Marketing Plan For Whole Foods Essay - 2260 Words

A. Current Performance Whole Foods Market is the leading natural and organic foods supermarket. They are the first national â€Å"certified organic† grocery store. 2015 might have been the worst year in the history of Whole Foods Market. Comparable sales had declined for the first time since the recession. There was a humiliating scandal involving mislabeled weights and prices, and the attacks from rivals Kroger Inc., Costco Wholesale and Trader Joe’s only seemed to increase. This resulted in Whole Foods’ shared price plummeting 36%. This was a decline that would have been worse had a late-year buyout rumor no circulated. Whole Foods had diminished this rumor. Moving into 2016, there seemed to be a reason to be optimistic even with the descending momentum and flat comparable sales forecast. In 2016, Whole Foods debut the 365 chain. This was really a jump start for Whole Foods stock at the beginning of 2016. The budget friendly 365 chain allowed the comp any to reach different demographics and provided a larger range of real estate options, enabling it to open in neighborhoods that may not be fit for one of their full line stores. The 365 is the best solution to stores like Trader Joe’s. â€Å"We are continuing to make measurable progress on fundamentally evolving our business including the successful launch of our new 365 format, expanded value investments, and increased efforts to better understand and provide personalized offers to our customers. We are seeing someShow MoreRelatedMarketing Plan For Whole Foods1441 Words   |  6 PagesWhole Foods Name: Course: Tutor: Date: â€Æ' Whole Foods Introduction In United States, study shows that Whole Foods Market (WFM), Inc is one of the largest natural foods supermarkets chains that offer citizens various services. The firm enjoys strong brand name recognition in the natural foods niche market that is growing significantly. The company uses SIC Code 5411 in the grocery stores. According to Whole Foods Company, natural foods are those foods that are processed at a tiny extent or foods thatRead MoreMarketing Plan For Whole Foods1429 Words   |  6 Pages Grocery shopping has become more diversified than ever before. Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe’s have become household names in the consumer arena. Markets such as Roots, and Common Market are also in the game even though they operate on a smaller scale. Despite comparable size in terms of locations, each store’s growth has operated using a very different model. As Whole Foods has increased the number of retail centers that it operates, it has suffered accompanying growing pains in the distributionRead MoreMarketing Plan For Whole Foods1390 Words   |  6 Pagesit seems fitting that Whole Foods Markets are popping up with their distinctive green signs in neighborhoods across the country. Beginning with their first expansion in 1984, Whole Foods has consistently grown domestically. In 2007 Whole Foods began opening stores in the United Kingdom. While continually opening new stores, the company fueled its expansion by acquiring other food chains. For instance, it acquired one of its largest competitors, Wild Oats, in 2007. Whole Foods has consistently rankedRead MoreMarketing Plan For Whole Foods Essay1319 Words   |  6 Pagesnatural foods. Based on a simple but effective business model, Whole Foods has grown to a position of market leadership that is now being challenged by low-cost organic sellers. According to Feldman (as cited in Giamm ona, 2015) â€Å"Whole Foods continues to face challenges from competitors going after organic and natural foods more aggressively†(para. 4). The company s differentiation edge against lower-cost competitors is fading as competitors have been successfully emulating the Whole Foods experienceRead MoreMarketing Plan For Whole Foods1817 Words   |  8 PagesWhole Foods, founded in 1980 by John Mackey, strives to provide the highest-quality natural and organic foods with a goal of creating healthier people living healthier lives. In order to achieve their goals they have implemented several important elements as part of their overall strategy for long-term growth. Some of those elements include: †¢ Growth and Store Location Strategy – Prior to 2007, part of Whole Foods strategy was to open new stores and to acquire small owner-managed chains. They focusedRead MoreMarketing Plan For Whole Foods Market1587 Words   |  7 PagesCompany/Product Background For this Global Marketing Foreign Market Entry and Marketing Plan, we will be expanding the Whole Foods Market into Italy. Whole Foods Market is considered to be a higher end, more organic store with higher priced products than other markets in the United States. The motto of the brand is â€Å"America’s Healthiest Grocery Store† (Whole Foods Market History, 2016). They are concerned with what their customers are eating and overall health, so they offer so many products thatRead MoreMarketing Plan For Whole Foods Market1554 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction / History / Company Background Whole Foods Market first opened on September 20, 1980 in Austin, Texas, which is the company headquarters. The founders were John Mackey, Renee Lawson, Craig Weller, and Mark Skiles. These four business people decided that the natural food industry was ready for a supermarket format. The current CEO’s are John Mackey and Walter Robb IV (Whole Foods Market History, 2015). Whole Foods Market stock ticker symbol is WFM and their NACIS code is 445110 (WFM MorningstarRead MoreMarketing Plan For Whole Foods Market1401 Words   |  6 Pages1.0 Overview of the company: Whole Foods Market is a chain of organic, natural supermarkets found in USA, Canada and the UK. Initially founded in Austin, Texas in 1980, at a time when there were less than half a dozen natural supermarkets, the company saw rapid growth domestically through expanding across Texas and then into the West Coast of America. This was achieved through growth from the ground up and acquiring smaller natural food companies. Whole Foods Market in the present day is the resultRead MoreMarketing Plan For Whole Foods Market Essay731 Words   |  3 PagesTarget Customers: Whole foods Market targets people who are more interested in consuming high quality organic foods and living a healthy lifestyle. They want natural and organic foods and are willing to pay higher prices for that. They live in urban areas and are comparatively wealthy. Whole foods Market provides a lot of options for them and a memorable consumer experience when they shop for food. It makes sure to attract these people. In addition to this, to target average consumers it has introducedRead MoreMarketing Plan For Whole Foods Market1040 Words   |  5 Pagesorganizations run more efficiently and effectively (Gray, n.d.). Whole Foods Market (WF) is the largest natural-foods grocer in the United States. In addition, they have stores in Canada and the United Kingdom (Cuenllas, 2013). They have annual sales over $14 billion and net profits over $500 million in 2014 (Amigobulls, 2015). The company got its start in 1978 by John Mackey and Rene Lawson Hardy when opening the doors to a natural foods store called SaferWay, in Austin, Texas. Two years later, they

The War I Leaders Photo Gallery - 1448 Words

1914 1. Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria killed in cold blood by Serbian youth (June 28th) This photo depicts Archduke of Austria and his wife, Sophie. (World War I Leaders Photo Gallery.) On June 28, 1914, the Archduke of Austria was scheduled to take a visit to the city of Sarajebo. The trip would coincide roughly with his and his wife’s 14th anniversary. However, an anti-Austrian extremist group called The Black Hand caught wind of the Archduke’s visit, and decided that they should take matters into their own hands and kill the Archduke. On the day the Archduke visited, he and his wife were shot dead by an assassin by the name of Gavrilo Princip. The murder of these two political figures intensified Astro-Serbian tensions and†¦show more content†¦(PavelD) Austria was being threatened by Serbians in the Balkans area in Europe. With support from Germany guaranteed, they decided that the best course of action was to prepare to go to war with Serbia. An ultimatum was sent to Serbia on July 23rd, 1914, in which Austria-Hungary demanded that they be given free rein to investigate the Archduke’s assassination within Serbian borders, among other demands. Despite the fact that Serbia accepted every demand outside of the demand for investigation, Austria broke off its relations with Serbia and began preparing for war on July 25th. Russia – one of Serbia’s allies – was alerted to the crisis and began to mobilize against Austria. (Jul 28, 1914: Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia) 4. July 19th: Germany declares war on Russia This is a newspaper headline from 1914. (â€Å"Scraps of Paper†) Germany sent a declaration of war to Russia. Germany declared that it had attempted to bring about a peaceful settlement, despite its encouraging Austria to go to war to Serbia. Germany gave Russia a statement that by not complying with its demands, it was effectively forcing Germany to go to war. (The German Declaration of War on Russia) 1915: 5) May 7th: The Lusitania is sunk by a German U-boat This picture depicts the RMS Lusitania. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Lusitania) The Lusitania was considered one of the

Supply Chain Drivers Free Essays

Logistics Drivers Facilities These are physical locations where merchandise is stored, assembled or manufactured. Two major types of facilities are production sites and storage sites. Decisions regarding the role, location, capacity, and flexibility of facilities have a significant impact on the supply chain’s performance. We will write a custom essay sample on Supply Chain Drivers or any similar topic only for you Order Now Facilities related metrics include; capacity, utilisation, cycle time of production, cycle time, flow time efficiency, product variety, processing/setup/down/idle time, average production batch size, and production service level. Inventory This includes all unprocessed material, raw materials being processed and completed merchandise. Change in inventory policies can alter the supply chain performance. For instance, a stationery shop can be responsive by stocking large amounts of stationery and satisfy customer demand from stock. However, a large inventory increases costs, rendering it less efficient. Stock reduction would make it more efficient but less responsive. Inventory related metrics include; average inventory, products with more than a specified number of days of inventory, average replenishment batch size, average safety inventory, seasonal inventory, fill rate, and fraction of time out of stock. Transportation Transportation involves moving inventory from one supply chain location to another. Transportation can take form with different combination of modes and routes, each with its own performance characteristic. Transportation related metrics include; average inbound and outbound transportation cost, average incoming and outbound shipment size, average inbound and outbound transportation cost per shipment and fraction transported by mode. ? Cross-Functional drivers Information This consists of data and analysis concerning all other drivers, that is, facilities, inventory, transportation, pricing and customers. It is arguably the biggest supply chain driver as it directly affects each of the other drivers. Timely and accurate information will enhance coordination and better decision making. Information related metrics include; forecast horizon, frequency of update, forecast error, seasonal factors, variance from plan, and ratio of demand variability to order variability. Sourcing Sourcing involves choosing partners to perform a particular supply chain activity such as production, transportation, storage, or management of information. This decision variable establishes functions that a company may undertake and those that it may outsource. Sourcing related metrics include; days payable outstanding, average purchase date, range of purchase price, average purchase quantity, fraction on-time deliveries, supply quality, and supply lead time. Pricing Pricing determines the amount a company will charge for goods and services offers in the supply chain. Pricing affects the behaviour of the customer buying a product or accessing a service, thus affecting supply chain performance. Pricing related metrics include; profit margin , days sales outstanding, incremental fixed cost per order, incremental variable cost per unit, average sale price, average order size, range of sale price, and range of periodic sales. How to cite Supply Chain Drivers, Essay examples

