The Cuban Missile Crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Cuban Missile Crisis - Essay Example During 1962, the President of Soviet Union was repeatedly accused of creating a missile gap between the US and Soviet Union. At that point of time, Soviet Union was desperately behind the US in terms of balancing the power of armed forces. It felt insecure as its missiles could only be utilized against Europe, whereas US missiles were able to assault the entire Soviet Union. Furthermore, Cuba also feared about an assault from the US army. Cuba was also searching for a way to defend the island from US attack. Due to these reasons, Soviet chief conceived the idea of positioning missiles in Cuba. In order to defend the island, Cuba had approved the plan of Soviet Union to position missiles in the island. This missile positioning strategy in Cuba was intended to enhance the strategic resources and to restrict the possibility of the US threat on Cuba as well as Soviet Union. This was the build-up of a grave missile crisis in Cuba between two global superpowers2. In the US, the crisis started when satellite images exposed Soviet missiles under installation in Cuba. As the US forces scrutinized transportation activities in Cuba, gossips started to flow in Washington. Through the investigation, the US had revealed the presence of defensive missiles in Cuba. Although Soviet Union allegedly declared that there were no invasive missiles in Cuba, US had discovered the existence of missiles in Cuba. This situation resulted in intense arguments within top levels of governments. During the Cuba missile crisis, tensions started to generate from both sides3. Considering the situation, the US had asserted that any kind of nuclear launch from Cuba would be termed as an attack on the US by Soviet Union and consequently it could start a new nuclear war. In the meantime, the US had also directed Soviet Union to eliminate all the offensive missiles from Cuba. One of the most precarious moments of the crisis occurred when the US destroyers were forced to isol ate Cuba4. A

Rebeccas Structure Essay Example for Free

Rebeccas Structure Essay Explain the effectiveness of the structure of the text, Rebecca Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca is structured in a circular form, which is effective in displaying elements of the gothic genre and producing a sense of mystery and ambiguity. The fact that details are revealed gradually creates tension, and a desire to know, so that by the end of the novel the audience is satisfied with the complete story, despite the horrific truth regarding Rebecca’s murder. The text virtually revolves around a murder By using a BAB form, with a reference to the ending at the beginning of the novel, a sense of confusion and abstruseness is evoked among readers. The first chapter, in which the narrator supernaturally returns to Manderley, relives her experiences and mourns for the loss of such an exquisite property, is perplexing for the reader as the scene, characters and setting have not been established. This causes the audience to disregard the first chapter, as the second chapter begins with an entirely different setting and mood. Upon reaching the end of the novel, the reader grasps the meaning of the dream sequence, and the forgotten abstruseness is resolved. The audience is left content with all details of the story revealed, but, like most gothic tales, also chilled and unsettled with the shocking conclusion. Rebecca shows elements of the horror genre through the structure, in which the details are revealed throughout the story, by being analogous to many crime shows of today. In television programs such as CSI, a section of the fictional offense is shown, after which the team investigates the murder or other wrongdoing, and eventually discovers the callous yet complete truth. This order of events matches exactly with those in Rebecca, and it has the effect that we have an idea of the story, but become alarmed yet intrigued as more shocking details are revealed. The text is structured in a way that the scene is set and elaborated on throughout the book as the story and events take place, which causes the reader to experience confusion and a sense of incompetence. The fact that we are put in the place of the speaker allows us to experience everything she feels, knows and says. The narrator’s lack of knowledge concerning Rebecca’s death and murder is unnerving, as it makes us feel just as naive and oblivious as Mrs. de Winter. This is relevant to the gothic genre as it plays on the idea of being put in someone else’s place, which seems supernatural and ghost-like, as if the murder is something we can only learn about through the narrator, as everyone else is already in the know. This idea is further explored when Mrs. de Winter goes to live at Manderley, and unintentionally takes Rebecca’s place. The ingenuousness of the narrator, and how she gradually learns the truth about the murder, allows us to relate, and displays the ghost-like element of the gothic genre. In conclusion, the structure of Rebecca is effective in exemplifying the gothic genre because it references the end of the book at the beginning which creates confusion and mystery. Its effect on the readers is significant because it follows the structure of many crime shows, and makes us feel clueless, like the narrator.

