Musical Psychotherapy: History, Effects, and Applications

Musical Psychotherapy: History, Effects, and Applications Samah El Saadi Abstract We all enjoy music as a form of art but we rarely take into consideration the effect of the music that we listen to. Music therapy is using music in a therapeutic manner in order to recover or stabilize a mental, physical or psychological state. This review will introduce music therapy and trace its origins back in history, and then it will give an insight on music related neurosciences explaining what parts of the brain and neurotransmitters are involved. Music can affect us on many different levels; however, this review will focus on the ability of music to aid in psychotherapy. It is important to highlight that the potential power within music can be either constructive or destructive depending on the choice of music. Musical Psychotherapy What is music therapy and what are the origins? Everyone sees music as a form of art that they enjoy playing or dancing on its rhythms as they tend to develop a preference to certain type of rhythms. However, seldom do people think of the impact of music on their health although through their experiences with music they would know that their favorite type of music can make them feel relaxed, happy or even anxious. But have you ever considered music as a form of therapy? Research showed that music does have an effect on our health and it can be either positive or negative depending on the music, yet these effects are mediated through psychology and neurosciences (News in Health [NIH], 2010). Music therapy is applying music as a tool in order to improve, stabilize or restore an emotional, mental, or physical health. It is conducted by accredited music therapists who are able to skillfully use music and music elements in assessing patients, developing treatment plans, evaluating progresses and contribute in research (Music Therapy Association [MTAO], 2010). Music therapists plan music sessions for individuals or groups and may use active or passive approaches in the therapy depending on the patients’ need. The therapy may include listening to music, making music, talking about the lyrics or even writing songs, but definitely it is not restricted to people with musical abilities. Since music is accessible everywhere, music therapy is not limited to a place and sessions can be arranged at homes, hospitals, hospices, care centers or any calm place people may prefer (American Cancer Society [ACS], 2008). The nonverbal emotional entity of music makes it a universal langu age that can ease the self-expression, personal development and social interactions which would aid in psychotherapy. Music can always have a positive impact on people whether they are ill, disabled or perfectly healthy (MTAO, 2010). The principle of therapeutic use of music is not new, ancient cultures were aware of music power which for some was part of their traditional healing practices such as the case of Native Americans (ACS, 2008). The musical power of healing was marked in different ethnic ancient inscriptions like that of Rome, India, China and Egypt (Music as Medicine, 2014), as it was mentioned in the writings of Greek philosophers such as Aristotle, Pythagoras and Plato (ACS, 2008). However the modern music therapy dates back to World War II when music was used to help in the treatment of soldiers who were suffering from shell shock, and it was in 1944 when Michigan State University initiated the first degree program in music therapy (ACS, 2008). Music related neurosciences For many years research was ongoing to understand the means of action of music and why it does have this strong impact on our lives. Since the impact is mediated neurologically, scientists intensively investigated the brain regions and with the help of the emerging imaging techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) they noticed that it activates unexpected regions involved in emotions and memory, in addition to the brain’s motor regions that are responsible for coordinating physical movements. The neuroscientist Dr. Petr Janata in his recent studies proved that the area of the brain serving as a central hub between music, emotions and memories is the medial prefrontal cortex. In an attempt to understand the medial prefrontal cortex activity, young adults were subjected to extracts of childhood songs while being monitored with fMRI and it was noticed that the activity was optimal when they heard a familiar song that call to mind an emotion or memory (NIH, 2 010). Dr. Janata stated that in Alzheimer patients the medial prefrontal cortex is one of the last brain regions to deteriorate, hence this explains why patients with Alzheimer may recall childhood tunes whereas other memories are lost. In