Liting Wang

Liting Wang Professor Feindert ENGWR 48016 April 2018 Critique of â€Å"There Is Need to Review Our Education System† â€Å"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world†, saidNelson Mandela. The Africa News Service published the article â€Å"There Is Need to ReviewOur Education System† on April 1, 2009 by Rhoda Kalema, a well-known author and titleholder of ‘Uganda's Forum for Women in Democracy as a transformative leader 1996.' The article looks at some pressing issues that the education system of Uganda currently faces. There have been no proper mechanisms to expect high-quality education offered in the country. First, she explains that the experience of educated people shows their fear towards the future to come of the present-day education around the world. If people do not have good education, they will not have a bright future. As a result, a country like Uganda might fall back and will be left veryweak. It will affect the country's improvement in many ways. Second, she suggests that the education administration should start focusing on this situation. In addition, both learners' and teachers face challenges that make it impossible for the education system to be ranked anywhere in the world. The government is aware of these challenges but offers no solution. Through critique, the key issues facing the primary, secondary, and vocational education in Uganda are examined. There is no definite opinion from the author that is currently viable to revive the whole situation. The author fails to mention the mechanisms that have fuelled the failure of the education system but only comes up with assumptions. Even though the article could be persuasive to an extent because of the clear organization, the posting's lack of sources and evidences, grammatical issues, vague terms, and weak arguments confuse readers. The article has a clear organization following an introduction, and lists the main points as subheadings, and a conclusion. Although the author has clear points in the article, she does not provide enough evidence and sources to support them. The author organizes the article into sections and follows with examples which is effective because it is effortless for readers to understand the ideas. However, the article does not include any sources and examples from other authors. â€Å"This would call for the Government to improve on the few available vocational institutions, build many new and modern ones, and create regional vocational and technical instructors training colleges† (Paragraph 8). This and a few other examples appear to like her personal opinions and her thoughts because sources are missing. Readers cannot trust the author easily. Additionally, the body paragraphs do not have transitional words, so the article does not flow well. Numerous grammar and punctuation mistakes are evident all over the article. For instance, the author presents a non-standard question â€Å"Why then stop a parent from feeding his/her child? And why stop a headteacher and his staff their role to plan school meals for their students?† (Paragraph 17). Several grammatical errors show failure to proofread some of the sentences. For instance, in paragraph 5 she mentions: The Ministry of Education should invite retired and current educationists forconsultations, [sic] also the non-governmental organizations with the YouthDevelopment Programmes could be consulted. The education syllabus development, most importantly needs experienced and interested persons in this field and not only the appointed civil servants and technocrats.She does not avoid vague terms and presents them without any explanation. For example, she writes â€Å"Teach the young people skills and they will never be lost children† (Paragraph 7). ‘Skills' is a vague term which needs more specification. Another example of vague word choices is â€Å"Since this statement cannot be easily refuted, then we should mourn the future of our country† (Paragraph 2). The word ‘easily' could have been improved. Some of the author's arguments are presented in random and visually uncluttered manner. The author presents most of her points with no illustrations or citations. The author points out the most exciting factors in the education system. For example, â€Å"Everyone in the country and even those outside who have ever experienced a balanced education about 25-30 years ago is in pain over what is happening in the education sphere† (Paragraph 1). As evident from the article, there is no evidence of any citation where the author got the information from, and this puts into question the credibility of her information. The author uses weak arguments to make logical appeals. For example, â€Å"Then at one time about 3,500 or 350 were crossed off the payroll (shortly after they were reinstated, so we read.)† (Paragraph 10). The strength of this posting is rooted in the author's inability to bring out points to illustrate the failures that are evident to every reader of the article. Anything that contributes to meeting the huge needs of the education systems in Africa is positive, such as programs or projects driven by people who want to serve the general good of the country in the area. The impression that one gets is that there is a desire to be involved in proposing the beginnings of a solution, a standard foundation for teaching that will integrate specific local features and at the same time will train future citizens of an interconnected and culturally mixed world. A change of school learning system will reflect this concept, and it is an interesting one. The author points out the importance of reviewing the education system by giving an example of what needs to be done. â€Å"What we need is the Government to devote a sizeable portion of the budget to education in 2009-2010, construct double, and triple floor classrooms in the existing schools. Only then will our education system be on the right track.† (Paragraph 21). Moreover, everyone in the country and even those that have been lucky to secure jobs outside the country never experienced a balanced education about 25-30 years ago, and it is for this reason that they are in pain over what is happening in the education system. (Paragraph 1). Nevertheless, she fails to point out what is bothering them is and that Uganda's future is doomed to be. The author should provide a more detailed example and offer insight into what vocational and technical institutions focus. Summing up the topic, in general, does not provide any help to the government as the government requires a practical approach to issues not only a theoretical approach. The author does not explain that the revised curriculum needs to focus on the vocational and technical teaching, to provide skills together with the academic learning. In conclusion, the author has managed to create a list of reasons that would help the government and relevant stakeholders argue their case mostly for naught. While like-minded individuals can pull some rhetorical questions to get others thinking, there is little offered in the way of credible argument material. The author also fails to suggest that conspirators and cartels in government hard are working to manufacture a crisis in educational reform. Policy elites are not knowingly falsifying evidence or collectively coming to a secret agreement about how to terrify the public. She also fails to discuss that school reformers inhabit a small and relatively closed network. Policy leaders and stakeholders can accelerate the pace of development. The article is organized in a pleasant and way that makes the posting readable. From the article, it is clear the author has some arguments to make which are sensible but fails to bring out the issue affecting the education system in Uganda in a way that is convincing. Overall, the article is well summed up, but a few improvements in certain elements would have helped in coming up with a more organized piece than what the author has delivered.