Health Science for Theory - Behavior and Development- myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theHealth Science for Theory, Behavior and Development. Answer: Organizational restructuring Organizational structure refers to the arrangement which determines the method of organizing an allocating the roles. It also determines the direction of the flow of information among the several levels of the management. Organizational structure plays a significant role in enhancing the efficiency of the management so that the ultimate objectives of the organization can be reached. In order to create an ideal organizational structure through active participation as well as shared objectives, several theories associated with organizational structure has been developed. For instance, classical theories that include the bureaucratic approach ( Weber, 1947), the scientific management approach (Taylor, 1947) and the administrative theory ( Fayol,1947) are developed on the basis of task division as well as a delegation of responsibilities. Not only that, these theories are based on the formation of hierarchical command line along with strategic and decision making management. Later on, neoclassical theories that deal with loopholes of classical theories are developed. Neoclassical theories are chiefly based on human relationship, benefits of groups and participative management associated with the organizational structure. The organizational structure of Hospitals chiefly involves the management levels which facilitate the command chain in the department of the hospital. More is the size of the hospital more complex will be its organizational structure. The basic requirements for effectiveness of the structure include effective supervision and leadership of the managers and cooperation of the employees. Considering the fact that the activities handled in healthcare sectors are highly complex, effective coordination of the employees is highly crucial. In order to deal with the complexity, the organizational structure of the hospital prepares a blueprint to plan the activities that will help the organization to achieve its mission, vision and goal. The Sydney Community Hospital provides clinical as well as general medical services to the local community. The organization is currently following the functional organizational structure since it is helping it to perform well in the market. The functional structure is represented by a pyramid. The pyramid represents the hierarchy, the individuals associated with the positions and the function of each of them. The functional structure of larger healthcare institute often tends to be vertical as it includes as it includes several levels of managerial control over the organization. Massive range of managerial service is required to provide satisfactory clinical facilities to the consumers. Apart from being simple and cost-effective, functional organization structure enhances the efficiency reduces intricate management mechanism requirements, support career development of the employees and helps the management to take quick decisions. The functional organizational structure, along with firm line off reporting and command ensures accountability, effective communication and control environment. While above-discussed portion demonstrated the efficiency of the functional structure, there are certain disadvantages associated with the functional organizational structure. If the scope of service provided by the functional organizational structure is considered then it can be stated that function structure is not adequate enough for the growth of the mentioned healthcare organization. One of the major demerits of the organizational structure includes its approach to considering the top accountable when the tasks are performed by the individuals who are at the bottom of the pyramid. Besides that, since the employees who are positioned in the lower level of the pyramid are not considered in the decision-making process of the employees, the organization, the function structure does not provide enough cope of career development to the employees. These negative aspects of the functional organizational structure often result in conflict among the employees, ineffective authority alloca tion as well as insufficient preparation for clinical services. Thus, it can be stated that the mentioned organizational structure is suitable for smaller healthcare organizations only. For larger organizations, functional organization structure is inadequate. Considering the gradually increasing health requirements of the population, SCH should restructure its organizational structure. The new organizational structure should also be implemented to providing better pediatric, trauma, cardiovascular and cancer services to the healthcare service users. Considering the fact that the strategy of the management gets influenced by the organizational structure, new organizational structure of the SCH organization should assist the management to develop more effective managerial strategies. These managerial strategies, in turn, is expected to enable the mentioned organization to attain their mission, vision and goals along with providing a patient-centred, high-quality care to its consumers. In order to enhance the consumer loyalty as well as the brand equity of the organization, SCH should replace their existing organizational structure that is a functional structure with the divisional organizational structure. The new organizational structure also matches the strategic objectives of the Company. The divisional organizational structure provides all the benefits of the functional organizational structure along with the added advantage of diversified control. In a divisional structure, a separate manager is allotted for each division of the organization. For instance, a nurse supervisor is recruited by the chief nursing officer of the mentioned organization for managing the nurses of SCH. These type of management ensures resource management, effective recruitment, financial control and budgeting services. In the divisional structure, the concept of accountability is clear. Divisional managers are considered to be responsible for any types of inadequacies or issues related to the service of their own departments. Besides that, since divisional structure involves division of power, employees are able to access the outcome of their performance effectively. As a result, their confidence and skills get enhanced due to the mentioned organizational structure. Other benefits of the divisional structure include the provision of better healthcare to the healthcare service users, career improvement opportunities for employees, devolution of responsibilities and power, enhanced clinical and information control, better decision making and finally, better influence on resource allocation. While the above paragraphs stated the advantages of the divisional organizational structure, in this paragraph the disadvantages of the same will be discussed. One of the most crucial disadvantages of the mentioned organizational structure includes its costly nature. Considering the fact that this structure involves recruitment of supervisors for each department and duplication of the facilities and services provided to the employees, the overall cost of organizations who have implemented this organizational structure gets enhanced. Not only that, divisional structure is also considered to be expensive since it necessitates an head-quarter driven, intricate management mechanism. Hence, due to the high cost of implementation of the divisional organizational structure, this structure is not considered to be suitable for small organizations. Considering the fact that the government has taken the responsibility to provide adequate resources needed by the mentioned organization for retracting its organisational structure, the high cost of implementing the divisional structure will not be an issue for the mentioned organization. However, the organization should have strategies to maintain the newly implemented divisional structure for sustainable benefits. Therefore, the organization needs to implement strategies to ensure adequate working capital so that it can support the structure in the long run. It is expected that with the help of the functional organizational structure, the mentioned organization will be able to reach its goal that involves providing effective service as well as quality to the healthcare service users and welcome positive change in both the external and internal environment of the Sydney Community Hospital. Bibliography Building Organisational Capacity in Health Care400846 Learning Module 1 Autumn 2017 Final Diana, M., Olden, P. (2009). Modern theories of organization. Health Organizations: Theory, Behavior, and Development Jeffery Braithwaite, Strategic management and organizational structure: transformational processes at work in hospitals, 395-397, viewed on 04.09.2017 Organizational Theories, viewed from https://www.fao.org/docrep/w7503e/w7503e03.htm Understanding HealthCare Management, 22-23, viewed from https://samples.jbpub.com/9780763759643/59643_CH02_5289.pdf

International Management Current Event

The airline industry Globalization, technological changes, stiff competition, innovation, and changes in customer preferences are instrumental to the current dynamic trends being observed in all industries across the globe. These factors determine the performance of an organization in competitive markets. The airline industry for example confirms how these factors have contributed to its growth. Many recent changes have occurred in this industry.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on International Management Current Event specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More New technologies, products and services, mergers and new innovations among others are common in the competitive airline industry. Just like in other business industries, companies in the airline industry compete for a larger market share and growth in order to obtain a competitive edge in the industry. In the recent past, the airline industry has been affected by a red uction in demand and the sharp increase of fuel prices. Many corporations are turning to low cost operating and differentiation strategies to gain a competitive edge. International (Business related) Current Event online In reference to the 7th October, 2013 BBC news, Airbus, a leader in aircraft manufacturing announced its deal with Japanese airlines. Airbus manufactures A350 planes. This aircraft manufacturing giant won the order for 31 (A350) planes worth approximately $9.5 billion (â€Å"BBC Business News† par. 1). The Japanese company also has a plan of buying an extra 25 (A350) planes from the same company. Airbus made this strategic move in order to lessen the competitive pressure from Boeing, which is its closest competitor in the region (â€Å"BBC Business News† par. 3). If the deal is to be confirmed, Boeing will be adversely affected because they have dominated the Japanese aviation industry for many years. Boeing was also hit by technical and safety issues a few months ago (â€Å"BBC Business News† par. 2). Identify Global/Regional Economic Implications, and write Your Judgment: Opportunity or Threat for Region/Corporation? Why? Airbus and Japan Airlines (JAL) landmark $ 9.5 billion deal has a great effect on the regional economic growth of Japan (â€Å"BBC Business News† par. 8). With the two aircraft manufacturing giants operating in the region, it is obvious that the region’s economic growth will improve. This is because more jobs will be created leading to improved living standards. Infrastructure will also be improved and the government of Japan will maximize on its revenue collections. All these factors are instrumental in the economic growth of Japan. As aforementioned, Boeing will receive a blow from Airbus its competitor because its market share will be reduced after the deal is confirmed. Airbus will increase its market share, sales, profits, and revenue considering that its competitor had previously dom inated the aviation market in Japan. The competition of these two aircraft manufacturing giants has a lot of benefits for the region. It will lead to reduced fare prices, more innovation than before, differentiation, and good customer relations among others. All these confirm that there will be improvements, and hence lead to the region’s economic growth.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Japan Airlines which is the purchaser will also earn extra profits because the (A350) Planes are cost effective. The aircrafts are much more fuel efficient than Boeing manufactured planes. This factor will make it possible for the demand of the planes to increase. Considering that these aircrafts are more fuel efficient than the previous models, Japan Airlines will cut on costs and maximize on profits. It will also be able to reduce the fare prices, and hence attract and retain more cu stomers than before. The customers will also benefit because their expenses will reduce. Considering that they used to pay more than what they will be charged; they will be able to save some money for other purposes. This will enhance their living standards. All these factors confirm that the move will lead to a growth in the economy of the region. Works Cited BBC Business News. Airbus and Japan Airlines agree landmark $9.5bn deal. 7 October 2013. Web. This essay on International Management Current Event was written and submitted by user Midnight to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here. International Management Current Event

The Quest essays

The Quest essays Adolescence is a period of life in which critical psychological and physiological changes occur. It is also the time when identity, a unified sense of self characterized by attitudes, beliefs, and ways of acting that are genuinely ones own (Insel, 1994), forms. The theory of Eric Erikson describes the psychological development of identity as a developmental stage in which individuals are faced with finding out who they are, what they are all about, and where they are going in life.(Santrock, 1997) During this stage, adolescents are trying to find an answer to the question Who am I? and making important life choices, such as career, intimate commitments, or morality. The identity formation period is very critical and it will affect the individual throughout the adulthood. If adolescent arrives at a positive path to follow in life, then a positive identity will be achieved; but if a positive future path is not defined, then identity confusion reigns. (Santrock, 1997) I interviewed a 13 year old girl from a well educated family. The interview was done in the privacy of her house in her own room and took about 40 minutes. During the interview, the teen was asked to answer a list of questions and encouraged to use as much details as possible. Each answer was carefully recorded and evaluated. The questions I asked her targeted fundamental self aspects that build the feeling of identity. The interview examined the following aspects: role experimentation, self certainty, peer relationships, family relationships, sexual orientation, career, and leadership. The girl I interviewed had a strong sense of uniqueness-she wants to be different and expresses herself colorfully. I found that appearance is very important, such as adoption of different fashions and in hair styles. Girls are very conscious of how they look. While admitti ...

Which factor is most important to consider when thinking about Essay

Which factor is most important to consider when thinking about education and classrooms - Essay Example This paper will focus on the debate between private and public schools, their advantages and limitations, then which factor is most important to consider when thinking about education and classrooms. Public schools have their own advantages and disadvantages just like any other institution. The advantage of public school is a standardized way of education. The school provides an equal opportunity to all the students and this makes it more accommodative. Public schools are strict when it comes to discipline, as the students need to develop spiritually, psychologically, emotionally and educationally. More parents prefer to take their children to public schools because of the low economy experienced in most of the countries worldwide. The parents save for their children’s college fees and it has become comfortable for them. The school curriculum and the program managed by the state follows an equal setting of the exams. This is easier for the students to handle the exams as they are on the same level. The graduation and attendance of the students help the government to have a clear statistics of each public school and its performance. Examinations tackled determine the stude nts mean grade, leading to suggestions of the students looking for a different school if they do not perform well. Teachers must have certain qualifications for them to work in a public school. They must attain a degree in college, have teaching license and proven by the state for them to teach. This means that the teachers are well qualified in public schools. Classrooms in a public school are well structured and built with desks inside for the students (Ross, 2004). There are requirements for students before joining a public school through the help of their parents. The management is systematic in a way that the parents must ensure the location of the school and where the child lives. The disadvantages of the public schools exist as well.

