Timeliness And Method Of Internal Communication Management Essay

Timeliness And Method Of Internal Communication Management Essay This final chapter will provide an overview of the information and most important findings of the research. Next, a broad analysis of the conclusions and amelioration aspects will be provided in order for the organization to improve their current business strategies with regard to corporate reputation. Finally strategies for improvements will be presented. 5.2 Conclusions One of the variables analyzed in the research is the way, timeliness and method of internal communication within the organization is conducted as part of the Corporate Communication variable. In this specific case, the internal communication was not rated as high as it should be when evaluating its importance in the day- to-day business operations. Although the vast majority agrees that internal communication within an organization is important to smoothen and facilitate the core tasks that the organization has to carry out and that it also impacts the corporate reputation, it was established to be below average. When new projects are introduced, these are not explained internally as the employees would like them to. The lack of this information implies that they, in most of the cases, learn about certain developments in the media instead of being the first ones to be informed. It is also very remarkable that, although the SBAB is classified as a vertical organization, the management decisions are not well communicated to the employees, according to 50% of the respondents. If an organization has a vertical manner of doing business, where most of the decisions are made by the Di in dialogue with the management, it is a must for the organization to have an impeccable top down communication. This is with the main focus to prevent misunderstandings and miscommunications in the core business. The employees fully agreed, with a score of 70%, that the organization is being managed in a top down way. A lack of internal communication can also be perceived externally by the tax payers which will result in a lack of credibility towards the organization itself. This clearly shows that, although team meetings have as their main objective to communicate decisions taken by the management, this is obviously not the case. However, although the fact that decisions are not well communicated, the employees do not get information from the outside world. Another important aspect in the communication process is the timeliness of the communication. In this specific case the organization scored a low grade because a majority of the respondents disagreed with the statements that information is timely provided when a new event is about to take place in the workplace. Another aspect that did not score as well as it should is information regarding change management. Most respondents think that changes are implemented and afterwards when questions come on behalf of the employees, they get the information regarding the change. Based on the questions asked by the researcher on the internal communication aspect of the communication, the relationship with the organizations reputation was established to be a moderate one with a correlation coefficient of .615. In other words, a positive relationship was established between these two variables meaning that the internal communication moderately affects the corporate reputation. With regard to the external communication variable on the other hand, a rather large percentage of the employees neither agreed nor disagreed with the statements regarding the organizations efforts to communicate plans of new projects and other events with the external audience. These percentages surpass half of the amount of respondents. However, they acknowledged SBABs efforts in communicating effectively and efficiently with the external stakeholders but there is definitely more to be done. Furthermore, almost 82% of the respondents definitely agreed on the fact that the external communication has an impact on the organizations reputation. In this case the correlation coefficient for this variable, external communication, in relationship with the organizations reputation, this was established to be .880 which means that there is definitely a high correlation between these two. These responses on the statements regarding these two variables regarding communication, are the main reason why the employees gave a 6- (5.92) for SBABs overall communication efforts. The variable that has greatly impacted this mark is the internal communication aspect which they consider to be below what is acceptable. The last variable to be analyzed in relationship with the corporate reputation is the corporate social responsibility strategy. The SBAB has scored very high in its efforts to give back to the society. The organizations strategy of giving back to the less fortunate children of our society and the involvement of the personnel in this process is a big hit with 95% of the respondents agreeing that these efforts help in the corporate reputation building. The overall mark provided for this business strategy is an 8.05. However, the relationship between CSR and corporate reputation was also established to be moderate (.619) because, as stated in the literature review, it is not mandatory for an organization to adopt this strategy in the reputation building process. Nevertheless, if this strategy is well implemented and consistent, it will definitely affect the stakeholders perception of the organization. For the organization to know what the steps are that need to be undergone in order to improve its way of doing business, it should know how it actually performs. Based on this, an analysis was also performed on the current reputation of the organization. It can be concluded that, although a lack of internal communication was identified, the employees do not think that the SBAB currently has a less positive reputation. More than 80% say that through the years, they heard more positive news about the SBAB than negative. Although there is a relatively large amount (respectively 41.7% and 50%) that say that the news that they hear about the SBAB in the media is not always positive and that they do not always receive a positive reaction when they tell