A Tale of Two Cities and Julius Caesar Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A Tale of Two Cities and Julius Caesar - Essay Example Murder has been a theme applied in plot development with variable definitions held in the theme depending on the justification offered for the action. In a tale of two cities and Julius Caesar, murder is committed to articulate justice, and the theme is promoted in the leading characters. The two tales had been written based on murder and an understanding, to the reason for the application of the theme would offer the needed solution for the author’s intuition to apply the style. Charles Dickens wrote the tale to describe the mysterious revelation of Alexandre Manette condition who had been thought to have died. The father to Lucie Manetter had been wrongfully imprisoned in Bastille, and she sought out on the journey with Jarvis Lorry to find her father. The cities that witness the events are Paris and London where oppression of the weak and love is justified to lead to the witnessed events. Carton’s murder is justified as he takes the wrongly accused Darnay position because of the love he had towards Lucie Manetter. Darwin writes the story in which the two Carton and Darnay fell in love with Lucie, but Darnay ended up being her husband. However, on returning to Paris, Darnay is captured to be prosecuted. Carton saves his love’s marriage by taking the position of his rival to be murdered for the cause of love (Dickens 366). Consequently, Mr. Defarge had been murdered following accusations that he had murdered the peasant boy, but the event had been an accident. The boy’s father murdered Defarge because he had failed to make an attempt to save the boy. Shakespeare had written the play to depict murder as a leading theme in his plot development. Caesar had been from the battle victorious and had been in line to be crowned the supreme leader. However, with his power, some of his generals grew jealous and worried that he would present a tyrannical rule over the people. The generals create a plan to assassinate Caesar and involve Brutus in the plot

Entrepreneurship And Selling Essay Example for Free

Entrepreneurship And Selling Essay 1.0 Introduction There are various types of white coffee are selling in the market currently. Therefore, I would like to share about my new brand of white coffee, Fah Sin white coffee. As we all know, this industry in Malaysia is well known, with different brands such as Old Town White Coffee, Nescafe White Coffee, Ipoh White Coffee and so many others. For this product that I am about to share, is it fully owned by myself. Therefore, this is a fully sole-proprietor company. Before we go any further, let us look through the history of white coffee. White Coffee is a native product of Malaysia. Malaysia Origin White Coffee is made of well-chosen Liberica, Arabica and Robusta coffee beans and premium skim milk, processing in mild low-temperature baking and special process to remove the bitter and sour taste cause by high-temperature grilled, and minimize the caffeine, bitterness and sourness to the lowest without any additives added, outstanding aroma, gentle to stomach and retain the original color and flavor of coffee, the color is more softer than the regular coffee, light golden yellow with pure classical taste. The white coffee is a unique coffee drinks in Malaysia with about 100 years of history. White coffee doesn’t mean the color of coffee is white; it is made of well-chosen Liberica, Arabice and Robusta coffee beans, baking without caramel at direct low-temperature which takes 2.5 times longer than the high-temperature charcoal baking, and grind into coffee powder. It removes the scorch and sour taste cause by common high temperature fried and charcoal roasted, but retains the natural flavor and rich aroma of the coffee, memorable fragrant and smoothness. Gentle to stomach, do not get inflamed, low caffeine, pure mild quality, suits the requirements for modern taste of life with outstanding aroma. 2.0 General Macro Environment Elements. Entrepreneurship can be defined as the method of utilizing one’s individual creativity and inventiveness to bring in changes to an already existing business or to initiate a new business with a view to developing and expanding it and make it an economically profitable venture. To ensure that this new product could create a success and a new impact to the public, we have to study the ventures of environment assessment. The following diagram provides a clearer vision of the important parts of the assessment. As an entrepreneur, we have to look closely at the factors that is surrounding in our society, in order to achieve the target sales that we plan. The macro environments include the major forces that act not only on the firm itself, but also on its competitors and on elements in the micro-environment. The macro-environment tends to be harder to influence than does the micro-environment, but this does not mean that firms must simply remain passive; the inability to control does not imply an inability to influence. Often the macro-environment can be influenced by good public relations activities. The main elements of the macro-environment are known as PEST, which means: P – Political and Legislation. E – Economy S – Socio-Cultural T – Technology 2.1 Political and Legislation – Political factors often impact on business: recent examples are the worldwide movement towards privatization of former government-owned utilities and businesses, and the shift away from protection of workers’ rights. Firms need to be able to respond to the prevailing political climate, and adjust the marketing policy accordingly. For example, British Telecom, Deutsche Telekom and Telstra of Australia have all had to make major readjustments to their marketing approaches since being privatized, and in particular since seeing an upswing in competitive levels. Almost all the firms’ activities have been affected, from cutting the lead time between ordering and obtaining a new telephone, through to price competition in response to competitors’ cut-price long-distance and international calls. British Telecom was the UK’s fifth biggest spender on advertising during 2003. This segment is the arena in which different interest groups compete for attention and resources. This is where I can exercise my political power by obeying and adhere to the policy, legislation and regulations on how the business operates. There are 2 types of issue which we need to consider, which is the global issues and the national issues. As for my company, I will only need to observe the national issues, where taxation and regulations are more important. The reason is because the impact of taxation on business operations can reduce the cash available for business ventures to invest while some taxes are favorable to only certain business and disadvantageous to others. 2.2 Economy – Economic factors encompass such areas as the boom/bust cycle, and the growth in unemployment in some parts of the country as a result of the closing of traditional industries. Macro-economic factors deal with the management of demand in the economy; the main mechanisms governments use for this are interest rate controls, taxation policy and government expenditure. If the government increases expenditure (or reduces taxation), there will be more money in the economy and demand will rise; if taxation is increased (or expenditure cut), there will be less money for consumers to spend, so demand will shrink. Rises in interest rates tend to reduce demand, as home loans become more expensive and credit card charges rise. This factor plays a vital role in the success or failure of a new business. As an entrepreneur, we need to analyze this factor at the global, national and local levels. Meanwhile, we must also scan, monitor, forecast and assess the macroeconomic factors that can affect the new business. 2.3 Socio-Cultural – This factor consists of two major related aspects: 2.3.1 Demographic changes: It happens due to changes in the population, ethnic groups, and population structures according to age, gender, geographical location, and their income. These elements will clearly provide the data of consumers’ demand, buying power and industrial capacity. We need to assess these changes in order to identify our business opportunities. Demographic changes can have major effects on companies: the declining birth rate in most Western countries has an obvious effect on sales of baby products, but will eventually have an effect on the provision of state pensions as the retired have to be supported by an ever-shrinking number of people of working age. Likewise, changes in the ethnic composition of cities or in the population concentration (with few people living in the city centers of large cities) cause changes in the demand for local services and retailers, and (more subtly ) changes in the type of goods and services demanded. 2.3.2 Social trends: This relate to the lifestyle of a person. We also need to monitor the lifestyle changes in order to identify business opportunities. But yet, as an entrepreneur, we also need to forecast and assess the meaning of changes for our business by looking at their own self-interest. 2.4 Technology – This is also a vital factor for a new venture through product development and commercialization. Technological change happens in two forms: 2.4.1 Pure Invention: This refers to the creation of something new that is different from existing technology or product. Normally it has economic value and has no competitors at initial stages and it is often monopoly by individual. But there will be no market at the early stage. On the other hand, new inventions can create new markets and opportunities for business. For example, the invention of semiconductors created business opportunities in computers and mobile phones. 2.4.2 – Process Innovation: This refers to the s mall changes in design, product formulation and manufacturing, materials and distribution. Scanning and monitoring changes in technology are not easy tasks due to information is not easily available. 3.0 Elements of Macro Environment That Affects Our Organization. At the very beginning, we have look through all the major factors or the macro environment elements. Can we discover what the factors that might affect our new business are? We have to collect more information and data before we can launch a new product and to do researches about our country’s current situation. 3.1 -Political and Legislation: Malaysia is a peaceful country. We have no wars compared to other countries like Israel or Pakistan. We have also many types of ethnic in Malaysia, where we have malay, chinese, Indian, kadazan and so many others. Our legislation is controlled by our ruling government and we always live in peace and harmony. 3.2 -Economy: Malaysia economy is growing rapidly, with many overseas investors and also new ventures. This increased the working opportunities and the average income of a local scholar is RM 1800.00 – RM 2500.00, and therefore this will also help to increase the buying power. 3.3 -Socio-Cultural: If we look closely to the lifestyle of the working adults, we are always busy and always looking for something instant to eat or drink during in the office. Therefore, our new white coffee is very convenient and suitable for working adults as it is a 3 in 1 coffee packet. Drinking coffee also consider as a culture to working adults, to boost up their stamina while at work. 3.4 Technology: As for this white coffee, we have our very own research and development team. We are also planning to add in other herbal plants into this white coffee as an additive ingredients so that our coffee will taste better compared to other brand. Entrepreneurship, as discussed earlier, comprises of all the aspects of the new venture and the entrepreneur can face challenges from all of them. For instances, the finances for the enterprise has to be calculated, planned, accessed and distributed according to the project plan. For start-up ventures, the establishment and infrastructure costs will be high initially and an interval has to be allowed for the profits to show up in the accounts. The necessary permits, licenses and governmental procedures for starting the venture have to be procured in time for starting the production. Hiring of adequately skilled employees, building a strong sales-force, building a relationship with the consumers by getting to know their needs and satisfying these needs at a fair price, and satisfying the investors by turning into a profitable venture as soon as possible are also challenges that the entrepreneur has to learn to handle effectively and efficiently. 4.0 Micro-Economic Factors. Micro-economic factors are to do with the way people spend their incomes. As incomes have risen over the past 40 years or so, the average standard of living has risen, and spending patterns have altered drastically. The proportion of income spent on food and housing has fallen, whereas the proportion spent on entertainment and clothing has risen. Information on the economy is widely publicized, and marketers make use of this information to predict what is likely to happen to their customers and to demand for their products. Micro environment factors are factors close to a business that have a direct impact on its business operations and success. Before deciding corporate strategy businesses should carry out a full analysis of their micro environment. In this assignment, we discuss common micro environment factors. 4.1 Customers As all businesses need customers, they should be Centred (Orientated) around customers. The firms marketing plan should aim to attract and retain customers t hrough products that meets their wants and needs and excellent customer service. 4.2 Suppliers Suppliers provide businesses with the materials they need to carry out their business activities. A suppliers behavior will directly impact the business it supplies. For example if a supplier provides a poor service this could increase timescales or product quality. An increase in raw material prices will affect an organization’s Marketing Mix strategy and may even force price increases. Close supplier relationships are an effective way to remain competitive and secure quality products. 4.3 Competitors The name of the game in marketing is differentiation. Can the organization offer benefits that are better than those offered by competitors? Does the business have a unique selling point (USP)? Competitor analysis and monitoring is crucial if an organization is to maintain or improve its position within the market. If a business is unaware of its competitors activities they will find it very difficult to â€Å"beat† their competitors. The market can move v ery quickly for example through a change in trading conditions, consumer behavior or technological developments. As a business it is important to examine competitors responses to these changes so that you can maximize the impact of your response. 4.4 Financial Institutions – In Malaysia, we have SME Bank as our financial-aid. An organization, which may be either for-profit or non-profit, that takes money from clients and places it in any of a variety of investment vehicles for the benefit of both the client and the organization. SME Info provides the latest information, industry news and updates about the Small to Medium Enterprise segments in Malaysia. The portal also provides insights and latest news on government announcements, industry trends and available financing and training programmes for SMEs. Various developmental aspects for SMEs in Malaysia that the portal provides includes advisory services, financing options, training programmes, business networking and matching, and further industry events organized by the government and private sectors. SME Info is run by Bank Negara (The National Reserve Bank of Malaysia), where they play host as the Secretariat to the National SME Development Council. 4.5 Non-Government Organization – This organization could provide useful information and advices to new entrepreneurs. FOMCA Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Gabungan Persatuan-Persatuan Pengguna Malaysia) For example, we have a very active consumer association in Malaysia which is known as Persatuan Pengguna Pulau Pinang. They are a very active group which protects all the consumers in Malaysia. 4.6 Government Agencies -In Malaysia, we have many local authority that control a new establishment of a company. For example, Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM), JAKIM, and many others. Therefore, in Seremban, we need to deal with Majlis Perbandaran Seremban (MPS) in order to obtain our license. 5.0 Summary After looking at all the major criteria in order to achieve success for my new venture in this white coffee business, I am very sure that we can implement all the macro environment factors which we discussed earlier. It will not only help us to improve our sales in order to meet our sales goal, but can also expand my venture to overseas and maybe international. Therefore, we need to improve our technology, which is our Research and Development sector to produce better quality of the product. A good product will also ensure our consumer to achieve maximum satisfaction. With good impressions from our consumers, I believe our new product will gain a great impact to the society.

