Operations, Logistics and Supply Chain Management Essay

1) Select a technology from 1850 to the present. Describe how it has affected productivity A technology that comes to mind is server virtualization. We use them every day in the government as we work toward going green, lower cost, increasing productivity. Since the migration to the virtual servers we were able to cut paper files by  ¾. We use a digital contract file now instead of a 6 pile folder with hundreds of page. Another reason the army has choosing to go this way is so it can spread the cost of maintenance and repair across several customers with shared servers. This results in a lower price per base. Then there is the Virtual conference, which saves millions of dollar. Now you’re asking how this affect productivity does well with virtual contract files any base has access to them with save on efficiencies, be abilities to collaborate with like minds to gain more knowledge, also to form comradely. 2)Identify the transformation that takes place in a restaurant. In a restaurant you are buying a meal but also the environment and the service. In many cases the value of inputs is measured in financial terms, which is say that organizations aim to make a profit like the Hard Rock Cafà ©. To increase efficiency managers are always seeking ways of producing more with the same level of inputs or producing the same amount with fewer inputs. Some ways to improve the productivity in the service-sector are changing working practices, investing in new technology like the ERP, motivating and inspiring staff more effectively and changing the way items are produced (Heizer & Render, 2005). With the use of ERP restaurants  wastage should be reduced at all stages of the production process. It includes Just in Time production in which items are produced to order rather than in advance (Heizer & Render, 2005). Lean production also includes a technique known as kaizen which aims to use the knowledge of employees to find ways of continuously improving the way things are done (Heizer & Render, 2005). Manages are continually reviewing what they provide better. Given ongoing changes in the competitive environment with new competitors, new demands and new technologies adding value is a dynamic process. Managers need to be looking constantly at the business environment to identify changes that could be of value to them or could possibly harm them. Interestingly any change will have different effects on different organizations. (3) The computer – especially the PC – is believed to be responsible for much of the increased productivity in the 1990s. What do think will be the â€Å"next big thing† to have a major impact on national and global productivity? The â€Å"next big thing† that will have a major impact on the national and global productivity is the advancements in wireless technology. In today’s time there are millions of mobile professionals worldwide due to the major strides that the wireless community has taken. Organizations use wireless technologies to solve every day problems and create an advantage over their companion. Using wireless technologies help them work more productively, by having better customer satisfaction, which means an increase of sales. Organization is finding that wireless has provided more flexibility to configure an office and can improve both the productivity and the moral in the work place. New standards based technologies offer improved methods to authenticate and better secure devices, helping to ensure that only authorized users can gain access to these networks. Which, I see firsthand every day working in a government agency our black berries have CAC reads sled which read our cre dentials before we can view emails. The widespread reliance on networking in business as well as the growth of the internet and online services is strong testimonies to the benefits of data and resources (Wireless Technology). Wireless solutions have advances these benefits by allowing users to access shared information, emails, and different  applications without the constraints of the wired connection. Wireless technologies have also allowed network managers to set up or add to the networks without installing or removing wires. A wireless solution offers productivity, convenience and overall cost saving then the traditional wired networks (Wireless Technology). (4) What is the role of the World Trade Organization (WTO)? Do you see it as primarily good or bad for the U.S? The role of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is to oversee trade agreements including a wide range of goods and services trade and supervises all government practices that are directly related to trade, such as tariffs, subsidies, government procurement, and trade-related intellectual property rights (wto.org, 2011). Here are some reasons why the WTO isn’t good for the USA. The WTO acts as the legislature, the executive and the judiciary in matters of world trade. The WTO allows countries to sue each other. This has been primarily used by the wealthy countries to push around the smaller, less developed nations. Under the WTO, the monolithic corporations who benefit the most from free trade can easily push around the smallest and least developed nations. Under the globalized system of free trade we are all living under, all wealth is slowly but surely being transferred into the hands of the very wealthy while the rest of us are left standing around trying to figure out how th e game was rigged. The WTO forces the United States to open its doors to unsafe products. Under the WTO, labor has become a global commodity (Globalism Destroys) (5) Identify one discipline and one technology that you think will contribute in a major way to the future development of OM and describe why they will contribute According to the course text, Operations Management (OM) is described as the set of activities that creates value in the form of goods and services by transforming inputs into outputs. (Heizer & Render, 2005) OM is also a discipline that has applications in several industries including services and manufacturing. The discipline and technology I believe that will  contribute in a major way to the future development of OM is Supply-Chain Management and advances in process technologies. Advances in these areas will ease transactions between businesses thereby facilitating sustaining engineering and improvement for Operations and Management. One way is by using Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) as â€Å"wireless systems that allow a device to read information contained in a wireless device or â€Å"tag† from a distance without making a physical contact or requiring a line of sight between the two(GAO,2005). RFID provides a method to transmit and receive data from one point to another.† RFID is an automatic identification method relying on storing and remotely retrieving data using devices called RFID tags or transponders. Reference Heizer, J., & Render, B. (2005). Operations Management. In J. Heizer, & B. Render, Operations Management (pp. 212-213). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall. wto.org. (2012, Nov 25). Retrieved 25 November 20121, from World Trade Organization: http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/inbrief_e/inbr00_e Globalism Destroys America: 10 Reasons Why The World Trade Organization Is Bad For The United States Economy, Posted By admin On September 7, 2010 @ 3:09 am In Money Watch | Comments Disabled OM ForumThe Best Things in Life Were Free:On the Technology of Transactions,( 2012, Nov 25), Paul Zipkin (paul.zipkin@duke.edu) GAO, 2005, (2012, Nov 25). http://www.gaorfid.com/ Wireless Technology rev 3, (2012 Nov 28). h20331.www2.hp.com/Hpsub/downloads/Wireless_Technology.pdf

Ethical Speaking Analysis Essay

Ethical Speaking Analysis Paper Octavius L. Crowell COMM310 August 9, 2012 Dr. Dixon The most recent situation I have had involving speech ethics, had to be when I first started my job as front desk clerk at the Marriott hotel. All of my previous occupations were warehouse type meaning I had little to knew contact with customers, and I didn’t have to speak much. So when I started working at the Marriott as a front desk clerk , the main attribute of the job was speaking and interacting with guest. This was a major transformation from my previous jobs and required me to work on my speech ethics immediately. I started watching videos for proper speech ethics and it really helped me out a lot, I am still employed by Marriott four years later, and it has been the best job I have had so far. Not only have I gotten good at speaking and interacting with the guest I find myself enjoying it. It can be refreshing to have a conversation with an complete stranger you have just met. With my experience of speaking in front of strangers all day long at work, it helped me prepare for speaking in front of classmate at university of phoenix. I could tell a difference because neither was I shy or nervous to stand up in speak in my very first class I attended at university of phoenix, I figured that confidence came from the type of work I do at the hotel. I have received a good amount of awards from my job, like employee of the month and most outstanding customer representative. I am also in line for promotion to ecome the assistant front desk manager. Without the proper speech ethics this would not have been possible. Having the proper speech ethics can take a person a long way, it show professionalism, intelligence, and respectfulness in a human being. Not having the proper speech ethics can be the downfall in a person career, business, and maybe even life. Having a job as front desk clerk at a hotel really helped me evolve as a speaker and person. And attending the university of phoenix is going to take me to the next level.

What will happen to the wall if peace is established between Israel & Essay

What will happen to the wall if peace is established between Israel & the Palestinians Will Israel tear it down, construct more gates, leave it as it is, or some other alternative - Essay Example War will eventually erupt as nations wish to take the area forcefully. The war between Israel and Palestine have been there for more than a decade. Driven by a conflict on boundary, the two countries continues to try forcefully to acquire the area between them where there is no clear owner. The Israelites proposed that the undefined ground on the west bank should be protected as theirs. They government, therefore, proposed to build a wall separating the two nations, a project that is on-going. The building of the wall is meant to perform several tasks. The wall will help in securing the citizens from constant attacks projected by Palestine and their Arab supporters. Secondly, the wall is used to secure the ground since the Palestine want also to settle there. The big question that revolves around the global mind is what will happen to the wall if the two countries establish a long lasting friendship that will lead to peace in the region? The Israelite and Palestine war is a big issue that is not only their issue but a global affair. The building of the west bank wall to separate the two countries is not a long lasting clarification to the war in the Middle East. The United Nations need to come into the conflict and establish a resolution that would satisfy both parties involved in the conflict. Even though the wall is under construction, the conflict is getting hotter, and lives of both the Palestine and the Israelites are still being lost. There is a great need of encouraging negotiations that will peacefully lead to a lasting solution of the boundary conflict. The realization of serenity in Germany leads to the fall of the berlin wall. The factors that attributed to the destruction of the wall is the negotiation and the signing of a treaty that lead to re-establishment of Germany as a unit country rather than the twin countries, east

Descriptive Statistics Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Descriptive Statistics Paper - Essay Example In the preceeding page is a pie chart that shows a set of nominal data of respondents according to gender. Notice that there are more females (52%) than the male respondents (48%). This differences in frequency in terms of population may affect the the result of data. Based on models, the disparities can be due to related factors such as demographic data and skills of the workers (Autor, Katz and Kearney, 2008), that demographic as well as factors that are non-economic can greatly affect the wages. The second chart above reveals the average years of work experiences between males and females. There is difference in the said years of experience according to gender and this is reflected on the chart. More female was found to have higher work experiences (21.11%) than the males (19.74%). Figure 3 presents the box plot chart shows that average wage per industry in areas of construction ($ 42, 225.07), manufacturing ($26, 402.29) and others ($31, 347.88) have variations. For these industries, employees in the construction had the highest wages followed by those in the field of manufacturing and the rest of other industries. Finally, figure 5 below depicts the fact that men receive salary far from the amount received by females. Comparison can be considered serious due to the continuous increase in gap between the wages of the male and female members of the workforce (Welch, 2000). The said study presents one of the specific problematic areas related to wage and wage earners. Welch, F. (2000). Women’s Labor-Market Gains in the 1980’s and Future Prospects: Growth in Women’s Relative Wages and in Inequality among Men: One Phenomenon or Two? AEA Papers and Proceedings, 90 (2),

