Health Service and Facility Planning

Question: Depict about the Health Service and Facility Planning. Answer: Mass affirmation revealed from the Western NSW inhabitants. Inpatient care information grandstand the chance of addition in the quantity of patients influenced by interminable heart issues with associative ascent in the term of remains in the emergency clinic. Outpatient care pounding with the regularly flooding referral and crisis cases are confronting the test of stable staff proportion to handle the circumstance wisely and consequently require development and upgradation. The mobile consideration should be patched up too. In the obtrusive cardiology classification stable information bank to store the recovered data using the data innovation apparatuses are totally vital as demonstrated by study. With the flooding populace of patients requiring escalated cross examination of injuries the offices that are wild presently is found to miss the mark. Among the non intrusive cardiology benefits the scarcity of room and concerned staff has been a constraint for echocardiography office arr angement. The hole in the need and access to cardiovascular MRI has likewise been distinguished. Further the arrhythmia places are in desperate requirement for presenting dire pacemaker usage administration for the tremendous extent of maturing populace. Increment in the frequencies of the cardiovascular breakdown request the concerned office in the SLHD to experience more infrastructural improvement to fulfill the needs of great importance. The walking administration requires the documentation of the clinical information in the electronically as electronic clinical records fit for being open without any problem. Cardiothoracic medical procedure notwithstanding the vascular medical procedure units call for additional modernization and innovative upgradation through association of novel apparatuses and master workforce. Therefore the general situation in the SLHD cardiology stream unit albeit saw as steady and good, yet to additionally include and use more up to date and age fit type s of gear and offices to guarantee better patient recuperation, a careful renovating and modernization is required in this area (Northern NSW, 2013). Catchment and converse Catchment Profiles: The catchment profile as for SLHD uncovers that the social insurance offices pertinent to the cardiology stream are completed in three significant clinics specifically, the RPA Hospital, the Concord Hospital and the Canterbuy Hospital. The inhabitants of these particular territories are thusly profited out of the administrations with a significant extent of the all out bed portion in these referenced emergency clinics saved for the nearby occupants as it were. Be that as it may, cases of opposite catchment status are apparent too with the patient inflow from the abroad countries and neighborhood regions and abutting regions and different regions crowding these submits in request to get quality human services administration (Northern NSW, 2013). Situational Analysis: Key Issues On assessment of the circumstances that are in noticeable quality in association with the SLHD it was separated that so as to guarantee the smooth working of the current administrations and practices with scopes for additional advancement in the nature of office accessible, positive procedures fitting to the particular case situation should be tended to and actualized, all things considered, at the earliest opportunity. An all encompassing and association based technique is prescribed in such manner to guarantee the permeation of the doled out obligations in a progressive way with the positive ramifications being apparent at each period of the authoritative system. Related to these, the area medicinal services administration plan, region correspondence plan, network investment plan, research key arrangement, working key arrangement and training key arrangement might be revised in this unique situation (NSW, 2016). Needs The prompt needs are to be isolated out of the various suggestions to complete the occupations ideal in a savvy yet proficient way. More profound test into the SLHD cardiology stream unit conditions brought to front line the accompanying boss issues that should be tended to desperately: Presentation of imaging gadgets viz. heart MRI, crossover labs cardiovascular CT, echocardiography. Usage of novel types of gear with the guide of sufficient financing Management of more current remedial intercessions and reconnaissance over models of care Patch up of the data frameworks using telemedicine and data innovation (IT) apparatuses and electronic databases Upgrade of co-appointment care with limited medical clinic use Commonly responsive and open finished framework adaptable to changes and case appropriated requests of the patients The needs set according to the requirements of the patients and on cautious assessment of the emergency clinic setting in SLHD are to be settled adjusting to the global wellbeing office rules (TAHPI, 2014). Future Services Profile: Investigating significant explores and distributed articles in the given setting, created enough confirmations to help the requirement for execution and follow up in regards to the current medicinal services practices and offices with appropriate accentuation being laid upon the multifaceted parts of care conveyance for patients especially for the individuals who are approaching the finish of their lives alongside the distinguished boundaries that blocks the advancement in such basically sick patients (OConnell et al., 2014). Clinical assessment and examination dependent on companion contemplates are wanted to get a far reaching diagram of information relating to consider mortality, prognostic components and treatment results among patients with explicit clinical conditions comparable to the socio-segment highlights and both clinical and treatment factors (Patterson estimated time of arrival l., 2014). Consequently extrapolating the discoveries recovered from appropriate examinations into the wellbeing plan setting in the cardiology stream unit of the SLHD, Australia the cutting edge models and systems pertinent to the specific area complying with the job depiction of clinical administrations as set forward by the capable authority of the NSW, Australia. Key and useful arranging basically incorporates alluding to least center administrations grid for the appropriate degree of clinical practice and in this way decide the ideal degrees of center administrations. Examination of the current center administrations with the necessary center help so as to satisfy the prerequisites and extemporize an arrangement in like manner has likewise been referenced. Along these lines cognizant and canny activities in conceiving and actualizing an appropriate wellbeing administration plan for the SLHD cardiology stream unit will prepare for positive wellbeing results among the troubled populace getting care from these offices. Models of Care: Key Goals Destinations Systems Proposals Holding the echocardiography specialized staff Limiting the workforce move from open to private division emergency clinics Climb in the compensation of the concerned workforce Scale up of the compensation of the medicinal services experts through a legitimate spending plan Suit enormous number of cardiovascular patients in the inpatient units Fulfilling up to the needs of the regularly expanding number of cardiovascular infection victims Increment in the quantity of beds limit Acceleration in the accessibility of the beds for affirmation of the cardiovascular patients through sufficient subsidizing Outpatient units, walking care units, cardiothoracic medical procedure, vascular medical procedure units should be extended and overhauled Satisfying the infrastructural requests, guaranteed well prepared office, staying up with the cutting edge developing advances and developments Workforce support up Electronic wellbeing record Cardiovascular imaging office Half breed Lab office Establishment of present day supplies and presentation of telemedicine idea for information stockpiling and recovery Obtrusive cardiology methodology, arrhythmia administration, cardiovascular breakdown administration are required to co-ordinate with each other Collective and association approach finish in better assistance results Co-appointment and comprehension among the social insurance settings offering comparable offices Ad lib of an assent based uniform working system for social insurance suppliers with scope for referrals and confirmations under extraordinary conditions Address the epidemiological requests concerning increment in populace thickness alongside pervasive co-morbidities Increment the normal future of everyone with care being given to the critically ill patients Profoundly complex and modernized foundation to assist the patients out of luck Redo of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) office References: Carter, R., Vos, T., Moodie, M., Haby, M., Magnus, A., Mihalopoulos, C. (2014). Need setting in wellbeing: roots, depiction and use of the Australian Assessing CostEffectiveness initiative.Expert survey of pharmacoeconomics results research. Grol, R., Wensing, M., Eccles, M., Davis, D. (Eds.). (2013).Improving patient consideration: the execution of progress in human services. John Wiley Sons. Hou, X. Y., Rego, J., Service, M. (2013). Survey article: paramedic training openings and difficulties in Australia.Emergency Medicine Australasia,25(2), 114-119. Jamieson, L. M., Paradies, Y. C., Eades, S., Chong, A., Maple-Brown, L., Morris, P., Brown, A. (2012). Ten standards pertinent to wellbeing research among Indigenous Australian populations.Medical Journal of Australia,197(1), 16. Lozano, R., Naghavi, M., Foreman, K., Lim, S., Shibuya, K., Aboyans, V., AlMazroa, M. A. (2013). Worldwide and territorial mortality from 235 reasons for death for 20 age bunches in 1990 and 2010: a methodical examination for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010.The Lancet,380(9859), 2095-2128. McInnes, E., Middleton, S., Gardner, G., Haines, M., Haertsch, M., Paul, C. L., Castaldi, P. (2012). A subjective investigation of partner perspectives on the conditions for and results of suc

Donts for Getting Letters of Recommendation for Graduate School

Donts for Getting Letters of Recommendation for Graduate School Composing letters of suggestion is by and large piece of an employees work. Understudies need these letters to get into graduate schools. Without a doubt, graduate school entrance advisory boards by and large wont acknowledge applications that come up short on these significant letters since they mirror the teacher or employees appraisal of an understudy candidate. Understudies need not feel frail in the process since they do, without a doubt, have a lot of impact over the letters that employees compose. While educators depend on an understudies scholarly history recorded as a hard copy letters of proposal, the past isnt the only thing that is important. Educators impressions of you are significant as well - and impressions continually change dependent on your conduct. There are things you ought to maintain a strategic distance from to guarantee that the teachers you approach for letters see you in a positive light. To stay away from issues, dont: Confuse a Faculty Members Response Youve requested that an employee think of you a letter of suggestion. Cautiously decipher his reaction. Frequently employees give unpretentious signs that show how strong a letter they will compose. Not all letters of suggestion are useful. Truth be told, a tepid or to some degree nonpartisan letter will accomplish more damage than anything else. For all intents and purposes all letters that graduate entrance advisory board individuals read are exceptionally positive, for the most part giving shining acclaim to the candidate. In any case, a letter that is essentially acceptable when contrasted and remarkably positive letters - is really destructive to your application. Inquire as to whether they can give you an accommodating letter of proposal as opposed to just a letter. Push for a Positive Response Once in a while an employee will decay your solicitation for a letter of proposal through and through. Acknowledge that. She is helping you out on the grounds that the subsequent letter would not support your application and rather would ruin your endeavors. Hold up Until the Last Minute Employees are occupied with instructing, administration work, and research. They prompt various understudies and likely are composing numerous letters for different understudies. Give them enough notification with the goal that they can take the time required to compose a letter that will get you acknowledged into graduate school. Approach an employee when he has the opportunity to talk about it with you and think about it without time pressure. Dont ask preceding or after class. Dont ask in a foyer. Rather, visit during the educators available time, the occasions planned for communication with understudies. It regularly is useful to send an email mentioning an arrangement and clarifying the reason for the gathering. Give Unorganized or Inaccurate Documentation Have your application materials with you when you demand your letter. Or on the other hand follow up inside a few days. Give your documentation at the same time. Dont offer an educational plan vitae one day, and a transcript on another. Anything you give the teacher must be liberated from mistakes and should be slick. These records speak to you and are a pointer of how genuine you see this procedure just as the nature of work you will do in graduate school. Dont cause an educator to need to approach you for essential documentation. Disregard Submission Materials Incorporate program-explicit application sheets and reports, including sites to which personnel submit letters. Dont neglect to incorporate login data. Dont cause personnel to request this material. Dont let an educator plunk down to compose your letter and find that she doesn't have the entirety of the data. Then again, dont let a teacher attempt to present your letter on the web and find that she doesnt have the login data. Surge the Professor. An amicable update sent possibly 14 days before the cutoff time is useful; be that as it may, dont surge the teacher or offer various updates. Neglect to Express Appreciation Your educator set aside the effort to compose for you - at least an hour of his time - so set aside the effort to express gratitude toward him, either verbally, or by sending a thank you letter or note. Recollect that you need your letter authors to be feeling acceptable when they compose your suggestion and to like you and their choice to help your application to graduate school. Compose a card to say thanks to your recommender and when you request another letter later on (and you will - either for another doctoral level college program or even a vocation), the employee will be significantly more prone to think of you another accommodating and positive proposal letter.

A letter for you

A letter for you Dear Applicants, Each year at this time, I feel an overflowing amount of gratitude toward you yes, you! for applying. I love learning about your lives and how your individual stories have brought you to this point. I admire your tenacity and your resilience through classes and the struggles you face in life. Some of you may be tempted to think that your time and your story have been wasted if you do not receive an affirmative decision tomorrow. Please fight those thoughts. A decision is not a measurement of your worth. A decision does not validate or invalidate your life or experiences. A decision is not a culminating experience or the end of the world (though it may feel like it tomorrow). Id like you to think of it as an invitation. For some, it will be an invitation to see how MIT can play a further role in your story. For others, it will be an invitation to explore other options, and, like a puzzle, figure out how you can find what you like about MIT in other places, or how best to showcase your light to the world in new and different ways than you may be thinking right now. I am so excited for your futures and look forward to reading about your achievements. All my best, always, Latasha Post Tagged #Pi Day

Orthodox Sociological Understandings of Work, Employment...

