How do you see this issue affecting New York City in the next Five Term Paper

How do you see this issue affecting New York City in the next Five Years - Term Paper Example These grants are meant to cut outlay by a third. This must have ensued after the former president Bill Clinton stated in his convention speech that Medicaid expenditure on the elderly accounts for over a third. This new bill proposed by the republicans will permit states to change the minimum eligibility, canons of care, as well as federal rules, which now safeguard adult children from being charged for their seniors’ Medicare. The official election may resolve Medicaid’s future. Nevertheless, many federations challenged with escalating Medicaid rates and budget shortfalls are now trying to cutback the budget of lifetime care by greatly altering Medicare coverage by using federal waivers. Waivers taken or obtained by twenty six states, comprising California, New York, Illinois, Texas and Illinois, would affect nearly three million persons, most of who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. Lastly, the suggest that plans vary; nonetheless, typically they attempt to cut down costs by offering private managed-care establishments a fixed figure for a long term of care from hospital visits and doctor to nursing home settlement to aid at home, supposing that adequate care will occur in less costly settings. Hospice and Its Costs June 27, 2011, 1:14 pm By The New York Times This article provides an insight on the fact that hospice care bill is increasing at an astounding pace, and it has stimulated charges that most benefactors, especially commercial corporations which are incongruously enrolling patients. This, according to the article, can be explained by moving of hospice into the mainstream where it is currently serving about 1.1 million Medicaid patients annually. This has resulted in mounted concerns concerning excessive costs and misappropriation. The article claims that for the 28 + years that Medicare has recompensed benefactors for hospice provisions, it has, however, been acclaimed for providing critical health and emotional aid to dying patients as well as their families. Proper use of hospice care can save the government money. Studies have revealed that affording dying patients comforting care within their own households, or within a hospice institution

The Subject Matter of Experiments Essay Example for Free

The Subject Matter of Experiments Essay A well-designed experiment tells us that changes in the explanatory variable cause changes in the response variable. More exactly, it tells us that this happened for specific subjects in the specific environment of this specific experiment. No doubt we had grander things in mind. We want to proclaim that our new method of teaching math does better for high school students in general or that our new drug beats a placebo for some broad class of patients. Can we generalize our conclusions from our little group of subjects to a wider population? The first step is to be sure that our findings are statistically significant, that they are too strong to often occur just by chance. That’s important, but it’s a technical detail that the study’s statistician can reassure us about. The serious threat is that the treatments, the subjects, or the environment of our experiment may not be realistic. For example, a psychologist wants to study the effects of failure and frustration on the relationships among members of a work team. She forms a team of students, brings them to the psychology laboratory, and has them play a game that requires teamwork. The game is rigged so that they lose regularly. The psychologist observes the students through a one-way window and notes the changes in their behavior during an evening of game playing. Playing a game in a laboratory for small stakes, knowing that the session will soon be over, is a long way from working for months developing a new product that never works right and is finally abandoned by your company. Does the behavior of the students in the lab tell us much about the behavior of the team whose product failed? Psychologists do their best to devise realistic experiments for studying human behavior, but lack of realism limits the usefulness of experiments in this area. When experiments are not fully realistic, statistical analysis of the experimental data cannot tell us how far the results will generalize. Experimenters generalizing from students in a lab to workers in the real world must argue based on their understanding of how people function, not based just on the data. It is even harder to generalize from rats in a lab to people in the real world. This is one reason why a single experiment is rarely completely convincing, despite the compelling logic of experimental design. The true scope of a new finding must usually be explored by a number of experiments in various settings. A convincing case that an experiment is sufficiently realistic to produce useful information is based not on statistics but on the experimenter’s knowledge of the subject matter of the experiment. The attention to detail required avoiding hidden bias also rests on subject matter knowledge. Good experiments combine statistical principles with understanding of a specific field of study.

Larry Flynt: Confronting Sex and Politics in America Essay -- Essays

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New Heritage Doll Company Essay

1. Describe and compare the business rationales for each of the two project proposals under consideration. Which do you feel is the more compelling? Project 1: Match My Doll Clothing Line Expansion Expand the successful Match My Doll Clothing Line to include matching all-season clothing for tween girls and their dolls. Pros: Current popularity will enable company to maintain premium prices. Company could take advantage of off-peak discounts offered by some suppliers and contract manufacturers. Would help reduce the seasonality in New Heritage’s sales and earnings. Project poses moderate risk – about the same as the production division’s existing business as a whole. Cons: Company has to exploit the opportunity without delay to be able to exploit the current popularity of the original Match My Doll Clothing line. Large outlays for R&D, market research and marketing are needed. Project 2: Design Your Own Doll Targets existing customers and will offer customized dolls that the customer could customize to create one-of-a-kind addition to their existing collection of dolls. Pros: Market research with focus group indicates that there is a lot of enthusiasm for the product concept. Company will be able to charge premium prices for this product. Will improve customer loyalty. Will create a unique experience for customers. Cons: Increased manufacturing complexity and expense, involves higher risk. Low production runs and volumes would mean higher fixed costs per unit. Therefore, higher breakeven volume for project (longer payback period). Would require the company to make significant changes to its existing technology infrastructure, expand its webhosting capacity and involve legal measure to implement new third party service agreements to provide better service quality. Longer development time (including product testing) – up to 12 months. Much larger initial investment required than the first project.  The Match My Doll Clothing Line expansion project uses existing infrastructure and technology/ products. It will also fill the â€Å"gap† in the year-round revenues that occur due to the seasonality of demand. This project requires a smaller investment and has a shorter payback period. The Design Your Own Doll project requires a larger investment and will require new equipment, technology and third-party agreements. The business plan and process will become more complicated. This project also has a longer payback period. On the other hand, this project will earn higher returns. Both the projects will require some continuing capital expenditures. However, the Design Your Own Doll option will require higher capital expenditures compared to the Match My Doll Clothing Line project. Design Your Own Doll project is expected to make higher returns according to the projections. It also carries a higher risk due to the complexity of operations involved. See attached sheet for detailed calculations. 2. What are the free cash flows that are relevant to analyzing the two projects? 3. Match My Doll Clothing Line Free Cash Flow (without TV) = $2,091.54 Match My Doll Clothing Line Free Cash Flow (with TV) = $16,344.40 Design Your Own Doll Free Cash Flow (without TV) = -$1,019.8 Design Your Own Doll Free Cash Flow (with TV) = $24,732.06 4. What are the NPVs of the two projects? What decision should Emily Harris recommend? 5. NPV Calculation Match My Doll Clothing Line: NPV = $7,148.35 Design My Doll: NPV = $7,285.68 Based on the calculations in the above steps, it is determined that Design My Doll project has a higher NPV and hence would be a better choice, but the first project is less risky and has a shorter payback period and therefore might be more attractive to the board.

