Risk Identification In Water Treatment Plant Projects Construction Essay

Risk Identification In Water Treatment Plant Projects Construction Essay Projects can fail for a number of reasons and the risks are always high. All project, program, and portfolio are subject to risk, whether positive or negative risks. The aim is to decrease negative risks and enhance positive risks. Managing risks is one of the most important tasks for the construction industry as it directly affects project outcomes. Unfortunately, many organizations do not realize that there is a need to include risk management as a key element to success in business. Hence, some organizations delegate the risk management tasks leaving to someone to needs to plan, identify, assess, develop response plans, and control risks or do just part/ parts of the risk processes. It is not integrated into their project management philosophy. Project risk management has been intensively discussed in recent years. Projects are becoming shared efforts of multiple parties construction industry is a good example of an area, where the project outcome is delivered in an extremely complex actor network. This paper discuss identified the common and specific risks that may occur in the infrastructure projects specially in the water treatment plant projects in Egypt then we make initial assessment to these risks through a questionnaire was designed using the matrix method then we make analyzing of the responses of this questionnaire. Introduction This paper is focused only on the qualitative assessment of the risks. We use the matrix method for the assessment of these risks. Responses to the questionnaire were then collected and analyzed. The analysis included ranking the risks in terms of degree of occurrence (probability) (v.high, high, med, low, very low) the level of influences (impact) (v.high, high, med, low, very low) as the following matrices: A general water supply system is composed of water sources, raw water transmission pipes, water treatment plants, and water distribution networks. However, these components and subsystems give the greatest opportunities for both natural and human-related influences because most of them are spatially diverse and accessible. With respect to this, researchers have identified the potential vulnerable areas during the process of delivering water from the sources to the customers as (see Figure 1): (1) water sources (e.g., river, reservoir, and wells); (2) water treatment plant that removes impurities and harmful agents and makes water suitable for domestic consumption and other uses which consists of: Screen, Mixing tank, Flocculation basin, Settling tank, Sand filter, Disinfection (3) water distribution pipelines that deliver clean water on demand to homes, commercial establishments, and industries which consists of: pipes, pumps, junctions/nodes, fitting (4) storages (tanks water tower s); and (5) other facilities (transmission pipes, channels, pumps, valves, etc.).These vulnerable points are the focus of risk assessment. Figure 1 Elements and vulnerable points in a general water supply system QUANTITY REQUIREMENTS: Factors affecting used Consider the following factors affecting use ashore: * Water uses (domestic, industrial, fire protection) * Peak demands (all uses). * Other essential demands. * Missions of the activity. * Climatic effects. Water treatment plant Water treatment plant is the most important facility in a water supply system to remove contaminants in raw water, disinfect treated water, and produce drinkable water to consumers. However, hazards may be introduced during the process of treatment, or hazardous circumstances may allow contaminants to pass through treatment in significant concentrations. Constituents of drinkable water can be introduced through the treatment process, including chemical additives used in the treatment process or products in contact with water. Furthermore, suboptimal filtration following filter backwashing can lead to the introduction of pathogens into the distribution system. Three attributes are crucial to water users: * There must be adequate quantities of water on demand. * It must be delivered at sufficient pressure. * It must be safe to use. In our paper we will focus on the Water treatment plant in the water supply system which considers an important part in the water supply system. We will discuss the risks may occur in the projects we will make an initial assessment to these risks but at the beginning we will give overview of risk management in the construction projects specially the infrastructure projects which owned by the government, we will discuss the risks from the view of contractor. Research methodology A questionnaire was designed for assessment for all possible risks that may occur in the water treatment plant projects in EGYPT which some of these risks are general risks that may happen in all infrastructure projects and some are specific risks for the water treatment plant projects through the construction operation phase as discussed previous in the stage of risks identification then forward to some of managers in. This paper is focused only on the qualitative assessment of the risks. We use the matrix method for the assessment of these risks. Responses to the questionnaire were then collected and analyzed. The analysis included ranking the risks in terms of degree of occurrence (probability) (v. high, high, med, low, very low) the level of influences (impact) (v. high, high, med, low, very low) as the following matrices: 1- Identification of risks Categories of risks for infrastructure and service delivery projects: 1-Political risks: Political risks are the first category of risks identified. It contains all the risks of government actions that may endanger a project. 1-1 Political support risks: Host government support is essential for any infrastructure projects (ex: government support for the owner disputes on land) 1-2 Taxation risks: Taxation risks mat raises of tax rate, or applied new tax tariffs, which, may lead to decrease the promoter profit and unbalanced project cash flow. 1-3 Import/export restrictions risk: The import and export restriction risk covers the legislation changes, which arrange the import of the equipment. 1-4 Failure to obtain approvals. Failure to obtain approval risk occurs when the central or local government authority does not approve the project-related issues in time or even cancels the ones already approved. Obtaining approvals for a project from complex web of government agencies and departments, from municipal to provincial to central government levels, can be extremely time-consuming process, delaying entire projects and hurting their financial viability. 