Responsible Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Responsible Business - Essay Example Various industries, including the fashion retailing industry has been significantly focused on effective waste management strategies as one of the pivotal concerns of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Emphasising on this particular issue, the essay will focus on identifying the waste management strategies applied by NEXT applying various theoretical frameworks, governmental intervention policies and industrial aspects. Discussion A Theoretical Description Concentrating on Desjardins’ environmental perspectives, it can be argued that organizations should take necessary initiatives towards sustainable development rendering due consideration towards the various environmental aspects such as landfills and emission rates among others by performing ethically sound and responsible supply chain activities (Herman & et. al., 1990). As described by Desjardins, ‘dematerialization’ is primarily referred to the comprehensive or relative minimization in the quantity of materials or resources which are needed to produce goods or to maintain the economic position of a nation. It can be viewed in this regard that that there are limited amount of resources available from the surrounding environment whereas the activities which are developed in this eco-system needs unlimited consumption of resources in an unsustainable manner owing to which companies should emphasise on effective waste management strategies (Herman & et. al., 1990; Metro Vancouver, 2011). Based on a similar concern, Braungart & et. al. (2006) described that transformation of human industry through intelligent designing is necessary for ecological system implications. Contextually, eco-efficiency as well as zero emission is primarily concentrated towards minimizing the accidental negative consequences of manufacturing procedures often applied by industries (Braungart & et. al., 2006). With a similar viewpoint, Gibbs & et. al. (2012) described that industrial ecology and re gional development should be considered as a cluster policy when developing sustainability strategies, especially those concerning waste management. In this regard, organisations have often been suggested to concentrate upon applying industrial ecology standards with the objective to minimize or remove the negative consequences of economic development (Gibbs & et. al., 2012). Based on a similar context, Hawken & et. al. (1999) developed the theory of ‘Natural Capitalism’ which is considered as an evaluation framework of conventional ‘Industrial Capitalism’. This system also neglects the values of human capital in terms of living system, natural resources, socials and cultural system. Hence, it can be implied that ‘Natural Capitalism’ identifies the interdependence of human capital on the preservation of the natural capital (Birkin, 2001). Applying Theoretical Frameworks Waste Management Hierarchy In relation to waste management hierarchy, the o verall operation of NEXT within the UK and Ireland has primarily focused on how to minimize its environmental impact by

Leadership and Management in Nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Leadership and Management in Nursing - Essay Example Our nursing values are based on passion, respect, integrity, and on delivering the best healthcare services. Based on the above mission, vision, and values of our organization and of the nursing department, this paper shall now analyse such elements and discuss the extent to which these values are reflected in the nursing management and leadership of the hospital. The vision of the organization is to add years of healthy life to the people of Singapore. This vision is common to other health care organizations. This vision statement was able to capture the overall purpose of the organization. Vision statements of healthcare organizations present hopes for the future (Williamson, 1997). They are goals for the long-term and are based on general goals which the organization seeks to gradually obtain through the implementation of more specific objectives. This vision presents what the organization seeks to become as it now seeks to fulfil its mission. In the case of the hospital, it presents its larger goal and realization through its vision of seeking a longer life for the people of Singapore. It is also an inspirational and challenging statement. It presents a lofty and seemingly unobtainable goal, and it cannot stand alone without a more specific set of goals. The mission statements for the organization are closely linked to the organizationâ⠂¬â„¢s vision. The mission statement for the organization is more specific in attaining and reaching the organization’s end goal. It specifies its nature as an organization – that of building tradition; reaching out to the community; doing best to serve, care and heal; and of aiming for excellence in cost effective healthcare education and research. Mission statements for the organization are laid out in order to specify the products and services offered by the organization (Swayne, Ginter, & Duncan, 2006). Some hospitals and

Strategies for Patient Safety in Drug Administration

Strategies for Patient Safety in Drug Administration This essay will focus on the aspect of nurses providing quality care in relation to patient safety within the nursing context of safe practice of drug administration. It will further discuss the underlying risk factors that are related to drug administration error and also discuss how to maintain a good practice to ensure patient safety. Robert et al cited in the National Nursing Research Unit (NNRU 2012) that quality care can be defined as when a patient is satisfied with a service or treatment being given by healthcare professionals.To achieve thisresult nurses need support, providing them facilities such as a good workforce and understanding to help improve safe practice (NNRU 2008). As Griffith et al (2003) stated, medication administration is one of the most important duties that are commonly undertaken by nurses which requires official authorized professional mandatory in hospitals or any care settings where care is delivered. These also, are responsible for their own standard of how to care for their patients (NMC 2008). Consequent to this, NMC (2010)standards for pre-registration nursing education emphasise that nurses are expected to work along with patients andcarerswhen administering drugs by means of facilitating information in regards to their treatment so that the patient can choose the right medical treatment. Corben