Instead of continuously making Essay Example for Free

Instead of continuously making Essay As a Health Educator working for an international health organization, I would conduct a need assessment process that aims to determine the problems related to how the trash is managed in the community. I would do so by visiting the factories of different industries ranging from pharmaceuticals to FMCGs, where I would analyze how the waste material is dumped or discarded by them. Secondly, I would conduct surveys through questionnaires and informal interviews with people of households and shopkeepers that would focus on how they discard the waste, why do they do so, how often, and what do they lack in effectively disposing of the waste. After gathering enough information about this, I would ascertain the problems or unwanted outcomes that are created by improperly discarding the waste materials. For example, who are affected the most, what affects them precisely, and the extent to which they are affected negatively by improper trash management. As far as the paper products are concerned, we sloppily use them and do not utilize them to their fullest. For instance, a note book or a writing pad often goes into the trash bin with lots of unused pages. Instead of continuously making new paper products such as, copies or tissue papers, we can recycle them and save a great amount of time and cost. Other technological devices and instruments are no exception, and can also be recycled and refurbished which results in saving time, costs, and energy – both by the producers and consumers. Now let’s talk about the ways and procedures that are used to recycle the products. The resources are very much available within the community; nevertheless, if someone is lacking then we would provide them the resources to cope with the problem. One way of doing so is Curbside recycling, which is the process where the residents or subscribers are provided with trash cans and are asked to confirm their recyclables, sort them out separately, put them in the bin outside their home, and keep them clean. The recyclers would come, pick the trash or materials and take them away. Recycling drop-off centre is another technique where people can drop-off the used products or materials that are listed or guided to them to a certain location, point, or centre from where the material is taken away for recycling. Yard waste recycling encourages people to bring and deposit their yard debris or green waste to the centers for the purpose of minimizing the load on landfills and providing recycled fertilizers for the use in public parks and other areas. People can find out waste or debris and can deposit or pile it up in their backyard (Selvon, 2008). And finally, ECO-CELL is another way of recycling the technological devices or instruments such as, cell phones, computers, and printers. Answer – 2 I would involve the community in the needs assessment process by creating a buzz among them about the alarming situation of waste management and its hazardous impacts over the community. I would initiate campaigns that would be designed and carried out against the improper trashing and polluting the environment; moreover, those campaigns would create awareness among the people about how they are affected, what is the better way of trashing, and how they can be benefitted from that. People would be asked to search and tell us about the problems they and other people face in the community, and what has worsened than before. Several gifts and prize money would be given as an incentive to the people to come and participate in the need assessment program and overcome the issue of improper trash management. References Selvon. M. (2008). Recycling Yard Waste is a Great Composting Solution. Retrieved on July 28, 2010. From http://ezinearticles. com/? Recycling-Yard-Waste-is-a-Great-Composting-Solutionid=1150298

Developing Awareness of Food Hygiene

Developing Awareness of Food Hygiene Tanisha Raybe HEALTH PROMOTION ESSAY ABOUT AWARENESS OF FOOD HYGIENE. GROUP MEMBERS WERE: Tanisha Raybe, Caroline Veerasamy, Charlotte Chalmers , Hannah Firth and Stacey Rimes. INTRODUCTION This essay will seek to highlight the importance of food hygiene, it will include epidemiology, demography data alongside target groups and health policies. It will seek to evaluate the effectiveness of a health forum and illustrate the role of a health promoter ASSESSMENT OF HEALTH NEED There has been growing recognition that highlights the need for more awareness of food hygiene. This was evident in the increase rate of morbidity and mortality of foodborne illnesses in the United Kingdom and worldwide (World Health Organisation, 2007). This prompted governing bodies to place more emphasis on food safety practices. However, despite their efforts food borne illness incidence continues to increase in numbers attracting media attentions both nationally and internationally (Arendt, Paez and Strohbehn, 2013). The aim of food hygiene is to ensure food is free from physical, chemical and biological contamination which is overall safe for consumption (Who, 2002). An epidemiology study carried out by The Department of Environment of food and rural affairs (2013) gave an insight into the effect of food borne illness. They reported that, there were over a million cases of food borne illness in the United Kingdom each year as a result of poor food hygiene. This amounts to 20,000 hospital admissions and 500 deaths. Food Standard Agency (2011) collated that in England and wales each year there were around 1.7 million cases of food borne illness that is 33160 cases each week. Additionally, the Centre for disease control and prevention (2011) reports that each year approximately 1 in 6 American that is 48 million people being sick , hospitalised or have died from food borne illness. Moreover the FSA, (2011) highlighted that the statistics presented above only represents the reported numbers of incidence, hence underestimating the true value of food borne illness. In light of the evidence presented above, underscore that poor food hygiene is a significant health issue that results in mortality, morbidity and hospital admissions (WHO, 2007). Moreover, the economical burden cause by the prevalence of food borne illness which cost 1.5 million to treat. Food borne illness is preventable, however many consumer believes that food borne illness is acquired by eating out whether from a restaurant or from a fast food outlet (Ackerley, 2013). However, by contrast Zablostsky Kufel el al (2011) argued that large outbreaks of food borne illness are mostly attributed to poor hygiene practices carried out within the homes. This they mentioned was due to lack of awareness about what actually cause food borne illness. These they mentioned were wrong cooking procedures , supplier providing food that have been