Orthodox Sociological Understandings of Work, Employment and Professions There is a wealth of sociological literature concerned with understanding work, employment and the professions but until recently there has been little concern with women and work. For many years, sociologists concentrated on the work of white males and on paid employment. But since the Second World War there has been a gradual increase of women entering the labour market thus creating an interest in the work carried out by women. There has also been a great feminist interest in the sociology of work, employment and the professions and this has both challenged and increased traditional understandings of work. Classical†¦show more content†¦However, a woman’s class position is not always equal to that of her male partner as has been pointed out by feminists. Many women do not have a male partner so cannot be placed in a class position in this way. Also, some women earn more than their partners and therefore could be seen to be in a higher class position. Feminist researchers and theorists have sought to include women in studies of work, employment and the professions as they are an important social category in themselves. Many feminists argue that the model of work is a patriarchal model in which women are exploited and subordinated by men. Marxist feminist, Heidi Hartmann put forward a dual systems theory of work in which a system of capitalism works alongside a system of patriarchy in order to secure the male domination of women. She claims that there is a material basis for the power of male domination and this takes the form of all social structures which enable men to control women’s labour both ‘public’ and ‘private’. She also believes that occupational segregation ensures that women are concentrated in low paying jobs and excluded from better paying jobs and the professions. This provides women’s cheap labour for capitalists while in turn benefiting men as they remain in power. Domestic labour including housework, childcare and so on had previouslyShow MoreRelatedGendered Concept Dimensions Of Disability1913 Words   |  8 Pagesexperience public sp aces as appalling, pressurizing and unsafe when compared to disabled men (Meekosha 4-5). Savulescu (771) depicts number of arguments and real life situations in his work where he conveys that women who have disability are helpless, disadvantaged, because they confide on someone else for their work and their quality of life is subordinate. This is conveyed in an example of â€Å"Deafness, they would say, is a disability. Deaf†¦. are denied the world sound, music†¦.communication† (SavulescuRead MoreSociology and Other Sciences7090 Words   |  29 Pagessocial phenomena. Along with Herbert Spencer, he was one of the first people to explain the existence and quality of different parts of a society by reference to what function they served in maintaining the quotidian (i.e. by how they make society work), and is thus sometimes seen as a precursor to functionalism. Durkheim also insisted that society was more than the sum of its parts. Thus unlike his contemporaries Ferdinand Tà ¶nnies and Max Weber, he focused not on what motivates the actions of individualsRead MoreOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 Pagesa text that will give a good idea of the breadth and complexity of this important subject, and this is precisely what McAuley, Duberley and Johnson have provided. They have done some sterling service in bringing together the very diverse strands of work that today qualify as constituting the subject of organisational theory. Whilst their writing is accessible and engaging, their approach is scholarly and serious. It is so easy for students (and indeed others who should know better) to trivialize thisRead MoreTravel and Tourism Administration Program Structure20692 Words   |  83 Pagesprogram is to produce computing and information systems professionals, who will have the understanding of the technology and the necessary knowledge and skills to be able to work at a high level in the related industry. The main concern is with t he utilization of technology and support in a modern enterprise. Upon successful completion of this program students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the fundamental characteristics of information systems and their role within organizationsRead MoreGame Theory and Economic Analyst83847 Words   |  336 Pageseconomics. The chapters fall broadly into two categories. Some lay out in a jargon-free manner a particular branch of the theory, the evolution of one of its concepts, or a problem that runs through its development. Others are original pieces of work that are signiï ¬ cant to game theory as a whole. After taking the reader through a concise history of game theory, the contributors discuss such topics as: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ the connections between Von Neumann’s mathematical game theory and theRead MoreChange Management49917 Words   |  200 PagesChange 3. Planned Change 5. Unplanned Change 2. 4. 6. Stimulating Forces Change Agents Lewin’s Three Step Model The change means the alteration of status quo or making things different. It may refer to any alteration which occurs in the overall work environment of an organization. When an organizational system is disturbed by some internal or external force, the change may occur. The change is modification of the structure or process of a system, that may be good or even bad. It disturbs the existingRead MoreContemporary Issues in Management Accounting211377 Words   |  846 PagesMichael Bromwich is an exemplar of all that is good about the British tradition of academic accounting. Serious in intent, he has striven both to illuminate practice and to provide ways of improving it. Although always appealing to his economic understandings, he has been open to a wide variety of other ideas, recognizing their intellectual strengths and capabilities rather than making artificial distinctions between what is acceptable and what is not. He also has contributed widely to the accountingRead MorePractic al Guide to Market Research62092 Words   |  249 PagesAll rights reserved Copyright  © Paul Hague Paul Hague is hereby identified as author of this work in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 This book is published by Grosvenor House Publishing Ltd 28–30 High Street, Guildford, Surrey, GU1 3HY. www.grosvenorhousepublishing.co.uk This book is sold subject to the conditions that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the author’s or publisher’s prior

The Importance of Ethics in Society Essay - 883 Words

Ethics are moral principles or values that govern the conduct of an individual or a group.It is not a burden to bear, but a prudent and effective guide which furthers life and success. Ethics are important not only in business but in academics and society as well because it is an essential part of the foundation on which a civilized society is built. Ethical behaviour is what all career people should aim to have. Not just the ethical attribute but exceptional behaviour with this regard.this is because in order to build a career, one must be governed by the rules of ethics to safeguard oneself and others. Ethics are essential in the workplace because a tough ethical code provides a non-threatening environment with high†¦show more content†¦The truth is that, these traits are becoming rare in careers. Having respect and the right attitude at work wil help a person to develop not only at work but in life as well. Academic dishonesty is another facet of unethical behaviour. It is an action or attempt that results in creating an unfair academic advantage for oneself or a disadvantage for any other member of academic community. A child uses his or her experiences in society to shape personal ethics. Family has a strong influence on ones values and behaviour,parents establish rules from the start and it becomes the basis for our ethics and morals. A personal ethical commitment is part of what makes students a success. A lack of ethical commitment will always result in acdemic failure. I personally believe that students who are academically dishonest cheat themselves out of an education and harm their fellow students by screwing the grading curve for the class as a whole. Therefore academic ethics are vital and students should commit themselves to maintaining highest personal ethical standards. In society today, people tend to make decisions based on the actions and choices of others. Peer pressure is a very real issue that affects most of the teenagers of the world today. it is a dangerous form of persuasion. It causes teenagers to easily succumb to unethical activities under the influence and pressure of their friends. people see the effects ofShow MoreRelatedImportance Of Ethics Essay728 Words   |  3 PagesIntroduction Ethics is a crucial part of employment because we want businesses to be fair, clean and beneficial to the society. For the reason, organizations have to establish ethics or rule of law, engage themselves in fair practices and competition. These things will give benefit to the consumer, the society and organization. This report will introduce about the ethics. Especially reasons of the importance of ethic and influences on workplace will be represented in the report. 2. Importance of ethics FollowingRead MoreThe Ethics Of Leadership And How Ethics Produce Effective Leadership1224 Words   |  5 PagesI will examine the importance of personal ethics in leadership and how ethics produce effective leaders in organizations today. The importance of understanding ethics, motivation to act as a role model and developing a plan of action for an organization are discussed because of their importance regarding development of good leadership. These key points suggest personal ethics positively affect leadership and when made a priority for leaders will produce ethical and effective leadership. With so manyRead MoreThe Importance Of Ethics, Motivation, And A Role Model And Developing An Action Plan For An Organization1205 Words   |  5 Pages The importance of understanding ethics, motivation to act as a role model and developing an action plan for an organization are discussed because of their importance regarding development of good leadership. The personal ethics positively affect leadership and when made a priority for leaders will produce ethical and effective leadership to the organization. With so many definitions of leadership, the question evolved from â€Å"what is the definition of leadership?† to â€Å"what is good leadership† (CiullaRead MoreCode Of Ethics And Ethics912 Words   |  4 Pagesorganization to have a strong code of ethics to ensure all employees understand the ethical expectations of the organization. The code acts as a guide for employees to ensure they apply ethical decision making in the workplace. As the manager you will play an essential role in disseminating this information to employees as well as ensuring they are in compliance with the code. Employees must understand the c onsequences of failing to uphold the code and the importance of reporting ethical failures. ToRead MoreBusiness and Society891 Words   |  4 PagesBUSINESS AND SOCIETY INTRODUCTON With increasing urgency, market and social forces are rewriting the roles and responsibilities of business as well as its strategies. Though the profit motive of business is understood and accepted, people do not accept it as an excuse for ignoring the basic norms, values, and standards of being a good citizen. Modern businesses are expected to be responsible towards the community resources working toward the growth and success of both their companies and theirRead MoreGood Leadership: A Comparison of Two Articles670 Words   |  3 PagesLeadership Paper: Comparison of Two Articles Leadership is a very important characteristic in todays society. Many value a good leader, yet a good leader is elusive. While some would point to the current president as the epitome of such an individual, many would disagree. Thus, one asks, repeatedly, what makes a good leader, and only receives mixed answers. But a good leader is someone who can implement a variety of policies while remaining true to the customer, or the citizen, and make profitRead MoreHR Roles and Responsibilities Paper 997 Words   |  4 Pageswell as salaries. With the ever changing economic status of the market in todays society companies must realize how the importance of having a qualified department. Knowing how to present strategies and policies that will help a company to stay above water in times of a financial crisis is of the utmost importance. The human resource management is affected by changing trends in society. Three that have been chosen to show how the role of the human resource managementRead MoreImportance of Ethics in Accounting1065 Words   |  5 PagesRunning head: IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS IN ACCOUNTING Importance of Ethics in Accounting Everest University Importance of Ethics in Accounting Accounting fraud is common but is not as trivial as the common cold; a typical organization loses annual revenues of nearly 5 percent to fraud. In addition, almost one-quarter of reported fraud is exceeding $1 million dollars. The accounting industry is constantly growing and changing. Consequently, difficult decisions have to be made every day. Read MoreThe Ethics Of Confucian Business Ethics1172 Words   |  5 PagesEDMP: An Analysis in Support of Confucian Business Ethics in Harmony of the Business Environment (160)Issue: The one question brought forth by Lagan (2006) is the conflict between harmony in the business environment and the competition of capitalistic markets in the ethical debate on the efficacy of Confucian business ethics. Lagan’s (2006) case study effectively defines the overarching harmony of universal mandates defined by Confucius, which argued against the pro-capitalist interpretationsRead MoreBiography Of Leopold s A Sand County Almanac Essay1571 Words   |  7 PagesLeopold wants society to take a moment to recognize the worth of nature by providing us with a descriptive glance at elements of nature that we may often take for granted, such as animals foraging for food or the history of a tree. The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word â€Å"conserve† as to, â€Å"protect (something, especially something of environmental or cultural importance) from harm or destruction† (â€Å"Conserve†). Once we are able to appreciate nature, we bec ome more aware of the importance of conservation

