What Makes Lead Poisonous

People have been using lead in their daily lives for a long time. The Romans made pewter dishes and pipes for water from lead. While lead is a very useful metal, is also poisonous.  The effects of poisoning from lead leaching into liquids may have contributed to the fall of the Roman empire. Lead exposure didnt end when lead-based paint and leaded gasoline were phased out. It is still found in the insulation coating electronics, leaded crystal, storage batteries, on the coating of some candles wicks, as certain plastics stabilizers, and in soldering. You are exposed to trace amounts of lead every day. What Makes Lead Poisonous Lead is toxic mainly because it preferentially replaces other metals (e.g., zinc, calcium and iron) in biochemical reactions. It interferes with the proteins that cause certain genes to turn on and off by displacing other metals in the molecules. This changes the shape of the protein molecule such that it cant perform its function. Research is ongoing to identify which molecules bind with lead. Some of the proteins known to be affected by lead regulate blood pressure, (which can cause developmental delays in children and high blood pressure in adults), heme production (which can lead to anemia), and sperm production (possibly implicating lead in infertility). Lead displaces calcium in the reactions that transmit electrical impulses in the brain, which is another way of saying it diminishes your ability to think or recall information. No Amount of Lead Is Safe Paracelsus was a self-proclaimed alchemist in the 1600s and pioneered the use of minerals in  medical practices. He believed that all things have curative and poisonous facets. Among other things, he believed lead had curative effects in low doses, but monitoring dosage doesnt apply to lead.   Many substances are non-toxic or even essential in trace amounts, yet poisonous in larger quantities. You need iron to transport oxygen in your ​red blood cells, yet too much iron can kill you. You breathe oxygen, yet again, too much is lethal. Lead isnt like those elements. Its simply poisonous. Lead exposure of  small children is a main concern because it can cause developmental issues, and kids engage in activities that increase their exposure to the metal (e.g., putting things in their mouths, or not washing their hands). There is no minimum safe exposure limit, in part because lead accumulates in the body. There are government regulations regarding acceptable limits for products and pollution because lead is useful and necessary, but the reality is, any amount lead is too much.

Supply Chain ManagementStatistical Quality Control

Examination Paper of Supply Chain Management IIBM Institute of Business Management Examination Paper MM.100 Supply Chain Management Section A: Objective Type (30 marks) ï‚ · ï‚ · ï‚ · This section consists of Multiple Choice questions Short Answer type questions. Answer all the questions. Part One questions carry 1 mark each Part Two questions carry 2 marks each. Part One: Multiple Choices: 1. When demand is steady, the cycle inventory for a given lot size (Q) is given by a. Q/4 b. Q/8 c. Q/6 d. Q/2 2. There are two firms ‘x’ and ‘y’ located on a line of distance demand(0-1) at ‘a’ and ‘b’ respectively, the customers are uniformly located on the line, on keeping the fact of splitting of market, the demand of firm†¦show more content†¦Is commonality justified across all variants? 3. At what cost of commonality will complete commonality be justified? 4. At what cost of commonality will commonality across the low-volume variants be justified? Caselet 2 An electronic manufacturer has outsourced production of its latest MP3 player to a contract manufacturer in Asia. Demand for the players has exceeded all expectations whereas the contract manufacturers sell three types of players- a 40-GB player, a 20-GB player, 6-GB player. For the upcoming holiday season, the demand forecast for the 40-GB player is normally distributed, with a mean of 20,000and a standard deviation Dard deviation of 11,000, and the demand forecast for the 6GB player has a mean of 80,000 and a standard deviation of 16,000. The 40-GB player has a sale price of $200, a production cost of $100, and a salvage value of $80 .The 20-GB player has a price of $150, a production cost of $70, and a salvage value of $50. 3 IIBM Institute of Business Management Examination Paper of Supply Chain Management 1. How many units of each type of player should the electronics manufacturer order if there are no capacity constraints? 2. 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In my further reflection of the paperRead MoreIntroduction To Logistics And Purchasing Careers1289 Words   |  6 Pagesprocess of managing logistics. An analyst in the transportation sector have duties that are within a specific logistic activity while on the other hand a supply chain analyst has a wide range of activities. Analysts are able to secure job opportunities with carriers, companies that provide logistic services, manufactures and also companies with supply chains. Some of the duties performed by analysts include; gathering and interpreting relevant data that may consist of various costs demand patterns and theRead MoreLean Supply Chain Is A Catalyst For Enhancing Product Quality And Business Performance1375 Words   |  6 Pageshaving a better product than competitors; it’s the supply chains ability to create end-to-end value for the organization and customer. 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United Kingdom Political System Free Essays

