6.2 A rational-economic perspective on risk A rational-economic perspective generally represents risk as a combination of the expected magnitude of a gain or loss, combined with some probability distribution of anticipated outcomes. Economic ideas of risk behaviour are founded largely on expected utility theory. Expected utility theory predicts that investors will always be risk averse. The shape of the utility curve (utility plotted against increasing wealth) is such that utility increases with wealth, but at a declining rate. This is
5.6 A way of dealing with social pressures: decoupling Organisations often deal with these social pressures by decoupling responses to these different pressures. The need to appear legitimate in the eyes of important constituencies is met by actions and practices which have a purely ceremonial character: they are done for the sake of appearances and not with any real engagement. The example in Author(s):
Learning outcomes At the end of this unit you should be able to: explain the key components of project closure and their importance; plan an effective project closure; ensure that the project activities have been completed; be alert to problems that may need to be resolved at the closure stage; contribute to evaluating a project; plan personal development to improve your performance in managing projects.
Introduction In this unit, we explore some aspects of bringing a complex project to completion. There are a number of things to consider in the final stages of a project. It is very important to ensure that the goals of the project have been achieved, and that all the outcomes and deliverables have been handed over to the sponsor (or that any discrepancies have been addressed). Handover can involve different types of presentation for different types of outcome. There may be a physical object to handover,
5 Setting aims and objectives ‘If you don't know where you're going, you might end up somewhere else.’ (Casey Stengel, New York Yankees, quoted in Beckhard and Harris, 1987) Aims are broad goals and can encompass an organisation's mission and values, whereas objectives define more precisely what a project is trying to achieve and how success will be recognised. The SMART principle is often applied to objectives. The
4 Project inputs and outputs A project involves the transformation of inputs into an output or product. For example, people's mental and physical efforts, bricks and mortar, equipment or materials might be transformed into a new road, a municipal park or an advertising campaign. Or perhaps transformed into a stream of outputs or products, for example, attendances at a conference or exhibition, state school places or data from a new in-house costing system. The output or outputs might be used within the organisation
1.6.1 Introduction Of course, there is another problem hovering in the background in respect to the Euro's international role: namely that of the enlargement of the EU. In the light of the analysis so far two areas are picked out here: monetary implications and fiscal policy implications. These are obviously closely related. Both of these raise questions about the costs involved for the new members and those set to join somewhere down the line. We concentrate on the monetary issue of joining the Euro-zone first
6.1 ‘Maybe you can look, but you cannot touch’: asylum and restricting access to welfa So far we have considered meanings of citizenship in terms of legal status, national identity and belonging. In this section we want to explore it in terms of ‘access to welfare’, recognising that people who flee from their country of origin are likely to require assistance and support when they arrive. There is a long history of the state linking controls on access to welfare and control of migration since the 1905 Aliens Act (Lewis, 2003). 2.2 Diversity between states To attempt more precise definitions would run the risk of arbitrarily excluding many of the phenomena we need to address. In fact the intentionally loose, multifaceted nature of these definitions reflects the reality of regional diversity, which has many dimensions. The differences start with the states which in practical political terms largely define regions, for they are themselves very different in area and population size, in economic strength, in cultural homogeneity or heterogeneity, a 5.7 Health, disease and society: Scottish influence in the 19th century This unit examines the roles of Scots who contributed to the comprehensive transformation of medicine in the nineteenth century. It begins by observing how laboratory practices led to improved techniques of medical diagnosis. This is followed by assessing how Scots contributed to the emerging collective identity of medical practitioners, as well as the improvements in licensing that led to reform of the medical professions. Many new developments in medical education also enabled women to qual 1.1 They think it's all over They think it's all over … it is now! (Kenneth Wolstenholme, 1966) This is one of those iconic sporting media moments. It happened a long time ago, when Geoff Hurst's third goal in the dying seconds of extra time clinched England's 4–2 win over Germany in the 1966 football World Cup final. People who were not even born, let alone at Wembley or watching the game on television, still reco 2.2 The effect of technology on productivity In each industrial revolution, new inventions radically changed the way that production and distribution were organised, and often led to large and rapid increases in the efficiency of production. The rise of electricity, for example, allowed US productivity to increase in the manufacturing sector (as opposed to the agricultural or service sector) by more than 5 per cent per annum throughout the 1920s. Let us pause a moment and consider what this means. The term productivity refe 2.1 Industrial revolutions and technological change In this section I shall look at the way that technological innovations in previous eras, such as the invention of electricity in the early 1900s, radically affected the way society organised production and at how these changes spurred general economic growth. In many instances, the changes were so large that they defined an entire period, just as the rise of information technologies has led some to call the current era the ‘information age’. The way that technological change can fun 1 Technological advancement Everything that can be invented has been invented. (The Commissioner of the United States Office of Patents, 1899, recommending that his office be abolished, quoted in The Economist, 2000, p. 5) There is nothing now to be foreseen which can prevent the United States from enjoying an era of business prosperity which is entirely Acknowledgements The content acknowledged below is Proprietary (see terms and conditions) and is used under licence. Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following for permission to reproduce material in this unit: Tony Hisgett [Details correct as of 8 April 2011] Acknowledgements The content acknowledged below is Proprietary (see terms and conditions) and is used under licence. This extract is taken from D218: Social policy: welfare, power and diversity, produced by the BBC on behalf of the Open University. © 2007 The Open University. withonef [Details correct as of 7th December 2007] Acknowledgements Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following sources for permission to use the following photographs in this unit: Figure 2 Riveter based on the cover of the exhibition catalogue for ‘Clydebuilt: The River, its Ships and its People’, organised by the Clyde Maritime Trust Ltd.; Figure 3 Glasgow Herald/Caledonian Newspapers Limited; Figure 4 Mr Happy adaptation: Mr Men and Little Missâ„¢ and © 1995 Mrs Roger Hargreaves; (all) Courtesy: City of Glasgow; Figu Acknowledgements The material below is contained in chapter 1 of Economics and Economic Change Microeconomics (2006) (eds) Graham Dawson, Maureen Mackintosh and Paul Anand which is published by Pearson Education Limited in association with The Open University. Copyright © The Open University The material acknowledged below is Proprietary and not subject to Creative Commons Licence and used under licence (see terms and conditions). Grate 3.1 Introduction As well as looking at the behaviour of firms and the industries and markets to which they belong, economists also engage in a different style of inquiry, thinking about what economic change means for the lives of the people involved. Once again there is a variety of interpretations and different ideas but this time they concern the desirability of economic change. What benefits does the ‘new economy’ bring and what costs, or negative effects, does it impose on people? In analysing these b 4 What is a ‘nation’? Guibernau (1996, p. 47) has defined the nation as: ‘a human group conscious of forming a community, sharing a common culture, attached to a clearly demarcated territory, having a common past and a common project for the future and claiming the right to rule itself’. So awareness, territory, history and culture, language and religion all matter. However, it is rare in the real world to find a case of a nation with a clear-cut and homogenous character in terms of this list of possibilities.
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