Interview a Family Business Leader Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Interview a Family Business Leader - Essay Example Q: When was the Liqun established? And who named the restaurant? Xou Liqun: The restaurant was established in 1992. It was named after my father Zhang Liqun who was a former chef at Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant chain. Q: How did you get started? For how long have you been running this restaurant? Xou Liqun: I have always been inspired by the way Zhang Liqun worked at the restaurant. During my childhood, I often used to help Zhang Liqun at work; it developed a spontaneous devotion to the field. After the death of Zhang Liqun, I look after the activities of the restaurant. It has been about 10 years since Zhang Liqun passed away, and from that time, I have been supervising the restaurant. Q: Do you have managers and supervisors at the restaurant? A: Well†¦as you know that the restaurant is a small and family owned business therefore, I personally manage and supervise at the restaurant, but we do have assistants and attendants to take care of our valued customers. Q: What is the signature dish of your restaurant? Tell us something about it. A: Roaster Duck is the main specialty of Liqun Restaurant. This is a dish, which is one of the oldest and famous gourmet cuisine of Beijing (Pillsbury). It is known for its shining color, crispy skin and tender meat. Liqun restaurant is famous for providing the best Roasted Duck in town. ... The roasted duck is thinly sliced, served with cucumber, spring onion, pancakes, and a sweet bean sauce. Q: What are your duties and responsibilities at the restaurant as a manager and owner? A: To place orders for meat, vegetables fishes and other grocery, Ensure that everyone is happy and working appropriately, Keep a check on the cleanliness and hygiene of the restaurant, Checking the quality of the food and listen to complaints of customers, Ensuring the working of equipment, Welcoming and chatting with the customer, Making sure that the arrangements and presentations are done properly, and finally, evaluating the feedbacks of the customers and making appropriate changes in the management Q: What is the secret you keep your customers coming in? In your opinion what is your best promotion of your restaurant? A: Well, there is no such secret exactly. I believe that the restaurant is providing the best-roasted duck I the town (Gillham). We have been following the authentic recipe cr eated by Zhang Liqun. The authentic taste and quality of the food is the major attraction that keeps customers coming in. The other main factor is the buzz and the hype that has been observed among the people (Harper, Chen and Chow). Apart of the roasted duck we keep changing our menus with different and innovated dishes. Creativity of the dishes and presentations is the key to successful business. Regarding the successful promotions of the restaurants, on the days when we are closed (Mondays) we have an event of ‘home-style cooking’ session for the chefs. In this event, the chef’s cook different dishes, about 36 guests are invited all around the city including merchandise and other people (Plamer and Richt). Through this, we are

Module 6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Module 6 - Essay Example ther hand, commercialization of music also saw many companies becoming less concerned with servicing existing demand but with creating new tastes in order to manipulate demand. In the contemporary times, commercialization has affected my favorite rock band; the Californian based Linkin Park, through increased piracy which in turn has resulted in decreasing the band’s album sales. The Beatles and Rolling Stones took completely different paths in that the Beatles saw themselves as a pop group while the Rolling stones largely practiced rhythm and blues music. The two paths have remained important genres of rock music with rhythm and blues having its largest fan base among African Americans while pop is still more popular with white Americans. However, both the pop and RnBs music have made a significant impact on the global music industry and have many audiences in various parts of the world. Frith,  Simon  (1988).  The industrialization of music. in Andy Bennet, Barry Shank, Jason Toynbee. â€Å"Contemporary Dance Music and Club Culture,†Ã‚  in  Andy Bennett,  Cultures of Popular Music.  Buckingham/: Routlege,

Medications for treatment T2 DM Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Medications for treatment T2 DM - Term Paper Example Thus the medications for type 2 diabetes mellitus are aimed at administering insulin to combat tissue resistance and adjusting the lipid profile back to normal. Different preparations of insulin and a number of oral hypoglycemic drugs are used to treat diabetes mellitus type 2. The oral hypoglycemic drugs are further divided into sulfonylureas, biguanides, thiazolidinediones and alpha glucosidase inhibitors (Trevor et al 2008). Insulin is a protein molecule so it is not given orally to avoid degradation in the gastrointestinal tract; instead it is administered subcutaneously to the patients to lower the blood glucose levels (Finkel et al 2009). The available preparations of Insulin can be categorized as rapid acting, short acting, intermediate and long acting insulin. The rapid acting insulin preparations are insulin lispro and insulin aspart. Due to their rapid onset of action, they mimic the natural prandial insulin secretion. Lispro Insulin was the first insulin analogue developed by recombinant DNA technology. The lysine and proline amino acids at its carboxyl end are reversed. This structure has no effect on binding to insulin receptor, immunogenecity or the half life, as these all are similar to the natural human insulin. The advantage of this structural alignment is that it decreases the propensity of insulin to form dimers, thus more amount of insulin is available in monomer form. It starts working within 15 minutes and achieves peak activity within one hour. The effect lasts for 3 to 5 hours. Insulin aspart has B28 proline in its structure replaced by negative aspartic acid, this modification inhibits insulin self aggregation. The regular insulin comes in the short acting insulin category. It is a soluble crystalline zinc insulin molecule. When injected subcutaneously in substantial amount (a vial), the molecules aggregate antiparallel and create dimers which stabilize around zinc to form insulin hexamers. This structural configuration renders the regu lar insulin the ability of delayed onset of action, so the peak action is achieved slowly. The involved mechanism of slow prolonged action is that initially, the hexamers are too large for the vascular transport, but as the interstitial fluid dilutes them, their concentration begins to decrease locally. The hexamers break and slowly change into mononers. This insulin is administered 30 to 45 minutes before meals. This is the only insulin type that can be given intravenously as well (Trevor et al 2008). Neutral protamine hagedron (NPH) or isophane insulin is the intermediate acting insulin formed by combining protamine and insulin in 1 ratio 10, in the form of isophane complex. In the complex form, insulin and protamine, both lose all their free binding sites. When injected, protamine is degraded by proteolytic enzymes and insulin is then absorbed. It starts acting after 4 to 5 hours of administration. Insulin glargine and insulin detemir are the types of long acting insulin. Insulin glargine, also called as peak-less insulin has the isoelectric point lower than that of human insulin, so it precipitates at the injection site, allowing slow prolonged hypoglycemic effect and provides a background insulin replacement. Insulin detemir has a fatty acid side chain in its structure. It binds with tissue albumin at the site of injection and then dissociates

Military Regimes in African Countries Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Military Regimes in African Countries - Essay Example The discussions will entail logical arguments behind the various military regimes that have occurred in Africa. The paper will give an analysis of the various military regimes that have taken place in Africa since independence to modern days. Introduction The focus on military regimes can be traced to the period after 1950 when most African countries gained independence. There was a considerable increase in the number of military coups during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. During this period, a large number of military regimes emerged all over the world. In 1979, fourteen military regimes rose to power in sub-Saharan Africa. Besides the military regimes in Sub-saharan Africa, other regimes held power in Latin America, North Africa, Arab states, South East Asia and East Asia (Falola 2002, p. 235) Because of the tremendous rise of African military regimes, political scientists, historians, sociologists, and economists had a keen interest in studying this form of government. Africa witnessed seventy-one military coups between 1950 and 1990. Since African nations gained independence, a number of military regimes have overthrown the ruling civilian regimes. The military coups replace the government and introduce military rule. In most instances, the military leaders, who take over governance, introduce dictatorial rules (Kieh & Agbese 2004, p. 20). Some of the famous military coups that have taken place in Africa include the Ghanaian coup in 1966, Libyan military coup in 1969 led by Muammar Gaddafi and the Ugandan coup in 1971 led by Idi Amin. Gaddafi led a group of young Libyan military officers in a bloodless coup that saw the overthrowing of King Idris I. In Uganda, Idi Amin succeeded in ending the rule of Milton Obote. Other military coups have happened in countries such as Nigeria, Congo, Togo, among others (Baynham 1986, p. 38). Rating performance of military regimes in Africa Military coups in Africa can be explained by general factors applicable to the entire cont inent. A keen look at the past military coups indicates a common trend in military coups. Almost all countries in Africa that have had military coups seem to have the same reasons for the eruption of the military coups. From 1960 to 1970, a number of African nations witnessed military coups. Historians have regarded this period as a decade of coups in Africa (Kieh & Agbese 2004, p. 22). Once a coup erupted in one country, it became a phenomenon in other nations. Coups swept across the entire African continent at an alarming rate. Based on this, the rise of military regimes in Africa emerges from general factors applicable to the entire continent. The paper will now focus on the factors that have led to the rise of military regimes in Africa. In an attempt to preserve authority, states have embraced the use of coercion. As a result, some government institutions play the role of enhancing coercion. This reality has significantly directed debates surrounding politics in postcolonial Af rica. The government needs coercive agencies, such as the police and military, which should be obedient to political leaders. However, this has not succeeded in Africa. In many instances, the military has used violent means to initiate coup d’etats. This is a contradiction since the military should manage violence on behalf of the state (Thomson 2010, p. 135). A notable factor responsible for military coups in A