Review of leterature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Review of leterature - Essay Example According to Thompson & Fox (2010), the challenges faced while screening for postpartum depression from mothers from diverse cultural background can be overcome by the employment of an appropriate screening tool which can be identified by an expert nurse. Scott (1992) observes that postpartum depression has substantially profound impacts on the social morbidity of the child. Besides social morbidity, postpartum depression affects the individual’s psychological wellbeing (Scott, 1992). Consequently when an individual has psychological as well as social challenges, through the ripple effect the larger society is affected. This indicates how profound the problem failure of early detection and intervention of postpartum detection has to the general population. A research conducted examining the resulting mother-child bonding at one year provides important findings related to this research. The mother-child bonding was examined from two factors which affects it in the first few weeks, postnatal depression and bonding (OHiggins, Roberts, Glover, & Taylor, 2013). According to OHiggins, Roberts, Glover, & Taylor (2013), utilizing the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression scale (EPDS) and the Mother Infant Bonding Questionnaire (MIBQ), the researchers were able to successfully detect postpartum depression and provide the intervention needed. From the findings of the research, there was the indication of postpartum depression contributing profoundly to the bonding problems (OHiggins, Roberts, Glover, & Taylor, 2013). Consequently, the bonding problem affected the child’s behaviors negatively to a significant extent (OHiggins, Roberts, Glover, & Taylor, 2013). Multiple screening tools used in the detection of postpartum depression improve the ef ficacy of its detection. According to OHiggins, Roberts, Glover, & Taylor (2013), an improved

Why has the Britain's membership of the EU been so problematical Essay

Why has the Britain's membership of the EU been so problematical - Essay Example Membership of European Union (EU) with Britain has been a controversial concern. Eurosceptics (people who do not support the sovereignty of the European Union), believe that it would have been better if Britain was put aside outside the economic and political context. Permissions are being sought to withdraw the United Kingdom from the European Union (Daddow, 2004; Crowson, 2006). Thus, the term can very well be related with the subject i.e. why has the Britain’s membership of the EU been so problematical? Considering this facet, the essay will represent all the major issues that determine the membership of Britain with the EU to be problematical and with full of adversities. A critical evaluation will be made regarding the issues with the aid of analysis of the opinions derived from the different critics. Problems Associated with Britain’s Membership with the EU It has been recognised that the European Commission made a decision to prompt legal action against Britain a s it was found to be restricting the benefits to certain foreign nationals. This factor played a very crucial role in determining Britain’s involvement in European Union to be not up to the mark. Considering the issue of Britain’s membership of the EU, this political debate has been able to raise many eyebrows. This factor can be provided with the maximum amount of weightage owing to the fact that Britain was unable to serve the basic purposes of forming a proper alliance with the EU. Consequently, it can be said that issues relating sovereignty of the EU was in a questionable state having Britain as one of its members (Daddow, 2004; Crowson, 2006). There are other reports suggesting a lack of proper alignment in relation to the performance of membership functions from the part of Britain with the EU. Every country possesses certain basic ideas about their role that they need to play in the world, which forms its identity and helps in the establishment of its relations hip with other countries. The historical era of the British Empire has been able to considerably influence the way in which the British political influence sees its position in Europe. However, all of these factors did not seem to provide an upper hand to Britain in alignment with the EU. It has been recognised that being a powerful body, Britain was finding it very much difficult to adjust its political interest. Moreover, it was also proving to be quite distressful while narrowing its political attention only in Europe. Britain has always been considered as a latecomer in the overall community of EU. Moreover, Britain had to face serious amount of difficulties accommodating it to those rules and policies that were already established from before in the EU region. It faced difficulties because a few of the rules and regulations represented direct conflicts with that of the fundamental principles which bind the entire British Constitution. Thus, it created an uneven situation for Br itain resulting in paving conflicting situations. Bitterness with France along with strong association with America did not seem to be posing a pleasant political scenario for Britain rather it accounted for the emergence of additional issues to Britain. On a different context, it was not only Britain that had to adjust with EU, but EU had also major issues with Britain. It has also been ascertained that Britain joining the EU community specifically for economic purposes seem to pose a great deal of

Isolation of Sarracenin from Root Barks of Strychnos Spinosa

Isolation of Sarracenin from Root Barks of Strychnos Spinosa On isolation of Sarracenin from Root barks of Strychnos spinosa and its Antimicrobial Properties. A known iridoid, Sarracenin, was isolated from the root bark of Strychnos spinosa. Its structure was elucidated by 1D and 2D-NMR experiments, and comparison with reported data. This is the first time it has been isolated from this species. The compound showed significant antimicrobial activities against Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Shigella dysenteriae, Klebsiella pneumonia, Candida albicans Candida tropicalis, Candida thrusei, and Candida stellatoidea, respectively. The genus Strychnos (Loganiaceae), consist of about 75 accepted species found throughout the tropics and subtropical Africa [1]. Strychnos spinosa is commonly known as Kaffir orange, Spiny monkey orange or Natal orange. It is utilized variously in African traditional medicine for ailments such as dropsy, earache, snakebite, fever, elephantiasis, fever epilepsy and rheumatism [2]. The isolation and structural elucidation of the iridoid sarracenin from the root bark of this plant and its antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Shigella dysenteriae, Klebsiella pneumonia, Candida albicans Candida tropicalis, Candida thrusei, and Candida stellatoidea, respectively, is hereby reported. Results and Discussion. The compound was obtained as fine, transparent, needle shaped crystals. It was determined as Sarracenin using 1D and 2D-NMR experiments, and comparison with reported data [3, 4, 5]. Some revisions to reported chemical shift assignments [3, 4] based on our DEPTq135, H, H-COSY, HMBC, HSQC and NOESY data are suggested. Table 1.1HNMR Data of Sarracenin in CDCl3 (ÃŽ ´ in ppm, J in Hz) based on fig. 1A DEPT spectra: DEPTq 135 spectrum gave the proton chemical shifts 166.77 (quaternary or methylene), 150.08 (methine or methyl), 112.32 (quaternary or methylene), 91.68 (methine or methyl), 88.13 (methine or methyl), 68.99 (methine or methyl), 51.42 (methine or methyl), 35.06 (quaternary or methylene), 32.26 (methine or methyl), 22.06 (methine or methyl), 18.70 (methine or methyl). The conclusion by Miles et al, [3] that signals at 35.1 and 22.1 are due to methine (C-5) and methylene (C-6), respectively, does not agree with our results; otherwise, we agree with their 13 C conclusions. Similarly, Wang et al, [4] report of chemical shifts at 91.7 as quaternary, 112.3 as methine, 18.7 as quaternary and 166.8 as methyl (Table 2.) is at variance with their justifications on HMQC and HMBC data. In addition, Wang et al, [4] reports 1HNMR (400 MHz, CDCl3) ÃŽ ´ 5.78 (d, J = 1.6 Hz), 1.34 (d, J = 6.5Hz, 3 H) as signals for protons at C-1 and C- 10, respectively; no protons are located at those positions (Figure 1A). It would seem a different numbering scheme was used, however, two different numberings were considered (Figures 1A 1B) neither agreed completely with Wang et al, [4]. Those assignments would appear to have distorted conclusions on 1H, 1H-COSY, HMBC and HMQC data (Tables 1 2). 1HNMR (400 MHz, CDCl3) ÃŽ ´ 7.46 (s, 1H), 5.79 (t, J = 1.9 Hz, 1H), 4.99 (dd, J = 3.5, 0.8 Hz, 1H), 4.22 (q, J = 6.5 Hz, 1H), 2.98 (ddt, J = 10.7, 4.0, 1.9 Hz, 1H), 2.44 – 2.31 (m, 1H), 1.68 (dddd, J = 10.0, 5.3, 2.9, 1.0 Hz, 2H), 1.35 (d, J = 6.5 Hz, 3H). Table 2.13C-NMR Data of Sarracenin in CDCl3 (ÃŽ ´ in ppm) based on fig. 1A Key * = Major areas with observed variation. It was noted that the compound contained 11 signals using13C-NMR and DEPT spectra, including two Me, one CH2, six CH, and two quaternary carbons. Analysis of overall NMR spectroscopic data revealed the signals at 1 2 E Figure 1A. Numbering of Sarracenin as by Miles et al, [3] and present work, B: Numbering as on www.chemspider.com[6] C: Important HMBC correlations, D: Important NOESY correlations, E: Important 1H-1HCOSY correlations. 1HNMR (400 MHz, CDCl3, TMS)ÃŽ ´7.46 (s, 1 H), 5.79 (t, J = 1.9, 1 H), 4.99 (dd, J = 3.5, 0.8, 1 H), 4.22 (q, J = 6.5, 1 H), 3.76 (s, 3 H), 2.98 (ddt, J = 10.7, 4.0, 1.9, 1 H), 2.37, 1.68 (m, dddd, J = 10.0, 5.3, 2.9, 1.0, 2 H), 1.35 (d, J = 6.5, 3 H); 13CNMR and DEPT (100 MHz, CDCl3, TMS) 166.77 (ester C=O), 150.08 (olefinicCH), 112.32 (olefinic quaternary carbon), 91.68 (CH), 88.13 (CH), 68.99 (CH), 51.42 (ester OCH3), 35.06 (methylene), 32.26 (CH), 22.06 (allylic CH), 18.70 (CH3) Antimicrobial activity The antimicrobial activities of sarracenin were assayed against some pathogenic microbes obtained from the Department of Medical Microbiology A.B.U. Teaching Hospital, Zaria, Nigeria. The compound showed significant antibacterial and antifungal activities against Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Shigella dysenteriae, Pseudomonas aeroginosa, Klebsiella pnuemoniae, Candida tropicalis and Candida stellatoidea (Table 3.). This points sarracenin out as a major medicinal principle of Strychnos spinosa and lends justification to its use in traditional medicine. Experimental Collection of Plant Material The root bark of Strychnos spinosa was collected from Katsina-Ala, Benue State, Nigeria, in August, 2013. The bark was air-dried and their size reduced with the aid of a wooden mortar and pestle. Extraction and Isolation The ground material (750 g) was macerated for 72 hours using 500 mL each of hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol. Preliminary antimicrobial screening revealed the ethyl acetate extract to be most active against test microbes. Thus the ethyl acetate extract (10 g) was separated by Vacuum liquid chromatography. A very gentle gradient elution was used from hexane through to ethyl acetate. Thirty fractions (25 ml each) were collected and allowed to evaporate to approximately half their initial volumes. Fine needles were observed in fractions 20-25. These were monitored by TLC on ethyl acetate- methanol (1:1) solvent system and plates visualized using iodine vapour. The combined needles (221 mg) were further purified using SephadexLH20 with methanol-ethyl acetate ratio (1:1) as solvent. 1HNMR, 13CNMR and 2DNMR experiments were carried out on the purified compound using 30 mg. Its melting point was 123 – 1240C determined using Electro thermal IA 9300 (Gallenkhamp capillary melting point apparatus with a thermometer). Antimicrobial Assay The compound (0.01 mg) was weighed and dissolved in DMSO (10 mL) to obtain a concentration of 10 Â µg/mL (This would subsequently be used to determine the antimicrobial activities of the plant). Mueller Hinton and Sabouraud dextrose agar were used as growth media for the microbes. All the media were prepared according to the manufacturer’s instructions, sterilized at 121 oC for 15 min and were poured into sterile petri dishes, allowed to cool and solidify. Disc diffusion method was used to screen the initial crude extracts. Sterilized media were seeded with a standard inoculum (0.1 ml) of test microbe, Mueller Hinton for the bacteria and SDA for the fungi. The inoculum was spread evenly over the surface of the media using a sterile swab. A well (6 mm) was cut at the center of the inoculated medium using a standard cork-borer (6 mm diameter). Solution of the extract (0.1 mL) was introduced into each well of the inoculated medium. The inoculated media were incubated at 37 oC fo r 24 hours for bacteria and at 30 oC for 7 days for the fungi, after which plates were observed for zones of inhibition of growth. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration of the compound was determined using the broth dilution method. Minimum bactericidal concentration and minimum fungicidal concentration (MBC and MFC) were also carried out to determine whether the test microbes were killed or only inhibited. Ciprofloxacin, Fulcin and Fluconazole were used as positive controls. Table 3. Antimicrobial Activity of sarracenin Key: S = Sensitive, R = Resistant, = (No turbidity) No colony growth, Ã ° = MIC or MBC or MFC, + = (Turbid) Scanty colony growth, ++ = Moderate colony growth, +++ = Heavy colony growth References Sitrit, Y., Loison, S., Ninio R, et al. (October 2003). Characterization of monkey orange (Strychnos spinosa Lam.), a potential new crop for arid regions. J. Agric. Food Chem. 51 (21): 6256–60. De, B.B. and Bisset, N.G. (1988). Alkaloids from the leaves of strychnos wallichiana steudelEx. A. DC. Indian Drugs 26 (2): 90-91. Miles, H. D.,Kokpol, U., Bhattacharyya, J.,Atwood, J. L.,Stone, K. E.,Bryson, T. A. and Wilson, C. (1976). Structure of Sarracenin. An Unusual EnolDiacetalMonoterpene from the Insectivorous Plant Sarracenia Java.J. Am. Chem. Soc. (6) 1570 Wang, Y., Wei, Q., Yang, L., and Liu, Z. (2003). Iridoid Glucosides from Chinese Herb Lonicerachrysathaand their antitumor activity. J. Chem. Research (S) 676-677 Yang, X., Li, E., Zhang, Q., Yuan, C., and Jia, Z. (2006). Five New Iridoids from Patrinarupestris. Helv. Chim. Acta. (3) 762-770 http://www.chemspider.com

