Learning Organization: Literature Review

Learning Organization: Literature Review Introduction of learning organization A learning organization is an organization that is continually expanding its capacity to create its future. For such an organization, it is not enough to merely survive. Survival learning or what is more often termed adaptive learning is important indeed it is necessary. But for a learning organization adapting learning must be joined by generative learning learning that enhances our capacity to create. Learning organization where people continually expand their capacity to create the result they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free and where people are continually learning to see the whole to gather. Types of learning Level 1:- learning facts, knowledge, processes and know situation procedures apply to know where changes are minor. Level 2:- learning new job skills that are transferable to other situations applies to new situations where existing responses need to be changed bringing in outside expertise is a useful tool here. Leel 3:- learning to adopt-applies to more dynamic situation where the solution need developing experimentation and deriving lessons from success and failure is the mode of learning here. Level 4:- learning to learn-Is about innovation and creativity, designing the future rather than merely adapting to it. This is where assumptions are challenged and knowledge is reframed. Characteristic of a learning organization Learning culture:- An organizational climate that natures learning. There is a strong similarity with those characteristic associated with innovation. Processes:- processes that encourage interaction across boundaries. These are infrastructure, development and management processes, as opposed to business operational processes. Tools and techniques:- method that aid individual and group learning, such as creativity and problem solving techniques. Skills and motivation:- to learn and adapt. The art and practice of the learning organization and the fifth discipline field book: strategies and tools for building ad earning organization explain that there are five disciplines, which must be mustered when introducing such as organization. Systems thinking:- the ability to see the big picture and to distinguish patterns instead of conceptualizing change as isolated event systems thinking needs the other four shift from being unconnected to interconnect to the whole and from blaming our problems on something external to a realization that how we operate our actions can create problems. Personal mastery:- begins by becoming committed to lifelong learning and is the spiritual cornerstone of a learning organization. Personal mastery involves being more realistic, focusing on becoming the personal possible and to strive for a sense of commitment and excitement in our careers to facilitate realization of potential. Mental models:- they must be managed because they do prevent new and powerful insights and organizational practices from becoming implemented. The process begins with self reflection, unearthing deeply held belief structure and generalizations and understand how they dramatically influence the way we operate in our own lives. Until there is realization and focus on openness, real change can never be implementation. Building shared vision:- visions cannot be dictated because it begins with the personal visions of individual employees, who may not agree with the leaders visions what is needed is a genuine visions that elicits commitment in good times and bad and has the power to bind an organization together. Team learning:- is important because currently, modern organization operate on the basis of teamwork, which means that organization cannot learn if team members do not come together and learn. It is a process of developing the ability to create desired results, to have a goal in mind and work together to attain it. Review of literature The literature  I reviewed about learning organization fell in to these categories: The founders Real world definitions and critiques Promoting continuous improvement, innovation, stakeholder collaboration Organization learning and organizational outcomes Todays approaches for building organization learning The founders Where did the concept of a learning organization that helped create and disseminate this concept. In literature and conversation with practitioners the authors whose names came up again and again as founders of sorts of this approaches are peter senge, chris aggris, Donald schon and marguret wheatly also highlighted in this section is shana ratners description of the fundamental shift in learning approaches in the latter half of the 20th century has given rise to exiting new field like organizational learning. Peter senga: peter senga is considered by most to be the father of organizational learning senga is a director at innovation associates a Cambridge consulting firm and advises government and educational leader in centre of global changes like South Africa. Sengas massage of growth and prosperity holds strong appeal for todays business leaders. This research centre at MIT the centre for organizational learning started in 1990 has 18 corporate sponsors, included AT and T, ford, Motorola and feudal express. Each contributes $80,000 a year to create learning organization pilot programme with the help of senga and his colleagues. Senga created something new and powerful by putting them together. Unfortunately, at first glance these ideas can seem ambiguous. As a result only a small percentage of the huge number of people who bought the book has read it and only a small percentage of those have carried out its ideas. To make the learning more accessible to seasoned managers, senga and several co-consultants published. The fifth discipline field book, hands-on work. The field book explains that anyone who wants to be the part of a learning organization must first go through a personal change, senga kleines etal 1994. This means that if some members of the group like to tell people what to do and are to busy to listen they must be willing to change themselves. Senga and his colleagues consult with organizations, where they elaborate set of personal awareness exercise with names like dialogues, the container and the ladder of influence. Chris argyris:- Chris argyris is also lauded for disseminating pioneering ideas about now learning can improve organizational development success. He is probably known for distinguish between learning that challenges the status quo, called singe