formulations, among others. Using nano technology, polymeric materials including advanced coatings systems can improve energy efficiency, durability, aesthetics and other functionalities of buildings and superstructures. For example, cool-roof coatings (high solar refection and thermal emission) have been very effective in increasing building efficiency and thereby reducing energy consumption for cooling. Solar heat-absorbing polymeric materials are becoming essential components of solar collectors used in solar energy harvesting. Super-durable coatings with self-cleaning properties are in much demands for applications on super-structures, monuments and areas where re-painting is very costly. Current status Polymeric materials such as coating systems are reported for the corrosion prevention based on alkyds, acrylics, polyurethanes, polyesters and epoxies. Among them epoxies have number of advantages such as better physico-mechanical properties and improved chemical resistance. Its low UV resistance and higher cost led to develop innovative epoxies by blending with low cost renewable natural resins. The epoxy resin and modified epoxy cardanol resin based coatings form a kind of inter penetrating network (IPN) on the surface of steel and concrete, thus providing a barrier to the attack by moisture. IPNs possess several interesting characteristics in comparison to normal polyblends, because varied synthetic techniques yield IPNs of such diverse properties that their engineering potential spans a broad gamut of modern technology (Sperling, 1981; Thapliyal, 2010). In Indian scenario ongoing research efforts on polymeric materials at IIT Bombay, researchers are taking into consideration of the basic issues like homogeneous dispersion of CNT in polymer matrix and adequate interfacial adhesion among the phases and a novel CNT material i.e., SMA-g-MWNT is being by grafting acid functionalized MWNT with styrene maleic anhydride (SMA) dissolved in THF solvent. The RD work on development of heat reflecting coating on flat glass is being done at CSIR-CGCRI. CSIR-CBRI has the expertise in the area of polymeric materials especially adhesives, sealants and coatings. In the past, CSIR-CBRI scientists have done work in the field of synthesis, formulation and testing of different types of polymeric materials. As a result CSIR-CBRI had published a number of research publications and several technologies were transferred to the private organizations. For example, CSIR-CBRI has developed natural cardanol resin based epoxy coating systems for corrosion protecti on. (Aggarwal et al., 2007; Thapliyal, 2010) A new era of polymeric material innovations for buildings Recent developments in the field of the fabrication and characterisation of objects at the nano-scale make it possible to design and realise new materials with special functional properties. For example, materials can be strengthened or, conversely, made more flexible, or materials can be given greater electrical resistance and lower thermal resistance. The possibilities are virtually endless, particularly in relation to the coupling between living cells and specific functional nanoparticles, nanosurfaces or nanostructures. Artificially inserted organic particles or surfaces can influence a cell to the extent that it takes on an entirely new functionality, such as fluorescence or magnetism. Insertion of these particles or surfaces in cells may even result in the production of new biomaterials. These couplings open up many new scientific and commercial avenues. New material—polyamide, or nylon—has emerged in applications as a â€Å"smart† vapour barrier in exterior envelopes. Its water vapour permeability increases ten times even in conditions of very high humidity. This is particularly useful when moisture is trapped inside a wall assembly. The vapour barrier becomes more permeable and allows moisture to escape, reducing the risk of corrosion, rot, and the growth of mould and mildew. Although nylon was discovered in 1931, its properties as a vapour barrier were not described until 1999, and it was recently commercialized for this purpose. Both of these examples illustrate opportunities that arise from addressing the needs of the built environment with polymeric materials science and engineering. The first resulted from an unintended consequence of an aesthetic choice, the second from an overlooked property of a common polymeric material. Both examples raise the question of why our built environment has been so resistan t to change when new polymeric materials may offer better performance and more satisfying aesthetic results (Munirasu et al., 2009; Thapliyal, 2010; Singh et al., 2010). Conclusions Building new polymeric materials at the atomic and nano scale and structuring or combining existing materials, resulting in entirely new characteristics of these materials, make the application area virtually limitless. The international interest in this area is demonstrated clearly by the growing number of major research programmes being funded in Europe, Japan and the USA as well as in Australia, Canada, China, S. Korea, Singapore and Taiwan, etc. However, the introduction of unfamiliar polymeric materials in buildings is difficult because of life safety concerns, first-cost constraints, and the reluctance of builders to adopt new practices in the field. In addition, the very long life of buildings that serve as host to unproven polymeric materials compounds the risk of legal exposure for all involved, from researchers to builders. However, it is likely that latent opportunities for achieving a substantially improved built environment await the attention of building experts and the polymeric/materials science community united in common research goals. References Chao, T.P.; Chandrasekaran, C.; Limmer, S.J.; Seraji, S.; Wu, Y.; Forbess, M.J.; Neguen, C.; Cao, G.Z. J. Non-Crystalline Solids. 2001, 290, 153-162. Kowalczyk, K.; Spychaj, T. Surface Coatings Technology. 2009, 204, 635–641. Thapliyal, P.C. Nanodigest. 2011, 3(5), 46. Lee, J.; Mahendra S.; Alvarez, P.J.J. ACS Nano. 2010, 4(7), 3580–3590. Zhao, Y.; Xu, Z.; Wang X.; Lin, T. Langmuir. 2012, 28, 6328−6335. Sperling, L.H. Advances in Interpenetrating Polymer Networks, Lancaster: Technomic. 1981, 2, 284. Thapliyal, P.C. Composite Interfaces. 2010, 17, 85-89. Aggarwal, L.K.; Thapliyal P.C.; Karade, S.R. Prog. Org. Coat. 2007, 59, 76–80. Thapliyal, P.C. Proc. GTGE 2010. 2010, 29-30. Thapliyal, P.C. Proc. International Workshop on Nanotechnology in the Science of Concrete. 2010, 69-74. Singh, L.P.; Thapliyal P.C.; Bhattacharyya, S.K. Nanodigest. 2010, 2(3), 45-49. Munirasu,S.; Aggarwal R.; Baskaran, D. Chem. Commun. 2009, 30, 4518-4520.