The Objectives Of The Arms Control Politics Essay

The Objectives Of The Arms Control Politics Essay For arms control to be an effective instrument of national security, its objectives must be determined by, and be in close harmony with, the broader objectives of national security strategy (Larsen, 2002) Traditional arms control theory was based on the premise that the super- powers inherently shared an area of common ground (Sheehan,1988) (avoiding nuclear war) and that this element of mutual interest could serve as the basis for limited cooperative arrangements involving reciprocal restraint in the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction. In defining the scope and application of arms control, they set forth three general objectives: (Larsen, 2002) Reducing the risk of war. Arms control was seen as a prime means of setting limits on and restraining strategic arms race behavior. For early arms control theorists, restraining certain types of technology was practically synonymous with reducing the risk of war. The underlying premise was that war was most likely to begin with a surprise nuclear attack made possible by unrestrained competition in ballistic missile, guidance and control, and nuclear weapon technology. Therefore, those weapon systems employing technologies that in theory most contributed to the ability to exe- cute a surprise nuclear attack against the nuclear retaliatory forces of the other side, or that undermined the ability of either side to hold deterrent tar- gets at risk, became principal candidates for arms limitation agreements. Reducing the cost of preparing for war. Arms control theorists believed that controls would release economic resources otherwise squandered on military spending (Bull, 1965). They believed that arms races were economically ruinous and that disarmament or arms control would make possible the diversion of resources toward worthier objectives. If arms control succeeded in providing the same degree of security at lower levels of weapons than would otherwise be the case, it could lead to fielding fewer weapons and thus lower overall defense spending. Further, if certain types of technology were mutually outlawed, there would be fewer costs associated with defense research and development, weapons production, force deployment, operations, and maintenance. The savings thereby realized could be diverted to domestic economic priorities and promote overall prosperity. Reducing the damage should war occur. If fewer weapons were fielded as a result of arms limitation agreements, and should war nevertheless occur, overall damage would be less than it would otherwise have been. But fielding fewer weapons is not the only way to reduce damage in the event of war. Damage also could be limited by developing certain types of active defense strategies and technologies, such as ballistic missile defenses. In practice, the first of the three main objectives proposed by traditional arms control theory-reducing the risk of war or, more specifically, reducing the risk of surprise nuclear attack-came to eclipse and over- shadow the other two. Achieving the first objective would also indirectly satisfy the other two. The process grew in complexity over the next four decades. It usually involved negotiations but was sometimes accomplished through unilateral decisions or reciprocated arrangements. The main merit of previous arms control agreements was that ..they created a situation that facilitated peaceful transformation in Europe and in the rest of the world (Rotfeld,1996). Along with the treaties on the elimination of intermediate-range nuclear weapons and the reduction of strategic nuclear weapons, these agreements include: The system of rules and export controls designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and nuclear weapon-usable material, of which the 1968 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) forms the legal basis; substantial reductions of conventional armed forces and manpower in Europe. This and other agreements have enabled the elimination of more than 60 000 heavy conventional weapons in Europe and in the Asian area of the former Soviet Union on the basis of accords reached in peacetime, not imposed by the victors on the vanquished. In recent years, a total of 20 000 nuclear warheads have been dismantled; thus their number was reduced from some 58 000 to 38 000. The process of destroying chemical weapons has been launched, although, because of the costs, it will last longer than expected. The central problems of arms control today The central problems facing the arms control process at present can be summarised as follows. Defining the role of the major powers First, there is the problem of deciding who are the players that need to be assembled at the table when arms control is discussed. Arms control tradition- ally has been the preserve of those states that possess the weapons. It has depended on the ability of major powers to work together in pursuit of particular objectives. The cold war demonstrated that arms control does not require that the interests and policies of these powers are aligned, but there has to be a willingness to cooperate. The special role assigned to the United Nations Security Council in matters of peace and security and the fact that the five NPT-defined nuclear weapon states are permanent members of the Security Council tended to cement the impression that military power and major power status were two sides of the same coin. However, other states now claim to have a legitimate stake in the arms control process without either being in possession of extensive military capabilities or intending to develop such capabilities. The exclusion of countries such as Germany, India and Japan from a central place in discussions of issues affecting global peace and security may undermine the credibility of those discussions. While each of these countries will react differently to the fact of its exclusion, no doubt they will all react in some manner. In addition, there is an important new actor on the international scene for which arms control is a crucial concern. With the establishment of the EU in 1993, a group of states (moreover, a group that is expected to expand in number) are developing, step-by-step, a more integrated approach to foreign and security policy that is likely to become increasingly influential in the future. Need for a new organizing principle A second problem arises from the need to consider the organizing principle for arms control in conditions where there is no longer any meaningful balance or symmetry between military capabilities. Past treaties usually conferred equal obligations and status on participating states in line with the principle of sovereign equality. This often translated into a carefully calibrated balance in numbers of agreed items that were the objects of control. This balance may have been set at zero in the framework of disarmament treaties or at higher levels in other agreements. This organizing principle no longer applies at the global level, given the power of the USA. More- over, agreements based on parity are not feasible at the regional level. They may not even be applicable at the subregional or bilateral level, where dyads at the centre of conflict and instability have very different force structures and force levels. Responding to non-compliance A third major problem for arms control is the need to develop responses to