Ethical theory and business ethics: the search for a new model

The following thesis is an attempt to propose a 'model' to begin an analysis on a specific dilemma within business ethics. The model will utilise both 'metaphorical' and 'literal' language in the form of questions based on modem moral philosophical theory. The motivation in providing these questions is that there will be less ambiguity if a 'tool' was used to analyse the dilemma, rather than use intuition or abstract moral philosophy. The model, called the Comb, will be used to analyze a comprehensive case study - the case of the Newfoundland Fishing Industry. The case is in the form of an illustrative dilemma and examines the restructuring of the Newfoundland fishing industry. Newfoundland is one of the island provinces of Canada and its main industry, the offshore and inshore fisheries, has recently been 'decimated' by a number of factors. The case will hopefully demonstrate that the restructuring of the Newfoundland fishing industry may be portrayed as an ethical dilemma in business. The analysis will hopefully 'sort' and 'arrange' some of the ethical issues emanating out of the restructuring. The thesis is also an attempt to develop an argument for approaching business ethics from a reflective standpoint. The end result is designed to make the user of the questions developed through the Comb think reflectively, to open new lines of debate within the subject area of business ethics as well as the case of the restructuring of the Newfoundland fishery. The questions of the Comb provide the framework which may be seen as absent in a business ethics analysis. It would seem that the answers about why business is ‘unethical’ are quite easy to produce - the capitalist system, the emphasis on short-termism, managerial incompetence and so on - but are they the answers to the right questions? The Comb specifically and this thesis as a whole are attempts to develop a practical, reflective method to a examine specific dilemma in business ethics. It may be seen as an attempt to develop 'detachedness’ within the 'involvement' of a case study. The thesis is a personal search. Not a search to find answers but one which will propose questions to expand the author’s understanding of the dilemma of the restructuring of the Newfoundland Fishery. It is a search to attempt to understand the subject area of business ethics and how to operationalise the theory behind it. Moreover, it is a search to see if a systematic and simplified model is possible within the subject area of business ethics. The thesis will conclude that while the model may be seen as valid for improving the author’s understanding of the subject area of business ethics and the case study of the Newfoundland fishery, improvements may be made through, for example, establishing alternative 'metaphors’. It will also argue that the 'context' of a business ethics analysis is very important. Business ethics and the model may have to understood as the right ‘tool' for the times

Single-Cycle Impulse from Detonation Tubes with Nozzles

Experiments measuring the single-cycle impulse from detonation tubes with nozzles were conducted by hanging the tubes in a ballistic pendulum arrangement within a large tank. The detonation-tube nozzle and surrounding tank were initially filled with air between 1.4 and 100 kPa in pressure simulating high-altitude conditions. A stoichiometric ethylene–oxygen mixture at an initial pressure of 80 kPa filled the constant-diameter portion of the tube. Four diverging nozzles and six converging–diverging nozzles were tested. Two regimes of nozzle operation were identified, depending on the environmental pressure. Near sea-level conditions, unsteady gas-dynamic effects associated with the mass of air contained in the nozzle increase the impulse as much as 72% for the largest nozzle tested over the baseline case of a plain tube. Near vacuum conditions, the nozzles quasi-steadily expand the flow, increasing the impulse as much as 43% for the largest nozzle tested over the baseline case of a plain tube. Competition between the unsteady and quasi-steady-flow processes in the nozzle determine the measured impulse as the environmental pressure varies

Thermal and Catalytic Cracking of JP-10 for Pulse Detonation Engine Applications

Practical air-breathing pulse detonation engines (PDE) will be based on storable liquid hydrocarbon fuels such as JP-10 or Jet A. However, such fuels are not optimal for PDE operation due to the high energy input required for direct initiation of a detonation and the long deflagration-to-detonation transition times associated with low-energy initiators. These effects increase cycle time and reduce time-averaged thrust, resulting in a significant loss of performance. In an effort to utilize such conventional liquid fuels and still maintain the performance of the lighter and more sensitive hydrocarbon fuels, various fuel modification schemes such as thermal and catalytic cracking have been investigated. We have examined the decomposition of JP-10 through thermal and catalytic cracking mechanisms at elevated temperatures using a bench-top reactor system. The system has the capability to vaporize liquid fuel at precise flowrates while maintaining the flow path at elevated temperatures and pressures for extended periods of time. The catalytic cracking tests were completed utilizing common industrial zeolite catalysts installed in the reactor. A gas chromatograph with a capillary column and flame ionization detector, connected to the reactor output, is used to speciate the reaction products. The conversion rate and product compositions were determined as functions of the fuel metering rate, reactor temperature, system backpressure, and zeolite type. An additional study was carried out to evaluate the feasibility of using pre-mixed rich combustion to partially oxidize JP-10. A mixture of partially oxidized products was initially obtained by rich combustion in JP-10 and air mixtures for equivalence ratios between 1 and 5. Following the first burn, air was added to the products, creating an equivalent stoichiometric mixture. A second burn was then carried out. Pressure histories and schlieren video images were recorded for both burns. The results were analyzed by comparing the peak and final pressures to idealized thermodynamic predictions

