Canada in the Global Economy Essay examples -- Economics Globalization

Canada in the Global Economy      Over the previous not many years, Canada's economy has done relatively well and has shown some flexibility to the fluctuating worldwide economy. Be that as it may, Canada stays to be generally less serious concerning other created nations. In this paper I will endeavor to investigate Canada's situation in the worldwide economy today and inspect the significant issues.      Competition is a significant driver of development and profitability development. Taking a gander at the household Canadian economy, maybe one of the most huge obstructions to a solid residential economy is the absence of extreme rivalry among local firms. There are numerous explanations behind this. Above all else, the size of the Canadian economy is too little to even think about supporting the advancement of huge partnerships. The US then again, has around a ten times bigger populace, and along these lines, an a lot bigger market and request are set up for bigger worldwide organizations to construct. Because of the absence of adequate household request in Canada, just few bigger firms are created in every industry. Besides, Canadian firms only sometimes treat innovative work as a need. Not at all like in the US, development is certainly not a corporate culture in Canada. This can be somewhat because of the absence of extreme household rivalry, making firms spend ass ets on different territories rather than R&D on the grounds that there is no genuine desire to improve and look after seriousness. The administration likewise assumes a significant job in deciding the degree of residential rivalry. Before, the Canadian government had not been steady to present contentions in its local enterprises. There had not been any reasonable and all around characterized rivalry approaches; there were in any case, various strategies authorizing taxes for imported items that had been shielding local firms from rivalry from abroad. Albeit some can contend that such protectionism was fundamental in the beginning period of an industry, yet Canada has still been keeping up a portion of these security strategies even today for very much created enterprises, for example, the link and power businesses. These defensive approaches don't advance household contentions and hence lead to an absence of profitability gain that can be accomplished through rivalry. Albeit a large number of these defensive strategies are currently non-existent any longer, what these approaches had d... ...rivalry that drives profitability gains. Development from Canadian firms is restricted, bringing about stale profitability enhancements. The Canadian work power is additionally moderately frail and the workplace generally non serious. Later on, Canada will be moving towards a help arranged economy that keeps on depending intensely on sends out. The idea of seriousness will turn out to be increasingly more significant for the achievement of the Canadian economy. It is thusly basic for Canadian organizations to keep on improving efficiency and build up the way of life of consistent research and development. Extraordinary household and remote rivalry likewise should be set up to drive profitability gains. The job of Canadian government will be to make Canada an alluring work environment, live and contribute. This will acquire important human just as money related capital that will be conductive to accomplishing intensity. The administration ought to likewise acknowledge and manage social and ecological issues as an issue of need with a technique to push forward of other created nations and dodge future weight on the economy when these issues begin to turn into a more serious issue later on.

Collection Development Policy

Assortment Development Policy Official Summary The paper assesses Collection Development Policy and its general advantages to libraries. It begins by presentation and the importance of Collection Development Policy, its segments and advantages. At that point there is clarification on the general prerequisites for effective execution CDP. At long last there is audit and assessment of the current stock inside the library and conclusion.Advertising We will compose a custom report test on Collection Development Policy explicitly for you for just $16.05 $11/page Learn More Introduction All libraries have one essential errand of making data accessible through assortment, determination and safeguarding. Such procedure is typically made simpler through utilization of applicable arrangements, for example, Collection Development approach. The approach helps libraries in association through compelling administration of data and different assets (Strong, 1999). Meaning of Collection Development Policy An assortment advanceme nt strategy presents a composed articulation of a library’s goal for building assortments. The CDP depicts assortments parts including qualities and shortcomings just as giving clear rules to the library representatives. The advancement of the report requires time and cautious contemplations for the reasons for demonstrating its significance to the subject. Motivation behind CDP The fundamental reason for a library in typically to sort and give important access to significant data and assets. Improvement in innovation has ensured libraries the opportunity to relocate from property strategy to get to techniques which empower data to be given proficiently and in time. Assortment arrangements are on the expansion in this way causing libraries to plan in scattering generally accessible data (Strong, 1999). Clarification on Collection Development Policy (CDP) The report is relied upon to give refreshed data just as being adaptable with regards to adjusting to different changes. Si multaneously the rules furnished should be modifiable in accordance with the library’s assortment needs. Subsequently, the assortment improvement arrangement ought to be set on the World Wide Web as an asset for the library’s benefactors and wellspring of reference for different libraries (Johnson, 1994). Strategy proclamations typically give parameters through which representatives and clients of the library work. Assortment Development Policy fills needs, for example, choosing materials, depicting current assortments, and simultaneously makes the staff mindful of the points and destinations of the association. Furthermore it gives the different needs connected to various exercises and aids the handling of spending plan and by and large assortment the executives exercises. When all is said in done terms CDP keeps the library from being constrained by occasions just as individual interests. The record additionally controls the acquisition of assets forestalling the ins tances of acquiring assets not on the side of the library’s mission (Clayton and Gorman, 2006).Advertising Looking for report on business financial aspects? We should check whether we can support you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Components of a CDP The assortment advancement approach gives the important direction to staff during the time spent choosing and deselecting assets for assortment. The different procedures included incorporate; securing, lodging, weeding, maintenance and filing, putting all way of material inside their pertinent subjects. Such association helps in lessening the degree of predisposition since all individual choice choices are guided inside the setting of the targets of assortment rehearses. This at last helps with recognizing and filling the holes inside the obligations related with assortment advancement. Such practices guarantee presence of consistency during the time spent choice and amendment done on materials. Assortment Developm ent Policy additionally helps in characterizing the reason and extent of different assortments just as permitting profound assessment on choice choices. The rules gave makes it simpler to the preparation of new staff and simultaneously gives answers to most inquiries raised by selectors (Johnson, 1994). The assortment improvement strategy additionally gives significant base important to future arranging. This helps with arranging of the accessible money related assets making it simpler with regards to need assurance. There is arrangement for ensuring library assets since the approach allows clear rules on securing offers dependent on reasonable allotment of assets. The report in its proper introduction guarantees progression henceforth of extraordinary advantage in procuring information on assortment just as going about as token of library objectives and targets. The characterized goals are useful in managing different exercises identified with assortment, for example, listing, choi ce and de-choice and other applicable conveyance exercises (Johnson, 1994). The other advantage of CDP is that it offers the necessary advertising among the library clients, heads and related subsidizing associations. The record gives clear targets showing the situation of the association on exhibiting responsibility and following the expressed objectives. Importance of the report is controlled by dynamic interest of clients and executives which goes about as wellspring of solid relations between library clients and the representatives. The CDP fills in as an agreement archive between the library and its clients and simultaneously giving away from of the library as far as assortments and different administrations offered to organizations. It makes it simpler for the support of individual determination dependent on standard targets and furthermore makes it conceivable to dismiss undesirable materials (Johnson, 1994). Advantages of building up a composed CDP for the Limerick Institute of Technology Library Limerick Institute of Technology Library approach report would distinguish different issues, for example, the degree of access, substance, and commitment of the network in which it will be set up, significant is the instruction guidelines just as the preparation programs which helps with accomplishing the crucial vision. Working under the procedures of Limerick Institute Library requires explicit activities for assortment improvement, some of which are clarified as underneath (Shenton, 2005).Advertising We will compose a custom report test on Collection Development Policy explicitly for you for just $16.05 $11/page Learn More The CDP will consider