Iron Crowned Chapter 7

I signed the tax return and left a check before heading out. It figured: I owed. Self-employed people always owe. It was a credit to Lara that she'd managed my books well enough that the amount was low, but after seeing her run off with my roommate, I decided it was a good thing our working relationship didn't include performance reviews. She'd also left me a jam-packed day, which turned out to be beneficial. A busy schedule kept my mind off Dorian (mostly) and what was transpiring in the Otherworld. I fought with ferocity, as though each ghost or monster I battled was Katrice herself. It was the drives in between that were the roughest on me. There was no action then. Just my own thoughts. My last job of the day was the most difficult, undoubtedly scheduled that way on purpose so that I didn't walk into the little ones tired and injured. True, I was feeling weary, but concern for Dorian kept a spike of adrenaline burning through me, one that I knew would get me through this last job. Yet, walking up to the client's house, I couldn't stop asking the same questions in my mind. Why hasn't Volusian reported to me yet? Isn't the fight over? A nervous-looking young woman answered the door, introducing herself as Jenna. She was the one who had made the call, though it wasn't exactly on her own behalf. â€Å"She's in the living room,† Jenna whispered to me, letting me inside the foyer. Her eyes were wide with fear. â€Å"Just sitting there. Staring.† â€Å"Does she speak?† I asked. â€Å"Does she answer your questions?† â€Å"Yes †¦ but †¦ it's not her. I know that doesn't make sense, but it's not. The people at work think she's just gone crazy. I'm pretty much the only one who still talks to her. She's about to lose her job, but †¦Ã¢â‚¬  Jenna shook her head. â€Å"I swear, it's just not her.† â€Å"You're right.† I held my wand in my left hand and my silver athame in the right. â€Å"Is she †¦Ã¢â‚¬  Jenna's voice dropped even lower. â€Å"Is she possessed?† â€Å"Not exactly.† Lara had warned me about this one. It had initially sounded like possession, but further data suggested otherwise, unfortunately. A possession would have been easier. â€Å"It's a fetch. It's like †¦ I don't know. Her double. Kind of.† â€Å"Then †¦ what happened to Regan?† I hesitated. â€Å"I don't know.† I didn't want to tell Jenna there was a strong possibility that Regan was dead. That was the usual fate for a fetch's victim. Of course, fetches usually left once they'd sucked all the energy and goodness from someone's life. If this one was still here, the odds of Regan still being alive were marginally higher. â€Å"If †¦ er, when we find her, she may be in bad shape.† I stared off down the hallway, where I could hear the sound of a TV in the living room. I shifted my grip on my weapons and prepared myself. â€Å"What should I do?† asked Jenna. â€Å"Wait outside. Don't come back inside until I tell you to – no matter what.† Once she was safely away, I set off down the hall. There, in the living room, I found a woman sitting perfectly straight on the couch, her hands folded neatly upon her lap as she stared at the TV. There was a blankness in her brown eyes that told me she wasn't really watching. She didn't even acknowledge my arrival. Glancing around the living room, I took in its space and features, assessing them for a fight. I also noticed a couple pictures on the wall, group shots with Jenna and a smiling brunette who looked exactly like the woman on the couch. Yet, glancing between them, I knew Jenna was right. This wasn't Regan. â€Å"Where's Regan?† I asked. The fetch didn't look at me. â€Å"I am Regan.† â€Å"Where's Regan?† I repeated harshly. â€Å"What have you done with her?† Please, please let her be alive. This time, the fetch turned her head, those cold eyes taking me and my weapons in. â€Å"I told you. I am Regan.† I had a moment's debate on what to do. Killing the fetch without learning Regan's location would make the next part of this job even more difficult. Yet, as the fetch continued staring at me, I knew she'd recognized what I was and what threat I represented. I had to take her out now, banking on the fact that fetches usually kept their victims close. I held out my wand and began chanting the words that would drive this creature back to the Otherworld. It was where fetches came from, and a forceful enough banishing was usually enough to deter them from returning. I'd only have to get the Underworld involved if she decided to – She attacked. The fetch didn't transform into her true shape as she sprang at me. Rather, she turned into something in the middle. She still wore Regan's face, but it had a sickly green hue. Her eyes were bigger and darker and looked like they'd been stretched out. Her hands and feet were bigger too – and clawed. She came at me with her full strength, knocking me into a wall mercifully free of furniture. I kneed her in the stomach, needing to get distance between me and the claws trying to rake my face and neck. She fell back a little, not much, but enough to give me more maneuvering room. I swung out with the silver blade, and she recoiled. Iron could inflict lethal blows on the gentry, but silver was the metal of choice for almost any other creature. â€Å"Tell me where Regan is,† I said, advancing forward. â€Å"Tell me, and I'll simply banish you back to the Otherworld. Make this difficult, and you die.