Why Do You Think This Strategy Became Less Viable in the 1990’s Free Essays

string(136) " first entered foreign markets in the period up until the early 1990s\? b\) Why do you think this strategy became less viable in 1990s\." Chapter 12 – The Strategy of International Business Key Points of the chapter Strategy – is the actions managers take to attain the goals of the business (usually to maximize value for the shareholders/stakeholders). Value Chain – The operations of the firm compose the value chain which are the series of value creating activities that occur to create value. These actions include sales, production, IT, accounting etc. We will write a custom essay sample on Why Do You Think This Strategy Became Less Viable in the 1990’s? or any similar topic only for you Order Now These activities are divided into support and primary activities. Primary Activities – Design, creation and delivery of the product. They are: 1. RD 2. Production 3. Marketing 4. Sales Support Activities – Inputs that allow the primary activities to occur 1. Information Systems 2. Logistics 3. Human Resources Global Expansion Practices 1. Expand the market for your domestic products by selling internationally (Export) †¢ Requires a company to tap into their core competencies 2. Move production to the most efficient countries to realize location economies †¢ Some countries have a comparative advantage of production †¢ Transportation costs and trade barriers must not be an issue †¢ Location Economies is the value created by finding the most competitive place to produce product, therefore adding value i. Competitive can mean cheapest or best †¢ Creates a global value web as opposed to a value chain 3. Serve expanded markets from a single location, while recovering experience effects †¢ Experience curve: Systematic reductions in production costs that occur over the life of a product i. A products production costs decline each time the cumulative output doubles †¢ Learning Effects – Costs savings through learning by doing †¢ Economies of Scale – Reduce costs by creating a large volume of product, the larger your market, the more opportunity for this you receive. 4. Learn from foreign operations to increase your value Mature multinationals who already have operations in foreign markets can learn from their operations in order to create value for those specific customers. Pressures for Cost Reduction Managers can be forced to create value by reducing costs. This can be done through: †¢ Mass-produce a standard product †¢ Outsource certain functions †¢ Tends to occur in highly commoditized products (Chemicals, sugar, gas, steel) Pressures for local Responsiveness Arise because of: †¢ Difference in consumer tastes and preferences †¢ Infrastructure †¢ Accepted Business practices Distribution channels – May require a change in marketing strategy †¢ Host government demands International Expansion Strategies Global Expansion Strategy Focus †¢ Reaping cost reduction benefits through: †¢ Economies of Scale †¢ Learning effects †¢ Locations economies †¢ Low Cost on a Global Scale Method †¢ RD, Production and Marketing activities are concentrated in a few favorable locations †¢ Try not to customize their products/marketing strategy †¢ Use aggressive pricing When to use it †¢ Strong pressures for cost reductions †¢ Minimal demand for localization Localization Strategy Focus †¢ Increase profitability by customizing goods to match tastes and preferences in international markets Method †¢ Increase the value of the product in the local market †¢ Duplication of functions †¢ Smaller production runs †¢ Still need to be as efficient as possible When to use it †¢ When cost pressures are not high †¢ When local tastes differ dramatically †¢ When you have fewer competitors Transnational Strategy Focus †¢ Multidirectional transfer of core competencies and skills †¢ Leveraging subsidy skills Try to achieve low costs through location economies, economies of scale and learning effects while differentiating their products for the local market. †¢ Very difficult to accomplish Method †¢ Redesign products to use the same components and produce them in one location †¢ Use assembly plants in key markets to assemble the more market specific final product When to use it †¢ When cu stomization and cost reduction pressures are high †¢ When managers have to balance the divergent pressures International Strategy Focus †¢ Taking products from your local country and without much customization, selling them in other markets. Method †¢ Centralize product development functions †¢ Tend to establish manufacturing and marketing functions in each major country or geographic region in which they do business. †¢ Increases costs but there are no cost pressures so that isn’t an issue †¢ May decide to do some minor customization of the marketing strategy When to use it †¢ Low cost pressures †¢ Low need for local responsiveness †¢ Selling products that serve universal needs †¢ Do not have many competitors Chapter Questions Q2: What are the risks that Wal-Mart Faces when entering other retail markets? How can the risks be mitigated? Economic Risks/Exposure Likelihood that economic mismanagement will cause drastic changes in a country’s business environment that hurt the profit and other goals of a particular business enterprise. †¢ Increase in inflation can hurt profits †¢ Recession †¢ Loss of confidence in the market and loans Legal Risks If Wal-Mart decides to enter a market where the legal system fails to provide adequate safeguards in the case of contract violations or to protect property rights they are opening themselves up to legal risks. Could affect the ability to participate in long term contracts and joint ventures Cross Cultural Literacy Risk: As experienced in this case, Wal-Mart suffered from cross cultural illiteracy, where they were ill informed about the practices of another culture which caused them to make bad decisions. Mitigation Strategy: Wal-Mart needs an adaptation strategy, which allows them to negotiate properly for the market, know the appropriate pay systems, set up the right organization, etc. They can do this by hiring local citizens, or a consultant. Transaction Exposure Risk: Extent to which foreign exchange values affect the income from individual transactions. Translation Exposure Risk: Impact of currency exchange rates on the reported financial statements. Mitigation Strategy: Lead strategy where you collect the foreign receivables early. Lag strategy, involves delaying payables if the currency is expected to appreciate. Political Risks Depending on where Wal-Mart is choosing to expand to, political forces that ould cause a drastic change in the country’s business environment could adversely affect the profit and other goals of a business enterprise. †¢ Strikes †¢ Demonstrations †¢ Terrorism †¢ Violent Conflict †¢ Enactment of unfavorable business laws CT 5 – Reread the management focus on the evolution of strategy at Procter and Gamble, then answer these questions: a) What strategy was PG pursuing when it first entered foreign markets in the period up until the early 1990s? b) Why do you think this strategy became less viable in 1990s. You read "Why Do You Think This Strategy Became Less Viable in the 1990’s?" in category "Papers" In the pre-1990’s era PG found their international expansion through the use of a localization strategy. They did develop many of their products in Cincinnati, but they relied on their semi-autonomous subsidiaries to manufacture, market and customize many of their products for the local markets their served. This model started to show signs of strain when many of the trade barriers that existed, specifically between European countries were lifted. This created an increase in competition, and for PG exposed their now unnecessary duplication of assets and processes. Also the creation of the â€Å"big box† retailers (such as Wal-Mart and Tesco) were causing the competitive factors driven by purchasing power to put pressures on lowering PG’s prices even further. Due to the increase in competition and the changing market conditions PG closed some of their local plants and asked their subsidiaries to exploit as much economies of scale as possible in their production lines. They also asked their local centers to create and use global brands whenever possible to try and reduce marketing costs. While these cost avings were effective, they were still not enough and PG then reorganized the company to be a pure Transnational Strategy, with more control occurring in the regional centers than ever before and using as little local responsiveness as possible to reach their customers so they could compete on price as much as possible. The benefits of the transnational strategy include: †¢ Cost reduction †¢ Reducing duplication of assets †¢ Creating global brands †¢ Manufacturing in places that have a comparative advantage in the production of that product †¢ Increase market share by beating your competitors prices Risks †¢ Very difficult to implement manage †¢ Organizational Structures have to be very complex and it can lead to o Performance ambiguity o Confusion over corporate goals o Culture issues †¢ High coordination needs that are both formal and informal Chapter 13 – The Organization of International Business Key Points of the Chapter Organizational Architecture: the totality of a firm’s organization, organizational culture and people. These three areas must be addressed for a company to be successful in the global market place. The architecture must match the strategy of the firm. Organizational structure: Formal division of the organization, the location of the decision making (centralize vs. decentralized) and the establishment of intergrating mechanisms to coordinate the activities of subunits. Control Systems are metrics used to measure the performance of subunits and make judgments about how well managers are running those subunits. Incentives are the divides used to reward appropriate managerial behavior. Incentrives are very closely tied to performance metrics. Processes are the manner in which decisions are made and work is performed within the organization. Organizational Culture refers to the norms and values systems that the employees of an organization share. Organizations are societies of individuals who come together to perform collective tasks. [pic] Organizational Structure 1) Vertical Differentiation – location of decision making a) Centralized – When the decisions are made by upper management Pros: †¢ Can facilitate coordination †¢ Ensure decisions are consistent with organizational objectives †¢ Give top level manager the means to bring about changes (authority) †¢ Avoid duplication of activities ) Decentralized – Local managers make the decisions †¢ Top management can become overburdened when decision making authority is centralized, which can result in poor decisions. †¢ Motivational research favors decentralization, people are more likely to give more to their jobs when they have a greater degree of individual freedom and control over their work. †¢ More rapid response †¢ Can result in better decisions because the people with the best information are the ones making the decisions. †¢ Can increase control, making the management more autonomous and therefore accountable. Frequently it makes sense to centralize some decisions and to decentralize others, depending on the type of decisions and the firm’s strategy. 2) Horizontal Differentiation – formal organization structure Decision is made on functions, type of business or geographical area. †¢ International Division – When a single division runs all the international activities. Facilitates the international strategy. †¢ Worldwide area structure – World is divided into geographic areas, each division has its own value creation activities. Facilitates local responsiveness. Difficult to transfer core competencies. Worldwide product divisional structure – Each division has its own value creation activities organized around the products they produce. Headquarters retain responsibility for the overall strategic development and financial control. Gives opportunities to consolidate the value chain creation of different subunits. Can require a lack of local respon siveness. †¢ Global Matrix Structure – Tries to solve the issue Bartlett and Ghoshal have argued where a company needs to be price competitive and locally responsive by creating a matrix where decisions are made by both product and regional managers. It is very difficult to pull off a global matrix structure as it creates conflict for the employees having two bosses with two different goals. In light of these problems many firms that pursue a transnational strategy have tried to build flexible matrix structures based on enterprisewide management knowledge networks and a shared dual culture. 3) Integrating Mechanism – mechanisms for coordinating subunits †¢ The need for integrating mechanisms changes with the strategy, the company is using: Lowest – Localization strategy Highest – Global and Transnational †¢ Very important in firms trying to transfer core competencies between units †¢ Very important in firms trying to recover economies of scale and learning experience with a web like value â€Å"chain† Questions CT2 – Discuss the statement â€Å"An understanding of the causes and consequences of performance ambiguity is central to issue of organizational design in multinational firms. † Performance Ambiguity exists when the causes of a subunit’s poor performance are not clear. This is not uncommon when a subunit’s performance is partly dependent on the performance of other subunits; when there is high interdependence between different subunits. In firms not pursuing a localization strategy, certain degrees of performance ambiguity are going to exist. In an international strategy, integration is required to facilitate the transfer of core competencies and skills. The success of a foreign operation is partly dependent on the quality of the competencies transferred from the home country, therefore these firms must design an organizational strategy with enough integrating mechanisms to achieve this. In firms pursuing a global standardization strategy they need to recover location and experience curve economies, making many of the firms processes interdependent. This will require even greater controls and integrating mechanisms and make the decisions more complex and the decision tradeoffs more substantial (i. e. save money on this product or spend money to make it easy to sell the product). Firms with the highest level of performance ambiguity are transnational firms. The multidirectional transfer of competencies requires significant interdependence and lots of join decision making, making the performance ambiguity very high. This means the control costs are going to be highest in transnational firms and that many of the costs recovered by the transnational strategy are lost to creating the expensive control systems that must exist to facilitate the strategy. Another byproduct of this strategy is that global and transnational firms need to do more than use only output controls of objective performance metrics such as profits, productivity and market share in order to control their subsidiaries. These firms must look into cultural controls, encouraging managers to want to assume he norms and value systems and use those values to solve problems between the interdependent units and avoid finger pointing based on the output results. CT5 – If a firm is changing its strategy from an international to a transnational strategy what are the most important challenges it is likely to face in implementing this change? How can the firm overcome these challenges? While becoming a multinational firm does not require a strategy change, in order to compete in the global economy and be the best at what you do, organizational change may become a requirement. First the company must decide their strategy and then they must develop an appropriate organizational structure to complement those goals. A transnational strategy focuses on the simultaneous attainment of location and experience curve economies, local responsiveness and global learning. This firm may want to look into a matrix structure where managers from regional and product areas come together to make decisions that will benefit both points of view. They need to implement control systems that will allow them to work with their globally dispersed value chain and to transfer core competencies and therefore will likely be more culturally driven then output driven. Decisions should be made at both a centralized and decentralized level depending on what the company needs to transfer between units and what specifically about the product needs to be locally responsive (e. . branding/marketing). There needs to be a mix of informal and formal integrating mechanisms which can be found in the decision matrix and via informal networking tools (e. g. Twitter). Finally there needs to be strong culture cultivation to keep all the units on the same page which can be accomplished by a strong leadership with good vision and a willingness to participate in the dissemination of that vision. According to the text the three basic principals for performing organizational change include: 1) Unfreeze the corporation through shock therapy Incremental changes are not necessarily enough †¢ People can easily reject or avoid incremental change †¢ In this case the announcement of a dramatically different structural organization to facilitate the new goals †¢ Senior managers must lead the way in the changes and the unfreezing process 2) Move the org to a new state through proactive change in the architecture †¢ Reassigning the responsibilities in the new organization †¢ Changing the control systems to be less output based and more culturally based †¢ Letting people go who are unwilling to change †¢ The changes must be done quickly Involving the employees from the beginning will get their buy in and will makes the changes better received. 