Interactive Learning Essay

E-Learning reaches beyond traditional face-to-face classroom learning environments by combining teaching and the Internet so students have the option of learning in a different modality. E-Learning uses technological devices and computer software applications to deliver the curriculum. The instructor uses the Internet to deliver the curriculum over methods and applications like Web-based training (WBT), computer-based training (CBT), synchronous, and asynchronous classroom modalities, and digital delivery. Students learn through self-paced or instructor-led delivery. E-Learning Purposes and Characteristics The purpose of e-Learning is combining technology and communication to provide an alternate method for students to earn a degree without physically attending a traditional classroom setting or academic institution). E-Learning is available for academic progress from grade school through doctoral degrees. E-Learning teaches sequentially so student learning builds upon the previous curriculum. E-Learning makes learning fun for the students by varying the curriculum. Instructors combine imagery and content that creates student attention and engages interaction so students retain the material . Students receive immediate feedback so they can correct assumptions and misunderstandings. E-Learning encourages students interact with each other by using chat rooms, instant messaging, e-mail, and discussion forums to communicate with other students and the e-Learning instructor). E-Learning Benefits E-Learning easily accommodates numerous delivery and learning styles globally. Students have convenience and flexibility within the e-Learning modality that traditional classrooms lack). Students have several options to select among the different e-Learning modalities thereby creating a student-centric learning environment catering to his or her needs urriculum and supporting classroom materials through the Internet. Flex-net classes combine online and face-to-face instruction. Ease of location and convenience is crucial to e-Learning students because the only requirement to attend class is a computer with Internet accessibility and proper hardware and software applications Students can attend class anywhere in the  world that has access to the Internet. E-Learning allows students the ability to work full-time, part-time, or stay-at-home while earning a degree. E-Learning reduces expenses for students because they do not have to pay for gas, parking, or vehicle maintenance Another convenience factor is the pace of the e-Learning classes. Students attend class by setting their own pace of learning. The self-directed learning allows students to complete and submit assignments within the deadlines while maintaining an appropriate comfort level so to reduce unnecessary stress E-Learning Challenges Some of the challenges for e-Learning students are the same as the benefits. These challenges include flexibility, the lack of a traditional classroom, self-motivation, and accountability. Students need a computer with proper hardware, software, and Internet accessibility connections to attend e-Learning courses . They also need a working knowledge of the computer and intermediate to advanced computer skills. Students need self-discipline, time management skills, and good study habits to attend an e-Learning class or they may fail (E-Learning, 2011). Students also needing face-to-face interactions may find that e-Learning is not beneficial because of the lack of communication and interpersonal skills. They cannot work alone because of a lack of self-motivation. Another challenge is the global aspect, as some students may believe this hinders networking opportunities because of professional applications E-Learning Instructional Methods Instructional methods to use within e-Learning include incorporating technology, teaching, and interactive learning specific to the audience into each lesson plan curriculum. The lesson plan needs course related objectives, organized material, and easy navigation. The course should not exceed one hour of CBT . Instructional designers often create a storyboard to organize materials and include student activities like games into the lesson plan. Storyboards allow the designer a visual representation of the web pages of the curriculum so to identify missing content or kinks easily Once the designer creates the storyboard or outline, the presentation can  vary by adding text, audio, video clips, and animation to help students retain information visually and orally . The incorporation of visual and oral content must reflect the subject matter into the context use and expand on existing knowledge levels among the students Quizzes, games, and discussions help students use critical thinking skills to identify the correct response by combining visual representations with content Interactions with different outcomes allow the designer to incorporate web-based games. Students watch a video game and select the appropriate animated action response as a best solution to the learning they receive. These selections create a final game scenario that the instructor grades from correct moves The immediate grade and feedback allow the student to learn and correct mistakes. Conclusion E-Learning eliminates the boundaries of traditional classroom learning to reach a global environment. E-Learning combines teaching, communication, and the Internet so students enjoy learning and engage within classroom activities . Students decide which e-Learning platform to attend based on their learning preferences. Instructors vary the content and incorporate text, video, animation, and audio so students retain content through visual and oral methods The most popular benefits to e-Learning include a globally diverse student body, convenience, flexibility, self-motivation, and self-paced curriculum). The challenges include needing a computer with appropriate Internet accessibility, a working knowledge of the computer, solid study habits, self-discipline, and accountability. The student may fail the course without possessing these items and traits.

Geologic Time Worksheet Axia W3D5

Associate Level Material Mary Miles Geologic Time Worksheet Use the following table to compare ways of evaluating geologic time. Your description, similarities, and differences must each be at least 50 words. |Time Evaluation Method |Description |Advantages of this Method |Disadvantages of this Method | |Relative dating |Relative dating is the process |There are a few advantages of |The disadvantage to relative | | |of estimating the order of |relative dating.One is that |dating is that an exact time | | |events but not necessarily |this is an estimate of the age |cannot be given to a rock | | |determining when the events |of a structure. Meaning that |structure or fossil. This method| | |occurred.When looking at rocks |there is room for error. This |is only an estimate and because | | |and fossils the deeper the |method is good if weathering or |of that the true time in which a| | |structure or fossil the older it|erosion is prevalent. Because |rock structure or fossil was | | |is.D uring this process there is|some of the rock structure is |started or deposited cannot be | | |not exact age or date that is |missing or interrupted exact age|determined. | | |given to a rock or fossil only |would not be able to be found. | | | |an estimate of when it stated or| | | | |was alive. | | |Absolute dating |Absolute dating is a process in |The advantage to absolute dating|The disadvantage of absolute | | |which geologists or other earth |is that an exact age can be |dating is not every rock | | |scientists determine the |determined for a rock structure |structure or fossil’s exact age | | |specific age of a rock |or fossil. This is beneficial to|cannot be determined.Depending | | |structure, fossil or other |scientists to help determine the|on where a fossil is found or | | |scientific site or structure. |age of the earth and the rock |what mineral make up the rock | | |Absolute dating allows a |structures it contains. |structure will determine if | | |numerical ag e to be determined | |absolute dating would be | | |for a fossil or strata. |appropriate. | In the following space, explain the role of fossils in developing the Geologic column. Your explanation must be between 200 and 300 words. The geologic column is the putting together all known strata and matching them up in chronological order. Fossils are an important factor when developing the Geologic column. Depending on if there are any fossils present in a sediment layer and if there are determining what the fossil is can help determine which eon all strata stated to form in.The geologic column is divided to several different time frames. These time frames are referred to as eons, eras, periods and epochs. Most of the Earth’s existence can be separated into three eons. Each eon in earth’s existence lasted at least a hundred million years. The first two eons that earth existed fossils were very rare or hard to find. Those two eons are referred to as the Archean eon and the Proterozoic. The most recent area is referred to as the Phanerozoic eon. The Phanerozoic eon is the most recent eon and is the only eon that contains a lot of fossils.Significant changes happened to the fossil assembly during the three eras that took place during the Phanerozoic eon. The three eras of the Phanerozic eon are Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic. These eras have been divided by significant extinction events. The era that is very important is the Paleozoic. This is because during this time was the first appearance of hard bodied animals that fossilize much better then soft bodied organisms. Reference: Murck, B. W. , Skinner, B. J. , & Mackenzie, D. (2010). Visualizing geology (2nd ed. ). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Case Study Analysis Lincoln Electric: Venturing Abroad Essay

Lincoln Electric (LE) has been a producer of electrical and welding technology products since the late 1800’s. The company remained primarily a family and employee held company until 1995, then approximately 40% of its equity went to the public. James Lincoln, one of the founders, developed unique management techniques that effectively motivated the employees. These management techniques were implemented as an unusual (for the era) structure of compensation and benefits called â€Å"incentive management†. The incentive management system consisted of four key areas: factory jobs based solely on piecework output; a year-end bonus that could equal or exceeded an individual’s regular pay; guaranteed employment; and limited benefits. Management successors to James Lincoln continued with this successful philosophy even during hard times. This incentive system provided Lincoln Electric with a significant competitive advantage over its domestic competitors. This incentive system plus the bonus allowed Lincoln employees to earn more than their counterparts at other firms, which contributes to employee motivation. One additional aspect of Lincoln’s incentive system was that of limited benefits. James Lincoln developed a system of minimal company paid benefits, where he rationalized that; fewer benefits would equate more funds available for employee bonus and compensation. The successful incentive program and participative management style provided an environment where a Lincoln plant could produce many times (up to three times-with half the personnel) that of a similar manufacturing plant. The employee involvement program and the incentive program at Lincoln were significant contributors to their capability to maintain a solid reputation as a high quality producer, which has driven brand loyalty. When combined with the approachable and participative management style, Lincoln’s culture was able to continuously leverage changes from their employees. The management at Lincoln provided an environment where employees were free to make suggestions or complaints, these ideas became changes and the changes turned into innovations. Such as manufacturing equipment modifications that would run, two to three times their original rate. Lincoln continues to be profitable by significant contributions of these production efficiencies. An increase in production rates (with the same or less resources) equates directly to: higher returns on investments, lower  cost of goods sold, and the ability to do more with less (especially during economic challenges). In general, there is an entrepreneurial attitude at LE and the ability to harvest these innovations is Lincoln’s true competitive advantage. As of 1995, Lincoln Electric controlled 36% of the $1.5 billon U.S. market for weldin g equipment and supplies, where it is considered the leading competitor. The Lincoln Electric Company possesses financial stability, they have recently brought their debt under control as shown in Appendix B-Brief Financial Analysis, which shows an improving debt trend (current, quick, debt to assets, and debt to equity ratios) this is considered an enabling item when embarking upon a new international venture, financial/resources to overcome potential problems. In addition, Lincoln has experienced a strong recovery illustrated by the trends detailed on the net sales and income after taxes charts shown in Appendix B-Brief Financial Analysis. Lincoln will have to overcome its limited success in their prior international ventures, evident by the closures of plants in Germany, Japan, Venezuela, and Brazil. Some of this limited success was due to their lack on international experience and a failure to provide assistance, â€Å"sink or swim† corporate attitude. LE might not have been looking at a long-term view and may have given up on these plants too early. Similar domestic ventures take on the average seven years before becoming profitable. Additional reasons for early international failures was the lack of contingency planning in the form of no corporate support, advice or direction. Another shortcoming of their early international ventures is that Lincoln attempted to apply its incentive management universally to all countries/cultures. They failed to understand the importance of tailoring rewards and incentives for specific countries/cultures. Key elements of the first wave of LE’s international ventures are: domestic operations accounted for 85% of the worldwide production and nearly all new product development until the late 1980’s, universal application of the â€Å"incentive management programs†, and in general the corporation paid little attention to there international divisions. However, as of 1996, Lincoln  re-organized its international ventures by naming a president for each of the five regions, this is a demonstration of a new emphasis and focus on the international ventures from LE. In additional to the CEO having a planned oversight into the expansion there will be council consisting of each of these presidents to plan, integrate and implement global strategies. The compensation for these presidents will also include interregional cooperation. Both of these efforts address key Lincoln weakness from there prior international ventures of: â€Å"sink or swim† corporate attitude and interregional destructive competition. One final item is that Lincoln realized that in the second wave of international expansion true understanding of a country/culture is as important as technological skills. First, Lincoln must continue to utilize its successful incentive and management philosophy formula for employees in the U.S. The domestic operations provide the financial/resource foundation or enabler for continued global expansion, but with no loss of focus on the domestic operation. Lincoln should complete a product structure analysis to determine which plant (domestic or international) should build which product. This analysis should consider all external environmental (particularly political) factors and ensure the company’s strategies for long term and short term goals are a significant part of the analysis. A key roadblock to the expansion into Indonesia is the political environment. The civil unrest and an uncertain future government must be watched and analyzed with great care. A meeting should immediately be setup with the local government to present Lincoln’s long-term strategy. However, prior to this meeting Lincoln must conduct extensive research into the stability, history and any significant background information about the current government and then decide how to approach this potentially volatile situation. Also Lincoln must establish contingency plans should the government become a problem and then be continuously adjusting these contingency plans as the situation changes. One threat to Lincoln’s expansion plan to enter the stick welding consumables markets is that it is dominated by two other multinational firms (see Appendix A-Consumables Market); they control approximately 60% of this market. Once again, Lincoln must conduct continuous extensive market  research to determine risk, provide data for their living short-term and long-term tactical and strategic plans. This marketing research will also support the development of Lincoln’s entry strategies. Once, the production focus areas are defined Lincoln should develop incentives to ensure cooperation with no destructive competition between regions, interregional management compensation will help. A consistent set of financial metrics must be developed and utilized to determine regional performance; each region will be compared in the same manner. Lincoln must also ensure that start-ups be provided a â€Å"safety net† of sorts that utilizes resources/innovations to combat obstacles that would prevent success. Another recommendation is to collect lesson’s learned on the failed European operations, ensure that the same situations are not repeated in Asia/Indonesia. The regional president’s council will help to ensure success, however control in key decisions should be left to the corporation. A joint venture in Indonesia is the best way to enter. Tira’s relationship with high level government officials is very important due to the political situation. SSHJ has the financial strength that Tira does not. Lincoln should go into a joint venture with both Tira and SSHJ since each firm brings complementary strengths. This joint venture must be carefully crafted; compensation will be direct as a partnership type between SSHJ and Tira, where incentives exist to ensure mutual success. An agreement with SSHJ to build a new factory should be completed and support for a low interest loan to help Tira with maintaining Lincoln inventory. This joint venture will be carefully controlled and monitored by Lincoln and they will maintain the maximum amount of ownership allowed by Indonesian law. As mention previously, Lincoln’s competitive edge is its ability to tap into employee innovative talents and then to quickly implement them. Lincoln should conduct cultural research int o what types of rewards apply to the Indonesian culture and then custom design an incentive system that utilizes these rewards. The successful implementation of this similar formula of corporate culture and incentives will allow Lincoln once again to continuously improve through employee innovations. The custom designed incentive reward may be: benefits on a rising scale; additional vacation/compensation time; or company ownership as a stock option plan instead of the bonus/compensation plan used in the U.S. Lincoln should  continue to leverage their brand reputation/loyalty, and leverage their ability to produce at a lower cost (through its successful innovation processes) and to break into this new market; also, price competition should be avoided as an entry strategy. Instead, compete on product value. The planned entry strategy into the stick welding consumables is the right direction, the growth rate and potential market is very attractive, however the entry strategy must also be developed to counter whatever defensive or offensive moves the other controlling multinational firms do to prevent Lincoln from gaining market share. Finally, Lincoln’s long-term strategies must be compatible with achievable goals that allow sufficient time (seven to ten years) to for the Indonesian venture to fully develop profitably.

