A Strong Business Leader

Many of us have the perception that a leader is an all- knowing being, who stands and commands his subordinates at all cost; but this perception is archaic.In the 21st century world, where things are more global, and nothing huge gets done without some kind of complicated system, relying on traditional business leadership practices may stunt growth as a successful leader business. Successful business leaders in 21st century are defined and evidenced by some questions. Are you courageous enough? Great business leaders dare to be different. They do not just talk about risk-taking, they actually do it.A business leader should be able to build the emotional stamina to withstand conflict. During my years in high school, I became very passionate about recycling and met a few people who shared the same. We decided to introduce a recycling club called the cleaning committee. Despite the challenges from the students and doubts from the authorities of the school, we still managed to overcome it all and if this doesn't spell out courage I don't know what else would. Where are you looking to create the next change? Is the change relating to your life and environment? Great leaders are not head-down. They see in between problems and shape the future rather than just reacting to it. The cleaning committee was responsible for ensuring cleanliness and recycling of items. This club also went to the extent of providing finance to the boarding school, since we usually sold our recyclable items to companies for money. This little organization brought about a lot of change, providing people some form of responsibility as well as invoking creativity in these students. What is the diversity of your network? A successful business leader should be able to develop relationships with different people. The difference could be in terms of culture or politics. Business leaders should understand that having a more diverse network is a source of pattern identification, because it involves working with different people from different cultures. This experience, as the head of the cleaning committee, helped me get out of my comfort zone. I also got the opportunity to work with different people hence helping me to make long lasting networks, this also motivated my colleagues and I to be more risk averse. In a few years, I see myself becoming a network architect. I will be responsible for designing computer networks and also dealing with network layout. I will also be responsible for developing systems that suit individual company needs. In conclusion, Hult is more than a business university, because it provides a global network for its students to reside in, I believe this will help me establish a more diverse network by participating in rotation programs, hence studying at different parts of the world.Hult gives its students the opportunity to put the theory in to practice. This will allow me to give solutions to some real-life problems, hence allowing me to have a first-hand experience as a network architect.

Discuss the Following Segments

Discuss the following segments: (1)What does Dahl mean by â€Å"Ideal Democracy† in Part 1 of his book â€Å"On Democracy†? Define and summarize Dahl’s more significant points. (2)Using what you have learned in Part 1 of the Dahl book (through Chapter 7), discuss whether or not the founding of our United States (the Articles of Confederation, creation of the US Constitution)seems to have been â€Å"democratic†? If it was, to what extent was it democratic? How well do you think the early United States,duringour founding years,would measure up to Dahl’s framework of â€Å"ideal democracy†?Discuss any arguable democratic deficiencies (or shortcomings) that you may perceive to have existed during those early years. Consider the creation and effects of the Constitution. Relate to Dahl. (3)In your view, how well did the United States measure up to Dahl’s â€Å"ideal democracy†after the founding(consider the 1800s, post-Civil War Amend ments and their arguable impacts, etc. ) and through the more recent era of the 1950-1960’s push for civil rights? Again, discuss any democraticdeficiencies, or shortcomings (according to Dahl’s framework). Do you notice any improvements during these many years,from the founding to the 1960s?Was there any development of our American â€Å"democracy†, any imperfections or flaws as of the 1964/1965 Civil Rights legislation that was passed? Relate to Dahl’s framework. 4) Are any of our civil rights and /or liberties at risk today? Consider Justice Scalia’s comments about voting and racial entitlements (end of February 2013). In addition, you may consider other important matters. Argue you points. Be sure to relate to Dahl’s framework. What should be done, and by who? Your letter to an official should focus on this segment of current matters, threats to our democracy.KEEP IN MIND:As you work on this paper, consider Dahl’s concept of †Å"ideal democracy† and aim to identify any democratic deficiencies (and any arguable tradeoffs) that you perceive to have existed during these times of our country’s development. Always argue for your points. Think about what is significant. Aim to learn something about our country’s political and social development since birth through the 1960’s civil rights era. Use and cite any evidence you wish. Cite everything used, even if from the text, even if paraphrased. Due to the fairly short length of this paper and the need to imit scope of your material and points, you will need to make an outline and hit the more significant or major points. You will decide and argue for your positions on what seems to be significant to the development of democracy in the United States. Think critically. Relate to the Dahl book. SPECIFIC HINTS on the topic: You may consider the founding of the United States, including the Articles of Confederation, the Philadelphia Conventi on, the resulting United States Constitution and any relevant issues or problems that became evident in society, and what we have covered in the course through civil rights and liberties.Regarding issues and events related to civil rights and liberties, did the post-Civil War Amendments and legal decisions (you may consider this as a â€Å"first† civil rights movement) make any difference to our level or degree of â€Å"democracy†, as defined under Dahl’s framework? You may consider anypolitical-social-economic problems that led up to the more recent â€Å"civil rights movement† of the 1950s and 1960s. How close to Dahl’s â€Å"ideal democracy† did these civil rights movements bring our country?Submit: —Brief OUTLINE (1page max, bullet point style is fine). What will you plan to discuss? PAPER and letter: 5 to 7 pages in length of paper. This includes a one-page LETTER TO AN OFFICIAL of your choice. What suggestions or demands would y ou like to make? Also, add title page and reference page at the back (no matter how few materials are utilized). Double-spaced, 1† margins, and some normal font style and size (such as 12). No Wikipedia. CITE EVERYTHING borrowed from other sources, even if paraphrased.You may use parenthetical citations, footnotes or endnotes where applicable. You choose the style. Note: Preserve your academic integrity and do your own work, give others credit when due. You are responsible for reading and understanding the college’s policy on academic dishonesty / plagiarism (see our college website, and see me if you have any questions). Late â€Å"FIRST PAPERS† will be lowered one full letter grade for each day late. Save all parts of the paper All in ONE FILE and post online under the proper discussion for these papers.

Barkha Dutt

Barkha Dutt Essay NDTV 247 is a premier English language television network that carries news and current affairs in India, it is owned by New Delhi Television Ltd. NDTV 247 won the Asian Television Award for Best News Channel in 2005. NDTV 247 is home to a team of award winning journalists who spearhead the news campaign, including Dr. Prannoy Roy and Barkha Dutt. NDTV 247 is also available outside of India, broadcasting in the UK on the Sky Digital platform, in the U. S. n the DirecTV platform, in Canada on the ATN platform, in Australia on the Vision Asia platform, in Europe on the WorldTV platform, and in Singapore on the mio TV platform. We the People is a television talk show in India and running over NDTV. TV journalist Barkha Dutt hosts this show. The program broadcasts every Sunday. About the show It is a discussion-based programme on burning issues. Seven to eight panelists are invited for every discussion. It is an audience-based show. This Show airs in New Delhi Television network. The programme can generate controversy, but showcases a diversity of views thanks to its host. Barkha has been awarded as the most intelligent TV host by Indian Television Awards, and also as Best Talk Show Anchor. We The People has recently won the 14th Asian Television Award for Best Talk Show for the year 2008. The show has received critical acclaim and has won several key awards {{{{{{{{{{{{{Barkha Dutt is a television journalist. Her frontline reporting of the Kargil conflict in 1999 raised her to prominence in India. She has reported on many conflicts, ranging from Kashmir to Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq. Currently, she is Group Editor-English News, NDTV, a leading Indian television network, and the host of We the People, a weekly discussion show on current events. Barkha also writes a weekly column for The Hindustan Times and Khaleej Times. Some awards she has won: Global Leader of Tomorrow Award from the World Economic Forum, 2001 Commonwealth Broadcasters Award, 2002 Broadcast Journalist of the Year by the Indian Express, 2005 Padma Shri Award (Journalism), 2008}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}} The channel airs one of Indias most successful opinion-based shows: We the People with Barkha Dutt. .. s india an english speaking country? Were all of us educated in elite schools and fashionable colleges? Do all of us have fancy,phirang accents that would put the real angrez to shame? Is Barkha Dutt the ultimate arbitrator of all things bright,beautiful and otherwise. Indeed this famous programme called ’We the people’ on NDTV 24*7 is certainly not for a common person. Certainly not for a per son who has not read all the correct books and magazines. Barkha Dutt uses this opportunity(as always) to emphasize just how talented she is. How greatly our wretched country needs her services as the super-judge of anything that she sets her eyes on. Indeed the program is supposed to be a free,open discussion between people whose voices are not otherwise heard. What it actually is,is a kind of drawing room discussion between celebrities. These celebrities pretend to become very humble and approachable. They are surrounded by some doctorates and super specialists who are sometimes allowed to make a few noises. What the show turns out to be in the end is a weekly meeting of th

Timid President-Futile War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Timid President-Futile War - Essay Example The wars are considered futile because of the many expectations the Bush administration intended to achieve that did not come to pass, the reason why President Obama decided to withdraw the U.S troops from Iraq after almost a decade of occupation. President George Bush’s decision to attack Iraq was based on unfounded beliefs in the presence of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The Saddam Hussein administration granted the UN and the Americans permission to inspect their weapons artillery to ascertain if they were indeed developing weapons of WMD and even though nothing was found, Bush and his administration believed Iraq did not reveal everything and that formed the basis of American’s invasion of Iraq and the subsequent execution of Saddam Hussein. George Bush’s decision to convince congress to allow America attack Iraq was based on fear that terrorists were likely to attack America again and not necessarily because of WMD that were never found after they subdu ed Iraq. Another factor that led to American invasion of Iraq was interest in the Middle East oil resulting from the fear of uncertainty in the future of American energy security. For this, he saw Saddam Hussein as a major impediment to the benefit they would receive from Middle East oil. They had prevailed upon the United Nations to put economic sanctions on Iraq with the food-for-oil arrangement but this did not deter Iraq, so he believed the best way to achieve their objective was by deposing Saddam Hussein from power. It was therefore an embarrassment to the bush administration when the WMD were never found and nothing could justify the military expenditure on the war (McClellan & McClellan, 2008). President Bush’s fear just before and after the invasion of Iraq began showed up immediately. The United Nations, led by Kofi Annan, opposed the war and proposed a peaceful way of resolving the American suspicion but the administration disobeyed because their fears. It is this very fear that led to interference in the war by civilian commanders based in Washington, which left soldiers on the ground very indisposed. There was also the misconception by the administration that Iraqi soldiers could provide reinforcement and military support. Some Iraqi soldiers did not support the war and posed a great risk to Americans as they ganged up with insurgents to cause trouble to the American troops. In fact, many American soldiers died and had injuries more than the administration had anticipated. As a result of fear, the Bush administration overlooked the process of reconstruction; they did not foresee the magnitude of destruction that resulted from this war. The destruction was so vast that it needed the participation of European bloc, the UN and other international bodies to help in the reconstruction exercise. Although the three segments were interested in participating in the reconstruction, American stubbornness in its interest to lead the reconstruction exer cise after causing destruction made them develop cold feet and some eventually withdrawn. President Bush then made it appear like no country or organization was willing to participate in the restoration exercise. Toward the end of the Bush administration, there was panic both in Washington and Baghdad when it became apparent that there was a political and military vacuum in Iraq. The Iraqi government apparatus collapsed and the institutions that provided basic services like water and electricity could no longer coordinate because staff could not come to work. The Bush administration in its panic started doing things in haste to fill in the vacuum.