unambiguous evidence that some states are cheating on their legally binding obligations and commitments. Cheating does not include inadvertent or acci- dental failures to implement an agreement or differences of interpretation about the obligations contained in an agreement. These issues are important but manageable within the framework of arms control processes because the good faith of the parties is not disputed. Rather, cheating means that a state promises to take a course of action while at the same time intending to behave in ways known to be proscribed and that violate the basic principle of the agreement. None of the main compliance crises revealed in the 1990s-the Iraqi violation of its NPT commitments, the North Korean violation of its safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the Soviet violation of the 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention-has been fully resolved. This fact remains a serious problem and has contributed to under- mining the international communitys confidence in the efficacy of multi- lateral arms control instruments. Conclusion In other words, arms control can play a significant role by becoming an integral part of the new international security system. However, it cannot be boiled down simply to international legal instruments (treaties and conventions); rather, it should constitute a part of security policy and defence at the national level and of conflict resolution at the global level. Treaties and conventions remain central because they provide transparency about the obligations of states and an institutional framework within which resources can be mobilized and organized. However, treaties and conventions need to be supplemented with a habit of dialogue and discussion that assists in making actions consistent with agreed norms. The current binding normative order is the point of reference for seeking solutions that would tackle the challenges and situations of today and tomorrow. This normative order provides a platform on which to build but should not itself be placed in question. It must then be asked how the activities of those states which for different reasons have found themselves outside the current order can be regulated-in particular, how the world community should respond to the activities of states which violate important norms codified in arms control agreements to which they are not parties. Ways must be considered for including in the arms control process those states, which have an eroding influence on it. The states whose leaders believe that the current normative order is inadequate or even wrong will not participate in cooperative arrangements on an official level. However, individuals from this group of states can and should participate in the wider discussion of the role and impact of arms control. Moreover, in these states public information can play a valuable role in making possible a debate on the merits and demerits of cooperation. Despite these accomplishments, there remains much unfinished business on the arms control agenda. (Rotfeld, 1996) First, with the exception of the NATO and European Union (EU) member states, the security of the territories extending from Vancouver to Vladivostok is not based on a collective, common or cooperative security system. Threats and armed conflicts have moved to Europes peripheries (the Balkans and the Caucasus) and to Central Asia. Second, neither the continuous step-by-step reduction of nuclear weapons in those states that possess them nor diminishing the likelihood that new nuclear weapon states will emerge can be ensured at present. Third, the legally binding ban on nuclear explosions has yet to enter into force, amidst signs that the no-testing norm codified in the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty is not universally accepted. Finally, the level of confidence in the implementation of treaties and agreements to eliminate biological and chemical weapons remains low in many quarters. With the end of the bipolar world order, the role of arms control and disarmament has changed fundamentally. The international security system based on bipolarity and mutual nuclear deterrence was one of high military threat and at the same time of relatively high stability. As a result, in the cold war period arms control and disarmament were seen as the highest priority in the policies of the global powers. Arms control was considered to be a pillar that supported strategic stability and maintained the balance of power between the superpowers and their respective allies. The pre- dominant goals of traditional arms control theory, as developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, was to enhance security, and the major powers shared an interest in avoiding global nuclear annihilation. These twin goals helped the powers to transcend their deep ideological and political differences and engage in a strategic dialogue. Thus the main objectives of arms control were to reduce the risk of nuc lear war between the two great antagonists, maintain the equilibrium of forces, reduce the costs of the arms race, and seek to limit the damage should war occur. Different approaches to arms control 1- Fundamental changes in the existing arms control framework should be avoided. Radical changes could put at risk existing processes that are not yet completed without any assurance that a new framework can be constructed to substitute for them. In the view of this group, the future of arms control will consist of implementing, strengthening and further developing existing agreements and processes. 2 Accepts the objectives of the current arms control agenda but argues that these objectives cannot be realised through existing agreements and processes under the present conditions. An extension of this view is the argument that focusing narrowly on existing agreements in conditions where political relations are strained may diminish security by amplifying disagreements. The impact of the debate over the relationship between the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM Treaty) and missile defences on relations between China, Russia and the USA could be pointed to as an example. For this second group, arms control processes need to be supplemented by other types of political, economic and even, under certain conditions, military initiatives if the objectives of arms control are to be achieved. 3- The current objectives of arms control processes are too narrow and fail to address new challenges and problems that represent the primary threat under the new international conditions. For this group, the arms control agenda should be expanded to include more types of weapons (small arms and light weapons), more types of equipment (non-lethal high technology), more issues (humanitarian issues, economic issues and governance issues) and more actors (international organizations and non-governmental actors). In their view, this widening of the arms control agenda is a paramount task, even if the consequence is that existing processes are scaled back or discontinued to release resources for reallocation. Current problems and new challenges The different approaches to arms control described above are not commonly exclusive. The task of finding common ground among the groups supporting them will be facilitated if arms control can make progress in solving problems, demonstrate its relevance to the new security environment and adapt itself to new challenges.