DB 217 Jak 5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

DB 217 Jak 5 - Essay Example However, the candidates maintain that withdraw of the conditional job offer violates the ADA. What should the court decide? There are various issues and questions to be answered in this case. Firstly, the court may evaluate the legality of the post-job offer medical test. According to the ADA, an employer should not request for a medical test as a condition of the offer; however, such tests may be required after the job offer (Colker 9). Although the Act recognizes a medical test post the job offer, it specifies the regulations governing such post-offer medical test. For instance, post-offer medical exams must be job-related and should be a requirement for all applicants for a similar position. Further, the employer should not withdraw the job offer based on any form of disability realized at this stage, unless in circumstances where the disability poses a threat in the workplace. Also, the employer must prove that there are no adjustments that can be instituted to accommodate the candidate. In the airline case, however, the accused does not show that the HIV status of the candidate can, in any way, impe de their performance or pose a health risk in the workplace. The other issue that the court ought to evaluate is whether the candidates needed to disclose their HIV status while declaring their medical history. Firstly, the ADA states that the employer may not ask the candidates of the existence of any disability before the job offer (Colker 7). Rather, the employer should only ask of the applicants ability to discharge the roles of the job. For these reasons, the airlines argument that the candidates ought to have disclosed their HIV status ahead of the job offer is not justified. Based on the above, therefore, the court may find that the ADA was violated. The airline should not have asked about the candidates disability before the job offer. Additionally, the

Personality Assessments Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Personality Assessments - Essay Example Both documents contain 240 factors (perceptions of attitudes and traits) detailed on a five point scale, starting from "intensely disagree" to "intensely agree" Lastly, there includes a 60 item evaluation of factors only pertained to as the "NEO FFI." There are ordinary and printed forms of all documents accessible (Millon, 1997). The module indicates that implementation of the entire version must last at approximately half an hour at most. The evaluation must not be done if there are aspects of more than 20 that are left without answers. Experts mention that in spite of the fact that the test is well-equipped to manage the impacts of negligence and indecisiveness of the participants, that if more than a hundred answers, or less than a hundred answers, are "agree" or "intensely agree," the outcomes must be analyzed with extreme care. The theoretical foundations of the NEO PI-R have been put under intense criticism. Neither Paul T. Costa, Jr. nor Robert R. McCrae had any established backgrounds in the aspect of personality assessment. Also, the concept of mentality forms, which the NEO PI-R aims to functionalize, is not established on any valid psychological research cases. Experts mention that the NEO PI-R procedures basically involve critical thinking and recall, procedures generally neglected by the modern subject of psychology (Morey, 2003). 4) The factors that users such test should consider One factor that the users of the NEO PI-R personality assessment needs to consider is the subjective authentication included. Therefore, it is probable that the users of the NEO PI-R personality assessment could believe on unstable assessments concerning their personalities. 5) Your opinion of the usefulness of the test based on your research I believe that an individual's beliefs regarding basic and complicated aspects can be driven by plenty of elements that surround him. The author believes that the NEO PI-R personality assessment will be beneficial to people especially those whose beliefs are almost always changed by daily events and activities. The utilization of he NEO PI-R personality assessment could help in the gathering of a collective individual identities of various types of people. The NEO PI-R personality assessment emphasizes on the significance of personality in making everyday decisions especially with other people involved. It emphasizes on the manner wherein the information regarding the attitudes and traits of persons can be used to aid in our daily interactions with other people. B. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a personality assessment established to help people to determine their important individual likes and choices. Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers established this personality assessment with strong references on the psychological studies of Carl Jung (Beutler, 2005). 1) How the test works The present US version of MBTI Step I indicates more than 80 forced-response queries.

Strategic Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Strategic Plan - Essay Example Because of this, there is almost nothing organizations that deal in the same merchandise can do to specialize in the market, apart from riding on market forces (of demand and supply) to stay afloat. By being innovative, Joe’s Electric Cigar will be able to come up with unique and customer-friendlier models. This will in turn help the firm realize and maintain its niche in the market, increase its market share and widen the scope of its profitability. By studying the progress of Joe’s Electric Cigar, an analyst also gets the gist on the importance financial goals and preparations. This is because Joe’s Electric Cigar is a fledgling organization with minuscule financial resources, albeit the operations of this firm are financially very demanding. Thus, Joe’s Electric Cigar presents an ideal case study on the essence of management and financial planning as key ingredients to success. III. General Company Description Joe's Electric Cigar is a company that was formed in 2000, with a multipronged purpose: satisfying the needs of the clientele; abating environmental pollution; and assuaging health complications that accompany smoking. While all these multipronged aims of Joe's Electric Cigar (JEC) are geared towards helping smoke addicts quit smoking in a healthier manner, they ensure that the feat is exacted in a healthier and hygienic manner. JEC ensures that it achieves this hydra-headed feat by introducing into the market, an electronic cigarette, a personal vaporizer or an electronic nicotine delivery system. An e-cigarette is an electronic inhaler which simulates and thus acts as a substitute for tobacco smoking. This equipment uses a heating element which vaporizes a liquid solution to release either a flavored vapor, or nicotine. These e-cigarettes are designed like cigarettes, to allow them to mimic conventional smoking implements such as cigars and cigarettes, in their appearance or use. IV. Products and Services JEC has simply sp ecialized in the making and selling of electric cigar, meaning that the products that JEC deals in, and seeks to distribute in the market is solely, the electric cigar. However, the provision of electric cigarette in the market is characterized by an attempt to diversify the brand by including e-cigars, electronic delivery systems and personal vaporizers, alongside the provision of electronic cigarettes. V. Marketing Plan JEC intends to increase its market share and curve itself a niche in the market by introducing and bringing unique merchandise into the market. The introduction and maintenance of e-cigars which have a touch of uniqueness is in turn to be realized through the reinvention of the design of Joe’s electric cigar/ cigarette. This involves remodeling the cartridge so that the sponge which holds the liquid in place is totally eradicated. In light of this, in place of the sponge holder, there is a tank which holds the fluid and connects the atomizer with another tun nel. Some of the ways through which the reinvention of JEC’s e-cigar model helps JEC strengthen its hold in the market are: the

Why Health-Care should be free in America Essay

Why Health-Care should be free in America - Essay Example They deem it a birthright. Caring for the country’s sick without regard to their societal position is a duty civilized societies accept, at least those outside of America. The Republican answer is to give tax incentives to businesses and individuals that buy health insurance however this would not deal with the root of the problem. Even people with insurance are restricted to the treatments they get, usually dependent on bureaucrats rather than doctors to determine treatment. Democrats support what is termed as a ‘single payer’ system, otherwise named universal health care, a more effective system that covers all persons, essentially imitating a similar approach employed by Canada, Britain, Brazil, Cuba, Japan, Russia, western European nations and many other countries. Employing universal health care will greatly reduce the burden of rising healthcare costs to working families and eradicate the quality of care segregate in this country that exists between the rich and the other 95 percent of the people. The majority of Americans identify the health care crisis as one of the major concerns facing the country as evidenced by the magnitude of rhetoric allocated to this subject. Most Americans agree with the majority of the world in that a nation has the responsibility to care for its injured and sick regardless of their financial status. â€Å"Nearly seven in ten respondents go so far as indicating they would be willing to pay more in federal taxes to assure that every American citizen has health care coverage† (â€Å"Who should pay† 2004). That more than 45 million American citizens do not possess health insurance is widely recognized but it’s those who are insured who too often cannot afford the health care they need. A universal health care system similar to what is offered the majority of ‘civilized’ nations should not be

The implications of the Intended Audience in Jewish Museaums Essay

The implications of the Intended Audience in Jewish Museaums - Essay Example This is the case with the two museums chosen for this report: The Beth Tzedec Reuben and Helen Dennis Museum and the Holocaust Centre of Toronto. The Beth Tzedecs Museum is important because it holds information for "all things Jewish" and The Holocaust Centre of Toronto is important because they educate the community about the Holocaust. The Beth Tzedecs Museum opened its doors in 1965 with the acquisition of Dr. Cecil Roths extensive Judaica collection. Dr. Roth was a prominent Jewish historian and his full collection contained over a thousand artifacts. Some were ceremonial objects, rare Esther scrolls, Chanukah lamps and more. Since their beginning they have acquired 1,800 artifacts that represent "Jewish art and history from ancient times to the present." (Beth Tzedec Website). This museum is housed inside a synagogue and it is open to the public. The museum is located in an old conservative synagogue in the Lawrence neighborhood in Toronto. The museums purpose is to be one component of the entire synagogue so that people can browse and learn about Jewish history. The museum and synagogue seem to be very welcoming to anyone who wants to learn about Judaica. Gopnik would call this museum a mausoleum type because it is "a place where you go to see old things and where you go to find yourself" (32). It is a reposit ory of ancient and current artifacts that are maintained for the world to see and talk about. This museum is small and it seems to be a small part of the synagogue and it is a small museum compared to The Holocaust Centre of Toronto and it does not seem to be of primary importance. The synagogue is a place for anyone to come and they seem to encourage people to explore them through videos, joining one of the many "shuls" or reading many of their materials. The audience seems to be anyone who would be

Job eveluation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Job eveluation - Research Paper Example Jointly, job evaluation, and job pricing determine what every job ought to pay. This guarantees that the pay is fair in two manners: internally, so that occupations that are moderately of larger value to the firm are paid more as compared to those of minimal value; and externally, So that rates rewarded to jobs in the firm are competitive with those remunerated by other organizations in the labor market for equivalent work. Job assessment establishes the comparative worth of a job with a different job or several others. It does not place pay rates that are the function of job pricing; relatively, it contrasts jobs with each other or gauges them against an average for instance, an Executive Secretary compared to a Stenographer, the Secretary is at a higher rank than the Stenographer. This sort of information is of importance to the firm since it acts as the basis for many elements in the program of human resource. ... on offers the organization a system for allocating rates of wage to lately generated occupations compliant with their contribution to the organization (Kay, 2005). A novel occupation, for example, an E-mail Order Clerk, can be assessed and put in the apposite grade. This makes certain that the E-mail Clerk Order employed by the organization will be compensated in a just manner according to other occupations in the firm since the job has been put in a grade with other positions of equivalent value. Through a program, that is formal of job assessment the organization can give a sound foundation for the rates rewarded to staff members who are shifted, relegated, or raised from one occupation to another (Hessaramiri and Hleiner, 2001). Since job evaluation provides us with comparative worth of every position, we recognize that when a staff member transfers from a Stenographer to an Executive Secretary, this is a raise to an occupation of imperatively elevated value to the organization an d therefore, worthy of an increased pay rate. In conclusion, job evaluation is the strengthening for an effectual program of personnel performance assessment (Lipman, 2001). If there is no structure that sets occupations in the appropriate grades comparative to each other, there is bigger probability that base rates will be erroneous, and whichever attempt to relate performance with compensation will be prevented. Job Evaluation There are four essential techniques that are made use of to assess the comparative worth of occupations to the organization: ranking, factor comparison, classification, and point method. All of these techniques encompass their pros and cons and is better matched to specific forms of firm than others (Van, Voskuijl & Thierry, 2001). Therefore, cautious choice of the

Answers to Burger King case study questions Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Answers to Burger King questions - Case Study Example Franchising helps to increase the profitability of the business and eliminate unnecessary start up cost. The success of the fast food industry does not only depend upon the franchising method but also depends upon implementation of effective marketing strategies. To achieve global leadership in its industry a fast food restaurant needs to set a series of financial goal and strategic goals. Global leadership by a fast food restaurant can be attained if a company is adept at discovering the new market opportunities, establishing a strong presence in the international markets and securing a competitive advantage. Effective strategic planning is required for attaining profitability in the domestic and international markets. Firstly, the management of the company needs to clearly define its reasons for expanding its operation in the foreign market. A comparative analysis of the political social, cultural environment of different countries would be required for screening purposes. Critical Success Factors are strongly related to the mission and strategic goals of your business or project. ... e production process (How long the French fries must be fried?) 4) Hygiene standards must be maintained in all the branches of the fast food restaurant 5) Standardized menu must be available worldwide (Cao â€Å"Comparison of customers' perceptions of service quality between different management forms in fast food restaurants†). The other key success factor include proper distribution channels, innovative advertising strategies etc. It is a well accepted fact that fast food restaurants should have a sound understanding of the consumer behavior, tastes and preferences and fast food outlets and how it differs across various countries. Understanding the cultural differences between the countries will help the fast food restaurant to customize their menu as per the taste and preference of the local customers. For example McDonalds serves lamburgers in India because beef and pork burgers are not served for religious purposes. In USA and Canada people prefer to eat most of their mea ls outside their homes (Vivavegie â€Å"Fast food facts from the super size me web site†). It is observed that the consumer spending on fast food does not decrease even during recession due to the quick serving ability and its reduced price. The timing of the delivery of the food also plays a prominent role in the customer service of the fast food restaurants. Since obesity has become major health concern in the USA, UK and Canada, the fast food restaurants need to lay emphasis on nutritional requirement and calorie content of the fast food. Thus we can say that factors like 1) Taste of food 2) Hygiene 3) Service response time 4) Pricing of the product 5) Courtesy and behavior of the employees 6) Operating hours 7) Variety in menu 8) Nutritional requirement in the food 9) Amenity play an important

The Impact of an Exercise Tax on Demand, Supply, Price, and Quantity Essay

The Impact of an Exercise Tax on Demand, Supply, Price, and Quantity - Essay Example There are several factors that affect the price elasticity of demands. One of these factors is the level of prices. Expensive goods such as cars have a high elasticity of demand as a result of the sensitivity to price changes. On the other hand, the price elasticity of demand for inexpensive good such as matchboxes rarely changes the demand by a significant amount. Another factor that affects the price elasticity of demand is the income level. The elasticity of demand for any product is less in groups with higher income levels as compared to the low-income levels. This is as a result of the fact that the impact of prices changes is bigger to the poor people than the rich (Varian 320). The availability of a close substitute is another factor that affects the elasticity of demand. Demand for a product with many substitutes, for example, Pepsi is more elastic as compared to that with a few or no close substitutes such as salt. Lastly, the nature of a commodity is another factor that affects the price elasticity of demand. Necessity goods such as vegetables have inelastic demand while comfort goods such as refrigerators have elastic demand. Luxurious commodities such as cars have more elastic demand than comfort goods (Varian 323). For a consumer to maximize utility he must be at the consumer equilibrium condition. Economists express this condition by equating all of the marginal utilities per dollar that the consumer spends in buying a certain commodity. As seen from the above calculation, there is no single equation where the marginal utility per dollar is at equilibrium hence there is no combination where the consumer has the option of maximizing the utility.  