Summary of Articles Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Summary of Articles - Assignment Example which impact on the establishment of intervention needs for infants with torticollis include: presence of torticollis itself, absence of improvement with current treatment, limitation of range of motion, palpable mass of sternocleidomastoid, maintaining head and body positions, developmental delays, feeding problems, parental concerns, and resources available. Intervention needs of infants with this condition are complicated. Applying holistic approach by the therapists based on ICF-CY would assist in ensuring quality of care. There were different workloads within hospital sites and fields. Objectives on attention functions as well as transferring were related to support of neurological and musculoskeletal conditions. The study revealed that to some extent, these elements can impact and determine therapy workload for hospitals (1) Among inpatient clients, their objective is to accomplish activities and ensure participation; for the outpatients, they are focused on ensuring the balance of activities and taking part in body functions. During therapy sessions, the two groups are focused on ensuring bodily functions as well as structures (1). The physiotherapists used current methods in the individualized treatments. They also included different ideas from other available methods. In the assessment and outcome evaluation, body function activities were mostly applied. (1) The ICF domains which usually were considered significant for respondents were on mobility, self-care, as well as communication. Unimportant domains included spare time, learning, and thinking, as well as domestic life. There were no differences observed for participant groups. Statistical differences were however noted in relation to spare activities, communication, and mobility. To establish if the clinical evaluation carried out by physiotherapy students on children with neurological conditions can be improved with the application of the International Classification of Functioning,

Contract Safety Improvements Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Contract Safety Improvements - Essay Example At some point we have been forced to take loans so as not just to maximize on the level of income earned but also, to ensure we do not disappoint our consumers (who are found all over the world) by proving sub-standard services contrary to the high expectations they having. Additional paperwork Unlike in the case of other businesses, it is quite tasking at Exelis due to extra paperwork which is actually brought forth by; proper handling of tax return files, bank account records, auditor’s reports, report creation, detailed books and finally, taking minutes during the frequent meetings. It is important to note that these two challenges are not as severe as the safety challenge facing the company at present. Accidents are becoming a threat to the contracts signed by Exilis. ITT Exelis reported that it had been given a U.S Army contract to go on with maintenance support and providing IT technology operations in the U.S Army in the Middle Eastern countries, specifically SouthWest and Central Asia. The Company signed this contract which had a potential value of $790 million including all options exercised. However, an accident happened while the company equipments were being shipped to the destination. An increase in accidents could possibly cost the company one of its Middle Eastern government contracts One of the latest and most hectic or rather breath-taking challenges I have never encountered since I started working at Exelis is the one pertaining the latest ship accident in the Indian Ocean while transporting electronic warfare. It has been the newspaper cover story for a whole week now. Exelis Incorporated successfully finished producing release systems as well as launchers and was now doing the delivery when the ship sunk. The sinking of the ship has remained a mystery, since for 7 days since the incidence occurred; the cause of the same has not yet been ascertained. The intensity of the worry of Exelis is increasing each passing minute, since the rema ining period of time is too short to make the transportation of the equipments a success, even if the ship was found this minute. This therefore means the contract may be terminated and also, the partnering of Kuwait in the military weaponry production and the electronic attack and supply systems sector, which will perhaps just remain a dream. Kuwait had started showing interest of partnering with Exelis in the industry by serving as vehicle fuel suppliers for Exelis for a very subsidized cost. Alternative solutions to increased accidents in Exelis Inc Increase safety awareness with weekly safety stand downs This is a selected time for the CEO, senior managers, and other executive managers to discuss about safety issues in a direct way with frontline workers. The move can be achieved by setting up goals to be achieved every week to combat the increasing accident reports in the company (LeBoeuf, 1985). For instance, in every first week, the goal may be for managers, supervisors, and crews to spot out hazards associated with the tasks of employees, establish their risks, in this context the risk of losing contracts in the Middle East, and come up with possible solutions. Procedures and methods to complete the work of employees should be identified, and determine the obstacles that may hinder the crews from solution

Comparison between Confucius and Lao Tzu Research Paper

Comparison between Confucius and Lao Tzu - Research Paper Example The teachings associated with Confucius can be considered as concepts of human activities and they contain five fundamental messages. The initial message demonstrates two key components which are Zen and li. The concept of Zen points toward humanity and benevolence while li addresses rules and decorum. According to Confucius, li was the greatest manifestation of Zen despite the fact that Zen is attained through li. This means that the capability to abide by rules and decorum was the most favorable way to display respect and regard to the authority figure and the environment inhabited by individuals. The second message associated with the teachings states that an individual who is honest and decent should obey the authority and avails a set of morals for people in authority. These two mechanisms demonstrated the opinions held by Confucius concerning the framework of the state as well as the manner in which the community is organized socially. The third message carries Confuciusâ€℠¢ warning to human beings against possessing anything that will make their characters become extreme. Confucius perceives the center as being the most favorable position for an individual. The fourth message addresses issues of power and Confucius considers that it should be based on the ideology of justice. In essence, he blended the ideas of power and justice into one concrete formation. The final message argues that the human beings have to be completely involved and realistic to the religion they confess.

Economic policy and global environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Economic policy and global environment - Essay Example The reduction in the government spending in 2012 has resulted in falling growth rates over the last three quarters. The shutdown of the government has greatly impacted the government spending. Though these workers will be paid their salaries retroactively, their better halves in the private sector cannot expect the same and this will lower consumption spending in the festive season. The uncertainty in the political environment is likely to affect the investments in the country, which will further result in the weaker growth. Governments Fiscal Policy: Past and Present perspective Historically, the fiscal policies, adopted by the government at state, local or federal levels, have mostly been tailwind for the economy. This implies that it has tried to boost the economy (International Monetary Fund, 2013). This has drawn references from the history that whenever the economy is in recession, the government follows an expansionary fiscal policy. This can be explained with the help of the following graph. Figure 1: Expansionary Monetary Policy (Source: Burnt Hills-Ballstan Lake, n.d.) If the government follows an expansionary policy, either by raising the level of government spending or reducing the level of the taxes, there is an outward expansion of the aggregate demand curve. This is represented by the shift of the curve from AD0 to AD1 (Burnt Hills-Ballstan Lake, n.d.). In this range of the SRAS, there is almost no effect on the rate of inflation which is measured by the price level, measured in the y-axis of the graph. The rationale working here is that during sluggish economic performance, the revenue that can be earned from taxes falls and the level of government spending has... This essay presents a comprehensive economic analysis of the effectiveness of the fiscal policy carried out by American government in 2013 year. Fiscal policy measures are the methods which are applied by the government to adjust the levels of government spending and tax rates that directly influence the growth of an economy. The fiscal policy is used in combination with the monetary policy to control the economic growth. The monetary and fiscal policies can directly affect the rate of inflation and determine whether the country will face conditions of growth or recession In designing the fiscal policies, the government has faced formidable challenges and hence, decided to reduce the level of spending. The rising age of the population, along with rising costs of health care, makes expansionary fiscal policies non-feasible in long run. The rising expenditure by the government would have soon surpassed the revenue earned by government and The analysis has revealed that the government had changed its fiscal policy from expansionary to contractionary for dealing with the recession in the present time. It has been observed that the recent federal shutdown, though for a short period, has slowed down the pace of recovery of the economy. The direct impact was the reduction of the GDP on account of the lay-off of the federal workers. The indirect impact came from the multiplier effects of the government spending cuts. The employment figures were also affected owing to the shutdown and resulted in the loss of investor confidence.

Cooperation Between the Automobile Company Honda and the Government of Essay

Cooperation Between the Automobile Company Honda and the Government of Japan - Essay Example It is also considered the second largest automobile manufacturing country in the world; it also has the largest electronic goods industry as well as one of the most innovative countries in terms of patent filings (World Intellectual Property Organization, 2011). With much competition from other countries, Japan has shifted its focus on high technology and highly specific goods, including optical goods and hybrid cars. Japan is also known for its credit issuances with its trade surplus and investment surpluses (Chandler, 2011). It also has 13.7% of global private financial assets, registering at about $14.6 trillion (Hindman, 2010). About 68 companies in the Fortune 500 are found in Japan, and the Tokyo economy alone represents the largest metropolitan economy worldwide. Since 1960, Japan has enjoyed massive economic growth and development. Even in the aftermath of significant destruction during the Second World War, Japan was able to register significant gains in its economy and deve lopment. Like other countries in the world, it too has experienced periods of downturns in its economy. In 2010, it was deposed by China as the second largest economy in the world (Lah, 2011). In the early to late 1980s, the increase of their stock and real estate prices, their economy experienced the Japanese asset price bubble, and this period ended when the Tokyo Stock Exchange during the early 1990s crashed (Lah, 2011). Its economic growth rate suffered significantly during the 1990s. From 2001 to 2010 however, it was showing signs of significant recovery as it managed to perform better that Europe and the US (The Economist, 2011). Japan is considered a... This essay presents a retrospective comprehensive analysis of the economic development of automobile company Honda against the background of socio-economic development of Japan. Just as Japan developed into one of the world’s largest economies, its MNCs, including Honda became one of the world’s top automobile corporations. Honda is a Japan-based public corporation which is primarily involved in the manufacturing of automobiles and motorcycles. Since the end of the 1950s, it has been considered the largest motorcycle manufacturer as well as the largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines in the world. In 2008, it even surpassed Chrysler as the fourth largest automobile manufacturer in the US. Japan is considered to be the third largest economy in the world following the US, and the People’s Republic of China. In 2011, the International Monetary Fund declared that the per capita GDP of the country was at $34,362, the 24 highest GDP in the world. It is also considered the second largest automobile manufacturing country in the world; it also has the largest electronic goods industry as well as one of the most innovative countries in terms of patent filings The development of Honda as an MNC is significantly related to Japan’s socio-economic development. The corporate culture of any MNC is often affected by the political and the socio-economic culture of the country as a whole. Japan has established itself as a technological innovator, capitalizing in electronic developments as well as industrial innovations

Week 4 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Week 4 - Assignment Example Policy is a set of principles or ideas which act as a guide in the process of decision making. Proper policy in the healthcare has a direct influence to each citizen’s daily life. There is a great need for a good review on health policies for the sake of public safety. There are several processes that must be put into consideration to turn the topic of health care into a policy. This involves the different stages which need to be addressed for a given topic to reach a policy status in the health care system. The prior stages include formulation stages, legislation stage and implementation stage. In this paper, evaluation stage, analysis and revision stages which are mandatory in policy making would be defined and discussed (Ubokudom, 2012). Each stage has its vital importance since infant health is a big consumer of the health care department. New topics and ideas undergo several transitions and phases before policy implementation. In any institution, there are individuals who have the responsibility of brainstorming and implementing new topics and ideas for a better safe and easier policy. The paper also presents a framework for discussing the key questions which require answers for a better-informed decision when coming up with a new policy. It is also crucial for policy makers and administrators to identify the knowledge needed in decision making in regard to both new and existing programs (Kronenfeld, 2002). Evaluation stage is the overall effective assessment planning process in policy making after implementation process. It involves the estimated reward from various calculated opportunities and alternatives face comparisons together with the associated risk estimations. The stage of evaluation can only occur in a fertile ground. It is made to ensure the functionality of the policy. In this case, the key actors appreciate the analysis and use it for the correct decision-making process. An active discussion is also needed

