Management Skills in Security

Management Skills in Security Security Management Introduction Although historically security has experienced a relatively low priority in the corporation’s management structure, post the incidents of 9/11 in the US and 7/7 in the UK this situation has changed dramatically. Therefore, the position and skills of security managers is being looked at in a new light. Within this study, the intention is to address the question of whether managerial skills are of more importance than specialist knowledge for security managers. It is the author’s opinion that the likely conclusion of the research undertaken is that, although managerial skills are of paramount importance to a security manager, because of the delicacy of their position a high level of specialist skills are also essential. Security issues Essentially, security is deemed as being a â€Å"protector of resources† (van der Bijl 2005, p.75). As such, its task is to defend a business against loss, theft and damage. This task includes all areas of the operation, including systems, equipment, property, employees and customers. In the commercial sense, this protection level also extends to the future profitability of sensitive data controlled by the business. The security threat to any organisation manifests itself in a number of ways. In the physical sense burglary, criminal damage and attacks against the employee or customer can be a major problem, particular with an organisation such as the NHS (van der Bijl 2005, p.75), where of necessity there is a high degree of open access. In the non-physical sense there is the potential, particularly with the growth of information technology, for a growth in thefts of personal records, business data, damage, and disruption to internal systems. Incidents in any of these areas will have a significant impact upon the organisation in terms of trust, confidence and cost. Addressing these issues, particularly in larger organisations, requires the business to design and implement a security strategy that is efficient and achieves the desired goals. For this strategy to be effective there is a need for a managerial structure that is able to discern the resources required, including personnel, their tasks, operational procedures and deployment. Managerial duties In general terms, the role of a manager is to ensure the achievement of the objectives that have been set, either by directive from higher management or those outlined within his or her job description. This will include strategic planning, organising and coordinating the tasks, then monitoring and controlling the outcome. Therefore, it is important that the manager possesses the relevant personal and knowledge abilities to complete these tasks (Cowling and Mailer 2004, p.50). Although in many ways the duties of a security manager is similar to that of any other managerial position within the business, their role is defined by the specific sector and culture they are working in (Easterby-Smith and Lyle 2003, p.235). Because of the uniqueness of their position, a security manager’s initial task will be concentrated upon assessing the risk. Before a strategy can be developed, he or she will need to ascertain the nature, location and degree of any potential breaches of security. For example, if it is a physical danger they will need to know where the likelihood of this occurring is; what preventative measures, such as CCTV are in place, and how effective they are. Similarly, in areas such as information technology, the manager will need to assess whether existing protective IT measures are sufficient or in need of improvement. Risk assessment in security requires a high level of expertise and, although this can be undertaken by the use of outside consu ltants, it is equally important that the security manager has a reasonable level of relevant skills, as without these there is an increased potential for strategy failure (can der Bijl 2005, p.77). Only if the manager has some understanding of the risk assessment can he or she ensure the implementation of an effective protection strategy. Having established a strategy, the security manager will need to ensure that he or she has sufficient resources to match and fulfil the objectives of that strategy. In a commercial organisation, as Yu-lee (2002) shows, this is not always a straightforward task as there will usually be a requirement to match the cost of additional resources against the benefits they produce. For example, if deploying security lights it must be proven that they will reduce the incidence of crime and therefore benefit the business in ways such as reducing insurance premiums and raising consumer confidence, thus leading to potential increased profitability. The coordination of tasks, namely ensuring that the information and resources is delivered to the right place at the right time (Mullins 2004, p.421), is an area that also requires an element of skill and knowledge particular within the security industry. If the manager does not have an understanding of the purpose of the task, it is likely that this will lead to errors resulting from incorrect deployment of information or resources. Managing human resources One resource that is crucial to operational