Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Aviation Logistics Support


Aviation Logistics Support


The dynamics of the aviation industry are such that it is critical that any aircraft maintenance organization maintain a clear and efficient makeup for their logistics support infrastructure.  The clear objective of any maintenance department is to maintain assigned aircraft in a state of full capability.  In order to do this with logistics concepts the organization must stress rigorous supervision of safety-of-flight and other serious aircraft equipment and systems.  Additionally, the aircraft logistics management structure and business practices - particularly those needed for supply, maintenance, and financial management – should be planned and executed to maintain that management concentration.  This paper will highlight the basics of the logistical support system within the larger organizational structure.  Identify keys to an effective logistical support system, and touch on how the logistical support system fits into the overall corporation.

Organizational Structure of an Aircraft Maintenance Organization

Kinnison stresses three overarching themes to his organizational model.  First, overall, and within each division, responsibilities are subdivided to ensure that no upper level manager oversees less than three people, or more than seven.  This ensures that resources are not being wasted and that human to human contact remains strong throughout the organization.  Secondly, similar functions are grouped together.  This allows expertise to be developed in areas by personnel, and is also an efficient allocation of resources.  Finally, quality control is separated from individual processes and placed in its own division as required by the Federal Aviation Administration.  Thus with the above three philosophies in mind, the following five divisions are placed under the vice president of maintenance and support; Technical Services, Aircraft Maintenance, Overhaul Shops, Material, and finally Maintenance Program Evaluation (Kinnison, 2004, p. 85).
     The Technical Services Division supports numerous maintenance and inspection activities and is comprised of five units including engineering, production planning and control, training, technical publications and computing services.  The engineering unit may include designing and developing the overall maintenance schedule, working to implement regulations from federal and state authorities, and maintaining structural capacity such as adequate hangar space and maintenance shops.  The production planning and control unit oversees parts, tools, and manpower for the maintenance activities.  Training involves managing certifications, courses, and any other logistics required by authorities.  The technical publications unit oversees all technical materials used or published by the airline, manufacturer publications, as well as those provided by vendors.  Finally the computing services unit oversees the hardware and software needs of the division including trainings, IT developments, and technical integration with other divisions.    
     The Aircraft Maintenance Division oversees the general maintenance activities for all aircraft which include line maintenance, hangar maintenance, and the maintenance control center.  Line maintenance occurs when an aircraft is in-service and consists of daily checks, turnaround maintenance, and short interval checks.  If an aircraft is in need of more significant attention, hangar maintenance is required.  Hangar maintenance consists of modifications, engine switches, painting, and interior repair.  Finally, the maintenance control center is responsible for maintaining records on all in-service and out of service aircraft and coordinates efforts to maintain the fleet.
     The overhaul shops division is responsible for a variety of parts and systems that are removed from the aircraft.  These include engines, electronic (avionic) systems, and a variety of other parts needing more significant work done.  Overhaul shops may be combined with other units and are typically comprised of engine, electronic, mechanical component and structure shops.  Engine and electronic shops both work on their designated components.  Mechanical shops serve as ad hoc shops for all components that do not fit into the aviation or engine categories.  These include hydraulic systems, actuators, fuel systems, oxygen and pneumatics.  Lastly, structure shops maintain the integrity of the aircraft through specializing in sheet metal and composite material that reinforces the structure of the aircraft (Kinnison, 2004, p. 90). 
     The materials division handles and maintains all supplies and parts for the maintenance division.  This unit is typically divided into purchasing, stores, inventory control, and shipping and receiving.  Purchasing handles the buying of parts and supplies and keeps track of warranty claims and contract repairs.  Stores, meanwhile, handles the storage, handling, and distribution of the materials within the maintenance division.  Inventory control makes sure that the parts on hand are adequate for the needs of the maintenance division and adjusts accordingly.  Shipping and receiving is responsible for the intake of all parts and materials that the division may need.
     The maintenance program evaluation or quality control unit is probably the most unique component of an aircraft maintenance division.  The Federal Aviation Administration requires commercial airline companies to maintain a quality control process within their organization.  Consequently many airlines do this by separating out quality control from the rest of the maintenance process in order to provide clear divisional lines between those performing maintenance work and those evaluating this work.  Within the maintenance evaluation division are units of quality assurance, quality control, reliability, and safety.  Quality assurance maintains policies and standards to conform to federal aviation administration guidelines as well as company standards.  Quality control performs routine inspections of maintenance and repair work.  Reliability is responsible for overseeing the overall functioning of the division and ensuring that problems are addressed in a timely manner.  Finally, safety is responsible for developing and implementing the overall safety standards that the organization uses to conduct itself (Rodwell, 2003, p. 203).         

