Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Case Analysis Float Equipment - 1697 Words

Float equipment are a fundamental aspect of cementing operations, which serves as a foundation for casing equipment. They are commonly used in the lower section of the casing and help reduce the stress applied to the derrick by allowing the casing to be floated into place. According to Weatherford oil and gas service company, â€Å"they guide the casing to total depth, prevent contaminated mud from entering the casing, provide a landing point for casing wiper plugs, reinforce the lower end of the casing string, and ensure greater accuracy of cement slurry displacement†. Floating equipment is typically made up of 2 or 3 important tools, which include a float collar and float shoe or guide shoe. This paper will focus on the mechanisms and†¦show more content†¦Additional functions of cementing include but are not limited to preventing blowouts, sealing of zones of lost circulation, and protecting the casing from corrosion. Drilling in the United States of America dates as far back as 1859, when the Drake well was first drilled in Pennsylvania. At the time one of the most common problems well operators encountered, was their inability to produce oil independently of water. Since there was no casing/casing design, this problem became more prevalent. The water usually came from the same formation bearing the oil, but more commonly it came from an upper sand formation. The implementation of cementing and proper casing design did not start until 1903, when the first cement slurry was used to â€Å"shut off downhole water just above an oil sand in the Lompoc fields in California†(Doherty 1,1960) by mixing and dumping 50 sacks of fine Portland cement by means of the bailer method. After a 28-day waiting period, the cement was then drilled out. It was introduced by Frank .F Hill of Union Company. In 1910, the dump bailer and tubing method was replaced by the two-plug cementing method also known as the P erkins method, which was introduced in California by Almond .A Perkins, and it quickly became the foundation for modern oil well cementing. The cement plugs, were made out of

Monday, December 16, 2019

A Sample Position Paper Free Essays

A SAMPLE POSITION PAPER Globalization: A Transition to What? Barber, Benjamin R. Introduction to Jihad vs. McWorld (New York: Ballantine Books, 1996) Kobrin, Stephen J. We will write a custom essay sample on A Sample Position Paper or any similar topic only for you Order Now â€Å"Back to the Future: Neomedievalism and the Postmodern Digital World Economy,† Globalization and Governance (London: Routledge, 1999. After the bloody clashes between anti-globalization protesters and the police in Genoa, globalization is once again on the world’s agenda and it is here to stay. A dream to some and a nightmare to others, globalization is a widely debated issue among journalists and scholars, among intellectuals of all profiles, business people and decision-makers alike. Benjamin R. Barber, Walt Whitman professor of political science, and Stephen J. Kobrin, professor of multinational management, both join the discussion, each giving his own vision of what the post-modern future of this globalized world might look like. In â€Å"Jihad vs. McWorld† Barber’s fragmented and at the same time integrated world is â€Å"terminally post-democratic† (20). It is pulled apart by two opposing forces: disintegrating ethnic hatreds and unifying mechanisms of global economy, none of which cares much for civic society and civil liberties. In Barber’s terminology Jihad stands for the blind parochialism of any kind, but primarily for tribal instincts that tear countries apart and cause bloody wars. McWorld epitomizes the world of consumerist capitalism unified by commerce, entertainment and consumerism that knows no borders. Although Jihad seems like a more obvious threat to democracy, McWorld is no less dangerous because both are enemies of the sovereign nation states and of democracy. Barber warns that democracy might be collateral damage from the confrontation between globalization and parochial fragmentation. While Barber is primarily interested in the fate of democracy, Kobrin gives a great deal of attention to the problem of state sovereignty in the increasingly integrated world. In â€Å"Back to the Future: Neomedievalism and the Postmodern Digital World Economy† the key issue is the anticipated transformation of state sovereignty into new forms of political loyalty. Kobrin argues that sovereign state as we know it-firmly defined within certain territorial borders-is about to change profoundly, if not to wither away. National markets are too small to be self-sustainable which challenges the meaning of territorial boundaries between states. Both authors acknowledge that sovereignty, defined as unambiguous authority, is threatened. Whereas Barber finds that alarming, Kobrin takes this as a historical inevitability; modern state system, based on mutually exclusive jurisdiction, may be an anomaly rather than a historically privileged form of political organizations. Kobrin argues that we should look at the medieval world for the answers to how the future might look like. Medieval analogy offers a world of overlapping multiple authorities and absence of fixed boundaries. It is a world of multiple political loyalties-to emperors, to the pope, to feudal lords-which are complex rather than linear. Kobrin’s modern analogy is European Union, with its overlap of national, regional and supra-national authorities. The medieval metaphor seems