Coke vs PepsiPepsi and Coke’s Uncivil Wars Essay Example for Free

Coke vs PepsiPepsi and Coke’s Uncivil Wars Essay Chapter 9 in Competition Demystified: Uncivil Cola Wars: Coke and Pepsi Confront the Prisoner’s Dilemma What are the sources of competitive advantages in the soda industry? First we should look at industry structure. The cola companies buy raw materials of sugar, sweeteners and flavorings from many suppliers then they turn the commodities into a branded product which consists of syrup/concentrated combined with water and bottles. The companies are joined at the hip with their bottlers/distributors who then sell to many retail outlets. Selling bulky and heavy beverages lends itself to regional economies of scale advantages. The soda companies cannot operate successfully unless their bottlers and distributors are profitable and content whether company-owned or franchised. The existence of barriers to entry indicates that the incumbents enjoy competitive advantages that potential entrants cannot match. In the soft drink world, the sources of these advantages are easy to identify. First, on the demand side, there is the kind of customer loyalty that network executives, beer brewers and car manufacturers only dream about. People who drink sodas drink them frequently (habit formation), and they relish a constancy of experience that keeps them ordering the same brand, no matter the circumstances. Both Coke and Pepsi exhibit the presence of barriers to entry and competitive advantage—stable *ROE can be influenced by whether bottlers’ assets are off or on the balance sheet Second, there are large economies of scale in the soda business both at the concentrate maker and bottler levels. Developing new products and advertising existing ones are fixed costs, unrelated to the number of cases sold. Equally important, the distribution of soda to the consumer benefits from regional scale economies. The more customers there are in a given region, the more economical the distribution. A bottler of Coke, selling the product to 40% to 50% of the soda drinkers in the market area, is going to have lower costs than someone peddling Dr. Pepper to 5% to 56% of the drinkers. During the â€Å"statesmen† era of Pepsi and Coke, what actions did each of the companies take? Why did they help raise profitability? Note the stability of market share and ROE. ROE dipped in 1980 and 1982 as Pepsi and Coke waged a price war. Yet, market shares did not change as a result of the price war—both companies were worse off. Pepsi gained market share in the late 1970s versus Coke. Coke was slow and clumsy to respond. Price wars between two elephants in an industry with barriers to entry tend to flatten a lot of grass and make customers happy. They hardly ever result in a dead elephant. Still, there are better and worse ways of initiating a price contest. Coke chose the worst. Coke chose to lower concentrate prices on those regions where its share of the cola market was high (80%) and Pepsi’s low (20 percent). This tactic ensured that for every dollar of revenue Pepsi gave up, Coke would surrender four dollars. Coke luckily developed New Coke which allowed it to attack Pepsi in its dominant markets in a precise way—minimizing damage to Coke’s profits–and force a truce in the price wars. They made visible moves to signal the other side that they intended to cooperate. Coca-Cola initiated the new era with a major corporate reorganization. After buying up many of the bottlers and reorganizing the bottler network, it spun off 51% of the company owned bottlers to shareholders in a new entity, Coca-Cola Enterprises, and it loaded up on debt for this corporation. With so much debt to service, Coca-Cola Enterprises had to concentrate on the tangible requirements of cash flow rather than the chimera of gaining great hunks of market share from Pepsi. PepsiCo responded by dropping the Pepsi Challenge, toning down its aggressive advertising and thus signaling that it accepted the truce. Profit margins improved. Operating profit margins went from 10% to 20% for Coca-Cola. Pepsi gain was less dramatic but also substantial. Both companies focused on ROE rather than market share and sales growth. The urge to grow, to hammer competitors and drive them out of business, or at least reduce their market share by a meaningful amount, had been a continual source of poor performance for companies that do have competitive advantages and a franchise, but are not content with it.

Heroin Harm Reduction Strategies in the US

Heroin Harm Reduction Strategies in the US The Northern Kentucky (NKY) Independent Health Department represents four different counties in Kentucky: Boone, Campbell, Grant, and Kenton. This region is often referred to as District 8 and it is made up of 381,153 Kentuckians. In 2008, a startling 18% of individuals in the region were diagnosed with depression and 9.8 % of individuals were living below the poverty level. Yet, the most pressing issue in this district is the heroin epidemic and its association with HCV. According to the NKY Drug Strike Force, three of the four counties in District 8 are the most problematic in the Northern Kentucky Area Development District. Boone, Kenton, and Campbell counties represent 60% of Kentucky’s heroin prosecutions for trafficking and possession. Data shows between 2008 and 2012 the heroin court cases in these three counties increased from 257 cases to 1339; an alarming 500% surge. These alarming statistics influenced the NKIHD to partner with various organizations to form the NKCRHE. Although a comprehensive community wide plan is now under development through the Response Team, there are major political, social, and economic factors to consider before reducing and stopping the epidemic. Social Factors The Heroin Impact Response Team sees stigma is the primary reason for the silence associated with heroin in NKY. Stigma is defined as a mark of disgrace with a particular circumstance, quality or person. This mark can be alienating and oppressive to individuals and can lead to prejudice and discrimination. People with a history of drug use are highly stigmatized and often become outcasts in society. Some groups argue this stigma helps reduce the drug problem in communities because it shows society’s disapproval of drug use. However, this argument is flawed because it does not consider that stigma can lead to shame and can lead people to hide their unacceptable and undesirable behaviors. Hiding and silencing drug use not only leads to delays in seeking help, but also leads to barriers in recovery and reintegration into society. NKY is a prime example of silence resulting from stigma. Between 2010 and 2012, the number of heroin overdoses in NKY doubled from 31 to 61 and the rates of HCV were more than double Kentucky’s rate.Despite this alarming statistic, until October 2012, communities in NKY were silent about the epidemic. The map below shows NKY is rooted in a historically conservative state, and thus NKY’s social and cultural environment strongly reflect conservative ideologies. These ideologies promote the silence, because speaking out would constitute condemnation, it would depict the family-unit as inadequate, and the community as a hazardous waste land. Finally, families in NKY are speaking out about the epidemic. They are sharing their personal stories and those of their lost loved ones. Through advocacy and education, they are working to break down the barriers associated with the stigma of drug use. Yet stigma is a powerful barrier, and education and community participation may not be enough to reduce the social barriers associated with heroin use. An additional powerful approach may be to remove certain legislative and administrative restrictions that reinforce stigmatization. The removal of these restrictions can lead to drug-user harm reduction strategies and programs, which could be considered the first steps to stop the spread of HCV and the first steps to recovery. Political Factors One of the most effective harm reduction strategies to consider is sterile Needle and Syringe Programs (NSPs). In 2004, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a report on the effectiveness NSPs in which they confirmed studies in the report presented â€Å"a compelling case that NSPs substantially and cost effectively reduce the spread of HIV (and other infectious diseases) and do so without evidence of exacerbating injective drug use at either the individual or societal level† (World Health Organization, 2004). Not surprisingly, the CDC, the National Institute of Health (NIH) and most of the medical and scientific community are advocates of NSPs because the scientific data supports the efficacy of these programs. In addition, these types of programs are seen as the first steps to recovery because they provide abusers the opportunity to seek help and obtain necessary primary health care Although the federal government does not ban the use of NSP’s, since the late 1980’s federal funding for NSPs was prohibited in the United States. In 2009, President Barack Obama removed this ban and allowed states to use federal funds for Syringe Exchange Programs (SEPs). The ban, unfortunately, was reinstated in 2011 due to a change in the federal spending package for 2012. As a result of the political controversy, this type of harm reduction strategy will be difficult to promote in NKY because despite the scientific data, Kentucky legislation continues to prohibit the use of NSPs. The controversy arises from the common misconception that NSPs promote drug use, encourages abusers to stay addicted to drugs, and fosters criminal behavior. Others argue these types of programs are a costly waste because they do not stop addiction. Scientific data, however, shows both of these arguments are invalid. The efficacy of the programs is evident in various studies and the cost be nefit analysis’ shows that â€Å"a full-coverage program that exchanges all used syringes in the United States would cost approximately $423 million but avert 1.3 billion in medical care and treatment costs† The development of an exchange program is not explicitly prohibited in the Kentucky statutes, however the Kentucky Revised Statute 218A.500(3) addresses the prohibition of distribution of drug paraphernalia: â€Å" It is unlawful for any person to deliver, possess with intent to deliver, or manufacture with intent to deliver, drug paraphernalia, knowing, or under circumstances where one reasonably should know, that it will be used to plant, propagate, cultivate, grow, harvest, manufacture, compound†¦inject, ingest, inhale, or otherwise introduce into the human body a controlled substance†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, 2010). In 1992, Dr. John Poundstone wrote a letter to the Kentucky Attorney General requesting an opinion on NSPs in the state of Kentucky. The Kentucky Attorney General advised urban-county health departments could be guilty of criminal offence and liability if they were to pursue development of a needle exchange program Economic Factors If successful in changing Kentucky legislation to allow harm reduction strategies such as SNP’s, the next issue NKY will encounter is the economical component. In 2005, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reported an estimated $1.9 billion was spent on mental health and substance abuse (MHSA) treatment in Kentucky which is approximately 1.5% of all the MHSA treatment in the United States (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, 2012). However, the most pressing economic problem in NKY is the low federal and state funds distributed to the region for drug abuse and mental health; in fact, Northern Kentucky receives the lowest funds of the 14 regions in the state. Since federal funding cannot be used for NSPs the NKY region would be completely dependent on state and local funds. Yet, NKY receives only 8.16% of the state’s general funds for MHSA despite making up more than 10% of Kentucky’s general population. To make matters worse, NKY Health Department continuously faces budget cuts and the reduction in funds results in an uneven distribution of monies for various programs. In 2012-2013 the health department faced a 5% decrease in revenue due to cuts in state, federal and Medicaid funding; figure 1 shows this represented approximately $739,247. Figure 2 shows the decrease in revenue resulted in a 7% decrease in expenditures, approximately $1,050,043. These cuts make it difficult for the health department to address the heroin and communicable disease issues in a more robust manner. Notwithstanding these economic setbacks, the heroin and HCV epidemic has spiraled out of control and has become a monster that can only be tamed by organizations coming together to address the issue.