2-Financial risks: The risk that the financiers will not provide or continue to provide funding to the project 2-1 Delayed Payment by the government: Payments on time are considered extremely important by the contractors maintain the cash flow and eliminate financial difficulties . Delayed payment will influence the financial situation of the contractor, especially if the due payment is substantial and or delayed for along time. 2-2 Changes in law regulation: Local authorities and government have specific codes and regulations that might be changed or revised from time to time. These regulations must be adhered to by contactors. But this has low probability to occurrence in our project because it is owned by the government. 2-3 Inflation risks: This risk category mainly depends on the economic conditions of the country. As the inflation increases this risk becomes more important. 2-4 Interest rate changes. 2-5 Devaluation risks. 2-6 Financial failure: Financial failure of any party (contractor or owner) wills significant impact the projects schedule and consequently the budget. This is more likely happen in big projects where the owner (government) might not have sufficient fund for the project or the contractor bids low on the project. 3- Development risks: Development risks describes the risk of the bidding procedures, which are very important part of the project, the bid evaluation criteria must be clearly defined and the bids must be evaluated in a public and objective manner, the chances for success are predictable. The competitive bidding systems usually lead to terms and conditions more favorable to the national interest. An orderly and transparent bidding procedure should also win public support for that project which can solve the problems that face the contractor such as land owner disputes. 3-1 Bidding risks: The bidding process in Egypt includes the following risks, which can face the contactor: contractor spend high cost for the preparation of the feasibility studies, investigation, design, planning and estimation of the project to be able to tender. Contractor warred about the risks of their innovative proposals being put out to competitive tender without gaining exclusivity or preferential treatment from other competitors. 3-2 Planning delay: The planning delay risks refer to the delay of the tender evaluation by the government officials whom responsible to do such task. 3-3 Approval risks: Delays in approval risk appear when the central of local government authority does not approve the project-related issues in time. Obtaining approvals for a project from complex web of government agencies and departments, from municipal to provincial to central government levels, can be extremely time-consuming process, delaying entire projects and hurting their financial viability. 3-4 Force majeure risk: Force majeure risk is the risk that a specified event entirely outside the control of either party will occur and will result in a delay or default by the contractor in the performance of its contractual obligations. for example cyclone, earthquake, outbreak of war. 4-Site risk: Site risk is the risk that the project land will be unavailable or unable to be used at the required time because of Land owner disputes that the site will generate unanticipated liabilities, with the result that the service delivery and revenues are adversely affected. 4-1 Site access: This risk category refers to the right of way and access to the project site. This an important category especially if the project is in a remote or undeveloped area or where access is limited to small trucks where large construction tools like big trucks and loaders cannot get into the project site. Also, this important when the project is located in a very congested area or access to other facilities and public areas need to be blocked or detoured in some stages of the project. 4-2 Statutory approvals. 4-3 Environmental issues 4-4 differing site condition: This is a clear risk category and could happen in most of construction projects. For instance the soil conditions changes and the contractor might face or hard soil during excavation instead of soft soil as the top layer at the site showed or as the tender document may have indicated. Another example is underground buried utility piping, power cables and high water table area. These types of differing site conditions occur mostly in renovation and /or expansion of existing projects where new construction interface with the existing structures. These differing site conditions will require extra efforts and may necessitate special equipment and tools for excavation and/or de-watering. 4-5 Suitability of the site and any existing infrastructure: Means existing of any underground infrastructures (e.g. sewage pipes) 5- Construction risks: Construction risks are the identified risk category which contains the risks faced the project during the construction phase which can be highly affect on the project cost and in turn the investment needs to complete the project. It can be endanger to the feasibility of the project. 5-1 Delay risks: Delay risk means delay in the construction time schedule which, can be occur due to poor project management applied or due to bad cost estimation, which lead to financial failure. 5-2 Cost overrun risks: Cost overrun risk occur when construction costs exceed original estimates, either due to inflation, non realistic cost estimation, excessive design changes or lack of risk management framework. 5-3 Re performance risk: Re performance risk is occurred due to reconstruct or maintains the bad work done by unqualified contractor. 5-4 Completion risk: Completion risk refers to the non-completion of the project due to effect of force majeure or unforeseen soil conditions. 5-5 Variation risks: A change in work is an important risk category in the construction projects. It could be change in work procedures, methodology o change of plans and scope of work. These changes might lead to change orders demolitions and re-working and must be considered in the assessments of risks because they affect the project budget, schedule, safety and quality. Normally changes in work result because of insufficient planning at the project definition stage or because of lack of clear scope and drawing detail or simply because the owner s desire to make changes to the project. 5-6 Loss or damage to work: Loss or damage to work risks rises by the unforeseen soil conditions or breakdown of equipment, which are common occurrences on any construction site, especially for large civil engineering projects. Usually, these will have repercussion on cost and time but the effects are usually surmountable with today s technology. 