security is the personnel. Successful management of human resources is therefore a key skill requirement for the security manager. The success of any business strategy is directly related to the people that operate it, and security is no exception. Managers need to ensure that they get the best out of their employees in terms of their understanding, ability and dedication to the job they are employed to do, and much of this will depend upon the relationship that is developed. In this respect, a successful manager will adopt a leadership role that is a combination of the various leadership models, such as some of those described in the works of Laurie Mullins (2004, p.312). Understanding the needs of the workforce, and creating a harmonious working environment where all employees are motivated to work towards a common goal is the art of good leadership and management. This is especially the case in the modern environment where there is more employee choice (Mullins 2004, p.282). It is equally important for the workforce to feel that they have an involvement and future with the business. The manager can achieve this in two ways. The security manager can improve employee involvement within the organisation by delegation of tasks and encouraging their contribution, by way of ideas and suggestions, to the strategy formation itself. Not only does this empower the employee, it also leads to an expansion of potential solutions available to the security manager, therefore providing an increase in the number of solutions available from which to successfully address potential security issues that arise. Employee development is an equally important area of management duties. Employees will only be competent at their work if their knowledge and training matches the needs of the task that are set for them. Part of the manager’s role is to encourage the development of these skills. An effective manager will be aware of the value of this process, both for the future of the organisation and the employee, and therefore introduce an employee learning and development process as part of their operational strategy. This usually involves the introduction of structured training programmes catering for individual and group employee needs. In most industries, these training programmes will be organised using a combination of internal training, which will include familiarising the employee with the organisation’s policy and specific needs, and external training to ensure they remain updated on industry developments, including the use of modern technology. In the case of certain indivi duals, the training may also include succession targeted learning, where such individuals are considered able to be promoted in the future to management or leadership roles. The level of interrelationship between manager and employee can define good leadership, which in the author’s opinion is an essential element of a manager’s tasks. It is increasingly becoming the consensus of opinion that the quality of leadership is a necessary skill requirement for managers (Mullins 2004, p.284). The employment of the leadership skills described previously demonstrates the manager’s commitment to their employees and, in the majority of cases will produce a favourable result (Mullins 2004 p.316 and 422). In addition, it improves staff retention levels and provides for a level of strategy continuity that is essential in areas such as security. As with other management duties it is apparent that, in the case of managing human resources, there is a need for the manager to have specialist security knowledge. The evaluation of employee creativity and its benefits to the organisation is made more difficult if the manager does not have an understanding of the business special skills. A similarly difficulty would be experienced in the formation and conducting of internal training programmes. Without such knowledge, it is likely that the effectiveness and value of such training programmes will be reduced. Management and knowledge Knowledge, learning, and its management, is important in business. The better understanding brought about by knowledge will lead to a higher level of competency of managers as well as their employees and improve the performance of the business (Mullins 2004, p.393). Staff will react positively to a more competent and experienced manager than they will one who is lacking in the skills associated with their role. The other aspect of knowledge at management level is their increased ability to be able to monitor the strategy that they have implemented and evaluate the performance of their employees. A classic example of the disastrous effects that results from a lack of managerial knowledge can be found in the collapse of Barings bank in the early 2000’s. As Howard Davies explained at the time, this occurred because the bank’s management decided to diversify into an area of the business where they had little or no experience. This and the inability of their financial systems to deal with the new business left them in a position where they were unable to monitor the situation and staff activities until it was too late. In effect, the cause of this collapse could also be attributed to a breakdown in the operation of the internal