Pacs Essay Example for Free

Pacs Essay Groups and Teams at Kluster 1. What are the challenges of working together as a team? How have members of the Illuminator project overcome these challenges? What are the benefits of a team-based approach? Teamwork is a huge factor of the success for many companies around the world. The performance of teamwork in the workplace will bring the sense of trust, loyalty and security among every worker. The morale and productivity will be higher as a result of that. However, working on a team has its own challenges. Working with people that have different personalities, ideas, cultures, backgrounds, ages, needs and values is one of the most challenges that teamwork faces during its performance. Conflict, mistrust, poor performance can be created as result of these differences. Finding a way to overcome these obstacles is the foundation of a strong and successful teamwork. Illuminator project has overcome these challenges by respecting and using every skill and idea that each team member delivers. That makes every team member feel important and productive. Also communication among each member is very critical for the success of the Illuminator project. Today, teamwork has been found to be as a better way on using every employee’s talent and skill toward a more effective and efficient organization. † Management has found that teams are more flexible and responsive to changing events than are traditional departments. Teams have the capability to quickly assemble, deploy, refocus, and disband. † Robbins and Judge, pg 323. 2. What type of individual would fit in well on the Illuminator team? What characteristics are important? According to the engineer of the Illuminator project, each team member should have self-disciplined and self-leadership. Individuals that are careful, reliable, organized, hardworking, persistent, and honest are those that are more likely to give a higher performance than those that lack any of these characteristics. Conscientious personality which describes someone that is responsible, persistent and organized would fit in well on the Illuminator team. Also, someone who is emotionally stable meaning a confidence, calmness and secure personality would fit in well on this team. . How has technology changed the way we do business? Identify how Kluster has embraced technology in its operations. Advanced technology such as computers and computer networks have changed and helped businesses on being more efficient and effective. Downsizing, outsourcing and empowerment are some of the substantial gains of the organizations due to the technology. New ways of communicating among members, stor ing information and researching for ideas and ways to achieve and succeed are result of the advanced technology. Kluster has taken advantage of the technology by using the telecommuting as a way of communication among team members. Since members of Kluster project live in different areas and some of them travel to different cities, it’s very important to communicate with each other at all the time. Therefore telecommuting through Web based program has made it possible. â€Å"Telecommuting refers to employees who do their work at home on a computer that is linked to their office. † Robbins and Judge, pg 223. 4. Describe the different parts of the Illuminator team. Why is it necessary to have each of these parts represented? The illuminator team is created by combining different ideas and skills of different individuals. Each team member has to be self- disciplined and committed to their job. As every organization, Illuminator team has the founder, the project designer, the engineer of the team and the project manager. The importance of this system is to keep the work in place and run effectively and naturally. Each member has different responsibilities that need to be established and require different skills. Illuminator project runs under job enlargement design which increases the degree of each member to control, plan and evaluate the work done. â€Å" An enriched job organizes tasks so as to allow the worker to do a complete activity, increases the employee’s freedom and independence, increases responsibility, and provides feedback so individuals will be assess and correct their own performance†. Robbins and Judge, pg 220. 5. Ben Kaufman, founder of Illuminator, says it is important to recognize that sometimes people need a break from the team. Explain what he means by this. Sometimes, personal life issues can cause stress, pressure, disorientation and weak performance. Therefore, it’s very important that every team member to have the right and be able to work sometimes on their own away from the team as long as they work on their job responsibilities. Depending on the personality, some individuals can perform better while under stress when they work alone. Being able to accept that break from the rest of the team, the organization is helping their member to establish his/her responsibilities required for the organization’s success. . What two or three suggestions would you provide to address ways that virtual teams could celebrate successes? How would you implement them? I would give two suggestions that could help virtual team succeed. The first one is to set a time of the day every week for all the team members to participate in a meeting via internet. In this way, everyone will be able to get the same feedbacks, ask questions and receiv e answers at the same time and share their ideas with the rest of the team. So every week the meeting will provide each member with the result of their work, how much has been achieved and where they need improvement. The second suggestion would be for the virtual team to have a leader where the team members can address all their questions and concern. The team leader should be reached at anytime of the day and be able to address these concerns in the best way possible. 7. As a manager, what two or three suggestions would you implement to ensure that individual members were recognized for their contribution? Obviously, financial incentives will help motivate every employee to perform better. A pay raise would be one of the suggestions that would ensure that the good work of a member has been recognized. Also, bonuses such as a paid day off or a gift card would be another suggestion. Employee of the month nomination can be a third suggestion. This way the competition to get any of these recognitions among employees will provide a better performance and more productive workers. Therefore, I as a manager will be able to lead a successful organization.

Teens at High Risk of Suicide Essay Example for Free

Teens at High Risk of Suicide Essay Teen suicide is a major problem in today’s society and it is totally preventable. This issue needs to be taken care of immediately. Teen should not be taking their lives intentionally. Teen suicide is derived from three major factors: bullying, drug/alcohol abuse, and most commonly mental illness. It has been a pretty popular topic in the media world but it still just gets pushed under the rug. Suicide is currently the third leading cause of death in the United States between the ages of 15 and 24 (Holmes 1). It is also one of the most preventable forms of death because the person will show warning signs. This is a common myth; that people do not show any warning signs. That in fact is wrong, someone who is thinking about committing suicide almost always shows warning signs it is whether or not you pay attention and take action towards them. Although there are many factors that can lead people to cause suicide mental illness is the leading cause. Bulling, depression, anxiety, drug and alcohol abuse, and sexual or physical abuse follow close behind (Teen Suicide Statistics 2). Bullying is quickly starting to become one of the major leading causes of teen suicide. There are plenty of news stories on how yet another teen has taken their life due to being bullied. Bullying has been a serious problem in schools for many years now and somehow it needs to be put to an end. School should be a safe place where you go to get an education. You should not have to worry about if your going to get picked on today before school, during lunch, or after school and so your day is just spent in fear. In the past year bullying in schools has been brought to the public attention more but nothing is really successfully being done about it. Most bulling occurs in the elementary and high school years. Everyone knows that kids and teenagers can be curl towards each other at times. A common reason that kids or teens feel the need to bully someone is peer pressure. Almost everyone has experienced some type of bullying in their lifetime, whether they were the victim, the one doing the bullying, or even just being a bystander. ABC news has reported that almost 30 percen t of students are bullies or bullying victims. It is not uncommon to hear of those that were often bullied became bullies themselves in return. It is not always just the nerdy kid with glasses that gets bullied on the playground by the jock it can be anyone. Once it gets to the point where the kid doesn’t even want to come to school  anymore and they aren’t acting like themselves it is time to really be concerned. According to a study completed by Yale University it states; â€Å"victims of bullying are two to nine times more likely to contemplate suicide than people who aren’t bullied† (ABC 1). We all have heard of teenagers that were bullied and as a result they took action in an extravagant way. An example of this is the columbine shooting that happened on April 20th, 1999 in Colorado. Dylan Kelbord and Eric Harris had known each other since middle school and one day they were so fed up with their peers and they took violent action. On April 20th, 1999 the boys’ seek to get revenge on those that had ever made fun of them. During the middle of the school day the boys walked into the sch ool with guns, knives, and bombs and walked down the hallways to kill. By the time that it was over twelve students, one teacher, and the two boys were dead, and 21 more were injured. (Rosenberg 1) All of this could have been prevented. Both Kelbord and Harris showed suicidal signs. Stated in the video left behind by them Kelbord states that he had been contemplating suicide since 1997 and the boys started thinking of a large massacre in 1998. They even wrote about this plan in each other’s yearbooks. Also stated in the Columbine Massacre by Jennifer Rosenburg is that â€Å"looking back, there were telltale hints and clues that something was seriously wrong. Video tapes, journals, guns and bombs in their rooms would have been easily found if the parents had looked† (Rosenburg 4). So, all of this could have been prevented if people had paid more attention to their personalities. After this incident it started to become more common to hear about teen suicide in the media related to being bullied. It got so bad that celebrities such as Elen Degeneres, Elton John, Anne Hathaway, and many more began posting video messages to reach out in an attempt to stop bullying. There are so many bullying prevention programs out there that not only help those cope with being bullied, but they also try and help the ones that are doing the bullying. These programs help them direct their anger in a non-harmful ways. Some of these programs are B.R.A.V.A. (Bully Resistance and Violence Avoidance Program), T.E.A.C.H. (Teens Educating and Confronting Homophiba) and the RISE (Rise in Schools Everywhere) (Registry of Bullying Prevention Programs 1 2). These programs are all created to focus on putting  an end to bullying. Theses programs are great because bullying affects those of all ages. Everyone is guilty of it and everyone knows how it feels to be put down. So together we need to stand up against bullying in every school and if this were to happen the number of teen suicides related to being bullied could be reduced greatly. Even just paying attention to warning signs can help those in need get help. â€Å"According to the Canadian Metal Health Association some warning signs include but are not limited to; repeated expressions of hopelessness, helplessness or depression, behavior that is out of character, signs of depression – sleeplessness, social withdraw, loss of appà ©tit, giving away prized possessions, telling final wishes, remarks related to death and dying, or an expressed intent to commit suicide† (Preventing Suicide 1). All of these signs should be taken seriously in order to prevent the worse. However bullying is of course not the only factor that leads many teens to suicide. Drug and/or alcohol abuse is also a contributing factor that may lead a teen to suicide. It could be that they have an addiction to drugs or alcohol and has led them to commit suicide or that they had tried using these substances to cope with their feelings and they ended up having an overdose or poising. No matter what the scenario is there is still help for substance abuse so it does not have to lead to accidental or intentionally overdoses or suicide due to withdrawal. There are all kinds of support groups, therapy or even having a friend sit them down and talk to them about their concerns they have been noticing can help lesson the numbers of death from these substances. Talking with the person directly about the situation can be very beneficial. It could be that all the person needs is someone to listen to what they are going through and what feelings they are having without being judged or looked down upon. Giving them your support can help them work through it and make them feel like life is tough but it is worth living. There is also the myth that talking to a person about their suicidal thoughts will push them over the edge and cause them to actually follow through with it. In reality talking to someone about suicide will most often times do more good than harm; in fact the worst thing you can do is not take any action at all (Teen Suicide is Preventable 1). Helpguide.org states in their article, â€Å" Suicide Prevention: Spotting the Signs and Helping and  Suicidal Person,† that Talking to a friend or family member about their suicidal thoughts and feelings can be difficult but, if you even think they might be thinking about it its better to ask. You cannot make a person suicidal by showing that you care. In fact, giving a suicidal person the opportunity to express their feelings can provide relief from loneliness and may prevent a suicidal attempt. If a friend or family m ember is suicidal, the best way to help is by offering an empathetic listening ear. (Suicide Prevention 2) Just letting your loved one know that he or she is not alone and that you care can make a world of difference. However, don’t put the responsibility of making them well on you. Still offer them recovery options. Drug and alcohol abuse is often times common for depressed people and is a hard habit to break that is not easy to do alone. Depression is a leading cause of suicide and falls under the category of mental illness. All mental illness can be anything from depression to bipolar disorder. Although depression is the leading cause of suicide it does not mean that everyone who commits suicide was depressed. Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are other common mental illnesses that have been proven to be causes of suicide according the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI 1). Sexual orientation, which can also fall into the cat orgy of mental illness, also plays a major role in suicides among teens and young adults. According to the Centre for Suicide Prevention, gay, lesbian and bisexual teens have a higher chance of committing suicide than other teens. â€Å"According to a study completed in 2001, 48% of gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth have said that their contemplation of suicide was related to, or was a result of their sexual preference† (Suicide among Gay†¦ 1). Out of all causes of suicides, mental illness had proven to be the leading basis; in fact only about 10% of people who have committed suicide were not suffering from a mental illness of some sort. With the majority of people that have committed suicide suffering from a mental disorder or substance abuse, they often times â€Å"have difficulty coping with such crippling stressors. They are unable to recognize that suicide is a permant solution to a temporary problem according to the National Institute of Mental Health† (NAMI 3). There are many factors that play a role in teenage suicide. Being a teenager is not an easy thing. You are going through all kinds of body, thought and feeling changes during your teen years. School is not easy and people are not always nice. That is just how life goes. Teens need to know that everyone faces these problems and there are many other ways to cope with any situation before it has to lead to suicide. Anti- depressant drugs have proven to be highly effective in helping teens steer away from the thought of suicide. People need to stand up against bullying and take into general consideration that every action will have a reaction on a person, whether it is good or bad. Suicide is preventable and if people were more considerate of others feelings, then the number of teen deaths could easily be reduced. When someone gives up hope on living there needs to be more hands reaching out to them and showing them why they are here today.