V (2009) recommended that if nurses provide patients with enough information as well as educating them will increase patient trust and courage to take their medications. NMC (2008) further suggested that nurses should work with the five rights of medication administration in delivering care in clinical settings. This involves; the specify patient, the right drug, route, time and dose thus preventing drug administration error. However, Elliot Liu (2010), emphasise on nine rights including right documentation, action, form and response of drug management to maximise safe drug administration. National Patient Safety Agency (2004) defines patient safety as an event that accidentally may cause damage or does not damage patients in clinical settings where care is delivered. Consequently, these nine rights are there to guide nurses, failure to do so may not onlyprotect the patient from harm thus could also lead to legal action against the registered nurse (Schelbred Nord 2007). This means the nurse is known to be competent in carrying  out such task (NNRU 2012). This can also cause the National Health Service (NHS) a huge amount of expenses (NPSA 2007). According to NPSA (2011a) in Tingle J (2011a) indicate that 11% of medication errors in hospital were reported including patients’ falls and trips. However, the rise of incidents reported does not mean that patients’ safety is at high risk. Nonetheless, this is to bring awareness for nurses to provide a good quality care. Therefore, the nurse should show concern in patient safety (NPSA 2011c cited in Tingle J). Elliot Liu (2010) highlighted that nurses are required to administer drugs to the right patient as prescribed. This involves verifying the patient’s name alongside by asking him or her to state their names, date of birth and hospital identity number on the wristband as well as drug chart which shows a safe practice. Nonetheless, calling patients’ by their name may not confirm the patient identity as some patient with cognitive impairment or having language barrier might respond with no doubt (Bunker Kowalski 2008). However, Elliot Liu (2010) cited that in some clinical environments, not all patients such as mental health and service userin nursing homes carry wristbands with the hospital identity number, as they may not be capableof identifyingthemselves individually. Therefore, Lynn P (2011) also argues that in general, the ideal method is that nurses should be checking patients’ wristband to identify their name. Nevertheless, Shulmeister L (2008)pointsout that nurses working under stress due to heavy work-load could lead to not verifying patients’ identity beforegiving medication as required. Although this does not justify for a staff nurse not to follow the guideline of patient safety (Gould 2009). Additionally, nurses are expected to give the right drug to the patient as being prescribed. In a situation where the nurse is in doubt or not familiar with the prescribe drug, the nurse administering medication should use the British National Formulary as a guide (Dimond 2003).Williams D.J.P (2007) cited that an error in drugadministering could occur when a patient is prescribed the wrong drug without understanding the patient’s medical status. Benjamin D (2003) emphasised that nurses should assess patients’ knowledge of any allergies from the right drug being prescribed.Where there is a good quality of safe drugadministration, staff administering drug are expected to do so. If an allergy is identified, it is thenurse’sduty to document it and address it to the prescriber. Although Elliot Liu (2010) cited that sometimes for the patient’s best interest, they are given medication in spite of any sensitive reaction that the patient may have experienced due to the benefits of administering the right drug is more than the allergy experience. As a result the nurse administering should take this into account. In addition to this, an effective team work within the multidisciplinary is essential as this contributes to patient safety (Miller et al 2001). Consequently, registered nurses inform the prescriber immediately when a patient surfers a possible reaction from the drug given and documented. Thus this prevents patient from danger which may have been caused by the medication given NMC (2008). Elliot Liu (2010) furthermore highlighted that safe drug administration does not only involve giving the right medication to a patient but also it is the duty of a nurse to observe if the patient is responding well to the drug given. Consequent to this, the nurse will have to assess the patient’s effectiveness of certain drugs being administered like anticoagulants; anti-arrhythmics and insulin which are so potential that the patient’s blood glucose level, pulse rate, respiratory or urine output will need to be checked. Wright K (2009) state that for nurses to administer medication to patients it involves knowledge in drug calculation as this will help the nurse to give the right drug dosage to patients. NMC (2008) further highlighted that even though nurses may find some drug calculations very tricky to solve, as a result to maintain a good nursing practice it is the duty for another member of registered professional nurse to verify the drug calculations autonomously to reduce possible errors in drug volume or quantity. Armitage Knapham (2003) in Agyemang R.E.O WhileA (2010) argue that, most common drug incidents in hospitals is that a number of senior nurses in clinical settings sometimes do not follow drug preparation guidelines to ensure that drug prepared by another memberofstaff is accurate or not due to the hierarchy that the senior nurse may have overajunior staff. According to Tang et al (2007) research has shown that more than a thirdof theerror in drug administration to patients is due to wrong dose. Williams D.J.P (2007 highlighted that approximately 5% of drug doses given to patient in hospital were caused by medication error even though it was not the intention of the prescriber. Elliot Liu (2010) highlighted that sometimes administering wrong drug to a patient may take place if a prescriber does not prescribe the correct unit such as mg (milligram) in its place for mcg (microgram). Therefore, nurses are accountable to ensure patients’ safety and that they should be able to interpret patient’s drug chart cautiously.Therefore to prevent wrong drug calculation the nurse must make every effort to give the correct dose (Elliot Liu 2010). A safe medication administration can improve patient safety if nurses administer drug on the correct route as indicated by the prescriber. This