Keys to effective aircraft logistical support

There are several suggestions that have been put forward that may lend to a more effective aircraft logistical support system.  These can generally be classified into two main categories; centralizing of procedures, and streamlining of processes.  Under centralizing of procedures, an organization should try to manage maintenance centrally; and centralize maintenance reporting and recording.  Organizations can manage maintenance through a central location by allocating to a single headquarters office the accountability for establishing all maintenance procedures affecting such items as propulsion equipment, auxiliary equipment, and engineering-related electronic equipment and systems.  This can be further centralized by granting a single individual the responsibility for all maintenance for those equipments and systems.  Next, organizations should centralize their maintenance reporting and recording.  This should be done by creating procedures for each unit/shop to report necessary and concluded maintenance actions to a central maintenance data collection position. 
     Besides centralizing, streamlining procedures can also help with both efficiency and process.  Several techniques may work including streamlining a technical channel, relating performance to equipment, and establishing a technical responsiveness connection to the line maintenance unit.  Relate Aircraft Performance to Equipment by establishing and implementing standardized measures to relate equipment on each aircraft type to operating performance and working performance to potential.  Establish a technical responsiveness link to the line maintenance unit; for each aircraft type, establish a single point to provide technical assistance for service-level maintenance (Yanjie, Q. and Zhigang, 2001, p. 402).

Integration of maintenance into the overall corporation.

The commercial aircraft industry throughout the world had evolved into a small group of large companies.  Some of the risks in this sector include the financial cost of new product development, and the financial health of airlines and other customers.  Most maintenance system failures can thus be directly attributable to a lack of management commitment.  This lack of commitment can come in various forms, such as management not understanding the maintenance process, not effectively dividing authority and responsibility, being only bottom-line oriented, overriding quality control inspection, not providing fund for preventative measures, and not supporting adequate training.  This type of management is short-term results oriented.  The lack of commitment toward the prevention of discrepancies in products and processes, as well as employee development, will strongly affect the long-term viability of an organization (Ben-Yosef, 2005, p. 98).
     However, many managers are becoming ever more aware of the consequences of not having an effective maintenance system in place.  With the integration of total quality management, organizations should become more focused on objectives and are finding that through continued process improvement they can do more.  So to should maintenance dynamics be integrated into the overall structure of the corporation.  This should likely happen through a VP position reporting directly to upper level management so that the organization can stay ahead of its mechanical issues.  









References

Kinnison, H. (2004). Aviation Maintenance Management.  New York:
McGraw-Hill.
Yanjie, Q. and Zhigang, L. (2001). New concept for aircraft
maintenance management; New cognition for aircraft maintenance study in R&M field of China. Reliability and Maintainability Symposium, 17: 401 – 405.

Rodwell, J. (2003). Essentials of Aviation Management. Bristol:

Roddam Books.

Ben-Yosef, E. (2005). The Evolution of the U.S. Airline Industry:
Theory, Strategy and Policy.  Oxford: Oxford Press.

Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Beneficence in Nursing




Intro
Questions of morality and ethical analysis pervade the biomedical field, and one of the major theoretical issues is that of beneficence.  Labeled as a combination of altruism, humanity, and the promotion of the good for others, beneficence acts done for the benefit of others.  The ethical issues surrounding beneficence are one of the cornerstones of the nursing profession.  But serious and legitimate questions remain how far beneficence should go, especially in the field of nursing.  This paper will explore the foundations of beneficence in ethical theory, the role of beneficence in the medical field, and issues regarding nurses.  
Beneficence Roots in Ethical Theory
Beneficence is the action of helping or doing good for others.  When discussing beneficence as a morality trait, being disposed to act for the benefit of others, it is referred to as benevolence.  Thus discussions of beneficent acts in ethical discussions can broadly be organized under the term benevolence.  Beneficence can be found in a variety of ethical theories of human nature, but are most evident in the writings of David Hume and make up a central component of his theory of morality.  Hume saw benevolence as a principle component of human nature.  In juxtaposition to those philosophers supporting notions of psychological egoism, Hume (1751) argued that benevolence is in fact “the origin of morality” (p. 36).  In other words, Hume argued in contrast to those theorists like Hobbes (1924) who held that ego and private interest was the ruling force of human nature (p. 89).
Strong disagreements have also developed in moral theory over the level of beneficence that morality requires.  Some philosophers have argued for obligatory beneficence to the point of devoting much of one’s income and time to the benefit of other’s in need and greater societal obligations.  Yet others have called for less drastic forms of altruism in human nature.  For example a sharp division has arisen in ethical theory over the line between obligatory non-malfeasance (not causing harm), and beneficence.  A handful of theorists argue that while there may be a moral obligation to do no harm to others, this does not translate into an affirmative obligation to help (Hurley, 2003, p. 82).     
Issue in Biomedical Ethics & Nursing
The above theoretical debate plays out in very real life ways in the healthcare field everyday.  A healthcare professionals understanding and opinion of harm to and benefit for a patient can lie in sharp contract from that of the patient.  Further, differing patients may have varying opinions about what makes up harms and benefits.  Finally, many argue that separating notions of benefits and harms from that of the patient’s judgment is next to impossible (Arneson, 2004, p. 58). 
Within these ethical questions of beneficence the field of nursing deals with its own dynamics.  Beauchamp and Childress (1994) argue that "Each of ...[the following] three forms of beneficence requires taking action by helping--preventing harm, removing harm and promoting good...." (p. 192).  Ethical dilemmas abound in the area of beneficence when it comes to nursing.  Such as what is good between patients and nurses, patients and organizations, and among patients themselves (Nussbaum, M. and Amartya S., 1993, p. 56).  Questions arise regarding whether nurses should act for the benefit of what the patient wants, or needs.  Should a nurse’s judgment about what is best for the patient supersede that of the patient’s if the patient is ill- informed, heavily medicated, or has their decision-making abilities impaired (Pellegrino, and Thomasma, 1988, p. 112).
Many examples of beneficence in nursing can also be cited to.  For instance beneficence can be seen as working above and beyond for the patients, making sure they have everything they need including discharge instructions without making them feel helpless.  It could also come in a psychiatric setting, perhaps by helping a combative client relax by letting him talk out his feelings.  When a nurse practices therapeutic communication such as this, and helps the patient work through their concerns, it is an act of beneficence.  Finally, when a nurse understands and recognizes the cultural practices of a patient and includes nontraditional remedies with western medical practices, this is also an act of beneficence.
To concluded, issues of beneficence should be taken on a case by case basis and analyzed within the context of the situation.  While patient needs are important, sometimes it is up to the nurse and the attending physician to do what is necessary to give the greatest good to the patient while still respecting individual cultural and societal norms. 
    



References

Arneson, Richard J., 2004, “Moral Limits on the Demands of
Beneficence?” in The Ethics of Assistance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Beauchamp, T. L., & Childress, J. F. (1994). Principles of
biomedical ethics (4th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press
Hobbes, T. (1924). Leviathan. London: J.M. Dent
Hume, D. 1751, An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hurley, P. 2003. “Fairness and Beneficence,” Ethics, 113: 841–
864.
Nussbaum, M. and Amartya S. 1993. The Quality of Life.
Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Pellegrino, E. and Thomasma, D. 1988. For the Patient's Good: The
Restoration of Beneficence in Health Care. New York: Oxford
University Press.