5-7 Force majeure risk: Force majeure risk is the risk that a specified event entirely outside the control of either party will occur and will result in a delay or default by the contractor in the performance of its contractual obligations during the construction period. For example, earthquake, outbreak of war. 5-8 Mistakes in installation of pipes. 5-9 Mistakes in installation valves of pipes. 5-10 The permeability of the reservoir during a test. 5-11 Labor equipment availability: This risk category is mainly related to the availability of some of the resources namely, labor, material and equipment. Certain jobs may require specific skilled expertise and /or special material and equipment that might not available or scarce in the local market and take a long time to procure. For example a skilled a qualified welder or special lifting and fitting of some heavy structure that may require crane capacity or piece of equipment that is not available in the local market may force the contractor to hire a certain skilled labor and import the special piece of the equipment or change the construction method to suit. This is more likely to happen in complex major projects or projects involving some degree of high technological complexity like water treatment plant project. 5-12 Labor equipment productivity: Like the previous risk category, certain jobs involving the productivity of labors and equipment might be affected because of the complexity of jobs or the nature of the work. if this not routine, then the labor and/or the equipment operator need to go through a learning curve. Another example that might affect labor and equipment productivity is the morale of the labor and the use of defective tools and equipment. 5-13 defective material: Material is essential resource for construction projects and there is need for quality control and quality assurance to eliminate material replacement and re-work. this risk category becomes more important for lump sum contracts if the specifications were not well defined. 5-14 labor disputes: This is more likely to happen in large companies where the work forces are multinationals who come from different countries with different background or where the relationships between management and workforce are tense. Usually any labor dispute is either resolved internally or by the local authorities and police. 5-15 Safety accident: Safety and accidents in construction projects can not overlooked, especially when the projects involves deep excavation or high elevation construction. The risk category is inherited in the construction industry but can be minimized by following safety rules and the use of safety equipment such as goggles, safety hats and shoes. 5-16 Coordination with sub. Contractor: Coordination with sub-contractors and material suppliers is an important task especially in a multi-player environment like big construction projects. Beside it could be risky if not kept smooth, in a timely manner and continuous. Miss-coordination between subcontractors and material suppliers (especially for long lead items) will lead to schedule and budget overruns. 5-17 Quality of work: Quality of work would reflect the reputation of the contractor and might either rank him on the top of contractors or force him out of the market. Generally, owners (government) strive to get a quality end product by their project and contractors try their best to deliver quality projects. However; poor workmanship that leads to demolition and rework will negatively impact the project budget and schedule. Also, interior quality of work will reflect the bad reputation of the contractor. Good quality and assurance programs will helps reduce the negative effects of this category. 6- Operation risks: Operation risk describes the category of risks faced the project during the guarantee period of the facilities, which starts after project completion continued for one year such as equipment breakdown or the discovery of defects in the work which may hinder the revenue generating capability. 6-1 Technical risks: The breakdown of equipment or failures of any part of the project which are common occurrences on any project, Usually, these will have repercussions on cost and time but effects are usually surmountable with today s technology. 6-2 Corruption risk: It the risk of occurrence of failure or breakdown in any part of the water treatment plant, e.g.(breakdown of the pipes, or failure of tanks in the system) during the guarantee period of the project. 6-4 Force majeure risk: Force majeure is the risk that a specified event entirely outside the control of either party will occur and will result in a delay or default by the contractor in the performance of its contractual obligations during the operation period. For example cyclone, earthquake, outbreak of war. Water treatment plant Water treatment plant is the most important facility in a water supply system to remove Contaminants in raw water, disinfect treated water, and produce drinkable water to consumers. However, hazards may be introduced during the process of treatment, or hazardous circumstances May allow contaminants to pass through treatment in significant concentrations. Constituents of drinkable water can be introduced through the treatment process, including chemical additives used in the treatment process or products in contact with water. Furthermore, suboptimal filtration following filter backwashing can lead to the introduction of pathogens into the distribution system. Meanwhile extreme natural hazards, willful human attacks, or interdependency failures (e.g., power failures) can all introduce risks in water treatment process. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results analysis of the risks discussed in the previous, the following conclusions were reached: From the analysis of the six risk categories depended on the questionnaire received from five managers in the Arab company, our conclusions were as follow: * The most critical risks in the political risks were the: import export restriction failure to obtain approval, the lowest critical risks were: taxation risks. * The most critical risks in the financial risks were the: devaluation risks payment failure. the lowest critical risks: inflation risks. * The most critical risks in the development risks were the: bidding risks the lowest critical risks: force majeure risks. * The most critical risks in the site risks were the: differing site condition risks the lowest critical risks: site access risks. * The most critical risks in the construction risks were the cost overrun risks coordination between the subcontractor the lowest critical risks: force majeure some risks discussed in the matrix. * The most critical risks in the operation risks were the force majeure risks the lowest critical risks: technical risks. * At all the most critical risks category in the construction risks category. REFERENCES 1. Risk management of the BOT projects in Egypt. by Ibrahim Ahmed Ibrahim Hara Faculty of engineering at Cairo University. 