Role of Social Media in Public Relation Development Essay - 2

Role of Social Media in Public Relation Development - Essay Example The growth of social networking sites and an increasing population of internet users around the globe have made a significant impact on PR sectors. Advanced Desktop Publishing (DTP) is one such development in this sector which has immensely helped in spreading information in an attractive manner without spending much time of reader’s (Sriramesh & Versis, n.d.). Advanced DTP is a tool which makes it possible to create newsletters, reports and even books with the help of a personal computer and proper software. The basic idea of DTP is to publish attractive and unambiguous documentation of particular information so that any user can be conversant of the article with ease. I strongly believe that it is an effective way of spreading information within a short period of time (Wang, n.d.). Correspondingly, the main advantages of adopting advanced DTP by any organization in its PR strategies can be illustrated as cost and efficiency. In my point of view, one of the potential advantag es of advanced DTP can be associated with a limited requirement of experts to perform the task. The use of advanced DTP can be performed by any individual having minimum knowledge of computer applications. Consequently, it saves significant cost by minimizing the need for assistance from professionals in involving information communication technology as a tool for PR (Wang, n.d.). Similarly, another benefit of advanced DTP can be attributed to the time factor. In this context, it can be postulated that instead of spending time on having a correction with the outside printer, with the use of advanced DTP the documents can be previewed resulting in minimized wastage of resources as well as time efficiency to communicate the intended message (Wang, n.d.). The new forms of media have undoubtedly turned out to be vital aspects for any organization in spreading messages or communicating with the general public through effective PR strategies. Apparently, as per my understanding, the relat ion between the PR industry and the news media is continually strengthening. The development of modern information and communication technology has changed many of the dynamics between PR and traditional way of communicating with publics (Larsson, 2009). I firmly admit that the development of information and communication technology has benefited the PR industry to a great extent. Development in sectors like a database, DTP, and e-mail technologies have provided ease to PR department by making the communication process much faster and more effective than the past. Apparently, PR, as an industry, has become much important than it was in the traditional era. Today, the increase in the media sector is generally seen through the PR industry. It can be said that a decade ago, the media was less dependent on the PR industry as there were only a few newspapers, television channels and few occasional magazines to be published. However, the condition today has dramatically changed over the y ears. Consequently, the need of PR has increased to a great extent where technology has become one of the many considerable factors that have significantly facilitated the PR industry to rapidly grow in the 21st century (Trotman Publishing, 2001). The knowledge of advanced DTP is considered as one of the most important aspects for a PR publisher.  

Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus Essay Example for Free

Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus Essay Etiology of Diabetes Mellitus â€Å"Diabetes is a group of metabolic diseases characterized by hyperglycemia resulting from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action, or both. The chronic hyperglycemia of diabetes is associated with long-term damage, dysfunction, and failure of different organs, especially the eyes, kidneys, nerves, heart, and blood vessels.† (Association, National Center for Biotechnology Information , 2009, p. 1) â€Å"The cause of type 1 and type 2 diabetes remains a mystery. Although genetic factors may play a role†. (Association, Diagnosis and Classification of Diabetes Mellitus, 2010, pp. 562-569) Diabetes mellitus generally results from an insulin deficiency or resistance. Insulin transports sugar into cells for use as energy and storage as glycogen which is a carbohydrate. Insulin also stimulates protein synthesis and free fatty acid storage. Insulin deficiency or resistance compromises the bodies access to essential nutrients for fuel and storage. Several processes called pathogens(capable of causing disease) are involved in the development of diabetes. The reasons of the abnormalities in carbohydrates, fats, and protein metabolism in diabetes is deficient action of insulin on certain tissues in the body. The term Deficient insulin action, results from not enough insulin secretion and/or diminished tissue response to insulin at one or more points in the complex pathways of hormone action (a chemical messenger that transports a signal from one cell to another). If insulin secretion is blocked or impaired, then defects in the insulin action occur in the same patient, and it is often unclear which abnormality, the cause of the hyperglycemia. (Report of the Expert Committee on the Diagnosis and Classification of Diabetes Mellitus, 1997, pp. 107-109) Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus is defined as an autoimmune disorder or simply put an overactive immune response of the body against substances and tissues normally present in the body. In other words, the body actually attacks its own cells (What-is-Autoimmune-Disease). This form of diabetes is brought on by a viral infection in which certain cells are destroyed which leads to absolute (complete) insulin deficiency and is usually diagnosed in childh ood. Many pediatric patients that have diabetes normally have Type 1 diabetes and therefore a lifetime dependency on insulin. â€Å"Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic metabolic disorder caused by an absolute or relative deficiency of insulin, an anabolic hormone.† (Diabetes-MellitusDefinition-Causes-Symptoms-and-Treatment) In contrast Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus is a more progressive disorder in which the glandular organ in the digestive system and endocrine system known as the pancreas makes less insulin over time. Because the body’s cells have a reduced response to insulin, symptoms arise that include poor control of liver glucose (sugar) output, a decrease in cell function, and eventually cell failure. The true cause of Type 2 diabetes is unknown; however, it usually occurs in adulthood, from heredity, excessive obesity and sedentary lifestyle. These lifestyle choices may play a major role in its development. For both types of diabetes the main feature is chronic high blood glucose (sugar) levels (Ignatavicius, 2006). Risk factors for Diabetes Mellitus include obesity, physiologic or emotional stress, which can lead to an elevation of stress hormone levels. In women sometimes pregnancy, which causes weight gain and increases levels of estrogen and placental hormones, may aggravate insulin output. There is also something called the metabolic syndrome which is a combination of medical disorders that, when occurring together, increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes. There are also some medications that can provoke the effects of insulin, including thiazide diuretics, adrenal corticosteroids, and hormonal contraceptives (Mackay, 2004). Classification of Diabetes Mellitus There are several different types of diabetes mellitus; they may differ in cause, clinical course, and treatment. The major classifications of diabetes are: * Type 1 diabetes (insulin dependent diabetes mellitus) is caused by B-cell destruction, usually leading to absolute insulin deficiency a) Immune mediated b) Idiopathic * Type 2 diabetes (previously referred to as non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus) ranges from those with predominant insulin resistance associated with relative insulin deficiency, to those with a predominantly insulin secretory defect with insulin resistance (Alberti, 2007). Insulin is secreted by beta cells, which are one of four types of cells in the islets of Langerhans (dendritic cells = antigen-presenting immune cells) in the pancreas. Insulin is an anabolic, or storage hormone. When a person eats a meal, insulin secretion increases and moves sugar from the blood into muscle, liver, and fat cells. In those cells, insulin transports and metabolizes glucose for energy. Later it stimulates storage of sugar in the liver and muscle (in the form of glycogen). Following this it signals the liver to stop the release of glucose, then enhances storage of dietary fat in adipose which is a storage tissue. Finally it accelerates the transport of amino acids (derived from dietary protein) into the body’s cells. â€Å"Insulin also inhibits the breakdown of stored glucose, protein, and fat. During fasting periods (between meals and overnight), the pancreas continuously releases a small amount of insulin (basal insulin); another pancreatic hormone called glucagon (secreted by the alpha cells of the islets of Langerhans) is released when blood glucose levels decrease and stimulate the liver to release stored glucose. The insulin and the glucagon together maintain a constant level of glucose in the blood by stimulating the release of glucose from the liver. Initially, the liver produces glucose through the breakdown of glycogen (glycogenolysis). Glycogen is the storage form for glucose in the liver and muscles. Glycogenolysis is the conversion of glycogen into glucose in the liver. After 8 to 12 hours without food, the liver forms glucose from the breakdown of non-carbohydrate substances, including amino acids (gluconeogenesis)† (Hamouda, 2012). Type 1 Diabetes Treatment and Study This form of diabetes is immune-mediated in over 90% of cases and idiopathic in less than 10%. The rate of pancreatic B cell destruction is quite variable, being rapid in some individuals and slow in others. Type 1 diabetes is usually associated with ketosis in its untreated state. It occurs at any age but most commonly arises in children and young adults with a peak incidence before school age and again at around puberty. It is a catabolic disorder in which circulating insulin is virtually absent, plasma glucagon is elevated, and the pancreatic B cells fail to respond to all insulinogenic stimuli. Exogenous insulin is therefore required to reverse the catabolic state, prevent ketosis, reduce the hyperglucagonemia, and reduce blood glucose. Clinical manifestations of all types of diabetes include the â€Å"three Ps†: polyuria, polydipsia, and polyphagia. Polyuria (increased urination) and polydipsia (increased thirst) occur as a result of the excess loss of fluid associated with osmotic diuresis. The patient also experiences polyphagia (increased appetite) resulting from the catabolic state induced by insulin deficiency and the breakdown of proteins and fats. Other symptoms include fatigue and weakness, sudden vision changes, tingling or numbness in hands or feet, dry skin, skin lesions or wounds that are slow to heal, and recurrent infections (Hamouda, 2012, p. para. 8). The onset of type 1 Diabetes may also be associated with sudden weight loss or nausea, vomiting, or abdominal pains. (Association, Diagnosis and Classification of Diabetes Mellitus, 2010) In recent years, there has been increasing interest in the impact of diabetes mellitus on the central nervous system (Lukovits TG, 1999).Clinically and epidemiologically, it has been shown that diabetes mellitus is an important risk factor for cerebrovascular accidents (Kannel WB, 1979), and may underlie many of the neuropsychological and cognitive deficits observed in diabetic patients (CM, 1988). Few studies have sought to establish the pathophysiological mechanisms that occur before these deficits appear, with a view to detecting early subclinical abnormalities that could serve as markers of the risk for stroke in patients who might benefit from preventive treatment. The study I read was performed in 15 insulin-dependent diabetics (eight men and seven women) with no history of central neurological symptoms. Their ages ranged from 27 to 59 years (mean 46 ±8 years) and the mean time since diagnosis of diabetes mellitus was 19 ±6 years. The characteristics of the patients are given in the Table below. The study was been reviewed by the hospitals ethics clinical committee, and before being enrolled each patient gave written informed consent. Characteristics of study subjects No. 15 Gender (M/F) 8/7 Age (years) 46 ±8 Arterial hypertension (yes/no) 5/12 Total cholesterol (mg/dl) 214 ±49 Time from diagnosis of IDDM (years) 19 ±6 Hemoglobin A1C (%) 8.19 ±0.8 Diabetic nephropathy (no/micro/macro albuminuria) 10/1/4 Diabetic retinopathy (yes/no) 7/8 Diabetic neuropathy (yes/no) 7/8 IDDM, Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus The study dealt with the Cerebrovascular reserve (CVR) which is the capacity of cerebral arteries and arterioles to dilate, thus increasing blood flow in areas of decreased perfusion pressure (WJ, 1991). It is one of the first mechanisms of the brain to be activated in cases of hemodynamic compromise and is an early indicator of its existence (Baron JC, 1981). The chemical Acetazolamide, a carbonic anhydrase inhibitor, induces dilatation of the cerebral microvasculature and has been widely used in assessing CVR in large series of patients with different cerebrovascular disorders. (Julio F. Jimà ©nez-Bonilla, 2001). The study concluded that Insulin-dependent diabetic patients with no clinical history of neurological disorders present baseline abnormalities in cerebral perfusion and a decrease in CVR in extensive areas of the brain. The decrease in CVR and the behavior of baseline subclinical abnormalities after administration of acetazolamide suggested the existence of chronic cerebrovascular disease, the severity of which varied between patients and was better assessed with this technique than with baseline SPET (PET scan). In addition, the introduction of acetazolamide made it possible to classify baseline irregularities as being of probable metabolic origin or of probable ischemic origin. They concluded that the post-acetazolamide brain SPET is a valid tool which, in comparison with baseline SPET, provided additional information on cerebral perfusion in insulin-dependent diabetes. The technique should prove useful in evaluating future preventive strategies aimed at reducing the incidence of complications in diabetics. (Julio F. Jimà ©nez-Bonilla, 2001) The main goal of diabetes treatment is to normalize insulin activity and blood glucose levels to reduce the development of vascular and neuropathic complications. Insulin is indicated for type 1 diabetes as well as for type 2 diabetic patients with insulin openia whose hyperglycemia does not respond to diet therapy either alone or combined with other hypoglycemic drugs. The therapeutic goal for diabetes management is to achieve normal blood glucose levels (euglycemia) without hypoglycemia and without seriously disrupting the patient’s usual lifestyle and activity. There are five components of diabetes management †¢ Nutritional management – teaching the patient to eat properly and manage their diet accordingly. †¢ Exercise †¢ Monitoring – Use of a glucose meter and watching their numbers. †¢ Pharmacologic therapy – medicines that help level off sugars in their system. †¢ Education – finding out all the information they can about the disease so they will be informed as to the preventative measures taken to lead a more normal life. Bibliography Report of the Expert Committee on the Diagnosis and Classification of Diabetes Mellitus. (1997). Diabetes Care, 20:1183-97. CITATIONS AND CLINICIANS NOTES: ETIOLOGY, PREDICTION, AND INCIDENCE OF DIABETES. (2005). Current Medical Literature: Diabetes, 22(2), 32-33. Alberti, K. M. (2007). International Diabetes Federation: a consensus on Type 2 diabetes prevention. Diabetic Medicine, 24(5), 451-463. doi:10.1111/j.1464-5491.2007.02157.x. Association, A. D. (2009, January). National Center for Biotechnology Information . Retrieved from PMC US National Library of Medicine : http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2613584/ Association, A. D. (2010, January). Diagnosis and Classification of Diabetes Mellitus. Diabetes Care, pp. 562-569. Baron JC, B. M. (1981). Reversal of focal â€Å"misery-perfusion syndrome† by extra-intracranial arterial bypass in hemodynamic cerebral ischemia. A case study. Stroke, 12: 454-459. CM, R. (1988). Neurobehavioral complications of type I diabetes. Examination of possible risk factors. Diabetes Care, 11: 499-505. Diabetes-MellitusDefinition-Causes-Symptoms-and-Treatment. (n.d.). Retrieved 12 15, 2012, from www.healthguidance.org: http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/7366/1/Diabetes-MellitusDefinition-Causes-Symptoms-and-Treatment.html Hamouda, M. (2012, May 24).