Moral And Ethical Considerations Health And Social Care Essay

The end of utilizing automatons in medical specialty is to supply improved diagnostic capablenesss, a less aggressive and a more comfy experience for the patient, and the ability to make smaller and more accurate intercessions. A Automatons are presently used for prostate surgery, hysterectomies, the remotion of fibroids, joint replacings, open-heart surgery and kidney surgeries. They can be used along with MRIs to supply organ biopsies. While the physician can see images of the patient and command the automaton through a computing machine, he does non necessitate to be in the room, or even at the same location as the patient. A This means that a physician can run on a patient who is far off without either of them holding to go. It besides provides a better work atmosphere by cut downing strain and weariness. Surgeries that last for hours can do even the best sawboness to see manus failing and shudders, while automatons are more stable and drum sander. Dr. D'Ovidio has extended experience in thoracic and esophageal malignant neoplastic disease, reflux and achalasia instances. Embracing the most advanced engineering, he has been trained to execute robotic thoracic surgery. Although you might visualise bantam small automatons repairing jobs inside your organic structure, Dr. D'Ovidio explains it ‘s â€Å" non like a automaton is making surgery and I ‘m holding java in a saloon. † ( hypertext transfer protocol: //www.columbiasurgery.net/tag/robotic-surgery/ ) The sawbones sits at a console to run a mechanical arm that has tools loaded on to it. In add-on to the fact that the sawbones can sit at easiness, another advantage is alleviating the weariness of holding to keep instruments for an drawn-out period of clip. The automatons use well greater optics to present 3-dimensional vision. In truth, robotic surgery is 3D. It has two â€Å" eyes † alternatively of merely 1. This gives a much better position. Besides, the automatons have articulations that articulate the tool in all waies. For illustration, like holding an arm with a carpus, as opposed to a laparoscope, where the arm is stiff with no wrist motion. â€Å" Although it ‘s fundamentally the same process as unfastened or laparoscopic surgery, you have much more refined action, † Dr. D'Ovidio says, â€Å" and achieve greater preciseness, less mistake, and less possible hemorrhage. That ‘s a benefit to the patient. † ( hypertext transfer protocol: //www.columbiasurgery.net/tag/robotic-surgery ) Marjorie Paulson, 75, lives in Long Island. Mrs. Paulson was thrilled to larn about Dr. D'Ovidio ‘s automaton and flew into the metropolis for surgery on February 28, 2012. Her process was a great campaigner for the robotic attack. Equally good as her hiatal hernia fix, due to the presence of esophageal shortening, Mrs. Paulson required a Collis gastroplasty to widen the gorge and easiness tenseness on the anti-reflux Nissen fundoplication process. She went home the following twenty-four hours, has had no hurting or any other symptoms, and feels superb. The district attorney Vinci surgical system is a somewhat invasive new attack that uses cutting edge robotic engineering. The district attorney Vinci Surgical System takes gynaecological surgery to new statures by leting highly precise motions, legerity and control through minimum surgical gaps and strong 3D vision and magnification. Marginally aggressive roboticA prostatectomy and roboticA hysterectomy intervention options now offer the potency for first-class post-operative map and malignant neoplastic disease direction results.A Quickly going the global intervention pick for prostate state of affairss, the district attorney Vinci Robot is besides puting a new benchmark with the district attorney Vinci hysterectomy, for the broad scope of uterine conditions that need surgery. This criterion is accredited to the improved benefits of truth and magnification at the operative site, every bit good as a shorter timeline for recovery, decreased hurting, fewer troubles, reduced scarring an d lower hazard of infection. With the sawbones steering robotic weaponries from a sing console some pess off from the patient. As an option to doing a big scratch, the automaton ‘s tools and camera are inserted through four little holes in the patient ‘s thorax. The automaton used in the patterns, the Intuitive Surgical district attorney Vinci System, has Food and Drug Administration consent for a figure of clinical tests in bosom surgery. Initial consequences show that on norm, patients stayed in the infirmary two to four yearss less and returned to work 50 per centum quicker than those holding the unfastened process. The district attorney Vinci Surgical System, made by Intuitive Surgical, Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif. , is freed to execute surgery under the counsel of a sawbones. As of May 2012, more than 1,840 da Vinci Systems are installed in over 1,450 infirmaries worldwide. ( hypertext transfer protocol: //allaboutroboticsurgery.com/surgicalrobots.html ) The district attorney Vinci Si double console besides permits sawboness from different Fieldss to work together on the same patient. For illustration, a patient undergoing gynaecological and urological processs can be robotically operated on at similar times, allowing both sawboness to work together and decreasing the hazards of jobs for the patient. The most apparent advantage of the double console is the capacity to develop new robotics sawboness. Alternatively of the mentoring sawbones and mentoree swapping topographic points back and Forth throughout the surgery, both can now work in tandem. The productiveness of holding two sawboness working at the same clip could easy accelerate the acquisition curve as both sawboness are seeing the same anatomy and sharing the same tools, merely like the larning procedure in unfastened surgery. The accelerated acquisition curve for the sawboness means a batch more instances can be done, allowing even more patients to gain from robotics surgery. Hospital corsets can be decreased by about half, cut downing infirmary cost by about 33 % . These fewer yearss in the intensive attention unit are a consequence of less hurting and quicker recovery. ( hypertext transfer protocol: //allaboutroboticsurgery.com/surgicalrobots.html ) Though the size of the mechanism is still non little plenty for bosom processs in kids, the minimally aggressive nature of district attorney Vinci does non go forth a big surgical cicatrix and still has some limited applications in kids for the clip being. Furthermore, harmonizing to Intuitive Surgical, merely 80,000 out of 230,000 new instances of prostate malignant neoplastic disease undergo surgery because of the high hazard invasive surgery carries, connoting that more people may undergo surgery with this germinating engineering. ( hypertext transfer protocol: //allaboutroboticsurgery.com/surgicalrobots.html ) The chief disadvantages to this engineering are the steep acquisition curve and high cost of th e device. Though Intuitive Surgical provides a preparation plan, it took sawboness about 12-18 patients before they felt secure executing the technique. The big floor-mounted patient-side cart confines the helper sawbones ‘s attack to the patient. Though, there are besides many who are unable to entree the district attorney Vinci based on the steep monetary value. In a paper published by The American Journal of Surgery, 75 % of sawboness claimed that they felt financially limited by any system that cost more than $ 500,000. As of now, surgery with the district attorney Vinci Surgical System takes 40-50 proceedingss longer, but the FDA considered this a learning curve variable and expects clip to better with more usage of the system. ( hypertext transfer protocol: //allaboutroboticsurgery.com/surgicalrobots.html ) Acrobot Precision Surgical Systems mission is bettering the velocity, truth and duplicability of joint replacing, guaranting maximal benefit for the sawbones and the patient Acrobot provides preciseness surgical systems for computer-assisted 3D planning, surgical pilotage and surgeon-controlled robotic surgery. ( hypertext transfer protocol: //allaboutroboticsurgery.com/surgicalrobots.html ) In order to better clinical results, addendum sawbones accomplishments, enable bone preservation and increase productiveness. When joint replacing cogwheels are implanted exactly and successfully, the patient ‘s post-operative recovery clip can be cut and hurting and troubles can be minimized, which should so take to improved quality of life for the patient. With the enlargement of accoutrement engineerings, such as visual image systems, retractors, and stabilizers, every bit good as other methods of vascular canulation and cardiorespiratory beltway ( CPB ) , such as peripheral CPB and endoaortic balloon engineering, many past restrictions have been conquered. Many physicians have shown promising consequences utilizing a mini-sternotomy, parasternal scratch, and mini-thoracotomy for complex cardiac processs, including coronary arteria beltway grafting ( CABG ) , mitral and aortal valve surgery, and atrial septal defect ( ASD ) closing. ( hypertext transfer protocol: //ats.ctsnetjournals.org/cgi/content/full/77/4/1328 ) The following measure has been the creative activity of thoracoscopic surgery utilizing computerized telemicromanipulation. Using a surgical robotic system, sawboness can work little endoscopic instruments, which are put in through ports one centimetre in size, recognizing many of the proficient operations merely anteceden tly possible with unfastened surgery. Supporters of minimally aggressive techniques have assumed that by diminishing the scratch size and entire operative injury, it may be possible to diminish postoperative hurting and better quality of life, rendering into a rapid recovery and the ability to go on preoperative activities, such as work. While several surveies of robotically supported cardiac surgery have reported hurts and deceases, merely one survey has addressed hurting and quality of life, comparing patients who underwent larboard entree techniques with patients who underwent a sternotomy. Supporters of robotic engineering for atrial septate defect closing have stated, based on subjective experience, that postoperative hurting is reduced and quality of life is improved in patients undergoing surgery with robotic techniques as opposed to conservative attacks, such as a sternotomy or thoracotomy. Robotically aided thoracoscopic atrial septate defect fix resulted in first-class quality of life after 30 yearss. Quality of life result steps were significantly superior in the robotic group as compared to patients who underwent surgery utilizing nonthoracoscopic techniques, such as sternotomy and mini-thoracotomy. ( http: //onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1471-0528.2008.02038.x/full ) A robotic attack prevents the injury of a sternotomy or thoracotomy, which is an of import concern to many patients. Patients who endured a robotic attack returned to work earlier than patients who endured a mini-thoracotomy or sternotomy. Along with better-quality patient attention, another end of doing medical robotics conventional is to cut down on medical costs. But, this is non ever the instance. Some robotic surgery systems cost more than $ 1 million to get and $ 100,000 a twelvemonth or more to keep. A This means that infirmaries need to measure the cost of the machine vs. the cost of conventional attention. If robotic surgery cuts down on the hurting and healing clip, so money is saved because the figure of yearss the patient stays in the infirmary is reduced. There is besides a decrease in the sum of employees needed in the operating room during surgery. In contrast, monolithic preparation clip is required for physicians to larn to plan and command the machines. Another fright is that there are really few shapers of medical robotics. With small competition, the few shapers that exist can put their ain monetary values. Medical robotics are still new, and there is much more work to be done. And expensive, which can do it unaffordable for many infirmaries and health-care centres. A There are besides still issues with inaction. This means the clip oversight between the blink of an eyes when the physician shifts the controls and when the automaton responds. Plus, there is still a hazard for human mistake if the physician falsely plans the automaton before surgery. Computer plans can non modify their class during surgery, while a human sawbones can do needful corrections. As sawboness become more acquainted with utilizing automatons for surgery, and as more companies provide medical automatons, thereA will come a twenty-four hours when automatons are used in about every infirmary. Yet, this is still far off in the hereafter. One of the defects of most robotic surgical systems today is the absence of the esthesis of touch for the sawbones. Execution of tactile feedback into robotic surgical systems can transform the physician ‘s user experience by leting designation of altered tissue constructions, forestalling tissue harm, sing right sutura arrangement and dwindling undertaking completion clip. The increasing trouble of recent surgical engineering will necessitate more rigorous guidelines for concern and pattern similar to the subject used in air power. Using a surgical automaton suggests that the sawbones is no longer in direct physical or ocular contact with the patient. The sawbones non merely operates through computing machine bids but there is besides a significant distance to the helpers go toing the operation tabular array. Unfortunately, the current systems lack an acceptable manner to pass on between the operator and the helpers. As with many new technological developments, communicating might look to be the Achilles ‘ heel of robotic surgery. More suited equipment of communicating and more steadfast subject in followup of the orders from the primary responsible individual, the sawbones, will be critical for a safe and successful process. Telemedicine makes cross-border intervention possible. Cross-border attention should non alter the usual medical moralss but makes intervention likely of patients in countries the physician can non make in individual. Under served parts and states could be assisted. But the engineering could besides rise the resettlement of physicians from hapless to rich countries and states. Besides, the security of the transmitted information between the sawbones and the distant automaton is at interest. That informations should be treated the same manner as written medical records. Mistakes of the robotic system will go on more often with the increasing usage of the machine. Fortunately, it appeared that less than five per centum of device mistakes lead to patient troubles. Additionally, the sum of unfastened alterations due to malfunctions decreased from 94 % in 2003 to 16 % in 2007. ( http: //onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1471-0528.2008.02038.x/full ) Even though automatons seem to move freely, all of their motions and actions are controlled by the sawbones and as such do non differ from any other surgical equipment. Still, as with any complicated system, safety safeguards will be more important than with the usage of simple instruments. Local every bit good as national and international guidelines will necessitate to be established to turn to specific issues. In 2007, the first policy guidelines for the robot-assisted prostatectomy were suggested in an column by Valvo et Al. ( http: //onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1471-0528.2008.02038.x/full ) The Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons and the Minimally Invasive Robotic Association thought that guidelines for the usage of robotics were missing. To get the better of this spread, they issued a consensus statement on robotic surgery including guidelines for preparation and credentialing. The World Medical Association ( WMA ) made a statement on the moralss of telemedicine on their last meeting in Copenhagen. Included are codifications for the patient-physician relationship and confidentiality, the duties of the doctor and the quality of attention. The World Medical Association is assuring the development of national statute law and international understandings on telemedicine. Robotic surgery is besides known as cyber surgery. The elaborateness of judicial proceeding associated with robotic surgery is complex. In add-on to being able to action doctors and infirmaries, patients who endure an unpleasant result after robotic surgery will hold the possible to action the robotic maker and the telecommunications company. Nevertheless, robotic surgery judicial proceeding will affect Torahs that are by and large unaccustomed to healthcare suppliers. There are non excessively many instances on robotic surgery malpractice, a batch of the instances have been hard to turn out whether it was the sawbones or the mistake of the shapers that made the automaton. Over the following few old ages, robotic or distant surgery will be in pattern on a broader graduated table and cases will finally follow.