† I was managing that balance I always did: weapon ready to attack while part of my mind focused on a connection to the Otherworld. Hecate's tattoo, a snake on my upper arm, began to tingle. The fetch decided I wasn't a full threat yet and rushed me again. I dodged this time, anticipating her movements based on the last attack. A fetch might be able to replicate someone, but their fighting style was mostly brute force. My athame caught her arm as I moved, and she snarled in pain, showing fangs that dripped with green saliva. It hurt her but didn't slow her down as she lunged back at me. I sidestepped her again but overlooked what was behind me, hitting painfully against a cabinet. I winced, and she pressed her advantage, swinging those claws at me. I barely escaped them, managing to squirm away and hurry to the other side of the room. A banishing, I decided. I'd just keep my distance and do a banishing. I just needed a couple minutes – and to stay alive. I began chanting words to send her from this world, words that didn't have to follow any ancient form so long as my power and intent were clear. She paused briefly, realizing what I was doing, and seemed to consider her options. A circle. I should have put a circle of protection around the house. There was a very real possibility she might try to flee. That and killing me were pretty much her only options. The former would probably be easier for her – and would release Regan. But I didn't want this fetch freely walking the world. I needed to send her on. Power surged in me and through me, out to the wand and toward her. This was her last chance to run – or, as it turned out, throw a coffee table at me. I admit, I didn't see that coming – literally or figuratively. I should have, though. Furniture, props, whatever †¦ they were all fair game in a fight. The fetch had no reason to rely simply on hand-to-hand combat, and my athame gave her good reason to attack from a distance. The coffee table was a simple one, a smooth circle of glass on iron legs. A wood-framed one would have been better. The frame would have slowed the spread of glass. This table had nothing to stop it, except me. I tried to jump out of its way, saving my head and face. I wasn't far enough away when it hit the wall and shattered, though. Stinging, burning pain went through my back and left arm as glass scraped and – no doubt – embedded itself in my flesh. My sense of self-preservation kept me moving through the pain, but my connection to the Otherworld had shattered with the glass. The fetch knew this and leaped forward, risking the athame in the hope I was too addled and injured from the glass to stop her. I wasn't. I had never let go of my weapons, and my athame was ready and waiting when she came. I plunged it into her heart and started the banishing again. Over the years, as I'd grown in power and spent so much time in the Otherworld myself, these banishings had become easier. Not easy, but easier. There was a time when I couldn't have held a fetch off with my athame while simultaneously attempting a quick banishing. But now, the power flowed through me as the fetch pulled herself off my blade. She had no time to react, attack, or flee. The magic seized her, and she disappeared before my eyes, fading into sparkles and then nothing. I didn't know the extent of the athame's damage. I might have just sent her back to die. Or, she might survive and come after me in the Otherworld as some creatures tried. I wasn't worried. My abilities stayed consistent in both worlds, but my magic was a bit stronger over there – especially in the Thorn Land. I took a deep breath of relief and stuck the weapons back in my belt as I hurried toward the front door. Jenna was sitting on the lawn, face pale with worry. She sprang up when she saw me. â€Å"What happened? Is she okay?† â€Å"I'm not sure,† I said, wiping sweat off my brow. My hand came away red with blood. â€Å"We have to find her. Does she have a basement?† â€Å"No.† Jenna followed me inside and then halted. â€Å"Oh my God †¦ your back †¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"It's nothing. I'll deal with it later.† â€Å"At least – † She reached toward a spot between my upper arm and shoulder blade, wincing as she did. I yelped in pain and watched as she pulled away a huge piece of jagged glass. â€Å"That's bleeding †¦ really bad †¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I'm in better shape than Regan,† I said brusquely, trying to ignore both pain and the sight of my blood all over the shard she'd taken. â€Å"No basement. Closets? Attic?† â€Å"Both.† We checked the closets with no luck, and Jenna stuck her head in the attic's tiny space. Still nothing. â€Å"Shit,† I said. I shouldn't have let the fetch go without getting Regan's location. What if Regan wasn't nearby? What if the fetch had broken habit and hidden her victim far from home? Jenna looked as defeated as I felt, then her head shot up. â€Å"The shed. There's a shed out back.† We were out the back door in a flash, jerking open the door to a little garden shed that was mercifully unlocked. There, curled up on the ground in a fetal position, was Regan. Jenna let out a strangled cry, and we both dropped to the ground. Jenna propped Regan up while I gently shook her. â€Å"Regan, Regan. Wake up. Please wake up.† For a few moments, I feared the worst. Then, Regan's eyes fluttered open, her expression frightened and confused. Her breathing came in short rasps, and she futilely tried to sit up on her own. Her failure didn't surprise me. When a fetch took over someone's life, it put its double into a sort of magic coma. It required no ropes or gags, simply leaving behind a silent and immobile victim. Regan's ability to wake up verified that the fetch was gone, but the woman had spent days without food, water, or using her muscles. â€Å"She's dehydrated,† I said. Studying Regan's state, I knew this was beyond a few glasses of water. â€Å"Let's get her to the hospital.