security systems that these types of financial organisations normally operate. Just as important, as this case proves, is the need for continued learning. H ad the Barings management undergone a process of learning to achieve a competence in the new business skills, the opportunity for security breaches and danger of failure would have been identified earlier and significantly reduced. Conclusion From the research carried out for this study, it is the author’s conclusion that whilst it is essential for security managers to have management skills, their specialist skills are equally important in order for them to be able to effectively and safely manage their areas of responsibility. As van der Bijl (2005, p.77) observed in his paper on security in the NHS, a security manager without the requisite knowledge and skill is â€Å"as daft as employing a financial director without accounting skills.† Skill deficit in such an important aspect of any business, in my opinion would reduce the level and effectiveness of the security manager as much as the lack of management skills. References Bartol, Kathryn M., and Martin, David C (1998). Management. McGraw Hill College. UK. Bohlander, G. W., Snell, S. A., Sherman, A. (2004). Managing human resources (13th ed.). Florence, KY: Thomson Learning Higher Education. Cowling, A.G and Mailer, C.B (2004). Managing Human Resources. 3rd Rev. Ed. Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd. London, UK. Davies, Howard. (2001). Management skills and competencies in a rapidly changing financial environment. Egon Zehnder International Insurance Symposium. Munich, Germany. Retrieved 3 February 2007 from http://www.fsa.gov.uk/Pages/Library/Communication/Speeches/2001/sp78.shtml Easterby-Smith, Prof. Mark and Lyles, Marjorie (2003). The Blackwell Handbook of Organization Learning and Knowledge Management. Blackwell Publishers. US. Mullins, Laurie J (2004). Management and Organisational Behaviour. 7th Rev. ed. FT Prentice Hall. UK. Muncaster, Phil (2006). Challenges ahead for security managers. IT Week. London, UK Van der Bijl, Nick (2005). Security in modern healthcare. Hospital Engineering and Facilities Management, Issue 2. Yu-Lee, R.G. (2002) Essentials of Capacity Management. John Wiley Sons Inc. p. 150-153

Product life-cycle theory Essay

The product life-cycle theory is an economic theory that was developed by Raymond Vernon in response to the failure of theHeckscher-Ohlin model to explain the observed pattern of international trade. The theory suggests that early in a product’s life-cycle all the parts and labor associated with that product come from the area in which it was invented. After the product becomes adopted and used in the world markets, production gradually moves away from the point of origin. In some situations, the product becomes an item that is imported by its original country of invention.[1] A commonly used example of this is the invention, growth and production of thepersonal computer with respect to the United States. The model applies to labor-saving and capital-using products that (at least at first) cater to high-income groups. In the new product stage, the product is produced and consumed in the US; no export trade occurs. In the maturing product stage, mass-production techniques are developed and foreign demand (in developed countries) expands; the US now exports the product to other developed countries. In the standardized product stage, production moves to developing countries, which then export the product to developed countries. The model demonstrates dynamic comparative advantage. The country that has the comparative advantage in the production of the product changes from the innovating (developed) country to the developing countries. Product life-cycle There are five stages in a product’s life cycle: Introduction Growths Maturity Saturation Decline The location of production depends on the stage of the cycle. Introduction New products are introduced to meet local (i.e., national) needs, and new products are first exported to similar countries, countries with similar needs, preferences, and incomes. If we also presume similar evolutionary patterns for all countries, then products are introduced in the most advanced nations. (E.g., the IBM PCs were produced in the US and spread quickly throughout the industrialized countries.) A copy product is produced elsewhere and introduced in the home country (and elsewhere) to capture growth in the home market. This moves production to other countries, usually on the basis of cost of production. (E.g., the clones of the early IBM PCs were not produced in the US.) The Period till the Maturity Stage is known as the Saturation Period. The industry contracts and concentrates—the lowest cost producer wins here. (E.g., the many clones of the PC are made almost entirely in lowest cost locations.) This is a period of stability. The sales of the product reach the peak and there is no further possibility to increase it. this stage is characterised by: Saturation of sales (at the early part of this stage sales remain stable then it starts falling). It continues till substitutes enter into the market. Marketer must try to develop new and alternative uses of product. Poor countries constitute