an outsider that they work for the SBAB. 5.3 Recommendations In order to improve the reputation of the organization, the following actions should be taken to stimulate a clearer, timely and transparent communication towards the employees. The management should involve the employees more in the process of making decisions that directly affect the employees. In other words, stimulate more bottom-up communication as the employees can give valuable input in certain situations because they work in the field and definitely know better. This can be done by polls managed by the manager of each team. In the case a certain rule will be adapted, for example the team managers must gather with the team members and let them vote on the proposed change. The manager of each team must present their results in the management meeting with the accompanying arguments. After these have been analyzed, decisions can be made in personnel related aspects. Assign a person and a substitute when absent who are solely responsible for all communication towards the organization itself and the external audience (a Communication Officer). This in order to prevent misunderstandings and confusion about who is the one that gives the accurate information. Management meetings are mostly held once a month. Decisions taken and other significant information with regard to new projects and personnel, for example must be communicated to the Communication Officer who will develop a newsletter, on a monthly basis, to inform the internal audience properly. After the employees have been informed, decisions regarding the external audience must be made public through press releases and, where possible, television interviews. This last part is in order to achieve a greater awareness. All of these efforts must be done by the Communications Officer, thus by centralizing of the information channel, in order to also prevent misunderstandings and confusion by the press. This monthly bulletin will only cover management decisions and other objective information. For more subjective information about new colleagues, birthdays and other personnel-related, non-work related activities, the BAB Aktueel must be published quarterly as it is currently done.. In order to create a higher level of awareness of the core tasks of the organization and its corporate social responsibility strategy, a monthly column can be publicized in newspapers (both in Papiamentu and Dutch) as well as in short television program of approximately 5 minutes to be aired during prime time on both local television channels, in which an employee of the organization is interviewed about tax legislation changes, the way and reason of a tax audit and to highlight the organizations efforts in helping 150 less fortunate children of the society etcetera. A timely and accurate communication is not only part of the reputation building process but also in the maintenance hereof. A method of continuously monitoring the corporate reputation is also through an evaluation form that has to be handed out by the tax auditor to the tax payer. Although paying taxes and correcting what did not go well is not the most favorite subject and people tend to be negative about it; however, if the process has gone according to the rules and with the respect needed, the organization can also receive valuable feedback from the external stakeholders also. If these recommendations are aligned next to each other, the conclusion can be drawn that in order for the organization to be perceived positively among both the internal and the external stakeholders, timely and accurate communication is the key aspect. The communication within the organization itself and from the organization towards the outside world is like the heart in a human body. It is the main organ and the one which life is not possible without. A smooth corporate communication will definitely facilitate the core business and from an external point of view the organization will be considered a transparent one. Corporate communication Organization Figure 1 Human body and the heart function

Position Paper- Rene Descartes Essay

Rene Descartes was known as a modern philosopher who questioned everything unable to be proven true, a type of thinking called skepticism. He also was intrigued by reason and opinions of people and how they created the opinions from society and their surroundings. His ideas have evolved into modern philosophy all around the world. People are born with the natural sense of reason (the instinct to determine right from wrong). This natural sense is what creates opinions. No two people have the exact same opinion, because no two people reason the exact same way. The distinction between right and wrong is an opinion itself, therefore, reason is just a subject of opinion. Opinions are becoming a problem. Many people are either open minded or close minded based on society and their surroundings. Descartes’ was neither here nor there about how someone thinks, but the best lesson he learned during his life was â€Å"not to believe too firmly anything of which I had learnt merely by example. † This basically means to caution yourself from making opinions based on a set example, which implies the greatness of an open mind rather than a closed mind. Another subject of opinion is acceptance. Take the average Joe for example. He has an opinion, he accepts it, and that opinion is true, no question. But what about the other millions of people in the world who accept something different than Joe? Won’t they think Joe’s opinion is not true and he’s accepting something wrong? In the grand scheme of things, no one really knows what is true and what’s not. That’s why everyone should have an open mind and be willing to accept more than what’s in their zone of comfort or belief. Our society has a bad habit of manipulating the human mind and forcing it to believe what’s popular. This has become a controversy all over the world. Descarte would not appreciate what society has done to many of its citizens because more people than not are obsessed with their own belief and aren’t willing to think outside of the box. Everyone needs to remember what Descarte talked about in this document and create a balance of what they currently believe in and what beliefs they would like to explore.