Trust Inference Model Proposal

Trust Inference Model Proposal (step1-13 in Alg. 4) in the continu-ous case. For advogato data set, we directly report the results on all the six snapshots (i.e., advogato-1, . . . , advogato-6). For PGP, we use its subsets to study the scalability. The result is shown in Fig. 6, which is consistent with the complex-ity analysis in Section 4.3. As we can see from the figure, MATRI scales linearly wrt to both n and |K|, indicating that it is suitable for large-scale applications. The scalability result for the binary case is similar, and we omit the figures for brevity. (b) (c) (d) Fig. 3. Scalability of the proposed MATRI for continuous case. MATRI scales linearly wrt the data size (n and |K|). (a) Wall-clock time vs. n on advogato. (b) Wall-clock time vs. |K| on advogato. (c) Wall-clock time vs. n on PGP. (d) Wall-clock time vs. |K| on PGP. Fig. 4. Comparisons of alternative solutions of MATRI. Compared to MATRI-AA, MATRI-SS and MATRI-AS are more than 10x faster while preserving more than 90% accuracy on both data sets. (a) advogato data set. (b) PGP data set. (C) Comparisons of the Alternatives of MATRI. As men-tioned before, the stochastic gradient descent method (SGD) could also be used for the continuous trust inference prob-lem in computing propagation vector and solving Eq. (5). We now experimentally evaluate the efficiency of all the four alternatives of MATRI. We use MATRI-AA to denote the original MATRI, MATRI-SA to denote the case when we use SGD in the propagation step, MATRI-AS. VI RELATED WORK In this section, we briefly review related work, includ-ing trust propagation models, multi-aspect trust inference models, etc. Trust Propagation Models. To date, a large body of trust inference models are based on trust propagation where trust is propagated along connected users in the trust net-work, i.e., the web of locally-generated trust ratings. Based on the interpretation of trust propagation, we further cate-gorize these models into two classes: path interpretation and component interpretation.The proposed MATRI integrates the trust propagation with two other important properties, i.e., the multi-aspect of trust and trust bias. In addition, our multi-aspect model offers a natural way to speed up on-line query response; as well as to mitigate the sparsity or coverage problem in trust inference where some trustor and trustee might not be connected with each other both are known limitations with the current trust propagation models [10]. Multi-Aspect Trust Inference Models. Social scientists have explored the multi-aspect property of trust for several years [8]. In computer science, there also exist a few trust inference models that explicitly explores the trust propagation. Trust Bias in Trust Inference. In sociology, it was dis-covered a long time ago that trust bias is an integral part in the final trust decision [9]. Nonetheless, this important aspect has been largely ignored in most of the existing trust inference models. One exception is from Nguyen et al. [13], which learns the importance of several trust bias related features derived from a social trust framework. Recently, Mishra et al. [25] propose an iterative algorithm to compute trust bias. Different from these existing works, our focus is to incorporate various types of trust bias as specified factors/aspects to increase the accuracy of trust inference. VII CONCLUSION In this paper, we have proposed a trust inference model, as well as a family of algorithms to apply the model to both continuous and binary inference scenarios. The basic idea of the proposed MATRI is to leverage the multi-aspect property of trust by characterizing several aspects/factors for each trustor and trustee based on the existing trust relationships. In addition, MATRI incorporates the trust propagation and trust bias; and further learns their rela-tive weights. By integrating all these important properties, our experimental evaluations on real benchmark data sets show that MATRI leads to significant improvement over several benchmark approaches in prediction accuracy, for both quantifying numerical trustworthiness scores and pre-dicting binary trust/distrust signs. The proposed MATRI is also nimble it is up to 7 orders of magnitude faster than the existing trust propagation methods in the on-line query response, and in the meanwhile it enjoys the linear scalabil-ity for th e pre-computational stage in both time and space. Future work includes investigating the capability of MATRI to address the trust dynamics. REFERENCES C. Ziegler and G. Lausen, â€Å"Propagation models for trust and distrust in social networks,† Inform. Syst. Front., vol. 7, no. 4, pp.337–358, 2005. A. Jà ¸sang and R. Ismail, â€Å"The Beta reputation system,† in Proc. 15th Bled Electron. Comm. Conf., vol. 160. Bled, Slovenia, Jun. 2002. S. D. Kamvar, M. T. Schlosser, and H. Garcia-Molina, â€Å"The Eigentrust algorithm for reputation management in P2P net-works,† in Proc. 12th Int. Conf. WWW, Budapest, Hungary, 2003, pp.640–651. M. Richardson, R. Agrawal, and P. Domingos, â€Å"Trust management for the semantic web,† in Proc. 2nd ISWC, Sanibel Island, FL, USA, 2003, pp. 351–368. D. Cartwright and F. Harary, â€Å"Structural balance: A generalization of Heider’s theory,† Psychol. Rev., vol. 63, no. 5, pp. 277–293, 1956. G. Liu, Y. Wang, and M. Orgun, â€Å"Trust transitivity in complex social networks,† in Proc. AAAI, 2011, pp. 1222–1229. D. Gefen, â€Å"Reflections on the dimensions of trust and trustwor-thiness among online consumers,† ACM SIGMIS Database, vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 38–53, 2002. D. Sirdeshmukh, J. Singh, and B. Sabol, â€Å"Consumer trust, value, and loyalty in relational exchanges,† J. Marketing, vol. 66, no. 1, pp.15–37, 2002. A. Tversky and D. Kahneman, â€Å"Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases,† Sci., vol. 185, no. 4157, pp. 1124–1131, 1974. Y. Yao, H. Tong, F. Xu, and J. Lu, â€Å"Subgraph extraction for trust inference in social networks,† in Proc. IEEE/ACM Int. Conf. ASONAM, Istanbul, Turkey, 2012, pp. 163–170. L. Xiong and L. Liu, â€Å"Peertrust: Supporting reputation-based trust for peer-to-peer electronic communities,† IEEE Trans. Knowl. Data Eng., vol. 16, no. 7, pp. 843–857, Jul. 2004. J. Tang, H. Gao, and H. Liu, â€Å"mTrust: Discerning multi-faceted trust in a connected world,† in Proc. 5th ACM Int. Conf. WSDM, Washingtion, DC, USA, 2012, pp. 93–102. V. Nguyen, E. Lim, J. Jiang, and A. Sun, â€Å"To trust or not to trust? Predicting online trusts using trust antecedent framework,† in Proc. 9th IEEE ICDM, Miami, FL, USA, 2009, pp. 896–901. Y. Koren, â€Å"Factorization meets the neighborhood: A multifaceted collaborative filtering model,† in Proc. 14th ACM SIGKDD Int. Conf. KDD, New York, NY, USA, 2008, pp. 426–434. R. Guha, R. Kumar, P. Raghavan, and A. Tomkins, â€Å"Propagation of trust and distrust,† in Proc. 13th Int. Conf. WWW, New York, NY, USA, 2004, pp. 403–412. Y. Koren, R. Bell, and C. Volinsky, â€Å"Matrix factorization techniques for recommender systems,† Comput., vol. 42, no. 8, pp. 30–37, 2009. P. Massa and P. Avesani, â€Å"Controversial users demand local trust metrics: An experimental study on epinions. com community,† in Proc. 20th Nat. Conf. AAAI, 2005, pp. 121–126. B. Lang, â€Å"A computational trust model for access control in P2P,† Sci. China Inform. Sci., vol. 53, no. 5, pp. 896–910, 2010. R. Bell, Y. Koren, and C. Volinsky, â€Å"Modeling relationships at mul-tiple scales to improve accuracy of large recommender systems,† in Proc. 13th ACM SIGKDD Int. Conf. KDD, New York, NY, USA, 2007, pp. 95–104. H. Ma, M. Lyu, and I. King, â€Å"Learning to recommend with trust and distrust relationships,† in Proc. 3rd ACM Conf. RecSys, New York, NY, USA, 2009, pp. 189–196. A. Buchanan and A. Fitzgibbon, â€Å"Damped Newton algorithms for matrix factorization with missing data,† in Proc. IEEE CVPR, vol. 2. Washington, DC, USA, 2005, pp. 316–322. X. Liu, A. Datta, K. Rzadca, and E. Lim, â€Å"Stereotrust: A group based personalized trust model,† in Proc. 18th ACM CIKM, Hong Kong, China, 2009, pp. 7–16. D. Watts and S. Strogatz, â€Å"Collective dynamics of ’small-world’ networks,† Nature, vol. 393, no. 6684, pp. 440–442, 1998. J. Leskovec, J. Kleinberg, and C. Faloutsos, â€Å"Graphs over time: Densification laws, shrinking diameters and possible explana-tions,† in Proc. 11th ACM SIGKDD Int. Conf. KDD, Chicago, IL, USA, 2005, pp. 177–187. C.-W. Hang, Y. Wang, and M. P. Singh, â€Å"Operators for propagating trust and their evaluation in social networks,† in Proc. 8th Int. Conf. AAMAS, Budapest, Hungary, 2009, pp. 1025–1032. J. Leskovec, D. Huttenlocher, and J. Kleinberg, â€Å"Predicting posi-tive and negative links in online social networks,† in Proc. 19th Int. Conf. WWW, Raleigh, NC, USA, 2010, pp. 641–650. Y. Wang and M. P. Singh, â€Å"Trust representation and aggregation in a distributed agent system,† in Proc. 21st Nat. Conf. AAAI, 2006, pp.1425–1430. Y. Wang and M. P. Singh, â€Å"Formal trust model for multiagent systems,† in Proc. 20th IJCAI, San Francisco, CA, USA, 2007, pp.1551–1556. C. Hsieh, K. Chiang, and I. Dhillon, â€Å"Low rank modeling of signed networks,† in Proc. 18th ACM SIGKDD Int. Conf. KDD, Beijing, China, 2012, pp. 507–515. K.-Y. Chiang, N. Natarajan, A. Tewari, and I. S. Dhillon, â€Å"Exploiting longer cycles for link prediction in signed net-works,† in Proc. 20th ACM CIKM, Glasgow, Scotland, U.K., 2011, pp.1157–1162.

