Man Is His Own Worst Enemy Essay

Right from the beginning, Man rules supreme over all other life forms. He establishes himself at the top of the food chain, he goes through painstaking experiments to lit up the darkness that comes at night and through decades of scientific progression he is able to pit himself against the unpredictable weather changes. Thus he is able to place himself parallel to cosmic significance. He then proceeds to defeat the onslaught of diseases and the invisible enemies known to us as bacteria and viruses and conquers geographical hurdles. Man sustains his own survival in ways no other life forms can. The sophisticated ways in which Man maintains his existence remain uncontested by any other life forms.  Clearly, humans set themselves apart from the other species because the human body is gifted with impeccable intellectual abilities. At a glance at all the achievements man had single handedly accomplished over the time, one must think what mortal hand or eye could challenge man for his po sition. But one may want to think again. No animals would inflict pain on another of their own kind, or even other kinds, for reasons other than self-defence and food. Yet the intelligent Man would. History of mankind illustrates man’s propensity to achieve his personal greed and glory at the expanse of another of kind. This aspect of Man remains uncontested too. I opened my mail box one morning and received a copy of The Economist. The front cover reads â€Å"A heart-rending but necessary war†. It is rather amazing how man can associate war with the term ‘necessary’. The article speaks of the retaliation of United States against the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001. After the two great wars that threatened to annihilate the entire tapestry of humanity in the twentieth century, Man still has not learned. Man has ironically progressed from an uncivilised state to now where killing each other has become a necessity. Dropping bombs and food supplies at the same time is evidence of the disillusionment that man brings upon himself. The anti-terrorist war in Afghanistan comprises a series of bomb attacks targeted on terrorists’ camps. At the same time food supplies are also being dropped on similar grounds, targeted on innocent civilians. Surely by supplying food to the civilians man must have contemplated initially the repercussions that would follow if a war should begin? Perhaps we should applaud that man has finally found ‘civilised’ way waging a war? Or does it  reinforce that the greatest tragedy lies in the fact that man is aware of the consequences of his own action and still continues with it? War could only mean one thing; civilians from both sides die, guilty and non-guilty alike. Man is torn between what is essentially right and wrong. He chooses to kill some and save some. At the end of the day he realises that it doesn’t have to be that way at all if he had kept to what is essentially necessary, that is peace. But no, man would not hear of that now. He would want to venture into something he does not know and learn things the hard way, bringing down with him innocent lives and p recious natural resources vital for future consumption. Man has now to face the unbeatable monster in him. Consider the nuclear and biochemical weapons that man has invented. Is this another folly of the fallen man? That, we are not sure just as yet but we know nuclear weapons are not built because they happen to be another high-tech devices set in trend. It is because the existence if nuclear weapons also comes with it a newfound power for the owner. A power to kill and to control. Finally, man has found the ultimate killing means that promises high death rates and effective elimination of any party that get in his way with great ease. But the underlying nuances for such creation is scarier, the insinuation that man would destroy each other at some point in time willingly, without actual consideration for the consequences of it. This is quite ironic for man who wielded such supreme intellect, to not to consider his actions. Or is it that Man just does not care? Examine the case of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where the first atomic bombs were dropped and killed more than the actual numbers at that time. The ghost of the event still haunts many today psychologically and physically. The bombs that US are dropping on Afghanistan’s territories are supposed to explode upon reaching the ground but many did not. These bomblets would then maim and kill many like landmines long after the war has ended. Man has set out to kill themselves after centuries of trying to survive? The numbers killed in relative to proportion is explicitly high and man still could not explain himself. World War II saw the physical manifestation of evil in man. Over six million  Jews were expeditiously eradicated for good from the face of the earth. Consider the methodical and efficient ways the Jews are killed tells of man who would inflict torture and pain on another fellow human being maliciously and intentionally for basically no reason at all. Even if the whole war boils down to the one sole lunatic proprietor, Hitler, it gives no reason for the rest below him to carry out such senseless killings simply because it was an order. It still astounds many that such acts that cause such revulsion now did not seem so to the culprits at that time. Man is such complicated creature that his existence is full of conflicts within himself. To defeat your enemy must mean that you understand him, but man is now faced with an enemy that he could not at all comprehend despite the natural intellect ordained from above. A famous philosopher once said that the greed in man sows the seeds of deceit and eventually downfall of the man himself. Adam Smith’s theory of the laissez faire, to put it nicely, is the liberal allowances for man to exploit the resources for his own satisfaction. Karl Marx opposes that theory and put it simply that such freedom of actions in economy would eventually allow the greed of man to multiply itself until it could not contain itself, thus the outburst of despair would mark the end of humanity. In Singapore, we are faced with the worst recession since the 1960s and approximately 30000 to 40000 people are out of job. In the US, more than 400 000 people are laid off in two months and numbers are still expected to rise. What we are seeing here is that the players in the economy have played against themselves. During these times, those who had hands in the stocks investments find themselves literally with nothing. The ‘Notices’ section in the newspapers sees an increase in the number of bankruptcies. Participants in the race for property ownerships in Singapore, particularly during the mid 1990s experienced an exponential plunge in property prices and landed themselves in unending debts. Greed for purchasing power tempted many to subscribe to more than one credit card and now find themselves not able to keep afloat in the interests that tantamount to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Many do not realise their own folly until they fall flat in their faces. Hence the greed, miscalculation and speculative spirit  becomes what responsible for the downfall of man. In daily ventures, individuals often find themselves entangled in webs of deceit, lies, manipulation, jealousy and spite. Many times, Man is the cause of failed relationships and careers. Over-indulgence and yielding to temptations, it seems like Man’s nature works like the double-edged sword. It could build or destroy oneself. Life progresses from one of blissful existence to one of struggle. In every man lies the green-eyed monster, the inextinguishable greed and within these also is the struggle of conscience. Thus is the nature of man who has become so intricate and practically unfathomable. Until man could finally understand himself, what he wants and what is essentially necessary in life, he remains his own worst enemy.

 The Great Gatsby Essay

What are personal desires? How do we make the decision to decide between our desires and choosing to conform? When making a decision between desires and conforming it is a difficult choice that we all face in our lives. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzerald it demonstrates the difficult conflict between what we want and conforming. When we have personal desires it can be difficult to conform. The first way in which Fitzgerald shows the idea of the choice between our desires and conforming is through The Valley of the Ashes.The Valley of the Ashes is a place created by the dumping of industrial ashes where people of a lower class live and work these people who live there have a desire to live â€Å"The American Dream†. The people in the valley have to chose to either pursue their dream or to conform to the lifestyle. It is a difficult choice to decide to pursue the desire to live a different life style so many choose to conform to the lifestyle that they are livin g in. The second way in which Fitzgerald shows the idea of the choice between our desires and conforming is through the green light.The green light is at the end of Daisy Buchanan's dock and it represents Gatsby's love for her. Gatsby has a desire to be with Daisy. Gatsby has the choice between his love for Daisy and conforming to the social norms and accepting that Daisy is now married. The choice between love and conforming to what society sees as right is a difficult choice for Gatsby. When we have personal desires it can be difficult to conform. This idea is present in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald through the symbols of The Valley of the Ashes and the green light at the end of the Buchanan's dock.

Analysis of semco and pixar animated studio as an example of innovative organizations