the only markets for the product. Therefore almost all declining products are produced in developing countries. (E.g., PCs are a very poor example here, mainly because there is weak demand for computers in developing countries. A better example is textiles.) Note that a particular firm or industry (in a country) stays in a market by adapting what they make and sell, i.e., by riding the waves. For example, approximately 80% of the revenues of H-P are from products they did not sell five years ago. the profits go back to the host old country. Product Life Cycle Theory Raymond Vernon developed the international product life cycle theory in the 1960s. The international product life cycle theory stresses that a company will begin to export its product and later take on foreign direct investment as the product moves through its life cycle. Eventually a country’s export becomes its import. Although the model is developed around the U.S, it can be generalised and applied to any of the developed and innovative markets of the world. The product life cycle theory was developed during the 1960s and focused on the U.S since most innovations came from that market. This was an applicable theory at that time since the U.S dominated the world trade. Today, the U.S is no longer the only innovator of products in the world. Today companies design new products and modify them much quicker than before. Companies are forced to introduce the products in many different markets at the same time to gain cost benefits before its sales declines. The theory does not e xplain trade patterns of today. New trade theory New trade theory (NTT) is a collection of economic models in international trade which focuses on the role of increasing returns to scale and network effects, which were developed in the late 1970s and early 1980s. New trade theorists relaxed the assumption of constant returns to scale, and some argue that using protectionist measures to build up a huge industrial base in certain industries will then allow those sectors to dominate the world market. Less quantitative forms of a similar â€Å"infant industry† argument against totally free trade have been advanced by trade theorists since at least 1848 (see: History of free trade). Contents †¢1 The theory’s impact †¢2 Econometric testing †¢3 History of the theory’s development o3.1 â€Å"New† new trade theory †¢4 Theoretical foundations o4.1 See also o4.2 References o4.3 External links The theory’s impact Although there was nothing particularly ‘new’ about the idea of protecting ‘infant industries’ (an idea offered in theory since the 18th century, and in trade policy since the 1880s) what was new in â€Å"new trade theory† was the rigour of the mathematical economics used to model the increasing returns to scale, and especially the use of the network effect to argue that the formation of important industries was path dependent in a way which industrial planning and judicious tariffs might control. The models developed were highly technical, and predicted the possibilities of national specialization-by-industry observed in the industrial world (movies in Hollywood, watches in Switzerland, etc.). The story of path-dependent industrial concentrations can sometime lead to monopolistic competition or even situations of oligopoly. Some economists, such as Ha-Joon Chang, had argued that free trade would have prevented the development of the Japanese auto industries in the 1950s, when quotas and regulations prevented import competition. Japanese companies were encouraged to import foreign production technology but were required to produce 90% of parts domestically within five years. It is said[who?] that the short-term hardship of Japanese consumers (who were unable to buy the superior vehicles produced by the world market) was more than compensated for by the long-term benefits to producers, who gained time to out-compete their international rivals.[1] Econometric testing The econometric evidence for NTT was mixed, and highly technical. Due to the timescales required, and the particular nature of production in each ‘monopolizable’ sector, statistical judgements were hard to make. In many ways, the available data have been too limited to produce a reliable test of the hypothesis, which doesn’t require arbitrary judgements from the researchers. Japan is cited as evidence of the benefits of â€Å"intelligent† protectionism, but critics[who?] of NTT have argued that the empirical support post-war Japan offers for beneficial protectionism is unusual, and that the NTT argument is based on a selective sample of historical cases. Although many examples (like Japanese cars) can be cited where a ‘protected’ industry subsequently grew to world status, regressions on the outcomes of such â€Å"industrial policies† (which include failures) have been less  conclusive; some findings suggest that sectors targeted by Ja panese industrial policy had decreasing returns to scale and did not experience productivity gains.