3) Refreeze the org in its new state †¢ This step can take longer †¢ It requires culture es tablishment while the old one is dismantled †¢ Re-socialization of employee behaviors †¢ Hiring policies must change †¢ Control systems must be tested and be consistent with the new culture and ignore the old one †¢ The upper management must be diligent and not allow the old pressure to creep up Chapter 14 – Entry Strategy and Strategic Alliances Key Chapter Points Two Major Ideas: 1) The decision of which foreign markets to enter, when to enter them and on what scale 2) The choice of entry mode Which Market (Recap of chapter 2) The attractiveness of a country as a potential market depends on balancing the benefits, costs and risks associated with doing business in that country †¢ Long Run economic benefits of a function of size of the market, present wealth, likelihood of future wealth †¢ Future economic growth, which is a function of a free market system and the country’s capacity for wealth. †¢ Riskier in politically and economical ly unstable countries †¢ What kind of value the firm can create for consumers in that market Timing of Entry Early entry – when a firm enters a foreign market before others do First movers advantage †¢ Pre-empt rivals †¢ Gain market share †¢ Establish a strong brand Creating switching costs to tie your buyers to you †¢ Set the price so you can cut prices when competitors arrive First movers disadvantage †¢ Pioneering costs, from the foreign business system being so different that time and expense must be sacrificed to learn the ropes †¢ Business failure if the firm makes mistakes based on bad knowledge †¢ Promotion of a new product or idea Late Entry – When a firm enters a foreign market after other firms do †¢ Can watch what your competitors do, and learn from their mistakes †¢ Can ride the coattails of their marketing and promotion †¢ Don’t need to educate your customers Scale of entry †¢ Large scale Requires significant resource commitment which can lead to strategy commitments, where you can’t get out of the deal without suffering significant consequences o It does create a presence and instills belief that you are committed to your product and customers †¢ Small Scale o Allows a firm to learn the market without exposing the firm to risks o Way to gather information o Lack of commitment may make it harder to attract customers Entry Modes Exporting Advantages †¢ Avoids substantial costs of establish manufacturing operations in another country †¢ May help the firm achieve experience curve, location economies and economies of scale Disadvantages It may be cheaper to produce abroad †¢ High transportation costs on shipping could make it uneconomical to export †¢ Tariff barriers may prohibit your exporting, making it uneconomical, and the threat of tariff barriers can make it risky †¢ Delegates of the company that perform the sales, marketing, se rvice may work for other competitors and therefore will not have your best interests in mind Turnkey Projects – The contractor agrees to handle every detail of the project for a foreign clients, including the training of operational personnel. At the end the client is handed the â€Å"key† to a fully functional plant. Typically in complex production businesses. Advantages The know how is a valuable asset and you can earn returns on that knowledge †¢ Useful when FDI is limited †¢ Can be less risky than traditional FDI Disadvantages †¢ No long term interest in that country †¢ May create a competitor out of the creator of your factory †¢ Could be selling your comparative advantage Licensing – The licensor grants the rights to intangible property to another entity for a specified period, and in return, he licensor receives a royalty fee from the licensee. Advantages †¢ Licensee puts up most of the capital †¢ Good for firms lacking capital †¢ Prohibited from direct investment in a foreign market Disadvantages (3 serious ones) Does not give tight control over manufacturing, marketing, strategy, etc. that si required for realizing the experience curve and location economies. †¢ Limits a firms ability to share wealth amongst various divisions, and therefore limits a coordinated international strategy †¢ Giving away your comparative advantage Franchising – a specialized form of licensing in which the franchiser sells the IP, but also the franchisee needs to follow those specific rules the franchisor sets out. Advantages †¢ Firm is relieved of many of the costs and risks †¢ Good for firms lacking capital †¢ Good when you are prohibited from FDI in that country †¢ Allows you to build a global presence quickly Disadvantage Great for services, but perhaps not manufacturing †¢ Limits a firms ability to share wealth amongst various divisions, and therefore limits a coordina ted international strategy †¢ There are different definitions of quality, safety, etc. in different places making it difficult to maintain your image across other countries Joint Ventures – Establishing a firm that is jointly owned by two or more otherwise independent firms, it’s popular mode of entry into foreign markets. Advantages †¢ Get to benefit from the local firm’s knowledge of the host country culture, norms, language, political situation, etc. †¢ Provide the local knowhow to a new country †¢ Share the risks with another company Sometime political factors make it impossible not to partner with a local firm Disadvantages †¢ Risking giving away your comparative advantage to a potential competitor †¢ The firm doesn’t have tight control over local operations, making it difficult for companies needing to transfer a culture †¢ Shared ownership can lead to conflicts between the two corporations, which can be exacerbate d by the fact that the two firms are from different nations. Wholly Owned Subsidiary – The firm owns 100% of the stock in the project. Can be done through a Greenfield venture, where you build a factory from scratch or via acquisition of an existing enterprise. Advantages †¢ Protect your knowledge Tight control †¢ Required to gain experience and locations economies †¢ Can engage in global strategic behaviors Disadvantages †¢ High costs and risks †¢ Culture transfer can be difficult, especially in terms of an acquisition Chapter Questions Tesco Q2 – How does Tesco create value in its international operations? Tesco creates value by offering something that the market is lacking: a well run competitive grocery store. They enter emerging markets with growth potential and few competitors. They then acquire or partner with current enterprises in that country in order to ensure that the value they are creating will work for that particular consumer. Tesco researches their potential partners carefully, and they pick a solid chain with some stores and they build off of that known base. They bring to the table their core competencies, but they don’t remove the local managers who have the knowledge of the customer. Finally they have the capital and the retailing know-how to bring their moderately successful firms into a globally back force. This value is created out of successfully leveraging the joint venture strategy, where both firms bring something useful to the table and both are given the opportunity to be successful with their knowledge. Grocery stores are part service and part goods firms. Tesco’s strengths exist in both, but they are leveraging their service and management know-how transfer through the use of the joint venture. We know that value creation is measured by the difference between the converted inputs that create the cost of a product and how much the consumer is willing to pay for that product. More specifically in this case it is the amount consumers are willing to pay for the goods inside of the Tesco subsidiary. Porter states that it is important for the firm to decide where it wants to be strategically positioned in terms of cost effectiveness, and differentiation. Tesco wants to be a low cost provider of all the goods a consumer would purchase at a grocery store. They compete through their value chain by gaining purchasing power through expansion, and by leveraging their values skills in foreign markets. CT 5 – A small Canadian firm that has developed some valuable new medical products using its unique biotechnology know-how is trying to decide how best to serve the EU. Establishing a manufacturing firm outside of Canada is not outside of the firm’s reach, but it will be a stretch. Which of the following options would you recommend and why? a) Manufacture the product at home and let foreign sales agents handle the marketing. b) Manufacture the product at home and set up wholly own subsidiaries in Europe to handle marketing c) Enter into an alliance with a large European pharmaceutical firm. The product would be manuf in Europe y the 50/50 joint venture and marketed by the European firm. As stated in the text, if the firm’s core competency is the based on control over proprietary technological know-how, it should avoid licensing and joint-venture arrangements if possible to minimize the risks of losing control over that technology (option C). While the strategic alliance will allow for entry into the foreign market, I don’t feel that the EU is such a different type of market that it would be impossible to find someone in the US who they could hire to help them understand that market. The partnership can give competitors low cost access to the new technology and markets. Wholly owned subsidiaries for marketing would allow for the marketing to be owned by the firm and therefore reduce the risks associated with using the local sales agents that may serve their own interests in lieu of the firm’s. However, I suggest that the core competency of the firm is not their marketing skills, but rather their technological know-how. This means that they would be choosing to take on major risks and expenses in order to transfer a non core competency and therefore find themselves at risk of failure. Going back to the Lincoln electric case, we saw how selecting a mode of entry strategy on something other than your comparative can lead to significant issues. Exporting (option a) allows for the firm to realize location economies, experience curve economies while suffering from high transport costs, trade barriers and problems with local marketing agents. In this instance, the cost of shipping medical instruments is typically quite low, and the trade barriers between Canada and EU are nonexistent. However, they may find the local sales agents to be at odds with other competitors making it difficult to distribute the product. Despite this drawback however, I feel that the financial risks associated with option b and the dangers of losing their core competency in option c I would use the less risky option a. Chapter 15 – Exporting, Importing and Counter Trade Key Chapter Points Chapter Questions CT3 – An alternative to using letter of credit is export credit insurance. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using the credit insurance rather than a letter of credit for exporting: a) A luxury yacht from California to Canada b) Machine tools from New York to the Ukraine A letter of credit, abbreviated as L/C is: †¢ Issued by the bank at the request of the importer †¢ States the bank will pay a specified sum of money to a beneficiary, normally the exporter, on presentation of particular, specified documents †¢ Charge a percentage to the importer as a fee for the service †¢ May require the importer to do some type of deposit †¢ It is a financial contract †¢ Allows for the banks to determine the creditworthiness of your trade partner, so no relationship must exist for the trade to take place Export Credit Insurance: Sometimes exporters who require a letter of credit from an importer will lose their business to another exporter who doesn’t require all the additional work †¢ Thus when the importer is in a str ong bargaining position and able to play competing suppliers against each other, an exporter may have to forgo a letter of credit. †¢ This exposes the exporter to risk †¢ The exporter can protect themselves against that risk through the us of exporter insurance †¢ The FCIA provides coverage against commercial and political risks. Losses due to commercial risk result from the buyers insolvency or payment default. a) Because the competition for selling this product is somewhat high I would expect the buyer to have more power than the seller and therefore I could see them asking the seller to forgo the letter of credit. If that is the case export credit insurance will be the likely route to manage the trade. However, if the seller can get the buyer to comply the letter of credit between the reputable Canadian bank and the US bank will be a good asset to leverage if possible. b) Because of the nature of the transaction, the letter of credit may be the best solution. This way the seller can insure that the buyer is credit worthy and the bank will take care of the relationship needs so the buyer and seller do not have to create a relationship. My only concern would be that of the Ukrainian bank and whether you can trust their banking system. It may be more prudent to use the exporter insurance again to guard against the ever present political and economic risks in that country. ———————– Structure Incentives controls Processes Culture People How to cite Why Do You Think This Strategy Became Less Viable in the 1990’s?, Papers

