Educational leadership Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Educational leadership - Research Paper Example School Based Management (SBM) is a model of instructional leadership which sets out clear guidelines for decentralised school administration and is successfully introduced in several countries (Dr. Pushpanadham 2006 p.41). Decentralised educational planning requires organised participation to substantiate the efforts of educational reforms. Past entities that functioned towards decentralised education such as Parents Teachers Association, Village Planning Committees and School Development Committees did not have an organised plan or statutory recognition that clearly pointer out powers and responsibilities. Community participation is considered as the central facilitating criteria to ensure quality education that is par with the principal’s initiative, professionalism of teachers, organisational flexibility, teacher collegiality, accountability and pedagogical flexibility. Similarly the cycle of disempowerment prevalent in marginal communities can be broken only if there is a criteria for evaluating and monitoring school performance that includes accountability to local administration in the region. Research indicates that effective decentralisation of management depends on an effective leadership. In school management an effective principal must offer leadership in promulgating change in school policies and programs. An effective leader can successfully resolve disciplinary issues and advice and direct teachers to abide by policies that can create a positive impact on the performance of the school and institutional climate. There is also a positive correlation between teacher’s job satisfaction and school climate. School Based Model encourages principals, students, teachers and parents to exhibit more control over the educational policies by offering the responsibility to decide about the personnel, budget

Place and Memory Essay Example for Free

Place and Memory Essay Perhaps the strongest case for memory is made in the context of the places we occupy. It is not easy to forget what happens in our lives with reference to the space we occupy. In other words, we remember our experiences, especially the most important ones, with reference to the places we occupied at the time of those experiences. Elizabeth Liebert (2004) has written: â€Å"Novelist Barbara Kingsolver loves the places where she writes. She observes: ‘Whether we are leaving it or coming into it, its here that matters, it is place. Our greatest and smallest explanations of ourselves grow from place, as surely as carrots grow in the dirt. ’† According to the author, we learn about ourselves with references to the memories we have about certain places. If I happen to find something I dislike or disagree with in a particular place, for instance, I will be reminded of my sure likes and dislikes whenever I hark back to my specific experience of disliking or disagreeing with something in that particular place. In fact, I had an important experience in Aruba that would explain this phenomenon. I paid a twenty-day visit to the island of Aruba when I was fifteen years of age. Three of my older cousins accompanied me to the gorgeous 32 km long island in the Caribbean Sea. The weather was warm and sunny. The landscape: cactus-strewn. Aruba offers tourists natural, historical and cultural attractions they would not find elsewhere. Still, I find myself repressing my memories of Aruba whenever they occur. My cousins and I visited many places in Aruba by ourselves. These interesting places included the Alto Vista Chapel; the Arikok National Park; Bushiribana Balashi (historical gold mines); the California Lighthouse; and the Palm and Eagle Beaches. Although we made very short visits to these wonderful places, we felt very fortunate to be there. A week before we were suppose to return home from Aruba, my cousins and I decided to take a tour bus to the Ayo Rock Formations that have been described as the town of Bedrock in The Flinstones. We had learned about the puzzling geological formations in Aruba, and about the Ayo Rock Formations we were particularly excited because we all had read in our travel guide that this place was once a dwelling place of an ancient race that left petroglyph markings on stone boulders. And, the area is surrounded by huge stones that seem as though they had been stacked on top of each other by giants! On our way to the Ayo Rock Formations, however, a rather unfortunate incident occurred. Our bus had stopped at the red signal on an empty road when a motorbike came very close to our vehicle, as if out of nowhere. There was a young girl sitting in front of the man riding the motorbike. She yelled at the top of her voice: â€Å"Help! Rape! † That is all I remember hearing at the time. I was nervously moving in my seat on the bus, only trying to understand what had just taken place, when our tour guide stepped off the bus to confront the man on the motorcycle. I had actually not seen him getting off the bus. I only gathered that he had left our bus when I saw him being stabbed in his shoulder by the man on the motorbike! The next thing I knew was that the driver of my tourist bus drove off in a rush, leaving the tour guide behind. Many tourists on my bus questioned him anxiously as he drove the bus at top speed. But the man refused to say why he had done what he did. Of course, there were many complaints to the authorities later on. All the same, we could not undo the act of the driver, or the man on the motorbike who had stabbed the tour guide before my eyes. I have never returned to Aruba, and I believe that I never will. Several of my friends have tried planning out a trip to Aruba with me, knowing that I have been there before and may be able to guide them. I do not think I would be able to guide them, however. I do know that that place and experience taught me that I love justice and refuse to empathize with those who do not submit to it, such as the bus driver, who left the tour guide in the lurch, or the man who stabbed our tour guide in the shoulder. I have often told my friends that I hate Aruba. Today I question myself: Do I really hate the place that has made me understand that I love justice?