Maslow s Hierarchy Of Needs - 983 Words

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Nicole Gay Grantham University Online Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Motivation is an important aspect in the workplace. Employees seek it and managers develop ways to motive employees. Maslow’s needs theory can also aid in maintaining a competitive edge if applied successfully. History of Maslow’s Needs Theory Maslow s Hierarchy of Needs is a model that was developed between the years of 1943 and 1954 (Maslow Theory of Motivation - A Paradigm Shift, n.d.). The model consisted of five basic needs when it was first created, since then more levels have been added, however, the five basic needs are most popular. Maslow s Hierarchy of Need rose from the perception that everyone is motivated by needs that are†¦show more content†¦I believe this will help them feel secure in their value to the workplace and therefore create long-term employment for themselves. We all have a desire for love and acceptance by others. As humans, we tend to be social in nature as a way to fulfill the need of love and belongingness. People become social by joining groups, clubs, professional associations, churches, and sororities/fraternities to name a few. Humans seek to achieve two types of esteem needs; competence or mastery of a task, and good opinions from others (Maslow Theory of Motivation - A Paradigm Shift, n.d.). We seek to accomplish goals in life in our work performance and positive feedback from our peers. Once all lower level needs are met, Maslow’s theory suggest that the fulfillment of those needs progress towards ones self-actualization of their greatest potential. The seeking of self-actualization can consist of personal knowledge, self- fulfillment, religion (Maslow Theory of Motivation - A Paradigm Shift, n.d.). Importance of Maslow’s theory in the workplace. Maslow’s needs theory is a very important aspect of the workplace. Managers must develop different ways to fulfill employee’s needs to keep them motivated in the workplace. When employees are motivated they tend to perform their job duties as required. This may also motivate employees

Class and Gender Representations in Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austin uses the novel Pride and Prejudice to comment on both class and gender expectations within a fixed society. She questions both the class stratification of the time, and the unreasonable expectations placed on gender, and the inequality between males and females. Written in 1796, Austin lived during the regency period, in which the novel is based and understood both the issues she was commenting on. Austin used setting, and descriptions of the estates to give information on the characters and their social status. Using descriptions of Rosings Park, in comparison to Pemberly, readers are able to see the contrast between both Lady Catherine De Bough, and my Darcy. â€Å"Taste neither gaudy, nor uselessly fine, with less of†¦show more content†¦They depended on marriage to keep their status within society, and to allow them to have a comfortable life. â€Å"I ask only a comfortable home; and considering Mr. Collins s character, connection, and situation in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is as fair as most people can boast on entering the marriage state. Charlotte understood this fact, and married him for is security, binding herself the obsequious Mr. Collins. It is also this fact that led Mrs. Bennet to silliness, in trying to have all of her daughters married well, in order to save them from a hard life, as Longbourne, their estate, was to be entailed away to Mr. Collins.† The business of her life was to get her daughters married; its solace was visiting and news.† Austen provides a reason for Mrs. Bennet to be so silly, in trying to have all daughters in a state of security, and not have to worry over the imminent entailment. Austen uses the novel pride and prejudice to comment on society and the expectations placed on gender, and class. Highlighting the class stratification of the times, and people of the upper classes refusal to accept those of a lower class into their ranks. Commenting on the expectations placed both on men and women of society, Austen uses her characters to portray her own dissatisfaction with such requirements. 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Study Of Alcoholic Fermentation By Saccharomyces Cerevisiae

Study of Alcoholic Fermentation by Saccharomyces cerevisiae in presence of salt Alhasn Otaif Texas AM Corpus Christi Title of the Experiment: Study of alcoholic Fermentation by Saccharomyces cerevisiae in presence of salt. Abstract: In the present study the process of fermentation in yeast has been studied. The study of fermentation is very basic and important study in biology in order to understand and develop concepts about anaerobic respiration. This study aimed at determining how the process of fermentation was affected by the presence or absence of salt in the culture media. Also, it was studied how glucose and yeast are crucial to the process of fermentation and absence of any one of them might effect the whole process and led to the complete cessation of fermentation and failure to produce carbon-dioxide. Introduction: Fermentation is the process which is prevalent among certain micro-organism where potential energy conserved in certain organic molecules is converted into some useful form of energy (ATP) in order to do work. Mostly, in the absence of oxygen, cells are capable of breaking down carbohydrates by the process of fermentation. Baker’s Yeast or more commonly known as Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a single celled micro-organism which is capable of undergoing alcoholic fermentation in presence of carbohydrate in order to produce ATP, carbon-dioxide (CO2) and ethanol. The carbohydrate (glucose) that is utilized in the process is converted into twoShow MoreRelatedThe Study Of Wine Making728 Words   |  3 PagesThe study of wine making is known as Vinification. 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The contemporary American medical industry Free Essays