† Jenna drove, with Regan laid out carefully across the backseat. She said little, only making the occasional moan. Meanwhile, in the passenger seat, I attempted to clean myself off with baby wipes and to pull glass bits out of my back. The blood on my face was cleaned off when we reached the ER, as was most from my body, but I didn't want to answer questions about what had happened to me. I borrowed Jenna's jean jacket, figuring the few scratches on my face weren't enough to attract attention. We told the staff that Regan had been depressed and starving herself. We went on about how we hadn't seen her for days and had only just found her tonight. Since there was no ostensible bruising or signs of binding, they took us at our word and hurried to hook her up to fluids. We'd also probably landed her in therapy, but that was of little concern now. I waited with Jenna just outside Regan's room as a nurse finished attaching the appropriate tubes and a doctor performed further examination. When they were done, they told us we could go in and that Regan would recover once her body had sustenance again. I had no intention of going with Jenna. Now that Regan was safe, my plan was to get a taxi back to my car and go home to clean up before an Otherworldly jump. Lara could bill these women later. â€Å"Wait,† said Jenna, as the doctor and nurse were about to leave. â€Å"My friend's hurt. She broke a window to get in Regan's house and got cut.† I shook my head. â€Å"No, really, I'm fine – â€Å" I shut my mouth when I followed everyone's gaze. Even I could see that the left sleeve of the jacket was soaked with blood. There was little argument to make after that. Jenna stayed with Regan, and I was ushered off to a cubicle in the ER. The nurse shut the curtain, and I took off my shirt. The doctor's eyebrows rose. â€Å"You broke a window? With what, your entire body?† He called for another nurse, who began assisting the other with glass removal and sanitizing. â€Å"I threw a rock,† I said. â€Å"It didn't make a very big hole, but I didn't have time to make it bigger. I just had to get to Regan.† â€Å"Noble,† said the doctor, whose attention was on the larger shoulder gash. â€Å"If stupid.† Someone with a better understanding of physics might have realized my injuries didn't quite line up with what I'd get crawling through a jagged hole in a window. Fortunately, this group's talents were elsewhere. The myriad scratches and cuts were dealt with by bandages and painful antiseptics. The big cut required a fair number of stitches. I was restless the whole time, wanting only to get back and see what had happened to Dorian. The medical staff was thorough in its work, however. I decided I should just be grateful that they were letting me go and not forcing a longer stay. I was the walking wounded, in bad shape but not in life-threatening danger. â€Å"Here,† said the doctor, just before letting me go. He scrawled out a prescription and handed it to me, along with reams of paper on wound care and cleaning. â€Å"Antibiotics. Get it filled tonight.† â€Å"I will,† I said glibly. He gave me a warning look. â€Å"I mean it. I know your type. You think you're invincible, but any of that could get infected. Get the prescription. Clean and change the bandages on the cuts.† He was right that I thought I was invincible. I'd had stitches and wounds before, my gentry blood usually expediting the healing. But I nodded meekly, promising I'd obey. â€Å"Good,† he said, following me out to the waiting room. â€Å"Follow up with your family doctor in a week. I think your ride's over there.† â€Å"My ride †¦?† I stared around the room, freezing when I saw a familiar face. â€Å"Mom?† She'd been leaning against a wall, eyes anxiously studying everyone in the room. Spotting me, she practically ran over, staring at my bandages in alarm. I had no coat, and the tank top showed my battle wounds. â€Å"Eugenie! Are you okay? What have you done now?† For some reason, that made the doctor snort a laugh before walking away. â€Å"I'm fine,† I told her automatically. â€Å"What are you doing here?† â€Å"I'm your emergency contact. And that is not fine.† I was still stunned to see her. It felt like it had been so long. Ages. â€Å"It is now,† I said dazedly. â€Å"All patched up. And I've got all this †¦ stuff.† I waved my stack of paper around. She brushed dark hair from her face, her expression both weary and distraught as we headed for her car. â€Å"It never gets easier. Not with you, not with him.† I gave her a sidelong look. â€Å"Does he know you're here?† â€Å"No,† she said, getting out her keys. â€Å"Not that it would matter if he did. Nothing could have stopped me from coming when they called me. I thought †¦ Well, I never know what to think†¦.† I couldn't look at her as I sat gingerly in the car. My eyes were filling with tears. I'd missed her so much. I'd missed her, well, momness. Lots of people cared about me, but it wasn't the same. Plus, I felt horrible, horrible that I made her worry. And because of me, Roland was out endangering himself again too. I hastily ran a hand over my eyes and turned to her as we pulled out of the parking lot. â€Å"When did you get glasses?† I asked in surprise. Delicate wire frames rested on a face very similar to mine. It was our coloring that was different. My red hair and violet eyes had come from Storm King. â€Å"A few weeks ago. They're just for night driving.† I looked away, fearing the tears would return. Glasses. Such a stupid thing. There was a time, though, when I would have known every little detail of her life. There was so much distance between us now. My churning, guilty thoughts only came to a standstill when she turned into a pharmacy a few blocks from the hospital. â€Å"Mom, no! I have to get back to my car and – â€Å" â€Å"You can go back to endangering your life again soon enough. Here, let me see those.