Essay on Global Warming: The Effects of Climate Change -- environment,

Climate change is a long-term alteration in the statistical distribution of weather pattern over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. The world is currently experiencing drastic change in temperature. This change can be felt in the tropical climate areas where the weather is getting hotter and hotter every day. The change in global temperatures and precipitation over time is due to natural variability or to human activity. It is also caused by accumulation of greenhouse effects (Arrhenius, 1896). Should we as humans let this problem worsen? Climate change will affect everything including humans, flora and fauna, and the environment. One of the effects of climate change is how it will affect the people. Climate change will have a huge impact on the people’s health. The health of the people will be affected mostly by air pollution and respiratory problems will have the greatest risk of health effects. Increases in moulds and pollens due to warmer temperatures could also cause respiratory problems such as asthma for some people. Should the effects of climate change get any worse than what it is now, people around the world will have to face some serious problems. Food security will be affected and thus diseases can easily get transmitted. Food or waterborne diseases are acquired through eating or drinking. For example, Hepatitis A is a viral disease that interferes with the functioning of the liver. It can be spread through consumption of food or water contaminated by fecal matter (CIA World Factbook, 2011). Apart from being infected with Hepatitis A, people around the world can potentially get infected with Hepatitis E, bacterial diarrhoea, and Typhoid fever. Climate change will also have an impact on the financial s... ...of the flora and fauna species are unlikely to have time either to adapt to this warming, or to adjust their ranges to keep pace with the shift in climatic zones. To put things on a conclusive note, global warming already disrupts millions of lives daily in the forms of destructive weather patterns and loss of habitat (Houghton, 2007). What is already happening is only the tip of the melting iceberg, for it is our children and grandchildren who may suffer most from the effects of climate change. The effects of climate change are likely to be severe and irreparable. If we do not reduce the rate of climate change, hundreds of millions of people may be exposed to famine, water shortages, extreme weather conditions and a 20-30% loss of animal and plant species. While humankind has the ability to destroy the planet, we can also help to protect and sustain it.

Genre Analysis: Musical The Wizard of Oz Essay

The Wizard of Oz is one of the biggest American Musicals in film. It has become known world wide, it is apart of our American popular culture, and is best known of all films. It was based on the novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz written by L. Frank Baum in the 1900s. It was produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayar in the year of 1939. This film just hit the end of the â€Å"Golden Age of the Musical† that started in the early 1930s. MGM benefited greatly from the hit of the rebirth of musicals. It’s known for the use of technicolor which is a system of making color motion pictures by means of superimposing the three primary colors to produce a final colored print (Websters Dictionary), fantasy storytelling, interesting and creative characters, and the musicality imbedded into it. There was also a complex use of special effects for film in that specific time era which helped the film receive special notice. MGM’s film had many awards but one of the most famous one was the award of Best Original Song for â€Å"Over the Rainbow.† It was sung by Judy Garland as Dorothy just five minutes into the movie after she was trying to get her Aunt and Uncle to come to a realization of what happened to her poor little dog Toto. In the beginning of the film â€Å"Over the Rainbow† is played by MGM orchestra over the starting credits. There is a big taste of fantasy in this particular film which kind of in a way departs away from the musical genre. There is many scenes of flying monkeys, and the wicked witch of the West and Glinda, the good witch of the South, and the munchkins, and talking lions, and a tin man, and a talking scarecrow. There are many musical scenes that I am fond of in The Wizard of Oz like the scarecrow’s song â€Å"If I only had a Brain†, the tin man’s song â€Å"If I only had a Heart† and the lion’s song â€Å"If I only had the Nerve†. The Wizard of Oz was the famous directors, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayar’s, most popular musical in his time. Starring Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale was one of the best professional choices MGM had in his career. She was the stand out in the whole film. Also starring Frank Morgan as the wizard, Ray Bolger as the scarecrow, Jack Haley as the Tin Man, Bert Lahr as the cowardly lion, Billie Burke as Glinda the good witch of the south, and Margaret Hamilton as the wicked witch of the west. â€Å"Somewhere over the Rainbow† became Judy Garland’s signature song. She has been in 32 of MGM’s films and she won a Golden Globe Award, Grammy Awards and the Special Tony Award. She was then nominated the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in â€Å"A Star is Born†. Everyone of the lead rolls in The Wizard of Oz has been in many of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayar’s other films.