Upstream-radiated rotor–stator interaction noise in mean swirling flow

A major component of the noise in modern aeroengines is rotor–stator interaction noise generated when the wake from the rotating fan impinges on a stator row downstream. An analytically based model for the prediction of upstream-radiated rotor–stator interaction noise is described, and includes the important effect of mean swirling flow on both the rotor wake evolution and the acoustic response. The analytic nature of the model allows for the inclusion of all wake harmonics and enables the response at all blade passing frequencies to be determined. An asymptotic analysis based on large rotor blade number is used to model the evolution of the rotor wake downstream in a cylindrical duct carrying mean swirling flow. The equations governing the axial evolution of the wake simplify to three coupled first-order differential equations in the interior, while close to the duct walls, a boundary-layer correction is required in order to satisfy the impermeability conditions at the boundaries. At the stator location, the wake is used as input into a local linear cascade model at each radius. The interaction of each wake harmonic gives rise to acoustic waves of multiple azimuthal order which contribute to the pressure field radiated back upstream. This enables the total acoustic response to be determined in terms of cylindrical duct modes in mean swirling flow. The effect of stator blade geometry (thickness, camber, angle of attack) and rotor–stator separation on the total upstream-radiated noise is determined. Blade geometry is shown to have a significant effect on the noise generated, and increasing the rotor–stator gap can lead to large reductions in noise levels. Asymptotic treatment of the acoustic field, based on large azimuthal order, is also considered and used to identify the dominant contributions to the total pressure field resulting from the rotor–stator interaction. The ray structure of the acoustic modes in swirl is shown to be very different in some cases from that in uniform flow

Cultures within a culture: the role of nationality and religion for environmentally significant behaviour in students living in university accommodation

Reducing global warming cannot be achieved through technological interventions alone; it requires a change in human behaviour. Households are a major contributor to carbon emissions, and thus play an integral part in strategies aiming at a more sustainable living. Behaviour changes in the household can make a significant contribution towards reducing CO2 emissions. However, people vary strongly in their household practices; differences in behaviour account for a substantial amount of variance in heat, electricity, and water consumption (Gill et al., 2010). What causes these differences? In addition to age and education, nationality and religion play a role: They impact on physical aspects of well-being and on environmental attitudes (e.g., Isaacs et al., 2010; Guth et al., 1995). The physical aspect such as perception of warmth is of importance insofar as that comfort practices could influence on environmentally significant behaviour. The Eurobarometer 295 (2008), a study on the attitudes of European citizens towards the environment, also revealed differences in attitudes and behaviour of Europeans towards the environment. Therefore, steps to promote more sustainable living have to be adapted to different cultures. Rising globalization brings about more heterogeneous populations, meaning that there will be increasingly "cultures within a culture." An important question is what happens to cultural differences in environmentally significant behaviour in such a setting. It could be that differences are diluted by a largely shared environment, or that they continue to persist, thanks to being deeply rooted in one’s origin and to the non-shared part of the environment. Our study: The aim of this study was to examine the variation in pro-environmental attitudes, behaviour, and values in members of a community now living in a very similar setting but coming from diverse backgrounds. If personal background accounts for differences in the variables at stake, then this has important implications, e.g. for all national interventions launched to change behaviour. Data was collected through a web-based survey. The survey was sent out to first-year students living in university accommodation at the University of Greenwich. Religion, strength of religion, nationality, years living in the UK, program studied, gender and age were recorded and the impact of these variables on a variety of measures such as pro- environmental attitudes, values, and actual behaviour was assessed. Results are currently being analysed but preliminary data suggest that sub-culture does play a role and thus needs to be considered when developing carbon reduction interventions. The implications of these findings for the University and national policies are discussed

The characteristics of electronic training collars for dogs

A wide range of electronic dog training collars (e-collars) is available in the UK, yet there is no means by which purchasers can meaningfully compare their electrical characteristics at the point of sale. In this research the electrical characteristics of 13 models of e-collar were examined and an approach to ranking the strength of the electrical stimuli was developed. The electrical impedance of dogs’ necks was measured so that e-collars could be tested under realistic conditions. This impedance was found to be about 10kΩ for wet dogs and 640kΩ for dry dogs. Two copies of each of eight e-collar models and one copy of a further five models were tested. The stimuli generated by these collars comprised sequences of short high voltage pulses. There were large differences between e-collar models in the peak voltage, number of pulses and duration of the pulses but little variation between the duplicates. The peak voltage varied with the impedance of the dog, from 6000V at an impedance of 500kΩ to 100V at 5kΩ. The highest voltages were generated for only a few millionths of a second. A stimulus strength ranking index (SSRI) was developed based on the subjective response of human subjects to electrical stimuli. This index is used to compare the strength of e-collars with diverse electrical characteristics. It shows a wide range in the stimulus strengths of collars and that the relationships between ‘momentary’ and ‘continuous’ stimuli for various models differ significantly

Quantum Kinetic Theory for a Condensed Bosonic Gas

We present a kinetic theory for Bose-Einstein condensation of a weakly interacting atomic gas in a trap. Starting from first principles, we establish a Markovian kinetic description for the evolution towards equilibrium. In particular, we obtain a set of self-consistent master equations for mean fields, normal densities, and anomalous fluctuations. These kinetic equations generalize the Gross-Pitaevskii mean-field equations, and merge them consistently with a quantum-Boltzmann equation approach.Comment: 15 pages, no figures; reviewed version; to be published in PR

Reversible and irreversible evolution of a condensed bosonic gas

We have formulated a kinetic theory for a condensed atomic gas in a trap, i.e., a generalized Gross-Pitaevskii equation, as well as a quantum-Boltzmann equation for the normal and anomalous fluctuations [R. Walser et al., Phys. Rev. A, 59, 3878 (1999)]. In this article, the theory is applied to the case of an isotropic configuration and we present numerical and analytical results for the reversible real-time propagation, as well as irreversible evolution towards equilibrium.Comment: 15 pages RevTeX, 8 figures, reviewed PRA resubmissio