increment in the virtual space and simple access to the assortments either physically or electronically on a twenty-four hour premise six days per week. This would likewise involve access to different materials, for example, Library lists and different administrations. There would be issues on membership to a few sig nificant electronic databases which would make it simpler for customers to get to administrations regardless of the area where they are positioned for nothing out of pocket. Formation of more materials through advanced handling would be given need and these would involve social materials educate regarding music, original copies just as pictures. The people group would be occupied with online shows and simultaneously staff being taught and prepared on the rustic and remote networks, allowing them the chance to have what it takes required in activity of the web and utilization of online library assets (Shenton, 2005). The library would offer adequate space for perusers making it fit for pleasing numerous individuals at a time. There would be improved access to accumulations and presentation displays. The undertaking would concede the network the chance to get to virtual library administrations with customers equipped for altering accessible spaces to suite their requirements. The inte rnet providers would supplant paper-based assets making work and availability simpler. The strategy actualized on electronic capacity of data would introduce different key advantages to Limerick Library some of which incorporate; simpler and auspicious conveyance of data empowering customers to get to data independent of their areas. There would be free access to all Limerick Library indexes through their site making choice of titles simpler to customers. Assortment Development Policy would likewise empower digitisation of legacy assets which empowers filtering of different materials, for example, photos and maps. This would elevate access to more extensive scope of materials which recently demonstrated prohibitive. The digitisation likewise improves the library’s job in gathering, safeguarding and access to a few materials connected to legacy (Tedd and Large, 2005). Anyway somewhere in the range of not many difficulties are included which incorporate the privilege to possess ion and access to materials. The issue of advanced assets being gotten to by anybody from everywhere throughout the world gave they have real section through database supplier. The way toward documenting presents some significant test where the overall expenses of chronicle and print forms vary (Tedd and Large, 2005). Necessities for usage and correction of the CDP The main prerequisite for the execution of the CDP is the library’s statement of purpose, the reason for which the approach is drafted and the crowd it should address. A portion of the considerations the report requires are proclamations on client gatherings, kinds of projects served by the CDP, the nature and size of the assortment and point by point financial plan. The different helpful concessions to approach and practices are additionally accommodated (Dahl et al, 2006).Advertising Searching for report on business financial aspects? How about we check whether we can support you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Find out More General and Narrative Statements General articulations would be required for usage purposes. This includes the posting of all attributes which decide the idea of advancement

Social Media Importance of Privacy to me as an Individual - 1100 Words

Social Media: Importance of Privacy to me as an Individual (Essay Sample) Content: TECHNOLOGYNameInstitution AffiliationAccording to (1890 Brandeis,) privacy implies "right to be let alone" Therefore Privacy is rarely lost in one fell swoop. It is usually eroded over time, little bits dissolving almost imperceptibly until we finally begin to notice how much is gone. It forms the basis of the human beings freedom and this therefore implies that loss of privacy leads to loss of freedom. Through having some boundaries in the way information in the social media about us can be accessed, is an aspect which ought to be given more weight than it deserves .Privacy to me creates confidence in the process of my interaction with other human beings therefore. The freedom to privacy of ones personal information at the current century is seriously being eroded .In this regard Our interactions with the world around us can reveal our political and religious beliefs, our desires, sympathies and convictions, and things about ourselves that we arent eve n aware of this might be very wrong to some extended. Hence privacy stands to be an aspect which human beings in general ought to be given an opportunity to exercise.Importance of privacy to me as an individual:Arguing that you dont care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you dont care about free speech because you have nothing to say. Therefore privacy to me is very important in the following ways: (i).It unlashes me from Personal chilling effect: in instances whereby my interaction with other human being is guaranteed to be private, will be free to contact people or even meeting people whom to me are of interest hence in the process I will be in position to exercise my freedom of association. It also helps in making wise decisions on the nature of the activities that will be participating on bearing in mind that my privacy is concerned.Privacy also matters because my economy depends on it. In situations whereby I have to go to the internet to purchase book online it plays key role in my economic status against any forms of fraud as my personal information are safeguarded against computer wizards. Hence harm that might have been caused to me through exposure of my personal information is prevented through security policies. (ii).The scope for infringements upon my human rights can be minimized through privacy, Its clear we human beings are social animals and we cannot be an islands of our own through embracing privacy dangerous our life will be secure to some extent(gross 2005). For example, lack of privacy will expose one to dangerous scenarios like from violent ex-partner, one can find himself in mortal danger by them getting their hands on this much detail about your life. Privacy enables me to identify areas where I can proceed with caution, for instance it becomes very important to share birth dates with caution since they act as the guides on which sites we can visit as there are some site which our age does permit us to visit.Privacy in among the younger population in social media stands to be Avery important aspect which ought to be exercised due the following :(i) I give youths an opportunity to Management their Reputation Privacy enables youths to manage their reputations. This is due to the fact that; how we are judged by others affects our opportunities, friendships, and our overall well-being as human beings. Despite the fact that the younger generation cannot have complete control over their reputations, they must have some ability to protect their reputations from being unfairly harmed. This therefore implies that protecting reputation doesnt depends on protecting against not only falsehoods but also certain truths(ii). It Enhances Freedom of Thought and Speech among the youths.Madden (2013). argues that its important to Ensure there is freedom in the social media among the youths since it stands to be the key to freedom of thought. This will enable youths to have watchful eyes over everything they read or watch since failure to do so can chill them from exploring ideas outside the mainstream. In turn it acts as a key to protection of one from speaking unpopular messages.(iii). It grants youths Ability to Change and Have Second ChancesAs its very clear that youths are not static; this means they change and grow throughout their lives.it must be given recognition that there is a great value in the youths ability to have a second chance in their life time this enables them to be able to move beyond a mistake, in whichPrivacy nurtures this ability. Th...

The Epic Of Beowulf By Seamus Heaney - 2116 Words

Biography: Beowulf is an old story, that was composed somewhere between the middle of the seventh and tenth century, that used to be told orally in front of large groups of people, never being written down until much later when the original teller was long dead. Therefore the original author of Beowulf is unknown, however Seamus Heaney is one of the many to have translated it from old english into current english so many others can enjoy it as well. Seamus Heaney was born on April 13 in 1939. Born and raised in Ireland he was the eldest of nine children, and grew up on a family farm. The landscape gave him reason and background for many of his poems. He attended St. Columb’s College in Londonderry. After that he went to Queen’s University†¦show more content†¦In 1975 he began teaching at Carysfort College, and became the head of the Department of English. He later resigned from his position at the college in 1981. He then went to Harvard to teach as the Boylsto n Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory in February of 1982, as well as teaching at Oxford as a professor of poetry. These jobs were a five year teaching arrangement. Mid 1980’s he began to translate the tale of Beowulf, and finished it in 1999. Seamus Heaney was influenced by poets like Gerard Manley Hopkins and John Crowe Ransom, who were also Irish. Yet, he was also influenced by the time he spent in America. When he was translating Beowulf, he attempted to keep the Anglo-Saxon tone it had originally, while adding his own twist to it. He maintains the four line stress pattern it originally had, but also adds in imagery to make scenes more colorful. On top of this, he offers helpful notes on pronunciations of names, as well as specific usages of language instead of analogies. In 1995 Heaney won the Nobel Prize in Literature, being the second Irish poet to do so. He wrote five major works in his lifetime: Death of a Naturalist, North, The Haw Lantern, District and Circle, and Beowulf; A New Translation. Heaney’s constant switch between two continents earned him audiences in Ireland, Britain, and America. He’s earned many other prestigious awards including the W.H. Smith Award,

Gender and Power Dyanics in ; ‘Oroonoko’ by Aphra Behn and...

