Impact of Culture and Other Macro Factors on the Marketing of Products Essay

Impact of Culture and Other Macro Factors on the Marketing of Products as Well as Insight into Market Attractiveness and Entry - Essay Example International marketing can be defined as application of marketing principles outside the domestic market which include similar functions like conception, promotion and distribution of products and services in order to satisfy market demands as well as organisational objectives (Papavassiliou and Stathakopoulos 1997). Generally, international marketing is confused with terms like global marketing and export but these terms are different. (Appendix 6) Market Segment Analysis Market segment analysis provides a comprehensive analysis of the children’s market. Segmentation of the market is the process through which market can be defined and accordingly subdivided into various segments whose needs, wants and demands are similar in nature (Ernst & Young's 2011 Russia attractiveness survey 2011). It is very useful in international marketing because it directs the way for designing the marketing mix according to the expectations of the target market. There are few companies which are big enough to fulfil the varying demands of the entire market. However, most of the companies prefer market segmentation into several segments and opt for the one or more than that whose demand it can easily fulfil (Retail and FMCG sector in Russia 2011). In relation to today’s children, it can be said that they have their own lifestyle which is largely affected by their surroundings, background and education. Children’s segment itself forms a huge market for books, video-games, garments, accessories and even for magazines (World of toys 2011). And, Russia is witnessing growth in all these sections (Mintel 2012). In every country of the world, this segment is rapidly growing. This segment is important because it not only affect children but also their parents, schools and day care centres because they are the ones who either buy for them or provide them with money to buy. Three or four decades ago, no-one could consider children as a customer but now the market scenari o has entirely changed and children form a big consumer market (Levitt 1983). There is variety of products and services are available for which children are segmented as huge market potential. Both retailers and wholesalers view them as viable market hence involved in child-focused advertising (Donthu, N., 1998; Belluz 2010). In today’s rapid changing business scenario, children are forming most lucrative market as they are three markets in one. Firstly, they have their own needs and desire and purchasing power too through their pocket money. Secondly, they influence, persuade or ask their parents to buy for them which are another form of market and thirdly, in future they themselves emerge as consumers hence marketers cultivate them. Size of children’s market is growing because of the rising world population (Anon 2010; Usunier and Lee 2009). Macro-environment analysis The target market for the magazine is children. Magazine is entertainment in the form of reading and children from the age of 6 develop good reading skills hence the age group of 6 to 14 will be mainly targeted. Large size of market increases the potential of Russian children’s market for the international marketer (Solomon et al. 2009; Sloman 2007). In addition to this, the political environment of the country is stable and under the presidential-ship of Putin the country has transited from communist state to market economy. Though, Russia is not considered as free economy for doing business yet its position is continuously

Erving Goffman The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life Essay Example for Free

Erving Goffman The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life Essay Erving Goffman has completed a wonderful presentation of human behaviour and face-to-face interactions, of a first meeting between two people, who may or may not have an audience. The use of a theatrical performance to explain the interaction was indeed an ingenious idea that kept me intrigued until the very end. This book was written in 1959 but its referencing to human behaviour is still very much relevant to today’s life style. Human behaviour patterns have been written about by many individuals over the years, why we do the things we do or how long we have been undertaking these behaviours. Is there any relevance to the patterns in our behaviour? It would seem there definitely appears to be. As a society, to influence how another person perceives who we are. We give appearances and refinements of someone we want people to see, yet not particularly who we truly are. Goffman describes this as a performance, a play that we put on to give a good first impression. This play could become a nightmare, if we do not keep it under control. It can be difficult to play the part of someone you are not, for the reason that it can rebound on you. It is better to persist with who you are, and not reveal all of yourself in the beginning, like a good story. To present who we are, we should start at the foundation, begin with presenting an opening act. This act should be near to true life, the person you would like to be known as. Currently a person of importance gives the impression that they know what they are doing, example your doctor. If they were a person who, on first meeting gave the impression that they were unsure, confused and unconfident, would you go back to them? No, perhaps not. Even when they are having a bad day your doctor will always appear to be in control, so that we feel more at ease. When we first meet new people we try to acquire information about them, it is then how the person delivers this information, that we base our assumptions. People give information verbally and non-verbally by expressions, movements, gestures and other presumably unintentional communications, like a slight smile. Our brain takes all this information into consideration then makes a personal judgment based on the material it collects. There is so much information for us to collect and make our decision on, that we sometimes need a second meeting to be able to make a correct judgement on a particular person we have meet. Goffman concludes that his own assumptions are made upon a face-to-face interaction and the result of an encounter, the performance that is given to each particular participant and their performance as a basic point of reference. In conclusion, Goffmans writings clearly represent how we present ourselves in everyday life today, and possibly well into the future. References Erving, Goffman (1959). The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, New York, Anchor Books, pp. 1-16.