BUSINESS LOYALTY Essay -- essays research papers

Brand Loyalty â€Å" Brand loyalty-that certain something that makes a consumer keep buying over and over again-is an elusive quality. It begins with the consumer’s preference for a product on the basis of objective reasons-the drink is sweeter, the paper towel more absorbent. The brand name is the customer’s guarantee that he/she will get what they expect†(Fisher). As far back as companies go the main question asked when selling their product, how can I get people to purchase my product? This is still a very important issue in the day- to- day operations of any company, but now they are asking a whole new question. In today's fast changing markets, where people are bombarded by advertisements everywhere, people are starting to realize that they don't need to stick with one product for life, and they see that there are many substitutes available. As a result of this new type of market, companies have started to put a large effort towards the development of Brand loyalty. I sha ll explore the topic of Band loyalty and explain its importance in today's business market, and how it motivates a consumer to purchase a given product or service. The phrase Brand loyalty refers to consumers sticking with a brand out of feeling of commitment for that brand. "Consumers attachments to certain brands are so powerful that this loyalty is often considered as a product attribute in and of its self†(Solomon). Solomon’s quote, is showing the attachment that people feel when they purchase a product for a long time, and are still very happy with it, is a huge plus in its self. People enjoy the luxury of not having to scavenge around the supermarket in search of a new product. Brand loyalty is also very attractive to the companies since they enjoy their work being easier, and less costly. It is less expensive and less time consuming to keep old customers, rather than spend money and time advertising towards new ones. "Furthermore, companies with faithful customers tend to be less susceptible to economic down turns or new competitors"(Harrell). There are numerous ways that a company can create Brand loyalty. When the consumers can name the brand for themselves, they are more likely to care about it. To help create that relationship many companies create an entire culture around their brand. By giving the consumer some degree of culture in addition to the product you ar... ...r getting more than a product. It shows that people want to belong to something. For example, the hippies that go to Ben & Jerrys, or people, who go to Starbucks, are getting more than ice cream and coffee. These people are getting an experience that cannot be matched elsewhere. The question is what sounds better if someone asked you what did you do last night? I got coffee at the local coffee shop or I got coffee at Starbucks. When people think of Starbucks they think of the big comfortable chairs and all the people, some even have a fireplace, and newspapers, and board games. Starbucks has created a culture of sitting and drinking coffee and this has become a big big business. This culture is what has made them as successful as they are today. It is as easy as saying if you don't adapt to the times you will not survive in this new market place, so the companies that don't develop Brand loyalty will be at a serious disadvantage. These companies will lose market share, and ultimately pay the price, and that is them going out of business. There is no real excuse for this to happen to any company, considering that there are so many methods, which one can create Brand loyalty.

Case of the Mysterous Roses

In our daily lives we interact with people from all walks of life. As individuals some of us set our own rules to live by, and as professionals we are given a set of guidelines to follow. Working in the Human Resource’s field there are many situations that may occur and we are forced to make difficult decisions. This ethics game simulation presented some examples that occur in the real world. There were two scenarios presented, â€Å"The Case of the Mysterious Roses†, and â€Å"The Case of the Cold Feet†. These cases were both difficult to deal with, and allowed the managers use critical thinking skills to address both situations. The first scenario â€Å"The Case of the Mysterious Roses† there were several issues that arose; one is when a female employee began receiving roses from a secret admirer. One problem is that she believed the roses are from a male coworker, which made her uncomfortable. The employee feels the need to go to her supervisor for advice, and sends an email requesting a confidential meeting. In this scenario I am the supervisor, which reveals the other problem. The issue at hand is how I will respond to the request. As the department supervisor I should respond to the request without compromising the integrity of myself or the company. As the supervisor and witnessing the activities that had taken place felt confident that there may be a possibility of sexual harassment accusation. In response to the email I felt that she could not give her a firm yes or no answer. The exercise allowed me to look at the situation and put my thoughts into perspective and ask myself what is my responsibility as a supervisor. The ethical lens helped me to identify the primary stake holders, though both lens rights and responsibility, and results lens. These lens enabled me to make the decision. I was able to advise Gayle that, I am able to maintain confidentially on any personal matter; however if the issue is work related I may have to report it. I informed Gayle of the company policy on sexual harassment and advised her of her rights as an employees. I based my decision on my own professional experience, as my company has a zero tolerance for such behavior. I could not guarantee 100% confidentially to the employee if there was an employee violating company policy. If I am aware of the situation and do not report it I would be just as guilty. In the second scenario â€Å"The Case of the Cold Feet† there was an issue in reference to an employee falsifying information on a report. The issue is brought to my attention and I must take a plan of action by using a different set of lenses, relationship and reputation lens. The exercise took me through multiple steps to identify how I would handle the situation. In the relationship lens I decided to perform an in house investigation in reference to the allegations. My choice did not agree with the program and I was advised to consider my colleague’s reputation and allow him to clean up his act. That made me realize that I need to give others a chance to correct their mistakes. In the reputation lens I made that decision which allowed me to hold others accountable for their actions. In my professional life I would have given the employee to redeem him or herself before I would involve a manager. In this scenario I believe I thought about it too long and chose an answer based on what I thought someone else wanted. After participating in both of these activities I believe that I can make better decisions when called up on. Using my critical thinking skills I can think outside the box and give others a chance while following company policy. Sexual harassment is a serious offence and it is a good idea to educate employees to avoid situations such as this. The company that I work for as well as other companies, do not take this matter lightly. In the situation regarding falsifying documents is also a concern with organizations. The company that I work for does not tolerate this type of activity. Our policy states that if an employee is falsifying documentation that is immediate ground for termination. There are many situations that occur within an organization and with the help of a strong management team and policy to follow the company can be successful.

Free Essays on Ann Radcliffes Writing Style In “The Italian“

Suspense is what makes us intrigued to Ann Radcliffe’s works. She makes us have the absolute need to find out what happens throughout the story of â€Å"The Italian†. Her vague descriptions and the way that she makes the characters let out information is almost wrong from a reader’s point of view only because she gives you enough to make you want more. We could almost say that she makes you addicted to the story. The first chapter makes us start to wonder right away about the man in the church. We went over in class that the Englishman gets some information from someone else which makes him inquire as to what is going on. "'He [the assassin] sought sanctuary here', replied the friar; 'within these walls he may not be hurt'"(2). Now obviously that entire sentence is intriguing in itself. What the story will play out like is only touched on to the point where we must read on, or choose to stay up all night thinking about it. Why is it that the English guy’s friend wants to send him a written explanation of what occurred in the church instead of meeting at the shop on the street? It’s hard to understand why that part ends so suddenly, but of course we believe that we will eventually find out. Radcliffe likes to play with the reader’s emotions as much as possible, almost in a â€Å"how far can I take them† manner. Just when we think we are about to find out something that has been poking us in the ribs, she makes it take another twist. She makes us engaged, but also a little annoyed at what interesting, yet sparse amount of information she gives us. At the point in which Vivaldi goes into the house chasing the dark cloaked man, he comes out as white as a sheet, as if he had seen a ghost. Now us, the reader, know that an event had to take place in this event, but Radcliffe does not allow him to explain even an inkling of what happened. So once again, we are left wanting. It did not necessarily have to be blood, but we see it t... Free Essays on Ann Radcliffe's Writing Style In â€Å"The Italianâ€Å" Free Essays on Ann Radcliffe's Writing Style In â€Å"The Italianâ€Å" Suspense is what makes us intrigued to Ann Radcliffe’s works. She makes us have the absolute need to find out what happens throughout the story of â€Å"The Italian†. Her vague descriptions and the way that she makes the characters let out information is almost wrong from a reader’s point of view only because she gives you enough to make you want more. We could almost say that she makes you addicted to the story. The first chapter makes us start to wonder right away about the man in the church. We went over in class that the Englishman gets some information from someone else which makes him inquire as to what is going on. "'He [the assassin] sought sanctuary here', replied the friar; 'within these walls he may not be hurt'"(2). Now obviously that entire sentence is intriguing in itself. What the story will play out like is only touched on to the point where we must read on, or choose to stay up all night thinking about it. Why is it that the English guy’s friend wants to send him a written explanation of what occurred in the church instead of meeting at the shop on the street? It’s hard to understand why that part ends so suddenly, but of course we believe that we will eventually find out. Radcliffe likes to play with the reader’s emotions as much as possible, almost in a â€Å"how far can I take them† manner. Just when we think we are about to find out something that has been poking us in the ribs, she makes it take another twist. She makes us engaged, but also a little annoyed at what interesting, yet sparse amount of information she gives us. At the point in which Vivaldi goes into the house chasing the dark cloaked man, he comes out as white as a sheet, as if he had seen a ghost. Now us, the reader, know that an event had to take place in this event, but Radcliffe does not allow him to explain even an inkling of what happened. So once again, we are left wanting. It did not necessarily have to be blood, but we see it t...