4 Types of Reference Books You Didnt Know You Need

4 Types of Reference Books You Didnt Know You Need 4 Types of Reference Books You Didn’t Know You Need 4 Types of Reference Books You Didn’t Know You Need By Mark Nichol OK, it’s time to conduct an inventory of your reference library to ensure that you have a comprehensive collection at hand. Dictionary? Check. Thesaurus? Mm-hmm. Compendium of famous quotations? Right. Visual dictionary? (Silence.) You’re telling me you don’t have a visual dictionary? Before you get too self-conscious, I’ll let you off the hook: You don’t have to own your own visual dictionary. But you should know where to find this type of resource, and three others, at your local library, or you simply must do some online research and see what electronic simulacra you can discover. 1. Visual Dictionaries The four books listed here are all superior guides to the names of physical objects and their components. Does a scene in your novel require you to distinguish the parts of a plane? Do you need to know the difference in home construction between a rafter and a joist? What is the base of a horse’s neck called? A visual dictionary knows all: The Macmillan Visual Dictionary, Jean-Claude Corbeil Merriam-Webster’s Visual Dictionary, Merriam-Webster What’s What: A Visual Glossary of the Physical World, Reginald Bragonier Jr. Ultimate Visual Dictionary, DK Publishing 2. Guides to Symbolism These five volumes, and others, will enlighten you about the religious, mythological, and folkloric significance of symbols. Perhaps you want to strew visual metaphors throughout your novel. Or you want to avoid cliched occult symbols in your supernatural thriller, and want to find something unusual. Or you want to make sure your medieval mystery accurately describes a cross without anachronistic errors. Follow the signs to these sources about symbology: An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols, by J. C. Cooper Dictionary of Symbolism: Cultural Icons and the Meanings Behind Them, Hans Biedermann 1,001 Symbols: An Illustrated Guide to Imagery and Its Meaning, Jack Tresidder The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols, Jean Chevalier Reverse Symbolism Dictionary: Symbols Listed by Subject, Steven Olderr 3. Guides to Hierarchies Do you know the order of succession among Cabinet officials in the United States in case the president, vice president, and Speaker of the House are all incapacitated? Is a battalion bigger, or smaller, than a regiment? What’s higher up the taxonomic scale a phylum, or a family? The Order of Things: How Everything in the World Is Organized into Hierarchies, Structures, and Pecking Orders, Barbara Ann Kipfer, will set you straight. 4. Reverse Dictionaries Flip Dictionary, Barbara Ann Kipfer, is the best of the class of reference books known as reverse dictionaries, for when you know how to describe something but can’t think of the word. One of the qualities that set it apart is the numerous charts and tables that group things by subject. The Describer’s Dictionary: A Treasury of Terms Literary Quotations, David Grambs, is a similar work that’ll help you transfer a word from the tip of your tongue to paper or the computer screen. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Book Reviews category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Dialogue Dos and Don'ts"Wracking" or "Racking" Your Brain?Honorary vs. Honourary

Liberation

"Was there a missed opportunity for social revolution in France and Italy during and after the Liberation". For me to successfully answer this I would like to define what a 'social revolution' is. Marx defines social revolution as "a more or less rapid transformation of the foundations of the juridical and political superstructure of society arising from a change in it's economic foundations." (1) A revolution essentially is a sudden upheaval in society, which fundamentally alters the way, that society operates or who that society is run by. It occurs when the mass of the people desire change that their rulers are unwilling or unable to grant. It can not be the result of the action of a small group of plotters. It is also necessary to understand each countries position within the war and how they became involved. At the beginning of World War 2, Germany invaded Poland, causing France, Great Britain and Canada to declare war on Germany. In May 1940, Hitler's troops attacked the West of France. Then without encountering more than sporadically serious opposition, the German armoured divisions outflanked the Maginot line and raced through northern France. Paris was occupied on 14th June. Italy was dragged into WWII by the course of the events rather than a strong combat will. This feeling was shared with every Italian. Mussolini knew all too well that his country, just a few months after it's adventures in Spain and Africa, didn't have the strength to fight a new war. The Italian army was severely unprepared for any campaign as the defeats in Greece, Africa and Russia made clear. When the allies turned their attention to Italy with the invasion of Sicily, the people's rage went! over the top and after the conviction of Mussolini in July of 1943, Italy started discussing a secret armistice with the Allies. Italy never really surrendered, but just changed sides. It is very easy to fall into the tray of believing tha...

List of Halogens (Element Groups)

List of Halogens (Element Groups) The halogen elements are located in group VIIA of the periodic table, which is the second-to-last column of the chart. This is a list of elements that belong to the halogen group and the properties that they share in common: Types of Halogens Depending on who you ask, there are either 5 or 6 halogens. Fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine, and astatine definitely are halogens. Element 117, which has the placeholder name of ununseptium, might have some properties in common with the other elements. Even though it is in the same column or group of the periodic table with the other halogens, most scientists believe element 117 will behave more like a metalloid. So little of it has been produced, its a matter of prediction, not empirical data. FluorineChlorineBromineIodineAstatineTennessine (might behave as a halogen, at least in some respects) Halogen Properties These elements share some common properties that distinguish them from other elements on the periodic table. They are highly reactive nonmetals.Atoms of belonging to the halogen group have 7 electrons in their outermost (valence) shell. These atoms need one more electron in order to have a stable octet.Halogens are highly electronegative, with high electron affinities.The melting and boiling points of the halogens increase as you increase atomic number (as you move down the periodic table).The elements change their state of matter at room temperature and pressure as you increase atomic number. Fluorine and chlorine are gases. Bromine is a liquid element. Iodine is a solid. Scientists predict tennessine will be a solid at room temperature.

Will Paying More Produce Better Quality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Will Paying More Produce Better Quality - Essay Example The researcher believes that paying more will not necessarily improve quality because not all health care personnel are motivated by financial rewards alone. Some of them are more inspired to improve their quality of work through having a career route where they are growing professionally and/or socially and when they are working in an organization where there is enough staff for them to not experience burnout and stress. Nonetheless, as Sanjaya Kumar and Peter R. Kongstvedt show, quality care is a complex process and outcome that deserve innovation and development. If pay for performance (P4P) can improve care outcomes for individual doctors and hospitals, then it can be integrated into the rewards scheme for these people and organizations. However, as Kumar notes, a â€Å"bundled payment approach† is better because it can motivate the whole system to work together in improving care. In addition, the researcher agrees with Kongstvedt that quality is more than higher payment, although sufficient payment is necessary to provide ample care. The researcher confirms Kongstvedt’s discussion that quality involves quality in structure, process, and outcome, peer reviews and other evaluation means/systems, including accreditation, and continuous quality improvement measures. Accreditation is important because it follows employer mandates and stated and federal government requirements and shows commitment to quality care.