Hospital Automation System Essay

The team has planned to develop a Hospital Automation System for the well knownhospital called Pannipitiya Nursing Home. Currently the client company depends on an error   Ã¢â‚¬â€œ prone software system and a large amount of manual work. Development of a new systemwill help the client company to minimize the work load they handle manually and to eliminatethe faults and errors of the existing software system.This proposed system handles the entire hospital work load under seven major functions namely; OPD, IPD, Medical laboratory, Pharmacy and stores, Doctor services, Alertsystem and report generation and Billing system. The new system will be having key benefitsover existing system such as; high performance due to the immediate updating service provided by the system, reduce errors of putting unnecessary purchase orders, access to fullydetailed description about the patient regarding their medical reports, doctors will be pre -alerted about the appointment details of the day and th us the doctor can manage visiting time,reduce human effort and the cost spends to train new employees etc.

An analysis on the benefits and challenges of Inclusive Education for Essay

An analysis on the benefits and challenges of Inclusive Education for Special Needs Students - Essay Example For the interests of education, the best service, and the most funding resides in institutions that generally cater to the general population. With the exception of specialised private academies that may require out-of-pocket expenses for the family, it is highly unlikely that the disabled could be equivalently served by some segregated system in terms of bringing out their full potential. Partly, inclusion has won due to evidence from educational research showing deficiencies from special schools that tend to fall short of reasonable expectations. For some, the advantages of mainstreaming may seem to be largely a social matter. These programs are simply an effort to make the disabled kids ‘feel better’ about themselves; a nod to our ideals of equality in the face of manifest differences that impossibly impede a normal education. But even in cases of severe mental impairment due to developmental abnormalities; administrators must take a hard look from a material perspective. If a school were to be set up in response to a small selection of learning disabilities, is it at all likely that these institutions would receive – on a reliable basis – adequate funding on par with the public school system? Would it be possible to attract the most qualified teachers for such schools? Separate but Equal rarely is. The public school system has a mandate to perform its utmost for the entire student population; not merely those considered more ‘normal’.... iduals who may face the real, or imagined specter of discriminating prejudices stemming from mis-information concerning their respective conditions, and or limitations. Ultimately, inclusion has won out mainly because it is most just than the alternatives. Arguments in favor for inclusion are moral arguments, arising from a respect for human rights and decency. (Fulcher, 1993) And, as Skidmore puts it: "From this point of view, institutionalized patterns of selection between schools, and of differentiation within them, impoverish and distort the individual development of every student, for they diminish our understanding of human difference. Participation in a diverse learning community is a prerequisite for the growth of each individuals subjectivity in all its richness; the combined development of all is the condition for the full development of each." (Skidmore, 2003, p. 127) A full learning experience that exposes the child to the length and breadth of society, as sampled by thei r classmates, is in itself an accommodation worthy of pursuit. And this is true not only for the sake of those with the actual disabilities. Special education in England for over two decades has been subject to rapid change, of which programs allowing for inclusive education have played a pivotal role. But barriers still exist that can impede the development of this morally-mandated educational and social movement. Many of the present barriers to effective inclusion tend to be within both local Governmental sectors, as well as certain, reluctant schools. Ultimately, studies show that the best results will be achieved if unwarranted fears concerning inclusion can be addressed, allowing for a voluntary adoption of Inclusive teaching methods, rather than through Government coercion.

Response paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 9

Response paper - Essay Example I personally agree with Ray Bradbury in virtually all the issues he raised. Bradbury says quantity brings about quality in work. The more one works and gain more experience the more quality his or her work becomes (McKenzie 40). After work, relaxation of the body is vital and I don`t think there is something that results in more relaxation and in turn more creativity like writing. In the circumstance where writers don’t think, they end up copying other writers work and compromising quality of their work. Just as an artist may think of the money he or she will earn after the work instead of focusing on the truth and the internal feeling that his or her work entails and bring out the beauty of the art work, most commercial writers do slanted stories, focusing on the money they will cash from their banks while ignoring the originality and creativity they could possibly have in their work. Most upcoming writers engage their working time only to give out unoriginal story lacking creativity simply because the commercial market has taken over them and dictate what they write. The body should be left alone to think and act for itself and let the writings flow from inside you not from external forces (McKenzie 44). While new writers are at liberty to imitate and emulate other prominent writers in history, it is only allowed up to some extent and should not eliminate the ability of a man to become truly creative in his work. The writer should select a field where he or she thinks his ideas will develop more comfortably. One needs to remember that selecting a field to write on is absolutely different from slanting within that field (McKenzie 46). In conclusion, what you think of the world should characterize what you think. Consider yourself as a prism and measure the light of the world. Give the light back to the world in a totally different perspective. Let your feeling and thinking about the world dictate your writing. Bring out your ideas

College Writing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

College Writing - Essay Example Further, college students have come out as lacking in the skills of determining which information is relevant, how to obtain it and then how to evaluate the information critically before using it in their writing (Perelman, 130). The major controversy therefore is whether college students are actually lacking in the skills of utilizing sources of information effectively, or the college grading systems have forced the students to misuse the information sources. Nevertheless, whether through summarizing or paraphrasing, college students are not generally lacking in skills of information internalization and subsequent application in their work. Rather, the grading systems of the testing organizations are forcing the students to misuse or misapply the sources. Most contemporary argument regarding the best ways in which college students should complete their academic work and papers hold that summary is the most effective method of students obtaining information from sources. This argument holds that summary enabled students to obtain information from a source in a critical manner, and then incorporate it in their own work, since summary â€Å"compel the writer to understand the source† (Howard, Serviss and Rodrigue, 177). On the other hand, it is argued that paraphrasing is the most suitable method of the college students using information obtained from their sources, owing to the fact that information is most effective as a paraphrase, when it has been written in students’ own words (Perelman, 131). However, the problem may not even rest in which method students should apply in utilizing sources of information and incorporating them in their work. The major issue is what could be the reason behind the students using their s ources in the way the use them. The grading criteria approved and applied by the College Board requires that a