Campbell Soup Company

Campbell Soup Company Campbell Soup Company (Campbell or the company), together with its consolidated subsidiaries, is a global manufacturer and marketer of high-quality, branded convenience food products. Campbell was incorporated as a business corporation under the laws of New Jersey on November 23, 1922; however, through predecessor organizations, it traces its heritage in the food business back to 1869. The companys principal executive offices are in Camden, New Jersey 08103-1799.Kimball is a brand or a product line of sauces that was established in Malaysia in the year 1970s under Campbells company, Kimball is a well-known brand in Malaysian homes. Unprecedented inflation and difficult economic climate world wide have created the most challenging cost environment since Kimball established. All Kimball sauces are specially prepared with a smooth, thick richness that is naturally tasty not too sweet, sour or vinegary. Kimball Sauces are available in Chili Sauce, Tomato Ketchup, Oyster Sauce and Thai C hili Sauce. Current Marketing Situation:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In fiscal 2008, inflation, on average has been significantly higher than previous years. Therefore Kimball is facing a decline in terms on production, this was due to the decreasing demand for Kimball brand sauces, the main company does not stimulate awareness towards existing and new customers by doing advertisements like commercials and etc. Some changes in commodity prices, interest rates and foreign currency exchange rates also affect the decline of the demand for Kimball sauces. Therefore our main objective is to make our products more broadly available in existing and new markets by targeting to boost our sales up to 20% in 3 years time. Situation Analysis: INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT MISSION STATEMENT To win in both the marketplace and the workplace with integrity as the country most extraordinary food company.In order to win the marketplace,we should boost our Kimball product sales,here our company will stress on re-packaging the product,that is Kimball chilli sauce. OBJECTIVE Make our products more broadly available in existing markets, and to boost our sales of Kimball sauce by 20% in 3 years time. We also determine to create awareness of customers about Kimball in Malaysia. EXISTING CUSTOMER In most of the Kimball markets, sales activities are conducted by the companys own sales force distributor arrangements. In Malaysia, the companys products are generally resold to consumers in retail food chains, discounters, merchandisers, supermarket, convenience stores, hypermarket and others similar retail stores. Households, Teenagers also loves to eat food with dipping in Kimball sauce. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE HARVEY GOLUB Chairman of Campbell Soup Company, Retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of American Express Company(BOARD OF DIRECTORS) DOUGLAS R. CONANT President and Chief Executive OfficerDOUGLAS R. CONANT President and Chief Executive Officer of Campbell Soup Company 3 JERRY S. BUCKLEY Senior Vice President Public Affairs GEORGE DOWDIE Senior Vice President Global Research Development and Quality EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT COMPETATIVE ENVIRONMENT Kimball brands experience various competence from others sauces brand such as Maggie, Life, Nyoya, Yeos.These competitors account a higher market share compare to Kimball,Maggies own 41% market share,Life sauces owned 24%,Nyoya owned 9% whereas Kimball owns 22% market share .These potential competitors would be a threat to Kimball,they are ahead of Kimball interms of promotional strategies and creating awareness for their products. FESTIVE SEASONALITY Demand for the companys products is somewhat festive seasonal, with Chinese New Year, Hari Raya,Gawai festive,X-mas usually accounting for the highest sales volume due primarily to demand for the sauce products.The production of the sauces is rising within this seasons. POLITICAL AND LEGAL ENVIRONMENT All products of Kimball must be Halal, hence the products must be approved by the JAKIM. The labelling must include ingredient and nutrition information of the product. As long as the business procedure of Kimball products are subjected to the Malaysian government laws it will not effect the production of Kimball sauces. SOCIOCULTURAL ENVIRONMENT Our research shown that more than 80% of Malaysians likes to eat their food with sauce, and so sauces are favourable among Malaysians.Mostly the consumers would experience great food tasting and satisfied by eating food such as fried chicken,hotdogs and etc with chilli sauce. SWOT ANALYSIS: STRENGTH Kimball brands consistantly produces high quality, great tasting sauces,the ingridients use is choose based on quality, e.g they choose the best quality of chilli to produce the Kimball chilli sauce. Kimball brands also uses strict production guidelines to ensure fine quality for the sauces products. Kimball achieve International standards(ISO 9000) which is approved world wide n trusted to produce standard sauce that follows the strict guidelines of ISO. Kimball sauce is mainly cheaper than other brands, tastier than other brands, This will be an advantage for Kimball to boost their sales in the recent market as the price of Kimball sauce is affordable and cheap compare to the other brands such as magggie, nyonya, life etc. WEAKNESSES Kimball looses credit compare to other sauce brands is due to lack of advertisements to create awareness among customers in the recent market which other competitors are always creating new advertisements to instill awareness of their product.Kimball also hasSlow growth and low market share compared to the competitors,this was concluded from the questionnaire data. Another factor that is too many product line produce by its main company Campbells ,such as Chunky meatballs,supper bakes meal kits,tomato juice etc that makes the company of its own emphasis less to Kimball sauce.Recently Kimball sauce is also facing a decline stage whereby the profit from sales is less than previous years. OPPORTUNITIES A growing interest among teenagers to eat most of their food with sauce and trends that over 95% people likes to eat food with sauce.Continuing consumer interest in low price but at the same time has the quality taste that meets the satisfaction of customers. THREATS The potential for the large financial resources competitors who can invest more in promotion and advertising will have a threat towards Kimball sauce.Economic downturn or inflation that might affect sales, poor economic condition might affect the demand for Kimball sauce.Constant increase of crude oil price, rising production cost may affect the production of sauces.Main competitor like Maggie, Life, Nyoya offers great range of sauce products with a competitive price and promotional strategies. Marketing Objectives To increase 20% of Kimball market share, from current 22% to 42% in 3 year times. To create awareness among public toward Kimball Sauce Product. Current Market Share of Kimball Sauce Marketing Strategies Target Market and Positioning the Product Target Market:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Consumer Marketing: Kimball will continue to target its existing consumer market. The primary consumer target market for Kimball can described as follows: Demographics: Male and female in all ages Especially housewife Media Habit:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The target market usually get their news from television, newspaper, billboards, and radio. Organizational Markets:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the past, Kimball has targeted the market in supermarket and pasar raya. To increase its distribution and sales of its products, Kimball will target the following in the future: Hypermarket in Malaysia Supermarket in Malaysia Cold storage in Malaysia Restaurant Fast-food outlet The hypermarket within Malaysia such as Boulevard, Ta Kiong, and Tesco. These hypermarkets contribution a lot to market share of Kimball sauce   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The fast food outlet in Malaysia such as KFC, Mc.Donald, Sugarbun, and Marrybrown use to be a very important target market to increase our sales. These fast food outlet sell burger, fried chicken, and French fried, these food will taste better when eat with sauce. The fast food outlet will tend to use Kimball sauce as the sauce that provide to the consumers. Positioning the Product:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kimball offers the highest quality sauce with good taste and variety of choices to satisfying all type characteristics of consumer. Its make from fresh chili and no preservative added. Kimball has developed its product, packaging, pricing and promotion to communicate an excellent and convenience ways to have delicious of chili sauce. This positioning is thus supported by all its marketing strategies. Product Strategies Product Strategies for Kimball sauce existing product.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Currently, Kimball has 7 lines of existing products, emphasis on chili sauce. Those type of packaging still quite complicated and not so convenience for consumer to use. Kimball also got other type of product beside chili sauce. Product Strategy of Kimball New Product To broaden its coverage in the market and to meet its sales objectives, Kimball has to introduce an additional new product packaging. A new product packaging will be introduce:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kimball Gorgeous/Dignity: This product will be different from existing products in term of packaging differences. This new sauce bottle packaging design to be look gorgeous and dignity which different with all of the existing sauce bottle. Beside that, we also create another packaging: New Kimball Squeeze Convenience which enable consumer to use it easily. The New Kimball Squeeze Convenience consists of both top and bottom flat surface.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Kimball Gorgeous/Dignity use to attract consumer in modern lifestyle. Consumers today prefer something look gorgeous and high class than something that look normal to them. The New Kimball Squeeze Convenience easy to squeeze and both flat surface enable consumer easy to put. Pricing strategy   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Pricing is the moment of truth-all of marketing comes to focus in the pricing decision from Raymond corey.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Pricing strategy is very important in all market. This is because pricing strategy determines the future of the business and also to attain the objective company, whether the price we set will attract customers or not. Beside that the price we set should affordable and acceptable to the customer so the customer can afford buy our brand product. For example company sauce Maggie set the price around Rm2.40 for their sauce so to encourage people buy the Kimball product the price we should set must affordable and acceptable to the customer for example Rm 2.30 to our Kimball sauce. Before we set a price for product, we have to know what customers reaction to our products price. Is it worth to pay this sum to purchase this product or not? Beside that, customer value perception such as business to customer which is mention that the product value should low price, high quality however, business to business mention that value should increase revenues, decrease costs and decrease risks.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Due to our research to Kimball sauce, so many people think that Kimball sauce is a same taste with another sauce such as life, nyoya, Maggie and another brand so nowadays probably people prefer buy the sauce without choosing the brand it is because in they mind all sauce is same so no need to think too much to make a decision beside that, some consumer also think that Kimball sauce offer high price to their product. From the research have we done. The statistic of Kimball sauce and another brand sauce mention that, the price of value packs of one bottle sauce almost the same price compare to another brand sauce this is a type of pricing strategy which will give customer impression error when they choose the sauce.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kimball sauce should come out with a series of value packs, Which is the price should reasonable and attractive for example the price we should set is around Rm 2.10 to Rm 2.30 in all market so the people will feel more likely to consume it, It is because the price are not too higher so that everyone can buy it so Kimball sauce can increase their sales and gain reasonable profit. Promotion Strategies   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kimball will use mainly advertising and sales promotion to promote its products to the public. Billboards will be created and put at the roadside to create awareness among public towards Kimball sauces product. A television program Cook With Top Chef will be taken. In this program, Kimball sauce will be use to cook and as a seasoning. Therefore, in order to help our new and existing product to success in the marketing objectives, additional promotional activities are introduced. These include the following: Television and Radio Television as a media is also a main role in helping businesses to grow. Everyday we see hundreds of advertisements shown on television. This is because advertising there is really helpful in getting the customer to be aware of new or existing products in the market. Radio advertisements is also proven to be effective where they use local celebrities to promote their product via voice. That is why we kept on hearing repetitive jingles and slogans on air. Plus, advertising on radio is far more cost saving rather than to advertise on television. Kimball advertisements will be shown on air in one year time. Sponsorship. Kimball will attempt to sponsor in several activities which are being held in cities. The advantage of sponsorships is that they provide visibility for the product while at the same time showing that the company supports activities of interest to the target market. Gift certificates and hampers are given to winners and participants of the activities. Sponsorship can also create brand awareness among the public while getting free publicity in the newspaper. Billboards Billboards are also one of the common method used by marketers to market their product. Normally billboards are found at bridges or near the roadsides so that consumers can easily spot it and aware of what are the message that is trying to be sent from those billboards. Nowadays marketers use a lot of funny ads to add more commercial value to their advertisement. This is to make sure that potential buyers can remember the product that is being advertised. Bus advertisements This method of advertising is one of the oldest method used to promote products. Since buses go round and round the city every day, with a catchy slogan or pictures, potential buyers can easily be attracted to it and buy the advertised product. Contest and voucher coupons Contest and voucher coupons are normally used by marketers to attract customers to participate and get to the product better. Normally, questions asked in the contests are mainly about the advertised products. Voucher coupons is another powerful mean of advertising whereby the act of giving out discount coupons is actually encouraging customer to buy the product because it is likely to be cheaper than other rival products. Sampling. By giving samples of Kimball products at selected venues, it will provide an opportunity for prospective customers to become aware of the product and taste the product. Fried Nugget and eat with Kimball chili sauce or tomato sauce is given to consumer to taste on it. Example of venues: Supermarket/ Hypermarket. Activities held in pasar raya. Activities held in education institutions. Premium. Free gifts such as containers. With every purchase of 2 bottle of Kimball Gorgeous/Dignity will free one container. With every purchase of 2 bottles Kimball Squeeze will free one luxury container. Promotion pack. With every purchase of Kimball Gorgeous/Dignity will be free one small bottle 30gram of Kimball sauce. Supply Chain Strategy Beside, increasing market share through promotional strategies, distribution also play an important role in develop marketing strategies, which is supply chain strategies. Kimball would distribute their sauces through distribution channels. Distribution channels perform a number of functions that make possible the flow of Kimball sauces from the producer to the customer. Kimball will still remain its distribution channel strategy. Distribution channels include distributor (who sells to retailers), retailers (who sells to end consumer), advertisement used for consumption goods. The flow of Kimball sauces is from their producer or manufacturer to four or five distributors or wholesalers. These distributors then sell to many retailers such as hypermarket, supermarket, grocery store, and fast-food restaurant. The retailers in turn each sell the sauces to up to thousands of customers.

Columbine Essay -- essays papers

Columbine The tragedy at Columbine High School is something that will be remembered and talked about for many years to come. People from across the nation have all heard about this event. But there are still a couple questions that people have. For instance who’s to blame? The kids alone, the parents for how they brought the children up, or even actually the students at Columbine? Most say that the parents are to blame, but who actually knows? In my opinion the only two people that can actually answer this question truthfully are both dead. Everyone wants answers. Did the kids have help? Who was it? Who sold them the weapons and why? Why did they do this? How could they do this? I had a class about the last question. Who could actually go into a room and commit a crime of massacre in a school of people that you know and have grown up with? Most of our class thought that they couldn’t ever get enough anger to do anything even remotely as bad, but when you actually think about it, if you had no friends and where made fun of all the time. It looked like your parents, teachers, and even all your own piers where against you. I think anyone could snap and maybe even do something as drastic as this (Why at Columbine High). Did the boys, Dylan Klebold, 17, and Eric Harris, 18, have any help doing this crime. As of yet no one has true evidence that proves they did except they did find who sold them the weapons. Police found around thirty small bombs and one twenty-pound propane bomb in the school, enough explosives to blow the school into almost nothing. For this reason people believe that the boys either had to have help or they had visited the school many times to plan this assault. No one talking though and no proof has been found. Their not only looking for information from someone that could point to someone that had helped they’re also looking for someone that had known that this was going to happen, so that they may find the answers to so many questions (The Colorado Shooting: Who Helped). Besides many bombs the police had also found a horrible suicide note. â€Å"Your children who have ridiculed me, who have chosen not to accept me, who have treated me like I am not worth their time are dead. THEY ARE (expletive) DEAD. I may have taken their lives and my own - but it was your doing. Teachers, parents, LET THIS MASSACRE BE ON YOUR SHOULDERS UNTIL ... ...no one except investigators and policemen in the school the police finally let them in. Everyone had something to get or look at, since the kids all had to leave their book bags in the school. A lot of the kids despised having to go back to school where many of their friends were killed or even injured (A Sad Homecoming at Columbine High). As of now in the little town of Littleton, the people are decided rather or not to destroy the old library and build a new one, for over three million dollars. They see the library as a horrible memory since ten of the students were killed and that’s where the boys committed suicide (Library Approval Delayed). This entire event got worse and worse as I read into it. Before now I never knew what was written in the suicide notes that they had written, but now that I do it’s really unbelievable that a human could think up such a thing and actually do it. It’s one thing to think about doing it, but strictly another going throug h with something so gruesome. I believe all of us feel left out sometimes, or maybe just seeing everything go wrong from them and that everyone’s against them, but I don’t see it in anyone to take that hated to these extremes.