Developing Effective Communication in Health and social Care Essays

Developing Effective Communication in Health and social Care Essays Developing Effective Communication in Health and social Care Essay Developing Effective Communication in Health and social Care Essay Communication is a way of creating an understanding with an individual or within a group, it is important that you have good communication skills when working with others in order to follow and obey instructions clearly and correctly without any misunderstanding. Communication in health and social care settings is used daily, for example teachers communicate with pupils, parents and work collies, In this health and social care environment it is important that commination is clear from both the teacher and parent in order to hold a fluent conversation that maintains eye contact, teachers will need to communicate with parents to discuss their child/children’s school work or issues that may need to be addressed in more detail. For example family problems that may affect the quality of a child’s school work, if communication is not effective it may cause confusion and problems could accrue if the message is not summarised. There are two different ways of communicating which are verbal and non-verbal; Verbal communication involves talking to present ideas, thoughts and feelings, good verbal communication is the ability to both explain and present your ideas clearly through the spoken word. The tone and paste of voice is also very important when talking as it can often show what mood an individual is in. For example if you talking to someone very loudly with a fixed tone the person you are speaking to will think you are angry with them, on the other hand if you speak calmly and quietly with a varying tone you will come across as being friendly. Non-verbal communication doesn’t involve any use of speech interaction, to communicate in a non verbal way would be writing, facial expressions, eye contact, listening, brail, makaton as well as through art and photographs. In health and social care the most common forms of communicating non verbally is sign language, brail and makaton. Sign language is a language which instead of using sounds uses visual signs that are made up of shapes, positions and movements of the hands, arms or body and facial expressions to express thoughts. Brail is a system of raised marks that is used through sense of touch, Brail allows people who have limited or no vision to read and write through their sense of touch. Makaton is the easiest way to communicate in health and social care settings as its both verbal and non-verbal, it is a method using speech as well as signs and symbols, Picture cards are used to relate facial expressions with the word to make the words more easily recognised by those with learning difficulties. With out speaking your posture still sends messages to others on how you are feeling this is called body language, for example slouching on a chair can show a lack of interest in what is going on in the environment around you, folded arms can suggest that you are feeling negative or defensive about a person or situation, this is also known as closed body language and people may hesitate on approaching you. How ever if you have good eye contact with the person who is talking, and nod when appropriate this shows that you are interested and that you are taking in the information that is being shared. Its very important in health and social care that you show you are listening and that you care, listening to people involves allot more than just hearing what they say, to listen effetely you need to hear the words/question being spoke, thinking what they mean, then thinking of a appropriate response, In a health and social care environment working with a individual that has learning difficulties/problems (such as speech problems) and you are not taking notice to what they are saying, the individual will get distressed and frustrated if they are not understood, which could also lead to low self esteem, this is called active listening. There will be times when communicating with others is not going to be easy, there are a verify of reasons that could effect communication, such as language differences, learning difficulties, environment, hearing or sight impairments, and jargon, however there are many possible ways to overcome these barriers to create a better understanding. A barrier blocks communication and stops messages from being received clearly, Language differences is a barrier as not everybody you meet throughout your life will speak the same first language as you. To overcome this you would need to use a lot of hand gestures, speak clearly, and paste your voice. Pictures could also be used to communicate. However in extreme situations the use of interpreters will make communication a lot clearer, for example in health and social care settings a patient may not understand what the doctor/nurse is trying to explain to them about their health. Environments IS also a common barrier as it is very head to hear what someone is saying if there is a lot of distracting background noise. It is also very difficult to make sense of individual’s facial expressions if the lighting in the room is poor. Also you may become distracted if someone walks past the door or window, in health and social care settings a school is a great example as pupils will be more interested in what is out of the window rather than focusing on what the teacher is saying.

Community Acquired Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Article

Community Acquired Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus - Article Example As the research stresses the etiology of CA-MRSA infections includes presentation of small series of soft tissue infections, pneumonia or bacteremia in both adult and pediatric patients. Strains of CA-MRSA produces symptoms that range from subtle to life threatening. The most common lesions were abscesses and cellulitis which presented as single lesions involving extremities. Patients with abscesses may have no fever or leukocytosis. Abscesses are mostly accompanied by central necrosis and surrounding cellulitis. Multiple boils are usually characteristics and occur in outbreaks but is a less frequent presentation of CA--MRSA. In addition, scalded skin syndrome and impendigo are usually uncommon. Myositis and pyositis are also rare infections that involve pelvis or lower extremities. Some patients may also have associated bacteremia and septic shock. According to the report there is an increasing rate of drug resistant Staphylococcus aureus that has led to study of potential medicinal herbs for treatment. Some plants extracts have antimicrobial activity and can be great significance in therapeutic treatment. Strains of Staphylococcus aureus were vulnerable to extracts of Punica granatum and Tabebuia avellanedae, which are Brazillian traditional medicinal herbs. Two naphthoquinones isolated from T. avellanedae and ellagitannins isolated from P. granatum were mixed and they exhibited antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus.

Causes and Risk of Alzheimer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Causes and Risk of Alzheimer - Essay Example There is also another hypothesis which suggests that breakdown of age-related myelin causes damage to the brain. One of the risk factors of this disease is the age of an individual. People who are over 65 years are more likely to get the disease than those below this age. The other risk factor is genes. Individuals who have a family history of Alzheimer’s are also among the risk group to get the disease later on in their lives. This is because the disease is genetic (Turkington and Mitchell, 2010). Other than the two risk factors mentioned above, there are also others like the gender of an individual. According to statistics of the disease, women are more at risk of acquiring the disease than men. This is not as a result of age but speculated to be as a result of estrogen. Individuals who have suffered head injuries in the past are also at risk of getting the disease more than those who have no history of head injuries in the

Create a profile of a leader (Martin L. King). Create an assignment Essay

Create a profile of a leader (Martin L. King). Create an assignment that investigates key leadership practices and relationships - Essay Example He spoke to other leaders and shared with them knowledge that he was able to pull into his own public leadership in order to enhance the effectiveness of his movement. The challenges that he faced were met with the preparation that he had made towards becoming an effective leader, although he had expected to lead a church rather than a nation. King was a well educated man who focused a portion of his education on the oratory aspects of leadership. He learned to become an effective speaker, exploiting his own natural ability to deliver a public message. His core method of leadership was in focusing his charismatic talents so that his followers believed in his message. Biography of King Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 14, 1929 to Reverend Martin Luther King and his wife Alberta in Atlanta, Georgia within the United States. At the age of fifteen, Martin Luther King Jr. entered Morehouse College in Atlanta before graduating from high school where he studied sociology. At the a ge of nineteen in 1948 he finished his undergraduate Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology and became a minister. In 1951, King graduated with a second Bachelor of Arts degree in divinity before going on to study systematic theology as a graduate student at Boston University. He married Coretta Scott in Marion, Alabama in 1953 before being appointed a minister as a pastor to Dextor Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery Alabama. In 1955, King received his doctorate in systemic theology from Boston University, giving him the title of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr (Bruns, 2006, p. xii). King rose to national prominence when he was made the spokesperson for the Montgomery bus boycott. The boycott started 1955 when Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus, a white bus driving insisting that she make the move as African Americans were segregated from seating at the front which was reserved for Caucasians. The boycott lasted for more than a year, financially crippling the public transpor tation of the city as African American users were the larger portion of the public transportation using public. The organisation that was created to support the movement was the Montgomery Improvement Association of which King was elected president. In 1956, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation was not a legal and this victory provided King a platform of success from which to further his intentions to abolish segregation policies and discrimination in the United States. In January of 1957, King formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in order to provide a resource for organized protests for civil rights (Bruns, 2006, p. xii). At this point, King’s career begins to move at a quick pace, his public accomplishments adding up to a powerful momentum as a leader, his choices promoting larger and larger successes that were filled with activity and progress towards civil rights. He was given audience by prominent leaders and taken seriously for the strength of the num bers of his followers, creating a movement that would eventually find success in abolishing legal separation between the rights of Caucasians and the rights of African Americans. He met with President Eisenhower in June of 1958 and Mahatma Gandhi in

Culture and Diversity in Decision Making Essay Example for Free

Culture and Diversity in Decision Making Essay The definition of the mission and goals of the enterprise is the foundation for any business. Mission is the answer to the question, what is the activity of the company is and what it intends to do. Procter Gamble has a pretty clear statement: We are there to improve your life After the mission, the organization needs to define the purpose. In this case, the goal to produce goods and services of the highest quality and customer value that improve the lives of todays and future generations around the world. Consumers help to take a leading position in terms of sales, to ensure the prosperity of the business that contributes to the well-being of employees and shareholders, as well as those areas where employees live and work. The goal unites workers for the common cause of the growth strategy. It has great potential due to a simple idea to improve on daily lives of consumers around the world. It is this setting allows P ; G to achieve maximum full growth. So, from the above we can highlight the important goals of the company: A. Providing quality products, customer focus; B. Creating a stable, growing company. 3. About the P;G company’s culture signs. The company provides a certain amount of self – dependence divisional governance structure that provides greater flexibility and faster response to changes in the business environment compared to the linear and linear- staff. Managerial responsibility for the activities of the company both in the domestic and foreign market is shared between them. This type of structure combines centralized coordination and control of centrally managed. Key figures in the management of an organization with a divisional structure not heads of functional units, and the managers in charge of the production department, the so-called divisions. The company groups are formed by categories, each of which includes experts in marketing, sales and advertising. These narrow specialists provide each its part under the direct control of the manager category. The level of the manager is very high. 4. Factors that caused the organization to embody this particular culture. P;G company has been working toward keeping its reputation and standards in all field. Since it was established, P;G has built rich heritage of touching consumers’ lives with brands that make life a little better every day. Here is to motto says â€Å"Do the Right Thing – For each other† The culture of the company is based on the basic moral and ethical values leadership, striving for the victory, the hosts respect, honesty and trust. These values are not something abstract they define the actions of the company. 5. What type of leader would be the best? In my opinion there are many reasons that this leader structure will be effective. First, as part of a huge company it managed to create an environment where every employee is interesting to work with. The responsibility of each employee, including the manager is the main driving force effectiveness. And this is the result of the constructed system of management, whose main task is to create conditions for the moral and material interests of each employee. Second, the complexity of management and collective management style in this company is proposed to use a single control method. The management system is structured in a complex of  functional subsystems. That is, they include highlights key subsystems within each of which formed goals, measurable indicators are introduced, developed a system for calculating them are formalized standards, business processes and organizational procedures. Disconnected from the management of the business functions of the companys managers are moving to a collective system of integrated management of business functions. 6. Imagine that there is a decline in the demand of products. What the change in culture would be need to be in response to this situation. I think company’s CEO should work with the sale’s department. Look up their regular planning and control of the department and its employees, hiring, selection and adaptation of staff; employee motivation, training, exchange of experience, the general debriefing, evaluation of the department, the calculation of cost of sales, cost of sales regulation, evaluation of individual performance of employees. In one word they have to find out their mistake and fix it, because without a reason demand not decreasing itself. References CNBC television channel – Documentary film about Procter ; Gamble company. Retrieved from http://www.hulu.com/watch/286095 Charan, R. (2008, August 26). P;G’s innovation culture: How we built the world-class organic growth engine by investing in people. Retrieved from http://www.strategy-business.com/article/08304?pg=all Procter and Gamble. (2013). Our worldwide business conduct manual. Retrieved from http://www.pg.com/en_US/downloads/company/governance/Policy_Worldwide_Business Conduct_Manual.pdf Schermerhorn, J. R. (2012). Organizational behavior (12th ed.). Danvers, MA: John Wiley ; Sons, Inc