The United Nations In The Cold War Era Politics Essay

The United Nations In The Cold War Era Politics Essay After the end of world war two the world called for the revision of the League of Nations especially after it had been casted in a negative light by the Soviet Union after they were evicted for attacking Finland in 1940 (Chung TK).The new international order became known as the United Nations and the Charter was signed in 1945 and allowed five states to be given veto power in the upper chamber of the UN known as the Security Council. The five states were China, US, the Soviet Union, France and Great Britain. Following world war two, the Security Council was given the task of determining if there is a breach of peace, a threat to peace or an act of aggression towards another country and to decide what course of action to take (The United Nations and the Cold War Collective Security). However, with mounting tensions between the US and the Soviet Union, the UN would face an uphill battle as it attempted to establish itself through the Cold war era. The Cold war era refers to the time period in which the Cold War took place. This era began in 1947 after the introduction of the Truman Doctrine and the Marshal Plan by President Truman (Chung TK). This was a time of tremendous turmoil between the communist nations lead by the Soviet Union and the democratic nations lead by the United States. The Cold War did not imply the same notions that previous wars had in terms of battles; this was a time of political conflict, military tension, and economic competition (Chung TK). The Cold War is marked by several different events of conflict such as the nuclear arms race, the space race and the rise of the Berlin Wall. The conflicts are deep rooted in conflicting ideology in terms of government, economy and the existence of a rivalry that is derived from those conflicting ideologies. The United States and the Soviet Union had two utterly different governments (Chung TK). The US which is democratic believes in free press, the right to assembl e and the right to elect government officials. The Soviet Union which is Communist, believes in a totalitarian form of government in which there is no election of officials, there is no right to assemble or freedom of press. They also had conflicting ideas about the global economy. The US wanted to open up trade to all nations however the Soviets wanted to shield themselves from international commerce. They felt the influence of the West would topple their totalitarian government (Chung TK). The Soviet Nation was ravaged after the Second World War and needed aid, however the Marshall plan required that nations applying for aid turn over their economic records and the Soviet Nation saw that as a threat to their privacy (Chung TK). The world was divided on two sides and the world began to see the need for a peacekeeping body. The founders of the UN had envisioned that the organization would act to prevent conflicts between nations and make future wars impossible. However, the outbreak of the Cold War made peacekeeping agreements extremely difficult because it divided the world into hostile camps (Peace: The Role of the United Nations). Up until the end of the Cold War, the UN only intervened in the majority of cases if the conflict involved two or more Nations. This is known as the principle of non-interference. The principle of State sovereignty was adhered to more than it is today which meant that individual nations were independent and could handle their own conflicts with other nations without the UNs intrusion (The United Nations and the Cold War Collective Security). With the onset of the Cold war, the seat on the UNs Security Council was more or less used as another power cushion. The purpose of the Security Council was to keep peace and because they were not able to do that amongst their own seat holding states, the UN was rendered insignificant or irrelevant (The United Nations and the Cold War Collective Security). The issue is that under this model of appointing five seats to the Security Council with decision making power- it assumes that all of those Nations are peaceful or peace loving nations and war is caused by occasional outbursts by a bad nation that is ill-advised (The United Nations and the Cold War Collective Security). If this were true it would imply that the world will always be more or less, a peaceful place because the superpowers could keep everything in cooperation. The dark side of this which was demonstrated through irony by the Cold war era is that if the superpowers cannot agree, there is no hope for conflict resoluti on (The United Nations and the Cold War Collective Security). This opens up the door to a difficult question: what can the world do in that situation? During the Cold war era, a separate incident regarding