Human genome project (PCR) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Human genome project (PCR) - Essay Example The projects looks at the relationship between the SHGB and PCOS and focuses on the molecular basis of disease and how the changes in the SHBG gene relate to the disease as well as to other health conditions such as cancer. SHBG is the principal plasma transport protein for sex steroid hormones and it controls the bioavailability of these hormones to the target tissues. The gene encoding SHBG is compound and any of numerous polymorphisms in SHBG have been linked with changes in circulating SHBG levels. Studies of Epidemiological have shown that low plasma SHBG levels are an insulin resistance early indicator and they can predict the development of type diabetes mellitus 2 (T2DM) in both women and men (Chittenden & Maheshwari, 2009). The sex hormone-binding globulin gene is also known as (ABP) androgen binding protein. Even though, associations linking low SHBG levels and the risk of diabetes might be explained by the theory that elevations in insulin levels suppress the production of hepatic SHBG (Cangemi et al, 2011), modern studies are documenting that the SHBG-altering polymorphisms transmission are connected with risk of T2DM imply that SHBG can have an additional direct physiologic task in glucose homeostasis. Nevertheless, the precise mechanisms underlying this connection are unknown. A non-diabetic woman with the (PCOS) polycystic ovary syndrome, a widespread endocrine disorder that is linked with insulin resistance, similarly demonstrates lower SHBG levels. In this report, we evaluate studies investigating the connection between SHBG polymorphisms and PCOS. Numerous studies in women with PCOS prove that certain genetic polymorphisms are connected with circulating SHBG levels, but they are not constantly connected with PCOS. (Chen et al. 2010) The SHBG has a number of functions that include steroid binding, physiological functions

MBA - Economics - MicroEconomics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

MBA - Economics - MicroEconomics - Essay Example They are characterized by a lack of economic competition for the good or service that they provide and lack of viable substitutes. Results would show that under the Perfect Competition scenario, attaining profit maximization equilibrium at the given equations for cost and pricing would result to a loss for the company. The output may be high and the price low as compared to the Monopoly scenario but the overall effect is that the company does not gain from the venture. It is not surprising that it turned out that the firm will profit more from the monopoly situation because consumers do not have any alternative. Monopolies are expected to produce less and set it a higher price because there is no substitute available on the market. Consumers need the product and so they will buy in at whatever price is set thereby resulting to a decline in social welfare. The lack of competition results to less concern for efficiency and innovation. Products would experience little or no improvement. Since there are no available substitutes the consumer is forced to use the product which further leads to decrease in consumer welfare. Nonetheless, there is a concept which states that the loss of efficiency of firms can raise a potential competitor's value enough to overcome market entry barriers or provide incentive for research and new alternatives. The government may even step in and break the monopoly. According to the theory of contestable markets, monopolies can be forced to behave as if there were competition because of the risk of losing their monopoly to new entrants especially when barriers to market entry are low. It might also be because of the availability in the longer term of substitutes in other markets. This is seldom the case however.Under the perfect competition, we were able to determine that the firm would be making a loss. Does it follow then we should stop production The answer lies on considerations of different total costs levels and whether the firm is operating in the short run or in the long run. Why do even question whether it should continue or not Common sense would tell us that if we are not gaining anything from a venture then we should withdraw from it. However, production entails fixed costs which the firm should account for whether they manufacture or not. It may turn out that continuing production would be enough to cover the fixed costs. When the firm is geared for short run perspectives but is registering losses, it is advisable that it should still continue production provided that the Total costs (TC) is greater than total revenue (TR) and that total revenue is equal to total variable cost (TVC). If it fails to achieve one of these conditions, then it would be advisable to shut down so that they will only pay for the fixed costs. Even if the firm stops producing, it will have to continue to meet the level of fixed costs. Since whether the firm produces or not, it will have to pay fixed costs, it is better for it to continue production in an attempt to decrease total costs and increase total revenue, thus making profits. In the long run scenario, the condition to continue producing requires the price P to be higher than the Average Total Cost. If P is equal to ATC, the firm is indifferent between shutting down and continuing to produce. This case is different from the short run shut down case because in long run there's no longer a fixed cost because everything

Edward Joseph Snowden and the National Security Agency (NSA) Assignment

Edward Joseph Snowden and the National Security Agency (NSA) - Assignment Example The amount of disclosure availed by Snowden has been termed as immeasurable. And has been in terms of files and email accounts of many key individuals. Moreover, the areas covered the range from uninformed surveillance, security details, and what the NSA terms as very sensitive for the operation of the security affairs of the state. Snowden’s actions instigated debates over government’s secrecy, the extent the government can go when it comes to surveillance and the rights of the public to the privacy of information (ONeill, 2013). It was clear that the government was snooping on civilians and would tap servers of major Internet companies for emails and documents without the public’s consent (Dickson, 2013). This would leave the public perplexed especially this being a government it had trusted for long and was aware of the laws and what the constitution deems as unalienable with the people, that is their right to privacy. The matter had some moral implications in general. Edward Snowden revealed a dozen of things that the government was doing behind our back. Taking our information without our involvement and in a secret way was a violation of rights considered inseparable from the people and deemed as so by the constitution (ONeill, 2013). The data collection is unconstitutional and happens to be an infringement of the right to privacy (Cohn, 2014). Every democratic society considers privacy as a human right that is fundamental to the liberty of the people. The government has no right to commit arbitrary interference with privacy, as that would constitute a constitutional attack. It insults people dignity and autonomy. The government has termed such encroachment on privacy as modest yet it felt the need to perform it undercover, an element that suggests that there could be more to hide (Dickson, 2013). Snooping calls with no intention to listen to the conversations would be