Paper 1; ‘Oroonoko’ by Aphra Behn and ‘The Rape of the Lock’ by Alexander Pope The relationship between gender and power dynamics is relevant to the understanding of literature through the ages. However, the widespread problematic belief that women are simply the passive, powerless victims of male power is oversimplified and outdated. Power relations, as theorized by Foucault in ‘The History of Sexuality’ are far more complex; the dynamic is ever-changing, from moment to moment and therefore any interpretation of the exchange of power requires a much deeper analysis than what meets the eye. The idea of power determined from and by sexuality can be understood in a comparison of the novel, ‘Oroonoko’ by Aphra Behn with the satiric poem,†¦show more content†¦Pope describes Belinda who is meant to represent women in the era in the lines: â€Å"Her lively looks a sprightly mind disclose,/ Quick as her eyes, and unfixed as those:† (‘The Rape of the Lock’, Canto II, p.50). The use of the word â€Å"sprightly† refers to her being gay, vivacious, somewhat ditzy and her being unfixed implies that Belinda, and women in general are fickle and unable to focus on any one thing. Overall, Pope generalizes women as superficial, sprightly and attention seeking. This creates some debate as to whether these women are powerful in being significant enough to be represented in the first place or powerless in having their essence being snatched away by Pope. Additionally, while the poem attempts the critique the values associated with femininity such as vanity, shallowness, self-obsession, and beauty, in order to do so it lends these qualities power to be the central theme of the poem, in a sense glorifying the very same values he aims to critique. Both texts pivot directly around female sexuality and its implications in a patriarchal culture where womens bodies and their purity are regulated and valued as their true value. Imoinda is presented as beautiful and desirable by fellow slaves and their masters. However, she isn’t violated by Trefry even though â€Å"all the white Beautys he had seen, never charm’d him so absolutely as this

The Differences Between Chinese and Western Food free essay sample

Cultural differences between China and western countries create the differences of food cultures, which come from the different cultural values, ways of thinking and philosophy. By comparing the different cultural values between China and western countries, the paper mainly makes a research on the differences of Western and Chinese food cultures from the aspects of food conception, structure and table manners. It also states the food cultures opposites in unity between these two kinds of countries and inevitability of their blending together. Understanding their differences and rectifying the attitudes towards the individual culture will enhance our communicative awareness and competence and avoid the contradictions and conflicts brought forth by different food cultures and values, and thus promoting culture exchange and development. Key words:cross cultural communication; cultural value; food cultures; opposites in unity Acknowledgements First of all, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Hu Tian-en, for his instructive advice and useful suggestions on my thesis. I am deeply grateful of his help in the completion of this thesis. High tribute shall be paid to all the course teachers in the School of Foreign Languages in Zhengzhou University, whose profound knowledge of English triggers my love for this beautiful language and whose earnest attitude tells me how to learn English. Special thanks should go to my friends who have put considerable time and effort into their comments on the draft. Finally, I am indebted to my parents for their continuous support and encouragement. The Differences Between Chinese and Western Food Cultures Outline I. Introduction II. Main Differences Between Chinese and Western Food Cultures A. Conceptual Differences B. Different Manners C. Different Characteristics 1. Different Dinner Service 2. Different Cookbooks and Reasons III. The Unity of Food cultures as Two Opposites IV. Conclusion The Differences Between Chinese and Western Food Cultures I. Introduction Culture has a long history, and it still is being studied nowadays. Culture is something that originated with the emergence of man. Sir Edward, the British anthropologist, says that culture is that complex whole that includes knowledge, belief, and moral, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society. (Harris, 1987, 2) Different regions, different races and different countries all form their own culture. Different regions and different living environments make them have different backgrounds. Different backgrounds affect different appearance of cultures. Food culture is the basic culture for a nation. Food cultures can show differences and characteristics of different nations or countries. As an important aspect of culture,Food culture can be defined as the sum of material and spiritual phenomena in the catering activities. With the emphasis on a healthy food, many Chinese and foreign scholars are studying the nutritional food in order to find a more reasonable food. Differences of food cultures in different countries are a phenomenon of cross-cultural communication. Studying these differences can train people’ adaptability in cross-cultural communication. Cross-cultural communication in the situation of globalization makes the different food cultures complementary and integrated. II. Main Differences Between Chinese and Western Food Cultures A. Conceptual Differences Differences between American and Chinese food culture reflects two different food concepts and values. Chinese people are always upholding â€Å"People regard food as their heave, taste is the essence of food† . the eight major cuisines of china reflect the rich connotations of Chinese food culture. From this, we can know that the food is in a very important position in minds of Chinese people. Chinese food culture concerns the meaning of material and has a trend of achieving a mental need. Chinese food culture’s great sentiment is well established, so it has the very high prestige in the world. The Chinese people think that it is reasonable to eat three meals a day. Eating can relieve thirst and appease hunger, but it has some meanings. For example, when a child comes into the world, the relatives often eat the red-painted eggs. These kinds of eggs contain their wishes and their expectations. Life can be continued and the great expectations can be passed down from generation to generation. When a child is one year old, their family will hold a party to celebrate it and to eat many kinds of food. When people want to have a marriage, they also want to have a lively banquet to celebrate it. Seen from the surface, these kinds of eating are only satisfy physical needs. In fact, they have ulterior motivations. They want to take advantage of this kind of form to express one kind of psychological connotation. Eating has a very profound and significant position in the society. Through the Chinese and the Western association, our food culture has merged into some new characteristics. Besides the quality, fragrance and flavor, food should concern the nutrition. This is a progressive expression of the Chinese food. The basic connotation and inspection of the Chinese food culture not only can be helpful to deepen the food cultural theory, but can occupy the world market. It can make the Chinese food culture have the profound and positive sense. It may has four characteristics: refinement, beauty, feeling, courtesy. The four characters have reflected the food activities, and have processed the food quality, the esthetic experience, the emotional activity, the social function and so on. They also contain unique cultural implication. They reflect close relation between the food culture and the outstanding traditional culture. Chinese food culture attacks great importance to the food’s fine beauty and making devices. First, â€Å"refinement† can be used to summarize the intrinsic quality. Confucius said that the good food can be shown from the beautiful appearance, and we consider the minced meat to be good because of its thin. This reflects that the ancients have begun to concern high-quality food. Certainly this is possibly limited to certain aristocrat. But this kind of high-quality food can show one kind of cultural spirit. More and more cultural spirit has permeated the entire food activity. Choosing the material, the cooking, and the food atmosphere all manifest this characteristic of refinement. Second, â€Å"beauty† manifests the food culture’s esthetical characteristic. One important reason why Chinese food can conquer the world lies in its beauty. This kind of beauty refers to the Chinese food can unite the form of action and the perfect content. People can enjoy this kind of happy spirit. The first reason for making people to taste the food is the beauty of the food, anther criterion for judging food is the technique of cooking which can make people have an esthetical feeling. Third, â€Å"feeling† can be used to summarize the function of satisfying psychological need of Chinese food culture. Eating and drinking cannot simply reflect it. In fact, feeling is a medium that can make people exchange the emotion. It is one kind of entirely new social activity. At the same time, while eating a meal, people also can chat with each other. They may do business, exchange information and have the interview. The friends’ meeting and parting and seeing off the departing people are the sentimental disturbance. Fourth, the Chinese food can show the courtesy of Chinese people. The â€Å"refinement†, â€Å"beauty†, â€Å"feeling† and â€Å"courtesy†, can be used to summarize the basic conations of Chinese food culture. In the other words, these four aspects are the organic constitution of Chinese food culture. The refinement and beauty stress on the food image and the quality. The feeling and courtesy can lay emphasis on the view of food. These four characteristics can show the prevailing customs. They are the special characteristics and can make the Chinese food culture be different from Western food culture. Western food cannot have these characteristics like Chinese food. It concerns more nutrition of food rather than other aspects. The Western people have a very scientific view of food, but they may have less attention to the flavor of food. The Western people just consider the food as a fuel of bodies. They just want to live by eating the food, and eating the food is to live and to keep healthy. B. Different Manners First, there are different arrangements of seats. Chinese and western all concern the arrangement of seats at a formal banquet. In China, etiquette on food has a very long history. It is recorded that in Chou Dynasty, had formed a set of perfect systems. Especially, since Confucius praised the etiquette, the etiquette has become an important part for every dynasty to show its mightiness, kindness and civilization. As a traditional etiquette, it has its process. Traditionally, Chinese people often use the old fashioned square table or round table for eight people. The host invites people to have the dinner. When some guests come, the host often let them have a rest in the drawing room and drink some tea. The host could let all the guests take their seats in the dining room when all the guests arrive. The left place is the respectful and is considered the first place. Then the seat near to the first seat is the second. They