Bharti Airtel Outsourcing

* Bharti Airtel aimed to be a low cost provider in the highly capital intensive telecom industry. They needed to keep pace with the rapid growth of their customer base, which was growing at almost 100 percent per year. Their strategy was to acquire new customers and achieve low cost per minute, but it required huge capital investments. * They outsourced everything and concentrated only on marketing, sales and distribution. They redefined the core activities in telecom industry and concentrated all their resources in acquiring and retaining customers. There were two parts to the Outsourcing deal between Bharti and telecom vendors. First was build up, maintenance, and servicing of the telecom network to equipment vendors Nokia, Siemens and Ericson. Then there was the deal with IBM to provide all in all IT solutions. 1) Advantages of Outsourcing their Network management to Ericsson, Nokia, & Siemens: * Keeping pace with network expansion due to faster installations. * Freed the manageme nt of time consuming budgeting, tendering, financing, purchasing and installing process.They could now focus on core competencies of the company. * Shift from short-term agreements with equipment vendors to long term commitments to get better bargains and service. * Bharti will pay for network capacity (erlangs) only when it up and running. No need to pay for unused capacity. This solved the problem of conflict of interest between Bharti and the network suppliers. * Increased flexibility, no need to make huge capital investments will enable transferring of the risk to the network supplier. No Production costs( no capital investments, no labor costs), reduced Transaction costs as no need for new tenders every six months( reduced search & contract costs, reduced enforcement costs because of implementation of relational governance, lower adaptation costs because of pay for use model) * They were able to achieve Predictable Cost Model, no unplanned expenditures. Use the savings in capit al expenditure in focusing on new customer acquisition, building new services etc. Disadvantages of deal with Ericsson, Nokia, & Siemens: The project might be difficult to manage and become increasingly complex because of the involvement of 3 vendors to provide the network management. * There might be resistance from the existing employees to get transferred to vendor companies because of the cultural barriers that may arise. * There is a chance of developing rivalries among the 3 vendors if the margins and competition starts getting stiff. * Wastage of installed capacity. * It will increase their dependence on vendors. After a period of time they may move on the back foot in negotiation meetings with vendors. No previous deals of such outsourcing has happened and hence risk is high Advantages of end to end IT management Outsourcing deal with IBM: * Airtel can now concentrate on their core business activities of marketing and sales. * Revenue sharing agreement thus there was big inc entive for IBM to make the outsourcing deal a success. Reduced opportunism by the vendor. * Solved the scalability issue. * Avoid major increases in capital expenditures in IT. * Gain access to IBM’s rich talent pool, IBM’s expertise in IT. They can work together to create new products and services. (Value added services). * No Production costs ( no capital investments, no labor costs), reduced Transaction costs (reduced search & contract costs, reduced enforcement costs because of implementation of relational governance, lower adaptation costs because of revenue sharing model). Disadvantages of deal with IBM: * Excessive dependence on IBM and if they are not able to provide many innovative solutions, then Airtel won’t be having any option to go with a new vendor. There was a concern that the applications not supported by IBM may become obsolete * Revenue sharing was a new model which Airtel and IBM were trying for payments. As both of them didn’t have an y experience in it, there was a considerable risk because of the unforeseen uncertainties. 2) How would you structure the agreements to address your concerns and capture any advantages you have identified? Structure of Agreement with IBM * There should be some provision of fixed and minimum costs for the revenue share in the agreement. IT applications not supported by IBM should be available to ensure they don’t get obsolete. * The terms and conditions in the contract should be flexible enough to cover the changing environment dynamics over the period of 10 years. * Furthermore not all the details of the partnership can be written in the agreement. So a joint governing body should be formed to manage the arrangement and resolve the issues. * Agreed metrics to measure the quality of IT services provided by IBM. Structure of Agreement with Ericsson, Nokia, & Siemens: Network and Operations Management should be transitioned to the vendors in a phased and planned manner under con stant observation. * To tackle the concern of cultural barriers while working for the vendors, the Airtel employees should be absorbed on the same TnCs as they were working in Airtel. * Further recruitment of new employees should be the responsibility of vendor. * The expectations and duties of all the 3 vendors should be properly outlined and explained to prevent development of unnecessary tensions and unhealthy competition among them. The vendors should be continuously monitoring the networks and provide rapid response once the issue has been identified by them. * To be fair with the vendors if the network capacity remain unused for a major period of time, some part of payment should be done to them or it can be redeployed at other sectors. What measurements, rewards and penalties, and other governance mechanisms would you design for these two different agreements? With IBM * Strategic Alignment Measurements Process Performance Metrics – % of orders not delivered within the promised date, % of inaccurate and incomplete orders, Percentage of escalated cases, Through output. * Metrics to measure innovation – No of innovative ideas provided over a period of time. Ericsson, Nokia and Siemens * Performance Measurement and Quality Metrics – Call drop rate in the peak hours, Call drop rate over a cellular circle, Average Issue Resolve time, amount of time (measured in milliseconds) taken by data to travel from one location to another across a network etc.Penalties on the vendor if the performance of a cellular circle is not good over a period of time due to high call drops. * Customer Experience and Satisfaction Measurements -Network Availability, Call Accessibility measure eg. how many customers fail to make a call in the first attempt , Call Retainability, voice quality etc. * Management of Resources – Utilization of resources, Amount of time taken to meet request or demand, Capacity of the resource etc. Reward and appreciation for the employees who are able to solve the issues in minimum time. * Risk assessment – Security over the network etc.

Chinese Inventions Essay

China is unlike any other country; winning a trip to China would be a dream come true! China is known for several years of their creative and useful inventions. Along with the many useful inventions, China was known for the first recorded observation of comets and solar eclipses. China has been creative for with their contributions to the world. China created useful inventions such as toilet paper, bristle tooth brushes, paper, printing, gun powder, and the compass. (China’s Science and Technology, 1999) Although, we as individuals cannot live without some of Chinese items, before the Chinese inventions we had no choose. Before the invention of paper; bamboo silk, papyrus and parchment were used for writing. In 105 BC, Chinese invented what we referre today as paper from bamboo, bark, hemp, and rags. Shortly after in 206 B.C- A.D. 220, paper and ink were invented, the first form of â€Å"printing on paper† came from rubbings. This process consisted of using a brush in o rder to smooth pieces of paper, the paper was then carefully coaxed into the depressions, and left to dry with a fan. Paper was also used to make things like raincoats, windows and umbrellas. In which brings us to our next most useful invention. (China’s Science and Technology, 1999) The fan was also invented by Chinese; the fan was mostly carried by women and solders. They were made out of bamboo and silk. The fan consisted of bamboo spines sticking out in almost a half-circle with silk wrapped around it. The silk that was used on the fan was also one of the creative inventions of China. Silk was discovered as one of the best materials for clothing. The Emperor’s wore only white silk robes to signify richness. Shortly after, silk was introduced to the general public and was used as clothing, decorations, musical instruments and even fishing lines. (China’s Science and Technology, 1999) The compass was made from a wooden circle and a magnetic spoon on top. It was used as a mechanism when houses were built to check for perfect harmony with nature. When invented, the compass was intended for religious purposes only. (China’s Science and Technology, 1999) Health was one of the most important things to the Chinese culture. The Chinese had many remedies that included natural herbs and acupuncture. Herbal remedies were not the only remedies used to heal the sick in China; doctors also used organs and parts from animals. Organs such as the sheep’s eye were given to patients to eat in order to get cured from the sickness. In some cases, the Chinese used Elixir, which was a potion that they believed would increase your years of living. Along with herbal medicine, within the 1st Millennium BC; Chinese invented a therapeutic method called Acupuncture, this was the most commonly used medical treatment. The intent of this technique was to restore health and well-being. It involved insertions of stainless steel needles into the â€Å"acupuncture points† of the body. (Acupuncture, 2010) China was also known for their Military inventions, They were responsible for the inventions of the crossbow, poison gas, tear gas, fire lance and rockets. Among the great Military inventions gunpowder was the most usefull. Gunpowder was accidentally invented, the intent was to make the elixir of life and to make the emperor immortal. (China’s Science and Technology, 1999) Toilet paper is something that is taken for granted. It was mentioned around 589 A.D. In Korea. Toilet paper was introduced in China in 1391, before toilet paper was invented Romans used saltwater-soaked sponge on a stick, in public restrooms. English used pages from books, Americans used newspaper and pages from books. After years and years, toilet paper has been mastered to what it is now. We cannot live without that clean feeling. (China’s Science and Technology, 1999) References China’s Science and Technology. (1999, 7 30). Retrieved 2 21, 2012, from Crystalinks: http://www.crystalinks.com/chinascience.html Acupuncture. (2010, 2 7). Retrieved 2 21, 2013, from Crystalinks: http://www.crystalinks.com/acupuncture.html

Paragliding: Gliding and Foot-launched Glider Aircraft

Paragliding Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft. The pilot sits in a harness suspended below a hollow fabric wing whose shape is formed by its suspension lines, the pressure of air entering in the front of the wing and the forces of the air flowing over the outside. Despite not using an engine, paraglider flights can last many hours and cover many hundreds of kilometres, though flights of 1-2 hours and covering some tens of kilometres are more the norm. By skilful exploitation of sources of lift the pilot may gain height, often climbing to a few thousand metres over the surrounding countryside. Paragliders are unique among soaring aircraft in being easily portable. The complete equipment packs into a rucksack and can be carried easily on the pilot's back[2], in a car, or on public transport. In comparison with other air sports this substantially simplifies travel to a suitable take off spot, the selection of a landing place and return travel. Paragliding is related to the following activities: Hang gliding is a close cousin, and hang glider and paraglider launches are often found in proximity. [3] Despite the considerable difference in equipment the two activities offer similar pleasures and some pilots are involved in both sports. †¢ Powered paragliding is the flying of paragliders with a small engine attached. †¢ Speed riding or speed flying is the separate sport of flying paragliders of reduced size. These wings have in creased speed, though they are not normally capable of soaring flight. The sport involves taking off on skis or on foot and swooping rapidly down in close proximity to the slope, even periodically touching it if skis are used. †¢ Paragliding can be of local importance as a commercial activity. [4][5] Paid accompanied tandem flights are available in many mountainous regions, both in the winter and in the summer. In addition there are many schools offering courses,[6] and guides who lead groups of more experienced pilots exploring an area. Finally there are the manufacturers and the associated repair and after sales services.