Macbeth English Coursework Essay Example for Free

Macbeth English Coursework Essay 1. The scene opens with Lady Macbeth speaking in soliloquy; as a director I would tell the actress to look agitated, maybe wringing her hands and pacing the stage, quite near the back of the stage so it looks as if she is almost trying to hide. In the first soliloquy she seems less powerful compared to when she is with Macbeth. Lady Macbeth begins to imagine noises that represent bad omens, for example, the owl shriekd. She probably didnt hear that noise but an owl shrieking is a symbol of evil and she knows she is doing wrong. She then begins to go over the plans as if she is reassuring herself of what to do and wondering what is going on and how the plan is doing. Lady Macbeth obviously wasnt that confident because she even says that she needed an alcoholic drink to calm her and make her brave again. Then when Macbeth enters, still in soliloquy, she panics that Macbeth hasnt committed the murder, that they woke up and caught him and she expresses her doubts very obviously as shown in this quotation, I am afraid this shows how she lacks confidence and proves that she wasnt bold. Then when Macbeth and Lady Macbeth begin to talk to each other they are both very nervous and jumpy but slowly Lady Macbeth begins to regain control again and she can then comfort and sooth Macbeth who is very shocked and seems almost hysterical. Then Macbeths concerns worry Lady Macbeth but she still remains in control because she starts to command and order Macbeth around. For example, give me the daggers, get on your nightgown; Lady Macbeth regained her calm and Macbeth has become worried. Lady Macbeth gets worked up because of Macbeths doubting and worrying and she is almost shouting in rage at him when she says infirm of purpose and as a director I would definitely say to be bossy and very angry towards Macbeth. She then begins to insult him which shames him as he is supposed to be a brave warrior when she calls him a child so she has definitely regained her control and is bold at the end of the scene. 2. In lines 16-31 Shakespeare creates lots of tension and anxiety by showing Lady Macbeth who is supposed to be very brave and someone who would rather bash her babys brains out than show cowardice being nervous and jumpy. Lady Macbeth says that she couldnt do it herself and doubts that Macbeth has the willpower to do it as well. Following this there is a very jumpy quick exchange between them in lines 22-30. The punctuation in this section is very short like full stops exclamation marks it is very quick answering, they almost finish off each others sentences. This would make the audience think whether they were going to get away with it? Would they be found out? Could they cover it up? Lie about it? So this creates a lot of anxiety as the audience want to know what is going to happen to them. 3. Macbeth is in a state of shock when he returns from Duncans Chamber. He hears sounds which frighten him so he appears very shocked and upset when he enters the scene. He is concerned that they will be found out and in that era the punishment would have been death for high treason. When he talks to Lady Macbeth they have a very quick and nervous exchange. During this exchange he begins to realise the seriousness of what he has just done and Macbeth then begins to feel guilty. He doesnt seem to be able to focus on one thing at a time but the two dominant things he talks about is that he wont be able to get spiritual forgiveness and he wont be able to sleep. He then starts to talk about two lodgers praying and the fact that when they said Amen he couldnt because he had gone against God and broken the Divine Right of Kings. The Divine Right of Kings is an ancient belief system that was the eldest son of the king or queen would become the next ruler of the country. Macbeth had killed the king and taken his place so broken this spiritual belief. So Macbeth knows that he has disobeyed God and cannot get forgiveness. This is shown in lines 37-44. In these lines a very strong metaphor is used to show just how guilty he feels. The metaphor is: Hangmans hands. This is comparing his hand to those of someone who kills frequently so this means that Macbeths guilt is so strong that it feels as though he has killed more than one person. The second dominant topic is that Macbeth sleep has the power to heal and nurture people who are troubled and weary but he has lost the right to sleep and will never sleep again. Lines 47-52 use a lot of good personification which further shows the guilt that Macbeth is feeling. He refers back to the witches in this extract: Glamis hath murderd sleep, and therefore Cawdor Shall sleep no more; Macbeth shall sleep no more. this suggests that the witches are on his mind and how their prophecies have driven him to treachery. He then begins to question why he is jumpy; why his guilt and regret is so great; why he cant go back in the room or even look at his hands. 4. The scene starts off with Macbeth in control because Lady Macbeth couldnt commit the murder but after Macbeth did he couldnt re-enter the room and face what he had done. Their relationship is very interesting because they have a large reliance on each other. Lady Macbeth needs Macbeth to commit the murder and Macbeth needs Lady Macbeth to drive him and push him so he has courage to commit the crime. Macbeth looses all his control in the relationship after he commits the murder because he is so haunted and shocked by what he has done and he then needs Lady Macbeth to calm him and make him feel at ease. You can find this change between lines 20-79. Lady Macbeth is in complete control at the end because she begins to call Macbeth names to make him feel ashamed of his cowardice and uses very commanding vocabulary to make him hide what they know and she is in some ways scared in case he cant pretend that he doesnt know anything. 5. The main themes of the play are nearly all mentioned in this scene. To me the most significant theme is that this story is about a man who potentially could have been great, powerful and strong but has been corrupted by darkness, witches and greed. Witchcraft is the theme that got them to this stage and is what really drives Macbeth to commit the murder. The witches prophecy drives him to killing anybody who got in his way especially Macduffs family in Act IV Scene 2. Macbeth is constantly referring back to the witches and seems to have complete trust in them. An example showing that they are on his mind is in Act II Scene 2 when he is distraught about the murder in lines 55-57. Lady Macbeth also refers to witchcraft when she hears bad omens like the owls scream so witchcraft and darkness is a main concern and theme of this particular scene. The theme of deception is carried on throughout this scene; at a more physical level than the deception of the witches with their contradicting language. In this scene, Act II Scene 2, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are putting the blame of the murder on the Kings guards and appearing to be unaware of the situation. Bloodshed and guilt is another key issue especially with phrases like Hangmans hands and they very graphic visual image in lines 76-79. This theme is referred to throughout the rest of the play and eventually until Lady Macbeths death. The guilt is so strong that it causes her to take her own life and the guilt rules Macbeth into decisions and causes a lack of sleep which is another key theme. His lack of sleep is because he has ruined his own equilibrium. Macbeth knows that he has disrupted the Divine Right of Kings so therefore upset God. So Macbeth finds that he is unable to pray and has lost the right to sleep which is natures healer which is a theme which continues right from the murder to the end of the play. He becomes mentally disturbed. The final topic in this scene is the power shifting in the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. They both rely on each other to be strong.