the Korean War brought forth the same situation. Communist North Korea, aided by the Soviet Union and China behind closed doors launched a blatant attack on democratic South Korea (The United Nations and the Cold War Collective Security). The UN condemned North Korea at the persuasion of the US and UN and US soldiers were sent to Korea to fight. Basically, South Korea was supported in the name of the United Nations. In essence, the Security Council Resolution on Korea gave the United States international authority on decision making (The United Nations and the Cold War Collective Security). This compromised the symbol and reputation of the United Nations. The Soviet Union was initially boycotting the Security Council because of the Korean Resolution but then it returned to its seat once they realized the United States was using the United Nations as a platform for to show the world that since the UN was agreeing with them, they were correct (The United Nations and the Cold War Collective Security). Once they returned, the ability for the Security Council to make a decision was virtually impossible because even the Council was used and split in to two sides. Also because the Secretary- General actively sided with South Korea on the issue, as he is legally allowed to do, he committed political suicide because he lost all credibility in the eyes of Moscow and the Soviet Union (Mingst and Karns). The United Nations is supposed to be neutral and act as a negotiating body of power through the collective efforts of world nations. All of the Secretary Generals have been careful to not take an outright side on an issue anymore so that the United Nations is not weakened (Mingst and Karns). The conflicts of the Cold war continued until about 1991 when the Soviet Union was dissolved and became Russia and the Berlin Wall came down in 1989. In the early years following the establishment of the United Nations, it struggled tremendously to gain credibility and become a true international diplomatic body of power (Mingst and Karns). The failure of the League of Nations did not do much to help it. The United Nations has evolved significantly to face the growing obstacles in the world and adapt to changing times (Weiss et al). The peacekeeping aspect of the UN was born at the time when Cold War rivalries paralyzed the Security Council regularly (The United Nations Peacekeeping). They were limited to maintaining ceasefires and stabilizing situations on the ground so that the governments could resolve the conflict through talks and negotiation efforts. By the end of the Cold war, the UN peacekeeping task force was changed dramatically (United Nations Peacekeeping). They expanded in the peacekeeping approach by making sure complex peace plans were implemented and followed through on. They also began to focus on human rights by monitoring and disarmament (The United Nations Peacekeeping). Over the next few decades, the United Nations created many different programs that are supposed to reduce all factors leading to outbreaks of conflict, as much as possible. These programs did not only focus on peace keepers, who intervene after a conflict has erupted, but also on economic and social development, human rights, and the struggle to end world poverty and hunger (Mingst and Karns). All of these United Nations programs contribute directly or indirectly to the prevention of conflicts and thus to peace on earth (Mingst and Karns). It is certainly true that, in the last 50 years, not everyone in the world has known peace, but it is gradually gaining ground. The dream of peace in the world is becoming less and less utopian and more and more attainable (Peace: The Role of the United Nations). In conclusion, since the failure of the League of Nations after world war two, the world saw the dire need for an international peacekeeping body as it attempted to rebuild whole nations devastated by the war. Thus, the United Nations was formed. However, in the infant stages of the United Nations, it was thrown into the spotlight because of the increasing hostility between the democratic United States and the communist Soviet Union. It was used as a political tactic by the United States to further its agenda and began to cause more conflict and strife between the sides. As a result, the realization that occurred was that if the worlds superpowers are not at peace, there is essentially no hope for peace. As a result of that, the UN evolved after the cold war and has begun laying the foundation for peace in different nations and attempts to keep the superpowers out of major problems to avoid another cold war type situation and maintain peace (Weiss et al). The battle was uphill to sin ce the creation of the UN charter and still continues to be today as well with all of the political strife and religious conflict that exists.

