Population And Food Essay -- essays research papers

 ¡Ã‚ §The United Nations projects that the global population, currently at 6 billion, will peak at about 10 billion in the next century and then stabilize or even decline. ¡Ã‚ ¨(popindex.Princeton.edu) A question immediately following the statement, can the Earth feed that many people? It is understood that even if food crops increase sufficiently, other renewable resources, including many fisheries and forests, are already under pressure.  ¡Ã‚ §Our food production doubled from 1961 to 1994, but there are still people who go hungry. ¡Ã‚ ¨ (popindex.Princeton.edu) This is because the human population has increased more rapidly than the food production. One of the well-known economists Thomas Robert Malthus claimed that there was an imbalance between population growth and our ability to produce food. In his famous work, An Essay on the Principle of Population, his principle of population was based on three main points: population cannot increase without the means of subsistence ; population invariable increases when the means of subsistence are available; and the superior power of population cannot be checked without producing misery or vice. When taking into account Malthus ¡Ã‚ ¦s principle of population it is evident that his fundamental analysis of population has been proven right. Since the earth ¡Ã‚ ¦s resources are finite, when human population increases, it affects human beings. Will there be a problem if population keeps increasing? Rapid population growth and the technical development of society have led to difficulties for farmers worldwide to maintain this dual compatibility. In fact, today farmers face demands for a high productivity as well as environmentally sound, sustainable farming practices. Some economists believe human beings have the ability to produce enough food to feed all the people in the world, but according to Malthus ¡Ã‚ ¦s theory, this cannot happen. When the number of people keeps increasing while the amount of available food stays the same or even declines, human beings will face a scarcity of resources and overpopulation in the world. This is what happening right now. According to a well known biologist-Paul R. Ehrlich, who said  ¡Ã‚ §The amount of food available restrains the size of any animal population, unless space, dise ase, predators, or some other factor sets lower limits ¡Ã‚ ¨(Ehrlich, 66). What he means is that food production is an element that contro... ...ening in Chiapas, and also Sierra Leone, Burundi, Kenya, etc. The majority of hungry people live in developing countries since they are considered less important than people in developed countries. Even though Malthus ¡Ã‚ ¦ principle was printed about 201 years ago, generally, his principle is proven right today. Studies have shown that countries, which have huge populations, will experience misery. If human beings still ignore the problem of the population growth and the food supply, other problems will follow, such as civil strife and food shortages. Furthermore, rapid population growth may affect poverty by affecting the correlates of poverty: low wages, lack of human capital such as education and health, and lack of income earning assets such as land; income inequality and loss of economic growth. The only way to solve the problem between the population growth and the food supply is to reduce our population by using contraceptive tools. The other way is to distribute our fo od evenly to all people around the world. If food were distributed evenly to all people, famine will not happen. Now, it is time to face reality. It is time to change our world. It is time to solve our problem.