further investigation on the medial prefrontal cortex activity, Dr. Allen Braun and Dr. Charles Limb monitored via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner the medial prefrontal cortex in a jazz musician as he played his music. The doctors noticed that the region was not active when the musician played a memorized tune; however, it became active when the musician was improvising concluding that the medial prefrontal cortex also has a role in the creative expression of music (NIH, 2010). Going deeper into the music impact on the neurological level, an experiment was done to check the neurotransmitters involved and the time of their release. Via the ligand-based positron emission tomography (PET) scientists discovered that music triggers dopamine release in both the dorsal and ventral striatum. Nevertheless, this discovery was not surprising since dopamine is known to be responsible for the pleasure sensation whether due to sex, drugs or just music. But the more interesting discovery was the monitoring of the increase in dopaminergic voxels in the right nucleus accumbens (NAcc) preceding a favorite part and peaking when the favorite part was reached. The phase of increased dopaminergic voxels prior to the favorite part was termed Anticipatory phase, as depicted in the figure 1, and it prepares us for the subsequent musical part that we love and will cause the dopamine peek giving us the pleasure sensation (Salimpoor et al, 2011). To have a better understanding, scientists took a closer look on the music itself. Early theories about music argued that we get affected by music through the connotative meanings and mental images that it reflects; however, according to the musicologist Leonard Meyer it is the ambiguity and not knowing what the next note will be is what keeps us waiting in excitement. Repetitive expected patterns in music is boring and can be annoying like an alarm clock, hence it is the unpredictable patterns that give us the chills. Meyer stated that the uncertainty is what triggers the release of dopamine as we try to figure out what the next note is. We may be able to predict some of the notes but not all of them and that is what cause our brains to plead for those notes that will unleash the uncertainty and completes the pattern, yet these notes are usually spared till the end to keep us listening (WIRED, 2011). Music therapy in clinical trials Now that we had an insight on the neuroscience that relies behind the effects of music, we should note that music has effects on both physical level and psychological level. Some of the physical effects are enhancing immunity, decreasing anxiety, and altering the blood pressure and heart rate (NIH, 2010), whereas at the psychological level music has the power to alter our mood and aid in psychotherapy. In this review we will be focusing on the psychological effects and its role in psychotherapy. Several clinical trials have been conducted in order to ensure the effectiveness of music therapy. In a clinical trial 46 patients diagnosed with depression were randomly separated into two groups. Group 1 was subjected to the standard care that includes antidepressant medication, psychotherapy and psychiatric counseling, whereas group 2 underwent 60 min music therapy sessions in addition to the standard care. The patients were assessed after 3 months and results showed that people who received music-therapy had less depressive symptoms from those who didn’t. Professor Christian Gold, one of the two study leaders, said: Music therapy has specific qualities that allow people to express themselves and interact in a non-verbal way even in situations when they cannot find the words to describe their inner experiences.† (Erkkilà ¤ et al, 2011). Another similar clinical trial that was done on 79 patients with low- and medium-grade depression revealed results that reinforces the ones that were retrieved by the first clinical trial mentioned here (Castillo-Perez et al, 2010). In a clinical trial on 80 schizophrenic patients, 42 patient where assigned to do music therapy for 60 minutes twice a week while 38 other patients were assigned to undergo standard care. After 3-month follow-up the results indicated improvement in the depression status and psychiatric symptoms of the patients (Lu et al, 2013). It is important to note that there is dose-effect relationship in music therapy by which more recurrent sessions would result in more considerable improvements (Gold et al, 2009). Can music be destructive? The power of music is just like any other power that can be either constructive or destructive depending on the usage. Nice music can lift you up and motivate you, but on the contrary sad or violent music can be destructive. In a study published in 2003 by the American