The contemporary American medical industry feels the lack of those, who directly take care of the patients and satisfy most of the patients’ needs. The thing is that there are not enough nurses in the American hospitals and clinics due to the small salaries and the lack of perspectives for the career development the registered nurses have. Fortunately, in the last decade numerous shows appeared which create a positive image of nursing and encourage young people to choose it as their career. We will write a custom essay sample on The contemporary American medical industry or any similar topic only for you Order Now The ER was one of the first TV series which took this mission. There were several remarkable actors who played nurses in this show, but the most remembering is Julianne Margulies’ character, Carol Hathaway, the head nurse in the Emergency Room. There also were several nurses on the second roles. Carol, the head nurse, was often shown at leading roles in the ER series. She was always on duty to save the patients and to assist the doctors. The ER displays Carol and other nurses working directly with the patients, fulfilling their professional chores. In this show nurses are shown providing nursing care to the patients, but it is also noted that sometimes these medical practitioners have to make the decisions and fulfil functions that are out of their professional competence. In scenes with physicians, where other nurses take part, those are the doctors who do most of the talking, but when Carol Hathaway is aired it is her who talks the most. She always has her own opinion about the issues discussed, and she is ready to stand for her viewpoint. In the ER lots of episodes with doctors and nurses are aired, and the who is deciding what help the patient actually needs depends on the personality of the doctor and of the nurse. Of course, usually it is the doctor who guides the process, but sometimes the nurse has to take this role. Let’s, for example recall Dr. Carter’s first day in the ER as a doctor. He was really scared when he got his first patient, so Carol had to fulfil his chores. In the ER it was shown that both man and women are good in the nursing career. There were more female nurses of course, but the male ones also were present. The age of nurses shown in the show varies from twenty to sixty something; there both are the nursing certificate program recent graduates and the aged and experienced specialists. Most of the nurses in the ER are single. Carol Hathaway is portrayed as one of the strongest and most intelligent women in the whole series. She’s strong, ambitious and intelligent, capable and eager of learning something new. Carol’s character is even stronger than most of the doctors who work with her have; but she’s an exception, as most nurses are shown as less ambitious and, more light-headed. Most of them have time for activities besides their job, so they seem little touched by the problems that happen in the hospital. Thus the personality traits depicted in Julianna Margulies’ character, Carol are shown as abnormal for the person of her occupation. Carol Hathaway’s values change as she’s developing personally and professionally through the series. At the beginning serving people, saving them is the most significant for her, but with the time passing we notice that Carol becomes more and more ambitious, she longs for recognition and scholarship. In the same time the other nurses long for various things – most of them still feel that their work is of greatest importance and try to fulfill their chores as drudgingly as possible, but there are also some nurses who just want to sit and do nothing. Most nurses are shown as less intelligent and ambitious than the doctors are. In the ER the nurses aren’t portrayed in sexually demeaning terms, it’s rather they are evaluated on the basis of their professionalism and excellence. Of course, most of the nurses depicted are attractive, and several romantic lines appear which involve nurses. It’s interesting that in the ER nursing is not portrayed as a fulfilling career. The nurses are complaining that the doctors underevaluate them, and in the middle of the series Carol decides to continue her education for to get the doctor’s diploma. Despite of that, the job of a nurse is shown as quite an interesting and exciting one, but in the same time very tiring and demanding. In the ER the profession of a nurse is shown as a deficit and exciting one, but it is also said that the doctors are superior to the nurses, and that the nurses have few opportunities for the career development. Reference â€Å"ER† (1994) TV-Series 1994-. Retrieved October 1, 2005 from the IMDB website. ; http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108757/ ; ER. About the Show. (2005). Retrieved October 1, 2005 from the NBC website. ; http://www.nbc.com/ER/about/index.htm How to cite The contemporary American medical industry, Essay examples