[2] History of the theory’s development The theory was initially associated with Paul Krugman in the late 1970s; Krugman claims that he heard about monopolistic competition from Robert Solow. Looking back in 1996 Krugman wrote that International economics a generation earlier had completely ignored returns to scale. â€Å"The idea that trade might reflect an overlay of increasing-returns specialization on comparative advantage was not there at all: instead, the ruling idea was that increasing returns would simply alter the pattern of comparative advantage.† In 1976, however, MIT-trained economist Victor Norman had worked out the central elements of what came to be known as the Helpman-Krugman theory. He wrote it up and showed it to Avinash Dixit. However, they both agreed the results were not very significant. Indeed Norman never had the paper typed up, much less published. Norman’s formal stake in the race comes from the final chapters of the famous Dixit-Norman book.[3] James Brander, a PhD student at Stanford at the time, was undertaking similarly innovative work using models from industrial organisation theory—cross-hauling—to explain two-way trade in similar products.[citation needed] â€Å"New† new trade theory Marc Melitz and Pol Antrà  s stated a new trend in the study of international trade. While new trade theory put emphasis on the growing trend of intermediate goods, this new trend emphasizes firm level differences in the same industry of the same country and this new trend is frequently called ‘new’ new trade theory (NNTT).[4][5] NNTT stresses the importance of firms rather than sectors in understanding the challenges and the opportunities countries face in the age of globalization.[6] As international trade is increasingly liberalized, industries of comparative advantage are expected to expand, while those of comparative disadvantage are expected to shrink, leading to an uneven spatial distribution of the corresponding economic activities. Within the very same industry, some firms are not able to cope with international competition while others thrive. The resulting intra-industry reallocations of market shares and productive resources are  much more pronounced than inter-industry reallocations driven by comparative advantage. Theoretical foundations New trade theory and â€Å"new† new trade theory (NNTT) need their own trade theory. New trade theories are often based on assumptions such as monopolistic competition and increasing returns to scale. One of the typical explanation, given by P. Krugman, depends on the assumption that all firms are symmetrical, meaning that they all have the same production coefficients. This is too strict as an assumption and deprived general applicability of Krugman’s explanation. Shiozawa, based on much more general model, succeeded in giving a new explanation on why the traded volume increases for intermediates goods when the transport cost decreases.[7] â€Å"New† new trade theory (NNTT) also needs new theorectical foundation. Melitz and his followers concentrate on empirical aspects and pay little interest on theoretical aspects of NNTT. Shiozawa’s new construction, or Ricardo-Sraffa trade theory, enables Ricardian trade theory to include choice of techniques. Thus the theory can treat a situation where there are many firms with different production processes. Based on this new theory, Fujimoto and Shiozawa[8] analyze how different production sites, either of competing firms or of the same firms locating in the different countries, compete. Porter’s Theory of Competitive Advantage of Nations of International Trade NIRAV S Micheal Porter’s Theory of Competitive Advantage of Nations against the Theory of Competitive advantage sought to examine the issue of why some nation’s business firms succeeded high in international/global competition. The theory of competitive advantage probes into three major aspects of trade phenomenon: i. Why does a nation succeed international in a particular industry? ii. What influence does a nation carry on competition in specific industries and their segments? iii. Why do a nation’s firms choose particular strategies of business? Porter’s analysis begins with following premises: 1. The nature of competition and the sources of competitive advantage differentials in the industries. 2. Successful global enterprises draw  competitive advantages through their value chain of worldwide network. 3. Innovation is the pillion of gaining/sustaining competitive advantage. 4. Pioneering and aggressive competitors in exploiting new market/technology are most successful. Porter undertook intensive research of 100 industries in ten countries. On the basis of empirical investigation, Porter identified for attributes of nation which determine (promote, impede) its competitive advantage referred to as Porter’s Diamond in. The Porter’s Diamond narrates for major attributes: Factor Conditions A country’s factor endowments or supply of factors of production such as human resources, physical resources, knowledge resources, location, capital resources and infrastructure play a significant role in determining its national competitive advantage. Besides basic factors (e.g., natural resources, climate, etc.,) advanced factors (e.g., skilled labour, communications infrastructure, technology) are the crucial determinants of the capabilities and competitiveness of a nation. Advanced factors are declined by the efforts of the individuals, firms, institution and government in a country. Japan’s success may