Psychological Association (APA), researchers from Iowa State University examined the effect of violent lyrics by which they made students listen to seven violent songs and 8 nonviolent songs being sung by the same artist and using the same musical style in order to control the other factors, and then they were assessed for their aggressive thoughts and feelings through psychological tasks. The results showed an increase in the aggressive interpretations where Dr. Anderson, a lead researcher, stated that violent and aggressive music makes people biased toward aggressive interpretations, and this form of interpretations will eventually manifest in aggressive verbal and physical expressions and antisocialism (APA, 2003). What complicate things more is the fact that classification of music as beneficial or destructive can be subjective. In an investigative study 80 people were played the same songs but prior that some of them were told that the music is suicide-inducing and others were told the music is life-affirming. The study shows that depending on the prior labeling of the music the same songs were perceived by listeners as either suicide-inducing or life-affirming, thus it is the censorship and prior labeling that might give songs their harmful effects on listeners (North Hargreaves, 2005). As some people argued by saying that negative music gives them sensation of relief due to knowing that someone else felt in a particular way but was able to recover and be creative enough to express their emotions in such a way, hence for them it is perceived as a form of hope if they were in a similar situation (Baker Brown, 2014). Music therapy today and its other potential powers Nowadays degrees in music therapy are becoming more available worldwide as people are becoming more aware of the therapeutic role of music whether it is physical, mental or psychological. There are a lot more potential powers in music yet to be discovered such as its role when played in businesses and retails stores and how it can affect the customers’ behavior (Yalch, 1993), its effect on fetuses by which some claim that the choice of music of the pregnant women will affect their children later on (Kisilevsky et al, 2004), and how effectively does music help hospitalized patients in recoveries and in lessening their pain (ACS, 2008). Music is an entertaining form of art that is easily accessible to everyone and flexible enough to satisfy different tastes; these characteristics makes music a potential power that if people knew how to utilize it correctly, they would be seeking a better state of a harmonic life. References American Cancer Society. (2008). Music Therapy. Retrieved May 23, 2014, from http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/complementaryandalternativemedicine/mindbodyandspirit/music-therapy American Psychological Association [APA]. (2003). Violent music lyrics increase aggressive thoughts and feelings, according to new study; Even humorous violent songs increase hostile feelings. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 23, 2014, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/05/030505084039.htm Baker C. Brown B. (2014). Suicide, Self-Harm and Survival Strategies in Contemporary Heavy Metal Music: A Cultural and Literary Analysis. J Med Humanit. PMID: 24682627. Retrieved May 23, 2014, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24682627 Castillo-Perez S., Gomez-Perez V., Velasco M.C., Perez-Campos E. Mayoral M. (2010). Effects of music therapy on depression compared with psychotherapy. The Arts in Psychotherapy, volume 37(5), pp.381-390. Retrieved May 23, 2014, from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0197455610000857?np=y Erkkilà ¤ J., Punkanen M., Phil L., Fachner J., Ala-Ruona E., Pà ¶ntià ¶ I., Tervaniemi M., Vanhala M. Gold C. (2010). Individual music therapy for depression: randomized controlled trail. The British Journal of Psychiatry. Retrieved May 23, 2014, from http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/199/2/132.full?sid=b97bc6bf-4b35-4c4f-8000-3111d1ef35f9#content-block Gold C., Solli H.P., Krà ¼ger V. Lie S.A. (2009). Dose-response relationship in music therapy for people with serious mental disorders: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, volume 29(3), pp.193-207. Retrieved May 23, 2014, from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272735809000026 Kisilevsky S., Hains S.M., Jacquet A.Y., Grranier-Deferre C., Lecanuet J.P. (2004). Maturation of fetal responses to music. Dev Sci,volume 7(5):550-9. PMID: 15603288. Retrieved May 23, 2014, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15603288 Lu S.F., Lo C.H., Sung H.C., Hsieh T.C., Yu S.C., Chang S.C. (2013). Effects of group music intervention on psychiatric symptoms and depression