contaminated and lastly the involvement of risky eating behaviour of raw and undercook meat. FSA, 2011 states that it is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that the food that is supplied, prepared and eaten is suited for consumption as lay out in the policy on food safety. Also consumers do not readily admit that they may have caught food borne illness as a result of poor hygiene practices (FSA, 2011). A research carried out by (WHO, 2013) indicated that although everyone is at risk of food borne illness pregnant women , elderly , children and the immune deficiency are more susceptible to food borne illness . FSA ,2013 highlight that, more attentions should be place on education and training to reiterate to the general public about the common vehicle that cause pathogens leading to gastroenteritis and food poisoning. In addition, educating them that although some hazards are obvious factor for food poisoning, there are some not so apparent and the consequences takes time to manifest itself. For instance, food that are improperly stored, cooked or poor labelling as well as out of date, this can have a detrimental effect on the body (Griffith, 2010). Yet although food safety messages are spreading in the UK and globally the implementation is quite challenging for many. Yiannas, 2008 states that in order to improve food safety there must be a change in people’s behaviour. However changing consumer behaviour is more complex than merely educating them as habits formulated over a long period of time might be hard to break (Ackerley, 2011). For example, A study carried out in China indicated that food safety incidents was a result of social behaviour rather than natural factor, this was due to their abuse of food additives (Qiang et al , 2011 Ouyang,2011). Consumers need to be taught the benefits of changing behaviour against the consequences of food borne illness (Ackerley, 2013). Therefore, it is imperative that education be the focal point in changing people’s behaviour when it comes to food hygiene practices (Mullan Wrong, 2010). Cultural, gender, belief and age may play a significant role in food borne illness (Ackerley, 2013). For instance, in some countries economic is taught in school as part of the educational curriculum allowing students to learn about the importance of food hygiene from a young age (Powell chapman ,2011). Also some culture support females to be mainly responsible for the preparation of meals within in the home (Yiannas,2009) . Moreover, this could eliminate other family members learning the importance of food hygiene (Yiannas,2009). Policy Given the growing evidence of food borne illness this has erode consumer’s confidence in government ability to protect them from food borne illness. However this prompted Government organisation such as Food Standard Agency , Health Protection Agency, international campaign company like WHO to put more measures in place to prevent food borne illness that is identifiable by the public (FSA,2011) . Their mission is to create an awareness of food hygiene through education by engaging the public in discussion about and implementation of food safety practices. The information stipulated within the policies are set out in a comprehensive manner that seeks to give practical advice as well as address concerns the general public have or encountered (FSA,2011). For example, WHO (2012) identifies five key ways to prevent the spreading of food borne illness which are keep clean ,cook thoroughly ,safe temperatures, safe water and raw material and lastly the separation of raw and cooked product. The National health hand campaign (2009) highlights the importance of effective hand washing as it is one of the most effective ways to prevent food borne illness. The government also highlighted that transparency about food borne illness, educational programs, surveillance and inspection system for food safety is key to prevent increase in food borne illness ( Hird et al, 2009). Based on evidences relating to the increase of foodborne illness and the rising economic cost of treating illness (FSA, 2013). The experts such as Government, policy maker and health professional decided that more needs to be done about the awareness of food borne illness this coincided with Bradshaw’s (1972) needs. Bradshaw suggested there are four types of needs expressed, felt, normative and comparative needs. However, as the needs were identified by the experts normative need was more applicable to address the issue of food borne illness. For, example Rayner Scarborough (2005) argued that food borne illness is quite significant as it can have a major impact on a person’s health. They highlighted that compared to other illness say smoking that is hugely advertised in comparison to hygiene which has the same risk of mortality, morbidity hospital admission and increased burden on the NHS resources. APPROACH Yang (2012) suggested that education coupled with implementing good kitchen hygiene could reduce the number of illness and death. Seedhouse (2001) concurs with this statement stating that if the public is given the right information and resources people are far more receptive and incline to change their behaviour to achieve food safety practices .The educational approach was chosen as it reflected the most effective means to convey a message to the public to empower change. Scriven (2010) points out that the goal of an educational approach is to give adequate information to ensure the public have gain enough knowledge and understanding as well as skills to make informed decision. It is important to considerate the different ways people learn as suggested by Honey and Mumford who highlighted four learning styles namely activist, reflector theorist and lastly pragmatist (Honey Mumford, 1986). The strength of the educational approach is that information is provided to aid consumer to make the best possible choice. However, freedom of choice may not work in the public favour as they might not be incline to change their behaviour toward food hygiene ( Simnet,2010) . The aims and objects were obtained by using the acronym Smart which stands for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound. This was then illustrated by the followings: At the end of five minutes the participants will be able to identified Two sources of pathogen that can cause food borne illness two ways to prevent food borne illness Two symptoms of food borne illness EVALUATION According to Scriven (2010) evaluation is reaching a judgement about a significance particular task by critically analysing both strengths and weakness. The aim of the forum was to create an awareness of food hygiene through education on the importance of food hygiene as well as gather feedback to inform future knowledge. The group followed a sequence that was effective to analyse evaluation which were