action is a must to nurses and where the right route is not identified on the prescription, the nurse understands that the drug should not be administered but reported to the prescriber (Jones 2010). According to NPSA (2007) approximately 2.1% of drug administration errors from clinical settings were accounted for drug given mistakenly via the wrong route. King’s College Medication administration policy (2010) further recommended nurses to perform safe medication administration; therefore, it is not acceptable for nurses to prepare at the same point in time drugs such as oral, intravenous and intramuscular as this can cause giving drugs to patients on the wrong route. For example, this safe practice was well recognised during my clinical placement. Registered nurses were administering medication according to the NMC (2008) Standard for Medicines Management as well as Kings College Hospital Medication policies which involve the nine rights. Even though sometimes nurses had heavy work-load on the ward yet this did not justify an unsafe medication practice. NMC (2008) highlighted that as nurses are accountable for promoting patient wellbeing, also the nurse administering drug shouldbeaware to give patients medications at the right time. By doing so will enhance the effectiveness of the drug being prescribed for the patient. On the other hand, in some institutions drugs administrations are sometimes given in between half an hour before or in a while than the prescribed time dosage (Boundy Stockert 2008). Dean S (2005) in Elliot Liu (2010) mentioned that an investigation carried out in clinical  settings showed 31% of drug administration errors were due to those patients who have been given their drug dose at the wrong prescribe time. Additionally, documentation is another core element of nursing quality of care. Nurses are aware of recording and signing patients’ drug chart including the common drug name (generic), prescribed dosage, time, route and the purpose of the prescribe drugs as emphasised (Woodrow 2007). Also, the nurse is known to document whether if the patient rejects their drug as well as the possibility of not remembering to take the drug. Failing to do so could lead patients to be administered the same drug two times since there is no indication which can show that it has been administered. Therefore, the role of the nurse is to maintain an accurate record keeping maximising safe drug administration topatients(Woodrow 2007). Gladstone J (1995) in Agyemang R.E.O While A (2010) cited that even though patients are always the victim of drug administration error, nonetheless, nurses committing drug error are psychologically affected of remorse and have less trust or fear in legal action raised against him or her. Nevertheless, nurses recognize that addressing a medication error is a must. Also, reporting an incident may not only protect the nurse’s imagebut prevent another possible error from occurring and can be addressedin the local trust where the nurse is employed (NPSA 2010). Thus nurses by doing this, manifest their sincerity of theirprofessional character (NMC 208). According to Fry Dacey (2007) a survey carried out in the United Kingdom 94% participant of 127 out of 135 highlighted interruptions as a major factor that causes drug administration errors. However, Hitchen L (2008) in Jones SW (2009) stated that a number of NHS trustshave introducedthe use of putting on red sleeveless coat to minimise interruptions during drug rounds. Drug administration has always been an important task in the nursing care with factors contributing to medication error which affects patient safety. Therefore, it is necessary that preventive measures should be taken to minimise drug error in clinical settings. This means nurses must develop their knowledge in medication along with patient’s medical care plan as well as following hospital drug guiding principles (Agyemang While 2010). Although nurses are putting into practice the five or nine rights of medication administration in clinical settings, it is still difficult to achieve good quality of care as drug errors are still occurring in hospitals. Therefore registered nurses should consider patient safety as a major concern in delivering care in clinical settings and to achieve this, the nurse should continue to focus and provide a safe atmosphere when administering drug (Elliot Liu 2010).

Ball Bearings :: essays research papers

The object of ball bearings (and roller bearings) is the substitution of pure rolling motion for plain sliding friction. Ball Bearings rely on the rolling motion of hardened steel balls to absorb loads. This rolling motion produces far less friction than the sliding motion. These steel balls are held in circular rows between an outer and inner ring, which have raceways, or slots, grooved into them to guide the balls. Ball bearings are available in both filling-slot and no filling-slot types. Other types of bearings have developed from these basic designs, like double-row and deep groove bearings, to handle specific application. No filling-slot bearings have a deep uninterrupted raceway, which allows them to carry both high radial loads as well as moderate Thrust loads. Filling-slot bearings have more balls than no filling bearings of comparable size. This gives them a higher radial load capacity, but Thrust loads must be light. Types of Ball bearing systems: Rigid single row ball bearing. - Basic type of bearing widely used. The balls run in comparatively deep grooved tracks, which make the bearing suitable for both radial (journal) load and axial thrust load. The bearing provides location of the shaft in relation to the housing when provided with suitable means of clamping. Rigid single row bearing with filling slots for balls. - This bearing contains more balls than the standard type and can therefore take heavier radial loads but only limited thrust. Rigid double row bearing. - For heavy radial loads and to provide greater rigidity. Requires accurate location if used in conjunction with another bearing. Self-aligning double row bearing. - For applications in which slight deflections cannot be avoided when rotating. Aligning single row bearing. - This bearing will correct initial angular misalignment between shaft and housing but is not designed to accommodate shaft deflection or misalignment when rotating. Angular contact single row bearing. - Gives precise axial location under thrust load. May be used in pairs to accommodate thrust in either direction. Duplex bearing. - Used to take heavy thrust in either direction or some radial load.