in patients with schizophrenia. Complement Ther Med, volume 21(6):682-8. PMID: 24280478. Retrieved May 23, 2014, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24280478 Music as Medicine. (2014). History of Music Therapy. Retrieved May 23, 2014, from http://www.musicasmedicine.com/about/history.cfm Music Therapy Association of Ontario [MTAO]. (2010). Music Therapy Definition. Retrieved May 23, 2014, from http://www.musictherapyontario.com/Default.aspx?pageId=1090464 News in Health [NIH]. (2010). Music Matters for Body and Mind. Retrieved May 23, 2014, from http://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2010/January/feature1.htm North A.C. Hargreaves D.J. (2005). Brief report: Labelling effects on the perceived deleterious consequences of pop music listening. J Adolesc, volume 28(3):433-40. PMID: 15925693. Retrieved May 23, 2014, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15925693 Salimpoor V.N., Benovoy M., Larcher K., Dagher A. Zatorre R. J. (2011). Anatomically distinct dopamine release during anticipation and experience of peak emotion to music. Nature neurosciences, volume 14(2), pp.121-269. Retrieved May 23, 2014, from http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v14/n2/full/nn.2726.html WIRED. (2011). The Neurosciences Of Music. Retrieved May 23, 2014, from http://www.wired.com/2011/01/the-neuroscience-of-music/ Yalch R.F. (1993) Using Store Music For Retail Zoning: a Field Experiment. Advances in Consumer Research, volume 20, pp.632-636. Retrieved May 23, 2014, from http://www.acrwebsite.org/search/view-conference-proceedings.aspx?Id=7531

Sparta :: essays research papers

In the 7th Century BC a new era of warfare strategy evolved. Before this new strategy, foot soldiers (known as hoplites) engaged in battle in the form of one mob for each army which on the command of their generals runs at each other and proceeds to hack blindly at the enemy with little to no direction other then to kill the enemy in front of them. This proved to be very messy and the tide of battle depended mostly on emotion and size of an army. In the name of strategy and organization, the phalanx was developed. A phalanx is simply defined as a line formation with its width significantly larger then its depth. The depth of the phalanx is a variable which some suggest was decided by the army itself rather then by the leaders of the army. The smallest depth appears to have been that of one man deep. However this was a unique occurrence which is widely believed to be fictitious. The largest depth is that of 120 men deep which was fielded at one time by the Macedonians. On average, the depth of the phalanx appears to be about eight men deep. During the time of Alexander the Great, the phalanx was believed to be eight men deep, but some argue that it evolved into a sixteen man deep phalanx. The Spartans purposely varied the depth of their phalanx so to confuse the enemy about the number of soldiers fielded. The phalanx proved to be a very valuable weapon for the military at that time. Armies which did not adapt to the phalanx formation were quickly slaughtered. The use of the phalanx allowed the Greeks to win the Persian Wars. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Many historians believe that the development of the phalanx led directly to social changes occurring throughout Greece during the time of the phalanx's implementation. The phalanx formation allowed men to participate in the military who otherwise could not have because a much smaller investment in weapons and armor was needed to participate in the phalanx. The combined increase in the number of those participating in the army and the increase in importance of the common foot soldier lead to the common man being increasingly treated better by the ruling classes. Eventually this may have led to the invention of democracy. The most noticeable difference between ancient Greek and modern warfare is the amount of "intelligence" information. Today our military maneuvers are almost exclusively reliant on information we get from satellites, scouts, or spies in the opposition. The ancient Greeks totally ignored this area of military strategy. Countless tales of armies meeting each other by chance or armies passing within miles of each other

Abbie Hoffman: A Present Day Monologue :: essays research papers fc

