Microeconomics Coursework Essay Essay

Critically evaluate and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of Customer Boycotts. Compare and contrast either Coca Cola or Bacardi with another consumer boycott of your choice and discuss appropriate microeconomic theoretical models. Firstly to understand this question we need to understand what a customer or consumer boycott actually is. Well it is normally called by an organisation or a group of individuals, asking consumers not to buy a specific product, or the products of a specific company, in order to exert commercial pressure. This is usually done to get the company to change behaviour, to cease an activity or to adopt a more ethical practice. For this essay I am going to discuss many advantages and disadvantages of consumer boycotts and also I have decided to compare and contrast coca cola with the Nestle boycott. There are various ways to make a boycott efficient. To be efficient a reduction of 1-2% of turnaround of a company (or product) is seen as the critical mass needed. (27 Mar 2003, Demanding consumer [online]. Available at:). Boycotts can be successful, for example, in 1986 Rainforest Action Network launched a boycott of Burger King. This was because of Burger King importing beef from tropical rainforest countries because it was cheap. But the rainforests were getting destroyed in order to provide pasture for cattle. As a result of the boycott, Burger Kings sales dropped by 12%. In response, Burger King cancelled thirty-five million dollars worth of beef contracts in Central America and announced that the company would stop importing rainforest beef. Boycott calls are at times controversial because they may be called by groups from the political side or for activities that people don’t specifically disagree. Boycott efforts can include protests against everything from  investing in a politically undesirable country to discouragement of the eating or drinking of products from certain companies or countries. Boycotts are not always effective and only a limited percentage of countries consumers will participate in one. While many people are sympathetic to the reason behind a boycott, not enough people join in. One of the main reasons is that people do not see their actions as having any results. This may be partly due to only concentrating on what happens to the primary target of a boycott. But there are also secondary effects which I will talk about later. There are many advantages to consumer boycotts that I will discuss now. Obviously the main advantage is when the boycotts work, as said above with the boycott of burger king, and the company consequently changes its ways. But more often than not boycotts rarely change the companies ways or at least so that the consumer knows about it. One advantage is that boycotts are a way that consumers can use their power for positive social change. Boycotts can be effective because when successful they will result in increased public scrutiny of the company. This in turn will cause concerns inside the company about lost profits from the loss in consumer interest and companies are always concerned about their financial position. Another advantage is that a boycott can hold a company accountable for any policies that negatively affect the environment or people. This is an advantage because a company could be ignoring the problem but with a consumer boycott more and more people will find out about the problem and may also decide to join in. The negative coverage that will arise from media coverage of the boycott may become a big problem for the company in the long run, since competitors may gain a relative advantage. An example of this is that after the boycott of French wines in Denmark had calmed down, the French wines had lost 20 percent market share. Also there was a bigger problem, because the general impression was that consumers could be persuaded to switch back to French  wines. But many supermarket shelves had been reorganised in order to give more space to Italian and Spanish wines, and this was considered a more serious problem. (Can Consumer boycotts work, 2002 [online]. Available at: I mentioned briefly earlier something called a primary effect, well this would be where the target organisation changes its practice. Many targets are however reluctant to change as the result of hostile pressure, and even if changes are made they may try to hide the fact that the consumer action had any effect. There is also the fact that most boycotts are small by comparison to the overall sales, so a target can ride out a boycott. Thus the primary effects may be small and many boycotts may be judged not to have succeeded. So this could be seen as a disadvantage. But the secondary effects are an advantage and are the effects that are not connected to the target. They are effects on other organisations that are not in conflict and can therefore change without the public knowing. Secondary effects can be changes to regulations, lasting change in industry practices, allowing substantial growth entrance of ethical players into the market or effects on decisions of similar organisations to the target. (Why Secondary Effects, [online]. Available at: An example of secondary effects is if someone refuses to buy Nescafe (the coffee brand from Nestle) then he may choose to buy a brand from a much smaller company. The positive effect to this smaller company is much larger than the negative effect to Nestle. The new company may find out that many people are switching to it on ethical grounds and position itself in the market to take advantage of this by, for example, publishing a code of conduct. Having switched brand once this person will have less brand loyalty and a newly formed company will know this by market research and will know they have a better chance of success in the coffee sector. (Why Secondary Effects, [online]. Available at: The boycott campaigns can also be important in developing political consciousness and can be one of the few non violent means to create political pressure. Another advantage is the exposure of the company and with less people buying their products the consumers will be looking at  buying substitute goods and therefore the demand for these will increase and therefore the supply will also increase. Consumer boycotts will increase competition in the market and firms will reduce their prices as a result to compete and also to gain the extra consumers that have less brand loyalty. The firms profits will also reduce and the smaller firms will gain more of the market share. There are also disadvantages to boycotts though. One of these could be a large reduction in jobs, â€Å"Boycotting Nestle products won’t help the poor farmers who sell to the company†, the head of Oxfam said. (Charlotte Denny, 2002. Retreat by Nestle on Ethiopia’s $6 debt [online]. The Guardian. Available at: ) They can have an adverse impact on individuals and communities which become innocent victims of the economic damage that boycotts can cause. Obviously there are disadvantages for the company as the reputation of the company will be harmed as a result of the impact of consumer boycotts, this isn’t good for it as it would need to lower its prices because the demand will become less. This is shown below As the demand falls so does the equilibrium price (Pe1 to Pe2). Another disadvantage to the company is that the company budgets will get ruined and will need to be analysed and changed. Also the gross domestic product of the host country could fall which is a disadvantage. In extreme cases there could be a loss of multinational specialisation and technology in a third world country as the company may not do their business their. There could be a loss of consumer choice if the product ceases after a boycott. Boycotts like that of advertising of cigarettes can cost businesses their survival, as in motor racing as half the advertising used to come from cigarette companies. Now a lot struggle to get the advertising money needed. There can also occasionally be some violence resulting from the boycotts and also resentment. Another disadvantage for consumers would be that some people would argue that all publicity is good publicity. Now I will compare and contrast the consumer boycott of coca cola with the consumer boycott of Nestle. Coca cola is the worlds fastest selling non-alcoholic beverage and the consumer boycott of it started on the 22nd July 2003. The reason behind the boycott is because they are accused of complicity in the assassination of 8 Sinaltrainal trade union leaders in Colombia since 1990. Sinaltrainal is a trade union and it organisers workers in the food and drink sector. Many other of the leaders have been imprisoned, tortured, forcibly displaced and exiled. Coca Cola deny any responsibility for these murders. They say that 100’s of union leaders are killed every year in Columbia. However many of the murders were made inside Coca Cola plants while negotiating agreements. Coca cola management were reported in the national press as meeting and contracting members of the AUC death squads to â€Å"sort out their labour problems†. (Boycott Coca Cola, [online]. Available at: Since 1977, Nestle has been the subject of an international boycott for its deceptive promotion of artificial baby milk as a superior alternative to mother’s milk. Artificial baby milk can harm babies because it does not contain the natural anti bodies which a mother’s milk provides, and because it is extremely expensive, causing many mothers to mix it with too much water resulting in mal-nutrition. Also, in many places the water used to dilute it is not portable. Once a mother starts giving her baby the formula, her own supply of milk dries up. Nestle provides free packages of formula in hospitals with the result that many babies never ever even get a chance to start nursing. In 1988 the boycott was re-launched when it was discovered that the company did not abide by its promise to follow the World Health Organisation’s International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes. (A Consistent Corporate Criminal, [online]. Available at: ). There have been massive impacts on Nestle because of the boycott. In 1984 the boycott forced Nestle to agree to abide by the World Health Organisation’s International Code of Marketing of breast Milk Substitutes. But now it was discovered that the company has not abided by its promise so the boycott was re-launched. Also in one afternoon 8,500 people emailed Oxfam to complain about Nestle, this was the fastest response Oxfam says it has had to a campaign. (Charlotte Denny, 2002. Retreat by Nestle on Ethiopia’s $6 debt [online]. The Guardian. Available at: ). Coca cola is in the non-alcoholic beverage market whereas Nestle is one of the world’s largest food manufacturers; it is also though same as coca cola in the beverage market. With a consumer boycott against both of these two companies, this means that the demand for both of their products will decrease as a result, causing an increase in the demand for substitute goods, like Pepsi instead of Coca Cola. Also because there is a shift in the demand curve this leads to a movement along the supply curve so the price of the goods, coca cola or a nestle brand will go up from P1 to P2 and the quantity in equilibrium falls from Q1 to Q2. This is a supply and demand graph for what has happened with coca cola and Nestle because of the consumer boycott against them. This is a supply and demand graph for what happens to the demand for a substitute good like Pepsi for coca cola because of the boycott. If a company has a strong consumer loyalty then a boycott would be unlikely to have much of an effect on the number of people who choose to join in and not purchase their products, however if a company has failed to build up a strong consumer loyalty then consumers will find it easy to decide to no longer purchase their product and will purchase the competitors products. Why have both Coca Cola and Nestle continued to upset consumer groups when  they could easily change there policies and consequently have the boycotts against them lifted. The answer to this is that the company must be getting more financial gain from what ever is upsetting the consumer groups than the loss of revenue that the boycotts have brought about. Both Nestle and Coca Cola are oligopoly markets because there are just a few firms that share a large proportion of the industry. Both of the markets of Nestle and Coca Cola are differentiated, because they both produce many types of the product. Coca Cola and Nestle are the same as much of the competition between such oligopolists is in terms of the marketing of their particular brand. There are barriers to entry into both markets, these could be product differentiation and brand loyalty, where there are differentiated products where the consumer associates the product with the brand, and it will be very difficult for a new firm to break into that market. The problem would be being able to produce a product sufficiently attractive to consumers who are loyal to the familiar brand. (John Sloman, 2003. Economics. Fifth edition. (s.l.): Pearson Education). Another barrier could be lower costs for an established firm. The companies are likely to have specialised production and marketing skills. They are more likely to be aware of the most efficient techniques and the most reliable and/or cheapest suppliers. They are also likely to have access to cheaper finance, therefore operating on a lower cost curve. New firms would find it hard to compete and be likely to lose any price wars. Aggressive tactics or intimidation could also be used. (John Sloman, 2003. Economics. Fifth edition. (s.l.): Pearson Education). Because Nestle and coca cola are in the oligopoly markets they both are affected by their rivals actions and vice versa. Because of this the firms could wish to collude and act as though they are a monopoly so they could jointly maximise their profits, or the firms could try and compete with their rivals to gain a bigger share of industry profits. Because Coca Cola and Nestle are both the leading firms in their industries, tacit collusion could form where they set the prices for their markets. Oligopolists will not engage in price cutting, excessive advertising or  other forms of competition. By doing this profits will be maintained in the long run. If oligopoly firms compete, profits are low and consumers benefit. If there were a rise in price of Coca Cola or a Nestle product e.g. Nescafe, then this would lead to a large fall in the quantity demanded. This is because consumers would buy alternative substitute goods like Pepsi or another coffee brand. The reason is because both coca cola and Nestle products are elastic products. After looking at both the advantages and disadvantages of consumer boycotts, I have found out that even though the firms lose consumer loyalty, lose revenue and get public scrutiny the firms must be coming out on top and are gaining financially, otherwise they would change their ways. This is probably why Nestle maybe did start to abide by the World Health Organisation’s International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes, then realized how much revenue they were losing so changed back even knowing they were likely to have the boycott brought back aswell because they must be gaining financially, but this is only my opinion. Also the other businesses in the market that whilst their competitors are having their products boycotted can take advantage and increase their own financial position and customer base.