Old common law rule

Old common law rule Introduction The old common law rule of The demise of nemo dat quod non habet that a person cannot convey a greater title than that person already has and a person holding a licence cannot convey the superior title of a lease. This old comman law rule had been followed for many years, until the House of Lords decision in Bruton. The House of Lords in Bruton held that someone with no interest in land can grant a lease provided that the exclusive possession is given in the agreement. I will explain and critically evaluate the House of Lords decision in the followings. House of Lords Decision The House of Lords took the opposite view with the Court of Appeal and held that the agreement between the Trust and Mr.Bruton was a lease. I will explain the decision below. Applying Street v Mountford The House of Lord decision in Street had been strictly applied.[1] According to Street, the agreement between the Trust and Mr.Bruton could be a lease/ tenancy if the three elements of 1) exclusive possession; 2) term and 3) rent are satisfied. The agreement permitted Mr.Bruton to occupy a flat in the block on a short-term basis for a weekly sum of ?18. The elements of term and rent are thus satisfied. Whether Bruton had exclusive possession Whether the requirement in Street can be satisfied depends on whether Mr.Bruton had exclusive possession. Although the agreement expressively referred it as a licence, it is irrelevant. Lord Hoffmann said that the language used, such as licence, is irrelevant. It is the true construction that identifies it as a lease.[2] Exclusive possession is a question of law that depends on the characteristic of the terms agreed. Lord Hoffmann said that the Trust plainly gave Mr.Bruton a right to exclusive possession and there was no suggestion on shared possession.[3] Effect of the reservation clause Although the Trust reserved limited right of entry for the purpose of inspection and repair, still exclusive possession was given to Mr. Bruton. Lord Hoffmann used the case of Westminster City Council [1992] as reference .In Westminster City, the only rights which it reserved were for itself and the council to enter at certain times for limited purposes. He further relied on the judgment of Lord Templeman in Street, and deduced that such an express reservation only further reinforced the entitlement of Mr. Bruton to exclusive possession.[4] Special Circumstances Charitable objective Could the charitable objective and the lack of interest in land of the Trust be considered to be special circumstances? Lord Hoffmann stated that the character of the landlord is irrelevant. He said that Although the Rent Acts and other Landlord and Tenant Acts do make distinctions between different kinds of landlords, it is not by saying that what would be a tenancy if granted by one landlord will be something else if granted by another.[5] Therefore, the charitable objective of the Trust did not constitute to a special circumstance. Could a landlord with no interest in land grant a lease/ tenancy The general rule is that if the landlord has no interest in land, he is in lack of capacity to grant a lease. The House of Lords relied on Family Housing Association to justify that there was no special circumstance existed for making an exception to the principle in Street. The House of Lord considered that Family Housing Association v. Jones was wrongly distinguished in the Court of Appeal. Lord Hoffmann regarded the fact in this case was very similar to that in Bruton. The crucial element is that in Family Housing Association, the grantor have no legal title, nonetheless, Slade L.J. concluded that the grantor have no legal title was not constitute an exception to the principle in Street. Therefore, the Housing Trust could grant Bruton a tenancy despite that the Trust had no interest in land. Tenancy by Estoppel MillettL.J. in the Court of Appeal said that an agreement could not be a lease unless it created a legal estate in the land which binds the whole world. He said that the only exception in this case that the grantor could grant a lease was by tenancy by estoppel. Lord Hoffmann thought that MilletL.J. was misled by the term of tenancy by estoppel that an agreement which could not otherwise be a lease or tenancy but which was treated as being one by virtue of an estoppel.[6] Lord Hoffmann and Lord Hobhouse thought that tenancy by estoppel was not a correct analysis. In this case, estoppel arises from the agreement, not the other way round. Critical Evaluation Contrary to the intention of legislation/ Parliament According to section 32(3) of the Housing Act 1985, the Council had no power to grant the Housing Trust a tenancy. Therefore the intention of the legislation was that the trust could only have the capacity to grant licence to homeless people on a temporary basis. The House of Lords decision totally ignored the intention of the legislation. The duty of a Judge is not to make law, but to interpret the intention of the Parliament. In this case, I think that the intention of the Parliament in section 32(3) is to provide temporary accommodation for homeless people through the Housing Trust by granting licence. The intention of Parliament should be supreme and should be strictly followed by the Judges. Street v Mountford should be distinguished Although the agreement expressly stated that it is in the form of a licence. The House of Lords still found that the agreement was a tenancy because the agreement grants exclusive possession to Mr.Bruton. Charitable objective of the Trust should be constituted as a special circumstance that constructs the agreement as a licence despite the rule in Street. Lord Hoffmann regarded that the charitable objective of the Trust is irrelevant and there was no distinction among other landlords. Again, Lord Hoffmann did not follow the intention of the Legislation/ Parliament. The Rent Acts and other Landlord and Tenant Acts do make distinctions between different kinds of landlords. In my opinion, the characteristic of charity does prohibit the Trust from granting a tenancy, since providing a temporary accommodation for people in need required a high degree of flexibility. Therefore a charitable trust should only grant licence rather than tenancy. The decision in Street should be distinguished due to these special circumstances. No exclusive possession I think that exclusivity of possession should be judged in an objective basis. All the terms in the agreement and the intention of the parties should be taken into account. Therefore the reservation clause should be interpreted objectively. As it was an express clause, there was strong evidence showing that the Trust intended not to give exclusive possession to Mr. Bruton. Moreover, with the right of entry is reserved by the Trust, it could hardly be concluded that exclusive possession was given to Mr. Bruton. Floodgate After Bruton, a new type of tenancy called personal tenancy is created. In Bruton, the grantor with no interest in land can still grant a lease. This decision totally departed from the old rule that a person holding a licence cannot convey a lease. After Bruton, Kay v Lambeth [2004] and London Borough of Islington v Green and OShea [2005] both confirmed that a personal tenancy could be granted by someone with no interest in land. [7] The nature of personal tenancy seems to be similar to that of a contractual licence. Unfortunately, the House of Lords did not distinguish personal tenancy from contractual licence. The result would be potentially dangerous since a licence granted by the landlord maybe eventually interpreted as a personal tenancy by court according to Bruton. A floodgate situation would be resulted, since every licensee would argue that a personal tenancy should be granted instead of a licence. Registration The personal tenancy creates no interest in land and the nature of a personal tenancy is similar to that of a contractual licence. A contracts or leases (but not oral lease) are registrable under LRO s.2 but a contractual licence is not registrable under L.R.O, s. 2.. Therefore it is doubtful whether a personal tenancy created in Bruton is registrable. Conclusion After the above analysis, I do not think that the decision of the House of Lord in Bruton is a good decision. It created uncertainty in whether someone with no interest in land can grant a lease or not. Although in Bruton, and the latter case of Kay [2004] and Green [2005] confirmed that a grantor with no interest in land can grant a personal tenancy. But the old common law rule of The demise of nemo dat quod non habet still needed to be considered. And Lord Hoffmann did not give a concrete reason on not applying the old common law rule. It also blurred the requirement of satisfying an exclusive possession. In Bruton, the tenant of the personal tenancy has enforceable rights against the landlord and against strangers,'[8] except the original grantor (the council), which has a superior title.[9] As the tenant cannot enforce his right against someone who has the superior title, the element of exclusive possession in the personal tenancy is in doubt. The House of Lords created an uncertainty in determining whether exclusive possession had been given in the assignment. Lastly, certainty in law and the intention of the Parliament should be strictly observed. And the decision of the House of Lord in Bruton disrupted the legal certainty and contravened the intention of Parliament. Therefore, it cannot be a correct decision. Per Lord Templeman in Street v Mountford, supra at p.818 Per Lord Hoffmann in Bruton v London Quadrant Housing Trust, supra at p.413 Per Lord Hoffmann in Bruton v London Quadrant Housing Trust, supra at p.414 Per Lord Hoffmann in Bruton v London Quadrant Housing Trust, supra at p.414 Per Lord Hoffmann in Bruton v London Quadrant Housing Trust, supra at p.414 Per Lord Hoffmann in Bruton v London Quadrant Housing Trust, supra at p.414 Mark Pawlowski, James Brown, Case Comment Bruton: A new species of tenancy?, Landlord Tenant Review 2000 M. Harwood, Lease: Are They Still not Really Real? (2000) 20 Legal Studies 503 at p.513 John-Paul Hinojosa, On Property, Lease, Licences, Horses and Carts: Revising Bruton v London Quadrant Housing Trust, Conveyancer and Property Lawyer 2005

Biblical Dating :: Dating Bible Relationships Christianity Essays

Biblical Dating When one mentions the term "dating" it can produce, on the ambivalence continuum, feelings ranging from delightful bliss to genuine confusion or even aversion. Before I begin, let's bring some definition to this often nebulous term "dating". Webster defines dating simply as: "to have social engagements with persons of the opposite sex". In a casual sense, therefore, dating can certainly mean hanging out with the opposite sex for non-romantic purposes. Some of these engagements could be having coffee to talk about work, or other common interests. Dating is could also be defined as "playing the field" where someone is attempting to meet as many people as possible in an attempt to find the right one (dating is a means) or where the person simply enjoys seeing as many people as possible (dating is the end). When one person dates as an end in itself (dates just to date) and his/her interest dates as a means to a more significant end (dates to meet the "right one") you can expect conflict and heartache to arise. This paper will narrow the definition and focus on dating as a romantic tool and discuss how best to do this dating thing. THE GAME Lately, I have become disillusioned by the world's dating practices and procedures. This is elaborated by what I call the "dating flowchart". Here's how it works in its simplified form: First, you (forgive the second person usage) target an aesthetically appealing female (or male whatever the case). I mention the aesthetic motivation because most people initiate the dating process because of appearance, and an ugly carcass is rarely the initiating factor. Thus, in the "dating realm" appearance acts as the main catalyst. And not that this is a particularly bad thing to do. But I have certainly met girls who "became" more beautiful the more I got to know them because their personality made them so. More often than not though, in the dating realm the personality is not something that serves as the standard catalyst. John Calvin, with respect to females, wrote about what appealed to him, "I am not of the wild race of lovers who, at the first sight of a fine figure, embrace all the faults of their beloved. This is only beauty which allures me, if she is chaste, if not too nice or fastidious, if economical, if patient, if there is hope that she will be interested about my health".