The Concept Of Leadership Management Essay

The Concept Of Leadership Management Essay The concept of leadership had now been not only within the frame of team, organization etc. it had been spread around the world and world is influenced by this concept. Leadership is very much required in todays turbulent world because of various crises etc. Leadership is also a universal concept. It is also a part of management and also considered as a management function. Leadership is also interconnected with other management functions such as planning, organizing, communication, motivating, coordination and controlling. There had been various confusions in the concept of leadership starting from definition of leadership till theory and approaches of leadership. Many researchers of management concepts such as Max Webber, Mary Parker Follet, F.W Taylor etc. have lead to serious development of leadership concept. The concept of leadership had been researched by various researchers leading to various findings. Findings such as leadership theories, approaches or styles had been analyzed and it is interpreted and given below. Further, Leaders are born or made is a biggest argument of century. This is what the whole research argues to conclude. Leadership There had been various definitions researched by various researchers. The universal definition of leadership is working with and through people and influencing the behavior of people towards the achievement of common goals. Leading is a management function without which management cannot step into next function which will interrupt the total organizational job and performance. Leadership involves four element: Leader/Persuader. Follower/Persuadee. Situation. Communication. Leader Leader is a person with the ability to influence or persuade the behavior of his/her subordinates towards a common objective or task to which the leader is focusing on. Effective leader is a person who positively influence another persons behavior through effective approach or style relating to the leadership theory used which turns the behavior towards achievement of goals effectively and efficiently. Role of effective leaders There are twelve different roles that an effective leader performs and these twelve roles are categorized into three categories and its stated below: Create an Inspiring Vision Lead by Example Create an inspiring vision, establish shared values, give direction and set stretch goals. Manage change strategically, take risks, create change, lead change, manage resistance to change. Lead by example, practice what you preach, set an example, and share risks or hardship. Demonstrate confidence, win respect and trust without courting popularity. Empower, Inspire, and Energize People Be enthusiastic, inspire and energize people, create a positive work environment. Empower people, delegate authority, be open to ideas, have faith in the creativity of others. Communicate openly and honestly, give clear guidelines, set clear expectations. Empathize, be willing to discuss and solve problems, listen with understanding, support and help. Build and Lead a Team Use team approach, facilitate cooperation; involve everyone; trust your group; rely on their judgment. Bring out the best in your people, have common touch with them; coach and provide effective feedback. Permit group decision, help your team reach better decisions. Monitor progress, but dont micromanage, lead your team; avoid close supervision, do not over boss, do not dictate, lead team self-assessment. To further discuss, an effective leader acts as a :- Clarifier who listens, summarizes and makes things clearer. Coach who encourages others to develop skills. Facilitator who helps the group set goals, make decisions, choose direction, and evaluate progress. Delegator who helps each group member apply their talents and interests to the groups goals. Initiator who gets things moving. Manger who helps coordinate the parts of a project and keeps an eye on program. Mediator who helps resolve differences. Networker who connects people with people and people with ideas to move the project forward. Problem solver who suggests solutions and ways to get things done. Visionary who sees creative solutions, new directions and possibilities. It is identified six important roles are required during various changes occurring in the environment. They are: Role model Sponsor Decision maker Voice Motivator Enforcer Skills of a leader According to management concept, skills are categorized into three divisions such as conceptual, human and technical skills. After various researchers findings being analyzed it had been concluded that an effective leader requires the following skills: Vision, mission and goal Competency Communication Inspiration Interpersonal Positive attitude Discrimination and strategic thinking Honesty/integrity Dedication/commitment Magnanimity/humility Open minded Creative/innovative Assertive/decisive Self-awareness Know the stuff Encouraging Practice makes perfect Passion Persuasion Delegate, empowering and fearlessness Genuine Supportive Motivating Emotional intelligence Employee-relations Crisis management Ownership and responsibility fairness Leadership Theories Leadership had been one of the concept universally researched by many, individually or jointly and which had resulted into various theories in the past centuries and it had been revised for various benefits. Out of these various theories major eight theories are discussed below: Great man theory Trait theory Behavioral theories Role theory. McGregors Theory X and Theory Y. Managerial grid. Participative leadership Lewins leadership style. Likerts leadership style. Situational leadership style Hersey and Blanchards situational leadership. Vroom and yettons normative model. Houses path goal theory. Contingency theories Fiedlers Least preferred co-worker(LPC) theory Cognitive resource theory. Strategic contingency theory. Transactional leadership Leader Member-Exchange (LMX) theory Transformational leadership Burns transformational leadership theory. Bass transformational leadership theory. Kouzes and Posners leadership participating inventory. Great Man Theory This theory is brought by Thomas Carlyle in 1840s stating that The history of the world is but the biography of great man. This theory is informed with the assumption that leaders are born and not made. He also assumes that great leaders will arise when there is a great need and that this is power inheritance within men. The greatest critique or counter argument for this theory arose in 1860 by Herbert Spencer that You must admit that the genesis of a great man depends on the long series of complex influences which has produced the race in which he appears, and the social state into which that race has slowly grown. Before he can remake his society, his society must make him which says that great men are the product of their societies and their actions would be impossible without social conditions built before their lifetimes. This theory makes us see a great man as heroic person from birth which shows examples such as Napoleon, Shakespeare, Martin Luther, Mahatma Gandhi etc. the counter argument of Herbert Spencer is the one that helped this theory to be alive from its findings till date. Trait Theory Trait theory is major area of study on human personality. Trait can be defined as behavior, thought, emotions, etc. of people that differs among people and influence behavior. It can be described as behavioral act through which leadership style has been performed. It also has similarity with great man theory. Gordon Allports three tier model: Gordon Allport was the first researcher to come up with this theory in 1936. He described four thousand personality traits. He categorized these traits into three levels: Cardinal trait- traits that dominate an individuals whole life and person becomes to be recognized. These traits are rare. Central trait- these are general characteristics that form the basic foundations of personality. These are the major characteristics that is used to describe another person but not dominating as cardinal trait. Terms such as intelligent, honest, anxious are considered central trait. Secondary trait- these are the traits that are sometimes related to attitudes and often appear only in certain situations. E.g.: getting anxious speaking to a group. 16 Personality Factors: Then, Raymond Cattell reduced the number of main personality traits found by Allports list of four thousand to one seventy one by eliminating uncommon traits and combining common characteristics. Then using, a statistical technique known as factor analysis, he identified closely related terms and reduced his list to just sixteen key personality traits. This is known as sixteen personality factor questionnaire (16PF). The sixteen personality traits are openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism, self-esteem, harm avoidance, novelty seeking, perfectionism, alexithymia, rigidity, impulsivity, disinhibition, psychotism. Since its findings in 1949, it had been revised four times, once in 1956, then 1962, 1968 and in 1983. Eysenk three dimensions of personality: Hans Eysenk, a british psychologist developed a three dimensional trait model which includes: Introversion/Extraversion introversion involves focusing on inner experience while extraversion focusing attention outward on other people and environment. So, person with high introversion might be quiet and reserved while those with high extraversion might be sociable and outgoing. Neuroticism/Emotional stability This dimension is related to moodiness versus even-temperedness. Neuroticism refers to an individuals tendency to become emotional while stability refers to the tendency to remain emotionally constatnt. Psychoticism Individuals who are high on this trait tend to have difficulty dealing with reality and may be anti-social and manipulative. Eyesenk added this trait after studying individuals suffering from mental illness. Big Five Personality Trait Model: Big five framework of personality traits from Costa and McCrae emerged based on research findings of Eyesenk and Cattell. This emerged because Cattell focused on too many traits and Eyesenk focused on too few. This model focuses on five core traits that interact to form human personality. Those five traits are: Extraversion Agreeableness Conscientiousness Neuroticism Openness Many psychologist believe this model is not only universal but also have biological origins. Totally, trait theory was researched by various other researchers such as D.W.Fiske(1949), Norman(1967), Smith(1967), Goldberg(1981) etc. One of the famous research work is Stogdills trait research. Stogdill (1974) identified the following traits and skills as critical to leaders. Traits are: Â  Adaptable to situations Alert to social environment Ambitious and achievement-orientated Assertive Cooperative Decisive Dependable Dominant (desire to influence others) Energetic (high activity level) Persistent Self-confident Tolerant of stress Willing to assume responsibility Skills are: Clever (intelligent) Conceptually skilled Creative Diplomatic and tactful Fluent in speaking Knowledgeable about group task Organized (administrative ability) Persuasive Socially skilled McCall and Lombardo (1983) researched both success and failure identified four primary traits by which leaders could succeed or derail: Emotional stability and composure: Calm, confident and predictable, particularly when under stress. Admitting error: Owning up to mistakes, rather than putting energy into covering up. Good interpersonal skills: Able to communicate and persuade others without resort to negative or coercive tactics. Intellectual breadth: Able to understand a wide range of areas, rather than having a narrow (and narrow-minded) area of expertise. To be finally said that trait theory as great man theory follows the same phrase of Leaders are born, not made. The only difference it also includes an extra element of personality rather than looking it as a historic way. Behavioral Theory After the criticism of trait theory, many researched leadership in the form of behaviors, values etc. which lead to the behavioral theory that states behaviors of leaders pave way to learn and engage in leadership very easily. It also states that great leaders are made, not born. This theory focuses on actions of leaders, not on mental qualities. People learn to become leaders through teaching and observation. Under this theory there were two great studies: Ohio State University Study This study was conducted by a group of people from Ohio state university. They developed a list of one-fifty statements which was designed to measure nine different behavioral leadership dimension. The resulting questionnaire is known as Leaders Behavior Description Questionnaire(LBDQ). This was provided to students, administers, even to military personnel. The primary goal of the study was to identify common leadership behaviors. After analyzing the results, study led to a conclusion that there were two group of behaviors that were strongly correlated. These were defined as consideration(People oriented behavioral leaders) and initiating structure(Task oriented leaders). University Of Michigan Study(1950s) This study was led by Dr. Rensis Likert. This leadership study identified three characteristics of effective leadership. Two were which already found in Ohio State University study. Third dimension which was found in this study was participative leadership. Some of the theories that are categorized under behavioral theory are listed below: Role Theory Various researchers are involved in this theory. Some are Margaret Mead, Talcot Parsons and Robert k. Merton. But, this became famous through B.F. Skinner. Role theory states that followers are able to send their expectations of how their leaders might act and leaders also have expectations of their own roles and responsibilities of how to act to the situation. If the leader is so sensitive to people they may accept the followers expectation. This theory really states what the leader should do depending on situations. This might also solve conflicts and sometime lead to role-conflict. It shows that the way the leader acts in the normal life must be implemented when they are needed to act as a leader. This can be considered as an avatar or second life. The leaders who are role-playing may require their followers to act as they do. To be said in phrase Do as I do. This theory can take any style such as autocratic or sometimes democratic. This depends on the behaviorism of leader i.e. the way they look or the way they act etc. McGregors Theory X and Theory Y This theory was developed by McGregor in 1960s. This theory outlines the motivation need and behaviorism of leaders. Theory X outlines that leaders think their followers are lazy and doesnt want to work, they are who wants to ignore work as wherever possible. Leaders also think that they are responsible to restructure their followers through high restrictive supervision and a punitive atmosphere. This might lead to mistrust and cause diseconomies of scale in large business. Theory Y outlines that leaders think that their followers are ambitious, self-motivated and they know what their responsibilities and make themselves work to what they seek. This influences the leader that their only job is to make available a comfortable environment for workers purpose. This improves superior-subordinate relationship, participative skills, human resource development ability, conflict solving etc. Managerial Grid Managerial grid is also known as leadership grid. This is formed by Robert Blake and Jane Mouton in 1960s. It is a graphical portrayal that depicts two dimension of leader behavior; concern for people on y-axis and concern for production on x-axis. This grid ranges from low(1) to high(9), creating 81 different positions to which leaders style may fall. Five leadership styles that results in the graph are :- Indifferent or Impoverished Management (1,1) In this style leaders have low concern for people and production. Leaders use this style to preserve job and job seniority, and protect themselves by avoiding getting into trouble. The main concern of leaders is not to be held responsible for any mistake. Employees will have high degree of dissatisfaction, disharmony within group. Ineffective approach resulting ineffective operations and decisions for organizations. Country club or Accommodating (1,9) Leaders have high concern for people and low concern for production. Leaders have qualities of yield and compliance to the situation. Leaders pay attention to the security and comfort of peoples hoping that performance would increase. Atmosphere would be friendly but ineffective productivity. Employees are happy and harmony within team. Status Quo or Middle of the road Leaders in this style try to balance and compromise between company goals and workers needs. Leaders try to achieve the needs of people and production but its not really met. Even though if it is met it will be average production. There will be good harmony in teams and average production. Dictatorial or Produce, Perish or Control (9,1) Leaders focus all their attention to production related matters and very little towards the needs of followers. Leaders will dominate as they hold the belief that gain could be achieved through rigid disciplines. This style remains effective where human interaction remain less. Productivity is short lived. This style is inspired by McGregors Theory X. followers experience high level of dissatisfaction and there will be high level of conflict within group. Sound or Team (9,9) This is considered as the most effective leadership style where leaders will contribute, are committed, can motivate and are motivated while believing that trust, respect and empowerment are essential for fostering a team environment where followers are motivated which results in maximum employee satisfaction as well as most efficient productivity. This is inspired by McGregors Theory Y. To this grid later certain additions were made: Opportunistic style Leaders using this style do not have a fixed location on the grid and they adopt the behavior that offers the greatest benefit. Exploit and manipulative characteristics. Paternalistic style Leaders using this style support and guide and discourage challenges to their thinking. This style defined to alternate between the (1,9) and (9,1) locations on the grid. Behaviors of initiative, inquiry, advocacy, decision, conflict, critique, resilience were associated with managerial grid. Participative Leadership Style Participative model can be known as an approach or style as well as a theory in leadership concept. Participative theory is also known as democratic theory which is described under title of leadership approaches below. This theory views that leaders make available a clear definition roles/responsibilities to his/her followers and leaders require their views or participation to the task or situation which increases motivation, commitment level and more collaborative and creativity. Participant may be subordinates, peers etc. But, the decision will be made by the leader through various views are taken. Many methods exists such as consultation, democratic leadership, management by objectives, joint decision making etc. Negative impact is, if the participants view is totally neglected the followers may feel as they are betrayed and less motivated leading to less commitment. Lewins leadership style In 1939, Kurt Lewin with Ron Lippit and Robert White came up with three set of leadership styles which are autocratic, democratic/participative and delegative/free-rein (Laissez-Faire) styles. Autocratic leader takes his own decision without consultation of members, Laissez-Faire style leader allows the followers to work on their own and participative leader takes decision with the consultation of his/her followers. Even, Kurt Lewin says that participative leadership is the most effective leadership style among his three findings. Likerts leadership style Rensis Likert and his colleagues studies the styles of leaders for three decades at University of Michigan and identified a four model system. This model was based on basis of questionnaire which is provided to managers at various managerial positions in over two-hundred organizations. Likerts four leadership style are : System 1 Exploitative Authoritative Responsibility lies in the hands of top managers. Superior has no trust, confidence in subordinates. Subordinates are not allowed to participate in decision making. Communication is very little and motivation is based on threats. System 2 Benevolent Authoritative Responsibility lies at managerial levels but not at lower level of organizational hierarchy. Superior has confidence and trust in subordinate which involves master-servant relationship. Still subordinates do not feel free to discuss things about the job with their superior. Communication is very little and motivation is based on reward system. System 3 Consultative Responsibility is widely spread throughout the organization. The superior has substantial confidence in subordinates. Some discussion about job-related things take place between superior and subordinates. Fair communication takes place and motivation is based on rewards and involvement in job. System 4 Participative Responsibility to achieve organizational goals is widely spread throughout the organizational hierarchy. Superior has high level of confidence in subordinates. High level of team work, communication and participation. Likert compares the four systems on the basis of leadership process, motivational force, communication process, interaction-influence process, decision making process and concludes that system 1 and 2 are least productive whereas system 3 and 4 are most productive. Finally, it is noted that system 4- participative model is the most effective style among the four systems. Situational Leadership Style As participative style, situational leadership is also considered as a style and theory. The famous leadership model discussed under this theory is Hersey and Blanchards leadership style discussed below. This theory shows the effective leadership style to be chosen defending on the situation i.e. depending to the maturity level and ability to willingness etc. This theory was first introduced as Life cycle theory of leadership which is renamed to situational leadership in mid 1970s. Hersey and Blanchards Leadership style First, Hersey and Blanchard developed their own situational leadership concept. In 1970s, they mutually agreed and developed the concept of situational leadership based on task and relationship behaviors that leader provides to the followers. They categorized all leadership styles into four behavior types which they named as: S1 : Telling/Directing high task focus and low relationship focus. Leaders define the roles and task of followers. Decisions are made by leaders and announced, so communication is largely one way. Followers need direction and supervision to get started. This is required for people who lack competence but are enthusiastic and committed. S2 : Selling/Coaching high task focus and high relationship focus. Leaders define roles and tasks to followers and also seek suggestions from followers. Communication is two way. Followers need direction and supervision because they are still inexperienced. They need support to build self-esteem and involvement in decision making to restore their commitment. This helps for people who have some competence but lack commitment. S3 : Participating/Supporting low task focus and high relationship focus. Leader pass day to day decisions to followers but control is with the followers. This is required for people who have competence but lack confidence or motivation but, they do not need much direction because of their skills. S4 : Delegating low task focus and low relationship focus. Leaders are still involved in decision and problem solving but control is with followers. Follower decides when and how leader will be involved. It is useful for people who have both competence and commitment. They are able and willing to work by themselves. Hersey and Blanchards situational leadership style developed four levels of maturity: M1 : followers of this maturity level lack specific skills or knowledge to work on their own. They need to be directed and supervised. M2 : they are willing to work but are unable to take independent responsibility to the task on which they are willing to work. M3 : followers at this maturity level are experienced and are able to work on the task but lack confidence to take the responsibility. M4 : followers at this maturity level are ones willing to take the task and be responsible for it and they have the experience to work on it. A good leader develops the competence and commitment in followers, So they are self-motivated rather than being dependant. So, Hersey develops four combination of competence and commitment which is known as development level. D1 Low competence and high commitment D2 Low competence and low commitment D3 High competence and low commitment D4 High competence and high commitment Competence shows ones task focus, experience etc. and commitment shows ones confidence and motivational level. Vroom and Yettons Normative Model This model is created by Vroom in collaboration with Yetton and later joining hands with Jago. The Vroom-Yetton-Jago model identifies five different styles on situation and level of involvement. They are: Autocratic type 1 (A I) Leader makes the decision on his/her own with the information he/she readily have at the time. This style is completely autocratic. Autocratic type 2 (A II) Decision is made by the leader, but information from relevant followers are collected. Decision or the problem is not informed to the followers. Followers only involvement is providing information. Consultative type 1 (C I) Leaders make the decision alone but he/she shares the problem to relevant followers individually and seek their ideas. Followers do not meet each other and leaders decision may or may not reflect his/her followers i

Pearl: A Product Of Nature :: essays research papers

Pearl is one of the most interesting and mysterious characters of the novel The Scarlet Letter. One tends to wonder why Pearl is the way she is. Why does she act so strangely and so differently than all the other characters? She acts this way because of a relationship she has with the force of Nature, which Hawthorne personifies as sympathetic towards sins against the puritan way of life. Because of this trait Hester's sin causes Nature to accept Pearl. Finally, Pearl's acceptance of Nature is what causes her to act the way she does.First it is necessary to examine how nature is identified with sin against the Puritan way of life. The first example of this is found in the first chapter regarding the rosebush at the prison door. This rosebush is located "on one side of the portal, and rooted almost at the threshold"(36) of the prison. The prison naturally is the place where people that have sinned against the puritan way of life remain. Then Hawthorne suggests that the roses of the rose-bush "might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and to the condemned criminal as he came forth to his doom, in token that the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him"(36). This clearly states that Nature is kind to prisoners and criminals that pass through the prison doors. Hawthorne strengthens this point by suggesting two possible reasons for the rosebush's genesis. The first is that "it had merely survived out of the stern old wilderness..."(36), while the second reason is that "there is fair authority for believing [the rose-bush] had sprung up under the footsteps of the sainted Ann Hutchinson..."(36). By Hawthorne's wording it appears as if he is emphasizing the second reason because he suggests there is "fair authority." Connecting the rosebush originating from Ann Hutchinson, an outcast from puritan society, shows the connection with Nature and sin against puritan way of life. This rosebush symbolizes the sympathy of Nature towards the very people Puritan society has condemned.The idea illustrated by the rosebush can therefore be applied to the specific character of Pearl. Because Pearl was expelled from Puritan society Nature sympathizes with her. Nature's sympathy and partiality with Pearl can be seen with the sunshine in the forest. Pearl attempts to "catch" the sunshine and according to Hawthorn "Pearl .