Air Canada Organizational Behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Air Canada Organizational Behaviour - Essay Example These values serve as touchstones to guide our actions† (â€Å"Mission, vision & values†). This paper discusses the team system of Air Canada. Before evaluating the team system of Air Canada, it is customary to have a brief insight into the types of teams and the process of group formation. Teams are of various types that include but are not limited to permanent teams, temporary teams, task forces, committees, and self-managed teams (â€Å"Types of Teams†). These teams differ from one another depending upon the roles and responsibilities of the team members and the team’s life. Permanent team, as the name indicates, is not formed for a particular time. It stays as such even after the task has been accomplished. On the other hand, temporary teams are formed for a certain length of time, and get dissolved after the task has been accomplished. Task force is a kind of team that is developed as per the need of the hour. Organizations tend to form task force to a ccomplish special tasks. They are commonly employed to find solutions to very complicated problems. Committees are also assigned particular tasks and they may be temporary or permanent. Members of a committee normally share similar views, opinions and attitudes. Self-managed teams differ from other teams in that there is no leader. People decide upon matters through mutual consensus. Bruce Tuckman has proposed a five staged-model of group formation. The five stages are forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning (Neil). In the stage of forming, group members unite and interact with one another. In the storming stage, group’s problems are identified and a leader is chosen. In the norming stage, members remove their individualistic differences and agree upon common goals. In the performing stage, group members practice crafts to achieve their common goals identified in the previous stage. In the adjourning stage, group members start departing causing the group to dis perse. Air Canada has traditionally provided its workforce with full support to achieve their best potential while working in teams. Air Canada places a lot of emphasis on providing both its customers and employees with safety. Although there is no obvious relation between safety and teamwork, yet safety plays a fundamental role in the development of teamwork.

Comparing the New Immigrants Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Comparing the New Immigrants - Essay Example This has led to history books propagating biased information as viewed from a point of view of a certain group, which may have been exaggerating the information to make it more enticing and interesting. This is usually at the detriment of the minority groups, whose sides of the stories are barely heard, hence reconstruction of history to suit the tellers’ views. This can be attributed to the fact that human beings are prone to error, though not an excusable response. The new immigrants’ stories are an example of how a situation is experienced differently by different people, yet the consideration of only one part of the story leads to an incomplete picture of what really transpired in the various situations. New immigrants are described as people from eastern and southern Europe who moved to America. This migration was led by a number of factors, including the advent of the industrialization era which meant there was less land for the populations, urbanization and need for laborers and sources of raw materials for growing industries, as well as escaping political and religious repression in their countries of origin (Chafetz and Ebaugh 11- 55) . However, these immigrants faced a number of challenges coming into the USA. Apart from speaking in different languages, being thrust in a new world where they did not know anybody, these immigrants were faced with other challenges such as poverty. In ‘The Free Vacation House’, A. Yezierska tells the story of a young, poor overburdened mother who gets a chance to live in a vacation house, only to get way from her daily burdens. Unfortunately, the vacation house is so strict that she decides it was better to live in poverty than in the house. In ‘My Own People’ Yezierska depicts a young immigrant writer who decides to turn the suffering of her people into writing in order to help them and herself cope with the hardships of being in a new strange country, with very little support fro m authorities. In ‘How I found America’, we meet different characters who have realized that the grass really is not green in the USA, as their dreams got quashed and poverty follows them everywhere. However, each of these characters faces a difficult challenge that propels each one of them to rediscover themselves and work hard to pull themselves out of poverty. Apart from physical challenges which dog these immigrants, they are forced to abandon some of their cultures in order to cope. However, most of these cultures give hope to the immigrants, so they seek to keep them alive by practicing them and teaching them to their children. Poverty is a big challenge to all these immigrants as they work for long hours with little pay and they are constantly evicted for not paying rent. However, older immigrants come to the aid of these new immigrants by setting up charities and homes where the new immigrants could get their basic necessities. With determination, these new immi grants work very hard by doing several jobs for longer hours in order to get out of poverty and start living better lives. The old immigrants are prompted to help the newer ones due to cultural ties and also the fact that they have been in those positions and have faced challenges that the new immigrants face. Yezierska believed that the new immigrants would not only provide much needed labor for industries, but also bring rich cultures that would be beneficial to America as a whole. In Kayo Hatta’s film, Picture Bride, the storyline revolves around Riyo, a

LT-week4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

LT-week4 - Essay Example shiers to access all point-of-sale, all managers to access all management resources, and resources accessed by human resources, marketing and accounting and must be restricted to department members and Executive Management or owner), distribution of Domain Controllers (DCs) and Global Catalog Domain Controllers (GC/DCs), replication strategy to include possible use of Read-Only Domain Controllers (RODCs) (locations outside California to have one location with fast connection networked through slower connections. Other locations in California need fast connections). Minimum memory should be 512MB RAM but I recommend a 2GB RAM or greater. The maximum memory for 32-bit systems should be 4GB which is the standard or 64GB for Enterprise and Datacenter. Since the organization is an enterprise, a datacenter and has Itanium-Based systems, I recommend a 2TB. Disk Space: The minimum available disk space should be 10GB but 40GB or greater could serve better. Since the organization processes and transactions are enormous, more space is required to houseany paging, and dump files. The new Windows 2008 R2 offers new ways of improving data security tailored for remote offices for the organization especially when physical security is not efficient. Active Directory Domain Services has a new feature integrated called Read-Only Domain Controller (RODC). The RODC need to be configured because it does not store any users or account credentials. This makes Read-Only Domain Controllers effective in remote branch offices of the organization. DNS server role should be installed on each Read-Only Domain Controllers, allowing clients to perform DNS resolution in case they are lacking connectivity on the DC. There are two access control decision engine and need to be handled independently. The two access engines are local access and subject access. The local access control engine makes decisions depending on the Web service access rules while the subject access control engine

The Capture of Jerusalem by Saladin Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

The Capture of Jerusalem by Saladin - Essay Example The rival troops rumbled over Jerusalem because there was a lot of tension and the Holy City was weakened. The Templar and Hospitaler Knights were continuously at logger heads. The battle of Hattin decimated the soldiers and Knight of the Latin States. On 2nd October 1187, Saladin captured the Holy city. The Muslims clambered up and removed the crosses that had been mounted by the Crusaders on the Cupola of the Dome of the Rock. Islam controlled Jerusalem from that day until the 20th century. Challiton, who was a cruel Crusader Is known to have massacred Muslim pilgrims because they steps on his turf. This seems to have instigated Saladin and his army to capture Jerusalem in their vow to revenge the action of Challiton. Additionally, at that time Jerusalem had difficulties with their leadership and this made them predisposed to enemy attack. Saladin and his army took over the Holy Land. The significance of Jerusalem in Muslim lore increased over the years. Saladin had sworn that he would stop killing the Christians after they had taken over the city. This story is of much significance at it gives a history of where the Muslims and the Christians started to have disputes each other. This is a conflict that is still taking place up to date. This story gives as the real facts of what events took place before Saladin, a Muslim leader took over Jerusalem .If we compare him to Challiton, the Crusader’s leader we can deduce that Saladin was a noble man that stood to his words. His courage, moderation and justice were character traits that seemed to have earned him lasting respect. This reading gives a history of a famous leader, Saladin in relation to the fall of Jerusalem. I believe that Saladin had every right to take over Jerusalem as it was being managed by wicked leaders. The part I enjoyed most was the character displayed by Saladin. His adherence to the ideal of Justice and magnanimity as well as his leadership skills will be

SOC 1010-002- homework3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

SOC 1010-002- homework3 - Essay Example There were certainly gender variations in terms of how women and men justified their smoking, as we will return to. Without exception, every single person who did not smoke did not think it was good for their health. But of the 8 people who did smoke, about six said it was good for their health. Only one said that they thought the â€Å"whole cancer thing† was exaggerated. The rest offered various rationalizations for why it made sense in their life. One of the women said that they used it to control the stress from work and a new baby. They said that they knew smoking would lower their life expectancy in general but they wanted to be able to manage the stress of their job without taking it out on their child, their coworkers or their boyfriend. Two of the men also offered stress control as a reason, saying that during a smoke break, they were able to calm down, focus and prepare for the rest of the day. For these men, smoke and coffee were inextricably linked: Both mentioned a smoke, coffee and lunch break as their daily work ritual. One of the women said that they had been told that they looked sexy when they smoked and it stuck with them. For them, the health benefits of being more attractive were worth the cost of the smoking. â€Å"Its like Botox†, she said. Finally, one man used smoking because he often had nausea and irritable bowel and found that cigarettes helped his symptoms. He only smoked four times a day, to stave off nausea and let him eat. He found that the cost of of the cigarettes, which he already noticed in decreased lung capacity, were worth the benefit of being able to eat and being able to be around people without being humiliated. Obviously, there needs to be a larger sample size: 30 people is just not large enough to make any real conclusions. The most promising data came from the qualitative question at the end. In addition, I was able only to target students. Getting older smokers who might