A Comparison between Male and Female Organizational Commitment and Dissertation

A Comparison between Male and Female Organizational Commitment and Turnover - Dissertation Example While various researches have been conducted on organizational commitment in the Western world, the Eastern corporate world, such as that of Qatar still lacks research on this topic. This research aims to uncover who organizational commitment differs among employees in terms of factors including but not limited to gender. In order to understand the concept of organizational commitment, this research depends largely on the contribution of Meyer and Allen and their three types of organizational commitment, affective, normative and continuance commitment. This research further takes inspiration from the organizational commitment scale developed by Meyer and Allen that is based on a Likert scale. The method of conducting the research was quantitative in nature where the questionnaire was inspired from Meyer and Allen’s organizational scale that was distributed among all the employees of XYZ Co., a leading gas company in Qatar. The results of the survey were analyzed using percenta ges and descriptive analysis. The results pointed to the fact that organizational commitment among males and females differs by the type; that is, males are more normatively committed with the organization while females are continually commitment. Affective commitment increases as employees move higher up in the organization because the organization gives more power in their hands. Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction 4 1.1. Background of the Study 4 1.2. Significance of the Study 5 1.3. Research Methodologies and Theories 6 1.4. Research Aims and Objectives 7 1.5. Ethical Considerations 9 Chapter 2: Literature Review 11 2.1. Gender Difference in the Workplace 11 2.1.1. Female Characteristics 11 2.1.1.1. Work Style 12 2.1.1.2 Conflict Resolution 12 2.1.1.3 Management Style 12 2.1.2. Male Characteristics 13 2.1.2.1. Work Style 13 2.1.2.2 Conflict Resolution 14 2.1.2.3 Management Style 14 2.2. Organizational Commitment 15 2.2.1 Impact of Organizational Commitment 15 2.2.2. 3 Comp onent Model of Organizational Commitment 16 2.2.2.1. Affective Commitment 16 2.2.2.2. Continuance Commitment 17 2.2.2.3. Normative Commitment 17 2.2.3 Levels of Organizational Commitment 18 2.2.3.1.1 The Level of Accordance 18 2.2.3.1.2 The Level of Identification 19 2.2.3.1.3 The Level of Internalization 19 2.2.4 Antecedents of Organizational Commitment 19 2.2.4.1. Personal Characteristics 20 2.2.4.2. Work Experiences 21 2.2.4.3. Job and Role Related Characteristics 22 2.2.4.4 Assessing Organizational Commitment 23 2.2.5. Male Organizational Commitment 24 2.2.6. Female Organizational Commitment 25 2.2.7 Comparison Between Male and Female OC 26 2.2.8. Organizational culture in Qatar†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 28 2.3. Employee Turnover 28 2.3.1.Definition of Employee Turnover 28 2.3.2. Types of Employee Turnover 29 2.3.2.1 Involuntary Turnover 29 2.3.2.2 Voluntary Turnover 30 2.3.2.3Positive Turnover 30 2.3.2.4 Negative Turnover 30 2.3.3 Reasons behind E mployee Turnover. 31 2.3.4. Impact of Employee Turnover 33 2.3.4.1 Negative Consequences 33 2.3.5 Male Employee Turnover and its Reasons 34 2.3.6Female Employee Turnover and its Reasons 34 2.3.7 Comparison Between Male and Female Turnover. 36 2.3.7 Reducing Employee Turnover. 37 2.4. Conclusion 39 Chapter 3: Methods 42 Chapter 4: Results 52 Chapter 5: Discussion and Conclusion 67 Chapter 7: References 73 Appendix 1 78 Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Background of the Study Today’s corporate world is becoming increasingly competitive as people from all gender, ages and races have entered the workforce in large numbers. In terms of gender, the attitudes of

Rewrite Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Rewrite - Case Study Example The protection also encompasses biodiversity conservation. 2. It fosters the process of furnishing the economic earnings to country, the region, and the local community. In essence, the protected area provides resources for conservation. 3. It provides financial resources for the conservation of other protected natural areas lacking tourism perhaps because they are unknown or because of their fragile ecological balance. 4. It can make protected areas more profitable thus encourages government or private investment in the establishment of other equally protected areas. 5. It can contribute to conservation if used as a tool of environmental education that sensitizes visitors so they can learn to conveniently value Nature, and respect not only the area they visit but also any other natural area. 6. It gives local communities alternatives to extractive activities that damage the ecosystems and endanger the natural resources. 7. It can help conservation process in other countries that emu late the success in the neighboring countries. Objectives of the Study: I. To secure and maintain the habitat and conditions necessary to protect significant species, groups of species, biotic communities or physical features of the environment where these require specific human manipulation for optimum management II. To facilitate scientific research and environmental monitoring as primary activities associated with sustainable resource management III. To develop limited areas for public education and appreciation of the characteristics of the habitats concerned and that of the work of wildlife management; IV. To eliminate and prevent exploitation or occupation inimical to the purposes of designation V. To deliver such benefits to people living within designated areas in line with the objectives of management Farwa MPA The Farwa MPA is located on Latitude 33Â ° 04' N and Longitude at 11Â ° 50' E to 33Â ° 08' N and 11Â ° 32' E (Approx) from Abu- Kamash in the east to the Tunisia n border in the west. It consists of Farwa lagoon, the largest lagoon on the Libyan coast that covers an area of 32 km2. The Farwa MPA, particularly Farwa lagoon, has meadows of Posidonia and Cymodocea sp., owing to certain economically significant species (shrimp, sponges, and fishes) as well as some endangered species that essentially make it an important area for larva and juvenile protection. In the biodiversity of Farwa MPA it is arguably easier to distinguish several economically important species and certain endangered species. Thus, it is imperative that this area gets adequate protection. The utmost altitude of the land on both sides of the lagoon is about 2-3 m (Sand type). Furthermore, the mean annual temperature varies from one month to another owing to the recent closing of the east side of the lagoon. The minimum mean temperature in winter is 10? C whilst the maximum mean temperature in summer is 27?C. The prevalent direction and speed of wind is largely NW and NNW. Ho wever, a hot southern wind sometimes blows from the Sahara. The Meteorological conditions of the region are those of the western part of Libyan coast. In such conditions, the winter season extends from November to April and is normally very cold and rainy with unstable winds blowing from different directions. The summer season (June to September) is rather hot and dry. The wind is more stable N and NW. Incidentally, spring and autumn are very short transitional periods. The lagoon is separated from the sea by some 11-km