Companies like Semco, Gore and Associate, 3M and Pixar have made a reputation for themselves due to their emphasis on creativity. Innovation is a product of collaborative learning, idea generation, sharing and idea realization practices of workers in an organization (Dovey, 2009, p.311). For innovation to occur an organisation must foster an environment and culture that give room for creativity which is what Semco and Pixar have achieved. To this end, this report will analyse Semco and Pixar as an exemplar of innovative companies and the relationship that exist between them using some key theories of innovation and the defining features and managerial actions that set them apart as innovative organisations. SEMCO Semco is a loose organisation that encourages innovation and self organisation leading to trust, collaboration and cooperation. Semco was a small family engineering company originally called Semler and Company established in 1952 in Sao Paulo, Brazil by Antonio Curt Semler and renamed Semco after Ricardo Semler, the 24 year old son of the owner resumed office as the new chief executive officer in 1984, firing more than half of the top managers on his first day of resuming office as chief executive officer and eliminated all secretarial positions (CNN, 2004). The company prior to Ricardo taking over was characterised with autocratic style of management with control and rules being the order of the day and operating at the edge of collapse. Ricardo Semler favours a participating style of management, profit sharing and free flow of information. The company product range includes dishwashers, pumps, mixers, cooling units for air condition, biscuits factories among others (Semler 1999, p. 1). It is one of the most innovative companies in the world and has become the subject of study for most business schools all around the world due to its peculiar management style. There is no organisation structure that feeds managers ego, subordinates choose their own bosses, employees set their salaries, production targets and achieve them at their own time, and are encouraged to participate, share ideas and also share in the profit (Semler 1999, pp.1-7, 130 131). PIXAR Pixar animated studio was established in 1986 after Steve Jobs purchased the computer graphics division of Lucas films for $10 million with Ed Catmull being named co-founder and Chief technical officer, Smith as vice president alongside Steve Jobs (Price, 2008, p.74 85-197). In 2001, Ed Catmull was named Pixar’s president. The company originally manufactures and sell hardware and software that enable computer graphics to develop animations. In 1987, the company began the making of short films with its first computer generated movie, Toy Story being released in 1995. The company which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Walt Disney acquired 2006 at $7.4 billion and located in Emeryville, California (Paik, 2007). The acquisition will help Pixar gain economies of scale and access to new technologies. Pixar has a range of films under its belt that has surpassed box office expectations from Rango, Hop, Toy Story 3, finding Nemo, the incredible and many others (Emerald Group Review, 2 011). Its target audience cuts across all ages and nationalities and include families and children and its product range include short films in DVDs, soundtrack CDs, animated films among others (Price, 2008, pp.3-7). It fosters an environment that gives room for mistakes and encourages collaborations among teams and departments and devoid of micro management by executives to ensure creativity and innovation (YouTube-imperial college, 2009). THEORIES OF INNOVATION USING EVIDENCE FROM SEMCO AND PIXAR What makes Ricardo Semler and Ed Catmull exceptional in the way they run their companiesCould it be that they were born to innovation, an act of God, divine intervention, grace, or years of experience and acquisition of knowledge and educationAnalysts and business tycoons have called these men genius. Some critics of Semler and Pixar would have called the transformation at these companies as a gift from the gods. However, it is worthy of note that Semco was a company already in operation prior to Ricardo taking over and Pixar had several failed attempts before its major breakthrough in 1995 with Toy Story. Emerald group, 2011 quoted Ed Catmull in Harvard Business Review ‘I don’t think our success is largely luck. Rather, I believe our adherence to a set of principles and practices for managing creative talent and risk is responsible.’ Was grace far from the transformation in these companiesRicardo was one of the youngest graduates at Harvard Business School who wo uld have learnt some of the traditional management theories in school but choose to manage in a uniquely different way that suite his life and believes suite those of his employees. Moreover, having had an encounter with a doctor who told him to change his work style, he decided to change his way of management, a factor that has led to the key changes at Semco today. Thus innovation at Semco may be a combination of association having graduated from Harvard, accident-a chance meeting with the doctor, personality-considering that while at high school he raised some money for the school vacation program which he reinvested to yield a return before the vacation, feature of life and a bit of cognitive considering the fact that innovation at Semco had evolved over time. It is far from being grace or act of gods. Several forms of innovation can be said to have taken placed at these organisations. They are: Organisational innovation: An organisational innovation is one that entails the implementation of a new organisational method in the firm’s business practices, workplace or external relations (Stoneman, 2010, p.17; OECD, 2006). It is often intended to increase a company’s performance through improvement in workplace satisfaction and labour productivity and access to knowledge. It entails an adoption of an organisational method such as flatter organisation structures, employees’ participation among others that have not being used before in an organisation and often results from strategic decisions taken by management (Stoneman, 2010, p.18). Semco and Pixar posses a great deal of organisational innovation. Semco had implemented theories that have never being tried before such as the satellites programs that allow ex-employees to open their own companies with financial help and resources and become partners with Semco and employees cutting their wages by 30% to Semc o at difficult times to get a higher returns when trading conditions get better. What drive such innovation are the organisational culture, structure and learning. Social innovation: This is the innovation that supports and it is beneficial to the society. Pixar is an example of such innovation whose films though animated have a lot of influence on the society both young and small. Its latest film, hop for instance gives social lessons about the role of adult and children in society. Semco has also contributed to the Brazilian society through employment and a reduction in job cuts. Traditional innovation: This is technological innovation and is measured in different ways such as through patents, expenditure and development among others. Semco and Pixar have shown a lot of innovation and creativity in technology with Pixar having a lot of patents. All these types of innovation create social capital which will be discussed later in this report. FEATURES OF INNOVATIVE ORGANISATIONS OR MANAGEMENT ACTIONS SEMCO and Pixar’s success is built on a lattice or flatter organisational structure devoid of control culture that has gone through series of transformation through the years which has enhanced their innovative ability. An organisational culture devoid of control fosters innovation as individuals are giving the freedom to self organise and make their own decisions just like Semco where employees set their salaries and take decisions on production targets and the time they meet such targets (Semler, 1999, p.1). These companies have been able to manage innovation in the following ways: Structure and culture: Organisational design is crucial to the continuous innovation of an enterprise. As the business environment becomes complex and uncertain, so is the organisational design changing to meet up with customers’ demands for value maximising products. Traditional management scientists like Max Weber emphasised formal structure which is a top-down approach characterised with command, control, rules, position power and neglect social and psychological influences on behaviours of employees and teams (Burnes 2000, p.45). Employees are likely to respond to a good leader who they trust and respect than being managed in a bureaucratic way as argued by Adair 1986:54. Semco operates a lattice structure and considers all workers as equal and has reduced bureaucracy from twelve layers of management to three (Semler 1999, p.7). Reduced hierarchies and high involvement will lead to faster decision making and idea generation and information sharing, leading to innovation. F ormal organisational structure stifles individual creativity. In the words of Semler, authoritarianism diminishes productivity and as such no privileges or rules that discourages flexibility (Semler, 1999, p. 4). At Semco, People are made to enjoy their job and feel good about themselves, not just to survive. Business strategy in the company is determined without interference from the top. Similarly, Pixar is free from the thick layers of formal management and executives are not involved in the day to day running of the organisation. All employees are equally important and all work together for the success of a story. Both companies are devoid of micro-management which ensures creativity and innovation. To have these kind of organisations require a conducive organisational culture that is devoid of control. In the words of Ed Catmull, ‘Management really doesn’t tell people what to do.’ Thus both companies give employees freedom to take risk and there is reflecti on, learning and feedback. However , not everyone can work in an environment with such a structure as some people like being told what to do, also, people wants to know what their responsibilities are and who they are report to while others do not like responsibility. It means that such environment will attract liked minded individuals. Trust and Freedom: Due to the flexible organisational structure and lack of formal reporting structures, employees can be trusted to carry out their roles. However, there is a tendency for employees to abuse the system giving the few reporting structures. Semco has absolute trust in her employees and encourages them to be self managing and governing and have made partners with them. There is so much trust that Semco made entrepreneurs out of its workers through assistance with setting up their own company through its satellite programs, buy from them and encourage them to sell to its competitors. One will assume trust will not be a possibility giving the large number of employees of over 3000. Semco has defiled business school expectations and has gone as far as allowing workers to participate in managerial decision making from deciding how much they get paid, to unlimited access to financial information and freedom to work whenever and wherever they choose and meet targets at their own set time and set their salaries which has resulted in impressive growth, long term loyalty and increase and better productivity. To Semler, his interest is in the final result not where, how and hours worked (Easen, 2004). Freedom drives performance and encourages innovation. Staff can work better if given more independence (Handy, 2004). Semco adopts a participating or democratic management style that create an atmosphere where both bosses and subordinates ( partners and associate) interact regardless of jobs and position and all are involved in decision making (Semler, 1999.pp.6 81). In the words of Semler (1999, p. 6), ‘We don’t have as many bosses as we used to. As workers began to exercise more control over their jobs and assume more voices in our policies, the need for supervisors diminished.’ Having trust in individual will give them a sense of belonging and being wanted and encourage new ideas and sharing of ideas among one another. Semco and Pixar re alised that the most powerful resources at their disposal are the people who make things happen in their organisations and have learnt to trust, believe in them and give them the freedom to express their innovative capabilities and drive production forward. Trust is seen as an outcome of social capital and shared values (Cote and Healy, 2001). However, the problem with freedom is that not everyone like being free. Some people want to be controlled and directed to get their job done. Some see control as a motivator. Moreover, some top managers may resist the need for reduced hierarchies for fear of losing control and power. Social capital and Collaboration: At Semco and Pixar, there is collaboration and teamwork as people work together for common and shared values and not get in each others’ way but are committed to the achievement of the common goal of the company. At Semco, employees participate in managerial decision not just relating to their jobs but the business as a whole. They are included in decisions that pertain to choosing who their boss becomes (Easen, 2004). Before people are hired or promoted to leadership positions, they are interviewed and approved by all who will be working for them, and every six months managers are evaluated by their subordinates. Semco has autonomous business units established by ex- employees who open their own business with help from Semco and have become partners, associate and collaborators and has made Semco a leaner and agile organisation (Semler, 1999 P.7). Also different departments and business units and teams work collectively to drive innovation f orward at Semco and Pixar. Easen, 2004 reported Semler as saying that ‘Growth and profit are a product of how people work together.’ There is a balanced collaboration at Pixar as artist and technologists are paired together. Every offer or idea is accepted and then people get the chance to plus it (Nelsen, 2008). A term Nelsen called ‘plussing’- taking an idea or a piece of work and find a way to add or improve upon it without judging it. At Pixar, collaboration means amplification whereby employees who are listening and interested in each other are joined together to work and bring separate depth to the problems and breadth that gives them interest in the solution as well as allow teams to communicate at different levels. The brain trust at Pixar is a framework or forum that gives an opportunity for some of the best brains to use their expertise and experience to share their understanding and knowledge with others and to get feedback. The Organisation for Economic Development and Cooperation, OECD defines social capital as ‘networks together with shared norms, values and understandings that facilitate cooperation within or among groups’ (ONS, 2001; Cote and Healy, 2001:41). It is the glue that holds organisations together and enables employees to join forces more effectively and pursue shared objectives. In a culture of continual change and uncertainty, sustainable communities are those who are collaborative and always growing with and towards each other in the formation, sharing and adaptation to new knowledge (Smith and Paquette, 2010). Some of the outcomes of social capital are social relations, trust, collaboration, mutually enforceable agreement, general reciprocity and innovation (ONS, 2001). In Semco there is mutually enforceable agreement resulting from profit sharing. In the past, Pixar had used stock to motivate employees and encourage them to stay. Also, the need to produce quality output at Pixar could be a form of mutually enforceable agreement (Price 2008, p. 114). Pay recognition: Motivation such as adequate pay, interpersonal relations and work and group dynamics are some factors that increase productivity and workers satisfaction (Mullins, 2007, p.53). Employees will be committed to work if they are being paid fairly and feel that their contribution is appreciated in the organisation. Semco’s employees set their salaries and share in the profits. As Semler (1999, P. 4) says, ‘Profit-sharing is democratic. We negotiate with our workers over the basic percentage to be distributed- about a quarter of our corporate profit.’ This has worked so well at Semco as there is very low labour turnover and when the need arises, those laid off are assisted to form their own company. Reward systems and benefits retain people and lead to workers’ satisfaction, commitment and loyalty (Chiu et al, 2002). There were times when workers salary proposal were rejected in instances of over- statement. Contrary to this is the argument that financial rewards are not enough to motivate people and that group pressure has more influence on employees than financial rewards (Mullins, 2007, p.301). In addition, people also have intrinsic motivation derives from within the individual which propels them towards the need for self actualisation and fulfilment. Learning and feedback/ Gives room for mistakes/Risk taking: Learning within projects teams depends heavily on the inflow and transfer of knowledgeable among them. Semco and Pixar are learning organisations. Such organisations give room for failure and learning from mistakes and encourage risk taking and have a wide tolerance for new ideas and do not punish mistakes. A learning organisation was defined by Johnson et al (2008) as, ‘One capable of continual regeneration from the variety of knowledge, experience and skills of individuals that encourage mutual questioning and challenge around a shared purpose or vision.’ Semler pointed out that mistake is welcome and a sign that the employee is taking enough risk. Without mistakes, there will not be learning and consequently, innovation will be stifled. Likewise at Pixar, continuous innovation requires that executives resist the natural tendencies to minimise risks and accept uncertainty to ensure originality and ability to r ecover from failures resulting from taking risks. It encourages creativity by allowing people to experiment with new ideas and mistakes genuinely made are treated as part of the learning process Emerald Group review, 2011). Mistake are not punished at Pixar but seen as building block for new ideas and innovation just like 3M. Pixar endorses and encourages a creative by rejecting hierarchical and controlled system, instead the taking of risks and recognizes the importance of serendipity in the creative process (Smith and Paquette, 2010) It has been argued that employees’ collective knowledge exceeds those of the organisation and its capabilities and managers should aim at encouraging processes that unlock employees’ knowledge and encourage information, knowledge and idea sharing which is the sort of environment both companies have created for their employees. As a narrator said, each movies produced by Pixar contains a combination of tens of thousands of ideas arising from risk taking, failure and learning. Ed Catmull said that ‘Innovative people are failure recovered not failure avoider.’ Both companies give room for reflection, learning and feedback. The benefits of learning cannot be over emphasis. Learning increases employees’ commitment, improve quality as mistakes are identified. Senge 1999 reiterated that organisational learning leads to organisational performance. Commitment: At Semco, everyone is committed to the achievement of the organisation’s objectives as they all feel a sense of belonging and part ownership of the company arising partly from the profit sharing. Employees are seen as being importance and valued. A worker in an interview said if an employee is idle, another worker will often ask why he or she is not working, reminding him or her that failure to work will reduce their profits and subsequently reduction in money for their pockets. So there is peer pressure. If employees feel that they are being trusted to take decision on their own and self manage, they will be committed. Semco operates an egalitarian company where there is no preferential treatment. Parking lots are for first come basis and all employees eat on the same canteen. Meetings are held based on the first two employees to be present. This makes employees feel as being a part of the team and big family and give them a sense of being wanted by the company. B y removing privileges of ranks, employees will see themselves as a wider community, thus feel comfortable voicing their opinion, leading to generation of new ideas. Dynamism: Semco is a highly flexible company with no boundaries to the type of business and products, making it difficult to say exactly what kind of business the company is in. There is no fixed business and it is open to any form of business that comes their way. It is also characterised with the absence of business plans and company strategy. In the words of Semler (2003, p.4), ‘ Once you say what business you are in, you create boundaries for you employees, you restrict their thinking and give them a reason to ignore new opportunities as they will say we are not in that business.’ Semco is so dynamic in its operations and processes that employees must not use one desk two days in a row. This is to make them difficult to track and are free to move and work anywhere that appeals to them be it home office. There is time flexibility as they are not concerned about when the employees arrive at work. However, contracts are negotiated on the basis of what to be achieved at a set period and what it stands to gain for paid value and what the employees get in return. It is a mutually enforceable agreement as both parties- employees and Semco benefit. Pixar, though in a core line of business of animated films, it is not to say it is not a dynamic company as different forms of films that benefits both adult and children have being produced over the years. There is effective communication at both companies due to the organisational culture and flatter structure devoid of control. There is information, idea and knowledge sharing. At Pixar, technologists communicate with the artists. SUMARY AND CONCLUSION Semco and Pixar are said to be innovative even though the companies are different in what they do and how they approach innovation. Nevertheless, some common factors in both companies is the delegation of a large amount of control to their employees and absolute freedom to take risk and give room for mistakes and failure, giving them freedom to generate new ideas and thus take a more active role and commitment. Both companies have decentralised the management structures to get employees more involved in decision making and give them a sense of belonging. They have created a culture that gives room for mistakes, failures, sharing of information, and ideas. There is also collaboration between employees, teams, departments, business units and partners, trust, social capital, communication, lack of micro-management and similar organisational culture and structure which encourages innovation. However, both companies differ in a number of ways such as absence of profit sharing at Pixar, la nguages, products, country of location and time scales. Having carried out a detailed analysis of Semco and Pixar, it is possible that what works at these companies can be applicable to other companies. However, some disadvantages will be accrued if these features are applied in another company characterised with hierarchical control culture and structure such as resistance from top management who are control freaks and unwilling to relinquish power. Moreover, not everyone will be able to self manage as some people like being controlled and told what to do. In addition, that trust and freedom work well in these organisations does not mean it can be implemented in other organisations as differences in culture and environment will play a role in determining its effectiveness in another company with different organisational culture and business environment. 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Available from Emerald at http://www.emeraldinsight.com/search.htm?st1=pixarct=allec=1bf=1. (April 8 2011). HANDY C, 2004. Giving your Staff More Freedom. [WWW] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/ hi/ business /4058519.stm (1 April 2011). JOHNSON, G, SCHOLES, K AND WHITTINGTON, R. 2008. Exploring Corporate Strategy: Text and Cases. 8th edn. England: Pearson Education Limited. MULLINS, L. J, 2007. Management and Organisational Behaviour. 8th edn. Essex: Pearson Education Limited. NELSEN, R. 2008. Pixar’s Randy Nelsen on the Collaborative Age. [WWW] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhXJe8ANws8 (1 April 2011). OFFICE OF NATIONAL STATISTICS. 2001. Social Capital: A review of the literature. [WWW] http://www.statistics.gov.uk/socialcapital/downloads/soccaplitreview.pdf (26 April 2011). PAIK, K. 2007. To Infinity and Beyond: The story of Pixar Animation Studio. London: Virgin Books Ltd. PIXAR GROUP 24. 