usually let the guest who is in the high rank take the left seat and then arrange the others’ seats one by one. After the guests all took their seats, the host should toast and let the guests eat more foods. In China, it is a good and polite way for the host to treat the guests in this way. The host should let the guests feel at ease. Sometimes he or she can pick up the food and put in to the guests’ plates. However, this action cannot be done excessively, and it will let the guests feel embarrassed. The reason is that sometimes it is very hard for the guests to deal with their excessive foods. Until Qing Dynasty, the Western food was brought into China. Some Western countries’ etiquette also went into our country. Some changes have taken place in our traditional etiquettes. Nowadays, etiquette on Chinese food has developed on the basis of keeping traditions and consulting Western countries’ etiquettes. The order of seat is that the right is considered as the first place and respectful position. The main host takes the seat facing to the door. The first and second important guest should sit on both sides of the host. The second guest also can seat near the first important guest. When the Western people have the dinner, they often use the long and square table. The host and hostess take both sides of the table, and then arrange the guests of honor. Second, table manners differ greatly from country to country. Traditionally, at the Chinese dining table, everyone has his or her own bowl of stable food, while the dishes are placed in the middle of the table to be shared by all. This age-old custom is one manifestation of the importance of food in Chinese civilization. It is the cooked dishes, rather than flowers, that serve as center pieces on a Chinese table; food is frequently the main topic of dinner time and food is the medium of communicating the host’s good wishes and the joy of the celebration. Enjoyment of the food offered is much more important than conversation. When we have a dinner, we cannot think only of ourselves. If we have a meal with others, we must examine whether our hands are clean. Do not put the left food to the pot, and do not hold the food by yourself. In the dinner, the drink is the necessary thing. It plays an important role at banquets. It can make people feel excited and make the atmosphere high. At the same time, in order to express the respect for others, they often drink the bear one cup by one cup. The host takes the first piece of the most valued food and put it on their guest of honor’s plate after leading the first drink. This will signify the beginning of the eating and is considered as a friendly gesture. At the banquet, some things need to be considered. Some seeds and bones of the food should be placed on the table or in a reserved dish. Do not place these in your bowl. If you want to break the dinner for a while, you can vertically put chopstick on the dishes. If you put chopsticks horizontally on the dishes or place your chopsticks on the table, it shows that you are full and do not eat anymore. Do not place your chopsticks parallel on the top of your bowl. It is believed to bring bad luck. Do not stick your chopsticks straight up in your rice bowl. Do not put the end of the chopsticks in your mouth. Sometimes, try not to drop your chopsticks on some formal occasions. This is also considered a sign of bad luck. After finishing the dinner, guests should help hosts clear away bowls and chopsticks and give them to the hosts. The hosts should rise and let the guests not work and sit down. These customs are also necessary in the modern times. At the banquet of the Western countries, they should sit bolt upright, and they think it is impolite to stoop down and to lower their heads. At the same time, they should keep a distance between their bodies and the table. It is appropriate for people to be able to use forks, knives and spoons. It is not allowed to put their arms on the table or to stretch out their arms to stand in others’ way. They also should use the table napkin. The napkin only can be used to clean mouth and hands. Do not use it to clean utensils and even sweat. When finishing the dinner, you should put the napkin on the right of the dish. It is considered bad manners to make any noise while eating soup in Western countries, while it is not considered impolite to drink soup noisily in Asian countries. If the soup is hot, we can drink it when it becomes a bit cold. Do not blow it to make it cold. When drinking the soup, people should use soup spoons from the inner to outer. After the soup is finished, they should leave the spoon in the bowl. Do not make the knife fork and spoon make a sound when you are eating the meal. If you do not use them, you just put them on the right places and do not play with them. In Western society, anyone who lifts their plate or bowl from the table is criticized. There are also correct and incorrect ways of using your cutlery at the dining table. Good etiquettes require a person to put food on the back of their fork; that is, not to use their forks as spoons. However, most people do sometimes use their fork as a spoon when they eat some food, like rice, it is an impolite way to wave knives and forks when you are speaking. There is a different way to show finishing the dinner in the Western countries. At a Western banquet, if you want to have a break during the dinner, you should put the knife and fork in the middle of plate by the splay shape. If you put the knife and fork outside of the plate, it will be not safe and also it cannot have a good looking. In the Western countries, the hostess often is the master of the whole party. The guests often need to behave properly, and they begin to eat the food when the hostess begins to eat. When finishing the dinner, it is common that the hostess leaves the table first and then the guests begin to leave. At this point, we can see that at the dinner, the ladies are in the important places. It can show their kindness of the gentlemen. â€Å"Lady first† often can be said by them and the gentlemen often can show their polite actions to the ladies. This is a good action for people and we should learn it. In the formal feast, there are many things that should be known and considered. Especially at Western countries’ feast, people should know about those manners and customs. If not, people will make many mistakes, what is worse; their impolite ways can disturb and influence others. Sometimes, the action of people will be a joke for people to absorb into the big environment and to communicate with others well. As for foreigners, if they can learn about them well, it can make them adapt to the life of others. Third, there are also differences in the order of dishes. In China, the first dish is soup, and then the main food, such as rice. The last of the dinner is fruit that is used to expedite the assimilation. In the Western countries, the order is vegetable, soup, fruit, drink and rice. The sweetmeat and coffee often are the last. Fourth, we have different requests for dressing. In China, people can be informally dressed, even T-shirts and jeans when they are in the restaurant. Only when they attend some formal feast, they will be grandly dressed. In the Western countries, if people go to the deluxe restaurant, the men should wear the clean coat and leather shoes, and the ladies should wear skirts and shoes with heels. If they are asked to wear the formal clothes, the men need to wear ties. They cannot be dressed in casual wear to go to the restaurant to have the dinner. If they just do so, they will be considered to be impolite by others. If we have the chance to have formal dinners, we should remember to wear formal clothes. It can show your kindness and courtesy. C. Different Characteristics Food culture is not only related to eating, It is the culture that includes beliefs, views, philosophies, regions, art and other things that are related to food, and many new things have swarmed into our countries. Among them, there is the food culture. Many people desire to try different foods from different countries. However, there are a few people who can really learn about these differences. The food culture of one country or one place can be the epitome of its culture. In order to increase communications between different nations, we should learn about these characteristics. 1. Different Dinner Service â€Å"The difference between the Eastern and Western civilization is primarily different in the tools used. The difference between the Western and the Chinese culture is primarily different in the dinner service. † ( , 2001:25) In China, chopsticks are the tool used for eating. Chopsticks can be dated from Chou Dynasty. In the West, people often use knife and fork in the dinner. Knife and fork’s appearance is later than chopstick. Professor You Xiuling who is in Zhejiang University thinks that the West and the East turn up dinner services’ differences that are related to the environment. Chopstick should be invented in the place where there were bamboos. In the ancient period, our forefathers mainly used their hands to grasp and eat food. Later because people were fond of roasting food, but they could not directly use their hands to operate, they must depend on the branch to turn over the food. As time passed, intelligent forefathers gradually learned to use bamboo slip to take food. Knife and forks originated from ancient nomadic Europeans. After they gradually settled down, livestock husbandry gave first place in Europe. Because of it, their principal food was meat. They must use knife to cut meat and send it to mouth. In order to improve the gesture of eating, European people used the fork in the 15th century. Until they settled down in the city, knife and fork were not in the kitchen. There was a history of four hundred or five hundred years for them to use knife and fork together. Knife and fork and chopsticks not only bring diversities of eating’s habits, but also influence the Western and Chinese people’s views of life. Knife and fork bring the style of separating food, and chopsticks are suitable for having a meal with family members. ( , 2003:1)   The Western feature is derived that Western people are particular about independence, but the style of eating using chopstick make Chinese people have the firm family views. Chopsticks are a symbol of cultural traditions. Its characteristic is that unchangeability adapts to changeability. This is still what Chinese people are pride of and it is an advanced symbol. The famous physicist PhD Li Zhengdao has perfect discussion for chopsticks’ advantages. He thinks that Chopsticks used the principle of lever and what hands can do. 2. Different Cookbooks and Reasons Chinese traditional agriculture kept many habits of hunting, and there are many cookbooks and lots of cooking devices. In China, although there is no agreement on the precise number of Chinese regional cuisines, those concerned with such matters agrees that the four principal culinary regions are Shandong, Sichuan, Canton and Yangzhou, with Fujian-Taiwan most commonly listed as a fifth. At the same time, these designations are not hard and fast geographical boundaries. The cuisine of entire densely populated Yangtze River delta area, including Wuxi, Suzhou, Shanghai and Hangzhou dishes, falls under the category of Yangzhou cuisine. All over China, there are numerous local delicacies and foods unique to various ethnic groups are middle and low levels of food attract lots of consumers. Their food is also Chinese food’s main stream. In Chinese