Theory of Personality Development and Composed

Question: 1. Omar recently received a text message from an old girlfriend, Kristina, asking him to go out on a date. The decision of how to respond is causing Omar a significant amount of anxiety because he still has feelings for Kristina but he knows it would be inappropriate to see her considering he is currently in a relationship with another woman. With respect to their various structures of personality as outlined by Sigmund Freud, explain the position of Omars id, ego, and superego in this scenario. a.) If Omar were to see his old girlfriend despite being in another relationship, he would likely experience a sense of guilt. Give an example of how Omar could use a defense mechanism to alleviate his sense of guilt. 2. Use the following scenarios to explain the concept of fixations and how they develop during childhood, according to Sigmund Freud. a.) Jennifer has always struggled with controlling her bad habits such as drinking, smoking, and overeating. Whenever she gets anxious she tends to bite her nails and the last time she tried to quit smoking she gained 10 pounds because she was constantly eating. b.) Erika is often describes as being very uptight by her coworkers. She is constantly stressing the importance of keeping the office clean and organized and she is very controlling over group projects. Even after everyone has made their contributions, she typically redoes the entire project on her own. 3. Billy is a high school sophomore interested in joining the swim team but he knows that joining the swim team will disappoint his dad because Billys dad really wants him to play football like he did in high school. With respect to Carl Rogers self theory, explain Billys relationship with his father and what it means for Billys ability to self-actualize. 4. Daisy is a senior in high school. She has a boyfriend whom she has been dating for 6 months, and she spends so much of her time with him and thinking about marrying him that she completely neglects her school work and college applications. She is in danger of not graduating and not attending college. How might Abraham Maslow explain her situation in terms of the hierarchy of needs? 5. Consider people who believe in luck, fate, or the influence of deities (gods) on success vs. those who do not believe in such things. How does this relate to the concept of internal vs. external locus of control? In terms of physical and psychological health, how are these people different? 6. Brian was recently passed up for a promotion at work. With respect to the self-serving bias and internal vs. external attributions, how is Brian likely to explain his failure? 7. Jo and Angela both failed their last psychology exam, and they are talking about it to each other. Jo says I know I could have done better; I just didnt study enough. Angela says, That test was just so unfair. Who is making an external attribution? Who is making an internal attribution? Who is using the self-serving bias? Explain. 8. Describe the following individuals using one trait from the Five Factor Model of personality. Identify whether the individual has high levels or low levels of the trait. Jenny is very easily bothered by the people in her study group. She believes that she is always right and is inconsiderate of the other members opinions. Kristina is often described as the life of the party. She often goes out to dance clubs and likes to meet new people. Brandon really enjoys his math class but doesnt seem to like any of the others. Every day for lunch he brings a ham and cheese sandwich from home and avoids eating at ethnic restaurants, like Indian or Korean, because he thinks they are weird. Cassandra and Tony are complete opposites when it comes to their calendars. Cassandra has most of her days filled with reminders and appointments, whereas Tony doesnt and is constantly forgetting about meetings and events. Susana is referred to as her friends as a worry-wart. She is constantly worrying about schoolwork, bills, and her family, so much so that she seems to check her email, bank statements, and calendars over 10 times a day to make sure she hasnt forgotten anything, and she calls to check on her family members several times during the day. Answer: 1. According to the theory of personality composed by Sigmund Freud, personality is comprised of three elements- the id, the ego and the superego. These three elements together contribute to the complex human behavior. The very first component of personality is the id, which is present in the human being from birth and totally unconscious in nature. The id is come out from instinctive behavior such as survival, aggression, and reproduction thus acts as the source of psychiatric energy. The instinct of Omar has left some feeling for his old girlfriend. The ego helps one individual to understand the reality and teach how to deal with it. The ego originates from the id and it comes out in a manner, which is acceptable to deal with the reality. The ego works in both conscious and unconscious mind including the preconscious mind. The ego supports the basic desire of the id and represents in a realistic way. The ego also helps to release the tension by finding an object in the real world that supports the mental image of the primary source. Here Omar is aware of the reality that it would be unfair to see his old girlfriend as he is already in a relationship. The last component of the personality is the superego. The superego holds all the moral standards that an individual achieve from the family and society both in right and wrong sense of aspect. It provides the guideline that helps the individual to make a judgment. The sense of superego begins at the age of five. The two parts of superego include the ego ideal and the conscience. These two parts include the standards approved by parents or other social figure and the information that leads to punishment. In this case, Omar feeling anxiety and giving priority to the decision of not to meet Kristina from the decision making policy he adopts from the superego. Omar is feeling anxiety as the ego is not enough to meet the demand of the id and superego. He can alleviate his sense of anxiety by preparing a defense mechanism on the aspect of denial, rationalization, repression and projection. Denial can help to block the sense of anxiety from previous experience of awareness. Rationalization will help Omar to create a reason to ignore felling of guilt. Repression is an unconscious mechanism. It forces the memories associated with anxiety to remain in unconscious mind. The projection will help Omar to compare with someone of same vulnerability to suppress his anxiety. 2. The case of Jennifer has highlights the struggle to control the bad habit of smoking and drinking and her gain in ten pounds weight because of constant eating behavior. The scenario lies upon the fixation concept originate from the Psychosexual Stage theory proposed by Sigmund Freud. The following case shows the unfulfilled oral stage of development of Jennifer as she bites her nails and has an excessive drinking and eating habit. Biting the nails and eating habit results from the oral aggressiveness and orally passiveness respectively. During oral stage, the individual finds oral pleasure through sucking, biting and chewing. The insufficient gratified results in the fixation which Jennifer persists throughout her entire lifespan. The oral stage development shows the impact of childhood experience on the personality on the later stage of life. Jennifer is also facing a problem with her rise in weight due to excessive eating habit. The following case is associated with the stressing issue of Erika to keep the office clean and keep the task in order. She is also reported with controlling the working group for projects. In this case, the psychosexual stage theory suggests that some difficulties during the phallic stage development and latency stage development results in the fixation in Erika. According to Freud, during the age of 3-6, the id of an individual develop an attraction to opposite sex parents in unconscious mind. In the case of Erika, a disruption in gender role identification has led to the consequence of anxiety with her coworkers. Moreover, unfulfilled latency stage is another reason that makes Erika redo the project work after the coworkers finish the task. During the latency stage an individual focus on the group behavior like schooling, sports, some particular hobbies and friendship with other children of same age. The latency period begins at the age of three and seven and it continued to the a ge of twelve. 3. According to Carl Rogers, as a flower grows to its full potential if the environmental factors are for the flower; the human can also achieve their potential if the environment supports. Every human is concerned with one basic motive, which is termed as self-actualization. Self-actualization drives an individual to fulfill the potential and take it to the highest level. But the human potential is different from that of the flower as the human can develop aspects to fulfill their potential by judging their personality. Every individual has their creative mind and potential. As in this case, Billy is interested to join the swim team as he feels that swimming will help him to flourish in life. The creativity of the individual often hampers by the fragile self-concept and external pressure that misguide the potential. Here, Billy's father wants him to continue his football practice as his father used to play football in high school. He believes that Billy will also do well in high sch ool football. Billys self-actualization allows him to find his potential in swimming, but his father has set condition of worth. Billy's father is not showing the positive attitude towards Billy's decision and it deviate Billy from true self. According to Carl Rogers's self-actualization concept, every human needs positive regard from others to motivate their potential. In this case, Billy's self-actualization requires acceptance and approval without any condition by his father. 4. Maslows hierarchy of needs highlights that each person has their own set of motivation which is unrelated to any reward. Maslow tried to understand the driving force that motivates people to achieve certain targets. It has found that when one need of the people gets fulfilled, then they try to achieve another need. Maslow's hierarchy of need is mainly associated with five motivational needs which are depicted in a hierarchical pyramid. The first level of motivational power is physiological needs that mainly concern the satisfaction of hunger and thirst of an individual. The second stage of motivation is safety need that confirms the safety of an individual that make the person feel secure and stable in life. The third motivation is belongingness and love needs that depict the fact of one's need for love and to be loved by others. It also highlights the need to belong to someone and accepted by that person. Fourth motivation is associated with esteem need that guides an individual to feel independent. It also makes the person capable of self-estimation and guide them towards the achievement. The fifth and the last motivation is the need to live with unique potential. Every individual need to fulfill the lower level needs before going to the higher level. In this case of Daisy, a failure of lower level fulfillment has observed. Daisy spends too much time with her boyfriend for the last six months that she ignores her study and college application. Daisy is so much focused on the belongingness and love needs that she ignore the safety need of life associated with her study, which is necessary for making her career. Daisy finds her self-actualization with love needs that she never focus on the self-estimation to realize her current condition of regular study. Now she is facing the danger of not graduating and not attending the college. 5. The locus of control point affects the viewpoint of an individual and the way of interaction with the surroundings. There are two categories of people one who thinks they can control anything and anther believes they are controlled by the other factors. Control is defined as the power which can influence an individual's action. An individual's locus of control can have an internal position and external position. The people who believe in luck, fate or the influence of gods in success have the external locus of control. As they believe their success and failure depend on the environmental influences. The individual who believe their success is irrespective of the outside influences and they base their success on their own work, have an internal locus of control. Considering the physical and psychological health of the internal locus vs. external locus individuals it has found that the internal locus individuals are always pressurize themselves and always try to find out the drawback of their own work. These phenomena put them into psychological conflict compare to the external locus individuals. It also has some adverse effect on their physical health as they are always biased with hard work. On the other hand, external focus persons do not believe in their responsibilities. Thus, they do not suffer in mental conflict for the success rate of their work. The less psychological pressure helps them to maintain good physical health. 6. The reason for the Brian's passing up from the promotion at work can be discussed on the role of internal vs. external attributes and self-serving bias. Attributes give an explanation of an individual's behavior and that of others. There are mainly two attributes that play a key role in behavioral explanation. Internal attribution is concern about the individual, whereas the external attribution focuses on the environmental effect. Internal attribution is associated with the personality trait of an individual that focus on the motives and beliefs of one individual. External attribution assigns the cause of certain behavior in reaction to some external or environmental situation. It is a common tendency that people often explain their behavior on the basis of situational features. Here Brian can explain his failure may result due to some of his misbehavior towards the management, which is a part of internal attribution. The cause of misbehaving may originate from the external press ure of the situation, which can be categorized under external attribution. The self-serving bias highlights the tendency of an individual to consider internal attribution for success and external attribution for failure. These may result from the depression and low self-estimation. There are several factors and variables such as motivation, gender, age, culture, emotion, locus of control and self-awareness that contribute to the self-serving bias. Brian can explain his failure by self-serving bias that he has no fault towards work and the management or the work environment is only responsible for his failure. The external attribution always suppresses his success. 7. Angela is making an external attribution here. As she believes that the psychological exam system was unfair and making the environmental situation responsible for her fails in the test. Jo is making an internal attribution here. As Jo admitting that the result can be better if he studied hard. The only thing responsible for his failure is the lack of study. Self-serving bias characterized by the tendency of an individual to praise on the work whatever he or she has done if that leads to success and put the blame on the external bodies if the individual meet failure. Angela is using self-serving bias in this case. Both the students were judge by same psychology exam and both of them failed. But Jo is admitting that there is nothing wrong with the examination pattern. He is solely responsible for the failure as he did not study enough and he also admit that he might have studied hard. On the other hand, Angela did not admit her responsibility for the failure of the test. She is arguing that the examination pattern was unfair for her failure in the psychology test. 8. The personality of particular individuals comprised of five factor model such as openness, extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism. These five factors can have high, moderate or low levels in individuals and act as a particular trait. The trait prominent in Jenny is openness. The high end of openness indicates the independence of the individual as well as the imagination power. The high end of openness also reflects an individual should have a broad interest towards various aspects of life and shows interest in new ideas. The low end of openness highlights the narrow interest towards things and conforming nature of the individual. A person with the low end of openness shows no interest in new ideas. In the case of Jenny, a low end of openness has found as she believes she is always right and never listen to her study group member's ideas. Kristina has a trait of extraversion. Kristina is sociable in nature and always like to meet new people and enjoy having a party with a friend. Her nature indicates a high end of extraversion. The high end feature of extraversion associates with the social approach of individuals and shows the friendly behavior towards others. The person also shows an adventurous mind. Whereas the low end of extraversion indicates the reclusive and quite nature of the individual. The person is always cautious of meeting new people. Brandon has a trait of agreeableness. The high end of agreeableness shows the sympathetic and soft-hearted nature of an individual. The individual is also good natured and polite to others. The low end of Agreeableness reflects the tough mind of the individual. The individual is rude towards others and ruthless in showing opinions. In this case, Brandon is identified with a low end of agreeableness as he avoids the ethnic restaurants for lunch as he thinks Korean and Indians are weird in nature. The following case of Cassandra and Tony shows the trait of conscientiousness. Whereas both of them shows opposite end of conscientiousness. Cassandra has a high end of the trait as she marked the calendar for remainders and appointments. The high end of conscientiousness reflects the well organized and disciplined nature of the individual. The person is very dependable and careful with matters. On the other hand, the low end of the trait highlights careless attitude with no organized plan towards work. The person is undependable. Tony has a low end of conscientiousness as he constantly forgets about meetings and events. Susana is identified with neuroticism trait. The high end of the trait associated with insecure feeling as well as nervousness towards a situation by an individual. The person is also very emotional in nature to certain things and has a tendency of self-pitying. The following case of Susana shows the hind end of neuroticism as she is always worried about her schoolwork, bills and about her family. She often checks her email, bank details, at least, ten times a day. On the other hand, the low end of neuroticism shows the calm behavior of the person. The person is quite relaxed and self-satisfied with the situation and felt secure with their decision.