Final 311 Essay Example for Free

Final 311 Essay

Stakeholders In Planning Of Change

Stakeholders In Planning Of Change Prior to implementing a companywide change, it is important to get stakeholders on board. Organisations take their stakeholders into confidence, just to ensure the smooth transition, since they are the one who will be affected by the change. For an organisation stakeholder can be its employees, customers, suppliers, shareholders, managers, government, local community, creditors etc. n order to achieve this goal, stakeholder analyses are carried out. Stakeholder Analysis The process of identifying those who will be affected by the actions of organisation. It also enables the managers to analyze the attitudes of stakeholders towards the change. In order to carry out these analysis, following steps are taken: Identify the stakeholders in stakeholder analysis the first step is to come up with the list of any who will be affected by the organisational actions, this can include an individual, a group or an organisation. The possible stakeholders for Gill Construction can be: new Managing Director previous MD senior managers suppliers lenders / banks customers public future recruits, environment protection groups regulatory bodies Prioritize your stakeholders For organisations the list of stakeholders can be very long, in one case of university 20,000 stakeholders were identified. This doesnt mean that everyone is very important to the organisation. Hence the next step in stakeholder analysis is to prioritize stakeholders. This can be done using Power / Interest Grid. Using this grid, Gill construction can identify their key stakeholders, which can be: new Managing Director senior managers suppliers lenders / banks customers public environment protection groups and regulatory bodies existing workforce Understand Your Key Stakeholders this is the last step in stakeholder analysis. It focuses on understanding the key stakeholders, and defines the way they will be affected. It also highlights the interests stakeholders have with the organisation. It answers the following question: What financial or emotional interest do they have in the outcome of change? Is it positive or negative? What motivates them? What information do they want? How do they want to receive information? What is the best way of communicating with them? What is their current opinion? Is it based on good information? Who influences their opinions generally? Do some of these influencers therefore become important stakeholders in their own right? If they are not likely to be positive, what will win them around to support change? How to manage their opposition How they can influence others by their opinion? Convergence and Divergence Another model adopted by management gurus to analyze the stakeholders. It enables the managers to identify the factors which are opposing the stakeholders and which are supporting it. Divergence analysis of the factors which are opposing the change for stakeholders. The first step is to identify the basic change factors which are causing the opposition, these can be beliefs, values, and goals associated with the stake holders. Managers need to answers like What are their beliefs about change and which have led them to oppose it? What are the values being transgressed by change actions? Are their stress values being triggered? How is the change affecting their career social goals? Managers also need into their perception of the change, analyzing this can give them huge edge converting their opposition. They need to answer questions like What do they think about change? What do they think will happen? How do they look at other stakeholders? Convergence elements which are supporting the change. It is much focused on those who oppose the change. Managers need to understand who they are dealing with, what they are capabable how and how they can affect them. For-example A regulatory body or HSE will have permission to shut down the work in progress if they find anything in violation of the laws. Also in case of Supply chain, they may also ruin their relationship with the supplier. Banks and Lenders will have their leverage over the organisation since a loan was taken for the purchase of new machinery. Managers need to look into the following cases: How the stakeholder will be managed? Do they need any leadership or they will just follow? What made them follow the leadership How will they support the change? How prepared are they for the change? Evaluate the systems used to involve stakeholders in the planning of change Stakeholders Circle: A tool designed to gain stakeholder commitment and involve the key stakeholders in developing a change management strategy. This cycle has six steps and also known as Six Steps Stakeholders Cycle Identify the stakeholders The first step is to identify the key stakeholders, which can influence and have interest within the organisation. Prioritize the stake holders Managers need to identify the key stakeholder using the Power-Interest Grid. For Gill Construction these key stakeholders are : MD Employees Management Customers Suppliers Regulatory Bodies Map the Profile next step is to map the profile, how will they be affected, what is in the change for them, how they can be supported, what kind of support we can get from them, what are their culture and values. All the questions will be answered at this point Engagement strategy At this point a managers need to decide how they are going to address the issues of stakeholders in order to gain their commitment and support. New MD of Gill Construction need to hold a meeting with management of the company. Clearly define what He wants to achieve and what his goals are. Since his goal is to improve the quality of the work done and also expand the business. It will be then the job of Management to directly contact their respective staff members and explain the situation to them. Ideas for improvement will be taken. Meeting and Presentations will be held with suppliers and explain your objective to them. Also Management will seek advice from regulatory bodies to assists them in improving the H S at workplace. Banks and Lenders will also be taken into confidence. A clear business plan will be presented to them. Optimise their Support next step in this cycle is to optimise the support from stakeholders. Managers need to be very clear and specific about their objective to the stakeholder and try to get most out of them. They need to keep good relationships with their lenders/ banks and suppliers. Monitor the last and final stage is to monitor the strategy. They need to keep going back to their stakeholders and ensure their support is still with them. If they have any kind of doubts they need to clear them out. Develop a change management strategy with stakeholders A strategy will be formed which will help management at Gill Construction to gain commitment from their stakeholders. A general change management strategy involves three steps: Situational awareness before a companywide change is implemented, everyone will be made aware of the change and what is going to happen in result of this change. A vision will be created Stakeholders will be informed that how this will effect. Suppliers will be notified about what will be expected of them. Employees will be taken into confidence to avoid panic. Supporting structures second step is to structure teams and sponsor coalition. They will be debriefed about who is going to do what. If they will be let go off, they will be informed at this stage. They will be informed that they need to trained to operate the new machinery. Bank or Lender will be informed about new purchases and equipment. New policy about H S will be sent to HSE and they will be informed about it. Suppliers will be contacted and new terms regarding JIT will be set, also material price will be revisited. Strategy analysis this stage involves risk analysis to be carried out. what degree of risk is involved in this change. What will happen if this strategy fails. In case there is no progress even after this change, what will we do, what if lenders refuse to pass a load. In case of resistance from stakeholders a resistance to change strategy will be required. Management will give their best to negotiate on good terms with the suppliers and use the bargaining power. Management also need to convince the bank and lenders to pass the load and take them into confidence. Create a strategy for managing resistance to change It is in human nature that whenever they are asked to move out of their comfort zone or change, they resist it. When organisations go under change it is very obvious that stakeholders will be afraid of its outcome. Hence it is very important to manage this resistance because this resistance can raise the risk factor during the change or transition process. Passive versus Active Resistance A framework adopted from Active Passive Being critical Agreeing verbally but not following through Ridiculing failing to implement change Appealing to fear Procrastinating or dragging one feet Using facts selectively Feigning ignorance Blaming or accusing Withholding information, suggestion, help or support Intimidating or threatening Standing by or allowing change to fail Manipulating Blocking Starting rumours Arguing Managing Resistance Before a change is implemented it is very important for managers to either eliminate resistance completely or bring it down to a very lower level such that it has a very minor effect. There can be number of ways for managing this resistance. Some of the ways adopted by Gill Construction can be: Communication everyone within the organisation should be made aware of the situation. Managers need to communicate openly with all the stakeholders and discuss the issues with them. Even if they are supporting the change management need to check with them back to back to ensure the full commitment. Management need to hold meetings, brainstorming session with the staff and communicate with them. Suggestions will be taken from the staff and their participation will be encouraged. Training staff will be provided with appropriate training to build up their skills so that they can operate the new machinery. This will help to eliminate the resistance put up by the operational workforce. Also work-shops will be held with other staff to ensure that they are not left behind. They will be provided with the information and steps involved in this transition will be explained to them. Feedback Taking feedback or suggestions from the stakeholders is always the best way to gain their commitment. This shows to them that management is still listening to them and they hold a value to them. Taking feedback about the training is also good to monitor the staff performance. Develop appropriate models for change In the current scenario, Gill Construction has newly appointed Managing Director, who is not very happy with the current operational situation of the organization .He wants to improve the internal situation of the organization as well as the product quality. In past there were a lot of incidents related to poor health and safety at work place, this was due to the fact that no one was following the policy. Also there were cases of project being delayed due to the lack of appropriate equipment and machinery. Since the management decided to go under a change they have faced a heavy resistance from Suppliers, and employees. Also there were concerns over H S policy. The appropriate change management model for Gill construction would be ADKAR model by Prosci. Awareness Management need to create awareness among all the stakeholders and communicate the vision to them clearly, this will help to get them on board. Meeting will be held with suppliers and explain to them about the Just in Time approach for the material in order to avoid storage costs and material wastage. Employees will be explained that what will be expected of them. They will be informed about the new machinery and equipment and their usage. They will also be debriefed about following H S policies or they will face fine. Desire next step is to get feedback from the stakeholders and see what they desire. Full stakeholder participation will be encouraged. They will also monitor the desire for the stakeholders to change. This will be done using meeting and brainstorming sessions Knowledge next step is to educate and train the staff. This will help to motivate the work force and gain their trust. A list will be made regarding the skills and knowledge needed to support the change. If the supplier can provide the stuff on time. Ability even if the stakeholders have the skills and knowledge to support the change but do they have the ability to support it. For-example Supplier has the complete knowledge of JIT and has skilled work force but do not have enough sources or ability to carry it out. Same is the case with employees they might have skills to operate the machinery but they might not have ability to work at a certain place Reinforcement the last step is to reinforce the sources to retain change. Training should be provided to the staff to motivate them and make them feel empower. Also managers need to look if the current supplier cannot agree on the new terms than a new supplier might be required. Plan to implement a model for change Organizational Development A companywide effort to increase organizations effectiveness. It focuses to change the beliefs, attitudes, values, and structure of the organization, so that it can adopt the change e.g. technological or new market or competitor. OD involves process re-engineering and system re-structuring within the organization to increase the effectiveness. Business Process Re-engineering- the complete rethinking, redesigning and reengineering of the business process. The process of material delivery or supply chain will be redesigned. Supplier will be asked to adopt the JIT approach and supply the material at right time. The material will be kept in very low quantity, and if there is need of more material Mangers have to inform supplier prior to 3-days. They will demand for more stock when they have 20% of the stock left. Also Management will adopt a strict approach towards H S policies at work place. If anyone found in violation of these policies will be heavily fined. Customers will be in direct contact with the Project Manager and everything will be done through him. Project Manager will discuss the issues with senior management on weekly basis. Push-Pull Strategy In the current system, organization is following the Push Strategy, which means the stock is Supplier driven. The demand for material is sent to the supplier and it is then delivered but it is resulting in overstocking and in some cases delays which is unacceptable. Hence a new strategy is required, which will be Pull based supply chain. In this strategy the order is placed by the organization in the required quantity, and supplier has to deliver that on time. This will be a mix of Push and Pull. The demand will be given by Gill Construction when the stock reached the 20% mark, and then supplier will be required to deliver the material as demanded. Develop appropriate measures to monitor progress Once the change implementation strategy is planned, the next step is to put appropriate measures in place which will monitor the performance. This can be achieved with the use of following: Goal-based evaluation the aim of this evaluation is to monitor the performance of change and see if the desired goals have been achieved, this involves: Formulating clear goals, what we wanted to achieve. The goal was to improve the operational quality and supply chain. The next step is to align the organizational goals with the change goals. Gill Construction aim is to provide quality service to the client and gaining customer satisfaction, that will be aligned with the goals for change, the change was required to improve supply chain, and also service quality by using new equipment. Next step is to recognize if we have achieved our goals. The effectiveness of supply chain can be checked by measuring waste levels. Also work force commitment can be seen by appraisals and the percentage of accidents at work place. Process-based evaluation it is another tool which measures the effectiveness on the basis of process performance. This checks if the process redesigning has improved the service quality. It will focus on the supply chain process and see if the process has shown its effectiveness. Are the stakeholders happy with the process. The new process for customers to be in direct contact with project manager and not with head office, is it really helping customers or not. Feedback can be taken at this point, which can assists the managers in monitoring the situation.

