Action response Essays

Action response Essays Action response Essay Action response Essay Action Response is a London-based charity dedicated to providing fast responses to critical situations throughout the world. The charity receives requests for cash aid usually from an Intermediary charity and looks to process the request quickly and provide funds where they are needed, when they are needed. It was founded to provide relatively short-term aid for small projects until they could obtain funding from larger donors. Generally, Action Response Is regarded as one of the success stories in the charity world. The consensus of opinion is that it has filled an important AP in aid provision to relatively small scale recipients. Susan Noting Chief Executive of Action Response explains the background. Give a man a fish and you feed him today, teach him to fish and you feed him for life, its an old saying and it makes sense but, and this is where Action Response comes in, he might starve while hes training to catch fish. Nevertheless, Susan does have some worries about how parts of her enterprise are managed. She faces two major issues In particular. First she Is receiving complaints that funds are not getting through to where they are needed quickly enough. Second the costs of running the operation are starting to spiral. She explains. We are becoming a victim of our own success. We have striven to provide greater accessibility to our funds, people can access via the internet, by post and by phone. But we are in danger of losing what we stand for. It is taking longer to get the money to where it is needed and our costs are going up. We are in danger of failing on one of our key objectives: to minimize the proportion of our turnover that is spent on administration. At the same time we always need to be aware of the risk of bad publicity through making the wrong decisions. If we dont check applications thoroughly, funds may go to the wrong place and If the newspapers gets hold of the story we would run a real risk of losing the goodwill, and therefore the funds, from our many supporters. Susan NTIS held regular meetings with key stakeholders. One charity that handled a large number of applications for people in Nigeria told her of frequent complaints about the delays over the processing of the applications and they felt there was a danger of losing the key purpose for which the charity was founded. A second charity preventative complained that when he telephoned to ascertain the status of an application the RAPID staff did not seem to know where it was or how long it might be before it was complete. Furthermore he felt that this lack of information was eroding his relationship with his own clients some of whom were losing faith in him as a result. This was affecting the other work the charity was doing; trust Is so Important In the relationship he explained. Some of Suntans colleagues, while broadly agreeing with her anxieties over the One of the really good things about Action Response is that we are more flexible Han most charities. If there is a need and if they need support until one of the larger charities can step in, then we will always consider a request for aid. I would not like to see any move towards high process efficiency harming our ability to be open- minded and consider a request that might seem a little unusual at first. Jacqueline Horton, Applications Assessor) Others saw the charity as performing an important advice and counseling role. Remember that we have gained a lot of experience in this kind of short-term aid. We are also often the first people that are in a position to give advice on how to apply for argue and longer term funding. If we developed this aspect of our work we would again be fulfilling a need that is not adequately supplied at the moment. (Stephen Iniquity, Applications Assessor) The Action Response Applications Processing Unit (RAPE) Potential aid recipients, or the intermediary charities that represent them, are required to apply (or claim as Action Response termed it) using a standard form. These application forms can be downloaded from the internet or requested via a special help line. Sometimes the applica tion will come directly from an individual but ore usually it will come via an intermediary charity that is aware of Action Response and can help the applicant to complete the application form. The application form is then sent to the Action Response Applications Processing Unit (RAPE) The RAPE employs seven applications assessors with three support/secretarial staff, a pool of nine clerks who are responsible for data entry, coding and filing, and nine completes (staff who prepare the final paperwork and send the money, or explain why no aid can be given). In addition, a board of non paid trustees meets every Thursday, to ratify (approve) the applications. Action Responses IT system maintains records of all transactions. It provides an update of number of applications (by week, month and year), the number and percentage of applications approved, number and percentage of those declined, the number and amount of payments allocated. These reports identified that the