Paradoxes of Power in Sociological Insight by Randall Collins

Paradoxes of Power in Sociological Insight by Randall Collins It may be said that the institution of power has always been a prevalent force in our society. It is a large part of what holds society together; without it civilized society as we know it would not exist. The functions of power range from keeping crime at bay to the more commonplace aspects such as allowing patrons to be served in a restaurant. The notion of power is almost invisible until further analyzed; it is something that we perceive as being simple and therefore take for granted. Yet there are so many intricacies in regard to power that still remain to be seen. In Chapter Three of Sociological Insight by Randall Collins, the author†¦show more content†¦Yet some forms of power are certainly more effective than others. The key to realizing power most effectively lies in the acknowledgement of occasional concession and knowing when to giv(e) in on something less important (74). For instance, once again consider the example of a mother and child. Assume that the child wants to go over to a friends house to play, but he has promised his mother that he would do his chores that afternoon. The child begs his mother to let him go and play, assuring her that he will do his chores immediately upon arriving home. The mother concedes, and the child is happy. If we are to analyze this situation in terms of gains and losses, the mother has gained points with her son and has essentially suffered no loss-the chores will still be done, only a few hours later. Throughout the entire scenario, the mothers power is evident, both explicit and implicitly; the son does not forget that his mother has the ultimate say in what he does, and in letting her son go she has not only made him happy but is also asserting her power as a parent. In sum, the mother has most effectively realized her power by knowing when to sacrifice something that is of lesser importance while gaining more long-term benefits. Another way that power may be asserted is by the influences of certain situations, namelyShow MoreRelatedContemporary Issues in Management Accounting211377 Words   |  846 Pagesalso those of the profession and the wider public sphere. Ever helpful to regulators, the senior civil service, and international agencies, Michael Bromwich is respected for the ways in which he can combine conceptual understandings with pragmatic insights. He has been sought out to provide that extra element of conceptual clarity for the most complex of practical accounting endeavours. No doubt such abilities reflect Michael’s early grounding in both the practice of accounting and its economic theorizationRead MoreManagement Course: Mba−10 General Management215330 Words   |  862 PagesGeneral Management California College for Health Sciences MBA Program McGraw-Hill/Irwin abc McGraw−Hill Primis ISBN: 0−390−58539−4 Text: Effective Behavior in Organizations, Seventh Edition Cohen Harvard Business Review Finance Articles The Power of Management Capital Feigenbaum−Feigenbaum International Management, Sixth Edition Hodgetts−Luthans−Doh Contemporary Management, Fourth Edition Jones−George Driving Shareholder Value Morin−Jarrell Leadership, Fifth Edition Hughes−Ginnett−CurphyRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesPerception and Individual Decision Making 165 Motivation Concepts 201 Motivation: From Concepts to Applications 239 3 The Group 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Foundations of Group Behavior 271 Understanding Work Teams 307 Communication 335 Leadership 367 Power and Politics 411 Conflict and Negotiation 445 Foundations of Organization Structure 479 v vi BRIEF CONTENTS 4 The Organization System 16 Organizational Culture 511 17 Human Resource Policies and Practices 543 18 Organizational Change

Can you remember the last time you had a sweet Free Essays

Surely the last time you had a sweet wasn’t because you worked hard for it, or because you were on your bestest behaviour that your mum decided to treat you. In fact, you’re probably having something sugary as your reading this; what is it this time: A Sherbet? A Skittle? Or a plan and simple, sugar filled frothy fizzy drink. If you’re not drinking it now, the last time you probably drank it was to ease the chicken and chips going down your throat for lunch. We will write a custom essay sample on Can you remember the last time you had a sweet? or any similar topic only for you Order Now It’s more attractive than the healthy stuff. It’s cheaper than the healthy stuff. No doubt tastier than the healthy stuff. So why are fizzy drinks and sugary snacks being replaced by the healthy stuff? Shouldn’t they be banned altogether? Decaying of the teeth are the main reasons for toothaches. 