2009. Innovation Management: Imperial College. [WWW] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTB5S2mc3wA (20 March 2011). PRICE, D. A.2008. The Pixar Touch: The Making of a Company. USA: Alfred A. Knopf. SEMLER, R. 2003. The Seven-Day Weekend. London: Century. SEMLER, R. Semco – Ricardo Semler – MIT SF 11 – Leading organizations. [WWW] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1qJ2W9cVDM (14 April 2011). SEMLER, R. (1999) Maverick! The Success Story Behind the World’s most Unusual Workplace. London: Random House Business Books. SEMLER, R. 2007. Interview with Ricardo Semler. [WWW] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJkOPxJCN1wfeature=related (13 March 2011). SENGE, P.M. (1999). It’s the learning: the real lesson of quality movement. The Journal for Quality and Participation, 22 (6)Pp.34-40. STONEMAN, P. 2010. Soft Innovation: Economics, Product Aesthetics and Creative Industries. New York: Oxford University Press.SMITH, S. AND PAQUETTE, S. (2010). Creativity, chaos and knowledge management. Business Information Review, 27 (2), pp. 118-23. BIBLIOGRAPHY BESSANT, J. 2003. High Involvement innovation: Building and Sustaining Competitive Advantage Through Continuous Change. England: John Wiley Sons. CHRISTENSEN, C.M, AND ERIK, A.R. 2004. Seeing What is Next: Using the Theories of Innovation to Predict Industry Change. USA: Harvard Business school Press. BURDETH, O.J. 1994. The Magic of Alignment. Management Decision [online journal], 32 (2), pp. 59-63. Available from Emerald at http://www.emeraldinsight.com/search.htm?st1=alignmentct=allec=1bf=1go=Go. (March 3 2011). Analysis of semco and pixar animated studio as an example of innovative organizations Companies like Semco, Gore and Associate, 3M and Pixar have made a reputation for themselves due to their emphasis on creativity. Innovation is a product of collaborative learning, idea generation, sharing and idea realization practices of workers in an organization (Dovey, 2009, p.311). For innovation to occur an organisation must foster an environment and culture that give room for creativity which is what Semco and Pixar have achieved. To this end, this report will analyse Semco and Pixar as an exemplar of innovative companies and the relationship that exist between them using some key theories of innovation and the defining features and managerial actions that set them apart as innovative organisations. SEMCO Semco is a loose organisation that encourages innovation and self organisation leading to trust, collaboration and cooperation. Semco was a small family engineering company originally called Semler and Company established in 1952 in Sao Paulo, Brazil by Antonio Curt Semler and renamed Semco after Ricardo Semler, the 24 year old son of the owner resumed office as the new chief executive officer in 1984, firing more than half of the top managers on his first day of resuming office as chief executive officer and eliminated all secretarial positions (CNN, 2004). The company prior to Ricardo taking over was characterised with autocratic style of management with control and rules being the order of the day and operating at the edge of collapse. Ricardo Semler favours a participating style of management, profit sharing and free flow of information. The company product range includes dishwashers, pumps, mixers, cooling units for air condition, biscuits factories among others (Semler 1999, p. 1). It is one of the most innovative companies in the world and has become the subject of study for most business schools all around the world due to its peculiar management style. There is no organisation structure that feeds managers ego, subordinates choose their own bosses, employees set their salaries, production targets and achieve them at their own time, and are encouraged to participate, share ideas and also share in the profit (Semler 1999, pp.1-7, 130 131). PIXAR Pixar animated studio was established in 1986 after Steve Jobs purchased the computer graphics division of Lucas films for $10 million with Ed Catmull being named co-founder and Chief technical officer, Smith as vice president alongside Steve Jobs (Price, 2008, p.74 85-197). In 2001, Ed Catmull was named Pixar’s president. The company originally manufactures and sell hardware and software that enable computer graphics to develop animations. In 1987, the company began the making of short films with its first computer generated movie, Toy Story being released in 1995. The company which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Walt Disney acquired 2006 at $7.4 billion and located in Emeryville, California (Paik, 2007). The acquisition will help Pixar gain economies of scale and access to new technologies. Pixar has a range of films under its belt that has surpassed box office expectations from Rango, Hop, Toy Story 3, finding Nemo, the incredible and many others (Emerald Group Review, 2 011). Its target audience cuts across all ages and nationalities and include families and children and its product range include short films in DVDs, soundtrack CDs, animated films among others (Price, 2008, pp.3-7). It fosters an environment that gives room for mistakes and encourages collaborations among teams and departments and devoid of micro management by executives to ensure creativity and innovation (YouTube-imperial college, 2009). THEORIES OF INNOVATION USING EVIDENCE FROM SEMCO AND PIXAR What makes Ricardo Semler and Ed Catmull exceptional in the way they run their companiesCould it be that they were born to innovation, an act of God, divine intervention, grace, or years of experience and acquisition of knowledge and educationAnalysts and business tycoons have called these men genius. Some critics of Semler and Pixar would have called the transformation at these companies as a gift from the gods. However, it is worthy of note that Semco was a company already in operation prior to Ricardo taking over and Pixar had several failed attempts before its major breakthrough in 1995 with Toy Story. Emerald group, 2011 quoted Ed Catmull in Harvard Business Review ‘I don’t think our success is largely luck. Rather, I believe our adherence to a set of principles and practices for managing creative talent and risk is responsible.’ Was grace far from the transformation in these companiesRicardo was one of the youngest graduates at Harvard Business School who wo uld have learnt some of the traditional management theories in school but choose to manage in a uniquely different way that suite his life and believes suite those of his employees. Moreover, having had an encounter with a doctor who told him to change his work style, he decided to change his way of management, a factor that has led to the key changes at Semco today. Thus innovation at Semco may be a combination of association having graduated from Harvard, accident-a chance meeting with the doctor, personality-considering that while at high school he raised some money for the school vacation program which he reinvested to yield a return before the vacation, feature of life and a bit of cognitive considering the fact that innovation at Semco had evolved over time. It is far from being grace or act of gods. Several forms of innovation can be said to have taken placed at these organisations. They are: Organisational innovation: An organisational innovation is one that entails the implementation of a new organisational method in the firm’s business practices, workplace or external relations (Stoneman, 2010, p.17; OECD, 2006). It is often intended to increase a company’s performance through improvement in workplace satisfaction and labour productivity and access to knowledge. It entails an adoption of an organisational method such as flatter organisation structures, employees’ participation among others that have not being used before in an organisation and often results from strategic decisions taken by management (Stoneman, 2010, p.18). Semco and Pixar posses a great deal of organisational innovation. Semco had implemented theories that have never being tried before such as the satellites programs that allow ex-employees to open their own companies with financial help and resources and become partners with Semco and employees cutting their wages by 30% to Semc o at difficult times to get a higher returns when trading conditions get better. What drive such innovation are the organisational culture, structure and learning. Social innovation: This is the innovation that supports and it is beneficial to the society. Pixar is an example of such innovation whose films though animated have a lot of influence on the society both young and small. Its latest film, hop for instance gives social lessons about the role of adult and children in society. Semco has also contributed to the Brazilian society through employment and a reduction in job cuts. Traditional innovation: This is technological innovation and is measured in different ways such as through patents, expenditure and development among others. Semco and Pixar have shown a lot of innovation and creativity in technology with Pixar having a lot of patents. All these types of innovation create social capital which will be discussed later in this report. FEATURES OF INNOVATIVE ORGANISATIONS OR MANAGEMENT ACTIONS SEMCO and Pixar’s success is built on a lattice or flatter organisational structure devoid of control culture that has gone through series of transformation through the years which has enhanced their innovative ability. An organisational culture devoid of control fosters innovation as individuals are giving the freedom to self organise and make their own decisions just like Semco where employees set their salaries and take decisions on production targets and the time they meet such targets (Semler, 1999, p.1). These companies have been able to manage innovation in the following ways: Structure and culture: Organisational design is crucial to the continuous innovation of an enterprise. As the business environment becomes complex and uncertain, so is the organisational design changing to meet up with customers’ demands for value maximising products. Traditional management scientists like Max Weber emphasised formal structure which is a top-down approach characterised with command, control, rules, position power and neglect social and psychological influences on behaviours of employees and teams (Burnes 2000, p.45). Employees are likely to respond to a good leader who they trust and respect than being managed in a bureaucratic way as argued by Adair 1986:54. Semco operates a lattice structure and considers all workers as equal and has reduced bureaucracy from twelve layers of management to three (Semler 1999, p.7). Reduced hierarchies and high involvement will lead to faster decision making and idea generation and information sharing, leading to innovation. F ormal organisational structure stifles individual creativity. In the words of Semler, authoritarianism diminishes productivity and as such no privileges or rules that discourages flexibility (Semler, 1999, p. 4). At Semco, People are made to enjoy their job and feel good about themselves, not just to survive. Business strategy in the company is determined without interference from the top. Similarly, Pixar is free from the thick layers of formal management and executives are not involved in the day to day running of the organisation. All employees are equally important and all work together for the success of a story. Both companies are devoid of micro-management which ensures creativity and innovation. To have these kind of organisations require a conducive organisational culture that is devoid of control. In the words of Ed Catmull, ‘Management really doesn’t tell people what to do.’ Thus both companies give employees freedom to take risk and there is reflecti on, learning and feedback. However , not everyone can work in an environment with such a structure as some people like being told what to do, also, people wants to know what their responsibilities are and who they are report to while others do not like responsibility. It means that such environment will attract liked minded individuals. Trust and Freedom: Due to the flexible organisational structure and lack of formal reporting structures, employees can be trusted to carry out their roles. However, there is a tendency for employees to abuse the system giving the few reporting structures. Semco has absolute trust in her employees and encourages them to be self managing and governing and have made partners with them. There is so much trust that Semco made entrepreneurs out of its workers through assistance with setting up their own company through its satellite programs, buy from them and encourage them to sell to its competitors. One will assume trust will not be a possibility giving the large number of employees of over 3000. Semco has defiled business school expectations and has gone as far as allowing workers to participate in managerial decision making from deciding how much they get paid, to unlimited access to financial information and freedom to work whenever and wherever they choose and meet targets at their own set time and set their salaries which has resulted in impressive growth, long term loyalty and increase and better productivity. To Semler, his interest is in the final result not where, how and hours worked (Easen, 2004). Freedom drives performance and encourages innovation. Staff can work better if given more independence (Handy, 2004). Semco adopts a participating or democratic management style that create an atmosphere where both bosses and subordinates ( partners and associate) interact regardless of jobs and position and all are involved in decision making (Semler, 1999.pp.6 81). In the words of Semler (1999, p. 6), ‘We don’t have as many bosses as we used to. As workers began to exercise more control over their jobs and assume more voices in our policies, the need for supervisors diminished.’ Having trust in individual will give them a sense of belonging and being wanted and encourage new ideas and sharing of ideas among one another. Semco and Pixar re alised that the most powerful resources at their disposal are the people who make things happen in their organisations and have learnt to trust, believe in them and give them the freedom to express their innovative capabilities and drive production forward. Trust is seen as an outcome of social capital and shared values (Cote and Healy, 2001). However, the problem with freedom is that not everyone like being free. Some people want to be controlled and directed to get their job done. Some see control as a motivator. Moreover, some top managers may resist the need for reduced hierarchies for fear of losing control and power. Social capital and Collaboration: At Semco and Pixar, there is collaboration and teamwork as people work together for common and shared values and not get in each others’ way but are committed to the achievement of the common goal of the company. At Semco, employees participate in managerial decision not just relating to their jobs but the business as a whole. They are included in decisions that pertain to choosing who their boss becomes (Easen, 2004). Before people are hired or promoted to leadership positions, they are interviewed and approved by all who will be working for them, and every six months managers are evaluated by their subordinates. Semco has autonomous business units established by ex- employees who open their own business with help from Semco and have become partners, associate and collaborators and has made Semco a leaner and agile organisation (Semler, 1999 P.7). Also different departments and business units and teams work collectively to drive innovation f orward at Semco and Pixar. Easen, 2004 reported Semler as saying that ‘Growth and profit are a product of how people work together.’ There is a balanced collaboration at Pixar as artist and technologists are paired together. Every offer or idea is accepted and then people get the chance to plus it (Nelsen, 2008). A term Nelsen called ‘plussing’- taking an idea or a piece of work and find a way to add or improve upon it without judging it. At Pixar, collaboration means amplification whereby employees who are listening and interested in each other are joined together to work and bring separate depth to the problems and breadth that gives them interest in the solution as well as allow teams to communicate at different levels. The brain trust at Pixar is a framework or forum that gives an opportunity for some of the best brains to use their expertise and experience to share their understanding and knowledge with others and to get feedback. The Organisation for Economic Development and Cooperation, OECD defines social capital as ‘networks together with shared norms, values and understandings that facilitate cooperation within or among groups’ (ONS, 2001; Cote and Healy, 2001:41). It is the glue that holds organisations together and enables employees to join forces more effectively and pursue shared objectives. In a culture of continual change and uncertainty, sustainable communities are those who are collaborative and always growing with and towards each other in the formation, sharing and adaptation to new knowledge (Smith and Paquette, 2010). Some of the outcomes of social capital are social relations, trust, collaboration, mutually enforceable agreement, general reciprocity and innovation (ONS, 2001). In Semco there is mutually enforceable agreement resulting from profit sharing. In the past, Pixar had used stock to motivate employees and encourage them to stay. Also, the need to produce quality output at Pixar could be a form of mutually enforceable agreement (Price 2008, p. 114). Pay recognition: Motivation such as adequate pay, interpersonal relations and work and group dynamics are some factors that increase productivity and workers satisfaction (Mullins, 2007, p.53). Employees will be committed to work if they are being paid fairly and feel that their contribution is appreciated in the organisation. Semco’s employees set their salaries and share in the profits. As Semler (1999, P. 4) says, ‘Profit-sharing is democratic. We negotiate with our workers over the basic percentage to be distributed- about a quarter of our corporate profit.’ This has worked so well at Semco as there is very low labour turnover and when the need arises, those laid off are assisted to form their own company. Reward systems and benefits retain people and lead to workers’ satisfaction, commitment and loyalty (Chiu et al, 2002). There were times when workers salary proposal were rejected in instances of over- statement. Contrary to this is the argument that financial rewards are not enough to motivate people and that group pressure has more influence on employees than financial rewards (Mullins, 2007, p.301). In addition, people also have intrinsic motivation derives from within the individual which propels them towards the need for self actualisation and fulfilment. Learning and feedback/ Gives room for mistakes/Risk taking: Learning within projects teams depends heavily on the inflow and transfer of knowledgeable among them. Semco and Pixar are learning organisations. Such organisations give room for failure and learning from mistakes and encourage risk taking and have a wide tolerance for new ideas and do not punish mistakes. A learning organisation was defined by Johnson et al (2008) as, ‘One capable of continual regeneration from the variety of knowledge, experience and skills of individuals that encourage mutual questioning and challenge around a shared purpose or vision.’ Semler pointed out that mistake is welcome and a sign that the employee is taking enough risk. Without mistakes, there will not be learning and consequently, innovation will be stifled. Likewise at Pixar, continuous innovation requires that executives resist the natural tendencies to minimise risks and accept uncertainty to ensure originality and ability to r ecover from failures resulting from taking risks. It encourages creativity by allowing people to experiment with new ideas and mistakes genuinely made are treated as part of the learning process Emerald Group review, 2011). Mistake are not punished at Pixar but seen as building block for new ideas and innovation just like 3M. Pixar endorses and encourages a creative by rejecting hierarchical and controlled system, instead the taking of risks and recognizes the importance of serendipity in the creative process (Smith and Paquette, 2010) It has been argued that employees’ collective knowledge exceeds those of the organisation and its capabilities and managers should aim at encouraging processes that unlock employees’ knowledge and encourage information, knowledge and idea sharing which is the sort of environment both companies have created for their employees. As a narrator said, each movies produced by Pixar contains a combination of tens of thousands of ideas arising from risk taking, failure and learning. Ed Catmull said that ‘Innovative people are failure recovered not failure avoider.’ Both companies give room for reflection, learning and feedback. The benefits of learning cannot be over emphasis. Learning increases employees’ commitment, improve quality as mistakes are identified. Senge 1999 reiterated that organisational learning leads to organisational performance. Commitment: At Semco, everyone is committed to the achievement of the organisation’s objectives as they all feel a sense of belonging and part ownership of the company arising partly from the profit sharing. Employees are seen as being importance and valued. A worker in an interview said if an employee is idle, another worker will often ask why he or she is not working, reminding him or her that failure to work will reduce their profits and subsequently reduction in money for their pockets. So there is peer pressure. If employees feel that they are being trusted to take decision on their own and self manage, they will be committed. Semco operates an egalitarian company where there is no preferential treatment. Parking lots are for first come basis and all employees eat on the same canteen. Meetings are held based on the first two employees to be present. This makes employees feel as being a part of the team and big family and give them a sense of being wanted by the company. B y removing privileges of ranks, employees will see themselves as a wider community, thus feel comfortable voicing their opinion, leading to generation of new ideas. Dynamism: Semco is a highly flexible company with no boundaries to the type of business and products, making it difficult to say exactly what kind of business the company is in. There is no fixed business and it is open to any form of business that comes their way. It is also characterised with the absence of business plans and company strategy. In the words of Semler (2003, p.4), ‘ Once you say what business you are in, you create boundaries for you employees, you restrict their thinking and give them a reason to ignore new opportunities as they will say we are not in that business.’ Semco is so dynamic in its operations and processes that employees must not use one desk two days in a row. This is to make them difficult to track and are free to move and work anywhere that appeals to them be it home office. There is time flexibility as they are not concerned about when the employees arrive at work. However, contracts are negotiated on the basis of what to be achieved at a set period and what it stands to gain for paid value and what the employees get in return. It is a mutually enforceable agreement as both parties- employees and Semco benefit. Pixar, though in a core line of business of animated films, it is not to say it is not a dynamic company as different forms of films that benefits both adult and children have being produced over the years. There is effective communication at both companies due to the organisational culture and flatter structure devoid of control. There is information, idea and knowledge sharing. At Pixar, technologists communicate with the artists. SUMARY AND CONCLUSION Semco and Pixar are said to be innovative even though the companies are different in what they do and how they approach innovation. Nevertheless, some common factors in both companies is the delegation of a large amount of control to their employees and absolute freedom to take risk and give room for mistakes and failure, giving them freedom to generate new ideas and thus take a more active role and commitment. Both companies have decentralised the management structures to get employees more involved in decision making and give them a sense of belonging. They have created a culture that gives room for mistakes, failures, sharing of information, and ideas. There is also collaboration between employees, teams, departments, business units and partners, trust, social capital, communication, lack of micro-management and similar organisational culture and structure which encourages innovation. However, both companies differ in a number of ways such as absence of profit sharing at Pixar, la nguages, products, country of location and time scales. Having carried out a detailed analysis of Semco and Pixar, it is possible that what works at these companies can be applicable to other companies. However, some disadvantages will be accrued if these features are applied in another company characterised with hierarchical control culture and structure such as resistance from top management who are control freaks and unwilling to relinquish power. Moreover, not everyone will be able to self manage as some people like being controlled and told what to do. In addition, that trust and freedom work well in these organisations does not mean it can be implemented in other organisations as differences in culture and environment will play a role in determining its effectiveness in another company with different organisational culture and business environment. Having said this, nothing is worth not trying, so these managerial actions that have worked so well in these organisations can be applied to other organisations. The reward may not be see n immediately, but in the long run, it will pay off. REFERENCE ADAIR, J. 1986. Effective Team Building: How to make a Winning Team. London: Gower Publishing Co Ltd.BURNES, B. 2000. Managing Change: A Strategic Approach to Organisational Dynamics. 3rd edn. England: Pearson Education Ltd. CHIU, R. K, LUK, W.V AND TANG, T.L (2002) Retaining and motivating employees: Compensation preferences in Hong Kong and China. Personnel Review [Online journal], 31 (4), pp.402-431. Available from Emerald at http://www.emeraldinsight.com/search.htm?st1=Retaining+and+motivating+employees%3A+Compensation+preferences+in+Hong+Kong+and+Chinact=allec=1bf=1 . (April 19 2011). COTE, S AND HEALY, T. (2001) The Well-being of Nations. The role of human and social capital. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Paris. CNN. 2004. Ricardo Semler, Semco SA. [WWW] http://edition.cnn.com/2004/BUSINESS/06/29/semler.profile/index.html?iref=allsearch(27 April 2011). DOVEY, K. 2009. The role of trust in innovation. The Learning Organization [online journal] 16(4). Pp.311-325. Available from Emerald at http://www.emeraldinsight.com/search.htm?st1=role+of+trust+in+innovationct=allec=1bf=1 . (March23/3/2011). EASEN, N. 2004. Interview with Ricardo Semler. [WWW] http://edition.cnn.com/2004/BUSINESS/05/19/go.semlar.transcript/index.html (15 April 2011). EASEN, N. 2004. Democracy in the Workplace. [WWW] http://edition.cnn.com/2004/BUSINESS/05/19/go.democratic.workplace/index.html?iref=allsearch (15 April 2011). EMERALD GROUP, 2011. How Pixar animates its talent team: not knowing the answers can be the way ahead. Development and Learning in Organizations [Online journal], 25 (1), pp. 30-32. Available from Emerald at http://www.emeraldinsight.com/search.htm?st1=pixarct=allec=1bf=1. (April 8 2011). HANDY C, 2004. Giving your Staff More Freedom. [WWW] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/ hi/ business /4058519.stm (1 April 2011). JOHNSON, G, SCHOLES, K AND WHITTINGTON, R. 2008. Exploring Corporate Strategy: Text and Cases. 8th edn. England: Pearson Education Limited. MULLINS, L. J, 2007. Management and Organisational Behaviour. 8th edn. Essex: Pearson Education Limited. NELSEN, R. 2008. Pixar’s Randy Nelsen on the Collaborative Age. [WWW] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhXJe8ANws8 (1 April 2011). OFFICE OF NATIONAL STATISTICS. 2001. Social Capital: A review of the literature. [WWW] http://www.statistics.gov.uk/socialcapital/downloads/soccaplitreview.pdf (26 April 2011). PAIK, K. 2007. To Infinity and Beyond: The story of Pixar Animation Studio. London: Virgin Books Ltd. PIXAR GROUP 24. 2009. Innovation Management: Imperial College. [WWW] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTB5S2mc3wA (20 March 2011). PRICE, D. A.2008. The Pixar Touch: The Making of a Company. USA: Alfred A. Knopf. SEMLER, R. 2003. The Seven-Day Weekend. London: Century. SEMLER, R. Semco – Ricardo Semler – MIT SF 11 – Leading organizations. [WWW] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1qJ2W9cVDM (14 April 2011). SEMLER, R. (1999) Maverick! The Success Story Behind the World’s most Unusual Workplace. London: Random House Business Books. SEMLER, R. 2007. Interview with Ricardo Semler. [WWW] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJkOPxJCN1wfeature=related (13 March 2011). SENGE, P.M. (1999). It’s the learning: the real lesson of quality movement. The Journal for Quality and Participation, 22 (6)Pp.34-40. STONEMAN, P. 2010. Soft Innovation: Economics, Product Aesthetics and Creative Industries. New York: Oxford University Press.SMITH, S. AND PAQUETTE, S. (2010). Creativity, chaos and knowledge management. Business Information Review, 27 (2), pp. 118-23. BIBLIOGRAPHY BESSANT, J. 2003. High Involvement innovation: Building and Sustaining Competitive Advantage Through Continuous Change. England: John Wiley Sons. CHRISTENSEN, C.M, AND ERIK, A.R. 2004. Seeing What is Next: Using the Theories of Innovation to Predict Industry Change. USA: Harvard Business school Press. BURDETH, O.J. 1994. The Magic of Alignment. Management Decision [online journal], 32 (2), pp. 59-63. Available from Emerald at http://www.emeraldinsight.com/search.htm?st1=alignmentct=allec=1bf=1go=Go. (March 3 2011).