Learning Organization Essay Example for Free

Learning Organization Essay EXECUTIVE SUMMARY are proliferating as corporations seek to better themselves and gain an edge. Unfortunately, however, failed programs far outnumber successes, and improvement rates remain low. Thats because most companies have failed to grasp a basic truth. Before people and companies can improve, they first must learn. And to do this, they need to look beyond rhetoric and high philosophy and focus on the fundamentals. Three critical issues must be addressed before a company can truly become a learning organization, writes Harvard Business School professor David Garvin. First is the question of meaning: a well-grounded, easy-to-apply definition of a learning organization. Second comes management: clearer operational guidelines for practice. Finally, better tools for measurement can assess an organizations rate and level of learning. Using these three Ms as a framework, Garvin defines learning organizations as skilled at five main activities: systematic problem solving, experimentation with new approaches, learning from past experience, learning from the best practices of others, and transferring knowledge quickly and efficiently throughout the organization. And since you cant manage something if you cant measure it, a complete learning audit is a must. That includes measuring cognitive and behavioral changes as well as tangible improvements in results. No learning organization is built overnight. Success comes from carefully cultivated attitudes, commitments, and management processes that accrue slowly and steadily. The first step is to foster an environment conducive to learning. Analog Devices, Chaparral Steel, Xerox, GE, and other companies provide enlightened examples. CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMS  CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMS are sprouting up all over as organizations strive to better themselves and gain an edge. The topic list is long and varied, and sometimes it seems as though a program a month is needed just to keep up. Unfortunately, failed programs far outnumber successes, and improvement rates remain distressingly low. Why? Because most companies have failed to grasp a basic truth. Continuous improvement requires a commitment to learning. How, after all, can an organization improve without first learning something new? Solving a problem, introducing a product, and reengineering a process all require seeing the world in a new light and acting accordingly. In the absence of learning, companies-and individuals -simply repeat old practices. Change remains cosmetic, and improvements are either fortuitous or short-lived. A few farsighted executives – Ray Stata of Analog Devices, Gordon Forward of Chaparral Steel, Paul Allaire of Xerox-have recognized the link between learning and continuous improvement and have begun to refocus their companies around it. Scholars too have jumped on the bandwagon, beating the drum for learning organizations and knowledge-creating companies. In rapidly changing businesses like semiconductors and consumer electronics, these ideas are fast taking hold. Yet despite the encouraging signs, the topic in large part remains murky, confused, and difficult to penetrate. Meaning, Management, and Measurement Scholars are partly to blame. Their discussions of learning organizations have often been reverential and utopian, filled with near mystical terminology. Paradise, they would have you believe, is just around the corner. Peter Senge, who popularized learning organizations in his book The Fifth Discipline, described them as places where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning how to learn together. To achieve these ends, Senge suggested the use of five component technologies: systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models, shared vision, and team learning. In a similar spirit, Ikujiro Nonaka characterized knowledge-creating companies as places where inventing new knowledge is not a specialized activity it is a way of behaving, indeed, a way of being, in which everyone is a knowledge worker. Nonaka suggested that companies use metaphors and organizational redundancy to focus thinking, encourage dialogue, and make tacit, instinctively understood ideas explicit. Sound idyllic? Absolutely. Desirable? Without question. But does it provide a framework for action? Hardly. The recommendations are far too abstract, and too many questions remain unanswered. How, for example, will managers know when their companies have become learning organizations? What concrete changes in behavior are required? What policies and programs must be in place? How do you get from here to there? Most discussions of learning organizations finesse these issues. Their focus is high philosophy and grand themes, sweeping metaphors rather than the gritty details of practice. Three critical issues are left unresolved; yet each is essential for effective implementation. First is the question of meaning. We need a plausible, well-grounded definition of learning organizations; it must be actionable and easy to apply. Second is the question of management. We need clearer guidelines for practice, filled with operational advice rather than high aspirations. And third is the question of measurement. We need better tools for assessing an organizations rate and level of learning to ensure that gains have in fact been made. Once these three Ms are addressed, managers will have a firmer foundation for launching learning organizations. Without this groundwork, progress is unlikely, and for the simplest of reasons. For learning to become a meaningful corporate goal, it must first be understood. What Is a Learning Organization? Surprisingly, a clear definition of learning has proved to be elusive over the years. Organizational theorists have studied learning for a long time; the accompanying quotations suggest that there is still considerable disagreement (see Definitions of Organizational Learning on page 77). Most scholars view organizational learning as a process that unfolds over time and link it with knowledge acquisition and improved performance. But they differ on other important matters. Some, for example, believe that behavioral change is required. for learning; others insist that new ways of thinking are enough. Some cite information processing as the mechanism through which learning takes place; others propose-shared insights, organizational routines, even memo. And some think that organizational learning is common, while others believe that flawed, self-serving interpretations are the norm. How can we discern among this cacophony of voices yet build on earlier insights? As a first step, consider the following definition: A learning organization is an organization skilled at creating, acquiring and transferring knowledge, and at modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights. This definition begins with a simple truth: new ideas are essential if learning is to take place. Sometimes they are created de novo, through flashes of insight or creativity; at other times they arrive from outside the organization or are communicated by knowledgeable insiders. Whatever their source, these ideas are the trigger for organizational improvement. But they cannot by themselves create a learning organization. Without accompanying changes in the way that work gets done, only the potential for improvement exists. This is a surprisingly stringent test for it rules out a number of obvious candidates for learning organizations. Many universities fail to qualify, as do many consulting firms. Even General Motors, despite its recent efforts to improve performance, is found wanting. All of these organizations have been effective at creating or acquiring new knowledge but notably less successful in applying that knowledge to their own activities. Total quality management, for example, is now taught at many business schools, yet the number using it to guide their own decision making is very small. Organizational consultants