2. http://www.google.com.eg/search?hl=arq=2ech10_riskbtnG=%D8%A8%D8%AD%D8%AB+Google%E2%80%8Fmeta=aq=f oq= 3. http://www.google.com.eg/search?hl=arq=LECTURE+11+RISK+MANAGEMENTbtnG=%D8%A8%D8%AD%D8%AB%21meta= 4. Hierarchical Risk Assessment of Water Supply Systems Huipeng Li Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy from Loughborough University 5. ASSESSMENT OF RISK MANAGEMENT PERCEPTION AND PRACTICES OF CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTOR IN SAUDI ARABIA.BY ALI ABDULLAH AL SALMAN. APPENDIXES

Postmodernism and the Fundamentalist Revival Essay -- Postmodernism

Postmodernism and the Fundamentalist Revival   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For contemporary Western—particularly American—thought, there have been two prevailing theories, at polar ends of the spectrum.   There is the belief that there are absolute ethical forces, and there is the belief that there are no set standards of judgment.   Both of these views seem extreme, attacking our sense of modernity and our sense of personal values.   Consequently, most people find their place somewhere moderately between the two.   As between belief and unbelief there is agnosticism, or between moralism and immoralism there is amoralism, between the belief in standards and the belief in no standards there is postmodernism.   Postmodernism places at its core that there is no unified theory or objective standard by which to judge every thing that is and that â€Å"there can be no independent standard for determining which of many rival interpretations [†¦] is the right one† (Fish).   Postmodernists th us assign the label â€Å"opinion† to most qualitative concepts:   a belief in an afterlife, bagels, and international politics cannot be judged on the same scale.   This is very egalitarian, allowing people to have personal beliefs while not necessarily bothering others with them.   Even in light of the fundamentalist wave that crashed after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, postmodernism, the central philosophy of contemporary America, has withstood the test of time. As a form of thinking, postmodernism has had an easy existence in the latter half of the 20th century.   After World War II, the only conflicts we have had either involved bloodless politics (the Watergate scandal), isolated events (the Cuban missile crisis), or ideological disputes (Korean and Vietnam... ...st theories, was strong enough (or possibly flimsy enough) to withstand a new fundamentalist revival.   The belief in polar rights and wrongs is stronger now, after the attacks, but postmodernism’s invulnerability does not mean that it is incorruptible to these polar beliefs.   A new philosophy that incorporates both of these ideas may soon emerge, seeking to pacify opponents of each, and, even if it succeeds, such a ideological fusion would be born in postmodernism, in the belief that this idea of standards and measurements cannot be completely disproven. Sources Cited Fish, Stanley.   â€Å"Condemnation Without Absolutes.†Ã‚   New York Times.   A19.   15 Oct. 2001 Halliday, Fred.   Two Hours that Shook the World.   London:   Saqi Books, 2002 Rothstein, Edward.   â€Å"Attacks on U.S. Challenge the Perspectives of Postmodern True Believers.†Ã‚   New York Times.   A17.   22 Sep. 2001. Postmodernism and the Fundamentalist Revival Essay -- Postmodernism Postmodernism and the Fundamentalist Revival   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For contemporary Western—particularly American—thought, there have been two prevailing theories, at polar ends of the spectrum.   There is the belief that there are absolute ethical forces, and there is the belief that there are no set standards of judgment.   Both of these views seem extreme, attacking our sense of modernity and our sense of personal values.   Consequently, most people find their place somewhere moderately between the two.   As between belief and unbelief there is agnosticism, or between moralism and immoralism there is amoralism, between the belief in standards and the belief in no standards there is postmodernism.   Postmodernism places at its core that there is no unified theory or objective standard by which to judge every thing that is and that â€Å"there can be no independent standard for determining which of many rival interpretations [†¦] is the right one† (Fish).   Postmodernists th us assign the label â€Å"opinion† to most qualitative concepts:   a belief in an afterlife, bagels, and international politics cannot be judged on the same scale.   This is very egalitarian, allowing people to have personal beliefs while not necessarily bothering others with them.   Even in light of the fundamentalist wave that crashed after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, postmodernism, the central philosophy of contemporary America, has withstood the test of time. As a form of thinking, postmodernism has had an easy existence in the latter half of the 20th century.   After World War II, the only conflicts we have had either involved bloodless politics (the Watergate scandal), isolated events (the Cuban missile crisis), or ideological disputes (Korean and Vietnam... ...st theories, was strong enough (or possibly flimsy enough) to withstand a new fundamentalist revival.   The belief in polar rights and wrongs is stronger now, after the attacks, but postmodernism’s invulnerability does not mean that it is incorruptible to these polar beliefs.   A new philosophy that incorporates both of these ideas may soon emerge, seeking to pacify opponents of each, and, even if it succeeds, such a ideological fusion would be born in postmodernism, in the belief that this idea of standards and measurements cannot be completely disproven. Sources Cited Fish, Stanley.   â€Å"Condemnation Without Absolutes.†Ã‚   New York Times.   A19.   15 Oct. 2001 Halliday, Fred.   Two Hours that Shook the World.   London:   Saqi Books, 2002 Rothstein, Edward.   â€Å"Attacks on U.S. Challenge the Perspectives of Postmodern True Believers.†Ã‚   New York Times.   A17.   22 Sep. 2001.