Review on Promotional Material Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Review on Promotional Material - Essay Example The project envisages stage-wise development of Cassava crop cultivation, storage and marketing, and ultimately converting to bio-ethanol for international markets by establishing production facility locally. The project aims to introduce bio-fuel processing as a new type of industry in PNG by commercialising the Cassava crop as the main feedstock for the bio-fuel production, and to establish a base for manufacturing of raw ethanol for export to South Korea. The project requires acquisition of land for development of large scale Cassava plantations where Cassava tubers will be harvested, cut into pellets, dried and used as raw materials to produce bio-ethanol or bio-fuel as well as other by products. The project is fully supported by the government of PNG. A memorandum of agreement (MOA) was signed in 2005 between the State and the developer, Changhae International Cooperation of Korea. The State’s agencies secured their participation and monitoring authority through a Public/Private Partnership arrangement. As custodians, the government agencies ensure adherence to compliance issues. The PNG government sees this as an important agro-economy project. Bio-fuels can play a stimulating role in modernizing the domestic agricultural production and marketing. Production of bio-fuel from crops such as Cassava helps local farmers to increase farming revenues or expand the productive capacity of existing land. (i) Development of large-scale cassava estates, encouraging local farmers to form cooperative groups and take part in the company’s out-grower program. The estates will occupy a total land area of between 6,000 to 20,000 hectares (ha) of either State or private lands. Small scale plantations or out-growers development will cover any land below 6,000 hectares. The out-growers scheme will be in three categories – (a) contracted out-growers with a minimum of 5,000 ha land (b) non-contracted out-growers with 1-49 ha land and

Assessing Foreign Markets Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Assessing Foreign Markets - Term Paper Example However, entry into a new market requires comprehensive study and exploration of different factors in order to make more informed decision before entering the market. As such the development of a framework for entering into new foreign market can provide critical insight to a firm to make better decision to enter the market. A comprehensive framework therefore may include the exploration of factors such as decision of identifying foreign market, overall timing of entry into that market, deciding on the scale and commitment and entry mode are some of the factors which should be covered to make a better decision. This paper will develop and construct a comprehensive framework for making entry in the Mobile Phones Market in India. Based on the different factors identified in the framework, paper will than present an analysis of these factors in order to make more informed decision to enter into this market Strategic Reasons As a prelude to the use of any strategic framework to enter int o a market, it is always important for the global firms to identify the strategic reasons for which entry into a foreign market is made. Firms adapting a transnational strategy often remain in search for simultaneously achieving low cost advantage through the location and experience economies while at the same time enjoying economies of scale and taking advantage of learning curve. Firms adapting such strategy therefore often enter into different geographical markets in order to take advantage of cost reduction and achieve diversification. (Hill) India being one of the growing economies of the world therefore can provide firm some clearly identified competitive advantage. Considering the transnational strategy of the firm, entering into India market will not only allow to achieve economies of scale but also enjoy the benefit of location and experience economies. Since developed markets are leading towards maturity stage in mobile phone industry therefore it is critical for global fi rms to continue to look for growing markets such as India in order to take advantage of the economic growth made by such countries. It is also significant to note that firms working at the global level could only compete if they enjoy low cost manufacturing or services set up. Consistent focus on reducing the costs could only allow the firm to remain profitable in global market therefore markets like India can offer this opportunity. This is based upon the fact that India has well established technological base as well as qualified human resource. These resources therefore can encourage any international firm to look for entering the market and enjoy low cost operations while at the same time penetrate into a new and growing market with potential to earn higher returns. Comprehensive Framework Following elements will be included in the comprehensive framework in order to analyze the decision of making an entry into Mobile Phones market in India: Identification of foreign market This parameter will be used

The Aztecs simplistic crop-enhancing Essay Example for Free

The Aztecs simplistic crop-enhancing Essay The main supply for food for the Aztecs were agriculture and farming. They rely mainly on the crops for every season; they grow, produce and consume food and this is how they get their daily food. Terracing Indicating the societal complexity of the Aztecs, the farming technique known as terracing is complicated and elaborate. They used terracing in the hilly areas and built walls, forming terraces into the sides of the hills. These stone walls ran parallel to the contour of the slope and rainfall washed compost vegetation and nutrients from the hills above. Terracing opened up previously unusable land for farming. Irrigation Because the Aztecs built extensive canal and water-diverting systems, irrigation farming became popular and productive. With water readily available, the Aztecs could enhance the growing season by irrigating the fields prior to planting, strengthen their crops by augmenting the rainfall with additional watering, and lengthen the farming season by irrigating long after the rains had stopped. Chinampas Also know to the Aztecs as floating gardens, chinampas were pieces of land created by piling up alternating layers of compost vegetation and mud from the lake bottom, in the shallow marshy parts of the lakes. Initially the 30 feet by 330 feet chinampas were held in place by man-made posts, but eventually these fertile farming patches stayed secured by the roots of nearby willow trees. Once the mud and vegetation piled up higher than the water level, the plot was ready for cultivation. The crop yield from chinampas was so prolific and expedient, farmers began growing, not only for themselves, but for marketing out to others. Rainfall Cultivation The Aztecs most basic and simplistic crop-enhancing technique, called rainfall cultivation, involved fallowing the fields. They left farming plots empty to collect itself and become nutritionally enhanced by rainfall. This process is the least labor intensive form of farming, but the Aztecs eventually cast it aside following the population boom and the need for larger, more productive crops.

Race in America since the 1960s Essay Example for Free

Race in America since the 1960s Essay America has come a long way since the dark days when slavery marred the continent. The journey to equality was not always a smooth one, and only in the last half-century have African-Americans been granted their complete rights and freedoms. Now that they have these equal rights, they are taking their place to take advantage of their equal opportunities, but there still seems to be a glass ceiling preventing their further progress. White Americans still cite racial progress in many areas, while the reality remains that much of this progress is illusion. With the election of Barack Obama as the President of the United States, it seems safe to say that racial relations in the country have certainly improved in the past fifty years. In the 1950s, many African-Americans could not even vote in many parts of the country, with racist leaders and citizens doing everything in their power to deny this most basic of rights. Once desegregation took effect and was enforced by the federal government, it seemed that African-Americans had finally achieved equality. However, this was largely a myth based on the horrible conditions they once faced, and the current conditions still often view them as a marginalized race. Couple this with the massive influx of Latin Americans into the U. S. , and race relations are just as explosive as they were in the 1960s. One program designed to aid racial equality is affirmative action, which has been both a blessing and a curse for minorities. Originally conceived as a means to redress discrimination, affirmative action has created racial preferences that have instead promoted discrimination. And rather than fostering harmony and integration, these preferences have divided many businesses and college campuses across the country. In no other area of public life is there a greater disparity between the rhetoric of preferences and the reality than with affirmative action. Many have cited lesser qualified applicants hired or accepted to colleges based on race, not qualifications or need. If preferences were truly meant to remedy disadvantage, they would be given on the basis of disadvantage, not on the basis of race, so that a poor, qualified white student would stand a better chance of being admitted than the under-qualified son of a black doctor. This illustrates a problem with the idealism of affirmative action and how remedying some racial issues have merely created unfairness in other areas. Instead of a remedy for disadvantage, many supporters now claim that preferences promote diversity. This same push for diversity also has led colleges like Stanford University to create racially segregated dormitories, racially segregated freshman orientation programs, racially segregated graduation ceremonies and curricular requirements in race theory and gender studies (Sacks Thiel, 1996). But if diversity was really the goal, then preferences would be given on the basis of unusual characteristics, not on the basis of race. The underlying assumption—that only minorities can add certain ideas or perspectives—is offensive not merely because it is untrue but also because it implies that all minorities think a certain way. While affirmative action is a noble effort, it is perhaps antiquated. Today, while African-Americans enjoy greater freedom and equality, Latinos have come to represent the current racial crisis. Many conservative Americans demand that they learn English, adopt American culture, and assimilate or leave. Additionally, Middle Eastern Americans are finding life equally difficult and face often violent retributions for crimes that they did not commit. This xenophobic behavior may be largely from the scares encouraged by global terrorism, but may also be representative of the fact that not much has really changed except the language used to discuss race. The only way to truly understand the state of race in America and make a balanced assessment is to measure the equality of each race. The sad state is that many of the minorities in America are still marginalized, make less money, and have far less influence politically than the dominant white culture. Progressive and liberal legislation may continue to chip away at long held racial prejudices, but Americans cannot achieve complete equality unless it is an endeavor equally valued by all. Unfortunately, as history has shown, those in power will be reticent to relinquish that power, and those in power in America are still largely male, largely white, and largely though subtly fearful of difference. With a president with parent that are black and white, much of the racial future of America rests with a man that represents better than anyone the progress made in the past fifty years, as well as the distance left to travel until true racial harmony is achieved.