Grievance Redress Mechanism in Government

GRIEVANCE REDRESS MECHANISM IN GOVERNMENT GRIEVANCE REDRESS 1. 1Â  Grievance Redress Mechanism is part and parcel of the machinery of any administration. No administration can claim to be accountable, responsive and user-friendly unless it has established an efficient and effective grievance redress mechanism. In fact, the grievance redress mechanism of an organization is the gauge to measure its efficiency and effectiveness as it provides important feedback on the working of the administration. I. (A) STRUCTURE OF GRIEVANCE REDRESS MACHINERY AT APEX LEVEL The grievances of public are received at various points in the Government of India .There are primarily two designated nodal agencies in the Central Government handling these grievances. These agencies are:- (i)Â  Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions (ii)Â  Directorate of Public Grievances, Cabinet Secretariat Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances 2. 1Â  Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances is the nodal agency in respect of policy initiatives on public grievances redress mechanism and citizen centric initiatives.The role of Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances consists primarily to undertake such citizen-centric initiatives in the fields of administration reforms and public grievances in the Government so as to enable the Government machinery to deliver quality public services to the citizen in a hassle-free manner and eliminate the causes of grievance. 2. 2Â  The grievances received by the Department are forwarded to the concerned Ministries/Departments/State Governments/UTs, who are dealing with the substantive function linked with the grievance for redress under intimation to the complainant.The Department ‘takes up’ about 1000 grievances every year depending upon the seriousness of the grievance and follows them regularly till their final disposal. This enables the Department to evaluate the effectiveness of the grievance redress machinery of the concerned government agency. 2. 3Â  On the basis of the grievances received, Department identifies the problem areas in Government which are complaint-prone. These problem areas are then subjected to studies and remedial measures are suggested to the Department/Organisation concerned. Directorate of Public Grievances (DPG) . 1Â  Based on the review of the public grievances redress machinery in Government of India carried out in 1987, the Directorate of Public Grievances was set up in the Cabinet Secretariat with effect from 01. 04. 88. This Directorate was set up initially to look into individual complaints pertaining to four Central Government Departments which were more prone to public complaints. Subsequently, more Departments having larger public interface were added to its purview and presently this Directorate is handling grievances pertaining to 16 Central Government Organisations . . 2Â  The Directorate was envisaged as an appellate body investigating grievances selectively and particularly those where the complainant had failed to get redress at the hands of internal machinery and the hierarchical authorities. Unlike the Department of AR&PG, Directorate of Public Grievances has been empowered to call for the files and officers for discussion to see that grievance handling has been done in a fair, objective and just manner.Wherever the Directorate is satisfied that the grievance has not been dealt in such a manner, it makes suitable recommendations for consideration and adoption by the concerned Ministry/Department which are required to be implemented within a period of one month. 3. 3Â  The empowered and enlightened citizenry of today is far more demanding and the government, therefore, has to develop, evolve and enable itself to meet the evolving demands of the society that it has to serve. The society oday is impatient with the old system of governance which is not coming up to its expectations. To them, a government employee is perceived as insensitive, aloof, corrupt and overall the administrative system as autocratic, opaque and with no work culture 3. 4Â  This requires a paradigm shift in governance to a system where the citizen is in the center and he is consulted at various stages of formulation and implementation of public policy. To achieve this objective, India needs a public service which is capable, innovative and forward looking.The traditional role of civil service which was of administrator, service provider and controller of development activities has to make way for the new roles of facilitator and regulator so as to create best environment and conditions in the country for building a nation of excellence. 3. 5Â  Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances is the nodal agency in Government of India for formulation and implementation of such policies and strategic initiatives so as to enable and equip the government machinery to meet the challenges involved in achieving this objective. . 6Â  Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances is the driving engine of reforms in administration and governance. The Department proposes to introduce and lead Change to establish a public service of quality, efficiency, integrity and effectiveness and modernize the public service. It is the nodal agency in government for facilitating administrative improvements and reengineering of processes across the government. Citizen’s Charter initiative, Public Grievance Policy, Quality Management in Government, e-Governance, Review of Administrative Laws etc.Documentation and Dissemination of Best Practices, Organisation & Methods, Information & Facilitation Counters, Civil Services Reforms are some of the areas under the ambit of Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances. 