Keystone Pipeline Project free essay sample

The United States is a fossil fuel hungry nation whose economy, markets, and transportation is highly dependent on the abundance of crude oil and petroleum. Although there is roughly 85. 9 billion barrels of undiscovered technically recoverable crude oil currently in the form of oil shale located beneath our soil, we still rely on imports from foreign countries. With a crude oil and petroleum product net import of 7,270 thousand barrels per day the United States is one of the top importers of foreign oil (Petroleum Other Liquids, 2013). According to the U. S. Energy Information Administration, EIA, the United States receives its leading imports of oil from Canada at a rate of 2,815 thousand barrels per day, Saudi Arabia at 1,028 thousand barrels per day, and Mexico at 869 thousand barrels per day. Looking at the geography of the North American continent, the United States shares its longest boarder with Canada, an ideal configuration for trade and transporting goods. It is no surprise that the rate of crude oil imports from Canada is roughly 3 times the rate of imports from Saudi Arabia. This is primarily due to Keystone Pipeline and according to proposals from TransCanada Corp. The rate of oil imports from foreign countries may fluctuate with the completion of Keystone XL project. The Keystone pipeline system is a 2,148 mile pipeline, along with related facilities that carry crude oil from the tar sands of the West Canadian Sedimentary Basin, WCSB, beginning in Alberta, Canada to refining markets throughout the United States (Slade, 2013). Although first proposed by TransCanada Corporation on February 9th, 2005, actual construction didn’t occur until 2008 due to legal and environmental inspection requirements not being met (Kalen, 2013). The Keystone Pipeline consists of two developments, known as Phase I and Phase II. Phase I was the first to be completed and began full operation during the summer of 2010. It runs across Canada from Alberta to Manitoba and from there it heads south across the U. S. border and into North Dakota. Once into North Dakota, the pipeline continues through South Dakota and finally into Nebraska. At Steele City, Nebraska, the pipeline reaches a junction where it splits in two. In one direction, Phase I of the Keystone Pipeline continues east through Missouri and reaches its final destination at oil refineries in Patoka and Wood River, Illinois. Beginning at the junction in Steele City, Nebraska, is the second completion of the Keystone Pipeline, Phase II. This portion of the Keystone pipeline is also known as the Keystone Cushing Extension. It is a 298 mile long pipeline that runs south from Steele City to Cushing, Oklahoma and began operation late February, 2011(Slade, 2013). Together, Phase I and II of the Keystone pipeline pump an estimated 590,000 barrels per day. At a cost of 5. 2 billion dollars, the Keystone pipeline has had beneficial and detrimental effects on the U. S. Economy on a local and nationwide scale, however with its creation it has improved access to foreign oil and reduced foreign oil transportation cost. Although one can marvel at the transportation capacity and construction of the Keystone Pipeline, it may potentially be surpassed by the capacity and estimated benefits of TransCanada’s newly proposed Keystone XL pipeline addition. Similar to its current counterpart, the operational Keystone Pipeline, the Keystone XL pipeline, also known as the Gulf Coast Extension, is proposed to be constructed in two phases, Phase III and Phase IV. The proposed Phase III project is 485 miles long and will travel from Cushing, Oklahoma to Nederland and Houston Texas. Since it doesn’t cross any international border lines, it can proceed without the approval of the Phase IV project which does cross border lines. Phase IV of the Keystone project is 1,179 miles long and travels from Alberta, Canada, enter the states at Phillips County, Montana, pass through the Dakotas and end at Steele City, Nebraska (Slade, 2013). If constructed and made operational, the Keystone XL project will cost 7. 6 billion dollars, transport 830,000 barrels per day, and create a more direct link between oil refineries in the north and Gulf Coast (Slade, 2013). Since the proposed Keystone XL project crosses multiple states and international borders, the process it must go through to be approved is lengthy and involves many different agencies which must assess and evaluate all aspects of the Pipeline. Due to this lengthy process, TransCanada’s permit application filled in 2008 is projected to be approved or rejected by late 2014 or possibly 2015 according to Christopher E. Smith, an editor for a Journal on the operational schedule of the Keystone Project titled TransCanada delays Keystone XL in-service date to second-half 2015. Some of the questions that the Keystone XL project hopes to answer and have also arisen as a result of its proposal are whether or not lower gas prices will be expected? Will our reliance on oil imports from volatile and unstable nations be reduced? Can we expect the creation of more jobs and seek that those jobs are filled? Are we denying ourselves, as a nation, an inevitable progression towards renewable forms of energy that in addition emit less carbon? What will happen to the Ogallala Aquifer should there be an oil spill? What benefits will arise from the creation of this pipeline? For the remainder of this paper I will seek to answer the majority of these questions, depict