Mental Health Issues in Parents: Service Provisions

Mental Health Issues in Parents: Service Provisions Provide a critical evaluation of current methods of working and service user provisions in the area of parents with a mental health problem, drawing upon developing knowledge and research. Introduction In this thesis we discuss the role of parenting, the responsibilities that are involved and the issues of mental health problems in parents. We draw upon existing knowledge and research to understand mental health problems and psychological complications of parents and discuss health and social policies that are related to current methods of working for such parents within social work. Several research studies, legislative reports and health policies are discussed and we provide a critical evaluation of the provisions, current research materials available and issues regarding mental health and psychological problems of parents and service user provisions. In 1998, the Department of Health emphasised on the programme of Modernising Mental Health Services, with three key aims: Safe services to protect the public and provide effective care for those with mental illness at the time they need it Sound services to ensure that patients and service users have access to the full range of services which they need Supportive services working with patients and service users, their families and carers to build healthier communities. (See DoH, 1998) Service User Provisions and Mental Health Studies and Approaches Among the service provisions available to parents with mental health needs, the programme of the National Service Frameworks (NSF) is part of the Government agenda to improve quality and reduce any unacceptable variations in health and social services National Service Frameworks by the Department of Health, cover mental health issues and coronary disease the significant reasons for causing disability and ill health among the adult population in UK. The NSF frameworks address the mental health needs of working age adults and parents and set out the national standards of care and support, the national service models, local action, and national underpinning programmes for implementation and a series of national milestones and performance indicators to measure progress in this sector. National health standards are set out in five areas including mental health promotion; primary care and access to services; effective services for people with severe mental illness; carers of people with me ntal health problems; and reduction of suicides. This applies to tackling mental health problems in parents and provisions for access to care. The National Service Framework for mental health concentrates on the mental health needs of working age adults up to 65, and covers health promotion, assessment and diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and care, and also encompasses primary and specialist care for these individuals. Adult Placement schemes are available for these individuals who are provided with carers, supported living, home based care and day services and extended family support from the NHS and NIMHE. Mental Health crisis intervention services with rehabilitation, counselling and psychotherapy are also provided by the Health authorities. Several studies discuss the process and value of working with parents when their child or children are being treated with individual psychotherapy (see Robinson et al, 2005). A psychoanalytic understanding of the parents’ perspectives in seeing a mentally ill child and the psychological problems of the parents themselves are considered. The issues discussed have a broader applicability in other aspects and approaches of child and adolescent mental health practice (Zubrick et al, 2005). The central issues are interweaving the knowledge of family processes, child development and psychopathology and the uses of the understanding of transference and counter transference as psychoanalytic concepts. The aspects of the work which constitute child guidance are considered psychotherapeutic as it relates to parental psychopathology. To explore and define the boundaries between psychological process of child and parents, the psychotherapy of parenthood may be analysed and implications of parental psychotherapy can be considered along with childrens problems and issues. Flouri (2005) reviews the evidence of the role of childhood adversities, family structure and issues of parenting in determining youth suicidal behaviour and Flouri emphasises that suicide research could benefit from investigating whether proper parenting can protect suicidal behaviour in young people who are vulnerable and at risks. The operationalization of non optimal parenting has often been considered as a risk factor for adolescent suicidal behaviour and influencing and identifying pathways of influence has been a major target. The measures of reducing suicidal risks in the vulnerable populations also tend to focus on parents with weak material and social resources, mental health problems and few networks, low social and emotional support, and high-risk children. The identification of causative factors relating parent mental condition an parental status might be beneficial in preventing youth suicidal behaviours as measures could be taken from a broad social perspective. Citing one of the case studies, Derisley et al (2005) have attempted psychotherapy of parenthood and have used a study to compare mental health, coping and family functioning in parents of young people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), anxiety disorders, and no known mental health problems. For the methods, 28 parents of young people with OCD, anxiety disorders (N = 28), and no known mental health problems (N = 62), the three different categories of people, all completed Brief Symptom Inventory (Derogatis, 1993), the Coping Responses Inventory (Moos, 1990), and the McMaster family assessment device (Epstein, Baldwin, Bishop, 1983). The results indicated that parents of children with OCD and anxiety disorders had poorer mental health and used more avoidant coping methods than parents of non-clinical and mentally stable children. The results also indicated that there were no significant group differences a measured in three groups in family-functioning. This suggested that the re are basic similarities across parents of clinically referred children and active parental involvement in the treatment of OCD in young people can actually trigger or facilitate the cure and treatment of such young people. Research shows that Black and Minority communities are more likely to suffer from inequalities in access to mental health services, they also report inequalities in their experience of services for mental health care, and they also tend to have more problems and complaints with the outcome of these services. For instance, the Department of Health points out those BME patients are significantly more likely to be detained compulsorily or diagnosed with schizophrenia in mental health situations. The mental health scenario and care provided to minority communities have a direct impact on anti oppressive and anti discriminatory practice. The Department of Health, and the NHS is developing a comprehensive programme of work to tackle inequalities of service provisions to mentally ill patients. In the area of service user provisions for mental health care and support, with an aim to promote anti discriminatory and anti-oppressive practices, the Department of health has identified a strategy for improving mental health services for black and minority ethnic communities in England. Community development workers or social workers are appointed to enhance the capacity within minority ethnic groups, especially adults and parents in dealing with the burden of mental ill health and tackling the inequalities inherent in the services provided. These Community Development Workers contribute to: (source: NIMHE, 2005) Seeking out the strengths and capabilities within particular communities around mental health and the resources available to individuals suffering from mental illness Enabling mental health organisations to bridge the gap between Western models of care and the values and norms of the community they serve Supporting community groups and networks, directing them to resources that are available and funding as appropriate Facilitating community participation and ownership of parents/adults in mental health provision and in combating health inequalities. For provisions of quality services, improved partnership/collaborative work between the NHS, local authorities, prisons, residential homes and the probation services are also required for service development and the care of service users, especially for individuals with severe mental illness. In a study by Hart et al (2005), the implications of user involvement are studied that address the views of clients and their parents on service user delivery in a specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) serving a population of 250,000.the study explores the complexities inherent in childrens services when parents are integral or involved significantly to different modes of treatment. In the study concerned, 27 teenage clients, 11 boys and 16 girls were recruited from CAMHS and 30 parents were also consulted and they were all from different socioeconomic backgrounds. A series of structured interactive techniques were used by focus groups who also conducted home visits to get interview data. the data was then subject to qualitative analysis and descriptive statistics were generated from interview data and focus groups information. From these data the three issues that were used to describe service user provisions are the core values implicated in establishing a t herapeutic alliance, the style of therapy, and mode of practice with the inclusion of family members. Style of therapy and core therapeutic skills of service providers have been given fundamental importance and Hart et al provided a model of organisational user involvement with a model of therapeutic user involvement for use in negotiating modes of practice with the service user especially in case of mental health practice. The study was thus collaboration between service users, health professionals and researchers and explored different themes of therapy and complexities inherent in childrens services as well as role of parents in mental health care. In fact provisions of parent led self help group and therapeutic approaches are important for achievement of attuned practice. The skills of staff working in adult mental health and child welfare, those that benefit mentally ill parents and their children are recognised by effective collaboration and development of co-ordinated service provision. Health services and local authority staff, as well as workers in education and the voluntary sectors are required to understand the necessities of service provisions. This involves, foundation knowledge, working together and assessment, planning and intervention for mental health care. The attitude of service providers is important and a study by Rasaratnam et al (2004) investigates the influence of attitudes of carers of people with intellectual disability (ID) towards giving medication. In the study 93 carers of service users who were attending an outpatient’s clinic (Harrow Learning Disability service) were interviewed, and the ratings scale used for measures was the RAMS (Rating of Attitude to Medication Scale) interview schedule. The results indicated a single association between relationships of the carer to the service user and overall positive or negative attitude towards medication was also studied. The study found that a disproportionate number of parents have expressed negative attitude in comparison with professional carers (46% vs. 11%) towards medication. the study suggests that standards of compliance with medication needs to be emphasised and researched on especially in case of family carers of mental health problems. Psychiatric disorders se em to have a stigma associated and providing medication for mental illness is still considered unacceptable. The family carers attitude to mental health problems and general mental illness may be shaped by such social and psychological factors. All these issues seem to be important in determining the kind of medication a psychiatric patient should have. In a study by Evans et al (1994), the All-Wales Mental Handicap Strategy (AWS) has promised not just governmental leadership and emphasis on the area of mental health service provisions but also availability of resources for developing community based residential, domiciliary, respite, day-care and professional services for people with mental handicaps and their families. Thus the strategy aims at providing the best for mentally ill people to experience community life. For the study a sample of people with mental handicaps was used to track changes in mental health services received, in professional input, the number of community activities pursued, and the size and range of individuals social networks and involvement in individual planning and the impact of health care strategies. There was a decrease in the proportion of patients living with parents and an increase in those living independently or in another family situation although private residence and serviced residence were bo th equally used for living purposes. Residential service associated with care facilities were also noted and there was marked preference for family based care. Family support services in the form of family aides and short-term care increased significantly, and day service also diversified. The health strategy as followed by the AWS seems to have brought individuals with mental health problems in greater contact with other members of the community although there was no difference in people friendship networks or extent and nature of associations. Yet the service provisions an family and user experiences were found to be in accordance with the direction and goals set by the AWS yet changes are still required and the a new patterns of services have been identified as necessary. The authors point out at the end of the analysis that the mental handicaps do conform to the guiding principles of AWS health strategy and its implications can be significant. If this study is extrapolated to understand the dynamics of the working and provisions for the service user in the contemporary mental health scenario, we can learn several lessons and identify several new provisions that may work with mentally ill patients. Providing a well integrated community network and service provisions at home as well as making resources available to the mentally ill patients either in their residential places or in the community or even at health and clinical settings could be major priorities of any health care strategy. The AWS strategy can thus be a blueprint or a primer for further modern health strategies and provides us with an opportunity for critical appraisal of service provisions that can be made available to mentally ill individuals in need of special care and support. There are however several issues that need to be considered as important in a critical evaluation of service user provisions for mentally ill patients. One of these issues involves improvement of the quality of information about clients referred to a community mental health team for referral purposes. For improved services to clients, improved information is also necessary and new ways of devising this quick availability of information should be encouraged. The second recommendation for improving service provisions involves following clinical guidelines. Michie and Lester (2005) determine whether writing or written clinical guideline recommendations in behaviourally specified plain English language can increase the likelihood of their implementation by service users or the patients. Following clinical guidelines, medication or therapy procedures is an important aspect of treatment and improvement of service user provisions can be made by stronger emphasis and written specification of approved and recommended guidelines. A evaluation of behavioural outcome and the inclination of following these guidelines should also be studied. Using and providing specialist service as in specialist educational intervention for acute inpatient mental health nursing staff and service user views in this regard have been studied. Richards et al (2005) evaluated the impact of an innovative 18-day educational intervention for acute ward-based mental healthcare nursing staff on reported quality of nursing care and on service user views of care using the educational intervention. The quality of inpatient mental health care for people with acute psychiatric problems has remained questionable and several studies have suggested that specialist educational courses and nursing interventions are needed to improve these services. An integration of health and social service care provisions and also day care for mental health patients have been emphasised considering social networks and care needs of the users. Increasing integration of health care and social services requires understanding the difference between health service day hospitals and social service day centres. A study by Catty et al (2005) has suggested that day centre clients had much larger social networks, including a three-fold difference in total contacts and two-fold difference in confidants, but had more needs for care, particularly relating to psychological distress. Our final recommendation for service user care for mental health patients and parents in a mentally ill home ambience is greater involvement of service users in mental health service planning and evaluation. Thornicroft and Tansella (2005) emphasise that service user involvement in the planning and provision of mental health services has been growing in recent years especially in areas where institutional service provision has been changed to a more community-orientated model of care. Recent studies have shown that during mental health crises, joint crisis plans by health providers and service users can significantly reduce the use of compulsory admission during crises. Conclusion: In this essay we provided a critical analysis of the provisions and policies provided by social services and health care services and evaluated the need for certain practices in providing quality service to service users with mental health needs. Bibliography Catty J, Goddard K, Burns T.  Social services and health services day care in mental health: the social networks and care needs of their users. Int J Soc Psychiatry. 2005 Mar;51(1):23-34. Chamberlin J.  User/consumer involvement in mental health service delivery. Epidemiol Psichiatr Soc. 2005 Jan-Mar;14(1):10-4. Derisley J, Libby S, Clark S, Reynolds S.  Mental health, coping and family-functioning in parents of young people with obsessive-compulsive disorder and with anxiety disorders. Br J Clin Psychol. 2005 Sep;44(Pt 3):439-44. Evans G, Todd S, Beyer S, Felce D, Perry J.  Assessing the impact of the All-Wales Mental Handicap Strategy: a survey of four districts. J Intellect Disabil Res. 1994 Apr;38 ( Pt 2):109-33. Flouri E.  Psychological and sociological aspects of parenting and their relation to suicidal behavior. Arch Suicide Res. 2005;9(4):373-83. Hart A, Saunders A, Thomas H.  Attuned practice: a service user study of specialist child and adolescent mental health, UK. Epidemiol Psichiatr Soc. 2005 Jan-Mar;14(1):22-31. Jones A, Jones M.  Mental health nurse prescribing: issues for the UK. J Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs. 2005 Oct;12(5):527-35. Michie S, Lester K.  Words matter: increasing the implementation of clinical guidelines. Qual Saf Health Care. 2005 Oct;14(5):367-70. Minogue V, Boness J, Brown A, Girdlestone J.  The impact of service user involvement in research. Int J Health Care Qual Assur Inc Leadersh Health Serv. 2005;18(2-3):103-12. Reid D, Glascott G, Woods D.  Improving referral information in community mental health. Nurs Times. 2005 Oct 18-24;101(42):34-5. Robinson AD, Kruzich JM, Friesen BJ, Jivanjee P, Pullmann MD.  Preserving Family Bonds: Examining Parent Perspectives in the Light of Practice Standards for Out-of-Home Treatment. Am J Orthopsychiatry. 2005 Oct;75(4):632-43. Rea DM.  Changing practice: involving mental health service users in planning service provision. Soc Work Health Care. 2004;39(3-4):325-42. Rasaratnam R, Crouch K, Regan A.  Attitude to medication of parents/primary carers of people with intellectual disability. J Intellect Disabil Res. 2004 Nov;48(Pt 8):754-63. Richards D, Bee P, Loftus S, Baker J, Bailey L, Lovell K.  Specialist educational intervention for acute inpatient mental health nursing staff: service user views and effects on nursing quality. J Adv Nurs. 2005 Sep;51(6):634-44. Thornicroft G, Tansella M.  Growing recognition of the importance of service user involvement in mental health service planning and evaluation. Epidemiol Psichiatr Soc. 2005 Jan-Mar;14(1):1-3. Zubrick SR, Ward KA, Silburn SR, Lawrence D, Williams AA, Blair E, Robertson D, Sanders MR.  Prevention of Child Behavior Problems Through Universal Implementation of a Group Behavioral Family Intervention. Prev Sci. 2005 Sep 14;:1-18 For Department of Health publications, see Mental health section DoH www.dh.gov.uk http://www.dh.gov.uk/PolicyAndGuidance/HealthAndSocialCareTopics/MentalHealth/fs/en also see NIMHE website, for role of Community Development workers. http://www.nimhe.org.uk/