Smoking Trends Among Teenagers Essay -- essays research papers

Cigarette smoking is a habit that kills approximately million of people per year. It is surprisingly being picked up by myriad amount of children every day. Smoking becomes a growing trend in the youth community. The number of young smokers have been increased in most American middle schools and high schools. Both girls and boys are smoking because they think it is cool. The four reasons that cause many teenagers to start smoking are peer-pressure, image projection, rebellion, and adult aspirations. Approximately 3,000 teenagers pick up the smoking habit each day in America. That is roughly one million new teenage smokers per year. About 60% of all high school students try smoking by the time they are seniors because they think it is a cool thing to do (Johnston.) In 1996, smoking rates are 21 percent among eighth-graders (13-14 years old), 30 percent among 10th-graders (15-16 years old), and 34 percent among 12th-graders (17-18 years old). These rates are impressively high, especially when compared to the fact that about 25 percent of all adults are classified as current smokers according to the National Health Interview Survey. Cigarette smoking peaked in 1996 among eighth, and tenth graders nationwide, and in 1997 among 12th-graders. Since those peak years, there has been a gradual decline in smoking rates, which continued in 1999. (Johnston). Rates of daily smoking are also down from their peak levels (in 1996 for eighth- and 10th-graders and in 1997 for 12th-graders) but did not show much improvement in 1999 specifically, according to Johnston. "Because young people tend to carry the smoking habits they develop in adolescence into adulthood, the substantial and continuing increases in teen smoking bode ill for the eventual longevity and health of this generation of American young people," concludes Johnston. "Hundreds of thousands of children from each graduating class are likely to suffer appalling diseases, and to die prematurely, as a result of the smoking habits they are developing in childhood and adolescence." Young people continue to report cigarettes as being easily available to them: 77 percent of the eighth-graders, who are 13 or 14 years old, report that cigarettes would be "very easy" or "fairly easy" for them to get, and 91 percent of th... ...e you smoke. However, in some cases, the young kids are getting addicted after their first try. Finally, they want to be an adult. Adult aspiration is also one of the reasons that lead some teenagers to smoking. Some teenagers believe that by smoking they are acting like an adult. If the teenager is raised in a community where most of the adults smoke, then this is perhaps a logical conclusion. They have the tendency to imitate what the adults around them did. For some teenagers, they are smoking because they think with a cigarette in their mouth makes them look and feel like an adult. According to my friend John, he said that he was smoking since he was 16, he thought that cigarette made him look cool and feel like an adult. Thus, there has been a trend increasing over the past few years and a little decline in 1999 among young smokers; however, it did not show much improvement. America is a freedom country, but how can we free the number of young smokers from those cigarettes or seduced advertisers? Therefore, we should find a solution to help the young smokers to quit before the cigarettes put their lives in danger.

China’s Monetary Policy & IMF

China's contemporary monetary policy and regulation Monetary Policy Committee Policies (interest rate, ERR, foreign reserves†¦ Risks IMPs Involvement Recent monetary reform Ill. Conclusion A. Future of China's economy International Monetary Fund is an organization that consists of 188 countries, in which countries work together to promote global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, and sustainable economic growth around the globe. MIFF serves as an International bank, loaning money to member countries due to economic difficulties; and as an adjudicator, reconciling economic conflicts between countries.It's a pool of central bank reserves and national currencies that allows member countries to borrow. China Joined MIFF in 1945, and has twice used MIFF credits, in 1981 and in 1986. China holds annual consultations with MIFF on economic development and policy Issues. In recent number of years, China has been accused of currency manipulation and excessive foreign reserv es to underpin economic China to make policy reforms. In this paper, I will begin with China's monetary system, 1994 monetary crisis, and then discuss China's current monetary policies, reforms, and Miff's regulation on China.China regulates its monetary system through POOCH (People's Bank of China) by adjusting interest rate, performing open market operation, and manipulating Reserve Requirement Ratio. How Chinese government uses these policy tools is interdependent of how Chinese currency Yuan's is arranged in foreign exchange mechanism. Central banks depreciate currency by cutting interest rate and increasing in foreign reserve to stimulate economic growth. In other words, Chinese regulators used more non-market financial policy to administrate credit expansion.Through effective tight state control policies, China had passed a long way from where it was to the second largest economy in the world. It went wrought 1994 Monetary Crisis, 1997 East Asian Crisis, and Global Financial C risis in 2008. These crises not only gave lessons to the Chinese regulating body and MIFF, but also indicate a warning sign of the underlying risk of using too much state control on interest rate and exchange rate. 1994 was a significant year in China's economic history. China faced an unprecedented annual inflation rate of 24% in 1994.It was largely caused by the over investment in early 1990 as government loosen credit to enterprises. Especially after Denominations visit to Southern China in 1992, in which e strongly advocated for economic growth, investment increased â€Å"43% from previous year†(3). The overstatement not only doubled the price of construction materials such as steel and lumber, but also increased price of grains significantly. The sudden rapid rise in price had a devastated effect on resident's living conditions.To fight with the inflation, the Chinese government implemented a series of actions, which include â€Å"tightening credit/loans, strict regulat ion of local/regional capital fund raising, tightening fixed asset investment scale, re-examining various newly established financial institutions, and controlling capital and cash holding of all financial organizations†(3). The main goal of these policies is to lower the economic growth rate and decrease the overall fixed asset investment. After one year of adjusting and implementing policies, the inflation rate reduced to 9. % in December 1995. Just like the cause of China's Financial 1994 Crisis, the Asian Crisis of 1997 was the aftermath of a sudden surge in capital inflows to finance productive investments, which made a country's economy vulnerable. The Asian Crisis started with the lapse of Thai Baht in July 1997, when Thai government was forced to float the baht due to lack of foreign currency to support its fixed exchange rate. Then the Crisis began to spread across to many East Asian countries, including South Korea, Philippines, Indonesia, and Singapore.All of the co untries had acquired a burden of foreign debt. In Korea, the foreign debt-to-GAP ratio rose from 13% to as high as 40%. Furthermore, the crisis was â€Å"deepened by the Miff's initial misdiagnosis† when MIFF imposed â€Å"budgetary tightening† policy to stabilize currency in Thailand, South Korea, and Indonesia (1). Although China was less affected by the crisis, it influenced its the monetary policies. Just as other Asian countries, China started built up official reserves so that it don't have to borrow from MIFF.Both crisis had a significant impact on China today's monetary policy, which is Ojibwa, advocates for â€Å"dovish bias, a tendency to prefer accommodative monetary policy, supporting the use of policy tools to stimulate growth while placing less emphasis on the risks of inflation†(4). This policy belief led to manipulation in exchange rate when China was experiencing a rapid economic growth and currency appreciation. ARM appreciated from about 8. 82 8 Yuan in 2005 per dollar to 6. 09 in 2013, approximately 34% appreciation on a nominal basis against dollar and by 42% on a real basis (5).It was because of China's rapid economic development in the past decades. China has become one of the world's largest exporters and created massive trade surplus and strong demand for ARM. The sudden appreciation led to inflation and consequently lower purchasing power of residents in China. The situation forced government to interfere with the exchange rate in order to maintain financial stability ND protect citizen's welfare. POOCH cut the interest rate to increase the demand for credit, reduced ERR, and increase foreign reserve to fight against appreciation.China's large purchases of foreign reserves reduced their yields and push capital to emerging market, which successfully decelerated the speed of appreciation of ARM. However, how would these policies affect China's economy in a long run? MIFF pointed out that China's tight State control o ver banking system is creating risk to its economic growth in the future. China' undervalued currency not only has negatively affected U. S and Global trade, but also has brought risk to its own economy.According to the New York Times, there's a growing list of countries, from the United States to the European Union to Brazil, have complained that China has been cheapening its currency. U. S criticized that China is trying to â€Å"gain unfair trade advantages over trading partners†(5). International Monetary Fund also claimed that ARM is significantly undervalued, and wrote a report to urge China to ease State controls on banking in 2011. The report examined on China's financial policy, in which encourages high savings, high levels of equity, and high risk of capital misapplication and asset bubbles, especially in real estate.In MIFF words, the consequence of these distortions is â€Å"rising over time, posing increasing macro-financial risks†. MIFF warned China: â₠¬Å"tight government management of the nation's banking and financial system was creating a steady build-up in vulnerabilities that could eventually damp economic growth â€Å"(2) Excessive bank lending and increasing local government debt as a long-term policy would put China's economy at risk. However, China did not implement immediate change in monetary policy after Miff's warning.Instead, Chinese official argues that their exchange rate is not meant to earn unfair trade advantage, but to foster economic stability and social welfare to citizens. The government continues to regulate extensively on interest rates, estate price and exchange rate. Not until recently, China finally implements major monetary reforms in reply to Miff's constant warnings. In order to maintain the economic growth, Chinese government must reform its banking system and adopt a flexible exchange rate. The POOCH has taken step to loosing the government's intervention on interest rate, letting racket to set th e price instead.Just as recorded in the article â€Å"The Interest Rate As A Monetary Policy Instrument in China†, mainland lenders are allowed to charge rates on loans below the official benchmark-lending rate, effective from 20 July 2013. The scrapped (6). Furthermore, the cap on credit union lending rates was also abolished. These reforms indicate that Bank is not favoring state-owned entities, and indeed stimulates real economy. China is putting effort to liberalize interest rates, open financial market, and promote greater foreign investment. I believe that a tightened state control monetary policy is not efficient and sufficient in a long run.Although it has brought finance stability, China has to let the capital flow freely in order to maintain economic growth in the future. China should move away from non-market financial policies and step toward a more market-based currency to rebalanced China's economy. After decades of exponential expansion, China's expansion is en tering a period of slower growth. In the first half of 2013, China's export growth rate was significant lower and GAP has also fallen. Zinnia claimed that the Yuan was nearing equilibrium against the dollar in June 2013.In conclusion, China should depend less on exports and fixed investment to stimulate real economic growth. Ultimately, China should exert less power and subsidies state enterprises, but open up the market and foster global competition. It benefits Chinese Economy in a long-term by â€Å"re-directing resources away from inefficient (and often subsidized) sectors of the economy to those that are more efficient and competitive† (5). The reform would not only increase the efficiency of Chinese mommies firms, but also bring lower prices for consumers in China and improving standards of living after all.