3. 7Â  Following are the necessary conditions for successful implementation of any reforms ag enda: –Â  Political mandate –Â  Committed and strong executive –Â  Willingness and capability to take on vested interests in the system II. (A) PUBLIC GRIEVANCE REDRESS MECHANISM IN CENTRAL GOVERNMENT MINISTRIES/ DEPARTMENTS/ ORGANISATIONS 4. Â  The Public Grievance Redress Mechanism functions in Government of India on a decentralized basis. The Central Government Ministries/Departments, their attached and subordinate offices and the autonomous bodies dealing with substantive functions as per Allocations of Business Rules, 1961 have their respective grievance redress machinery. An officer of the level of Joint Secretary is required to be designated as Director of Grievances of the Ministry/Department/Organisation. The role and functions of Directors of Grievances are given in Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances O.M. no. 1/PLCY/PG-88(7) dated 01. 03. 1988. This inter alia empowers the Directors of Grievances to call for files/reports an d take decisions or review decisions already taken, in consultation with Secretary/HOD even in those areas which do not fall within his/her domain/charge. 4. 2Â  The functioning of Public Grievance Redress Machineries in various Ministries/Departments/Organisations is regularly reviewed by a Standing Committee of Secretaries under the Chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary with Additional Secretary Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances as member-secretary. . 3Â  With a view to ensure prompt and effective redress to the grievances, a number of instructions have been issued by Department of AR&PG from time to time which, inter alia include:- (a)Â  Observe every Wednesday as a meetingless day in the Central Secretariat Offices when all the officers above a specified level should be available their desks from 1000hrs. to 1300hrs. to receive and hear public grievances. Field level offices having contact with the public have also to declare one day in the week as a meet ingless day. b)Â  Designate a Joint Secretary level officer as Director of Grievances including in autonomous bodies and public sector undertakings. (c)Â  Deal with every grievance in a fair, objective and just manner and issue reasoned speaking reply for every grievance rejected. (d)Â  Analyse public grievances received to help identification of the problem areas in which modifications of policies and procedures could be undertaken with a view to making the delivery of services easier and more expeditious. e)Â  Issue booklets/pamphlets about the schemes/services available to the public indicating the procedure and manner in which these can be availed and the right authority to be contacted for service as also the grievance redress authority. (f)Â  Pick up grievances appearing in newspaper columns which relate to them and take remedial action on them in a time bound manner. Issue rejoinders to newspapers after investigation in cases which are found to be baseless and/or damagin g to the image of the Organisation. g)Â  Strengthen the machinery for redress of public grievance through, strictly observing meetingless day, displaying name designation, room number, telephone number etc. of Director of Grievances at the reception and other convenient places, placing locked complaint box at reception. (h)Â  Set up Staff Grievance Redress Machinery and designate a Staff Grievance Officer. (i)Â  Include the public grievances work and receipt/disposal statistics relating to redress of public grievances in the Annual Action Plan and Annual Administrative Report of the Ministries/Departments. j)Â  Fix time limits for disposal of work relating to public grievances and staff grievances and strictly adhere to them. (k)Â  Acknowledge each grievance petition within three days of receipt, indicating the name, designation and telephone number of the official who is processing the case. The time frame in which a reply will be sent should also be indicated. (l)Â  Constitu te Lok Adalats/Staff Adalats, if not already constituted, and hold them every quarter for quicker disposal of public as well as staff grievances and pensioners’ grievances. m)Â  Constitute a Social Audit Panel or such other machinery, if not already constituted, for examining areas of public interface with a view to recommending essential changes in procedures to make the organization more people-friendly. (n)Â  Establish a single window system at points of public contact, wherever possible to facilitate disposal of applications. (o)Â  Indicating telephone/fax number of the officer whose signature over a communication regarding the decision/reply is to issue to the petitioner. p)Â  Monitoring of grievances in organisations under Ministries/Departments on a monthly basis. (q)Â  Publicising the grievance redress mechanism through the print and electronic media. (r)Â  Review of receipt and disposal of grievances by Secretaries of Ministries/Departments in the weekly meetin gs taken by them. (B) TYPES OF PUBLIC GRIEVANCES 5. 