Control Of Infectious Diseases Health And Social Care Essay

First, it is of import to understand the standard any disease needs to run into to be considered for obliteration. Miller ( 2006 ) has proposed two classs of scientific and economic factors relevant for for good disrupting transmittal of infective disease. The scientific factors include: the concatenation of transmittal must merely include worlds and pathogens doing the disease must non hold a natural reservoir, inoculations for the disease must confabulate long-run protection, the ecology of pathogen must be really good known and effectual research lab parturiency must be possible. Additionally, from economic facet investings into obliteration programme must pay off to pull investors and support ( Miller, 2006 ) . However, as Miller points out, any obliteration run is hazardous because at the start it is impossible to gauge if there is traveling to be adequate support and political support. Furthermore, the feasibleness of obliteration differs in developed and developing states due to overall wellness degree, political agitation, substructure and communicating services, and fiscal state of affairs ( Miller, 2006 ) . Thus, even if a disease meets the standards and can be a campaigner for obliteration it will non be guaranteed that obliteration attempts lead to success. Smallpox In the last 100 old ages at that place have been several efforts to eliminate different diseases. However, the merely successful obliteration run so far has been that of variola. Prior to eradication the eruptions of variola were frequent in many parts of the universe, nevertheless, by 1950 it was eradicated from most developed states ( Fenner, 1982 ) . The obliteration run of variola was announced by the World Health Organization ( WHO ) in 1967 ( Henderson, 1977 ) and it is one of the greatest success narratives of twentieth century medical specialty. Beginnings and features Smallpox is a terrible infective disease, caused by smallpox virus, which is a genetically stable DNA virus ( Nomoto et al, 2002 ) that spread from Asia to Europe and Africa at the beginning of Christian epoch ( Henderson, 1977 ) . There are two different types of variola, variola child and major, the latter being more unsafe with 30 % of decease rates ( WHO ) . The airborne smallpox virus ( Henderson, 1977 ) spread among worlds via inhaling and had an incubation period of 7-17 yearss, followed by terrible strivings, febrility and other flu-like symptoms that made the victims stay at their house, restricting the instances of variola into limited countries. Smallpox is contagious merely during the clip when victims have roseola, which develops on face and appendages. Rash is characteristic to smallpox and it is easy to name rather accurately. Peoples who have recovered from variolas have a womb-to-tomb unsusceptibility against the disease ( Henderson, 1977 ) . Vaccines and efficiency Smallpox does non hold any known intervention besides inoculation ( WHO ) . Before Collier developed heat-stable variola vaccinum in 1950s merely liquid vaccinums were available, which were restricted in their usage due to heat-sensitivity ( Henderson, 1977 ) . The new lyophilized vaccinum proved to be really efficient since merely one dosage had immediate effects and conferred durable unsusceptibility ( Arita et al, 2004 ) . In add-on ( Henderson, 1977 ) , the inoculation procedure itself was easy and the re-use of acerate leafs reduced the cost of inoculation. Most developed states were already immunizing people before the start of WHO run and had stopped the transmittal in their state ( Henderson, 1977 ) . The first enterprise to eliminate variolas came from Soviet Russia and the USA ; their proposal was approved by World Health Assembly ( WHA ) in 1966 and the WHO run officially began in 1968 ( Foege, 1998 ) . Reasons for successful obliteration First, smallpox met the standards of eradicable diseases and had several biological characteristics that facilitated its obliteration. Fenner ( 1982 ) suggested that the badness of the status, easy designation by people without medical makings or preparation, human to human transmittal, limited spread, the absence of perennial infectivity and the deficiency of animate being reservoir had a major impact on the obliteration attempt. Furthermore, the handiness of effectual heat-stable vaccinum that was either made by local authoritiess or donated made the vaccinum cheap and sustainable in different socio-environmental conditions ( Henderson, 1982 ) . Second, there was a strong political support for the run: all developed states that had already eradicated the disease had to do immense investings to keep the quarantine programmes and nation-wide immunisations because air-travelling could import variola from an endemic state and let go of the pathogen. Therefore, they had economic involve ment and motive to finance the obliteration elsewhere because if obliteration was certified in all states so the investings and inoculations could halt and so could all future disbursals related to smallpox ( Fenner, 1982 ) . Third, although the epidemiology of variola was of import to the obliteration attempt, the run might hold failed without the invariably bettering reporting-surveillance methods, prosecuting of local wellness workers and community members, and, near link between field workers and research labs to better the vaccinum ( Henderson, 1977 ) . Besides, the programme had strong cardinal leading yet it was really flexible and suited to the demands of each state, which finally led to success ( Henderson, 1977 ) . Finally, the obliteration run lasted merely 10 old ages, which is non drawn-out plenty to deter people in the feasibleness of the enterprise. The last endemic instance of variola occurred in 1977 in Somalia, and the last instance of smallpox transmittal took top ographic point in England in 1978 when smallpox virus was by chance released from a medical school lab ( Hull et al, 2001 ) . This incident points out possible jobs of incorporating viruses and forestalling them from doing new eruptions. The enfranchisement of smallpox obliteration was given in 1980, 2 old ages after the last instance of variola ( Arita et al, 2004 ) . Reverses and last attempts The success of smallpox obliteration does non intend that it was easy to accomplish. The plan struggled with logistic issues, deficiency of money and inconsistent political and social support ( Arita et al, 2006 ) . India and Ethiopia ( Fenner, 1982 ) were the last states where variola was endemic, nevertheless, the methods applied in these states proved to be really effectual. In 1973 in India the purposes of the plan changed from mass inoculation to surveillance and containment ; besides, seven-day hunts were carried out to observe new instances. Reward for describing a instance together with easy sensing helped to halt the transmittal by 1975, while at the start no 1 believed it was possible. Intensive run in Ethiopia started in 1971, where mountains, clime and spread population had hindered old inoculation attempts. Increasing the figure of wellness workers, WHO investings into bettering transit and house to house hunts helped to make more people populating in distant countries a nd led to the last reported instance in 1976 ( Fenner, 1982 ) . Therefore, the intensified attempts to eliminate variola from its last fastnesss were fruitful and led to the run to a successful terminal. The WHA declared smallpox obliteration in 1980 and inoculation activity had stopped in all states by 1984 ( Jezek et al, 1987 ) . Poliomyelitis After the great success of smallpox obliteration, the WHO declared a planetary run against infantile paralysis ( infantile paralysis ) in 1988 ( Hull et al, 2001 ) . Polio is a good campaigner for obliteration due to its disabling effects, particularly in kids. It besides fits the standards of eradicable diseases suggested by Aylward and confederates ( 2000 ) and Miller ( 2006 ) : transmittal occurs merely between worlds and it lacks an animate being reservoir, there is an effectual orally administered infantile paralysis vaccinum, the badness of the disease can be prevented by immunisation and cut downing or halting immunisation will salvage 1000000s of dollars every twelvemonth ; to boot, the strong coaction and support from the Rotary International, UNICEF, WHO, Centres for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) and authoritiess has provided wider social and political support. There has been important success after 20 old ages of attempts seeking to eliminate infantile paralysis: 350A 000 infantile paralysis instances and 125 endemic states in 1988 have been reduced to 1997 instances and 4 endemic states by 2006 ( Dutta, 2008 ) . However, polio obliteration has proven to be more hard due to unanticipated factors refering the vaccinum and the last fastnesss of infantile paralysis that seem impossible to level ; as a consequence many people have lost religion in the run and think that effectual control may be a better option ( Roberts, 2006 ) . Beginning and Features The antiquity of infantile paralysis is widely acknowledged and Egyptian rock carvings dated to ca 1500 B.C. picturing a adult male with limb malformations is believed to stand for an early instance of infantile paralysis ( Sass, 1996 ) . Polio ( Nomoto et al, 2002 ) is a paralytic disease caused by poliovirus, which is a genetically unstable RNA virus and belongs to the household of enteroviruses. It has three wild serotypes that are causative of infantile paralysis. In developing states it affects 1 in 200 people, whereas merely in 1 % of instances the virus invades the nervous system and causes palsy ( Nomoto et al, 2002 ) . The victims shed virus with their fecal matters for hebdomads or more after inoculation, therefore, the virus can mouse back and circulate in a community without being detected ( WHO ) . Poliovirus spreads chiefly via oral-faecal transmittal and replicates in the intestine and pharynx ( Roberts, 2004 ) . The disease has the most annihilating consequence in kid s under 5 ( WHO ) . Furthermore, most instances of infantile paralysis have untypical symptoms, which hinder the diagnosing and containment of the disease ( Arita et al, 2006 ) . Due to the low specificity of infantile paralysis symptoms the surveillance mechanisms focal point on acute flaccid palsy ( AFP ) in under 15-year-olds and to corroborate the status stool samples need to be collected and analysed in the lab ( Hull et al, 2001 ) . Due to drawn-out and complicated designation procedure gives the pathogen an chance to re-enter the environment and do new eruptions of infantile paralysis. Vaccines and efficiency Similarly to smallpox, there is no remedy for infantile paralysis and inoculation is the lone manner to forestall the disease ( WHO ) . There are two types of vaccinums available: inactivated infantile paralysis vaccinum ( IPV ) developed by Salk in the 1950s and unwritten infantile paralysis vaccinum ( OPV ) that contains unrecorded virus advanced by Sabin in the sixtiess ; both have advantages and disadvantages ( Hull et al, 2001 ) . OPV is widely used because it provides enteric unsusceptibility, is inexpensive to bring forth, easy to administrate, and spreads from individual to individual confabulating unsusceptibility to unvaccinated persons in propinquity ( Miller, 2006 ) . At least 3 doses of OPV in babies are required for the vaccinum to work ; nevertheless, surveies have shown that 3 unit of ammunitions of OPV provide merely 70-80 % unsusceptibility in some tropical scenes but frequently the vaccinum coverage is low, go forthing many kids unprotected and triping eruptions du e to uneven population unsusceptibility ( Hull et al, 2001 ) . In add-on, the efficiency of vaccinum is dependent on the general wellness state of affairs of the population, which in many developing states is low ; for illustration 10 doses of OPV are deficient against infantile paralysis in some parts of India, whereas merely 2 doses were effectual in Japan ( Dutta, 2008 ) . Children who live in hapless sanitation conditions frequently have chronic diarrhea that undermines inoculation since the medicine leaves the organic structure before it could hold any effects ( Roberts, 2004 ) . A major job with OPV is its heat sensitiveness: infantile paralysis serum needs to be kept below 8 grades Celsius, which can be hard in parts with hot tropical clime and civil perturbation ( Westhead, 2009 ) . This job is being addressed and presently all OPV acquired through UNICEF have thermo-sensors that monitor heat exposure of the vaccinum and let limited usage in the heat without compromising the vaccinum ( Hull et al, 2001 ) . Furthermore, virus strains in OPV can mutate and recover the ability to go around and may do vaccine-associated paralytic infantile paralysis ( VAPP ) , which occurs seldom and has low transmittal rates ( Minor, 2009 ) . Some people with compromised immune-system may cast the vaccinum derived poliovirus ( VDPV ) for old ages, moving as a reservoir for the disease and current medical specialty has no remedy to halt it ( Miller, 2006 ) . Therefore, despite the cost-efficiency ratio of OPV it has some major mistakes that may forestall the accomplishment of obliteration. On the other manus, IPV is administered via injection, doing it expensive to utilize, particularly in developing states ( Miller, 2006 ) . IPV does non do VAPP or VDPV, does non distribute from individual to individual, does non supply enteric unsusceptibility and does non forestall oral-faecal transmittal of the disease ; therefore, IPV requires higher inoculation coverage ( Nomoto et a l, 2002 ) . To turn to the job of VAPP and VDPV it has been suggested to exchange from OPV to IPV, nevertheless, the high cost of IPV makes its usage in developing states unlikely but every bit long as OPV is administered the obliteration of infantile paralysis can non be once and for all confirmed ( Minor, 2009 ) . Attempts and methods to get the better of infantile paralysis First, by 1990s 80 % of kids were vaccinated against 6 diseases supplying high overall unsusceptibility across populations