Athletic Leadership Development Program Essay

There is great need to develop effective athletic management programs in high schools. Apart from the fact that students derive direct benefit from such programs, it is also a good training resource since today’s high school athletes will eventually take shape as tomorrow’s sports leaders as coaches, trainers, athletic administrators, sports physicians, sports psychologists and other capacities (Lanasa, Ciletti & Lackman, 2005). High school is a very important stage in which students prepare for the future by getting a good education, making friends and participate in other activities such as athletics. It is unfortunate, that many schools have adopted budget cuts that under provide for sports, taking the opinion that money would be better spent on academics. Though it is right that academics come first, sacrificing high school sports is dangerous to the students’ high school experience as it affects their ability to perform at optimum academic levels (Amorose & Horn, 2000). Sports are also an important component that helps students develop into well-rounded adults who give full benefits to the country at large. INTRODUCTION This paper will carry out a literature review to illustrate how a School Athletic Leadership Plan works to give students full benefits. In extension, the school as an institution also derives high levels of achievement and satisfaction from the same. It will show how students with an interest in the field of training and treatment of athletes can effectively be prepared by the school athletic training programs. They are a perfect opportunity of gaining college and career preparation. These programs give an appropriate opportunity to the attainment of information, certification, scholarships and networking for students (MacGregor, 2005). HOW TO DEVELOP A LEADERSHIP PROGRAM This section will evaluate the leadership program adopted by Wheeler High School in Indiana. It presents a situation that is appropriate to most high schools where there are potentially good players but their hopes and targets fail to materialize due to lack of a well organized sports framework and leadership in the school. On evaluation of the progress and areas that need change, Snodgrass notes that the foremost problem was the lack of player leadership in the students’ teams coupled with the lack of senior talent (2005). Borrowing from the plan adopted by this school, this paper will give guidelines on how a school athletic leadership plan can be developed. Structure of the program An effective leadership program should start by identifying players that can participate in the plan. For starters, the first class could be made up of six senior and two junior students who would meet weekly for two to three hours over a ten week period (Snodgrass, 2005). In this period, they would they would participate in the curriculum by carrying out the following; Interaction They are expected to visit and spend one or two hours in the curriculum each night (Snodgrass, 2005). From this interaction, the head of the plan identifies the strengths and weaknesses of the selected team by observing how they interact and how committed they are. This is the stage at which the leaders and those with skills valuable to the plan are identified. As they share ideas, hopes and aspirations, this pilot group can come up with an excellent blueprint of the plan since they are better positioned to know what would work with their fellow student athletes and what would not. Activities strengthening core values The activities that strengthen core values are important as they set the plan in motion with the rest of the student athletes. The pilot group of eight should each be assigned a group of student with which they carry out these activities. This could occur in class for discussions and after knowing each other, the group members should engage in out of class activities. Group leaders are expected to call incoming players and engage with them with an aim of getting to know them intimately (University of Wisconsin, 2007). This is a very important step as the group leaders get in a position to identify strengths and weaknesses that might be hidden from the coaches and teachers. This enables the teams to avoid failures that commonly arise from the lack of proper understanding within the team. Leadership in youth camps The eight members of the pilot team should serve as counselor at the summer youth camp. They are expected to take up roles such as teaching a position, coaching the team in flag football, running the punt-pass-kick contest etc (Young & Edmonson, 2010). It should involve activities such as story narrations to emphasize the importance of team playing. The plan should be sure to implement a youth summer camp. The Handbook of Organizational Consulting Psychology underscores the importance of such camps in the development of leadership plans. It is from such camps that the members emerge as a team understanding each other, with strong leadership and ready to work together (Fiedler, 2002). The above activities lay the foundation on which the plan can be built upon. After getting the required individuals to spearhead the program and the necessary team sprit, the plan can proceed into the next step in which it formally assembles the best ideas and strategies for the leadership program in form of a blueprint discussed in the following section. PLANNING THE BLUEPRINT Snodgrass defines a blueprint as the process of designing a leadership program in any field from start to finish (2005). It guides the implementation of the whole process and it gives guidelines on how to check progress and success levels. This paper will provide a blueprint that is divided into steps as follows; Step 1: Assembling the planning team According to the program adopted by the Leigh University for the summer of 2007, the planning team should comprise all the key stakeholders to build a program that is acceptable campus wide (Fiedler, 2002). It is imperative to ensure that all individual stakeholders understand the importance of athletics in the life of the students. Teachers and other members of staff should be ready to sacrifice some academic hours in order to bring the plan into track. In this university, the team consisted of coaches from the Athletic Department, administrators and student-athletes as well as staff from the Dean of Student’s Office to attain a healthy balance (Young & Edmonson, 2010). They should meet weekly to discuss the rest of the steps in the blueprint. Step 2: Conducting a leadership audit â€Å"The leadership audit is a systematic assessment of leadership development opportunities at the institution and beyond. A complete audit includes both internal and external reviews and inventories all leadership opportunities† (Lanasa, Ciletti & Lackman, 2005). Internal audit: The information from this audit should find out whether there are other leadership initiatives on campus in which student-athletes can participate (). Fiddler finds that often these programs are not designed to directly increase the value of the student’s leadership and do not fundamentally impact Athletics as a whole(Amorose & Horn, 2000). There should be goal setting and skill building workshops that are conducive to the unique schedules of student-athletes and athletics department staff. External audit: This involves researching specific leadership opportunities at other institutions. This should particularly look for leadership development programs and delivery options within other institutions (Robinson & Skinner, 2008). It can be done in neighboring schools that have highly successful leadership development programs to identify crucial aspects that can be adopted. It can also be done online or from other literature on the issue to set good standards for a comprehensive plan. Step 3: Identification of an anchor The anchor is another crucial aspect of the plan that should be in place. Young and Edmonson define it as the â€Å"existing institutional purpose, outreach or reason that makes the program’s efforts essential and justifies the investment of time, energy and resources to support the effort (2010). It helps in the acceptance of the plan since it does not appear as something totally alien. For instance the mission statement of Lehigh University is; â€Å"To advance learning through the integration of teaching, research, and service to others† (Young and Edmonson, 2010). To be in tandem with the school’s mission statement, the Lehigh Athletics Mission Statement could be made to capture that of the institute, e. g. â€Å"Our mission in the Lehigh Athletics Department is to advance learning to develop leadership, and to foster personal growth through comprehensive athletics programming. † (Young and Edmonson, 2010). This way, the plan manages to entrench itself within existing institutional goals and hence all stakeholders can comfortably identify with it and work towards its implementation. As such, teachers for instance would drop their hard line stance towards the plan as they feel it helps in academics. Step 4: Determining the scope The scope is the extent of the leadership experience which encompasses aspects such as how deep the program will be embedded in institutional culture and the programmatic mission and learning objectives (Robinson & Skinner, 2008). The scope should be connected to the vision, mission, and learning outcomes of the school’s sports department. Vision: the plan should be aimed at cultivating a culture of leadership which encourages self-awareness, commitment to team playing, and emphasis on values and actions that enhance a good athletic experience. (Amorose & Horn, 2000) Mission: the sports department should use the plan to complement and support the larger missions of the institution as a whole. This can be achieved with the use of the transformational leadership theory that enhances student’s leadership skills and understanding (Fiedler, 2002). It should accomplish a sense of community among al stakeholders focusing on the value of positive leadership. Learning outcomes: these are the benefits that the students should derive from participating in the Athletic Leadership Program. Firstly, they enhance their knowledge of basic leadership skills and principles. Others are interpersonal skills, integrity, peer motivation, self awareness and the value of diversity in every situation (University of Wisconsin, 2007). This will enhance their wellbeing in every field of life in school and beyond. Step 5: Shaping the philosophy A philosophy is important in shaping an appropriate vision, mission and goals for a comprehensive Athletic Leadership Program. Robison and Skinner put forward two examples of philosophy that can be used to achieve this end. They do so by addressing the unique needs of student-athletes, teams and coaches (2008). The Transformational Leadership Theory is the primary philosophy in which the program is embedded. â€Å"It describes a course of action where both leaders and participants engage in a mutual, ongoing process of raising one another to higher levels of motivation, moral reasoning, and self-consciousness† (Robinson & Skinner, 2008). This encourages collaboration and interdependence within participants by appealing to social and community focused values. Principle-Centered Leadership Theory: this theory is based on principle based leadership. Leaders are required to center their practices in natural based practices. Their values can only be effective if they remain true to these guiding principles, which are identified as; â€Å"continually learning, service-oriented, radiate positive energy, believe in other people, lead balanced lives, see life as an adventure, are synergistic, and exercise for self-renewal† (Robinson & Skinner, 2008). Step 6: Selecting delivery framework These are the strategies and individuals to be used for teaching participants about leadership. This includes positional leaders and emerging ones. Positional leaders include coaches and captains who are directly responsible of development of athleticism in individual-student athletes which will ultimately lead them to winning championships (Fiedler, 2002). Emerging leaders include students joining the program and those who have been it for a while and want to further their leadership skills. This way, the plan ensures that it has a never ending supply of talent and new leadership, i. e. it is sustainable. Step 7: Select Assessment and Evaluation Strategies This step ensures that intentional assessment and evaluation tools will are available. It is recommended that the implementation of the blueprint is assessed after the first full year of implementation. The tools to be used for this assessment may include â€Å"focus groups, student-athlete exit interviews, pre- and post-surveys, student-athlete post-season evaluations, etc† (University of Wisconsin, 2007). This process is meant to explore needs, outcomes and satisfaction derived from the plan. CONCLUSION A School Athletic Leadership Plan like the one outlined above will go a long way in accomplishing a varied range of needs in the school. It clearly shows the need to implement an effective plan from which students can derive numerous benefits. The step by step process is imperative in creating a leadership program which is self sustaining and which is deeply rooted in the institutional goals and vision. This ensures that it is embraced by all. REFERENCES Amorose, A. J, and Horn T. S (2000). Intrinsic Motivation: relationship with collegiate athletes’ gender, scholarship status, and perceptions of their coaches’ behavior. Journal of sport and exercise psychology. 22(1), 63 – 84. Fiedler, F. E (2002). Proactive ways to improve leadership performance. Handbook of organizational consulting psychology, 76 – 105, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Lanasa, J. , Ciletti, D. and Lackman, R. (2005). Designing a Model for Improved Outcomes Among Students- Athletes in Sports Education. Left Coast Press. Retrieved, 6th August, 2010 MacGregor, G. M. (2005). Designing Student Leadership Programs: Transforming the Leadership Potential of Youth. Youthleadership. com Robison, T. I and Skinner, T. (2008). The Athlete and the Grade Change. Cases in Educational Leadership. Retrieved, 6th August, 2010 Snodgrass, S. (2005). Building a high school leadership program. Gale, Cengage Learning. University of Wisconsin. (2007). A Grounded Theory Of High Quality Leadership Programs: Perspectives From Student Leadership Development Programs In Higher Education. Madison: University of Wisconsin. Young, J. and Edmonson, S. (2010). High School Athletic Directors and Educational Leadership Traits: A Conceptual Analysis of the Literature. Retrieved, 6th August, 20 10