Non-Voluntary Euthanasia: The Future of Euthanasia Essay -- Euthanasia

Non-Voluntary Euthanasia: The Future of Euthanasia      Ã‚  Ã‚   Non-voluntary euthanasia seems to be the natural direction in which euthanasia practice evolves. In the Netherlands at the present time, there is a fear on the part of the aged, about being taken to the hospital - where the doctor may have the last word about life and death. This essay digs into this evolutionary process of voluntary euthanasia evolving into the non-voluntary type.    Advocates of legalised euthanasia almost always insist that they only want voluntary euthanasia (VE) - a they say they are as opposed to the taking of life without the subject's knowledge or consent, that is, non-voluntary euthanasia (NVE), as anyone else. Some do extend their advocacy to some examples of NVE, such as seriously deformed newborns, [1] where consent would not be possible, but this is not usual. It is widely accepted that sufficient protection against the unwanted extension of VE to NVE would be ensured by the inclusion of appropriate legal safeguards.    As safeguards, clauses are proposed that would require the doctor to be satisfied that the patient's request was freely made and sufficiently informed, that there was no psychological abnormality such as depression, and possibly by requiring psychiatric consultation, that more than one doctor be involved in the decision that it was medically appropriate to take life in the circumstances, and that there be adequate documentation. It is also common to find lawyers who declare that such laws would be feasible to devise, though it is less common to find actual draft laws published for discussion. In one sense, those lawyers are correct when they say such law would be possible - but they stop short of addressing t... ...thout explicit request of patient. Lancet 1993; 341: 1196-1199.    12,Van Delden JJM, Pijnenborg L, van der Maas PJ. The Remmelink Report; Two Years Later. Hastings Center Report 1993; Nov/Dec 24-27.    13.Fenigsen R. The Netherlands; New Regulations Concerning Euthanasia. Issues Law Med 1993; 9: 167-171.    14.Id. p 170.    15.Brownstein EG. Neonatal Euthanasia Case Law in the Netherlands. Aust Law J 1997; 7: 54-58.    16.Washington vs Glucksberg, 117 SCt 2303.    17. Stevens C, Hassan R. Management of death, dying and euthanasia; attitudes and practices of medical practitioners in South Australia. J Med Ethics 1994.   Meier DE, Emmons CA, Wallenstein S, Quill T, Morrison RS, Cassel CK. A National Survey of Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia in the United States. N Eng J Med 1998; 338: 1193-1201. 20: 41-46.  