Sammy in A&P by John Updike Essay -- A&P John Updike Working Careers

Sammy in A&P by John Updike Is where you are in your working career where you want to be for the rest of your life? The answer to that question is simple for Sammy in the story â€Å"A&P† by John Updike. Sammy, like many others in this world, is a young man trying to make some money in a small town. But unlike some, he refuses to be stuck in the same job for many years or possibly the rest of his life. One day while working the register at a local grocery store, Sammy notices three girls walk in. The girls are wearing their bathing suits because the beach is close to the store. When the girls reach the register the manager notices the girls attire. He walks over to them and argues with them for a moment and then girls leave. Sammy didn’t understand why the manager had such a problem with what the girls were wearing. Suddenly Sammy decides to quit. He takes off his apron and walks out the door. One of the things that caught my attention the most was Updike’s use of imagery in describing Sammy’s working environment. â€Å"The sheep pushing their carts down the aisle-†(34), I thou...

Decision Making in DHL

Introduction: DHL commits its expertise in international express, air and ocean freight, road and rail transportation, contract logistics and international mail services to its customers. A global network composed of more than 220 countries and territories and about 275,000 employees worldwide offers customers superior service quality and local knowledge to satisfy their supply chain requirements. DHL accepts its social responsibility by supporting climate protection, disaster management and education. DHL is part of  Deutsche Post  DHL.The Group generated revenue of more than 53 billion euros in 2011. I will be discussing DHL from many aspects such as decision making and its effect on the organizational performance from the perspective of Cyert & March and compare it to Bursson theory. Also I will cover Zimmermen theory about rules and apply it to DHL case study. Finally I will examine the macro environment of DHL organization. Body: DHL was the global market leader in internati onal express shipping, overland transport, and air freight, as well as ocean freight and contract logistics.As of April 2011, its network covered more than 220 countries and territories worldwide in 120,000 destinations. It had many awards to its credit (Refer to Exhibit I for the details of awards won by DHL). According to Ken Allen, CEO, Express Division, DHL, â€Å"The express sector is one of the major drivers of global trade and we are excellently positioned to capitalize on this through our services which meet our customers’ domestic and international transport requirements, anywhere around the world. † Formal organization has its own specific function or functions.A university for example has the main function of promoting education. But it also promotes artistic, literary, athletic and other interests of the members. The principal function of the church is religion but it also promotes charitable, ethical, athelitic, recreational, educational and other activiti es. Thus the formal organization may have its latent as well as manifest functions. The formal organization has its own norms or rules of social behavior. Certain conducts are appropriate in certain organization. Formal organization lays down procedure to be followed by the members.Members of an organization have different statuses. Statuses imply division of labor. The division of labor is characterized of all organizations and in a sense; organization is synonymous with the division of labor. Organized actions in a formal organization are possible because of division of labor. Bureaucracy refers to the administrative aspect of the formal organization. It refers to the arrangement of the organization designed to carry out its day to day business. It is represented by a hierarchy of officials who are assigned different responsibilities and provided with different statuses and roles.The formal organization is based on rationality. The rationality of formal organizations has two sourc es- the predominance of rules that have been devised to help achieve definite results and the systematic reliance on knowledge in the operation of the organization. The formal organizations are relatively permanent. Some organizations last for longer time while others perish within a short period of time. According to Zimmerman he illustrates the inadequacy of the rational decision making approach.He shows that members of an organization are far from adhering to the rules and procedures that should inform their decision making; they instead use & understand these rules in everyday work in creative & adaptive ways. He wants to understand how organizational members actually make sense of & understand what these rules mean in practice. Studies assumes and accept the existence of clear rational , objective rules of decision making but are contrasted with actual practice. Zimmerman objects this view; he offers how these rules become alive: how formal plans are used by members to deal wit h every day work activities.He analyses how employees’ use of formal rules is determined by their attempts to achieve their view of their priorities. Activities of bureaucratic actors in a public assistance organization will be examined. To Zimmerman, following rigid or complex procedures impedes effective action. The analysis is concerned with the judgmental work of receptionists in assigning applicants to intake case-workers. This study investigates the variety of practices, operational meaning and