Punishment Philosophy in the Criminal Justice System Essay

Punishment Philosophy in the Criminal Justice System - Essay Example Lawyers sometimes argue that punishment should depend on the magnitude of the destruction. However, cases may be similar but their severities differ (Weisberg, 2012). The incapacitation principle proposes strategies put in place to help eliminate the level of crime through various physical restraints of the actions. The principle insinuates that individuals’ confinement to specific areas may help them to avoid a criminal act. The community may restrict the movement of their people to different places to preserve their cultural ties. The most practical example in the society today is the restriction of the children moving to some places like bars and clubs, would reduce the chances of children involving in drinking alcohols and the like. The deterrence principle raises fundamental concerns on the connection between sanctions and human behavior. Punishment is a tool of reward to offenders. The deterrent effect of the punishment may lead to conformity. Severe punishment for a particular crime may deter an individual with an intention to commit an offense to abstain. The principle of deterrence relates to the freedom of choice for an individual. Most individuals would choose to maximize their pleasures at minimum risk. The UN and the World Bank, for instance, may choose to impose serious economic sanction on some countries because of their misconduct. This imposition of the sanction may deter other countries which would otherwise involve in similar misconduct because of the fear of conviction. The type of punishment applied to the offenders injects fear in other parties hence deterring them from committing an offense. Rehabilitation is a strategy for correcting the victims as discussed by Muhlhausen (2010). The principle focuses on restoring and reforming an offender. It may look ambiguous because it is a punishment coupled with treatment. The correctional centers are increasing all over the world because the punishment for the offenders

Gel point and fractal microstructure of incipient blood clots are Essay

Gel point and fractal microstructure of incipient blood clots are significant new markers of hemostasis for healthy and anticoagulated blood - Essay Example This way, the study aimed at investigating the value of dimension Df that characterized incipient clots formed in unadulterated blood samples, which were extracted from healthy participants. This was with a view to establish a â€Å"healthy index† which was to be used in representing a value of an incipient clot microstructure in terms of fractal dimension, and to further manipulate a healthy blood using unfractionated heparin. It also aimed at comparing any change in Df against standard thromboelastography (TEG) and laboratory coagulation markers. The subjects were divided into two groups: the healthy group and the Anticoagulant group. For the healthy group, strict exclusion criteria ensures healthy volunteers who were on antiplatelet or anticoagulant therapy, and those with a family or personal history of thromboembolic disease, and any acute disease, hepatic, renal dysfunction, or cancer were eliminated. This group consisted of 23 women, and 29 men totalling to 52 healthy patients. The mean age for the subject of this group was 33.6 years. On the other hand, the anticoagulant group had 38 healthy adults: 13 women, 25 men, and a mean age 25.2 years. In studying the impact of inhibiting production of thrombin on an incident clot, volumes (>10 uL) of unfractionated heparin were added to a volume of 20 mL of blood in vitro. The resulted in the production of an effective Antifactor (Xa) concentration ranging from 0.05 to 0.08 IU/mL. To minimize any dilution effect, a small volume of heparin was added to a larger volume of blood. The unfractionated heparin was altered to prolong activated partial thromboplastin to the range corresponding to the 0.3 to 0.7 U/mL of heparin. For analysis purposes 4 ml aliquots of blood was extracted from a sample for full blood count analysis including a platelet count. Samples were collected into full-draw dipotassiu, ethlenediamitetraacetic acid vacuattes. The Sysmex XE 2100 was used to analyse FBC. In the Rheometry, aliquots

STRATEGIC MARKETING MANAGEMENT Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

STRATEGIC MARKETING MANAGEMENT - Assignment Example In consideration to the importance of technology in our daily lives, the industry, I have selected for Marketing Research and Planning is ‘Education IT products’. The company that has been selected is Lenovo. Lenovo is a manufacturer of PCs, laptops, desktops and other computer accessories. The history of Lenovo dates back to 1980s (Lenovo Website). Lenovo is operating in UK as well and it is considered as one of the top manufacturers of notebooks in the UK market (Schofield, 2010). The annual report 2009/2010 of Lenovo has revealed that shares of company in the mature markets including UK have declined as compared to its shares in China. Therefore, in this report strategic management analysis of Lenovo has been done and a new product plan has been proposed based on chosen future growth strategy. 2.0 CORPORATE OBJECTIVES The mission statement of Lenovo has been given below: â€Å"Lenovo strives to be a new world company that makes award-winning PCs for our customers. We operate as a company uninhibited by walls or organizational structures using world-sourcing to harness the power of innovation across our global team. We design innovative and exciting products and services to meet our customers’ needs.†(Lenovo Website) As mentioned in the annual report 2009 of Lenovo, the future corporate objectives of Lenovo are given below (Lenovo Website, 2010): Focus on maintaining its growth momentum in its core PC business whereas, exploring new opportunities. Reducing costs and increasing operational efficiency is another corporate objective and to achieve this objective, company has announced a global resource restructuring plan. To expand leadership position in China and to improve profitability in China To return to profitability and maintain and grow shares in the mature markets like UK, US etc To ensure faster end-to-end management in the mature and emerging markets To simplify the business model for global commercial accounts To explore n ew opportunities in mobile interest by coming up new products and through Lenovo Mobile unit 3.0 MARKET OVERVIEW 3.1 Products The current products of Lenovo have been classified into three categories including Professional Grade products, Lifestyle products and Accessories. Professional Grade Lifestyle Accessories ThinkPad Laptops IdeaPad Laptops Monitors ThinkCentre Desktops IdeaCentre Desktops Batteries & Power ThinkStation Workstations Essential Laptop/Desktop Storage ThinkServer Systems All Accessories Source: Lenovo Website The following figure shows sales of Lenovo’s products in 2009 and 2010. Figure shows that notebook computers contribute to the major chunk of the sales with 58 percent and 63 percent in 2009 and 2010 respectively. Figure 1: Sales Analysis by Product, 2009 Source: Lenovo Annual Report 2009/2010 3.2 Target Markets The company has categorised its markets into three groups including China, Mature Markets and Emerging Markets. The Executive Headquarter of Lenovo is in Morrisville, USA whereas, the Principal Operations are in Morrisville (targeting mature markets), Beijing (targeting China) and

Globalization, Gentrification and Migration Impact to New York Coursework

Globalization, Gentrification and Migration Impact to New York - Coursework Example There has been an argument as to whether the processes of gentrification, globalization, and migration lead to involuntary displacement of the low-income residents in a city. For instance, in New York City, the low-income residents are not likely to move out of a gentrifying suburb than they are to move out of a non-gentrifying suburb. On the other hand, the process of globalization in New York is explained in terms of the strategic sites where various global processes materialized and the various linkages that join them. Among the above-mentioned sites are the off-shore banking facilities, export processing areas and the global cities (Hamnet 1994, p.422). According to Sassen, the rapid growth of the global economy in New York City has led to the modern geography of marginality and centrality. The above mentioned modern form of geography causes inequalities, nevertheless, it leads to the formation of dynamic economic growth, where the city operates from the development of the employment structures to the distribution of telecommunication. New York as a global city possesses a lot of economic powers and various financial services, which offer super-profits. The level of transactions in New York specifically through the trade in services, financial markets and investments have rapidly increased, therefore, the orders of magnitude involved have also increased.

Laurell K. Hamilton Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Laurell K. Hamilton - Essay Example In all of Hamilton’s novels one can come across a number of contemporary themes that goes well in tune with the contemporary American socio-cultural milieu. For instance, her works deal with such contemporary themes in American literature such as gender, sex, identity, oppression, and morality. The paper seeks to explore what makes Hamilton a contemporary writer who deals with contemporary themes in literature and in doing so the paper focuses on the dominant themes in her writings. The themes of gender and sex are dominant in Hamilton’s writings and it is these themes that attribute her works a contemporary nature even though her plot and characters stem out of mere fantasy. One can clearly see that her women protagonists challenge the very notion of the stereotyped gender and sex roles played by women in a male dominated society. Nick Mamatas is right when the author remarks that Hamilton accomplished something quite impossible by creating â€Å"a new subgenre, urban fantasy-adventure with a female lead, and build a new audience for it† (Hamilton & Wilson, 2009, p. 5). In fact, Hamilton created her female protagonists in such a way that the female readers could easily identify with the central characters and her female protagonists undertake such actions which females thought to be impossible in the real life. In all her novels and short stories, one can find that the male characters are forced to follow the female lead. For instance, in the Anita Blake series, Anita Blake assumes a tough personality who always triumphs over men. Thus, one can see that Hamilton challenged the conventions of a standard fantasy novel where the heroine always played a submissive role to the heroes. Her heroines do not end up their lives in the hero’s bed for domestic-sexual bliss. Usually, in popular fiction, â€Å"even if a woman triumphed over a man intellectually, economically, or rhetorically in a scene or two, by the end of the book the female l ead would be humbled and ready to submit to the male lead† and â€Å"Hamilton changed that† (Hamilton & Wilson, 2009, p. 9). Thus, it can be concluded that Hamilton’s writings depict the changing gender roles played by women and such a theme is very much contemporary in literature. No doubt, the themes related to literature derive the real or imaginary life of man and a theme in literature is said to be contemporary when it represents the existing socio-cultural milieu. The readers feel that the writer is giving vent to their own emotions, feelings, grievances, frustrations and experiences. A close reading of Hamilton convinces one that her treatment of sex and female sexuality was very much bold and unconventional. When one finds Anita Blake at the beginning of Hamilton’s series, she is a 27 year old celibate Christian who keeps strict moral codes in her life. However, one finds her supporting premarital sex and engaging in extra marital relations as the story progresses. However, Hamilton gives Anita a reason to go hog wild with sex, and in doing so she unbridged the gap between humans and monsters. In Cerulean Sin, Anita herself states, â€Å"one of my favourite things about hanging out with the monsters is the healing. Straight humans seemed to get killed on me a lot. Monsters survived. Let’s hear it for the monsters.† It is thus evident that Hamilton’s treatment of the theme of sex and sexuality assumes contemporary relevance. Nathan Brazil, reviewing Laurel K. Hamiilton’

Globalization, Gentrification and Migration Impact to New York Coursework

Globalization, Gentrification and Migration Impact to New York - Coursework Example There has been an argument as to whether the processes of gentrification, globalization, and migration lead to involuntary displacement of the low-income residents in a city. For instance, in New York City, the low-income residents are not likely to move out of a gentrifying suburb than they are to move out of a non-gentrifying suburb. On the other hand, the process of globalization in New York is explained in terms of the strategic sites where various global processes materialized and the various linkages that join them. Among the above-mentioned sites are the off-shore banking facilities, export processing areas and the global cities (Hamnet 1994, p.422). According to Sassen, the rapid growth of the global economy in New York City has led to the modern geography of marginality and centrality. The above mentioned modern form of geography causes inequalities, nevertheless, it leads to the formation of dynamic economic growth, where the city operates from the development of the employment structures to the distribution of telecommunication. New York as a global city possesses a lot of economic powers and various financial services, which offer super-profits. The level of transactions in New York specifically through the trade in services, financial markets and investments have rapidly increased, therefore, the orders of magnitude involved have also increased.