Nurse-led Respiratory Syncytial Virus Immunisation

Nurse-led Respiratory Syncytial Virus Immunisation Respiratory syncyital virus in pre-term babies. Setting up a nurse led clinic to give Synagis (immunisation) with implications for nursing practice. From the neonatal nurses view point. Introduction The respiratory syncytial virus is identified as a labile paramyxovirus which produces a histologically characteristic effect of causing fusion of human cells in tissue culture – hence the term â€Å"syncytial†. It is commonly sub-classified into types A and B. The B strain is generally asymptomatic in the majority of the population whereas the A subtype tends to produce the more severe illnesses which tend to predominate in the majority of clinically significant outbreaks (Bar-on ME et al 1996). It has an incubation period of 4-6 days and the infection typically lasts from 7-14 days, but does occasionally last up to three weeks. If it becomes necessary to hospitalise a child with respiratory syncytial virus infection, the admission period is typically 5-7 days.(Hentschel J et al 2005) Contagion in the form of virus shedding is its highest levels during days 2-4 of the illness but the active viral particles will continue to be shed for up to 14 days after the clinical onset of symptoms. The respiratory syncytial virus is known to affect both upper and lower respiratory tracts although the most clinically significant manifestations arise in lower respiratory tract infections, bronchiolitis and pneumonia being perhaps the most significant. Bronchiolitis is a particularly severe illness in the pre-term infant by virtue of the fact that it causes very significant small airways obstruction. (Sigurs N et al 1995) The respiratory syncytial virus is currently the commonest identified cause of lower respiratory tract infections in children under the age of three world-wide. Serological studies have identified that, at least in the UK, that virtually all children will have had at least one episode of infection by the age of three. In the infant and neonate age groups, it is currently the numerically largest cause of both pneumonia and bronchiolitis (Krilov L R et al 1997), and is also thought to play a role (as yet not fully understood), in the aetiology of both asthma and chronic obstructive airways disease.(Pullan C R et al 1998) For those patients who have concurrent immunodeficiency states it is a very significant cause of both morbidity and mortality (Long C E et al 1995) Clinical presentation In our considerations here we shall confine our discussion to those clinical manifestations common in the neonatal group and accept that the comments made do not necessarily apply to those older children and adults who may also contract the virus. The respiratory syncytial virus is currently the commonest cause of pneumonia in young children with the greatest preponderance in the under three age range. (Jeng M-J et al 1997) The initial phases of an infection are generally characterised by symptoms of a transient upper respiratory tract infection such as runny nose, watery eyes and mild pyrexia. This typically progresses to produce symptoms of cough, wheeze (although this may be absent in the neonate), high pyrexia, dyspnoea, central cyanosis – characterised by a bluish tinge to the skin, lips and fingernails, increased respiratory rate and occasionally visible utilisation of the accessory muscles of respiration and sub-costal retraction, all of which indicate lower respiratory tract involvement. (Brunell P A 1997). In severe cases it can progress to the point of respiratory failure. In the context of our discussion here, these developments can be extremely dangerous in the pre-term infant who has significantly smaller airways than older children or adults, and also less in the way of respiratory reserve, so that any embarrassment of the respiratory function is of proportionally greater clinical significance. (Graham S M et al 2002) Particular risk factors for a severe bout of the disease are: Prematurity Young age (especially those less than six weeks old) Pre-existing heart conditions (congenital malformations) Pre-existing lung conditions (bronchopulmonary dysplasia and cystic fibrosis ) Immune system malfunction Low socio-economic status and especially those who live in Overcrowded housing conditions Passive exposure to cigarette smoke Day care or childcare attendance Presence of older children in the same household Lack of innate immunity from failure to breast feed. (after Thompson et al. 2003) Mode of infection After each bout of infection the body develops a degree of immunity to the virus. This is less of a factor in the neonate, whose immune system has not developed to the same degree as in the older child. In the pre-term infant , the immune response is (in practical terms) almost non-existent. In any event the immunity is never complete as the virus is capable of subtle mutations of its protein coat which allows it to partially evade the immune system. Re-infections are common but they do tend to be less severe than the original attack. (Panicar J, et al 2004) The mode of spread is through droplet spread and from direct contact with infected nasal or oral fluids. It can enter the body most easily through the epithelial surfaces of the eyes and nose. Epidimiology The respiratory syncytial virus produces characteristic patterns of infection which are epidemics of up to five months duration. They typically occur in the winter months and records show (since 1990) that they typically begin in the time span between October to mid-December with a marked peak in January and February. In the UK, the respiratory syncytial virus is responsible for about 125,000 episodes of hospitalisation (Leader S et al 2002).and about 2,500 deaths (NCHS 2002). These factors are of particular importance in our considerations when we are considering the timing of any protection programme. These figures translate into the fact that 20% of all hospital admissions for lower respiratory tract infections are due to respiratory syncytial virus infections, and if looked at as an annual incidence rate, admission for respiratory syncytial virus infection is currently 28.3 per 1,000 infants and 1.3 per 1,000 for children under the age of 4 years. (Muller-Pebody B et al 2002) The highest rate of clinically significant infection occurs at ages between 2 and 6 months with a significant peak in the 2-3 month age range. Respiratory syncytial virus is typically brought into the home by an older (school age) child who then passes it onto the younger child in the family. In child care and crà ¨che facilities it is quite common to observe 100% infection rates in both children and staff. On a practical note, respiratory syncytial virus infection has also been seen to spread throughout a hospital environment infecting patients and staff alike. (Shay, D K et al 2001), We shall specifically consider the implications of vaccination later in this essay, but there are other issues of prevention that require examination. We have already discussed the mode of common infection through the respiratory and ocular epithelial surfaces. It follows that there are certain measures which, while not eradicating the possibility of spread, will certainly help to reduce it. In the home environment, it is sensible to frequently wash hands after coming into contact with nasal or oral secretions and before handling a young child. Frequent handwashing will reduce the risk of contamination by direct spread. School age children should be kept as separate as practically possible from a neonate if they have symptoms of a â€Å"cold†. Sneezing into a handkerchief will also help to reduce the possibility of droplet transmission. In its droplet form, the virus will live on household surfaces for many hours and is therefore still capable of transmission. In terms of the work of the neonatal community nurse, such patient education should be seen both as part of an empowerment and education programme every bit as much as a prophylactic measure for the neonate. (Hogston, R et al 2002). In the more controlled environment of a hospital, it is possible to institute barrier measures if there is significant risk such as the immuno-compromised patient or the child at risk with congenital heart disease. Frequent pre-touching hand washing is essential to help prevent cross transmission (Ng D K et al 2000). Specific preventative treatments Palivizumab ( or Synagis – Trade name) is a medication that is commonly given to infants at highest risk of complications of respiratory syncytial virus infection, for example those who were born prematurely or those with chronic heart and lung disease. It is given by monthly injection through the at-risk winter months and provides significant levels of protection. This protection however, is comparatively short lived and has to be repeated on a yearly basis until the child is judged to be no longer at high risk of significant sequelae of infection. (PPTI 2005). It is also extremely expensive. (see on). Palivizumab is the first of what may become a series, of monoclonal antibodies, which have been developed to specifically target and combat one specific infection. Its current indications include prevention of serious lower respiratory tract disease caused specifically by the respiratory syncytial virus. There are currently a number of papers that have studied its safety and efficacy in a number of situations such as bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), infants with a history of premature birth (≠¤35 weeks gestational age), and children with hemodynamically significant CHD. (Meissner H C et al 1999), Technically it is a humanised monoclonal antibody of IgG1k type which is produced by recombinant DNA methods. It targets an A antigenic site of the F-protein covering of the virus. It is primarily derived from human antibody sequences and has two light and two heavy chains with a molecular weight of about 148,000 Daltons. The viability of nurse-led respiratory syncytial virus immunisation programme. >From the literature and the evidence that we have presented so far we can point to the fact that the respiratory syncytial virus is a significant risk to neonates, especially those who have significant risk factors for the development of lower respiratory tract complications. (Berwick D 2005) Although we specifically have not considered treatment in this essay, we should note that, in the context of a discussion on the role of prophylaxis, that the treatments available for neonate infection with respiratory syncytial virus are severely limited. In the words of Jon Friedland, an eminent professor of infectious diseases in London: Treating respiratory syncytial virus bronchiolitis remains a good example of therapeutic nihilism — nothing works except oxygen. Adrenaline, bronchodilators, steroids, and ribavirin all confer no real benefit. (quoted in Handforth J et al 2004) If we accept that this is the case and we also accept the significant morbidity and mortality rates quoted earlier in this essay, then it clearly makes sense to consider the role of prophylaxis in respiratory syncytial virus infections. It clearly therefore also makes sense to consider what active measures can be taken in order to try to reduce the possibility of infection or prevent the damaging and serious sequelae of infection. Sadly, this is far from straightforward. One could reasonably hope that a immunologically based vaccine would have been developed to help with this problem. Despite the fact that the first formalin inactivated respiratory syncytial virus vaccine was developed over forty years ago, progress in this field appears to have been painfully slow. Recently published literature on the subject of the effect of vaccines against respiratory syncytial virus found that there was no significant benefit conferred in terms of preventing either the infection or the complications. (Simoes E A et al 2001). We should note that this was not a small study but a meta-analysis of five major studies on the subject and therefore has considerable weight if we are considering an evidence base for our findings. (Green J et al 1998). If we accept the premise that a successful respiratory syncytial virus vaccine should be able to prevent severe lower respiratory tract disease and the morbidity consequent upon it, and should also ideally protect against both A and B strains of the virus, we would also have to postulate that it would have to be given directly after birth in order to prevent immediate primary infection form the environment. In general terms, this presents the nub of the problem as neonates have very poorly developed immune response mechanisms and the bulk of their immunity is passively derived form the trans-placental maternal antibody production and the immunoglobulins present in the maternal milk. (Kim H W et al 1969). Active immunisation in very early life proves to be fruitless, as the immature neonatal immune system cannot generally produce either an adequate T-cell response or effective antibody levels. It is also the case that the maternal antibodies themselves, also interfere with the infant’s ability to mount an antibody response of its own. (Clements M L et al 1996) In order to combat these problems there are a number of immunological strategies currently under investigation. One strategy is to vaccinate the mother during the third trimester in order to try to boost the naturally occurring antibodies and thereby increase the natural passive immunity. This is unlikely to give significant immunity beyond the first six weeks of birth unless the child is breast fed, in which case the immunity would last for longer (see below). It would however, have the advantage of protecting the most vulnerable individuals at a critical time. Initial trials of this method using a purified F protein subunit vaccine was found to be safe in a trial of 35 third trimester vaccinations. (Munoz FM et al 2003). The trial showed a disappointing, but detectable, response and the infants had increased IgG against respiratory syncytial virus up until 9 months of age. Clearly this strategy would be ineffective against children born with a significant degree of prematurity and who therefore, are at greatest risk A second approach was tried with live attenuated genetically modified vaccine. This approach was found to work in adults and older children but could not be sufficiently attenuated to produce a safe and sufficient response in neonates. (Piedra P A 2003). The third approach was to try live recombinant viral vectors which expressed respiratory syncytial virus proteins. Thus far, the results have been disappointing both in terms of immunogenicity and there are also safety concerns with iatrogenic oncogene activation. (Haller A A et al 2003) In terms of our potential nurse run clinic, all of these options have very significant drawbacks and none are therefore likely to represent a realistic immunisation option. Clarke (S J et al 2000) suggest that although huge strides have been taken with a number of vaccine products – especially the live attenuated vaccines, it will probably be a minimum of another decade before routine effective vaccination becomes widely available. It is perhaps because of this failure to present a solution of a vaccine that has caused researchers to examine other avenues of investigation for workable prophylactics. A line of investigation into passive immunity with IV hyperimmune globulins