An Analysis on Information Technologies: Fahrenheit 451 :: essays research papers

The idea of a controlling society set in the future is not a foreign concept to the realms of science-fiction. Technology is often utilized in these stories to control the populace under one vision of a perfect world. In George Orwell’s acclaimed novel 1984, the government of Oceania used “telescreens'; that displayed propaganda and censored news in addition to their role as cameras which relayed information back to the Ministry of Love. This constant surveillance provided assurance that the citizens put the needs of the state before themselves. In Phillip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the police precinct of Los Angeles utilized retinal scanning machines to determine the sincerity of the person’s thoughts during routine lie detector tests. These measures perpetuated that the dream of only socially accepted, pure humans holding high statuses. Even in Oshii Mamoru’s Jin-Roh, the National Security Division utilized high-tech heavily armed and armored Capital Police to annihilate non-conformists. The aid of technology assisted all of these fictitious societies in their pursuit of utopia. Ray Bradbury chose for Fahrenheit 451 to have a futuristic and technologically advanced setting to speak in outrage against the possible corruption of technology due to totalitarian abuse. Perhaps science fiction writers speak of one of the greatest fears humans possess, the masking of the truth. The ideology of the control society, deviant thought hinders progression towards a flawless civilization, supports the growth of information concealing technologies to eradicate such “dangerous thought';. The flamethrower, the instrument of terror wielded by the firemen, played the role of such a thought-concealing apparatus. Truly a device with dreaded applications, the flamethrower makes it initially appearance with: With the brass nozzle in [Montag’s] fists, with this great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon the world, the blood pounded in his head, and his hands were the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning to bring down the tatters and charcoal ruins of history. (3) As Bradbury writes, in one transient moment, years of recorded chronicles can go up in flames. This single sentence embodies the principle of how the rich heritage that humanity took eras to forge can end in a foul moment because of the wicked applications of technology. In a fictional environment where this deviant practice is viewed commonplace, the citizens of adopt a similar mentality. As the fireman Captain Beatty states, “[Fire’s] real beauty is that it destroys responsibility and consequences.

Why Is Assessment Important

4 Why is assessment for learning important? Adopting strategies that support Assessment for Learning can transform learning and teaching and take away the stigma that haunts assessment. In fact, research has shown that Assessment for Learning can have a significant effect on how well pupils achieve in terms of their attainment, behaviour, motivation, engagement and their ability to work independently. a) It Improves Performance -Black and William’s 1998 literature review examined 250 research articles from 160 journals published over a nine-year period.From this, they documented significant, and often substantial, quantifiable learning gains due to Assessment for Learning practices. Their review of over 20 studies on classroom assessment showed increases in primary and post-primary performance ranging from 15 to 30% compared to control groups. In post-primary, differential effects were measured at approximately half a level at Key Stage 3, over half a grade at GCSE, and two fu ll grades at GCSE after two to three years. They concluded that no other single improvement initiative improved performance levels to the extent that formative assessment did.Subsequent research in UK schools has substantiated these figures. For instance, research conducted in primary schools through the Gillingham Partnership’s Formative Assessment Project 2002 indicated improved standardised test scores in reading and numeracy as well as improvements in writing levels. Learning b) It Increases Learning Independence – Pupils who understand their own goals and their role in learning are more independent in managing their learning; they know what to do, how they have to work and take more responsibility for their own learning and assessment.Assessment for Learning helps cultivate these valuable skills by giving pupils a role in determining these components of the learning as well as experience in providing feedback and assessing themselves and their peers. The learning is no longer something they receive; it becomes something they pursue and have a hand in shaping. This can help learners later in life as well as in the classroom. c) It Improves Morale, Motivation and Risk-Taking – Knowing the goals and success indicators may help pupils to gain learning independence, but they are not the only influencing factors.Morale and motivation are also pivotal components, and here, too, Assessment for Learning plays an important role. Black and William found that many assessment approaches used in classrooms compare pupils with one another – particularly those that focus on marks and grades. Evidence shows that pupils interpret the prime purpose of these assessments to be competition rather than personal improvement. As a result, feedback from these types of assessment actually reduces pupil morale. It teaches them, particularly low-attaining pupils, that they lack ability, leading them to believe they are unable to learn. ) It Enhances Relati onships and Reflection – Assessment for Learning also helps foster a more positive classroom environment. It strengthens teacher-pupil relationships by increasing two-way communication. These interactions can make them more motivated to learn and more aware of their learning. Assessment for Learning can also improve planning and delivery of learning. This is because these practices lead you to analyse and make learning specific to pupils. It creates an opportunity to quality assure and amend activities to ensure they meet the learning needs. Why Is Assessment Important 4 Why is assessment for learning important? Adopting strategies that support Assessment for Learning can transform learning and teaching and take away the stigma that haunts assessment. In fact, research has shown that Assessment for Learning can have a significant effect on how well pupils achieve in terms of their attainment, behaviour, motivation, engagement and their ability to work independently. a) It Improves Performance -Black and William’s 1998 literature review examined 250 research articles from 160 journals published over a nine-year period.From this, they documented significant, and often substantial, quantifiable learning gains due to Assessment for Learning practices. Their review of over 20 studies on classroom assessment showed increases in primary and post-primary performance ranging from 15 to 30% compared to control groups. In post-primary, differential effects were measured at approximately half a level at Key Stage 3, over half a grade at GCSE, and two fu ll grades at GCSE after two to three years. They concluded that no other single improvement initiative improved performance levels to the extent that formative assessment did.Subsequent research in UK schools has substantiated these figures. For instance, research conducted in primary schools through the Gillingham Partnership’s Formative Assessment Project 2002 indicated improved standardised test scores in reading and numeracy as well as improvements in writing levels. Learning b) It Increases Learning Independence – Pupils who understand their own goals and their role in learning are more independent in managing their learning; they know what to do, how they have to work and take more responsibility for their own learning and assessment.Assessment for Learning helps cultivate these valuable skills by giving pupils a role in determining these components of the learning as well as experience in providing feedback and assessing themselves and their peers. The learning is no longer something they receive; it becomes something they pursue and have a hand in shaping. This can help learners later in life as well as in the classroom. c) It Improves Morale, Motivation and Risk-Taking – Knowing the goals and success indicators may help pupils to gain learning independence, but they are not the only influencing factors.Morale and motivation are also pivotal components, and here, too, Assessment for Learning plays an important role. Black and William found that many assessment approaches used in classrooms compare pupils with one another – particularly those that focus on marks and grades. Evidence shows that pupils interpret the prime purpose of these assessments to be competition rather than personal improvement. As a result, feedback from these types of assessment actually reduces pupil morale. It teaches them, particularly low-attaining pupils, that they lack ability, leading them to believe they are unable to learn. ) It Enhances Relati onships and Reflection – Assessment for Learning also helps foster a more positive classroom environment. It strengthens teacher-pupil relationships by increasing two-way communication. These interactions can make them more motivated to learn and more aware of their learning. Assessment for Learning can also improve planning and delivery of learning. This is because these practices lead you to analyse and make learning specific to pupils. It creates an opportunity to quality assure and amend activities to ensure they meet the learning needs.

Satan as Hero in Paradise Lost

The name of Satan has been permanently tarnished and cursed throughout English literature. His heinous strategies have crafted an abominable reputation for him, the enemy of the Lord. However, in John Milton’s Paradise Lost, Satan acquires a role depicted with characteristics associated with the epic heroes and heroines. The first two books of Paradise Lost describe Satan, one-third of Heaven’s fallen angels, and their experiences after their eviction.In a state of anguish, Satan’s followers are still confident in their ambitious leader. With futures murkier than Hell’s obsidian darkness, Satan feels pressured to somehow compensate his demons for their humiliating downfall. When nobody volunteered to explore the rumored world of Paradise, Satan, as the commander, took it upon himself. Due to his unfaltering pride, Satan was somewhat courageous, a quality of an epic hero. Unfortunately, his main goal was to perpetually conquer all good things and to destroy anything representing God.Boiling with animosity, Satan travels throughout Hell on a journey to find Paradise. By traveling through a few realms, his actions became noticeable to his enemies. God and Jesus Christ discussed the intentions of Satan against mankind and began planning on how they would defeat him. Satan had already become legendary in Heaven and he was about to promote that title with Paradise’s defeat. In the books, Satan seemed to be misunderstood and at certain instances, desiring to repent.However, his eternal resentment towards God regenerated his hatred. He knew that he could not return to his previous state of innocence and his pursuit to forget his past seemingly characterizes him as a tragic hero. The reader feels sympathetic for him because his emotions mirror human emotions. Milton shows both sides of the enemy of God and in doing so, it is hard to place a solid analysis on one of the main characters in Paradise Lost.

Indian Ethos and Values Essay

This is the first truth thought to every child. Even a poor uneducated man living in a hut knows that God is in everybody and therefore there is sameness in all. The second truth is about a holistic universe. Where at a level of pervading consciousness everything is interconnected at WASTHI LEVEL (Individual level) my limbs, hands, legs, ears, eyes, heart, lungs†¦. Everything are me. I live in all of them. Their sorrows and joys are my sorrows and Joys. Similarly at SAMASTHI level (the whole universe) I am not a single individual but I am a part of the whole universe Just as my limbs are part f me. Modern science has accepted that in this holistic universe all minds and matters are interconnected at a deeper level. The basic unity of life cannot be broken. Love, sacrifice therefore emerge as the only for a meaningful living. On the basis of this holistic vision, Indians have developed work ethos of life. They found that all work, physical or mental, managerial or administrative have to be directed towards single purpose. The manifestation of the divinity in man by working for the good of others, for the happiness of others. These Indian ethos are required all over he world in present scenario in managing business and industry effectively and efficiently. Some of these ethos are as follows: All work/Karma to manifest divinity, hence these must be pure, good, honest and sincere. Indian philosophy also teaches to perform every work without having any attachment to result, because results do not fall under the Jurisdiction of a doer. Such thinking and understanding will change the whole attitude. Now the results will become a PRASAD-gratitude – coming from the God himself. You can now accept the result with open mind without apprehensions-Just as you accept members into Considering motivations as internal every human being has the same divine atman with immense potentialities within Vedanta brings infinite expansion of mind, breaks down all the barriers and brings out the God in man. Motivation is to be internal and not external. Such motivation involves the inner beauty and does not promote any greed in an individual to have more and more in return of his work. Such an understanding is essential before embarking on the task of building the indigenous system of management. These are: Essential divinity of human soul Essential owners and solidarity of universe and all Philosophy of an integral experience. Family is the basic unit of social system. Rishi and ashramiac culture. Purusharth the mission. Varna-Ashram system. Spirit is free enquiry, tolerance and selective assimilation. The characteristics of Indian culture are that attends to be pervasive and enduring. When an international company is setting up business in India, it will have to look for the acceptability of their management in its present form in the Indian situation. The four basic cultural dimensions which may account for differences in management and HRD practices across culture are: the extent to which a society empahises collective rather than individual activity. the extent of power distance or tolerance for social inequility the extent of acceptance of uncertainity the extent to which a society empahises â€Å"masculine values† and behaviour such as assertiveness,ambitiousness and dominance etc. In the above diagram, the basic or the fundamental requirement for a manager is his VISION’ and attitude towards the environment in its totality i. e. Cosmic view based on cultural values. Next comes the emotional stability of the manager. He must be a self- controlled and self-propelled man. This can come by the heavy input of sattvic gunas and the constant practice of niskam karm. Job skills is the last input. Which though important, is not the ‘Core Requirement’ as the westerners view it. Hence any international company should imbibe above mentioned features seeking the business in India.