loop learning. Double loop learning depends on the internal commitment by employees to seek transparency and personal responsibility in the work place for single loop learning, people are good programmed to believe that transparency and truth are good ideas, but only when they are not threatening, he says in this article good communication that blocks learning argyris says that the new but now familiar techniques of corporate communication like focus groups, surveys, management by walking around, can block organization learning even as they help solve certain kinds of problems. These techniques, he explains, promote defensive behaviour by encouraging employees to believe that their proper role is to criticize management while the proper role of management is to take action and fix whatever is wrong. He recommends that managers challenge employees to think constantly and creatively about the needs of organizational. By applying these ideas to individuals or group performance reviews, managers can cr eate an incentive for employees to increase their commitment to continuous non-routine learning and for implementing strategy. Donald A. Section For about 40 years, don schon wrote about and consulted in the field of organizational learning many of schons many schons insights, though not distinguished in the management literature, continue to have a significant on the conceptualization of organizational learning. Schons work can be organized in the four themes:(a)his concept of inquiry as reflection in action.(b)constructing a learning dialectic in organization (c)the practice of learning how to learn and(d)his commitment a new educational paradigm that teaches practitioner how to reflect in action. When compared to the current literature on organizational learning, schons deep integration of knowing and doing can be seen as pioneering work. Must literature on organizational learning over time. According to schons approach, action and reflection should occur at the same time so that learning is necessarily embodied in concrete situation. Some comment that schon does not emphasize how rare it is for persons to solicit feedback about mismatches between their principles and their actions. the fact that such learning may be extraordinarily useful. Margaret whitely: Margaret Whitleys book leadership and the new science learning about organization from an orderly universe has been recognized as introducing a new paradigm for organizational development that involves reintegration of society. (Dennard 1996), (Brown 1993). Wheatley offers these are ideas:- Everything is a constant process of discovery and creating. Life uses messes to get well ordered solutions. Life is intent on finding what works, not what is right. Life creates more possibilities as it engages with opportunities. Life is attracted to order. Life organizes around identity. Everything participates in the creation and evolution of its neighbours. Reflecting on her Wheatley vividly demonstrates how organization is living entities and that learning and change strengthen their structure and their communities. Shana rather an old and new answer to how we learn:-Shana rashers 1997 emerging issues in learning communities offers an insightful description of the fundamental shift in learning approaches in the latter half on the 20th century that is giving rise to existing new field such as learning, collaborative learning and organizational learning. This shift, from thinking of learning as a transaction to learning as a process. This shift eliminates the separation of teacher from student and replaces it with dialogue between teacher and student to encourage joint responsibility for learning and growth. (burkey 1993). Old and new answers to how we learn (ratner 1997) Old answer New answer Knowledge is thing that is transferred from one person to another. Knowledge is objective and certain. Learners receive knowledge. We all learn in the same way. Knowledge is a relationship between the knower and the known: knowledge is created through this relationship. Knowledge is subjective and provisional. Learners create knowledge. There are many different learning styles. LEARNING ORGANIZATION SOUTH WEST ARLINE GOOGLE 3M SOUTH WEST AIRLINE :- Background Southwest Airlines has built its culture and its reputation inside out. Its value a happy workforce, and believes that its 3200 employees will keep customer come back. Since its beginning as a small, three jet airlines, southwest leadership, including co- founder and current board chairman Herbert D. Kelleher and President colleen Barrett, has relied on company values concern, respect and caring for employees and customer. Company Consider Learning Organisation because of following reason:- Company must provide the level of knowledge and information that allows the employees to act like owners. Southwest Airlines provides daily news updates via internet; the CEO records a weekly telephone message for all the employees and the company communicates detailed financial information called knowing the score on quarterly earnings. More than 14% of outstanding shares of stock are held by southwest employees. Southwest communicates with employees everyday through news on their internet every week through a telephone news line, every month with 32 page magazine, every week quarter through the financial knowing the score message very year through a series of town hall meetings. Communicators must nature their corporate culture so that employees understand how their behaviour contributes how their organisation is judged. In its monthly news letter LUV Lines, southwest features employees who have been nominated by their peers for Wining Spirit recognition. These outstanding employees are modelling the type of behaviour that result in a remarkable vs ordinary experience for a customer or follow employees. Learning excellence: Southwest Airline approach A bias for action Close to customer Autonomy and entrepreneurship Productivity through people. Hands on value driven Stick to the knitting Simple from lean staff Simultaneous loose tight properties Southwest Airlines one of the most successful airlines n the low cost market segment is the role model for many other low cost airlines. Like Ryan air and easy set. Five specific elements of southwest Airline are strategy, structure, processes and reward. Processes: Southwest Airlines has an open door tradition. Herb Kelleher is known to stay in the bar until four in the morning with a mechanic to hear what he is got to say. Employees are stimulated to come up with ideas and there