Policy and Strategy in Global Competition Essay

Discussion Question 6.1: What are some drawbacks and risks to a broad generic business strategy? To a focused strategy? The two generic business strategies are differentiation and cost-leadership strategies, and they are fundamentally different from one another, both with their own drawbacks and risks (Rothaermel, 2013). These strategies are referred to as â€Å"generic† because they may be used by any type of organization (Rothaermel, 2013). The drawbacks and risks of a differentiation generic strategy is its viability â€Å"is severely undermined when the focus of competition shifts to price rather than value-creating features† (Rothaermel, 2013, p. 155). This tends to occur when there is a level of acceptable quality which has emerged as a standard (Rothaermel, 2013). Organizations pursuing this strategy also need to ensure that they are not adding features which add cost but no â€Å"perceived value in the minds of consumers† (Rothaermel, 2013, p. 155). The d rawbacks and risks of a cost-leadership strategy are that new entrants may erode the low-cost leader’s margins because of the â€Å"loss in market share while it attempts to learn new capabilities† (Rothaermel, 2013, p. 154). Also, the converse of the differentiation strategy issue applies, in that organizations need to ensure that the â€Å"focus of competition shifts from price to non-price attributes† (Rothaermel, 2013, p. 154). The organization needs to also be careful not to allow the value of the product or service to fall below the low-cost at which the product or service is offered (Rothaermel, 2013). A focused strategy applies the same concepts as the generic strategies above, but the focused strategy utilizes a more narrow competitive scope than the generic strategies (Rothaermel, 2013). The competitive scope refers to the market segment at which the product or service being offered is aimed (Rothaermel, 2013). An example would be the broad market of wristwatches to the more focused market of luxury watches  (Rothaermel, 2013). Discussion Question 6.4: Create examples of value chains for three firms: one using cost leadership, another using differentiation, and a third using an integration business-level strategy. A value chain is the process in which â€Å"a firm engages when transforming inputs into outputs† (Rothaermel, 2013, p. 95). It is made up of primary activities, which add value directly, and support activities, which add value indirectly (Rothaermel, 2013). Primary activities include production phases, sales, marketing, and customer service (Rothaermel, 2013). Support activities include research and development, â€Å"information systems, operations management, human resources, finance, accounting, and general management† (Rothaermel, 2013, p. 96). Cost leadership firm: As discussed above, a cost-leadership strategy involves maintaining the lowest price of a particular service or product (Rothaermel, 2013). A prime example of a cost-leadership firm would be Walmart (Rothaermel, 2013 ). Walmart’s value chain would begin with its supply chain, which is made up of suppliers with whom Walmart has negotiated the lowest price possible, at a volume sufficient enough to fill its shelves (Rothaermel, 2013). The next link in the value chain would be Walmart’s distribution and operations. Walmart has been able to reduce packaging and mileage, allowing for significant cost savings (Porter & Kramer, 2011). Walmart’s sheer size creates significant savings through economies of scale (Rothaermel, 2013). Lastly would be marketing, sales, and service, in Walmart’s value chain. Walmart focuses on â€Å"Saving people money so they can live better†, and continues to take innovative steps to do so (Walmart, 2015). The company has even created a mobile app called the â€Å"Savings Catcher† which allows customers to scan their Walmart receipt to capture savings that they would have missed otherwise (Walmart, 2015). This is a marketing effort which impacts sales and services in a major way. Differentiation: Apple is an ideal example of an organization utilizing a differentiation strategy (Rothaermel, 2013). Apple seems to be able to â€Å"create customer needs (even if customers are initially unaware of the need)† (Rothaermel, 2013, p. 155). Apple’s value chain will differ from Walmart, and other cost-leadership strategy firms, in that it will have a greater focus on the development of their products and in its marketing and customer service. It will focus on product development in an effort to ensure their products continue to set the bar in their respective  categories (Rothaermel, 2013). Apple will also focus on marketing and customer service to ensure that new and current customers are aware of the products’ areas of superiority (Rothaermel, 2013). Integration Business-Level: Hewlett Packard (â€Å"HP†) is an example of an organization that is using the integration business-level strategy, which is a combination of the differentiation and cost-leadership strategies (Rothaermel, 2013). HP utilizes this strategy because Apple holds the differentiation position while Dell holds the cost-leader position in the mobile devices market (Rothaermel, 2013). For this reason, HP must seek to implement both the cost-saving strategies in supply chain management, like Walmart, and the differentiation strategies in product design, like Apple (Rothaermel, 2013). There are differences, however, in the value chain between HP and the two companies above. HP has sought to cut costs by trimming its workforce, thereby helping in its cost-leadership strategy (Rothaermel, 2013). In regard to its design efforts, HP has improved â€Å"the differential appeal of its product and service offerings† (Rothaermel, 2013, p. 162). Chapter 7 Discussion Question 7.1: What strategy might the firm use to unseat Windows in this market? Although the small firm has developed a new product, it is a product which will be introduced into an industry which is most likely in the growth or maturity stage of the industry life cycle (Rothaermel, 2013). As such, the small firm’s best strategy would be to employ a cost-leadership strategy (Rothaermel, 2013). This is the best option because both the differentiation and cost-leadership strategy are viable options during the growth stage, but firms that adopt the cost-leadership strategy which dominate during the maturity stage (Rothaermel, 2013). The small firm’s new product is likely considered a process innovation, as it seeks to accomplish the same tasks in a more efficient manner (Rothaermel, 2013). Discussion Question 7.2: How does the industry life cycle affect business strategy? Detail your answer based on each stage: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. During the introduction stage of the industry life cycle, the companies which tend to be, and stay successful, are innovative and tend to be few  (Rothaermel, 2013). As such, the strategy used during this stage is likely the differentiation strategy, since firms are seeking to establish the uniqueness of their products’ features (Rothaermel, 2013). The growth stage tends to allow organizations to be a little freer to decide which strategy would work best for them (Rothaermel, 2013). It is during this stage that a dominant design, or standard, is established, which means that firms may choose to differentiate their product, or choose to attempt to offer the same type of product at a lesser cost (Rothaermel, 2013). The maturity stage begins to see less design changes and more process innovations within the industry (Rothaermel, 2013). For this reason, it is cost-leaders that tend to succeed during this stage (Rothaermel, 2013). The decline stage differs from those above, as it introduces four strategic options for firms to pursue: (1) exit, (2) harvest, (3) maintain, and (4) consolidate (Rothaermel, 2013). The exit strategy is precisely as it says: it involves the firm choosing to leave the market to pursue other endeavors (Rothaermel, 2013). The harvest strategy means that the firm will still sell the product or service, but will reduce the level of investment in its maintenance and development (Rothaermel, 2013). The maintain strategy is also exactly what it sounds like: the firm continues offering the product or service at the same level as it has been, despite the declining demand (Rothaermel, 2013). The consolidate strategy involves the purchasing of rivals in an effort to shrink the industry, which provides firms employing this strategy to reach near-monopolistic status (Rothaermel, 2013). Discussion Question 7.4: Why are standards important in many industries? As standards get adapted and become dominant, how does this process influence the competitive nature of the industry? Standards are important in many industries because the firm whose product becomes the standard â€Å"tends to capture a larger market share and can persist for a long time† (Rothaermel, 2013, p. 175). Once the standard is adopted, the market tends to focus more on process innovation than on product innovation (Rothaermel, 2013). This means that firms are focusing their R&D efforts â€Å"on process innovation in order to improve efficiency† (Rothaermel, 2013, p. 177). Since the standard tends to be set during the growth stage,  either the differentiation or cost-leadership strategy is used, for the reasons discussed above (Rothaermel, 2013). Chapter 8 Discussion Question 8.1: When Walmart decided to incorporate grocery stores into some locations and created â€Å"super-centers,† was this a business-level strategy of differentiation or a corporate-level strategy of diversification? Why? Explain your answer. Walmart’s incorporation of grocery stores into some locations represents a corporate-level strategy of diversification, as opposed to a business-level strategy of differentiation. While business-level strategy typically involves individual markets, corporate-level strategy encompasses decisions which impact multiple markets and industries simultaneously (Rothaermel, 2013). Diversification occurs when a firm seeks to increase â€Å"the variety of products or markets in which to compete† (Rothaermel, 2013, p. 216). By incorporating grocery stores into some of its locations, Walmart made a corporate-level strategy decision to diversify the products offered in its stores, and the markets within which it chose to operate (Rothaermel, 2013). Chapter 9 Discussion Question 9.1: List some specific advantages of this acquisition for Live Nation. Do you see any downside to the merger?  Some advantages to the acquisition of Ticketmaster by Live Nation include: a reduction in competitive intensity, lower costs, increased differentiation, and access to new markets and distribution channels (Rothaermel, 2013). While these are some possible advantages for Live Nation, mergers and acquisitions do not result in a competitive advantage the majority of the time (Rothaermel, 2013). Shareholder value is usually destroyed after a merger and acquisition, and it is only the shareholders of the acquired company that tend to benefit (Rothaermel, 2013). Chapter 10 Discussion Question 10.1: How might your relationship change as the MNE moves from Globalization 2.0 to Globalization 3.0 operations?  Globalization is the process of increasing â€Å"integration and exchange between different countries and peoples worldwide† (Rothaermel, 2013, p. 271). Globalization 2.0 refers to growing business globally from 1945 to 2000 (Rothaermel, 2013). It involved large foreign direct investment, with the  state-side corporate headquarters directing strategic goals and resource allocation (Rothaermel, 2013). Globalization 3.0 covers the time period from 2000 to the present (Rothaermel, 2013). Tremendous strides in technology allow for less need of foreign direct investment, and this stage has allowed the MNE to reorganize as a â€Å"global enterprise with centers of expertise† (Rothaermel, 2013, p. 273). As a small firm supplying a product or service to an MNE, the degree of change which would arise in our relationship, as the firm moved from Globalization 2.0 to Globalization 3.0 operations, would depend heavily on the location and type of services or product provided. The MNE would likely become more dependent on technology for telecommuting and would seek to operate twenty-four hours a day, year round (Rothaermel, 2013). As such, if our service or product was related to the technologies being implemented by the MNE, then the firm would become a larger player in the MNE’s operations. However, if the MNE was able to tap into its own knowledge-base to provide the services or product our small firm provides, then we would no longer be needed by the global giant. References Rothaermel, F. T. (2013). Strategic Management. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Walmart. Our story. Retrieved on January 25, 2015, from http://corporate.walmart.com/our-story/

Free Essays on Organizational Change And Development

organization development is a system and or effort that are set up in a specific way. In the table shown below is the â€Å"planed system of change† (Jacobs, 1994). TABLE 1 Planned. OD takes a long-range approach to improving organizational performance and efficiency. It avoids the (usual) "quick-fix". Organization-wide. OD focuses on the total system. Managed from the top. To be effective, OD must have the support of top-management. They have to model it, not just espouse it. The OD process also needs the buy-in and ownership of workers throughout the organization. 2 Increase organization effectiveness and health. OD is tied to the bottom-line. Its goal is to improve the organization, to make it more efficient and more competitive by aligning the organization's systems with its people. Planned interventions. After proper preparation, OD uses activities called interventions to make system wide, permanent changes in the organization. Using behavioral-science knowledge. OD is a discipline that combines research and experience to understanding people, business systems, and their interactions. There are several ways organizations go about change efforts, examples are technological innovation, training and development or new product development. These ways a... Free Essays on Organizational Change And Development Free Essays on Organizational Change And Development ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT AND INTERVENTIONS What is organization development? â€Å"Organization development is a process that applies behavioral science knowledge and practices to help organizations achieve greater effectiveness†. (Cumming and Worley, 2001). The purpose of organization development is basically to help the company grow and develop as an organization. â€Å"Organization development is an effort, planned organization wide and managed from the top to increase organization effectiveness and health through planned interventions in the organization’s processes, using behavioral science knowledge†. (Rouda and Kusy, 1995). In other words organization development is a system and or effort that are set up in a specific way. In the table shown below is the â€Å"planed system of change† (Jacobs, 1994). TABLE 1 Planned. OD takes a long-range approach to improving organizational performance and efficiency. It avoids the (usual) "quick-fix". Organization-wide. OD focuses on the total system. Managed from the top. To be effective, OD must have the support of top-management. They have to model it, not just espouse it. The OD process also needs the buy-in and ownership of workers throughout the organization. 2 Increase organization effectiveness and health. OD is tied to the bottom-line. Its goal is to improve the organization, to make it more efficient and more competitive by aligning the organization's systems with its people. Planned interventions. After proper preparation, OD uses activities called interventions to make system wide, permanent changes in the organization. Using behavioral-science knowledge. OD is a discipline that combines research and experience to understanding people, business systems, and their interactions. There are several ways organizations go about change efforts, examples are technological innovation, training and development or new product development. These ways a...

Alphabetical List of the Elements

Alphabetical List of the Elements There are 118 elements on the periodic table. Heres a list of the chemical elements, arranged alphabetically according to IUPAC name: ActiniumAluminumAmericiumAntimonyArgonArsenicAstatineBariumBerkeliumBerylliumBismuthBohriumBoronBromineCadmiumCalciumCaliforniumCarbonCeriumCesiumChlorineChromiumCobaltCoperniciumCopperCuriumDarmstadtiumDubniumDysprosiumEinsteiniumErbiumEuropiumFermiumFleroviumFluorineFranciumGadoliniumGalliumGermaniumGoldHafniumHassiumHeliumHolmiumHydrogenIndiumIodineIridiumIronKryptonLanthanumLawrenciumLeadLithiumLivermoriumLutetiumMagnesiumManganeseMeitneriumMendeleviumMercuryMolybdenumMoscoviumNeodymiumNeonNeptuniumNickelNihoniumNiobiumNitrogenNobeliumOganessonOsmiumOxygenPalladiumPhosphorusPlatinumPlutoniumPoloniumPotassiumPraseodymiumPromethiumProtactiniumRadiumRadonRheniumRhodiumRoentgeniumRubidiumRutheniumRutherfordiumSamariumScandiumSeaborgiumSeleniumSiliconSilverSodiumStrontiumSulfurTantalumTechnetiumTelluriumTennessineTerbiumThalliumThoriumThuliumTinTitaniumTungstenUraniumVanadiumXenonYtterbiumYttriumZincZirconium Source Emsley, J. (2003). Natures Building Blocks: An A–Z Guide to the Elements. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-850340-8.