the current exposition of the Keystone Gulf Coast Expansion Project, and convey my opinion on the issue after undergoing unbiased analysis. As a proposed project, there are three main arguments that surround the Keystone XL Pipeline project. These arguments in favor of construction and operation of the pipeline are decreased gas prices, stronger national security through reduced foreign oil import dependence, and creation of jobs. In the United States, oil supplies 36 percent of our energy sources and is all so the principal fuel for transportation around the world. Oil in particular fuels around ninety-four percent of our nation’s transportation sector (Petroleum Other Liquids, 2013). This makes oil an important commodity to many nations including our own and the market for oil very competitive between nations as they seek to compete over oil exporters and nations with convenient access to oil reap the economic benefits. Therefore, the pricing of crude oil is controlled by multiple factors; supply, demand, markets, accessibility, and physical balancing. Although the United States holds position as a major consumer of oil, our nation solely alone as minute effects on crude oil cost, even for refineries in our own country. According to an academic journal by Edwin Slade titled, The Keystone Pipeline Addition: Assessing the Potential Benefits of Reduced Gasoline Prices and Increased National Security, U. S. refineries’ crude acquisition cost change with geopolitical events, such as increasing oil demands in foreign countries such as China and those in the Middle East. Keystone supporters argue that by making oil transports more available to our country and to the global market, we impact the cost of crude oil in a more effective way that depends heavily on Keystone exports. Benefits of oil availability can be viewed on a local scale primarily in Midwest. Prior to Keystone operation, Canadian oil imports accumulated in Cushing, Oklahoma, since oil refineries and pipelines are centralized in this area, and resulted in an abundance of excess oil known as the Cushing glut. This resulted in increased domestic production of oil, increased Canadian supply, and decreased gasoline prices (Slade, 2013). The proposed development of the Keystone XL pipeline is strategically placed to access the excess oil refineries of the Cushing glut and distribute this oil to refineries in the Gulf Coast. Refineries in the Gulf Coast are not restricted to a localized market, like Cushing, Oklahoma, and therefore will export productions to the global market according to Brent North Sea and West Texas Intermediate benchmark prices which yield higher profits than mid USA appraisal (Slade, 2013). With further analysis, it is estimated that access created by the Keystone XL Pipeline to the oversupplied, discounted, Canadian heavy crude oil located in the Midwest to the U. S. Gulf Coast markets will increase the price of heavy crude to the equivalent cost of imported crude (Slade, 2013). As a result of the increased price of heavy crude oil on the world oil market, the Canadian producing industry will experience increased annual revenue. So how can we benefit from Canadian industry in terms of reduced gas prices? This claim will be analyzed in deeper context as opposing arguments to gas prices reductions resulting from the Keystone Pipeline are made. Two remaining arguments for production of the Keystone XL Pipeline are increased national security and reduced reliance on oil imports from foreign countries. Both of these arguments go hand in hand as they are a result of one another. Before assessing the benefits the Keystone XL pipeline will make towards national security, we first must review the United States current importation of foreign oil, how the pipeline tends to accomplish reduced foreign dependence, and how reduced foreign dependence may prove beneficial. According to the Energy Information Administration, Saudi Arabia is the leading exporter of oil at 8,168 thousand barrels per day and is also the leading producer of oil. In addition, the Energy Information Administration ranks China and Japan as far second and third place consumers, respectively, to number one consumer, the United States. However, according to graphs depicting trends or oil consumption rate over time, the United States oil consumption has steadily decreased since 2010, relative to the operation of the Keystone Pipeline Phase I and II, and shows increasing oil demands in Latin America, several European countries, and China. These increasingly oil dependent countries are receive the majority of their diesel imports from other countries but Gulf Coast refineries, with the aide of the Keystone XL pipeline, will be able to meet this demand (Slade, 2013). This will attract growing attention towards the supplying capabilities of the Keystone exports at the Gulf Coast on a worldwide scale and the United States plans to take advantage of this as well. In TransCanada’s presidential permit application to approve construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, the argument is made that the pipeline will allow U. S. refiners to substitute foreign crude supply with direct access to a growing crude oil output from Canadian refineries (Congressional Digest, 2013). A study commissioned by the Department of State, known as the Ensys, concluded that increased U. S. imports of Canadian oil will replace other foreign imports. As a result of overseas trade, the U. S. military surveillances potential vulnerabilities to oil supply