Network Assignments

Kim Doe Jung is a commercial attachà © in the Korean embassy. She works as an investment and financial consultant providing useful information and data to those interested to invest in Korea. Prior to the interview we had met at a luncheon organized in our college by the Korean Embassy. The luncheon was targeting students wishing to take their post graduate studies in a foreign country. Also invited along with students were business persons with an interest of investing in the expanding economy of Korea. Kim Doe Jung was a guest speaker and I was able to secure an interview through the help of one of my father’s friend who works in the embassy. She is an MBA graduate from a Korean University specializing in financial matters. The mere thought of interviewing was exciting and inspiring too. She had been able to accomplish what I have always looked forward to; she has my dream career. The interview took place inside the Korean Embassy’s expansive offices. She has a beautiful office facing the oval offices from afar. I was taken right up to her 3rd floor office by a security officer and she received me cordially which was rather flattering as I believed she had to be a very busy person. I had a large interest in knowing what her work duties and responsibilities entail. A commercial attachà © she told me was generally an agent of her own country, sent to a foreign land to represent her country’s commercial and financial affairs in that foreign land, I was hoping for a more specific answer and to get it I asked her to describe her typical average day to me. She arrives early in the morning, the first thing she does is to update the ambassador on any developments in her field. Then businessmen and women start coming in with all manner of issues. Some would wish to enquire on the likely trend that the inflation in Korea is taking and what the government is doing about it, how their investments are doing, any viable investment opportunities available. Koreans also drop by just for a casual visit, others have solid reasons like wishing the Korean government to negotiate for   trading concessions and low export duties for their goods. This is her typical day. Day in day out she is supposed to have answers to these questions as well as be able to analyze the recommendations she receives from the public. Her answers enabled me to have an idea of what to expect in my career dreams and was able to get from her responsibilities the enormity of the challenges a career diplomat goes through. To her, being a diplomat job is quite a challenge and ideal candidates for the job have to exercise diligence and good work ethics. One has to have high analytical and communication skills, be a team player, have a willingness to learn new things, physical stamina to withstand long working hours and ability to cope and interact with persons of diverse communities. This was very helpful, and this being my dream career, I was able to know the areas I needed to improve on as well as appreciating my strengths (Zachary Bromer, n.d). The working conditions are just marvelous as I could discern from what I could see: her office was smart and exotically furnished with expensive Korean rugs, she was also expensively dressed. She told me that her job is well paying as one has to be well compensated for accepting to work overseas away from her family. This interview, I must say, was an eye opener. It was my first interview with a person of such a high social standing and who represents interest of a far away state. Her confidence and intelligence were equally inspiring. Now I have a strong conviction to follow my intended career path, armed with the information that she gave to me.I have to act with reasonable diligence, work to improve on my strengths and weaknesses to achieve my life time goal of a career diplomat. Reference: Zachary Bromer, Salary.com contributor; Dream job: diplomat Available online at http://www.salary.com/careers/layouthtmls/crel-display-cat10-ser136-par236.html Accessed