My name is Abbie Hoffman. Steal this speech while square dancing in the Ice ages, it’s soon to be a major motion picture†¦ Yippie! Do you know what that means? That means that there’s a revolution on, that we can change an H to a Y., that we can bring more than 10,000 people to Lincoln Park in Chicago on a myth, a rumor, a story. Yippie! It means the home of the FREE and the land of the BRAVE. Chicago was a place for the brave to fight for their freedom. When we came to chicago, we thought, hey, they’ll put up some resistance, but they’ll give us a permit to have our little Yippie! get-together in the park. I mean shit, it’s our right. Mayor Daley, he didn’t give a shit about our â€Å"rights† he didn’t want one goddamn hippie in his city, let alone 10,000. He didn’t want chicago to have that reputation, HE didn’t want to have that reputation. Do you know what happened in Chicago? According to Mayor Daley, only a few minor injuries due to resisting arrest and rioting; according to some outside sources, and my own count, a couple people died and a lot of people were wounded because the pigs were beating on us for practicing our right to assemble peacefully. Hell, we were peaceful, a damn sight more peaceful than the cops. We were assembled to protest war, all we wanted to do was get together and smoke a little weed. The cops, they came at us with arms swinging. But I get ahead of myself. You’re all so young, you don’t know about Chicago’s other, meaner side.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Chicago, we Yippies wanted to have a rally, and Chicago was really central to the movement, so we petitioned the Chicago Parks Department for a permit to have bands come play during the week of the Democratic Convention in 1968. They stalled, and pretended to have little problems with the permit. No one was fooled. We sued them for denying us our constitutional rights; but we withdrew our suit when we saw who our judge was. His name was Judge Lynch, and he was mayor Daley’s friend or cousin or something. Very ironic...the next judge that we went before because the city was stalling was Judge Stahl. S-T-A-H-L. So in a nutshell, we said â€Å"can we have a get-together in the park?

Slave Trade Simulation

Slave Trade Simulation Paper 26 February 2013 Modern World ONL Trading slaves, a practice that has been described as inhumane, evil, or even blasphemous, left little room for sensitivity for those making the decisions of the trade. Often people wonder how such evil could continue in the world for as long as it did. â€Å"The rewards of the slave trade overwhelmed any religious inhibitions that some of the traders and other beneficiaries might have had. 1 [Islam’s Black Slaves, p. 159] I will explain the delicacies of the trade agreements of the Yao, Kilwa-based Swahili Trade Lineage, and of the Zanzibari Indian Trading Lineage. After taking control of Kilwa in the mid-1780s, Oman transferred the bulk of the slave and ivory trade there. 2 [Islam’s Black Slaves, p. 146] The Swahili Trading Lineage of Kilwa were pleased, as it leveled the playing field and enabled trade to be profitable for everyone of the area.If you are wondering how these slaves could have put up with such harsh conditions, keep in mind that, though the traders poorly treated slaves, the slave-owners often treated them more humanely. The ones who were not killed in the travel of the trade were lucky to be alive and thus weakened at the thought of revolt. As for the traders, many of their negotiations were so binding that they could not go back on an agreement at any cost. Trading elite were normally more concerned with upholding status as businessmen and thus, carried out any horror in the name of honor.The politics of the slave trade were very much like those of the 21st century, in the sense that some were at the tip of the pyramid, with those who were the middle and finally its base. Yao elite kept their honor and held their position on the ground level by providing for their people through trade. Their mercantile success also determined their power locally, as they were a matrilineal society. The Swahili Trading Lineage (A. K. A. the next level of the pyramid), who acquired t heir slaves from the Yao, were facing pressures from the Zanzibari Indian Traders, who were controlling more and more of their territory.These Zanzibari, who were actually Bhattians based in Oman, were looking to prove their worth with the Omani by influencing more trade in the Kilwa region, thus moving up a notch on the pyramid. The Omani (the eye of the pyramid) had recently forced the Portuguese out of power over their area, allowing for more even trade for the Swahili Trading Lineage. All were trying to hold their ground against the exerting power of the Omani while remaining in good relations with those who benefited them.The Yao headmen, who were having trouble keeping their slaves alive prior to the trade, had to make a decision as to where 50 additional slaves to be given to the Swahili Lineage would come from. They could have chosen to attack a neighboring village, which might have had devastating consequences. Second, they could have offered up criminals of local villages. This would run them the risk of upsetting