string(89) " other positions in Her Majesty’s government\), and formulating government policy\." The United Kingdom is a unitary democracy governed within the framework of a constitutional monarchy, in which the Monarch is the head of state and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by Her Majesty’s Government, on behalf of and by the consent of the Monarch, as well as by the devolved Governments of Scotland and Wales, and the Northern Ireland Executive. Legislative power is vested in the two chambers of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the House of Commons and the House of Lords, as well as in the Scottish parliament and Welsh and Northern Ireland assemblies. We will write a custom essay sample on United Kingdom Political System or any similar topic only for you Order Now The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The highest national court is the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. The UK political system is a multi-party system. Since the 1920s, the two largest political parties have been the Conservative Party and the Labor Party. Before the Labor Party rose in British politics the Liberal Party was the other major political party along with the Conservatives. Though coalition and minority governments have been an occasional feature of parliamentary politics, the first-past-the-post electoral system used for general elections tends to maintain the dominance of these two parties, though each has in the past century relied upon a third party to deliver a working majority in Parliament. The current Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government is the first coalition since 1974. With the partition of Ireland, Northern Ireland received home rule in 1920, though civil unrest meant direct rule was restored in 1972. Support for nationalist parties in Scotland and Wales led to proposals for devolution in the 1970s though only in the 1990s did devolution actually happen. Today, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each possess a legislature and executive, with devolution in Northern Ireland being conditional on participation in certain all-Ireland institutions. The United Kingdom remains responsible for non-devolved matters and, in the case of Northern Ireland, co-operates with the Republic of Ireland. It is a matter of dispute as to whether increased autonomy and devolution of executive and legislative powers has contributed to a reduction in support for independence. The principal pro-independence party, the Scottish National Party, won an overall majority of MSPs at the 2011 Scottish parliament elections and now forms the Scottish Government administration, with plans to hold a referendum on negotiating for independence. In Northern Ireland, the largest Pro-Belfast Agreement party, Sinn Fà ©in, not only advocates Northern Ireland’s unification with the Republic of Ireland, but also abstains from taking their elected seats in the Westminster government, as this would entail taking a pledge of allegiance to the British monarch. The constitution of the United Kingdom is uncodified, being made up of constitutional conventions, statutes and other elements such as EU law. This system of government, known as the Westminster system, has been adopted by other countries, especially those that were formerly parts of the British Empire. The United Kingdom is also responsible for several dependencies, which fall into two categories: the Crown dependencies, in the immediate vicinity of the UK, and British Overseas Territories, which originated as colonies of the British Empire. The British Monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II, is the Chief of State of the United Kingdom. Though she takes little direct part in government, the Crown remains the fount in which ultimate executive power over Government lies. These powers are known as Royal Prerogative and can be used for a vast amount of things, such as the issue or withdrawal of passports, to the dismissal of the Prime Minister or even the Declaration of War. The powers are delegated from the Monarch personally, in the name of the Crown, and can be handed to various ministers, or other Officers of the Crown, and can purposely bypass the consent of Parliament. The head of Her Majesty’s Government; the Prime Minister, also has weekly meetings with the sovereign, where she may express her feelings, warn, or advise the Prime Minister in the Government’s work. According to the uncodified constitution of the United Kingdom, the monarch has the following powers: Domestic Powers The monarch appoints a Prime Minister as the head of Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom, guided by the strict convention that the Prime Minister should be the member of the House of Commons most likely to be able to form a Government with the support of that House. In practice, this means that the leader of the political party with an absolute majority of seats in the House of Commons is chosen to be the Prime Minister. If no party has an absolute majority, the leader of the largest party is given the first opportunity to form a coalition. The Prime Minister then selects the other Ministers which make up the Government and act as political heads of the various Government Departments. About twenty of the most senior government ministers make up the Cabinet and approximately 100 ministers in total comprise the government. In accordance with constitutional convention, all ministers within the government are either Members of Parliament or peers in the House of Lords. As in some other parliamentary systems of government (especially those based upon the Westminster System), the executive (called â€Å"the government†) is drawn from and is answerable to Parliament – a successful vote of no confidence will force the government either to resign or to seek a parliamentary dissolution and a general election. In practice, members of parliament of all major parties are strictly controlled by whips who try to ensure they vote according to party