Company Delamere Pottery Limited Essay

Company Delamere Pottery Limited, which produces earthenware tableware, founded in 1997 after obtaining assets of T.G. Delamera & Co ltd. Company acquired a functional structure to better support the increase in turnover (Williamson et al., 2004, p. 53) in new markets areas that offer greater margins. To enhance the competitiveness, company launched a new strategies in business, marketing and finance mainly to increase gross margins by 10% and increase customer satisfaction together with a reduction of inventory (Williamson et al., 2004, p. 207). Business strategy is mainly based on the more efficient use of existing resources of the company. With implementation of the ERP system, the company promises to improve the planning, transparency and shortening process times and increasing the performance. ERP systems are often used by manufacturing companies to achieve a competitive advantage (Zhang et al, 2005, p. 69). ERP system helps companies create a strong information infrastructure, more accurate decision-making thanks to always actual data, enhance the overall quality and streamline the exchange of information between departments, suppliers and customers (Shatat & Udin, 2012, p. 577). Further costs reductions, the company tried to streamline production by reducing the overall waste. Basically to become  ´Ã‚ ´lean ´Ã‚ ´ and build an efficient, just-in-time manufacturing system to increase the overall quality. According to Lewis (2000, p. 962), company which is lean, is effective in transforming inputs resources into outputs, this reduces the costs and increase overall business financial performance. Becoming more  ´Ã‚ ´lean ´Ã‚ ´ (having lower costs) is one of the advantages over the competition (Lewis, 2000, p. 964). Source: Lewis (2000, p. 962) One of the main asset of the company are employers. To increase the overall success of the company can be achieved by: increase communications, increasing cooperation and following common goals, raising creativity and innovation, emphasizing on continuous development, empowering people (Kourdi, 2003, p. 84). Marketing strategy relies mainly on improving quality of products, service and so increase the overall brand reputation. Delamere Pottery Limited wanted to differentiate from competition through their products, supply chain and marketing (Williamson et al., 2004, p. 90) and so obtained higher saleability. The achievement of this strategic plan had five segments: Quality, Design, Service, Reliability, Brand awareness (Williamson et al., 2004, p. 210). Marketing strategy was closely linked to business strategy, with emphasis on the lean production. Improvement of manufacturing processes has a direct positive impact on the quality of the products and also thorough better controlling of the packaging, labeling and delivery of products can reduce costs. The company sought to be recognized as a progressive and innovative (Williamson et al., 2004, p. 210), therefore been given a lot of emphasis on design. Decisions in product design can have a large impact on cost, but also with design can be achieved the differentiation from the competition and getting higher profits (Desai et al, 2001, p. 37). Be credible among customers, the company tried to improve service, improve communication and improve the performance in the delivery of finished products to the customers on time. To support this plan has been introduced customer relationship management (CRM). Another tool how to increase turnover is to enhance the brand awareness. Greater brand awareness among customers increase the differentiation from competition and gives firm the possibility to increase the prices of products. Financial Strategies Delamere Pottery Limited was divided into two main parts: increasing gross margin and additional turnover (Williamson et al., 2004, p. 211). The results of gross margins depended on the success of the implementation of ERP system, lean manufacturing and improved distribution and getting the brand into public awareness. Additional turnover was possible made by sale of selected products for specially selected markets and the gradual-depth sales to particular markets. In company Delamere Pottery Limited the main emphasis has been taken on comprehensive manufacturing strategy. To support this strategy, in year 1999 was presented the system MPC (Manufacturing, Planning, Control). MPC should be associated with the other main functions such as finance, purchasing, sales and marketing (Williamson et al., 2004, p. 216). According to Williamson et al. (2004, 216-218), the implementation of MPC system, company received the following benefits: -With connection to ERP system is possible to have more efficiently planning and greater control of the production. -With connection to CRM system improve communication and service with customers. Significant improvement of delivering products on time. Increase of  £2M in turnover. -Better inventory management, increased stock turns. Reduction in working capital  £120.000. -Better recognition of loss-making and non-contribution products. Enhance in pre-tax profits of  £150.000.

Parallelism Prevents Bumpy Communication

Parallelism Prevents Bumpy Communication Parallelism Prevents Bumpy Communication Parallelism Prevents Bumpy Communication By Michael Parallelism is one rule you learned from your English teacher that is appropriate for all sorts of writing. Parallelism makes your thoughts easier to understand, with limited danger of making it more stilted or overly formal. For example, apples are sweet, but lemons are sour, which is parallel, is less bumpy than apples are sweet, but sour is the word for lemons, which isnt parallel. Bumpy sentences distract your readers from anything you were trying to say. Think of parallelism as balance. I dont think an appreciation for balance is something that has to be taught. The human mind naturally wants to make sentences parallel and orderly. So if a sentence is cock-eyed and skewed, the neurons in your brain will automatically try to unskew it, for better or worse. Heres a sentence that it isnt parallel: I ate whole wheat bread, spread with mustard, and toasted cheese. Heres how I think your neurons naturally try to make sense of that sentence, with somewhat humorous consequences: I ate whole wheat bread I spread with mustard I toasted cheese That changes the meaning. For example, the truth is that my wife did all the sandwich preparations for me. Some hints in the sentence might tell your neurons the sentence is probably about sandwich ingredients rather than sandwich making, and you wont stay confused for long. But it requires a little thought to get to that point, and your neurons resent being made to think when its not necessary. Here is a parallel version of the same sentence: The sandwich was made from whole wheat bread, spread with mustard, and loaded with toasted cheese. Now your neurons can rest easy because the sentence structure is regular and predictable. Each ingredient has its own parallel statement that describes its relationship with the sandwich. made from whole wheat bread spread with mustard loaded with toasted cheese When you write in a parallel form, with subjects, verbs and objects that correspond to each other, youre laying a smooth pathway for your readers and then following it. Youre saying, This is true in the same way that is true. Not only this is true, but that is also true. This, that, and the other are true. Then your readers can focus on what youre saying, rather than be distracted by how you say it. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:The Yiddish Handbook: 40 Words You Should Know50 Diminutive Suffixes (and a Cute Little Prefix)20 Ways to Laugh

Embracing Alternative Medicine Essay Example

Embracing Alternative Medicine Essay Example Embracing Alternative Medicine Paper Embracing Alternative Medicine Paper more than 45,000 licensed chiropractors were practicing in the United States. Although chiropractic clearly has some disadvantages, its use of spinal manipulation has proved useful in treating acute low-back pain and other muscular and neurological problems. Studies have found that premature infants gain weight much faster after being massaged than babies in an unmassaged control group. Massaged infants cry less and are calmer than those who are only rocked. It is surprising that only now, in the late 1990s, we discover the fact that not only infants but also children and adults respond favorably to the human touch both emotionally and physically. I can say that when at the age of fifteen I started to have back-related problems (because of my sport’s activities), I was treated by many very well known physicians. Nothing seemed to help for a long time and eventually I got help from a chiropractic physician. Therefore I’m a big believer in this technique. In the conclusion I would like to say that we shouldn’t think of an alternative medicine as of panacea. It cannot and does not treat all the diseases, like any other medical technique. However, we should stay open-minded and we should know that there are other options rather that traditional western medical practice. Many times it’s a very good solution sometimes it’s not, but what is more important is that this knowledge and understanding should reach our physicians, those who treat us in the hospitals, those who sit in their offices and laugh at us if we tell them about untraditional medicine. They must be more open to the fact that in spite of their education and all the time and effort they invested in medicine, there are many things they can’t explain. Sometimes it’s not a bad idea to listen to other opinion. As for us, we should know our options and try to make the right choices.