Probable vs. Possible

Probable vs. Possible Probable vs. Possible Probable vs. Possible By Mark Nichol What’s the difference between probable and possible? Strictly speaking, they’re unrelated, but in popular usage, their distinction is merely one of degree. Possible the noun form is possibility means â€Å"having the potential.† (Potential, along with the latter word’s root, potent, shares an etymological origin with the former word.) Possible stems from the Latin term possibilis, which derives in turn from posse, which means â€Å"power† or â€Å"to be able.† Posse itself was borrowed into English from the Medieval Latin phrase posse comitatus, which literally means â€Å"power of the county.† (This term, later shortened to posse, referred to the authority of a local official to conscript men to respond to an emergency; such a deputized detail features in many works of filmed or printed fiction in the western genre, but now, the term is most commonly heard as a jocular slang synonym for a celebrity’s entourage or retinue or anyone’s group of friends.) Probable, which means â€Å"likely,† comes from the Latin term probabilis, which itself stems from probare, meaning â€Å"to approve, prove, or test.† Related words referring to the first sense include approbation and probity; prove itself is akin to probable, as is probe. Probability is the term for the branch of mathematics dealing with chance and is used in logic to refer to the degree to which two statements confirm each other. Probable refers to what is likely to be done, to occur, or to be true; possible refers to what can be done, to occur, or to be true. If you say something is probable, you are expressing more confidence about it than if you state that it is possible. But the distinction is significant: It is possible, for example, for anyone to become fabulously wealthy, but the probability is infinitely variable. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Yours faithfully or Yours sincerely?Is There a Reason â€Å"the Reason Why† Is Considered Wrong?How Long Should a Synopsis Be?

Poems Copmarison

Poems Copmarison Analysis of Do not go gentle into that good night The main theme in the poem Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas, is an argument to fight against the encroaching arms of death. While the word fight is never actually utilized despite its similarity to the meter of the poem, words such as rage, burn and rave are all utilized in such a way that it portrays a fight against death itself.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Poems Copmarison specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In order to better understanding the overall context of the poem, it is important to examine the last stanza which states and you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray, Do not go gentle into that good night (Thomas, 1). From this, the entire context of the poem becomes clear wherein it appears that the author wrote the poem as an appeal to his father who is near the death in that he wanted h is father to continue to live and to fight. The author phrases his arguments to fight by mentioning various types of praiseworthy behavior by wise mean, good men, grave men and wild men (Thomas, 1). This is one of the symbolisms of the poem wherein the author attempts to parallel the traits of such individuals and attributes them to his father in order to convince him to live on. This is seen in the use of the phrase Do not go gentle into that good night and Rage, rage against the dying of the light after each description of each type of man as if to imply that men of such character and distinction would not allow themselves to die so easily (Thomas, 1). This is a particularly interesting motif that the author is using since it shows that he is not ready to let his father go just yet. This may be due to unresolved issues, the love of a son for his father or an assortment of other factors that are not evident within the poem itself. Other interesting symbols utilized throughout the p oem are references to day and night as well as lightning and meteors. This is particularly interesting to take a note of since such methods of symbolism imply that the author acknowledges that all life must end yet before it does it must do so in a spectacular fashion. For example, a day does not transit into night without a bright sunset; lightning is a brief yet brilliant flash of light while a meteor is a blazing trail of fire that lights of the night sky. This seems to imply that the author wants to have one last talk with this father, that he wants him to go out blazing like the sun, like a meteor or like lightning.Advertising Looking for essay on literature languages? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The poem seemingly emphasizes that his father should go down blazing and fighting and not apparently bed stricken as derived from the phrase there on the sad height which seemingly implies being placed on a hospita l bed (Thomas, 1). Overall, the poem is an excellent piece of literature that portrays a sons love for this father and how he wanted to have more time with him. Analysis of Let Evening Come When reading the poem Let Evening Come by Jane Kenyon, at first glance, it seems to be a poem emphasizing her desire for night to come however after several readings it becomes apparent that the term evening is symbolic of the coming of death. This interpretation becomes apparent after examining the line let the cricket take up chafing as a woman takes up her needles and her yarn due to the fact that a woman taking up yarn is symbolic of a person entering old age and taking up knitting as a hobby (Kenyon, 1). Not only that, the term â€Å"crickets take up chafing† can also be interpreted as the time in which crickets stop making noises with their legs which either happens at night or when they are dead (Kenyon, 1). Throughout the poem, it becomes apparent that the author is not afraid of d eath and the reason for this is based on the last stanza which states God does not leave us comfortless (Kenyon, 1). When taking this particular phrase and combining it with references to a bottle in a ditch, a scoop of oats or air in the lung, these seemingly inconsequential aspects can actually be combined and interpreted as being symbolic of Gods all encompassing love (Kenyon, 1). In that, there is no person that God does not love and as such even if death should come we should not be afraid for God is with us. This I believe is the main theme of the poem and the message that the author is trying to impart to readers. It must also be noted that unlike other poems which speak of the coming of death this poem does not have the same haunting feel of regret or dismay rather when reading it what becomes apparent is a feeling of acceptance of the coming of death that the author imparts in each stanza and phrase and as such shows how her belief in the love of God keeps the fear of death away. Analysis of the Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock When examining this particular work by T.S. Elliot, one cannot help but think that the author wrote it while he was drunk or not in his right state of mind. It is riddled with random musings, thoughts and ideas that apparently turn and tumble upon each other until they seemingly coalesce into a stanza that barely makes logical sense. It is hard to determine whether the author is being literal in some aspects or symbolic in others with thoughts and ideas seemingly implying one thing in one interpretation yet meaning another in yet another interpretation. What is evident though is that the voice of the poem, J. Alfred Prufrock, is apparently trying to tell a woman that he has a distinct romantic interest in her yet it is hard to determine whether he is talking to her already or to himself and reveling in his own imaginary world.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Poems Copmarison specifically for you for o nly $16.05 $11/page Learn More One line in the poem the taking of toast and tea and the stanza it is in seemingly implies that the character of Prufrock is on his way to tea and is going to talk to the woman so to speak informing her of his interest (Eliot, 1). Taking this particular method of interpretation into consideration, it can be assumed that the jumbled and at times chaotic method of writing throughout the poem may in fact be the authors way of imitating the jumble of thoughts and words that goes through a mans head as he is about to tell the woman he likes that he likes her. If this is so, then the author has fully captured the chaos that would normally be in a mans mind and as such the lucidity and sheer randomness of the way in which ideas are formed and stated starts to make sense. In fact, it might just be that the inspiration for this particular poem is derived from the authors own experiences in telling the woman he loves that he likes her. Analysis o f Disillusionment of Ten O’clock The poem Disillusionment of Ten O’clock by Wallace Stevens is actually full of various metaphors and symbolic interpretations that speak volumes more than what is apparent in the poem. The main message that the author is trying to convey in the poem is that many people live hollowed out lives that lack color and make them seem like the walking dead. For example, the phrase the houses are haunted by white night-gowns, none are green, or purple with green rings, or green with yellow rings, or yellow with blue rings is meant to symbolize the fact that the people who live within the house are like the walking dead cold, lifeless and utter devoid of life (Stevens, 1). This comparison is further emphasized by the statement that says that the white night gowns are totally devoid of color. In this case, the color white symbolizes the bleak empty existences that such people live while the colors (green, blue, or purple) represent what is missing in their life such as joy, happiness and adventure. The author does end on a hopeful note in the end though when he mentions the sailor who dreams of baboons, periwinkles and catching tigers in red weather (Stevens, 1). This is emphasize that not all individuals in world today are bleak, empty and devoid of imagination but rather there still exists hope for those with imagination and a sense of adventure.Advertising Looking for essay on literature languages? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Analysis of Design In the poem Design by Robert Frost, readers are treated to the musings of the author regarding the grand design of all things and an implied question as to whether or not a grand entity shapes our destiny or if we ourselves shape our future. This evident by the first lines of the poem found a dimpled spider, fat and white, on a white heal-all, holding up a moth, like a white piece of rigid satin cloth (Frost, 1). From this, it can be seen that the author has created a scene where there is a white spider, on a white flower holding a white moth and spends the rest of the poem inquiring whether even in something so small there is a grand design that placed the spider in the right position to catch the right kind of prey. From this, Frost implies that all of us may be part of some greater design with coincidences appearing that may not be coincidences at all but rather are part of a plan for our lives. In this, Frost questions whether we have any free will at all and in fact are nothing more than moving parts in some great machine, being moved at the whim of some all powerful entity. Eliot, Thomas. The Love song of J. Alfred Prufrock. Bartleby. N.p., 1920. Web. Frost, Robert. Design. Poem Hunter. N.p., 2003. Web. Kenyon, Jane. Let evening come. American Poems. N.p., 2005. Web. Stevens, Wallace. Disillusionment of Ten O’clock. Poem Hunter. N.p., 2003. Web. Thomas, Dylan. Do not go gentle into that good night. Poets.org. New Directions, N.I.. Web.