advise clients on social dynamics and small-group behavior but are notorious for their own infighting and factionalism. And GM, with a few exceptions (like Saturn and NUMMI), has had little success in revamping its manufacturing practices, even though its managers are experts on lean manufacturing, JIT production, and the requirements for improved quality of work life. Organizations that do pass the definitional test – Honda, Corning, and General Electric come quickly to mind – have, by contrast, become adept at translating new knowledge into new ways of behaving. These companies actively manage the learning process to ensure that it occurs by design rather than by chance. Distinctive policies and practices are responsible for their success; they form the building blocks of learning organizations. Building Blocks Learning organizations are skilled at five main activities: systematic problem solving, experimentation with new approaches, learning from their own experience and past history, learning from the experiences and best practices of others, and transferring knowledge quickly and efficiently throughout the organization. Each is accompanied by a distinctive mind-set, tool kit, and pattern of behavior. Many companies practice these activities to some degree. But few are consistently successful because they rely largely on happenstance and isolated examples. By creating systems and processes that support these activities and integrate them into the fabric of daily operations, companies can manage their learning more effectively. 1. Systematic problem solving. This first activity rests heavily on the philosophy and methods of the quality movement. Its underlying ideas, now widely accepted, include: †¢ Relying on the scientific method, rather than guesswork, for diagnosing problems (what Deming calls the â€Å"Plan, Do, Check, Act cycle, and others refer to as hypothesis-generating, hypothesistesting techniques). †¢ Insisting on data, rather than assumptions, as background for decision making (what quality practitioners call fact-based management). †¢ Using simple statistical tools (histograms, Pareto charts, correlations, cause-and-effect diagrams) to organize data and draw inferences. Most training programs focus primarily on problem solving techniques, using exercises and practical examples. These tools are relatively straightforward and easily communicated; the necessary mind-set, however, is more difficult to establish. Accuracy and precision are essential for learning. Employees must therefore become more disciplined in their thinking and more attentive to details. They must continually ask, How do we know thats true? , recognizing that close enough is not good enough if real learning is to take place. They must push beyond obvious symptoms to assess underlying causes, often collecting evidence when conventional wisdom says it is unnecessary. Otherwise, the organization will remain a prisoner of gut facts and sloppy reasoning, and learning will be stifled. Xerox has mastered this approach on a companywide scale. In 1983, senior managers launched the companys Leadership Through Quality initiative; since then, all employees have been trained in small-group activities and problem-solving techniques. Today a six-step process is used for virtually all decisions (see Xeroxs Problem-Solving Process). Employees are provided with tools in four areas: generating ideas and collecting information (brainstorming, interviewing, surveying); reaching consensus (list reduction, rating forms, weighted voting); analyzing and displaying data (cause-andeffect diagrams, force-field analysis); and planning actions (flow charts, Gantt charts). They then practice these-tools during training sessions that last several days. Training is presented in family groups, members of the same department or business-unit team, and the tools are applied to real problems facing the group. The result of this process has been a common vocabulary and a consistent, companywide approach to problem solving. Once employees have been trained, they are expected to use the techniques at all meetings, and no topic is off limits. When a high-level group was formed to review Xeroxs organizational structure and suggest alternatives, it employed the very same process and tools. 2. Experimentation. This activity involves the systematic searching for and testing of new knowledge. Using the scientific method is essential, and there are obvious parallels to systematic problem solving. But unlike problem solving, experimentation is usually motivated by opportunity and expanding horizons, not by current difficulties. It takes two main forms: ongoing programs and one-ofa-kind demonstration projects. Ongoing programs normally involve a continuing series of small experiments, designed to produce incremental gains in knowledge. They are the mainstay of most continuous improvement programs and are especially common on the shop floor. Corning, for example, experiments continually with diverse raw materials and new formulations to increase yields and provide better grades of glass. Allegheny Ludlum, a specialty steelmaker, regularly examines new rolling methods and improved technologies to raise productivity and reduce costs. Successful ongoing programs share several characteristics. First, they work hard to ensure a steady flow of new ideas, even if they must be imported from outside the organization. Chaparral Steel sends its first-line supervisors on sabbaticals around the globe, where they visit academic and industry leaders, develop an understanding of new Xerox’s Problem-Solving Process Step Questions to be Answered What do we want to change? Expansion/ Divergence Lots of problems for consideration Contraction/ Convergence One problem statement, one â€Å"desired state† agreed upon What’s Next to Go to the Next Step Identification of the gap â€Å"Desired state† described in observable terms Key causes documented and ranked 1. Identify and select problem 2. Analyse Problem What’s preventing us from reaching the â€Å"desired state†? How could we make the change? What’s the best way to do it? Lots of potential causes identified. Key causes identified and verified 3. Generate potential solutions 4. Select and plan the solution Lots of ideas on how to solve the problem Lots of criteria for evaluating potential solutions. Lots of ideas on how to implement and evaluate the selected solution Potential solutions clarified Criteria to use for evaluating solution agreed upon Implementation and evaluation plans agreed upon Implementation of agreed-on contingency plans (if necessary) Effectiveness of solution agreed upon Continuing problems (if any) identified Solution List. Plan for making and monitoring the change Measurement criteria to evaluate solution effectiveness 5. Implement the solution Are we following the plan? Solution in place 6. Evaluate the solution How well did it work? Verification that the problem is solved, or Agreement to address continuing problems work practices and technologies, then bring what theyve learned back to the company and apply it to daily operations. Inlarge part as a result of these initiatives, Chaparral is one of the five lowest cost steel plants in the world. GEs Impact Program originally sent manufacturing managers to Japan to study factory innovations, such as quality circles and kanban cards, and then apply them in their own organizations; today Europe is the destination, and productivity improvement practices the target. The program is one reason GE has recorded productivity gains averaging nearly 5% over the last four years. Successful ongoing programs also require an incentive system that favors risk taking. Employees must feel that the benefits of experimentation exceed the costs; otherwise, they will not participate. This creates a difficult challenge for managers, who are trapped between two perilous extremes. They must maintain accountability and control over experiments without stifling creativity by unduly penalizing employees for failures. Allegheny Ludlum has perfected this juggling