Prospect theory in decision making

Prospect theory in decision making Prospect theory is an important theory for decision-making between alternatives that involve risk. The theory departs from the traditional expected utility theory because it attempts to explain how people really make decisions between risky alternatives, which attempts to model optimal decisions. This vital difference leads to the prospect theory departing from the traditional framework in important ways. Unlike the traditional approach, it attempts to incorporate psychology into the consideration process to provide a behavioural approach to portfolio selection (Barberis, Nichola, Huang, Santos, 2001). During the course of this report, we will first look at how prospect theory differs from the traditional expected utility theory to gain a better understanding of the concept. Following this will be, a discussion of the key elements of prospect theory the value function including a small reference to endowment effect and the status quo bias, reflection and framing effect, isolation e ffect and probabilistic insurance. Towards the end, we will have a precise look at the applications of prospect theory equity premium puzzle and home bias. The traditional finance theory assumes that investors try to maximize expected utility of wealth when they are making decisions under uncertainty. However, many studies have shown that the underlying assumptions of the traditional theory do not accurately describe how people actually behave when choosing among risky alternatives. This inadequacy leads to the weak correlation between the utility theory model and real decisions. There are four key features [that] distinguish prospect theory from mean-variance theory, which is the traditional approach to modelling decision-making. First, according to the traditional theory people choose among alternatives based on how the outcomes will affect their overall wealth. However, according to prospect theory people evaluate outcomes in terms of gains and losses relative to a reference point. So decisions are based on how the outcome changes their income, in relation to their reference point. (Han Hsu, 2004). Second, the mean variance analysis makes the assumption that people are risk averse in all their choices. In contrast, prospect theory agents are risk-averse in the domain of gains but are risk seeking when all changes in income are framed as losses. The third feature of prospect theory is loss aversion. An individual is loss averse if she or he dislikes symmetric 50-50 bets and their degree of aversion increases with the absolute size of the stakes. In other words, prospect agents dont perceive gains and losses of equal amounts evenly. For example, the loss of a particular amount is more painful then the pleasure received from the gain of an equal amount. This is also known as the endowment affect. People place a higher value on a good that they own than goods that they do not, and are willing to accept a higher risk if it means that they can avoid the loss. Finally, in utility theory risk is treated objectively, by its probabilities. In contrast, the utility under prospect theory is not dependant on the original probability but rather on the transformed probability also known as decision weights. They do not just measure the perceived likelihood of an event. Instead, they measure how events will impact the desirability of prospects. (Han Hsu, 2004) This feature of the prospect theory helps explain a number of violations of expected utility theory, including the famous Allais paradox. People in prospect theory tend to overweight small probabilities. This overweighting explains why people buy lottery tickets offering a small chance of large gain, and insurance protecting against a small chance of a large loss (Kahneman Tversky, 1979). The four elements explained above and how risk is evaluated is usually explained by the value function. The concept of the value function is based on gains and losses from a reference point, as explained in the first element of prospect theory above. Value function stresses the importance of the reference point (starting point) although changes and movement are observed more compared to the resting point, due to the concept of gains and loss. The following is the prospect theory value function: à Ã¢â€š ¬= non-linear weighting function V(x-r) = the value function R= the reference point PT = à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ à Ã¢â€š ¬ (pi) v(xi r) This function creates an S-shaped curve (Figure 1.1) Figure 1.1 The curve clearly highlights the reference point, from where onwards gains and losses can be observed. It displays that as your gain increases the desire for it decreases demonstrating that people are risk averse when it comes to gains. On the contrary, as the loss increases the fear for more loss increases hence showing that people are risk seeking regarding losses. These two factors are highlighted in the graph by the steepness of the relevant sides. As gains increase the steepness decreases (indirectly proportional) and as losses increase the steepness increases (directly proportional) (Maher, 2010). An example for this irrational behaviour is how a random sample would prefer to spend their $400. Gain Option A, where you will have a 100% chance of gaining $200 Option B, where you will have 50% chance of gaining $400 and a 50% chance of gaining $0 Loss Option A, where you will have 100% chance of losing $500 Option B, where you will have 50% chance of losing $1000 and 50% of losing $0 In this scenario the vast majority of people would choose option A for gain and option B for loss confirming that people weight their losses more compared to their gains. As they would settle for a rational gain (even if it is small) but when it comes to losses they would prefer risk seeking to limit their loss. The determination of utility relating to the gain or loss mirrors the concept of psychophysical principle concerning the evaluation of outcomes. This reflects loss aversion which then implicates two specific aspects. Firstly, the endowment effect i.e. people would be willing to demand a higher value on product that they themselves own rather than a similar product that they do not. The second implication is status quo bias, in this case people like things to stay relatively in the same position they are in so they remain at the status quo they are in. In this scenario any sort of change either good or bad is taken to be a disadvantage. Another key element of prospect theory is the reflection effect, which states that while investors are risk averse over prospects involving gains, they are risk seeking over prospects involving losses. This effect explains the observed preference for definite small gains over uncertain large gains and in opposition preference for uncertain large losses over small certain losses. A remarkable interpretation of the reflection effect is that, a replacement of all positive payoffs by their negatives (reflection around zero) reverses the choice patterns. For example, a choice between a 90% choice of getting 2000 and a 45% chance of getting 4000 would be replaced by a choice between a 90% chance of losing 2000 and a 45% chance of losing 4000. This effect implies a risk-averse preference for high probability of the relatively safe 3000 gain, but a reversed preference for the risky option in the loss domain. Reflected choice patterns reported by Kahneman and Tversky (1979) were fairly high, i.e. 86% of subjects chose the safe lottery (90% chance of 3000) in the gain domain but only 8% chose the safe lottery when all payoffs were transformed into losses. (Laury Holt, 2000).An important implication of this is the S shape of the value function in prospect theory that is concave for gains and convex for losses. It was also identified, that if the same decision problem was worded differently, the preferences of decision makers differed as well. This was referred to as the framing effect. Prospect theory implies a unique relationship of risk seeking to positive and negative framing- negatively framed problem encourage risk seeking. For example: When a group of investors were faced with the following two propositions: A gamble that offers a 10% chance of winning $95 and a 90% chance of losing $5 and another gamble B offering a 10% chance of winning $100 and a 90% chance of winning nothing. It was found that although the outcomes on both the gambles were the same, 74% of investors chose option B as paying $5(negative as compared to a loss) for the gamble than simply losing made the gamble more acceptable. Von Restorff created the concept of the isolation effect, a way to make something that conforms within a similar a group stand out like a sore thumb. An isolated item, in a list of otherwise similar items, is better remembered than an item in the same relative position in a list where all items are similar. This is a way of distracting attention from one event when the alternative holds exactly the same probability and can be of some help in explaining the prospect theory in decision making in relation to investments. Kahneman and Tversky (1979) used the example of a two-stage test to better explain the use of the isolation effect practically in a behavioral finance situation. Isolation effect is important to show the irrationality of investors in situations that would normally produce a rational effect. This typifies the psychology of an investor having their attention diverted away from using a mean variance analysis of a situation. The first step of the test is a .25 chance of progression to the second stage and a .75 chance of gaining nothing. The participant is asked to decide before the first stage whether, if successful, they would take 3000 or a 0.8 chance of taking 4000. It must be noted that in this game, the participant is choosing between 0.2 chance of 4000 or a 0.25 chance of 3000, the expected value of the former being greater (800 rather than 750). Of the 141 participants that Kahneman and Tversky (1979) tested, 78% chose the first option of the guaranteed 3000. The reasoning behind this is the greater appeal of the sequential certainty of the choice; most participants ignored the first stage of the experiment and just looked at the second test as a basis for their decision rather than weighing up the potential outcomes. The concept is a strong indicator to suggest against all investors being mean variance optimising, there is clear evidence that given the right circumstances people will ignore the obvious rational choice and accept a decision based on the higher valuation of certain prospects. This evidence of irrational preference conforms to the reflection theory where the certainty of a small gain is valued higher than a chance of a large gain. Using this psychological weakness in peoples logic the Von Restorff effect distracted attention from the overall probability and coerced the decision maker into accept a decision based on something that stood out. The rising popularity of insurance policies has been used by supporters of the utility function as strong evidence of the concavity of the utility curve for money. However Kahneman and Tversky (1979) demonstrated that not all insurance policies support this idea, basing their argument around the example of probabilistic insurance. Probabilistic insurance has also been used to highlight that decision weights tend to overweight small probabilities and large probabilities, but underweight moderate probabilities (Wakker, Thaler and Tversky, 1997). Standard insurance provides the purchasers with a zero percent chance of any loss after a given incident, however a probabilistic insurance policy leaves the purchasers open to a small possibility that they will not be fully reimbursed. Following is an example of standard versus probabilistic insurance. Suppose you want to insure iphone4 for the coming year, you can either insure your phone with Natwest bank for  £10 a month or with ABC insurance who offer to insure the phone ever other day throughout the year for  £4.50 per month. Most people would view the offer by ABC as unattractive and prefer to go with the deal offered by the bank of  £10 per month. In this situation the purchaser is underweighting the fifty percent chance of damage to the phone occurring on a day that he or she is covered by the ABC insurance policy. This example demonstrates that reducing the probability of a loss from p to p over 2, is less valuable than reducing the probability of a loss from p over 2 to zero (Tomas and Viilar, 2002). In contrast to the iphone4 insurance example given above, expected utility theory implies that probabilistic insurance is superior to regular insurance. This aversion towards probabilistic insurance is noteworthy because the most avid purchaser of insurance is still subjected to some level of risk. For example, most household contents insurance policies are void if the purchaser forgets to lock their front door. This type of insurance represents many types of protective action, where the user pays a certain cost to reduce the probability of an undesirable event. For example, the purchase of a steering wheels lock or a carbon monoxide detector (Kahneman Tversky, 1979). Applications of Prospect theory The underlying principles behind Prospect theory have been used on a number of occasions to explain a range of financial anomalies. The real world aspect of the model means it offers genuine explanations for some of the most prominent puzzles such as the Equity Premium Puzzle and Home Bias. Equity Premium Puzzle The equity premium puzzle refers to the empirical fact that stocks have outperformed bonds over the last century by a surprisingly large margin. Since 1926, the annual return on stocks has been around 7% while the return on bonds has been around 1% so, $1 invested in the SP 500 on January 1, 1926 was worth $1100 by the end of 1995, while $1 invested in T-bills was worth $12.87. In 1985, Mehra and Prescott noted that under the assumptions of Expected Utility Theory, these abnormally high and low returns are difficult to explain. In 1995, Banartzi and Thaler offered an explanation to the puzzle based on key features of Prospect Theory. They claimed that the puzzle is caused mainly by two factors derived from the Prospect theory; loss aversion (investors being more sensitive to losses than gain) and a short evaluation period (investors checking their portfolio too often). This combination they termed Myopic Loss Aversion. They argue that the attractiveness, and therefore value of a stoc k depends on the time horizon of the investor and frequency of evaluation. The more frequently somebody evaluates their portfolio, the more likely they see their losses and suffer from loss aversion. Putting this application into more contexts, a risky asset paying 7% per year with a standard deviation on 20%, like the average stock, has a probability of loss or gain of around 50%. For a loss averse investor who evaluates frequently, the stock market appears very risky. Considering this, an investor who is prepared to wait a long time between evaluating will find stocks much more appealing as there is an increased chance of them closing their position with a positive return. In turn, long-term investors will be willing to pay more for an identical stock than a short term, frequently evaluating investor. Prospect theory has other various applications associated with it apart from the above mentioned equity premium puzzle. The Home bias phenomenon is another such example. This phenomenon contradicts the mean variance framework, which elucidates the benefits of international diversification helping in the minimization of risk of a given securitys expected return. Home bias states that investors hold more domestic stocks and few foreign stocks than the optimal amounts actually predicted by the mean variance optimization (French and Poterba, 1991). Prospect theory explains this tendency of investors to choose domestic stocks. It says that one of the reasons for this could be a greater familiarity of investors with domestic assets and lower downside risk. This compels investors who may think globally to act locally (Campbell and Kraussl, 2006). Consider a foreign stock and a domestic stock with identical distribution payoffs. Since the foreign stock seem less familiar than the domestic on e, investors may perceive it as having higher variance of payoff leading to low allocation to the foreign stock. However a direct implication of this is derived from the portfolio choice theory that home bias would decline as investors became more familiar with foreign stocks ( (Han Hsu, 2004). Thus, while the prospect theory can explain this behaviour of investors to concentrate risks on single assets rather than to hold a well diversified portfolio, it fails to explain why the single asset chosen by investors are domestic ones. In addition, the argument posed by Stracca (2002) says that if prospect theory is an accurate description of human attitude towards risk, the benefits of international diversification would be reduced to a significant extent. Conclusion We have looked over the principal elements behind the prospect theory proposed by Kahneman and Tversky in 1979. Prospect Theory is an alternative descriptive model of decision making under uncertainty, which incorporates real life choices and psychological analysis. Firstly, within prospect theory investors evaluate their outcomes in accordance with a reference point and make decisions based on how the outcome changes their wealth in relation to this unique reference. Within the expected utility theory, this relative level of wealth is not accounted for. Another key assumption behind prospect theory is the risk averse and seeking behaviour of investors under different circumstances. Investors are risk seeking in terms of losses and risk averse when it comes to profits. The assumptions of an endowment effect and decision weights are also included within the theory, where people place a higher value on a good that they already own and, in contrast to expected utility theory, risk is in corporated not by the original probability but by transformed decision weights. The S-shaped value function curve for prospect theory show this risk seeking and averse behaviour in investors, a reflection effect. The idea of framing is also a key element of prospect theory, where if the same decision problem is described in different words, it can lead to different preferences. Within the theory also is an isolation effect, where devices are used to draw additional attention to something that would otherwise conform, and probabilistic insurance, where decision weights tend to overweight small and large probabilities, but underweight moderate probabilities. The real world assumptions behind prospect theory have been used to explain a number of financial anomalies. We finally looked into prospect theorys applications to the equity premium puzzle and home bias which offer explanations to these anomalies.