receive all the necessary support from their management to try out different things. The on board safety demonstration, which has been turned into a complete act to attain the attention of passengers. Rewards-besides the usual package of secondary employment benefits, like free airline tickets, profit sharing etc. employees of the month election. South west airline has another usual way to pay attention to their work force .In the lobby of SWA corporate headquarter at Dallas love field airport .there is a big port falling messy The people of SWA are the creator of what we have become and what we will be. Our people transformed an idea into a legend .that legend will continue to grow only so long as it is nourished. People-SWA has its own university for people where 25000 new employees are trained every year .the selection criteria for recruitment are much more based on attitude than on knowledge. As a result SWA is now regarded as friend list airline in us. The three important factors-these are those factor that show how SWA manager to keep the spirit high The relationship between management and workforce. The training at university for people decreases hierarchical thinking. Herb Kelleher, one of the founder of SWA and an important leader for the company. His vision, humour and hand on mentality are very inspiring for the entire employee in SWA. Suggestion to SWA Give reward also in the form of profit sharing, give bonus and package plan etc. .It also motivate the employees After studying the whole organisation I come to know that in motivational problem are there so company should have good leadership After herb SWA has not a leader same like him so company should try to make a leader as him which helps the company a lot. Reason of Google as learning organisation- Google is the most goggled company in business today. Just as IBM coca-cola were the best companies in youth and everyone wants to pattern them after Google now. First, it is clear from our research that Google is relying heavily on innovation to grow. The companies hire the best brightest and have created a work environment which is the envy of any generation X and Y employee. Government cafeterias, flexible working conditions and the 20% policy which enable each and every employee to spend up to one day per week working on a special and innovative project of their own. Few companies today can afford to lavish such luxuries on every employee. Second, the company has also built a culture of product innovation. Dozens of new products services are available from Google today engineers are encouraged to continuously newones.engineers who finds bugs in others engineers products are encouraged to check out the code line and suggest a fix. While most of the new products from Google never became market leader, some do. Google finance, Goggle maps Gmail are all products which entered the market with strong entrenched compitition.through innovation and strong execution each of these products have take on tremendous market share in a short part and when the company sees a tremendous market opportunity to enter through acquision. Google takes the plunge(YouTube blogger) Following are the points that consider Google as learning organisation very truly- Greater Motivation The Workforce Is More Flexible. People Are More Creative. Improved Social Interaction. Knowledge Sharing. Interdependency The Breakdown of Traditional Communication Barriers. Customer Relation. Information Resources Innovation Creativity Suggestions- Google should level out the workload Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology that serves you people processes Make decision slowly by consensus through considering all the option and implementing the decision rapidly. Introduction to 3M- At 3M, we pair imaginative thinking with science-based technology to create globally-renowned products. We lead scores of markets: health care, safety, office products, and transportation to name a few. So whats our secret? Its simple: We approach real-world problems with our array of technologies to satisfy customers. Leading this process are some of the worlds best and brightest employees who share a commitment to innovation and excellence Learning environment of 3M 3M is a learning organisation committed to continuous improvement in both the companys result each individuals performance. A learning environment is more than a comprehensive training program. It is a philosophy that says that learning is a part of every employees job every day. Continuous learning gives all employees greater opportunity to realize their potential .in a learning environment the role of the employee is to be a continuous learner, the role of the manager is to reinforce learning model learning behaviour and the role of the company is to create system that allow cross functional knowledge sharing throughout the organisation. 3M supports learning through on the job training, traditional class room setting, online learning functional communication of practice .each employee is responsible for his or her individual growth plan. The goal of our commitment to learning is engaged employee who understand how their action contribute to 3Ms success make decision as if they owned the business. Findings:- The reward system as a learning frame has high effect on learning environment according to employees. There is an equity/balance between efforts and rewards. In SWA organisation new employees are trained every year. In SWA organisation selection criteria for recruitment are much more based on attitude than on knowledge. In Google organization monetary or other incentives are given to employees in order to increase their motivation level. In 3M organization and the relation between employees and managers is good. Employees feel like they work in safe environment. Conclusion After study the whole concept of organisation we learn many things regarding learning organisation. Learning organisation is very wider concept and learning helps organisation to achieve success and create new things. Learning organisation innovate things to world. In this assignment I also study learning organisation like SWA Google. They are the main example of learning organisation these companies gives ideas products. Because of their learning behaviour these companies get success and the growth rate of learning organisation never down because they change their policies when requires. It is good for companies so according to me every company became learning organisation .it is good for economy as well as companies and we get innovative things.