largely be attributed to its advanced factors creation rather than basic factors arability. A nation can overcome its deficiency or comparative disadvantage of basic factors endowment by focusing on creation of advanced factors to improve its competitive advantage. Demand Conditions The demand conditions in home market is important in stimulating domestic firms to undertake innovation and improve quality of products. When domestic buyers are sophisticated, a pressure in the market is created for the domestic firms to meet high standards of quality demanded. For example, Japanese knowledge buyers have induced the Japanese camera manufacturers to produce innovative models first in the home market and then for the exports. Similarly, local customers in Sweden have stimulated Ericsson to invest in cellular phone equipment industry much before the rising global demand. A nations demand conditions, thus, refer to: i. The nature of home buyers needs – their sophistication and fastidiousness ii. The size and pattern of growth of home market iii. The timing of development of demands relative to buyer in foreign markets iv. The knowledge presence of domestic buyers in foreign markets and their preferences. v. The timing of market saturation and challenges at home market provide a strong reason to acquire global competitive position to a business firm. Suppliers and Related Industries National advantage in an industry is also conditioned by the preserve of vigorous home-based suppliers of cost-effective and quality inputs or related supporting industries. For example, the US success in several electronic goods including personal computers is attributed to the growth of semiconductor industry in the country. Same is the case with Malaysia to some extent. Likewise, Sweden steel industry has contributed much to the success of Sweden’s output in ball bearings and cutting tools. Successful industrial growth in the exporting country may emerge on quantum of the growing clusters of related/supervising industries. German textile and approach sector is a chronic case in this regard – (textile machinery, sewing machine needles, textile clothes forming the cluster of textile exporting industry of the country). Ongoing coordination and just-in-time strategy is easy when such cluster industrial growth occurs in a nation.

Improvements in Public Health

Between 1840 and 1900 living conditions in towns improved. How did the work of government, local councils and individuals bring this about? In this essay I will discuss the conditions in towns between 1840 and 1900 and the improvements in Public health since 1840. While doing this I will link reasons together to achieve my final conclusion. I will begin with an explanation of living conditions in towns and cities in the early 19th century. Living in the early 19th Century was very tough for most people. At least 80% were working class. Houses where small and over crowded allowing diseases to spread easily. The air was polluted, poor and environment unhealthy because the people did not know about the causes and consequences of pollution. For example, coal burning from houses and factories was polluting the environment, but it was the main source of fuel. The environment was not just damaged by coal burning and the resulting sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide, it was also unbearable because of the terrible smell and insanitary living conditions. The smell was caused by the lack of sewerage system, public toilets (as only rich people could afford a toilet in the house), dirty water; unhygienic disposal of waste and the fact that cleaning methods were inadequate – no reliable products. The filth was particularly bad in the Soho district of London. In the late summer of 1854 there was a sudden outbreak of cholera. Dr John Snow quoted that it was â€Å"the most terrible outbreak of cholera which ever occurred in the kingdom. † Over the first 3 days of September 127 people died that lived on or near Broad Street. In some parts of the city the mortality rate was just 12. 8%. Nobody knew were it came from. The city stunk of human waste and the river Thames was a sewer. As the city grew the waste was increasing. When there was heavy rain the basements were flooded. This meant that people living in the basement and the rest of the house were in contact with raw sewerage and this would also attract disease and vermin and spread infections. Everyone wanted a clean fresh city where they could breathe clean air, drink and wash in clean water and live and keep their belongings in clean houses. I believe that people's ignorance to the effects of their actions and the fact that they had no alternatives had a big impact on the living conditions in the early 19th century. This is because many people were so poor and uneducated; they had no choice but to live in these conditions. This was particularly relevant in London and main industrialised towns and cities where people moved from the country because many were losing their jobs. This was because the invention of machinery on work and therefore forced people to evacuate to bigger cities with more work needed. In the country they may only have been able to get seasonal work in the fields and they dreamt