and the feasibleness of eliminating infantile paralysis was demonstrated in different geographic countries across states with different economic position ( Hull et al, 2001 ) . The methods of obliteration were inspired by the success of Pan-American Health Organization programme that eradicated infantile paralysis from the Western hemisphere by 1990 ( Hull et al, 2001 ) . By today US $ 4 billion has been invested in the run and the planetary instances have been reduced by 99 % since 1988 ( Roberts, 2006 ) . An estimated US $ 1.5 billion will be saved every twelvemonth if polio obliteration is finished and inoculations ceased ( Aylward et al, 2000 ) . Hull and confederates ( 2001 ) have summarised the schemes used to eliminate infantile paralysis: First, everyday immunisations that aspire to present 3 OPV doses to babies during their first twelvemonth of life ; se condly, the debut of national immunisation yearss ( NIDs ) quickly boosts the unsusceptibility of under 5-year-olds and must be continued for at least few old ages after the last reported instance ; thirdly, the surveillance marks instances of AFP and sends tool samples for analysis ; and eventually, mopping-up immunisations are intensive house to house hunts that reach the bulk of people at the terminal stages of infantile paralysis run ( Hull et al, 2001 ) . Recent finds allow OPV to aim type-specific poliovirus, either type 1, or 3 ; the usage of monovalent OPV ( mOPV ) may increase the public presentation of vaccinum in contending infantile paralysis in states where the disease has been hard to undertake so far ( Aylward et al, 2006 ) . Poliovirus type 2 had already been wiped out by 1999, converting authoritiess and moneymans that accomplishing obliteration of infantile paralysis is possible ( Roberts, 2006 ) . mOPV aiming type 1 poliovirus has already been efficaciously used i n several parts in Egypt and India ( Aylward et al, 2006 ) . Additionally, leaders of infantile paralysis run have negotiated armistices for immunizing kids in war zones ( Tangermann et al, 2000 ) . The initial end of infantile paralysis run was to halt inoculations after the obliteration has been certified, for this to go on, extra attempts are required: safe containment of poliovirus stocks with intensive surveillance until 3 old ages has passed from the last infantile paralysis instance to measure up for enfranchisement ; and, the concluding measure is the halt of inoculation ( Hull et al, 2001 ) . Post-eradication inoculation should be carried out with IPV to avoid casting of virus and has to make high coverage rates ( Dutta, 2008 ) . The last stairss of infantile paralysis obliteration are debatable and may be impossible to carry through in current political state of affairs. Troubles and reverses In add-on to the antecedently mentioned jobs, polio obliteration run has faced serious reverses that have caused uncertainty in the likeliness of polio obliteration. One of the first licking was the infantile paralysis eruption in Hispaniola in 2000, caused by VDPV while the island had been known to be polio-free for old ages and inoculation rates had dropped below 30 % ( Roberts, 2004 ) . In 2003 infantile paralysis inoculations were ceased in Nigeria because the Muslim leaders feared that the vaccinum was contaminated and would do the population infertile ; as a consequence infantile paralysis spread to more than 18 antecedently polio-free states ( Kluger, 2005 ) . Inoculations were restarted in 2004 after all the trials for taint were negative but by so infantile paralysis instances had skyrocketed and 20 % of kids in Nigeria were left unprotected ( Kluger, 2005 ) .The fact that the virus can be difficult to observe was acknowledged in 2005 when poliovirus had been mutely go aroun ding in Sudan for old ages ( Roberts, 2006 ) . Furthermore, wars challenge polio obliteration because full states are unaccessible, unsafe for wellness workers and inoculations can non be on a regular basis carried out. After the declaration of the World Summit for Children in 1990 yearss of tranquility were introduced in order to to immunize kids in struggle countries and supply them with basic wellness attention ( Tangermann et al, 2000 ) . Besides, since the states affected by struggle normally lack the resources to cover the costs of inoculation, money has to come from external beginnings ( Tangermann et al, 2000 ) . War activity frequently forces 1000s of people leave their place and move to refugee cantonments where conditions for the spread of infective diseases including infantile paralysis are favorable. The mobility of refugees can sabotage the inoculation runs because unvaccinated people may re-introduce the virus into a pathogen free country. Furthermore, the dangers ref ering poliovirus containment must be addressed: the stocks of poliovirus are distributed among legion labs and there is presently no cardinal high-security storage installation ; besides, the little size of poliovirus genome with known sequence can be synthesized in lab and used against susceptible populations by terrorists ( Dove et al, 1997 ) . Even without human intervention the unstable poliovirus could mutate and unite with other enteroviruses in nature ( Arita et al, 2004 ) . Finally, the 4 endemic states India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria are thickly settled, dumbly habituated, have hapless sanitation and many parts that are hard to entree, and therefore, have rendered all attempts to undertake infantile paralysis useless ( Aylward et al, 2006 ) . Even if polio obliteration was to be achieved it is questionable if inoculation will of all time halt in the western universe, particularly after the daze of 9/11 and in the turning menace of biological terrorism ( Roberts, 20 04 ) . Wild Poliovirus.bmp Figure 1. This map illustrates nicely the correlativity between endemic states of poliovirus and states affected by struggle: the bulk of points concentrate around Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and North India. All these states are affected by ongoing struggles. ( WHO, 2009 ) Criticism of infantile paralysis obliteration run The review of the run is related to the issues refering vaccinum related infantile paralysis instances, troubles of surveillance due to untypical symptoms, perturbation of everyday immunisations caused by struggles and increasing indifference of people due to holds ; many of these facets have been discussed in old subdivisions. I will now look at the more general statements against polio obliteration programme that argue why all hereafter obliteration attempts need reconsidering. One of the chief statements against the run is that obliteration of a individual disease can merely be done at the disbursal of other wellness resources ; even with international aid developing states need to deviate important sum of their ain resources that could be used for supplying other wellness attention services ( Arita et al, 2004 ) . Henderson points out that in developing universe infantile paralysis merely affects 1 in every 200 and putting to deaths 1 in 2000 people, therefore, infantile paralysi s is non every bit large menace in comparing to other infective diseases and would otherwise non be considered a precedence ( Roberts, 2004 ) . Others have suggested that money and attending should be focused on major slayer diseases, such as AIDS and malaria that kill, severally, 3 and 1 million people every twelvemonth ( Kluger, 2005 ) . The initial infantile paralysis obliteration deadline of 2000 was non kept and new deadlines are invariably delayed, the most recent one in 2015 ( Arita et al, 2006 ) . 20-year-old on-going infantile paralysis run causes defeat and deficiency of involvement, utilizing up 1000000s that could be used for increasing the overall wellness position in people populating in developing states instead than seeking to extinguish one of many diseases. The one-year costs to keep infantile paralysis run have increased from circa US $ 350 million to US $ 700 million in 2005 ( Roberts, 2006 ) yet there is a important opportunity that inoculations will non halt af ter obliteration has been certified ( Arita et al, 2004 ) . Finally, the conditions for infantile paralysis obliteration have changed after the obliteration of variola: universe population has increased from 4 billion in 1977 to 6.2 billion today ; and political state of affairs has become more complicated after the terminal of Cold War when two world powers could order their will ( Arita et al, 2006 ) . Reconsidering the hereafter of obliteration does non intend that infective diseases are non worth the money and attempt. As Miller phrases it: â€Å" pick is non between making nil and obliteration but between optimum degree of control and obliteration † ( Miller, 2006 ) . Discussion The purpose of this paragraph is to discourse if effectual disease control could replace any future obliteration attempts, including the on-going infantile paralysis run. The current thought of polio obliteration is based on the success of variola run, nevertheless, Arita and confederates ( 2004 ) argue that eliminating poliovirus in worlds and in the environment is impossible today and suggest redefining the term ‘eradication ‘ so that it would merely embrace the finding of pathogens in worlds. Furthermore, Caplan ( 2009 ) argues that obliteration is hazardous because if obliteration is achieved and all immunisation activity stops so worlds will be left vulnerable to the possible re-emergence of the pathogen. As the Hispaniola incident proves we can ne'er be certain if a virus has gone everlastingly or non. In 2005 the WHO approved the Global Immunization, Vision, and Strategy ( GIVIS ) programme that puts more accent on supplying wellness attention to more people and at tempts to incorporate immunisation with other signifiers of medical service ( Arita et al, 2006 ) . Sceptics argue that the WHO new policy prioritising the development of basic wellness attention installations web may be deadly to polio run due to reduced political involvement and support ( Roberts, 2006 ) . In order to eliminate an infective disease the inoculation coverage has to be high, which leads to another important job. The patients can take non to be vaccinated but by making so they pose a hazard for others and stand in the manner of obliteration ( Caplan, 2009 ) . It will be impossible to deny patients their right to decline from intervention particularly in times when people are more cognizant of the possible effects of vaccinums and their rights to command what will be put in their organic structure ; besides, many will decline from inoculation due to spiritual grounds. Therefore, sing all of the above, it has been suggested that obliteration should be replaced by effect ual disease control ( Arita et al, 2006 ) . Arita and Henderson are the two major oppositions of infantile paralysis obliteration and they believe that the run in its current signifier can non win ; they suggest the incorporation of infantile paralysis vaccinum into everyday immunisation to keep the achievements made so far ( Roberts, 2006 ) . In instance of effectual disease control all steps used to contend infantile paralysis will be maintained until world-wide instances bead below 500 in less than 10 states, after which the accent will be on surveillance and inoculations will be carried out indefinitely ( Arita et al, 2006 ) . Another of import concern is money: infantile paralysis obliteration run needs at least a few more one million millions to finish the undertaking ; nevertheless, the feasibleness of obliteration is unsure ( Arita et al, 2006 ) . The oppositions for infantile paralysis run argue that increasing investings to accomplish the end is worth it and will salvage money in long term ( Chan, 2007 ) . Polio obli teration from the last pockets is expensive if non impossible. However, the betterments made with mOPV vaccinums and concentrated attempts to undertake the last parts where infantile paralysis is endemic can non be ignored. If polio obliteration programme stopped now so money and attempt invested in the run would be lost, besides, exposure to poliovirus at an older age is more unsafe ( Miller, 2006 ) . However, after the infantile paralysis obliteration programme reaches closing any farther programs to eliminate a following disease should be postponed. Smallpox and infantile paralysis runs started off with small cognition about the epidemiology of the disease and uncomplete scheme. No other disease should of all time be considered for obliteration without extended research and thorough analysis. Furthermore, trailing down one disease does non live over the disease load that hinders people in developing states. Investing in improved wide base wellness attention that is accessible to everyone will assist to increase the overall good health in developing states and in the long tally will better the life quality of 1000000s of people. Decision To sum up, it can be said that all future obliteration runs have to be carefully assessed before the start of executing. The epidemiology of a disease that is considered for obliteration plays a cardinal function in the success of any run, together with the handiness of effectual stable vaccinums. The standard of eradicable disease were fulfilled by both variolas and infantile paralysis, nevertheless, merely smallpox run managed to accomplish the end of nothing instances in worlds and devastation of pathogen in the environment. In add-on, in current political clime biological terrorism is regarded as a considerable menace to international security, hence, halting inoculation even after obliteration may non be possible since it would go forth world unprotected against the re-introduction of pathogens. Besides, making an international understanding to get down a undertaking with high committedness may be presently impossible due to the clashing involvements of developing and developed states, yet, political support and support are important for any planetary project. Therefore, at this point effectual disease control alternatively of obliteration may be more executable and cost efficient. Word Count: 4006