The Ride I Will Never Forget free essay sample

The ride I will never forget . Waking up on sunny day where sun shined bright in my face, I thought to myself, it is time to wake up. It was the middle of the summer somewhere at the end boxful. It was not an ordinary day for me. I spent the night at my friends house because the night before we went down town to spend time with our friends. That night, we shared alcoholic beverages which made the night a little more relaxed. When it was time to go home I realized that I could not drive.I asked my friend to drive us home, UT I could never have known that this ride would be unforgettable. My friend suggested that we stay at his house. And I agreed. To show my appreciation I offered buy him sushi for lunch so we took my moms car to the restaurant. We will write a custom essay sample on The Ride I Will Never Forget or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page On the way, traffic, so I thought to myself if I overstep the law, I could save us some time by going the wrong way down a one way. As I thought we were good and no one saw it, I hear sirens and see police lights flashing from a distance. I was devastated and felt my heart crunching inside of me.During that moment I did not know what to do. I did not have a drivers license nor registration for the car, and there was a possibility that I still had alcohol In my system from the previous night out. The officer took off his helmet and got off from his motorcycle, and as he was walking towards our car I had a hundred thoughts In my mind, but none were good or helpful in figuring out a reason for my action. I looked to my friend and said, Im in so much trouble. He was Just staring to me with an open mouth with nothing to reply to that.As the officer came to the car, I rolled down the window, and the words coming from him were, license and registration please l I had nothing to give him. He was surprised and asked, what was I doing In car with no license and registration. I explained the situation and how I got In this trouble, to which he replied that he may have take the car and, I would not be able to get a license for two years. My friends license would be taken away too, as well as we would both be fined . In that moment I was Just shaking and desperate for a chance.I had one last I Idea In my mind which was to bribe the officer. I looked up to him and asked If he would Like to eat lunch. He thought for few seconds, and replied , how much are we talking about ? So we agreed that he would follow me to my home, where I would give him the money. At that moment I felt as If a mountain had fallen off of my back. I was relieved and thankful that It all went the way I wished. When I went to give the officer the money, and he sad, Its alright, I dont need It and said that I could keep It !I was so handful that he was so generous I Just put the money In his folder and thanked him. The officer took off and I went In the house with my friend. I fell In the chair and laid there for ten minutes. I could not believe that everything was alright. I looked up to my friend and told him, lets order sushi I This story made me realize how careful I need to be and to never try something Like that again. BY puke it is time to wake up. It was the middle of the summer somewhere at the end of July. Here was a possibility that I still had alcohol in my system from the previous night liking towards our car I had a hundred thoughts in my mind, but none were good He was surprised and asked, what was I doing in car with no license and registration. I explained the situation and how I got in this trouble, to which he replied that he moment I was Just shaking and desperate for a chance. I had one last I idea in my mind which was to bribe the officer. I looked up to him and asked if he would like to At that moment I felt as if a mountain had fallen off of my back.I was relieved and thankful that it all went the way I wished. When I went to give the officer the money, and he sad, its alright, I dont need it and said that I could keep it ! I was so thankful that he was so generous I Just put the money in his folder and thanked him. The officer took off and I went in the house with my friend. I fell in the chair and laid there for ten minutes. I could not believe that everything was alright. I looked up to my friend and told him, lets order sushi ! This story made me realize how careful I need to be and to never try something like that again.

AIDS and HIV essays

AIDS and HIV essays Aids-acquired immune deficiency syndrome- is caused by HIV (Human Immunodefiniency Virus), which produces no symptoms for up to ten years before a person is diagnosed with aids. This virus attacks the immune system and leaves the body vulnerable to a lot of life-threatening illnesses. Bacteria, yeast, and viruses that do not cause disease cause these illnesses. Aids has become the most serious worldwide epidemic, and one of most dangerous stage of HIV. AIDS was known in the early 1980s. A new study of the oldest known HIV suggests the virus jumped from animals to humans in the 1940s. (Goudsmit 2) The year was 1959, in the central African city of Leopoldville. A seeming healthy man walked in to a hospital clinic to give blood for a Western backed study of blood diseases. He walked away and was never heard from again. Doctors analyzed his sample, froze it in a test tube and forgot about it. A quarter-century later, in the mid-1980s, researchers studied the growing AIDS epidemic and took a second look at the blood and discovered that it contained HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The Leopoldville sample is the oldest specimen of the aids virus ever isolated and may help solve the mystery of how and where the virus made the leap from animals (monkeys and chimpanzees) to humans, (Christine Gorman). Dr.David Ho, director of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in New York and one of the study ¡s authors, says a careful genetic analysis of the sample ¡s DNA pushes the origin of the AIDS epidemic back at least a decade, to early 1950s or even the 1940s. Various international agencies and other bodies have introduced a number of different classification systems. The first classification system, introduced in 1982 by the CDC, established a set of clinical criteria necessary for the diagnosis of AIDS. The purpose of this classification system was to enable field workers to carry ou...

Understanding Students with Hearing Loss Research Paper

Understanding Students with Hearing Loss - Research Paper Example This paper deals with the said issue, teaching and learning relationship when the student has the problem of hearing. Understanding Hearing Loss Before hearing loss is explained, a brief introduction to the process of hearing is very important in the context of this research. The listening of a sound can be described in two basic notations, one being audition on the other being vibration. Audition is the hearing process; whereas; vibration is the interpretation of pattern, of air molecules on the ear drum. Sound itself can be divided into two parts. The first one is the frequency on the sound and the second one is its loudness. Being deaf means unable to hear any kind of a sound but this is not the only form of hearing disability. Hearing disability can be broker down into two main parts. One is deaf, which means that the person has a hearing loss of 70-90 dB and cannot hear with any kind of amplification. The second part is the person who has loss of hearing in the range of 20-70 dB but can hear with use of amplification devices. Both there forms of hearing disability can cause great stress in every-day life of a human as well as being the sole reason for slow learning of this person. The report looks into the methods of overcoming this disability and making these students in a classroom attain good grades and live a normal life (Ann, 1995). Communication between teachers and students on the same frequency is the only secret for the success of the teacher-student relationship, be it a normal one or one in which the student has some physical disability. There are many ways a teacher can communicate or transfer knowledge into the minds of a person who has a hearing disability. The first and foremost method is oral communication by enhancing or amplifying sound to develop language skills as well as understanding skills. After oral, the most used method is applied which is manual communication. In manual communication sign language or finger spelling is used. A universal sign language has been developed for the help of teachers and students alike. Finally the simultaneous method in which both amplification is sign language by the teacher to explain the phenomenon of science, math , literature or any other subject under light. Challenges Faced There are numerous issues faced by both teacher and the student alike, student more that the teachers though. The first basic and foremost challenge is one, especially to students in primary classes, is of reading and writing. As the process of learning to read is dependant on hearing and the one of writing is dependant on reading. Therefore it is the first challenge that comes across a hearing impaired child. The second problem is not directly related to the class environment but directly affects the emotional behavior of a student in class. This problem is due to a various number of interactions a hearing impaired child faces in his everyday life. His interactions with the parents, friends and the sense of social isolation all play a vital role. Teacher in these scenarios can play a vital role and sail the child from the storms of social disparities against such students (Elizibeth, 2010). Teaching Strategies Various steps can be taken by the teacher in a class for the teacher to enhance the learning abilities of a hearing impaired student and in turn have a bet ter understanding of the student. Every student with this

Vascular Senile Dementia Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Vascular Senile Dementia - Research Paper Example When people hear these things, they automatically think of their hearts. The fact is, these are the very same problems that cause vascular dementia. Other things that can cause or contribute to vascular dementia are arrhythmias, myocardial infarction, TIA, atrial fibrillation, snoring, carotid bruits, alcoholism, peripheral vascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and smoking. Dementia means deprived mind and often includes a decline in memory, reasoning, thinking and mental functions. More than three million Americans now have dementia. The age of onset is usually 55-70 and the onset is usually quite abrupt. It often starts with paroxysmal deterioration of intellectual functions and this becomes clearly a succession of strokes and infarcts in the brain. There is often a fluctuation of mental status followed by generalized deterioration(Matteson, McConnell, & Linton pg. 1162). There may also be focal neurological signs such as asymmetrical reflexes, extensor plantar responses, limb weakness and focal signs like twitching plus a small step gate.