Yayoi Kusama Biography

Yayoi Kusama  is 82 years old. But when she is wheeled in, on her blue polka-dotted wheelchair, she looks more like a baby, the sort you might see played by an adult in a British pantomime. Her face is large for a Japanese woman and at odds with her smallish frame. Apart from her intense, saucer-shaped eyes and the arc of deep red lipstick across her mouth, there is something masculine about her features. She wears a lurid red wig and a dress covered in engorged polka dots. Coiled around her neck is a long red scarf decorated with worm-like black squiggles.When she is out of the spotlight, without her splashy red wig and garish outfits, she looks like a nice, grey-haired old lady. But in public situations Kusama’s art and Kusama the artist converge. It is as if the patterns she has obsessively replicated since childhood have seeped off the canvas and into the three-dimensional world of flesh and blood. Rarely has an artist so clearly articulated the art of the Sixties as the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. The significance of her work has to do with the specific time period in which she grew up and her perception of art is determined by an inner energy.Her work also transcends earlier established and traditional border lines between disciplines of art and between art and life itself. Kusama’s career is rooted in her Japanese origin. Born in Matsumoto in 1929 she studied at the Arts and Crafts School in Kyoto. In 1957 she moved to New York, which was at the time the world center of contemporary. This move was based on her early awareness that only in New York could she continue her development as a contemporary artist.During the years she lived in New York it become apparent that compared to the conventional image of the Japanese woman, she was a human dynamo of creative energies and abundant human resources. The results of these first years in the art of Kusama were large paintings, one of them 33 feet long, of white nets which, without center and compositional features, obsessively covered the canvas with such intensity that one had the feeling the nets could continue beyond the borders. â€Å"My nets grew beyond myself and beyond the canvasses I was covering them with.They began to cover the walls, the ceiling, and finally the whole universe. I was standing at the center of the obsession over the passionate accretion and repetition inside me. † (Kusama) These early works with their radical and hypnotic repetitive energies were first exhibited in small, unknown galleries in New York and Washington. It wasn’t long before they made an international impact and were shown in the Monochrome Painting Exhibition in the Museum Schloss Morsbroich in Leverjusen, Germany in 1960.This international exhibition was a comprehensive documentation of a new concept in the arts after World War II and included works by Lucio Ponatana and Piero Manzoni from Italy, Mark Rothko from the USA, Yves Klein from France, and Otto Piene an d Guenter Uekcker from Germany. Yayoi Kusama was the only representative from Japan, and her work was a unique and independent articulation of the new art. The early Sixties in New York were years of experimentation, and one of the prime innovators in context became the Japanese immigrant Kusama.She expanded the thematic core of her work into themes like sex obsession and repetitive imagery which only much later were related to terms such as Pop Art and artists such as Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg and Roy Lichtenstein. Since 1962 Kusama has created soft sculptures, sometimes also referred to as a sewing-machine sculptures, and pieces of phallic furniture which gave expression to her underlying obsessive motif of sex.In connection with one of her early shows in the Gertrude Stein Gallery in New York in 1963 she said â€Å"these new types of sculptural works arose from a deep driving compulsion to realize in visible form the repetitive image inside of me. When this image is given fre edom, it overflows the limits of time and space. People have said that presents an irresistible force†¦that goes by its own momentum once it has started. † It is evident that the artist liked to be part of these new works of sculpture as she often posed in the nude on her own creations of phallic furniture.The Infinity Nets helped Kusama stay absorbed in her life. She wasn’t concerned about Surrealism, Pop Art, Minimal Art, or whatever, just staying in her own head. I interpret the dot motifs as representing a hallucinatory vision. Proliferating dots append themselves to scenes around Kusama, trying to flee from psychic obsession by choosing to paint the very vision of fear, from which a person would ordinarily avert their eyes. The dots make you lose yourself and then that makes you face more of what’s real within your mind.Kusama said â€Å"I paint them in quantity; in doing so, I try to escape†. Mirror Room (Pumpkin) was an installation with a neat conflation of two of her mirror installations from the mid 1960s, the Peep Show and the Infinity Mirror Room, the 1993 Mirror Room (Pumpkin) consisted of a large gallery papered floor to ceiling with a yellow and black polka dot pattern. In the centre of the space stood a mirrored box the size of a small room, with a single window in a manner reminiscent of the 1965 Peep Show.At the opening of the exhibition Kusama appeared in the room dressed in a long sorcerer’s robe and peeked hat, both of which matched her surroundings and caused her to merge with them in a manner that recalled early interactions with her Infinity Nets and Accumulations. Visually a part of the installation, Kusama was also an active agent, offering tiny yellow and black polka dotted pumpkins to anyone who entered the space.These little pumpkins were a direct reference to the 2,000 lire mirror balls that the artist had outrageously hawked from her Narcissus Garden at her first Venice Biennale. In recent y ears, the practice of Yayoi Kusama, now in her eighties, has developed in astounding ways. Already, she has transcended gender and generation, coming to resemble no less than some eternal being liberated from the cycle of reincarnation. But, come to think of it, Kusama has defied categorization for a long time, perhaps even transcending our very notion of art.In the Asian view of the cosmos — in particular, the ancient Indian cosmology of the Vedic period — the fundamental principle of the universe involves that of Brahman, enveloping the entire cosmos, and Atman, the self, with the two connected by an invisible energy; while the unification of Brahman and Atman allows an escape from reincarnation and the endless cycle of life and death. This is an idea widely accepted by Brahmanism, Hinduism and the Jains.In Buddhism, however, though the idea of reincarnation and escape from its cycle by attaining nirvana is accepted, the Buddha stressed the cosmic connectedness of al l things as causal interdependence, or pratityasamutpada. This way of thinking, which views human existence, consciously or unconsciously, as one part of the whole of creation believes in an invisible connectedness or relationship of cause and effect, and could also be described as the spatial concept underlying everything Eastern. Contemplating Yayoi Kusama’s practice in light of this cosmic view, we begin o see how her awareness of existence shares this same vast sense of scale. The hallucinations, both visual and auditory, Kusama experienced from her younger years have been attributed to a nervous disorder known as depersonalization syndrome. Those afflicted are said to perceive and experience the self as if observing from outside, divorced from their own mental processes and corporeal body. This is also explained by Kusama’s comment that, through the acts of painting and performance, ‘I have released this into a chaotic vacuum’;  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœthis' being t he mysterious something that only she