Unit received about 300 applications per week (the Unit operates a 35 hour week) and whilst all the Units financial targets were being met at the moment the clear trend indicated that costs as a percentage of applications handled was increasing. Most internally set operations performance criteria were being met. The target for the turnaround of an application, from receipt of application to the issue of funds was 20 days. Accuracy had never been an issue as all files were thoroughly assessed to ensure that all the relevant and complete data was collected before the applications waiting for processing at each section with the exception that the completes were sometimes waiting for work to come from the committee on a Thursday. Susan had conducted an inspection of all sections in-trays that had revealed a rather shocking total of about 2000 files waiting within the process. Processing applications The processing of applications is a lengthy procedure requiring careful examination by applications assessors trained to make well founded assessments in line with existing charity guidelines and values. All applications arriving at the Unit are placed in an in-tray. The incoming application is then opened by one of the four receipt clerks who will check that all the necessary forms have been included in the application, the receipt clerks take about 10 minutes per application. This is then placed in an in-tray before collection by the coding staff. The five coding clerks allocate a unique identifier to each application and code the information on the application into the computer. The application is then given a front sheet, a pro formal, with the identifier in the top corner. This coding stage takes about 20 minutes for each application. The files are then placed in a tray on the senior applications assessors secretary desk. As an applications assessor becomes available, the senior secretary provides the next Job in the line to the assessor. About one hundred of the cases seen by the assessors each week are put aside after only 10 minutes scanning because it is clear that there is a need for further information. The assessor returns these files to the secretaries, who write to the applicant (usually via the intermediate charity) requesting missing or additional information, and return the file to the receipt clerks who store the file until the further information eventually arrives. When it does arrive, the file enters the process and progresses through the same stages again. Of the applications that require no further information, around half are accepted and half declined. Some applications clearly fit the charity criteria, or clearly did not. But others could take more time to assess. On average, the applications that are not recycled for further information take around 60 minutes to assess. All the applications, whether approved or declined, are stored prior to ratification. Every Thursday the Committee of Trustees meets to formally approve the applications assessors decisions. The committees role is to sample the decisions to ensure that the guidelines of the charity are upheld. In addition they will review any particularly unusual cases highlighted by the applications assessors. Once approved by the committee the file is then taken to the completion officers. There are 3 declines officers whose main responsibility is to compile a suitable response to the applicant pointing out why the application failed and offering, if possible, provide helpful advice. An experienced declines officer takes about 30 minutes to finalize the file and write a suitable letter. Successful files are passed to the 4 payment officers where again the file is completed, letters (mainly standard letters) are created and including dealing with any queries from the Bank about payment details. Finally the paperwork itself is sent, with the rest of the file, to two dispatch clerks ho complete the documents and mail them to the applicant. Each part of the process has trays for incoming work. Files are taken from the bottom of the pile when someone becomes free to ensure that all documents are dealt with in strict order. The dispatch activity takes, on average, 10 minutes for each application. The feeling amongst the staff was generally good. When Susan consulted the team they said their work was clear and routine, but their life was made difficult by charities that rang in expecting them to be able to tell them the status of an application they had submitted. It could take them hours, sometimes days, to find any individual file. Indeed two of the receipt clerks now worked full time on this activity. They also said that charities frequently complained that the money seemed to be taking a long time to agree and send. Questions 1. What objectives should the RAPE process be trying to achieve? 2. Map the process of handling applications at RAPE. 3. Analyses and evaluate the process. You may wish to assess: number of people involved in each application individual workloads whether the process is configured appropriately process throughput times why it is difficult to locate a file 4. What recommendations would you make to Susan Noting?