cooking, frying, deep-frying, stewing and other ways of cooking are made of various cooking devices. Western traditional agriculture is animal husbandry, and plant products industry has a little wheat. Its cookbooks and cooking devices are fewer and simpler than China. As we all know, Western people like the bread, cake, cheese and other foods that often contain sugar. Another favorite food is the beefsteak with blood. The fast food is also very popular in Western countries. You can find a fast food chain, like McDonald’s, Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut or Taco Bell. You also can get a hero or submarine sandwich â€Å"to stay† or â€Å"to go† from sandwich shop or deli. It is related to the fast step of life. Now in Western countries, many ethnic restaurants are commonplace. Many Western countries are developed countries, and they become countries of immigrants. So there is an immense variety in its catering culture. In America, any large American city is filled with restaurants serving international cooking. Many cities even have ethnic sections: Chinatown, Little Italy, or Germantown. With this vast ethnic choice, we can enjoy food from all over the world. From this, we can feel that many food cultures are merging into other different food culture. Now some Chinese foods have been directly absorbed into English form of Latin alphabets. Such as chow mein ( ), don fujiang ( ), won ton ( ) and so on. At the same time, many foreign sweets and cakes are favorably received by Chinese people. III. The Unity of Food Cultures as Two Opposites Nowadays, technology develops so fast, and it needs every nation and every country to communicate with each other. It can make the world go on developing. Cultures in different countries are continuously advancing, changing and developing. In   Ã‚  this situation, every country will have the chance to absorb other cultures’ advantages. Cultural communication will clad to one manifestation-cultural assimilation. This is one kind of direction of cultural development. As communication is continuously deep-going, we all realize that we should learn about the characteristics of other cultures because we need to communicate with each other and we need to develop. If we do not know about these, it will be very hard to communicate with each other. Now the economy is developing, and every country also wants to develop. If one country wants to develop, it cannot only communicate with itself. It needs to communicate with other countries, and it needs to learn about developments of other countries and the world. One country cannot develop itself if it does not communicate with others. This kind of communication makes us know more about other countries, including their cultures. Among these cultures, food culture is one kind of important culture. It can play an important role in the business. In the business, the etiquettes of the food culture must be considered. It can be helpful for us to learn more about these etiquettes. It lets us adjust to these ones and let us become more easily to communicate with other people. We will have more topics to talk about. â€Å"Nowadays, all kinds of culture really enter an era of reciprocal link, reciprocal influence. So does the food culture. † ( ,2004:96) that is, people’s curiosity and each other’s adaptation. As China opens her door to the world, many new things rush into her. Among them, is food. Fast food restaurants like KFC and McDonald’s are distinct American brands. Deep-rooted in the Chinese consciousness is the traditional culture of food and drink that features color, fragrance, flavor and variety. Fast food simply does not compare. Now that curiosity had faded, people returned to their own more extensive cuisine. Under such circumstances, the only way out was to combine the two different cultures. Fast food restaurants have been learning to absorb elements of Chinese culture. Since the summer of 2001, KFC has introduced many Chinese items onto their menus. Consumers felt their traditions were being respected when they could taste Chinese cuisine at a foreign restaurant. The soup proved a success, and Mushroom Rice, tomato and Egg Soup, and Traditional Peking Chicken Roll were soon added to the menu. KFC also serves packets of Happy French Fry Shakes that contain beef, orange and Augur barbecue spices KFC and McDonald’s have absorbed the Chinese cultural elements of showing respect, recognition, understanding, assimilation and amalgamation, while maintaining the substance of the Western culture of efficiency, freedom, democracy, equality and humanity. This inter-cultural management mode, with American business culture at the core, supplemented by Chinese traditional culture, provides reference for international enterprises which need to adjust, enrich and reconstruct their corporate culture to enhance local market flexibility. On the objective side, there must be similarities in environment in order for the two cultures to connect and synchronize. KFC and McDonald’s embody an accommodation of the fast tempo of modern life: a product of development and a market economy. China’s rapid economic development offered the environmental conditions corresponding to fast food culture. Services offered by fast food chains express their full respect for freedom, an American value, as well as the psychological statement of Chinese open-mindedness that desires to understand and experience the Western lifestyle. As China’s integration into the world economy accelerates, Western food has grown from a small novelty into an emerging industry and an essential part of Chinese food culture. Western food has become more diversified and has increasingly provided Chinese consumers with unconventional enjoyment, a complete turn from traditional Chinese food culture. China now has Western-style cuisine of various nationalities and special characteristics. French, German, and Italian restaurants are the most popular. In the Western countries, there are also many kinds of Chinese foods. Chinese foods are also very popular. The Chinese restaurants in the Western countries have grown in popularity among the Western people. Even the Chinese basketball superstar Yao Ming has managed a Chinese restaurant in America. It is obvious that Chinese food has already been into Western countries. All kinds of foods become popular in the world, and many people begin to learn about the etiquettes of them. People have become familiar with these etiquettes. These etiquettes have a large scale for the world. In order to enter other countries’ food culture, we should learn about these etiquettes. This is a good way for us to communicate with others and to adapt to other countries’ culture. The development needs us to know well about other countries, including their cultures. Every culture is the special one and it stands for one country. IV. Conclusion As we all know, different countries have different cultures. This paper just explains one small part of the food culture. To learn about its etiquettes is the need of the development of one country. We should be not conserved. We should melt into the society, and we can learn from them. Every culture has its special place and it has its own features. (Larry, 2000: 20) We can learn many things from these cultures, and we can make our culture become more perfect. In the paper, we just discuss the characteristics of the food culture, the etiquettes of the food culture and their developments of these food cultures. No matter how the time flies, the trend of development is still all humans’ great harmony. The emergency of the new concept named â€Å"the global village† is the embryonic form of future concept about the seven oceans and all humans extended family. Eating manners and customs have no exception. The concept of Chinese food is popular in Western countries. Chinese people have began to have interest in Western food little by little. These all proved that it is just a process for people to accept the other food culture. As time passes, diversities between Western and Chinese food culture can be conquered and realized to be identical. Both of them are changing in order to adjust to the development of the world. The direction of development will be concerned. Assimilations, as one kind of direction of development, will become more and more. People from different countries will become familiar with these etiquettes of the different food cultures. People can understand these etiquettes from different countries. This is the need of the development of society. Bibliography Harris, Marvin. Cultural Anthropology [M]. New York, Harper Row, Publishers. Inc. , 1987, 2 Larry. Samovar, Richard E.

Safety Cultures A Case Study from the Oil and Gas Industry free essay sample

These definitions share a common thread, the idea that culture is socially constructed. In other words, members of the culture in question create, define, protect and teach it to new members. Humans cannot operate without cultures. These systems provide roadIN BRIEF maps for their members to know how †¢This case study discusses to make sense of what is happening in how new training videos were their lives and how to deal with it. Patdeveloped for high-risk, blueton (2002) defines culture as: collar workers in the oil and [T]hat collection of behavior patgas extraction industry. terns and beliefs that constitutes: †¢NIOSH’s Oil and Gas Injury †¢standards for deciding what is; Reduction project is focused †¢standards for deciding how on developing culturally one feels about it; relevant and acceptable mate†¢standards for deciding what to rials for workers. do about it; †¢Steps for undertaking an †¢standards for deciding how to occupational ethnography or go about doing it. We will write a custom essay sample on Safety Cultures: A Case Study from the Oil and Gas Industry or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page p. 81) work culture study are examCulture has been described as â€Å"the ined, as are ideas on why work collective programming of the mind stories matter, and who might be the most effective people to which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from star in training videos. another† (Hofstede, 1997, p. 5). Sim†¢Tips on creating training ply, culture is â€Å"the way we do things videos in the field are offered around here. † as well. An individual can be a member of Elaine T. Cullen, Ph. D. , M. B. A. , CMSP, has spent nearly 40 years in the field of occupational safety and health research, specializing in underground coal and hard rock mining. Based in Spokane, WA, she worked for the U. S. Bureau of Mines’ Spokane Research Lab for 26 years, then for NIOSH, for which she was the lab’s communications chief. After retiring from the federal government, she started Prima Consulting Services and is currently working as an occupational health consultant with NIOSH’s Oil and Gas Injury Prevention program. Cullen’s primary research interests are in developing effective training for high-risk workers, and in the power stories have to teach workplace safety. She is a member of ASSE’s Inland Northwest Chapter and of the Mining and Oil Gas practice specialties. Effective Training By Elaine T. Cullen C many different cultures. A person may be a member of a family that has its own rules and traditions; s/he may be a member of a church that provides definite guidance on what constitutes moral behavior; s/he may be an alumnus of a school with well-defined customs; and s/he may work for an organization with established policies and procedures. Each culture differs from the others, with