1Â  An analysis of grievances received in Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances and Directorate of Public Grievances has revealed that the majority of grievances related to inordinate delay in aking decisions, extending from several months to several years and refusal/inability to make speaking replies/disclose basic information to the petitioners to enable them to examine whether their cases have been correctly decided. It is observed that, had the concerned organizations expeditiously and appropriately dealt with the grievances in the first instance, the complainants would not have approached Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances/Directorate of Public Grievances. (C) SYSTEMIC PROBLEM AREAS 6. Â  There are rules, regulations, instructions which are archaic and aimed at shifting the work towards citizens. Slackness in administration, low morale of the services, inherent inertia, absence of in centives, lack of proper authority and accountability are the delay-breeders and the delay is the major factor that generates the grievances. These factors need to be tackled properly through systematic changes. Prevention is better than cure. On these lines, the best method to redress a grievance is not to allow the grievance to arise at the first instance.Even the redress of a grievance, that arose on account of delay, is also delayed as is revealed by the analysis of grievances according to which on a average six months are taken to redress a grievance. 6. 2Â  Many a times Departments/Organisations are found to avoid taking appropriate decisions by resorting to rejection without application of mind, not taking appropriate interest in functioning of subsidiary offices/linked autonomous organizations, and emphasize on disposal and not on the quality disposal.Decisions taken earlier are reiterated without subjecting the cases of independent examination. There is an inertia to revie w decisions taken by down-the-line functionaries. In many cases Departments/Organisations justify the delay and continue with their inability to take decisions by putting the onus on another agency or on the petitioner. Many a times, the actual cause of grievance lay in internal inefficiency of the system and failure to identify simple systemic solutions. It is also observed that the time norms set by Departments for providing services were not being adhered to in many cases. . 3Â  There is no doubt that grievances continue to arise because of a high systemic tolerance for delay, poor work quality and non-accountability in every day performance of functions. Failure to review archaic, redundant and incongruous rules, policies and procedures and to initiate simple, workable systemic changes is another cause for grievance generation. However, Departments and Organisations, which work with policies and procedures on a day-to-day basis, do not appear to have developed the ability to co ntinually look ‘within’ and identify deficiencies.All these factors have ensured that grievances, once arisen, many a time do not get resolved in ‘normal’ course and need intervention at the highest administrative level. 6. 4Â  Slackness in efficient functioning of ‘Directors of Grievances’ is identified as one of the prime cause for continuing delay in redress of grievances. Poor work quality, non-accountability in everyday performance of functions and failure to systemically review policies/procedures and suggest systemic changes are other important causes.In most Ministries, Departments and Organisations, the mechanism of Director of Grievances is not functioning as per the mandate prescribed. (D) Focus Areas 7. 1Â  In this context, it is the need of the time that the Government should review its pledge of providing hassle-free public services to the citizens by focusing on systemic changes to minimize the grievances in Government domain. In order to achieve this objective in a focused manner, it is necessary to evolve a multi-pronged strategy to be implemented in a time-bound and effective manner.Keeping in view the various factors involved in grievance redress issue, following areas need focused attention : 7. 2 Performance Review – Foreseeing areas of dissatisfaction (a)Â  To review processes, functions etc. in the organization and to cast them pro-actively in a manner that would foresee areas of dissatisfaction, identify activities where transparency, equity, prudence and propriety are compromised, interventions that can help achieve better outcomes, improve satisfaction of internal and external stakeholders. b)Â  An annual review of laws, rules, regulations, instructions and procedures be carried out with a view to simplify the procedure making the administration more transparent, accountable and citizen-friendly. Information Technology should be employed in re-engineering of governmental processes in o rder to improve efficiency and effectiveness and ensuring transparency and accountability. 7. 3 Identification of Grievance Prone Areas and Analysis (a)Â  Identify areas susceptible to corruption and/or grievance generation and conduct work audit of such areas.In addition, consider external/social audit in areas of very high public interface, with the aim of identifying wrong doers and improving processes and systems. Involve NGOs in the exercise. (b)Â  Analyse the nature and causes of grievances with the aim of identifying systemic deficiencies in laws, rules, regulations, policies, instructions, work practices and procedures, and effecting systemic changes to remove/correct these deficiencies. The Directors of Grievances be the nodal officers for such purpose. The analysis should be conducted in the month of April every year and studies of identified grievance prone areas be undertaken.Recommendations made in the studies should be implemented by December of that year so as to br ing systemic changes and remove the Causes of grievances. (c)Â  Fix responsibility in each and every case of delay, default or dereliction in performance of every day duties on failure to deliver services, and take disciplinary action to avoid recurrence. This will send a clear signal that in the event of failure to perform duties or deal appropriately with grievances within the time frame norms prescribed, a real possibility of having responsibility fixed on one’s shoulder exists.Consider the feasibility of prescribing specific penalty clauses in such cases. 