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Course Reflection - Essay Example s discussed in each weak indeed contributed towards acquiring rich understanding and knowledge about different aspects pertaining to strategic human resources planning. Human resource, finance and marketing and other related concepts and discussion covered in each week enhanced my knowledge base to be competent future managers. Moreover, from human resource I have gathered knowledge about organizational policies and programs and other functional activities such as forecasting, succession management, downsizing & restructuring, mergers & acquisitions, and outsourcing among others. Alongside, from marketing and finance studies I learnt about varied strategies and functional activities of management. The understanding derived in each week helped me to perform more effectively in my professional and personal life. More importantly, prior to attending the weekly session I have little knowledge about strategic human resource planning. However, the understanding that I acquired in each week together made the role of strategic human resource planning crystal-clear. Notably, with the help of human resource management, an individual can develop a positive attitude about cultural belief and value in the workplace. Therefore, I believed that human resource management helps an individual to maintain proper balance among personal and professional life. Reflecting upon the understanding and knowledge that I derived from the discussion facilitated an in-depth insights. Accordingly, f human resource management has been linked with marketing and finance. In general, sustainability of an organization in a market depends on productivity and labor force (Anderson & Nilsson, 2012). Moreover, it was learnt that human resource has helped managerial heads to perform better in market. Management functions include planning, organizing and motivating. With the help of human resource, managerial heads has implement strategy for enhancement of organizational growth. Besides, decision-making is