DQ Week 8 (Managing Professionals) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

DQ Week 8 (Managing Professionals) - Essay Example This is part of man’s humanity. On the other hand, if the situation only aims to unite people towards a common goal or inspire them, then transformational leadership is most important because it would take time to see the fruits of this kind of leadership. Yes, I have. As there is no formula for authentic leadership (George, B., Sims, P., et. al., 2007), I think I have managed to observe several authentic leaders. An example of authentic leadership that is close to home would be my teachers at school. One of the traits common in leaders interviewed in a survey (George, B., Sims, P., et. al., 2007) is that they tap into and hone their strengths and skills in order to influence to others to become better people and this is what my teachers do for me. They guide me with their knowledge and help mold me into the person I am. Aarons, G. (2006). Transformational and Transactional Leadership: Association Toward Evidence-Based Practice. Psychiatr Serv., 57(8). Retrieved from

Mastering Biology Suggested Answer Book Essay Example for Free

Mastering Biology Suggested Answer Book Essay The rate of reaction increases when the polyphenol oxidase concentration increases. 1m b Rate of reaction = 1/18 = 0.056 1m From the graph, the enzyme concentration is around 1.15%. 1m c Use boiled enzyme in the tube. 1m d The enzyme does not work in acidic medium. / The enzyme is denatured in acidic medium. 1m e The colour change becomes faster at start 0.5m as enzyme activity increases with temperature. 0.5m When temperature becomes too high, no further colour change will be observed 0.5m as the enzyme is denatured. 0.5m f The rate of reaction drops / stops if all active sites of the enzymes are blocked. 1m The inhibitor competes with normal substrate for active sites. 1m 11 HKCEE Biology 2003 I Q3b Essay (p. 4-23) 12 Enzymes are biological catalysts, speeding up metabolic reactions without being used. 1m Enzymes can be reused. Enzyme molecules return to its original form after completing the reaction. 1m Enzymes are required in relatively small amount because enzymes remain unchanged in the reaction. 1m Enzymes are proteins. They are easily denatured by high temperatures and extreme values of pH. 1m The actions of enzymes are specific. Each enzyme catalyses only one type of reaction. 1m Examples of enzyme application: Biological washing powder, papain in meat tenderizers, enzyme to coagulate milk to produce cheese, enzyme to modify the starch in bread, enzymes to break down plant cell wall in fruit juices, enzymes to remove hairs from hides 1m Advantages of using enzymes in the above applications: Enzymes are specific in action. This reduces the production of unwanted products. 1m Enzymes are efficient in small amounts. This lowers the cost of production.

Global Market Segmentation And Mode Of Entry Strategies Marketing Essay

Global Market Segmentation And Mode Of Entry Strategies Marketing Essay A market can be subdivided or segmented by geographic, demographic, psychographic or behavioral variables (Kotler, 1993, p.54). Market segmentation is the division of a market into distinct groups of buyers who act differently than other groups of buyers but behave homogeneously within their segment (Tynan, 1987, p.327). In 1956, Wendell Smith first introduced the concept of market segmentation, arguing that in place of mass markets, goods would find their markets of maximum potential as a result of recognition of differences in the requirements of market segments (Smith, 1956, p.6). Since that time, market segmentation has become a core concept both in marketing theory and real-world applications (Meadows, 1998, p. 394). In one of his seminal articles entitled The Globalization of Markets, Theodore Levitt a former Harvard professor and one of the leading thinkers of modern day marketing principles, put forward the concept of a homogenized global market, driven in large part by low cost, standardized goods (Levitt, 1983, p. 92). Levitt argued that the multinational corporation focused heavily on localization and adaptation to local market conditions, would be replaced by the global corporation that views the entire world as a single market (Quelch, 2007, p.148). Dr. Levitt popularized the term globalization and asserted that consumers worldwide were becoming more and more alike because of changing technology and communications (Quelch, 2007, p.148). All markets have one great thing in common, he wrote -an overwhelming desire for dependable, world-standard modernity in all things, at aggressively low prices (Levitt, 1983, p. 86). However, export markets cannot be regarded solely as a single entity, nor do the products offered have a universal appeal in many instances (Foedermayr, 2008, p.241). Accordingly, an export market segmentation strategy allows firms to identify both differences and similarities in various export markets and reach export segments that cut across geographically defined markets (Foedermayr, 2008, p.233). Furthermore, by focusing on similarities among export markets, firms can benefit from homogeneity in product, image, marketing tools and advertising message in different export destinations (Foedermayr, 2009, p.61). Tailoring the marketing mix for particular segments leads to better planning and more effective use of marketing resources (Kotler, 1993, p.54). Of the major segmentation criteria, geographic variables while useful are considered by some to be ranked the lowest as a basis for market segmentation (Keegan, 2002, p. 193). Geographic segmentation is segmentation based on geographical attributes such as population density, region, language and weather. For instance, consumers may be segmented by region (Wyner, 2009, p. 6). When companies choose this approach, they might consider an entire continent. Many companies opt to localize their products or services to accommodate the local needs and wants of consumers (Foedermayr, 2008, p.246). Sometimes geographic segmentation may refer to the size of the population. In other instances, population density is a basis of geographical segmentation. In such scenarios, companies classify their consumers on the basis of their rural, urban or suburban preferences. Such an approach is common among a wide range of companies (Kotler, 1993, p.54). Determining which global markets are the largest based upon geographic segmentation depends on the variable you are focused on (Foedermayr, 2008, p.233). Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) are four dominant markets based upon geographic population density segmentation variables (Kilby, 2006, p. 30). With an estimated two billion new consumers entering the global market and a population total in nearing three billion, these emerging markets afford global companies with tremendous long-term opportunities and clearly seem to be the major geographic segment of the global market. Segmentation based upon demographics is when the market is divided along personal characteristics such as age, sex, income, or occupation. These variables are easy to measure, and consumer wants, preferences, and usage rates are often highly associated with demographic variables (Selecting, 1996, p. 21). Finding groups of consumers with strong, homogeneous bonds is the Holy Grail of marketing. When such similarities exist, marketers can offer the same (or very similar) product, to a large number of potential customers who are more likely to respond in the way desired. Efficiency in marketing is realized and marketers and consumers benefit (Schewe, 2004, p. 57). A key demographic market segment appears to be teenagers. This demographic is most appealing for companies looking to adopt a geocentric strategy due to the increasingly homogeneous mature of this demographic (Budeva, 2007). By looking at groups of people based upon age related cohorts, we can easily see similarities among these groups. The Y generation cohert, born after 1977 is the youngest and most tech savvy (Schewe, 2004, p.59). The youngest cohort, it has grown up with the advent of the internet. This has become a defining event for them, and they will be the engine of growth over the next two decades (Schewe, 2004, p.61). Their core value structure seems to be quite different from that of Gen-X. They are more idealistic and social-cause oriented, without the cynical, Whats in it for me? mindset of many Gen-Xers. The internet links them in a way not seen before and provides marketers with a great opportunity to reach this targeted demographic through new media such as social networking modes (Meredith, 2002). In India, there exist more people under the age of 20, then the entire population of The United States (Schewe, 2004, p.66). With one of the youngest populations in the world, those companies looking to target the teenager demographic will certainly need to look at India. Risks and Rewards of Various Entry Mode Strategies Among the myriad of complicated decisions an international business needs to make, entry mode strategies are viewed by some as most important (Driscoll, 1997, p. 66). Apart from deciding on an appropriate market and product combination, an important strategic issue is the choice of a suitable entry mode that makes possible the entry of a companys products, technology, human skills, management or other resources into a foreign country (Root 1982, p.24). The selection of an entry mode has been identified as a crucial decision facing managers (Drakulich, 2009, p. 51). Entry mode decisions are those decisions made by a firm on how best to enter a foreign market (Rasheed, 2005, p. 47). There are several core options available to companies looking to expand into cross-border markets. Franchising, licensing, joint ventures, global strategic partnerships (GSPs), acquisitions, exporting and green field investments are some of the key strategic options available (Mayrhofer, 2004, p. 77). Entering a new market can have substantial risks. In general, political, legal and economic risk factors can and do play a central role in the decision making process of how best to enter a market (Mottner, 2000, p. 178). Historically, these risk factors have caused companies to adopt a cautious approach toward cross-border expansion. Additionally, many countries concerned about loss of national sovereignty put in place barriers designed to limit the level and scope of foreign investment (Kotabe, 1996, p.81). As a result, licensing has become a widely used option for many companies trying to expand into foreign markets (Kotabe, 1996, p.81). International licensing provides a door to global opportunities for a firm that is unwilling or unable to leave its own shores (Mottner, 2000, p. 176). It allows the firm to benefit from the overseas exploitation of its mobile assets while avoiding the greater risks inherent in foreign direct investment. Therefore, international licensing is an attractive option to be employed for a firm seeking to expand into emerging and transitional economies where there may be a higher perception of risk (Driscoll, 1997, p. 81). Among the many risk factors associated with licensing surrounds the potential violation of intellectual property (Drakulich, 2009, p. 51). Consequently, the discussion of international licensing has focused increasingly on issues of intellectual property rights (Takigawi, 2003, p. 893). Intellectual property rights are a major concern for licensors, as they deal not only with more traditional forms of trademarks and patented know-how, but also with the increased availability of copyrighted material, including emerging computer technology (Mottner, 2000, p. 180). Highly developed nations, which produce a large proportion of intellectual property, tend to have stricter laws surrounding its use and violation (Kotabe, 1996, p. 83). Whereas, lesser developed economies whose primary competitive advantage might be labor or resources, tends not to enforce intellectual property rights as effectively (Johnson, 2008, p. 9). According to Glazer (1993), firms are licensing assets that are in the form of information/ideas or knowledge, and that have some characteristics of a commodity. Today these assets may include research and development ideas, inventions, formulas, technological know-how, services, brands, art, music, designs, and trademarks (Glazer, 1993, p. 517). More recently, the role of licensing in international business has been considered part of a firms overall international strategy (Davis, 2000, p. 244). A firms decision to license is based on many different factors. Beyond the normal risks of business in general, and of international business in particular, there are particular risks associated with international licensing (Uhlenbruck, 2006, p. 412). It is evident from a review of the various streams of research in international licensing that the perceptions of seven risk factors have been identified in the literature: (1) suboptimal choice; (2) risk of opportunism; (3) quality risks; (4) production risks; (5) payment risks, (6) contract enforcement risks, and (7) marketing control risks (Mottner, 2000, p. 178). In the music industry for example, the risk of piracy has been a major obstacle to international licensing. In China, western companies have been disinclined to license western pop music to local manufacturers because of the prevalence of pirate CD plants in the southern provinces (Burpee, 1996). Licensing in Japan poses far fewer risks then in developing nations as the government of Japan appears to have focused increased attention toward protecting intellectual property. As Japan has seen its competitive advantage in production slip away to other regional countries in Asia, they have come to recognize the value and importance of innovation (Takigawi, 2003, p. 877). In fact, The World Intellectual Property Organizations Statistics on Patents 2008 puts Japan at the top of the list of all patent grants by country, ahead of the United States, South Korea and Germany(Licensing, 2009, p. 39). Based upon the research, Japan appears to be a good potential market to license a product to. The laws are such that any intellectual property will be protected and the industrial efficiencies of Japan make it an optimal initial market to begin internationalizing the firm. Distinctions Between Global Strategic Partnerships and Joint Ventures Global Strategic Partnerships (GSPs) are those alliances in which two or more companies develop a common, long-term strategy aimed at world leadership as low-cost suppliers, differentiated marketers, or both, in an international arena. Secondarily, the relationship among GSP members is reciprocal. The partners should typically possess specific strengths that they are prepared to share with their colleagues (Perlmutter, 1986, p. 139). A third attribute associated with GSPs is the focus is a global rather than regional one (Inkpen, 2004, p.591). The GSP should be focused on extending beyond a few developed countries to include nations of the newly industrializing, less developed and socialist world (Perlmutter, 1986, p. 137). The GSP model is typically more flexible about ownership and managerial control. It encourages joint decision making, vertical and horizontal planning, and the fusion of competent allies from around the world despite cultural differences (Inkpen, 2004, p. 587). Managers who want to implement GSPs must be ready to make fundamental philosophical changes. Without a new mind-set GSPs are bound to fail (Perlmutter, 1986, p. 133). Finally, the GSP relationship should be highly organized along horizontal, not vertical, lines. Technology exchanges, resource pooling, and other soft forms of combination are the rule. The participating companies retain their national and ideological identities while competing in those markets excluded from the partnership (Grossack, 1986). Increasingly, to be globally competitive, multinational corporations must be globally cooperative. This necessity is reflected in the acceleration of global strategic partnerships (GSPs) among companies large and small (El Kahal, 2001, p.227). GSPs have become an important new strategic option that touches every sector of the world economy, from manufacturing to services. GSPs are not the exclusive domain of large multinational corporations. Enormous companies will frequently combine with smaller ones to exploit their entrepreneurial capabilities and market niches (Perlmutter, 1986, p. 144). This was the case years ago, when IBM teamed up with Microsoft to exploit the latters growing expertise in software for desktop computers. The smaller companies like Microsoft, benefit by gaining access to global markets and the resource strength of their bigger partners (Schlicher, 2006, p. 14). On the other hand, another mode of entry option available to a firm would include Joint Venture Partnerships (JVPs). A JVP is formed when two or more companies combine a portion of their resources to create a separate jointly owned operation (Driscoll, 1997, p. 73). Unlike GSPs, JVPs tend to be more localized within a particular market or region (Inkpen, 1999, p. 38). Typically JVPs will have two primary partners as opposed to GSPs which can have multiple parties involved (Uhlenbruck, 2006, p. 413). The research suggests that companies that have a geocentric view and strategy would be more likely to form GSPs. There certainly are risks associated with both GSPs and JVPs, however, because the risk is shared among more members in a GSP platform, it would seem that this form of partnership tends to mitigate risks more so than JVPs.