attractive, but Kobrin forgets that the world of the Middle Ages was highly decentralized rather than unified, and in that sense radically different from our own. Medieval feuds, as economic units, were self-sufficient and isolated-everything that modern markets are not. Kobrin himself argues that the integrated economy requires a strong central authority, perhaps not yet in the form of world government but certainly through stronger international organizations such as WTO. Clearly, this is a different kind of authority than a pope or an emperor might have had in medieval world. Is medieval analogy applicable at all? If we follow Kobrin’s reasoning, it appears that the new world will require more rather than less authority. Nation-state’s sovereignty may be eroding, but, as a result, we have an increasing supra-national authority instead of a loose authority of the medieval type. Barber, on the other hand, may be launching an artificial dichotomy. While McWorld sounds like an apt metaphor for globalization, Jihad seems to be a superficial, emotionally charged term with multiple meanings. Barber draws on Yeats and Mary Shelly to define this â€Å"heritage of race,† the force of tribal instincts, ancient hatreds, and fundamentalism. Although doubtless poetic, the concept of Jihad, as described by Barber, is confusing. He takes a few examples of ethnic conflict, such as Bosnia or Rwanda, and declares they are but a manifestation of the tribalisation phenomenon, but he does little to support his thesis. Did Bosnia really fall apart because of ancient, tribal hatreds? Barber overlooks the fact that peoples of Bosnia have been living peacefully with one another much longer than they have waged wars. Reducing complex conflicts to an oversimplified, poorly defined phenomenon such as Jihad helps Barber support his shaky Jihad-McWorld dichotomy but does little to persuade the reader that Jihad exists as such. Barber’s and Kobrin’s views seem diametrically opposite whereas it may simply be that they are considering different issues. There is little common ground between them in terms of problems they are interested in. They both take McWorld for granted, though. Neither challenges globalization nor tries to imagine the world as something other than globalized, digital, and integrated. Even Barber who laments over the destructiveness of Jihad admits that McWorld is the winner in the long run. Although they have different agendas, they are telling essentially one and the same thing-the future belongs to McWorld. What with democracy, Barber asks? Everyone will be a consumer, but what will happen to citizens? For Kobrin, however, the problem does not exist; just as we have civil societies within states today, in the future they will be replaced by global civil society with its mixture of state and non-state actors, NGOs, transnational movements. Are Barber and Kobrin debating at all? Their visions of the world in the future are not mutually exclusive. Barber comes up with a bold notion that not even nations constitute main players today, but tribes. His description of balkanization, tribalization and awakening of atavistic forces among peoples evokes images of dark Middle Ages. Barber warns that our civilization is beginning to resemble medieval past in which the world consisted of warring fiefdoms unified by Christianity; in our world, Bosnian Serbs and alike wage their ethnic conflicts while both the aggressors and the victims eat the same BigMacs, wear jeans and watch MTV. It seems that he is also looking at the world through medieval prism, albeit from its dark side. It is precisely the dark side that Kobrin avoids confronting. He is intentionally focused on the practicalities of managing the world in the future so he lefts out of the picture the unpleasant details. Fragmentation is one of the issues that he chooses not to consider although he acknowledges that some authors, such as Kaplan offer a less optimistic vision of the world torn by refugee migration, private armies, collapse of nation state and civil order with it. Kobrin’s only response to this grim prophecy is little more than hope: â€Å"One hopes that such an age is not part of the neomedieval metaphor, hat a new and more terrifying barbarian is not on the horizon† (183). Walled communities and private security forces that he admits appear increasingly today could be, Kobrin still hopes, only â€Å"ephemeral products of a world in transition and not a permanent characteristic of the postmodern era† (183). Barber, Benjamin R. Introduction to Jihad vs. McWorld (New York: Ballantine Books, 1996) Kobrin, Stephen J. â€Å"Back to the Future: Neomedievalism and the Postmodern Digital World Economy,† Globalization and Governance (London: Routledge, 1999. How to cite A Sample Position Paper, Papers

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Reflective Essay The Learning Organisation