Essay Sample on Herpes 3 Case Studies

Essay Sample on Herpes 3 Case Studies A forty year old, Hispanic female, came into my office last week with open sores and blisters on her lips and inside of her mouth. Patient said that her boyfriend has the same sores and blisters on his mouth and she may have exposed herself to his open sores. I took a culture of one of the sores that was open. The results showed that she had the herpes simplex virus, type one, known as fever blisters. I informed her that the virus usually invade the moist membrane cells of the lips, throat, or mouth. The blisters tend to combine and then disintegrate. Usually a yellowish crust will cover the sores, which should heal without scarring within two weeks. However the virus does not leave the body once you have been infected with oral herpes, it remains in a nerve positioned near the cheekbone. The patient then asked what causes an out break to return. I told her that emotional stress, fever, illness, injury, or prolonged exposure to sunlight, weaken her body’s defense against an ou tbreak. She then asked what she can do to prevent the recurrence of the fever blister. I told her to keep them clean and dry, eat a soft diet to avoid irritating the sores. I let her know that the virus is very contagious and she avoid touching the open sores and then having skin contact with other people. There is no cure for the herpes virus but I suggested the use of ointments that numb the blisters such as Orajel, or creams that prevent and relieve the sores such as Denavir. A twenty year old, Caucasian male, came into my office yesterday complaining of a stinging and blisters around his genital area. He also has had flu-like symptoms such as headaches, fever, and swollen gland for the past week. I then took a culture of an open sore on his genital. The results came back showing that he had Herpes Simplex Virus, type two. I informed him that the virus is almost always sexually transmitted and is extremely common: about 1 in 5 Americans over the age of twelve have it. After the first outbreak occurs, the herpes virus can lie dormant in nerve cells in the body for weeks, months, or even years. Stress, illness, sexual intercourse, and prolonged sun exposure may cause another outbreak. Unfortunately, no one can predict when another outbreak will occur. The patient then asked what he can do to prevent passing it on to others. I told him to avoid any sexual activity during an outbreak, and when you suspect one may be starting. Unfortunately even when you have no symptoms of genital herpes you may still pass the virus on; therefore, you should always use a latex condom during sex. Although latex condoms do not guarantee that the virus will not be passed on to your partner. The patient then asked if there is a cure for the virus. I replied by telling him that there is no cure for genital herpes; although fortunately it can be treated effectively with medication. I gave him a prescription medicine called Famvir which is proven to shorten the duration of burning, pain, itching, and tenderness associated with the herpes sores. A twenty-five year old, Caucasian female, came in to my office today and told me that she has been diagnosed with genital herpes and is thinking about having a child, but wanted to know if it would be safe for the child. I told her that it was a good idea to consult with me first because there are many factors that may concern the safety of the baby and the factors vary depending on the women. I explained to her that many women with genital herpes have healthy babies and infecting an infant with genital herpes is very rare. Women who have herpes before becoming pregnant are not likely to pass the virus to the baby because they protect the baby by passing antibodies to it during the pregnancy. She then asked me if women who have herpes are able to have a normal vaginal delivery. I then explained to her that the majority of women with genital herpes are able to deliver the baby vaginal with not complications. However it is possible for the baby to be exposed to the herpes simplex virus through vaginal deliveries and in some cases may cause brain damage to the infant; therefore it often recommended that women with active genital herpes have a c-section or caesarean section to be on the safe side. I also informed her that there are several anti-herpes medications that are sometimes taken during pregnancy in order to provide extra protection for the baby although she should consult with me first before taking these medications to be sure that they are safe for her. I then reassured her again that she and the child would be perfectly healthy in the end and the herpes simplex virus would not affect the child. You can also order a custom essay, term paper, research paper, thesis or dissertation on Herpes from our professional custom writing service which provides students with high-quality custom written papers.

Nutrition Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nutrition - Research Paper Example A sustainable food system needs to address unsuitable consumption as well as unsuitable production since both of them contributes toward negative environmental and healthy impact. Nutritional Challenges Affecting Current Food System Epidemic rise chronic disease Nutrition transition has occurred and has led to increase of cases of chronic disease which include diabetics, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. This is attributed to a large shift in both physical activity and food consumed. This shift is reflected in population by nutrition outcome such as stature and body composition changes (Kickbusch). The modern society has converged to â€Å"western diet† which is food with a high level content of sugar and saturated with fat also low in fibre content and this is the diet that is linked to chronic disease and degenerative effects (Ilona 14). Chapter four of the film highlights this scenario with a case of a family’s dilemma situation at the grocery store: due to father diabetic condition, the family is aware that a healthier diet with more fresh foods would be the most suitable for him, but they have choose from foods they can afford. As the film imply, people with low incomes are most likely to eat cheaper, processed foods, and thus more likely to suffer from obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and other diet-related health disease (Pollan). â€Å"We are taking risks with our health and the health of the natural world that are unprecedented.† Food shortage 70 percent of the poor in the world depend on agriculture for their livelihood. The current food system is not delivering enough food supply to world population. Pollan used a â€Å"plant’s eye view of the world† to explore how plants which is needed by human could be thought to have manipulated and domesticated us, rather than the other way around. Using the same hypothesis, he claims that corn has succeeded in â€Å"domesticating us† where the current food supply system has influenced destruction of their local system of farming through green house gas emission from strong economies, which contribute to, global warming ,which adversely affect, the farming system, though developed and developing countries are both victim of worsened food insecurity (Ilona16). Chapter nine of the film touches on some issues manifested by our current food system, including acute possibility of a world food shortage, the significant amount of energy that goes into food production, and the impacts of industrialized food on our health and the environment. The film points out that while the consumer may feel helpless in the face of these issues of the food system, the food system does not positively respond to consumer need. Food and water safety Through food and water, over 200 disease agent can be transmitted to various people in a population, but this food system safety issue does not receive priority it deserves compared to other infectious disease such as HIV/AIDs or tu berculosis. (Ilona 18) Chapter three of Food, Inc. focuses on one of the unexpected implication of our current food system: the occasional contamination of the food supply and the very real risks presented to the population. The film reflects on this problem by interviewing the mother of a child who died from E. coli contracted from eating a hamburger. At a global scale, there are about 1.8 million deaths caused by diarrhea

Siminar to Criminal Justice paper 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Siminar to Criminal Justice paper 4 - Essay Example 2). The multifactor approach used by Glueck and Glueck (1950, as cited in Wright, Tibbetts, & Daigle, 2008) is influential in modern criminology that applies scientific methodology. This approach stresses the point that the tendency to commit crime and violence develops through time (Glueck & Glueck, 1950, as cited in Wright, Tibbetts, & Daigle, 2008). In the cohort longitudinal studies made by Farrington and West (1990), Shannon (1982) and Racine (1949), the same trend emerged with only a minority of the subjects being responsible for committing a majority of the crimes, thus reflecting a career from crime (Wright, Tibbetts, & Daigle, 2008). A criminal career approach studies the stages of offending for a period of time (Blumstein et al., 1986, as cited in Wright, Tibbetts, & Daigle, 2008) which typically spans for a short period (beginning at adolescence and ending at early adulthood) (Blumstein, Cohen, & Farrington, 1988, as cited in Wright, Tibbetts, & Daigle, 2008). Based from t he studies, criminal behavior is not stable through time. There is an onset period that begins during the teenage years. The behavior escalates and later dwindles in early adulthood.

Philosophy 100 (4) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Philosophy 100 (4) - Essay Example His theory is contrary to the idea that there is some sort of underlying matter that is responsible for that which we experience. The type of thought that Descartes exemplified stated that we experience things through our senses, and while we might not be able to directly experience the matter that is responsible for being perceived by our senses, we know that it is there because we are in fact able to experience these senses. We know it is there because we perceive that it is there through the experience of our senses, but in the end we can only ever know it is there because of our senses because we have no way of directly experiencing matter. Berkeley’s ideas are so contrary to what a person might initially think because he wants to put our own existence as being dependent upon things that don’t have any direct effect on a person. To think about it as a solid example, Berkeley would state that the person who is walking down the street and is perceiving themselves as existing owes nothing to their own perception of themselves walking down the street and everything to the random person who sees the initial person walking down the street who is perceiving this happening. In other words, reality is not based in one’s own mind but in the minds of everyone else. While a person does not contribute to their own existence by merely being able to perceive their own existence, they are able to contribute to other people’s existence by perceiving other people. However, why is it exactly that a person can do this for another person while being incapable of doing it for themselves? We can observe the reacti ons we have upon other objects when we act upon them. Of course, this begs the question as to how a person continues to exist without being in the presence of other people constantly, but Berkeley uses this trouble in his logic to introduce the idea of God. In order to get to his point that existence depends upon being

Evaluation of Employee Training Demand Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Evaluation of Employee Training Demand - Essay Example This process is the research problem source between employee and corporation performance. After this process judgment is made whether training can actually assist in solving the problem or not. What kind of training is required is also determined. In order to evaluate and make the judgment if the employee training will assist in solving the problem or not, a number of training and non-training elements need to be considered. The training factors that should be considered include: In this aspect it is important to determine if there is a real need for training or not. This need may arise from the decreasing organizational profits, decreased productivity, increase in the costs and ineffective operations of the organizations due to the lack of proper skills and non-performance of efficient practices by the employees. In this facet of evaluating employee training demand, you need to determine that if the training is needed, why it is needed. The possible reasons can be the changing global trends according to which the skills of the employees need to be polished, it can be a legal requirement, a customer need etc. Here you determine what kind of skills training is required. ... Therefore it is important to determine what core competency needs to be improved. Which employees need training It is also important to know that which employees need what training. This is because employees in different departments need different kind of skill sets and their knowledge and learning requirements are entirely different. For example, it may be necessary for the purchase department people to have the negotiating skills training while it may not be important for the quality control department employees. How and where will the training take place During the evaluation of employee training demand it is also important to know that how will the training take place, i.e. determining will the training sessions be conducted in the office timings or not, will the trainers be hired from within the company or not, will the training sessions be conducted in the office premises or not, etc. The evaluation of training demand should also include some non-training elements, such as organization structure, work environment, salary system and etc. as they have a strong influence on the corporation's conditions. These elements are discussed below: Organizational Structure: Organizations with hierarchical structures are more prone to redundancy of work assignments. Therefore there is usually there is less need for the training of all the employees in such organizations. However in flatter structured organizations, a single employee should have a broad skill set and therefore most of the employees in such organizations have a high demand for training. Organizational Work Environment: The work environment and the working conditions of the organization also are an