of a better life in the city where there was more regular work available in the factories. They needed to live in the bigger towns to have the opportunity to earn money in factories and workhouses. As London was rapidly growing, the health conditions got worse. Streets were filled with rubbish and dead animals and never cleaned. Street cleaners only clean roads with people living there who could afford to pay their wages. The fact that there was little public services for example there was no national health services and you had to pay for the health services, there was no clean running water, poor structured houses full of people, filth and germs round every corner and the fact that the homeless children and even some adults, as seen in the cartoon bellow, where rolling around in the waste on the streets. The picture is a cartoon drawn at a time when the government believed that looking after the poor, the old and the sick was the job of individuals and their families. They also believed in individualism and self help believing that if the government did too much for people they would become weak and dependent. This was named laissez faire. This is French for do little or nothing. It was there duty to make laws and deal with wars, but not to ‘babysit' the community. At the end of the 19th century, the city life was improving little by little. New laws, such as the 1875 Artisan's Dwelling Act, meant that better housing was being built. It was an act of the parliament designed by Richard Cross, Home Secretary. The Act made the owners give their slums to the council so they could demolish the areas of slum housing to be redeveloped by commercial builders with low interest. The Artisans Dwelling Act of 1885 was considered one of most significant acts of the Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli's presidency. The improvements to public heath brought real benefits. By this time cities had facilities to meet all kinds of interests, from dance halls to chapels. People joined together in a wide range of clubs and societies. There were nearly 700,000 allotments by 1881. Allotment holders held competitions for flowers and vegetables. Enthusiasts, usually men, took time to trouble over breeding birds such as pigeons or canaries. Choirs were very popular, usually as part of church or chapel life. Many played in brass bands, often sponsored by a factory-owner. By the end of the century, cycling had become a popular hobby with both sexes. Thousands began to spend their Saturday watching sport. Various kinds of football had been popular for centuries. They were crude rough games, with few rules. Now people lived in clean houses and apartments. In Birmingham Joseph Chamberlain made calls for slum clearance, improved housing, municipalisation of public utilities and higher taxes for the rich. He was elected as mayor of Birmingham in 1876. The middle class of Birmingham adored chamberlain. They all voted for what he fought for. He soon became Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone's lieutenant in the House of Commons and later in 1882 was appointed president of the Board of Trade in Gladstone's second ministry. The Municipal Corporations Act of 1835 was an act of Parliament that rehabilitated local government. It split the country into districts. Each district was responsible for running local services such as housing and education. They had commissioners to be in charge of each local council. The royal commission had eighteen members, two members for each district. A new law was made so middle class people were aloud to participate in the local council. They had annual elections each year, were a third of the council members up for election. They also elected aldermen to be part of the council with a six year term. Towns were divided into smaller areas were they had a local person to represent them on the local council. As previously highlighted in the early 19th century overcrowding, poverty, dirty environment and insanitary housing lead to disease. In 1843 Edwin Chadwick argued that poverty was caused by disease and that by curing diseases poverty would be reduced. Joseph Bazelgette who designed the sewage system, made sure that the flow of foul water and underground rivers was diverted along new sewers and taken the sewage treatment works and then pumped into Tidal Thames where it would be carried out to sea rather than stay in the previous â€Å"open sewer† of the Thames. His design was so good it has stood up to increases in volume of raw sewage. In 1848 the cholera epidemic spurred the government into action through public health measures followed by health measures for individuals. Many people thought cholera was air bourn but John Snow thought it entered the body through the mouth. He investigated a cholera outbreak in 1854 and carefully plotted all cases on a map of Soho where the outbreak occurred. He managed to identify a water pump as the source of the disease. When he removed the handle the causes of cholera immediately declined. It took another six years before this theory was more widely accepted. John Snow also made development in anaesthetics and made them safer and more effective for use on humans. Public health measures included: – The public health