Tuesday, November 08, 2011

Functionalism and the Maison de Verre



Walter Gropius claimed that to be able to design something so that it functions well, essence needed to be fully explored in order that it may perfectly serve the purpose it was designed to do.  This applied whether the object was a chair, a shelf, or a house.  He went on to argue that a thing must fulfill its function durably, functionally and beautifully – that’s what its purpose was.   Thus like many other functionalists of his time, an adherence to the notion that “form follows function” can be seen throughout much of his work. 
Further deconstruction of the term “functionalism” sees that it consists of both programmatic and structural/constructional elements. The programmatic elements pertain to the function of spaces and objects within those spaces to the intent that those spaces were designed for.    
 Constructed from 1928 to 1931 in Paris, France, The Maison de Verre (French for House of Glass) was built in the early modern style of architecture.  The house was originally built on the site of a significantly older structure which the patron had purchased with the intention to demolish it. However, the elderly tenant on the top floor of the building refused to sell, and so the purchaser was obligated to entirely demolish the bottom three floors of the structure and construct the Maison de Verre below.
Focusing on an honesty of materials, a visible transparency of forms, and a juxtaposition of “industrial” components, the home consisted primarily of materials including steel, glass, and glass block.  Other materials in the building included naked steel beams, both mechanical fixtures and heavy industrial light fixture, rubberized floor tiles, and perforated metal sheet.  Embedded within the fabric, the great glass-block façade creates an exterior that portrays a significantly ambiguous view of the interior of the building.
     The exterior form is categorized by translucent glass block walls, with chosen spaces of clear glazing for transparency. The opaque glass blocks that make up the exterior of the structure create the ability for visitors on the outside to see into the structure, but only to the extent that blurry colors can be observed.  Thus the public and private lives of those inside are merged together with the outside world.  A description of the exterior glass coating reads:

…the glass skin acts as a screen, showing only what one wishes and leaving the imagination to complete an image of what is behind it. As a screen, the Maison de Verre façade has two meanings: its own, that which derives from the quality of its surface, texture and weave, and that of constituting a membrane which, by allowing glimpses of light and movement, provides a sketch of the life taking place within[1].

Within the quarters, the space is divided by a variety of gliding, folding or revolving screens in glass.  This is accentuated by other mechanical machinery including an overhead trolley from the kitchen to dining room.  Also featured was a retracting staircase located near the private sitting that led to the bedroom.  This changeable movement outline was provided for by a revolving screen which hid the private stairs during the day, but framed the stairs in the evening.  In addition there are a series of intricate bathroom cupboards and fittings.
     To this extent then the functionalist aspect of the structure served to provide the residents with an appearance of being exposed.  The programmatic form can be seen in the way in which the residents could utilize the space.  The altering glass walls and steel beams allowed for a maximum amount of flexibility in interior design.  The structural functionalism of the building can also be seen in the use of metal and glass to create the image that was ultimately desired by the purchasers of the design.   







Bobbitt, Philip. The Shield of Achilles: War, Peace, and the Course of History. New York: Knopf, 2002.



[1] Vellay, Dominique and Halard, François.  La Maison de Verre: Pierre Chareau's modernist masterwork. Boston: Kopf, 2004.

Cannabis legalization – what possible?



The legalization of cannabis in Canada has been a contentious issue for some time.  With growing numbers of individuals accepting cannabis for medicinal purposes and as an alternative to alcohol for recreational use, renewed discussion has taken place regarding its legal status.  This paper will examine several aspects of the marijuana legalization debate through the lens of cannabis use for non-medical purposes. It will begin with a brief examination of the three alternatives currently being discussed; maintaining current laws, decriminalization, or legalization.  The paper will then take an in-depth look at an alternative strategy that has been used in the past, nullification of criminal cases regarding cannabis.
While the use of marijuana in Canada is widely accepted, the laws of the country have not changed as much as public opinion.  In Ontario, significant changes in the law have occurred with regard to Superior and appellate courts.  However, this trend has not been reflected uniformly on a national scale.  Federal laws still currently prohibit marijuana possession except for medical purposes, and law enforcement continues to pursue criminal charges for cannabis use and possession.  Proponents of maintaining the status quo of cannabis regulations argue that any form of change to the current status of drug laws will increase drug use (Osborne & Fogel, 2004, p. 541).  Plus, marijuana is a gateway drug to the use of harder and more dangerous substances.  Thus it is important to maintain stiff penalties for marijuana possession for non-medical purposes (Martel, 2006, p. 47).
Arguments have been made that decriminalization should occur for cannabis.  This would essentially make marijuana crimes only punishable by other words use and possession of minimal amounts of cannabis would remain illegal, but prison sentences and criminal records would be substituted with fines.  Proponents of decriminalization argue that the country’s fiscal resources are being wasted on law-enforcement efforts to capture and prosecute users of minimal amounts of cannabis.  Decriminalizing it would reduce the current harsh criminal penalties, increase revenue for local and regional governments through the collection of fines, and not cause criminal record issues for those convicted of possession of small amounts of the substance (Carstairs, 2006, p. 32).
 As with decriminalization, many proponents of changing the cannabis laws see legalization as the best avenue to proceed to.  Perhaps the strongest arguments for legalization are the revenue streams that it may provide the government.  Canada’s government already produces one strand of marijuana for consumption by medical users.  Legalizing the drug for non-medical users would likely create additional sales and tax revenue for Canada’s government (Fischer & Ala-Leppilamp, 2003, p. 269).    