Effectiveness of Marketing Communication Strategies and Technologies Term Paper

Effectiveness of Marketing Communication Strategies and Technologies - Term Paper Example It is evident from the study that a well-designed and thoroughly crafted marketing communication strategy can provide a definite competitive advantage to an organization. If we look at the prevailing corporate scenario, we can conclude very amicably that there are numerous instances where a certain product failed because it was introduced in the market through an ineffective marketing strategy. The Russian automobile products are the classic examples in this regard. They fail in the market just because of their weak marketing communication strategies. It is very essential to understand the dynamics of a market in which the proposed marketing strategy is going to be launched. According to Joshi and Hanssens, marketing communication does not only contribute towards the maximization of organization’s profit but it also creates awareness among the masses regarding the choice of available products. So an effective market communication strategy can benefit the manufacturers as well as the consumers. Every marketing strategy should involve the meticulous comprehension and research regarding the internal and external environment. According to Jackie and Sudhir, the internal environment denotes the price, product, promotion and place (marketing mix). The external environment refers towards the evaluation of multifarious factors like market and competitor analysis. Some other factors like social, technological and economic conditions also fall in the domain of external environment study. Any successful marketing strategy should incorporate these aspects to achieve the optimum success. For an effective marketing campaign, correlation between the organization’s mission statement and its marketing communication strategy is also very significant. It is very interesting to see how a unidirectional approach of all the departments of an organization yields the maximum advantage to a certain organization. Service characteristics introduced by Lovelock and Wirtz (23 6-252, 2004): inseparability, intangibility, and heterogeneity are especially relevant when it comes to speaking about product positioning in terms of high-tech environment. Various conversation technologies: chat rooms, instant messages, that have become an indivisible part of a well-established service business owning a web-site are building communities among visitors thus contributing to establishment of inter-personal relationship and professional product positioning making customers come back to use this service over and over again. (Muhammad, 45-46, 1999) Incorporating technological solutions may deliver mechanisms that delight a customer. (Lovelock & Wirtz, 236-252, 2004). A service business must be maximizing its virtual ‘touch-point’ appeal, and must develop its virtual management tools (and metrics) set. Positioning concept is relatively new, it dates back only to the 70th, however, it has been significantly changed with the impact of technology. PR efforts ha ve always been an effective communication tool mainly due to the lack of control over what is printed. (Marken, 423-441, 1997) The new high tech era involves implementation of various technologies: pretty much everything from computer-telephony integration (CTI) to data warehousing and internet in order to stimulate the flow of information within and out of the organization. (Rosello, 96, 1997) The high-tech environment has taken place of uncontrolled press releases as means for successful PR programs, as internet is still far less controlled then the press.

Attachment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Attachment - Research Paper Example nt scientific articles and reports on the influences of parents and caregivers on brain development, their relationship to theorist and application to ECE (Early Childhood Education), and how these relationships and applications help answer my question. The articles study brain development after birth from a socioeconomic, environmental, dietary, social class, and strata points of view. In 2004, researcher Brenda Jones Harden explores developmental procedures at cognitive levels in â€Å"Safety and Stability for Foster Children: A Developmental Perspective† (Harden, 2004). Phyllis Porter’s 2007 â€Å"Early Brain Development: What parents and caregivers need to know!† argues that children brought up in environmentally poor households like unmaintained orphanages become familiar to less sounds, colors, images, socializations, and visions. Jednorà ³g, et al, wrote â€Å"The influence of socioeconomic status on children’s brain structure† in 2012 to determine the effect of parental SES (Socioeconomic Status) on children’s brain development (Jednorà ³g, et al., 2012). Theresa Hawley and Megan Gunner 2000 edition of â€Å"Starting Smart: How Early Experiences Affect Brain Development† involves the latest developments in brain studies on children, which have shed light on how a child’s brain keeps on budding and developing â€Å"postnatally† (Hawley and Gunner, 2000). Michelle Loman and Megan Gunnar’s 2010 article â€Å"Early experience and the development of stress reactivity and regulation in children† theorizes that infants who spend early parts of their childhood in institutes, or endure abuses from their parents, caregivers, or siblings of origin are in jeopardy of building emotional and interactive issues echoing illnesses of emotion and attention control. Lastly, Daniel A. Hackman  Martha J. Farah say SES is related to mental accomplishments all through a child’s life in their 2009 research article â€Å"Socioeconomic status and the developing brain.† Hawley

Evaluation of Employee Training Demand Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Evaluation of Employee Training Demand - Essay Example This process is the research problem source between employee and corporation performance. After this process judgment is made whether training can actually assist in solving the problem or not. What kind of training is required is also determined. In order to evaluate and make the judgment if the employee training will assist in solving the problem or not, a number of training and non-training elements need to be considered. The training factors that should be considered include: In this aspect it is important to determine if there is a real need for training or not. This need may arise from the decreasing organizational profits, decreased productivity, increase in the costs and ineffective operations of the organizations due to the lack of proper skills and non-performance of efficient practices by the employees. In this facet of evaluating employee training demand, you need to determine that if the training is needed, why it is needed. The possible reasons can be the changing global trends according to which the skills of the employees need to be polished, it can be a legal requirement, a customer need etc. Here you determine what kind of skills training is required. ... Therefore it is important to determine what core competency needs to be improved. Which employees need training It is also important to know that which employees need what training. This is because employees in different departments need different kind of skill sets and their knowledge and learning requirements are entirely different. For example, it may be necessary for the purchase department people to have the negotiating skills training while it may not be important for the quality control department employees. How and where will the training take place During the evaluation of employee training demand it is also important to know that how will the training take place, i.e. determining will the training sessions be conducted in the office timings or not, will the trainers be hired from within the company or not, will the training sessions be conducted in the office premises or not, etc. The evaluation of training demand should also include some non-training elements, such as organization structure, work environment, salary system and etc. as they have a strong influence on the corporation's conditions. These elements are discussed below: Organizational Structure: Organizations with hierarchical structures are more prone to redundancy of work assignments. Therefore there is usually there is less need for the training of all the employees in such organizations. However in flatter structured organizations, a single employee should have a broad skill set and therefore most of the employees in such organizations have a high demand for training. Organizational Work Environment: The work environment and the working conditions of the organization also are an

Attachment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Attachment - Research Paper Example nt scientific articles and reports on the influences of parents and caregivers on brain development, their relationship to theorist and application to ECE (Early Childhood Education), and how these relationships and applications help answer my question. The articles study brain development after birth from a socioeconomic, environmental, dietary, social class, and strata points of view. In 2004, researcher Brenda Jones Harden explores developmental procedures at cognitive levels in â€Å"Safety and Stability for Foster Children: A Developmental Perspective† (Harden, 2004). Phyllis Porter’s 2007 â€Å"Early Brain Development: What parents and caregivers need to know!† argues that children brought up in environmentally poor households like unmaintained orphanages become familiar to less sounds, colors, images, socializations, and visions. Jednorà ³g, et al, wrote â€Å"The influence of socioeconomic status on children’s brain structure† in 2012 to determine the effect of parental SES (Socioeconomic Status) on children’s brain development (Jednorà ³g, et al., 2012). Theresa Hawley and Megan Gunner 2000 edition of â€Å"Starting Smart: How Early Experiences Affect Brain Development† involves the latest developments in brain studies on children, which have shed light on how a child’s brain keeps on budding and developing â€Å"postnatally† (Hawley and Gunner, 2000). Michelle Loman and Megan Gunnar’s 2010 article â€Å"Early experience and the development of stress reactivity and regulation in children† theorizes that infants who spend early parts of their childhood in institutes, or endure abuses from their parents, caregivers, or siblings of origin are in jeopardy of building emotional and interactive issues echoing illnesses of emotion and attention control. Lastly, Daniel A. Hackman  Martha J. Farah say SES is related to mental accomplishments all through a child’s life in their 2009 research article â€Å"Socioeconomic status and the developing brain.† Hawley

Alfred Doolittle’s Lower Class Representation In Pygmalion Essay Example for Free

Alfred Doolittle’s Lower Class Representation In Pygmalion Essay Alfred Doolittles Lower Class Representation in Pygmalion Realist author George Bernard Shaws Pygmalion challenges Englands upper class to realize the pointlessness of their flamboyant lifestyle and pokes fun at this society. Shaw writes to expose the differences in the lifestyles of the social classes and how different characters react to their status. Shaw uses Alfred Doolittle and his social status to depict a character that freely accepts his status and his reaction to eventually moving up social classes. Because of his dislike of middle class morality, appreciation of and the freedom that accompanies his lower social status, and his eventual climb into the upper class, Doolittle presents a desire to remain in undeserving poverty. Doolittle, throughout the play, demonstrates a dislike for middle class morality. Before he becomes rich, Doolittle defines middle class morality as an excuse of never giving me anything. Doolittle represents a dislike for middle class morality and wishes for cheerfulness and a song like those in the upper classes. Doolittle believes middle class morality claims its victims. Eventually Doolittle becomes a victim when he is given money to lecture. Doolittle becomes apart of the upper class but dislikes being viewed as a member of this society. Doolittle says that he believes lower class men look at him and envy him. Doolittle says he, in fact, will look down to the lower class helpless and envy them. Doolittle does not like the upper classes and middle class morality. Throughout the play, Doolittle presents characteristics that suggest he accepts his current lower class social status and enjoys the freedom associated with his status. When asked by Colonial Pickering if he has no morals, Doolittle Stokes 2 establishes his status and distance from upper class characteristics by replying, I cant afford them, Governor. Doolittle comments to Henry Higgins that undeserving poverty is my line. Doolittle represents an individual who lives in poverty and accepts his current placement in society. He continues by saying, Im undeserving; and I mean to go on being undeserving. Doolittle does not want to be apart of the upper class society because so much is expected of them. Doolittle is extremely happy being in his current social status. He says, They (millionaires) dont know what happiness is. Doolittle believes the upper class is unhappy because they are living an imaginary life. Doolittle does not wish to be apart of the upper class because he would be expected to speak and act properly in order  to retain his status within the class. Doolittle, an undeserving member of the lower class, is comfortable and happy in his lower class social situation. Doolittle suddenly encounters money and is thrust into upper class society. Doolittle receives a share in a trust and is required to lecture for three thousand a year. Doolittle freely accepts the financial gain but soon realizes the social obligations that accompany it. Doolittle says, I have to live for others and not myself. Individuals who seek to take advantage of his newfound wealth surround him. Doolittle believes that everybody touches me for money. Doolittle sights one example of how individuals with money are treated better than those without money. Before he had money doctors would shove him out of the hospitals. Once the doctors realize Doolittle has money they cant live unless they looks after me twice a day. Doolittle, who retains the personality of a Stokes 3 member of the lower class, is upset because people are using him for money. Doolittle feels his is now expected to provide for everyone. Doolittle says he was happy before he got the money. Doolittle, who is propelled into the upper class, recognizes people are using him. He wishes and strives to remain the same person he was before he encountered money. Doolittles dislike of middle class morality, appreciation of and the freedom that accompanies his lower social status, and his eventual climb into the upper class presents his desire to remain in undeserving poverty. Doolittle, a character who emerges financially from poverty to being rich, strives to maintain his lower class status and the way of life they accompanied this status. Shaw, by using Doolittle, successfully presents a character that is happy with and comes to appreciate his status in the lower class society and wishes to remain in that social class.