can see and hear. I do find the small works on paper from the Fifties and Sixties has this world in a grain of sand, this minute but galactic quality to it. When looking, you have that feeling of, ‘my God what scale am I? ’ You get lost in this extraordinary cosmos and then are taken aback when you consider that they’re only four inches wide. I think these macroscopic realms are really extraordinary. And they’re incredibly beautiful. I was completely stunned when I first saw them. I managed to see her exhibition at the Tate Modern in London.I think it’s extraordinary that somebody so young, so far away and brought up in such a traditional environment was so able to absorb the influence of Miro and Ernst and Klee whose work she probably only saw in reproduction, then taking it all on and going on to produce work of such originality and in such great quantity. What I love is the idea that all the dayglow â€Å"br andiness† of her spots all comes back to this incredible energy from her early twenties. She also staged dozens of Happenings—what you could call â€Å"Body Festivals†Ã¢â‚¬â€in her studio and in public spaces around New York.Some were sites of authority, such as MoMA or Wall Street. Other sites, such as Tompkins Square Park and Washington Square Park, were associated with New York’s psychedelic hippie culture. She played the role of high priestess and painted the nude bodies of models on the stage with polka dots in five colors. When a Happening was staged at Times Square under her direction, a huge crowd flocked to it. Yayoi was never nude, publicly or privately. At the homosexual orgies she directed, she always stayed at a safe place with a manager in the studio to avoid being arrested by police.The studio would have been thrown into utter confusion if she had ever been arrested. The police were primarily after a bribe. When she was arrested while direc ting a Happening in Wall Street and taken into police custody, they demanded that she pay them if I wanted to be set free. Bribes ranged from $400 to $1,000. Since she paid them every time I was arrested, my Happenings ended up as a good out-of-the-way place for them to make money. Painting bodies with the patterns of Kusama’s hallucinations obliterated their individual selves and returned them to the infinite universe. This is magic.Nudity was central to Kusama’s work in those years: in addition to the Happenings, she opened a fashion boutique offering clothes she designed that were â€Å"nude, see-through, and mod. † The shop had private studios and nude models available for body painting or photographing. Kusama also opened the Church of Self-Obliteration in a SoHo loft, appointing herself the â€Å"High Priestess of Polka Dots† so she could officiate at a wedding of two gay men in 1968. She designed a large bridal gown that both men wore. Minimal art, or Minimalism, was one of the major artistic tendencies to emerge from the United States in the 1960s.Though never a unified movement — the majority of the artists associated with it actively rejected the term — it described a significant trend toward interrogating the communicative authority of the artist and the exalted status of the art object by reducing it to its basic components. The term is notoriously slippery, but it has generally come to be associated with the reductive paintings, sculptures and ‘specific objects’ — neither paintings nor sculptures — of Carl Andre, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, Robert Morris, Blinky Palermo, Richard Serra and Frank Stella, occasionally extending to Agnes Martin, Ad Reinhardt, Anne Truitt and others.Unlike many of their abstract expressionist predecessors, the minimalists steadfastly avoided emotionally charged gestures, often to the point of having their works industrially produced. Minimalism did not e merge in isolation, developing in dialogue with Pop art, color field painting and concrete art. Nor was its prominence particularly long-lasting; indeed, part of the tendency’s importance was the influence that its questioning of artistic convention had on subsequent developments like conceptual art and Postmodernism.When Kusama arrived in New York in 1958, the city’s powerful art scene was still in thrall to the legacy of Abstract Expressionism. The net paintings she began producing shortly after her arrival, and first exhibited the following year, were therefore received as a major revelation. Abstract expressionist critic Dore Ashton called her show a ‘striking tour de force’, while Sidney Tillim declared the artist ‘one of the most promising new talents to appear on the New York scene in years’.Though never a ‘pure’ monochrome painter, Kusama was one of the few artists working in the city who proposed that a surface could be r educed to a single, undifferentiated field, unbroken by figuration or abstract compositional devices. As Donald Judd observed on first encountering the works, her net paintings took the expansive color fields of ‘cooler’ abstractionists like Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still and Barnett Newman as a point of departure, but added something entirely new. In his review of the exhibition for  Art News, Judd described the paintings as ‘strong, advanced in concept and realized’.He continued: â€Å"The space is shallow, close to the surface and achieved by innumerable small arcs superimposed on a black ground overlain with a wash of white. The effect is both complex and simple. Essentially it is produced by the intersection of two close, somewhat parallel, vertical planes, at points merging at the surface plane and at others diverging slightly but powerfully. † (Pollock) Unlike Abstract Expressionism, the optical effects of the net paintings’ undulating f ields owed more to the material qualities of the painted surface than to any illusions of pictorial depth.Nor was their composition bound by a relationship to the painting’s frame; they were, as Kusama herself described them, ‘without beginning, end or centre’. The nets propagated according to their own internal logic, a system in which they could go on reproducing themselves across an entire room if it weren’t for the edge of the canvas, which, as a limit, was purely physical, rather than structural. This suggested that painting might be considered as a phenomenal, rather than illusory, practice — a painted surface could be thought of as a single plane of a three-dimensional object, rather than a two-dimensional pictorial ‘window’.Kusama is engaged in a never-ending mission to release the microcosms within herself to the outside, in order to project it on the macrocosms and the infinite space to which our imaginations do not extend. By facing up to this endless mission, Kusama herself is also elevated to the status of eternal being, so to speak — one who, though but a speck of dust in the universe, also has a bird’s-eye view of the entire universe.It is her infinite consciousness that transcends the time, generation, gender, region and culture, as well as the various vocabularies of contemporary art. It is also the reason Yayoi Kusama is so well-received around the world — and the reason why the force driving her is like an eternally bubbling spring. Bibliography Chadwick, Whitney, and Dawn Ades. Mirror Images: Women, Surrealism, and Self-representation. Cambridge, MA: MIT, 1998. Kusama, Yayoi, and Lynn Zelevansky. Love Forever: Yayoi Kusama, 1958-1968.Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1998. Kusama, Yayoi. Yayoi Kusama: Recent Works. New York: Robert Miller Gallery, 1996. Kusama, Yayoi, and David Moos. Yayoi Kusama: Early Drawings from the Collection of Richard Castellane. Birmin gham, Ala. : Birmingham Museum of Art, 2000. Kusama, Yayoi, and Bhupendra Karia. Yayoi Kusama: A Retrospective. New York: Center for International Contemporary Arts, 1989. Pollock, Griselda. Psychoanalysis and the Image: Transdisciplinary Perspectives. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub. , 2006.