situational relevance of policies and procedures for everyday organizational activities.Rules, policies, formal planning Researchers argue that rules and policies are to some degree abstract and general, and should not be treated as idealizations. Rules cannot completely reflect the changing organizational situations. Informal rules and policies usually develop, where personnel modify and redefine the rules in light of operating conditions. The formal plan of the organization is used and interpreted by personnel in a way that best suits their everyday work activities. Usually, procedures and rules are designed to ensure efficient achievement of formally defined goals.However, it is not always practical to strictly follow the rules, because of the ever-changing output of the many interactions of individuals. People use and understand the rules in everyday work in creative and adaptive ways. The chapter wanted to understand how organizational members actually make sense of and understand what the rules mean in practice. Receptionists made sense of the rules in subtle ways, and made decisions about when and how to use them in light of their experience and knowledge of applicants and situations.The problem is then how the formal plan of an organization could be used by its members to deal with everyday work activities and of what are the features that members use to recognize and interpret. Instruct others, about the operational intent & behavioral implications of such a plan. The sense of routine provides employees with: * A way to recognize the exceptional character of a given event. * The good grounds for suspending or otherwise modifying the rule as normally applied Suspension or bending a rule is considered a reasonable solution to minor dilemma.The use of formally prescribed procedure, viewed from the notion of their competent use becomes. * Not a matter of compliance or deviance (behavior) * But a judgmental work providing for the reasonableness of viewing particular action as essentially satisfying the provision of the rule Rules are not hard and fast social facts but are the result of continual interpretation and negotiation which produces an – ever shifting framework to be taken. Rules may be negotiated and changed and new rules also stand over and above organizational actors informing and shaping the emotional life of an organization.Rules are resources for action, but because contexts vary, they do not determine perform ance of individuals or their organization. Industry observers felt that like any other successful company, DHL’s success could be attributed to some of the basic strategies it had adopted: knowing the customers and solving their problems, expanding the business, and creating a win-win situation for all stakeholders. According to company officials, the opening of the new European hub at Leipzig/Halle in 2008 was an example of adhering to that old formula.While deciding on the location of this hub, not only did the DHL authorities focus on optimally locating its facilities, but they also planned for the company’s long-term future. DHL was also faced with having to train large numbers of new personnel. In three years’ time, 2,000 employees were qualified for their respective tasks at the hub. DHL estimated 2,000 employees were working at the hub in September 2008. Their number is expected to rise to approximately 3,500 by 2012. Nearly 90% of the newly employed work ers come from the region around the airport.Two-thirds of them were previously unemployed. Some 7,000 more jobs will likely be created in the surrounding area, bringing the total number of direct and indirect new jobs around the Leipzig/Halle hub to approximately 10,000. In addition, DHL is training young people in the various logistics and IT professions at the airfreight hub. With all the mentioned above DHL is a company who follows and respect the rules and that to succeeds and maintain success. With all the complexity in DHL as a formal organization, decision making can't be that easy as well.The political perspective is clearly identified by Cyert, March ; Miller , where they identified theories of decision making that are concerned with politics (Coalition aspect) ; processes (Problemistic search) where an activity is only initiated by an immediate problem rather than an orderly systematic process of search and analysis. ( as for Pettigrew). Here, Pettigrew view organizations and decision making as a political arena in which:; Political behavior follows the unequal distribution of resources ; the creation of specialized loyalties and perspectives thru organizational differentiation.Organizational units with different or conflicting interest, loyalties and mindsets struggle for advantage with obvious implications for the nature and outcome of decision making. Political activity is central to organizational structures and processes: divisions of interest result from the hierarchical nature of power. Power relations ; politics originate in the structure ; processes of the organization. Structures create specialism's which develop loyalties which in turn breeds politics. The heart of conflict, politics & co-operation is Power.Cyert and March propose two major organizing devices: a set of variable concepts and a set of relational concepts. They claim that Theory performs two major functions: * it is an exhaustive set of general concepts. * it has a set of rel ational concepts The exhaustive set of general concepts, the process of decision making can be analyzing in term of variables that effect organization goals, expectations and the variables that effect organizational choice. Organization