act: it keeps expensive, high-impact experiments off the scorecard used to evaluate managers but requires prior approvals from four senior vice presidents. The result has been=a history of productivity improvements annually avenging 7% to 8%. Finally, ongoing programs need managers and employees who are trained in the skills required to perform and evaluate experiments. These skills are seldom intuitive and must usually be learned. They cover a broad sweep: statistical methods, like design of experiments, that efficiently compare a large number of alternatives; graphical techniques, like process analysis, that are essential for redesigning work flows; and creativity techniques, like storyboarding and role playing, that keep novel ideas flowing. The most effective training programs are tightly focused and feature a small set of techniques tailored to employees needs. Training in design of experiments, for example, is useful for manufacturing engineers, while creativity techniques are well suited to development groups. Demonstration projects are usually larger and more complex than ongoing experiments. They involve holistic, system wide changes, introduced at a single site, and are often undertaken with the goal of developing new organizational capabilities. Because these projects represent a sharp break from the past, they are usually designed from scratch, using a clean slate approach. General Foodss Topeka plant, one of the first high commitment work systems in this country, was a pioneering demonstration project initiated to introduce the idea of self-managing teams and high levels of worker autonomy; a more recent example, designed to rethink small-car development, manufacturing, and sales, is GMs Saturn Division. Demonstration projects share a number of distinctive characteristics: †¢ They are usually the first projects to embody principles and approaches that the organization hopes to adopt later on a larger scale. For this reason, they are more transitional efforts than endpoints and involve considerable learning by doing. Mid-course corrections are common. †¢ They implicitly establish policy guidelines and decision rules for later projects. Managers must therefore be sensitive to the precedents they are setting and must send strong signals if they expect to establish new norms. †¢ They often encounter severe tests of commitment from employees who wish to see whether the rules have, in fact, changed. †¢ They are normally developed by strong multifunctional teams reporting directly to senior management. (For projects targeting employee involvement or quality of work life, teams should be multilevel as well. ) †¢ They tend to have only limited impact on the rest of the organization if they are not accompanied by explicit strategies for transferring learning. All of these characteristics appeared in a demonstration project launched by Copeland Corporation, a highly successful compressor manufacturer, in the mid-1970s. Matt Diggs, then the new CEO, wanted to transform the companys approach to manufacturing. Previously, Copeland had machined and assembled all products in a single facility: Costs were high, and quality was marginal. The problem, Diggs felt, was too much complexity. At the outset, Diggs assigned a small, multifunctional team the task of designing a focused factory dedicated to a narrow, newly developed product line. The team reported directly to Diggs and took three years to complete its work. Initially, the project budget was $10 million to $12 million; that figure was repeatedly revised as the team found, through experience and with Diggss prodding, that it could achieve dramatic improvements. The final investment, a total of $30 million, yielded unanticipated breakthroughs in reliability testing, automatic tool adjustment, and programmable control. All were achieved through learning by doing. The team set additional precedents during the plants start-up and early operations. To dramatize the importance of quality, for example, the quality manager was appointed second-in-command, a significant move upward. The same reporting relationship was used at all subsequent plants. In addition, Diggs urged the plant manager to ramp up slowly to full production and resist all efforts to proliferate products. These instructions were unusual at Copeland, where the marketing department normally ruled. Both directives were quickly tested; management held firm, and the implications were felt throughout the organization. Manufacturings stature improved, and the company as a whole recognized its competitive contribution. One observer commented, Marketing had always run the company, so they couldnt believe it. The change was visible at the highest levels, and it went down hard. Once the first focused factory was running smoothly -it seized 25% of the market in two years and held its edge in reliability for over a decade-Copeland built four more factories in quick succession. Diggs assigned members of the initial project to each factorys design team to ensure that early learnings were not lost; these people later rotated into operating assignments. Today focused factories remain the cornerstone of Copelands manufacturing strategy and a continuing source of its cost and quality advantages. Whether they are demonstration projects like Copelands or ongoing programs like Allegheny Ludlums, all forms of experimentation seek the same end: moving from superficial knowledge to deep understanding. At its simplest, the distinction is between knowing how things are done and knowing why they occur. Knowing how is partial knowledge; it is rooted in norms of behavior, standards of practice, and settings of equipment. Knowing why is more fundamental: it captures underlying causeand-effect relationships and accommodates exceptions, adaptations, and unforeseen events. The ability to control temperatures and pressures to align grains of silicon and form silicon steel is an example of knowing how; understanding the chemical and physical process that produces the alignment is knowing why. Further distinctions are possible, as the insert Stages of Knowledge suggests. Operating knowledge can be arrayed in a hierarchy, moving from limited understanding and the ability to make few distinctions to more complete understanding in which all contingencies are anticipated and controlled. In this context, experimentation and problem solving foster learning by pushing organizations up the hierarchy, from lower to higher stages of knowledge. 3. Learning from past experience. Companies must review their successes and failures, assess them systematically, and record the lessons in a form that employers find open and accessible. One expert has called t9is process the Santayana Review, citing the famous philosopher George Santayana, who coined the phrase Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Unfortunately, too many managers today are indifferent, even hostile, to the past, and by failing to reflect on it, they let valuable knowledge escape. A study of more than 150 new products concluded that the knowledge gained from failures [is] often instrumental in achieving subsequent successes. In the simplest terms, failure is the ultimate teacher. IBMs 360 computer series, for example, one of the most popular and profitable ever built, was based on the technology of the failed Stretch computer that preceded it. In this case, as in many others, learning occurred by chance rather than by careful planning. A few companies, however, have established processes that require their managers to periodically think about the past and learn from their mistakes. Boeing did so immediately after its difficulties with the 737 and 747 plane programs. Both planes were introduced with much fanfare and also with serious problems. To ensure that the problems were not repeated, senior managers commissioned a high-level employee group, called Project Homework, to compare the development processes of the 737 and 747 with those of the 707 and 727, two of the companys most profitable planes. The group was asked to develop