process, impact and outcome (Naidoo Wills ,2009). The group ensured there were enough educational tools incorporated to reinforce the message and took into consideration how people learn .This forum comprised of posters, leaflets, brochures, interactive games, souvenir, and show and explain demonstration. The group work together in a cohesive manner which was evident in their organisation and how the message was conveyed . As Yang et al (2012) states that teamwork’s is beneficial for student’s nurses as it helps them to develop their communication skills among others.The group presented the information in a clear, succinct manner and was not judgemental, bearing in mind they only had five minutes to get the message across. This was in accordance with (Scriven, 2010) who states that an effective communication should be free from ambiguous language. The group target university student from the age of 18- 25 as they were particularly more involved in risky behaviour than any other groups at risk ( Abbott , 2009). This was due to lack of knowledge of food safety and them being away from home for the very first time ( Mullan Wrong , 2010 Phillp Anita , 2010). However, as the day progressed the group found that the message reach not only university student but everyone. Impact During the forum it became common knowledge to the group that there were gaps in the public knowledge pertaining to food hygiene .This was identified as the group applied a strategy to find out what the public already knew about food hygiene. It became apparent that many had a false sense of confidence in terms of food hygiene and did not realise that some of the practices they carried out could actually increase their chances of acquiring food borne illness. For instance, the bacteria that is present in rice if not stored properly (FSA, 2011). This happens to be one of the group most take home message as it was firsthand knowledge to many. The group was successful in conveying the message as a total of 92% gathered from the questionnaire was found to be quite receptive to the information and mentioned the information gleaned will have a bearing on their future practices. However, the group conceded as to what could have done to reach the further 8% of the population. Outcome evaluation The group identified few strengths and weakness resulting from the health forum. Although the message was well received and the educational tool used appropriate, The group found that it would be hard to make contact with the same people around six months time to measure whether their practices has been influence by the health forum was very unlikely . However, it was noted that some of the posters and materials could have been in larger print to enable to the writing to be legible. The group believe it would be more practical and feasible to have the forum in a supermarket to attract a wide range of consumer. They found that time constraints was another issues as they only had a limited amount of time to deliver a message which could result in miss opportunity to reach more of the general public. Lastly they found that the area was noisy with other forum and events happening at the same time and was quite distracting for both themselves and the audience. A health promoter has an important role to play in educating the public ( Scriven ,2010) .He or she should be a good communicator providing information that is simple but effective. They need to understand how people learn and receive information as well as take into consideration any barriers that may prevent a message from getting across. REF For instance, language, environment factor , culture and , beliefs . Houghton, 2008 states that an awareness of people’s ethnicity and cultures needs plays an important role in achieving a good outcome when educating people on food hygiene. The increased numbers of foodborne illness illustrates that it is a significant health problem that warrant the need for more awareness of food hygiene in order to reduce the number of incidents , death and associated cost accumulate. The need for more educational programme that address people’s behaviours as well as increased their food hygiene knowledge is seen as an effective way to reduce the effects of food borne illness. REFERENCES Abbott, M. J., Byrd-Bredbenner , C., Schaffner, D., Bruhn ,C. M. Blalock, L. (2009). Comparison of food safety cognitions and self reported food handling behaviours with observed food safety behaviours of young adults. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition ,63 ,572-579. Ackerley, L. (2013). Mixed messages in food safety: killing us softly?. Perspectives In Public Health, 133(6), 296298. Arendt, S. W., Paez, P. Strohbehn, C. (2013). Food safety practices and managers perceptions: a qualitative study in hospitality. International Journal Of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 25 (1), pp. 124139. Bradshaw,J. 1992. Taxanonomy of needs. Open University Press. Department for Environment food and Royal Affairs (2013). food statistics pocketbook. Office of National Statistics.London. Food Standard Agency (2011). Foodborne disease strategy food.gov.uk/policy-advice/microbiology/fds/( last accessed 20th April 2014). Food Standard Agency (2013) Food poisoning . Retrieved 21st April 2014 from http://bit.Ly/lixxByD . Food Standard Agency (2011) .Foodborne Disease Strategy 2012-2015. An FSA Programme for the Reduction of Foodborne Disease in the UK. Available online at : http://www.food.gov.uk/mulitimedia/pdfs/fds2015.pdf (last accessed 20th April 2014). Griffith, C. J. (2010). Food Safety Culture: Creating a Behaviour-based Food Safety Management System. British Food Journal, 112 (4), pp. 457458. Hird,S., Stein,C.,Kiamarz,P.,Nanda,A.Havelaan,AH.(2009). Estimating the global burden of food borne disease – A collaborative effort. Eurosurvellance 14(18),1-4. Honey, P. Mumford, A. (1986) Using your learning styles. (2nd ed.). Bershire: Printique, Maidedenhead. Houghton,G. (2008) Women seeking asylum: are communication needs being met? British Journal of Midwifery 16 (3) 142. Lam, H., Remais, J., Fung, M., Xu, L., Sun, S. (2013). Food supply and food safety issues in China. The Lancet, 381(9882), 20442053. Mullan, B. Wong, C. (2010). Using the Theory of Planned Behaviour to design a food hygiene intervention. Food Control, 21 (11), pp. 1524—1529 Naidoo, J. Will,J.(2009). Foundations for Health Promotion . Edinburgh : BailliereTindall Elsevier. NHS Hand Hygiene Campaign (2009). Consequences of poor hand hygiene and the importance of handwashing. http://bit.L/lgeQNgQ ( Accessed 21,April 2014). Phillip, S. Anita, E. (2010). Efficacy of the theory of planned behaviour model in predicting safe food handling practices. Food Control, 21 (7), pp. 983987. Powell, D. A., Jacob, C. J. Chapman, B. J. (2011). Enhancing food safety culture to reduce rates of foodborne illness. Food Control, 22 (6), pp. 817—822. Qiang , L ., Wen, L., Jing, W. Yue,D. (2011). Application of content analysis in food safety reports on the internet in china . Food Control 22, (2) 252- 256. Quyang,H.Y. (2011). Nearly 70 percent of the respondents felt insecure about food . 