goals: A theory of organizational goals considers how goals arise in an organization, how goals change over time, and how the organization attends to these goals.There are two sets of variables affecting the goals of an organization. As the international express business had been growing steadily over the previous few years and assuming that it would continue to expand in the future as well, the Leipzig/Halle site had developed the potential to become a crucial junction for the express and logistics specialists. At the same time, DHL considered an additional starting and landing capacity in Central Europe to be necessary, as the company’s existing European hub in Brussels had reached its threshold limit.The organization visions of labor becaus e individuals have limited capacities, and limited time, to devote to any particular aspect of the organizational system, such limitations constrain the bargaining process. As an adaptive response, coalition members are motivated to develop mutual control systems, such as the budget and the allocation of tasks by the division of labor and specialization. Set variables influence the aspiration-level on any particular goal dimension. There are three variables; the organization past goal, the organizations past performance, the past performance of other ‘comparable’ organization.Organization expectations: Expectations are seen as the result of drawing inferences from available information. Expectations are by no means independent of hopes, wishes, and the internal bargaining needs of subunits in the organization. Therefore a good theory for the organizational expectations should consider variables that affect either the process of drawing inferences or the process by which information is made available to the organization. Organization choice: A theory of organizational choice needs to characterize the process by which the alternatives available to the organization are ordered and selected.Organizational decisions depend on information estimates and expectations that ordinarily differ appreciably from reality. Choice takes place in response or influence. DHL considered an additional starting and landing capacity in Central Europe to be necessary, as the company’s existing European hub in Brussels had reached its threshold limit. Theory as set relational concepts, there are four fundamental concept to understanding of the decision-making process in a modern, large-scale business organization.The quasi resolution of conflict; uncertainty avoidance; problematic search and organizational learning. After we went through decision making, I'll analyze DHL with PEST analysis to understand its macro environment. PEST analysis  stands for â€Å"Polit ical,  Economic,  Social, and  Technological analysis† and describes a framework of macro-environmental factors used in the  environmental scanning component of  strategic management. Political  factors are how and to what degree a  government  intervenes in the economy.Specifically, political factors include areas such as  tax policy,  labor law,  environmental law,  trade restrictions,  tariffs, and political stability. Political factors may also include goods and services which the government wants to provide or be provided (merit goods) and those that the government does not want to be provided (demerit goods  or merit bads). Furthermore, governments have great influence on the  health,  education, and infrastructure  of a nation. In Leipzig/Halle, courier and express services are of vital importance to the efficiency and growth of the Leipzig/Halle economy.With Leipzig/Halle geographical position which is away from the centre of continent al Europe, fast and effective delivery services are essential for Leipzig/Halle businesses involved in international trade. Economic  factors include  economic growth,  interest rates,  exchange rates  and the  inflation rate. These factors have major impacts on how businesses operate and make decisions. For example, interest rates affect a firm's  cost of capital  and therefore to what extent a business grows and expands. Exchange rates affect the costs of exporting goods and the supply and price of imported goods in an economy.Advances in technology and the increasing use of e-commerce, combined with the courier and express sector's commitment to investing in IT, and have cushioned the industry from the worst effects of the recent global slowdown. Social  factors include the cultural aspects and include health consciousness, population growth rate, age distribution, career attitudes and emphasis on safety. Trends in social factors affect the demand for a company' s products and how that company operates. For example, an aging population may imply a smaller and less-willing workforce (thus increasing the cost of labor).Furthermore, companies may change various management strategies to adapt to these social trends. In DHL a raft of government measures to tackle environmental pollution and congestion have increased costs for the, largely road-based, express logistics sector. Technological  factors include technological aspects such as  R&D  activity,  automation, technology incentives and the rate of  technological change. They can determine barriers to entry, minimum efficient production level and influence  outsourcing  decisions. Furthermore, technological shifts can affect costs, quality, and lead to  innovation.DHL used satellite-based navigation systems. The company planned to improve the system by including and analyzing more information concerning terms of traffic, traffic lights, and construction sites. Conclusion We co nclude that DHL can't