The Traffic Safety Problem in Urban Areas

THE TRAFFIC SAFETY PROBLEM IN URBAN AREAS J. ARCHER1 and K. VOGEL2 1 CTR, Kungliga Tekniska Hogskolan, Stockholm, Sweden; 2 VTI, Linkoping, Sweden E-mail: jeffery. [email  protected] kth. se; katja. [email  protected] se As the number of people who reside and work in urban areas increases, so, too, do the needs and demands placed on the infrastructure. This has led to severe congestion in many European cities, a situation which affects not only the environment in terms of pollution, but most notably levels of traffic safety.In Europe, tens of thousands of people are killed in road traffic accidents, and more than 1 million are injured each year at a cost, which is estimated to exceed the total European Union budget by a factor of two. The majority of accidents involving injury occur within urban areas often at junctions, while the number of fatalities outside these areas is greater, largely as a result of higher speed. Traffic safety research has shown a biased interest in the pr oblems associated with motorway and rural areas in the past.There are many reasons, which advocate a greater interest in urban areas, in particular, those related to the safety of unprotected road users. In urban areas the traffic system context is more complex, where a mixed road user environment prevails and greater perceptual and cognitive demands are placed on road users. In the past, many of the more successful safety countermeasures have focused on designing the roadway to meet the needs and limitations of road users. These solutions have, however, proved to be very costly.Today, new and relatively cheap technological solutions referred to as Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) have been developed which have the capacity to reduce exposure, accident risk, and accident severity. While the long term effects of these systems are largely unknown, and problems associated with standardisation and legislation are in need of resolve, systems such as Intelligent Speed Adaptation and ad vanced traffic control systems have shown great potential with regard to the traffic safety problem in urban areas.In order to effectuate this potential, a great deal of integrated multi-disciplinary research is required. 1. INTRODUCTION The last century of the second millennium has seen vast improvements in the living conditions and economic wealth of the industrialised nations of the world, and consequently a large growth in population, particularly in urban areas. The growth of cities and towns has also led to an increase in the need for mobility, and a consequent increase in the numbers and types of vehicles occupying the road infrastructure.The exponential increase in the number of vehicles during the twentieth century has far outweighed the projected capacities and adaptive capabilities of the existing road infrastructure systems, this has resulted in a situation of congestion and frustration among road users of all types and has had significant detrimental effects for traffic safety in terms of the unacceptable numbers of road accidents involving fatality and injury. During 1997, there were approximately 45 000 fatalities, and 1. million injuries reported from road traffic accidents within the European OECD countries according to statistics taken from the International Road Traffic and Accident Database (IRTAD). The costs of such accidents within the European Union are estimated to be in the region of 160 billion ECU per year, thereby exceding the total annual budget for the EU in 1997 (89 billion ECU). Statistics indicate that while approximately two-thirds of all fatalities occur outside urban areas, two-thirds of the total number of injuries occur inside urban areas.The outcomes of urban accidents are usually less severe in terms of the numbers of injuries and fatalities as a direct result of the greater limitations imposed on speed. Mainly for this reason, most of the international and national traffic safety research has focused on motorways and ma jor roads that link towns and cities by traversing rural and suburban areas. 2 Why Focus on Traffic Problems in Urban Areas?There are however, a number of very important reasons why the traffic system existing in urban areas should not be disregarded by prevailing research. Most importantly, there are a great number of people living in urban areas, and travel distances are generally shorter than in rural areas, which encourages people to use bicycles or to walk. According to the statistics for the European OECD countries, pedestrians amounted to 15 per cent, and cyclists 6 to per cent, of the total number of roadtraffic fatalities during 1997, respectively.For other types of road users, such as vehicle drivers, there are significant differences in the types of accidents that occur in urban areas with a greater number of rear-end and turning collisions, and a larger percentage of collisions occurring at junctions. Generally, the urban environment can be regarded as more complex with many different types of road users with different needs, the physical and mental demands placed on road users are therefore much higher, and are reflected in the statistics by a comparatively greater number of accidents involving injury.The Development of Traffic Safety in Urban Areas from a Historical Perspective In the past, European traffic safety in urban areas has most typically focused on speed management and traffic calming. Kjemstrup and Herrstedt (1992), identified three specific periods of development. During the first period prior to 1968, the major growth in the number of vehicles was initially countered by expanding the infrastructure where possible.These measures soon proved insufficient, leading to the hazardous overuse of local roads that had previously catered for lighter traffic, cyclists and pedestrians. In the second period from 1969 to 1979, the traffic safety problem was approached by separating light and fast-moving heavy traffic, and by designing the traffic environment with an emphasis on uniformity and simplicity. â€Å"Traffic calming† initiatives became popular together with what became known as â€Å"Woonerf design†, which entailed physical speed-reducing measures (e. . humps and narrowings), and rules to govern speeds and priorities within urban areas. The third period from 1980 to 1990 saw increasing opposition to speed reducing measures by public and private interests. A new and less expensive solution was required, and eventually took the form of â€Å"environmentally adapted through-roads†, which took into consideration: flow-rates, composition of traffic, accident rates, pedestrian needs, and environmental sensitivity (in relation to noise levels air-pollution etc. ).Research has shown considerable success in a number of European countries (e. g. Denmark, France, Germany), while others have neglected the potential offered by this concept. Kjemstrup and Herrstedt (1992) concluded at the time of writing, th at automatic speed regulation devices were â€Å"a long way into the future† and that traffic calming through physical measures and the design of street space was the only currently available approach to achieving lower speeds and increased safety and security and an improved urban environment.Despite safety countermeasures such as traffic calming techniques, various legislative measures, publicity campaigns, active police enforcement, improvements in vehicle safety standards, and local improvements in the infrastructure, the problems related to traffic safety in urban areas still prevail at an unacceptably high level. One area of research that has shown great promise is that concerning Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) which exploit the latest information and communication technologies and integrate them into the traffic system.This approach enables the already congested infrastructure to be utilised with much greater efficiency, and to some extent can resolve problems ass ociated with human limitations. The future appears to have arrived for automatic speed regulation devices such as â€Å"Intelligent Speed Adaptation† (ISA), which are perceived to have great safety potential (see e. g. SNRA, 1996). There is however, an irrefutable need for establishing sound scientific knowledge related to how effective countermeasures, with or without the aid of ITS, can be designed, developed, and implemented to resolve urban area traffic safety problems.The Need for Traffic Safety Strategies The World Health Organisation has referred to the existing traffic safety as a social and public health problem. In order to approach this problem, different European and world-wide traffic safety research programs have been initiated, which call for international co-operation between different institutions and establishments, and a conglomeration of different scientific disciplines in a major offensive to find ways to improve the present situation.At a national level some countries have developed specific traffic safety strategies in order to approach the traffic safety problem. 3 In Sweden, the â€Å"vision zero† has been sanctioned by the government in order that individuals and organisations can develop an operational energy and innovative thinking towards a new and radical future situation where the desired ultimate goal is to have zero road-traffic fatalities (Tingvall, 1995). This is to be achieved by emphasising for individuals that loss of health is completely unacceptable, and that traffic safety is ultimately their responsibility.The focus of attention is placed on active safety (i. e. the prevention of accidents), passive safety (i. e. reducing the severity of accidents upon occurrence), and improving the rescue services, health-care, and rehabilitation. Importantly, it is recognised that there are other interests in society in addition to the provision of safety (e. g. environmental issues and regional planning issues) which m ust be discussed in order to find a balance by authorities other than those in the road-transport sector in a social and political context.Thus, the â€Å"vision zero† concept involves a wide spectrum of interest at many different levels in order to provide an integrated and far reaching approach to the traffic safety problem in Sweden. Delimiting and Defining Urban Areas for Traffic Safety Research In this report it is important to distinguish between those roads that can be regarded as part of an urban area road network, and those which are not. A reasonably straightforward definition of urban areas could be taken to include all types of roads provided that they fall within a town or city boundary.This distinction is, however, too general to be of value for research purposes. The definition that is adopted by the Swedish Institute for Transport and Communications Analysis ( SIKA), and which will be used as a de facto definition in this report is: †¢ roads which most of ten are directly adjacent to large numbers of buildings where people live and work †¢ roads where there are many different types of road users (including cyclist and pedestrians) allowed to use the road †¢ roads where there is a high density of road junctions, roundabouts, pedestrian crossings etc. n order to allow for a reasonable level of accessibility for all road users †¢ roads where the maximum allowed speed is no greater than 50 km/h, or where a higher speed limit is posted, but the density of the surrounding buildings and the traffic conditions resemble those described above Roads that lead through built-up areas, but do not have intersections and are separated from the environment (by a fence) or restricted to motor vehicles are not considered to lie in an urban area (SIKA, 1999).The Swedish National Road Authority makes a distinction between â€Å"central†, â€Å"intermediate†, and â€Å"suburban† roads (SNRA, 1989, p. 55). What are consi dered â€Å"urban† or â€Å"built-up† areas differs to some extent from country to country depending on the responsibilities and prevailing political climate of the local and central authorities with regard to different road categories, and environmental and traffic safety issues. The exact distinction remains therefore somewhat â€Å"fuzzy† at an international level. 2. SWEDISH AND INTERNATIONAL T RAFFIC S AFETY S TATISTICS : THE D IFFERENCES BETWEEN URBAN AND NON-URBAN AREAS The traffic safety situation in Sweden is described annually in an official publication entitled â€Å"Traffic Injuries† produced by the Swedish Institute for Transport and Communication Analysis (SIKA). This publication is based entirely on police reported accident data, and represents only those accidents, which involve personal injury.The problem of under-reporting is acknowledged, and it is believed that the statistics presented might represent only as much as 30 per cent of the lighter injuries and approximately 60 per cent of the more serious injuries. Most injuries in relation to the different road user groups are believed to be represented to a level of approximately 50 per cent (e. g. caroccupants, motorcyclists, pedestrians). The most notable exception is found in the statistics for cyclists which are only believed to be represented to a level of 15 per cent (SIKA, 1999). Basic Swedish statistics and trends for the period 1960-1997 With 8. 5 million inhabitants, Sweden has one of the smallest populations among the European OECD nations. The infrastructure consists of a 210 000 km road network that is populated by around 4. 44 million motor vehicles. During the period between 1960 and 1997, the total number of accidents and the number of urban accidents has declined marginally (see Figure 1). The total number of fatalities and the number of fatalities in urban areas has, however, declined significantly (by more than 50 per cent since the mid-1960†™s) during this time period (see Figure 2).During the period from 1960 to 1997 the proportion of accidents involving fatality in urban areas has remained relatively constant, at an average of 32 per cent of the total number. Similarly, the proportion of accidents involving injury in urban areas has remained fairly constant during this time period at around 58 per cent of the total number. 20000 18000 1200 16000 14000 12000 1000 1400 No of Accid. 10000 8000 6000 4000 2000 0 1960 Accidents Urban Areas Accidents in total No of fatalities 800 600 400 Fatalities In total Fatalities urban areas 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 200 0 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 990 1995 1960 1965 Year Year Figure 1: Absolute number of police reported accidents on Swedish roads that resulted in injuries or fatalities during the period 1960 to 1997, and absolute number for the same types of accidents in urban areas during the same period. Figure 2: Absolute number of police reported fatalities on Swedish roads d uring the period 1960 to 1997, and absolute number for the same type of accidents in urban areas during the same period. Comparing Swedish Urban and Non-Urban Statistics In 1997, 9 015 of the 15 752 reported road accidents involving fatality or injury occurred in urban areas.These urban area accidents resulted in 154 fatalities, 1 765 serious injuries, and 11 593 less serious injuries. The remaining 6 737 accidents occurring outside urban areas resulted in 387 fatalities, 2 152 serious injuries, and 7 689 less serious injuries. The majority of the accidents that are reported to the police authorities involve one or more motor vehicles. The main classes of accidents are single vehicle accidents, vehicle-vehicle accidents, and accidents where vehicles and unprotected road users are involved (i. e. oped riders, cyclists, and pedestrians). 5 Single vehicle accidents usually occur in situations where drivers lose control over their vehicle, often as a result of driving too fast for the s ituation and prevailing road conditions. Many of these accidents occur at night-time and involve collisions with parked vehicles. With regard to vehiclevehicle accidents, a more in-depth look at the nature of the accident called for is in order to get a clearer picture of the different accident profiles occurring in Swedish urban and non-urban areas.The main types of vehicle-vehicle accidents described by SIKA are: †¢ Overtaking and Lane-Changing – Accidents where the two primarily involved vehicles are on the same road travelling in the same direction without any planned turn and where one of the vehicle drivers intended to either change lanes or overtake. †¢ Rear-End – Accidents where the two primarily involved vehicles are on the same road travelling in the same direction without any planned turn and the following vehicle collides with the vehicle in front. No intended overtaking should be present in the situation. Meeting – Accidents in which both of the primarily involved vehicles collided while travelling in opposite directions with no planned turn. †¢ Turning – Accidents where the two primarily involved vehicles are originally travelling on the same road in the same or opposite direction, and where one or both of the vehicles has planned to turn. †¢ Crossing – Accidents where the two primarily involved vehicles are originally travelling on different roads, and where neither of the vehicles has planned to turn in a situation where the vehicles’ planned routes cross each other, or where one or both vehicles planned to turn. Others – Accidents that do not fit any of the above descriptions (e. g. reversing accidents and U-turn accidents). The differences in the number of accident occurrences between urban and non-urban areas are depicted in Figure 3. The figure indicates that almost all accident types are more frequent in urban areas, with the exception of single-vehicle accidents, acciden ts involving overtaking or lane changing, and meeting accidents.Single vehicle accidents occur more often outside urban areas often as a result of loss of control at speeds, which are too high for the prevailing road conditions. Overtaking tends to occur less frequently within urban areas where a speed limit of 50 km/h or less is posted, and generally congested conditions restrict the opportunity for a manoeuvre of this type. Lane changing on the other hand occurs quite frequently within urban areas, but does not result in the same number of accidents most probably on account of lower speeds.The number of rear-end accidents is greater within urban areas than in rural areas, there is a considerably larger number of situations per km of roadway which require vehicles to stop or yield. Similarly, there is a greater number of opportunities for turning and crossing accidents within urban areas due to higher levels of congestion and the higher number of traffic junctions. The most noticea ble differences between urban and non-urban area accidents that are depicted in Figure 3, are those concerning motor vehicles and unprotected road users (i. . mopeds, cycles, and pedestrians). There is a comparatively greater number of unprotected road users in urban areas, but the absolute number of these accidents in comparison to single vehicle and vehicle-vehicle accidents suggest that this is one area that should be given great attention in the field of traffic safety research. The â€Å"others† category shown in Figure 3, which is not vehicle-vehicle related refers to accidents involving a vehicle and another type of obstacle than those already mentioned.In rural areas and on motorways (and occasionally with urban areas) accidents occur that involve motor vehicles and wild animals that have strayed onto the road, larger animals such as moose can cause severe injury and sometimes fatality. Other types of motor vehicle accidents resulting in injury can also involve other forms of transportation that occupy or cross the roadway (e. g. trains, trams, tractors and other more unusual vehicles). Accidents that result in injury also occur between forms of transportation that do not involve the more common motor vehicles category, and in some cases pedestrians (e. . between cycles, mopeds, and/or pedestrians). 