Eleutherodactylus (Greenhouse Frogs) :: essays research papers

Eleutherodactylus p. planirostris, or more commonly the Greenhouse frog, is from the Leptodactylidae family. They were unintentionally introduced to Florida around 1875. Their numbers have continued to grow and they are now very common among South Florida with increasing inhabitants around the panhandle. Greenhouse frogs have a reddish-brown appearance with either dark blotches or 2 dark stripes down their backs. They are relatively small in size usually growing to about an inch to and inch and a half in length. Often, the greenhouse frog is confused with cricket frogs (genus Acris). However, this type of frog has webbing between their toes which the greenhouse frog lacks. As their name describes, the greenhouse frog lives in greenhouses or lawns. They prefer a moist environment with a relatively high humidity rate which may be why they have flourished in Florida. Greenhouse frogs are a terrestrial species as well as being nocturnal. They feed on other small invertebrates such as insects, spiders, and snails. Naturally occurring in certain Caribbean Islands such as Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and the Bahamas these frogs may have been brought to Florida by importing tropical plants from these areas. They dwell underneath leaf litter and can go undetected. A common trait that distinguishes this type of frog from others is that they lay their eggs on land rather than in water. This is due to the fact that the greenhouse frog does not go through the tadpole stage. The infant frog is merely a smaller version on it’s parents. Some major problems that this species of frog has caused in the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem include: uncontrollable density, over-consumption of prey, and a negative effect on native birds and snakes. Greenhouse frogs consume approximately 45,000 prey items per acre per night (16 million per year). This over-consumption of prey is having detrimental effects of the small invertebrate population. Spiders, snakes, and snails are being consumed far faster than they are being reproduced causing a gradual extinction of these species. This also has an effect on native birds and snakes. If the greenhouse frogs consume all of the small invertebrates in a specific area they will slowly starve other animals that feed on the same prey. Eleutherodactylus (Greenhouse Frogs) :: essays research papers Eleutherodactylus p. planirostris, or more commonly the Greenhouse frog, is from the Leptodactylidae family. They were unintentionally introduced to Florida around 1875. Their numbers have continued to grow and they are now very common among South Florida with increasing inhabitants around the panhandle. Greenhouse frogs have a reddish-brown appearance with either dark blotches or 2 dark stripes down their backs. They are relatively small in size usually growing to about an inch to and inch and a half in length. Often, the greenhouse frog is confused with cricket frogs (genus Acris). However, this type of frog has webbing between their toes which the greenhouse frog lacks. As their name describes, the greenhouse frog lives in greenhouses or lawns. They prefer a moist environment with a relatively high humidity rate which may be why they have flourished in Florida. Greenhouse frogs are a terrestrial species as well as being nocturnal. They feed on other small invertebrates such as insects, spiders, and snails. Naturally occurring in certain Caribbean Islands such as Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and the Bahamas these frogs may have been brought to Florida by importing tropical plants from these areas. They dwell underneath leaf litter and can go undetected. A common trait that distinguishes this type of frog from others is that they lay their eggs on land rather than in water. This is due to the fact that the greenhouse frog does not go through the tadpole stage. The infant frog is merely a smaller version on it’s parents. Some major problems that this species of frog has caused in the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem include: uncontrollable density, over-consumption of prey, and a negative effect on native birds and snakes. Greenhouse frogs consume approximately 45,000 prey items per acre per night (16 million per year). This over-consumption of prey is having detrimental effects of the small invertebrate population. Spiders, snakes, and snails are being consumed far faster than they are being reproduced causing a gradual extinction of these species. This also has an effect on native birds and snakes. If the greenhouse frogs consume all of the small invertebrates in a specific area they will slowly starve other animals that feed on the same prey.