2010- 2011 Reports on consumer confidence in food safety . Insight China ,1 42- 45. Rayer ,M. Scarborough, P. ( 2005). The burden of food related ill health in the UK .Community Health Journal, 59 (12) 1054 – 1057. Scriven, A. (2010). Promoting health: A Practical guide . (6th ed.). Edinburgh: Bailliere Tindall. Seedhouse,D. (2001). Health: The foundations for achievement .(2nd ed.). Chichester: Wiley Son. Stable,Joy. (2009). Caring for older Jews. Nursing and Residential Care,11(12) 621- 623. World health organisation (2012) five keys to safer keeps . Retrieved 20 , April, 2014 from // www.who int/foodsafety/publications/ consumer/en/5keys _ en pdf. World Health Organization (2013). Facts on Food safety. Retrieved 22, April, 2014, from http://www.who.int/features/factfiles/food_safety/facts/en/index6.html World health Organisation . Food safety and food illness fact sheet. Retrieved 22 , April , 2014, from www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheet/fs237/en/. World health organisation. (2002). Who global strategy for safety , safer food for better health. Yang ,K.,wooner,R.,G Matthews, T.J.(2012). Collaborate learning among undergraduate students in community health nursing .Nursing Education in Practice ,12 (2), 72-76. Yiannas, F. (2009), Food Safety Culture: Creating a Behaviour Based Food Safety Management System, Springer, New York, NY. Zablotsky Kufel, J. S., Resnick, B. A., Fox, M. A., Mcgready, J., Yager, J. P. Burke, T. A. (2011). The impact of local environmental health capacity on foodborne illness morbidity in Maryland. American Journal Of Public Health, 101 (8).

The Mill on the Floss :: Free Essays Online

The Mill on the Floss George Eliot and The Mill on the Floss: Understanding the Woman and the Work George Eliot was born Mary Ann Evans in 1819. Mary Anne was one of seven children. Eliot often incorporated depictions of her siblings’ and father’s personal characteristics into her literary works. We see her brother Isaac appear as Tom Tulliver in The Mill on the Floss; It is said that her relationship with her brother Isaac is unmatched, even by her father. They had a special bond. That bound was broken when she meets George Lewes in 1854. Lewes was a married man. Eliot fell in love with him anyway. They eloped in 1854. Eliot was ostracized by her society and, perhaps more damaging, her brother refused to speak to her. This had a profound affect on Eliot’s works and her life. The fact that Eliot was involved with Lewes is only one aspect of her life. When doing my research, I was pleased to see that she was an editor at the Westminster Review in 1851. She wanted to be independent, so she decided to take up journalism at the age of thirty-one. After writing critically, she decided to began writing her own work. She published three long stories, which were later published in volume form. These complied works became her first book Scenes from Clerical Life in 1958 (Ashton, 187). Though she had been writing professionally, Mary Ann Evens wasn’t known by George Eliot until 1857. She came up with the pen name â€Å"George Eliot† to elude to the public that she was a clergyman friend of her boyfriend George Lewes. She was forced to come â€Å"out† when Dickens suspected thought she was really a woman. She reveals her true identity to the public in 1959. Her books were successful, but she was consistently aware that her professional work was being judged based on how she decided to live out her personal life. George Lewes dies in 1878. Two years later she marries John Cross who was a family friend. He was twenty years her junior. George Eliot dies in 1885 from kidney problems. The Mill on the Floss is Eliot’s most autobiographical book. The scenery of the book was based on the community Eliot grew up in—Arbury on the outskirts of Warwickshire. Eliot knew that she wanted the story to include a flood. She did research at the London Library.

The Role of Alcohol in Fitzgeralds Tender is the Night Essays

The Role of Alcohol in Tender is the Night      Ã‚   All of the main characters in Tender is the Night are wealthy enough that they can lead a life of leisure. One of the main activities of this lifestyle is drinking. Drunkenness causes and is the result of many negative things that happen to the characters. This is evidenced the most by the actions of Abe North and Dick Diver. The first time we meet Dick Diver in Fitzgerald's Tender is the Night he is "going from umbrella to umbrella carrying a bottle and little glasses in his hands"(Fitzgerald, 11). From that point on there is alcohol involved in almost every scene.    The first time that alcohol played a major role was in the duel between Tommy Barban and Mr. McKisco. McKisco was drunk when he challenged Tommy to the duel. He was also drunk when the duel went on. Both shots missed and the duel was over, but the role of alcohol had made its impression.    Abe North was the first character to be portrayed as an alcoholic. Rosemaary noticed that "his eyes were bloodshot form sun and wine"(Fitzgerald, 60) and that "he was always stopping in places to get a drink"(Fitzgerald, 60). He repeatedly missed the boat back to America and as a result of his drinking habits a dead Negro appeared in Rosemary's bedroom. Abe North eventually died in a fight at a speakeasy. Drinking caused his entire downfall. There really was not much background given on Abe that would give the reasons that he drank. His career was not very successful, but it really could not be determined which came first, his drinking or his lack of success.    Rosemary had her first drink with the Divers and the Norths. She did this because she thought it would somehow bring her closer to the group. She... ...He no longer practiced medicine and he was not helping Nicole get any better. His drinking went on to cause him further unhappiness by making things with Nicole even worse, and was the reason that he lost both his social standing and his career.    Alcohol had some effect on all the characters in Tender is the Night either directly or through a loved one. It was the cause of the ruin of two of the main characters. Drinking played a very important role in many of the events that took place.    Works Cited and Consulted: Bruccoli, Matthew J. and Judith S. Baughman. Reader's Companion to F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender Is the Night. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1996. Fitzgerald, F. Scott. Tender is the Night. New York: Collier Books. 1982. Stern, Milton R. Tender Is the Night: The Broken Universe. New York: Twayne, 1994.