6 The fatality statistics reveal some interesting facts (see Figure 4). Most importantly, all types of vehicle-vehicle accidents result in a greater number of fatalities outside urban areas, despite the fact that some types occur more frequently within urban areas. This fact can be attributed largely to the higher speeds allowed on non-urban roads, and is exaggerated further by the number of fatalities in meeting accidents in non-urban areas where the collision speed is the sum of the two vehicles that are approaching in opposite directions.The unprotected road users category is that which is of great concern to traffic researcher with regard to urba n areas. The proportion of accidents involving motor vehicles and pedestrians or cyclists that result in fatality are considerably greater in non-urban areas as a result of the higher speed of the vehicles, but the absolute number of those accidents is considerably smaller outside urban areas. The traffic safety problems associated with unprotected road users are quite prominent.The fatality risk independent of the type of area where the fatality occurred for pedestrians in relation to vehicle occupants given the relative number of travelled kilometres is 11 to 1, for cyclists 4. 5 to 1, and for moped riders 24 to 1. 3000 No of Accidents 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 Veh-Veh Crossing Veh-Veh Meeting Veh-Veh Turning Veh-Veh Rear-E Veh-Veh Others Veh-Pedestr Veh-Single Veh-Moped Veh-Veh LCh/Ov Veh-Cycle Others Veh-Pedestr Others Urban Accidents Non-urban Accidents 0 Accident CategoryFigure 3: The number of urban and non-urban accidents for different road user accidents categories (LCh/Ov = Lane Changing and Overtaking, Rear-E = Rear-End, Pedestr = Pedestrian). 140 120 No of Fatalities 100 80 60 40 20 Veh-Single Veh-Veh Crossing Veh-Veh Meeting Veh-Veh Turning Veh-Veh Rear-E Veh-Veh Others Veh-Moped Veh-Veh LCh/Ov Veh-Cycle Urban fatalities Non-urban Fatalities 0 Accident Category Figure 4: The number of urban and non-urban fatalities for different road user accidents categories (LCh/Ov = Lane Changing and Overtaking, Rear-E = Rear-End, Pedestr = Pedestrian). During 1997 almost 200 more accidents occurred per month within urban areas rather than outside. In the urban environment, more accidents than average occurred from May to October, with a local minimum in July. July is also the month in which the majority of accidents outside urban areas occur. This can be explained by the fact that a large percentage of the Swedish population take their holidays in July, resulting in a lower number of road users within urban areas and a greater number on rural roads and motorways .A look at the distribution of accidents occurring within urban areas according to the days of the week also shows a different pattern when compared to accidents occurring in nonurban areas. In urban areas, the number of accidents is above average on workdays, rising marginally towards Friday. A sharp decline in the number of accidents can be noticed during weekends. For times of day, the patterns are similar for accidents occurring within and outside urban areas. The main difference lies in the larger quantity of urban accidents. Most accidents occur in the afternoon between 16:00 and 18:00.Few accidents occur during early morning hours before 6:00. Comparing Swedish and International Urban and Non-Urban Statistics In the 1999 summer edition of the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) newsletter â€Å"Safety Monitor† it was stated that the fatality rates expressed in 100 million person/kilometres travelled were significantly greater for cyclists (6. 3), pedestrians (7. 5 ), and moped/motorcyclists (16) than all other modes of travel. This situation remained unchanged even when the fatality rates were expressed in terms of 100 million hours of relative exposure.The ETSC also pointed out that there is a considerable difference (by a factor of 7) between the country with the most adverse fatality rate and the country with the least number of fatalities, and recommended that priority should be given to the traffic safety problems associated with unprotected road users. The European fatality statistics suggest that car travel is ten times safer than walking (although car travel is in itself ten times less safe than bus travel). The majority of international statistics in this report are extracted from the OECD IRTAD database.This data is presented with due consideration to the problems of under-reporting and a general lack of exposure data. Currently twenty European nations (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hun gary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and United Kingdom) report data to IRTAD each year. Some of the more standard detailed data is, however, not available for some countries (most notably Greece, Luxembourg, and Portugal).Besides these European countries there are data for Canada, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea. Table 1 indicates some of the basic demographic and traffic safety data for Europe (with Sweden shown separately), and other IRTAD countries for 1997. Table 1: Basic demographic and traffic safety data for the OECD countries who report their statistics to IRTAD. The OECD European countries are shown as a grand total (OECD Eur Total), and as an mean average (OECD Eur Average), the data for Sweden is also shown separately. Country/Continent Population (x 1000) Road Network (km) Land Area (sqkm)Motor Vehicles (x 1000) Reported Accidents involving Injury 15 752 72 393 1 303 074 2 455 118 152 7 65 -9 482 780 399 246 452 Reported Accidents involving Injury in Urban Areas 9 015 50 015 850 258 1 564 411 107 019 -5 944 566 169 162 320 Reported Fatalities Reported Fatalities in Urban Areas Sweden OECD Eur Average OECD Eur Total USA Canada Australia New Zealand Japan South Korea 8 844 20 281 405 610 267 636 30 286 18 532 3 743 126 166 45 545 210 000 183 568 3 304 227 6 346 857 895 562 810 000 91 864 1 152 207 82 342 449 760 194 134 3 882 684 9 363 353 9 360 527 7 686 844 269 122 377 837 99 266 428 10 767 215 347 203 568 17 576 11 238 2 393 75 713 11 991 541 2 485 44 728 41 967 3 064 1 767 540 11 254 13 343 154 790 13 427 14 861 1 043 -146 5 512 5 378 The statistics presented in Table 1 show that Sweden is smaller in terms of population than the average OECD European country, yet larger in terms of the land area and the size of the road network. The number of accidents involving injury and the number of fatalities (regardless of whether they occurred within or outside urban areas ) are also considerably smaller than the average. 8An interesting comparison can be made between OECD Europe and the USA. The population of OECD Europe is approximately one-third larger than USA and the number of motor vehicles is only 5. 5 per cent higher. However, the road network in the USA is 48 per cent larger in terms of the number of kilometres, and the total number of reported accidents involving injuries is 47 per cent higher than in OECD Europe. The total number of fatalities for the USA is only 6 per cent smaller than for the OECD European countries despite the smaller population and larger road network.The higher number of vehicles relative to the population could partly explain these differences. Before any more solid conclusions can be drawn important exposure data are required. The problem of under-reporting as previously mentioned, and the actual reporting method may also have confounding effects on the data. The rates for all accidents that resulted in injury per 10 000 population, and fatality rates per 100 000 population, for the different OECD countries and continents mentioned above are shown in Figure 5. The number of accidents that resulted in injury was not available for Australia.The average rates for the OECD European countries were calculated individually on the data that were available (some data was not available for Greece, Luxembourg, and Portugal). The data presented in Figure 5 show that Sweden (and other Scandinavian countries) has a lower fatality rate and accident rate than other OECD European and non-European countries that reported data to the IRTAD database. 100 Fatalities per 100,000 population 90 80 Accidents involving injury per 10,000 population 70 No of Acc/Fat 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Sweden OECD Europe (Av) USA Canada Australia New Zealand Japan Korea Country/ContinentFigure 5: Accident rates for all accidents that resulted in injury per 10 000 population, and fatality rates per 100 000 population, for the different OEC D countries and continents. Looking at the international statistics in relation to urban and non-urban areas it can be noticed that all of the OECD countries, with the exception of Norway, had a higher proportion of accidents involving injury occurring within urban rather than outside. Sweden (57 per cent) came a close second to Norway (47 per cent), with the OECD European average matching very closely that of USA (63 and 64 per cent respectively).Japan had the highest proportion of accidents involving injury occurring within urban areas (73 per cent). This might well be attributable to the high level of urbanisation in Japan and the resulting high proportion of urban roads. In Sweden, 28 per cent of all road-traffic fatalities occur in urban areas. This figure is lower than the OECD European country average (33 per cent) and lower than most of the countries and continents outside Europe with the exception of New Zealand (27 per cent). Japan has the highest urban area fatality rates (49 per cent) perhaps for the same reasons as mentioned above.Within OECD Europe, Spain has the lowest recorded fatality rate in urban areas (20 per cent), closely followed by Norway (21 per cent), Austria (23 per cent), and Germany (24 per cent). Unfortunately, the IRTAD database is not so detailed concerning the exact types and involvement of different categories of road users concerning urban area accidents that involve injury and urban area fatalities. With regard to the fact that many accidents in urban areas involve unprotected road users it is worthwhile to take a look at the available IRTAD data concerning these categories despite the fact that 9 he proportions of accidents involving injury and fatalities in urban and non-urban areas are not available. The data indicates that Sweden has one of the lowest overall pedestrian fatality rates per 1 million population, and also a low cyclist fatality rate per 1 million population within (but not outside) the OECD European countri es (see Figure 6). Obviously the proportional number of cyclists needs to be taken into account for the different countries in order to allow statements about their relative safety. 120 Fatality Rate (per 1 mill. pop. ) Pedestrian Fatality Rate per 1 million population 00 80 60 40 20 0 Cyclist Fatality Rate per 1 million population Sweden OECD Europe (Av) USA Canada Australia New Japan Zealand Korea Country/Continent Figure 6: Fatality rates for pedestrians and cyclists per 1 million inhabitants for the different OECD countries and continents. A Closer Look at Accidents that Occur at Junctions in Sweden Having identified the fact that the majority of accidents in urban areas occur at junctions it is interesting to look more closely at the nature of these accidents and the differences between existing types of junctions.Figure 7 below indicates the main differences between road-links (i. e. the roads stretching between junctions), T-junctions, crossroad junctions, roundabouts, and ot her categories, in relation to the different types of road users involved. Unfortunately, no urban and non-urban breakdown of the statistics is available. 3000 Link 2500 No of Accidents 2000 1500 1000 500 0 Single Veh-Veh Veh-Cycle T-Junction Crossrd-Junc Roundabout Other Veh-Pedestr Accident Types Figure 7: Number of accidents on road-links and different junction types shown in accordance with the different types of road users involved.Figure 7 shows that the majority of all single accidents occur on link roads. The accident statistics also show that accidents occurring on road-links have a higher frequency of fatalities and more serious injuries than those occurring at junctions. Of the 493 accidents involving fatality in Sweden during 1997, 329 occurred on link roads (i. e. 67 per cent), 69 at T-junctions (14 per cent), 68 at crossroadjunctions (14 per cent), and 4 at roundabouts (1 per cent). It is important to note that roundabouts are relatively uncommon in Sweden, between 3. and 10 times less in number than other types of crossing (Englund et. al, 1998). 10 Before discussing the vehicle-vehicle accidents, it is important to note that the majority of vehiclecycle and also the vehicle-moped accidents occur at T-junctions and crossroad-junctions. A far greater number of accidents occur at these types of junctions than on link roads. For pedestrians an almost equal number of accidents occur on road-links (523) and at T-junctions and crossroad-junctions taken together (498).There is little difference between the accident and fatality rates for T-junctions and crossroad-junctions, and the data for roundabouts is not comparable on account of the relatively low number existing in the traffic infrastructure. The statistics show a larger number of vehicle-vehicle accidents occurring at T-junctions and crossroad-junctions taken together (3 436) in comparison with the number of accidents on road-links (2 216). It is interesting to examine the vehicle-vehicle accide nts in relation to the different categories of accidents that occur (see Figure 8). 1000 No of Accidents 800 600 400 200 0Veh-Veh Overt / LCh Veh-Veh Rear-End Veh-Veh Meeting Veh-Veh Turning Veh-Veh Crossing Veh-Veh Other Link T-Junction Crossrd-Junc Roundabou t Other Vehicle-Vehicle Accident Types Figure 8: Number of accidents on road-links and different junction types shown in accordance with the different types of vehicle-vehicle accidents (Overt/L Ch = Overtaking and Lane Changing). Figure 8 shows that very few ‘overtaking and lane changing’ accidents and very few ‘meeting’ accidents occur at junctions (these are more likely to fall into the ‘crossing’ and ‘turning’ categories when they occur at junctions).It can also be noticed that a similar number of ‘rear-end’ accidents occur at T-junctions and crossroad-junctions, but these are far exceeded by the quantity occurring on road-links (this may reflect the way thes e accidents are coded with regard to distance in relation to a junction). Differences can be noticed at T-junctions and crossroad-junctions regarding the number of ‘turning’ and ‘crossing’ accidents. ‘Turning’ accidents occur with much greater frequency at Tjunctions (690) than at crossroad-junctions (381), whereas ‘crossing’ accidents are more likely to occur at crossroad-junctions (1030) than at T-junctions (481).These statistics reflect differences in the frequencies of ‘turning’ and ‘crossing’ manoeuvres and possible conflict situations that occur at these two sites. These findings concur with those of the Swedish researcher Brude (1991) who points out that more than half of the accidents in urban areas occur at junctions. He also states that 4-legged junctions are 1. 5 to 2 times more accident-prone than 3-legged junctions, and consequently that redesigning 4-legged to three-legged junctions can enhan ce safety. 11 3.THE M AIN CAUSES OF ACCIDENTS IN URBAN AREAS In the majority of traffic accidents, urban or otherwise, the cause cannot usually be traced to a single factor but rather to a combination of circumstances in a chain of events that are best described by the interactions between: a) the road user, b) the vehicle, and c) the roadway and prevailing environment. Any attempts to explain and improve traffic safety in urban areas must ideally adopt a â€Å"systems approach† in order to consider the contributions and interactions of all important factors, and to capture the dynamics and complexity of the traffic system (Hyden, 1994; Leveson, 1995).The concept of traffic safety can ultimately be regarded as an emergent property of the actions and interactions of the main elements of the traffic system. This suggests that any systems analysis aimed at examining existing traffic safety problems must be performed at an appropriate contextual level in order to gain appropriate knowledge and insight into the existing complexities and dynamics of the system and it’s constituent elements at a given time. However, even if a systems approach is adopted, the subject of how and why accidents in urban areas actually occur presents a number of problems for researchers.The main difficulties appear to lie in establishing the exact chain of events leading up to the accident. This information is of some relevance to the police authorities and insurance companies for the purposes of determining responsibility, but is often neglected with regard to important details that might provide a more in-depth systematic description of what actually occurred. Often, post crash interviews are susceptible to distortion as a result of trauma or fear of the consequences of being assigned responsibility.Describing the conditions leading up to an accident is also made more difficult as they are often not monitored consciously by the driver who is often performing skills in what is best described as â€Å"automated† mode (Wickens, 1992). In the remainder of this section three important and relevant studies from different countries, which focus specifically on the reasons behind urban accidents, are described and discussed, and related to the traffic safety problem in urban areas in Sweden.The English Study One of the most comprehensive and most interesting studies in relation to the causes of urban area accidents was carried out in the Leeds area in England at the end of the 1980’s ( Carsten, Tight, Southwell & Plows, 1989). During a one year period, Carsten and colleagues investigated 1 254 injury accidents reported to five different police sub-divisions that involved 2 454 participants (1 863 drivers, 463 pedestrians, and 128 cyclists) that occurred in the Leeds area on roads that had a speed limit of 40 mph (approx. 60 km/h) or less.The accident data showed that 2 per cent of the accidents involved fatalities, and as many as 20 per cent in volved serious injury. Nearly 70 per cent of all accidents occurred at junctions, and of these junctions 12 per cent were controlled by traffic-lights or stop signs, and 72 per cent by give-way signs, the remaining 16 per cent were uncontrolled. Besides the official police accident reports, questionnaires were administered by interview or post, and a visit was made to the accident site prior to a case conference that was convened to determine and classify the circumstances surrounding the accident.An innovative method for describing accident causation was adopted in which four different levels could be combined in accordance with a multi-level coding scheme comprised of 150 different items in order to form what was described as a â€Å"chain of factors† approach. According to Carsten and colleagues (1989) a contributory factor behind an accident could be defined as â€Å"a road user or traffic systems failure without which the accident would not have happened†, the imm ediate failure that precipitated the accident.The results of this study indicated that, of the first level factors (i. e. immediate failures that precipitated an accident), ‘unable to anticipate’ accounted for 29 per cent, ‘failure to yield ’ for 16 per cent, and ‘failure to anticipate ’ 10 per cent of the factors coded. ‘Unable to anticipate’ implies that the road user in question had the right of way, and a â€Å"reasonable road user† would also have been unable to anticipate the faulty behaviour of the other person, while ‘failure to yield’ implies that a â€Å"reasonable road user† would have perceived the upcoming danger earlier.Results also show that as many as 44 per cent of drivers were â€Å"innocent victims of others’ mistakes†. Failure to yield was also a factor for adult and child pedestrians (66 and 78 per cent, respectively). 