powerful families and causing half of the headmen’s lives if expected profits were not realized.Third, they had the option of sending Yao traders to the Portuguese for the extra slaves. This would have caused prices to increase by 50%, which would have affected their probability of providing the right amount of slaves. For the Kilwa-based Swahili Trading Lineage, their main concern was conducting an effective and honorable business transaction in order to promote a marriage alliance with the Zanzibari Indian Trading Lineage. This would counter the growing authority the Zanzibari had over the Kilwas and protect their status as elites.In order to do so, they had to fairly treat the Yao traders while ensuring a profit of at least 10 slaves and a gift for the Zanzibari of at least 10 slaves as well. Possibly the most influential of the transaction were the Zanzibari Indian traders. They set the market prices and held the fate of the Kilw a-based lineage in their hands. For the trade, wealth was just as important as power for the few who conducted the human trade. Profits were estimated to be over 60 percent, substantially higher for anyone who simultaneously traded ivory. Traders were not inclined to let go of their influence at any cost. Those who stood in the way of a successful trade were eradicated or assimilated. Bibliography Ronald Segal,  Ã‚  Islam's Black Slaves: The Other Black Diaspora  ( New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002) Robert E. Strayer,  Ã‚  Ways of the World: A Brief Global History,  Volume II,  Since 1500  (New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012) ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Ronald Segal,  Ã‚  Islam's Black Slaves: The Other Black Diaspora  ( New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002)

CompStat Management in the NYPD

No, it surely does not. Compstat s a system obsessed with numbers, and while in some areas it is a great tactic for kicking the workforce into shape, it can become tyrannical in the pursuit of those numerically motivated results. Was â€Å"Stop and Frisk† the major contributor to crime drop from 1993 to 2003? In Henrys The COMPSTAT Paradigm there is not one instance of â€Å"Stop and Frisk† throughout the entire book.It seems today that a majority of the controversy in the NYPD is revolving around a practice that isn't necessarily engrained in the very structure that defines the crime stopping law enforcement gency, it is simply one of the tactics that has taken a step too far in the public's eye. As someone who studies criminal Justice and believes in the system I do see the importance of procedures like stop and frisk but, it is easy to see in a city that is so liberal in almost every respect that this type of conduct can be controversial.In studying Compstat I have l earned that the entire purpose of it is to be flexible to the system's needs and that if a certain strategy does not have the desired effect it should be revised or removed if need be. The attitude that has been given off by the NYPD and Commissioner Kelly is not the one that supports that type of ethic; it has been one of impedance where those who speak out against it are discredited by whatever means necessary.Commissioner Kelly, through his thick headedness on this issue has alienated a large portion of NY's inhabitants because they believe they are always under persecution because of the unjust ways that stop, question, and frisk violates their personal privacy and pride. To say that stop, question, and frisk is n impartial tactic is a farce, 85% of all people stopped were of black or Hispanic ethnicities but only make up around nalt tn population. â€Å"Last year, the N made more stops of young black men than there are young black men in the citys population. 58,406 young blac k men live in New York City and the NYPD made 168,126 stops. † (Stop and Frisk By the Numbers, Forbes) For a system so caught up in the numbers I don't see why it is so difficult for them to interpret these numbers and do something constructive about it instead of stone walling any attempt at criticism. Compstat over the past couple decades has been an incredibly positive practice for the NYPD and other law enforcement agencies alike but over the past couple years we have seen more and more opposition to it.It is time that they revisit the drawing board and get back to the roots of what was the most flexible and responsive law enforcement management policy the world has ever seen. On a more personal note, as someone who does believe in the system I do say with great confidence that stop, question, and frisk is something that needs work before I can accept it as an ethical ractice. Works Cited â€Å"Capital New York. † Ray Kelly and the momentum of current stop-and-frisk policy.