and nation security such as abroad and domestic terrorist attacks on oil supplies, Venezuelan embargoes, and Iran closing the Straits of Hormuz. In lite that these are only a few examples of threats to foreign oil imports from a growing unpredictable list, geopolitical factors dictate that the U. S. is less vulnerable to disruptions in oil supply from Canada (Slade, 2013). Overall, a substantial increase in our nation’s share of imports from Canada will result in a decrease in share of imports from other â€Å"disruption prone† foreign suppliers and ultimately the vulnerability premium for crude oil imports will decrease. While the benefits of the Keystone Pipeline and proposed Keystone XL pipeline have been established, the counter arguments to the construction of the Keystone project are what caused its 5 year delay of proposal to operation and is currently what halts construction of the Keystone XL pipeline (Kalen, 2013). These arguments are highly prioritized when assessing the approval of the project. The duties of doing so lie under the jurisdiction of the Department of State, NEPA, Hazardous Material Safety Administration, and EPA (Petroleum Other Liquids, 2013). These agencies consider the potential environmental impacts of the entire pipeline along with economic effects before issuing any State, tribal, or Federal licenses, permits, or approvals to the project (Sassman, 2013). In addition to assessments of the pipelines environmental impact made by government agencies, there has been a concerted effort by environmentalists to resist building the pipeline in concern for Americas continued reliance on carbon emitting fossil fuels, reducing contribution factors toward climate change, hazardous methods of oil extraction, and â€Å"inevitable† damage of oil spills. In the U. S. Department of State’s August 26, 2011 Final Environmental Impact Statement, concerns were expressed towards the fragile Sandhills’ soils and the underlying Ogallala aquifer (Spatding and Aaron, 2013). The Ogallala aquifer is one of the worlds largest aquifers covering an area of approximately 174,000 miles and supplying water to 30 percent of irrigation water in the United States and 82 percent of drinking water to the surrounding area. It lies beneath the fragile and pristine Sandhills, which are sub-irrigated meadows that reach areas where water tables are as shallow as 6 meters. The construction of the pipeline through these regions in Nebraska would disturb the Sandhills’ soils and crude oil releases that may occur during the pipelines operation could potentially contaminate large volumes of the Ogallala aquifer (Spatding and Aaron, 2013). One cause of oil leakage through pipeline corrosion is contributed to an acidic component of crude oil known as dilbit. Its corrosive properties are attributed to amounts of toxic chemicals benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene, (BTEX), whose aqueous solubility’s in water exceed maximum contamination levels (Spatding and Aaron, 2013). A prime example of the harmful effects can be seen at the Kalamazoo River tributary in Michigan which experienced a 790,000 gallon dilbit release into flowing surface water (Sassman, 2013). Should the Keystone XL project undergo construction and operation it is clear that we risk the environmental preservation of vital resources. This outweighs any benefits proposed by TransCanada and supporters for the pipelines construction. Referring to the arguments in favor of benefits that construction of the Keystone XL pipeline will bring, particularly the promise of lower gas prices, counter arguments show that the pipeline will yield little effect on gas prices. In June 2012, the average price of unleaded regular gasoline rose by 39 percent from 2010 prices of $2. 79 per gallon to $3. 55 per gallon (Sassman, 2013). According to an article titled, The Keystone Pipeline Addition: Assessing the Potential Benefits of Reduced Gasoline Prices and Increased National Security, over the last eleven years, petroleum imports from Canada have rose fifty percent yet gas prices in the United States during the adjacent time period have continued to rise according to fluctuations in the global market. It is a possibility that these imports have acted to stabilize gas prices more so than if the U. S. wasn’t receiving oil imports from Canada at all. Although there are counter arguments against the benefits of the Keystone XL, along with environmental controversy, these counter arguments are in the process of being met in order to meet consumer demands, projected schedule, and licensed approval. In the future proposal for the Keystone XL pipeline, a risk-managed route is suggested that avoids the environmental geographic restrictions that prevented the grant of a presidential permit. The newly proposed route avoids the Ogallala aquifer beneath the Sandhills, avoids surface water crossings in the canyons of northern Holt County located near the Sandhills, and the southeasterly portion of the risk-managed route runs through low cropped irrigated land rather than undeveloped prairies (Spatding and Aaron, 2013). With conflicts and benefits constantly arising and being tested regarding the future of the Keystone XL pipeline, there’s no telling which side is winning or if a suggested solution will ever be agreed on. Such solutions, like the risk-managed route, may lead to a presidential permit to presume construction by 2015. However, until all aspects are taken accounted for, the future of the Keystone XL pipeline still remains undecided.