Blindness in Samson Agonistes

Blindness in Samson Agonistes In John Milton’s play Samson Agonistes, eyesight is a recurring motif and blindness used frequently as a metaphor to define the status of a character’s journey. Milton uses the presence or lack of clarity in vision, both physically and spiritually, to indicate characters’ direction. Although several characters experience blindness to differing degrees, Samson epitomizes the dynamic states and stages of blindness. All of these are necessary components of his pilgrimage of personal redemption, where his loss of physical eyesight becomes essential to mitigate the more serious condition of internal, spiritual blindness. Manoah’s paternal connection to his son hinders his ability to see that the blindness Samson must endure as a result of his failures is actually necessary to restore Samson’s inner eyes. Manoah attempts to convince Samson that his predicament can be reversed and that there is a way out: â€Å"But God who caus’d a fountain at thy prayer From the dry ground to spring, thy thirst to allay After the brunt of battel, can as easie Cause light again within thy eies to spring.† (581-84) Manoah’s eyes are indeed veiled from reality, for he is unable to analyze the situation apart from his disposition and concepts which persuade him to believe that Samson is, in fact, ascetical. Manoah has the full assurance that the retrieval and homeward return of his son would cause the present problems to dissipate. However, Samson realizes that his escaping will not assist him along his destined path and will not accomplish the purpose of his existence. Surely God did not intend for Samson to single-handedly liberate Israel, but as the tribe’s sole recipient of the divine instruction, Samson is regarded as the man who will free Israel and her people from captivity. The awe and wonder that his strength elicits became an obstruction in the eyes of the Hebrews and of their faith. It does not occur to them that perhaps they too, as a people, have a role in fulfilling God’s plan. Their eyes are so fixed on the idea that Samson will be their savior that in a sense their faith in God is lessened. Samson’s strength is a mere manifestation of God’s strengthening him from within; the Israelites, however, regard his gift of strength as his sole qualification for the mission’s assignment. By so doing, they deny any accountability themselves. The Israelites should have learned from Solomon’s mistakes after his fall and taken the initiative to fulfill the promise. Instead, like Samson, his people lose sight of their faith and its source. It becomes apparent that Samson has become an idol to his people, and they have lost God as their focus by fixing their collective sight upon Samson’s God-like figure, which his strength and pride afford. Therefore, Samson is not the only one who has lost sight of his calling, but the Hebrews have fallen to the point where they â€Å"love bondage more than liberty, / Bondage with ease than strenuous liberty† (270-1). Samson, as well as his people, initially fail to see that his strength lies not within the seven locks of unshaven hair, but that his hair is a mere symbol of his heritage and of his vow to God. A footnote in Numbers, explaining the significance of the Nazarite vow, says, â€Å"Not shaving the head signifies not rejecting but being absolutely subject to the headship of the Lord as well as to all deputy authorities appointed by God.† The Nazarite vow was not developed solely for Samson, but it was a voluntary time of consecration where the Israelites declared their separation unto God: â€Å"All the days of his vow of separation no razor shall pass over his head. He shall be holy until the days are fulfilled for which he separated himself from Jehovah; he shall let the locks on his head grow long.† (Numbers 6:5) This general custom proves that, contrary to the belief of Samson and Dalila, that his hair is not the source of his super natural strength. Samson’s â€Å"heav’n- gifted strength† (36) is accompanied by a mission whose accomplishment relies entirely on his faithfulness to the vow. Gradually Samson becomes distracted by the fame and admiration that his strength elicits. A purpose that initially originated from a divinely assigned mission slowly digresses into a self-glorifying talent which makes Samson â€Å"fearless of danger, like made a petty God, walk’d about admir’d of all† (529-30). Samson himself admits that he had reached a point where he was â€Å"swollen with pride† and fell â€Å"into the snare† (532). As this egotistical outlook begins to take precedence in Samson’s life, he simultaneously begins to lose sight of the goals in and purpose of his life, leaving him inwardly blind, prior to the dramatic gouging out of his eyes. During the first three temptations of Dalila, Samson’s faith still remains true as he maintains his loyalty and covenant with God, just as he sustains the portion of his vow which requires him to abstain from â€Å"all delicious drinks†¦ [to] repress† (541-43). However, upon Dalila’s fourth attempt to trick her husband, â€Å"this high gift of strength†¦how easily [bereaves] [him], / Under the seal of Silence could not keep, / But weakly to a woman [does] reveal it† (47-50). Once Samson recognizes his weakness, despite his outward strength, he begins the journey of ascent towards self- reconstruction, where Samson comes to realize how he came to be in such a predicament: â€Å"God sent her to debase me, And aggravate my folly who committed To such a viper his most sacred trust Of secresie, my safety, and my life† (999-1002) Samson realizes too late that he was â€Å"impoten[t] of mind, in body strong!† (52). Before his upward journey, Samson is required to be completely broken, blinded and chained, â€Å"inferior to†¦ worm† (73-74). The man that was once admired and worshipped is now â€Å"dark in light expos’d / to daily fraud, contempt, abuse and wrong† (75-76), made powerless, in order for him to begin the long, dark journey into his self and back to his calling. Milton repeatedly utilizes the metaphor of blindness to take his characters on a progression from a point of darkness into light, to illustrate the growth and dynamic development of each character on their own, specific path to destiny. Milton’s entire tragedy depicts the treacherous journey of the hero whose â€Å"breeding [is] ordered and prescrib’d / As of a person separated to God† (30-31). In order for Samson’s purpose to be fulfilled and for God’s plan to be carried out, Samson’s physical strength has to be reduced to nothing. It is only possible in this moment of desperation following complete failure that the hero is able to prove his true strength, as he re-climbs from the heap of collapse. Not only does this journey entail the reconstruction of his strength, but Samson is forced to endure this journey in complete darkness in order to redefine his view of the world and to relinquish his confidence in his own ability, and to ultimatel y refine and strengthen his faith in God. The Hebrews, like Samson, are also in need of restoration of sight to see again who their God is. Their faith falters simultaneously with the breaking of Samson’s vow; not one of them takes any form of action in attempt to accomplish God’s plan. Their sole concern is the preservation of Samson’s sight and strength, for this is where their faith resides. Manoah also fails to see that the restoration of Samson’s sight is not of utmost importance, but that much more, his inward eyes would be reopened to realize his purpose, to see why God twice appeared to his parents to announce the importance of his birth. Samson is both weakened and inwardly blinded by his wife’s beauty and temptations, but it is not until his eyes are gouged out that he acknowledges that he has been â€Å"entangled with a poysnous bosom snake.† When Samson’s faith is lost, he is in â€Å"double darkness†, both outwardl y and inwardly blind. It is not until his final moments that his inward eyes are opened; he regains his lost faith, and truly realizes and accomplishes his purpose in his very last breath.

Critical analysis of Last Night(Page 537) and The Flea (Page 504) in Essay

Critical analysis of Last Night(Page 537) and The Flea (Page 504) in The Norton Introduction to Literature, Eleventh Edition - Essay Example By characterizing the situation each is confronted with, the speakers manage to depict the meaning of love and intimacy with their respective lovers and the insights they have of these themes in the stimulating language of passion, filled with thematic symbols and images. At the onset of â€Å"The Flea†, the passionate man who sounds as though he were relishing the state of aggressive youth expresses â€Å"Mark but this flea, and mark in this, / How little that which thou deniest me is; / It sucked me first, and now sucks thee, / And in this flea our two bloods mingled be†. ‘Flea’ plays an essential role from the beginning as he makes use of it to fill in the void between him and the woman of his dreams just nearby for the bite of the flea, being infectious as it may seem by nature, serves to open up a sign of connection. Since the flea dips from one blood onto the next, it comes with ease to imagine how life may be upon another though this is too subtle a case herein, as the man is caught in desperately trying to convince his love to agree on accepting him into an intimate bond. He may be felt with a consuming level of desire in the manner by which he utters the phrases ‘sucked me’ and ‘sucks theeâ€⠄¢ so that the reader is tickled into a playful thought of love-making. The male speaker proceeds to explicate in the second stanza: â€Å"Oh stay, three lives in one flea spare, / Where we almost, nay more than married are. / This flea is you and I, and this / Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is†. In this part, the flea is made to symbolize an embodiment that holds them as one and out of such tiny creature, the man constructs an impossibly larger world, signifying the flea in a metaphor with ‘marriage bed’ and ‘marriage temple’. Apparently, by opting for the word ‘marriage’ to be a common modifier on bed and temple, he alludes that he is not merely flirting with the woman for whom he feels deeply and madly at the

Prevention of medication errors Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Prevention of medication errors - Essay Example Sources of error in the work environment like interruptions should be reduced. The program of quality improvement should be ongoing and systematic. It should be peer reviewed for safe medication use. Areas of responsibility and lines of authority in the hospital should be properly defined to order, administer, and dispense medication. Prescribers should be updated on the current state of knowledge to be able to determine the suitable drug therapy. Prescribers should evaluate the total status of the patient before prescribing further medications to determine appropriate drug interactions. Prescribers should avoid giving such vague directions as â€Å"take as directed† as particular instructions facilitate differentiation in the drugs. Prescribers should demonstrate exact strengths of dosage instead of specifying dosage form units. Pharmacists should personally provide nurses and prescribers with information regarding appropriate use of medications and therapeutic drug regiments. Pharmacists should not guess the confusing medication orders’ intent. The work area where drugs are prepared should be kept clean and ordered. Pharmacists should preview the design and content of the forms of preprinted medication order, and maintain records to identify the recipients of erroneous products. Clinical nurses’ educators should inculcate all the required skills in the students to help them deter all types of errors while prescribing medication (Warburton, 2010). Nurses practicing in the organized settings of health-care should be well-versed with the ordering of medication and the use of system. Identity of patients should be verified before the prescribed dose is administered. Personnel using the devices of medication administration should fully comprehend the possible causes of error and faults in operation. The patient-nurse ratio should be increased in each shift (Kim et al., 2011). Patients should not hide

The Death of Socrates by Jacques-Louis David Assignment - 9

The Death of Socrates by Jacques-Louis David - Assignment Example The researcher states that when one looks at the painting, they can see that everyone in the composition is mournful and sorrowful except the stoic man in white drapery at the center of the artwork. Here is a man who maintains his resolve in the wake of death and decides to stick to his principles, despite being condemned to death for the same philosophy. The researcher wants this painting to be viewed at his funeral because it is a representation of strength, loyalty, and principle. The researcher intends to live his life as he always has, remaining true to himself and living by a code of practicing what the author believes in. The researcher wants people to know that he did not live life in fear, that instead of mourning, they should celebrate his life, achievements, failures, and impact on the society. Jacques-Louis’ composition is a perfect representation of the bravery and principle, with which the researcher has lived his life. The researcher not only intend on living a life of values and principle, he also intends on using this values to positively impact society, as Socrates influenced Plato.

OPERATIONS STRATEGY AND MANAGEMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

OPERATIONS STRATEGY AND MANAGEMENT - Essay Example McDonalds has a huge supply chain network spread globally and the company puts lots of concentration over its supply chain as it is in the food division so maintenance of the quality of the food items and protecting them from getting damaged. The diagram showing the complete supply chain network of the company is been given below (Bass, 2010, pp. 89-96). The flow of information and also the flow of the materials give a clear indication in as to how important the supply chain is for the company. The company uses various transport medium like for transporting the materials which are perishable are been transported using cold vans which has freezer facilities which helps the company to maintain the quality of the item (Manos and Vincent, 2012, pp. 65-68). Company has looked to get local suppliers for supply of vegetables which can be availed in the fresh way. It has distributors in the supply chain in every city where all the raw materials come from the various suppliers of vegetables, breads, meats, milk items etc. From these distributors the materials are been supplied to the various outlets and restaurants using cold vans and trucks. The time limit for every supply of raw materials is 3 days, that is after every 3 days new stock of raw materials are been supplied to the stores and the maximum stock been maintained in the stores are only for 3 days which helps the company to keep the freshness of the product as a result of which the quality of the food item is been maintained in a good way (Wireman, 2004, pp. 113-115). McDonalds looks to maintain a good relation with the suppliers by providing them good facilities and good knowledge regarding good maintenance of the animals and also gives information to the vegetable suppliers regarding the various methods used for maintaining the quality and freshness of the vegetables. The company ma intains a simple policy of one material-one supplier to give the suppliers under control and

Motivating Employees Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Motivating Employees - Coursework Example Poor leadership creates low morale on the part of the employees. (Lipman, 2013). You find that many of the doctors and nurses may want to succeed but once they make mistakes, they are criticized and dubbed a failures and this lowers their morale hence their commitment. Kaluyu memorial hospital will embark on giving personalized thank you notes to exceptional staff members, giving timely feedback on exceptional work, giving gifts as well as organizing random luncheons and night outs for the celebration of good work.Lack of career growth and development can also be one of the factors that demotivate the employees of Kaluyu Memorial Hospital. From observations and assessments conducted, it has been noticed that the hospital has been offering very few regular career training and development programs aimed at motivating the employees. Lack of these opportunities brings a sense of stagnancy in terms of skills and knowledge. The hospital management will get regular feedback on the best trai ning programs to be undertaken depending on the majority vote. From research and observations, it is very clear that the employees of Kaluyu can be motivated using the basis of the Maslow’s theory of motivation whereby people are pushed into action by certain motivation factors at different levels and times. Maslow’s model of motivation asserts that humans have 5 basic needs that are categorized into physiological needs, security needs, love needs, self-esteem needs and self actualization needs. (Maslow, 2013).