Down At The Cross :: essays research papers

In â€Å"Down at the Cross†, James Baldwin stresses the idea that regardless of race or culture, people are human beings and should be treated equally. Baldwin criticizes racial issues. Baldwin talks about how whites and blacks don’t understand each other because both have insecurities, fears, and prejudices within their own culture that they can’t understand each other. Baldwin proposes the idea that â€Å"people can renew themselves at the fountain of their own lives† (54). This process of renewal means that people of any culture or color may eventually find a path to understanding and cooperating with each by searching within themselves. In â€Å"Communication in a Global Village†, Dean Barnlund believes that there is problem with communication in society because people of different cultures can’t communicate with each other. Barnlund criticizes that people tend to attach and associate with their own kind and do not want to branch out to learn and communicate with people of other cultures. Barnlund believes that in order for society to flourish and succeed, people must appreciate other cultures and realize that expanding knowledge of other cultures will contribute to a wholesome life. Barnlund would say that the appreciation, interaction, and understanding of other cultures are the processes of â€Å"renewal†. Robert Bellah believes that people isolate themselves from others. Bellah expresses how people tend to separate their â€Å"private† and â€Å"public† lives. He believes that this is a problem because if people keep their private life separate from public life, they will not lead a fulfilling life. Bellah believes that as private and public lifestyles interact with each other, together they create the essence to a nourishing and productive life. Bellah takes different subjects and describes details from their lives about how they â€Å"renewed† themselves by relating their private l ife to their public life. All of the authors portray social criticisms, identify the problems, and propose solutions that find ways of renewal for an individual’s life. Barnlund states, Access to the world view and the communicative style of other cultures may not only enlarge our own way of experiencing the world but enable us to maintain constructive relationships with societies that operate a according to a different logic than our own. (66) Barnlund believes that if people learn aspects of other cultures, people will be able to maintain associations and communications between different cultures within a society. The meaning of appreciation of other cultures is what Barnlund specifies as the survival of a global village.

Demographic Winter and Its Effects on the Society Essay

Concept Paper Final Draft: â€Å"Demographic Winter and Its Effect on Society† For years, people have in mind that the world’s population has been increasing annually. While it is true that a daily increment of 215,060 and yearly growth of 1.10% is happening on our world population of 7,174,592,903 (United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division, population Estimates, and Projections Sections), the demographic trend is actually changing in contrast to the beliefs of many. Historical events that occurred in the past, particularly the World Wars, have paved the way for the eradication of a large portion of mankind, but it also resulted to population explosion. The Baby Boom, a demographic phenomenon in Western countries, rose to fame wherein rapid growth in population was recorded around 1960s. This is usually ascribed within certain geographical bounds and when the number of annual births exceeds 2 per 100 women (or approximately 2% of the total population size) (Wikimedia Foudation, Inc). As the paper progresses, such belief will be proven as a myth these days. In 1968, Stanford University Professor Paul R. Ehrlich published the controversial book, The Population Bomb which warned of the mass starvation of humans in the 1970s and 1980s due to overpopulation. People grew scared of the idea of a population explosion and its detrimental effects to society. As they acquired the paradigm that babies are burden, a trend not to be sexually active anymore in Western countries was created. This, in turn, resulted to a new demographic occurrence called by demographers as Demographic Winter. Demographic winter is a global phenomenon characterized by population decline in birth rates. The term â€Å"nuclear winter,† popularized in the 1980s, alluded to the catastrophic environ mental impact of a nuclear war. The long-term consequences of demographic winter could be equally devastating (Feder). The Total Fertility Rate, the expected number of children born per woman in her child-bearing years of 2.1, is said to be the point of equilibrium in which a country’s population is neither growing nor decreasing. Essentially, a woman must replace herself and a man. This TFR is important because this only shows that an average woman is able to produce  2.1 children during her lifetime which is needed because some children die before maturity and also to stabilize the number of the population. (Fluctuating Fertility: The Baby Boom and the Baby Bust). When the Total Fertility Rate of a State is 2.1 births per woman who has reached the end of her productive life (that is around 50 years old), the Net Production Rate is 1, that is to say, the state has reach population age stability. When it is not, or is less than the nation’s previous TFR, the nation undergoes the phenomenon called demographic winter. (Fluctuating Fertility: The Baby Boom and the Baby Bust). Although demographic winter is a global incident, geography and the country’s economic status are underlying factors that contributed to what extent and to which nations such an event would occur. Demographic winter is currently more evident in developed countries such as in Europe, Australia, East Asia (Japan) and North America (U.S.), whose populations were the first to mature. Maturity here is defined as the average age of the population relative to the economic development of society. These countries also suffered the worst depopulation during the World Wars and experienced rapid population growth after (Yew). We shall focus more on these countries as we elaborate the concept of demographic winter for the cases which will be mentioned later applies more to their population trends. Of the 1 0 countries with the lowest birth rates, 9 are in Europe. Overall, the European fertility rate is 1.3, well below replacement level (2.1). No European nation has a replacement-level birth rate. Italy’s fertility rate is 1.2. Spain’s is 1.1 (Feder). That means, in the not-too-distant future, these countries will lose half of their people in every generation. Russia’s birth rate fell from 2.4 in 1990 to 1.17 today – a decline of more than 50% in less than 20 years. Each year, there are more abortions than live births in the Russian Federation (Demographic Winter). In U.S. alone, Total Fertility Rate (TFR) is almost 3.5 in the early 1960s, then began declining sharply — to below 3.0 in 1965, to about 2.5 (and temporarily holding steady) in the late 1960s, and down to about 1.8 by the mid-1970s. Hence, the TFR fell by almost half between the early 1960s and the mid-1970s. After a decade of stability at a level of about 1.8, the total fertility rate rose slowly after 1986, reaching 2.08 in 1990. It presently st ands at a little over 2, just slightly below the replacement level of 2.11 (Fluctuating Fertility: The Baby Boom and the Baby Bust). Japan’s TFR has continued to fall since dropping below 2.0 in 1975. It slumped to an all-time low of 1.26 in 2005. The number of babies born in the nation in 2012 fell by 13,705 from the previous year to hit a new low of 1,037,101 (Durden). With such data on hand, we now ask: â€Å"what are the factors that led to demographic winter?† According to the documentary film Demographic Winter: a Decline of the Human Family, fertility decline is caused by (1) economic prosperity, (2) sexual revolution, (3) women in the labour force, (4) Divorce revolution, and (5) inaccurate assumptions. As developed countries continue to rise in their economic status, a paradigm shift among members of the labour force occurs. Previously, babies are considered as blessings and investments by parents. Nowadays, they are viewed by parents as an added expense and burden to them. As standards of living in the urban areas of different countries continue to increase, life becomes harder to sustain. An added mouth to feed is just something that can’t be considered especially by realists. Richer countries want to invest and spend their money on adults, the more affluent, whom they can use for further economic development than children. Sexual revolution is also eyed as a contributing factor wherein Feminism is evident. The number of women in their 20s who had a child in 2012 decreased by 16,200 from the previous year, while the number of births among women aged from 35 to 39 and from 40 to 44 increased by a combined total of about 8,700. As more women are empowered and gain equal treatment in education and employment, they now opt to join the labour force, the corporate world and pursue career paths than devoting themselves to family life. Growing valuable time of working mothers constructed the mindset that they don’t want children, they want jobs instead. The labor force participation rates among married women with children, particularly young children, have been steadily increasing since 1970. In 1985, nearly half of all women with children under age 18 were in the labor force, as compared with less than 40 percent in 1970 (Hayghe). Moreover, the declines in fertility rates, as well as declines in family size, increasing childlessness, and delayed childbearing have freed many women to pursue employment opportunities outside the home. Completed family size, for example, decreased from 2.4 children in 1970 to 1 .7 in 1984 among white women, and from 3.1 to 2.2 children among blacks (U.S. Department of Health And Human Services). With the increase of participation of women in  the labour force, an inverse reciprocal in the fertility rates is also observed. Along with sexual revolution and the greater involvement of women on the labour force, divorce revolution can be viewed as a related contributing factor to the decline of fertility rates. With more women gaining financial and social capabilities in the society, marriage is now viewed as something superficial especially with the legalization of divorce in developed countries such as the United States. Not only has marriage been increasingly pushed to a late age, but once accomplished, marriages are more likely to end in divorce than at any previous time in History. Preston and McDonald (1979) estimated that although 16% of all marriages in the United States in 1915 ended in divorce, 36% of the 1964 marriages will end that way. However, by 1988, the data were suggesting a levelling off at about 43% of marriages ending in divorce (Schoen and Weinick). The Un ited States is certainly not unique in experiencing an increase in divorce