A Comparison between Taylorism and the scientific method Essay

When most people think of Scientific Management, they think of Frederic Winslow Taylor. He led a movement against waste and â€Å"soldiering† which revolutionized the Industrial age. He called his theory â€Å"Scientific Management†, although many who come after debate the appropriateness of the title. It seems more appropriate to call the theory â€Å"Taylorism†, as many do. There are others who have also contributed to the school of Scientific Management, most notably Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, Henry Gantt, and Henry Ford. There are common characteristics of each of these approaches, which create the style of management called Scientific Management. This paper, however, will focus on Taylor and what he called â€Å"Scientific Management†. First, we will look at the scientific method, however, so that an accurate answer to the question â€Å"Is scientific management scientific? † Can be found. Then we will look at the ways in which Scientific Management, as espoused by Taylor, was not scientific. Finally, we will look at the ways in which Scientific Management is related to the scientific community. First, a brief overview of the scientific method. The scientific method can be broken down into five basic steps: 1. Observation, leading to naming of the Problem or Question. 2. Form a Hypothesis (educated guess) which may explain the observations, and make predictions based on the hypothesis. 3. Testing of the Hypothesis to examine if it is true, using proper controls. 4. Check and Interpret the results. 5. Publishing results to be verified by others . Of course, when testing the hypothesis, all relevant test information must be included so that the results can be tested by others. In science, a hypothesis which cannot be dis-proved, becomes a theory. It is the role of science to prove a hypothesis wrong – when a hypothesis can withstand attempts to disprove it, its status as a theory grows until it is accepted as a law. A common example is Newton’s theory of gravity. He observed that objects always fell down to the ground. He formed a hypothesis that there was a force acting on the object to pull it to the earth. He predicted that this force would act equally on all objects. He tested this hypothesis and recorded his results. He published these results for review, and they have been validated time and again by scientists, giving them the status of â€Å"Newton’s LAW of Gravity†. Scientific Management, as seen by Taylor, did not really follow the scientific method. However, it did use scientific tools. This is a careful distinction. Essential in the verification of a scientific hypothesis, there must be testing which can be reproduced by other scientists. This means that the same set of tools for measurement must be available, the same mathematical formulas used, and the same population sample for testing. First, let’s examine the relationship between Taylor and the scientific method. As stated by Taylor himself: The majority of these men believe that the fundamental interests of employes and employers are necessarily antagonistic. Scientific management, on the contrary, has for its very foundation the firm conviction that the true interests of the two are one and the same; that prosperity for the employer cannot exist through a long term of years unless it is accompanied by prosperity for the employee, and vice versa; and that it is possible to give the workman what he most wants high wages and the employer what he wants a low labor cost–for his manufactures. Taylor’s observation is that most people view the fundamental interests of employers and employees as antagonistic. His hypothesis is that this is not the case, in fact, that the goal of the employers for low cost manufacturing and the goal of the employee for high wages are compatible. Already, there is a mistake in his logic, he does not set out a hypothesis to answer the fundamental question – Do employees and management share the same objective? However, Taylor’s real hypothesis (although not stated) is that labor can be performed more efficiently. He sets out to test this hypothesis. His motion and time studies can all be performed by others to validate the results. He used these studies to dramatically improve production and efficiency, however, he had the opposite goal – in fact, the result was so extreme there was an investigation of the practice lead by the United States Congress against claims of de-humanization ! Another scholar notes: â€Å"Nevertheless, the industrial engineer with his stop watch and clip-board, standing over you measuring each little part of the job and one’s movements became a hated figure and lead to much sabotage and group resistance. † In many ways, Scientific Management is very scientific. First, it relies upon measurements and replication of results. Second, it has the same ethical questions as medical sciences. Finally, scientific management as espoused by Taylor has been modified by new hypothesis. A result of measurements and replication of results was the revolutionizing of the labor force from a â€Å"rule-of-thumb† or trial and error process to a demonstrable, formulaic process for the completion of each step in the production process. However, this result brought up the ethical question of humans being viewed as machines. As what is happening in modern times with stem cell research and other human scientific inquiries, the notion of â€Å"man as machine† raised some serious ethical concerns in America. However, this concern also opened the door for competing hypothesis to explain what the relationship is between employer’s goals and employee’s goals and how they can be brought together. The school of Human Relations came from this line of inquiry, exemplified by the results of the Hawthorne Study (which also followed scientific principles in how it was conducted! ). The following contrasts the assumptions of Taylor’s Scientific Management with the results of the Hawthorne study: Traditional Hypothesis (Scientific Management) †¢ people try to satisfy one class of need at work: economic need †¢ no conflict exists between individual and organizational objectives †¢ people act rationally to maximize rewards †¢ we act individually to satisfy individual needs Human relations Hypothesis †¢ organizations are social systems, not just technical economic systems †¢ we are motivated by many needs †¢ we are not always logical †¢ we are interdependent; our behavior is often shaped by the social context. †¢ informal work group is a major factor in determining attitudes and performance of individual workers †¢ management is only one factor affecting behavior; the informal group often has a stronger impact †¢ job roles are more complex than job descriptions would suggest; people act in many ways not covered by job descriptions †¢ there is no automatic correlation between individual and organizational needs †¢ communication channels cover both logical/economic aspects of an organization and feelings of people †¢ teamwork is essential for cooperation and sound technical decisions †¢ leadership should be modified to include concepts of human relations. †¢ job satisfaction will lead to higher job productivity management requires effective social skills, not just technical skills Frederic Taylor introduced great advantages into modern production and efficiency. However, he misrepresented his theory when he called it â€Å"Scientific Management†. It is well understood that he was referring to the techniques he used to create benchmarks and quality procedures for work processes. However, as a general theory, he does not set out to answer the question he claims he is answering: Do management and employees share the same goals? In this way he has misrepresented himself. However, he opened the door to scientific evaluation and inquiry into this own theory. His use of measurements and work-units follows mathematics perfectly and augments a science of human motion. He also shared his theories with his contemporaries, which allowed for discussion of the hypothesis and challenge – even before Congress, much like stem cell research today. Finally, he created a theory which could be challenged by others. Mayo, Barnard, and the Hawthorne Studies all set out to show the differences between what the employers want and what the employees want, and how to reach an equitable solution. Bibliography Net MBA: Business Knowledge Center. Frederic Taylor and Scientific Management, Internet Center for Management and Business Administration, Inc, . Taylor, F. W, The Principles of Scientific Management, Harper & Row, London, 1911 Walker, Michael, The Nature of Scientific Thought, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1963 Wertheim, E. G. Professor, Historical Background of Organizational Behavior, Northeastern University, College of Business Administration, Boston, MA,