policy. If the government has a large majority, then they are very unlikely to lose enough votes to be unable to pass legislation. The Prime Minister and the Cabinet David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (2010) The Prime Minister is the most senior minister in the Cabinet. She/he is responsible for chairing Cabinet meetings, selecting Cabinet ministers (and all other positions in Her Majesty’s government), and formulating government policy. You read "United Kingdom Political System" in category "Papers" The Prime Minister is the de facto leader of the UK government, since s/he exercises executive functions that are nominally vested in the sovereign (by way of the Royal Prerogatives). Historically, the British monarch was the sole source of executive powers in the government. However, following the rule of the Hanoverian monarchs, an arrangement of a â€Å"Prime Minister† chairing and leading the Cabinet began to emerge. Over time, this arrangement became the effective executive branch of government, as it assumed the day-to-day functioning of the British government away from the sovereign. Theoretically, the Prime Minister is primus inter pares (Latin for â€Å"first among equals†) among his/her Cabinet colleagues. While the Prime Minister is the senior Cabinet Minister, s/he is theoretically bound to make executive decisions in a collective fashion with the other Cabinet ministers. The Cabinet, along with the PM, consists of Secretaries of State from the various government departments, the Lord High Chancellor, the Lord Privy Seal, the President of the Board of Trade, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Ministers without portfolio. Cabinet meetings are typically held weekly, while Parliament is in session Government departments and the Civil Service The Government of the United Kingdom contains a number of ministries known mainly, though not exclusively as departments, Ministry of Defense. These are politically led by a Government Minister who is often a Secretary of State and member of the Cabinet. He or she may also be supported by a number of junior Ministers. In practice, several government departments and Ministers have responsibilities that cover England alone, with devolved bodies having responsibility for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, (for example – the Department of Health), or responsibilities that mainly focus on England (such as the Department for Education). Implementation of the Minister’s decisions is carried out by a permanent politically neutral organization known as the civil service. Its constitutional role is to support the Government of the day regardless of which political party is in power. Unlike some other democracies, senior civil servants remain in post upon a change of Government. Administrative management of the Department is led by a head civil servant known in most Departments as a Permanent Secretary. The majority of the civil service staff in fact work in executive agencies, which are separate operational organizations reporting to Departments of State. â€Å"Whitehall† is often used as a metonym for the central core of the Civil Service. This is because most Government Departments have headquarters in and around the former Royal Palace Whitehall. Legislatures The UK Parliament is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom (i. e. , there is parliamentary sovereignty), and Government is drawn from and answerable to it. Parliament is bicameral, consisting of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. There is also a devolved Scottish Parliament and devolved Assemblies in Wales and Northern Ireland, with varying degrees of legislative authority. UK Parliament House of Commons It is a Sand-colored building of Gothic design with large clock-tower. Parliament meets at the Palace of Westminster British House of Commons The Countries of the United Kingdom are divided into parliamentary constituencies of broadly equal population by the four Boundary Commissions. Each constituency elects a Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons at General Elections and, if required, at by-elections. As of 2010 there are 650 constituencies (there were 646 before that year’s general election. Of the 650 MPs, all but one – Lady Sylvia Hermon – belong to a political party. In modern times, all Prime Ministers and Leaders of the Opposition have been drawn from the Commons, not the Lords. Alec Douglas-Home resigned from his peerages days after becoming Prime Minister in 1963, and the last Prime Minister before him from the Lords left in 1902 (the Marquis of Salisbury). One party usually has a majority in Parliament, because of the use of the First Past the Post electoral system, which has been conducive in creating the current two party system. The monarch normally asks a person commissioned to form a government simply whether it can survive in the House of Commons, something which majority governments are expected to be able to do. In exceptional circumstances the monarch asks someone to ‘form a government’ with a parliamentary minority which in the event of no party having a majority requires the formation of a coalition government. This option is only ever taken at a time of national emergency, such as war-time. It was given in 1916 to Andrew Bonar Law, and when he declined, to David Lloyd George and in 1940 to Winston Churchill. A government is not formed by a vote of the House of Commons; it is a commission from the monarch. The House of Commons gets its first chance to indicate confidence in the new government when it votes on the Speech from the Throne (the legislative program proposed by the new government). House of Lords The House of Lords was previously a largely hereditary aristocratic chamber, although including life peers, and