Goals and objectives of Power Supermarkets

Goals and objectives of Power Supermarkets Introduction Prior to 1997, Pennys often shared sites with Power Supermarkets, also at the time an ABF subsidiary; however this practice ceased after the sale of PSL to Tesco in 1997. ABF decided to maintain control of Primark rather than sell it on also, despite the fact that it is the only non-food part of the operation. In July 2005 Primark/Associated British Foods purchased the 120 branch Littlewoods retail chain for  £409 million. Some of the stores, variously reported as 30 or 50, will be converted into branches of Primark, but the majorities are expected to be sold on to other retailers. The Littlewoods catalogue business has been retained by the Barclay brothers and will continue to operate under the Littlewoods brand. The company employs over 10,000 people, and own several brands, including: Atmosphere womans wear Cedar wood State casual menswear Denim Company casual menswear Butler Webb formal menswear early days baby/childrens wear Rebel boys wear Secret Possessions lingerie Young Dimension childrens wear The company is known for tending towards the budget end of the market, in contrast with many other clothing retailers which have gone up market. Analyze the goals and objectives using the mission statement as the basis. Mission Statement: To give ordinary folk the chance to buy the same thing as rich people. Aims and Objectives: Long term objectives: To always be the first choice of customers To make sure that customers stick with primark and should not opt any other store that is competitor of primark The business within the organization will always be customer centric. The remain the leader of the market all the way To train all the employees up to international standards and let them aware of customer relationship management. To train the employees for managerial levels. Encourage, drive and support initiatives, innovation and creativity, capitalizing on opportunities to support operational goals and strategies. To achieve international standards all along Drive and support ISO standards throughout the Organization Foster an open and positive team environment to receive and disseminate direction, ideas and changes to all store levels and appropriate business partners. Specific objectives To provide cheap products Control shrink, expenses, and payroll. Ensure sales floor is adequately stocked, signed, and merchandised to brand presentation. Continually evaluate and react to performance issues while proactively hiring, developing and retaining the stores team in a timely manner. Analyze and measure business trends; develop and implement plans to maximize sales and meet or exceed goals and objectives. Innovations Keep the environment within the organization conflict free. Never ever compromise on rules and regulations. provide best possible services To keep the environment clean ant tidy so that customers doesnt get any messy view. Provide high quality, fashion basics at value for money prices. To achieve an organizational goals and objectives every organization, firm or company have some short and long term strategies to achieve their goals and objective to maximize their wealth or profits. Same like other organizations, since 1991 Objectivity has been developing several systems for Primark using different technologies. Recently a sophisticated Purchase Order and Purchase Order Matching system has been developed as well as a web based Stock replenishment system. Objectivity also maintains and supports all Primarks software applications and databases on a 247 basis. This includes Unify, Microsoft, Oracle and Java technologies. Computerized customs clearance, dedicated warehousing and distribution services facilitate stores in their control of stocks to support sales. Computerized up to the minute sales and stock information, by size and color is available to management at any time. Primark thrives in a culture that recognizes human resourcefulness and energy as the driver, rather than the systems that support it. Selecting, customizing and implementing a plan can be a complex process. These are some steps of the process including: Review the employers controlled group and/or affiliated service group situation. Design a plan tailored to the needs of the owners, employees and the business itself. If the plan is already in existence, they review the existing plan provisions and recommend changes to fully meet the employers goals and objectives. Prepare plan documents as required by the IRS. Prepare the request for an IRS determination letter, if applicable. Prepare the Summary Plan Description required to be distributed to plan participants. Prepare customized enrollment and administrative materials. Conduct employee meetings to communicate the provisions of the plan. Defined Contribution Plan Record keeping and Administration We perform the following services in order to provide for smooth and efficient plan operation: Calculate employee eligibility and plan entry. Maintain participant vested percentage records. Process each payroll, allocating contributions and loan payments according to the participants investment elections. Process fund transfers in accordance with participant elections. Determine eligibility for allocation of employer contributions and forfeitures. Allocate employer and employee contributions. Allocate plan earnings. Allocate forfeitures, if applicable. Distribution processing: Calculation of distribution amount, preparation of required distribution notices. Loan processing: Set up of loan accounts, preparation of promissory note and amortization schedule and tracking loan repayments. Hardship withdrawal processing: Determination of hardship distribution amount and preparation of application forms. Reconcile trust accounts. Prepare customized participant statements. Critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses, taking into consideration all the environmental factors. Strengths: The Primark products are in good quality as compare to their competitors, thats why customers prefer their products than any other stores products. Primark has many outlets which are easily accessible to their customer which we can easily find in every high street and town centre. Primark has valuable brand among their customer thats the reason that every outlet is full of crowd of customers. Primark products are affordable to their customer while their competitors are expensive their products for example the majority product of Primark under  £10 which are very low price which attract the customers for buying. They are very good in management and keep properly recruited staffs which help in satisfying their customers. Primark has modern fully equipped information systems which are help full in managing the organizations, which is help full in increasing their productivity profit and preventing any loss for organization. Primark has diversified in different products which cover the needs of kids, mans, womens and youngster, thats why we see every type of products for every customers. In my opinion the shop Primark is an absolute gift to all those students and people who are strapped for cash and need something new to brighten up their wardrobe! Primark is a large shop in many shopping malls in towns across the country which sells fashionable and reasonable quality clothes for a bargain price. These days clothes are more expensive than a few years ago, meaning children and students buying clothes can get far less for what they spend, but alas there is a saviour, Primark came along selling the same type of clothes as Top shop, Miss Selfridge, and accessories as Accessorize for a tenth of the price. Weaknesses: Although Primark has low prices but opinion of many customers is not trust trustworthy because their are thinking if we buy in low price than products will be not durable. Their stores products are not properly set for their customers so there are the main problems with Primark. Untidy, messy, crowded, and hot and generally a very tiresome, hot and bothered shopping experience but lets not over look their redeeming features. The customers services in most cases fail to help their customers in providing their choice, size and color so their fore most customers are not happy and dissatisfy their customers from the organizations, which make bed image among their customers, and directly impact the selling of organization. They layout Primarks products are not properly managed which create bed impact on the customers, so their fore the organizations should properly manage the products in specific sections which should help in finding the products for the customers. Primark outlets have no car park area which cause difficulty for the customers which losing so many customers because of their no proper car parking area, as majority their competitors have their own car parking area. In Primarks customers services are very few while customers in crowed thats why you see long and long queues, which are very big problem for their customers, while their competitors properly manage their customers, and you never see long queue there. Recommend a strategic model for the organization. Justify the choice of the model Strategic Model: Strategic plan for a strategic Model provides a roadmap for success and the framework for clear communication of what is important and what is not important for an organization progression/succession e.g. Primark.Without one your organization is at risk of underperforming or even failure. Strategic planning is a key leadership instrument and process for deciding what the company should do. It begins with by defining organizational aims and purposes, followed by formulating the means to achieve those purposes. Most importantly, it provides direction for implementation of operational and tactical planning. Strategic planning models in business can simulate situations requiring risk reduction or training inputs. It can also be a tool for developing a consensus among the executive body. It can guide managers into decisions and actions that have a consistent, rational affect on the organization in a way that satisfies top management. Thousands of organizations rangingin size from Fortune 500 companiesto small early stage businesses are using the Strategic Planning to reachnew levels of success. It is widely recognized as one of the best templates for writing a strategic plan will help you to: Gaina competitive advantage. Takea practical, yet thoroughapproach to strategic planning. Reduce the amountof time needed to develop your plan. Analyze your current situation from both an internal and external vantage point. Establisha well defined vision for thefuture of your organization. Develop clear andactionablegoals, objectives, strategies and tactics. Create an implementation planthatinstillsaccountability for results and follow-through. Definepriorities and bring morefocus to what is important. Increase accountability. Improve productivity. Write an easy to understand and easy toexecute plan. Achieve alignment with overall goals throughout your organization. Build a comprehensive road map for success. This type of strategic Model planning providesa complete, yeteasy to followstrategic planning template that is proven to get results. The Strategic Planning Workbookexplains and illustrates thestrategic planning process including development and implementation of the plan.Itincludeseverything you need tocreate a comprehensive strategic plan that will produce desired results. Strategic planning doesnt have to be complicated or difficult. Easily develop your plan and reduce the amount of time needed to complete anexcellentroadmap for success with the help of this popular planning template. These and other important elements: How toconductinternal and external analyses and what should be included in each. Ways to craft relevant and motivating mission, vision and purpose statements. The difference between strategies and tactics and how to draft them. How goals and objectives for your organization are effectively created along with tips for ensuring that they are achievement-oriented. Why a detailed action plan is critical to a plans success and how to develop one. A complete understanding of the entire strategic planning process including examples and complete explanations of each step. An easy step-by-step process for completing your plan. The Strategic Planning bookwas written asa collaborative effort by several strategic planningprofessionals who have significant experience in facilitating, writing, and executing strategic plans. The authors have taken great care toavoid overwhelming the reader withunnecessary information while presenting a practical, real world approach to strategic planning. Strategic Model Planning is very necessary For: Executivesand managersinterested in leading theircompanies to new levels of success. Entrepreneurs looking for ways to write plans that get noticed by investors. Small business owners needing aguideto profitable growth. Non-profitorganizationsinterested in developing a sound strategic plan. Anyonewho doesntwant to spend thetime or moneyon seminars and consultants. Planning team facilitators who need a standard planningmanual for each member of the team. Anyone needing a straightforward, step-by-step guide for creating a winning strategic plan. In response to the growing need for an efficient and effective process to develop competency models that can be easily integrated into employee selection and development programs, the industrial/organizational psychologists and the technologists of Bigby, Havis Associates developed ASSESS Strategic Success Modeling (SSM). SSM is a software-aided process designed to define the competencies important for success in a given job. If a model has not been developed or the current model is out-of-date and needs revising, a new or revised model can be developed quickly and easily using the Strategic Success Model building process. ASSESS Strategic Success Modeling is a process by which an organization, with the facilitation of an SSM consultant, can easily develop a for a position or group of positions, or can update an existing, outdated model. Model building is initiated with a card-sort process that is facilitated with competency