New England Soup Company: Business Overview Essay

On January 11, 1991, William Kolander, president of the New England Soup Company of Boston, Massachusetts, was reviewing a research report he had received from a Boston-based research house. The report presented the findings of a study on the firm’s new formulation of Kolander’s Chowder brand of canned soup. The study had also been sent to the firm’s sales manager, Kirk George, and the production manager, Edward Corey. A meeting was scheduled for January 12 with the research firm and the New England Soup Company management. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the research findings and to make decisions concerning Kolander’s product offerings. The Company The New England Soup Company was a small firm that produced and distributed a line of specialty canned soup products to both the institutional and retail markets. Approximately 62 percent of their 1990 sales volume went to the institutional market ($68,526), and 38 percent went to the retail market ($42,102). The company was founded by William Kolander in 1957. Kolander’s father was a successful owner of several restaurants in the Boston area that were famous for their chowder. The young Kolander convinced his father in 1956 that there was a market to sell the chowder to local institutions (restaurants, hospitals, etc.) in the New England area, and he developed a canned chowder under his father’s supervision. Production facilities were acquired in the same year. After losses in the first few years, the business turned profitable in 1960. At this time, Kolander decided to enter the retail market with Kolander’s Chowder brand. Both the institutional and retail business grew rapidly during the 1960’s, as did the firm’s profitability. Expanded production facilities were built in 1968, and two additional specialty soup lines were introduced in 1970. These lines experienced limited success at retail but were reasonably profitable in the institutional market. Current Situation The last five years had been a period of level and then declining sales for Kolander’s Chowder (1987 -6943 cases, 1988 — 5676 cases, 1989 — 5101  cases, and 19901 — 4900 cases). Kolander attributed this decline in sales to the market entry of two new canned chowders in 1986 and 1987 (see Appendix A). The new competitors were Fisherman’s Delight Chowder and Cape Cod Chowder. Both brands were produced locally and appeared very similar in formulation to Kolander’s Chowder. Both of the new competitors had entered the market with a somewhat lower selling price than the Kolander’s brand. Distributors were also attracted by the slightly higher margins plus the desire to carry a competitive alternative to Kolander’s Chowder. Several large retailers had advertised the Fisherman’s Delight brand as a â€Å"weekly special† at 43 cents per can. Management Objective Kolander recognized that the firm faced a serious competitive threat from the two new brand entries. While there were several long-term issues he was considering, his immediate concern was one of developing a competitive strategy to counter the sales decline of Kolander’s Chowder. Specifically, he wanted to recover the lost distribution of the brand and switch customers from competitive brands back to the Kolander’s brand. This was to be accomplished within the next 12 months. While increased distribution outside the current market area was a possibility, Kolander’s immediate objective was to improve the market position of Kolander’s Chowder at retail within the New England are. Estimated from 1989 company records. The Research Project In October 1989, Kolander contacted a local research firm. After a number of meetings, the research firm recommended that a series of group interviews be conducted with current users of the two competitive chowder brands in order to explore reasons for the product usage, reactions to the brands, and perceived product differences. Through group sessions of this nature, the research firm believed that the cause of declining sales of Kolander’s Chowder could be established and potential solutions identified. The results  of the group sessions suggested that an important proportion of the competitive canned chowder users preferred a chowder that was thicker and creamier than the current Kolander’s Chowder brand formulation. Of the former Kowlander’s Chowder users, the desire for a creamier formulation was the predominant reason for switching. Many of these chowder users had switched to either Fisherman’s Delight or Cape Cod Chowder. Based on these findings, the research firm recommended that further research be conducted to evaluate changing Kolander’s Chowder to a creamier formulation. For purposes of the test, it was recommended that two creamier formulations be developed, a â€Å"creamy† version and an â€Å"extra creamy† version. These two new formulations would be evaluated in a taste test along with Kolander’s current chowder plus the two competitive brands. After several meetings on specific aspects of the proposed research design, Kolander decided to approve the project. Appendix B presents the results of this study. Case Question Focusing on the retail market, what product line does the research suggest Kolander should produce? Guidelines for 3-Slide Submission Slide 1: Analyze the data in Table 1 and make a product line recommendation Slide 2: Evaluate the focus group and the taste test and judge the quality of data from each Slide 3: What would you have done differently if you had guided the research process for this problem? APPENDIX A: New England Soup Company, Audit of Retail Food Outlets (Tables from the Report) Fifty retail food outlets in the New England market area have been audited annually since 1975. These are deemed representative of the potential distribution outlets of canned soups for the New England Soup Company. APPENDIX B: Evaluation of Two New Formulations of Kolander’s Canned Chowder Research Objectives To evaluate the preference for two new chowder formulations among users of Kolander’s Chowder, Cape Cod Chowder, and Fisherman’s Delight Chowder. Research Design and Procedure Two hundred male (n=100) and female (n=100) canned chowder users were selected from four geographic locations representative of the New England market area. The subjects were selected using a probability sampling procedure involving a telephone-administered qualifying questionnaire. Each  subject was paid $5 for participating in the test. The subjects came to one of four test locations (local churches). They were tested individually in 30-minute sessions. Subjects were brought into the testing room and seated at stalls. An instruction sheet explained that the subject was to evaluate several samples of chowder, that the test would consist of three parts, and that they would be required to taste a total of 15 cups of chowder. Normal taste-testing procedures were followed. The first part involved tasting five samples of chowder and ranking them from â€Å"most preferred† to â€Å"least preferred†. The five chowders were Kolander’s regular chowder, Fisherman’s Delight, Kolander’s creamy (version 1), Cape Cod, and Kolander’s extra creamy (version 2). The second and third parts of the test involved tasting five samples again. The samples had different code letters and the subjects were not told the samples were identical to the previous five. After tasting the five samples, the subjects were again asked to rank order the five samples. For each subject, the test procedure resulted in three preference orderings of the five chowder samples. The preference orderings were combined to form a composite ordering for each subject, a procedure that resulted in a more reliable measure of each subject’s true preference ordering. Results The data set consisted of 200 preference orderings of the five chowders. Table 1 presents 20 preference orderings which are representative of the entire data set. The difference between male and female preference orderings was not statistically significant. The data set was analyzed by calculating the average rank order of each chowder and scaling the chowders on a five-point scale ranging from most preferred (1) to least preferred (5). Table 2 presents the results of this analysis. Recommendation and Discussion Recommendation: Change the current Kolander’s Chowder formulation to the  version 1–â€Å"creamy† – formulation and develop a new label which makes this change conspicuous at point of purchase. The table 2 results clearly indicate that the current Kolander’s Chowder formulation and the â€Å"extra creamy† formulation ranked significantly (.05 level of significance) lower than the two competitors’ brands and the â€Å"creamy† formulation. These findings suggest that the market position of Kolander’s Chowder can be improved by a formulation change to the â€Å"creamy† version, which ranks higher than the two competitors and should recapture a significant share of sales lost to the Cape Cod and Fisherman’s Delight brands.

Global Competition

This week, the emphasis was on global competition and in what way this can influence an establishment’s strategy to boost profits and how to utilize global competition to examine the outcome of relationships among employees and management. These dual topics were fairly straightforward for all team associates to comprehend and might be able to relate to their trades. All team associates were able to convey the topics to their trades and recognize how global competition can influence their specific industry. The topic that we deemed the most affluent with this week was the effect of global competition on an organization’s strategies for maximizing profits. utilizing global competition as a process for maximizing profits is comparatively simple to comprehend because it is simple to see how a business can glance at their competitors internationally to realize where they are deficient or where they are exceling. Benefiting from another businesses marketing strategies or product ideas can help a boost a business’s product sales and can heighten their business. We all concur we should take a step back to see the big picture. Looking at each of our respective trades we often get stuck within the boundaries of our companies. This can limit our abilities to utilize the information gathered from our competition. Examining the result of global competition on the relationship between management and labor was a slight more problematic to understand due to the fact that some employers do not use global competition in order to gauge the relationship between employees and the management group in some of our respective trades. We have never first hand had to use this tool to center on the relationships among employees because the individuals in our departments were hired by Human Resources based upon the circumstance that they understand there will be a good working relationship among everyone. After discussing this issue we as a group find it is important to protect and evolve this relationship between labor and management based on global competition. Sometimes the scale of competition may be between countries, regions, states, or even on much smaller scale cities. Important things we find must not be left out when analyzing this relationship are simple. For example, economics, technology, political, and traditions can lead to a success. Increase wages steadily and keeping benefits for workers is crucial. Working from within to achieve competitive advantages goes hand in hand with improvements for your employees. 3 key points are protecting wages, job security, and benefit gains. Our group now has a better understanding on how global completion can affect companies. This can be in a positive or negative way. Reaching international customers is the main goal. Maintain access to customers, communication, improve service, and the reduction of barriers is very important.