against respiratory syncytial virus has shown positive results in initial trials against preventing severe forms of respiratory complications in high risk children (Groothuis J R et al 1999). This particular formulation can only be given intravenously and therefore is of limited use outside of a hospital environment. It is clearly of no use in a community setting. The other line of passive immunity has developed into the intramuscular form of IgG humanised monoclonal antibody described above (palivizumab). Clinical trials already published have already shown that monthly injections of palivizumab in high risk infants have been able to reduce the hospital admissions for respiratory syncytial virus-related disease by more than 50% (IRSVSG 1998). This was a well designed double-blind placebo controlled randomised study and, in addition to apparently demonstrating its efficacy, it also showed an impressive safety record. This particular formulation appears to have a very good side-effect profile and clinical experience appears to confirm the initial trial results. Given the fact that respiratory syncytial virus places a heavy financial and economic burden on the NHS, a 50 % reduction in these levels is quite substantial. Cost-effectiveness is clearly a major question in any consideration of a national vaccination programme and studies elsewhere in Europe, (Roeckl-Wiedmann I et al 2003) have called into question the costings and have therefore also called into question the need for further evaluation. These considerations are given further credence if we consider the fact that if we take as a marker the number of hospital laboratory reports of respiratory syncytial virus, there appears to be a marked downward trend in the UK between 1990 and 2003. (Fleming D M et al 2003). It may be that there are other active factors here such as changes in clinical or laboratory practice, but it would appear to reflect a definite downward trend. This comment is actually given further credence when one considers the epidemiological data from the primary health care sources which also show a fall in acute respiratory infections over the same period. (Neuzil K M et al 2000) Passive immunisation is currently considered to be the best option in terms of providing immunity in the community although many authorities consider that it is currently only an option for the high risk infant. In the terms of our consideration here for a nurse run immunisation clinic, we should consider a set of guidelines, (that were actually produced in the USA), which could be adopted as they are based on the current best evidence available. (AAP 2003) The guidelines suggest that passive immunisation (palivizumab ) should be currently considered for premature infants born at less than 32-35 weeks gestation or for infants younger than 2 years with chronic lung disease. Although this is clearly a rational view, we have to note that it is based upon American statistics and American costings and is applicable primarily to American culture. It does not imply that the recommendations are necessarily transferable to the UK situation. The NHS has been more cautious. The current NHS guidelines were considered and formulated by the joint committee on vaccination and immunisation of the Department of Health. (JCVI 2002). Their report notes that: Palivizumab seems safe, well tolerated, and effective in reducing admissions to hospital, but it remains very expensive, at a cost of around  £2500 for five doses over the season for respiratory syncytial virus. In the UK, the statistics seem to suggest that readmission rates associated with respiratory syncytial virus infection-related bronchioliitis show that palivizumab is only cost effective if it is used in infants born prematurely with chronic lung disease and receiving oxygen at home (which is actually a very expensive undertaking in any event). (Feltes T F et al 2003). If this opinion is taken in conjunction with the suspicion that the rates of respiratory syncytial virus infection are actually falling, this will actually weight the cost-effectiveness argument further against the use of palivizumab. It is noted that a more recent study of palivizumab in infants who have congenital heart disease has been completed, but the information collected is insufficient in terms of readmission rates, morbidity and cost-benefit analysis, to allow a confident recommendation for use in this population. (Feltes T F et al 2003) The neonatal nurse’s viewpoint. In this essay we have considered much of the current literature on the subject of community immunisation for respiratory syncytial virus. There is little doubt that the virus represents a significant threat to a small proportion of neonates and a minor threat to the rest. (Crowe JE Jr 1995). It is also clear from the evidence that the prospect of active immunisation of the at risk groups has been aggressively pursued over a time scale of about four decades with very little in the way of positive practical results. In essence, this means that the only realistic prospect of giving the at-risk neonate a degree of protection against the respiratory syncytial virus, is by means of increasing the levels of passive immunity. We have considered the role of the only viable therapeutic agent in this area (palivizumab), and have come to the conclusion that the evidence base for its use is sound if it is given on a monthly basis through the winter months when the at risk populations are at greatest risk of significant morbidity, and indeed mortality. Against this statement we have to weight the cost-effectiveness of what is a very expensive agent. (Handforth J et al 2000). The neonatal community nurse therefore finds herself ideally placed to act as the gatekeeper in this role. By virtue of her position of having direct contact with each of the neonates in her community, she is probably the most optimally places member of the primary healthcare team to assess and oversee the administration of palivizumab to those at greatest risk. (Scally G et al 1998) The mechanics of the enterprise will inevitably vary from practice to practice, but the elements of any recall system will be an up to date age/sex register, a forward planning facility and good communications with the antenatal services so that prospective candidates can be assessed at the earliest opportunity. The multidisciplinary nature of the modern primary healthcare team is ideal for communication of this nature and the neonatal nurse should be able to optimally utilise the recall facilities of the practice in order to ensure maximal compliance once the decision to treat has been made. (Yura H et al 1998) On the positive side there is the fact that Nurse led clinics, in general terms, have been proven to work both effectively and efficiently in many other areas. On the negative side we have the practical situation that the current recommendations from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation that the current evidence base supports the view that palivizumab should only be offered to babies in the Group I classification, which currently includes babies under the age of two years with severe chronic lung disease, on home oxygen during the RSV season. This represents about 500 babies a year nationally. Common sense would indicate that there is absolutely no practical rationale for setting up any form of clinic in primary care for this number of babies on a national basis. Even if this recommendation was extended to include those babies in Group II (those with chronic lung disease but not on home oxygen), this would only add another 1000 to the national total and again, clearly there would be absolutely no rationale for setting up a local clinic base for this type of work load. (Netten A et al. 2000) The Committee’s reasoning for offering palivizumab to the Group I babies was on the evidence that it would be likely to reduce hospitalisation by a factor of 40% and thereby be cost effective. The Committee also suggested that these guidelines should be reviewed if a more effective and cheaper vaccine became available. If we consider, for the sake of argument, that such a vaccine has become available and that it is both practical and National policy to set up such vaccination clinics, we can consider the leads given by papers that report experiences in other areas of childhood vaccination. Nesbitt (A et al. 1997) give a very informative overview of the practical difficulties involved in setting up a Hepatitis B vaccination clinic. They point to the problems of trying to reach the most vulnerable and potentially isolated individuals in the community and highlight the need for specific nurse initiated home visits to the persistent absentees to the clinic. (Nesbitt A et al. 1995) They also highlight the difficulties in trying to get a level of immunity in a population that is constantly turning over. It requires a very high degree of vigilance on the part of the nurse running the clinic to ensure that all new arrivals are incorporated into the recall system with complete efficiency and without delay. On a slightly tangential subject, the whole issue of the nurse-led clinic was reviewed and assessed for overall effectiveness and cost effectiveness by Raftery (J et al. 2005). This paper demonstrated, beyond doubt that nurse led clinics could be both effective and very cost effective. This particular paper looked at the role of the clinic in the prevention of heart disease in the adult population, which is clearly not directly applicable to our considerations here, but the important relevant considerations are that the autonomous nurse led clinic can work very effectively with auditable results that can demonstrate both positive health benefits and an efficient and cost-effective use of a nurse’s time. (Polsky D et al. 1997) One of the interesting points raised in this paper which was also directly transferable to a nurse led immunisation clinic was that the increased costs noted also included an element for increased prescribing for intercurrent morbidity that was discovered at the time of the assessment. This is a factor that is likely to be translated into increased costings for the vaccination clinic, as many mothers are likely to save up questions and minor degrees of pathology if they know that they are having an appointment with the practice nurse. (Lancaster T 2003). This may well be translated into increased prescribing costs. Taking a holistic view however, one would hope that these costs would not be incurred without good reason and therefore one could conclude that it would be for the greater good of the patient in the long run and therefore presumably justified. (Benger J R et al. 2005) Considering all of these issues one can see that the viability of the nurse led clinic, certainly in the areas of RSV vaccination, is totally dependant on the development of an effective and cheaper vaccine. At this point in time, the recommendations do not support the logistics of a nurse led clinic for palivizumab although it is clear that the neonatal nurse should be the prime source of the palivizumab vaccination, the numbers involved support the specific identification and targeting of the Group I babies. References AAP 2003 American Academy of Pediatrics. Respiratory syncytial virus. In: Pickering LK, ed. Red Book: 2003 Report of the committee on infectious diseases. 26th ed. Elk Grove Village, IL: American Academy of Pediatrics; 2003: 523-8. Bar-on ME, Zanga JR. 1996 Bronchiolitis. Prim Care. 1996;23:805-819. Benger J R, Hoskins R 2005 Nurse led care: Nurses are autonomous professionals delivering expert care BMJ 2005 330: 1084. Berwick D 2005 Broadening the view of evidence-based medicine Qual. Saf. Health Care, Oct 2005; 14: 315 316. Brunell PA. 1997 The respiratory season is upon us. Infectious Diseases in Children. Thorofare, NJ: Slack Inc; 1997;10(1):5. Clark SJ, Beresford MW, Subhedar NV, Shaw NJ. 2000 Respiratory syncytial virus infection in high risk infants and the potential impact of prophylaxis in a United Kingdom cohort. Arch Dis Child 2000;83: 313-6 Clements ML, Makhene MK, Karron RA, Murphy BR, Steinhoff MC, Subbarao K, et al. 1996 Effective immunisation with live attenuated influenza A virus can be achieved in early infancy. J Infect Dis 1996;173: 44-51. Crowe JE Jr. 1995 Current approaches to the development of vaccines against disease caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and parainfluenza virus (PIV): a meeting report of the WHO Programme for Vaccine Development. Vaccine 1995;13: 415-21. Feltes TF, Cabalka AK, Meissner HC, Piazza FM, Carlin DA, Top FH, et al for the Cardiac Synagis Study Group.2003 Palivizumab reduces hospitalisation due to respiratory syncytial virus in young children with haemodynamically significant congenital heart disease. J Pediatrics 2003;143: 532-40 Fleming DM, Ross AM, Cross KW, Kendall H. 2003 The reducing influence of respiratory tract infection and its relation to antibiotic prescribing. Br J Gen Pract 2003;53: 778-83. Graham SM, Gibb DM. 002 HIV disease and respiratory infection in children. Br Med Bull 2002;61: 133-50 Green J, Britten N. 1998 Qualitative research and evidence based medicine. BMJ 1998; 316: 1230-1233 Groothuis JR, Simoes EAE, Levin MJ, Hall CB, Long CE, Rodriguez WJ. 1999 Prophylactic administration of respiratory syncytial virus immune globulin to high-risk infants and young children. N Engl J Med 1999;329: 1524-30 Haller AA, Mitiku M, Macphail M. 2003 Bovine parainfluenza virus type 3 (PIV3) expressing the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) attachment and fusion proteins protects hamsters from challenge with human PIV3 and RSV. J Gen Virol 2003;84(Pt 8): 2153-62 Handforth J, Friedland JS, Sharland M. 2000 Basic epidemiology and immunopathology of RSV in children. Paediatr Respir Rev 2000;1: 210-4 Handforth J, Mike Sharland, and Jon S Friedland 2004 Prevention of respiratory syncytial virus infection in infants BMJ, May 2004; 328: 1026 – 1027 Hentschel J Berger T M Tschopp A et al 2005 Population-based study of bronchopulmonary dysplasia in very low birth weight infants in Switzerland. Eur J Pediatr 2005 May;164(5):292-7. Hogston, R. Simpson, P. M. (2002) Foundations in nursing practice 2nd Edition, London: Palgrave Macmillian. 2002 IRSVSG 1998 The Impact-RSV Study Group. Palivizumab, a humanized respiratory syncytial virus monoclonal antibody, reduces hospitalization from respiratory syncytial virus infection in high-risk infants. Pediatrics 1998;102: 531-7 Jeng M-J, Lemen RJ. 1997 Respiratory syncytial virus bronciolitis. Am Fam Physician. 1997;55:1139-1146. JCVI 2002 Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. Minutes of the meeting held on 1 November 2002. www.doh.gov.uk/jcvimins01nov02.htm (accessed 31.3.06) Kim HW, Canchola JG, Brandt CD, Pyles G, Chanock RM, Jensen K, et al. 1969 Respiratory syncytial virus disease in infants despite prior administration of antigenic inactivated vaccine. Am J Epidemiol 1969;89: 422-34 Krilov LR, Mandel FS, Barone SR, Fagin JC and The Bronchiolitis Study Group. 1997 Follow-up of the children with respiratory syncytial virus bronchiolitis in 1986 and 1987: potential effect of ribavirin on long term pulmonary function. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 1997;16:273-6. Lancaster T. 2003 The benefits of nurse led secondary prevention clinics continued after 4 years. Evid Based Med 2003;8: 158 Leader S. Kohlhase K. 2002 Respiratory syncytial virus-coded pediatric h