60%, that’s almost 2 out of every 3, children in Scotland have a dental disease from as young as 3 years old. Sweets and fizzy drinks allow this to happen. The unnatural sugars they contain erode your teeth to make them thin and see through. I once knew a boy who had no front teeth! Well that’s what it looked like anyway. He drank so many Coca Colas that his teeth started looking like glass. Not only did he get laughed at but he wasn’t allowed sweets for the rest of his life. I don’t know bout you, but I definitely think sweets are not worth that, even if they taste unbelievably scrumscious. While your mouth bathes in the sweet syrupy substances, it’s sometimes easy to forget where you left the wrapper. Nearly everyone throws it’s in the bin. But the minority don’t dispose of it as sensibly. This is a health hazard. Imagine slipping on a slick silk like chocolate wrapper and cutting yourself on an open tin can, all because a one child didn’t throw his rubbish away. And when your classrooms full of sweet wrappers, cans of coke, and tables looking like they’ve been moulded from chewing gum, learning is not easy. Learning is important while you’re young. It’s where the basic yet very crucial information is taught. Without knowing the basics, it’s almost impossible to progress in life. But when you’re tied and feeling lazy this too can make it difficult. And the main reason why you’re tied during the day is because you’re up during the night. And the main reason why you’re up during the night is because you drank to much caffeine during the day. And the main reason why you drink caffeine is because it’s in fizzy drinks; and fizzy drinks are addictive. I know this seems like just another article telling you that sweets are bad and that you should stay away from them. You probably get enough of that from your parents, teachers and dentists. But it’s true. They damage your health, create hazards and in all stop you from reaching your full potential in life. And besides, there are only so many pounds the tooth fairy has. I don’t think she can afford to pay you everyday for every tooth that will eventually fall out if you carry on consuming candy. Ban the sweets and fizzy drinks: Ban the damage, hazards and create yourself a better future. How to cite Can you remember the last time you had a sweet?, Essays

Efficient Wastewater Treatment and Recycling Systems

Question: Discuss about the Efficient Wastewater Treatment and Recycling Systems. Answer: Introduction Water is one of the most key natural resources to the survival of mankind and is very much unlimited though a bit scarce in some societies. It surrounds the lands both far and near. Its usage in some of the regions across the world currently has augmented past the limits that natural water resources can sustain since it results in a reduction of some natural water resources including ponds, rivers, reduced the quality of drinking water, pollution of the environment and lastly increased periods of drought. For instance, Australia has been affirmed to be a high-stress region in regards to problems associated with water. All these are attributed to the factors that there is continuous increasing world population in addition to the impacts of impulsive climate in most regions creating adverse effects on the water supply on earth(Chris Binnie, 2008, p. 60). Despite the availability of a variety of water reuse supplies, this report is directed to only the desalination of sea water and treated water. Recycling of water and see desalination are the strategies that will help to decrease the stress on the water resources while making them more sustainable to mankind despite debates and arguments about acceptance of the recycled water. Two aspects are mainly discussed in this report; the perception of the community in the acceptance of the desalinated water and recycled water including the approaches for community involvement. Surveys and studies were carried out earlier on public perceptions and the methods for engaging the public to adopt the use of recycled water and desalinated see water is also discussed(Chris Binnie, 2008, p. 65). Background on Sydneys Metropolitan Water Plan Sydney as a city in Australia is one of the most populated and its population is increasing at a very high rate. Currently, its population is approximately 5 million, and it is projected to go up to 6 million by the year 2036. Thus there is a need for a very strong, sustainable and efficient water plan by the state authority to manage this vast population. The metropolitan water plan comprises of water supply, and the management system of the plan takes into account the security, safety, sustainability and the cost-effective water supply to Sydney city. Besides, the metropolitan ensures the handling of drought and the law rainfall situation, good health to the citizens and the state of water bodies that are obstructed by the dams constructed to stream water all over the state(Fereidoun Ghassemi, 2007, p. 235). The estimation of this plan is the provision of water security until the year 2025 to the NSW. Sydneys metropolitan water plan has major characteristics as outlined below; A Higher percentage of Sydneys drinking water will be obtained from the dams. Introducing innovative water efficiency programs will help to minimize water consumption in industries, agriculture, households and in governments. The estimated water supply plan will help to satisfy at least 15% of the current water requirements Investing in the recycling project will help to minimize the demand for drinking water hence lowering the load on water bodies(Fereidoun Ghassemi, 2007, p. 243). Presently, various environmental issues such as weather inconsistency, global warming, etc. have been on the mention and extracting water from the natural water bodies and land is a contributing factor to these challenges. Therefore, the techniques involved in this plan and community engagement will surely help to decrease the demand for water. The engagement of the community is also an effective method since it has created a friendly partnership between the government and the community on water harvesting, recycling and minimizing water loses especially the leakage loses(Fereidoun Ghassemi, 2007, p. 247). The introduction of