Question: Write about theReflective Essay for the Learning Organisation. Answer: Introduction The term leadership consists of a very deep meaning. The purpose and practicality of leadership, in general, are same. But, in the broader concept of the leadership may vary from person to person. I personally believe that a leader is present in every aspect of the human life. The core responsibility of a leader is to lead a certain group which consists of different kind of people with different types of mindset and thinking of their own (Rosch Villanueva, 2016). Leadership does not mean only control or monitor some people. Meanwhile, leadership suggests the role to direct, motivate and nurture a group of people towards a specific aim. In this context, some famous quotes can be used for the proper description of the activities involved in the leadership. Precisely, the study explores the three ways of leadership utilising the organisational learning theories. According to Chris Hadfield, leadership is not all about doing brilliant crowning act, but it is about motivating the team members to keep their focus on a goal. Furthermore, the art of leadership can be utilised to make the followers believe that the best performance without any doubt can surely be useful to achieve the goal. I identify that one more significant element of leadership is togetherness of the team members including the leader. Dwight D. Eisenhower has described the supreme quality of leadership in his own word i.e. without the integrity of the whole team, their activities and shared aim, success is not possible at all in any field (Burns, 2012). I have identified that leadership has two-way aspects in it. Discussion The famous quotation regarding Leadership by John Maxwell implies that the focused leader should know the proper way to lead the followers (Lutz, Lyon Maxwell, 2013). Apart from that, a strategic leader must lead to that way and show the right direction to others. With this quote, the author wants to make people understand the primary emphasis of the leadership and a leader. There are too many points of view present about the explanation of this quotation. But as per the subject matter if we break the statement into parts and discuss the meaning of each part then the relations can be established among the three sections. Here, the section knows the way can be explained as having the relevant details and required knowledge about the whole subject matter of the specific goal. Alternatively, the term goes the way implies to follow a particular path, vision, planning for the achievement of the common goal. Decisively, the term shows the way means creating a clear vision of the way to ot hers so that they can follow the path, vision, planning for the achievement of their goal. A true leader knows that without having proper knowledge, clear vision and initial idea about the destination, it is almost impossible to take other peoples on an unknown journey. The leader must know the way i.e. the clear vision of the way including the obstacles, difficulties, threats and how to overcome those with the strength of the whole team. Evidently, I acknowledge that critical knowledge, skills, and abilities must be posses by the leader (Mujtaba Sungkhawan, 2011). By possessing the traits, a leader can make proper planning of the actual work and individual functions that must be accomplished by the leader and his team members for the achievement of their ultimate goal. If the leader does not have the idea, vision, and viewpoint of the goal and the way of achieving the goal, the team members or the followers will not be able to show their courage to follow the way for the achievement of the goal (Santos-Lang, 2016). The leader should have the capacity to influence, encour age, empower and persuade others to do hard work for the achievement of predetermined future-state. I understand that the success of the team is not depending on the charisma or style of the leader it depends on the ability to motivate others. The famous leader of management Peter Drucker explains that management is doing the things right, but leadership activities are about doing right things (Aigner, 2014). A leader has to be perfect in his vision, idea and planning about the path of achievement of the goal of the team. According to Ben Carson, the primary focus of leadership is the power and ability to recognise the talents of individuals. Precisely, a good leader should know how to combine those talents towards the same aim. A successful leader not only controls and monitors the team members or followers but also ensures the disciplines, honesty and morality within the whole team and its activities (Murray Chapman, 2013). The leader should impose some essential aspects in his team members such as honesty unity, sense of responsibility and integrity for doing their works in an effective and efficient way. Bill Bradley has stated that leadership consists of unlocking the potentialities of the people to become more and m ore expert in their own specialised zone (Rosch Villanueva, 2016). In this context, the leadership styles and approaches can be discussed with the emphasis on each approach. The famous leadership styles are autocratic leadership, democratic leadership, strategic leadership, transformational leadership, team leadership, cross-cultural leadership, facilitative leadership, laissez-faire leadership, transactional leadership, coaching leadership, charismatic leadership, and visionary leadership (Burns, 2012). Some leadership approaches can be discussed in this regard. Autocratic leadership approach is centred on only the boss or the leader. The leader, who follows this type of leadership approach, holds all the responsibility and the authority of making decisions and planning without consulting his/her subordinates on their own. But in democratic leadership approach subordinates or the team members are involved with the leader in making planning and taking decisions. Unlike autocratic leadership style, all the activities for the implementation of the planning are centralised on the subordinates contributions. The strategic leadership is all about helping the individuals who have the potentialities to deliver high performance towards the establishment of the