Justice and Mercy In the World of Shakespeare

Justice and Mercy In the World of Shakespeare Free Online Research Papers Justice and Mercy In the World of Shakespeare Life isn’t fair. How often have we, in our despairing states and unfortunate circumstances cried out against the injustice of our predicaments? When a young child dies of a bone cancer, or a volcano destroys an entire village, we shake our heads and despair at the injustice of the situation. If we see a woman on the road get hit by a car, and in the same instant, see the car speed away- at once we anger at the unfairness dealt by the driver and sorrow at the unfairness dealt to the woman. Unfortunately, we can do little about the cancer and even less about the volcano, but our sense of what is fair allows us not only to make a judgment about the driver of the car, but to take action and attempt to make the situation just through application of punishment or retribution according to the wrong committed. However, sometimes what is just or what is deserved is not always meted out; sometimes the one who delivers the retribution shows mercy, and the appropriate and just punishment is avoided. In the play Measure for Measure, Shakespeare illustrates the superiority of mercy by showing that although both Claudio and Angelo deserve to die under the law, allowing them to live and become better men is a greater virtue than ending their life. In the play, Angelo represents absolute justice. As the administrator and executor of the laws in Vienna, he seeks to establish a virtuous society by enforcing the laws that had remained idle under the duke. The first example offender is Claudio, who has committed fornication. In Angelo’s eyes, to be just is to enact the law. Thus, Claudio is sentenced to death for his crime. However, Angelo soon hypocritically breaks the same law he was so adamant on enforcing by proposing to go to bed with Isabella and actually doing so (although the woman he slept with was actually Marianna). Under the law, Claudio deserves what he gets; it is the law and his punishment is just. But Angelo also deserves to receive the same punishment as Claudio- he has broken the same law. It must be understood here that to deserve something, e.g. to deserve a pardon, is identical to saying it is only just and fair to receive the pardon. When we say someone deserves something, we are really saying that it i s only right and it fulfills justice that they receive that thing. Thus, Angelo certainly deserves to die. He has committed fornication and gone against the law. Yet he does not die and neither does Claudio. Why is justice not fulfilled in these cases? The just law is not executed because the two are shown mercy. However, the fact that Angelo was spared an execution does not seem fair. Well, it isn’t fair. It isn’t just. The waiver of execution was based on nothing else but mercy. Mercy is a separate entity and has nothing to do with what is just or fair or even rational. In fact, since the reception of mercy comes only when a deserved punishment is not meted out, it is simply the giving or receiving of a punishment less than what is deserved, or no punishment at all; a merciful sentence is thus an unjust sentence. The duke in the play begins with a reputation for mercy; it is because of his permissiveness that the city of Vienna has become so corrupt. However, toward the end, in Act V, he becomes bent on enacting a just punishment for Angelo- he paraphrases a passage from the New Testament, found in Matthew 7: â€Å"Judge not, that ye be not judged. / For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again† (Matthew 7:1-2). In the New Testament, Christ is concluding His Sermon on the Mount, and He is warning that they who seek to give judgments when they themselves are not free from sin are destined to have the same judgments passed on them. This principle is further clarified in verse 3, which states, â€Å"And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?† (Matthew 7:3). The duke here is simply bringing about the fulfillment of the â€Å"retu rn judgment† prophecy on Angelo- certainly Angelo judged Claudio unrighteously; the same sin was in his own heart. In the end, it is only Isabella that saves the life of Angelo. Even though she still at this point believes that her brother is dead, she still pleads for the duke to spare Angelo. Isabella understands here the importance of mercy- if mercy had been shown to her brother, Claudio would still be alive. So, she kneels and tells the duke, â€Å"Let him not die. My brother had but justice, / In that he did the thing for which he died† (101). In other words, Claudio had only justice on his side, and not mercy. Comprehending now the value of showing mercy, Isabella pleads vehemently for it to be shown to Angelo. The duke’s captivation with Isabella and her plea in the end causes him to show mercy and to waive the execution of Angelo. To deliver a message in a play, a playwright will end the final act in the situation most desirable to the audience, or else illustrate the conclusion as very unfavorable in order to convince his audience of the undesirability of the predicament. In this play, Shakespeare does the former- he ends the play on this final note of mercy. It is a comedic, or happy, ending; not only the protagonist but also the antagonist is saved and all ends well. Certainly, justice and mercy have a precarious relationship- the line between where to show mercy and when to enact justice is ambiguous at best. It cannot be concluded that Shakespeare does not believe in ever meting out justice; to do so would be to abandon all order and stability. And, he does not really demonstrate what are the best situations for showing mercy and what are those for delivering justice; because mercy is not rational and based on what someone does not deserve, it is impossible to make any clear distinction. However, by showi ng the final result of merciful actions, Shakespeare demonstrates his strong belief in forgiveness and sympathy for wrongdoers, especially when an executor of the law is not completely innocent himself. Certainly it is important to strive to for fairness and justice, but not every situation requires measure for measure. 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