Seligram Inc. Case Analysis

At the beginning, the Electronic Testing Operations (ETO) measured two components of cost: direct labor and burden, but the burden is grouped into a single cost pool that includes all costs and divided by direct labor dollars to obtain the burden rate. (Q2) ETO’s manager picked up 5 components to evaluate the impact of different accounting system. The reported costs from existing system can be computed as follows, given the burden rate 145%: Product Direct Labor Burden Total Costs ICA 917 1,330 2,247 ICB 2,051 2,974 5,025Capacitor 1,094 1,586 2,680 Amplifier 525 761 1,286 Diode 519 753 1,272 Based on the accounting manger’s proposal, the operation burden can be divided into machine-hour and direct labor burden. We use the revised burden rate 21% and machine-hour rate $80. 1 to show the updated costs: Product Direct Labor Burden Machine Hour Machine Burden Total Costs ICA 917 193 18. 50 1,482 2,591 ICB 2,051 431 40. 00 3,204 5,686 Capacitor 1,094 230 7. 50 601 1,924 Ampl ifier 525 110 5. 00 401 1,036 Diode 519 109 12. 00 961 1,589If ETO follows the consultant’s recommend, treats the main test room and mechanical test room as different cost pools. The three-burden-pool system reports the cost: ($63. 34 for main room burden rate and $112. 63 for mechanical room) Product Direct Labor Burden Main Room Hour Mech. Room Hour Test Room Burden Total Costs ICA 917 193 8. 50 10. 00 1,665 2,774 ICB 2,051 431 14. 00 26. 00 3,815 6,297 Capacitor 1,094 230 3. 00 4. 50 697 2,021 Amplifier 525 110 4. 00 1. 00 366 1,001 Diode 519 109 7. 00 5. 00 1,007 1,635Among the three costing systems, we prefer the consultant’s proposal (Q3). The accounting manager treats the machine hours as separate cost pool because the automated operation process leads to large percentage of total cost comparing to direct labor. Measuring the machine hour costs can help us to assess the total burden more accurate. However, given the same machine hours, the different hours spend in main room and mechanical room also incurs different costs. We can see from Exhibit 5 that mechanical room has higher unit cost per hour.Therefore, the three-cost-pool system can trace the costs back to the actual operation factors more clearly. (Q1) According to the two explanations shown above, the critical problem that causes ETO to fail is the single cost pool accounting system. In the single cost pool system, all products consume direct labor and overhead in the same proportion. However, some products need more direct labors while others require automated machinery operation. And the trends of direct labor obsolescence also biased the calculation of burden rate, which causes the verall product cost assessment become misleading. Managerial Accounting Case Study 2: Seligram, Inc: ETO Group 1 2 Although we prefer the consultant’s proposal, the three-cost-pool system still can be further improved by introducing another cost pool, the technical support costs (Q4). Both the accounting manager and consultant regard the administrative and technical functions as the same cost factor. However, we think the technical support is very different in nature comparing with administrative cost. Each type electrical component which sent to ETO varies greatly in its complexity.For example, a keyboard IC is much simpler then a 3D graphic processing IC and requires less (or nearly no) technical support since keyboard IC is a matured product. Administrative cost usually includes general overhead such as indirect salaried employee, security, store/warehousing, telephones, and others. If we classify the technical functions in the same cost pool as administration costs, then a keyboard IC and a 3D graphic processing IC share the same direct labor burden rate, which is not reasonable. Therefore we recommend a four-cost-pool system that separate technical support from general direct labor burden. Q5) From the data provided in Exhibit 5 and Exhibit 7, we can calculate the ma in test room burden rate if the new machine is included. The first year’s burden rate will be: Hours Variable Depreciation Other Total Old Machine 33,201 887,379 88,779 1,126,958 2,103,116 New Machine 400 100,000 500,000 225,000 825,000 Sum 33,601 987,379 588,779 1,351,958 2,928,116 Machine Hour Burden Rate $ 8 7. 14 (first year) And the remaining years’ burden rate: Hours Variable Depreciation Other Total Old Machine 33,201 887,379 88,779 1,126,958 2,103,116New Machine 2,400 100,000 125,000 150,000 375,000 Sum 35,601 987,379 213,779 1,276,958 2,478,116 Machine Hour Burden Rate $ 6 9. 61 (remaining years) The original burden rate calculated from three-cost-pool system is $63. 34. Both the first year ($87. 14) and remaining years’ ($69. 61) burden rate per machine hour are much higher, especially for the first year. Since the new equipment is only needed by one or two customers in the foreseeable future, we should treat the new machine as separate cost center, or the new equipment will have a disastrous effect on ETO’s pricing structure.

Using liberal education to be active in community Essay

Using liberal education to be active in community - Essay Example the history of America, the question remains whether they should be obligated to learn a foreign language , master calculus and study grammar among other aspects at the expense creative writing. This is the reason that, in the arguments concerning education, less time is usually spent dwelling on the key values compared to other formal standards. Education gives people a wide range of abilities including providing them with skills on how to talk and communicate. Educated people have advantage as they, â€Å"They can give a speech, ask thoughtful questions, and make people laugh. They can hold a conversation with a high school dropout or a Nobel laureate, a child or a nursing- home resident, a factory worker or a corporate president† (Cronon 1998). Furthermore, educated people can participate in conversations not because they prefer talking about themselves but because they have a genuine interest in other people. According to Cronon (1998), â€Å"A friend of mine says one of the most important things his father ever told him was that whenever he had a conversation, his job was â€Å"to figure out what’s so neat about what the other person does.† I cannot imagine a more succinct description of this critically important quality†. A liberal develops the mind as well as the imagination while encouraging people to seek the truth, meaning and beauty. It further inspires an appreciation of previous traditions along with the present challenges while fostering a sense of joy in learning with other people. Additionally, it supports actions of taking intellectual risks needed when exploring the unknown, testing new ideas and entering into constructive debates while at the same time building foundations for arriving at principled decisions. Through liberal education, the capacity for critical and open inquiries can be honed to increase an interest in asking questions, challenging assumptions and looking for answers in order to arrive at conclusions that are backed by logic