The global business environment's changes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The global business environment's changes - Essay Example ttaining comparative advantage led to the intervention of the national governments in holding part or full stake of the oil industry in various countries (Paul, 2006). This has brought about changes in the stake holding pattern. Almost 85% of the oil reserves were held by the super-majors in 1950s and the current scenario exhibits that 90% of the oil reserves are held by the national oil companies. The worldwide economic expansion and the growth of the emerging economies have led to the increase in customer base in the automobile markets, increasing trade across the oceans and skies, increasing number of air traffic. Due to this, the demand for oil is likely to increase enormously in the next twenty years. The use of advanced technologies in oil exploration and distribution in order to meet the increasing demand has led to the decrease in the supply level of available oil reserves. Thus the major player would need to look into the possible usages of natural gas, etc as substitute sources of energy in order to meet the future demand of

Education by Computer - A Better Way Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Education by Computer - A Better Way - Essay Example It is easy for a student in America to take lectures from an Indian teacher now with the help of videoconferencing like computer technologies. Moreover, no other resources can provide the same referencing facilities as computer does. Instead of academic libraries, students now started to access online libraries in order to get more insights into a particular topic. Even though the utility of computer in education is unquestionable, some people argue that education by computers should not be encouraged beyond certain limits. This paper analyses whether education with the help of computers is good or bad or up to what extent we can rely on computers to provide better education to children. To be able to put the computer in an adequate perspective in education or in individual or social life it is necessary to understand very well what it is. Its main characteristic is that it is an abstract and not concrete machine (as, e.g. a power lathe or a bicycle): it acts in a virtual space, the space of the thoughts we may insert into the machine. So any use of it forces some abstract thinking (Setzer). Many people have the false belief that computers can bring wonders in educational circle. However, it should be noted that computers are working on artificial intelligence and it do not possess any natural intelligence as man possesses. In other words, computers are working based manmade instructions or programs. Since computers do not have the thinking ability, it cannot answer a question which is unfamiliar to it. On the other hand, human intelligence can try to solve all problems because of its independent thinking ability. According to Roger J. Desmond, a professor in the School of Communication at the University of Hartford, who specializes in kids and interactive media "computer games can increase reaction time, which can help with doing stuff that school requires†(Wood). Majority of the computer games encourage children to think in multiple ways to solve a part icular problem created by the computers. For example, Prince of Persia is a multilevel computer game popular among kids. This game presents so many puzzles in front of the kids. It is impossible for children to go to a higher level if they fail to solve the puzzle in the present level. Thus, they will be encouraged to think too much while playing Prince of Persia like computer games which is good for them to solve problems in their studies. Some people believe that over exposure to computer related education may damage the thinking abilities of the children. Learning is actually occurs through problem solving method. In other words, when a student tries to solve a problem, he will think about various ways to solve it. Thus he may develop so many hypotheses initially and test all of them with the help of trial and error method before arriving at the right solution. In short, self-solving of problems may help a student to open up many of his hidden faculties of mind which is good for the brain development. On the other hand, when a student tries to solve a problem with the help of computers, he is getting ready made answers at once and therefore he may not get an opportunity to give some kind of exercises to his brain. In short, over reliance on computers for solving problems can affect the thinking abilities of the students. It is a fact that many of the modern students are struggling while they are forced to take some critical decisions in their lives.