† â€Å"It's not my usual pharmacy,† I said petulantly. She was skimming the wound care instructions. â€Å"Yes, well, I'm sure this one still has a couple bandages stashed away somewhere.† â€Å"You're such a mom.† She glanced up, a small twinkle in her eyes that reminded me of how things used to be between us. â€Å"I'm your mom.† I followed her sullenly as we waited for the prescription, and she forced me to get a basketful of gauze, bandages, and other first aid supplies. I already owned a lot of them, but she wouldn't rest easy until she actually saw them in my hands. â€Å"I really appreciate you coming,† I admitted as we waited. â€Å"It †¦ it's good to see you.† Her expression softened. â€Å"It's good to see you too, baby. I've missed you.† â€Å"I don't suppose Roland's forgiven me?† â€Å"It's more complicated than that,† she told me. â€Å"He still loves you. Really. But he's worried. And he doesn't like you being over †¦ there. Neither do I.† I averted my eyes again. I knew she didn't – and she had good reason. My conception was the result of her captivity and rape in the Otherworld. She'd spent years keeping that knowledge from me, hoping to protect me from both my heritage and the agony she believed that place caused. â€Å"Well, that's complicated too. I have to be there, Mom. I know you guys don't approve, but there are people counting on me. They're not all like you think. I can't let them down. They're †¦ they're dying because of me.† â€Å"Is there a man involved?† I considered a flippant remark, then chose honesty. â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"The obvious problem aside †¦ would I like him?† I tried to picture my mom meeting Dorian and couldn't stop a small smile. â€Å"Probably not.† â€Å"Do you ever talk to Kiyo anymore?† I looked up sharply, my smile fading. â€Å"It's over with us. He let me down. You know that. This other guy †¦ he won't.† I was saved from further conversation when my name was finally called. I added the prescription to my portable hospital bag and felt grateful that my mom didn't pursue the topic of my love life anymore. I was equally grateful when she drove me back to Regan's house. It wouldn't have surprised me if she'd left me carless in Tim's care. Leaving my mom stirred conflicting feelings in me. After missing her so much, part of me just wanted to stay and gaze at her, to drink in those features I loved so much. I wanted her to hold me, to be my mom and take care of everything. And yet †¦ always, always, the Otherworld was pressing on me. I didn't have the luxury of being a little girl right now. I didn't have the luxury of being her daughter. â€Å"Thank you,† I said, giving her as careful a hug as we could manage. â€Å"Thank you for †¦ I don't know. Everything.† She held me for a few moments and then pressed a kiss to my forehead. â€Å"There's nothing to thank me for. Just be careful.† She broke from the embrace. â€Å"Do what the doctor says. And for God's sake, don't end up there again. I don't want another call.† â€Å"I'll try,† I said. This made us both smile, largely because we knew my trying to stay out of harm's way was pretty futile. â€Å"And tell Roland †¦Ã¢â‚¬  I couldn't finish, but she nodded. â€Å"I know.† I left her then, loading my loot into my own car and driving home. Regan didn't live too far from me, only about ten minutes. The time flew by. I had so many things to think about that when I arrived at my house, I hardly knew how I'd gotten there. Tim's car was parked out front – as was Lara's. I dragged myself out of my own self-pitying miasma, uneasily wondering what I'd find inside. Seeing the two of them naked on my kitchen table would not be cool. Instead, they were cuddled up on the living room couch, watching a movie. All seemed innocent, but some vibe made me suspect they hadn't been actually watching too much of it. I shook my head in exasperation. â€Å"How is this my life?† I muttered, setting my bag on the counter. â€Å"Did you say something?† called Tim. The living room and kitchen were mostly open to each other. He muted the film. â€Å"Nothing important.† â€Å"We figured you'd be out for the night,† he said. I was pretty sure there was an accusatory tone in his voice. I opened the cupboards, rummaging for food. I was suddenly starving. â€Å"Well, rest easy. I'll be gone soon enough, right after I get dinner.† Lara turned and peered over the couch's back. â€Å"Pop-Tarts aren't – oh my God! What happened to you?† Tim noticed my bandages now too. He didn't look as shocked as her – he saw me come home after fights a lot – but worry had replaced his snark. â€Å"What have you been doing?† â€Å"Earning the mortgage.† I put two blueberry Pop-Tarts in the toaster. â€Å"Isn't that what you told me to do?† â€Å"Jesus, Eug. I didn't – â€Å" â€Å"Forget it,† I told him. â€Å"Everything's fine. But you're going to have to send a bill to Jenna Benson, Lara. I wasn't able to collect.† Lara nodded without a word, still aghast at seeing what my real life looked like. I poured some water and choked down one of the antibiotics while waiting for the Pop-Tarts. As soon as they were done, I retreated to my room, eating quickly as I threw together an overnight bag. While I was packing, my eyes lingered on a half-finished puzzle on my desk. I sighed. How long ago had I started that one? A month ago? I loved jigsaw puzzles. I used to do one a night. I was almost finished packing – I even included the first aid supplies, thanks to some residual mom-guilt – when the temperature dropped. An unsettling yet familiar presence filled the room, and soon Volusian appeared before me. I nearly dropped the bag. â€Å"Mistress,† he said with a mock bow. â€Å"I've come to report on the battle.†