CRITICAL REFLECTION ON THE EFFECTIVE CARE MANAGEMENT OF A PATIENT WITH Essay

CRITICAL REFLECTION ON THE EFFECTIVE CARE MANAGEMENT OF A PATIENT WITH CHEST DRAIN FOLLOWING A STABBED WOUND AT THE RIGHT SIDE - Essay Example However, the cases of hemothorax and pneumothoraces have dominated the list of recent nursing care emergencies resulting chest injuries as observed by Mowery et al. (2011, p.513). As a senior nurse in the ortho/general surgical department, my healthcare team is bound to encounter such medical emergencies. On the other hand, it is of paramount importance to have relevant expertise in the aforementioned ortho/general surgery portfolio so as to keep an excellent edge in offering the required leadership and professionalism in nursing emergency care. For that reason, this module provides an ideal opportunity to learn and internalize the approved medical manoeuvres in the management of patients with chest drain that has caused pneumothorax. The knowledge will enhance my professional development, nursing competency, clinical exposure and personal confidence in handling similar chest drain cases in the future. This paper focuses on experiential reflection on the effective nursing care manage ment of chest drain patient with pneumothorax with reference to the analytical application of Gibbs Model 1998 (Nicol 2012). Accordingly, the chronology of this reflection examines the details of the case, the resulting personal feeling about it and the professional sense drawn from such clinical experience. Objective application of this model enables the learner to acquire practical insights that will go a long way to improve the fidelity of the portfolio as well as her professional performance in the relevant medical department (Gibbs 1988; Oelofsen 2012, p.22). Case Summary The simulation hitherto involves a 50 year old male patient brought to the ortho/general surgery department with a stub wound on the right side of the chest. From clinical diagnosis, the patient developed chest drain from the stub penetration which has consequently caused pneumothorax. Based on the facts that the chest injury was penetrative with no medical history of spontaneous pneumothorax, this clinical em ergency could be classified as open traumatic pneumothorax as reiterated by Sharma and Jindal (2008, p.35). This is the situation at hand for which the medical team seeks to apply the best line of care and treatment to stabilize the patient towards full recovery from traumatic pneumothorax. Reflective Nursing Care Management for Chest Drain Patient Description of what happened The patient presented at the hospital with chest injury sustained from an apparent stub wound. As such, pre-treatment nursing care management required rapid assessment of the situation to accurately diagnose the case and establish the magnitude of the

Marketing Environment of the Financial Services Industry Essay

Marketing Environment of the Financial Services Industry - Essay Example Modification of this law recognizes the comparative development of the DIFC and strengthens its autonomy from onshore legislators. These legislative alterations with regard to DIFC examine what can be anticipated in terms of future regulations inside UAE financial services segment. This will significantly aid in encouraging business in the area. The significant bodies of the DFIC are maintained which have distinct pecuniary units with independent budget lines. The new amendment also clarifies the governance and executive structures of the three significant bodies. The new duties are to instigate, standardize and develop an independent payment structure in connection with the UAE fundamental Bank to advance massive wholesale disbursement, including multi-nation, and currency clearance deals. It clears the capability to clear and mend payments and to implement a structure accordingly (Campbell, p. 1). Current havoc in financial markets with regard to the sub-prime financial catastrophe calls for the integration of chattel liquidity into contemporary risk management components. The definitive target is to execute advanced financial modelling elements and sound regulations for the monetary, service industry in the UAE. The Amended Law indicates further advancement of the DIFC and Dubai as a retreat of tranquillity, order and superb governance. The DIFC society and stakeholders promote this amendment since it aims at enhancing the legislative obligation to subsidize DIFC’s contribution to global financial services sector as might be necessary to sustain effectiveness, transparency and veracity. 2 Global Financial Services Industry Leverages on enhanced De-risking Strategies The comprehensive international outlook aims at changing the financial services sector. Rapid recovery has been recorded in varied sections such as banking and coverage from the present economic meltdown. This is expected to guide the international monetary services in the short or medium terms. Transaction safety, operational effectiveness, regulatory conformity, business stability planning, re-engineering, client service and business peril management will probably advance market development in the approaching years. The financial services segment is significant consumer of varied business services and items. It is an economic authority that drives other enterprises undertakings, setting principles as it provides the monies required to advance these enterprises. It is the spotlight of other sections of the market. It is a sector significantly susceptible to market alterations. The initiation of niche players enhances the sector, although, there have been declines in the number of financial affiliations. The emergence of non-financial institutions into this sector is significantly altering the sector. Escalating competition and flooded markets has forced massive actors in the global banking sector to explore upcoming markets. These changes in the financial segment wi ll significantly increase profits, improve clients’ confidence and advance the entire business progress (GIA, p.1). Consolidation has been extremely significant in the financial services segment in present years. These structural alterations in the sector have produced the liberal strategic turbulence that has challenged senior administration

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Helping doing my , argumentative - Essay Example will discuss some of the ways in which social media addiction is exhibited, some of the reasons for why it happens, and some of the means by which individuals have come to realize and seek help with regards this particular addiction. However, it is the hope of this author that the reader will gain a more full and complete understanding of the means by which social media addiction is exhibited within an environment and the overall applications at this rather new level of personal addiction means with regards to society, interpersonal relations, studies, and work. Above all, before delving deeply into the subject matter, it must be understood by the reader that social media has experienced a great growth and differentiation from its earliest days. This of course stands to reason due to the fact that social media is ultimately an exhibition of technology which in an of itself grows and develops at a rapid rate. Without seeking to pick specifically on any particular platform of social media, one can of course see this growth and development exhibited within the means by which Facebook was originally intended merely as a means of linking individuals together. However, the definition and means by which this was affected has common to be seen as something of a shift (LaRose & Eastin, 2003). Comparatively, exhibitions such as twitter and other social networking sites now place the interconnectedness and friendship dynamics of individuals upon a secondary level of importance; choosing instead to focus upon the means by which seemingly endless status updates and tracking of activities/interests can be relayed within the community itself. In summary, although it is not the intention of this author to point to the fact that social networking is in and of itself negative, it must be noted that this particular shift has been described has necessarily increased the overall level of the addictive nature and addictive tendencies that are exhibited within its usage. All in all,

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Registerd nurse interview analysis - Essay Example She said that this was tough when her children were still young because they rarely see each other due to her schedule. Sometimes, she cannot be with them on holidays because of her work. She said that she does not regard patients as difficult. Sometimes they can be demanding and grumpy but as a nurse, she has to understand the situation of the patient that they just want to feel better. The resource person narrated that nursing is not just an eight to five job where you punch in and get paid. It is a profession as well as a vocation because the job affects people’s lives. To be successful in this profession, one has to be genuinely concerned with people. A nurse has to understand that patients are already in pain and the least the nurse can do is to alleviate and make the pain bearable to the patient. Nurses also work long hours and they do not follow the Monday to Friday work routine nor the eight to five schedule. It is because illness do not follow schedule and hospitals are open throughout the year. There are also emergency cases where a nurse has to work

How do corporations use e-learning Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

How do corporations use e-learning - Term Paper Example based training that is aimed at enhancing their working capabilities and, overcome challenges through putting together different systems, as well as measure their profits on these investments. According to (Zoeller & Berg, 2008), e-learning is any teaching or training via digital technologies as a way of distributing and conveying material or information to employees. From teaching or training videos published on DVDs to computer-based courses, eLearning has developed over the years. On the other hand, with the growth of the Internet, computer-based training has appeared at the top of eLearning, and growing figures of employees are being trained via the World Wide Web at the present (Zoeller & Berg, 2008). Presently business activities in a real-time world are becoming more complex and innovative for instance, presently organizations have competitors appear from the entire areas, innovation rules, knowledge offer more influence than capital, as well as the previous policies no longer be relevant. Presently each business requires a competitive edge in the business. Now organizations want those process, tools, and technique that will offer them the benefits over their marke t competitors. Corporate e-learning solutions and training courses are aimed at providing corporate the business training that is required for staying ahead of as compared to other market competitors (E-learningCenter, 2009) and (Morch, Engen, & Asand, 2004). According to Schweizer (2004), e-learning is putting back face-to-face learning interaction and emerging the trend of e-learning in business or organization. On the other hand, the quality of interaction, a helpful e-learning educational culture, the cost-effectiveness of modern and up-to-date technology, a development of the Internet, an augment in online courses, smaller business cycles, unions and rising competition support business and organization to make use of e-learning (Schweizer, 2004). According to (Commonwealth of Australia,

Assignment One Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Assignment One - Coursework Example It will make it a lot easier to achieve. I have done O and A levels in September 1999 and my subjects are Arabic, Arabic Literature, English language, History, Art, Geography. I have also done some courses as General Principle of English Law, Procedural Law Completed Virgin Atlantic/GBTA level 1 and level 2 FARES & TICKETING and GALILEO. With attaining degrees in HR, I also need to start working professionally. I already have worked in different human resources areas as volunteer and part time worker. For next five years, I have set some goals for myself to achieve: I need to improve my general knowledge about people and their behavioral psychology. It is because I am pursuing a career in Human Resource and for that I need to have an extensive knowledge about different people, their cultures, political views etc. For this purpose, I need to attend seminars, training courses to meet new people, meet professionals in the field to develop my knowledge. I also need to read books on a regular basis, apart from my course material to have an advanced learning of the subject. I need to be adaptive to new environment and people. For an HR professional, being adaptive is very important as HR professionals are key drivers in bringing change in the organization and they have to meet and manage people from diverse background. This I will learn when I move out of my home country to a new place for my university degree. Moving to a new country will give me a chance to meet people from diverse background and know them better. I need to work on my creative side. I need to develop skills for thinking out of the box and lead to innovation. For this purpose I have to go through a lot of brain storming exercises everyday to develop lateral thinking in myself. I researched through a lot of text and website in order to set my educational and career goals. I used Nova Scotia Government Career Development Plan 2006-07 guide to see

Castrol and Its Distributors Essay Example for Free

Castrol and Its Distributors Essay We had to undergo summer training in the corporate sector for hands on experience, where we get an opportunity to put into practice the knowledge gained during the entire first year. Hence, the organizational study was conducted at Shekar Agencies, Bangalore, for a period of 5 weeks. The organization was studied on an overall basis. The objective of our study was to: * Understand the structure of Shekar Agencies and how it functions. * Understand the different facets of the environment in which the organization operates. * Understand the culture of Shekar Agencies. Know about the decision-making processes in Shekar Agencies. It may also have the function of transporting foreign particles. The property of reducing friction is known as  lubricity. 1. 2. 2 Manufacturing Process of Lubricating Oil Lube oil is extracted from crude oil, which undergoes a preliminary purification process (sedimentation) before it is pumped into fractionating towers. A typical high-efficiency fractionating tower, 25 to 35 feet (7. 6 to 10. 6 meters) in diameter and up to 400 feet (122 meters) tall, is constructed of high grade steels to resist the corrosive compounds present in crude oils; inside, it is fitted with an ascending series of condensate collecting trays. Within a tower, the thousands of hydrocarbons in crude oil are separated from each other by a process called  fractional distillation. As the vapours rise up through the tower, the various fractions cool, condense, and return to liquid form at different rates determined by their respective boiling points (the lower the boiling point of the fraction, the higher it rises before condensing). Natural gas reaches Crude oil distillation process A good lubricant possesses the following characteristics: * High boiling point. If one thinks of lubricants today, the first type to come to mind are mineral oil based. Mineral oil components continue to form the quantitatively most important foundation of lubricants. Petrochemical components and increasingly derivatives of natural, harvestable raw materials from the oleo-chemical industry are finding increasing acceptance because of their environmental compatibility and some technical advantages. On average, lubricating oils, which quantitatively account for about 90 % of lubricant consumption, consist of about 93 % base oils and 7 % chemical additives and other components (between 0. and 40 %). Worldwide, there are 1380 lubricant manufacturers ranging from large to small. On one hand there are vertically-integrated petroleum companies whose main business objective is the discovery, extraction and refining of crude oil. Lubricants account for only a very small part of their oil business. At present, there are about 180 such national and multinational oil compan ies engaged in manufacturing lubricants. The 1200 independent lubricant companies mainly concentrate on the manufacturing and marketing of lubricants and view lubricants as their core business.