Describe the mechanisms by which astrocytes control the neutronal Essay

Describe the mechanisms by which astrocytes control the neutronal environment and, using appropriate examples, discuss their importance for neuronal function in health and disease - Essay Example In this article, the role of astrocytes in maintaining the neuronal environment in the brain has been explored with reference to health and disease in human beings. Astrocytes are a type glial cells in the brain and the spinal cord which are star-shaped. They are also known as astrocytic glial cells. They serve many functions, the most important of which are nutrient supply to nervous tissue, biochemical support of endothelial cells which form the blood-brain barrier, maintenance of the balance of the extracellular ions and taking part in the process of repair and regeneration of the central nervous system following various injuries (Magistretti and Ransom, 2008). There re mainly 3 forms of astrocytes. They are fibrous astrocytes, protoplasmic astrocytes and radial astrocytes. Fibrous astrocytes are basically positioned in the white matter. They have few organelles. The cellular processes are 50-60 in number, long and unbranched (Magistretti and Ransom, 2008). When in close proximity, they physically connect the cells to the outerside of the capillary wall. The protoplasmic astrocytes are mainly found in the grey matter of the brain. In contras t to the fibrous cells, they have many organelles and have short, stubby and severely branched cellular processes. These processes are in contact with the blood vessels and also the pial surface. They also surround the neurons. The end-feet of these astrocytes cover the intraparenchymal surface completely and express glucose transporters Glu T type-1 (Magistretti and Ransom, 2008). Thus these cells predominantly function to take-up glucose. Fibrous astrocytes contain more intermediate filaments than protoplasmic astrocytes. The radial glia are mainly found in the vicinity of the ventricles. While some processes abut the piamater, other processes lie deep inside the gray mater. Some examples of radial astrocytes are Bergmann glia cells and Mueller cells of the retina.

Penn State University Application Essay Example for Free

Penn State University Application Essay Ever since middle school, I was already interested in hotel management. I am always fascinated with the way things were done so arduously by the hotel officers and staff, yet they still managed to look so amazingly fresh and attractive for the guests. I have had a very good grade in my hotel management subject during high school and an award for excellence too. Being so inspired to pursue what I have always wanted, I took a year internship at Holiday Inn and passed it with flying colors. After my internship, the AmeriSuite employed me for six months and I moved to a bigger hotel afterwards. I have given a lot of effort in improving my English skills because I believe that hotel management requires more than just interpersonal skills, it requires good communication skills even more. I work at the Washington Dulles Marriott Suite for 2 years now and I enjoy it so much. I am assigned to oversee the front desk, manage the reservation department, and of course, be of service to the hotel guests at all times. I have received awards and recognition for the diligence, dedication and effort that I give to my job. I see to it that my guests feel at home, relaxed, comfortable and happy at the hotel and its crew. At the end of the day, I feel proud of being able to put smiles on the faces of my guests. This work has taught me many things in life: responsibility, management of time and money and diligence. Given an opportunity to be accepted in your prestigious university, I am confident that my optimism, work ethics, background, and experience will benefit not just myself, but also the other students that I may interact with at Penn State University. I have proven to myself that I can adapt to any difficult situation. I know that there is no challenge too difficult that even hard work cannot overcome. I look forward to being part of Penn State University and begin the next level of my academic pursuit.