Strategic Drift

Identify four organisations that, in your view, are in the different phases of strategic drift (see Exhibit 5. 2). Justify your selection. Strategic drift, as defined by Gerry Johnson in Exploring Corporate Strategy, is the tendency to develop strategies incrementally on the basis of historical and cultural influences, while failing to keep pace with a changing environment. In such circumstances the strategy of the organization gradually drifts away from the realities of its environment and towards an internally determined view of the world of management. Strategic drift occurs when a company, especially one that has enjoyed considerable success, responds far too slowly to changes in the external environment and continues with the strategy that once served it very well. There are four phases in strategic drift; incremental change (phase 1), strategic drift (phase 2), flux (phase 3) and transformational change or death (phase 4). Phase 1 is characterized by relatively long periods during which strategies are either unchanged or change incrementally. This change is generally in keeping with the environment or may have slight variations around a successful theme as the company avoids drifting too far from some past successes. In phase 2 the environment grows at a faster rate than the firm’s strategies. This may occur for several reasons, that is ; while one may be aware that changes are happening, the extent may not be so easily appreciated except in hindsight or as reflected through the financials; it could also be that while the changes are observed they are interpreted in terms of the familiar thus resulting in the wrong conclusion being drawn. There is also the situation where although the firm may see the environmental drift, it refuses to align as it binds itself to the successful strategies of the past. These strategies become the company’s core around which it revolves and has its competitive advantage. Another contributory factor can also be unwillingness of the firm to alter the current relationships with suppliers, customer base or the internal skills to align with the market. Phase 3 may be a period of flux as management pressured to alter the firm’s strategies in response to downturn in profit does so but not in any clear direction. Internal rivalry may be high as solutions are sought to determine which strategy to follow. There may also be loss of confidence in the company resulting in lowering share prices. As the situation worsens there are three options in phase 4. The firm can die, be taken over by another organization or simply go through a period of transformational change. Motorola found itself in phase 4 of the strategic drift in the late 90’s as in response to depressed profits it was forced to conduct a series of layoffs, restructures and restrategising before transforming. According to Sydney Finkelstein article on â€Å"Why smart executives fail†, Motorola which was founded in 1928 has had a long tradition of technological innovations. It solidified its reputation as a world leader in this area through innovation with the television, pager, microprocessor, analogue phone among other things. Motorola’s first cellular system began commercial operation in 1983 with them becoming the world top cellular phone supplier shortly thereafter. They claimed 60 per cent of the US mobile market, revenues growing at an average of 27 percent to $27 billion in 1994, while net income surged 58 per cent a year to $1. billion. During this period, although digital mobile technology was introduced, it was not embraced by Motorola even after receiving several signals from the market. The market signals included – direct prodding by their customers requesting that they provide the new technology especially based on the benefits offered; increase in royal ty income from digital patent it licensed to Nokia and Erikson and finally the falling market shares and profit. Motorola’s shares dip to 34 percent in the early 1998’s, while Nokia’s share went from 11 per cent to 34 per cent during the same time period. That same year Motorola laid off 20,000 employees. Motorola was fully poised with the potential to maintaining their position as market leader using digital technology however they chose to rely on internal forecasting models that predicted carriers would be better off with analogue phones rather than digital. Sony whose mission statement was ‘a clever company that would make new high technology products in ingenious ways’ aggressively marketed its hardware entering the big league when it formed a joint venture with CBS Records in 1975 with the launch of the new technology – the Betamax home videocassette recorder. Within two years a new videocassette recorder (VCR) made by it arch-rival Matsushita using the VHS standard became the product of choice for consumers. This happened as Sony was too busy defending the hardware than marketing and creating customers. Matsushita, on the other hand, aggressively aligned electronics firms to their brand so that when motion picture studios began to release a larger number of their library titles VHS was the format of choice. ‘We didn’t put enough effort into making a family. The other side, coming later, made a family’, founder Akio Morita later stated. Sony also concluded that the compelling reason for the purchase of hardware is software. Resulting from lessons learnt from competition with arch rival Matsushita, Sony adjusted their strategy. Consequently, convinced that its record library had helped guarantee the success of the Compact Disc, Sony looked to CBS Records to provide the software necessary to ensure the success of its new Digital Audio Tape. In the years that followed Sony acquired expensive movie studios to showcase their impressive arsenal of hardware. As much attention was not paid to the American management team and the lavish spending spree on renovation production, management, and television ballooned. Overheads increased by 50 per cent to $300 million by 1991, some $60 million greater than other major studios, and its $700 million production budget were nearly twice that of its competitors. The average Sony motion picture cost $40 million versus the industry average of $28 million. In November 1994 Sony announced a $3. 2 billion write-off related to Columbia Pictures which wiped out nearly 25 per cent of Sony’s shareholders’ equity. It was not until Sony found itself here in phase 3 of the strategic, drift having major decline in shareholder values, that it restructured its management team and strategies. Wang Labs based on strategies created in an attempt to avoid the mistakes of the past found itself in phase 4 of the strategic drift as it filed for bankruptcy in 1992. An Wang, an inventor and innovator, sold several of his creations to companies who used them to make products for commercial uses. Resulting from one such deal with IBM in 1956, Wang’s feeling of being cheated by the computer giant biased his future decisions towards them. Starting from the late 80’s Wang Labs lost out when the world shifted from using word processors to PC, however they were blinded by their love for the word processors and made major losses as IBM took the PC to the market. Wang could have raise capital by issuing shares however because he felt that he had given up too much of the company in a similar past transaction he refused and instead opted to seek loans According to Paul Golding, prior to 1999 the Jamaican telecommunications sector was dominated by Cable and Wireless Jamaica (C&WJ), which changed its name in 2008 to LIME (Landline Internet Mobile, Entertainment). In 1988 the company was granted five exclusive licenses each for 25 years, which would be valid until 2013, with options for extensions for a further 25 years. The licenses made C&WJ the sole provider of the island’s domestic and international telephone service and guaranteed an after-tax rate of return of 17. 