The Death of Socrates by Jacques-Louis David Assignment - 9

The Death of Socrates by Jacques-Louis David - Assignment Example The researcher states that when one looks at the painting, they can see that everyone in the composition is mournful and sorrowful except the stoic man in white drapery at the center of the artwork. Here is a man who maintains his resolve in the wake of death and decides to stick to his principles, despite being condemned to death for the same philosophy. The researcher wants this painting to be viewed at his funeral because it is a representation of strength, loyalty, and principle. The researcher intends to live his life as he always has, remaining true to himself and living by a code of practicing what the author believes in. The researcher wants people to know that he did not live life in fear, that instead of mourning, they should celebrate his life, achievements, failures, and impact on the society. Jacques-Louis’ composition is a perfect representation of the bravery and principle, with which the researcher has lived his life. The researcher not only intend on living a life of values and principle, he also intends on using this values to positively impact society, as Socrates influenced Plato.

Motivating Employees Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Motivating Employees - Coursework Example Poor leadership creates low morale on the part of the employees. (Lipman, 2013). You find that many of the doctors and nurses may want to succeed but once they make mistakes, they are criticized and dubbed a failures and this lowers their morale hence their commitment. Kaluyu memorial hospital will embark on giving personalized thank you notes to exceptional staff members, giving timely feedback on exceptional work, giving gifts as well as organizing random luncheons and night outs for the celebration of good work.Lack of career growth and development can also be one of the factors that demotivate the employees of Kaluyu Memorial Hospital. From observations and assessments conducted, it has been noticed that the hospital has been offering very few regular career training and development programs aimed at motivating the employees. Lack of these opportunities brings a sense of stagnancy in terms of skills and knowledge. The hospital management will get regular feedback on the best trai ning programs to be undertaken depending on the majority vote. From research and observations, it is very clear that the employees of Kaluyu can be motivated using the basis of the Maslow’s theory of motivation whereby people are pushed into action by certain motivation factors at different levels and times. Maslow’s model of motivation asserts that humans have 5 basic needs that are categorized into physiological needs, security needs, love needs, self-esteem needs and self actualization needs. (Maslow, 2013).