probabilities. William Goode, in his book World Revolution and Family Patterns (1993), compiled data for Europe showing that throughout the said continent the percentage of marriages that will end in divorce virtually doubled between 1970 and the mid- 1980s. For example, in Germany in 1970 it is estimated that 16% of marriages would end in divorce, increasing to 30% in 1985. In France, the increase went from 12% to 31% during that same period of time. Australia has experienced similar trends (Weeks). With the said increase in the number of divorce cases, an inverse reciprocal for the fertility rate equals. Thus, divorce revolution is a cause of demographic winter. And lastly, the main culprit for all the causes of demographic winter is the inaccurate assumption made from the increasing population. As mentioned earlier in this paper, Stanford University professor Paul Ehrlich’s controversial book â€Å"The Population Bomb† propagated the idea that the rapid increase in population will eventually lead to population explosion causing food shortage. Such occurrence according to him cannot be sustained by the global community. Malthusian Theory stating that human population grows exponentially while food production grows at an arithmetic rate, made people including Ehrlich that such insustainability and shortage in resources is truly imminent. The predictions came true but not exactly as Ehrlich perceived it. The effects are mainly unfelt in the developed world and food production grew exponentially at a rate higher than population growth in  both developed and developing countries. Food per capita is the highest in history. During the greatest population-growth period in human history, food became cheaper and more abundant (prices dropped up to 70%). Population gro wth rates, on the other hand, significantly slowed down especially in the developed world (Erlich). The sad reality at present is this misconception still lingers on the thoughts of the educated ones. This now resulted to interference of government to population growth by creating and implementing policies that aims to decrease rates of population growth. Examples are Reproductive Health Act in U. S. and One-child policy in China and Singapore. The biggest impact on fertility from the pill was from eliminating â€Å"unwanted pregnancies† by 70% of married woman (Demographic Winter: The New Economic Reality). Secularization is also a factor that affects fertility rates. The anti-Christian, anti-family ideology which can be rooted to the Marxist view of activists currently sweeping across most of Western civilisation has precipitated a culture of death that is slowly but inexorably killing off the human family. Those who believe about meaning of life have children. Those who don’t, don’t (Feder). We can therefore say that all aspects of modernity work against fam ily life and is in favour of singleness, having a small family, or opting to have no child at all. Add up to that none of these problems can be easily fixed. It’s who we are and what we’ve become increasingly in these modern times. But the question here that remains is, if we are experiencing demographic winter, why is that population continues to grow? This now can be attributed to the Alternatives of developed countries to compensate for their declining population which is immigration (esp. on Europe and Australia) (Demographic Winter: The New Economic Reality). Also, the issue of ageing population comes in. What we currently perceive is that death rate is less compared to before. Less people are born but also lesser die thus creating that aged population. Given the origin, definition and causes of demographic winter, let us now focus to its effects on society. This can now be classified into (1) biological, (2) political, and to the (3) economy. However, these can be inter-related. Research has shown that demographics can have a significant impact on countries’ stability, governance, economic development and the well-being of its people (Population Action International). As stated earlier, an ageing population is an issue that can be attributed to  biological effects of demographic winter. In 1998, there was a 48-year lag between births and peak spending of those individuals. Japan is one of the countries to first experience demographic winter after the world war for they did not experience the Baby Bomb, unlike U.S. Developed countries will have this age trap or the said modern inverted pyramid wherein number of grandparents is greater than the number of children. This is in contrast to the trend before wherein the number of children is greater than the grandparents’. With this occurrence, the children will not be able to sufficiently take care of the old due to lack of number. Also, some countries might cease to exist. There are fifty-nine (59) nations, namely, Russia, China, Spain, Portugal, Canada, Italy, Germany, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong, (Central Inteligence Agency) – with 44% of the world’s population – th at are now experiencing below-replacement birth rates. Worldwide, there are 6 million fewer children (under age 6) today than there were in 1990. The United Nations estimates that if current trends continue, by 2050 there will be 248 million fewer children (under age 5) than there are now. Overall, Europe’s fertility rate is 1.3; a birth rate of 2.1 is needed just to replace current population. In this century, countries such as Italy, Spain, Russia and even France could cease to exist – at least as they’re currently constituted. Demographer Philip Longman (author of