EasyJet strategy: SWOT and PESTEL analysis

EasyJet strategy: SWOT and PESTEL analysis This report will provide a detailed analysis of EasyJet’s current corporate appraisal or SWOT analysis. This will identify its strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This will help the companies decision makers understand where the organisation is now. A PESTEL analysis of the industry will examine the local, national and global influences of political, economic, social and technological factors to understand opportunities and threats well. This will provide an evaluation of the external business environment in which the company operates. This analysis will highlight the fundamental changes that the airline industry is undergoing, especially; in defence to the turbulent environment it faces from exogenous forces (terrorism, oil prices, SARS etc) and endogenous forces. Next we will use Porter’s Five Forces analysis of the industry and the increasing threat of other low-cost carriers (Ryanair, bmi baby etc) and also threats from the flag carriers (British Airways, Air France, KLM, Lufthansa etc). This will show how its critically important for EasyJet that strategic alliance, size and technological innovation have on its profitability. Overall the analysis will highlight the inherent threats and weaknesses suffered throughout the industry, and also the importance of innovation to maintain low cost advantage, alliances and size to success. Finally the report will examine the extent to which EasyJet’s current ‘no frills’ strategy is the appropriate strategic fit to its organisation both in terms of resource capability and business environment. An Internal and corporate analysis in terms of strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) will assist in gaining an understanding of where EasyJet is currently in terms of strengths and where improvement is required within the business and what outside environmental threats it may face as well as what new opportunities are available to the company in the short and medium term. We will start by looking at strengths: EasyJet serves diverse ranges of European routes with principle activities in both Leisure and business markets, offering 60 key European routes. Its current cash flow position is also strong, with cash flow from operating activities increased by 61 percent between the six months ended 31st March 2003 to six months ended 31 March 2004. The business has also enjoyed an increase turnover and trading profits resulting in continuous substantial growth in underlying profitability over the last 7 years (see table 1). This has resulted in a strong Balance Sheet – the companies’ net assets reaching the record level of  £724 million (aided by retained profit mainly). EasyJet is also Europe’s leading low-cost airline having completed a merger deal with Go to create Europe’s number one low-cost airline. Brand Awareness is another strength that is attributable to the company – In November 1999, selected as a business super brand by the Super Brand Council, recognising EasyJet as an outstanding brand name. The company’s Online booking facility in October 1999 aided Internet sales to pass the one million mark. This has lead to EasyJet customers enjoying ‘ Ticketless travel’ – this reduces the cost of issuing, distribution, processing and reconciling tickets. EasyJet also enjoys internal strengths in its operations in terms of efficient use of airports – by reducing turnarounds to 30 minutes and below, EasyJet can achieve extra rotations on the high frequency routes. EasyJet appears to have internal strengths in terms of brand awareness, cash flows, and operational efficiencies. But what are the internal weaknesses suffered by EasyJet? The primary weakness is the perception of low quality – low cost can also be seen as low quality service than that offered by the established national airline i.e. British Airways. Also, suffers weakness in the area of hospitality in terms of on board offer of ‘Free Lunch’, the eliminating of free catering on board may result in loss of potential customers. The existing competition also have strong brand image globally, EasyJet is recognised nationally and within the European markets, however, national airlines like British Airways is recognised worldwide and has stronger brand awareness. EasyJet also operates a flat management structure, which may lack a formal discipline that is needed as the organisation grows. The idea of remote working can also result in co-ordination and control weaknesses. It is difficult to co-ordinate the individual employee because in principle they operate independently of each other. It’s also hard to monitor the performance of each individual. So having considered the internal strengths and opportunities above, what are the potential opportunities available to EasyJet and what are the threats faced by EasyJet both from within the Airline industry and as a result of the world economy itself. Weaknesses identified earlier could also offer potential opportunities in terms of development of brand awareness globally. The EasyJet brand is established in the European market, but brand awareness is required outside the continent. There are potential opportunities in terms of new routes and expansion of services offered, EasyJet has already launched a number of new European routes, how about expansion into the Asian Pacific? Undertaking market shift to globalisation expanding outside the European market will be key to continuous enhancement of business performance. Follow on from market expansion will also create opportunities for new facilities or services ‘Free Lunch’ – offer on board catering facilities to compete with mainstream airlines. The increase growth of world tourism will offer opportunities in terms of undertaking joint venture with local/foreign travel companies; hence, Going places and Thomas Cooke are already providing such services to growing number of holidaymakers each year. Finally, opportunities may also exist in the area of innovation and alliances, how about a joint venture scheme with Ryanair to maintain and enforce the low cost competitive advantage. Figure1: EasyJet SWOT Analysis Having considered the possible future opportunities what are the potential threats that EasyJet needs to bear in mind? Firstly, threats in terms of new existing competition. Ryanair continues to lower costs, which enables it to persist lowering fares aggressively. Also, mainstream airlines are now lowering fares to engage in price competition. Another major industry wide threat is the volatility in price of fuel Oil price record high of $53 a barrel. this was the headline in the business pages of all the newspapers last November. EasyJet also faces potential threats in terms of unprecedented tragic events like September 11th. Potential threats in terms of changing social trends like holidays outside Europe (many now want to experience the eastern cultures and travel to holiday destinations like China and Japan) and also travelling via the EuroStar to Paris etc. Potential threats of economic recession, since air travel is effectively a commodity product, it is recession prawn. And, finally threats of any takeover bids from national airlines. Figure 2: Five Forces Model ACCA Paper 3.5 (2001) Porter explains that there are five forces inherent in a market, which will jointly determine the intensity of competition and profitability of EasyJet and the airline industry. The first is the threat posed by new entrants, as with the European deregulation of commercial aviation and the emergent of low cost carriers. The second is the threats from substitutes, rail travel v air travel, the growing demand in Eurostar and cruses. The third force is the threats from the bargaining power of buyers, is this strong for both EasyJet and the entire airline industry with a large number of alternative suppliers, hence, the aggressive pricing strategy. This results in a very strong competitive rivalry in the industry. This is intensified as a result of little or no differentiation in the service offered. Finally the threats from the suppliers bargaining power, this is very strong in the airline industry for two reasons, one is highly skilled labour can command a very favourable terms and seco nd is the price of oil. All of those (political, economic, social, technical, legal and environmental) factors will to some extent apply to the airline industry. POLITICAL – Following the European deregulation of commercial aviation, a fleet of low cost carriers are reshaping the local airline landscape. Ryanair uncompromisingly fought its way into the market with an aggressive pricing strategy. ECONOMIC the travel industry is vary recession prawn and also very sensitive to changes in oil prices. Since the events of September 11th the airline industry suffered heavily, stocks plummeted and ticket prices are at all time lows. The world economy is however, now on the up post September 11th. Consumers are optimistic and the travel and tourism industry are now booming again. SOCIAL – changes in consumer taste and lifestyle represent both opportunities and threats for the industry. Opportunities in terms of worldwide destinations are now popular with holidaymakers and also the growing trend in international business ventures, e.g. major banks and insurance companies’ relocation call centres in Asia. The threats are in terms of alternative holidays Disneyland Paris via Eurostar (Euro tunnel) and PO cruise. TECHNICAL – Changes in retailing methods as such ticket sales via the Internet is now a common place in air travel, passengers receive an email containing their travel details and booking reference when they book online. Paperless operation, the management and administration of the company are undertaken on IT systems, which are accessed through secure servers; provide flexibility in the running of the airline. The development of the next generation aircraft will also lead to technological opportunities in term of fuel efficiencies. LEGAL – The European deregulation of the commercial aviation provided both major strategic threats and opportunities, the national mainstream airlines faced severe price competition from discount carriers. Threats are also in terms of legislative environmental laws regarding pollution and use of more environmentally friendly fuel, which are at premium prices. ENVIRONMENTAL – The energy sources used, namely oil has vast ecological/environmental implications. The threats are in terms of fines and rise in cost of raw materials. A ‘no frills’ strategy is often associated with low cost airline companies like EasyJet. This form of strategy combines a low price, low perceived service benefits (no free lunch) and a focus on a price-sensitive highly competitive market segment. This strategy is focused on keeping costs down and EasyJet’s policy of ‘no free lunch’ and efficient use of airports by limiting turnaround to 30 minutes. Back in 1995 when EasyJet was lunched it was tipped by most to fail with its ‘no frills’ strategy. However, by year 2000 it has not only managed to survive but also increased its market shares and assets of aircrafts to 74 and servicing 105 routes and carrying over 20 million passengers a year. So the strategy has been very successful for EasyJet and appears to have been the correct strategic decision. Beneath the surface of EasyJet’s cosmetic cost savings of not offering free in-flight refreshments or different first, business and economy classes, was a philosophy of cost saving that permeated through the entire organisation. The 2002/03 annual report reconfirmed this business model of the airline: Dense point-to-point network to allow linking of major airports with large catchments areas with high level of frequency, as this will be attractive to business and leisure travellers. A strong and visible brand to create a high level of awareness with consumers. Supported by innovative and effective advertising. Dynamic fares with a simple structure and also ensuring that it are the cheapest fare on the route. Therefore, demand led with proprietary yield management system. 100 per cent direct selling of fares; over 90 per cent of sales are online. This eliminates the need to any commissions to external sales agency. Highly utilised fleet of aircrafts that are large, modern, efficient and relatively environmentally friendly. This results in high levels of asset utilisation and reduced unit costs. Finally, the key to sustaining high levels of growth is the scalability of the operations. This also reduces the marginal cost of incremental growth; increasing scale brings valuable economies (Johnson, G., Scholes, K., Whittington, R., (2005). Another price-based strategy is the hybrid strategy this seeks to achieve an element of differentiation and a price lower than that of competitors. Implementing this strategy successfully depends on EasyJet’s ability to deliver enhanced benefits to customers over its competitors together with low prices. However, if EasyJet could significantly differentiate its service over its competitors then it could obtain higher prices. Therefore, the low cost strategy is the ideal strategic fit to its environment. Combining perceived low price with perceived added value can be a highly successful strategy but one that requires innovative thinking. EasyJet’s competitive advantages via low prices are sustained in a number of ways. EasyJet in its pursuing of low-price strategies may be prepared to accept the reduced margin either because it can sell more fares than competitors. EasyJet may be prepared and has to a large extend engaged in price war with competitors via its lower cost structure (economies of scales due to its larger operations) and also has the financial resource capability to fund short to medium-term losses with the aim of driving out competitors in the longer terms. A prime example of this was the subsequent takeover of Go by EasyJet. Price wars are becoming more prevalent as traveller use the Internet to compare prices and ‘shop around’. EasyJet has cost advantages through company specific capabilities, which drive down costs throughout the value chain. Porter comments on cost leadership as ‘the low-cost producer in its industry†¦ must find and exploit all sources of cost advantage’ (Porter M.E (1980)). We will consider the value chain for EasyJet in more detail later in our discussion. Cost advantages might be achieved because of EasyJet’s efficient use of airports. This will require a mindset where innovation (in cost reduction) is regarded as essential to survival. EasyJet is an international example, The introduction of Airbus A319 aircraft, combined with the retirement of ‘old generation’ Boeing 737 aircraft, will result in a two-type ‘new technology’ fleet, which will commonality and lessen complexity and deliver high level of asset utilisation and reduce unit costs. Finally, EasyJet has sustained its price-based advantage by focusing on market segments where low fares are critical and valued by customers. EasyJet’s first generic strategy is to achieve an overall cost leadership in the low cost airline industry. Therefore, it is vital for EasyJet to have a thorough comprehension of their costs and cost drivers. EasyJet is forever trying to attain a cost level that is low relative to its competitors. EasyJet cost efficiency is achieved in a variety of way as shown in the following diagram: The success of low-fare (cost) strategy is primarily dependent on the maintenance of a low cost base. This is critical for EasyJet having analysed the competitive rivalry position in the industry. With Ryanair maintaining high margins despite reducing yields through strict cost management. Lower costs are the only competitive advantage in the short-haul economy sector as air travel is effectively a commodity product. It is also anticipated that Ryanair will continue to lower costs, which will allow it to continue to engage in a price war, by lowering fares aggressively. Managing for value involves managing both value activities and cost drivers. This involves EasyJet retaining funds from operations; hence, a healthy Balance sheet in terms of retained profits. Significant investment in assets and managing financing costs. Funding strategies developments is clearly important in that the nature of funding must be appropriate and compliments the low cost strategy of EasyJet, by ensuring that interest costs are low. Strategies are largely determined by the extent to which they deliver best value to both customers in terms of being competitiveness in the marketplace (leading low cost airline) and also to provide value to shareholders. EasyJet’s no frills strategy does not only mean a cut in Cabin crew and â€Å"denial of food†, but also allows for a faster pre-flight preparation, thereby reducing the time grounded as well maintaining fare. As funding from operations are clearly a major contributor to value creation. In the long term, this is concerned with the extent to which the organisation is operating profitably. Table below provides an analysis of EasyJet’s sales revenue and profitability ratio since 1998. Investments in assets are also key consideration in value creation in that consideration of the extent to which assets and working capital are being utilised. EasyJet appears to have developed competences in supporting much higher levels of business from the same asset base than other rival airlines. This affects value creation as follows: The cost of capital investment The management of the element of working capital Table 1: Sales and Trading Profit of EasyJet Most theories argue that strategic success and improved wealth generation stem from two strategies. The first is to reduce the ‘bottom line’ costs of operation (low cost strategy) and the second is to increase the value of the organisation and its reputation to customers, so that they will demand more or pay more for what they receive (differentiation strategy) (ACCA Paper 3.5 (2001)). Porter through the use of the value chain illustrates how resources should be utilised to enhance least-cost production or differentiation strategies (the generic strategies suggested by Porter). The value chain analysis will show the total value added by the airline industry and EasyJet. All airline companies within the industry will have similar value chain, which will include activities such as obtaining fuel, designing fare structures, airport facilities, developing co-operative agreements, and providing customer service. Value chain analysis can provide important insights into what ma nagement need to focus on strategically. In terms of analysis, EasyJet’s distribution activities are important in terms of e-commerce, as EasyJet like to consider itself as the ‘webs favourite airline’. Standardisation in its activities as an airline leads to both economies of scale and a simpler product, which is cheaper and easier to distribute. The price of EasyJet’s tickets various as a function of the number of seats remaining, the time until the flight, and historical trends. This is done in order to maximise the yield from a flight, as many of the costs associated with running a flight are fixed relative to the number of passenger on board. Yield management is a form of risk management and therefore, adds value. The sales process is efficient, as EasyJet sells directly to customers, instead of using external sales teams. It has been streamlines by using e-commerce, firstly