College Application Essay Writing Service

College Application Essay Writing Service There is no doubt that the quality of your college application essay can play a deciding role in whether you are accepted to the university you want most to attend. With that in mind, many students spend weeks and sometime months preparing their papers. And while I agree that it is important for students to work hard on their compositions, I also believe in making things as easy as possible. Creating a Versatile College Application Essay One of the most difficult hurdles that many students face when submitting for college admissions is having to write a different college application essay for every university to which they are applying. I am here to tell you, however, that you do not necessarily need to write several different college application essays. With just a little extra work, you can make one college application essay work for all the schools to which you are applying. In most cases, colleges arent specific in their requirements for application essays. Often, students are requested to submit a composition outlining their scholastic goals and/or personal statements regarding their chosen field. That is why many students choose to use the same college application composition for all of the schools to which they are applying. With just a few minor alterations here and there, it is often quite simple to save yourself the hassle of having to write several different essays for a variety of universities. The intention of the above suggestion is not to encourage anyone to cut corners, but simply to make the college application process as stress-free as possible. If you would like additional information on how you can write a compelling and versatile college application composition, please dont hesitate to access the adjacent link. For additional assistance, I also recommend contacting a reputable admissions essay writing service.

Public Health Issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Public Health Issues - Essay Example The CDC has recently announced that scheduled flu vaccines for the 2012 to 2013 season already include protection for three influenza virus strains: influenza A (H1N1) virus, an influenza A (H3N2) virus, and an influenza B virus (CDC, 2012). Significance to Public Health The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified that influenza could actually afflict all people from various age groups. However, those segments of the population who were identified to be at risk of complications are as follows: â€Å"children younger than age two, adults age 65 or older, and people of any age with certain medical conditions, such as chronic heart, lung, kidney, liver, blood or metabolic diseases (such as diabetes), or weakened immune systems† (WHO, 2009, par. 5). Also, the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) has emphasized the need for health care personnel (HCP) to be vaccinated on a compulsory level. As noted, â€Å"health care personnel can spread the highly contagious influenza virus to patients in their care. In fact, unvaccinated workers can be a key cause of outbreaks in health care settings† (NFID, 2008, p. 2). In an article written by Sawyer, et al. (2012), it was disclosed that the public health advisory on the need for increased influenza immunization has been succesful in enjoining employers to promote the need for vaccination. However, the results of the study revealed that â€Å"population-based surveys of HCPs did not show significant increases in influenza vaccination. Overall, this study suggests that public health leadership, intensive employer promotion activities, and state-required declinations alone were not sufficient to significantly increase HCP influenza vaccination. Policymakers and employers should consider mandates to achieve optimal influenza vaccination among HCPs† (Sawyer, Peddecord, Wang, Deguire, Miskewitch-Dzulynsky, & Vuong: Abstract, 2012, par. 4). The relevance, therefore, of the issue to public hea lth is paramount in terms of manifesting conformity to the call to action of these high risk populations to be immunized against influenza and therefore contribute to the prevention and spread of this illness. Past, Current, Future Statistics The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) in conjunction with other national health agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the CDC, and the National Immunization Survey (NIS) have monitored and surveyed the influenza vaccination coverage levels of various population groups. Among which, Table 3 of the report written by Fiore, et al. entitled â€Å"Prevention and Control of Influenza with Vaccines† provides past and current statistics (Fiore & al., 2010). As emphasized, â€Å"in the 2009--2010 vaccination season, 33% of seasonal influenza vaccinations occurred in health departments, pharmacies or drug stores, workplaces, schools, or other nonmedical locations (CDC, unpublished data, 2009). The proportion o f 2009 H1N1 vaccine administered in these settings was 45% (CDC, unpublished data, 2010)† (Fiore, et al.: Other Settings, 2010, par. 1). Future directions indicate that â€Å"most severe morbidity and mortality during typical influenza seasons occurs among persons aged ?65 years of those who have chronic medical conditions. More immunogenic influenza vaccines are needed for persons at

Strategic marketing communications Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Strategic marketing communications - Essay Example Bottom up processing is one where the lower levels of management communicate with the higher level of management and this is where ideas might be floated up and also problems and concerns about various factors within the organization are communicated to the higher levels so that they can take action and solve the problems, the more efficient this process, the more loyal the employees are to the company because if they feel that they are being heard by the upper management they feel that they are a part of the organization as well because they have a role to play in the betterment of the organization and that is why their problems are being heard and solved. This kind of communication can be encouraged in many ways, for example having the same lunch or refreshment areas for all the levels of employees so that they can communicate in an environment with out being intimidated by the rank of the person that they wish to communicate with, the top management should be seen by the lower lev els of the employee ranks because that helps them to identify with individuals and the organization on the whole. Top down processing is where the top levels of management communicate with their subordinates with respect to the job instructions and other types of policy implementation, this kind of processing is very important because the dynamics of the organization depend on such type of a communications policy, generally it has been seen that companies that have a effective top down communication strategy have been able to reap much more employee loyalty and productivity rather than those companies that have a poor strategy in top down processing of communication, this is because companies that are better at this kind of communication can implement change effectively and frequently because they can communicate the though process behind the change process to the lower levels of employees and the employees feel and believe that the company has their betterment in mind when it feels the need to change any of the processes. This kind of communication process can be implemented by having a good telecommunication technology in place because people need to be told simultaneously of the policy changes that are being implemented and it is more faster than normal modes of communication. (Kotelnikov, 2005) (Monmouth, 2006) Managing Partnerships The horizontal communication process takes place between employees at the same levels, or managers at the same level, for example the marketing manager of an organization speaking to the financial manager and discussing the marketing budget. This kind of communication is very important because this is where bottlenecks can be created or avoided and projects can be given a boost, for strengthening this kind of process infrequent communication and communication in a work free environment or a casual environment can be encouraged. At this level partnerships and cross functional teams are created that help each other to achieve the organization's goal more effectively and efficiently. (Kotelnikov, 200

Political Development of Western Europe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Political Development of Western Europe - Essay Example From the revolution time to the period during the Franco-Prussian war, France had experienced different dictators led by the famous Napoleon and minimal political advancement was made until the emergence of a democracy in the late 19th century (Lecture 2). Germany’s democratization process was even slower in its own unique way because of issues to do with unification of the country in different aspects (Ertman 224). Germany was reunited as a nation in the 19th century coming from disintegration in the period before but even with its unification, its constitution and rule were solely an imagination of the princes and not with the involvement of the people as was the case with other advanced nations like England and the United States. By the end of 19th century, Germany could be said to have achieved a social democracy with dominion of power of the people through labor unions. Britain on the other hand has been on monarchy system of government for the longest time in the 19th ce ntury. Some aspects of democratic governance during this period may be inferred from Britain’s government institutional set up where crucial bodies such as the judiciary, local government and parliament were in place though working under the monarchy administration (Ertman 156). Additionally, an electoral system which could be termed as free and fair existed with desirable frequency of election activities though characterized by discriminative participation only allowing the rich and mighty at the expense of the poor and the common people. Even with successive legislation passed and efforts by the civil society forming social movements such as the... This paper stresses that democracy has been described variously but it basically means the form of political system that is guided by the power of the people. Although Europe was and still is one of the civilized regions of the world in the 19th century, the process of democratization in virtually all countries was complex and challenging and took different dimensions depending on country’s historical orientation politically, economically, and socially. During the period, Britain’s governance system was nearer that of a democracy compared to some other select countries like France and Germany. This report makes a conclusion that countries that encourage democratization must embrace the power of the electorate to influence political and governance decisions through majority rule and guided by the constitution and rule of the law, with eligible citizens given the opportunity to elect their representatives and run for public offices. There should be freedom of expression and worship, promotion of right for access to information, and opportunity to frequently change governments fairly and equitably through periodic elections. Even more, the rule of law as guided by the constitution must be observed and respected to avert inequalities and promote fair treatment for all. The promotion of individual freedom and dignity through human rights is fundamental in any democratic society where laws are set in line with the constitution to ensure that the rights of citizens are observed and respected. Democratic countries usually set up governance institutions to support and oversee effec tive adherence to these democratic principles.

What went wrong in measuring and managing risk associated with Research Paper

What went wrong in measuring and managing risk associated with financial institutions - Research Paper Example est rate risks, credit risks, foreign exchange risks, and liquidity risks that affected the functions of investment bankers, securities – stocks, bonds, derivatives -- mutual funds and insurance rate. A research into the measuring and managing techniques has been made to understand what went wrong and where. Taking the example of HSBC Holdings plc – a global financial institution providing all financial services under its umbrella, it has been attempted to explain how things went wrong. Financial institutions cater to the needs of different types of customers by providing relevant financial services. Financial institutions worldwide have been affected by the adverse market environment created by the US sub prime fiasco. Trouble began when the financial companies started relying too much on the innovation in the blind faith that it will yield returns. In the current context of sub prime melt down, initially the balloon of leveraging the assets’ market went on getting bigger and bigger, creating unrealistic and illusionary hype in market, which in the end shrank the balloon to cause global crisis of liquidity in financial institutions. Selling of financial products and services is a risky business, fraught with internal and external risks associated. Measuring and managing financial risks is crucial to the success of a financial company. There are different types of financial institutions operating at national as well as global scale. Before delving deep into the list of errors committed by financial institutions, it is significant to define the scope of financial institutions like banks, insurance, mutual funds, securities firms, investment banks, and finance companies. A financial institution collects funds from private as well as public investors to use them in financial assets. Financial institutions play the role of mediators in share markets and debt security markets. Financial activities may include bonds, debentures, stocks, loans, risk

Benchmarking productivity in the hospital Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Benchmarking productivity in the hospital - Essay Example The study of how best to sustain safety in the workplace should also be undertaken. In our survey, first, we identified a number of key benchmarks. These included the number of nurses attending to a full time physician as well as the number of patients allocated to every nurse. Questions were then developed for these benchmarks and organized categorically. In this staffing, demographics and expenses categories, the easiest questions would be answered first. Participants were informed that they did not have to answer all questions. Respondents, who came from the in and out patient population, were quizzed as to the number of drug administration services and examination practices had been given by nurses between specified visits to the hospital. Given by way of questionnaire, responses were received from 73 patients (20%). Of these, 15 were new mothers, 34 were oncology cases and 24 were admitted patients recovering from communicable diseases. Results showed that established patient visits per nurse were 5. Nurses commonly split their duties between the maternity ward and the pediatric ward. They also performed other administrative duties such as signing in patients as the hospital had not yet located a receptionist. Admitted patients were also asked to indicate the number of chairs and other furniture in their rooms. The number of initial drug administration codes was calculated by the number of full time nurses. It was then multiplied by the number of days during the month in which this study was carried out. Patients per full time nurse per working day, including those who did not have serious injuries, ranged from 3.7 to 8.1. The results of this study indicate that nurses though slightly strained in attempts to cater for the large volume of patients, the majority of whom had minor injuries, were adjusting favorably to the increased requirements of the populace. It does show an indication of