The Empty Cradle: How Falling Birth rates Threaten World Prosperity) observes: The on-going global decline in human birth rates is the single most powerful force affecting the fate of nations and the future of society in the 21st century. â€Å"Demographic winter is a great predictor of a country’s fate and future because children are essential for a country’s economic survival,† Longman added. As Japan’s population has aged beyond 48 years old, its consumer spending has steadily declined. Here now enters the effects to economy. Never in history is an ageing population able to develop a prosperous economy (Demographic Winter: The New Economic Reality). Why? The ratio of young to old will shift dramatically and wreak havoc upon existing social security and healthcare systems. The economy at large may also suffer, as the elderly cease spending and a smaller generation of workers is crippled by the taxes needed to support their parents. â€Å"The world this will bring about, according to the filmmakers, is bleak: grandparents left untended and alone in the streets of Europe as intergenerational bonds are  shattered; the potential desolation of small countries such as Latvia, and a worldwide depression that will touch even those countries that don’t disappear under the sheath of snow that the film shows blanketing the entire globe.† (Joyce). So argues Harry S. Dent, Jr., an economist who specializes in â€Å"demographic-based economic forecasting,† and who predicts that the West will follow Japan’s aging population bust. Politically, demographic winter can be associated with the voting body. A political analysis said that political preference reveals that the metaphorical eggs of Republicans rest entirely in one basket: the vote s of older white people. According to the exit polls conducted by the New York Times of the 2012 presidential election, Republican nominee Mitt Romney won 59 percent of white voters, and 56 percent of voters over age 65. The intersection of those two areas is the demographic base of the Republican Party, and it is dying. Markos Moulitsas posited that conservatives’ endeavours to weaken the social safety net have made it harder for these seniors who comprise the Republican base to stay alive (Atkins). While some may still debunk and not accept the fact that such phenomenon is happening, it just happens, and will still continue despite of us shunning the thought of it. Demographic winter is no joke. Further neglect of the declining rates of population growth will soon not only affect political, biological, and economic aspects of society but may also jeopardize even the existence of mankind in the future. I value intellectual integrity and the highest standards of academic conduct. I am committed to an ethical learning environment that promotes a high standard of honor in scholastic work. Academic dishonesty undermines institutional integrity and threatens the academic fabric of the University of the Philippines. And because I believe that dishonesty is not an acceptable avenue to success, I aff ix my signature to this work to affirm that it is original and free of cheating and plagiarism, and does not knowingly furnish false information.† ______________________________ Mary Philline Descalzo Works Cited Atkins, Dante. Daily Kos. 23 June 2013. Web. 29 August 2013. . Central Inteligence Agency. The World Fact Book. n.d. Web. 12 September 2013. . Demographic Winter. n.d. Web. 29 August 2013. . Demographic Winter. Demographic Winter: The New Economic Reality. 2011. Web. 29 August 2013. . Durden, Tyler. Japanese Birth Rate Plunges To Record Low As Death-Rate Hits Record High. 7 June 2013. web. 29 August 2013. . Erlich, Paul R. The Population Bomb. New York: Ballantine Books, 1968. Print. 29 August 2013. Feder, Don. Demographic Winter. 5 March 2008. Web. 29 August 2013. . Fluctuating Fertility: The Baby Boom and the Baby Bust. n.d. Web. 29 August 2013. . Gone for Goode. Dir. Barry Levinson. Perf. Ned Beatty, Richard Belzer, Andre Braugher, Wendy Hughes, Clark Johnson, Yaphet Kotto, Melissa Leo, Jon Polito, Kyle Secor Daniel Baldwin. 1993. Web. Goode, William Josiah. World Revolution and Family Patterns. New York: Free Press, 1963. Document. Hayghe, Howard. â€Å"Rise in mothers’ labor force participation includes those with young children.† Monthly Labor Review (1986): 43-45. Print. 29 August 2013. Joyce, Kathryn. Kathryn Joyce. n.d. Web. 29 August 2013. Population Action International. Topic  » Population Trends and Demography. 2012. Web. 29 August 2013. . Schoen, Robert and Robin M. Weinick. â€Å"The Slowing Metabolism of Marriage: Figures from 1988 U.S. Marital Status Life Tables.† Demography 30 (1993): 737-746. Document. 29 August 2013. . U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES. Vital and Health Statistics. Primary Research Report. National Center for Health Statistics. Hyattsville, Maryland: DHHS Publication, 1986. Web. 29 August 2013. . United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division, population Estimates, and Projections Sections. United Nations. n.d. Web. 29 August 2013. Weeks, John R. â€Å"Population and Contemporary Issues.† Weeks, John R. Population: an Introduction to Concepts and Issues. Ed. Eve Howard. Sixth. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1996. 338. Print. 29 August 2013. Wikimedia Foudation, Inc. Baby Boom. 25 July 2013. web. 29 August 2013. Wikimedia Foudat ion, Inc. The Population Bomb. 25 August 2013. web. 29 August 2013. Yew, Lee Kuan. Warning Bell for Developed Countries: Declining Birth Rates. 25 April 2012. Web. 29 August 2013. .