Public Policy Problems In The Environment :: essays research papers

Public policy is defined by Webster’s as the â€Å"The basic policy or set of policies forming the foundation of public laws, especially such policy not yet formally enunciated.† The United States Government has many policies in the area of the environment. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was created in 1970 to help identify environmental problems in our nation, and to set policy on how to deal with those problems. Yet, with so much money spent by the government to deal with problems with the environment, it must be noted that problems still exist, even within the bureaucracy that was meant to help in the first place. During the presidential campaign of the last election, an issue arose concerning the â€Å"energy crisis† that was driving gasoline and oil prices up throughout our country. Vice President Al Gore supported President Clinton’s ideology of waiting for the proper legislative initiatives to pass through Congress, and when the situation merited, provide some limited releases of oil from the national oil reserve. Candidate George W. Bush, on the other had, favored drilling in the government protected lands of Alaska to find future oil reserves so that America would no longer be so dependent on foreign oil. The problem with Bush’s plan, according to Gore, was that this could be devastating to the environment of the scarcely populated Alaskan wilderness. Regardless of the political, legal or moral implications of such drilling, there are problems dealing with multiple types of rationality in this issue. In his book â€Å"Reason in Society,† Paul Diesing describes six major types of rationality. These include technical, economic, social, legal, political and ecological rational. It is easy to comprehend that this environmental issue involves each one of these types of rationality. First of all, the technical rationality is demonstrated through the question of whether or not oil can be found in Alaska, and if it could, would there be enough present to really make a dramatic difference for the consumer? It must also be considered as to how this drilling may effect the environment of this area. Technical rationality also questions whether or not there are ways to drill that can possibly leave the natural resources of this area with as little human interference as possible. Engineers and scientists can try to come up with ways to create a process with which the area will not be devastated by the involvement with man in those areas.

Stained Glass Windows :: Art Architecture

Stained glass windows Stained glass windows used to be only referred to Cathedral windows but it has now moderated into a wide variety of different things. Many people think stained glass is just work on windows but it can also be three dimensional structures and sculptures. Stained glass is still widely used for different things. There was a time when stained glass was deceased but then it later got revived. Stained glass is sometimes difficult to make but if the artist is skilled enough they will produce beautiful designs. Origin of stained glass Colored glass is not something that started just recently. In fact history has it that there were colored windows around since ancient times. The Egyptians and the Romans both produced colored objects. The early Christians during the 4th and 5th century had wooden window frames that contained some omate patterns of alabaster that gave it a colored glass effect. These effects were also done by Muslim architects and others in southern Asia. Then later in the 8th century a Muslim alchemist scientifically describe 46 different colored glass. Destruction of stained glass In England many stained glass windows were being torn down and plain windows would replace them. All this happened during the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry the VIII. This caused thousands of windows to be destroyed since the dissolution of the monasteries gave Henry the right to confiscate the property of the monasteries, and to do whatever he wanted with it. Then later the traditional method of making stained glass was also destroyed and they would not be revived until early 19th century. Stained glass now Lots of stained glass windows were worked on, because there were many churches that had had their windows destroyed during World War II. The German artists were the once that set the tone to restart the restoration. Many artists have transformed stained glass into an art form. Artists now use slab glass and concrete as an innovation to the older era of stained glass. The United States also has a 100-year-old trade organization called the stain glass association of America.