7. 4 Citizen’s Charter Formulation and effective implementation of Citizen’s Charters, which should, inter-alia, include disclosure of time norms for providing various services to the citizens/clients and details of all levels of grievance redress machinery that may be approached. 7. 5 Information & Facilitation Counters (IFC) Setting up and effective operationalisation of IFC’s civic society may be involved in the functioning of IFCs to make them citizen- friendly and effective. 7. 6 On Line Registration of GrievancesMake ‘Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System’ (PGRAMS) software, operational with every Director of Grievances. This shall enable the Director of Grievances to immediately place the details of grievances received in a database (efficient ‘dak’ management) as well as record the fact whether he intends to monitor its progress, identify the section/division where it is being sent, etc. , generate the time taken in dealing with the grievance, enable review of pending grievances in the organisation or across the organisations, generate acknowledgements to complainants, conduct analysis etc.The system should also have the facility of on-line registration of grievances by the citizens and access to information on the status of his/her grievances. 7. 7 Prompt and Effective Redress of Grievances (a)Â  ll grievances should be necessarily acknowledged, with an interim reply within 3 days of receipt and redressed within 3 months of receipt in the Organisation. The same time limit should apply even if co-ordination with subsidiary offices or another Department/Organisation is involved. In such instances special efforts, to be suo moto disclosed when reports are called, should be made. b)Â  No grievance is to be rejected without having been independently examined. At a minimum, this means that an officer superior, to the one who delayed taking the original decision or took the original decision that is cause for grievance, should actually examine the case as well as the reply, intended to be sent to the grievance holder. (c)Â  Make the ‘Director of Grievances’ effective through the following inter-related steps: (i)Â  Secretaries/Organisational Heads ensuring that Directors of Grievances are fully ‘empowered’ in accordance with instructions to perform their role. ii)Â  All grievance represe ntations received in the Department/Organisation, either by mail, fax, e-mail to be invariably routed through Director of Grievances before they go to concerned sections/divisions. At this stage, Office of the Director of Grievances shall go through the representations and come to a prima-facie view regarding the gravity of the matter involved and decide whether it shall monitor the case or allow down-the-line functionaries to independently deal with it.Directors of Grievances should monitor and follow up at least 3 to 5 percent of grievances received to enable them to assess the efficacy of grievance redress mechanism. (iii)Â  Fix responsibility in each case of delay, default and dereliction of duty, identified by Director of Grievances, and take appropriate action against concerned personnel. In addition, consider feasibility of prescribing specific penalty clauses for such failures. 7. 8 Review and Monitoring of Grievance Redress MechanismEnsure meaningful review of the performa nce of grievance redress machinery of the Ministry/Organisation as well as that of attached/ subordinate organization by Secretary/ Head of the Department on a monthly basis. Review should also cover action against defaulters. III. ROLE OF REGULATORS, OMBUDSMAN AND LIKE BODIES 8. 1Â  An explosive issue today in context of public grievance redress is the pace and phasing of the movement towards open markets after the gradual abandonment of centralized planning model.The Government is today withdrawing from various service sectors traditionally monopolosized by it and private enterprise is moving in. This may lead to a scenario where the Government monopolies are replaced by even more vicious private monopolies or cartels in the absence of adequate regulation, enforcement and recourse to grievance redress. 8. 2Â  This has significant implications for the role of Government. The Government can not just abandon the interests of citizens to be taken care of by the market forces in area s of service delivery covered by the private sector.In the open market scenario, it is often the major stakeholders and players which define the cost, quality and mechanism etc. of service delivery. 8. 3Â  The Government therefore needs to put in place appropriate mechanisms in the regulatory authorities, ombudsmen and like bodies in such sectors so that the concerns of individual citizens are also accorded equal importance and weightage and are appropriately and effectively addressed. They should safeguard the interests of the common citizens and ensure that the grievances of the citizens are attended to promptly and effectively.

Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive Dissonance Cognitive dissonance is having a thought, idea, attitude, or belief that seems to be out of tune. Cognitive dissonance tends to result in different ways based on the situation that it occurs in. If a person is forced to say an opinion that differs from their own, they experience an out of tune feeling. In Roger Hock’s book â€Å"Forty Studies that Changed Psychology,† he recognizes the study of cognitive dissonance performed by Leon Festinger. In â€Å"Thoughts Out of Tune,† the article specifically explaining Festinger’s study, Hock goes further into detail.He explains that if we are forced to state an opposed view, while preparing for it, we tend to believe it along with out own. This creates confusing, stress, and dissonance. Festinger’s study explains why and when people may or may not feel cognitive dissonance. Festinger proposed whatever you state publicly, will be a reflection of your personal views. If any person must sp eak publicly for any reason that goes against their own private belief, they will definitely feel uncomfortable. However, when offered a reward, the comfort levels can change.If someone offers the speaker a large reward, the speaker will feel more comfort in changing their attitude about the ideas or beliefs being said, even when they don’t believe them. If someone offers the speaker a small reward, the speaker will feel more discomfort because they do not feel there was justification in what they are being rewarded and will have more of a negative attitude than those being greater rewarded. Festinger performed his experiment on a control group, group A, and group B. Each group contained twenty participants. Group A was the group given one dollar to perform the experiment.Group B was given twenty dollars to perform the experiment. All group were interviewed after the performing ‘the experiment,’ which was to empty and refill a tray of 12 spools for 30 minutes and to turn 48 square pegs a quarter of a turn clockwise for 30 minutes. This was done in order to bore the participants and create negative feelings about what they had to do. Afterwards they were asked to fabricate their feelings toward the experiment to another group waiting outside. Group A was given one dollar. Group B was given twenty dollars. The control group was given no money and was able to be interviewed after performing the tasks.Group A and group B were told after speaking their opposed opinions that the experiment was fun and exciting, they were able to be interviewed and leave. The interview questioned their true beliefs on how they felt toward ‘the experiment. ’ They were asked to rate the experiments on a scale that offered the questions: whether the tasks were interesting and enjoyable, how much the person learned about their ability to perform the tasks given, whether they believed the experiment and tasks were measuring any importance or not, and if th ey had any desire to participate in another experiment similar to the one performed.In the findings, the control group had extremely negative ratings on the questions asked. Festinger concluded that when demanded to realize the differences among personal views and attitudes, we would tend to feel cognitive dissonance. This can encourage us to bring change to these views or attitudes to enforce them to become harmonious and agreeable with each other. This will continuously create changing attitudes whether they are big or small. The change will depend on the justification for the behavior.Festinger’s conclusions had shown to support his hypothesis. David Matz and Wendy Wood performed an experiment similar to Festinger’s study. Matz and Wood did a study on cognitive dissonance in groups and the consequences of disagreement. In the first of several experiments done, they tested ‘the nature of arousal induced by attitude heterogeneity in groups. ’ This determi nes if attitude likeness in groups could be related to dissonance. In the study, people were placed into groups. These groups were given one of three possible situations.These situations included what would occur after taking a survey. The groups would either discuss what they decided for a major issue, discuss their decisions and try to come to a consensus, and the last group would not discuss anything about the survey at all. The participants that were educated about the study acted as though they had a particular opinion. After the discussion, the participants, of the decision-making group, filled out a questionnaire about the responses and ease of agreeing for a consensus.The results were that the group having to reach a consensus found it easy and were motivated when the group was able to agree as opposed to when the group disagreed. The participants admitted to feeling anxiety and discomfort when having a disagreement with the group. This relates to Festinger’s study be cause they both relate to feeling uncomfortable. Although Festinger’s experiment was concentrated on a self and not a group, they both explain how different situations can cause discomfort and negative feelings.Festinger explains how someone not expressing their true feelings for any reason will undergo the feelings of cognitive dissonance. Matz and Wood are explaining the same thing but showing how people can understand cognitive dissonance by holding their opinions and not expressing themselves in fear of going against a group. The disagreement creates negative feelings causing the participant to feel out of place or out of tune. These experiments teach us that not expressing how we feel for any reason whether it’s being paid, persuaded, in fearfulness, we will tend to feel negative emotions.Disagreement will always cause discomfort in turn causing cognitive dissonance. References Chen, M. K. , & Risen, J. L. (2010). How choice affects and reflects preferences: revis iting the free-choice paradigm. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99(4), 573-594. doi: 10. 1037/a0020217 Festinger, L. , & Carlsmith, J. M. (1959). Cognitive consequences of forced compliance. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 58, 203-210. Hock, R. R. (2008). Forty studies that changed psychology: explorations into the history of psychological research (6th ed. ).Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Matz, D. C. , & Wood, W. (2005). Cognitive dissonance in groups: the consequences of disagreement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88(1), 22-37. doi: 10. 1037/0022-3514. 88. 1. 22 Newby-Clark, I. R. , McGregor, I. , & Zanna, M. P. (2002). Thinking and caring about cognitive inconsistency: when and for whom does attitudinal ambivalence feel uncomfortable? Journal of Peronality and Social Psychology, 82(2), 157-166. doi: 10. 1037/0022-3514. 82. 2. 157 Norton, M. I. , Monin, B. , Cooper, J. , & Hogg, M.A. (2003). Vicarious dissonance: Attitude ch ange from inconsistency of others. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(1), 47-62. doi: 10. 1037/0022-3514. 85. 1. 47 Push, S. D. , Groth, M. , & Hennig-Thurau, T. (2011) Willing and able to fake emotions: A closer examination of the link between emotional dissonance and employee well-being. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96(2), 377-390. doi: 10. 1037/a0021395 Rosenberg, M. J. (1960). Attitude organization and change: An analysis of consistency among attitude components. New Haven: Yale University Press.