What went wrong in measuring and managing risk associated with Research Paper

What went wrong in measuring and managing risk associated with financial institutions - Research Paper Example est rate risks, credit risks, foreign exchange risks, and liquidity risks that affected the functions of investment bankers, securities – stocks, bonds, derivatives -- mutual funds and insurance rate. A research into the measuring and managing techniques has been made to understand what went wrong and where. Taking the example of HSBC Holdings plc – a global financial institution providing all financial services under its umbrella, it has been attempted to explain how things went wrong. Financial institutions cater to the needs of different types of customers by providing relevant financial services. Financial institutions worldwide have been affected by the adverse market environment created by the US sub prime fiasco. Trouble began when the financial companies started relying too much on the innovation in the blind faith that it will yield returns. In the current context of sub prime melt down, initially the balloon of leveraging the assets’ market went on getting bigger and bigger, creating unrealistic and illusionary hype in market, which in the end shrank the balloon to cause global crisis of liquidity in financial institutions. Selling of financial products and services is a risky business, fraught with internal and external risks associated. Measuring and managing financial risks is crucial to the success of a financial company. There are different types of financial institutions operating at national as well as global scale. Before delving deep into the list of errors committed by financial institutions, it is significant to define the scope of financial institutions like banks, insurance, mutual funds, securities firms, investment banks, and finance companies. A financial institution collects funds from private as well as public investors to use them in financial assets. Financial institutions play the role of mediators in share markets and debt security markets. Financial activities may include bonds, debentures, stocks, loans, risk

MIS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

MIS - Essay Example Each of these ERPs have their own unique infrastructure of the operating system, interfaces and databases hence making the modification of new inter-organizational systems to suit with the available ERPs expensive and time consuming. This leads to reluctance of the business partners in integrating with these inter-organizational system. (Chuo & Vincent, 2008, p.117-118) The second challenge facing inter-organizational systems is heterogeneity of the IT environments, technical skills, and financial resources of its trading partners. Most companies in an extended supply chain have the ability to some type of electronic transmission e.g. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), file transfer etc. but with varied specific capabilities. Many small suppliers, may not have the internal infrastructure required to adopt the IOS. Therefore, each of the business partners will, have to incur cost of converting their infrastructure to comply with the new inter-organizational system. With the partners a dopting the new infrastructure, they would benefit from the ability to use the same approach to connect to any other business partner or even to disparate internal systems. However the implementation of these new architecture will require time, money, and technical knowledge that not all partners might be able or willing to commit to. (Chuo & Vincent, 2008, p.117-118) Solutions to the Challenges For the organization to succeed in encouraging its business partners for an electronic integration with its heterogeneous IT architecture, there has to be way of insulating these partners from the complexity and dynamism of its enterprise IT architecture. Therefore, the solution here is to create a reusable middle-ware platform to enable passing of standardized information between its backend systems and those of the business partners. This platform will also ensure that the initiator is also insulated from its business partners’ changing technologies which they use to connect to the initiator. (Chen &Chin, 2006, p.87) The solution to heterogeneity of the infrastructure of the business partners will be to not requiring each of the business partners’ upgrade to the new architecture but give them a range of options of electronic transmission to choose from i.e. EDI, File transfer and any other suite for web-based transactions. The development of a platform for managing these IOS will requires outsourcing so as to help in standardization on a single technology e.g. web-based service hence reducing the costs associated with developing and running the platform by themselves. (Chen &Chin, 2006, p.87) Advantages of Inter-organizational systems Adoption of IOS can create new ways of achieving vertical integration apart from merging the firms. IOS reduces the transaction cost between the buyer and the seller and when this occurs, technology could be a catalyst in altering the optimal size of the firm hence allowing it to focus on its main core business without wor ry on the high transactions costs with the partners. The IOS has advantage of promoting highly coupled relationships between the trading partners in the supply chain. This is driven by the need for total quality management where manufacturers and retailer must develop close relationships with the suppliers and realize their importance. This is necessitated by intense foreign competition that has resulted in a shrinking market hence need for close relationshi

Coca Cola Strategy Essay Example for Free

Coca Cola Strategy Essay Slide1: International strategy (tià ªu Ä‘á »  cá » §a slide nhà © c) The enterprise has core competencies = the competitors in the host country does not have or difficult to develop, catch up or imitate Being not under pressure to localize products and to reduce production costs Companys head office played a central role Slide 2: International strategy of Coca Cola (1900 to 1950) 1899-1909: added to 379 bottling plants across the United States for consumption of about 70 million liters / year. 1906: developing the first bottling plant in Havana, Cuba = marked the first step of Coca cola international market 1936: World War broke out = the bottling plant follow the army and when the war ended, coca has owned subsidiaries in 64 countries. 1950: Coca cola started advertising on TV = effects promote in worldwise Slide 3: Global Strategy A business strategy as global market or single market Company produce and deliver the products which are standardized and identical. Businesses build production facilities globally in locations with low cost as the basis for operational efficiency = save cost The operation of the system will be connected and coordinated through a central management official Make the business does not pay attention to the important differences between different markets = opportunity for competitors to jump in and meet the needs Slide 4: Global Strategy of Coca cola (1950 to early 2000) Coca-cola implementing global business strategy by: producting homogeneity, uniforming marketing strategy worldwide. In the 1970s and 1980s: + very diversified distribution system in both horizontal and vertical, + the bottling plants of Coca-Cola were on around the world + linked the retail stores to serve consumers better. In the 1990s: find new market with the advantages of the new front to the market = Africa and Asia Slide 5: Transnatoinal strategy Make a separate strategy for each country in which businesses consume their  products. Implemented localized products and methods of marketing products to suit the tastes and preferences of each national market Slide 6: Transnatoinal strategy of Coca cola (from 2000s to now) Set up independent subsidiaries, joint ventures in different markets = carry out the research and development stage products, manufacturing and marketing products in the local market. In the early 2000s: success on a global scale with nature is a business providing consumer goods Local adaptation Think local, act local: strategy towards adaptation but not contrary to the traditional strategy of company-global strategy Distributed organizational structure according to geographic area, including five areas: -North America Latin America. Europe, Asia, Europe and the Middle East borders. Asia Africa. Slide 7: Localization strategy of Coca cola: Localization strategy: the practice of adjusting a products functional properties and characteristics to accommodate the language, cultural, political and legal differences of a foreign market or country. For Coca Cola this will be done through a number of actions, first is changing their method of advertising. Ex: In India the use of celebrities would be used more than in Africa whereby football is the bigger love of the people Coca-Cola decided to change their iconic product name to something a little more consumer-friendly for Chinese market, adopted to use Chinese characters to present a truly localized version of their logo. Cuá »â€˜i cà ¹ng là   cà ¡i clip t gá » ­i hà ´m trc nhà © Há º £i.