of 1888 gave all towns the right to employ a public health officer. – In 1853 public vaccinations against small pox were made compulsory. – In 1854 influence by Florence Nightingale and other campaigners, hospital hygiene was improved and hospitals became much cleaner places, helping to prevent the spread of disease. The 1875 Public Health Act required the clearance off slums, the installation of sewers, clean water supplies and better environment to live in. This was very successful as public health improved and local councils competed to be the best public health provider. This lead to the individual health measures introduced in the early 20th century e. g. free school meals in 1906, medical examinations for all children in 1907. Old age pensions introduced and in 1911 National Insurance (free medical treatment for workers. During the 19th century knowledge about the ways bodies work increased. William Beaumont (1822) studied the digestive system. Theodor Schwann (1858) realised that animal tissues were made of cells. Henry Gray (1858) wrote Grays anatomy and people started to have a broad knowledge of how their bodies worked. Louis Pasteur discussed that germs can cause disease rather that's the previous theory of spontaneous generation where diseases cause germs. This also led to the pasteur isation of milk. Robert Kock studied bacteria further and identified bacteria specific to the diseases septicaemia, TB and cholera and others discovered the bacteria that caused typhoid pneumonia and the plague. Patrick Manson 1879 discovered that diseases could be spread by vectors such as flies. Charles Chamberlain (1884) discovered viruses. Therefore understanding of disease was improving rapidly and there were some inventions that helped the treatment of disease also, e. g. multi lens microscope (Lister 1826) kymograph to measure pulse (1847 Ludwig) and x-rays (Roentgen 1895). At the beginning of the 19th century doctors would only provide comfort but by the end they could treat diseases and heal some patients with surgery. I believe the living conditions between 1840 and 1900 did improve. The government and local councils brought this about by clearing slums and areas of bad, dirty housing, supporting improvements in biology knowledge cleaning up sewers and improving local government, encouraging people to help themselves and no longer accepting poverty as something that can not be dealt with.

A Writing History Essay - 1274 Words

A Writing History Every great writer, whether it is a poet, novelist, journalist, or any other type will share a common beginning with every person, this I see. Where they take it from there is up to them, the choice is free. The common beginning is simple, even quite easy. It usually starts in kindergarten learning the ABCs. From there you learn to form and read words-the first step of literacy. In my opinion, writing can be fun, but it did not always seem that way to me. This paper will give a brief background on my steps in the writing experience; this is my writing history. Kindergarten, the first step. This is where I started to hate writing; it all began with the alphabet. Writing had a bad first impression on me. Every day†¦show more content†¦What I was writing was not as important to me as how I made it look. Thats where all my time and focus was spent. I was given a good opportunity to get into writing in the years that followed fifth grade. This opportunity was given to me in the form of journal writing in junior high (grades 6,7, and 8). A few people every day would read their journal out loud and you can tell that some of them really got into. I however, am sorry to say I let the chance pass me by. The journals had a given subjects to write about but they werent mandatory. I remember this one kid, Peter. Instead of writing about the journal topic he would write a Star Wars story. This other kid, Joey, reminded me of Pinky and The Brain. He would always write about ways to try and take over the world-again and again. Looking back I wish I had been as creative as those two young men. Instead I blew off the journal writing. To me it was just another busy work assignment. During that whole time period from, fifth grade through junior high, I had mainly listened to rap. Then rap was music to me and that was that. It had no special purpose in my life. It did start to have a special influence on me when high school came around. In rap my passion for writing was found. For years I had been listening to great rappers such as the Guru from Gangstarr and the GZA (Giza) from Wu-Tang Clan. Then came ninth grade. That is when I started writing off the foundation they had laid. I started writingShow MoreRelatedThe Difference between Writing and Speaking1496 Words   |  6 Pageslinguists that writing and speaking, although linguistically similar are still different. This essay shall look at various aspects of writing such as how it differs from verbal speech, how it is similar to verbal speech and how writing systems functions. It will draw not only from Harley’s The Psychology of Language but also from the work of both Kalb in The Uses of the History of Writing and Justeson in The Origin of Writing Systems. 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