5% – 20%. C&WJ was quite comfortable with the strategies they employed especially as they were a monopoly in these early years. This resulted in the organization being stuck in phase 1 as they became complacent, relying on the same old strategies as technology boomed globally. They were â€Å"out of touch† with customer demand and the untapped potential of the market. Liberalization of the telecommunications market commenced with the granting of two new carrier licenses for the provision of domestic mobile voice, data, and information services. In April 2001 Digicel launched its mobile telecommunication company in Jamaica. Rates rose from 4 per cent in 2001 (Digicel’s launch year) to close to 100 per cent today – making it one of the most highly penetrated countries in the world and driving a grassroots level ICT development across Jamaica. Of the less than 2. million local population, Digicel Jamaica has 2 million customers, representing a 75% market share. Additionally, scores of small entrepreneurs owe their successes to a reliance on their Digicel phones, especially in areas where there were no previous mobile signals by the competition. On October 27th, Digicel announced its intention to move its Jamaica and Group offices to a bra nd new facility on the waterfront in downtown Kingston, demonstrating its commitment to spearhead the rejuvenation of this area of the capital city of the first country in which Digicel launched back in 2001. In April 2001, when Digicel launched its GSM mobile service in Jamaica, the company anticipated reaching the 100,000 customer plateau by the end of its first year in operation. Instead, it hit the 100,000 mark a mere 100 days after launch. Never before in the country’s history of mobile telecommunications had such tremendous growth been seen in a network, as Digicel broke record after record on its way to surpassing its major competitor as the mobile provider with the largest customer base in the island. It took LIME, its major competitor approximately 10 years to reach the 400,000 customer mark. In comparison, it took Digicel about 13 months to reach the same figure. Digicel's customer base in 2010 was over 2. 1 million customers in a population of 2. 8 million. Digicel raised the bar where an acceptable level of network coverage was concerned. Jamaicans living in rural parishes finally had a genuine option for mobile communications. With an island-wide network of over 1,000 cellular towers spread across all 14 parishes, Digicel firmly established itself as the mobile provider with the premier network coverage across the country. Digicel currently appears to be in Phase 2 of the strategic drift as its strategy of providing islandwide service has materialised and it continues to be poised towards supplying any further required hardware. However there is growing concern that Digicel needs to review its customer service as well as its rates. If you really want to understand a company, you need to understand its history and culture. In analyzing an organization one of the most common flaws is to disregard the past in trying to make sense of the present. Culture is also a major component of history, as is highlighted with Motorola that is known as an engineering-driven company. It is likened in its mindset to an ‘internal think-tank’, focused on the market while customers are secondary. Digicel is also similar in this regards as its main focus appears to be on the hardware and to a lesser extent the customer. Motorola’s had an insular culture where its workforce had a ‘fortress mentality, cut off from reality, in-bred, with tremendous self-confidence, and a lack of concern with the outside world’. One former CEO stated, ‘every time we stumble significantly it is because we have been so successful in one generation of the technology that we don’t focus on replacing ourselves with the next technology quick enough’ People make sense of new issues in the context of past issues; they are likely to address a problem in much the same way as they dealt with a previous similar one. Moreover, they are likely to search for evidence that supports those inclinations. So some data will be seen as more important than other data, and some may not be taken on board at all. The important points are: * The interpretation of events and issues in terms of prior experience is inevitable. The idea that managers approach strategic problems and issues entirely dispassionately and objectively is unrealistic. * Such interpretation and bias arise from experience of the past, not least with regard to what is seen to have worked or given rise to problems. So the future is likely to be made sense of in terms of the past. As with individuals, so also with groups – managers do not operate purely as individuals; they work and interact with others, and at the collective level, too, there are reasons to expect experience to count. This is reflected in the taken-for-granted assumptions and ingrained organizational routines that are collectively referred to as ‘organizational culture’. Such taken-for-granted assumptions and routines can be especially important as an influence on the development of organizational strategy. For a group or organization to operate effectively, there has to be a generally accepted set of assumptions which in effect, represents the collective experience without which people would have to ‘reinvent their world’ for different circumstances. As with individual experience, this shared understanding allows the collective experience gathered over years to be brought to bear to make sense of a given situation, to inform a likely course of action, and to gauge the likelihood of the latter’s success. Such collective thinking typically stretches even beyond the organization. Managers may assume that they can manage the environment, but the evidence is that the environment largely determines managerial action. If managers sensitize themselves to the influence of the history of their organisation they stand a better chance of better appreciating their current strategy and may be able to detect and avoid strategic drift. Managers would more likely to be able to question the extent to which the strategy they are seeking to develop is usefully informed by that history as distinct from being driven or captured by it.