Dental Anxiety in Dental and Non-Dental Students

Dental Anxiety in Dental and Non-Dental Students Dental Anxiety in Dental and Non-Dental Students Abstract- Objective: To compare levels of dental anxiety in dental and non-dental students and then relate it with degree of knowledge about dental treatment procedures. Method: Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) was used to measure and analyze statistically the dental anxiety among dental students (n=30) and non-dental students (n=30). The participants include 28 (46.7%) males and 32 (53.3%) females of age ranging from 18-24 years (mean age 21 ±1.619). The data was collected in Islamic International Dental Hospital, Islamabad from patients under waiting treatment. Results: Education was associated with dental anxiety in patients. The dental students had a mean dental anxiety score of dental students was found to be 13.5 and that of non-dental students was 16.5. Conclusion: The results support the hypothesis that knowledge about dental procedures has a significant role to elevate dental anxiety levels. Keywords: dental anxiety; degree of knowledge; dental students; non-dental student â€Å"Dental anxiety is an aversive psychological response to poorly define, or not immediately present dental stimulus interpreted as potentially harmful or dangerous, usually within a dental context†(1). Dental anxiety is a common phenomenon amongst patients prior to obtaining dental procedures, often giving rise to a vicious cycle of fear leading to avoidance of treatment(2, 3). This potential hazard to treatment accounts for an understanding of its etiology, so as to help design and execute effective treatment regimens(4).Research establishes; prior experience of treatment, pain during treatment, age, gender, social class and lack of economic resources, negligence of oral health and inadequacy of and education as etiological factors of dental anxiety. Al-Omari et al. showed in their study that dental students had lowest anxiety levels as compared to medical and engineering students(5). Medical students were found to be the most anxious group and it was indicated that lack of dental information is directly related to increasing levels of dental fears. As per Curson and Coplans, anxiety is a major barrier in the dental treatments as children and adult avoid or delay attending the dentist except in emergency situations(6).Dental anxiety may have elevated levels amongst patients majorly due to lack of knowledge about the procedures and outcomes of dental treatment that would be carried out on them(7).Therefore, it is crucial to highlight dentally anxious patients in order to facilitate the course of treatment and to help accomplish it successfully. Different instruments for measuring dental anxiety include; Corah’s dental anxiety scale, Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS), Dental Fear Survey, State Trait Anxiety Scale, General Geer Fear Scale and Getz Dental Brief Survey(1). Humphris GM et al. (1995) suggested that MDAS is more comprehensive, highly valid and reliable, with a simpler and more consistent answering system(8).Therefore, modified den tal anxiety scale has been used for the purpose of this study. The aim of the study was to understand how lack of knowledge of dental procedures may contribute to increased anxiety levels amongst non-dental students when compared to dental students. With the identification of existence of such differences, improved treatment techniques and management strategies may then be accomplished(7). Materials and Methods: The study was conducted at Islamic International Dental Hospital, Islamabad over a period of two months from May to June, on patients awaiting treatment while attending various departments at the hospital. This study is a cross- sectional study. Questionnaires were given to dental students (n=30) of first to fourth year (prior to receiving treatment) with their ages ranging from 18-24 years. Non-dental students (n=30) meeting the same age requirement were selected by purposive convenient sampling. The subjects were approached personally in clinical settings and questionnaire conducted after verbal consent. A total of 30 questionnaires were distributed to patients from each group. Data was obtained using modified dental anxiety scale, wherein extra items were added related to prior dental treatment experience and whether or not they had a dentist in their family. The modified dental anxiety scale consisted of five multiple choice items, including the following: If you had to go to your dentist for treatment tomorrow, how would you feel? If you were sitting in the waiting room (waiting for treatment), how would you feel? If you were about to have a tooth drilled, how would you feel? If you were about to have your teeth scaled and polish, how would you feel? If you were about to have a local anesthetic injection in your gum, how would you feel? Options available as answers to each of the above question were ranging from not anxious scaled as 1 to extremely anxious scaled as 5. The scores of all the questions were summed up to give us the patient’s dental anxiety score. Demographic details in the questionnaire included age gender and education. For the statistical analysis data was studied using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 17.0. For descriptive analysis of data mean and standard deviation was computed for age. Calculation of dental anxiety scores was made to compare differences in level of anxiety amongst both the groups. If the total score of 15 or more was obtained, it was indicated that the subject was highly anxious(9). Results: A total of 60 patients were included in this study; 30 dental students and 30 non-dental students. Out of this total of 60 patients, 28 (46.7%) were males and 32 (53.3%) were females. Their ages ranged from 18 to 24 years, giving a mean of 21 years with a standard deviation of  ±1.619. There were 13 males (43.3%) out of a total of 30 dental students and 17 females (56.7%). In the non-dental category, there were 15 males (50%) and 15 females (50%) out of a total of 30 students. The results display that a total of 9 (15%) patients had mild anxiety, out of which 8(13.3%) were dental students and 1(1.7%) was a non-dental student. therefore it can be seen that anxiety levels among dental students correspond mainly to the lower level of mildly anxious. 22 (36.7%) of the total patients had a moderate category anxiety, out of these 12 (20%) were dental students and 10 (16.7%) were non dental students. 24 (40%) were highly anxious patients, out of those 2 (3.3%) were dental students and 3 ( 5%) were non dental students. There were no patients who showed a result of no anxiety levels (Fig.2). The graph for the mean dental anxiety scores of dental and non-dental students demonstrates a clear variation in the dental anxiety levels of the two groups. There is an increased average dental anxiety scores in non-dental students which urges the use of a statistical test to further analyze data. Accordingly the Mann- Whitney U test was undertaken. The p value obtained so forth was 0.003 which is less than the arbitrarily significant p value of 0.05, indicating a significant difference in DAS of the two groups. The (Fig.3) and (Fig.4) also, represent the percentage response in tabulated form. Discussion: The study was undertaken to examine the role of, awareness of dental procedures, on patient’s dental anxiety levels. The purpose of the study was to acquire an understanding of differences in the dental anxiety levels amongst patients with sufficient prior knowledge of dental procedures as in the case of dental students and those without. Realization of the existence of any such differences would help dentists design strategies that would eliminate dental anxiety as a barrier to effective treatment. Dentally anxious patients often pose great difficulties during treatment(2).Such patients also are often resistant to going for treatment and may require behavioral pharmacological and educational interventions to allow for improved treatment and oral health statuses(10).The study was undertaken using the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale. The use of MDAS allowed for validity and reliability in the data collected thus serving as strength of the study(8, 11). Standardization was also ob served, with collection of all data in clinical settings. A major limitation of the study was its sample size. The survey comprised of only 60 patients, 30 being non-dental patients, receiving formal education in fields other than dentistry aged between 18-24 years. The second group comprised of dental students in any year of their study undergoing dental treatments and aged 18-24 years. The sample being selected randomly and by convenience also poses questions to generalizability of any findings as it is not representative of a much larger general population. Dental anxiety is a vastly sought after topic with researchers attempting to understand its causative factors and its impact on oral health status of patients. An in-depth understanding of its causative factors would enable practice of newer and improved techniques with increased patient compliance and willingness to undergo the required treatments without making the task difficult. Inadequate knowledge of dental procedure has also been studied as a causative factor of dental anxiety. Abu Hantash et al. suggested that dental anxiety in non-dental students is due to previous traumatic dental experiences and fear of pain(12, 13).High levels of anxiety in non-dental students was also suggested due to lack of acquaintance with dental procedures(14, 15).On the other hand enhanced education and awareness has been positively correlated to dental anxiety(16). B. Peretz et al. (1994) showed in his study that anxiety in dental students is inversely related to the exposure of dental procedures and it tends to reduce from preclinical to clinical years(9, 15, 17). Imran Farooq et al. (2014) following this study, found it sensible to deduce that dental anxiety in students declines with gradual progress in education and clinical exposure(15).Dental anxiety has been understood to have immense impact on oral as well as general health of individuals(18).Those who succumb to dental anxiety are found to enter a vicious cycle of ill-being. wherein anxiety leads to avoidance seeking treatment, leading to increased severity of disease and hence worsened oral and general health status(19), as shown in Fig.5. Some other important considerations that were beyond the scope of this particular study was an investigation of any previous traumatic dental experiences, especially from the non-dental students as they would have led to increased fears. Also there has been no ranking of anxiety provoking stimulus for dental students who may have been equally anxious about pain, and in jection as is true of non-dental students. According to Todd and Walker(20), it was reported by 43% of people that they avoided going to the dentist lest they experienced increased troubles with their teeth. In another study by Curson and Coplans it was found that DA amongst both children and adult patients led to avoidance or irregularities in going for treatment, or visiting dentist in case of emergency only(6). The findings from our study prompt the need of devising ways to increase patient knowledge of procedures to decrease anxiety. This may include arranging of educational workshops on awareness about dental procedures. Conclusion: In conclusion there is existence of a difference in dental anxiety levels; among dental and non-dental students. With this difference it can be comprehended that dental anxiety owes itself to knowledge and awareness of dental procedures alongside other etiological factors. Know-how of dental procedures enhances patients’ ability to cope up with required treatment by eliminating barriers created due to anxiety. Hence increasing patient knowledge may serve to reduce apprehensions and enhance patient confidence on treatment procedure and its needs, consequently reducing anxiety. References: 1.http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/dentalanxiety. 2.Cooper CL WJ, Kelly M. Job satisfaction, mental health, and job stressors among general dental practitioners in the UK. British Dental Journal. 1987. 3.Armfield JM. What goes around comes around: revisiting the hypothesized vicious cycle of dental fear and avoidance. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. Jun;41(3):279-87. 4.Taani DQ. Dental attendance and anxiety among public and private school children in Jordan. Int Dent J. 2002 Feb;52(1):25-9. 5.Al-Omari WM, Al-Omiri MK. Dental anxiety among university students and its correlation with their field of study. J Appl Oral Sci. 2009 May-Jun;17(3):199-203. 6.Curson I CM. The need for sedation in conservative dentistry. An investigation in the inner London area. 1970. 7.Appukuttan DP TA, Cholan PK, Subramanian S, Vinayagavel M. prevelance of dental anxiety among patient attending a dental educational institution in chennai, India. 2013. 8.Humphris GM, Morrison T, Lindsay SJ. The Modified Dental Anxiety Scale: validation and United Kingdom norms. Community Dent Health. 1995 Sep;12(3):143-50. 9.Peretz B, Zadik D. Dental anxiety of parents in an Israeli kibbutz population. Int J Paediatr Dent. 1994 Jun;4(2):87-92. 10.Marya CM, Grover S, Jnaneshwar A, Pruthi N. Dental anxiety among patients visiting a dental institute in Faridabad, India. West Indian Med J. Mar;61(2):187-90. 11.Corah NL. Development of a dental anxiety scale. J Dent Res. 1969 Jul-Aug;48(4):596. 12.Abu Hantash AY, Al Aker Dental Anxiety and Fear among medical field students at Al Quds University 13.Mohammed RB, Lalithamma T, Varma DM, Sudhakar KN, Srinivas B, Krishnamraju PV, et al. Prevalence of dental anxiety and its relation to age and gender in coastal Andhra (Visakhapatnam) population, India. J Nat Sci Biol Med. Jul;5(2):409-14. 14.Serra-Negra J, Paiva SM, Oliveira M, Ferreira E, Freire-Maia F, Pordeus I. Self-reported dental fear among dental students and their patients. Int J Environ Res Public Health. Jan;9(1):44-54. 15.Imran Farooq SA. A cross sectional study of gender differences in dental anxiety prevailing in the students of a Pakistani dental college. 2014. 16.Kirova DG, Atanasov DT, Lalabonova CK, Janevska S. Dental anxiety in adults in Bulgaria. Folia Med (Plovdiv). Apr-Jun;52(2):49-56. 17.Peretz B, Mann J. Dental anxiety among Israeli dental students: a 4-year longitudinal study. Eur J Dent Educ. 2000 Aug;4(3):133-7. 18.McGrath C, Bedi R. The association between dental anxiety and oral health-related quality of life in Britain. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2004 Feb;32(1):67-72. 19.Attaullah AAK. PREVALENCE OF DENTAL ANXIETY AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN. 20.Todd JE WA. Adult Dental Health in England and Wales. 1980

Is hypnosis and effective method to Improve Health? Essay -- essays re

Is Hypnosis an Effective Method to Improve Health? Many high schools have hypnotists come to their school to entertain the students. Once a hypnotist came to the Fletcher High School gymnasium and hypnotized about a half dozen people. He convinced these six people into believing they were five years old watching their favorite cartoon. Their mannerisms were shocking. They truly believed they were five-years-old, throwing a fit when the hypnotist told them their mother just turned off the cartoons. Knowing that it is very hard to remember back to when a person is five-years-old, it was amazing that the power of hypnosis made them remember so easily. It seemed as if the hypnotist could make them remember anything. Just before the students woke from their hypnosis, the hypnotists told them they would be fully rested and feel extremely good about his or herself. Afterwards, they remarked on how rested they felt. A hypnotist can make people feel completely rested while being under hypnosis, and make people believe things that are not true. Why stop there though? If something hurts, then tell the hypnotherapist to suggest under hypnosis that the pain is gone and does not bother them anymore and the person will feel better. If someone has a stuttering problem, then they can visit a hypnotherapist and he should be able to straighten up their speech so they can speak more clearly. Likewise, a person’s self-confidence could be uplifted and they Stayton 2 could begin to believe in his or herself. Some people could even be anesthetized for surgery using hypnosis. Many people are hypnotized for entertainment purposes, so maybe it should also be used to help people with problems that are hard to resolve. Hypnosis can be used to relieve pain, conquer almost any fear, eliminate the use unnecessary prescription medicines, and help a person to overcome alcoholism and to overcome drug addictions. Also, upon finding support from a hypnotherapist, many have been able to quit addictive habits such as smoking. Conquering phobias is a specialty of hypnotherapists. A phobia is a compulsive fear of a specified situation or object (Knight 2). A few types of phobias are fear of open spaces, fear of snow, fear of the cold, fear of marriage, fear of insanity, fear of being alone, fear of darkness, fear of disease, fear of beards, fear of birds, fear of being stared at, fear of bein... ...nly one aspect of hypnosis. If a hypnotist can make someone remember something so far back and make that person reenact those memories, hypnosis could be a powerful tool regarding many health problems caused by brain activities. There is so much more that has yet to be discovered. Estabrooks, George H., Hypnotism. New York: E.P. Dutton & Co. Inc., 1957. â€Å"Hypnosis and Smoking: The Mighty Power of Suggestion.† Smoking Cessation. N. pag. Online. Internet. 13 Apr. 2000. Available WWW: http://www.hypnosis.about.com/smoking.hypnos.htm Kirsch, Irving, Antonio Capafons, Etzel Cardeà ±a-Buelna, Salvador Amigà ³. Clinical Hypnosis and Self-Regulation. Washington D.C.: American Psychological Association, 1999. Knight, Bryan. â€Å"You Can Conquer Your Phobia.† Hypnogenesis. N. pag. Online. Internet. 13 Apr. 2000. Available WWW: http://www.hypnos.co.uk/hypnomag/drknigh3.htm Nicoli, Thomas. â€Å"Pain and Physical Disorder – Relief Through Hypnosis.† Hypnogenesis. N. pag. Online. Internet. 13 Apr. 2000. Available WWW: http://www.hypnos.co.uk/hypnomag/nicoli1.htm Schneck, Jerome M. Hypnosis in Modern Medicine. Springfield: Charles C. Thomas, 1953. Wolff, Michael. Personal Interview. 28 Apr. 2000.