The Courage, Strength, and Integrity of Beowulf :: Epic of Beowulf Essays

The Courage, Strength, and Integrity of Beowulf "He who had come to them from across the sea, bold and strong minded, had driven affliction off, purged Herot clean." Beowulf has traveled a great distance to help people in need. Even though Beowulf is a fictional character, he is clearly the heroic symbol needed by the people of the chaotic Middle Ages with his extraordinary characteristics of courage, strength, and integrity. To be a hero a person needs to be admired for courage, strength, and integrity. A hero is any person admired for courage. A person with courage can easily take on any task. Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the know-how to control it. To be a hero is also one that is strong. To be strong a person needs not only brawn, but the knowledge to use it. Strength without direction is like trying to hit a cloud with a bow and arrow. A hero is also anyone that posses integrity. With integrity a hero knows how to do without a doubt what is right. A person with integrity is unimpaired, so he is able to accomplish the task at hand. A person who upholds these qualities and more is truly a hero. Beowulf, a hero for heroes overcomes the hideous creature Grendle, in order to aid the Danes, whom are in the need of aid. Beowulf sits awake in uncertainty of what comes in the depths of the everlasting night. This shows that Beowulf has an uncanny amount of courage. He, as any human in this predicament is obviously full of fear, but with courage he is able to control this fear. As the infamous Grendle rushes towards Beowulf with great might, the mighty Beowulf catches the viscous monsters claw and tears the whole limb from its now empty socket. This definately shows a great amount of strength. To have such great power to pull an arm from its socket he must be strong. Beowulf traverses a great distance in order to help a foreign people whom are in the need of aid. By helping the Danes, Beowulf shows that he posses an elevated

Police Discretion and the Use of Force Essay -- Socia Issues, Discrimi

Discretion is defined as the authority to make a decision between two or more choices (Pollock, 2010). More specifically, it is defined as â€Å"the capacity to identify and to document criminal and noncriminal events† (Boivin & Cordeau, 2011). Every police officer has a great deal of discretion concerning when to use their authority, power, persuasion, or force. Depending on how an officer sees their duty to society will determine an officer’s discretion. Discretion leads to selective enforcement practices and may result in discrimination against certain groups of people or select individuals (Young, 2011). Most police officer discretion is exercised in situations with individuals (Sherman, 1984). Discrimination can lead to legal problems for an officer of the law. If discrimination due to an officer’s use of discretion results in a violation of due process it is a violation of the law (Young, 2010). Due process is the constitutionally mandated procedural steps designed to eliminate error in any governmental deprivation of liberty, life, or property (Pollock, 2010). One of the main concerns with using discretion is the possibility of it leading to a violation of due process by racial profiling. Types of Negative Police Discretion Racial profiling occurs when a police officer uses a â€Å"profile† as reasonable suspicion to stop a person with the intent to obtain consent to search their belongings (Pollock, 2010). These stops are usually traffic stops and the officer is looking to obtain consent to search the individual’s automobile. The â€Å"profile† used is based on race. In these cases, an officer is using their discretion to target minority groups because they believe they are involved in criminal activities... ...rsation among researchers. The problem I see with the topic of conversation is there is not a lot of research done on the actual affects of the individual discretion of each officer compared to a department that has been educated in following policies more than personal discretion. In fact, from what I saw there is not much research on the effects of discretion at all. It seems like it is a topic that is overlooked when researching the effectiveness of a department. I feel like before more solutions are found on how to correct the problem of discretion, more research needs to be done on how discretion plays a role in every day policing. Until this research is conducted, all the articles published are on theories of discretion causing problems, and all of the solutions mentioned are methods to correct a problem that has not even been proven to be an issue yet.

Free Trade V.S. Command Economy Essay -- Economics

Free Trade V.S. Command Economy =============================== Introduction: Politicians, countries and ideologies from all over the world have for years been torn between what they should follow and believe. Countries quarrel over which policies should be adopted and what, how, for whom have been the economist's fundamental question. Adam Smith preached for market economies often referring to "the invisible hand" Karl Marx preached for command economies often referring to "The proletariat will over run the capitalist class" These two men have substantially shaped the way countries have decided to run their economies. Not forgetting the names of a great deal of other Their works were published in volumes, therefore I will not attempt to integrate any of their work in this project, but instead I will refer to some of their ideologies. One would think that these two men were totally different from each other, but in actual fact they are very similar. They both wanted to change the way their societies ran things.  · Resource allocation  · Resource ownership  · Type of incentives  · Level of government decision making The 2 major economic systems are market and Marxist: The first is Capitalism: an economic system characterised by private ownership of the factors of production, market allocation of resources, use of economic incentives, decentralised decision making. E.g.(the US adopts an economic system very much similar to the one above but does have some forms of state intervention like the Defence) The second is planned socialism: an economic system characterised by state ownership of the factors of production, the use of moral, resource allocation and economic plan and central... ... thus queues for staple food were lengthening and demand was soaring. For most commodities supply had dropped because inter-trading with the USSR had also ceased. These ex-communist countries were each specialised in supply certain resources (i.e. iron, coalà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) but after the break of control from Moscow this was no longer possible. The transition in 1991 was less difficult for Poland because they already used market forces in agriculture. The USSR succeeded in sending the first man in space during communist rule In Russia investment and business were failing to settle because of the old bureaucratic system still in place, as the example goes (Its hard to teach an old dog new tricks). Another example of failure was that of Military expenditure, production fell, as well as space research, the two earlier accounting for 20% of the GDP in the USSR.