Essay examples --

Introduction Contemporary Human Resource Management (HRM) is a organizational function that encompasses recruiting, motivating and retaining people. It focuses on the people aspect, in order to ensure that the employees are used in an effective and efficient manner to accomplish organization’s objectives. It is done through a set of well-designed management systems. Traditional personnel, administration, and transactional roles of HRM are being outsourced increasingly. HRM’s main role is to zoom into how employees can be utilized strategically and impact the business with measurable. HRM focuses on strategic direction and HRM metrics and measurable to demonstrate value. Effective HRM enables employees to contribute to the overall company direction, goals and objectives in an effective and productive fashion. In this assignment, we should look into the major changes that HRM had undergone in terms how its functions, objectives and delivery, from Personnel Management (PM) to its current form. â€Æ' Personnel Management (PM) vs Human Resource Management (HRM) HRM derives its origin from the practices of the earlier PM, which assisted in the management of people in an organization setup. It is important to highlight the key differences between PM and HRM. In the nutshell, PM is an operational role, majority on administrative duties and record-keeping tasks. Not only to ensure fairness in the terms and conditions of employment, companies had who adopted PM, need to manage the personnel activities by department level individually. It is believed that by doing the abovementioned will aid the company in achieving its organizational goals successfully. HRM zoom in to the people strategies, integrating it with company’s corporate strategies, an... ...s an important portion in the organization, which is highly integrated with the core strategy. PM is typically held responsible by the company’s personnel/manpower department. In HRM, all managerial level of the organization is involved with a collective aim, where personnel issues are being taken care of by managers of the respective departments, who are trained with the necessary skill set. As motivations, PM offers employees with extrinsic rewards like compensation, bonuses, rewards, and the reduction of work responsibilities. From the PM point of view, by rewarding an employee will motivate him to perform better at work. On the other hand, HRM consider that by performing better will lead to a happier employee instead. With HRM, working in groups, overcoming challenges with effective strategies, and job creativity are considered to be the main motivating factors.

MacDonald Essay -- Business, Protective Tariffs Policy

Although they represented differed political parties, Sir John A. MacDonald and Sir Wilfred Laurier pursued the same goals while in office. MacDonald recognized Canada's need for protective tariffs on exported goods, the need of settlement in the west, and the need for a railway to unify the nation. MacDonald immediately implemented protectionism and the establishment of a railway. On the other hand, Laurier took these goals and expanded on them. John A. MacDonald outlined the goals of Canada in the National Policy and these goals were accomplished in the period of the Laurier Boom. The first goal of MacDonald's National Policy was the establishment of protective tariffs on goods. Although formerly a supporter of free trade, MacDonald decided that the current circumstances were favorable to protectionism (Stevenson, 194). His advocacy for protective tariffs had great impact on Canadians, so much that the nation voted MacDonald into office in 1878. For the next eighteen years after the establishment of the National Policy, the Liberals held to a rigid free trade philosophy and â€Å"directed its main attack upon the tariff system and the anti-protectionist case came to enjoy wide acceptance† (194). When MacDonald first implemented protectionism, Laurier, like many other liberals, was against the idea. However, once in power, Laurier was prompted by British preference to maintain the policy of high protection (194). However, the tariff issue was banished once the boom took flight as Canada's export markets were thriving. The country experienced great prosp erity, rapid development as well as expansion, especially for the railways (194). Once the country's prosperity began to slow down, farmers of the west that were â€Å"the chief sufferer... ...s National Policy and Wilfred Laurier accomplished it in his time in office, the period known as the Laurier Boom. This goes to show that the different political parties do not vary so much in their ideas, but more so in the ways of which they execute them. These two men exemplify their political parties; although both parties are equally motivated, when executing their practices, conservatives tend to be more laid back and behind the scenes and liberals are more diligent and in the forefront. For example, MacDonald came up with and outlined the policy, and Laurier took the policy into application. Although their approaches are different, the ideas and actions of these two men together are the reason for the development of Canada as a nation. Therefore, with this in mind, both the Laurier government and the MacDonald government created the nation of Canada.