Discrimination :: Essays Papers

Discrimination Janet Smith awoke early morning to prepare for her job interview at Britax Vision Systems. She started the coffeepot in the kitchen and returned to her bedroom to sort through her wardrobe. After careful consideration, she decided on a navy blue pantsuit with white trim and matching dress shoes. After Janet had taken her shower, she dressed and went back to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat. Deciding on an English muffin, she sat down at the table to enjoy it along with her coffee. Janet finished her breakfast, brushed her teeth, and continued readying herself for the meeting. Once her morning ritual was complete, Janet got into her blue Escort and drove to Britax with the sound of Jimmy Buffet in her ears. Upon arrival, Janet parked her car in the guest parking lot and turned off the ignition. Giving herself another look over in the mirror, along with a few words of encouragement, she headed towards the main building. After she had entered through the double glass doors, she approached a nearby desk. Behind the desk sat a young, light-brown haired woman. The nameplate on her desk read Ashley. Ashley was an attractive girl with bright green eyes with blue speckles at the edges. She wore a cranberry vest along with a matching skirt that, to Janet, seemed much to short for an office job. After a few seconds of waiting, Ashley looked up at Janet questioningly. â€Å"Hi, I’m here for my interview. My name is Janet Smith and I have an eleven o’clock appointment†, she said confidently. The young girl opened a small leather book at the right edge of her desk and began scanning the pages. A moment later she returned her attention to Janet and instructed her to be seated across from the door to her left. There were five seats lined against the wall, each with black backing and gray upholstery. A man with dark hair and eyes sat farthest to the left. He wore gold-rimmed glasses that had slipped down his nose in the course of his reading. A Time magazine lay open on his lap. He scanned the pages slowly, although Janet suspected that he wasn’t really reading at all, but rather trying to pass time. Janet chose the middle seat and placed her purse on the chair beside her. She began thinking about her family. Her husband Mark had just had his 34th birthday, making him two years older than she.

Belbin s Team Role Model Applications Essay

University of the Basque Country; University of Hull; Highfield House Consultancy abstract This paper brings together research into and using the team role model developed by Belbin (1981, 1993a) in an attempt to provide an exhaustive assessment of construct validity in light of the conflicting evidence so far produced. Role theory is used to contextualize the origins of the model. The psychometric properties of the Team Role Self-Perception Inventory used to assess a person’s likely behaviour in a team are examined along with 43 empirical studies that have tested theoretical associations between team roles and other cognitive or behavioural traits. While the evidence is mixed, we conclude that, on balance, the model and its accompanying Inventory have adequate convergent validity. However, strong associations between some team roles are observed, indicating weak discriminant validity among some scales in the Inventory. Through its coverage of important areas of teamworking, the paper contributes to the practitioner and research communities by providing fresh insights into aspects of teamworking and by suggesting new research agendas. INTRODUCTION Effective teamworking has become a basic concern for most organizations. While many factors influence a team’s performance, considerable attention has been given to the influence of team member diversity in terms of roles played in a team. The team role model made popular by Meredith Belbin in relation to management teams (Belbin, 1981, 1993a) and available commercially through Belbin Associates (1988) is widely used in practice and has featured extensively in research on teams at work. The model is used by many organizations including FTSE-100 companies, multinational agencies, government bodies and consultants and has been translated into 16 languages. This paper therefore reviews the published research and assesses to what extent the model is supported by the available evidence. Through its coverage of important areas of teamworking (conflict management, personality traits, team performance, control and power) the paper contributes to the practitioner and research communities by providing fresh insights into aspects of teamworking and by suggesting new research agendas. We first consider the theoretical context for the team role model. Second, all substantive studies that provide psychometric evidence, relationships to personality factors and evidence for predictive validity are summarized, evaluated and contrasted. Finally, we discuss the validity of the model and consider the wider implications of our findings. ROLE THEORIES Prior to the development of Belbin’s team role model (1981, 1993a) other role  theories had been put forward (Benne and Sheats, 1948; Graen, 1976; Graen and Scandura, 1987; Holland, 1985) although the model’s links to these and other role classifications (e.g. Davis et al., 1992; Margerison and McCann, 1990; Parker, 1990; Spencer and Pruss, 1992; Woodcock, 1989) are unclear. While a comprehensive theoretical examination of the many alternative role theories and models is beyond the scope of this paper, it is important to establish a theoretical context for the team role model. The role concept can be viewed from two different perspectives. From an anthropological-sociological perspective it can be defined as a combination of values, attitudes and behaviour assigned to an