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand Atlas shrugged is a novel written by Ayn Rand and published in 1957. It is one of Rand’s famous novels and the last one which she wrote during her career as an artist. The idea behind writing the novel was to empower the shakers and movers of a nation in fighting for their rights.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The term atlas refer to the pillars of a society, that is the people who put a lot of effort and determination in their work but are exploited and are not rewarded according to their work. Rand recognizes another group in the society, the majority, who work below average and expect to have the same standards of living as the atlas. The novel is to some extent a fiction that explains the exploitation faced by employees in their places of work. This paper explains and gives a wider significance of the words, â€Å"to make money, hold the essen ce of morality†. It also gives the ideas that oppose the maxims â€Å"money is the root of all evil†, and â€Å"money is the root of all good†. Rand novel explores the history of china when people were taught on the real meaning of morality which means to share. People were encouraged to work according to their ability but every citizen would receive equal reward. Distribution of resources was based on needs rather than their potential to work. This high morality in other words referred to as, the altruism, is still held by many Chinese. In the past, no one was allowed to hold private property and everything was owned by the society. Every individual was allowed to enjoy this property as a way of maintaining harmony in the country. Monopolies were seen as areas of exploitation of employees and that’s why private property was discouraged. The essence of morality was viewed as a way of fighting poverty by ensuring that all citizens live equally irrespective of the ability to work or education. However, Rand strongly opposed altruistic view. According to her, altruistic is a way of suppressing the people who work above average ability and hence it would never be a means of maintaining harmony in a country (Younkins, 101). Rand recognized that, the worship of moral codes would result in moral hazard because they do not give incentives to work and no matter the efforts one puts, he is entitled to receive the same reward as his neighbor who spends the whole day in the house. At first, those below the average will become wealthy because they may receive a share of the wealth that belonged to the minority group who happen to be the above average workers. Advertising Looking for essay on american literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More However, the minority are not naà ¯ve as to realize the exploitation imposed on them and may refuse to work or to show their intelligence . Instead of a nation living happily thereafter, it will continue experiencing a decline in its economic performance as long as the moral codes are held. Lack of incentive to employees will result in a declining economy as they withhold their ability and intelligent. People with the capability of becoming the pillars of the society will hind their intelligence to prevent themselves from exploitation, and as a result, the incapable will occupy high occupations in the government or industries, not because they have the ability to move them, but because, the minorities (smart people) have refused to be exploited. Production will continue to drop as a result of poor management until the government realizes the importance of incentives to workers. However, if the government continues to hold moral codes (as in the case of Washington), production will continue to drop. In Rand’s book we find that, the pillars of the society (atlas) were not satisfied with the way world was perform ing in the essence of morality (Younkins, 173). They wanted to bring change to the society because they were confident that, they were responsible for bringing converting it. However, they became enemies to the public for trying to divert from moral codes. They still held their position and were confident that a nation would not grow economically if moral codes were valued at the expense of employee recognition. In the story of Atlas shrugged, Rand opposed the maxims that, â€Å"money is the root of all evil†. Many people believe that, the evils that exist in society are a result of money, however this is not true. Rand asserts that, money act as the exchange medium where goods are produced (by men). If no goods were produced, money would just be pieces of paper. To get money, you have to earn it through applying the ability one has. That’s why we have doctors, artists, teachers, farmers, and the list is endless engaging themselves in different activities. Advertisin g We will write a custom essay sample on Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Rand refuted the claim that money is the root of all evil and observed that, for one to survive, he needs money. Money is honestly earned by those who have the ability and are willing to work. It is given out to compensate efforts made by others. Money circulates from one person to another making live bearable for all. For instances, the pieces of paper we hold in our pockets can not be transformed into bread by use of guns. We have to go to the baker and exchange it with some loafs of bread. On the other hand, the baker uses it for other goods as well as for purchasing raw materials for more production (Younkins, 117). Without money (or a medium of exchange) it would be difficult to live since no one would be willing to work. They are things we cannot be able to produce even if we wanted to and therefore we have to respect the peopl e who have the capability of producing them by offering money in exchange for their products or services. In order to access electricity we have to pay some money to go to the people with the knowledge and capability of producing it. In turn this money is used to pay rent, obtain food and other necessities required for survival (Younkins, 118). Therefore, we cannot define money as the root of all evil because it is a measure of value for everything on earth. It becomes evil if it is misused. For, instance, there are people who use money for sexual satisfaction or to obtain favors which they do not deserve for certain services. People do not become wealthy by chance but because of their willingness to put their mind at work for inventions and discoveries. Money is just a tool and a means for satisfaction but can not termed as the root of all good. Money can be used to buy everything one wants but can not buy happiness or love. It is for one to recognize want he wants in life and us e money as a tool to help him reach his dreams. Money cannot be used to purchase intelligent for a person who does not want to be intelligent nor can it be used to buy respect for the hopeless. Younkins, Edward Wayne. Any Rand’s Atlas shrugged: a philosophical and literary companion. New York: Ashgate Publishing, ltd., 2007.Advertising Looking for essay on american literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More