Dysprosium Facts - Element 66 or Dy

Dysprosium is a silver  rare earth metal  with  atomic number  66 and  element symbol  Dy. Like other rare earth elements, it has many applications in modern society. Here are interesting dysprosium facts, including its history, uses, sources, and properties. Dysprosium Facts Paul Lecoq de Boisbaudran identified dysprosium in 1886, but it wasnt isolated as a pure metal until the 1950s by Frank Spedding. Boisbaudran named the element dysprosium from the Greek word dysprositos, which means hard to get. This reflects the difficulty Boisbaudran had separating the element from its oxide (it took over 30 attempts, still yielding an impure product).At room temperature, dysprosium is a bright silver metal that slowly oxidizes in air and readily burns. It is soft enough to be cut with a knife. The metal tolerates machining so long as it isnt overheated (which can lead to sparking and ignition).While most of the properties of element 66 are comparable to those of other rare earth, it has unusually high magnetic strength (as does holmium). Dy is ferromagnetic at temperatures below 85K  (−188.2  Ã‚ °C). Above this temperature, it transitions to a helical antiferromagnetic state, yielding to ​a disordered paramagnetic state at  179  K (−94  Ã‚ °C).Dysprosium, like related elements, does not occur free in nature. It is found in several minerals, including xenotime and monazite sand. The element is obtained as a by-product of yttrium extraction using a magnet or flotation process followed by ion exchange displacement to obtain either dysprosium fluoride or dysprosium chloride. Finally, the pure metal is obtained by reacting the halide with calcium or lithium metal.The abundance of dysprosium is  5.2  mg/kg in the Earths crust and 0.9  ng/L in sea water.Natural element 66 consists of a mixture of seven stable isotopes. The most abundant is Dy-154 (28%). Twenty-nine radioisotopes have been synthesized, plus there are at least 11 metastable isomers.Dysprosium is used in nuclear control rods for its high thermal neutron cross-section, in data storage for its high magnetic susceptibility, in magnetostrictive materials, and in rare earth magnets. It is combined with other elements as a source of infrared radiation, in dosimeters, and to make high strength nanofibers. The trivalent dysprosium ion displays interesting luminescence, leading to its use in lasers, diodes, metal halide lamps, and phosphorescent materials.Dysprosium serves no known biological function. Soluble dysprosium compounds are mildly toxic if ingested or inhaled, while insoluble compounds are considered non-toxic. The pure metal presents a hazard because it reacts with water to form flammable hydrogen and reacts with air to ignite. Powdered Dy and thin Dy foil can explode in the presence of a spark. The fire cannot be extinguished using water. Certain dysprosium compounds, including its nitrate, will ignite upon contact with human skin and other organic materials. Dysprosium Properties Element Name: dysprosium Element Symbol: Dy Atomic Number: 66 Atomic Weight:  162.500(1) Discovery:  Lecoq de Boisbaudran (1886) Element Group: f-block, rare earth, lanthanide Element Period: period 6 Electron Shell Configuration:  [Xe] 4f10  6s2 (2, 8, 18, 28, 8, 2) Phase: solid Density:  8.540  g/cm3 (near room temperature) Melting Point:  1680  K   (1407  Ã‚ °C, 2565  Ã‚ °F) Boiling Point:  2840  K (2562  Ã‚ °C, 4653  Ã‚ °F) Oxidation States:  4,  3, 2, 1 Heat of Fusion: 11.06 kJ/mol Heat of Vaporization: 280 kJ/mol Molar Heat Capacity:  27.7  J/(mol ·K) Electronegativity:  Pauling  scale: 1.22 Ionization Energy:  1st:  573.0  kJ/mol,  2nd:  1130  kJ/mol,  3rd:  2200  kJ/mol Atomic Radius: 178 picometers Crystal Structure: hexagonal close-packed (hcp) Magnetic Ordering: paramagnetic (at 300K)