Bhopal Gas Tragedy

Bhopal as a Case Study – Union Carbide Corp. INVESTIGATION OF LARGE-MAGNITUDE INCIDENTS: BHOPAL AS A CASE STUDY Ashok S. Kalelkar Arthur D. Little, Inc. Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA Presented At The Institution of Chemical Engineers Conference On Preventing Major Chemical Accidents London, England May 1988 ABSTRACT The investigation of large-magnitude incidents is fraught with difficulties and the process of establishing the primary cause of an incident often requires an understanding of human nature in addition to the necessary technical and engineering skills.The salient non-technical features that are common to the investigation of large-magnitude events are discussed in general. The investigation of the Bhopal disaster is discussed as a specific case study in light of these salient features. The results of the overall investigation are discussed and it is demonstrated that the commonly-held view that water-washing of a certain header caused the disaster is physically impo ssible. Evidence is presented which indicates that direct water entry into the methyl isocyanate storage tank was the likely initiating cause of the Bhopal disaster.I. INTRODUCTION In the aftermath of a major accident or incident in the chemical industry, it is common practice to ascertain the cause of the event through an investigation. If the magnitude of the incident is very large in terms of its impact on people, property, or the environment, it is not uncommon to assemble several teams of investigators to seek the cause of the incident independently. In the United States, a large-magnitude event may be investigated by the company that owns the facility, the insurance group that rovides the liability coverage, federal investigators (e. g. , OSHA, EPA), and state and local regulatory agencies. When several investigations are being conducted concurrently, in spite of the differing interests that are represented by each investigating team, cooperation and fact-sharing generally occ urs among the investigating teams. This cooperative spirit was evident to some extent, for example, in the investigation of the LPG disaster in 1984 in Mexico City l. Page 1 of 16 Bhopal as a Case Study – Union Carbide Corp.Given the significant amount of damage that is typically associated with a large-magnitude event, coverage by the news media is both extensive and exhaustive, especially if a number of fatalities have occurred. The news media represent yet another group of separate investigators and tend to focus on the human interest aspects of the tragedy. In addition, often with little hard information available, they actively speculate on the cause of the event in an attempt to â€Å"scoop† the story; that is, to be the first to report the cause to the world at large.In recent years, the news media with their surfeit of investigative reporters have become a predictable presence at the site of an incident. Although no two major disasters are the same, our involve ment in the investigation of more than a dozen events of significant magnitude has led us to believe that there are certain salient features that are common to most investigations. They include: 1. Media Pressure – In the immediate aftermath of a large-magnitude incident, both nontechnical and technically trained reporters converge on the site, looking for quick â€Å"answers† to the question of what caused the event.Most reporters are responsible, restrained, and unbiased in their reporting. However, a fringe group usually appears on-site that is more interested in developing causation theories, which seem to have great public appeal, regardless of their veracity. In the case of the disaster at Bhopal in 1984, the cause celebre was the â€Å"missing slip-blind† during a water-washing operation. An assertion was made that failure to insert a slip-blind prior to water-washing of some filters ultimately led to water entering the MIC tank and starting a reaction. T his assertion proved to be false, as will be demonstrated later in this paper.The difficulty with these incorrect causation theories is that, because the public and the media have a short attention span, the theories can become the conventionally accepted versions of what occurred. When a technical investigation discloses the actual cause much later, there may be less coverage, because the event is â€Å"old news† by then. 2. Psychological Issues – It has also been our experience that those people associated with a large-magnitude incident seem to evince an internal need to put some psychological distance between themselves and the incident.For example, there are those who feel — in hindsight — that even though they were not responsible for the event, they could have done more to reduce the magnitude of the event. And there are those who just wish it had not occurred on â€Å"their watch†. There are also occasions when persons on duty distort and o mit major facts to establish a reduced responsibility for the event. There is substantial evidence that such distortions and omissions occurred in Bhopal. 3. Eyewitness Accounts – When eyewitnesses are questioned about a major accident or incident, they tend to reveal only those facts that they personally consider important and pertinent.Thus, a good investigator must draw people out, using a line of questioning which elicits all pertinent facts. We have found that an eyewitness is most likely to be forthcoming and helpful if he or she is questioned immediately after the event. Once a story is told, whether accurate or inaccurate, it tends to harden. Further, where a deliberate distortion occurs, with the passage of time, the persons involved tend to coordinate their stories better. This puts a substantial premium on talking to persons involved quickly.In the Bhopal situation, the Union Carbide investigation team was blocked from doing this by the Indian Government for over a year. As a result, Union Carbide was unable to uncover the ultimate cause of the event until 1986. 4. Contradictory Accounts – When faced with contradictory statements from various Page 2 of 16 Bhopal as a Case Study – Union Carbide Corp. witnesses, an investigator has to weigh various accounts and then judge which account is likely to be correct, discarding the false account.This may require gaining an understanding of the probable motives of those persons who, knowingly or unknowingly, provided the incorrect accounts. It is also often possible to assess the accounts against known or technically established facts, to determine their accuracy. We encountered numerous cases of directly contradictory accounts of various situations that transpired during the Bhopal incident from those who were present during the event. 5. Time Perception – Although witnesses in a traumatic incident often recall the sequence of events with remarkable clarity, their perceptions of t ime during the actual incident sometimes differ.Therefore, when establishing the true chronology, witnesses' time perception must be evaluated against objective evidence. In the case of the Bhopal investigation, piecing together the correct chronology required that perceptions of time among different witnesses be accounted for in a consistent manner. The above list of features is by no means complete. However, it does identify some significant issues that are manifest in incident investigations, and which should be considered by investigators of large-magnitude incidents. The very presence of these issues makes an incident investigation more than a purely technical exercise.In many ways, one can liken the investigation to attempting to correctly piece together a complex jigsaw puzzle, with the added challenge of having several pieces that are hidden, others yet to be discovered, and several extraneous pieces that do not belong in the completed puzzle at all and have to be discarded. To add to the investigator's difficulties, the â€Å"puzzle† has to result in a clear picture, even though assembled in a background of human tragedy and suffering, media attention, and a general aura of suspicion and hostility towards the plant and company investigation teams.The above factors are those which we have identified in our investigation of large-magnitude incidents, and many of these factors played a role in the investigation of the Bhopal incident. The following sections will give a brief background of the investigation, elaborate upon some of the factors which were encountered and resolved during the investigation, and present some of the evidence and the conclusions of the investigation. II. BHOPAL INVESTIGATION BACKGROUND To the best of our knowledge, two separate major detailed technical investigations of the Bhopal event were authorized.One investigation 2, sponsored by the Government of India (GOI), was conducted by a staff of scientists and engineers fro m the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and it included other experts as well. A second investigation3, sponsored by the Union Carbide Corporation (UCC)*, was conducted by scientists and engineers from UCC, Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL), outside experts, and attorneys. The two investigations went forward entirely independent of one another. (The Indian Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) also conducted its own investigation. )In addition to these major investigations, dozens of opinions, purportedly based on investigations of the incident, were offered by various newspapers, magazines, television and radio commentators, authors, organizations, consultants, and politicians. Such accounts generally proved Page 3 of 16 Bhopal as a Case Study – Union Carbide Corp. to be quite flawed and incomplete. Union Carbide investigators were at the site of the incident at Bhopal within days of the event to provide assistance and to conduct an investigation, but fo und that the plant had been sealed and placed under the control of the CBI.The cause of the incident was not then apparent. The methyl isocyanate (MIC) production unit had been shut down six weeks prior to the incident and the storage tank (Tank 610) had been isolated at that time; all that was known was that the pressure had risen in Tank 610 during the third shift on a Sunday night, December 2-3, 1984, and that MIC had been released into the atmosphere. It was unknown whether the release had been triggered by the entry of a contaminant, water, or some other agent.The search for the cause of the incident at that point was, however, a secondary consideration; a second tank (Tank 611) containing some 20 tons of MIC remained, and the first order of business was to assist in its safe disposal. It was determined that the safest route would be to process the MIC and SEVIN carbaryl pesticide, which was then done promptly. The processing of this tank of MIC was conducted jointly by UCIL an d the CSIR, with the assistance of UCC's technical team, in an activity labeled Operation Faith by the Indian Government.Following the safe disposal of the remaining MIC in December of 1984, the UCC investigation team attempted to begin its investigation. However, the legal skirmishes had commenced in both the United States and India and the CBI essentially maintained complete control over the records of the MIC unit. Although the investigation team was permitted to see copies of records in the period immediately following the event, it was allowed to do so only by specifically requesting a copy of a particular record or document. *The author of this paper and the organization he represents were a part of this investigation team.Thus, if the team was unaware that a particular document existed, the document would never come to its attention, even though it might have a significant bearing on the outcome of the investigation. Moreover, the CBI prohibited interviews with the plant's em ployees. The team submitted to the CBI a list of 193 plant employees whom it wanted to interview, but permission was refused. The CBI would only authorize discussions with the Plant Manager and the MIC Production Superintendent, neither of whom was on duty the night of the incident.In fact, the CBI was conducting a criminal investigation into the incident, and it contended that attempts by Union Carbide's investigating team to formally interview the workers would constitute â€Å"tampering with evidence† in the criminal investigation. The problem of access to information was further magnified by this threat of criminal prosecution by the Indian government, Union Carbide's Chairman, Warren Anderson, who went to Bhopal to offer assistance and relief immediately after the incident, was placed under arrest upon his arrival in the city, and seven UCIL officers and employees were also arrested.This posture, in addition to physically preventing an investigation by Union Carbide, cre ated an atmosphere of fear of criminal sanctions among the plant workers. Such an atmosphere, together with the sheer magnitude of the disaster, made witnesses even more defensive and uncommunicative than is usually the case in such investigations. Further, the CBI conducted its criminal investigation into the incident using aggressive tactics. We believe this treatment played a major role in the development of a â€Å"cover-up† by plant employees.As noted earlier, there is a reflexive tendency among plant workers everywhere to Page 4 of 16 Bhopal as a Case Study – Union Carbide Corp. attempt to divorce themselves from the events surrounding any incident and to distort or omit facts to serve their own purposes. This is especially so where the investigation is criminal in nature. In addition, once an eye-witness has taken a defensive position under aggressive questioning by police making a criminal investigation, it becomes, as a practical matter, nearly impossible for the witness to later change that position to state the actual facts.The team was permitted access to samples of the tank residue, and, after several months of extensive analysis of the residue of Tank 610, including more than 500 experiments, the UCC investigation team issued its report in March 1985 3. The team concluded that the incident was caused when 1,000 to 2,000 pounds of water entered the tank. After subsequent experimentation and more extensive sampling much later, the amount of water was determined to be even greater.This large quantity of water reacted with the MIC in the tank, causing its temperature to rise to over 100 °C, leading to a vigorous exothermic trimerization of MIC, resulting in rapid rises in temperature and pressure, and ultimately causing the major release. The incident occurred, despite the fact that the system had been designed and operated to keep out even small amounts of water, and the fact that no water had ever entered the tanks during the five y ears the plant had been in operation. Moreover, it was clear upon subsequent sampling and analysis that no water had entered either of the other two MIC storage tanks.Because the MIC production facility had been shut down for over a month prior to the incident, and for a variety of other reasons that will be discussed, the investigation team concluded that direct entry of the water — that is, by a direct connection to the tank rather than through the plant's piping system — was likely. However, because the team had not been permitted to interview the plant employees and did not have full access to the records, it was unable to develop this theory further at that time. The CSIR publicly issued its report 2 in December of 1985, approximately one year after the incident.The CSIR report also concluded that the event was caused by the entry of a large quantity of water into Tank 610. The CBI has not, to date, issued a public report of the findings of its own investigation. LITIGATION For more than a year, the CBI continued to prohibit interviews with the plant's employees. In the interim, a new aspect to the investigation developed. The Indian Government filed a civil suit against Union Carbide Corporation in the United States, asserting that the Government was the sole representative of the Bhopal victims.Thus, the Government acted as the plaintiff in a civil case with an interest in proving Union Carbide Corporation to be liable, yet, in its institutional role, it continued to exercise complete control of access to the sources of proof, restricting Union Carbide's ability to learn the truth, and fostering a version of the facts which supported its own litigation interest. The Government's position as a party to the civil suit ultimately provided certain benefits to Union Carbide's investigation. In December 1985, a U. S. agistrate 4 ordered the Indian Government to turn over copies of certain of the plant's records that had been seized, and these th en became available for analysis by Union Carbide for the first time. Moreover, while it was before the U. S. court seeking information from Union Carbide, the Indian Government could not, as a practical matter, continue to restrict access to plant employees, which enabled Union Carbide to finally begin interviews. Despite having been denied access to the evidence for more than a year and despite being viewed with a great deal of hostility and suspicion, Union Carbide investigators Page 5 of 16Bhopal as a Case Study – Union Carbide Corp. conducted a thorough review of the incident which included detailed interviews with virtually all of the relevant plant employees. INTERVIEWS Union Carbide employees and representatives began to interview the plant's employees in January 1986. Many people spoke openly and willingly. However, the team anticipated that there would be problems in interviewing the plant's employees, and the team therefore was assisted by a person familiar with mo st of the employees. This proved advantageous because the team found that many would speak to him, even if they were unwilling to speak to the entire team.It also proved beneficial in assessing the credibility of each individual. Language also