Malnutrition in Darfur Essay Example for Free

Malnutrition in Darfur Essay Darfur is located in the Western part of Sudan and covers one fifth of the country being home to six million people. Darfur means house of fur and it is a historical region of Bilad al Sudan which is the Western part of Sudan. The northern part of Darfur is occupied by the Arabs while the main occupants of southern part are the white Arabs and Fur who are also regarded as the people of Darfur. Christianity period in Darfur lasted from around 900 to 1200. In the late 1980’s, ethnic tensions between the people of Darfur and nomadic Arabs and other agriculturalists began erupting into armed conflicts. These conflicts were very bloody and they continued up to 2003 after which the rebels from among the agriculturalists started attacking installations of the government. A peace treaty was signed in the year 2003 but this was not effective. The government of Sudan is seen to support these killings which become worse day after day. Janjaweed is the group that is terrorizing the people of Sudan and is said to be like a features of the mafia and the KKK in U. S. Janjaweed are racists and want to see the subjugation of the non Arabs in Sudan (Ubiera, 2010). Malnutrition refers to a condition which occurs when a person’s body is deprived of enough nutrients. It is brought about by an unbalanced diet, difficulties in digestion, problems of absorbing food or other medical conditions. Hunger, protein deficiency and overconsumption are the main causes of malnutrition. Malnourishment makes the body struggle to operate normally as such the ability to learn and physical work becomes difficult to undertake. In women and especially breastfeeding mothers, the prospect of producing breast milk that is nourished is very low (WFP, 2010). At present there are about 5 million people who are experiencing food insecurity in northern parts of Sudan, Darfur being among them. This is due to the conflicts going on in Darfur, poor 2009/2010 harvests, sky rocketing food prices and reduction in supply of grains. Levels of food insecurity are due to civil insecurities, limited access to cultivable land by the IDPs and poor rainfall, destruction of crops by animals, and pest infestation. Populations that are experiencing food insecurity are relying on aids from World Food Program (WFP) while others have developed coping strategies like sale of livestock, firewood and even grass so as to buy food in addition to income received from daily wage (USAID, 2010). By January 2010, research collected by UNICEF showed that there was an increase in all the three regions of Darfur with Northern Darfur being the worst hit into Outpatient Treatment Programme and Supplementary Feeding Centers. Global Outcome Malnutrition showed that it stood at over 15% in Darfur. It is estimated that there were about 3. 6 million beneficiaries of food with 30, 000MT. Consequence of the food insecurity; most of the individuals rely on donations from donors. If this help is not received, most of them end up starving. However, when it finally arrives it is limited in quantity and also quality hence its recipients cannot get all the required nutrients. Due to this there is malnutrition and more so in the camps where water is a problem too. Studies have shown that by January 2010, 80% of the total deaths since the fighting began are due to diseases and not violence. The findings showed that among the millions of people affected by the on going conflicts, most of them were still at risk of succumbing to malnutrition, waterborne diseases and diarrhea which has been rampant in the camps as the fighting continues. Displaced individuals are the most susceptible to this (AP, 2010). International interventions have been put in place so as to reduce the levels of inhumane actions in Darfur. Thousands of peacekeepers are in the region where there is collaboration of African Union-UN peace keeping and UNAMID. However, the intervention is said to have failed due to a number of factors. First, the government of Sudan is the main player of genocide. United Nations and as well as the International community has the commitment to respect the sovereignty of the national governments and so with this commitment and their need to maintain peace cannot afford them to enter into war with the government of Sudan. This means that attempts to stop war can only be successful if the government of Sudan is willing to cooperate but if it continues to keep conflicts alive and use racial hatred as a means to attack the marginalized communities, the interventions will be of little impact. Another reason is the lack of international community to make full commitments to bringing the war to a stop. The people around the world are unwilling to incur the costs of peace keeping unless there are some international strategic interests or economic benefits. The cost to human lives is not acceptable by most individuals for international conflicts which have no direct consequences to their own lives. Another reason is attributed to overall reluctance of countries, agencies or forces to do something which is related to war on terror being undertaken by US or any country. The last reason is the complexity of the problem itself. The Darfur war has significant social and political aspects. Hence the flaring up of the crisis in Darfur can only end when there is a long lasting balance of power between the two warring groups (Kumar, 2010). Even with the said failure by the humanitarian group to bring sanity into the region, their presence is still felt in Darfur. They nonetheless face many challenges but are daring enough to continue with their stay. Some of the problems are related to the government which makes it difficult for them to obtain travel visas and work permit. Bandits too attack them making it impossible for them to access the troubled areas but this has not deterred them. They try as much as possible to access the areas so as to help victims of crime and mostly the displaced people but mostly the vulnerable groups which comprise of children, women, the sick and the elderly. This shows the level of their commitment despite the reality of the failure of their efforts to bring peace in Darfur (USAID, 2010). The Sudan government and conflicts Sudan’s Liberation Army and Justice and Equality movement began attacking the government in the year 2003 by oppressing them for favoring Arabs over black Africans. Initially the conflicts were generally due to neglect by the government and lack of development in the black inhabited regions. Other supporting factors of the conflicts in Darfur are deemed to be complex and interwoven. Factors like, environmental degradation due to conflict over the access to the resources; famines in the past, neglect by the government hence lack of development characterized by poor health facilities, breakdown of the education sector and poorly developed economy; and constant interference by outsiders like British colonialists, Southern conflicts and expansion of Islamic religion. The Sudanese government responded by deploying troops to back the militias or the Janjaweed. This made the government to be accused of supporting crimes against humanity and hence perpetrating genocide. Entire communities lost their livelihood as most of their villages were burnt to the ground which forced individuals to flee from their homes. The most vulnerable groups in the underlying conditions are women and children. This is attributed to the violence in the camps for the internally displaced, and attacks on the civilians including sexual violence that is gender based and reduction in the level of water supplies (AMNESTY International, 2008). Humanitarian crisis resulted due to this mass displacement of the citizens. They included direct attacks to poor living conditions which were deteriorating day in day out. 300,000 people have lost their lives from the year 2003 to 2005 and it is during this period that George W. Bush declared the Darfur crisis as genocide. Despite the world’s outcry, the genocide continued as the number of those displaced and killed continued to increase. In 2006, the Sudanese government signed a peace treaty with one of the rebel movements but it continued to fight the other two groups which did not consent to signing the treaty. The rebel movements too started experiencing internal divisions orchestrated by political differences which led to fights leading to further complexity of the war and endangering lives of more civilians. Up to date fighting between the governments and rebel movements continues. Opportunistic bandits and militias have also taken advantage of this and it has affected the humanitarian aid and contributed to most the of gender based crimes. Despite this entire crisis, the Sudan government is seen to be on centre stage as President Bashir and his entire government is the one who created conducive environment for the fights due to their counterinsurgency campaigns through use of violence that target innocent civilians. Furthermore it has rendered peace keeping missions by the international community futile. All this makes the government to be accused of being the main player in the on going Darfur conflicts. The poor living conditions with no food or little food has led to malnutrition cases among those displaced. Further attacks made against the rescue teams have made it difficult for food to be availed to the needy persons in the camps hence cases of starvation due to limited or no food provision among the people together with lack of water are rampant (SaveDarfur, 2010). Geographic factor Darfur means the land of fur people. It was an independent sultanate from fourteenth century to 1917. It was absorbed into the British Empire after the World War 1. Under the rule of colonialists, development in the region was neglected. Before then, Darfur was provided with nothing apart from cattle and gum export support. Important facilities like maternity clinics were not available and at time of independence, Darfur had the lowest number of hospital beds (De Waal Flint, 2005). Deliberate negligence of Darfur especially after falling in the hands of colonialists is the major reason behind the hostility. Another reason is that Darfur is somehow separated from Sudan by mountains and has therefore been regarded by some people as part of Chad. In the last three centuries, neighboring countries have been struggling to rile Darfur (Collins, 2006. In the pre-colonial era there was more development than there is today due to cooler climates and the geographical condition as it was the pathway for the traders since it was between the desert and the mountains. Most of the important trade items such as feathers of ostrich, ivory and tusks of the time were transported through Darfur but in today’s economy they are no longer necessary hence decline in the economic growth of Darfur. With the imposition of the colonialists, Darfur’s importance ceased and from then their attention from the central government was lost (Prunier 2007). People of Western Sudan were disappointed by the central government for its neglect on the region. Drought experienced in 1983 and 1984 and its mismanagement by the government added to the fury. This is because the then president ignored warnings by experts on the effects of the drought on the people. Although the international community provided food it was hardly enough and this led to conflicts among the Darfurians as they tried to survive (Collins Burr, 1995). The autonym also concurs that these disagreements between Khartoum and Southerners are major factors that brought about the conflicts. Lack of security is also a concern for the government. Darfur is in the east of the Chad and is not part of Nile Valley. Geographically, Darfur is in Chad and in the past the inhabitants were linked to west more than to the Arabs on the east of Nile. This has made Darfur to be seen to be open to influence from the neighboring countries. In the past, Sudan has had issues with Chad which made the government of Sudan to allow the Libyan troops to train there and this led to increased cases of banditry and small scale violence (Collins, 2006). Conflicts in Darfur have been said to spill over to the western border into Chad and Central Africa Republic (CAR) with several armed forces being involved hence forcing the people to flee their homes across the three countries. Chad and Sudan have been accusing each other of lending a helping hand to the rebel movements in one another’s country. A quarter of Darfur citizens have fled to UN ran camps in Chad while a few of Chad citizens have taken refuge in Darfur. CAR’s government blames Sudan for supporting coalition of rebels which is Union of Democratic Forces for Unity which opposes President Francoise B. of CAR. Darfur expelled a number of humanitarian agencies after International Criminal Court issued a warrant on arrest of Bashir. As a result, thirteen international agencies and some three local groups were told to cease working in Darfur and in other parts of northern and southern Sudan. Since then little humanitarian action is said to take place (Hicks, 2010). UN Panel of Experts that is given the mandate to monitor the situation on the ground has been denied access to some areas. Other monitoring mechanisms that are independent have been reorganized as joint mechanisms with the government of Sudan. This has in turn led to increased levels of malnutrition and more so in rural areas where aid is stretched beyond capacity. Camps where they have fled due to the fights are raided by armed groups and collection of basic needs materials like firewood is proving to be dangerous as women are raped and men killed. Malnutrition rates are increasing as levels of hygiene in camps is poor and sporadic fights continue displacing more people. As people migrate from one country to the other, due to the fights, they increase chances of spreading infections. Cholera which is related to poor conditions spreads fast and other air borne diseases. Furthermore, the immigrants might not be covered by health services of the receiving country be it Sudan or the neighbors as they are not documented as required therefore being more vulnerable to diseases and this could serve as a source of spread of diseases. Public health interventions in Darfur and in the nearby border camps might not have the required health personnel who are useful in controlling or treatment of some minor infections which makes it worse and also facilitates fast spread of infections. These factors will make easy for diseases or infections to spread fast causing more trouble to the already malnourished people as the conditions are favoring too (Hicks, 2010). Doha Darfur Agreement This is a declaration of goodwill and confidence building signed by the government of Sudan and Darfur justice and Equality Movement (JEM) which is to pave way for full blown negotiations. It aims at resolving the conflicts in Darfur. Qatar is playing the role of a mediator with the help of African union-United Nations through the use of intensive talks. These talks have been seen to restore sanity if not the required level of complete peace to the troubled region. One of the reasons why it is seen to be a success is because of Qatar’s active role in the last two years in collaboration with African Union- United Nations mediation team which is led by Djibril Bassole. Qatar has been successful in bringing the two parties together and getting them to ink a deal that is deemed to have the potential for paving way to settlement of the disputes. Secondly, the current political climate and pressure on al Bashir to strike a deal as early as possible is also seen to be a reason. Al Bashir is getting pressure from Western countries in addition to the human rights organization for his bad record on rights of humanity besides ICC threats to arrest him. Upcoming referendums for independence in southern parts have put pressure on Bashir to call for peace (Pandey, 2010). Third reason that is seen to make the peace deal a success under Qatar leadership is the difficulties that are being faced by the JWEM movement to keep its movement intact. With no support from N’Dajema, the group can only opt for a peace deal as this is the only option since it has also lost the support it had before. The peace deal promises all the parties a chance to share power with the government. The fourth reason is the change of heart of the neighboring government of Chad. They have made amendments with the Khartoum government to end their long term feud. The signing of the peace accord by Chadian government in Doha shows its willingness to end the long term disputes and its support of Darfur. Another reason is the approach by International community which has also seen some changes. There is a positive attitude as the agreement led by Qatar has the full backing of organizations and world powers that have major influence. Finally disarray in rebel movements in Darfur is another reason. Leader of SLA which sparked off the fights has lost major influence on the ground due to certain splits. Many of the splitters have joined hand to form Liberation Movement for justice which has agreed to talk with the Sudanese government. With the support of most countries and with the dedication of the government of Sudan this can be seen as a step forward for the on going peace talks. Dedication too by JEM which is playing a major role is a good sign that the deal will be a success. Mass participation by people of Sudan in the concluded elections shows that there is a positive trend (Pandey, 2010). However, these peace deals have been marked by a number of difficulties which include: lack of confidence among the parties to the conflict, disputes among the movements and their unwillingness to unite in the critical process of restoring peace. These challenges are being overcome through the use of workshops which comprises of international leadership and experts drawn from the civil society organizations which are supposed to submit a recommendation on Darfur’s crisis so as to restore peace. Other challenges facing the peace talks are issues related to pockets of instability and lack of access to unstable and other areas by UNAMID. Some of the measures taken to counter the challenges are deployment of security to the humanitarian persons and the targeted population, and provision of pro active support for the peace keeping process and facilitation of the ongoing normalization of relations between Chad and Sudan and support of recovery process (UN Security Council, 2010). Conclusion The crises in Darfur do not reflect local conflicts but rather government crisis in the whole nation. The major reason why the conflicts erupted in Darfur is because of negligence by central government to issues related to development. Due to this many of people have been deprived of their human rights and there have been several humanitarian crises which have led to many deaths. Most of the deaths were due to poor health conditions especially in the camps and also due to lack of water. The only way to ensure that the conflicts come to an end or some level of sanity is restored is through the government’s dedication to peace talks with the other rebel groups. Equal development should be advocated for the whole country. Even with the deployment of troops by AU and extensive talks being held, emphasis should be on factors that led to the conflicts or else the interventions might turn out to be total failure. With the on going peace talks led by Qatar, some hope is raising though there are some difficulties involved. The strategies that are being used to correct the challenges show the extent of commitment and this makes the world and Darfur people to raise their hopes even more. Some strategic consultations too are on going between UNAMID and United Nations, African union, Arabs, the newly elected officials, displaced persons, women, the youths and representatives of civil organizations and involvement in peace process. Chad and Sudan’s reconciliation is strengthening too and there are no further reported cases of cross border attacks (UN Security Council, 2010). Efforts made by the international community in response to the crisis facing Darfur are being closely monitored by international organizations, governments, and worldwide scholars. If the international community continues to show its support, Sudan will finally enjoy peace which has been absent for so many years. References AMNESTY International, (2008). Sudan: the crisis in Darfur. Retrieved on June 7, 2010 from http://www. amnesty. ca/themes/sudan_darfur_conflict. php AP, (2010). Review of data from Darfur conflicts shows that 80% of deaths caused by diseases and not violence. Retrieved on June 7, 2010 from http://blog. taragana. com/health/2010/01/23/review-of-data-from-darfur-conflict-shows-80-percent-of-deaths-caused-by-disease-not-violence-186 Burr, J. Milliard and Robert O. Collins (1995) Requiem for the Sudan: War, Drought, and Disaster Relief on the Nile. Boudler: Westview Press Inc. Collins, Robert O. (2006) The Disaster in Darfur in Historical Perspective, The Journal of Conflict Studies, Winter 2006, pp. 25-43 Flint, J. De Waal, A. (2005) Darfur: A Short History of A Long War. London: Zed Books Kumar, V. (2010). Why international interventions to stop fighting in Darfur failed and alternative policies. Retrieved on June 7, 2010 from http://www. helium. com/items/954423-international-intervention-stop-fighting-darfur-failed-policy-alternatives? page=2 Hicks, C. (2010). Chad: views from Darfur refugees and UN protection force for Central Africa. Retrieved on June 8, 2010 from http://www. helomagazine. org/chad/2010/3/4/chad-views-from-darfur-refugees-and-the-un-protection-force. html Pandey, R. (2010). Why Darfur accord will hold. Qatar Tribune. Prunier, G. (2007) Darfur: The Ambiguous Genocide. New York: Cornell University Press. SaveDarfur, (2010). What has happened in Darfur? Retrieved on June 7, 2010 from http://www. savedarfur. org/pages/primer Ubiera, S. N. (2010). Darfur. Retrieved on June 7, 2010 from http://achumbalacafe. tripod. com/id1.html United Nations Children’s Fund, (2010). Sudan: Nutrition summary, issue 23. United Nations Security Council, (2010). AU-UN Hybrid operation in Darfur focused on protection mandate despite challenges. Retrieved on June 8, 2010 from http://www. reliefweb. int/rw/rwb. nsf/db900SID/EGUA-85MR67 USAID, (2010). Sudan food security outlook. Retrieved on June 7, 2010 from http://www. fews. net/docs/Publications/Sudan_Outlook_April_2010_final. pdf World Food Programme, (2010). What is malnutrition? Retrieved on June 7, 2010 from http://www. wfp. org/hunger/stats? gclid=CNG94pXAjaICFU6Z2AodHD9_Uw