different members, and with rules and standards that govern different elements of a person’s life. All of these cultures share common traits, however. Cultures: †¢are socially constructed systems; †¢have developed over time; †¢are shared by all of the members; †¢define who is a member and who is not; †¢provide a social road map on what is acceptable and what is not; †¢can be difficult to describe but are quite obvious to both members and outsiders. Cultures are important because they control, to a large degree, the actions of everyone inside of them. Arnould and Wallendorf (1994) describe culture as â€Å"the cumulative total of learned beliefs, values, and customs that serve to order, guide, and direct the behavior of members . . . [it is] that which one needs to know to behave in a manner acceptable to its members† (p. 485). A member of a culture cannot go against that culture and expect to 40 ProfessionalSafety MARCH 2011 www. asse. org remain a trusted insider. The culture will always have penalties for rule breakers; in extreme cases, those penalties will include banishment. Occupational Ethnography Occupational cultures have particular significance for SHE professionals because they control how workers behave on the job. Workers in high-risk industries such as mining, commercial fishing, or oil and gas extraction do not generally define themselves by who they work for, but rather by what they do. In many of these industries, workers are fairly transient, moving from mine to mine, boat to boat, or rig to rig, looking not only for better pay, but also for better working conditions or, sometimes, to do something different. Hard rock mining has a term for these miners, calling them tramp miners, because they tramp from site to site, or gypos, a term generally believed to derive from their gypsy nature. Workers who refer to themselves as gypos, roughnecks or seiners are more strongly connected to their occupational norms than to any company policies. If they do not like the company rules, they simply move on. Policies and procedures that are not acceptable to a work culture will not be adopted by the workforce, regardless of organizational consequences. Therefore, it makes sense for a person trying to convince workers to change the way they do things to understand their work cultures and to use those cultures rather than struggle against them. Ethnography is the study of human cultures. While sociologists often use ethnography to learn why young people start smoking, for example, or how fraternal orders attract new members, it is an excellent tool to learn how occupational cultures work. It is the primary tool used in a NIOSH project focused on developing effective safety and health training for the landbased oil and gas (OG) extraction and production industry, commonly known as the upstream portion of that industry (which includes exploration, drilling and all servicing operations for the wells themselves). Research included in this project is qualitative rather than quantitative in nature in that researchers are more interested in discovering what is going on and why than in measuring or evaluating. Gathering Information on Work Cultures If occupational culture is a key to worker behavior, then it makes sense that a safety trainer, training developer or operator should understand the norms and values, the expectations and prohibitions, the heroes and the villains, and, particularly, the stories shared among members of the culture. All of these factors provide clues about what controls the culture has on the workers, and all can be used to craft training that not only will be accepted, but also valued. How does one begin to study a work culture? A work culture cannot be studied effectively from a distance. To learn the culture and what really matters to workers, one must visit worksites and spend time with workers, whether on fishing boats or at construction sites, mines or oil rigs. When NIOSH funded the project to study the culture of OG extraction and production workers, the first step was to create an organized plan to gather information on key topics. This plan was based on experiences and knowledge gained while studying mining cultures. This included: †¢demographic patterns; †¢environmental issues; †¢work practices; †¢occupational norms and values; †¢workplace taboos and prohibitions; †¢language unique to this culture; †¢beliefs common to workers, particularly beliefs about safety; †¢geographical differences from one oil field to another; †¢recognized heroes and mentors; †¢stories told by members; †¢differences in company cultures. Ethnographers gather this type of information in three primary ways (LeCompte Schensul, 1999). They study: 1) what people say (this includes the â€Å"tribal language† or jargon commonly used); 2) what people do; 3) what artifacts (or documents) they choose to create. Studying any culture in situ requires immersion of the researcher, to some degree, in the work culture itself. While SHE personnel may be tempted to make suggestions or try to influence workers’ actions when observing, it is critical to stay out of the way and make no attempt to change or bias the culture at this stage of the process. This does not include situations where workers’ lives are in danger. SHE professionals must address those immediately. ) To develop a valid picture of work culture that is useful for creating culturally acceptable training materials, the researcher must stay neutral, and confine his/her actions to asking questions, seeking clarification and watching. Those accustomed to fast responses to any situation may initially perceive an ethnographic study as a long, drawn -out process, particularly if they have no prior knowledge of the work or the culture of the workers. However, learning about workers in order to create safety training that is unique to their needs is not a waste of time. The most obvious benefit is the ability to create more effective training. Learning About the OG Industry The data gathering plan for this project began with going into the field and talking to workers. The OG extraction industry in the U. S. is divided www. asse. org MARCH 2011 ProfessionalSafety 41 Photo 1: Walking rigs are large land-based rigs used on locations where numerous wells are drilled in a small area. nto distinct fields that are tracked and reported by the Energy Administration Information office of the Department of Energy (www. eia. doe. gov/ oil_gas/rpd/topfields. pdf). Certain fields were selected as starting points, including the Permian Basin in west Texas, the Piceance Basin in western Colorado, the San Juan Basin in northwest New Mexico, the Barnett Shales in central Texas, the Jonah Fields of northern Colorado, and the TXLA-MS Salt Province o f east Texas and Louisiana. These fields included both natural gas and oil formations, and shallow as well as deep reserves. OG companies do not generally drill their own wells. Specialized companies are contracted to do this, along with numerous well servicing contractors that help bring a well into production. For the early phases of this project, the primary focus was on the drilling operations rather than the service tasks. Later phases of the project will include other types of rigs as well as other operations such as the trucking companies that move rigs from site to site. In July 2008, site visits were set up to learn about drilling operations and to begin gathering information on the workforce. Drill rigs come in many sizes, and companies hire rigs depending on the depth of the hole to be drilled and the geologic complexity that will be encountered. For wells that are shallow (e. g. , less than 1 mile deep), rigs are smaller and may even be truck-mounted, similar to water well drilling units. Larger rigs are more complex, but the processes used to drill a hole and to move the rig to new locations are largely the same, regardless of size. Most drill rigs use five- or six-person crews, with either two or three crews per rig, depending on shift 42 ProfessionalSafety MARCH 2011 www. sse. org (or tower as it is known in the industry) length. The rig boss, known as the tool pusher, lives on site in a house trailer provided by the company so that he is always available. Each rig usually has two tool pushers, and these men rotate their hitches (number of days worked before going on leave) so that a supervisor is always on site. For the rigs visited, the hitches for tool pushers ran ged from 3 days to 2 weeks, while the hitches for the men ranged from 1 to 3 weeks. Use of the word â€Å"men† is purposeful. In more than 2 years and visits to more than 40 rigs, the author has not encountered a woman working on a rig. This is a male-dominated work culture. Learning about a new industry takes more than a few visits to worksites. One must systematically gather information. Consequently, a list of questions was developed to help identify cultural norms. The initial list was based on the author’s experiences in the mining industry; it was meant to be general enough to provide a broad introduction to the industry that could subsequently be refined to capture more subtle cultural data. Information was gathered on the following: †¢drill rig site, name, company and method; †¢location and size of workforce; †¢union affiliation (if any); †¢contractors (if any); †¢rough percentage of new hires (workers with less than 1 year of experience); †¢general workforce demographics; †¢training required and who provided it (both for career and for this rig); †¢preferred materials/media for training, including available facilities; †¢common beliefs and perceptions about safety and work hazards; †¢work practices and how work is assigned to different workers; †¢best practices and/or company policies concerning operations; †¢recognized â€Å"masters† (who do people look up to and why); †¢incidents, injuries and near misses workers have experienced or witnessed. Some items fell out fairly quickly. For example, labor unions are not common, and every rig visited was contracted rather than owned and operated by the en ergy company. In addition, this industry reacts rapidly to commodity prices. When prices are high, a site will have a significant number of new hires with little experience; when prices drop, new hires are the first to lose their jobs, as the rigs they work on are stacked and no longer available for hire. Therefore, the percentage of inexperienced workers was a moving target. The original questions served as a starting point. Workers provided much information that was used to refine the data gathering necessary to begin developing a picture of this unique work culture. Over the next 2 years, the research team visited more than 40 rigs in seven different areas of the country. These included small, mobile rigs, rigs in service for more than 60 years (most still using manual methods), others that were only months old as well as much more automated, and large â€Å"walking† rigs. Walking rigs are large land-based rigs used on locations where numerous wells are drilled in a small area. Rather than dismantling the rig to move it to a new site, workers â€Å"walk† it forward to its intended location. This relatively new technology is more commonly found in western oil fields, where many wells are clustered on a single site (Photo 1). More than 1,000 photographs were taken of rigs, sites, workers, and any other signs or artifacts that would provide clues about the culture. Standard ethnographic tools were employed, including interviews, observations, field notes, informal conversations, and review of documents such