An American Family Essay

Critics predicted that â€Å"[b]y the end of the mid-century, the American family will no longer exist as we know it†Ã¢â‚¬â€a line that holds true on the current situation of the country. The image of an American family is as fluid as fashion. This connotation is evident with the number of juvenile delinquents, divorce hearings and domestic violence cases that is reported each day. The advent of democracy and liberalism has perhaps triggered the immense transformation on viewing an American family. Globalization for one, takes the largest piece of this shift. The country’s unbolting wrap on the issue of foreign affairs has created a large impact on every American’s life. Diversity they say, has made the Americans mature. But what most do not realize is that the country has been divided by these ‘borrowed’ or ‘adopted’ ordeals. Similar to the American dream, an American family’s dignifying character has shifted to a somewhat aggressive and liberal type (Glick, 2006). Conceivably, this change can be charged to the saying that the world is in constant flux. However, republicans would resent the changes that has transcribed. Given the percentage of migrating individuals and the increase of Americans going abroad—it is most likely that other culture will blend in (or in the near future dominate) with what is inside the core of American virtues. Simple logic would explain this argument. To date, a laissez faire scenario is occurring. More and more changes are to occur if Americans will not pave a way to keep the tradition. It is a fact that every country has their respective culture, beliefs and tradition. And the endpoint of this matter would either be of the benefit of the alien or of the resident. Hence, the real picture on this squabble marks as to whether these changes have preserved the distinctive quality of an American family or otherwise. And in this case, there is a huge possibility that the picture will be dominated by the visiting forces. The shift is in fast pace—the critics may have predicted the future accurately. Reference Glick, P. C. (2006). The Family Life Cycle and Social ChangeThe Family Life Cycle and Social Change. Family Relations, 38(2).

Important factors shaping social relationships under the French

Social relationships were important components of the French absolute monarchy. Historians agree that to achieve supreme control and national unity, Kings relied heavily on military strength. There is little question that absolutist France came to posses the largest standing army Europe had ever seen. Armies made France a powerful state, and the King a powerful ruler. However kings also controlled through non military means, establishing bureaucratic and legal systems and developing an absolutist culture with the King at the centre.These manifestations of absolutism, at raying degrees of significance, helped shape social relationships, and in turn, enforced the absolutist regime. Contrastingly, other historians maintain that the absolute system worked within pre-existing social codes, which were more influential in shaping social relationships. Historians herald the significance of these different factors because they take a variety of historiographer's approaches. Absolutism redefin ed the socio-political structures and language of court society. Court cabals and courtesies became important factors that influenced social relationships.Emmanuel Eel Roy Ladies uses the court memoirs of Duct De Saint Simons, to explain the system of court cabals. Ladies explains how the King placed himself at the top of the court hierarchy, and held a number of favorites. L Lower courtiers would group around these powerful Individuals, such as King Louis Xiv wife Madame De Imitation, to gain power, wealth, status and other privileges through association. 2 Saint Simony's court memoirs are a more traditional historiographer's source, detailing friendships, marriages and patronage relationships that formed and separated court cabals. However Lauder himself admits the limitations of the source, stating that It has a tendency to be subjective with some bias, and Inaccurate facts. 4 But as Ladler states, his purpose was not statistical detail, but to present a ‘model' for the net work of social relationships in court society, and to reveal that they placed the king in an enormous position of influence to determine courtier's social standing. 5 Rest Raman consults similar sources and concludes that courtesies were a new political language that redefined the way courtiers socialized and communicated, while also being a political tool for negotiating the cabal system.Raman analyses Theodore Goddesses Grand Ceremonial De France from 1619, one of the many courtesy manuals written for courtiers. 6 Absolutist monarchies did not invent courtesies, but Raman argues that these manuals justified and systematized these social codes. 7 Courtesy rules dictated the nature of social affiliations and interactions, becoming a vital political language in court society, as a means of showing or denying respect or favor to individuals and cabals. For example â€Å"hat doffing†¦ And lowered eyes† became the language of respect that carried on along the hierarchy, with the King at the top. Ere â€Å"insults to God himself, † enforcing enormous regal authority. 9 Moreover, under Louis XIV, all topics except frivolous small talk, were branded ‘discourteous,' in an attempt to repress uprisings. 10 Both historians analyses similar sources and share the conclusion that absolutism created a new social order, designed to enforce the Kings power. Sarah Hanley however, argues bureaucratic models, established by the absolutist state, were important factors shaping family and gender relationships.Hanley investigates the ‘Family State Compact,' revealing that it enforced distinct gender oleos and enshrined the patriarchal family model in legislation. This model was in turn used to explain and Justify absolutism. 11 Hanley approaches her study with an â€Å"ethnographic† perspective. 12 She states that conventional historiography has always been a uniform process of selecting documents to confirm a point, but more recent scholarship on social history now seeks to gain greater scope and depth by viewing a range of non-traditional sources. 3 From these historians may distill messages about social life. 14 Hanley use of primary government legislation and court case documents, are examples of expanding historical sources. The Marriage Regulations, Reproduction Rules and Marital Separation Arrangements ensured family finances remained under paternal authority, helped guarantee the legitimacy of children and made it harder to break up marriages and families. 1 5 But as Hanley indicates, the underlying purpose of these laws was to constitutionalism patriarchal control over all family affairs. 6 It was a key bureaucratic factor that helped enforce male social and economic dominance, within the family. Furthermore, the patriarchal family worked to Justify and naturalist the appointment of an absolutist ruler, who could be seen as he â€Å"husband† and â€Å"father† of the state. 17 Furthermore, Hanley exam ination of court cases exposes legal limitations on female political and economic privileges within their marital and civic relationships.Women gained social and economic status through marriage and childbearing, but the Compact put men in greater control these activities, disemboweling women and forcing them to break laws for economic and social survival. 18 In the Diagram- du Piqued case for example, Barber- Francoise Diagram was charged with â€Å"supposition attendant† because she faked the birth of a child to avoid becoming a childless widow and losing socioeconomic status. 9 Furthermore, this source reveals that legal structures shaped collaborative relationships between women of different social classes, as Barber sought the assistance of midwifes, paupers and a prostitute. 0 Thus while primary accounts such as Saint-Simony's Memoirs explain social and genealogical connections at their surface, Handless wider variety of social records reveals in greater depth, the gend ered social constructions that defined social relationships in the absolutist monarchy, as well as unexpected cross-class relationships. Cultural manifestations of absolutism in art, gardens and entertainment were further significant factors shaping social relationships. Diverging from traditional and social historiographers, Peter Burke, Chancre Muskier and Craig Callously take an art historical concepts to court social life.He argues that the language of allegory, hyperbole and euphemism in songs, literature, sermons, painting and other mediums communicated a lofty ‘high style' that associated the King with exalted figures and ideas. 21 For example Louis XIV was pained as SST John the Baptist and Apollo. 22 Courtiers learnt these references and conducted themselves accordingly, with grandeur and dignity. 3 In turn, this new language displayed, magnified and rationalized the King as a sublime and spiritual ruler. 24 In contrast, Muskier applies geopolitical concepts to unders tanding social relationships.Muskier references historian Michel Faculty's theory that 17th century society began to view material possessions as indicators of wealth and power. 25 Increasing trade, scientific and technological innovations made material items more prominent in social gatherings and conversations. 26 Muskier argues absolutism worked within this materialist culture, valuing land the most as a material item. 7 In a geopolitical way, Kings enforced power by appropriating and manipulating land into formal gardens. In turn, this established material ownership as a language of power. 8 Material goods came to dominate social and political relationships during the 17th century. 29 Callously similarly seeks specialized research on theatre and festivals, alongside primary accounts. However he argues the political purposes of nocturnal entertainment were significant factors shaping court life. 30 For example, Baroque night time theatre developed and through its illusionist's li ghting, performances such as Louis Xiv Ballet De la Unit,† physically presented Louis as a ‘radiant' King. 1 Furthermore, court diaries from Versailles reveal an increase in concerts, balls, and billiards, offering different opportunities for solicitation. 32 Nocturnal activities changed and began to characterize social life. 33 Memoirs by Louis XIV and absolutist critic Jean De La Buyer (1645-96) also divulge that night time entertainments were deliberate distractions from political issues. 34 Callously maintains Kings communicated and secured their power through nocturnal spectacles, which consequently transformed court social relationships. 35However unlike other historians discussed, James Afar argues social relationships were shaped by concepts of ‘Honor' that pre-dated absolutist expressions of power. Like other historians, Afar relies on a primary source: Farther Lame's eye witness account of the trial and execution of disgraced nobleman Philippe Group. Unco nventionally, Group did not confess his crime, thus preserving honor but damning his soul. 36 More important to him was maintaining honor for his family and young son. 37 Honor defined people's positions of power and status. 38 It was treated as an item that could be appropriated through displays of respect. Lame's text, confirmed by trial records, reveals Group bowed and spoke respectfully to colleagues and onlookers, to earn back some of the honor he had lost. 40 Through displays of respect, Group also sought favor with his patron the Prince of Condone, who could gain him a Kings pardon. 41 Fear's study revises primary documents and challenges past historians such as Ladies and Rest, previously discussed. Courtesy codes, and court cabals were not Just to gain political power, but were part of a possible, albeit largely speculative, that Kings consciously manipulated this established framework of honor to their political advantage.But what Group's trial reveals is honor was a preci ous commodity, and was central to the way people conversed and connected. The majority of historians discussed, agree that the most important factors shaping social relationships under the absolute monarchy, were essentially the absolute monarchy itself. Absolutism established a new laws, social customs, entertainment and art that had a dramatic impact on social relationships involving gender, class, marriage, family ties and friendships. But in contrast, historians also argue that, as in any society, there were already complex social codes that absolutism worked within.