water meter helps to inspect the quality of water regarding the nutrients contained and the recycling water release in water bodies. The investment in these technologies will greatly help to solve the issue of water and increase the usage of recycled water and desalinated water in the future(Fereidoun Ghassemi, 2007, p. 266). Community Views on Advanced Water Treatment Adoption There are several views on the application of desalted water as opposed to reuse of wastewater. Various countries currently are facing the water challenges since they poses limited water resources and provisions to meet both their current and impending water demands. Besides, there is also a possibility of heavy pollution in their water bodies. With an increase in population, climate change and uncertainty of rain among others, these problems are deemed to becoming worse. Thus to curb the water crisis, the state authorities have a task of coming up with technical solutions to increase the water supply, quality, and the water level. The engineers have come up with new technologies which make water to be used once again after its use and also making the seawater drinkable through a process known as briefly described below(Gayathri Devi Mekala, 2008, p. 566). Recycled water is water which is treated after it has been used once. The treatment involves various stages whereby the physical, chemical, and biological impurities are eliminated through various processes such as ultrafiltration. After treating the wastewater, the state authorities discharge it in large water bodies where it gets recombined with water devoid of impurities thus reducing the level of concentration of contaminations in the water body thereby being able to be used once again. On the other hand, it can be used directly without mixing it back to the fresh waters. Below is a diagram of the whole process(Gayathri Devi Mekala, 2008, p. 570). Desalinated water Desalinated water is water that is void of salts and minerals .thus through a process of reverse osmosis, these salts and other harmful particles are eliminated making the water safe for human use. Below is the diagram for the desalination process The studies and surveys that have been conducted in the past concerning the adoption of recycled water and desalinated sea water show that the public adoption was very little. Related research have been done in the recent past and the response is almost the same. These type of studies are carried since the 1970s. In most cases, the response was that people have the general acceptance to use of recycled water, but on a low personal contact, for instance, they will prefer to use it for gardening purposes and for purposes of flashing in the toilet. Personal contact such as drinking, washing, and bathing was mostly not for the opinion of many(Gayathri Devi Mekala, 2008, p. 600). The survey conducted in Australia by Hurliman and Dolnicar records that 92% of the residents consented to the use of recycled water for non-contact purposes such as gardening. Only 36 % of the residents were positive about the use of recycled water for drinking. On the other hand, the survey on acceptance of desalinated water showed that 53% of the residents were positive for its use in drinking, bathing, and washing but 84% were ready to use it for gardening purpose and other outdoor usage. Thereby this study implies that desalted water is most favored over water that has been recycled for contact usage i.e. drinking, bathing and washing(Gayathri Devi Mekala, 2008, p. 720). Though the acceptance level of this water is increased, majority of the people still are not prepared to consume recycled water for purposes of personal use such as drinking. A recent study by Ransburg indicates the barriers that are posed by the public in regards to the use of recycled water. The barriers are either technical or non-technical. The technical barriers are the appropriate technical solutions that will be suitable to manage health risks. The acceptance of the public to the usage of recycled water falls under non-technical issues. Ransburg states that the reality is that despite the fact that sufficient and available information to substantiate the high-tech submissions of water treatment systems, the view of the public remains a major setback(Fereidoun Ghassemi, 2007, p. 288). The quality of water is among the major factors that people consider on the acceptance of recycled or desalinated water. The water that is recycled from the municipal wastewater consists of harmful releases such as chemicals from industries and organic compounds and human excrete. Also, there are biological materials such as pathogens, protozoa, impurities and viruses. The risk of treatment failure is usually likely in almost all the water treatment systems thereby reviewing these possibilities makes most people reluctant about the adoption of recycled water(Chris Binnie, 2008, p. 90). Cost and Environmental factors It is easier to convince the people to adopt the usage of desalinated water weather for purposes of contact usage or outdoor. In contrary, the cost of the desalination process is way too costly as compared to the normal fresh water. Besides, desalinated water is not environmental friendly since the energy consumption of desalinated water is very high thereby resulting in greenhouse gas emission and air pollution. The sucking of huge amounts of water from the sea endangers the life of tiny sea creatures such as plankton, babyish and other animals. Also, the removal of salt disposes of the