Pharmacy Marketing Plan Essay

The Discount Pharmacy is a brick and mortar and mail order pharmacy that sells prescription medication at lower prices than other pharmacies. The Discount Pharmacy is able to sell at reduced prices through the use of operating efficiencies and the elimination of unnecessary services for customers that self pay their drugs. The Discount Pharmacy does not accept insurance payments which disrupt the cash flow. By having a larger percentage of their business serviced by their mail order arm, The Discount Pharmacy is able to gain economies of scale by selling larger quantities of drugs with less labor required per order. As more and more Americans are on a continuous prescription to medicine, this trend will lend itself to rapid growth as customers can mail order larger quantities of drugs that they will need over time. Additionally, many insurance companies offer an economic incentive for medicine to be purchased mail order in quantity, saving the insurance company money. This factor will also help boost The Discount Pharmacy to profitability. The Pharmacy will increase its market share through targeted advertising to increase the number customers who are looking to save money on a pricey, necessary expense. Pharmacy Marketing Plan The Discount Pharmacy Situation Analysis The Discount Pharmacy is in the first year of business as a start-up operation. The Pharmacy believes that the market demand for their services will be great and are convinced that a cohesive marketing strategy is required for The Pharmacy. The Pharmacy offers a wide range of prescription medicine for pick up at their store front or it can be distributed by mail order. The Pharmacy’s prices are far better than most pharmacies so their services will be attractive for people that just need to buy their medicine at good prices and do not need their hands held during the process. Market Summary The Discount Pharmacy posesses good information regarding their market and the target segments that they wish to serve. The Pharmacy will leverage this information to better understand who is served, their specific needs, and how The Pharmacy can better serve them. Market Needs The Discount Pharmacy is providing the market with a source of discounted drugs. This market need is important as many Americans are faced with the dilemma of using their limited income on food or meds. The Discount Pharmacy seeks to fulfill the following benefits that are important to their customers. * Selection: The Pharmacy offers a wide range of medication, both originals as well as generic alternatives. * Accessibility: Products are distributed through their conveniently-located store front, or can be shipped within the U.S. * Customer service: The Pharmacy recognizes the value of having outstanding customer service. By exceeding all of the customer’s expectations, they are ensuring repeat customers and many referrals. * Pricing: The Discount Pharmacy’s prices will be noticeably better than local pharmacies. Market Trends The market trend for pharmacies reinforces consolidation. The whole medical industry (including doctors, pharmaceutical companies) has pressure being applied to them from different sides to achieve cost efficiencies and to decrease the cost of the various products/services. Looking specifically at pharmacies, over the last eight years, there has been widespread consolidation, done to a large degree to achieve costs efficiencies. Now insurance companies are adding pressure to decrease costs since they are a main party in the payment for meds. The Discount Pharmacy is able to coexist in this consolidation environment by achieving cost efficiencies through their unique business model of mail order service and a decrease in the normal pharmacist offered services. Market Growth In 2000, the global pharmaceutical industry as a whole was a $897 billion dollar industry. The industry is forecasted to continue its record growth. This growth can be attributed to several factors, the underling driver is scientific progress. As our scientific community continues to make breakthroughs in medical applications, people become more and more reliant on medication to lengthen and improve their quality of life. American society in particular has become increasingly reliant on medication. This conclusion seems to be fairly intuitive as many individuals have a vested interest in living longer and more comfortably. This demand applies pressure to the scientists and pharmaceutical companies who are always on the lookout for the next big blockbuster drug which will ensure profitable returns. While America remains as the largest consumer of medication in the world, to a large degree based on the simple quantitative measurement of GNP, it is reasonable to expect that the retail distribution of these drugs will achieve extraordinary growth rates if they are employing creative business models or if they are one of the â€Å"giants.† SWOT Analysis The following SWOT analysis captures the key strength and weaknesses within the company, and describes the opportunities and threats facing The Discount Pharmacy. Strengths * A unique, current business-environment-appropriate business model. * Excellent staff who are highly trained and very customer attentive. * Great prices. * The ability to scale rapidly for the mail order side of the business. Weaknesses * The lack of visibility and brand equity of a start-up business. * Lack of true experience running a mail order outfit. * Government intervention/regulation into medicine is possible. Opportunities * Outside pressure on consumers to purchase meds mail order. * The constant growth of the number of people taking medication. * Newly formed alliances of insurance companies and mail order pharmacies. Threats * The entry into the mail order market by an established company. * Regulatory legislation that curtails the mail order medicine industry. * Some event that cripples interstate commerce in regards to shipping. Competition Competition takes many different forms in the pharmacy industry. * Chain pharmacies: These are state or national chains such as Rite-Aid. The advantage to these chains are better prices through economies of scale as well as personalized service. The personalized service takes the form of the chain having a record of your medication purchases as well as any allergies that you have disclosed to them. * Local pharmacies: These are the pharmacies where you typically know the pharmacists and they know your medical history. This option is high in personalized service and convenience, and high in price. * Mail order and Internet pharmacies: These are similar to The Discount Pharmacy. * Canadian pharmacies: These pharmacies are located in Canada where the cost of drugs is lower than in the U.S. These pharmacies can be accessed through mail order, the Internet, or via travel. Recently there has been the trend for trips arranged for senior citizens in northern states to travel up to Canada for the day to pick up their meds. Product Offering The Discount Pharmacy offers a wide range of prescription drugs to patients based in Oregon and nationally. Both generics and name brands are offered. The customer needs to either mail in the prescription, fax it, or email it. Once it is received and payment arrangements are complete, the meds will be sent out to the customer via U.S.P.S. or U.P.S. Local customers may stop by the store front to pick up the medications contemporaneously. The Discount Pharmacy will only service customers who self pay. The self pay customers will be attracted to The Discount Pharmacy because of their superior prices. For many Americans that do not have drug plans, including the vast majority of Americans over 65, a discount on drugs is very welcome on today’s increasingly tight monthly budgets. The Discount Pharmacy will be able to survive on lower margins due to operating efficiencies gained through mail order and not accepting insurance policy drug plans. With each order a printout will accompany the medications that will provide directions on how to take the medications, other drug that should be avoided concurrently, and other useful information. Often times this information is communicated personally by the pharmaceutical technician. The Discount Pharmacy will be using computer printouts from industry software to reduce the cost of providing this information. Note: While the term â€Å"self pay† is typically associated with the notion that the customer is paying for the medication out of pocket without insurance, it is used in this context as the customer paying for the medications upfront by themselves regardless if they have insurance. They may be paying for the drugs out of pocket, or they may be paying for the medications upfront and then requesting their insurance companies drug plan to reimburse them later. Keys to Success The keys to success are: * Repeat customers. * Low overhead and operating costs. * Superior prices and service. Critical Issues The Discount Pharmacy is still in the speculative stages as a start-up business. Its critical issues are to continue to take a modest fiscal approach, expanding at a reasonable rate, not for the sake of expansion in itself, but because prudent economic analysis dictates to  Pharmacy Marketing Plan The Discount Pharmacy Marketing Strategy The Discount Pharmacy will have different marketing strategies for the two different segmented groups that they wish to reach. The walk-in customers will be targeted through advertisements in the local paper, â€Å"The Oregonian.† The advertisements will raise visibility for The Discount Pharmacy and their discounted prices. As the price of medication continues to skyrocket, The Discount Pharmacy will appeal to local people as a way to try to contain these rising costs. The mail order customers will be targeted through an advertising campaign in magazines and newsletters that have an older (over 55) crowd that regularly needs medication and knows in advance what their needs are. One of the main newsletters that The Discount Pharmacy will be visible in is the American Association of Retired Persons (A.A.R.P) monthly newsletter.