How Organizations Can Learn from Failure

How can organizations learn from failure? Companies can learn from failure by setting up clear systems of measurement and utilizing certain performance indicators which record failures in detail. Simply not overlooking failure as something inevitable? First failure is defined. Second explanations on how organizations should go about thinking about failure in the right way. Third, elaboration on methods organizations could potentially use to learn from failure. Finally, what organizations can learn from failing.Even though there is a no precise definition for failure in organizations, there is a general agreement to what failure means and could lead to. Failure is broadly defined as a condition of not meeting the intended objective or end. Failure could result in the depletion of finance, shrinking market, exit from the market, loss of market share, project failure and loss of legitimacy. We can assume that failure has negative consequences even though the final outcome may be positiv e, with firms learning from failure.Understanding the need for learning from failure is unquestionable; however it is tough for organizations to put this into practice. It is crucial that organizations understand failure and think about it in the right way before they can go about implementing procedures to prevent such failures from happening in the future. Learning from failure involves understanding that failure is not always bad and that learning from failure is no straightforward task. An organization cannot simply reflect on what they did wrong and expect to not make the same mistakes again.Organizations have to understand about the different degrees of failure which occur on a scale ranging from blameworthy to praiseworthy. They fall into three broad categories which are 1, failures which occur in predictable operations which could be prevented. 2, unavoidable failures which occur in complex organizations which can be managed to prevent snowballing. 3, unwanted outcomes†¦. To learn from failure, we require different strategies for each setting. It is key to detect them early, analyze failures with depth, develop hypothesis, experiments and projects to product them.In order to minimize failure employees first have to feel safe to report these failures. In the article titled strategies for learning from failure the author Amy C. Edmondson talks about http://hbr. org/2011/04/strategies-for-learning-from-failure/ar/1 First the organization has to go about understanding failure in the right way as well as all the possible side†¦ Important for managers to think about failure in the right way. Failure is not always bad. It is sometimes bad and sometimes inevitable and sometimes good.Learning from failure is not a straightforward task. The attitudes and activities required to effectively detect and analyze failures are in short supply in most companies and the need for context-specific learning strategies is underappreciated.? Organizations need new a nd better ways to go beyond lessons which are superficial( procedures which weren’t followed) or self serving ( The market just wasn’t ready for our great new product) That means jettisoning old cultural beliefs and stereotypical notions. The blame game?A spectrum of reasons for failure? http://www. uk. sagepub. com/upm-data/10989_Chapter_9. pdf Failing to learn from failure reasons? -Simply experiencing a negative event is not sufficient for learning. – Learning can be a complicated process, the acquisition of knowledge and the shifts in behavior must occur at all levels of a highly complex system. â€Å"Bazerman and Watkins (2004) contend that, when organizations fail to learn failures, they become susceptible to predictable surprises. What is the difference between predictable and unpredictable surprises?Predictable surprises occur when an organization leadership ignores or fails to understand clear evidence that a potentially devastating problem to occur. T here are different sort of failures and not all failures are created equally. Bazerman and Watkins( 2004) identify four ways in which organizations fail to learn from failures that occur around them: Scanning Failures: failure to pay close attention to potential problems both inside and outside the organization; this failure could be due to arrogance, a lack of resources, or simple inattentions?Intergration failures: failure to understand how pieces of potentially complicated information fit together to provide lessons of how to avoid crises. 3. Incentive Failures: failure to provide sufficient rewards to people who report problems and take actions to avoid possible crises 4. Learning Failures: failure to draw important lessons from crises and preserve their memory in the organization Organizations who face these failures potentially could damage their organizational integrity. Eg Mitroff and Anagnos 2001, Managing Crises before they happen: what every manager needs to know about cr isis management. 