individual who occupies a social position (a location in a social network) associated with a specific social status (the functions assigned to that person). From this perspective, a role can be defined as the behaviour that a person displays in relation to his/her social position and social status (Linton, 1945). Secondly, from a psychosocial perspective, a role can be defined as the behaviour expected from an individual occupying a specific position (Biddle, 1979) such that the cognition and expected behaviour associated with the position are fundamentally important to success in the role (Katz and Kahn, 1978). This psychosocial perspective is adopted for the purposes of this review. Since Lewin created the Research Centre for Group Dynamics in 1944, two types of groups have been studied: groups created to solve problems and groups preoccupied with individual development. This duality has brought about a distinction between so-called ‘task roles’ and ‘socio-emotional roles’. In this light, Bales and Slater (1955) studied laboratory groups and concluded that there were significant differences between individuals concerned with solving tasks and individuals concerned with the social and emotional needs of group members. People concerned with solving tasks were called ‘task leaders’ whereas those concerned with emotional needs were called ‘maintenance or socio-emotional leaders’. Similarly, Benne and Sheats (1948) proposed a role behaviour classification describing 12 task roles and seven maintenance roles. Task-centred roles were concerned with the coordination of group problem solving activities, whereas   maintenance roles were concerned with promoting group-centred behaviour. Both role types were thought necessary for a team to perform well. These theoretical antecedents formed the pillars of the development of the team role model (Belbin, 1981) as its general framework and the names of some team roles connect to these and other theories (Fisher et al., 2001a). Among theoretical models explaining how roles are acquired, a two-part classification can be made (Ilgen and Hollenbeck, 1991). First, there are ‘role taking’ models that consider individuals as passive acceptors of the roles assigned to them by others (Graen, 1976). An example is the ‘role episode model’ (Katz and Kahn, 1978) where the role is defined by an interaction process between two people; the person performing the role (the focal person) and another who holds a set of beliefs that constitute the role (the role sender). The role sender communicates a set of beliefs and the focal person assumes them. The second classification of role models sees subjects actively participating in the definition and development of their role. These models assume that individuals are much more active and motivated to possess roles that they can perform successfully. They are called ‘role making’ models because the focal person actively attempts to influence the role sender as they try to build a role that will be acceptable to both of them. Graen and Scandura (1987) proposed the ‘theory of dyadic organizing’ which integrated and extended Graen’s first proposal (1976). This theory describes how members of a team coordinate their activities to accomplish tasks that are not prescribed in their positions but fundamental for the effective functioning of the team. When a job role involves very predictable tasks, assigning individuals to roles is relatively easy. However, as work becomes more complex then so do the abilities required by individuals. The question is no longer about the abilities and knowledge a person should have for a specific job but is about predicting how a person will behave in the work unit where the work will be  performed. In this sense, Holland (1985) proposed one of the first models that accounted for this individual context adjustment, suggesting that individuals and job environments can be classified into six different types: ‘realistic’, ‘conventional’, ‘entrepreneur’, ‘social’, ‘artistic’ and ‘intellectual’. Each type is associated with specific activities and abilities possessed by individuals. A set of adjectives characterizes each type. For example, the intellectual type is described as analytical, cautious, critical, inquisitive, independent, pessimistic and reserved. For individuals to be successful and satisfied in a job, their personal abilities, interests and personality traits should adjust with the requirements, rewards and interpersonal relations offered by the job consistent with individual job adjustment theory. Holland (1985) proposed that an individual may display attributes of more than one type and also that there are compatible and incompatible types; for example, ‘intellectual’ and ‘artistic’ types are more compatible than ‘artistic’ and ‘conventional’ types. Belbin’s team role model can be linked to these role theories and role classifications. We now turn to review the literature on the team role model, drawing upon studies using the Team Role Self Perception Inventory (TRSPI) through which it is operationalized. We also review team role assessment using personality questionnaires and empirical studies that have explored the theoretical network of team role constructs in an attempt to better understand how individual team role preference is related to the behavioural definition of team roles as well as to other areas of teamwork behaviour. As with most role theories, Belbin’s model is not preoccupied with the roles (behavioural patterns) per se but with the ways in which the roles develop, change and interact with other patterns of behaviour over time. The model  was proposed after a nine-year study of team building and team effectiveness with management teams taking part in an executive management exercise (Lawrence, 1974). Prior to participating