Lords Spiritual. It is currently mid-way through extensive reforms, the most recent of these being enacted in the House of Lords Act 1999. The house consists of two very different types of member, the Lords Temporal and Lords Spiritual. Lords Temporal include appointed members (life peers with no hereditary right for their descendants to sit in the house) and ninety-two remaining hereditary peers, elected from among, and by, the holders of titles which previously gave a seat in the House of Lords. The Lords Spiritual represent the established Church of England and number twenty-six: the Five Ancient Sees (Canterbury, York, London, Winchester and Durham), and the 21 next-most senior bishops. The House of Lords currently acts to review legislation initiated by the House of Commons, with the power to propose amendments, and can exercise a suspensive veto. This allows it to delay legislation if it does not approve it for twelve months. However, the use of vetoes is limited by convention and by the operation of the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949: the Lords may not veto the â€Å"money bills† or major manifesto promises (see Salisbury convention). Persistent use of the veto can also be overturned by the Commons, under a provision of the Parliament Act 1911. Often governments will accept changes in legislation in order to avoid both the time delay, and the negative publicity of being seen to clash with the Lords. However the Lords still retain a full veto in acts which would extend the life of Parliament beyond the 5 year term limit introduced by the Parliament Act 1911. The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 outlined plans for a Supreme Court of the United Kingdom to replace the role of the Law Lords. The House of Lords was replaced as the final court of appeal on civil cases within the United Kingdom on 1 October 2009, by the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. Devolved national legislatures Though the UK parliament remains the sovereign parliament, Scotland has a parliament and Wales and Northern Ireland have assemblies. De jure, each could have its powers broadened, narrowed or changed by an Act of the UK Parliament. However, Scotland has a tradition of popular sovereignty as opposed to parliamentary sovereignty and the fact that the Scottish parliament was established following a referendum would make it politically difficult to significantly alter its powers without popular consent. The UK is therefore a unitary state with a devolved system of government. This contrasts with a federal system, in which sub-parliaments or state parliaments and assemblies have a clearly defined constitutional right to exist and a right to exercise certain constitutionally guaranteed and defined functions and cannot be unilaterally abolished by Acts of the central parliament. All three devolved institutions are elected by proportional representation: the Additional Member System is used in Scotland and Wales, and Single Transferable Vote is used in Northern Ireland. England, therefore, is the only country in the UK not to have a devolved English parliament. However, senior politicians of all main parties have voiced concerns in regard to the West Lothian Question, which is raised where certain policies for England are set by MPs from all four constituent nations whereas similar policies for Scotland or Wales might be decided in the devolved assemblies by legislators from those countries alone. Alternative proposals for English regional government have stalled, following a poorly received referendum on devolved government for the North East of England, which had hitherto been considered the region most in favor of the idea, with the exception of Cornwall, where there is widespread support for a Cornish Assembly, including all five Cornish MPs. England is therefore governed according to the balance of parties across the whole of the United Kingdom. The government has no plans to establish an English parliament or assembly although several pressure groups are calling for one. One of their main arguments is that MPs (and thus voters) from different parts of the UK have inconsistent powers. Currently an MP from Scotland can vote on legislation which affects only England but MPs from England (or indeed Scotland) cannot vote on matters devolved to the Scottish parliament. Indeed, the former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who is an MP for a Scottish constituency, introduced some laws that only affect England and not his own constituency. This anomaly is known as the West Lothian question. The policy of the UK Government in England was to establish elected regional assemblies with no legislative powers. The London Assembly was the first of these, established in 2000, following a referendum in 1998, but further plans were abandoned following rejection of a proposal for an elected assembly in North East England in a referendum in 2004. Unelected regional assemblies remain in place in eight regions of England. There are two main parties in the United Kingdom: the Conservative Party, and the Labor Party. There is also a significant third party, the Liberal Democrats. The modern Conservative Party was founded in 1834 and is an outgrowth of the Tory movement or party, which began in 1678. Today it is still colloquially referred to as the Tory Party and its members as Tories. The Liberal Democrats were formed in 1988 by a merger of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party (SDP), a Labor breakaway formed in 1981. The Liberals and SDP had contested elections together as the SDP–Liberal Alliance for seven years before. The modern Liberal Party had been founded in 1859 as an outgrowth of the Whig movement or party (which began at the same time as the Tory party and was its historical