Procurement and Supply Chain Management Essay

Executive Summary Boeing Australia Limited (BAL) is relatively new company and a global extension of the US firm, the Boeing Company. The BAL developed capabilities in the areas of space and communication, site management and the upgrade and maintenance of military aircraft and equipment. As BAL grew, it had developed various systems to support the procurement operations at four key divisions and 12 sites that made up the organization. However there is no interface of these systems and they operated autonomously, resulting in a lot of administrative redundancies, low productivity, and high processing time for the procurement processes. The dilemma exists in whether to continue to sit on the fence and seek a long-term improvement tools for integration with the current systems, or to invest in a new system that would simplify the procurement processes across the different divisions and support complex interfaces with suppliers? As Russell Menere, National Procurement Manager, I recommend to pursue a cost effective e-Procurement system, which would integrate with the various legacy information technology systems currently in place. The e-Procurement tool should simplify the  processes across the different divisions and support the multiple suppliers. Issue Identification: Immediate Issue: The immediate issue BAL facing is the necessity to find an e-Procurement system that would link the BAL, the Australian Defense Force (ADF) and the major suppliers. Following are the requirements to the e-Procurement system: High process efficiency (to help reduce the manual processes, which create errors); Decreased lead times; Cost savings; Compliance with ADF standards for procurement, which support the provision of services for the ADF. Systemic Issues: 1. Central administration with decentralized procurement processes BAL had made a strategic move to establish in the organization’s head office the following departments: Central Administration Finance Purchasing Engineering Logistics Technical Publishing Management Information Systems Project Management These departments supported 4 key divisions: 1. The Military Aerospace 2. The Commercial Aviation 3. The Knowledge System 4. The Space and Communications By relocating 4 divisions under one roof BAL achieved synergies through more centralized and standardized operations. Although, the 4 divisions were still autonomous – they executed their own work, reported the same measuring  criteria in financial dollars, project performance and product quality terms, as well as range of other measures for the BAL balanced scorecard. 2. Systems Architecture Issues The information systems architecture encompassed 12 different BAL sites, which were strategically located close to major BAL customers. And at multiple sites the numerous programs and application were used by employees to meet their operational objectives. The following applications were used: 1. ProPricer – bidding for projects; 2. OPP – project scheduling, planning and labour hours; 3. COBRA – cost performance; 4. eMatrix – data management The work packages form the above systems were fed into the ERP system, and then became KPI’s for the balanced scorecard. The main problem associated with the above systems architecture was that these were buy-in off-the –shelf applications, and were not developed in –house to meet the specific needs of the BAL various sites, and did not always interfaced with the other applications. Environmental and Root Cause Analysis Qualitative Analysis: 1. BAL is relatively new company with multiple divisions and sites that do not use one integrated procurement system; 2. Redundancy in processes for staff through using multiple system applications; 3. Slow manual processes for data management (manually entering data); 4. Deficient operations due to strict requirements to suppliers; 5. High cost of systems available on the market, which would provide systems integration solution; 6. Unknowns: not enough analysis done to guarantee that the new purchased system would meet all the functional requirements for the integration of system application already in place; 7. Staff resistance to change in case new procurement system will be implemented. Key Assumptions: Budget available for the setup, implementation, and training and interface and service of e-Procurement system and BAL legacy system. BAL suppliers are flexible with changing their existing procurement processes. E-Procurement system of choice is compliant with the ADF standards. Alternatives and Options: A1. BAL implements a sophisticated e-Procurement system, which integrates all parts of the current BAL legacy system already in place. Pros: There are average expenses associated with purchasing e-Procurement solution. Future lower costs, and cost savings long-term. Integrates with current legacy system. Based on the integration of current systems, which staff is already using – no steep learning curve and less resistance to change. Cons: Adding another system to the legacy