in the exercise, individuals completed Cattell’s 16PF personality questionnaire and Watson Glaser’s Critical Thinking Appraisal. For each management team an observer recorded group processes based upon Bales’ (1950) interactive process analysis and reported their observations. Successful and less successful teams were analysed in terms of their members’ personalities and in terms of their critical thinking abilities. Analyses were then crossreferenced with observers’ reports and, as a result, eight team roles were proposed. The initial categorization of team roles was therefore based on assessments of team members’ personalities, critical thinking abilities and a behavioural checklist. The only empirical evidence of the early analysis showed a positive correlation between performance predictions based on team role composition and actual performance across 22 teams (Belbin et al., 1976, p. 26). The eight role model was introduced (Belbin, 1981) and a team role was defined as a pattern of behaviour characteristic of the way in which one team member interacts with another in order to facilitate the progress of the team as a whole. Names and descriptive adjectives for each of the eight team roles were also included. In 1993 some team roles were renamed and a ninth role added. Descriptions of each role are given in Appendix 1. In this model a role is defined by six factors: personality, mental ability, current values and motivation, field constraints, experience, and role learning. However, Belbin did not show how much of the variance in a team role is explained by each factor. In keeping with others (Benne and Sheats, 1948; Torrington et al., 1985), Belbin defends the idea that high performing teams need to have a balanced representation of all team roles. The team role balance hypothesis assumes that if all team roles are present in a team then it will perform better than other teams without the balance. Belbin also considers that the team role concept (a preference to behave in a particular way with other team members while performing tasks) should be distinguished from the concept of functional role which refers to the technical skills and operational knowledge relevant to the job. Consequently, several people may  have the same functional role but vary greatly in their natural team role(s). Belbin also stresses the link between the stages of a team’s development and the need for different team roles to dominate at different stages. Six different stages of development are proposed: (1) identifying needs; (2) finding ideas; (3) formulating plans; (4) making ideas; (5) establishing team organization; and (6) following through. In the early stages team roles like Shaper and Co-ordinator will be most needed, whereas in the later stages Completer-Finishers and Implementers make higher contributions. Operationalizing the Model The team role model is ideally operationalized through a self-perception inventory and through observers’ assessments to give a rounded assessment of a person’s team role. The   original Team Role Self Perception Inventory (TRSPI-8R) was hand-scored such that respondents computed their own profile. This version was later modified to embody the nine role model (TRSPI-9R) and for this version respondents’ profiles are generated by the Interplace computer package. Since it was never intended that the TRSPI should be the only input to exploring a person’s team role, an Observer Assessment Sheet (OAS) was also designed to be used by work colleagues who could make an informed judgement based on their knowledge of the person. The OAS should be used alongside the TRSPI although in many situations only the inventory is used. Details of the scoring procedures for these instruments are given in Appendix 2. The second way of assessing team roles is derived from personality questionnaires; equations to derive team roles have been developed in conjunction with personality questionnaire publishers. In particular, Cattell’s Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF; Cattell et al., 1970) and the Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ; Saville et al.,  1992) have been used (see Dulewicz, 1995). Reviewing the Evidence This review draws upon 43 substantive studies of the team role model using the TRSPI, OAS and personality inventories. A table showing the purpose of each study, its aims, instruments and sample used along with the key findings is available from the first author. Psychometric evidence. Eight studies have analysed the psychometric properties of the TRSPI and two have reported results from the OAS. Initial evaluations were critical (Furnham et al., 1993a, 1993b; Broucek and Randell, 1996) and one study arrived at mixed conclusions (Beck et al., 1999). Recent studies have been more supportive of the TRSPI’s reliability and structure (Swailes and McIntyre-Bhatty, 2002, 2003). Since the first criticism of the TRSPI (Furnham et al., 1993a), other researchers have raised concerns about the statistical properties of the original inventories as well as their theoretical basis (Broucek and Randell, 1996). An important issue affecting psychometric evaluation of the TRSPI stems from its i psative nature which is outlined in Appendix 2. Evidence for the TRSPI. Furnham et al. (1993a) reported low reliability values for three different versions of the TRSPI. Correlations between team roles were different for a normatively scored (Likert scale) version (M = 0.36) and the original ipsative version (M = -0.29). Factor structures were also different for normative values (two well-defined task and socioemotional factors) and for ipsative scoring (four bipolar factors). Both Senior (1998) and Beck et al. (1999), in their respective exploratory factor analyses, also reported an underlying four factor structure