McDonald’s and the McCafe Coffee Initiative Essay

Looking at McDonald’s Canada from a resource-based view (please refer to the appendix), I believe that McCafà © will succeed in Canada. McDonald’s has a plethora of valuable resources in its disposal. Among them, arguably the most important is brand equity. The â€Å"Golden Arches† are instantly recognizable to just about everyone in the planet, and that level of brand awareness will play a big part in McCafà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s entry to Canada. Furthermore, McDonald’s, being a major player in the fast-food industry in Canada, has a considerable amount of cash and infrastructure. This ensures that McDonald’s will have the means to market and distribute McCafà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s products respectively. Another valuable resource that McDonald’s has access to is its large network of competent franchisees. A large percentage of the McCafà ©s in Canada will be add-ons to currently existing McDonald’s restaurants. Therefore, McDonald’s can be assured that the management of the McCafà © initiative in the individual restaurants will meet the high standards that the corporation already imposes on their franchisees. Finally, McDonald’s already has a solid reputation in Canada for their fast-food service. A sound marketing strategy can help transfer this positive reputation to the McCafà © brand. McDonald’s faces stiff competition from several firms in the Canadian retail coffee industry. However, the McCafà © concept will carve out a unique competitive advantage for McDonald’s, setting it apart from its competitors. McCafà © combines the speedy service of Tim Horton’s with the comfortable atmosphere and sophisticated image of Starbucks. McDonald’s blends the â€Å"best of both worlds† and has the potential to take market share from both types of competitors. It will be in a different league all by itself. The major factor detracting from McCafà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s success is McDonald’s poor reputation for coffee in Canada, as seen in the SWOT analysis (please refer to the  appendix). It is important to note that despite McDonald’s poor reputation for coffee, the coffee itself is made from premium ingredients (100% pure Arabica beans). For McDonald’s to succeed with the McCafà © initiative, reversing this negative image is absolutely crucial. Furthermore, coffee is a staple in modern Canadian breakfasts, so having a strong brand of coffee on the menu can help revitalize McDonald’s breakfast sales. McDonald’s poor reputation for coffee can very well be the reason for its recent loss of market share in the breakfast industry. Thankfully, the market for retail coffee in Canada is experiencing significant growth, so if McCafà © becomes popular, it can make a sizeable contribution to the company’s profits. McDonald’s must find a way to change the negative image of its coffee by using the resources available to the firm. In order to change the negative perception of its coffee in Canada, I recommend that McDonald’s give away free samples of the coffee for a limited time. Although McDonald’s will initially make no revenue from the coffee, it will give Canadian coffee consumers a convincing incentive to try it out and potentially â€Å"switch sides†. With the large number of store locations that McDonald’s has in Canada already, the free coffee will see wide-scale distribution, meaning that a large percentage of the nation’s population will be able to taste the coffee and judge it accordingly. Marketing this campaign is absolutely essential to its success. McDonald’s has used television advertisements to great effect in the past, and it should be no different for this campaign. Word-of-mouth communication will inevitably take place and more people will get a chance to taste the coffee. With all that being said, McDonald’s must implement measures to prevent customers from taking advantage of the free coffee. For example, it can limit the free coffee to the small cup size and implement a one-cup-per-customer rule. Furthermore, McDonald’s must set a precise time period for the campaign. Customers shouldn’t come into McDonald’s expecting free coffee after the campaign is over. Proper use of McDonald’s brand equity, cash and infrastructure is the key to the success of McCafà © in Canada. Although the McDonald’s brand is well known, it is important to note that the McCafà © brand is just beginning to grow in Canada. For this reason, I recommend that all McCafà © locations start off as extensions of existing McDonald’s restaurants rather than stand-alone restaurants. Once the McCafà © brand becomes popular enough in its own right  (likely after the free coffee campaign mentioned in the paragraph above), stand-alone McCafà ©s can be established. As of right now, taking the stand-alone route is much too risky. Finally, I recommend that all McDonald’s locations which will take on the McCafà © extension receive an upgrade to its interior design. Since McCafà © will be acting as a pseudo-competitor to sophisticated coffee retailers like Starbucks, design changes must be made to reflect the transformation. For example, bright colours like red and yellow must be replaced with warm, inviting colours like cream and mocha. Moreover, some of the standard four-seat tables should be replaced with sofas and loveseats. The addition of soft, contemporary music in the restaurant would also help in conveying the image of an upper-class coffeehouse. With my given recommendations, I strongly believe that McCafà © will be successful in Canada. If you have any questions regarding my report, please feel free to contact me. Regards, Sanger (Sung-Young) Yoo Appendices Resource Based View of McDonald’s Canada ResourceValuable?Rare?Inimitable?Substitutable? Tangible Assets CashXX Number of store locationsXX Strong managementX Strong franchiseesXX Existing product lineXX Global presence (121 countries)XX Intangible Assets Good reputation in fast-foodXX Depth of supply chainXX Brand equityXX Customer loyaltyXX Organizational Capacity Fast customer serviceX Product developmentXX Consistency of qualityX Appeal to all agesX SWOT Analysis of McDonald’s Canada (Regarding McCafà ©) StrengthsWeaknesses -Powerful supplier â€Å"partners† including Coca-Cola, Disney and Nestlà © -Good quality coffee (100% Arabica-brewed coffee) -Combines affordable coffee with sophisticated environment-Bad reputation for coffee -Declining market share in breakfast sales OpportunitiesThreats -Potential merger with another company (similar to Starbucks and Chapters) -Explosive growth in retail coffee consumption in Canada (Growing market for McCafà ©)-High levels of competition

Ratio Analysis Memo Essay

The liquidity, profitability, and solvency ratios reveal some interesting points about Kudler Fine Food’s financial position. The liquidity ratios revealed that during 2002 and 2003, Kudler was having no trouble paying short-term debt. However, the current and acid-test (quick) ratios showed that during 2003 Kudler had an excess amount of cash that they were not investing properly. These ratios also showed that Kudler was collecting receivables and selling average inventory very quickly. The profitability ratios revealed that during 2002 and 2003, Kudler was using assets efficiently and making a decent profit. The profit margin ratio showed that during 2002 Kudler made a profit of four cents per dollar, and during 2003 they made a profit of roughly six cents per dollar. In addition, the return on assets ratio (which is also a profitability ratio) showed that Kudler utilized their assets efficiently enough to turn a profit. The solvency ratio used, which was the debt to total a ssets ratio, showed that during 2002 and 2003 Kudler only had around a quarter of their assets financed in debt. All of these ratios show that Kudler was a fairly strong company financially during 2002 and 2003. When trying to figure out how successful Kudler Fine Foods is, it is critical to review all financial statements. By using the horizontal and vertical analysis and the determining ratio calculations the profitability, liquidity, and solvency are figured. A specific ratio analysis may intrigue a particular customer. Lenders or suppliers would be interested in the liquidity ratio because the company’s likelihood to pay off short-term debt is obvious. The profit of the company determines the potential impending success and would be important to creditors and investors. The solvency ratios show if the company will continue to grow and stockholders or financial analysts would be interested  in these ratios. Asset Turnover is the amount of sales or revenues produced per dollar of assets. The Asset Turnover ratio is a gauge of the productivity in which a company is using its assets. The number of times is calculated by the net sales divided by the average assets. Usually, the higher the ratio, the better it is, since it implies the company is generating more revenues per dollar of assets (â€Å"Investopedia†, 2014). The asset turnover ratio tends to be higher for companies in a sector like consumer staples, which has a relatively small asset base but high sales volume. On the other hand, companies in areas like utilities and broadcastings, which have large asset bases, will have lower asset turnover. Kudler Fine Foods asset t urnover ratio shows that from 2002 to 2003 there was not much of an increase. However, the percent does improve at a .3% increase from year to year. A profit margin is a ratio of profitability calculated as net income divided by revenues, or net profits divided by sales (â€Å"Investopedia†, 2014). It measures how much out of every dollar of sales a company actually keeps in earnings. Profit margin is valuable when reviewing companies in comparable trades. A higher profit margin shows a more profitable company that has a healthier govern over its costs compared to its competition. Profit margin is shown as a percentage. Therefore, for instance, a 20% profit margin means the company has a net income of $0.20 for each dollar of sales. Looking at the earnings of a company does not always convey the whole story. Increased earnings are noble, but an increase does not mean that the profit margin of a business is getting better. For example, if a corporation has costs that have gotten larger faster than sales, it indicates a lower profit margin. This leads to the fact that costs need to be policed better. Kudler Fine Foods has a net income of $465,573 from sales of $11,698,828, giving it a profit margin of 4.0% ($465,573/$11,698,828). The next year net income rises to $676,795 on sales of $10,796,200, the company’s profit margin raise to 6.3%. So while the company increased its net income, it has done so with diminishing profit margins. This is said because the return on assets ratio is low. When it is low the company uses less money on more investment. The profit margin is low as well calculated at only .6% showing that Kudler Foods had a low profit at that reporting time. The debt to total assets ratio was .28%, which showed the company is healthy. The times interest earned ratio was  9.8%, which backs up claims of financial health. The solvency ratio shows Kudler Foods can pay back long-term obligations. Each ratio has different users interest in mind. Return on common stockholder’s equity is defined as Net Income / Total Capital, and Return on Common Stockholders’ Equity: 676,795 / 1,928,960 = 35.09% Return. Here is a comparison of this (2003) information to the same information from last years’ (2002) records to begin to determine a trend. Profit Margin (2002), $647,645 / $10,644,800 = 6.08 % Margin Return on Assets (2002), $2,675,250 / $10,796,200 = 24.78% Return Asset Turnover (2002) $1 0,644,800 / $2,271,400 = 4.69 Times Return on Common Stockholders’ Equity (2002) $647,645 / $1,928,960 = 33.58% Return 2002 Year 2003 Year Profit Margin 6.08% Margin 6.27% Margin Return on Assets 24.78% Return 25.3% Return Asset Turnover 4.69 Times 4.04 Times Stockholder’s Equity 33.58% Return 35.09% Return The information that was examined indicates that Kudler Foods is doing well and if the company continues on its current path, profits will continue to grow, as long as other economic conditions stay the same. We conducted a vertical analysis of the balance sheet and income statement and found that these figures indicated that the company is strong, and there were not any negative figures, which is always a good sign. Some of the numbers were low, but that also was a good indicator, as the low numbers were the relationship between the expenses against the net sales. This indicates that there were more than enough sales to cover the expenses. We also found that when comparing the net sales against the net profits, the percentage was a bit low, but still within a strong range. Overall Kudler Foods is a strong business that will continue to grow as it is managed carefully and changes are made when necessary to adjust to the market itself. Current Ratio CURRENT ASSETS/CURRENT LIABILITIES 2002: 2,102,631/977,188 = 2.14:1 2003: 1,971,000/116,290 = 16.95:1 Acid-Test Ratio CASH + SHORT-TERM INVESTMENTS + RECEIVABLES (NET)/CURRENT LIABILITIES: 1 2002: 89,016 + 1,131,213 + 196,503/977,188 = 1.45:1 2003: 1,430,000 + 86,000/116,290 = 13:1 Receivables Turnover NET CREDIT SALES/AVERAGE NET RECEIVABLES = X TIMES 2002: 10,107,787/185,907 = 54.4 Times = Every 7 Days 2003: 10,796,200/141,251 = 76.4 Times = Every 5 Days Inventory Turnover COST OF GOODS SOLD/AVERAGE INVENTORY = X TIMES 2002: 7,543,054/355,534 = 21 Times = Every 17 Days 2003: 8,474,831/401,634 = 21 Times = Every 17 Days Asset Turnover NET SALES/AVERAGE ASSETS = X TIMES 2002: 11,698,828/4,793,146 = 2.4 Times 2003: 10,796,200/3,984,733 = 2.7 Times Profit Margin NET INCOME/NET SALES = X% 2002: 465,573/11,698,828 = 4.0% 2003: 676,795/10,796,200 = 6.3% Return on Assets NET INCOME/AVERAGE ASSETS = X% 2002: 465,573/4,793,146 = 9.7% 2003: 676,795/3,984,733 = 17.0% Return on Common Stockholders’ Equity NET INCOME – PREFERRED DIVIDENDS/AVERAGE COMMON STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY = X% 2002: 465,573 – 0/3,396,887 = 13.7% 2003: 676,795 – 0/2,274,380 = 29.8% Debt to Total Assets TOTAL DEBT/TOTAL ASSETS = X% 2002: 1,491,747/5,294,216 = 28.2% 2003: 746,290/2,675,250 = 27.9%