Psychology Case Write Up Essay

1. What traits are prominent in these cases? Name two or three from the Big Five and give examples from each person’s behavior, emotional reactions or thought processes as ‘evidence’. Shirley: Shirley seems to not be open to new experiences. At age 57 she has put herself back into psychotherapy. The childhood with a drunken and possible depressed mother seem to play part in the way she raised her children. Where now she only has active contact with one of her daughters and struggles to accept the fact that the other daughter is gay and the son is living in a halfway house. She married an abusive husband which correlates to the men her mother used to date who used to abuse Shirley. Death seems to be a continuous cycle of experiences for Shirley. Her mother died then her first husband, second husband and then her child. She seems to be continuously living the same life over and over and nothing new really happening. An event that does interfere with openness is the fact that she did become a lay minister; open to helping others. Conflicting because she is able to admit she potentially could be an alcoholic but refers to it as a â€Å"problem†. So I would assume she wants something new but the conflict starts when she exhibits the same behaviors over and over. Shirley seems to be an extrovert. Although she struggles with depression she still shows signs of wanting to be around people and have some interaction. She decided to go back to psychotherapy which involves group interaction or one-on-one meetings. There is still the effort of keeping in touch with one daughter. It seems Shirley didn’t like being alone hence the reason she re-married after her first husband died and joined the lay ministry when her second husband died. Perhaps the reason for connecting with people is a way for her to not worry about herself as much. For example she works for the state and is a lay minister but states â€Å"herself as â€Å"mentally ill†, but that she ‘may’ also have a drinking ‘problem'†. Greg: Greg seems to be conscientious in some areas and not so much in others. He graduated college with his masters but has a hard time completing his work on the job. Perhaps the reason he struggles with communicating to the children’s parents could be a reason why he isn’t close to his colleagues; lack of assertiveness. He has never developed a relationship with his father and isn’t completely honest with his mother in regards to his sexuality. He seems to be a great achiever within himself but dealing or doing things for something else is where he struggles. For example â€Å"has trouble being assertive and setting limits both with clients and colleagues but he works out at the gym and is quite muscular†. Greg seems to be an extrovert. He enjoys singing in the

History of martial law

Brief History of Martial LawOn September 21, 1972, Marcos issued Proclamation 1081, declaring martial law over the entire country , claiming that it was the last defense against the rising disorder caused by increasingly violent student demonstrations, the alleged threats of communist insurgency by the new Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), and the Muslim separatist movement of theMoro National Liberation Front (MNLF). One of his first actions was to arrest opposition politicians in Congress and the Constitutional Convention.Initial public reaction to martial law was mostly favourable except in Muslim areas of the south, where a separatist rebellion, led by the MNLF, broke out in 1973. Despite halfhearted attempts to negotiate a cease-fire, the rebellion continued to claim thousands of military and civilian casualties. Communist insurgency expanded with the creation of the National Democratic Front (NDF), an organization embracing the CPP and other communist groups. Under mart ial law the regime was able to reduce violent urban crime, collect unregistered firearms, and suppress communist insurgency in some areas.At the same time, a series of important new concessions were given to foreign investors, including a prohibition on strikes by organized labour, and a land-reform program was launched. In January 1973 Marcos proclaimed the ratification of a new constitution based on the parliamentary system, with himself as both president and prime minister. He did not, however, convene the interim legislature that was called for in that document. Under the president’s command, the military arrested opposition figures, including Benigno Aquino, journalists, student and labor activists, and criminal elements.A total of about 30,000 detainees were kept at military compounds run by the army and the Philippine Constabulary. Weapons were confiscated, and â€Å"private armies† connected with prominent politicians and other figures were broken up. Newspaper s were shut down, and the mass media were brought under tight control. With the stroke of a pen, Marcos closed the Philippine Congress and assumed its legislative responsibilities. During the 1972-81 martial law period, Marcos, invested with dictatorial powers, issued hundreds of presidential decrees, many of which were never published.Like much else connected with Marcos, the declaration of martial law had a theatrical, smoke-and-mirrors quality. The incident that precipitated Proclamation 1081 was an attempt, allegedly by communists, to assassinate Minister of National Defense Enrile. As Enrile himself admitted after Marcos’s downfall in 1986, his unoccupied car had been riddled by machinegun bullets fired by his own men on the night that Proclamation 1081 was signed. Most Filipinos–or at least those well positioned within the economic and social elites–initially supported the imposition of martial law.The rising tide of violence and lawlessness was apparent t o everyone. Although still modest in comparison with the Huk insurgency of the early 1950s, the New People’s Army was expanding, and the Muslim secessionist movement continued in the south with foreign support. Well-worn themes of communist conspiracy–Marcos claimed that a network of â€Å"front organizations† was operating â€Å"among our peasants, laborers, professionals, intellectuals, students, and mass media personnel†Ã¢â‚¬â€œfound a ready audience in the United States, which did not protest the demise of Philippine democracy.The New Society Marcos claimed that martial law was the prelude to creating a â€Å"New Society† based on new social and political values. He argued that certain aspects of personal behavior, attributed to a colonial mentality, were obstacles to effective modernization. These included the primacy of personal connections, as reflected in the ethic of utang na loob, and the importance of maintaining in-group harmony and coh erence, even at the cost to the national community.A new spirit of self-sacrifice for the national welfare was necessary if the country were to equal the accomplishments of its Asian neighbors, such as Taiwan and the Republic of Korea (South Korea). Despite Marcos’s often perceptive criticisms of the old society, Marcos, his wife, and a small circle of close associates, the crony group, now felt free to practice corruption on an awe-inspiring scale. Political, economic, and social policies were designed to neutralize Marcos’s rivals within the elite.The old political system, with its parties, rough-and-tumble election campaigns, and a press so uninhibited in its vituperative and libelous nature that it was called â€Å"the freest in the world,† had been boss-ridden and dominated by the elite since early American colonial days, if not before. The elite, however, composed of local political dynasties, had never been a homogeneous group. Its feuds and tensions, fue led as often by assaults on amor proprio (self-esteem) as by disagreement on ideology or issues, made for a pluralistic system.Marcos’s self-proclaimed â€Å"revolution from the top† deprived significant portions of the old elite of power and patronage. For example, the powerful Lopez family, who had fallen out of Marcos’s favor (Fernando Lopez had served as Marcos’s first vice president), was stripped of most of its political and economic assets. Although always influential, during the martial law years, Imelda Marcos built her own power base, with her husband’s support. Concurrently the governor of Metro Manila and minister of human settlements (a post created for her), she exercised significant powers. Crony CapitalismDuring the first years of martial law, the economy benefited from increased stability, and business confidence was bolstered by Marcos’s appointment of talented technocrats to economic planning posts. Despite the 1973 oil pr ice rise shock, the growth of the gross national product (GNP) was respectable, and the oil-pushed inflation rate, reaching 40 percent in 1974, was trimmed back to 10 percent the following year. Between 1973 and the early 1980s, dependence on imported oil was reduced by domestic finds and successful energy substitution measures, including one of the world’s most ambitious geothermal energy programs.Claiming that â€Å"if land reform fails, there is no New Society,† Marcos launched highly publicized new initiatives that resulted in the formal transfer of land to some 184,000 farming families by late 1975. The law was filled with loopholes, however, and had little impact on local landowning elites or landless peasants, who remained desperately poor. The largest, most productive, and technically most advanced manufacturing enterprises were gradually brought under the control of Marcos’s cronies.For example, the huge business conglomerate owned by the Lopez family, which included major newspapers, a broadcast network, and the country’s largest electric power company, was broken up and distributed to Marcos loyalists including Imelda Marcos’s brother, Benjamin â€Å"Kokoy† Romualdez, and another loyal crony, Roberto Benedicto. Huge monopolies and semimonopolies were established in manufacturing, construction, and financial services. When these giants proved unprofitable, the government subsidized them with allocations amounting to hundreds of millions of pesos.Philippine Airlines, the nation’s international and domestic air carrier, was nationalized and turned into what one author has called a â€Å"virtual private commuter line† for Imelda Marcos and her friends on shopping excursions to New York and Europe. Probably the most negative impact of crony capitalism, however, was felt in the traditional cash-crop sector, which employed millions of ordinary Filipinos in the rural areas. (The coconut industry alone brought income to an estimated 15 million to 18 million people. ) Under Benedicto and Eduardo Cojuangco, distribution and marketing monopolies for sugar and coconuts were established.Farmers on the local level were obliged to sell only to the monopolies and received less than world prices for their crops; they also were the first to suffer when world commodity prices dropped. Millions of dollars in profits from these monopolies were diverted overseas into Swiss bank accounts, real estate deals, and purchases of art, jewelry, and antiques. On the island of Negros in the Visayas, the region developed by Nicholas Loney for the sugar industry in the nineteenth century, sugar barons continued to live lives of luxury, but the farming community suffered from degrees of malnutrition rare in other parts of Southeast Asia.Ferdinand Marcos was responsible for making the previously nonpolitical, professional Armed Forces of the Philippines, which since American colonial times had been modeled o n the United States military, a major actor in the political process. This subversion occurred done in two ways. First, Marcos appointed officers from the Ilocos region, his home province, to its highest ranks. Regional background and loyalty to Marcos rather than talent or a distinguished service record were the major factors in promotion.Fabian Ver, for example, had been a childhood friend of Marcos and later his chauffeur, rose to become chief of staff of the armed forces and head of the internal security network. Secondly, both officers and the rank and file became beneficiaries of generous budget allocations. Officers and enlisted personnel received generous salary increases. Armed forces personnel increased from about 58,000 in 1971 to 142,000 in 1983. Top-ranking military officers, including Ver, played an important policy-making role.On the local level, commanders had opportunities to exploit the economy and establish personal patronage networks, as Marcos and the military e stablishment evolved a symbiotic relationship under martial law. A military whose commanders, with some exceptions, were rewarded for loyalty rather than competence proved both brutal and ineffective in dealing with the rapidly growing communist insurgency and Muslim separatist movement. Treatment of civilians in rural areas was often harsh, causing rural people, as a measure of self-protection rather than ideological commitment, to cooperate with the insurgents.The communist insurgency, after some reverses in the 1970s, grew quickly in the early 1980s, particularly in some of the poorest regions of the country. The Muslim separatist movement reached a violent peak in the mid1970s and then declined greatly, because of divisions in the leadership of the movement and reduced external support brought about by the diplomatic activity of the Marcos government. Relations with the United States remained most important for the Philippines in the 1970s, although the special relationship betw een the former and its ex-colony was greatly modified as trade, investment, and defense ties were redefined.The Laurel-Langley Agreement defining preferential United States tariffs for Philippine exports and parity privileges for United States investors expired on July 4, 1974, and trade relations were governed thereafter by the international General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). During the martial law period, foreign investment terms were substantially liberalized, despite official rhetoric about foreign â€Å"exploitation† of the economy. A policy promoting â€Å"nontraditional† exports such as textiles, footwear, electronic components, and fresh and processed foods was initiated with some success.Japan increasingly challenged the United States as a major foreign participant in the Philippine economy. The status of United States military bases was redefined when a major amendment to the Military Bases Agreement of 1947 was signed on January 6, 1979, reaffirm ing Philippine sovereignty over the bases and reducing their total area. At the same time, the United States administration promised to make its â€Å"best effort† to obtain congressional appropriations for military and economic aid amounting to US$400 million between 1979 to 1983.The amendment called for future reviews of the bases agreement every fifth year. Although the administration of President Jimmy Carter emphasized promoting human rights worldwide, only limited pressure was exerted on Marcos to improve the behavior of the military in rural areas and to end the death-squad murder of opponents. (Pressure from the United States, however, did play a role in gaining the release of Benigno Aquino in May 1980, and he was allowed to go to the United States for medical treatment after spending almost eight years in prison, including long  stretches of time in solitary confinement. )On January 17, 1981, Marcos issued Proclamation 2045, formally ending martial law. Some contr ols were loosened, but the ensuing New Republic proved to be a superficially liberalized version of the crony-dominated New Society. Predictably, Marcos won an overwhelming victory in the June 1981 presidential election, boycotted by the main opposition groups, in which his opponents were nonentities.