loomed as a potential problem, although ultimately it did not prove to be troublesome. Although all operators spoke English, many were more comfortable speaking Hindi. Several members of the team were fluent in Hindi and, by translating each question and answer, the interviews progressed smoothly. However, the team did encounter some problems in locating the involved employees and persuading them to talk about a traumatic incident that had occurred a year and a half earlier.The Bhopal plant had been shut down since the incident, and the employees, by and large, had sought other employment. Many of the former operators and other employees had departed Bhopal without leaving any forwarding addresses, and it took weeks of questioning former landl ords and neighbors to determine their whereabouts. Several had relocated as far away as Nepal and remote areas of India. This required lengthy journeys — in one case, only to find the wrong individual with the same name. Careful advance preparation was therefore necessary.Many of the former MIC operators were later employed by the State Government as plant safety inspectors. Some of those who had been most directly involved refused to talk to the team and eluded many attempts. Because politeness is an Indian trait, in fact, some would make appointments for interviews, but then disappear just prior to the appointment. Once found, however, the customary politeness proved to be an advantage, and the investigators learned it was wise to nurse the obligatory cup of tea for hours to prolong the interview in order to obtain bits and pieces of new information.Although the Indian Government has continued to refuse access to the original plant records, copies of some of them were produ ced in the civil suit, and the investigators were able to analyze them and use their content in the interviews. The investigators conducted well over 70 interviews over the course of a year and a half. The significant aspects and findings of this investigation are presented in what follows. To better understand the findings, however, a basic understanding of the plant's layout and operation is necessary. III.BHOPAL PLANT LAYOUT AND OPERATION The plant layout is shown in Figure 1. Methyl isocyanate (MIC) was produced at the Bhopal Page 6 of 16 Bhopal as a Case Study – Union Carbide Corp. plant by reacting monomethylamine and phosgene in the plant's MIC production unit. The refined MIC was then transferred to a separate MIC storage area (see Figure 2) where it was stored in two horizontal, mounded, 15,000-gallon, stainless-steel tanks. A third storage tank was kept empty for emergencies and for off-specification material awaiting reprocessing.The MIC was used to make SEVIN carb aryl and several other carbamate pesticides. The MIC was processed into SEVIN carbaryl pesticide in the SEVIN unit. The MIC was transferred in one-ton batches to a charge pot in the SEVIN unit using nitrogen pressure. A nitrogen pressure of at least 14 psig in the MIC storage tank was necessary to move the material from the storage area to the SEVIN unit charge pot at a reasonable rate. From there, each batch would be reacted with alpha-naphthol to make SEVIN carbaryl.On the night of December 2-3, 1984, the 41 metric tons of MIC in one of the storage tanks (Tank 610) underwent a chemical reaction which was initiated by the introduction of water to the tank. The reaction caused the release of MIC through the relief-valve system. This, in turn, resulted in the Bhopal tragedy. The exact means by which water entered Tank 610 that night was the subject of the investigation described in this paper. The team first considered and analyzed the purported cause of the incident which had been p ublicly reported by the media.This was the socalled â€Å"water-washing theory. † This story is discussed next. IV. THE ORIGIN OF THE WATER-WASHING THEORY As discussed in Section I, the media generally play a significant role in establishing public perception of the cause of large-magnitude incidents, often drawing conclusions before the facts can be established. In the days immediately after the incident, the story that emerged from the plant workers, as reported by the press (much of which ultimately provided to be fallacious), was as follows: Shortly before the end of the second shift, at 10:20 p. . , the pressure in Tank 610 was reported to be at 2 psig. The shift change occurred at 10:45 p. m. , and everything was normal until 11:30 p. m. , at which time a small leak was reported downwind and in the area of the MIC production unit. The MIC supervisor said that he would deal with the leak after tea, which began at 12:15 a. m. The tea lasted until 12:40 a. m. at which time all was normal. At that point, the control room operator observed the pressure rise suddenly in Tank 610, and within minutes the indicator was off the gauge's scale. At 12:45 a. . , the safety valve on the tank opened, and gas came out of the stack of the vent gas scrubber. The operators ran to the tank and found it rumbling, and the concrete over the tank was cracking. The fire squad sprayed the stack to knock down the gas, and the reaction subsided an hour or so later. The workers claimed to have no idea as to why the pressure rose in the first instance. According to this account, the incident occurred suddenly and inexplicably. There was, however, intense media pressure to quickly identify the cause of the incident.As noted above, some journalists tend to try to uncover a cause that is easy to understand and easy to explain; they also show a tendency to find and publicize an explanation that will have popular appeal. In the case of Bhopal, this caused the media to seize upon rep orts of an improper waterwashing of a pipeline in the MIC production structure — a report that first began to circulate only days after the incident. According to this story, an MIC operator was told to wash a section of a subheader of the relief valve vent header (â€Å"RVVH†) in the MIC manufacturing unit. Because he Page 7 of 16Bhopal as a Case Study – Union Carbide Corp. failed to insert a slip-blind, as called for by plant standard operating procedures, the water supposedly backed up into the header and eventually found its way into the process vent header (â€Å"PVH†) through a tubing connection near the tanks. It then was supposed to have flowed into the MIC storage tank, located more than 400 feet by pipeline from the initial point of entry. This was, to a layman, an apparently plausible, easily understood explanation of the water source, which did not require any detailed knowledge of the plant process or layout.It also was a theory that had popu lar appeal because it focused on a simple, minor human inadvertence which caused a great tragedy — a â€Å"for-want-of-a-horseshoe-nail-the-kingdom-was-lost† explanation. It was readily accepted by those eager to believe the incident had been caused by improper operating practices at a purportedly shoddy chemical plant in a Third World country. The waterwashing theory was also publicly embraced by the Indian Government. Although the water-washing theory has superficial appeal, those engineers most familiar with the plant — its valving, piping, and layout — found the theory highly implausible.When Union Carbide finally gained access to the plant, talked to witnesses, and considered all the evidence, it concluded that the theory could not withstand even minimal scientific scrutiny. And, although the Indian Government holds in its possession records and test results that completely discredit this theory, it continues to embrace it nonetheless. Several indepe ndent pieces of evidence demonstrate that water-washing of lines in the filter area could not possibly have been the cause of water entry into Tank 610. This evidence is discussed next. V.EVIDENCE REFUTING THE WATER-WASHING THEORY The details of the pertinent parts of the plant vent systems, shown in Figure 3, will be helpful in understanding the material presented in this section. The water-washing theory assumes that water from an operation designed to wash a sub-header near four process filters (Point â€Å"A† of Figure 3) went through the relief valve vent header (RVVH), then through a connection to the process vent header (PVH) and then into Tank 610 (Point â€Å"B†). At least three independent, objective pieces of evidence establish that this could not have happened. . BLEEDER VALVE HYDRAULICS The water was introduced using a hose with a 1/2-inch inlet. Even assuming all intermediate header-system valves to have been wide open, for water to have reached the top o f the PVH riser near Tank 610 (Point â€Å"B† of Figure 3), it would have had to be under sufficient pressure near the point of introduction (Point â€Å"A† of Figure 3) to enable it to climb 10. 4 feet. Associated with the filters near the washing operation, however, there are four 1/ 2-inch bleeder valves in parallel (see Items 18 of Figure 4).Of these, one was reportedly mechanically plugged, but the other three were reported by five eye-witnesses to be wide open and draining freely. With the 1/2-inch hose connection to the washing operation limiting the flow to about 10-15 gallons/minute, the three open bleeder valves would limit the water back-pressure above them to no more than about 0. 7 foot of hydraulic head, clearly not enough to raise the water by 10. 4 feet. Page 8 of 16 Bhopal as a Case Study – Union Carbide Corp. 2. CLOSED INTERMEDIATE VALVEIn the above paragraph, we assumed for the sake of argument that all intermediate valves in the header system s between the water connection and Tank 610 were open. It should be noted that if any one of these valves was closed (and leak-tight), the waterwashing theory must fail. One such valve is the valve close to the water-washing operation, connecting it to the RVVH (see Item 19 on Figure 4). A plant mastercard (a detailed record of steps taken during maintenance) shows it to have been shut since November 29, 1984.The mastercard also reflects that the valve was physically tagged closed; after the incident, the tag was found to be still present on the valve. Furthermore, with the authorization of the Indian Government, the integrity of this valve was tested in a July 1985 simulation of the waterwashing operation; in this one-hour test, no water leaked past this valve into the RVVH. There is no way that water from the water-washing operation could have reached Tank 610 without first passing through this valve, which is documented to have been closed and leak-tight. 3.DRY HEADER PIPING For water to have penetrated to Tank 610 from the water-washing area, it would have had to fill the 6-inch diameter connecting pipe, then a 65-foot length of 8-inch RVVH (with more than a dozen branches running off this line), and then some 340 feet of 4-inch RVVH. It would then have had to fill a 120-foot length of 2-inch PVH and a last 220-foot section of 2-inch PVH with the vertical legs at each end of this section. Calculations show that some 4,500 pounds of water would have been needed to fill all this piping, before any could get to Tank 610.Thus, if the water-washing operation were the source of the water, large quantities of water would have filled the associated piping. As the incident later progressed and gases were ejected from Tank 610, the gases would have cleared the water from the main RVVH flow path out of the vent gas scrubber. On the other hand, all of the branch downlegs, as well as the 220-foot section of the PVH with the downlegs on either end of it, would have rema ined full of water, as the connection between the PVH and the vent gas scrubber had been previously blinded off to allow replacement of some sections of PVH.And, even though the vented gases were hot, the water in these sections could not have boiled or evaporated away, because these sections were dozens of feet away from the piping in which hot gases were flowing. When the branch vent lines on the ground floor of the production unit and the branch vent lines connected to Tank 611 and to the spare tank were drained, only normal, small amounts of water (or no water al all) were found. On February 8, 1985, the Superintendent of Police, CBI, ordered (see Figure 5A) that a hole be drilled in the lowest point of this 220-foot length of the PVH, to determine how much water was contained therein.The authorization acknowledges that this section of pipe had no bleeders or flanged joints. For the water-washing theory to have been true, there should have been hundreds of pounds of water still in this section of pipe, and so some empty 55-gallon drums were made available to collect whatever amounts of liquid would issue from the drilled hole. When the hole was drilled, however, the pipe was found to be bone-dry. The line was Page 9 of 16 Bhopal as a Case Study – Union Carbide Corp. immediately purged with nitrogen to force any liquid out, but not a drop was obtained (see Figure 5B).Thus, the water-washing theory is clearly untenable. The bleeder valves in the waterwashing area would have had to be closed (but three were witnessed to have been open), the intermediate header valves would have had to be open (but at least one is documented to have been closed and leak-tight), and there would have had to be hundreds of pounds of water in the 220-foot section of the PVH drilled after the incident was over (but not even a single drop was found). VI. SIGNIFICANT ASPECTS OF THE UCC INVESTIGATIONAs indicated in Section V, it was clear to those investigating the event that i t had not been caused in the manner that had gained popular acceptance — inadvertent failure to place a slipblind during water-washing of lines near the process filters. The UCC team also thoroughly considered other possible routes of water entry and became convinced that this incident had been initiated by the entry of water to the tank by means of a direct connection. Evidence of a direct-connection entry was gathered only gradually, however, in large measure because of some of the psychological factors and motivations discussed earlier.PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS Perhaps because of the enormity of the event, many people, even those only peripherally involved, tended to remember in detail and with great clarity the sequence of events of that night. Nevertheless, people experienced the event in different ways, thus yielding, for example, varying estimates of the duration of the actual release. The tendency of plant workers to omit facts or distort evidence was also clearly evident after the Bhopal incident, making the collection of evidence a time-consuming process.In investigating any incident in which facts seem to have been omitted or distorted, it is necessary to examine the motives of those involved. The story that had been initially told by the workers was a preferable one from their perspective, because it exonerated everyone, except perhaps the supervisor. According to this version, the reaction happened instantaneously; there was no time to take preventive or remedial measures, and there was no known cause. Without a cause, no blame could be established.Because critical facts were being deliberately omitted and distorted, the investigation team had to continually review and reanalyze each new piece of evidence and to assess its consistency and veracity with hard evidence and known facts. Ultimately, several firm pieces of evidence came to light — evidence that simply did not fit the story told initially by the workers, and that eventually led to the conclusion that a direct water connection had been found by the workers, but had been covered up. Page 10 of 16 Bhopal as a Case Study – Union Carbide Corp.LAST TRANSFER OF MIC TO THE SEVIN UNIT The plant records show the following sequence of events. Although in the weeks prior to the incident the MIC manufacturing unit had been shut down, the SEVIN unit was operating, using the MIC that had been stored in the tanks. The operators were transferring MIC from Tank 611 to a one-ton charge pot for subsequent conversion to SEVIN. Plant procedure was to exhaust the contents of one MIC storage tank before using the MIC in the second tank, and 21 tons remained in Tank 611.Thus, although they experienced some difficulty in pressurizing Tank 610, which had been at atmospheric pressure for the previous six weeks, there was more than enough MIC in Tank 611 to meet the SEVIN production requirement and there was no need to use the MIC in Tank 610. During the early period after the incident, when the Union Carbide investigation team was about to assist in safely disposing of the MIC remaining in Tank 611, the MIC in the SEVIN charge pot and the transfer line between the tank and the charge pot was sampled.The MIC was found to be greenish, with a higher-than-normal chloroform content (consistent with that of the MIC stored in Tank 610 prior to the incident), and with evidence of the presence of non-volatile reaction products of a water-MIC reaction. These samples caused a substantial amount of concern because it was then feared that there might also be a major problem with the MIC in Tank 611 as well. Precautions were taken to sample the MIC in Tank 611 and extensive analyses of the contents of Tank 611 were conducted.The MIC in Tank 611, however, proved to be onspecification and clear, with normal levels of chloroform, and no non-volatile reaction products. The investigation team, therefore, concluded that the last transfer to the SEVIN charge pot must have c ome from Tank 610, before its contents had severely reacted, rather than from Tank 611. This piece of evidence was surprising because everyone had assumed that all transfers had come from Tank 611 during the period prior to the event. This assumption had been made because the last transfer, as logged by the SEVIN unit operators, occurred from Tank 611 at 23:30, or 11:30 p. . , just prior to the incident. In addition, prior to the time the pressure had begun to rise in Tank 610, there had been insufficient pressure to make a transfer from Tank 610. No operators had reported a transfer that night from Tank 610, although several stated a transfer from Tank 611 had occurred. The team was well aware of the tendency of operators, after an incident of such magnitude, to distance themselves and minimize their involvement, and therefore it continued to explore the possibility that a transfer had been made from Tank 610.Some of the copies of records released to Union Carbide in December 1985 were copies of the MIC inventory records, including those for the night of the incident. One log, which had been previously unavailable to Union Carbide's investigation team in December 1984, showed a final transfer of MIC from Tank 611 between 10:15 and 10:30 p. m. , the evening of the incident. Although, initially, the log did not appear out of the ordinary, several unusual factors were noticed upon closer examination (see next-to-last entry in Figure 6): 1) The transfer was logged as having started at 10:15 p. . on the second shift but between two operators who did not arrive until the third shift began at 10:45 p. m. later that night. It was logged in the handwriting of one of those third shift operations. 