Code of Ethics Paper Essay Example for Free

Code of Ethics Paper Essay The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is a well-known government based facility that presents a web site that keeps its customer base well informed on a wide variety of topics. Providing and gathering knowledge for doctors and patients, this facility and website serve as an investigator. This ranges from heath issues to the medicine used to treat. The NIH has been a part of history ranging from advances in penicillin to machines used such as the MRI. Also, NIH has funded and researched thousands of drugs and physicians to find cures and treatment. As a team we believe that the NIH has social, ethical issues, as well as goals that are met every day as a part of their social responsibility. â€Å"NIH’s mission is to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability.† (USA.Gov, 2013) NIH’s goals and their ethical principles If everyone were afraid about unethical research, nobody will participate or volunteer. Without the research subjects, developing new medicine and treatments would be impossible. Because millions of selfless and generous research volunteers, the world has benefited from an array of medical advances in used today. Furthermore, Effective chemotherapy and radiation treatments have cured millions of people with cancer, such as breast, thyroid, pancreatic, and cervical cancer to name a few. Additionally, we have also benefited from numerous vaccines that protect from deadly disease, for instance, polio, measles, chicken pox, and the seasonal flu. Moreover, these medical advances have made it possible to increase awareness about nutrition and health lifestyles (NIH, 2013). The National Health Institute’s goals are to cultivate and promote â€Å"fundamental creative discoveries, innovative research strategies and their application as a basis for ultimately protecting and improving h ealth† (NIH, 2013, para. 1). In addition, their goals are also for helping support, and â€Å"renew scientific human and physical resources that will safeguard the Nation competency to prevent disease† (NIH, 2013, para. 1) Furthermore, they work tirelessly to  Ã¢â‚¬Å"expand the knowledge base in medical and sciences to enhance the Nation’s economic well-being and guarantee a continued high return on the public investment in research† (NIH, 2013, para. 1). According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), before any research is started there are seven ethical principles the researchers must comply with. These principles help to clarify meticulously a coherent framework for assessing the ethics of any clinical research studies: (1) social value- the research or study must define how are peoples health or well-being will improve; (2) scientific validity- the research must have a hypothesis to be tested, and controlled; (3) fair subject sel ection- an abroad group of people must be selected , including age (over 18), gender, and race, not vulnerable or privileged; (4)favorable risk-benefit ratio- the research shows that the riskier the study the more ethical it is considered; (5) independent review- an external group must review the research and will approve it or denied it. This practice makes people believe the study is more ethical and unbiased. Also, this will minimize potential conflicts of interest; (6) inform consent- the subject must be mentally capable to understand the full disclosure of the research, the decision must be voluntary; (7) respect for the enrolled subject- the volunteers privacy must be protected, withdrawal from the study cannot be denied, and their health must always be monitored. The researchers have the obligation to treat everyone who volunteers in an experiment ethically and respectfully (Emanuel, Wendler, Grady, 2000; NIH Clinical Center Department of Bioethics, 2012). NIH’s culture and ethical decision making The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is one of the largest organizations in the world with regard to researching advancements in medicine and the improvement in delivery of health care. Culturally speaking, the NIH is as diverse as the population it provides services to. Therefore, the NIH encourages health care providers to become more culturally competent in order to assist them in improving the quality of services they provide. According to the NIH, (2013) â€Å"Cultural competency is critical to reducing health disparities and improving access to high-quality health care; health care that is respectful of and responsive to the needs of diverse patients† (par. 3). Possessing a better knowledge of the cultures  a health care provider delivers services to will allow him or her the ability to provide a higher quality of care and enable him or her to remain ethical when critical decisions need to be made. Currently, the NIH is collaboration with other groups and organizati ons to help health care providers become more aware of the cultures they serve, which in turn, will provide better quality of care to all Americans (NIH, 2013). End of life is an area of health care the NIH suggests is especially critical with regard to culture and making ethical decisions (NIH, 2013). There are many different cultures in the United States that do not share the same point of view when it comes to a family members’ last wishes. An article called â€Å"Diverse decisions. How culture affects ethical decision making†, written by Wright, Cohen, and Caroselli explains the importance of cultural competence and ethical decision making at the point of a patients’ end of life. This crucial aspect of health care can be especially challenging to health care providers if they are not familiar with their patient’s cultural preferences. If not treated with the sensitivity a family requires culturally, the health care provider will likely encounter probl ems in assisting the family in arriving at an ethical decision that best helps the patient. As stated by Wright, Cohen, and Caroselli, (1997) â€Å"When these difficulties are coupled with ineffective communication related to cultural insensitivity or unawareness, the effects can be devastating† (par. 1). Few moments in life present as many challenges as the end of a family members’ life. Therefore, the NIH not only challenges its organization to become more culturally competent, it also encourages and assists health care providers to do the same, especially when assisting patients and their families in making the appropriate ethical decision. NIH’s ethical values supporting our ethical values The NIH has clearly stated that â€Å"turning discovery into health† is part of their mission statement. Supporting this ethical decision in the United States alone there are many individuals with chronic diseases or health issues. Therefore, it is safe to say that because the mission of the NIH is to find cures and treatments to better our nation is in correspondence with most. According to the NIH, (2013) â€Å"Nearly half of all Americans have a chronic medical condition. NIH research makes significant strides toward  treating and preventing these long-term illnesses.† Along with promoting wellness, the NIH develops new technological tools to treat any or most ailments in the USA. They are always looking for bright and positive new recruits to help research and enlighten the NIH to provide answers to thousands of individuals who have questions. The NIH has conducted research and found that cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, and cardiovascular disease is on the decline bec ause of the research they have contributed to society. Because of their code of ethics they are helping babies that are born today live to a common age of 79, a vast improvement from the last 100 years. NIH believes it â€Å"invests over $30.9* billion annually in medical research for the American people.† (USA.Gov, 2013) and posted under NIH budget they write â€Å"Research for the People†, a clear message that this company is high in ethical values. They plan on widening the research capacity of our country and foster exploration. For any individual finding treatment for loved ones or ones’ self goes hand in hand with the ethical beliefs of the NIH. Social responsibility for NIH in the community NIH has proven itself to be socially responsible for not only the community but the entire population. They have done research and contributed a vast amount of information that physician’s, staff, and patients alike use on a daily basis for personal or practice knowledge. For example, the NIH has provided hundreds of thousands of jobs to research new technology and to find cures ever the past years. In addition, â€Å"to directly supporting research, NIH funding spurs an impressive amount of spin-off economic growth in our communities, ranging from scientific equipment suppliers to biotech firms to businesses offering food and lodging.† (USA.Gov, 2013) So not only has it contributed to health of the population, but is has proved financial contributions to the population. It has contributed more than $62 billion in revenue. Because of NIH’s research it will have not only short term effects but long term ones as well. Employing over one million employees to do rese arch and development, the NIH has made a vast contribution for jobs to those who do not have one. Providing tours and other means to understand what they do to the public, they encourage public awareness. Providing funds for over 130 Nobel prize winners that have created such instruments like the MRI, NIH scientists have paved the way for many and future scientists. The  NIH expects â€Å"to expand the knowledge base in medical and associated sciences in order to enhance the Nations economic well-being and ensure a continued high return on the public investment in research.† (USA.Gov, 2013) Providing leadership for this frontier in medical research, NIH is constantly making new advancements. Keeping archives of all research done in the past 100 years, the NIH keeps these records so future generations can learn. In conclusion, the goals of the NIH are to provide medical research, for the population of the USA. Their goal is to find cure and increase the wellness of the surro unding population. Also, the NIH is made up of a culturally diverse population making it successful in finding, curing or preventing most or all ailments. Encouraging physicians to be more culturally diverse, is one of the NIH’s main goals because of the background in genetics and their diseases. Their ethical values support ours because we are all in the same country. Where thousands if not hundreds of thousands diseases are present every day, and as part of the population most would like to see research and treatments available. â€Å"Our practical wisdom must balance the shifting demands and possibilities that our changing circumstances present.† (Fremgan, 2009) Knowing our past is important as knowing our future. And the NIH has provided a sanctuary for both. As a team we believe that the NIH has social, ethical issues, as well as goals that are met every day as a part of their social responsibility. References National Institutes of Health, (2013). Frequently asked questions. Retrieved from http://www.nih.gov/about/FAQ.htm USA.Gov. (2013). National Institutes of Health. Retrieved from http://www.nih.gov/ Wright, F., Cohen, S., Caroselli, C., (1997). Diverse decisions. How culture affects ethical Decision making. Division of Nursing, New York University, New York. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9136346 Fremgan, B. (2009). Medical Law and Ethics (3rd ed.). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database