Most Important Digital Device We Own Information Technology Essay

Most Important Digital Device We Own Information Technology Essay The one thing that constant in this world is change. Change happens everywhere. Information technologies and the system are changing day by day. The new technologies are faster, reliable and accurate than the previous time. The scope of Information management system is increasingly becoming wider. In business field, people are giving interest to paper-less and automated work rather than manual work. Recent developments in mobile technologies have produced a new kind of device: Smart phones. Smart phones are, simply, programmable mobile phones, which supports subtle control over the events taking place in the mobile phones. The main characteristics of these Smart phones are their relatively sophisticated sensing capabilities, storage limit and built-in networking, local and remote data transfer, and so on. Can Smart phones be the most reliable, faster and successful in future? people are giving a lot of concerns about the Smart phones. The trend of mobile banking, bill payment and access of internet and so forth are changing. People are choosing mobile phones rather than paying manually to pay the bills and dues. Transferring funds and bills payment can be done by just making confirm over the smart phones. The access to the internet and the supports of the operating system in smart phones is making significantly different in services. The objectives on the reliability and effectiveness of the Smart phones are as follows: The speed and supports on internet access must be faster enough. Fully control mechanism supports with sensing capability, and storage capacity of the phones needs to be higher. User friendly to access the domain of data in real time. It should fully support Data protection and security of the users information. Up to date with the technologies, operating system and updates. Critical analysis: One of the important aspects of the smart phones is data security and privacy of the users information. They are likely to be successful in future but some of the limitations do not leave it to be perfection in future. In past history, there are a lot of examples that the smart phones were hacked by the hacker and the reveal of the information being occurred. These can create serious problem for the users. Another issue is flexible control. As full-fledged computer, smart phones, generally programmable to actively interact with subjects, record, data and communication should be able to send this information back to the users in real time. We can be sure that the development in smart phone technology will improve the way of doing things easier, effective and reliable. The smart phones will replace previously employed methods such as beepers, diaries, and other valuable devices. The connection to the server and the access to the internet need to be secured. Generally, the misuse of data can be harmful to the users, the security of the information and avoiding of unauthorized explore of information have to be minimized. Application: Smart Phones can be said that a combination of cell phones and personal digital assistant (PDA). It facilitates to make telephone calls, but also adds in feature that might find on a personal digital assistant. Some of the key features in smart phones are operating system, software, web access, QWERTY keyboard and messaging. (Cassavoy, 2010) Generally Smartphone based on operating system completely different than normal cell phones. For example BlackBerry Smartphone runs BlackBerry OS, and other devices use Palm OS, Windows Mobile and so on. The another feature, software in Smartphone allows user to do more function than the cell phone like creating, editing Microsoft office document, downloading documents, editing photos and driving direction via GPS, creating playlist of digital tunes. In addition, Smartphone allows accessing the web at higher speed. The addition of Wi-Fi is really a smart feature in Smartphone. The QWERTY keyboard in Smartphone is another attractive feature. User can use keyboard as in his/her own PCs and Laptop. All cell phones can send and receive text message, but what makes a Smartphone apart is its handling of e-mail. It can sync with personal and sometimes, professional e-mail account. (Cassavoy, 2010) The main reason that Smartphone becoming a popular device is because of greater functionality is built-in, Smartphones can do things much more quickly than the normal cell phones and personal digital assistant (PDA) . Some of the benefits of Smartphone are as follows: Stay connected: The main advantage of the having Smartphone is mobile access to the internet using Wi-Fi or cellular network. This also helps to keep the user connected with the social networks. It also provides the internet search engine to get useful information from internet. (Mark, 2010) Keep in touch: Smartphone is helpful in many ways. Users can receive, read and reply email instantly. It helps the users to be in touch. (Mark, 2010) Get organized: Another important feature of the Smartphone is it helps to be organized such as a personal digital assistant does. Powerful memory capacity and High speed processor makes Smartphone equipped with an address, book, calendar, calculator, voice recorder and note pad that helps in users personal and professional life run smoothly. (Mark, 2010) Business: Users are able to work outside of their office with the help of Smartphone. Generally Smartphone have word processing capabilities, spreadsheet and database programs. This will help the users professional business life. (Mark, 2010) Some other advantages are as below: Smartphone can function as personal organisers, with electronic version of diaries, contact list and reminders. (is4profit, 2010) User can enjoy flexible working environment. Its like taking notes, reviewing and editing appointments, contact and important documents, all while users are on the move. (is4profit, 2010) It allows information sharing. More data can be received and transmitted via Smartphone such as e-mail attachments or data files from websites. (is4profit, 2010) The greater functionality; now user can use cameras with immediate snap and send functionality. A remote user can send MMS or share photograph with others immediately. (is4profit, 2010) Faster communication: Web access is quicker in Smartphone than in previous device. It is very easy to access e-mail and information from the internet.(is4profit, 2010) Analysis and Conclusion: The costumers expectation is rising day by day about Smartphone, todays Smartphone user expects a device to not only offer leading hardware and software function, but need to be more customizable than ever before, through availability of downloadable mobile application varieties. (Byrne, 2010) Most cell phone users were pleased with clear voice calls, texting and games before the mobile phones became smart. The users didnt expect availability of 3G/ 4G web, 1 Ghz speed of processors, high definition video, social networking GPS map, higher megapixel cameras, high quality sound, mobile application and high resolution screen. Now most of these features are in Smartphone like iPhone, BlackBerry etc. (MobileBeyond, 2010) Smartphone are important for consumers as well as to IT professionals. The internet world is moving from web 2.0 to web 3.0, the Integration of all the media internet access by mobile device will be grown up. In Appearance, Smartphone are small and environmentally friendly and it is because they require less energy and less raw material consumption. There is high possibility of Smartphone used in information economy by IT professional. (Horton, 2009) The competition is increasing day by day and the people are demanding Smartphone at the lowest price. Companies are fighting for higher market share. So it can be clearly analysed the Smartphone will be the one thing that almost every people will have in future. However, the satisfaction using Smartphone will only improve if mobile companies bring out hardware and software application that perform flawlessly and provide best value and choice. (MobileBeyond, 2010) In conclusion, the advance features, the capabilities of the Smartphone, and the growing demand bring them to one of the popular digital devices almost people will have. Question 2: Evaluate the role of e-commerce and web 2.0 technologies in eBays and Amazons increased popularity? E-commerce is growing rapidly nowadays. The transaction of business and trade are going online rather than manual one. Most of the buyer looks internet at a glance when he/she feels to shop. The internet trend for business or say e-commerce is thus becoming more popular. Ebay and Amazon are becoming one of the frequently used methods in e-commerce trend. These two methods of e-commerce are different in nature but somehow they are similar in dealing business operation. Both of them are using e-commerce and web 2.0 technologies. (CommunicateBetter, 2009) Web 2.0 technology and the e-commerce are very much important for the eBay and Amazon. Before that the difference between the eBay and Amazon also play a vital role in buyers mind. eBay are better option than Amazon for some field where as Amazon also better in some other fields. Generally we can find auction sale on eBay where the price can be bargained among the buyer and seller where as the Amazon is fixed in price of the product it offers. The bargaining option is not available in Amazon. (CommunicateBetter, 2009) Web 2.0 is a trend that promote around using interactive, community-driven sites for information sharing, networking among users. For instance, blogs and wikis along with Digg, Reddit. Customers are now able to interact with the business organization which enhance the companys succession. Now Web 2.0 is removing the dull, static websites in previous time. Customer can play active role, they can interact with the website content and get involved in ways that were not possible in previous time. (CommunicateBetter, 2009) The Role of E- commerce: Web 2.0 feature in e-commerce are the advantageous for Amazon and eBay. This provides free blogging application that can be considered as web 2.0 pioneers and they are free of charge. Another important role is multimedia support, where the rich feature can be incorporated to enhance the customer experience such as Flash and Silverlight. The core of Web 2.0 is social networking, e-commerce host the features such as chat scripts and bulletin boards enhance to create a community environment. (CommunicateBetter, 2009) Revolutionary changes are happening in online environment. New web technologies are giving a better interactive shopping experience on buyers side. With the advancement, Web 2.0 is offering a good perception among the customers. The business has only two options, either they have to meet the growing expectation or they have to lose them to another site. (Fry, 2011) The Web 2.0 supports the high level of interaction on web site and similarly the buyer also expect the same level of interaction when they go shopping online. There has been occurred fundamental changes in measuring, the tracker or say analyst start to measure its effectiveness in terms of time spent on the web rather than just the traditional count of page views. Web pages are relying on AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) technology, this offers to streaming media to serve new content without reloading individual web pages. This changes in web technology is altering the way of online shopping. Almost, none of the customer want to wait for the next page to load after click, they want single-page browsing and checkout process that ultimately saves time, reduces frustration and shopping cart abandonment. (Fry, 2011) In Web 2.0 technology the AJAX technology pulls relevant data forward flawlessly and helps them to smooth, consistent view and interaction. This can also help the customer to select the items frequently viewed, to view user generated reviews, product demonstration, assembling and tagging product with additional keywords. (Fry, 2011) .The web 2.0 is also offering pairing items from different brands and company. For example a buyer can now look to pair up similar items from different brands and sites. Similarly in Amazon, they are also able to help the customer to add their product in wish list and after that they can add to the basket so that the targeted product can be come up with details and can be easily found remaining on the same web page. (Fry, 2011) We cannot neglect the E-commerce aspect while talking about the Amazon and eBay. Not only the web 2.0 is important for the eBay and Amazon but also the role of E-commerce arise equally. The order acquisition, transaction of payment, delivery of the product in internet is the E-commerce. The Amazon seller must use Amazon payments to accept the payment. Amazon collects the payment made by the buyer and deposits it into bank, where as eBay use different payment method to make transaction deal. Such as Pay pal. (Bromley, 2010) Amazon and eBay, both are using Web 2.0 version technology on their sites. eBay provides different photo view of the product as well as the animation of the product feature to attract its customer but in Amazon, only few photos are available to its customer because they want to make sure their customer that they do business in reality for that if the ordered product is different and goes wrong they provide return policy to their customer. (Bromley, 2010) Conclusion: The role of Web 2.0 and E-commerce in Amazon and eBay is very crucial to their succession and popularity. The trend of online business (e-commerce) and latest web technology (web 2.0) is one of the important aspects of the business environment. To survive in global intense competition the business has to cope with the E-commerce and has to prepare online strategy. Hence, the e-commerce and web 2.0 technologies are one of most important reason for the success of Amazon and eBay business.