Developing Managerial Talent Through Simulation

Developing Managerial Talent Through Simulation In the last 35 years, simulations have been used with increasing frequency in the development of managerial talent. In various forms, simulations of managerial and organizational activities have been used to study administrative behavior (Hemphill, Griffiths, Fredericksen, 1962), assess potential (Thornton Byham, 1982), enhance managerial skills (McCall Lombardo, 1978), diagnose training needs (Stumpf, 1988a, 1988b), foster team building among groups of managers (Kaplan, Lombardo, Mazique, 1985), and evaluate the effectiveness of managerial training (Moses Ritchie, 1975). In this article, we evaluate how simulations have contributed to the development of managerial talent by summarizing theory, research, and practice in three areas: research on managerial behavior, assessment of managerial abilities, and training managerial skills.Definitions and BackgroundOur review of simulations covers what is formally called gaming simulations (Jones, 1972). A simulation is a model or repres entation of real-world events in which elements are depicted by symbols or numbers or in physical form.A discrete and stochastic simulation of the repres...In a simulation, some essential features of an activity are duplicated without portraying reality itself (Jones, 1972)-for example, something as simple as the interactions of a manager and subordinate dealing with a performance problem on the job, or something as complex as an island nation faced with multiple economic and political crises (Streufert, Pogash, Piasecki, 1988). A game involves one or more players who are given background information to study, rules and conditions to follow, and roles to play. The essential feature of a game is the interactive process of players and the system (Jones, 1972).When gaming simulations are used for assessing individuals, they are often called performance tests or exercises (Cronbach, 1970) or, when set in the context of an organization, business games. We have restricted this review of business games to simulations of social interactions, general management processes, and decision making...

Reaction Paper to given quotes listed Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reaction Paper to given quotes listed - Essay Example Instead of increasing taxes, Senator Cornyn strongly suggests to carefully look through the government spending which is as high as 25% of taxes as compared to 18% of tax revenues (Cornyn, 2011). President Obama is a Democrat whereas Senator Cornyn is a Republican. In Senator Cornyn’s speech, he mentioned that â€Å"President Obama’s re-election speech was abosultely disgraceful† and that â€Å"the president is criticizing the work performances of other people without even doing his own job by proposing a responsible solution to our nation’s debt† (Cornyn, 2011). Upon analyzing the situation, Senator Cornyn was not really out there to destroy the well-being of President Obama. He was simply commenting on what he think is best in terms of coming up with effective solutions that could improve the socio-economic status and quality of life of the American people. In fact, Senator Cornyn’s criticism was based his perception about President Obama’s re-election speech. It was not something that he made up to destroy the reputation of Obama as the president of the United States. As a common knowledge, each politician has their own strategic way on how they could protect their professional standing. However, it is a wrong perception for people to think that becoming a part of the Texas government politics could severely hurt us as a person. Given that each politician has their own personal views on how they can contribute in the development of the U.S. economy, it is but a common thing for them to criticize the works of other politicians so they can convince the people to support their political strategies than those of others. Ann Richards was the first woman elected as the State Treasurer in Texas back in 1982. Because of the extensive experiences in the field of politics that Richards gained over the years, she quoted that â€Å"I’ve always said that in politics,

Human Growth and Behaviour Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Human Growth and Behaviour - Research Paper Example Erikson expressed the notion that every stage of growth has its distinctive challenges, referred to as crises. He held that such egocentric crises offered challenges to the identity of an individual (Riley and Erikson, 1979). Successful psychosocial development or personality development relies on addressing and overpowering these responsibilities or crises. The first stage of development and the crisis faced by the child involves the basic trust versus basic mistrust of an infant, which emphasizes that when parents meet all the needs of an infant, trust develops automatically. â€Å"The basic strength of the first stage is hope or the expectation that difficulties in life, presenting whatever challenge they may, will eventually result in a positive outcome† (Archer, 2011). Accordingly, the infant would require this sense of hope at his subsequent stages of behavioral development to meet any impending challenges (Lawler, 2002). The weakness of this stage or rather the direct o pposite of hope is the hopelessness and withdrawal. Jimmy Lee felt hopeless during his infancy because both his parents worked at their restaurant for long hours, leaving their son under the care of other Scottish friends and relatives who looked after his interchangeably for the first two years of his life. The second stage, autonomy, and shame during toddlerhood involve parents who generate supportive and caring surroundings to let the toddlers study and apply independence and gain their personal confidence.