as company policies, safety posters and training materials. In all cases, the primary gatekeeper for access to the sites was the safety director for the energy company or the drilling company. These individuals provided a wealth of information on tasks and procedures as well as access to the rigs. In all cases, they were invaluable to the project’s success. Why Stories Matter High-risk work cultures share a love of stories. Stories provide more than entertainment on worksites; they are used to share information about cultural norms and expectations, and provide graphic illustrations about what happens if those norms are violated (Cullen, 2008). The roughnecks working in the OG drilling industry are no exception. They shared stories about people they had met, about near misses (called â€Å"near hits† by most of them), about weather extremes, and about many incidents that provided harsh but valuable lessons on how to do this work. They also talked about what they do when not working, including stories about family, friends and leisure-time activities. All of these provide keys to what these workers value. Stories share important features that make them valuable to an ethnographer. First, they are always culturally-based. This means that they are situated; they are about someone, who is doing something located somewhere, during a specific time. Stories reveal much about the culture, through the language used, the actions of heroes and villains, and the reactions of listeners. Stories also help people organize information in a way that is understandable. New hires in the OG industry often have a difficult time breaking out (a term used for entering the workforce for the first time) because of the unfamiliar tools, terms, work practices or expectations they must master in order to perform the job (Livo Rietz, 1986). It can be bewildering to be new on a jobsite where even the tools have unfamiliar names. To remain safe while they learn the job, new workers need a way to deal with an abundance of information; stories help them do so (Cullen Fein, 2005). If the goal of safety training is to educate new employees on work hazards and convince all employees to act safely on the job, stories are an excellent tool. Haven (2007) presents the results of several research studies on the power of stories to provide information and help create meaning. He says research shows that stories are effective teaching tools because they evoke prior knowledge; provide details that may be otherwise ignored; and improve comprehension (p. 92). Stories are remembered by listeners because they are more interesting than facts or statistics. Listeners can learn vicariously, putting themselves into the story to not only think about what is happening, but also to feel the emotions and decide what they would have done had they been the protagonist. Trainees listen with different levels of consciousness, according to Neuhauser (1993), who believes that using the whole brain allows learners to understand what they are hearing, as well as to feel it. For safety trainers, stories are one of the most powerful tools available. The good news is that stories are everywhere. Every incident/injury statistic has a story behind it, and every SHE regulation is â€Å"written in blood. † Workers are eager to share Studying any cultheir stories if they believe they will not be penal- ture in situ requires immersion of the ized for doing so. researcher, to some degree, in the work Insiders Gatekeepers One primary role of cultures is to define who is/is culture itself. not a member (Van Maanen Barley, 1984). Highrisk work cultures are particularly adept at this because members believe they are the only ones who â€Å"have what it takes† to perform the work. They be- Occupational Culture Occupational culture and organizational culture are not the same. While an organization’s rules—its policies and procedures—are usually written and distributed, occupational rules are not. Work culture rules are pragmatic in that they are developed over time by workers themselves, and provide a road map for survival for members of the culture to follow. Insiders instruct new members in â€Å"the way we do things around here† and provide both rewards for following cultural rules, and sanctions for violating them. Members tie their identity closely to their work (not their company), and share values, norms and perspectives with those who perform the same type of work, often choosing to socialize exclusively with fellow workers. Occupational cultures that involve shared danger, such as firefighters, the military or high-risk industries, are strong and will resist changes suggested by outsiders. The sense of fraternity that shared danger creates is part of the identity of insiders, who do not believe others could do the work, or that they understand those who do. Occupational cultures are powerful tools that can be used to create effective training. www. asse. org MARCH 2011 ProfessionalSafety 43 Photos 2 and 3 show the patch dog and worm stickers developed for the OG project. ieve that outsiders do not understand the dangers and the difficulty and, therefore, have little credibility inside the culture. For workers in these industries to learn from safety messages or trainers, the messages/train ers need to be perceived as being knowledgeable about and sympathetic to the culture. Gatekeepers can be both formal and informal leaders. For this project, the formal leaders provided access to worksites and to other insiders. Initially, contacts were safety directors or supervisors, who were generous with their time and were willing to spend days in the field, visiting different rigs in the area. On a rig site, visitors must check in with the site manager (the tool pusher). Some sites also had a company man who represented the energy company’s interests. He was also concerned with safety, but the drilling operations were the tool pusher’s responsibility. On the rig floor, the driller was generally the first-line supervisor and in charge of the safety of the work team, which was made up of a motor man, a derrick man (who also was responsible for checking on drilling fluid, or mud), and one or more floor hands. This is a hierarchical team, with workers breaking out as floor hands and moving into other positions when ready and as positions become available. More experienced workers often have performed all of these jobs and can fill in for others as necessary. When a new hire first breaks out, he is known as a worm, a position he will hold for several months until he reaches a level of knowledge and expertise at which point he can be a floor hand. Worms usually wear hardhats of a different color (e. g. , green or orange) so that other workers can immediately identify them and can watch out for and teach them. Informal leaders are almost always present on high-risk worksites. These individuals have earned the respect and admiration of peers, usually by mastering aspects of the job with which others struggle. They may have many years’ experience or may have a special talent for performing a certain task. They may also have survived an incident that gives them authority to speak about specific hazards and what can happen if safety precautions are ignored. It is easy to identify these people. Others on the team may tell stories about them (the â€Å"hero stories† that include information about valued attributes in the culture) and they are usually the go-to people when someone needs advice or information. Workers may hang back when asked to do something, waiting to see what the masters do. These people can be powerful gatekeepers into MARCH 2011 www. asse. org occupational cultures. If they refuse to cooperate for whatever reason, it is unlikely that other members will cooperate. They are also excellent choices to be spokespersons or informal trainers if one is producing safety training products. They are trusted insiders and will command others’ attention, while outsiders have yet to establish any credibility and could be viewed with skepticism if not disdain. As information was gathered, the author talked to workers with only a few days experience to those who had been there nearly 40 years. Believing that roughnecks were similar to miners and would appreciate hardhat stickers, several stickers were designed. Workers were asked to provide input on which stickers they thought would work in their industry. These designs used some â€Å"tribal language† encountered in the oil fields, including the term worm for an inexperienced hand, and patch dog for those who had been in the oil patch and were tough enough to do the job (Photos 2 and 3). These were handed out at every rig visited, and were always enthusiastically accepted. Creating Effective Training Videos in the Field The underlying goal of the NIOSH ethnographic study was to learn enough about the culture of OG drillers to develop safety and health training that would resonate with and be accepted by workers, and memorable enough to change how they think and act about safety hazards. NIOSH successfully used video to develop training for the mining industry, so this medium was selected for the oil fields. Compelling Content Is Key For new training to be effective, it must be interesting, credible and compelling. Lessons learned in the mining industry proved to be significant in the OG industry. These include the following: †¢Workers are all adults and must be trained as adults (using adult learning theories). †¢They perform the job every day and are familiar with the dangers and challenges. †¢They are good at what they do and proud of it. †¢Not everyone has what it takes to be a roughneck. Those who do are admired and accepted as members of the work culture. †¢Roughnecks can be transient, moving from rig to rig, or oil field to oil field. †¢Work culture controls, to a large degree, how they do their jobs. †¢Workers value safety and understand that one wrong move by anyone can put everyone in danger. †¢This is a macho culture, with few (if any) women. Roughnecks are proud of their ability to solve unexpected problems. Any training product developed must respond to these norms to be accepted. Like mining, construction, commercial fishing or other high-risk industry, OG drilling includes many hazardous operations that would be good candi dates for safety training. 