by telesales and now through the Internet. Marketing and sales will involve making customers aware of EasyJet’s services are price information and also selling. This will involve retention of best salespeople supported by HR management, engineering support in terms of maintenance of the web page supported by technology development to ensure that web site has the latest prices and route and flight information. This needs to be updated constantly as this will be a live system. EasyJet manages its sales process extremely efficiently, its sells its tickets directly. Previously it used telesales and now sales are through e-commerce web site. As Internet transactions have a lower cost associated with it EasyJet encourages its customers to book on-line by offering them a discount for on-line ticket reservations. Savings made from e-commerce is another source of value creation. In terms of competitive advantage, the internet offers overall cost leaders new abilities to reduce costs in primary activities such as marketing (i.e. e-commerce) and support activities such as fir infrastructure (e.g. quick order processing). EasyJet through its use of an overall cost leadership strategy can use internet-based technologies to reduce value chain costs in a variety of ways: On-line bidding and order processing to eliminate the need for sales calls and decrease sales force expense. Another benefit of Internet technology is lower transaction costs at multiple levels in value chain activities. Such lower costs benefit EasyJet initially as innovation is rewarded. However the sustainability of competitive advantages may be problematic: as rivals copy successful strategies, EasyJet will loose its initial advantages. And finally, service, activities that ensure that customers enjoy their flight by providing friendly on board service and assisting traveller with any special needs requirements. In terms of support activities, EasyJet takes advantage of technological developments in order to reduce costs. EasyJet also have a reputation for paying low wages in line with its low cost strategy. Procurement and firm infrastructure as a support activity does not add much extra value. In terms of strategy, many factors are outside the control of the company, such as use of high quality components and low defect rates for its aircrafts. This analysis outlines for EasyJet’s management how individual activities may be altered to reduce costs of operation or improve the value offered to customers. Those changes will ensure that EasyJet sustains its current market share and position and also increase margin. EasyJet may be especially good at outbound logistics lined to its marketing and sales operations and supported by its technology development. It is possibly not as good in terms of operations and its inbound logistics. This will assist management to decide as to what EasyJet should be concentrating on and what requires de-emphasising or even outsourcing. EasyJet’s overall cost leadership strategy uses low costs at each point in the value chain to lower costs. The customers of EasyJet have been using the Internet for making bookings. In addition to that, EasyJet has been offering no in-flight meals, no in flight movies. Also, only one type of aircraft is used, in order to minimise maintenance costs. The concept of the value chain is particularly useful in understanding an organisation’s strategic capability since its concentrates on value activities and the linkages between activities rather ran just resources. Therefore, capability is strongly related to the way that resources are used and controlled. The linkages with the value chains of channels and customers which are the essence of EasyJet’s capability and which can protect its market leadership and maintain cost leadership competitive advantage from competitors. This section we will investigate EasyJet’s resources as a means of assessing the organisation’s strategic capability. Analysis of financial resources in order to understand the strategic capability of EasyJet will need examination of financial capability and performance. Table 1 shows that EasyJet’s sales has increase year on year since 1998, with profit and gross margins also experiencing a positive trends. The company has also grown in terms of its acquisitions of GO and also increase in purchases of its own aircrafts. EasyJet also has a strong cash flow position primarily from its policy to retain profits and reinvest it back to the business. A Balanced scorecard approach is need to effectively conclude a balanced perspective on EasyJet’s resource capability in order to ensure that the low cost strategy is supported and is Cohabitation: The end of Marriage Cohabitation: The end of Marriage Introduction The following essay is aimed at discovering whether cohabitation has literally displaced marriage. It will focus on the processes of cohabiting as well as marriage, briefly touching on their historical backgrounds as well as the trends for each of the processes in different countries. Immediately after the war, marriage became practically universal phenomena but apparently, its popularity has declined towards the end of the twentieth century. Bumpass and Lu (2000) and Teachman, Tedrow and Crowder (2000) explain that patterns of family formation and also dissolution are changing in the United States. She clearly cites an increase in divorce, cohabitation and non marital children which clearly shows a shift from traditional marriage. According to Murphy and Young, (1999), marriage has been in steady decline since the early 70s in the United Kingdom. A McRae (1999) point out that marriage in 1995, which was 322,000, is thought to be the lowest on record since 1926. As the marriage rate dropped, so did the remarriage rate resulting in a steady rise of cohabiting. (Morgan 2000) Cohabiting according to Marshall (1998) refers to an arrangement whereby couples who are not legally married live together as husband and wife. In view of the above definition, the term, not legally married brings in another dimension as to the authenticity of cohabitation. This leads to the idea of common law marriage. There seems to be a huge misconception of the idea of common law marriage, with some authorities and according to Fairbain, (2009) there is no specific legal status for what many refer to as common law marriage. She also points out that many cohabiting couples are unaware of this fact. On the other hand, marriage, as defined by Horton and Hunt defined marriage as the approved social pattern whereby two or more persons establish a family. Majumdar takes it further by defining marriage as a socially sanctioned union of male and female or as a secondary institution devised by society to sanction the union and mating of male and female for purposesof establishing a househ old, entering into sex relations, procreating and providing care for the offspring There appears to be a clear distinction between marriage and cohabiting, judging from the definitions above which helps me conclude that they are not one and the same thing. The question which I will attempt to answer is whether on is displacing or replacing the other. Shaw and Haskey, (1999) seem to concur with the idea of a clear dichotomy as they point out that there has been a major trend towards a decline in marriage and a rise in cohabitation. Hasky, (1999) also points out that marriages popularity rose throughout the 1950s and the 1960s but notes that towards the end of the century, it fell, giving rise to cohabitation. It appears there was a shift in family formation from the traditional marriage to cohabitation. To further support the prevalence of cohabitation, Bramlett and Mosher, (2002) confirm that the increase of cohabitation is well documented showing that the majority of newly weds have cohabited before their first marriage. Levidon (1990) also argued that consensual unions, (cohabitation) appeared to constitute a new type of union. However, he mentions that the process was transitory, which points to the fact that marriage still was seen to be the end goal. A major development however was that there was more recognition of informal unions and as a social institution. (Haskey 1999)Kiernan, and Estaugh (1993), came up with the idea of nubile cohabitation which involved young people living together either as a prel ude to or as an alternative to marriage. This was further elaborated on by Bumpass, Sweet and Cherlin (2001); Smock, Huang, Bergstrom and Manning (2005) who cited one of the key reasons why cohabitation was on the rise, as a way of testing out a relationship and determine compatibility. Research however found out that there is a positive correlation between cohabitation and marital dissolution. (DeMaris and Rao 1992, Teachman and Polonko 1990 and Schoen 1992 cited in Smock (2000). They also found out that the link between cohabitation and marriage failure is complex, with other factors like, race, sexual history and ethnicity playing a significant influence. (Phillips and Sweeney 2005). According to Casper and Sayer (2000) and Brown and Booth (1996), cohabiters, are distinguished by factors like plans to marry It is noted that most of the cohabiters eventually plan to marry but not all cohabiters enter into cohabitation with marriage plans. (Manning and Smock 2005). In this way, cohabiters treated their cohabiting as an initial stage of the marriage process which clarifies that they did not see it as an alternative to marriage and likewise, those without marriage plans also viewed cohabitation as part of courtship or single hood. According to Brown (2004), cohabiters with marriage plans view cohabitation as a semi marriage and as a matter of fact, they share the same relationship quality as the married couples. Another factor that needs to be looked at is the individuals cohabitation history which researchers say in very significant. It was proven that women who cohabited only once with the same partner, being intimate, had the same relationship stability as those w ho never cohabited, (Teachman 2003). On the contrary, young adults who had multiple cohabiting partners are likely to encounter marital instability, (Teachman and Polonko 1990), (DeMaris and McDonald 1993). It is worth pointing out though that they concede that individuals who had multiple cohabitation before marriage could possibly have enough experience to enable them to make better marriage choices. Duncan et al (2005) states that cohabitation is often equated with do it yourselfand is no longer restricted to particular social groups. In line with this notion, Manning, Smock and Majumdar (2004) and Phillips and Sweeney (2005) maintain that race, and ethnic differences in cohabitation are likely to have an impact on cohabitation. It was noted that cohabitation had a negative effect on Whites marital stability but none on Blacks. This is likely so because of the view each ethnic group has on cohabiting. It was further observed that amongst cohabiting couples, Blacks had weaker marriage plans than Whites. (Manning and Smock 2002) Brown (2000) also argued that Blacks were less likely to go through to the actual marriage even with marriage plans. Between 1986 and 1990, there was a dramatic rise in cohabitation in Britain. 29% of unmarried females under 60 were cohabiting in 2001 and 2002. This was a three fold increase. As cohabitation rose, children being born to cohabiting couples were estimated to be over 25% by the beginning of the twenty first century. The fall decline of and delay in marriages, have all given rise to the phenomenon of cohabitation. Marriage does not stand out as the only means of commitment for life since some couples choose to cohabit, citing reasons like less commitment and the ease of opting out if things do not work well. (Kieman 2004). According to Duncan et al (2005) the shift from marriage to cohabitation suggests that individuals have found an option which meets their personal needs and has less or no hassles in terminating. Having looked at the history and trends of the two processes, marriage and cohabitation, this paper will focus on the individualisation theory. According to Beck, (1992) and Giddens (1992), we have entered a late modern era of de-traditionalisation and individualisation. Financial stability, education and provision through the welfare state tend to give individuals the latitude to move away from traditional customs. According to Lewis (2001), the pursuit of self fulfilment and individual happiness and freedom has brought up changes on the view of family. While the traditional institutions are still valued, there is less emphasis on marriage vows or private commitments and more emphasis on self projects. The project of self, places an emphasis on individual self-fulfilment and personal development, comes to replace relational, social aims. (Duncan and Smith 2006) The prevalence, historically, of economic and legal inequality, and the belief of there being accepted patterns of behaviou r is now getting weaker. (Lewis, 2001, p3) According to Lewis (2001), individualisation is thought to be a formulation of freedom of choice and personal preferences which competes with social structural traditions. However, in the eyes of the traditionalists, this may be viewed as a counter cultural revolution Beck (1992( suggests that social structures of gender, class, family and religion are gradually weakening due to individuals becoming more reflexive in making own choices, resulting in the creation of their own biographies. As a result, relationships now focus on individual fulfilment and consensual love, with sexual and emotional equality, substituting formal unions which have been historically prescribed within set gender roles. (Bauman, 2003, Duncan and Smith 2006). With reference to Majumdars definition of marriage, there is particular mention of it being a union of male and female or as a secondary institution devised by society to sanction the union and mating of male and female for purposesof establishing a household, entering into sex relations, procreating and providing care for the offspring. However, with reference to individualisation, the prescript nature of the marriage institution is challenged resulting in sexuality being largely freed from institutional, normative and patriarchal control as well as from reproduction. (Duncan and Smith 2006). This notion has led to the acceptance and rise of same sex relationships as confirmed by The Civil Partnership Act 2004 which was passed and came into effect in December 2005 created civil partnerships which gave same-sex couples who entered into them the same rights and responsibilities of marriage. From a feminist perspective, Lewis (2001) would argue that historically, marriage has reinforced the limiting of the self development of women. Marriage was seen as a restrictive union and could dictate emotions, feelings and behaviour. Cohabitation, from a different perspective could then be argued to be a form of liberation for women. (Morgan 2000). Marriage was viewed as being restrictive and confining, thereby limiting independence and autonomy. Morgan argues that marriage is an unencumbered life without binding commitments. This then presents the idea of cohabitation as a viable alternative which affords people choice to determine their own conditions for the establishment and dissolution of a relationship, Morgan (2000). The emergence of this contemporary family has been viewed positively and negatively. According to Giddens, (1992) and Weeks, (2001), the greater diversity of lifestyles and the opening up of choice leads to democracy in personal relations, and liberation from oppressive institutions. On the contrary, the work of Zygmunt Bauman (2003) and Francis Fukuyama (1999), stresses that the breakdown of traditional ties leads to a disintegration of families and the moralities once maintained by them; this demoralisation leads to individual alienation and social breakdown. Maslow (1954) maintains that people who engage in self actualisation were concurrently individualistic and altruistic. In order to meet their needs, individuals moving towards self actualisation, became higher selves and according to Maslow, this is healthy selfishness (p.156). In this process, the healthy self focuses more on the self Kilpatrick (1975) According to the pioneers of the individualisation theory, Becks and Gersheim (2002), society has shifted away from traditional structures where, people no longer have pre-given life worlds and life trajectories. (Heath, et al 2007). Generally, individuals are no longer expected by society to follow a set family pattern. According to Beck, (1992) this notion has altered the previous accepted family structures resulting in the dissolution of the social foundations of the nuclear family as more emphasis is placed on the family of choice Fukuyama (1999) argues that the institution of marriage has previously been viewed as the bedrock of society but due to the emergence of the family change and freedom of choice, traditional ties have weakened and as a result, there has been family degeneration. Gender roles have also shifted since from the categorization of men as breadwinners and women as house makers. The major change appears to be women emancipation advocated for by the womens moveme nts and this has altered societal and demographic values. Active participation by women on the labour market has significantly changed the notion of a family unit by bringing in more choice and autonomy women did not have in the past. The Legal Position of Cohabitation in Britain Heterosexual cohabitation has been socially and universally accepted as an alternative to marriage in the UK for over two decades but very little has been finalised as regards legal rights of the cohabitants is debatable. (Duncan et al 2001) The issue with cohabiting is that while it can be registered as a Civil marriage, it does not attract the same legal rights and privileges of a marriage. Traditionally, marriage has been regarded as Bauman, Z (2003) Liquid Love: on the Frailty of Human Bonds. Oxford, Polity. Beck, U. (1992) Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity, London, Sage. Bumpass, L., Lu, H. (2000). Trends in cohabitation and implications for childrens family contexts in the United States. Population Studies, 54, 29-41. Duncan, S. and Smith, D. (2002) Geographies of family formations: spatial differences and gender cultures in Britain Transactions Institute of British Geographers, 27, 4, 471-493. Fukuyama, F. (1999) The Great Disruption: Human nature and the Reconstitution of Social Order, New York, Free Press. Giddens, A. (1992) The Transformation of Intimacy: Sexuality, Love and Eroticism in Modern Societies. Cambridge, Polity Press. Horton, P. B. and Hunt, C.L. (1984) Sociology. 6th ed. Singapore: McGraw Hill Book Companies Kiernan, K. and Estaugh, V. (1993) Cohabitation Extra-marital Childbearing and Social Policy,Joseph Rowntree Foundation/Family Policy Studies Centre. Lewis, J. (2001) The End of Marriage? Individualism and Intimate Relationships, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. Marshall, G, (1998) A Dictionary of Sociology cited on http://www.encyclopedia.com Accessed 20/11/2009. Weeks, J. (2001) Same Sex Intimacies: Families of Choice and Other Life Experiments. London, Routledge. Teachman, J. Tedrow, L and Crowder. K. 2000. The Changing Demography of Americas Families. Journal of Marriage and the Family 62:1234-1246.