2) The logged time of the transfer was out of sequence with the remaining entries. 3) The operator who logged it normally used the 24-hour clock convention in recording transfers. The investigators studied these records, and finally determined that the transfer had been origin ally logged at â€Å"0:15† to â€Å":30†, or 12:15 to 12:30 a. m. and had been altered later that morning Page 11 of 16 Bhopal as a Case Study – Union Carbide Corp. in an attempt to cover up the events and to move the time of the transfer back to a period of time in which the MIC operators could not be blamed. The team thus concluded that the logs showed there had been a transfer from Tank 610 at 12:15 a. m. to 12:30 a. m. — 15 minutes before the major release occurred. In addition to its proximity to the release, the transfer also occurred during the time of the tea break, which was highly irregular.Water is known to be heavier than MIC, and the transfer line comes up from the bottom of the tank. With the discovery of this log, together with the results of the charge pot analysis, the UCC team concluded that there had been an attempt by the MIC operators to remove water from the tank just prior to the time the safety valve lifted, after the pressure had increased sufficiently in the tank to move the material out. This completely refuted the story that the workers had originally told regarding the instantaneous reaction.Moreover, it showed that the operators knew water had entered Tank 610. The transfer of one ton of material would have been wholly and obviously ineffective to relieve pressure in the 45-ton tank; the only reason for a transfer at that time was to get water known to be in the tank out of the tank. This conclusion was further supported by the logs recorded that night in the SEVIN unit. These were made in duplicate, and one copy showed the time of an MIC transfer as 23:30, whereas on the other copy, found in the accounting records, the time of the transfer was missing.We believe that the SEVIN supervisor may have filled in the time of the transfer after the incident to make it appear that the transfer had not occurred close to the time of the major release, but was unable to do so on all copies because the second copy had already been sent (as required by plant procedure) to the plant's accounting office. When the investigating team interviewed the SEVIN supervisor, he at first would not admit that he had gone into the SEVIN unit that morning at all, but he later admitted that he had entered there briefly to complete his logs.The morning after the incident he reportedly discussed the possibility of reacting the MIC in the charge pot into SEVIN, perhaps in an attempt to destroy any evidence of a charge from Tank 610. CONTRADICTIONS Meanwhile, as the interviews with the operators and supervisors directly involved progressed, it became apparent that there were massive contradictions in their stories. For example, operators and employees from other units and another plant downwind of the MIC unit, together with some MIC operators, reported sensing small MIC leaks well before the major release occurred, and they notified their shift supervisors.However, those Bhopal plant supervisors denied hearing an y reports about earlier leaks. In addition, the supervisors were unable to plausibly account for their activities during the 45-minute period prior to the release. They placed themselves with people and in locations for reasons that were entirely different from those that had been given by those individuals they were supposedly with. Ultimately, the reasons for this became clear: witnesses from other units reported that these supervisors and the plant superintendent were taking a break in the plant's main canteen when they received word of the incident.Because previously they had been instructed not to take their breaks together, they masked their actions by claiming to know nothing until just prior to the major release. Page 12 of 16 Bhopal as a Case Study – Union Carbide Corp. The operators in the MIC unit also gave widely contradictory accounts. For example, some stated that the alarm signaling the major release went off only several minutes after tea began at 12:15 a. m. , whereas others stated that the tea period in the control room was entirely normal, and they had not noticed anything to be amiss until just a few minutes prior to the major release.The control room operator initially told the media that he noticed the pressure in Tank 610 was 10 psig when the shift began; however, he later stated that the pressure remained at 2 psig until after tea. Because some of the witnesses directly involved in the incident were initially unavailable for interviews, and because others were rendering obviously contradictory accounts, reports given by the more peripheral figures during the incident became highly important.For these individuals, primarily operators from other units or those who were not present at the time of the incident, there was no motive to distort or omit facts, and their accounts were thus deemed more reliable. Ultimately, it became clear that the MIC operators knew at least 30 to 45 minutes before the release that something was seriously wrong, and that several had acted in an attempt to forestall the problem. One of the more reliable accounts came from a witness who had no motive or reason to distort or omit the facts. He was the â€Å"tea boy†, who served tea in the MIC control room just prior to the major release.With some difficulty, he was located in Nepal, in the Himalayas, and brought to Delhi. Despite the MIC operators' claim of a normal tea period, the tea boy reported that when he entered the unit at about 12:15 a. m. , the atmosphere was tense and quiet. Although he attempted to serve tea, the operators refused it. After detailed questioning of scores of operators, it became apparent that those directly involved were unable to give consistent accounts because they were attempting to give very specific details of events that never occurred.Therefore, the investigation team made an intensive effort to find logs that might have been initially overlooked and that might shed some light on the cause or course of the incident. Two of the significant findings were: 1) While reviewing the daily notes of the MIC unit for the period prior to the incidents, a sketch was found on the reverse side of one page, the first page available for writing. This sketch showed a hose connection to an instrument on a tank, and it appears to have been made to explain how the water entered the tank. ) This effort to search the records brought to light even further evidence of attempts to cover up the story. For example, the time of the occurrence had been altered in log after log to reflect the incident occurring at a different time than had been initially recorded. This was true of the foam-tender log, the assistant security officer's log, the utilities log, and the stores register. Further, in some logs, the pages relevant to the period in question had been either completely, or partially, ripped out. It appeared clear: there had been a systematic effort to alter and destroy logs.In many cases, the t eam found that the witnesses, especially the peripheral ones, were not aware of which facts were pertinent, and they revealed only those they considered important. Thus, it was necessary to talk at length to witnesses about all the facts and circumstances involved to draw out relevant facts. For example, during a series of routine interviews with a variety of former plant employees held in the winter of 1986, an instrument supervisor, who was not on duty that night, offered a telling observation.Casually, he mentioned that when he arrived at the scene early on the morning following the incident, upon checking the instruments on the tank, as he had been instructed to do, he noticed that the local pressure indicator on Tank 610 was missing. This fact was of crucial importance because the instrument is on the tank manhead, and was one of the few places to Page 13 of 16 Bhopal as a Case Study – Union Carbide Corp. which a water hose could be connected (see Item 10 of Figure 7). T he witness was wholly unaware of the significance of his statement.Upon further questioning, the team learned that the indicator was not only missing, but a plug had not been inserted in its place, as would have been the case if it had been removed in the course of plant maintenance. Plant logs showed that the local pressure indicator had been present as of Friday, November 30, 1984, two days prior to the incident. The same instrument supervisor stated that he also found a hose lying beside the tank manhead that morning, and that water was running out of it.Other witnesses questioned later also recalled that the local pressure indicator on Tank 610 was found to be missing after the incident. After his statements subsequently became public in the litigation between the Indian Government and Union Carbide, the CBI subjected the instrument supervisor to six days of interrogation and intimidation during which they attempted, without success, to force him to change his testimony 5. Addit ional significant evidence of direct entry of water came from other peripheral witnesses.Within hours of the incident, reports of a direct water connection to the tank began to circulate among the plant employees. These were reported to the Indian Government by plant management but they could not be pursued at that time because the CBI had prohibited interviews of plant employees. As it became evident that a massive cover-up had occurred among the more directly involved witnesses, these reports became more credible. The investigators, therefore, traced the origins of this report and spoke to an off-duty employee of another unit, who had reached the plant at approximately 2:00 a. . the morning of the incident. He stated that he had been told by a close friend of one of the MIC operators that water had entered through a tube that had been connected to the tank. This was discovered by the other MIC operators, who then tried to open and close valves to prevent the release. Although the MIC operators used technical terms to describe the connection that the interviewee did not understand, he was able to draw the exact location of the connection, which proved to be the location of the local pressure indicator on Tank 610.Another peripheral witness whose testimony proved to be of significance was an operator from a different unit who was on duty that night. He stated that, shortly after the release had subsided early that morning, at approximately 3:00 a. m. , the workers from other units were discussing the incident in the plant. Two MIC operators told them that water had entered the tank through a pressure gauge. VII. THE DIRECT-ENTRY CHRONOLOGY The results of this investigation show, with virtual certainty, that the Bhopal incident was caused by the entry of water to the tank through a hose that had been connected directly to the tank.It is equally clear that those most directly involved attempted to obfuscate these events. Nevertheless, the pieces of the puzzle ar e now firmly in place, and based upon technical and objective evidence, the following sequence of events occurred. At 10:20 p. m. on the night of the incident, the pressure in Tank 610 was at 2 psig. This is significant because no water could have entered prior to that point; otherwise a reaction would have begun, and the resulting pressure rise would have been noticed. At 10:45 p. m. , the shift change occurred.The unit was shut down and it takes at least a half hour for the shift change to be Page 14 of 16 Bhopal as a Case Study – Union Carbide Corp. accomplished. During this period, on a cold winter night, the MIC storage area would be completely deserted. We believe that it was at this point — during the shift change — that a disgruntled operator entered the storage area and hooked up one of the readily available rubber water hoses to Tank 610, with the intention of contaminating and spoiling the tank's contents. It was well known among the plant's operators that water and MIC should not be mixed.He unscrewed the local pressure indicator, which can be easily accomplished by hand, and connected the hose to the tank. The entire operation could be completed within five minutes. Minor incidents of process sabotage by employees had occurred previously at the Bhopal plant, and, indeed, occur from time to time in industrial plants all over the world. The water and MIC reaction initiated the formation of carbon dioxide which, together with MIC vapors, was carried through the header system and out of the stack of the vent gas scrubber by about 11:30 to 11:45 p. m.Because the â€Å"common valve† (Item 16 of Figure 7) was in a closed position before the incident and the tank held a strong vacuum when it cooled down after the incident, it is clear that the valve was temporarily opened to permit the entry of water. This also permitted the vapors initially generated to flow (via the PVH) out through the RVVH. It was these vapors that were sen sed by workers in the area downwind as the earlier minor MIC leaks. The leak was also sensed by several MIC operators who were sitting downwind of the leak at the time. They reported the leak to the MIC supervisor and began to search for it in the MIC structure.At about midnight, they found what they believed to be the source, viz. , a section of open piping located on the second level of the structure near the vent gas scrubber. They fixed a fire hose so that it would spray in that direction and returned to the MIC control room believing that they had successfully contained the MIC leak. Meanwhile, the supervisors went to the plant's main canteen on break. Shortly after midnight, several MIC operators saw the pressure rise on the gauges in the control room and realized that there was a problem with Tank 610.They ran to the tank and discovered the water hose connection to the tank. They discussed the alternatives and called the supervisors back from the canteen. They decided upon tr ansferring about one ton of the tank's contents to the SEVIN unit as the best method of getting the water out. The major release then occurred. The MIC supervisor called the MIC production manager at home within fifteen minutes of the major release and told him that water had gotten into an MIC tank. (It later took UCC's and GOI's investigating teams, working separately, months to determine scientifically that water entry had been responsible. Not knowing if the attempted transfer had exacerbated the incident, or whether they could have otherwise prevented it, or whether they would be blamed for not having notified plant management earlier, those involved decided upon a cover-up. They altered logs that morning and thereafter to disguise their involvement. As is not uncommon in many such incidents, the reflexive tendency to cover up simply took over. VIII. CONCLUSION By their nature, large-magnitude incidents present unique problems for investigators.In the case of the Bhopal inciden t, these problems were compounded by the constraints placed on the Union Carbide investigation team by the Indian Government and, most significantly, by the Page 15 of 16 Bhopal as a Case Study – Union Carbide Corp. prohibition of interviews of plant employees for over a year. Had those constraints not been imposed, the actual cause of the incident would have been determined within several months. Because the investigation was blocked, a popular explanation arose in the media as to the cause of the tragedy.A thorough investigation, which included scores of in-depth witness interviews, a review of thousands of plant logs, tests of valving and piping, hundreds of scientific experiments, and examinations of the plant and its equipment, was ultimately conducted over a year later. That investigation has established that the incident was not caused in the manner popularly reported, but rather was the result of a direct water connection to the tank. IX. REFERENCES 1. Pietersen, J. M . , â€Å"Analysis of the LPG Incident in San Juan Ixtahuapec, Mexico City, 19 November 1984†³, TNO Report 85-0222, 1985. 2. Report on Scientific Studies on the Release Factors Related to Bhopal Toxic Gas Leakage†, Indian Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, December 1985. 3. â€Å"Bhopal Methyl Isocyanate Investigation Team Report†, Union Carbide Corporation, Danbury, Connecticut, U. S. A. , March 1985. 4. In re: Union Carbide Corporation Gas Plant Disaster at Bhopal, India in December 1984. MDL Docket No. 626, U. S. District Court, Southern District of New York, Ordered November 8, 1985. 5. Interlocutory Application No. 19, Filed in Court of District Judge, Bhopal, in Regular Suit No. 1113 of 1986, Date, February 4, 1986. Page 16 of 16