rival) as well as the Radical and Peelite tendencies. The Liberal Party was one of the two dominant parties (along with the Conservatives) from its founding until the 1920s, when it rapidly declined and was supplanted on the left by the Labor Party, which was founded in 1900 and formed its first government in 1924. Since that time, the Labor and Conservatives parties have been dominant, with the Liberal Democrats also holding a significant number of seats and increasing their share of the vote in parliamentary general elections in the four elections 1992. Conservatives; The Conservative Party won the largest number of seats at the 2010 general election, returning 307 MPs, though not enough to make an overall majority. As a result of negotiations following the election, they entered a formal coalition with the Liberal Democrats to form a majority government. The Conservative party can trace its origin back to 1662, with the Court Party and the Country Party being formed in the aftermath of the English Civil War. The Court Party soon became known as the Tories, a name that has stuck despite the official name being ‘Conservative’. The term â€Å"Tory † originates from the Exclusion Bill crisis of 1678-1681 – the Whigs were those who supported the exclusion of the Roman Catholic Duke of York from the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland, and the Tories were those who opposed it. Both names were originally insults: a â€Å"whiggamore† was a horse drover (See Whiggamore Raid), and a â€Å"tory† (Tà ³raidhe) was an Irish term for an outlaw, later applied to Irish Confederates and Irish Royalists, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Generally, the Tories were associated with lesser gentry and the Church of England, while Whigs were more associated with trade, money, larger land holders (or â€Å"land magnates†), expansion and tolerance of Catholicism. The Rochdale Radicals were a group of more extreme reformists who were also heavily involved in the cooperative movement. They sought to bring about a more equal society, and are considered by modern standards to be left-wing. After becoming associated with repression of popular discontent in the years after 1815, the Tories underwent a fundamental transformation under the influence of Robert Peel, himself an industrialist rather than a landowner, who in his 1834 â€Å"Tamworth Manifesto† outlined a new â€Å"Conservative† philosophy of reforming ills while conserving the good. Though Peel’s supporters subsequently split from their colleagues over the issue of free trade in 1846, ultimately joining the Whigs and the Radicals to form what would become the Liberal Party, Peel’s version of the party’s underlying outlook was retained by the remaining Tories, who adopted his label of Conservative as the official name of their party. The crushing defeat of the 1997 election saw the Conservative Party lose over half their seats from 1992 and saw the party re-align with public perceptions of them. In 2008, the Conservative Party formed a pact with the Ulster Unionist Party to select joint candidates for European and House of Commons elections; this angered the DUP as by splitting the Unionist vote, republican parties will be elected in some areas. After thirteen years as the official opposition, the Party returned to power as part of a coalition with the Liberal Democrats in 2010. Historically, the party has been the mainland party most pre-occupied by British Unionism, as attested to by the party’s full name, the Conservative Unionist Party. This resulted in the merger between the Conservatives and Joseph Chamberlain’s Liberal Unionist Party, composed of former Liberals who opposed Irish home rule. The unionist tendency is still in evidence today, manifesting sometimes as a skepticism or opposition to devolution, firm support for the continued existence of the United Kingdom in the face of separatist nationalism, and a historic link with the cultural unionism of Northern Ireland. Labor; The Labor Party won the second largest number of seats in the House of Commons at the 2010 general election, with 258 MPs. The history of the Labor party goes back to 1900 when a Labor Representation Committee was established which changed its name to â€Å" ­Ã‚ ­The Labor Party† in 1906. After the First World War, this led to the demise of the Liberal Party as the main reformist force in British politics. The existence of the Labor Party on the left of British politics led to a slow waning of energy from the Liberal Party, which has consequently assumed third place in national politics. After performing poorly in the elections of 1922, 1923 and 1924, the Liberal Party was superseded by the Labor Party as the party of the left. Following two brief spells in minority governments in 1924 and 1929–1931, the Labor Party had its first true victory after World War II in the 1945 â€Å"khaki election†. Throughout the rest of the twentieth century, Labor governments alternated with Conservative governments. The Labor Party suffered the â€Å"wilderness years† of 1951-1964 (three straight General Election defeats) and 1979-1997 (four straight General Election defeats). During this second period, Margaret Thatcher, who became leader of the Conservative party in 1975, made a fundamental change to Conservative policies, turning the Conservative Party into an economic neoliberal party. In the General Election of 1979 she defeated James Callaghan’s troubled Labor government after the winter of discontent. For most of the 1980s and the 1990s, Conservative governments under Thatcher and her successor John Major pursued policies of privatization, anti-trade-unionism, and, for a time, monetarism, now known collectively as Thatcherism. The Labor Party elected left-winger Michael Foot as their leader after their 1979 