a set of lessons learned that could be used on future projects. After working for three years, they produced hundreds of recommendations and an inch-thick booklet. Several members of the team were then transferred to the 757 and 767 start-ups, and guided by experience, they produced the most successful, error-free launches in Boeings history. Other companies have used a similar retrospective approach. Like Boeing, Xerox studied its product development process, examining three troubled products in an effort to understand why the companys new business initiatives failed so often. Arthur D. Little, the consulting company, focused on its past successes. Senior management invited ADL consultants from around the world to a two-day jamboree, featuring booths and presentations documenting a wide range of the companys most successful practices, publications, and techniques. British Petroleum went even further and established the post-project appraisal unit to review major investment projects, write up case studies, and derive lessons for planners that were then incorporated into revisions of the companys planning guidelines. A five-person unit reported to the board of directors and reviewed six projects annually. The bulk of the time was spent in the field interviewing managers. This type of review is now conducted regularly at the project level. At the heart of this approach, one expert has observed, is a mind-set that enables companies to recognize the value of productive failure as contrasted with unproductive success. A productive failure is one that leads to insight, understanding, and thus an addition to the commonly held wisdom of the organization. An unproductive success occurs when something goes well, but nobody knows how or why. IBMs legendary founder, Thomas Watson, Sr. , apparently understood the distinction well. Company lore has it that a young manager; after losing $10 million in a risky venture was called into Watsons office. The young man, thoroughly intimidated, began by saying, I guess you want my resignation. Watson replied, You cant be serious. We just spent $10 million educating you. Fortunately, the learning process need not be so expensive. Case studies and post-project reviews like those of Xerox and British Petroleum can be performed with little cost other than managers time. Companies can also enlist the help of faculty and students at local colleges or universities; they bring fresh perspectives and view internships and case studies as opportunities to gain experience and increase their own learning. A few companies have established computerized data banks to speed up the learning process. At Paul Revere Life Insurance, management requires all problem-solving teams to complete short registration forms describing their proposed projects if they hope to qualify for the companys award program. The company then enters the forms into its computer system and can immediately retrieve a listing of other groups of people who have worked or are working on the topic, along with a contact person. Relevant experience is then just a telephone call away. 4. Learning from others. Of course, not all learning comes from reflection and self-analysis. Sometimes the most powerful insights come from looking outside ones immediate environment to gain a new perspective. Enlightened managers know that even companies in completely different businesses can be fertile sources of ideas and catalysts for creative thinking. At these organizations, enthusiastic borrowing is replacing the not invented here syndrome. Milliken calls the process SIS, for Steal Ideas Shamelessly; the broader term for it is benchmarking. According to one expert, benchmarking is an ongoing investigation and learning experience that ensures that best industry practices are uncovered, analyzed, adopted, and implemented. The greatest benefits come from studying practices, the way that work gets done, rather than results, and from involving line managers in the process. Almost anything can be benchmarked. Xerox, the concepts creator, has applied it to billing, warehousing, and automated manufacturing. Milliken has been even more creative: in an inspired moment, it benchmarked Xeroxs approach to benchmarking. Unfortunately, there is still considerable confusion about the requirements for successful benchmarking. Benchmarking is not industrial tourism, a series of ad hoc visits to companies that have received favorable publicity or won quality awards. Rather, it is a disciplined process that begins with a thorough search to identify best-practice organizations, continues with careful study of ones own practices and performance, progresses through systematic site visits and interview and concludes with an analysis of results, development of recommendations, and implementation. While timeconsuming, the process need not be terribly expensive ATTs Benchmarking Group estimates that a moderate-sized project takes four to six months and incurs out-of-pocket costs of $20,000 (when personnel costs ax included, the figure is three to four times higher). Bench marking is one way of gaining an outside perspective; another, equally fertile source of ideas is customers. Conversations with customers invariably stimulate learning; they are, after all, experts in what they do. Customers can provide up-to-date product information, competitive comparisons, insights into changing preferences, and immediate feedback about service and patt ern of use. And companies need these insights at all levels, from the executive suite to the shop floor. At Motorola, members of the Operating and Policy Committee, including the CEO, meet personally and on a regular basis with customers. At Worthington Steel, all machine operators make periodic, unescorted trips to customers factories to discuss their needs. Sometimes customers cant articulate their needs or remember even the most recent problems they have had with a product or service. If thats the case, managers must observe them in action. Xerox employs a number of anthropologists at its Palo Alto Research Center to observe users of new document products in their offices. Digital Equipment has developed an interactive process called contextual inquiry that is used by software engineers to observe users of new technologies as they go about their work. Milliken has created first-delivery teams that accompany the first shipment of all products; team members follow the product through the customers production process to see how it is used and then develop ideas for further improvement. Whatever the source of outside ideas, learning will only occur in a receptive environment. Managers cant be defensive and must be open to criticism or bad news. This is a difficult challenge, but it is essential for success. Companies that approach customers assuming that we must be right, they have to be wrong or visit other organizations certain that they cant  teach us anything seldom learn very much. Learning organizations, by contrast, cultivate the art of open, attentive listening. 5. Transferring knowledge. For learning to be more than a local affair, knowledge must spread quickly and efficiently throughout the organization. Ideas carry maximum impact when they are shared broadly rather than held in a few hands. A variety of mechanisms spur this process, including written, oral, and visual reports, site visits and tours, personnel rotation programs, education and training programs, and standardization programs. Each has distinctive strengths and weaknesses. Reports and tours are by far the most popular mediums. Reports serve many purposes: they summarize findings, provide checklists of dos and donts, and describe important processes and events. They cover a multitude of topics, from benchmarking studies to accounting conventions to newly discovered marketing techniques. Today written reports are often supplemented by videotapes, which offer greater immediacy and fidelity. Tours are an equally popular means of transferring knowledge, especially for large, multidivisional organizations with multiple sites.