Because of the wide assortment of opinions on marijuana use, and the varying enforcement powers of both the provinces and federal government, another alternative may be available to communities where cannabis use is widely supported.  In Canadian law a process known as nullification exists.  A jury may nullify a law if they wish to based on a shared belief that the law itself is not valid. Many of the precedents for nullification date back to the time when Henry Morgentaler was acquitted by several juries for performing abortions.  These abortions were illegal at the time.  However, they were widely accepted by the community. So juries used their right to nullify the law and acquitted  Morgentaler despite the law.  Drug laws, particularly those effecting marijuana have created a similar challenging ethical dilemma within the legal system because citizens in many local communities do not agree with the prosecution and imprisonment of cannabis users or their suppliers.  The main unease is determining how much public good is actually served by the prosecution and imprisonment of persons stricken with debilitating illnesses or their suppliers of cannabis (Joffe & Yancy, 2004, p. 633)
Thus some advocates have called on juries to acquit defendants who use marijuana for reasons despite their guilt -- basically, to ‘nullify’ the law.  Nullification occurs when jurors believe a defendant is guilty of a crime, but disagree with the underlying law and feel it contrary to their inner sense of justice, they may then vote their conscious and acquit.  These social critiques have played a valuable role in protecting the public from unjust laws.  Thus when jurors believe the underlying law to be the problematic issue, and not its application, then nullification may be an appropriate course of action.  This is especially true where voters of local communities have approved an action in the form of state referendums and by legislative means.
Jury nullification has a long history in Canadian courts and while not always an appropriate cure, may be suitable in many cases, especially ones dealing with marijuana users.  The reasons, explained below, are numerous and include among other things the severity of the conditions of the patients, the fact that it is a nullification of the law, and not the enforcement of the law and because many communities have approved of cannabis use through their own democratic processes. 
Some commentators have offered nullification as a means to exact social change.  In the U.S., law professor Paul Butler has recently proposed that juries nullify nearly all non-violent criminal activity committed by black defendants as a way to address the growing disparity of race in the nation’s prison system.  The U.S. has surpassed Russia to become the current world leader in the rate of incarceration at 714 people per every 100,000 individuals. A large percentage of African-Americans are incarcerated as the result of drug offenses. “Although Black people constitute only 13% of the United States population, they accounted for 21% of the drug possession arrests nationally in 1980 and 33% of such arrests in 1995.” To put this statistic another way, African-Americans, comprising only 13% of the total population, somehow comprise 74% of the people incarcerated for drug use. “The war “on drugs” is a war mainly on African-Americans.”  Professor Butler argues that “The system is discriminatory, in part, because of the disparate impact law enforcement has on the black community.” (Butler, 1996, p. 45)
Margaret Finzen also states that “Due to concerted policing and prosecution practices, Black people continue to be imprisoned in numbers far out of proportion to their smaller percentage of the population.”  Opponents of this view argue that the high rates of incarceration of African-American males is not the result of policing and enforcement practices, but due to the fact that black persons simply commit more crimes than other races relative to their percentage of the total population (Finzen, 2005, p. 300).
      Another potential counterargument is that the cost of releasing non-violent “criminals” back into society without “punishing” them will be economically unjust. However, as the prison system is currently constituted, with no focus on rehabilitation, persons released from prison can be assumed to be more dangerous when they get out than when they went in. The burden of paying for the prison housing also falls on the taxpayer.  Many argue that from an economic perspective to incarcerate non-violent offenders, rather than seek some form of alternative solution, is to waste money.  Not only does the taxpayer have to absorb the cost of security of the prison, but the taxpayer must cover the bread budget, the landscaping budget, the toilet paper budget, on ad infinitum. To house non-violent offenders, in a jail or a prison, particularly those who have committed victimless crimes, is an economic waste.  According to Butler, until the laws are changed to reflect some kind of sanity and equality, citizens should be urged to take matters into their own hands by engaging in jury nullification (Butler, 1996, p. 63).
While nullification in this situation is compelling due to the overwhelming disparity of black prisoners, it is not necessarily the same use of nullification that has traditionally been used.  Nullification in this instance is being proposed as a way to deal with unjust enforcement of the laws against black men.  However, the vast majority of the general public support the underlying laws being enforced, such as narcotics trafficking, even if they may disagree with the law’s enforcement against a sub-population; black men.  Thus nullification is being encouraged as a social critique of the laws enforcement and not the law itself.  Some would say that this is not the proper use of nullification because these are primarily administration issues and should be dealt with politically within enforcement agencies.  Furthermore, a general societal knowledge that juries would nullify non-violent black criminals may create a perpetuation of a criminal society where black men choosing to conduct non-violent criminal activity would know they could likely “get away” with the crime going into it.  This would push more black men towards criminal activity and have a net negative effect on communities.  Thus there would be no incentive to push black males from dealing drugs.    
However, nullification in the context of marijuana cases follows a different path.  Here, nullification involves the social critique of a law many members of local communities disagree with.  This is a far different scenario than nullification of defendants who have committed significant crimes such as murder and the dealing of narcotics that generally most members of society condone to begin with.  Unlike the conditions presented by Professor Butler, the repercussions of nullifying medicinal marijuana cases do not carry the severe secondary effects of allowing individuals to commit violent crimes and go unpunished. 
Some argue that nullification of marijuana cases is anti-democratic.  The legislature is a more accurate and appropriate place to establish law.  Legislatures have access to more information and better resources to faithfully implement sound laws.  The legislature is in a much better position to determine what the law should be and it is not up to the jury to act as a “mini-legislature”.  Nullification also presents a danger of having citizens disregard the law.  A valid critique of that argument though is that the majority of people in Canada actually have very little idea of how laws are enacted or the politics behind the creation of many laws.  In the case of marijuana, societal biases have grown up around the use of marijuana in general.  Furthermore, many states approved of marijuana use for medicinal purposes either through legislative means or by popular referendum.  Thus juries are only choosing to act out against the imposition of unwanted federal law against local communities. 
     Of the alternatives mentioned, each has a certain number of benefits and challenges.  It would seem however that as attitudes change towards the legalization of marijuana, an incremental approach may work best.  Thus it would seem that the decriminalization of cannabis for non-medical users would be the right approach for regional and federal officials to take.  Until this takes place it seems completely appropriate for juries to nullify cases of cannabis use and distribution where they feel the law is unjust.   
   