election defeat, and he responded to dissatisfaction with the Labor Party by pursuing a number of radical policies developed by its grass-roots members. In 1981 several right-wing Labor MPs formed a breakaway group called the Social Democratic Party (SDP), a move which split Labor and is widely believed to have made Labor unelectable for a decade. The SDP formed an alliance with the Liberal Party which contested the 1983 and 1987 general elections as a centrist alternative to Labor and the Conservatives. After some initial success, the SDP did not prosper (partly due to its unfavorable distribution of votes in the FPTP electoral system), and was accused by some of splitting the anti-Conservative vote. The SDP eventually merged with the Liberal Party to form the Liberal Democrats in 1988. Support for the new party has increased since then, and the Liberal Democrats (often referred to as LibDems) in 1997 and 2001 gained an increased number of seats in the House of Commons. The Labor Party was badly defeated in the Conservative landslide of the 1983 general election, and Michael Foot was replaced shortly thereafter by Neil Kinnock as leader. Kinnock expelled the far left Militant tendency group (now called the Socialist Party of England and Wales) and moderated many of the party’s policies. Yet he was in turn replaced by John Smith after Labor defeats in the 1987 and 1992 general elections. Tony Blair became leader of the Labor party after John Smith’s sudden death from a heart attack in 1994. He continued to move the Labor Party towards the ‘center’ by loosening links with the unions and embracing many of Margaret Thatcher’s liberal economic policies. This, coupled with the professionalizing of the party machine’s approach to the media, helped Labor win a historic landslide in the 1997 General Election, after 18 years of Conservative government. Some observers say the Labor Party had by then morphed from a democratic socialist party to a social democratic party, a process which delivered three general election victories but alienated some of its core base – leading to the formation of the Socialist Labor Party (UK). Liberal Democrats; The Liberal Democrats won the third largest number of seats at the 2010 general election, returning 57 MPs. The Conservative Party failed to win an overall majority, and the Liberal Democrats entered government for the first time as part of a coalition. The Liberal Democrats were formed in 1988 by a merger of the Liberal Party with the Social Democratic Party, but can trace their origin back to the Whigs and the Rochdale Radicals who evolved into the Liberal Party. The term ‘Liberal Party’ was first used officially in 1868, though it had been in use colloquially for decades beforehand. The Liberal Party formed a government in 1868 and then alternated with the Conservative Party as the party of government throughout the late 19th century and early 20th century. The Liberal Democrats are heavily a party on Constitutional and Political Reforms, including changing the voting system for General Elections (UK Alternative Vote referendum, 2011), abolishing the House of Lords and replacing it with a 300 member elected Senate, introducing Fixed Five Year Parliaments, and introducing a National Register of Lobbyists. They also claim to champion of fairness and social mobility, notably in government where they have introduced legislation introducing a pupil premium – funding for schools directed at the poorest students to give them an equal chance in life – equal marriage for homosexual couples and increasing the income tax threshold so that no one will pay anything on the first  £10,000 they earn. Other parliamentary parties The Green Party of England and Wales gained its second MP, Caroline Lucas, in the 2010 General Election (the first MP was Cynog Dafis, Ceredigion 1992 who was elected on a joint Plaid Cyru/Green Party ticket). It also has seats in the European Parliament, two seats on the London Assembly and around 120 local councilors. The Respect party, a left-wing group that came out of the anti-war movement has one MP, George Galloway. It also has a small number of seats on local councils across the country. There are usually a small number of Independent politicians in parliament with no party allegiance. In modern times, this has usually occurred when a sitting member leaves their party, and some such MPs have been re-elected as independents. The only current Independent MP is Lady Hermon, previously of the Ulster Unionist Party. However, since 1950 only two new members have been elected as independents without having ever stood for a major party: Martin Bell represented the Tatton constituency in Cheshire between 1997 and 2001. He was elected following a â€Å"sleaze† scandal involving the sitting Conservative MP, Neil Hamilton—Bell, a BBC journalist, stood as an anticorruption independent candidate, and the Labor and Liberal Democrat parties withdrew their candidates from the election. Dr. Richard Taylor MP was elected for the Wyre Forest constituency in the 2001 on a platform opposing the closure of Kidderminster hospital. He later established Health Concern, the party under which he ran in 2005. Current political landscape Since winning the largest number of seats and votes in the 2010 general election, the Conservatives under David Cameron are now behind the Labor Party now led by Ed Miliband. Their coalition partners have also experienced a decline in support in opinion polls. At the same time, support for the UK Independence Party has shown a considerable advance, with some polls now placing them in third place ahead of the Lib Dems. UKIP’s growing strength was illustrated by the result of the Eastleigh by-election in which the party advanced by 24% to take second place from the Conservatives, less than 