Perfume Analysis

FACH2702 Practical Analysis of imposter perfumes Aim: To determine which out of 4 unknown samples are genuine perfumes, and which are imposter/fake perfumes. This will be done by analysing gas chromatography plots, and comparing the components in the samples to that of a known standard perfume. Results: To determine which of the four sample perfumes where imposter and which were real, components present in each perfume were analysed using gas chromatography and compared to the known real perfume sample. The components identified for comparison included vanillin, 3-penten-2-one, diethyl phthalate and cyclopentanaecetic acid.The relative concentration of each of the components in the samples was calculated for comparison. In the control sample, the relative concentration of each of these components were calculated using the area under each of the peaks (appendix 3): The same was done for unknown perfume sample 1 and it was found that while the relative concentrations of each component were close to the control perfume, they were not close enough to conclude that the sample was a real perfume, (however a very good rip off). (appendix 4)After analysing perfume sample 2, we could conclude that this sample was an imposter perfume as there was a significant increase in both 3-pentan-2-one and cyclopentanaecetic acid, to substitute for the loss in diethyl phthalate. (appendix 5). Sample 3 showed relative concentrations of each compound that were very close to the control sample, hence it was classed as a real perfume (appendix 6) It was found that sample 4’s relative concentrations of each component were completely off that of the control perfume, hence it is an imposter perfume. appendix 7) Discussion: There weren’t many areas for errors in this practical that would be attributed to our own human error. The gas chromatographer itself was very repeatable and hence the only error in the computers results would be due to a calibration error. Another error i n this experiment could be linked to the preparation of the samples, some components in the perfumes are very volatile and hence if the cap were left off the perfume, concentrations of those components would decrease, altering the detection during analysis.Conclusion: Using Gas chromatography, the components vanillin, diethyl phthalate, 3-pentan-2-one and cyclopentanaecetic acid were analysed in four samples and their relative concentrations were calculated and compared to a known control perfume sample. From these calculations, it was concluded that samples 1,2 and 4 were imposter perfumes, while sample 3 had very similar relative concentrations of its compounds and was hence classed as a real perfume.

Sample design for Blackberry

In sampling, an element is the object (or person) about which or from which the information is desired. In survey research, the element is usually the respondent. A population Is the total of all the elements that share some common set of characterlstlcs. Element: Objects that possess the information the researcher seeks and about which the researcher will make inferences. Population: The aggregate of all elements, sharing some common set of characteristics, that comprise the universe for the purpose of the marketing research roblem.The researcher can obtain Information about population parameters by taking either a census or a sample. Census: a complete enumaration of the elements of a population or study objects. Sample: A subgroup of the elements of the population selected for participation in the study. sample Large Time available Population size the characteristics Conditions Favoring the use of Factors census Budget Short Large Small small Long Small Variance in Large Cost of s ampling error High Cost of nonsampllng errors High Low Nature of measurement Nondestructive Attention to individual cases NoAdvantages of Sampling Sampling saves time and money Sampling saves labor. Destructive Yes A sample coverage permits a higher overall level of adequacy than a full enumeration. Complete census Is often unnecessary, wasteful. and the burden on the public. 1) Define the Population: Sampling design begins by specifying the target population, which should be defined in terms of elements, sampling units, extent and time frame. Population/Target population: This is any complete, or the theoretically specified aggregation of study elements. It is usually the ideal population or universe to which esearch results are to be generalized.Survey population: This is an operational definition of the target population; that is target population with explicit exclusions-for example the population accessible, excluding those outside the country. Element (similar to unit of analy sis): This is that unit about which information is collected and that provides the basis of analysis. In survey research, elements are people or certain types of people. Sampling unit: This is that element or set of elements considered for selection in some stage of sampling (same as the elements, in a simple single-stage sample).In a ulti-stage sample, the sampling unit could be blocks, households, and individuals within the households. Extent: This refers to geographical boundaries. Time frame: The time frame is the time period of interest. In our case; Population/ target population = Blackberry users Survey population = Blackberry users between the age of 18-24, which refers to university students regarding the demographical factors. Elements = Blackberry users who are university students Sampling Unit = Blackberry users in the Business Administration Faculty of Istanbul University. Extent = Business Administration Faculty of Istanbul UniversityTime Frame = 2 weeks between 4-15 N ovember Given the large size of the target population and limited time and money, it was clearly not TeaslDle to Intervlew tne entlre BlacKDerry users, tnat Is, to take a census. So a sample was taken, and a subgroup of the population was selected for participation in the research. Our sample/ subgroup can be seen above. 2) Determine the Sampling Frame: A sampling frame is a representation of the elements of the target population. To be specific, this is the actual list of sampling units from which the sample, or some stage of the sample, is selected.It is simply a list of the study population. Sampling frame of our case = List of the students in the Business Administration Faculty of Istanbul University. 