Evaluating Compliance Strategies Essay Example for Free

Evaluating Compliance Strategies Essay The compliance process is critical when it pertains to the billing and coding process. It is imperative for Medical Insurance Specialist to remain current on the patient’s participation in contract as well as the medical insurance policies, so there will not be any billing errors. Maintaining a communication with the payer will also prevent billing errors. Such regulations and laws are in place for to protect the patient’s financial state, prevent errors of billing and coding, and to link procedures and diagnoses correctly. Becoming knowledgeable of the billing rules should also help prevent billing errors as well. In this assignment, I will discuss how important it is for medical staff to be knowledgeable of the billing and coding compliance strategies. The first strategy to compliance is to carefully define bundled codes and know global periods. This is important, medical insurance specialist must be knowledgeable of what global periods are for surgical procedures and what specific procedure is included in the bundled codes. The second strategy is to benchmark the practice’s E/M codes with national averages. This strategy helps when conducting comparisons with the national averages, because it helps to monitor upcoding. The third strategy is the use of appropriate modifiers. This strategy helps prevent double billing or unbundling. Modifiers such as -25, -59, and -91 are most important when billing in compliance. The fourth strategy is becoming clear on professional courtesy and discounts to uninsured/low income patients. Unfortunately, providers can no longer provide professional courtesy to patients per OIG’s Compliance Program Guidance for Individual and Small Group Physician Practices. However, if the patient may qualify for discounts if they are either uninsured or has low income. According to textbook Medical Insurance: An Integrated Claims Process Approach, â€Å"The practice’s method for selecting people to receive discounts should be documented in the compliance plan and in its policies and procedures information (Valerius, 2008). Lastly, maintaining a compliance job reference aid and documentation template can help with compliance. In other words, having a cheat sheet of commonly used CPT codes or diagnoses codes could help smooth the billing process. There are establishments in place to ensure that there is correct and appropriate coding. Programs such Medicare’s national Correct Coding Initiative (CCI) Policy Manual for Medicare Services provide manuals to help correct improper coding when billing for Medicare services.

Representation And The Newspaper Media Criminology Essay

Representation And The Newspaper Media Criminology Essay This literature review aims to examine the literature regarding the ways in which women offenders, particularly those connected with notorious murder cases are represented by the media, one simply way that can help to understand the representation of women is to compare it with how men are portrayed (Gill, 2007, p. 17). At its most basic (Burton, 2010, p. 16), representation is the construction of ideas about a subject through some means of communication. The concern is that the representation constructs detrimental ideas about the difference of the subject from others (Burton, 2010, p. 16). Women who join their partners in killing have stood out as extraordinary and exceptional (Jewkes, 2004, p. 108), feminist commentators (Jewkes, 2004, Naylor, 2001) assert that the women attract more media attention creating an image of them that is more powerful than that of the male. The pervasive coverage has resulted in the construction of these women as folk devils provoking a collective sens e of horror from the public. Representation and the newspaper media Newspapers exert an enormous amount of influence over public perception (Burton, 2010, p. 7), they are an influential and powerful tool within society, utilised to inform and exchange information and news to the public. Academics have questioned the role of newspapers in their reporting of serious crime suggesting that instead of representing reality, they instead provide media representations of reality (Peelo et al 2004, p. 261). Reah (2002, p. 50) observes newspapers are not simply vehicles for delivering information; they present the reader with aspects of the news, and present it often in a way that intends to guide the ideological stance of the reader. Burton (2010, p. 7) explains that the familiarity of newspapers in our daily lives can divert attention from the fact that they are made objects. He asserts that newspapers are organised in various ways for various reasons and it would not be possible to argue that they are neutral deliverers of information with which the reader can do anything they please with. Burton (2010, p. 16) maintains that from a structuralist perspective there are features of a newspaper which present an order, a form, cues to the reader; all of these give shape to the representation of the subject. Newspapers order their material to produce a line of argument which is then imposed on the reader. Jewkes (2004, p.37) agrees with this view, stating that despite often being described as a window on the world or a mirror reflecting real life, newspapers might be more accurately described as a prism, subtly bending and distorting the representation of the subject it portrays. However, it must be pointed out that readers are not so lacking in the capacity for critical interpretation that newspaper makers can produce any kind of meaning or interpretation and impose it (Burton, 2010, p. 16). Feminism, crime and the media Research (Gill, 2007, Naylor 1995, 2001) has shown that the media coverage about women is generally presented differently to coverage about men. Dyer (1993, p. 21) and more recently Naylor (2001, p. 186) go further arguing that the same behaviour can evoke significantly different press coverage completely dependent on gender. In her study, Naylor (2001, p. 189) found that the female receives a higher volume of coverage and is constructed as more deviant, more anxiety producing and more transgressive than the male. Feminist examinations of the media propose two reasons for this gender inequality. Firstly, as Gill (2007, p. 121) argues, there is a gender imbalance in terms of who produces the news, male dominance dictates media values, beliefs and norms, often unfairly. She continues that women are culturalised into the news business, into an occupation in which the majority of senior positions are still taken by men. Research by Dougary (1994, cited by Burton, 2010, p. 257) established that across 12 tabloid newspapers top editorial jobs were held by 64 men and 11 women. The ratio was worse in the case of broadsheets. Although things are now changing (Gill 2007, p. 121; Burton, 2010, p.257) with a majority of females in journalism training, most do not end up in the mainstream press but rather in associated fields such as public relations and magazines. When women do enter the mainstream press (Gill, 2007, p. 122) there still appears to be discrimination and a gendered division between hard news reporters, such as economics, politics and crime, who tend to be men and features reporters, who are most likely to be women. There is evidence according to Burton (2010, p. 257), that it is nearly impossible for women to combine a mainstream investigative journalistic career with a family. Beasley (1992, p. 76) found that women journalists were less likely to be married or in a long term partnership than their male counterparts, they were also significantly less likely to have children. A simple increase in the numbers of women in journalism cannot be taken as straightforward evidence of greater equality, since for women, but not men, achieving this seems to involve major sacrifices in other parts of their lives (Gill, 2007, p. 122). Burton (2010, p. 257) puts it simply when he states that there is a gender imbalance in terms of who produces news, there is gender bias in terms of who gets to cover what kind of story, this influences the representations of gender in the news. The second reason proposed by feminist criminologists for this inequality in representation is that women commit far fewer crimes, specifically murders than men do (Seal, 2010, p. 1). The stereotypical picture of the criminal, Marsh and Melville (2008, p. 76) argue is a male. Male violence (Naylor, 2001, p. 186) is normalised, existing on a continuum ranging from the non violent to the murderous, this results in it being viewed only in terms of degree. Jewkes (2004, p. 133) argues that violence is viewed as one of many possible behaviour patterns for men; it is not strikingly unusual, even when extreme. When a man kills, his crime will be imaginable and possibly even seen as human, this is not the case for women. After all, argues Morrissey (2003, p. 16), male crime in all forms is frequently articulated, debated, portrayed, glorified, even fantasised, female crime is not. When women commit murder it is more disquieting and is accompanied by a sense of collective denial (Seal, 2010, p. 1). Women who commit murder are judged to have transgressed two sets of laws according to Jewkes (2004, p111); criminal law and the laws of nature, in Lloyds (1995) infamous words, such women are doubly deviant and doubly damned. Seal (2010, p. 1) explains, violence is an accepted attribute of most recognised masculinities, killing by women violates norms of femininity, such as nurturance, gentleness and social conformity. Marsh and Melville (2008, p. 76) state that there has always been and continues to be a widely held acceptance of common sense assumptions about female behaviour. They continue that the acceptable and stereotypical female norm is closely linked to womens psychological makeup and biological purpose, and it is these essentialist assumptions that condemn women to differential treatment not only in the media but also within the criminal justice system. Women who kill (Seal, 2010, p. 1) disturb culturally held notions not only of how women should behave but also of what woman is. Essentially women who kill trouble the masculine/feminine gender binary by transgressing its boundaries (Seal, 2010, p. 1). Jewkes (2004, p.133) asserts that in cases of women who kill vilification operates to displace them from society, to insist on their otherness, thereby avoiding the knowledge that she is produced by that society. Research by Chesney Lind (2006) supports this notion suggesting that gender stereotyping in criminality continues to permeate society with women who commit crimes, which violate gender stereotypes being given the most vicious journalistic treatment of all. Exploring representation typologies Previous research into media representations of women who commit murder indicate key stereotypical constructions that have limited the range of available representations to those which are disparaging and or disempowering (Seal, 2010, p. 6). Frigon (2006, cited by Seal 2010, p. 6) argues that there is an absence of language with which to articulate cases of women who kill. In particular, themes of sexuality, madness, and women as housewives and carers reoccur. Seal (2010, p 6) argues that this is unsurprising in the light of feminist criminology, which has explored how these discourse of womanhood are the ones that have governed the judgement, punishment and representation of criminal women. Jewkes (2004) in her book Media and Crime identified seven standard stereotypical narratives typically used by the media to construct the image of women who commit serious crime. These will now be outlined below. Sexuality and sexual deviance Women who commit serious offences are already of news value by virtue of their relative rarity. Jewkes (2004, p. 113) notes that women offenders become even more newsworthy when they can be further marginalised by reference to their sexuality. Womens sexual preference, their enjoyment of sex or their frigidity, have long been used to demonise them and justify their construction as monsters, even more so if the sexual preference of the woman in question is for other women. According to Jewkes (2004, p. 117) there is an inherent association between lesbianism and aggression that has led to the media attempting to explain violent female behaviour by way of lesbianism and attributes of masculinity. Seal (2010, p. 24) supports this argument stating that the tendency to masculinise women who kill is exacerbated in cases of women perceived as being lesbian or having lesbian tendencies. Physical attractiveness Women who kill (Jewkes, 2004, p. 118) are subjected to intense scrutiny regarding their physical appearance and attractiveness, a fact that entirely reflects cultural attitudes towards women in everyday life. Wykes and Gunter (2004, p. 255) argue that aspects of femininity such as youth, slenderness, and decorativeness are much valued within society and the media, if the female offender does not conform to this tradition stereotype she is vilified by the media. However it appears that the female offender cannot win, as Jewkes (2004, p. 119) points out women who are conventionally attractive and therefore do conform to this stereotype are not spared vilification, often being presented as femme fetales who are cold detached and morally vacuous. Gill (2007, p. 116) points out that unlike women, their male counterparts are rarely described or judged in terms of their physical appearance. Bad wives According to Jewkes (2004, p. 119) notions of femininity and domesticity are crucial factors in determining how to construct the image of women who kill. She argues that women offenders are frequently judged on their marital status, family background, and children. If it can be seen that women offenders are not conforming to Victorian inspired ideals of femininity and domesticity they are typically constructed as bad wives and mothers. By contrast, marital status, family background and children have little or no bearing on most cases involving male offenders whose conformity to conventional ideas of respectability rely on issues such as employment rather than factors such as marital status (Lloyd, 1995, p. 196). Bad mothers Women who murder children represent only a tiny fraction of serious criminals, as a result of this rarity they frequently have a novelty value that guarantees media interest in them (Seal, 2010, p. 26). The bad mother narrative is so culturally pervasive that it is applied to virtually all cases of women who kill whether the woman responsible is an actual mother or not (Jewkes, 2004, p. 121). Marsh and Melville (2008, p. 184) argue that the culturally sanctioned code of femininity and womanhood is that women should nature and protect, not harm. It is a womans natural role as mother and carer that makes it difficult for society to accept that women can harm children. Men on the other hand (Jewkes, 2004, p. 132) are rarely described as bad fathers even when their victim is their own child. Mythical monsters Jewkes (2004, p. 123) argues that the representation of women who kill that prevails in the media originate from pagan mythology, Judaeo Christian theology and classical art and literature, these frequently invoke images of witches, evil temptress, harpies and fallen women to convey female wickedness. She argues that the representation of female offenders as mythical monsters serves only to depict them as less woman than monster. Monstrous images of women have become so firmly entrenched in popular consciousness that it has become almost impossible to view any woman who kills as a real woman. Men however, according to Seal (2010, p. 75), are rarely given the same mythical motifs as females even though their crimes and or even themselves may be described as monstrous. Mad cows Seal (2010, p. 50) suggests that the criminal justice system, the media and society generally find it hard to accept that a woman has committed violent or heinous offences unless she can be categorised as a deluded lunatic or unstable hysteric. She argues along with Jewkes (2004, p 126) that there is an historical tendency to describe womens violence with explanations that rely on notions of female pathology, particularly in relation to faulty biology. This it is argued, (Seal 2010, p. 50, Jewkes, 2004 p. 126) serves to reduce the responsibility of the woman for the deviant act. Jewkes (2004, p. 127) argues that men meanwhile are regarded as rational agents, ruled by their heads not their biology and are therefore less likely to be described in terms of madness. Evil manipulator Women who collude with their partners in killing are problematic for the popular media who seek to communicate their actions to the rest of society (Jewkes, 2004, p. 128). The medias solution to women who appear to be equal partners, or at least go along with the crime unquestioningly is to place the burden of guilt on their shoulders. Morrissey (2003, p. 152) argues that the womens involvement in the crime will be exaggerated in the press causing the female to be vilified to a greater extent. She argues that the press relies on the notion that although the male may be a sadistic man capable of extreme cruelty he would never act without a submissive woman. It is only together that they become a lethal pair. Jewkes (2004, p. 128) argues that the female of the pair is deemed more culpable as she is instrumental in unleashing the violence and depravity that the male has thus far contained. It is the female who has let down the victim as she failed to stop the crime, she should have show n compassion (Jewkes, 2004, p. 128). Conclusion From the search of the literature pertaining to womens violence and the ways in which womens violence is represented it is becoming clear that the news medias aim and role is not simply to inform and educate the public (Burton, 2010, p. 8). The news media and society at large are not ready to confront the reality that women can be cruel, sadistic, and violent. The simple truth that men are more aggressive than women encourages a widespread cultural ignorance of the fact that women have the potential for violence and that women can kill as women (Jewkes, 2004, p. 129). Word count 2545