5% behind the Lib Dems who retained the seat. Local government The UK is divided into a variety of different types of Local Authorities, with different functions and responsibilities. England has a mix of two-tier and single-tier councils in different parts of the country. In Greater London, a unique two-tier system exists, with power shared between the London borough councils, and the Greater London Authority which is headed by an elected mayor. Unitary Authorities are used throughout Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. European Union Further information: European Movement UK, Euroskepticism in the United Kingdom, and Members of the European Parliament from the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom first joined the European Economic Community in January 1973, and has remained a member of the European Union (EU) that it evolved into; UK citizens, and other EU citizens resident in the UK, elect 78 members to represent them in the European Parliament in Brussels and Strasbourg. The UK’s membership in the Union has been objected to over questions of sovereignty,[27] and in recent years there have been divisions in both major parties over whether the UK should form greater ties within the EU, or reduce the EU’s supranational powers. Opponents of greater European integration are known as â€Å"Euroskeptics†, while supporters are known as â€Å"Europhiles†. Division over Europe is prevalent in both major parties, although the Conservative Party is seen as most divided over the issue, both whilst in Government up to 1997 and after 2010, and between those dates as the opposition. However, the Labor Party is also divided, with conflicting views over UK adoption of the euro whilst in Government (1997–2010), although the party is largely in favor of further integration where in the country’s interest. UK nationalists have long campaigned against European integration. The strong showing of the euroskeptic United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) in the 2004 European Parliament elections has shifted the debate over UK relations with the EU. In March 2008, Parliament decided to not hold a referendum on the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon, signed in December 2007. [28] This was despite the Labor government promising in 2004 to hold a referendum on the previously proposed Constitution for Europe. How to cite United Kingdom Political System, Papers

Critique of the Principles of Scientific Management free essay sample

Biography Written by Frederick Winslow Taylor, who was called The Father of Scientific Management† (Wrege Greenwood, 1991). Taylor was the most influential person of the time and he has had an impact on management until this day. His innovation in engineering helped improving productivity, which called The Taylor System of Scientific Management (Copley, 1969), which is depends on scientific methods to manage any factory (Wikipedia). Taylor came from wealthy family. He was born on March 20, 1856 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. And died in 1915(Copley, 1969). In 1872, he was sent to Exeter Academy in Philips to be prepared for Harvard University. However, Taylor passed the Harvard University examination with honors. His eyes affected, as a result of his hard study at night. This required him to have a rest from reading. So he worked in Philadelphia for four years in a small machine shop (Copley, 1969; Greenwood, 1991). In 1878, he stared working as a laborer for a big company called Midvale Steel Works (Copley, 1969). Taylor quickly progressed from laborer to foreman for the company, then chief engineer (Wrege Greenwood, 1991). In 1881, He developed studies about time-motion (net). In 1883, Taylor graduate from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, with Mechanical Engineering degree (Wrege Greenwood, 1991). Critique The author begins this article with major fact that faces the civilize world. With almost all workmen believed that it is better to turn out little outputs for the salary they get. The reason of their believed is that if they increase their efficiency â€Å"double their output†, half of the worker will be without job by the end of the year. Taylor argued the effect of any labor-saving device at any work. The universal result for this phenomenon was that provide more work for people in this trade. He gave an example for that the cotton industry. Around 1780, when the power loom invented, the weaver of Manchester, England, know it is coming. Since the power loom turn out three times what those weaver turn in a day, all Manchester weaver decided to destroy all these machine. Now day, there are 265,000 weavers in Manchester after the labor-saving device come, comparing with 5,000 in 1840. This shows how this invention provided more jobs (Natemeyer McMahon, 2001). Taylor gives another example; a pen manufactory, who has one workman. And this worker turns out ten pens every day for $2. 50 a day. One day the foreman come and asked the worker to double his output for $5 a day, the workman accepted his offer. Everyone was happy with that. However, one day one of the directors saw the payroll, but he didn’t like what he sees. The director asked the foreman to cut the price down to the standard rate of wages which is $2. 