12 At the second level (i. e. failure that increased the likelihood of an accident), findings suggested that 62 per cent of the factors determined were situational problems. For the drivers the most important factors were ‘driving too fast for the situation’ (29 per cent) and ‘following too close’ (8 per cent). On the third level (i. e. oad user behaviour or lack of skill that led to failure) different road user skills are considered. It is found that especially pedestrians, and mostly children, â€Å"fail to look†, while the main problem of motor vehicle drivers usually is the misinterpretation of other road users’ intentions. Both groups also show â€Å"lack of judgement†, which includes a wrong estimation of the speed or the path of other road users. The most common problem on the fourth level (i. e. the explanation for the failure or behaviour) for drivers is their view being obstructed by something, either inside the car or outside. Impairment†, which mainly means the influenc e of alcohol, is much more common among adult pedestrians than among drivers. Some other points of interest to emerge from this study concerned the fact that 75 per cent of all accidents occurred within the first 5 kilometres of travel, and also that 93 per cent of the respondents had knowledge of the road where the accident occurred. Also, it is noteworthy that as many as 16 per cent of all pedestrians involved in accidents admitted consuming alcohol within a three hour period prior to the accident, compared to 4. percent of drivers. Some important differences were also found regarding different age groups, more specifically, the problems of younger drivers (most notably males) such as driving too fast for the situation differ from those of elderly drivers associated with deteriorating perceptual and cognitive abilities with increasing age. Perhaps one of the most important points concerns the fact that almost 50 per cent of the second most common level 1 factor, ‘ failure to yield ’, could be explained by lower level perceptual and cognitive factors (e. . ‘failure to look ’ and ‘failure to see’). On the basis of the important knowledge gained from their study, the authors were able to make a number of recommendations concerning road user issues for drivers (and riders), and pedestrians, and suggests ways in which traffic management and engineering issues might be brought to bear on traffic safety problems along with counter measures that involve improvements in publicity, education, and training.The French Study Another major study which looked at some of the reasons behind accidents in urban areas, and the differences between these accidents and those occurring outside urban areas, was conducted by the French traffic researchers Malaterre and Fontaine (1993). This investigation was primarily aimed at identifying the safety needs of drivers, and the possibility of satisfying these needs by using the different Intelligen t Transport Systems (ITS) functions suggested in the European PROMETHEUS programme.The authors identified 17 different basic needs in relation to the driving task: â€Å"For each user the accident could have been avoided, if the need had been satisfied†. 3179 accidents involving 6049 road users were examined according to these needs. For approximately 20 % of the road users no needs were identified – they are considered the passive victims of the accident. The needs were grouped into the road user skills of :â€Å"control†, â€Å"prediction†, â€Å"estimates†, â€Å"detection†, and â€Å"status†. The results of this study show an overriding need for detection in urban areas (mainly at junctions), followed by the need for prediction (i. . predicting the manoeuvre of a road user who has already been detected). Detection problems were advocated in 61 per cent of the accidents analysed, and within this particular grouping of identified ne eds ‘transversal detection’ problems (i. e. detecting the approach of another road user on an intersecting lane at a junction, or similarly for a pedestrian, detecting the approach of a vehicle on the roadway he/she is preparing to cross) occurred most frequently (19 per cent of all accidents). Outside urban areas detection problems were still predominant over the other types of identified needs (45 per cent of all accidents).However, the second most important need was identified as statusrelated diagnostic needs (i. e. mainly driver-related problems in relation to alcohol or fatigue, and space-time assessment needs) rather than prediction needs which were found to be somewhat less important in non-urban areas. The authors suggest that a large number of junction-related accidents in urban areas (i. e. meeting and turning accidents) could be avoided by the introduction of suitable Intelligent Transportation systems (ITS) which support driver needs such as ‘critical course determination’, ‘obstacle detection’, ‘vision enhancement’, and ‘safety margin determination’. 3 The American Study The North American researchers Retting, Williams, Preusser, and Weinstein (1995) have conducted another major study focusing specifically on traffic safety problems in urban areas. According to the authors, efforts to reduce the number and severity of accidents have been seriously inhibited by a general lack of important information with regard to the specific types of accidents that predominate in urban areas.The primary purpose of their study was to develop a classification system based on pre-accident driver/vehicle behaviour in order that planners and policy makers could develop suitable countermeasures aimed at reducing the most prevalent types of urban accidents. The investigation conducted by Retting and colleagues was based on police reported accident data from three cities and one urban county, each from di fferent states. The data were collected between August 1990 and July 1991 and included records from 4 526 accidents, many of these included property damage only in contrast to European police accident reporting.The results of this study show that 56 per cent of all accidents occurred at intersections, and only 31 per cent of accidents resulted in injury. Pedestrian and cycle accidents were not included in the accident statistics, although it is reported that these would otherwise have accounted for 5 and 3 per cent of the total number of accidents, respectively. Five of the thirteen different types of accidents accounted for 76 per cent of the total number that occurred in the four urban areas, these included: ‘ran traffic control’ (i. . a situation where a vehicle that is required to stop, remain stopped, or yield disregards the requirement and collides with some other vehicle) with 22 per cent, ‘stopped or stopping’ (i. e. a situation where a vehicle that has stopped, or is stopping or just starting up in a travel lane is hit from the rear) with 18 per cent, ‘ran-off road’ (i. e. a situation where a vehicle leaves the travel lane(s) striking an object such as a parked cars) with 14 per cent, ‘lane-change’ (i. e. situation where a vehicle in a travel lane swerves or moves into another in the same direction that is already occupied) with 13 per cent, and ‘left-turn oncoming’ (i. e. a situation where a vehicle in the process of making a left turn in front of oncoming traffic is struck by or strikes a vehicle which is both coming from the opposite direction and which has a superior right of way) with 9 per cent. These five accident types also accounted for 83 per cent of the total number of accidents involving injury.The rank order among these five accident types differed between areas. Also, the ‘ran traffic control’ and ‘left-turn oncoming’ accidents occurred most freque ntly at intersections. A closer look at the ‘ran traffic control’ category showed that 41 per cent of the intersections where the accidents occurred were controlled by stop signs, and that 31 per cent were controlled by traffic lights. It was also noticed that the ‘left-turn oncoming’ accidents generally occurred in the presence of traffic lights and were most often the result of a failure to yield to a right-of-way.The ‘ stopped or stopping’ accidents, involving mostly rear-end collisions, were found to be the result of inattention. It was proposed that the most common types of accidents, described as ’ran traffic control’, could be resolved by better signal timing, the increased visibility of signals and signs, reduced speeds near intersections, red-light cameras, or redesigning the intersection in terms of traffic signals and signs. It is also recognised by the authors that different intersections are likely to have different a ccident type distributions depending on (e. g. oad geometry, population density, traffic density, methods of traffic control, and police enforcement strategies). Similarly, ‘stopped or stopping’ accidents might be reduced by better signal timing and reducing the number of stops. The ‘ ran-off road’ category of accidents might be reduced by better roadway design including the use of one-way systems, better lane delineation, and better lighting. Suggestions are also made regarding other possible solutions including changes in roadway design to reduce the possibility for conflict between different road users.Comparison of the Swedish, American, English and French Data It is problematic to compare the four different countries directly because of the many differences in data collection methods, the grouping and inclusion of different road-users, and the many differences in the traffic systems. The most important differences that are noted include the fact that t he French study does not consistently distinguish between accidents in rural and in urban areas, and the fact that the American data also includes property damage accidents and excludes other important accident types (e. g. accidents with unprotected road users).Also, both the English and the French study give only sparse information as to the accident location. 14 One of the main conclusions that can be drawn concerns the fact that urban area junctions are accident-prone. In the USA 56 per cent of the accidents occurred at junctions, for England this number lies at 70 per cent, and in Sweden at least 46 per cent of the accidents that involve only motor vehicles occurred at junctions. This figure is probably larger, because it is likely that part of the rear-end accidents (21 per cent of all urban motor vehicle accidents in Sweden) also occurred at junctions.In the English study it is stated that the majority of accidents for drivers occur as a result of an inability to anticipate, a failure to yield or a failure to anticipate (29, 16 and 10 per cent of all accidents respectively), the Swedish data suggests that 13 per cent of all urban area accidents are crossing accidents between two vehicles (i. e. suggesting a failure to yield or to anticipate), and also that 8 per cent of all urban area accidents are turning accidents (i. e. suggesting an inability or a failure to anticipate).Also of importance in this comparison is the finding that 50 per cent of the accidents resulting from a failure to yield (which is the second most common form of accident) were attributed to perceptual factors for all road-user categories and a further 14 per cent to cognitive factors. The Swedish traffic researcher Brude (1993) arrives at nearly the same figure – he suggests that 61 per cent of all urban area accidents are attributable to detection related (i. e. perception and cognition) failures. A more detailed comparison can be made for certain types of accidents in Swede n and in the USA.It has to be kept in mind, though, that the Swedish data does not include damage only accidents, and there is no information given if damage only accidents in the US show a different pattern of occurrence than injury accidents. Only accidents in urban areas that involve motor vehicles are considered. The percentages with which different accident types occur are quite similar in Swedish and American urban areas. The most common type in the US is ‘ran traffic control’ with 22 per cent, which might be matched against crossing accidents in the Swedish data (26 per cent).Rear-end accidents make up 18 per cent in the US and 16 per cent in Sweden, single accidents in the US account for 14 per cent, but for 22 per cent in Sweden. The next common category in the US is lane-changing accidents with 13 per cent, which (including overtaking) account for only 3 per cent in Sweden. ‘Left turn oncoming’ accidents in the US make up 9 per cent of the urban a ccidents, while the figure for Sweden lies at 12 per cent, ‘left turn waiting’ accidents make up 3 per cent in both countries.It can be seen that the distribution of accident types is quite similar for both countries, with the exception of single accidents and lane changing accidents. This last difference might be due to the fact that roads with more than one lane in each direction are much more common in American urban areas than in Swedish cities, which makes the occurrence of lane changes more likely in the US. 15 4. SAFETY ENHANCEMENT M EASURES IN THE TRAFFIC S YSTEM Road accidents are the result of a potentially large number of causal factors that exert their influence at approximately the same location and time.In order to be able to propose, evaluate, and compare safety enhancement measures within the context of the traffic system, a suitable model is required. There are a number of models that can be applied for road safety management in order to describe the sa fety situation at a national or communal level. While many models tend to focus on the events surrounding the accident occurrence, or human error mechanisms, one of the more useful and more comprehensive models that is recognised internationally focuses on three dimensions related to: exposure in traffic; the risk of an accident given the exposure; and the consequences (i. . severity) of accidents (see e. g. Thulin & Nilsson, 1994; Rumar, 1996; and OECD, 1997). Other models also aim at predictability or effectiveness evaluation, perhaps using econometric modelling. There are also models that exist at the micro-level in order to describe safety problems at an individual level. These models are usually associated with the evaluation of subjective risk and are predisposed to problems associated with the fact that accidents are random and essentially unpredictable at the micro-level, requiring the use of other less valid proxy measures or safety indicators.Many of these micro-models are not comprehensive enough to be of any great value in assessing risk within a systems context. Researchers in the field usually advocate a multi-disciplinary approach, although presently there are no known models that can bridge the macro-micro gap (see OECD, 1997 for a more complete description of different models). The three dimensions suggested in above model are adopted for a description of the more traditional approaches taken when dealing with the traffic safety problem.Emphasis is given to urban area safety although many countermeasures may also have value in other areas. One of the advantages of this model is that it can be applied to the three primary elements of the traffic system (i. e. road users, vehicles, and the roadway environment), in order to form a 3 by 3 classification matrix for the many different traffic safety countermeasures (see Table 2 below). Table 2: Classification matrix for different types of traffic safety countermeasures related to the three main elem ents of the traffic system. Road-User Exposure E. g. mprovements in attractiveness of alternative (safer) modes of transport to relieve congestion and reduce travel time, etc. E. g. better use of other safer forms of (public) transport, ITS-functions which aid driver perception and decision-making, better driver training, etc. E. g. better use of in-vehicle injury prevention devices such as seat belts, better use of protective clothing by unprotected road users, etc. Vehicle E. g. more effective use of roadsystem through route-guidance, increases in parking costs, annual vehicle/road taxation, fuel taxation, etc. E. g. se of improved technology to provide better handling, ABS brakes, high-mounted brake lights, better man-machine, interface, warning systems, etc. E. g. better vehicle design and use of materials that can absorb energy on impact, provision of injury prevention devices such as air-bags, etc. Roadway E. g. better infrastructure design, differential toll-systems, improved traffic management strategies for better flow and capacity etc. E. g. improvements in roadway design, better visibility and lighting, separation of different types of road users to reduce possibility for conflicts etc.E. g. Greater speed restrictions, Limited access to urban roads, Removal of dangerous roadside objects, etc. Accident Risk Accident Severity Safety Improvements Aimed at Individual Road Users For the different categories of road users, changing levels of exposure is very rarely stated as a primary goal for the purposes of improving the traffic safety situation. This may be related to the fact that accurate exposure data are very difficult to collect and are rarely presented in conjunction with accident statistics, thereby making exposure related improvements difficult to measure.There are also problems associated with making comparisons between different modes of transport owing to the fact that exposure can be measured in terms of travel time or travel distance. In S weden travel habit surveys that focus of establishing reliable exposure data have been performed on several occasions, and related to accident data (e. g. Thulin & Nilsson, 1994). 16 Factors, which tend to reduce road user exposure in general, are usually associated with the attractiveness of alternative modes of transportation.For example, reductions in the use of private vehicles in favour of public transportation (e. g. buses and commuter trains) usually occur as a result of more competitive pricing combined with good levels of service, where the change of one transportation mode to another can also result in lower levels of congestion and a reduced exposure level in the traffic system in general. Careful regional planning is required to find a balance in the system that reflects the demands of the users in relation to the different forms of transportation and their perceived costs and benefits (i. . attractiveness), and the effects that such changes might have for the community at large. Another important factor regarding changes in modes of transportation is that many forms of public transport are safer by comparison than the use of private vehicles, and cycling and walking, thereby reducing not only exposure but also accident risk (ETSC, 1999a). Safety countermeasures that reduce the accident risk for road users are now commonly provided by the many different in-vehicle systems that enhance perceptual abilities and aid cognitive decisionmaking (see e. . Malaterre & Fontaine, 1993; ETSC, 1999b). Many of these types of systems that have to do with the way information from the environment is interpreted, manipulated and acted upon, are discussed in the following chapter concerning Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). The quality of driver education training is also an important factor, and has resulted in a number of new approaches such as ‘graduated licensing’, which is built upon the concept that driving tasks become gradually more diffi cult and unrestricted.Generally, the majority of systems include three levels of tests, an initial provisional license, a preliminary licence, and a full licence (Englund et. al. , 1998). This form of graduated licensing has been shown to have a number of beneficial effects including a reduced risk for accident involvement (Smith, 1994). Inverted licensing, which encourages drivers to understand and accept responsibility for their actions has also been suggested (Klyve, 1998). Attempts to reduce accident risk through public safety campaigns and education programmes (e. . for school children) have often had a limited long-term effect on traffic safety (see e. g. OECD, 1986; Jarmark, 1992; Linderoth & Gregersen; 1994; Englund, Nyberg & Thiseus, 1997). Attempts to reduce accident severity for road users, particularly drivers and passengers of motor vehicles, has been the subject of a great deal of research by different vehicle manufacturers, particularly those who use the safety concep t as an argument for marketing campaigns.The actual road user injury protection that has been developed as a result of large investments in in-vehicle design and research is discussed below in relation to vehicle engineering. For the safety of drivers and their passengers, the most important factor often concerns the use of injury protection measures rather than their provision. This is especially important with regard to the fact that many drivers consider themselves better than the average (Svenson, 1981; Williams, Peak & Lund, 1995). In many European countries, seat-belt use is relatively low resulting in an unnecessary number of fatalities and serious injuries.Many also fail to realise that the effectiveness of air bags is dependent on the use of seat belts (ETSC, 1999b). For unprotected road users the risk for (and consequences of) an accident can be reduced by ensuring easy detection by other road users through the use of suitably coloured clothing, reflexes, and cycle lights (OECD, 1998). Safety Improvements Through Vehicle Engineering Vehicle engineering has come a long way during the past century, a fact that is reflected by the relatively small number of accidents that are directly attributable to vehicle failure.Modern vehicles undergo rigorous testing in order to ensure stability and handling, adequate steering charact