expertise of their own. Strategic leaders use innovative types of strategies to fill the gap between actual condition and the predetermined condition. Unlike the other leadership approaches transformational leadership style is all about start initiating change in groups, and business (Santa, 2015). Transformational leaders have the ability to transform others to deliver more than they intended, with their motivational and influencing skills. Meanwhile, followers are empowered by the transformational leaders. In team leadership, the team has been given the utmost priority. Such leadership approach involves a clear picture of the future goals and directs the team towards the achievement of the goal. Team leadership approach is all about managing the minds and hearts of the team members who are involved in the whole process. On the other hand, cross-cultural leadership usually exists in the teams where various types of culture are present among its members (Avolio Locke, 2012). Organisations especially the international ones need leaders with effective adjustment capabilities in their leadership style so that they can make the whole team able to work in different environments (Desai, 2010). The central idea of facilitative leadership is a dependency on the outcomes and measurements of the process. In this leadership approach, it is believed that efficiency and appropriateness of the activities are directly connected to the effectiveness of the group. The other leadership style named laisse z-faire leadership has given the authority to the employees. In this leadership approach, there is no interference present in the activities of the subordinates. Transactional leadership maintains status quo. It also involves a process where exchange takes place i.e. followers get tangible and immediate rewards for following up the orders given by their leaders (Antonakis House, 2014). According to coaching leadership, the main focus must be given on mentoring, supervising and teaching the followers. Mainly, in this type of leadership approach, for the sake of improvement of followers skills they are helped, encouraged and directed by their leaders (Ford Harding, 2015). There are some differences present between a simply popular leader and a charismatic leader. Because the charismatic leadership has been practised by the leader, who has the proper attitude of transform the values and beliefs of the followers. In visionary leadership, those types of leaders have been involved who recognise the steps, process and methods of leadership. Successful leaders always implement their visions and planning into realities. Conclusion A leader may follow whatever approach in his leadership activities, but the main emphasis should be given on maintaining the systematic performance of the followers that will ensure the success of the whole team. Achievement of the common goal through achieving individual goals is critical aspects of an effective leadership approach. In a learning organisation, continuous learning process needs to be imposed on the working systems. Such strategic move will ensure the creativity and innovation of the leader along with the followers in their regular activities towards the fulfilment of the common aim of that particular group. From the whole discussion, I acknowledge that the leader of a team or a group needs to possess some essential qualities such as the capability to motivate, encourage and influence others and make their vision clear about the mission of the team. Such qualities are influential so that employees can perform with required standard and skills for the accomplishment of their ultimate goal. Being a leader the person should not be frightened of taking the calculated risks as all the followers are depended on those particular decisions. Progress and success can only be achieved through the proper practice of leadership according to a particular situation. The leaders need to grab the opportunities through which the members of a learning organisation can use their strengths so that they can reach the peak of success. References Aigner, P. (2014). Ethnic Diversity Management In Theory And Practice.Journal Of Diversity Management (JDM),9(2), 111. Antonakis, J., House, R. (2014). Instrumental leadership: Measurement and extension of transformationaltransactional leadership theory.The Leadership Quarterly,25(4), 746-771. Avolio, B., Locke, E. (2012). Contrasting different philosophies of leader motivation.The Leadership Quarterly,13(2), 169-191. Burns, J. (2012).Leadership(1st ed.). New York, NY: Open Road Integrated Media. Desai, D. (2010). Co?creating learning: insights from complexity theory.The Learning Organization,17(5), 388-403. Ford, J., Harding, N. (2015). Followers in leadership theory: Fiction, fantasy and illusion.Leadership. Lutz, S., Lyon, T., Maxwell, J. (2013). Quality Leadership when Regulatory Standards are Forthcoming.The Journal Of Industrial Economics,48(3), 331-348. Mujtaba, B., Sungkhawan, J. (2011). Situational Leadership And Diversity Management Coaching Skills.Journal Of Diversity Management (JDM),4(1), 1. Murray, P., Chapman, R. (2013). From continuous improvement to organisational learning: developmental theory.The Learning Organization,10(5), 272-282. Rosch, D., Villanueva, J. (2016). Motivation to Develop as a Leader.New Directions For Student Leadership,2016(149), 49-59. Santa, M. (2015). Learning organisation review a good theory perspective.The Learning Organization,22(5), 242-270. Santos-Lang, C. (2016). Evaluative Diversity and the Board.Board Leadership,2016(146), 4-8.