3) Select a Sampling Technique: Selecting a sampling technique involves choosing nonprobability or probability sampling. Nonprobability sampling : relies on the personal Judgement of researcher, rather than chance in selecting sample elements. Convenience Sampling: as the name impl ies, involves obtaining a sample of elements based on the convenience of the researcher. The selection of sampling units is left primarily to the interviewer.Convenience sampling has the advantages of being both inexpensive and fast. Additionally, the sampling units tend to be accessible, easy to measure, and cooperative. Judgement Sampling: The researcher selects the sample based on Judgement. This is usually and extension of convenience sampling. For example, a researcher may decide to draw the entire sample from one â€Å"representative† city, even though the population includes all cities. When using this method, the researcher must be confident that the chosen sample is truly representative of the entire population.Quota Sampling: introduces two stages to the Judgemental sampling process. The first stage consists of developing control categories, or quotas, of population elements. Using Judgement to identify relevant categories such as age, sex, or race, the researcher e stimates the distribution of these characteristics in the target population. Once the quotas have been assigned, the second stage of the sampling process takes place. Elements are selected using a convenience of Judgement process. Considerable freedom exists in selecting the elements to be included in the sample.The only requirement is that the elements that are selected fit the control characteristics. Snowball sampling: is a special nonprobability method used when the desired sample characteristic is rare. It may be extremely difficult or cost prohibitive to locate respondents in these situations. Snowball sampling relies on referrals from initial subjects to generate additional subjects. While this technique can dramatically lower search costs, it comes at the expense of introducing bias because the technique itself reduces tne II population.Kellnooa tnat tne sample wlll represent a good ross section Trom tne Probability sampling: in this kind sampling elements are selected by ch ance, that is, randomly. The probability of selecting each potential sample from a population can be prespecified. Simple Random Sampling: is the purest form of probability sampling. Each member of the population has an equal and known chance of being selected. When there are very large populations, it is often difficult or impossible to identify every member of the population, so the pool of available subjects becomes biased. Systematic Random Sampling: is often used instead of random sampling.It is also alled an Nth name selection technique. After the required sample size has been calculated, every Nth record is selected from a list of population members. As long as the list does not contain any hidden order, this sampling method is as good as the random sampling method. Its only advantage over the random sampling technique is simplicity. Systematic sampling is frequently used to select a specified number of records from a computer file. Stratified Random Sampling: is commonly use d probability method that is superior to random sampling because it reduces sampling error.A stratum is a subset of the opulation that share at least one common characteristic. Examples of stratums might be males and females, or managers and non-managers. The researcher first identifies the relevant stratums and their actual representation in the population. Random sampling is then used to select a sufficient number of subjects from each stratum. â€Å"Sufficient† refers to a sample size large enough for us to be reasonably confident that the stratum represents the population. Stratified sampling is often used when one or more of the stratums in the population have a low incidence relative to the other stratums.Cluster Sampling: may be used when it is either impossible or impractical to compile an exhaustive list of the elements that make up the target population. Usually, however, the population elements are already grouped into subpopulations and lists of those subpopulatio ns already exist or can be created. For example, let's say the target population in a study was church members in the United States. There is no list of all church members in the country. The researcher could, however, create a list of churches in the United States, choose a sample of churches, and then obtain lists f members from those churches. ) Determine the Sample Size: The statistical approaches to determining sample size are based on confidence intervals. These approaches may involve the estimation of the mean or proportion. When estimating the mean, determination of sample size using a confidence interval approach requires a specification of precision level, confidence level, and population standard deviation. In the case of proportion, the precision level, confidence level, and an estimate of the population proportion must De speclTlea. I ne sample size aetermlnea statlstlcally represents ne Tlnal or net sample size that must be achieved.In order to achieve this final sampl e size, a much greater number of potential respondents have to be contacted to account for reduction in response due to incidence rates and completion rates. Non-response error arises when some of the potential respondents included in the sample did not respond. The primary causes of low response rates are refusals and not-at-homes. Refusal rates may be reduced by prior notification, motivating the respondents, incentives, proper questionnaire design and administration, and follow- up. The percentage of not-at-homes can be substantially reduced by callbacks.Adjustments for non-response can be made by subsampling non-respondents, replacement, substitution, subjective estimates, trend analysis, weighting, and imputation. The statistical estimation of sample size is even more complicated in international marketing research, as the population variance may differ from one country to the next. A preliminary estimation of population variance for the purpose of determining the sample size a lso has ethical ramifications. The Internet and computers can assist n determining the sample size and adjusting it to a count for expected incidence and completion rates.Sampling distribution: the distribution of the values of a sample statistic computed for each possible sample that could be drawn from the target population under a specified sampling plan. Statistical inference: the process of generalizing the sample results to the population results. Normal distribution: a basis for classical statistical inference that is bell shaped and symmetrical and appearance. Its measures of central tendency are all identical. Standard error: the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the mean or proportion.Z values: the number of standard errors in point is away from the mean Incidence rate: the rate of occurrence of persons eligible to participate in a study expressed as a percentage Completion rate: the percentage of qualified respondents to complete the interview. It enables researchers to take into account anticipated refusals by people who qualify Substitution: a procedure that substitutes for nonrespondents other elements from the sampling frame that are expected to respond I rena analysis: a metnoa 0T a0Justlng Tor nonresponaents In wnlcn tne researcner tries to discern a trend between early and late respondents.This trend is projected to nonrespondents to estimate their characteristic of interest Weighting: statistical procedure that attempts to account for non-response by assigning differential weight to the data depending on the response rate Imputation: a method to adjust for non-response by assigning to characteristic of interest to the nonrespondents based on the similarity of the variables available for both nonrespondents and respondents.