Goldratts The Goal Essay -- Goldratt Goal Bottleneck Essays

Goldratt's "The Goal" â€Å"The Goal† by Goldratt is a book about the Theory of Constraints, TOC. It is about the behavior of manufacturing facilities. It deals with bottlenecks that are the manufacturing constraints and the variability that creates them. The book states that a manufacturing organization cannot run at 100% and that you cannot balance the assembly line. It seems that your efforts for efficiency must be focused on the worst bottleneck. The loss caused by a bottleneck is a loss for the entire system. Focusing on improving the throughput of the bottleneck increases the flow for the entire manufacturing line. If there is a bottleneck, then all other areas are capable of excess capacity. Don’t try to improve non-bottlenecks, as it is a waste of time and effort. The TOC integrates into Total Quality Management, TQM, except for one main theory. TQM supports continuous improvement of the system while the TOC does not support continuous improvement of every process. The TOC says that we must focus on the constraint. Q: What is the Theory of Constraints about? A: Developed by Dr. Eliyahu M. Goldratt, TOC states that any system has at least one constraint. Otherwise, it would be generating an infinite amount of output. Bearing this in mind, TOC is easily explained through use of the "chain" analogy - "a chain is only as strong as its weakest link." If we look upon our organization as a chain, where each department is a "link" in the chain, what constrains our organization from achieving its goal? Only through addressing the weakest link, the constraint, can substantial improvements be made. In other words, if the constraint dictates the pace of an organization's ability to achieve it's goal, it makes sense that addressing the constraint will allow the organization to achieve a substantial rate of throughput faster. There are five steps in applying TOC: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Identify the system's constraints. Of necessity this included prioritization so that just the ones that really limit system progress toward the goal. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Decide how to exploit the system's constraints. Once we have decided how to manage the constraints within the system, how about the majority of the resources that are not constraints? The answer is that we manage them so that they just provide what is needed to match the output of the constrained resources. We NEVER let them supply mo... ...achine was running and an operator on your line was to set it up if it went down, you could take your break at your convenience. A few months went by and new coaches were hired. They decided they wanted to closely monitor the operator to see when they took their breaks and for how long. The decision was made to stop the machines when you go on your break and/or lunch. The new coach obviously wanted to make a good impression and bring something new to the table. They changed our staggered breaks to scheduled breaks. The results after a few weeks showed production was down and efficiency was at a record low. It showed machines were not running at full capacity for a tour. Immediately their superiors decided we would go back to the staggered lunches and breaks. The downtime was then reduced and our departmental efficiency went up. They realized it was not as important to monitor the person, as it was to have the machine running. Now I know this does not stand up to the problems Alex and his staff faced with UniCo but this is what I face everyday. I found a case study that was used at the TOC World 2000 Seminar in St. Paul MN last year. I thought I would include it for your enjoyment

Cellular Evolution Response :: essays research papers

The golgi apparatus and the mitochondria are both eukaryotic bond organelles. The Golgi apparatus is a membrane-bound organelle found near the cell nucleus in eukaryotic cells which is responsible for sorting and packaging proteins for secretion to various destinations in the cell. It is typically comprised of a series of five to eight cup-shaped, membrane-covered sacs called cisternae. Cells may have many cisternae. Vesicles near the golgi are involved in the transfer of material between the golgi and other structures. The mitochondria is a site for cellular respiration. It generates ATP by extracting energy from sugars, fats, and other sources with the presence of oxygen. The mitochondria has two membranes. Both membranes are made of a phosolipid bilayer with embedded proteins, but the (smooth)outer membrane doesn’t have folds, cristae, that the inner membrane has. The inner membrane makes the proteins and enzymes that are used for cellular respiration.The two membranes are separated by a space, called the intermembrane space. The two membranes surround the mitochondrial matriz which contains enzymes, ribosomes and mitochondrial DNA. The mitochondria makes the ATP needed to help the cell function. b) DNA is a double helix and it replicates itself by separating the two strands while each serves as a template for new nucleotides to pair up into two new complementary strands. In prokaryotes, DNA is located all over the cell, but in eukaryotes it is only in the nucleus, and more specifically on their chromosomes. Prokaryotic DNA are located in loops, and does not contain the proteins found in eukaryotic DNA. Prokaryotes DNA has less unhelpful DNA than eukaryotes do, who have about 95% unhelpful DNA. Prokaryotes also have less complex transcriptional regulatory mechanisms than eukaryotes. The cell wall is a rigid layer surrounding a cell that gives it support and protection. It protects the inside of the cell from internal movement while supporting the cell. Animal cells do not have cell walls, instead, they have a semi-permeable plasma membrane. Most prokaryotes have cell walls made of peptidoglycan made from polysaccharide chains cross-linked by peptides. They are semi-rigid and protect the bacteria again possible toxins. Unlike prokaryotes, the cell walls of plant cells are made of cellulose, while the cell walls of fungi are made of chitin.

The Population Solution :: essays research papers fc

The Population Solution Question... 1. Most people assume that human numbers will stabilize at some point in the future. Discuss the conditions which can contribute to the solution of the population explosion. "Let us suppose that the average human being weighs 60 kilogram's. If that's the case then 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 people would weigh as much as the whole Earth does. That number of people is 30,000,000,000,000 times as many people as there are living today. It may seem to you that the population can go up a long, long time before it reaches the point where there are 30,000,000,000,000 times as many people as there are today. Let's think about that though. Let us suppose that the population growth rate stays at 2.0 per cent so that the number of people in the world continues to double every 35 years. How long, then, will it take for the world's population to weigh as much as the entire planet? The answer is - not quite 1,600 years. This means that by 3550 AD, the human population would weight as much as the entire planet.... Even if that were possible, it wouldn't give us much time. If the growth-rate stays at 2.0 per cent, then in a little over 2,200 years - say, by 4220 AD - the human populat i on would weigh as much as the entire Solar system, including the Sun... and by about 6700 AD - the human population would weigh as much as the entire Universe." The preceding paragraph, by Isaac Asimov describes quite alarmingly just how bad the population problem really is, that in considerably less time that has passed since the days of Julius Caesar the population will equal in mass of that of the earth. Most people assume that human numbers will stabilize at some point in the future. Hopefully it will, but not without conditions that will contribute to the solution of the population explosion, conditions which include education, birth control methods and government action. Although not the largest in terms of population size, Kenya has one of the highest rates natural increase in the world. This rapid growth rate, which is predicted to reach 120 million by the year 2050, is primarily due to high birthrates and low death rates. Alarmingly, more than half of its population is under the age of 15. This is partly due to the fact that before western influence, health care was relatively poor and families needed to be large in order to guarantee the survival of at least a couple of children to take care of both the land and the elderly.