brine concentration thereby harming aquatic life. Furthermore, the disposal of the removed salt is very harmful to plant life since it makes the soil lose its fertility. Despite all these negative environmental effects most people prefer using desalinated water over recycled water(Chris Binnie, 2008, p. 100). People will easily accept to drink recycled water without their knowledge. But telling them to drink recycled water however much it is clean will be impossible since it creates some negative psychological impact on them as they will be thinking that they are drinking water from their toilet. On the other hand, it will not be much hard to convince them to drink desalinated water. Only a few people do care about the source of water they are drinking, but to most people, the source is a major factor to consider. Socio-demographic factors Some belief in certain religions permits one to only drink water after performing some ritualistic process. Thus it is hard to convince the people to use or drink recycled water nor to convince them to go against their beliefs. Though in such communities, acceptance of desalinated water is not a big factor to them. Besides, the demographic factors such as age become a factor i.e. the aged h do have a weak immune system, and drinking recycled water may expose them to being vulnerable to illness. The engagement of the community is one of the toughest parts in the recycling and reuse of water. The community is essential in all the aspects since by getting the peoples problems; sound strategies can help to improve the decisions made which could turn out to be great .hence below are sound strategies that will help the adoption of recycled water(Chris Binnie, 2008, p. 116). Engaging the public from the onset i.e. the planning stages very essential in winning the trust of the public and gaining their confidence. This involves conducting of surveys, questions, seminars, studies and awareness programs this, makes the public to have more knowledge on the process. For instance in Toowoomba advanced water recycling plant, the authorities did everything from planning process design and implementation only to bring to the public notice after everything is done. The people could not buy the idea, and despite attempts to buy their trust, it failed terribly to the extent that protest groups and political influenced ensured the people wane and consequently the project failed(Fereidoun Ghassemi, 2007, p. 299). Before applying any strategy, there is need to get the opinions from the public and the current market scenario. These surveys could be in the form of online questionnaires. I .e in 2009; an online data survey showed that 3094 people out of 13884 invitations voted for acceptance of recycled water usage. The questionnaire was about their mindsets, beliefs, demographic views and social views and recycled water and reuse. This kind of survey helps to decide on which best strategy to apply Branding and marketing The branding and marketing are also a crucial factor in making the public to accept the recycling process. This entails providing an intricate elementary and the most striking statistics about the recycling plant. I.e. providing a preview of a film that encloses the best sections of the process. This makes the persons enthusiastic about the plan or the method. Thus the name of the plant for example green water will help to compensate the feeling of yuck thus building the publics confidence. This involves conducting of seminars and presentations where people share ideas and information regarding all data about recycled and desalinated water. If possible give a comparison of the recycled water and the water they use using a practical data base. Provided they will realize that the recycled water is superior to the one they are using theyll be more at ease in accepting it. Also, engaging the media by providing them with technical and qualitative information helps to publicize the plant. Lastly conducting of competition and in the process providing the participants with questionnaires helps to remove the misconceptions about the product(Fereidoun Ghassemi, 2007, p. 445). Conclusion Most people do not prefer recycled and desalinated water, but they would opt for natural water. The survey conducted shows that there is a gap in the knowledge of general purpose concerning the recycled and desalinated water. Most of them would prefer to use recycled and desalinated water for outdoor purposes such as agriculture but not in contact purposes such as bathing washing and drinking. This report showed the reasons as to why this happens and provided the best sound strategies that can be applied to make the process more successful and adoptable by the public. The results from the surveys and studies show that the people are more concerned about the health issues and the water source. The sound strategies such as creating awareness through the media, conducting seminars and technical knowledge sharing, engaging the public from the onset will help to eliminate the misconceptions about the product thereby increasing the confidence and adoption from the public(Gayathri Devi Meka la, 2008, p. 631). References Chris Binnie, M. K., 2008. Water Reuse,Scientific and Technical Report Series. 2nd ed. edinburgh: IWA Publishing. Fereidoun Ghassemi, I. W., 2007. Inter-Basin Water Transfer. 3rd ed. london: Cambridge University Press. Gayathri Devi Mekala, B. D. M. S. A.-M. B., 2008. A framework for efficient wastewater treatment and recycling systems. 2nd ed. sydney: IWMI.