operate without rules, it should consider and fear competition as it should take its decisions rationally without complexity. That by applying the above theories and understand them very well as an organization. I will be summering chapter 6 The Irrationality of Action and Action Rationality of: Decisions, Ideologies and Organizations.A decision is a choice between at least 2 alternatives. Decision making was explained by economists, political researchers as well as, psychologists and sociologists. Some individuals decide and others carry out the decisions. Researchers elaborated in the direction of rationality while other evidence shows that the process does not comply with rationality specially in strategic major issues. People are not clever enough to behave rationally. Therefore decision makers should be carefully selected. Irrationality is inherited in human beings which cannot be changed by training.Decision makers don’t have enough information on the many variables involved. Therefore, information systems may help to improve the process beside caring about objectives and alternative comparison. An action perspective to explain the process is more acceptable. Since leaders don’t only take decisions but also act and induce others to act on them. Since managers act while making decisions rationality of decisions take in consideration practical internal and external norms. Irrationality as a base of organizational actions 1. Searching for alternatives. 2. Estimating Consequences 3. Evaluating Alternatives . Choosing 5. Making Rational Use of Irrationality Rational decisions create irrational procedures from an action point of view. They should be avoided in order for an action to be taken. References: * Salaman, G. (2002) Decision Making for Business, London, The Open University/The Alden Press, Oxford. * Salaman, G. (2001) Business Behaviour in a Changing World: Module One Study Guide, London, The Open University. * http ://www. dhl. com. kw/en/about_us. html * http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/PEST_analysis * http://www. sociologyguide. com/organization-and-individual/formal-organizations. php

10 Actinium Facts

10 Actinium Facts Actinium is a radioactive metal that is the first element of the actinide series. Its sometimes considered the third element in Row 7 (last row) of the periodic table or in Group 3 (IIIB), depending on which chemist you ask. Here are 10 interesting facts about actinium. 10 Actinium Facts Actinium has atomic number 89, meaning each atom of the element has 89 protons. Its element symbol is Ac. It is an actinide, which also makes it a member of the rare earth element group, which is itself a subset of the transition metals group.Actinium was discovered in 1899 by French chemist Andre Debierne, who suggested the name for the element. The name comes from the Greek word aktinos or aktis, meaning ray or beam. Debierne was a friend of Marie and Pierre Curie. Some sources suggest he worked with Marie Curie to discover actinium, using a pitchblende sample from which polonium and radium had already been extracted (discovered by the Curies).Actinium was independently discovered again in 1902 by German chemist Friedrich Giesel, who had not heard of Debiernes work. Giesel suggested the name emanium for the element, which comes from the word emanation, meaning to emit rays.All isotopes of actinium are radioactive. It was the first non-primordial radioactive element to be isolated, even though other radioactive elements had been identified. Radium, radon, and polonium were discovered before actinium but werent isolated until 1902. One of the more noteworthy actinium facts is that the element glows blue in the dark. The blue color comes from the ionization of gases in the air by radioactivity.Actinium is a silver-colored metal that has properties similar to those of lanthanum, the element located directly above it on the periodic table. The density of actinium is 10.07 grams per cubic centimeter. Its melting point is 1050.0Â °C and boiling point is 3200.0Â °C. Like other actinides, actinium readily tarnishes in the air (forming a white actinium oxide layer), is extremely dense, is highly electropositive, and likely forms numerous allotropes. The other actinides readily form compounds with nonmetals, although actinium compounds are not well-known.Although it is a rare natural element, actinium does occur in uranium ores, where it forms from the radioactive decay of uranium and other radioisotopes, such as radium. Actinium is present at an abundance of 0.0005 parts per trillion by mass in the Earths crust. Its abundance in the solar system is negligible overall. There is about 0.15 mg of actinium per ton of pitchblende. Although it is found in ores, actinium is not commercially extracted from minerals. High-purity actinium may be made by bombarding radium with neutrons, causing the radium to decay in a predictable fashion into actinium. The primary use of the metal is for research purposes. It is valuable neutron source because of its high activity level. Ac-225 may be used for cancer treatment. Ac-227 may be used for thermoelectric generators, as for spacecraft.36 isotopes of actinium are known- all radioactive. Actinium-227 and actinium-228 are the two that occur naturally. The half-life of Ac-227 is 21.77 years, while the half-life of Ac-228 is 6.13 hours.One interesting factoid is that actinium is about 150 times more radioactive than radium!Actinium presents a health hazard. If ingested, it is deposited into the bones and the liver, where radioactive decay damages cells, potentially leading to bone cancer or other illnesses.