for the ipsative version of the TRSPI. However, the ipsative design of the TRSPI was deliberate and any comparison of forms should recognize that transforming the ipsative structure of the instrument may alter its nature. (See Belbin (1993b) for a rebuke of the normative version.) In the ipsative form the average interscale correlation will be negative (Meade, 2004) whereas in a normative form scales are allowed to correlate freely. In this context, Furnham et al. (1993a) raised concerns about the theoretical basis of the inventory and a lack of evidence for its psychometric properties, noting that the test was ‘neither theoretically nor empirically derived as Belbin developed his team role typology based on observatory and inductive,   rather than theoretically deductive means’ (p. 247) with a limited sample of 78 managers. Similarly, Broucek and Randell (1996) raised concerns about the internal consistency and discriminant validity of the TRSPI and the OAS. They also noted that both tests could not be considered as parallel forms of the same construct. The average correlation between team roles was 0.27 for ipsative scoring and 0.42 for normative scoring; higher correlations were expected from the self-reported data collected by both tests. Similarly, Senior and Swailes (1998) also reported that both TRSPI and OAS did not show high convergent validity as only five team roles showed significant correlations with an average of 0.27. Broucek and Randell (1996) also reported that different correlations were found between the normative and ipsative versions of the TRSPI and the NEO-PI-(R) personality scale although 8 out of 19 predictions for the ipsative version and 14 out of 19 for the normative version were correctly hypothesized. Different correlation values were taken as ‘dramatic evidence of the type of distortion which use of an ipsative instrument produces’ (p. 401). Similarly, Fisher et al. (1996) looked at the correspondence between the TRSPI and 16PF and found low correlation values on the validity diagonal. Broucek and Randell also tested the discriminant validity of the OAS against the NEO-PI (R) Big Five personality factors, although Fisher et al. (2001a, pp. 125–6) noted that such analysis was dependent on the orthogonality of the personality factors and, as far as the factors have been found to be oblique (Costa and McCrae, 1992), any conclusion regarding the discriminant validity of the OAS should be taken cautiously.

Gcse Prose essay Essay Example

Gcse Prose essay Essay Example Gcse Prose essay Essay Gcse Prose essay Essay The book Frankenstein was written by Mary Shelley. Mary finished writing the book in 1817 when she was just 19 years of age, but the book was not published till the start of 1818. Mary conceived the idea of Frankenstein in 1816 the year without a summer. In that year Mary and her lover at the time, Percy Shelley took a trip to Lake Geneva to see Lord Bryon but all outdoor events they planned were cancelled due to the weather. This meant their whole summer was spent indoors talking only ever about science and the supernatural. After reading a supernatural story they came up with the idea that they each write a supernatural story and the best story would win. Mary thought of an idea which produced Frankenstein. Marys inspiration to write Frankenstein came from a number of things, for example: James Lind, the mentor of Percy Shelley while he was at Eton. He was well known because of his interest in animal electricity. At Eton he was probably one of the first people in England to demonstrate Electro-medical experiments in which he made dead frogs jump like living ones. The Genre of Frankenstein is a Gothic genre. Gothic genre usually tells a story of horror and romance. As in the case of Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein creates the monster which establishes the horror, the other side of the story is the romance with Victor and Elizabeth. In the end these two differences meet where the monster kills Elizabeth, the combination of these two ideas produces a gothic but wonderful storyline. 1st Para The basic plot of Chapter 23 is that the monster is on the loose and kills Elizabeth. A search takes place with no success. : Mary Shelley has used this chapter to express the feelings of the characters, mainly Victor. At the start it explains the thoughts of Victor and the monster through Pathetic Fallacy, using the weather to describe how the tension is building up and that it would be released soon. Further on it describes Victors thoughts and feeling after he hears, and then finds, that the monster has killed Elizabeth. Mary Shelley moves the reader to feel empathy with the narrator in the scene where Victor expresses his love for his dead wife. To him she almost appears to be sleeping: as she lay, her head upon her arm and a handkerchief thrown across her face and neck, I might have supposed her asleep. This contrasts sharply with the horror of what has happened, and the reader is reminded of this in the same paragraph: The murderous mark of the fiends grasp was on her neck. Mary Shelley then introduces another emotion, that of anger. In his anger Victor goes on the search for the monster, he then starts questioning himself about why did he make the creature and could he live with this. After the unsuccessful hunt he goes back to the room where Elizabeth is dead and lays with her. He is still questioning himself and feeling immense amount of guilt for what he has done. However at the end of the chapter he thinks to himself: Why should I be like this? Why should I feel all this guilt? After all my life has been a tale of horrors. In this chapter Mary Shelley uses Victor as a tool to express a rollercoaster of emotions, thoughts and feelings. 