50 a day. From that day, the workman decided that he will never makes enough pens in the future to get his salary cut again. In this example you can’t blame ether one the directors, nor the workman. It is just a bad luck in industry (Natemeyer McMahon, 2001). The author mention that there is no one in the world invented scientific management. It is not a new theories, it is an evolution. In reality, we see how the practice comes before the theory not after it. Now days, we can see how scientific management is in use in almost every industry in the U. S. there are many benefits for the workmen who work under scientific management; an increase from 33 to 100 per cent in their salary; more important the good relationship with their employers. On the other hand, the management will get what they want, the large profit (Natemeyer McMahon, 2001). However, scientific management exists when complete mental revolutions accrue in the work place on both management and workmen. The manager should give his workmen a special motivation, if he wants them to do their best for the good of his firm. In the book, Classics of Organization Behavior, Frederick Herzberg mention some ways to motivate workmen; 1) Cutting Time they spent at work. 2) Rising wages. 3) Provide some benefits. 4) Provide job participation. But, his change doesn’t come overnight; we need time to change people’s principles in life. Managements in any industries are responsible of this change. They are the primary key that makes scientific management successful (Natemeyer McMahon, 2001). Taylor divided scientific management into four principles:- 1. Replaces the old rule-of-thumb method to a new method that based on people motion. And the time a person needs to do a specific job. And the good way of doing it. 2. In any industry, the scientific managements select their workmen, train them to do their duties, and then pay them a high salary for their work. Whereas in the past the individual chose his own job, and then train himself as best as he could. 3. Bring together the two first principles. This is one of the management responsibilities to choose his workmen, train them, and have a good relationship with them. They have to cooperate with their worker, explain to them the new method that they will use in work. So, they can insure that the work will be done in accordance (Wrege Greenwood, 1991). 4. Divided the work into two sections, one of them is the management duties, and the other handed over the workmen. It is in this real cooperation, this genuine division of the work between the two sides, more than any other element, which accounts for the fact that there never will be strikes under scientific management (Natemeyer McMahon, 2001, p. 10) Over the years there have been serious criticisms leveled against Taylors Scientific Management. One of these critics has charged Taylors system for viewed man as a machine -a cog in a wheel - and programmed every important motion a workman had to execute to complete an assigned task (Halpern, Osofsky, Peskin, 1989). Those critics believed that would leave workers with no discretion at all and it is tedious for all, but the most apathetic workers. Another critic added that scientific management mandates an extremely high division of labor which requires minimum skills. This left workers with no incentive to grow and develop on the job. Also, Taylors system was criticized for ignoring the human element of the job, because it is programming the workers movements without caring about employees’ interests and emotional lives on the jobs. Moreover, Taylorism system failed to identify the social and psychological needs of the worker, and the displeasure that comes when these need doesn’t meet (Halpern, Osofsky, Peskin, 1989). Another failure in Taylor’s system was that it ties the reward structure to the individual work. But by making a little change in his system, it can succeed today. That can be by making the group the principle work unit instead the individual. So that if the group achieves its goal all members of this group should be awarded (Halpern, Osofsky, Peskin, 1989). Today’s workplace: In todays live the scientific management name is gone, but we can see it basic principles everywhere. However, the principles of scientific management have been discussed frequency in different current management literature (Freeman, 1996). †¢Ã¢â‚¬Å"Develop a science for each element of a mans work† (Freeman, 1995): by using A computer program called OPSIM (Operator Simulation for Time Study Teaching and Research) to study the time and the motion for workers. †¢Ã¢â‚¬Å"Research, investigate and experiment (with their processes of analysis, measurement, comparison, Etc) (Freeman, 1996). Besides increasing the worker productivity and quality. The new innovative form of Taylor’s System on Time and motion studies is to increase workers incentive and pleasure. †¢Using scientific to select, train, teach and develop the workers. Human resource publications have many articles that talked about the best method to select an employee. In many universities, the researchers have been trying to determine the validity of employee selection system (Freeman, 1996). †¢Heartily cooperate with the Men. Environment of intellectual inquiry can be created by management in which the seeking of knowledge becomes the norm by; 1) demanding and rewarding individual initiative and improvement(Freeman, 1996). 2) Bring to light those who outdo. 3) Designing the systems and organization structures that cause individuals to feel they can control their own destinies in a way that promotes acceptance of responsibility (Freeman, 1996). †¢The inspection job is to maintain, or to interpret the cause of varying from set up standards: (SPC) statistical process control is the prevalent method to observe the variations from standards. This method totally works with scientific management. And it is helping the management to make its decisions based on scientific facts, rather than the rule-of-thumb estimates (Freeman, 1996). †¢Special motivation. Most of incentive systems are tied to worker productivity. There are many studies that tried to find conclusive answers for the merit pay system. Beside, many business owners found that using the incentive system (by linking the pay to performance) is the best way