References


Butler, P. (1996). The Evil of American Criminal Justice: A
Reply, U.C.L.A. L. Rev., 44, 143,148.
Carstairs, C. (2006). Jailed for Possession: Illegal Drug
Use, Regulation, and Power in Canada, 1920-1961.
Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Finzen, M. (2005). Systems of Oppression: The Collateral
Consequences of Incarceration and Their Effects on
Black Communities, Geo. J. on Poverty L. & Pol’y, 12,
299, 300.

Fischer, B., Ala-Leppilamp, K. (2003). Cannabis Law Reform

in Canada: Is the "Saga of Promise, Hesitation and

Retreat" Coming to an End? Canadian Journal of

Criminology and Criminal Justice, Volume 45, Number 3,

265-298.

Joffe, A., Yancy, S., (2004). Legalization of Marijuana:

Potential Impact on Youth.  PEDIATRICS, Vol. 113 No.

6, pp. 632-638.

Martel, M. (2006). Not This Time: Canadians, Public Policy,
and the Marijuana Question, 1961-1975. Toronto:
University of Toronto Press.
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws

Osborne, G., Fogel, C. (2004). Understanding the

Motivations for Recreational Marijuana Use Among Adult

Canadians. Substance Use & Misuse, Volume 43, Issue 3

& 4, 539 – 572.