cards and sorting pads for participants. The overall process is facilitated with computer software that which is easily downloaded from the ASSESS website. If a model has been previously developed and is current, no formal SSM process is required. The SSM consultant, with input from Human Resources or key managers, can map the existing model directly to ASSESS using a combination of the SSM software and the ASSESS website. Developing an effective competency model requires an analysis of the critical components of a job or set of jobs in relation to the goals of the organization. For a competency model to be useful and accepted within the organization there must be: Alignment with the business strategy Involvement of key stakeholders Content that is straightforward and clear Integration into HR practices Communication of the model Continued refinement as the work environment changes. Top-Level Top-level managers, or top managers, are also called senior management or executives. These individuals are at the top one or two levels in an organization, and hold titles such as: Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Chief Operational Officer (COO), Chief Information Officer (CIO), Chairperson of the Board, President, Vice president, Corporate head. Top managers in most organizations have a great deal of managerial experience and have moved up through the ranks of management within the company or in another firm. An exception to this is a top manager who is also an entrepreneur; such an individual may start a small company and manage it until it grows enough to support several levels of management. Many top managers possess an advanced degree, such as a Masters in Business Administration, but such a degree is not required. Middle Level Middle-level managers, or middle managers, are those in the levels below top managers. Middle managers job titles include: General manager, Plant manager, Regional manager, and Divisional manager. Middle-level managers are responsible for carrying out the goals set by top management. They do so by setting goals for their departments and other business units. Middle managers can motivate and assist first-line managers to achieve business objectives. Middle managers may also communicate upward, by offering suggestions and feedback to top managers. Because middle managers are more involved in the day-to-day workings of a company, they may provide valuable information to top managers to help improve the organizations bottom line. Low Level Low level managers are those in the levels below the top and middle managers. Low-level managers are responsible for all carrying out the goals set by top and middle management. They do so by setting goals for their departments and other business units. And the low level management do all work which pass the middle level management of the organization. The report is focused on the following aspects of Primark: Example: According to Primark policies and strategies while competing with other competitors in the UK market, they have some long term strategies in which they focus on these factors very seriously: Vital Statistics: Retail footage, number of stores, location types and formats, new store openings, financial performance, latest company developments. Competitive Position: Brand positioning and uniqueness of offer, store environments, profile of target customers, product segment authority, pricing strategies, marketing activities, service levels, benchmarking against key competitors. Future Developments: Location strategy and new format development, company weaknesses and potential threats. Employees Incentives: Primark focus very seriously to provide incentives to their employees including their wages, medical facilities and special leave facilities as well. Customers Special Offers: Primark always offers cheaper and very competitive prices offers on their different products according to their demands for every class Customer. Which is very best policy of Primark while competing with other competitors? Identify the key performance indicators to measure the performance and hence the information requirements. All Primark have been equipped with proper CCTV and security guards to ensure not losing any single items of the organization. Beside that electronic sensor are made that can help in preventing any products and items. Primark has got proper trainee staffs which increases the performances for organizations and makes better profit in achieving there specific targets. Primark composed of many different products, and each products are comprises of cheap processes with better quality, so thats they attract more customers as compared to other business organizations. Primark are monitoring by head of departments, which is facilitating the core value for the organization. By offering the better qualities with cheaper prices, it gets more profits every year as compared other organization like Tesco Sainsbury ect. Primark is using specific tools for advertisement which helps to increase the productivities for the Primark, which helps in archiving objectives smoothly. Primark has own strong brands which also source for the organizations performance and productivities. Now days many of the branches of Primarks are situated in every town and high street in UK, so that every customers can gets easily accessible required products. Low prices and best qualitys also helping in performances of the Primark. Primarks staffs are very cooperative and friendless to the customers, so thats they can attract more customers and hence affecting the efficiency of their business very easily. After establishing the information requirements and discuss strategic information systems which would give a competitive edge to this organization. You may also include information systems that enhance the Customer Relations Management. The importance of effective customer relationships as a key to customer value and hence shareholder value is widely emphasized. In order to enhance these relationships, the application of IT to marketing through customer relationship management (CRM) software, e-commerce and other initiatives is growing rapidly. This study examines the factors that influence the successful deployment of CRM applications, with particular emphasis on those factors which are distinct from other areas of application. Using the analytic induction method, success factors were derived from five in-depth case studies. Resulting factors underemphasized in previous literature include: the need for project approval procedures which allow for uncertainty; the need to leverage models of best practice; the importance of prototyping new processes, not just IT; and the need to manage for the delivery of the intended benefits, rather than just implementing the original specification An efficient SAP CRM solution implementation significantly improves efficiency of operations and drives down operating costs and this system also helps to enhance customer relationship management. We can understand that system very clearly in detail as : The Client A large company engaged in providing integrated mail and document management solutions. The Challenge The client planned to integrate various business processes across the organization in order to improve their agility and deliver shareholder and customer value through faster and more efficient operations. The client objectives were to: Implement a single ERP system for an integrated approach to maintain accurate and complete customer data and transaction information Integrate all order-to-cash and leasing functions to streamline operations and reduce costs Data conversion from legacy system into SAP including interfacing and reconciliation between the SAP and Siebel systems Provide accurate and timely information for better decision making Manage customer relationships more strategically making it easier for customers to do business with them Drive down operating costs by 5% resulting in annualized savings Reduce the level of complexity, effort and time required to maintain and run all their systems Reduce time taken for accepting orders by 75%. The Solution The client decided to implement SAP CRM software for all their Customer Relationship Management activities. After understanding the business requirements and the aggressive implementation time frames, Patni suggested an on-site / offshore model for this project. Patni was responsible for: Creating specifications to integrate processes across applications and business units Introducing standards and procedures based on Six-sigma methodologies Improving system performance using efficient coding and design techniques Developing innovative methods to meet user requirements and in-house software for custom reports and interfaces Development of a real-time interface with Dun and Bradstreet and in-house Database using SAP CRM like BDT (Business Data Toolset) and BADI Business Application Development Interface) to validate customer information The Benefits The SAP CRM database was a centralized source of customer information for all business units. Some of the benefits were as follows: Reduced operating costs by 5%. Eliminated over 2 million duplicate and obsolete records during implementation which resulted in reduction of incorrect mailed invoices, equipment shipments and pick ups. Consolidated and reduced the approx 200,000 Customer Account Numbers to less than half that number during implementation. This reduced the compensation adjustments. Standardized customer creation and maintenance processes across business units reduced the consolidation efforts required for business information reports. Introduced new processes and creation of knowledge repository helped the client move to a process oriented approach. Increased the accuracy of information thus reducing billing errors and resulting fines. Discuss the ethical and social issues associated with usage of IS/IT in the organization. Ethical strategy: Primark has been working within its supply chains for several years prior to making its commitment public by joining the Ethical Trading Initiative (E.T.I.) www.ethicaltrade.org in May 2006. Primark defined its Ethical Trade Strategy in 2006. In 2008 they have entered the second phase of its implementation. Implementation of phase 2 will ensure that factories making 80% of all purchases are assessed. 135,120 workers employed in these units have had their working conditions assessed, and improved where necessary. Audits are conducted by Primarks own regional based Ethical Trade Managers and third party specialist auditors. 38% of our initial audits to date have been unannounced, and the rest take place within a pre agreed window. After the initial audit their Ethical Trade specialists work with the suppliers to support them through remediation. Training is offered to suppliers and their makers on particular issues and best practice, at regular intervals. Follow-up audits are conducted after three months from the initial audit. Primark has to report on its activity annually to the Ethical Trading Initiative and they have had encouraging feedback on their latest annual report. They share many of their suppliers with their competitors on the high street. All workers making these goods will be paid the same weekly wage. All new suppliers are risk assessed prior to supplying their initial orders to Primark. Primark recognizes that shared learning and collaboration is one of the most successful ways to achieve sustained positive progression with its suppliers factories. Primark participate in the ETI- supported National Home worker Group in India and are one of the founder members of the Wages Group. CODE OF CONDUCT Employment is freely chosen Freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining are respected Working conditions are safe and hygienic Child labour shall not be used Living wages are paid Working hours are not excessive No discrimination is practiced Regular employment is provided No harsh or inhumane treatment is allowed Social Strategy Many companies have dabbled in social technologies, ranging from blogs to profiles on social networking sites. But almost all of these efforts are one-off technology deployments, instead of being part of a master plan on how to engage customers and employees on a strategic level. This session will lay out a framework, which Forrester calls the POST method that helps companies understand how to leverage social technologies. POST is an acronym for People, Objectives, Strategy, Technology and is the order in which companies need to build their social strategy. People: You have to understand how your target customer uses social technologies today and in the future. Objectives: Given how your customers use technologies, what business objectives can you realistically meet with social technologies. We believe there are five objectives companies can meet better and faster. Listening Talking Energizing Supporting, and Embracing. Strategy: After identifying your business objective, what is your strategy on how you are going to achieve it A deep understanding of which Web 2.0 technologies and approaches work for which objectives is essential. Technology: Once the other steps are done, then, and only then, should companies focus on which technologies to use. All too often, we have companies asking us which blogging software should we use when the question should be why we should have a blog at all knowing your objectives will make winnowing and selecting the right technology vendors a much easier process. References: http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/primark/history.html 11/10/2008 11:30pm http://www.ethicalprimark.com/ethical.html 12/10/2008 10:00pm http://www.ethicalprimark.com/?gclid=CJiSi7-7yJYCFRpUEAodaGtoxg 12/10/2008 11:00pm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primark#Child_labour 13/10/2008 7:25pm http://www.managementhelp.org/aboutfml/what-it-is.htm 24/10/2008 8:20pm http://www.patni.com/resource-center/collateral/crm/CS-SAP_CRM_Solution.html 28/10/2008 9:13pm http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Log-Mar/Management-Levels.html 01/11/2008 11:50pm http://en.oreilly.com/webexsf2008/public/schedule/dtail/2277 http://www.mybusinessbooks.com/our_books.cfm?action=detailstart=1prod=4 02/11/2008 9:25am