Environmental Impact Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Environmental Impact Assessment - Essay Example In view of this the need for a well-developed account of how scientific research ought to be integrated into public policy in general and into environmental policy in particular has never been more urgent (Thompson, 1986; Stonehouse & Mumford, 1995; Litfin, 1994). This article makes a contribution to the ongoing debate by examining one of the newer, and fast-growing, scientific fields, i.e., environmental impact assessment (from hereon EIA) with the aim of highlighting the question of uncertainty and its implications for policy dependent on this field. EIA is a relatively new field, and most accounts date its inception to the passage of the National Environmental Policy Act in 1969 in the United States. From this rather limited and inauspicious beginning EIA has now spread to almost all countries. In addition, bi- and multi-lateral agencies have now or are in the process of incorporating EIA at some stage in their policy process (Goodland & Edmundson, 1994). There are almost as many definitions of EIA as there are experts and, naturally, each expert has a preferred definition. Briefly, however: EIA may be described as a process for identifying the likely consequences for the biogeophysical environment and for man's [sic] health and welfare of implementing particular activities and for conveying this information at a stage when it can materially affect their decision, to those responsible for sanctioning the proposals. (Munn, 1979:6) In the early stages of its use, the EIA process was seen as a forecasting technique to provide decision makers with an indication of the possible consequences of a proposed intervention. This conceptualisation has been criticized on the grounds that it tends to relegate EIA to being a type of "add on" process. It can be argued that using EIA in this fashion feeds public suspicion that EIA is another scientific technique coopted by policymakers to legitimate decisions. Technical specialists have continuously agitated for closer integration of EIA in the policy process as a means of overcoming this limitation. Policymakers, however, are reluctant to integrate EIA any further into the policy process for several reasons. Two of the most significant of these are: 1. the cost of the impact assessment process makes policymakers reluctant to embark on impact assessment before a proposed project has been given the "green light;" and 2. there is a perception that EIAs make negative information about proposed interventions available to opponents. Thus, further integration of EIA, for example, from project to program level is seen by policymakers as being tantamount to giving opposing stakeholder interests an overview of the entire program. Both of these views gain credence from the fact that EIA reports have often been the baseline documents in well-publicized disputes between governments and environmental activists. Notable cases include the Alaskan pipeline dispute (Gray & Gray, 1977:509-14) and the Hydro Quebec Power Plant controversy (Gariepy & Henault, 1994). Impact identification is usually accompanied by a scoping process in which the probable impacts worthy of study are singled out. Ideally, this process

Small Business Management Master Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Small Business Management Master - Case Study Example A brief reference to the theories stated in the literature regarding the above sectors has been considered as necessary in order to understand the operational structure of the firm and to estimate its prospects for the future. Scruffy Dog Media is based in Cumbria. The firm, in accordance with its official website is characterized as 'a family-owned video production company formed in 2007 to produce high quality video material for companies and organisations in and around the Cumbria area' (firm's website). As noticed above two particular sectors of the firm will be examined: the leadership and the HR management. In accordance with the firm's website the firm operates under the guidance of John Gilluley and Lorna Hardy. Both of them have worked in the area for many years before deciding to form their own firm. It seems that the leadership in the firm has been 'distributed' between these two persons who have equal obligations and rights regarding the firm's administration and profits. No other staff is clearly mentioned in the firm's website and it can be assumed that these two persons do the work themselves or they possible hire staff whenever the needs of a particular project require additional staff. Un der these terms, the analysis of the firm's leadership and its HR policies would be based on the role of these two persons in the firm's administration and the appropriateness of their decisions regarding the distribution of tasks in the firm. 3. Leadership and HRM - critical analysis 3.1 Leadership The importance of leadership for the development of any firm around the world cannot be denied. In accordance with Day et al. (1988, 453) 'when several methodological concerns are addressed, it is evident that executive leadership can explain as much as 45% of an organization's performance'. In other words, leadership is considered to have an important role in the firm's performance but it should be rather interpreted as part of the corporate activity, in combination with other characteristics of a firm's operational activities (HR management, operations management, financial management and so on). On the other hand, Hart et al. (1993) highlights the significance of the role of the CEO for the success of any corporate initiatives. More specifically, the above researcher supports that 'CEOs with high "behavioral complexity" - the ability to play multiple, competing roles - produce the best firm performance, particularly with respect to business performance (growth and innovation) and organizational (stakeholder) effectiveness; executive leadership role had little to do with firms' financial performance' (Hart et al., 1993, 543). In the case of small firms, where there is no CEO the above assumptions can be used only in order to evaluate the role of the firms' director(s), i.e. of the persons that have the responsibility for the design and the completion of any firm's activity. In this context, although there is no CEO having the supervision of all plans and initiatives, the responsibility of the directors is not limited but it is equally distributed among them. In the particular firm there is no reference to the firm's staff - apart from its directors. For this reason, only assumptions can be made regarding the HR policies applied by the firm. At a first level, it could be assumed that in any case that a project is too complex, the firm's