1982, Johnson and Johnson could respond to an external crisis with their product being linked to cyanide poisoning and thus the company responded quickly by pulling their stock of capsules from the shelves and having great PR work. J and J knew how to handle their PR well and their product managed to get back to the top seller. J and J however became a victim of its previous success and had not done well with ‘Predictable surprises’ where crises occurred within the company. J and J had failed to do proper product scanning and had been a different sort of failure. failure of a different type? Failure of Success. Problem 1 and 4. Learning from failure: Sitkin 1996- Mittelstaedt (2005) – Failure is an essential part of learning for many organizations. Failures, should not be hidden or avoided. Making mistakes is essential to success, a company which appears to be free from disruption may be operating unrealistically and from a uniformed perspective. â€Å"learning to identify mistakes analytically and timely is the difference between failure and success. † Too often employees and managers are unwilling to admit small failures for fear of reprisal.The unwillingness to recognize and embrace failure is also a failure to recognize and respond to potential crises. The longer these small crises build up the higher likelihood it could escalate into a major crisis. In successful organizations, failure creates recognition of risk and a motivation for change that would not exist otherwise. Describes this recognition as a â€Å"learning readiness† without failure, very difficult to produce in most organizations. Sitkin cautions that not all failures are equally effective in fostering good risk management.Organizations learn best from intelligent failures, which have these characteristics, result from planned actions, uncertain outcomes, modest in scale, and take place in domains that are familiar enough to permit effective learning. Organizations need to recognize risks by accepting and acting on failures. Learn the best when failure results from competent actions, not major crises. Still within the comfort zone and employees are eager and experienced enough to respond. These opportunities arise: Vicarious Learning – learning that occurs as a function of observing, retaining and replicating behavior observed in others.Organizations need not fail as an entity in order to learn. Successful organizations engage in vicarious learning in order to recognize risk, organizational leaders observe the failures or crises experienced by similar organizations and take action to avoid making the same mistakes. Examples of Vicarious Learning- Give!!! Organizational memory: Without learning from their own and other’s mistakes organizations stagnate and fail to respond to potential threats in an ever-changing world. Learning has no use if the knowledge is not retained.An example of failure in organizatio nal memory is the Union carbide plant in Bhopal, India in 1984. Early in December morning, the plant leaked a deadly cloud of gas that settled over part of the sleeping city of a million residents. Within two hours 2000 of them were dead with thousands left injured? Part of the reason for the disaster was a loss in organizational memory. The plant had been slated for closure and many experienced staff had been transferred out, leaving minimal crew with little work experience, with the training for remaining crew at a minimum. The crisis was traced to staff reductions and oversight failures.Much of the blame for the tragedy rests with a rapid reduction in experienced staff that took with them a large share of organizational memory. Organizational memory comprises of, a) Acquiring knowledge, done by recognizing failures within the organization and by observing failures of similar organizations. b) Distributing knowledge is the key to organizational memory. Highly experienced employees will leave the organization and these people should be given an opportunity to share their knowledge around or those departing personnel will go along with their experience. ) Acting upon knowledge, is important for organizational memory to serve an organization. New employees need to learn from those departing ones.! New employees cannot do things their own way or else it will lead to repeat failures†¦.!!!! Employees have many opportunities to discard the hard-earned knowledge. Because organizational memory depends on exchanging information from one person to another perception change, mistreatment and stubbornness to learn can disrupt preserving organizational memory. Organizations need to learn and build from previous experiences.Unlearning: Effective organizational learning depends on an organizations ability to unlearn practices and policies that have become outdated by environmental changes. Example of Unlearning 1. Expanding Options: When organizations are unwilling to forego routine procedures during crisis or potential crisis situations, they lose the capacity to react to unique circumstances. Unlearning enables the organization to expand its options. 2. Contracting Options: In some cases, organizations may respond to a crisis with a strategy that has worked well in the past.In the current situation, however, the strategy from the past may actually make matters worse. In such cases, organizations must be willing to reject some strategies in favor of others. 3. Grafting: In the previous section, we discussed the need for organizations to hand down existing knowledge to new employees. If the socialization of new employees is so intense that they cannot bring new knowledge to the organization, however, the organization is doing itself a disservice. Although organizational memory is essential, some degree of unlearningOpportunity 1: Organizations should treat failure as an opportunity to recognize a potential crisis or to prevent a similar crisis in the future. Opportunity 2: Organizations can avoid crises by learning from the failures and crises of other organizations. Opportunity 3: Organizational training and planning should emphasize the preservation of previous learning in order to make organizational memory a priority. Opportunity 4: Organizations must be willing to unlearn outdated or ineffective procedures if they are to learn better crisis management strategies Bazerman, M. H. & Watkins, M. D. (2004). Predictable surprises: The disasters you should have seen coming and how to prevent them. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Huber, G. P. (1996). Organizational learning: The contributing processes and the literatures. In M. D. Cohen & L. S. Sproull (Eds. ), Organizational learning (pp. 124-162). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Mitroff, I. I. , & Anagnos, G. (2001). Managing crises before they happen: What every executive and manager needs to know about crisis management. New York: AMACOM. Mittelstaedt, R. E. (2005). Will y our next mistake be fatal?Avoiding the chain of mistakes that can destroy. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Wharton. Sitkin, S. B. (1996). Learning through failure: The strategy of small losses. In M. D. Cohen & L. S. Sproull (Eds. ), Organizational learning (pp. 541-578). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Tompkins, P. K. (2005). Apollo, Challenger, Columbia: The decline of the space program. Los Angeles: Roxbury. Organizations who face these failures potentially could damage their organizational integrity. It is important for an organization to identify these failures and act on them while the company is still in operation.Having a crisis management team to prepare, respond and recover from a crisis is paramount in ensuring that the organization recovers and continues. Preparation must happen before a crisis occurs. In times of crisis, organizations need to systematically analyze its errors, acknowledge the errors and limits of the organization as well as address the issue with a level of sophistica tion. When an organization continually fails to differentiate and neglect crisis and failures it could lead to detrimental problems for the organization. Failure/ Crisis Management Case Study 1A hypothetical example would be the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (BP oil spill) that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico from 20 April 2010 to 15 July 2010. The estimated 185 million barrels of oil first made landfall in Louisiana. By June 2010, the tar balls and oil mousse had reached the shores of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. By August, it had smeared tourist beaches, washed onto the shorelines of sleepy coastal communities, oozed into the marshy bays that fishermen have worked for generations as well as killed millions of wildlife in the process.Instead of dealing with the failure in a professional way, BP inadvertently created a PR situation synonymous with herding cats. It’s had to fight to clear up two quagmires – its oil mess and its tarnished image. (Please Refer to Append ix- New York Times, Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill) In times of crisis or failure, it is important for an organization to understand the need for a comprehensive risk analysis. Should the failure be environmentally or socially threatening, impressions demonstrations of empathy and competence are vital. BP was not prepared to successfully deal with such a catastrophe.To minimize the damage, BP should have immediately accomplished five tasks: 1. Issue regular, frequent progress reports 2. Control the pictures (even some on the Web site appeared to be canned or generic) 3. Transparency 4. Display empathy as a concerned corporate entity comprised of authentic people diligently making a good-faith effort to solve the problem Failure/ Crisis Management Case Study 2 Failure, if properly attended to and rectified is a great plus. It gives the much needed confidence to the public, client or stakeholders in the product and organization.Furthermore, with proper management, the organization will be a ble to assess its capacity to deal with the systemic and circumstantial deficiencies leading to failures and work out a way forward. A great example would be the Johnson and Johnson Tylenol poisoning crisis in 1982. When the Tylenol scare occurred, Johnson and Johnson responded immediately and positively, taking the analgesic off the shelves, keeping the public apprised of the investigation, and their instituting new tamper-proof seals to make their product more secure.An organization needs to be upfront and out front with their communication about the situation and what they are doing to correct it and protect the public. The organization has to keep the public’s best interests at heart when communicating the issue effectively, clearly, accurately, and promptly upon discovering the problem. Having a crisis management plan in place before a crisis occurs puts an organization in a solid position to handle it more effectively and responsibly. Detecting failure, analyising failu re, promoting experiementation? Deviance Inattention Lack of Ability Process Inadequacy Task Challenge Process ComplexityUncertainty Hypothesis Testing Exploratory Testing Blameworthy Praiseworthy Violating a prescribed practice or process by choice Straying away from specifications Does not possess the necessary qualifications or skills for the task Adhering to a prescribed but faulty or incomplete task Task too difficult to be executed reliably each time Process comprises of element breaks when encountering interactions Lack of clarity causes actions which seem reasonable but produces undesired results An experiment to prove and idea, fails Experiment to increase knowledge and understand possibilities leads to an unwanted result