Acinetobacter Baumannii - Article Review

Background Acinetobacter baumannii is a pleomorphic aerobic gram-negative bacillus (similar in appearance to Haemophilus influenzae on Gram stain) commonly isolated from the hospital environment and hospitalized patients. A baumannii is a water organism and preferentially colonizes aquatic environments. This organism is often cultured from hospitalized patients sputum or respiratory secretions, wounds, and urine. In a hospital setting, Acinetobacter commonly colonizes irrigating solutions and intravenous solutions. Acinetobacter species have low virulence but are capable of causing infection. Most Acinetobacter isolates recovered from hospitalized patients, particularly those recovered from respiratory secretions and urine, represent colonization rather than infection. Acinetobacter infections are uncommon but, when they occur, usually involve organ systems that have a high fluid content (eg, respiratory tract, CSF, peritoneal fluid, urinary tract), manifesting as nosocomial pneumonia, infections associated with continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD), or catheter-associated bacteruria. The presence of Acinetobacter isolates in respiratory secretions in intubated patients nearly always represents colonization. Acinetobacter pneumonias occur in outbreaks and are usually associated with colonized respiratory-support equipment or fluids. Nosocomial meningitis may occur in colonized neurosurgical patients with external ventricular drainage tubes. A baumannii is a multiresistant aerobic gram-negative bacillus sensitive to relatively few antibiotics. Multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter is not a new or emerging phenomenon, but A baumannii has always been an organism inherently resistant to multiple antibiotics. Pathophysiology In the uncommon situations in which Acinetobacter causes actual infection, the athological changes that occur depend on the organ system involved. The pathological changes, as observed in patients with pneumonia, are indistinguishable from those caused by other noncavitating aerobic gram-negative bacilli that cause nosocomial pneumonias. Similarly, Acinetobacter urinary tract infections are clinically indistinguishable from catheter-associated bacteremias caused by other aerobic gram-negative bacilli. Frequency International Acinetobacter commonly colonizes patients in the intensive care setting. Acinetobacter colonization is particularly common in patients who are intubated and n those who have multiple intravenous lines or monitoring devices, surgical drains, or indwelling urinary catheters. Acinetobacter infections are uncommon and occur almost exclusively in hospitalized patients. Mortality/Morbidity   Although Acinetobacter is primarily a colonizer in the hospital environment, it occasionally causes infection. Mortality and morbidity resulting from A baumannii infection relate to the underlying cardiopulmonary immune status of the host rather than the inherent virulence of the organism. ЂÃ'ž Mortality and morbidity rates in patients who are very ill with multisystem disease are increased because of their nderlying illness rather than the superimposed infection with Acinetobacter. Race Acinetobacter infection has no known racial predilection. Sex Acinetobacter infection has no known sexual predilection. Age Acinetobacter infection has no known predilection for age. Other Problems to Be Considered The main differential diagnostic problem presented by Acinetobacter is to differentiate colonization from infection. In the presence of pulmonary infiltrates in ICU patients, CAPC)-associated peritonitis, meningitis, wound infection, or catheter-associated bacteruria, the differential iagnoses include other aerobic gram-negative bacilli that colonize or infect these fluids, ie, Enterobacter species, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Burkholderia cepacia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Flavobacterium meningosepticum, and Serratia marcescens. Because Acinetobacter is predominantly a colonizing organism, the burden of proof is on the clinician to demonstrate its pathogenic role in a given situation.

Portfolio Reflection Paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Portfolio Reflection Paper - Assignment Example Etiology is a process that goes hand in hand with pathophysiology because it involves the evaluation and study of causative agents or factors behind an ailment. Pathogenesis entails the mechanism(s) through which a causative agent leads to the development of a disease in an individual or organism. It also refers to the development and origin of an ailment along with its mode of transmittance and propagation. All the above-mentioned processes are used in the medical professional to map out the development and manifestation of diseases in organisms. Through these processes, medical professionals are able to develop interventionist, preventive and curative manoeuvres to combat disease causing agents and factors. Individuals have various manifestations and reactions to diseases, these reactions provide valuable indicators as to the nature and seriousness of an ailment. Physiological responses to illnesses are the first indicators that are sought by medical professionals to act as sign po sts of the nature of an ailment. They can be typically observed and measured quantitatively like fever or qualitatively like the amount of virus or pathogen present in an individual’s system. ... Pathophysiology enables medical personnel ascertain the level of severity of a disease condition and determine appropriate measures to eradicate or curb its spread. Through proper and competent analysis of various predisposing factors, medical personnel are placed in position that enables them to identify the most effective and efficient intervention to treat an illness. NUR515: Advanced Pharmacology Pharmacology is a branch of medicine concerned with the study of the body’s reaction with compounds introduced in the body for the purposes of combating disease causing agents. According to Hamric, Spross & Hanson (2008), pharmacokinetics is concerned investigating and evaluating the path taken by compounds introduced into the body in an effort to combat disease-causing agents. The biochemical and physiological reaction and interaction of compounds introduced into the body to act as a drug against pathogens are called pharmacodynamics. Proficiency in pharmacology enables an indivi dual to administer drug regimens to individuals with regard to their diverse predisposition culturally, traditionally and spiritually. This is because there are multiple treatment or curative measures for a single disease, but with different requirements and side effects that should be put into consideration when prescribing drugs. Pharmacological competence enables a medical practitioner to prescribe treatment regimens that are in line with the medical requirements for the disease. It also enables prescriptions to be based on economic, cultural and spiritual consideration of the patient. Pharmacological competence ensures that the health of patients is assured in terms of guaranteed prescription of drugs that maximize their ability to combat pathogens

The Impact of Logistical Performance on Organization Performance Research Proposal

The Impact of Logistical Performance on Organization Performance - Research Proposal Example Logistics is defined as the part of supply chain process which plans, controls and implements the forwards flow, the reverse flow, and storage of goods, services and information from the point of origin and point of consumption to meet the requirements of the organization (Council of Logistics Management, 1991). Logistics gets the input from suppliers and subsequently the movement of material takes place for various operations in the organization. In an organization, a single product goes through a series of processes and logistics is based on time relational positioning, while supply chain is the sequence of events which are performed to satisfy the customer. The logistics performance of an organization reflects its abilities to deliver services and goods on time, and in precise quantities.3. Literature ReviewThe ultimate goal of an organization is to get long term sustainable superior performance (Kluyver and Pearce, 2006, p.4) and this type of superior performance can be attained by a manufacturing organization by becoming a fully integrated partner of the supply chain (Cooper et al., 1997). Wisner (2003) found a positive link between logistics strategy and organization performance but he did not get any data collection related to logistics strategy measurement. Schramm-Klein and Morschett (2006) tried to establish relationship between logistics quality and performance of the organization in the retail sector.