Man and Woman

Sam Keen is an American author, philosopher and professor born in the year 1931 whose writings and teachings have explored areas such as religion, philosophy and psychology. Sam Keen's writings have been focused on the countless questions of love, life, religion, and being a man in a modern society; which he discusses in his book ‘Fire in the Belly: On Being a Man' (1991). From the book ‘Fire in the Belly' the essay ‘Man and WOMAN' was extracted. Along with these literary pieces, popular books such as Apology of Wonder (1969), Faces of the Enemy (1986), and Learning to Fly: Trapeze- Reflections on Fear, Trust, and the Joy of Letting Go (1999) are all products of Keen's literary works of art. After Keen's academic pursuit of graduating from Ursinus College in 1953 with his undergraduate degree. Keen obtained obtained his graduate degrees from Harvard University and Princeton University. Keen was then a professor of the philosophy of religion at a seminary known as the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary for six years. Keen later became an editor for Psychology Today magazine and thereafter ventured in to the field of writing. The focus of this essay will be on the extract ‘Man and WOMAN'. Man and WOMAN as was mentioned before, was extracted from Keen's book ‘Fire in the Belly: On Being a Man' that is based on the examination of the stereotypical perceptions and myths surrounding the idealistic concepts of man and WOMAN, and the roles both sexes play. This essay will discuss what is required of a man to attain true manhood as they examine their trinomial views of WOMAN as Goddess and Creatrix, WOMAN as Mother and Matrix, and WOMAN as Erotic-Spiritual Power. The concept of ‘manhood' has been falsely identified for several generations now. The qualities believed to be possessed by a male in order to be considered a ‘man' are commonly those that are contrary to the characteristics actually possessed by a true man. In past generations and even more so today, being manly involves being ‘macho' – in full control of any and everything, being Mr. Know It All, being strong and mighty, fierce, and a cocky braggart. However, these traits in no way contribute to manhood. In Man and WOMAN, Keen expresses that ‘men' in fact are those responsible for their struggles in reaching the state of true manhood. Keen mentions that â€Å"one of the major tasks of manhood is to explore the unconscious feelings that surround our (men's) various images of WOMAN, to dispel false mystification, to dissolve the vague sense of threat and fear, and finally to learn to respect and love the strangeness of womankind† (Verburg, 2000, pg. 332 ). However, without a doubt, more than half the males in society that regard themselves as ‘men' are no way near even sharing the same opinion or train of thought as Keen's in regards to evaluating one's self and validating and embracing the being of a woman to reach the destination of true manhood. In fact, their efforts of becoming a man is focused solely on themselves. The input or significance of woman in the opinions of males today have no relevance whatsoever throughout the course of them becoming true men. In Keen's essay, he opposes the idea of males solely becoming men. Keen argues that in order for a child; who later becomes a man-child, to evolve into that of being a man, he must first purge his mind of the misconceptions of a WOMAN, and the â€Å"unconscious feelings† (Verburg, 2000, pg. 32 ) that surround those misconceptions. The first of the three views on WOMAN males must address in the journey of becoming a man is WOMAN as Goddess and Creatrix. As the title WOMAN as Goddess and Creatrix would imply, it is referring to the fact that women are the sex that brings about creation. Only females possess the ability to bring forth a child, which males often times feel threatens their significance and importance as ‘men'- the sex believed to be the dominant ly essential. However, what ‘men' fail to realize as what Keen expresses as the challenge ‘WOMAN as Creatrix' presents to a man to â€Å"justify his existence† (Verburg, 2000, pg. 334), is that both sexes are equally important. It is impossible for a female to impregnate herself without the sperm of a man. Women are actually knowledgeable of the impossibility of self-conception as well, and would readily accept that the participation of man is equally important in procreating. Though, the ‘macho' aspect of males that drive them to desire preferable superiority over women wouldn't allow males to freely accept equal importance to females. The reason the conscience of males constantly haunts them is that, hands down, child bearing is dumbfounding and an honorable thing which males cannot deny nor carry out. Thus, males constantly feel inferior to females in regards to creation and continue to believe that the males' participation in procreating is still inadequate. Therefore, males resort to trying to find every possible justification of their existence which is not the manliest thing to do. Keen expresses the males justification efforts in the essay as he stated â€Å"much of the meaning men attribute to their work is a response to the question posed to us by WOMAN'S capacity to give life† (Verburg, 2000, pg. 334 ). Instead of competing with the importance of women's existence, men should not only become aware of the significance of women as child bearers but rather wholeheartedly embrace the divine capability of women and accept, and respect the worth of both women and men. Secondly, in regards to WOMAN as Mother and Matrix, Keen describes the roles of a WOMAN as the mirror through which a child starts seeing themselves, as the initial teacher that molds the child's eventual thoughts, opinions, and perspectives, as nurturer, and as an information system through which the child begins to view and understand the world, the surroundings, and last but not least themselves. WOMAN as Mother and Matrix is the first influential person encountered by a child with whom a strong bond is established; if not the strongest. Keen's support of how critical the relationship between mother and child is was established as he made the statements â€Å"She exists; therefore I am. Within the warp of her womb our bodies are woven- flesh of her flesh† (Verburg, 2000, pg. 335). The child delivered after nine months of pregnancy is literally a part of the mother, a part of her being, was developed and nurtured within her body. Thus, there is an immediate bond that comes into existence even before the child is delivered. Hence, the instant attachment between a mother and child is inevitable. However, it is the extent to which the attachment prevails that becomes a concern. Keen's focus on the attachment issue between mother and child was based on the parental situation involving a son. Because of the very important and fundamental role a mother plays in raring her son; there comes a point in her son's life that he falls in love with his mother and disregards the role and significance of a father (Freud, 1899, pg. 296). However, according to Keen the son eventually â€Å"renounces his desire to be his mother's lover and makes common cause with his enemy- the father† (Verburg, 2000, pg. 336). Reestablishing a relationship with the father then provides the opportunity for the son to become exposed and grasp the qualities and values of being a man. The fact of today's family oriented reality however, lacks that of a father figure in the household. Numerous homes in today's society are composed of single mothers and their child/children. In order to emphasize on the imagery of lacking a father in modern families, Keen went on to say â€Å"where once there was a father, there is now a vacuum† (Verburg, 2000, pg336). A vacuum is defined as the â€Å"absence of a normal or previous content of a place, environment, etc. (Oxford, 1982, pg. 1185). Thus, Keen could not have compared the lack of a dad to anything better that that of a vacuum. The emptiness left in a family as a result of lacking a father is in fact like that of a vacuum. The empty space is the absence of a father figure (the previous content) that had formerly played a role in the family. As a result, Keen a rgues that lacking a dad leads the son to become and remain a mama's boy, and that the son therefore becomes disconnected from an exemplary person who would guide him to manhood. Keen stated â€Å"The powerful father has been all but replaced by the powerful mother. Dad is no longer present to teach his sons how to be men. † (Verburg, 2000, pg. 336). Mothers have boldly taken on the challenge of working, maintaining a household, raring their children, and paying the bills. Women are no longer dependent on a male partner as bread winner and provider in a home. And the strength and courage mothers display by being both mother and father in the homes is what results in sons becoming more attached to their mothers. The sons admire and greatly appreciate the efforts and responsibilities taken on by the mother to meet their needs. Therefore sons begin to live their lives with the ultimate purpose of pleasing mom and being the ideal son. Though, growing up in a single-parent home with only a mother and greatly respecting and honoring her is no excuse for a son not to be able to develop into a fully fledged man. A father figure might be absent in the home, but there are uncles, grandfathers, older male cousins, and even exemplary male figures in society that the sons can look up to for guidance to achieve manhood. Achieving manhood in such a modern family might in fact make the task even more challenging, but in no way it makes reaching manhood impossible. Lastly, men's view of WOMAN as Erotic-Spiritual Power is focused on the argument that ultimately, a woman is the â€Å"prime mover† (Verburg, 2000, pg. 338) in the sexual aspect of life. Based on Eastern mythology â€Å"the female principle is seen as active and the male as responsive† (Verburg, 2000, pg. 338). Whether the woman out rightly suggests sexual intercourse or seduces a man into the act by her attire, the woman is considered the sexual initiator. Even in extreme situations such as rape, the rapist would justify his act with the defense that the woman was the initiator of the act. The rapist would make claims such as the woman tempted him, and that â€Å"she wanted it† (Verburg, 2000, pg. 338). However, in a consensual situation or an unfortunate one such as rape; no one individual is responsible for the actions taken by the other person but of themselves. Hence, the WOMAN as Erotic-Spiritual Power is free of any connection whatsoever to the train of thought or moral decision a man would make in regards to his sexual perception of the WOMAN'S behavior or intention. Manhood entails taking responsibility for your own actions, each and every one of them. A true man dominates his thoughts and opinions. A man knows what he wants, and knows exactly why he does what he does. A woman, regardless of how provocative she might dress, or how appealing she might be, has no responsibility or dominating sexual influence on a male who's achieved manhood. In essence, Keen's opinion on achieving true manhood involved exorcizing the numerous â€Å"archetypical creatures† (Verburg, 2000. pg. 332) men have of women in their heads, understanding and embracing the existence and being of womankind, and evaluating themselves as men and the unconscious feelings attached to their many imageries of women. Unlike what many would believe, manhood is not obtained by nature but is rather nurtured (Denee, 2005). Keen concluded his essay with frank statements such as â€Å"As ‘men' we need to recollect our experience, reown our repressed knowledge of the power of WOMAN, and cease to establishing our manhood in reactionary ways. So long as we define ourselves by our reactions to unconscious images of WOMAN we remain in exile from the true mystery and power of manhood† (Verburg, 2000, pg. 339).