system provides temporary problem fix until more budget available to purchase an ERP system. Major suppliers may not all meet the requirements of the new e-Procurement system. A2. Upgrading and redeveloping the existing ERP platform, and building new ERP system, which would include e-Procurement system to serve the needs of suppliers and end-users. Pros: Provides visibility and transparency of all the steps of the full cycle procurement process. Cons: High cost, long implementation time. A3. Continue with the existing system, and wait until affordable e-Procurement system is available to be purchased off-shelf (should be compatible with the BAL legacy system). Pros: This will save money short term. Cons: the risk of waiting for the low- cost solution will involve losing current suppliers and not having correct data available for current state analysis and reporting. The low-cost e-procurement tool may not be sophisticated enough to provide the necessary technical advantage and solve the current issues. Recommendations: 1. Gap analysis on what will be needed to implement the e-Procurement system  organization wide. 2. Identify mandatory, technical and functional requirements for the e-Procurement system. 3. Research of e-Procurement systems on the market.  4. E-Procurement system purchase and implementation.  5. Develop Processes internally (staff/end-users) and externally (suppliers) to sustain e-Procurement system. Implementation: Implementation Plan Recommendation: Activity: Who – Primary BAL Admin, Finance, Purchasing, Engineering, IS, Logistics, ADF, major suppliers Who – Support and Input BAL Admin, Finance, Purchasing, Engineering IS, Logistics, ADF, major suppliers When Immediate (I) Short run (S) Medium (M) Long run (L) Duration/weeks Monitor and Control There are two aspects to the monitor and control functions of the above recommended BAL procurement process improvements. The first aspect is the successful implementation of recommendations listed above. This process can be completed by continuous monitoring of what had been completed, developing project plan with all the dependencies and timelines indicated, assigning resources to tasks, and verifying the project deliverables. The second aspect is the controlling process, which measures and monitors progress after all the recommendations are implemented. This process identifies variances from plan and highlights when corrective action is required.  Following is the list of inclusions that may be used to measure the performance e-Procurement system: 1. Operational staff efficiency manual entry /error decrease 2. Cost Savings 3. Decreased lead time 4. Increase in suppliers cooperation Conclusion: The alternative solution for BAL is to purchase the cost efficient new e-Procurement system, with would be ADF compliant and will have the technical capacity to interface with the existing legacy system. The anticipated results of implementing new e-Procurement system will be cost savings, decreased lead times, operational efficiency and enhanced relationship with major suppliers and main customer (ADF). References: 1. Boeing Australia Limited: Assessing the Merits of Implementing a Sophisticated e-Procurement System Case. #HKU271. Centre for Asian Business Cases.

Microevolution and Macroevolution in Teaching and Learning Essay - 1

Microevolution and Macroevolution in Teaching and Learning - Essay Example Generally, macroevolution is the total of microevolution over extended time periods and occurs above the level of the species. On the other hand, microevolution denotes changes in allele frequencies that lead to smaller evolutionary changes in the population (Rosengren 30). Microevolution, therefore, can be considered as the normal evolutionary mode. These two processes of evolution are linked by speciation or isolated populations, which can be considered to fall in either process’ scope. In microevolution, new species are not formed, and if the changes are not maladaptive, it is possible for these changes to persist in the species, as well as the population. If a new opportunity is presented, a select group of individuals could adapt to a different environment or source of food. Where the adaptations lead to the parental species and the adapted individuals having offspring that is maladaptive, reproduction isolation is the result (Rosengren 31). Macroevolution and microevolution basically address the same process, which is gene frequency changes, meaning that both use the same mechanisms. Small-scale allele frequency changes within the population that occurs in microevolution could be as the outcome of natural selection, gene flow, genetic drift, or genetic drift (Rosengren 33). Natural selection entails a progression in which individuals that adapt best produce the most number of offspring, which also transfer their parents’ genes to their offspring, giving them a survival edge. Genetic drift, on the other hand, would involve a random process where chance has a key role in determining the alleles or gene variants that survive.