Effect of Alcohol on Human Sperm In Vitro

Effect of Alcohol on Human Sperm In Vitro EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL ON HUMAN SPERMATOZOA IN VITRO: SPERM CHROMATIN DISPERSSION TEST AND ROS. Omkar Pokharkar, Dr. Himanshu Patel, Madhuri Patel, Vidisha Bhatt. Abstract: This study was carried out to find the detrimental effect on human spermatozoa when exposed to alcohol/ethanol in vitro. For this study semen samples obtained from 12 healthy individuals were washed using the sperm preparation technique and each washed samples were divided into equal aliquots. Then ethanol at various concentrations of 60 mm and 120 mm were added to the aliquots labeled as test samples and samples without ethanol were considered as control samples. All samples with or without ethanol were incubated for 1 hour (60 minutes) at 370C. These samples when subjected to semen analysis after exposure to ethanol, it was found that samples added with 60 mm ethanol showed a decrease in motility and vitality, sperms in samples with 120 mm ethanol were almost static with minimum motility. Sperms in both test samples revealed degraded vitality. DNA fragmentation test or SCD when carried out it was revealed that ethanol caused DNA fragmentation in sperms and as the concentr ation of ethanol increased, DNA fragmentation also increased, motility of sperms decreased and morphology was affected to some extent such as the head and tail defects which was less in the control samples. The sample aliquots with 120 mm ethanol showed morphological abnormalities. The ROS test performed using Agarose-N-gel tubes on the unwashed/raw samples exposed to ethanol in different concentrations revealed the highest oxidative stress displaying dark purple color and unexposed samples showed light pink color indicating low oxidative stress. Reactive oxygenspeciescan damage DNA bases and can cause lesions that block the progression ofreplication. This study proved that, alcohol when consumed can destroy sperm mobility, vitality and causes high fragmentation levels. Keywords: Ethanol, sperms, DNA fragmentation, motility, vitality, ROS. INTRODUCTION: Alcohol is a drug which is classified as depressant, when consumed in low/controlled volume it can induce the stimulant effect, but if an individual consumes excess alcohol then he experiences the depressant effect. Alcohol is produced by fermentation of yeast, sugars, and starches. Alcohol gets absorbed rapidly from the stomach and small intestine into the bloodstream. Once alcohol enters the stomach, up to 20% of it gets absorbed and directly enters the bloodstream. Within minutes, alcohol reaches to the brain. Even various nutrients are not capable to pull this off. The remaining alcohol enters into the intestines and is absorbed along with the nutrients. Only a small amount of alcohol is excreted from the body through urine, sweat etc which is not enough to get rid of alcohol in the blood stream.When the alcohol is consumed, the human body is hardwired to metabolize alcohol immediately that means the body stops metabolizing all other things just to metabolize alcohol first becaus e protein, carbohydrates, and fat, can be stored whereas alcohol cannot be stored in the body so it has to be metabolized first and excreted as soon as possible. Alcohol can affect every organ in the consumer’s body and can damage the developing fetus in woman who is pregnant. Also alcohol has the potential to severely damage sperms. If alcohol consumption is fairly regular then it will affect sperm motility and vitality in men. Heavy alcohol consumption lowers the sperm count leaving the person infertile and the levels of free radicals generated due to alcohol can break DNA strands in the sperm cells. The aim of this study was focused on the effects of alcohol on sperms and mainly on the level of DNA fragmentation and oxidative stress caused in sperm samples due to alcohol in vitro. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For the study of alcohol effects on sperms in vitro, Semen samples from 12 healthy men (non-alcoholic) aged 21 – 27 were collected in wide mouthed sterile collection containers and Sperm samples were obtained during 3-4 days of sexual abstinence and liquefied for 20-30 minutes at room temperature. The quality of the sperm is judged on the basis of its morphology and movement patterns or motility and vitality. For in vitro study, sperm samples from healthy individuals were washed by swim up from pellet method, which is a very common method for retrieval of viable sperms and has a high success rate. All the washed samples were divided in 3 equal aliquots of 0.5ml. Ethanol in different concentrations of 60mm and 120 mm respectively were added to 2 sample aliquots labeled as test samples and 1 aliquot was un-exposed to alcohol labeled as control sample. These samples were incubated for 60 minutes at 370C and subjected to semen analysis according to the guidelines set by world heal th organization. Sperm count and motility evaluation was done under bright field microscope, morphology was studied by making smears of sperms on the slides and was stained using Giemsa stain. pH was observed by using a pH strip and vitality of the sperms were noted by staining sperms with eosin and nigrosin stain. Morphology was judged by referring the types of sperm deformities proposed by WHO (World Health Organization., 2010). Motility was calculated by using a formula: 100 X (number of motile spermatozoa)/ (total number of spermatozoa counted). Also for calculating vitality percentage: 100 X (number of viable spermatozoa)/ (total number of spermatozoa counted). More than 500 spermatozoa per ejaculate were evaluated for estimation of sperm motility and vitality. The outcome of this analysis was noted. The rest of the control and test samples were used for DNA fragmentation test. SPERM CHROMATIN DISPERSION TEST: The test aliquots were added with various concentrations of alcohol (60mm and 120mm respectively) to see what concentration of alcohol will affect the DNA of the sperms. The control sample (0.5 ml) with no ethanol and 2 test samples (0.5 ml each) mixed with ethanol incubated at 370 C for 60 minutes were subjected to DNA fragmentation test. Requirements per sample were 3 coated slides, 1 for control and other 2 for test. The procedure involved addition of sperm samples of both test and control to agarose tubes which were previously boiled for 2 minutes. After adding and mixing the 40 Â µl droplets of sperms from both control and test samples in the agarose tubes, a total of 150 Â µl droplets of sperm samples from each tube was extracted using micropipette and was laid on pre-coated slides. Cover slips were placed on the droplets for even distribution of sperm sample immersed in agarose matix on the slide. The 3 slides of 1 control and 2 test samples were kept inside a fridge for 6 m inutes to solidify the agarose gel in which sperms were added. After this step, cover slips were removed in such a way that the gel integrity was not disturbed. Acid denaturant (1 ml) was laid on the slide for 7 minutes and was drained. Then 1ml of lysis solution was overlaid on the slide for 20 minutes and was drained. Then both test and control slides were washed with 20 ml of distilled water and were overlaid with 1 ml each of dehydrating solutions 1, 2, 3 for 2 minutes each. After disposing or draining the dehydrating solutions, the slides were air dried for few minutes. Stain was prepared by mixing stain solution and stain diluting solution. The slides prepared for each of the 12 samples were stained for 3 minutes and were washed in a beaker filled with tap water to remove excess stain. Slides were again air dried for few minutes before observing under bright field microscope for halos. For calculating percentage of DNA fragmentation: 100 X (Number of spermatozoa with fragmente d DNA)/ (Total number of spermatozoa counted). More than 450 spermatozoa per ejaculate were evaluated for estimation of sperm DNA fragmentation (Omkar pokharkar et al., 2015). For this study, A Sperm DNA Fragmentation Detection Kit called ‘CANfrag’ [REF No.CA-001], provided by ‘CANdORE Bioscience’, Ahmedabad, Gujarat was used to assess the levels of sperm DNA fragmentation in the samples. This entire procedure was followed for all 12 samples and it took around 18 days (10th February –27th February, 2015) for completion of the study and to arrive at results. ROS (reactive oxygen species) test: A Reactive Oxygen Species detection kit called ‘CANros’ [REF NO.CA-002] also provided by ‘CANdORE Bioscience’ was employed for mapping oxidative stress in exposed and un-exposed samples. Along with washed samples of test and control, 2 aliquot (test) of raw samples of 0.5 ml each was also added with ethanol in various concentration of 60mm and 120 mm respectively and control raw sample of 0.5ml was un-exposed to alcohol. After incubation of both control and test samples for 60 minutes in an incubator at 370C, ROS test was conducted by heating the Agarose N-Gel tubes in boiling water at 90-100Â ºC for 2 minutes to melt the gel. The tubes were cooled down for 2 minutes at room temperature before addition of the sample. 0.2 ml of semen sample was added and mixed thoroughly with the melted agarose gel and air bubbles were avoided. The Agarose-N-gel tubes were then placed in an incubator at 37Â ºC for 60 minutes. After incubation the color changes were observed immediately and were compared with the color code mentioned in the ROS kit to determine the level of oxidative stress present in the sample (Omkar pokharkar et al., 2015). The results of this test were noted. RESULTS: The pH of both exposed samples (60mm and 120 mm) was in the abnormal range. Alcohol affected the pH of the samples in which it was added and increased with the increase in the concentration of alcohol. Morphology of sperms was affected by alcohol to some extent only in samples with 120 mm ethanol/ 0.5 ml of sperm sample. The sperm count in all the samples remained in normal range at these concentrations. The average sperm count for all samples throughout the study was in the range of 60 to 70 million sperms/per ml. The average percentages of motility and vitality obtained for all 12 samples were calculated and framed in the table below. Results are mentioned in the chart and table form below: Table I. Semen parameters for both alcohol exposed and un-exposed samples Chart I. Effect of alcohol on sperm motility The motility in sperm samples was decreased due to alcohol exposure. Motility in samples un-exposed to alcohol showed excellent motility and samples exposed to the alcohol showed a decrease in the motility as the concentration of alcohol increased. Chart II. Effect of alcohol on sperm vitality The chart mentioned above indicates that, the sperm un-exposed to the alcohol showed an excellent range of vitality percentage while the exposed samples at various concentration of alcohol showed a constant drop in the vitality percentage. The table mentioned below represents the average DNA fragmentation percentages obtained for all 12 samples. Table II. DNA fragmentation in exposed and un-exposed samples Chart III. Sperm DNA fragmentation due to alcohol Figure I. Original picture of DNA fragmentation slide un-exposed to alcohol (control slide) It is evident from the picture above that, the samples un-exposed to ethanol showed maximum sperms with intact DNA displaying large halos. On the other hand, the samples exposed to ethanol in concentrations of 60mm and 120mm showed maximum sperms with fragmented and degraded DNA and revealed minimum sperms with intact DNA displaying small and no halos. Below is the picture showing fragmented and degraded sperms. Figure II. Original picture of DNA fragmentation slide exposed to alcohol [60mm and 120mm (test slide)] ROS (reactive oxygen species) TEST. ROS test were performed using freshly collected semen samples. Test aliquot of core samples exposed to alcohol at concentration of 60mm/0.5 ml and the 2nd test aliquot exposed to alcohol at concentration of 120mm/0.5 ml of semen sample produced dark purple colour. On the other hand control aliquot un-exposed to alcohol showed light pink colour. Low levels of ROS (un-exposed samples). light pink Table III. Reactive oxygen species result for alcohol Dark purple color was obtained for both test samples which indicated that highest level of oxidative stress was induced in the sample due to alcohol. Whereas samples un-exposed (control) to alcohol showed light pink color. Alcohol, at even low concentrations can achieve highest levels of ROS. CONCLUSION: The study revealed that alcohol in high concentrations can damage the sperms in every possible way and make it non-viable. The results mentioned above point out to the fact that as the alcohol/ethanol concentration increases, the sperm quality decreases. Motility in control samples was greater as compared to both the test samples (see Chart I). Vitality in sperm samples went on degrading as the ethanol concentration increased (see Chart II). Morphological abnormalities were mostly scored on the test slides with 120 mm ethanol and samples with 60 mm ethanol and control samples with no ethanol showed a normal range of morphological defects and pH of samples also increased with the increase in concentration of alcohol (see Table I). This indicated that the alcohol in high concentrations can damage the physical appearance of sperms. The number of sperms with fragmented DNA was most prominent in the test samples with 120 mm ethanol and 60 mm ethanol. On the other hand, control samples sho wed fewer fragmentations (see Table II and Chart III). The sperms with fragmented DNA disperse small halos and most of the time no halos were observed (see Figure II) and sperms with intact DNA disperse big halos (see Figure I). By this method, it becomes easy to map the fragmented and non-fragmented DNA of the sperms. ROS test was conducted to evaluate the findings and it gave the further evidence of fragmentation caused due to alcohol in vitro by achieving dark purple color in the Agarose-N-gel tubes by reduction of nitro blue tetrazolium and un-exposed samples managed to display light pink color indicating low levels of free radicals (see Table III). Reactive oxygenspecieshas the potential to damage DNA bases and can cause lesions that blocks progression ofreplication. Damaged sperm chromatin contains base adducts and the prominent adducts found in human sperm DNA are 8OHdG (8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine or 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2–deoxyguanosine) present in nuclear and mitochondr ial DNA is one of the predominant forms of free radical-induced oxidative lesions, and is widely used as a biomarker for oxidative stress and carcinogenesis also two ethenonucleosides such as 1,N6-ethenoadenosine and 1,N6-ethanoguanosine are found in sperm DNA. Single strand breaks are the direct consequences of oxidative attacks on sperm DNA. DISCUSSION: As the coin has 2 sides, alcohol too have a good and a bad side. It depends how the individual use the alcohol and for what purpose. Alcohol is in use for scientific purposes as well as for production of beverages such as beer and wine for centuries. Applications of Alcohol in the field of science date back to 18th century when it was used for dressing up the wounds and to sterilize the equipment for surgery (civil war in U.S. 1850’s). Today along with these applications, alcohol is also used as antifreeze, preservatives, fuels, and also as solvents. But high consumption of alcohol is not beneficial in any way; Addiction to alcohol could severely damage the reproductive system of that individual making him infertile. A few studies around the world indicated that consumption of alcohol every day can effectively reduce the sperm count and quality of the sperm degrades as the consumption of alcohol increases. The people with disorders such as ‘auto brewery syndrome’ (gut fermentation syndrome) have very less reproductive capabilities. In this type of syndrome body produces alcohol through endogenous fermentations within the digestive system. A fungal infection of ‘Saccharomyces cerevisiae’ in gastrointestinal tract is responsible for this condition. This constant production of alcohol leads to several other body problems such as kidney failure, liver dysfunction and leydig cells in the testes are damaged which are responsible for production of testosterone and the levels of testosterone in blood drops and also Sertoli cells present in the testes are affected which interferes with sperm maturation. Immature sperms present in the ejaculateare not capable to move and fertilize the egg. The aim of this study was focused on in vitro effects of ethanol which involved direct exposure of ethanol to sperms which caused more damaging effect. However, in vivo study of effects of alcohol on sperms would produce more promising and accurate resu lts as compared to in vitro study because alcohol undergoes elimination by various metabolic mechanisms that occur in the body. The enzymes involved are aldehyde dehydrogenase, alcohol dehydrogenase, cytochrome P450 and catalase. The interaction occurring between alcohol byproducts obtained after metabolism and other cell components, leads to the formation of dangerous compounds such as reactive oxygen species (ROS). Alcohol metabolism occurs primarily in the liver. Alcohol undergoes detoxification procedure and gets eliminated from the blood by the process termed as oxidation. Oxidation inhibits accumulation of alcohol and prevents destruction of cells and other organs in the body to some extent. So the in vivo results would be much different than in vitro study as the alcohol undergoes metabolic paths. In in vitro study direct exposure of ethanol caused high fragmentations and more damage was inflicted to the sperm parameters (motility, vitality, morphology, and pH). It can be con cluded that, consumption of alcohol is associated with degradation of sperm quality which can be reversed to some extent upon alcohol consumption discontinuation which would reduce the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and intake of antioxidants on a regular basis would maintain low concentration of free radicals and will protect the DNA of sperms from damage. AKNOWLEDGEMENT: Authors would like to thank the entire team of stem cure pvt ltd, center for reproductive medicine and stem cell development – Ahmedabad, India, for their contribution whenever needed. Authors would also like to thank Komal Patel for providing laboratory equipments to carry out this study. REFERENCES: [1] World Health Organization. (2010). WHO laboratory manual for the Examination and processing of human semen (5 ed.). (D. T. Cooper, Ed.) geneva, Switzerland. [2] Omkar pokharkar et al. (2015). Effect of Wi-Fi radiations on sperms in vitro:Sperm DNA fragmentation test and ROS. International journal of healthcare sciences, III(1), 26-30.