Five Forces Framework Essay

Porter’s Five Forces Model is a model that analyzes an industry to help develop a business strategy. The model uses five forces that have been identified to categorize an industry as intensely competitive or not competitive at all and this will then determine the attractiveness of the market.There are many features of an industry in which a company competes that determines the level of competition it will face and the profits it will get. The most famous classification was done by Michael Porter, known as Porters Five Forces framework which can help a company determine its potential profits by looking at five sources of competitive pressure. The five sources of competition are: 1. Threat of new entrant 2. Threat of substitutes 3. Rivalry among existing competitors 4. Bargaining power of suppliers 5. Bargaining power of buyers. Porter’s Five Forces In particular, we will focus on three different industries; We will start analyzing the five forces in the smartphone industry and then we will continue dealing with the personal computer industry and finally we will present digital music portable industry. SMARTPHONE Industry: In general the smartphone market is rapidly changing, with constant product introductions. It is characterized by quickly evolving technology and designs, short product life cycles, aggressive pricing, rapid imitation of product and technological advancements, and highly price sensitive consumers. Self-elasticity and cross-elasticity are high. No one firm in the market has sufficient market share to control prices, resulting is strong rivalry and competitive pricing. 1. Threat of new entrant: The barriers to entry are high due to the existence of patents, high fixed costs and economies of scale, regulation, and brand loyalty. The individual market participants engage in attempts at product differentiation, some being more  successful than others. The standout is Apple, which has successfully differentiated its iPhone, and stands a good chance of maintaining that differentiation due to its closed and all-inclusive model or development and use.Barriers to entry in the smartphone market are relatively high, but the rapid growth of the market is providing opportunities despite this. There are significant fixed costs associated with smartphone manufacturing. While most firms have the hardware of the phones manufactured overseas by foreign companies, the costs of developing the research and engineering personnel to design and test the smartphone and software can be prohibitively expensive for an entering firm. These fixed costs include not just the cost of the manpower, intellectual knowhow, intellectual property, computers, test equipment, prototyping devices and supplier and manufacturer contracts, but also the time necessary to develop all of these. Because the industry moves so quickly, an entering firm would either have to enter with existing resources targeting the smartphone market, or it would have to have another significant competitive. Moreover consumer will face an high switching costs if they decide to change their products, as a result of the fidelity every brand put on its product. Because all these reasons smartphone industry is extremely difficult to enter. As a result the threat of new competition is low. Smartphone production needs huge number of money and high technology. Even if established the company, it is impossible for new brand to compete with big company like Apple and Samsung. 2. Threat of substitutes : As a result of the high barrier to entry, to build and launch a substitute product is a hard work. Thus Threat of substitute is low. It’s extremely difficult to enter Smartphone production; because this industry base on high technology. As a result, it’s very hard to invent the substitute to replace smartphone with low price and more power function. 3. Rivalry among existing competitors:With rapid innovation necessary for a rapidly changing market, where customers are very price conscious, rivalry among firms in the smartphone market is fierce. Firms in the smartphone market actively work to adopt the successful ideas and technology of their competitors. This has been the trend with large touch screens, touch friendly operating systems, embedded cameras, and availability of an easy to  use app store, among other things. As consumers are more and more driven to purchase by the features that are available on the smartphone, there is a constant rivalry among firms to match each other on features. There is also an effort to stifle each other’s efforts to develop those technologies through obtaining of patents and filing lawsuits seeking injunctions and trade restrictions. No particular firm in the market has a significant amount of market power; every firm is vying for a greater piece of the pie. This has resulted in drivin g down of smartphone prices and relative price parity for flagship smartphones from each major firm. Firms are heavily involved in price discrimination, pricing their phones differently based on the sale outlet. Smartphones sold through retailers are frequently cheaper than those sold through network service providers. The one exception to this is Apple. Apple maintains price equivalency no matter the outlet, and the prices it charges for its smartphones is in many cases much higher than its competitors. Because Apple has been able to do this, its smartphone sales are reportedly highly profitable, while smartphone sales for Motorola have not been profitable at all. Rivalry also comes from outside the manufacturers’ market as other firms try to cash in on the smartphone profits. Google open sourced the Android OS so that it could find revenue from sales of apps and ads through the smartphones that run the OS. This cuts directly into Apple’s effort to become the dominant player in the smartphone manufacturer market, changing the nature of the market significantly. Such changes are likely to continue as other firms attempt to enter the market. Therefore, threat of substitute might have two factors (price and performance) which allows customer to switch the product as well as willingness of buyers to switch. Threat of substitute can be reduced as much as buyers become loyal to the products. To give an example, Apple has been able to create an â€Å"ecosystem†. People buy iPhone for standard, apps and other Apple’s product for upgradeability and stability which gives customer the ability to transfer knowledge and apps among devices 4. Bargaining power of suppliers: Bargaining is very high; Smartphones’ producers have to deal with two different categories of supplier: the hardware producers and the software. Because smartphone production market is not easy to enter , also supplier are limited. If the smartphone company  changes their supplier of components or CPU, the performance of smartphone will change a lot. So the company have to stay under their suppliers’ rule and they have to accept their price, that will be reflected in the price of the final product inevitably. The smartphone company are not willing and will be not willing to take the risk to change their suppliers, in order to maintain the quality of their products. 5. Bargaining power of buyers: customers are not concentrating on price; when they decide to buy a new smartphone they will take into consideration the design and the prestige the product will give them. Sometimes they choose basing on the advertising they receive. So they do not have a strong influence on this industry. Firms get the power to influence their customer and their ability is to make them trust in their own brand, providing for some value added. Take iPhone for example, the function of iPhone is just as good as some that other smartphone could have; However, the price of iPhone is one of the highest in the entire variety of smartphone present in the market, just because the prestige of iPhone is very high. This example shows that the bargaining power of customer is quite low. PC INDUSTRY The computer hardware industry consists of companies that manufacture and assemble personal computers, computer hardware, and computer peripherals. This industry is highly competitive, which means that companies must continuously be innovative in order to sustain a competitive advantage. The major companies of this industry include Oracle, IBM, HP, Dell, Apple, and Toshiba. This analysis will focus on computer manufacturing since it is the largest component of the industry, containing 43.7% of the market’s total value. The computer industry has been rapidly growing and shows no signs of slowing despite the recent economic downturn. 1. Threat of New Entrants :PC market is dominated by some major competitors as Hp, Dell, Acer, Apple, and others who currently have nearly the entire market share; this will likely discourage any potential new companies from entering the market. So we can state that the personal computer industry is characterized by a very weak threat of new entrants. A huge problem that  has to be faced in order to entry this market is that the market requires significant investments to be made in research and development to continually develop innovative products as well as large fixed start-up costs for manufacturing and employees and customer service.Existing firms can benefit from their capabilities of manufacturing at lower prices because of the advantage of economies of scale, where the will have fewer per unit costs as a result of their large scale production. Companies trying to enter the market will initially have smaller production and will consequently have higher prices. In the personal computer industry there is currently much emphasis put on price because consumers have become more price sensitive as personal computers have become more or less a commodity. New entrants will not only have higher prices but they will likely have a less innovative product as well because they do not have equal funding for research and development as other established brands and they will also have to deal with the brand loyal customers that have trusted the existing players in the industry for years. By attempting to join the market without any market share it will also be important for a new entrant to focus its investments more heavily on advertising and marketing then existing brands. A new entrant to the personal computer market will likely not fare well and is almost guaranteed to always be a second mover as the larger companies will develop more innovative products more rapidly because of their many competitive advantages. 2. Bargaining Power of Suppliers: It is possible to identify three different groups of suppliers in the personal computer industry including hardware suppliers, software suppliers and service suppliers. The first group is not able to exert a significant power. The core of their products are generally standardized and they compete by focusing on creating better, more advanced products at a better price and not through their attempts to differentiate them. As a result, firms within the industry are able to switch between this kind of suppliers relatively easily. It is really in the hands of the firm and which strategy they are committed to that will determine whether or not they will utilize a high or low end supplier. On the other hand, suppliers of hardware and software within the industry play a critical role in the pricing of products. With the quality of a computer being largely  determined by their microprocessors and application system installed within them. If a firm is following a high quality strategy then it can be expected that their prices will generally be higher to reflect the higher prices they are paying their suppliers.In terms of service suppliers, the service that can be offered within the personal PC industry include internet, tech support and repair services. These suppliers focus highly on operational performance and relational performance in order to increase customer satisfaction. They also offer a variety of customer loyalty programs in attempts to lock in and expand their customer base while trying to gain the competitive edge over competitors within the service industry of personal computers. While the PC industry changes regularly, it can be observed that only the central processing unit (CPU) is a key input. All other items are commodity in nature and so don’t command a bargaining power. Intel has a significant market power as it is a single major supplier of microprocessor and has an 80% of market share.Thus, Dell as computer manufacturer holds a power over the suppliers as opposed to the suppliers holding a power over the manufacturers. It is the suppliers that are in direct competition with each other. The suppliers are often forced to slash prices or merge with larger companies in order to survive. Hence, the bargaining power of suppliers is moderate. 3. Bargaining Power of Buyers: The personal computer industry is somewhat vulnerable against the bargaining power of buyers. Personal computer buyers are price-sensitive. Buyers are interested in quality and specifications thus making consumer loyalty low. Should one company not offer a product a product to suit the customer’s needs, they will find one that will. Buyer power is reduced slightly as computers are increasingly seen as a necessity due to the importance of online communication and information processing. Moreover, in the last recent years, some new technologies came on the market providing customers with the possibility to have more and more alternative options to the personal computer as smartphones, tablet computers, and other handheld devices like Ipods have most of the same capabilities as a personal computer. Because of the availability, sleekness, and trendiness of these alternatives, personal computers are becoming more and more obsolete. Personal computer must differentiate itself  in order to regain market share and compete with these newer alternative options. Large businesses, governments and schools which buy computers in large volumes have the power to bargain on price, quality and service. PC manufacturers can reduce a threat of buyer power by differentiating their product.DELL has introduced a new way of selling (direct model concept); buyers can directly buy computers with DELL without a so called middle man. By using this concept, computers cost per unit can be reduced. Furthermore, buyers are able to customize the PC based on their needs. The basis of this model, the direct model concept is to improve efficiency by effectively eliminating the intermediaries thereby allowing the company to speak directly to the customer. Dealing directly with customers allows Dell to customize their orders according to the customers’ needs. But, despite several ways in which manufacturers have differentiated their products and found ways to increase switching costs, customers still see units as very similar and thus choose primarily on price.To conclude we can consider a strong bargaining power of buyers. 4. Rivalry among Existing Firms: There is fierce competition between the top manufacturers in the personal computer industry. As the PC has increasingly become a commodity in a household, the fight to keep costs low while bringing the best product to the market has become a never ending battle. Thus competitors are trying to produce a low cost, powerful machine with the most efficient operating system. Firms specialize in different areas in order to compete amongst their rivals. Some focus on innovation and attempt to bring the newest technology to their customers first. Nevertheless, others may focus on their distribution channel and services throughout their firm. For example, DELL is focusing on distribution channel and high quality service while others such IBM and Apple focus more on innovation. All these create differentiation to some extent. Low-cost production at DELL contributes its positive growth rate, while other major manufacturers are experiencing negative growth rates. However, one of the fiercest areas is the price competition throughout the industry. It is to underline that the determinants of a pc’s quality are the microprocessor and application systems installed. As a result, there is a direct correlation between the firm’s profitability and the profitability of the firm’s suppliers.The major  manufacturers as DELL, IBM, HP, Acer and Apple are in competition to produce the least expensive and most efficient machine. Japanese companies such as Fujitsu, Toshiba, Sony and NEC also have large market shares.This intense competition are beginning to be felt its effect.Some companies exit via selling to other companies or simply exiting the industry altogether. For example, Compact Computers was acquired by Hewlett-Packet in 2002 while Xerox exi ted the computer business and concentrate on printers. Today, regardless of the number of companies present, the computer industry will continue to expand and remain competitive for a number of years to come, although threat to industry rivalry will continue to be strong. 5. Threat of Substitutes and Complements: Although it is very hard and challenging for a new entrant to join the personal computer industry there are currently other growing industries such as the smartphone, tablet, TV set/top boxes industries which are predicted to affect the sales of personal computers. All those alternatives started to encroach on functionality that was once the sole purview of the PC. Also if those products have different major players, their offers similar benefits to consumers that a personal computer also has. Moreover the technology advances are improving those products day by day. Thus they continue to increase in popularity and in performance, leading the sales of personal computers to a decline. The internet can now be accessed through phones and tablets and they are more portable than a laptop. Currently laptops and personal computers offer many unique applications and are compatible with much more software than smartphones and tablets. If smartphones and tablets can attain greater memory space, processing speeds, and compatibility with similar software, smartphones and tablets may be an all-in-one alternative to personal computers. Not only smartphone and tablet, but also some advanced game device like Sony PS3 allowed consumers to watch DVDs, surf the web, and play the game directly online in addition to play traditional video games. As technology continues to increase these separate industries may merge into one, or at least drastically affect each other.Hence we can conclude that threat from substitutes is strong in the PC industry. Digital Music Portable Industry 1. Threat of new entrant: In this industry, threat of entry is medium because the production cost is quite low. For example, the cost of material, packaging, assembly of iRiver (H320) only costs  £69 and the company can sell it in retail shop at  £153 (Skee G., 2005) Therefore, it may attract new competitors to enter into the market due to the low cost of material and the high product margin. Furthermore, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) reports that the demand for music on the internet and mobile phones is booming and it may replace physical formats such as tape, CD, and DVD in the future; hence, it can be predicted that the market is still growing gradually (The Computer & Internet Lawyer, 2005). As a result, many companies come into the market and pose new threat to existing companies. For example, Microsoft has recently entered to this industry and launched â€Å"Zune† into the market. Many experts believe that Zune might be a competitive rival with iPod; however, it is not easy for new entrants to gain market share in this industry. It is obvious that Apple is still the market leader because Apple has economies of scale in its production that Apple produces and sells iPod more than 10 million with the high margin cost in each year. Next, Apple’s product is highly differentiated from other brands that customers still buy iPod due to its differentiation. For instance, iPod Nano, the latest model from Apple, has attractive features such as full color screen and the copyright-click wheel button, and iTune system which customers can use it easily to buy and download songs into iPod from internet. As a result, it is difficult for new entrants which have recently entered into the market to develop product to overcome existing companies in the industry. 2. Threat of substitutes : he threat of substitute product in the industry is medium because digital portable music products are quite unique which could not be easily replaced by other products. Products have many advantages for customers. For example, it is cheaper to download songs from internet into iPod than buy CD audio. Next, the quality of sound is equal to an original CD after encoding into audio file format. Customers can enjoy listening music as the same as they enjoy listening music from original CD but cheaper price. Therefore, these are reasons why a MP3 player is still popular today. However, in this last recent years we can see the birth of new product which perhaps can replace MP3 player. They are the new mobile phone and smartphone that are provided with an integrated music players ( previously Nokia N91 with a built-in 4GB hard drive or Motorola E398 with removable memory card and now iPhone, Galaxy and so on). Music phone can download songs via WAP or GPRS and store it in a built-in or removable memory. Importantly, many experts believe that the music phone will be the most serious threat to the industry in the near future because it is all-in-one functions that customers can use it for both communication and entertainment. According to some recent research, the benefit of music phone will make some consumers may hesitate to spend  £149 on MP3 Player when they could buy music phone with  £169 or  £189. 3. Rivalry among existing competitors: In this industry, the intensity of competition is high because there are many players in the industry and each company try to complete with each other by developing new products in the market all the time. For example, Microsoft has recently launched their new product which is MP3 player â€Å"Zune†. It has many features which is different from other products in the market such as an integrated FM tuner, bigger screen, and WiFi connection. Microsoft reports that Zune can penetrate into the market and gain the market share from dominant companies. Two weeks after launching, it took the second place of the market from SanDisk and grabbed 9% of the U.S.A. market but following Apple whose its product (iPod) still dominated the market (Martell, D., 2006) Moreover, â€Å"Cut Price† is popular business strategies in the industry. Most companies use it to overcome with other competitors and it can drive the industry to be more competitive. For example, Creative is a MP3 Player manufacturer that lost the market position to Apple two years ago. In 2005, Sim Wong Hoo, the founder of Creative, declared war on Apple’s iPod by launching new and modern product (Creative Zen Neeon) which Apple tried to counter by cutting price on its product that it forced Creative to do the same thing in its product; therefore, the intensity of rivalry was increasing gradually from this situation. (Sudhaman A., 2005) Besides, the market is growing very fast in the industry that it could also make the industry to be more competitive as well. For instance, iRiver anticipates that MP3 player market in Thailand  will continue to grow increasingly and consumer’s demand will double in the near future; therefore, iRiver has launched new product in the market which it hopes to gain more market share from 13.7% up to 20%. (Veerasak, 2005) When the market is growing very fast; it tends to stimulate many companies to enter and launch their product in the market to gain profit in the industry. 4. Bargaining power of suppliers: In this industry, the bargaining power of supplier is medium because, firstly, there are a lot of suppliers which provide materials for companies such as flash memory, hard disk, semiconductor, and so forth. These suppliers mostly come from Asia region especially in China which is a major source for many companies due to the low price of material. Secondly, according to a supplier in the industry, iSuppli anticipates that the shipment of MP3 players with Hard Disk Drive (HDD) – based product is growing up to 42.6% in 2009 from 26.6% in 2004. Consequently, it made many suppliers come to produce material for MP3 Player market. (Electronic News, 2005) Thirdly, most companies in the industry have power to negotiate with suppliers regarding the price of material. Nowadays, the demand of digital music player is growing dramatically; therefore, the growth of the market made many companies have to produce their product in high volume in order to serve market’s need and it made suppliers lost bargaining power because the large production gives company to be able to order material in high volume from suppliers. Furthermore, some companies that need lots of material in their production tend to have a long-term agreement with supplier to supply them material. For example, Apple need to have lots of material such as flash memory and hard disk memory for its product; therefore, Apple decided to make a long-term supply agreement with flash memory manufacturers such as Samsung, Toshiba in order to get good deal of price and ensure to have material for their product up until 2010. 5. Bargaining power of buyers. The bargaining power of buyer in the industry is low. Although, there are a lot of competitors in the market, products in some companies made a great success in sales volume because of their specific characteristics, such as iPod for example. It is not product’s price but it is product’s differentiation and the brand of the product.  Firms have the power to address customers to choose their specific product focusing on marketing tools. As a result, Apple can set price for its product and it can push high switching cost to customers if they want to change to other products in the market. Importantly, customers buy iPod because it also contains good features and attractive appearance. For instance, although, the price of iPod Nano is higher than other competitors in the market, the excellent features and functions of the product such as it can be played movies and it has higher storage capacity compared to previous model (iPod Mini) made Apple to get lots of profit from iPod Nano in 2005 which iPod Nano is not only just Apple’s best-selling iPod, but also the best – selling digital music player model worldwide.