Predatory Lending and Monthly Payment

This module described various predatory practices by businesses. Using scholarly resources, describe some specific examples of predatory practices. With housing bubble bursting a few years ago, many say that the current economic problems the United States is currently experiencing can be directly attributed to the housing crisis. Depending on whom you ask the housing crisis can be blamed on people biting off more than they can chew, or predatory lending practices by banks and mortgage companies.This is not a one sized solution fits all answer, both actions contributed to the housing troubles we as a country are currently experiencing. The housing crisis can be summarized as the over evaluation of house values in the late 90’s and early 2000’s,and shortly there after peoples mortgage debt became larger than the decreasing value of their home come 2006. Sub-prime loans can also be blamed; I will further discuss predatory lending techniques. One type of predatory lending p ractice that mortgage companies will use is to emphasize the payment.When this happens the lender focuses on a numerical monthly payment that you are able to afford. The down side to this car salesmen like approach, is that the details of the monthly payment can be skewed to hurt you down the road in the future while appearing like a good deal in the near future. Another predatory practice is called ballooned loans. This type of lending gives the borrower a small monthly payment only covering interest. The last payment covers the principal, normally representing a large borrowed figure. You will have to make one large balloon payment in order to retire the principal of the loan. Most of the time, no one prepares for this payment and basis foreclosure on their home(1). Should the debtor or borrower bear some responsibility, at least in some instances? Explain why or why not? Tactics like this leave the borrower at a marked disadvantage, but who should shoulder the burden of responsib ility in circumstances like these. I am of the opinion that fault lies in both, the lender and borrower. The lender bears the burden of following the law and regulations set forth, however as e’ve discussed this week laws are there as a guideline and they don’t cover every ethical decision making situation. Lenders are in competition with other lenders to get and keep peoples business, therefore they are apt to try and find a way to seek an advantage over another lender. They may do this by turning to predatory practice hoping to unknowingly take advantage of borrowers. On the other side of the argument, the borrower bears the burden of understand and reading the written contract agreement and terms of the contract.If a borrower is to just sign a contract without reading or having a professional go over the details then they ultimately reap what they sew. Language in these contracts do not exactly benefit the average person, the average person most likely wouldnâ€℠¢t be able to determine whether or not predatory practices are taking place. Ultimately, the only defense for a person with an average ability to read and understand complex contract verbiage are the regulations set forth to limit the practices the lenders may use.

Contemporary Media's Representation of Philosophies, Ideologies, and PowerPoint Presentation

Contemporary Media's Representation of Philosophies, Ideologies, and Theories - PowerPoint Presentation Example With the help of Jim Gordon, Batman and the District Attorney Harvey Dent set out to eliminate the criminal infrastructure that is operating out of the streets. Despite a strong partnership between the two, they find themselves fighting against a reign of chaos that has been unleashed by a rising mastermind in the criminal world, who is known amongst the terrorized people as ‘The Joker’. From the very beginning, the joker succeeds in showing to the world, a horrifying version of evil where all morality is shredded to dust and replaced with lawlessness and hatred. Others associated with the criminals have long been gone, but the name of the Joker remains in the minds of the people especially due to the ambiguity and glamour with which his evil comes with. One could not rely on virtually anything he said and he relishes at the ease with which he gets people including Dent to break rules. He enjoys destroying the people and civic society simply for the sake of witnessing evil. What is good and truth? Why do good guys need to play by the rules when others don’t? these are some of the questions that beg for an answer from this movie, which set it apart as something that has a deeper impact on the viewer than regular action movies. If one were to ask about the ideal way to select and watch a movie, then the Dark Knight would come to be the first option. Many a times, we question the fact that yes, a movie can be quite entertaining, but what message did it help convey to us? The Dark knight has pulled off the trick by attempting to answer major issues connected to morality and has at the same time made every effort to entertain the viewer. The movie has tried to provide answers to three varying answers to our concerns over what is good and the way people should live in a society. The first way of living is according to the path chosen by the Joker i.e., a world sans rules, where all that matters is power and where society is

The value of leadership in the contemporary healthcare organisations Essay

The value of leadership in the contemporary healthcare organisations - Essay Example The research paper â€Å"The value of leadership in the contemporary healthcare organizations† highlights the leadership issues of human resource management and the leadership of clinicians and other stakeholders. The National Health Service (NHS) in the UK is faced daily with issues that make service delivery more and more challenging. These problems bare a direct effect on the health of every individual, because if the Healthcare organs function in a strain it would transcend into less quality services provided. Healthcare workers include various professionals from Doctors, nurses, administrators and sundry other stakeholders who are relevant to the delivery of good Healthcare are affected by the issues of funding, inadequate or shortage of manpower. However in the NHS one major clog in the wheel of adequate, humane healthcare delivery is the issue of personnel. Due to the nature of synergistic collaboration needed to provide adequate services at these organisations, human r esources management must be at the most efficient level. Bickering among stakeholders from Government agents to Medical staff has escalated, assuming alarming proportions. Therefore the importance of rightly qualified persons to handle all aspects of healthcare institutions is all too clear. Every healthcare worker should know what values they are supposed to believe in and strive for. Leadership will be seen to be failing if it is not setting the right examples. A good manager must know how and when to use any style of Leadership.

Advanced Computer Architecture Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Advanced Computer Architecture - Assignment Example Multiprocessing tasks carry two simultaneous steps, one being performing the task of editing and the other is the handling of the data processing. A multiprocessor device over a single semiconductor chips a plurality of processors including a first group of processors and the second group of processors. The first bus is one to which first group of processors is coupled while the second external bus is the one to which the second bus is coupled. This term is also used to refer to a computer that has many independent processing elements. Processing elements are nearly full computers in their own right. The main contrast is that they have been freed from the encumbrance of communication with peripherals (El-Rewini and Abd-El-Barr, 2005). The processors are made of small and medium scale ICs which usually contains a less or large number of transistors. The multiprocessors involve computer architecture most common multiprocessor systems today use SMP architecture. In this scenario of multicore processors, the SMP architecture applies to the nuclei, handling them as separate processors. SMP systems permit any processor to labour on any task no matter where the data for the task are located in memory; with proper operating systems can easily move tasks between processors to balance the work load efficiently (Stallings, 2013). Multiprocessing in terms of architecture has some benefits like increased processing power, scale resource use of application requirements and also some additional operating system responsibilities such as, all processors remain busy, they work on consistent copies of shared data, execution of related processes synchronized and mutual exclusion is enforced. Multiprocessing is a processing type in which two or more processors work together to process more than one program simultaneously. Multiprocessor systems have more than one processor and that’s

Final paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Final - Research Paper Example Making it; therefore, sometimes a casualty of the American desire for security in times of crisis (Milton, 1989). In the essay, the historical evolution of habeas corpus, which includes its English and American traditions, will be examined. The suspension or rescheduling of the habeas corpus in the U.S. history and its relevance to the contemporary U.S. situation in the time of war on terror will also be examined. The American philosophy of habeas corpus originates in the common law that was brought into the United States from England. Sir William Blackstone in his commentaries on the Laws of England, credited the origin of the Writ of habeas corpus principles to the ancient Saxons who conquered England immediately after withdraw of Roman Empire from British Isles (Howard, 1995). Habeas corpus, therefore, denotes to the legal precedent that holds that an accused may not be detained in custody when there is not just cause. Blackstone described the early purpose of the writ of habeas corpus as ensuing from the assumption that the president of the king should have account at all times, why the liberty of any of their citizens or subjects is restrained, wherever that hold back might be inflicted. Articles 1, section 9, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution upholds the practice of the use of the writ of habeas corpus (Howard, 1995). In the North American history (USA), there has been instances where the writ of habeas corpus procedure being suspended. For an instant, Abraham Lincoln, the president of U.S. succeeded in having it suspended during the Civil. This led to allowing the imprisonment of military members, prisoners of war and any suspended traitors and spies were to be held for the time of the war without being given trial. In addition, Confederate President Jefferson Davis had habeas corpus suspended in the Confederate States of America. During the World War II, the

Human Resources College Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Human Resources College - Essay Example The strategy of UPS Supply Chain Solutions, as stated in the UPS plan of action are to leverage on technology to create new services and to strengthen its operations and networks, attract and develop the most talented people, continually study customers' behavior, anticipate their needs, and design its products and services to exceed their expectations, create a culture of innovation that leads to sustainable growth, and maintain an environment that enables it to treat every customer as if they are the only one (United Parcel Service n.d. a). In job/task analysis, the focus is on the needs of each group or department. Under the strategy of leveraging on technology to create new services, the information systems department needs to be trained in developing novel online tracking programs (United Parcel Service n.d. b), the customer service department has to be trained in how to use the tracking programs developed by the information systems department, and the finance department has to be trained in billing applications that generate accurate and timely billing to the customers. Under the strategy of attracting and developing the most talented people, supervisors of all groups have to be trained in developing and mentoring employees. ... In person needs analysis, the training and development needs of each employee is identified. For example, the information system developer for external applications may need to have knowledge of Java programming to develop the tracking programs, whereas the information system developer for internal applications may need to have database programming knowledge to develop applications that would enable the manipulation of customer data by the rest of the organisation. The accounts payables finance staff might need to be trained in using the accounts payables module of the billing program, while the accounts receivables finance staff might need to be trained in using the accounts receivables module of the billing program. Depending on the prior training of the supervisors, some might be lacking in performance appraisal skills, while others might be lacking in motivational skills. The same applies for customer service personnel. Some might find telephone skills more appropriate, while oth ers might find computer skills more relevant. 2. The primary stimulus for change remains those factors in the external environment, including the political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, environmental, and legal environment (Cook 2004, p. 34-35). Political influences include government or constitutional policies that may affect the organisation. For instance, the recent expansion of EU boundaries may influence certain organisations (Cook 2004, p. 35). Economic influences are concerned with the economy. Inflation has an effect, for example, on levels of spending. Socio-cultural influences include such factors as class, age and gender as well as issues such as culture and diversity. For example, the