2nd Para The 1st and 2nd paragraphs of Chapter 23 show greatly, the atmosphere surrounding the story. The chapter begins with calmness: transitory light lovely scene of waters, woods and swiftly changes building into a horrific storm. The Wind now rose with great violence. Here Mary Shelley has used personification to show Frankensteins mood which rapidly increases in violence just like the winds ferocity. This creates a certain foreboding atmosphere to the story. It links how stormy the weather is to the moods of the characters. Most of the sentences and phrases used in this paragraph use pathetic fallacy, which is the attribution of human emotions or characteristics to imitate objects or to nature. In addition where it says the cloud swept across it swifter than a flight of the vulture, it is showing a symbol of death, reflecting back onto the story about the deaths that have occurred and the death that happens in this chapter. Mary Shelley has the ability to manipulate the reader into a far deeper way of thought. Suddenly a heavy storm of rain descended also builds up the atmosphere and suspense, not only because of the words she has put into the sentence such as Suddenly but because of the way the sentence links to what the characters mood is like e. g. descended. This is an indication of how Victors mood is changing from being happy in paragraph 1 to anxiety and fearfulness, which will dominate most of this chapter. The storm reminds us of the night that Victors monster was created and the other stormy night that the monster went on his rampage of killing people. Finally the restless waves just adds that little bit of extra suspense. It practically tells the reader what is about to happen. Restless waves that were beginning to rise is telling that the characters moods, especially Victors, were going to rise in a way of aggression. This is because of the fear for his life because of the monster he has created. Not only does Mary Shelley build up fear and tension through comparisons but also through the vocabulary she uses. 3rd Para Throughout the 3rd paragraph in chapter 23 Mary uses words such as obscured, terrified and conflict to put fear and terror into the readers mind. She draws on peoples fear of the dark and how the imagination plays tricks on the mind when shapes cant be seen properly, but so soon as night obscured the shapes of objects, a thousand fears arose in my mind. This also reflects Victors feelings and how his fear is building too. Another way Mary Shelley puts terror into the readers mind is by using repetition. But this night is dreadful, very dreadful the way Mary Shelley writes this emphasizes whats going on, it makes you feel whatever is happening is twice as bad. Phrases such as fearful silence hold the reader in suspense as to what is going to happen next. The effect of this is to personify the silence. Elizabeths fear is shown in the 4th paragraph where she is worried about Victors agitation. She is described as trembling from the way Victor glances at her which communicated terror to her. The reader is left now feeling tense because the characters are agitated.

A Timeline of the Building of the Chunnel

A Timeline of the Building of the Chunnel Building the Chunnel, or Channel Tunnel, was one of the largest and most impressive engineering tasks of the 20th century. Engineers had to find a way to dig under the English Channel, creating three tunnels under the water. Find out more about this amazing engineering feat through this Chunnel timeline. A Timeline of the Chunnel 1802 French engineer Albert Mathieu Favier created a plan to dig a tunnel under the English Channel for horse-drawn carriages. 1856 Frenchman Aimà © Thomà © de Gamond created a plan to dig two tunnels, one from Great Britain and one from France, that meet in the middle on an artificial island. 1880 Sir Edward Watkin began drilling two underwater tunnels, one from the British side and the other from the French. However, after two years, the British publics fears of an invasion won out and Watkins was forced to stop drilling. 1973 Britain and France agreed on an underwater railway that would link their two countries. Geologic investigations began and digging started. However, two years later, Britain pulled out because of an economic recession. November 1984 British and French leaders once again agreed that a Channel link would be mutually beneficial. Since they realized that their own governments could not fund such a monumental project, they held a contest. April 2, 1985 A contest to find a company that could plan, fund, and operate a Channel link was announced. January 20, 1986 The winner of the contest was announced. The design for a Channel Tunnel (or Chunnel), an underwater railway, was chosen. February 12, 1986 Representatives from both the United Kingdom and France signed a treaty approving the Channel Tunnel. December 15, 1987 Digging began on the British side, starting with the middle, service tunnel. February 28, 1988 Digging began on the French side, starting with the middle, service tunnel. December 1, 1990 The linking of the first tunnel was celebrated. It was the first time in history that Great Britain and France were connected. May 22, 1991 The British and French met in the middle of the northern running tunnel. June 28, 1991 The British and French met in the middle of the southern running tunnel. December 10, 1993 The first test-run of the entire Channel Tunnel was conducted. May 6, 1994 The Channel Tunnel officially opened. French President Francois Mitterrand and British Queen Elizabeth II were on hand to celebrate. November 18, 1996 A fire broke out on one of the trains in the southern running tunnel (taking passengers from France to Great Britain). Although all the people on board were rescued, the fire did a lot of damage to the train and to the tunnel.