44 ProfessionalSafety Unlike mining, however, no federally mandated standard regulates which topics must be presented nor establishes a minimum number of hours of safety training required before people can start work. The U. S. mining industry has access to a comprehensive incident/injury database because MSHA mandates that every injury or incident be reported. Penalties for failure to do so are severe, so the database includes a wealth of information a trainer or training developer can use to identify specific areas where additional safety training would be valuable. No such database exists for the land-based OG industry. Data are gathered by agencies at state and federal levels, or by associations and individual companies, but no comprehensive database captures injuries occurring in the upstream OG industry. Fatality data are available, but comprehensive injury data are not. Therefore, a systematic review of incident/injury information was not possible. As a result, the best way to learn what topics to include in training was to ask the workers themselves. Tool pushers and drillers are responsible for training rig workers in most cases. During site visits, they were asked to identify topics about which they would like to have more training materials. Based on their responses, the NIOSH team developed a potential list of topics. After further questioning about dangerous operations, the team decided to make a training/hazard recognition video on rig moves. It is important to note that while new hires can benefit from safety training, people who have performed this work for long periods are often disdainful of training. Research conducted in the mining industry shows that experienced workers are insulted by traditional training, particularly if it is provided by people who do not perform the work they do each day. However, the need to remind them about hazards remains. Stories can bridge the knowledge gap between new employees and experienced ones. Drill rigs can be massive pieces of equipment. When all necessary peripheral equipment is added (which could include mud tanks, the dog house, mixing sheds, diesel engines, fuel tanks, tool sheds, offices and house trailers), these operations are similar to small towns. Photo 4 shows an overview of a drill site. Equipment on these sites must be dismantled and moved quickly to the next site when the hole is finished. Workers agree that taking rigs down and reassembling them in a new location is dangerous work, with a high potential for injury. Identify the Players Before moving to the development phase of the project, the NIOSH team had to take several steps: †¢Find an industry partner who would allow filming of the rig move operation. †¢Identify a master who would act as narrator for the video, describing what was going on and what the hazards might be. †¢Interview the identified expert at length to identify topics to cover. †¢Schedule a shoot on location, using a professional videographer. Another step in the development phase was to capture as many stories as possible during shooting (Photo 5) while being mindful that those who did not wish to participate would not be required to do so. The most valuable training stories often fall in the â€Å"fool stories† category (Cullen, 2008). These usually result in near misses, but can also include injuries to the storyteller or others. These stories must be respected and used in the spirit in which they are shared—to prevent someone else from suffering similar consequences. If people are punished for disclosing these stories, they will never share them and valuable occupational wisdom will be lost. The video on rig moves was filmed in west Texas in November 2009, and in western Colorado in March 2010. Devon Energy provided excellent support and access to several sites in the Midland-Odessa, TX, area, and EnCana did the same for the Colorado shoot. McVay Drilling and Bandura Drilling were the drilling contractors on the Texas segment, while Patterson-UTI was the drilling contractor in Colorado. Sterling Crane was also present on the Colorado site; this contractor placed the different pieces of the rig, tanks and man camp as they were brought up the mountain. These contracwww. asse. org MARCH 2011 Photo 4: Drill rigs can be massive pieces of equipment. When all necessary peripheral equipment is added these operations are similar to small towns. The research team gathered as many stories as possible while filming (Photo 5, above). Willie Stephenson (Photo 6, left), a tool pusher on a McVay rig, was the primary narrator. ProfessionalSafety 45 A rig move is a complex task (Photo 7, right) involving many people, primarily roughnecks who do the assembly/ disassembly, and a trucking crew (Photo 8, below) to move parts from site to site. †¢Edit it all together into two separate videos. †¢Send drafts out for review by safety and operations experts in the OG sector. †¢Revise the drafts to reflect the experts’ comments and suggestions. †¢Gain final approval for the videos from NIOSH. †¢Release the videos. †¢Market and distribute free of charge to industry stakeholders. Avoid Common Mistakes To develop training that high-risk workers will accept and find memorable, it is best to keep a few basic guidelines in mind. First, workers know much more about the work than an outsider ever will, so be sure to include them in the process. Based on the author’s experiences in the mining and commercial fishing industries, workers eagerly share what they have learned if given a chance. Their own safety is at stake if someone is working unsafely, and they understand that they have a vested interest in making sure everyone knows how to do things correctly. Ignoring them or underestimating their interest in safety is a mistake. Many training developers select the wrong spokesperson. The person providing the lessons must look, walk and talk like those who will be watching the safety video. Using a â€Å"talking head† who is disconnected from the industry or who does not perform this type of work is not a good idea. Professional actors, while arguably more comfortable in front of a camera than workers might be, are not credible as occupational teachers. They do not understand industry jargon or the nuances of the work, which will be obvious to the trainees. Using a company executive as a spokesperson is also ineffective. A CEO talking about how to perform specific tasks while wearing a clean, pressed shirt and shiny hardhat will not be convincing to workers. The best choice for the master trainer is someone who looks the part and speaks with occupational (not organizational) authority. The master trainer should use language understandable to trainees, who will understand quickly that he is a cultural insider who knows what he is talking about. Even new hires are generally adept at identifying people who can keep them safe and teach them, and they will gravitate toward those people, regardless of who the company assigns as a mentor or trainer (Machles, Bonkemeyer McMichael, 2009). Putting recognized, knowledgeable insiders in a training video, if they are willing, makes a lot of sense. Once the decision is made to create a training video, consider the topic. It is much easier to proceed if the topic is narrowly focused. For example, â€Å"entering confined spaces† is probably a better choice than â€Å"oil and gas safety. † Duration is another consideration. Some trainers believe that no video should be more than 5 to ors were instrumental in helping the team to film various operations and capture 32 interviews. Willie Stephenson (Photo 6, p. 45), a tool pusher on a McVay rig, agreed to be the primary narrator and he was interviewed on camera for several hours. Other narrators were used to add depth and bread th to the story. Devon, McVay, Bandura, Patterson-UTI, Sterling and EnCana were true partners in this project, and it could not have been completed without their guidance, suggestions, assistance and support. The original plan was to develop a single video, but because a rig move is a complex task involving many people (Photos 7 and 8), the team realized it would be difficult to make a single all-encompassing safety awareness video. After watching several rig moves, it was noted that two primary groups are involved: 1) the roughnecks, who assemble and disassemble the rigs; and 2) the truckers, who load and transport all the pieces to the new site. Because these tasks were fundamentally different and equally dangerous, it seemed logical to make two videos, one for roughnecks and one for truckers. At the time of this writing, the first video, Move It! Rig Move Safety for Roughnecks, had been completed and released at a large safety conference in late 2010 (Photo 9). The second video, Move It! Rig Move Safety for Truckers, is scheduled for production in the first half of 2011. Both videos will follow the process and schedule developed by the author while working in the mining sector. This process/ schedule includes the following steps: †¢Gather as much footage as possible on location. Interview insiders on what is going on and what is important to the process. †¢Log all B-roll footage gathered. †¢Tra nscribe all interviews. †¢Create a story line from the master interviews. †¢Select shots from the B-roll to illustrate the points included in the narratives. 46 ProfessionalSafety MARCH 2011 www. asse. org 6 minutes long. NIOSH research has shown that this perceived limitation may be due to the fact that some videos simply do not hold people’s attention. If the story is well-told and the storytellers are credible, training videos can be longer. In fact, one NIOSH video about a disastrous fire in an underground silver mine that killed 91 people runs more than 60 minutes (Cullen, 2002). It is used in training sessions, and has also been used by other industries, such as firefighters, the military, occupational nursing and tunneling. The story is compelling because the 27 â€Å"stars† tell the story based on their own experiences during the fire; its length is not considered a negative. Using industry experts, such as SHE professionals and some workers, as technical reviewers is also recommended. They will identify elements that are not quite accurate or information that be left out or added. The video must be technically accurate. Different companies have different policies that should be considered. For example, if one company requires worms to wear green hardhats, the video should not feature new hires wearing red hardhats. Such differences are opportunities to discuss with trainees geographic or organizational differences in how certain tasks are performed (e. g. , state or provincial regulations, environmental issues, workforce issues, multiple factors). While impossible to show how everyone does things, strive to show best practices as defined by industry experts. When NIOSH was developing safety videos for the mining industry, a premier was held so people in the video could attend. This was a way to thank them for participating and an opportunity to introduce the new video to the industry. Because workers move around so often in many of these industries, the informal grapevine is active. Marketing and distribution efforts are often boosted when the â€Å"stars† tell colleagues and coworkers about the video and that it will be shown during a safety meeting. Miners looked forward to seeing the videos and actually started asking when the safety meetings might be held rather than trying to avoid them. It is hoped similar informal marketing will occur in the OG industry. If workers are eager to see new safety videos, they will pay attention to the messages included and remember them longer, which is a major goal of any training program. Conclusion Workers in high-risk industries face hazards that most people never experience. While these industries have higher injury rates than other industries, perhaps it is noteworthy that they perform their work with as few injuries as they do. This must be attributed to the efforts of safety directors and trainers, regulatory agencies, managers and operators, supervisors and the workers themselves. Training for workers is both mandated and nec- essary, but training will not work if it is not acceptable to the workers. Trainers who utilize the power that occupational cultures have to control and change the actions and beliefs of their members will be more effective in reducing injury rates. No one wants to get hurt on the job. Therefore, SHE professionals need to provide the most effective training possible to help keep people safe. Occupational cultures, and the norms, beliefs and stories they include, are always present on worksites. They can be valuable keys to creating training that works, sending everyone home safely at the end of the shift. 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