Nuclear Energy Essay example -- essays research papers fc

Some may ask what is nuclear energy the dictionary defines this as: nuclear energy n. 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The energy released by a nuclear reaction, especially by fission or fusion. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nuclear energy regarded as a source of power. Also called atomic energy Nuclear power was first known to be researched in the early 1900's, and by the world war; it reached its greatest peak by demonstrating to the world its power to destroy. Nuclear energy can be good or bad, depending on how the person works with this material; it is used for both sides good and bad. Scientists were unsure from the beginning of how it was possible to get energy from the material called Uranium. They were sure that with its uniqueness it would be able to transform itself into different elements. So they were unsure of it for many years, until Albert Einstein he explored the world of nuclear energy. In 1905 he released his theory of the famous equation e=mc2 with this he knew that uranium was able to create masses of electricity. A few years later, scientists found out the great power of the atomic energy. Since then, both scientist and the public were unable to find the best fit for nuclear energy in our society. We have put it into power plants, but the government and public were disappointed by accidents. We have put it into war, and with it we have caused great damages. So the question is where can this energy go?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Even though it has been discovered to be the greatest power source of the world today, nobody is willing to cooperate with it because of these accidents and accomplishments. I am not sure if my findings are accurate but by source tells me that today there are a total of 432 nuclear power plants and the amount keeps on lowering everyday. Most of the US and Europe power plants have been shut down completely. The Asian power plant has kept its production going, and it is predicted that Asia might become the biggest energy producer of the world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nuclear waste has sometimes been called the Achilles' heel of the nuclear power industry; much of the controversy over nuclear power concentrates on the lack of a disposal system for the radioactive spent fuel that must be regularly removed from operating reactors. Under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 and 1987 amendments, the Dep... ...ick. The 'dome' is designed to withstand earthquakes or a direct hit by a crashing jumbo jet. There is also a large number of sensors that pick up increases in radiation or humidity. An increase in radiation or humidity could mean there is a leak. There are systems that control and stop the chain reaction if necessary. An Emergency Cooling System for the core ensures that in the event of an accident there is enough cooling water to cool the reactor. Bibliography-website (http://members.iinet.net.au/~ando1/nuke/pro_nuke.htm) Cons on Nuclear Energy: Reliability One disadvantage of uranium mining is that it leaves 'mill tailings', the residues from chemical processing of the ore, which leads to radon exposure to the public. These effects are over-compensated for by the fact that mining uranium out of the ground reduces future radon exposures. Coal burning leaves ashes that will increase future radon exposures. The estimates of radon effects are very much in favor of nuclear plants. Mining of the fuel required to operate a nuclear plant for one year will avert a few hundred deaths, while the ashes from a coal-burning plant will cause 300 death.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Dogfight over Europe: Ryanair Essay

Ryanair was launched at a time that did not seem highly favorable to the airline industry. As a matter of facts, in 1986, the market was still recovering from the aftermaths of the OPEC oil embargo and the 1979’s oil crisis which led to an important increase in the jet oil prices, along with a recession that cut demand for air travel and thus gave an impulse to the aircrafts’ cheaper substitutes, such as trains and ferries. Despite that high bargaining power of suppliers and threat of substitution products that made the external environment unfavorable, the Ryan brothers’ wish to launch their airline did not diminish. The company’s first service was launched in 1985 between the southeastern Irish city of Waterford and Gatwick Airport, located on the outskirts of London. One year later, the newborn company started operating between Dublin and the British capital. Two majors Airlines operated on this latter route at that time: British Airways and Aer Lingus, the Irish flag-carrier company. Moreover, some strong US airlines reached out for new routes into Europe after the deregulation of the domestic US airline industry, which made the pressure of competitors even more intense in the airline industry. Last but not least, charter flights, which thrived during the 1960’s to bypass the European regulations and to tap the increasing demand for leisure travel, were transporting 60% of all European passengers by the mid-1980’s. Despite this high unwelcoming rivalry in the market, Ryanair made the choice to focus on the challenging Dublin-London route, which was reputed to be quite lucrative for both British and Irish flag-carriers. At that time, data showed that three-quarters of a million round-trip Dublin-London travelers opted to use rail and sea ferries rather than aircraft. This information, highlighting the high pressure and threat that the airline industry was undergoing on behalf of the substitution products, confirmed the unattractive character of the local market. In spite of this fact, Ryanair initiated service on the Dublin-London route in 1986, using a 44-seat turboprop during its early stages. Ryanair adopted a launch strategy that differentiated it from its competitors in two main ways. First, it employees would focus on delivering first-rate customer service; second, the company would charge a simple, single fare for a ticket with no restriction, while British Airways was offering a spectrum of ticket prices with varying restriction and the full range of classes of service. The company publicized its first Dublin-London service fare of I £98 dollars, whereas Aer Lingus’ and BA’s least expensive, unrestricted round-trip fares on the route were priced at I £208. At the same time, Ryanair would offer meals and amenities comparable to what Aer Lingus and British Airways provided. Thus, the newborn company benefited from the beginning from a distinctive business model focused on low operational costs and low fares, but which was not undermining the quality of its services. These low operational costs are partly linked to the company’s choice to operate on secondary airports, located outside London. Indeed, Gatwick and Luton airports were charging low landing and take-off charges compared to Heathrow main airport, which allowed Ryanair to keep its overhead costs at a lower level than British Airways, and thus gave it a competitive advantage toward other airline companies. However, this choice of secondary airports could also arise as a weakness of the company, since it prevents it from reaching a broader target of customers who predominately go through main airports such as Heathrow. Finally, British airways’ and Aer Lingus’ tickets for the Dublin-London round-trip were priced at I £153 higher than the cheapest rail-ferry ticket (costing I £55), which may have deterred most travelers of flying the route. When launched, Ryanair charged fares which were only I £43 higher than the rail-and-ferry ones’ for this journey. Knowing that the journey took nine hours by rail and ferry and only one hour by air, the newborn company could therefore tap into a segment of customers who might be ready to pay an additional I £43 for gaining 8 hours while travelling comfortably, which might be a valuable offer. Thus, this pricing strategy could enable the company to gain large shares in the market of these potential customers. (2) How do you expect (a) Aer Lingus and (b) British Airways to respond? And why do you expect each of them to respond that way? Ryanair’s launch is 1986 put a pressure on its two major competitors who are operating on the same challenging Dublin-London route. Indeed, the newborn company, benefiting from low costs, setting low fares, but offering a similar level of quality, would rapidly gain market shares over its competitors. British Airways and Aer Lingus had therefore to respond on an efficient way to retaliate to Ryanair’s entry in the airline industry. a) When Ryanair was launched, Aer Lingus domestic and European routes earned a modest operating profit while its trans-Atlantic flights sustained operating losses for the sixth time in seven year. Despite these difficulties, Aer Lingus, whose main profits where coming from its diversification in the hotel business (among others), was still backed by the Irish government, and aiming at its objectives of providing an air transport service that was â€Å"safe, efficient, reliable, and profitable†. Moreover, for being the only Irish airline before Ryanair, the company, which was touting the many benefits it brought to the Irish community, might have been benefiting from a good reputation and reliability in its local market. Thus, thanks to the state support but also to its reputation, Aer Lingus operations’ were well established in Europe, but also in the United States, where the airline has been operating for years. These resources and capabilities, reinforced by the recent successful introduction of a computer reservation system, therefore gave to the company a – temporary – advantage toward the newborn Ryanair. To retaliate to this latter’s entry, we expect that Aer Lingus reduces its European routes’ fares to match Ryanair’s ones. Thus, relying on its value of â€Å"safety† and â€Å"efficiency†, and implementing a low cost / low fares business model on its European and domestic flights, the company could protect its market shares from Ryanair’s prospective growing success. Besides, it may be all the more attractive to customers since it was spending tens of millions of pounds in renewing its fleet of jets, while Ryanair was just starting to operate with turboprops, and still did not have permission to fly larger jet aircraft on the route. b) As Ryanair started operating in 1986, British airways (BA) had been earning record profits for the last years, and its forthcoming privatization in 1987 was planned to improve these performances. The company’s strategy was mainly focusing on international routes and intercontinental flights. Indeed, BA was operating one of the world’s most extensive airline route networks, serving 145 destinations in 68 countries. This focus is highlighted by the fact that international journeys accounted for roughly two thirds of the seats that the company sold, and nine tenth of its revenues. One of British Airways’ advantages is its establishment in Heathrow airport, a major international transportation hub, through which 80% of the company’s passengers were passing. This focus on London’s main airport therefore arises as a competitive advantage toward Ryanair, whose flights, which are taking off and landing in secondary airports, hamper it from reaching a broader target of customers. Besides, British Airways’ large range of offers, implying from first class to economy tickets, distinguishes it from a low cost company as Ryanair, and may also arise as an advantage to some customers, looking for a better quality of service. As a result of this importance differentiation in service, and from our analysis, British Airways’ reaction to Ryanair entry should not be as thundering as Aer Lingus’ one. Indeed, BA already operates on a different segment than Ryanair, targeting business class and international customers. Since BA is mainly operating on international flights from and to main airports, Ryanair’s new focus on point-to-point flights and minimizing overhead costs should not arise as a threat to the British company. Moreover, with the prospective deregulation of the European airline industry whose foundations were laid by the 1986 Single European Act, British Airways should benefit from a major opportunity to expand to new European routes, relying on its valuable international experience. These forthcoming benefits and growth therefore make British Airways a company which does not â€Å"share the same playground† with Ryanair.

7 C’s of Effective Business Communication

7 C’s Of Effective Business Communication PRINCIPLE OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION – 7C’S To compose effective written or oral messages, you must apply certain communication principles. These principles provide guideline for choice of content and style of presentation, adapted to the purpose and receiver of your message. These principles are not only limited to a sentence level, they are also applicable to all forms of communications, from mere utterances and sentences to complete documents or presentations.To some extent the principles overlap because they are based on a common concern for the audience, whether that audience consists of listeners or readers. These principles are called â€Å"Seven C’s†, these are completeness, conciseness, consideration, concreteness, clarity, courtesy, and correctness. The Seven C’s are as follows: 1) Completeness Message Receiver- either listener or reader, desire complete information to their question. e. g. suppose you are working with multinational company who is engaging with engineering goods, like A. C.Now let say one of your major customer wants some technical information regarding â€Å"thermostat† (because he wants to convey the same to the end users). In this case you have to provide him complete information in a short span of time. If possible, provide him some extra information which he does not know, in this way you can maintain a good business relation with him, otherwise he may switch to another company. Five W’s: One way to make your message complete is to answer the five W’s. †¢? WHO†¢? WHAT†¢? WHEN†¢? WHERE†¢? WHY The five question method is useful when you write requests, announcements, or other informative messages.For instance, to order (request) merchandise, make clear WHAT you want, WHEN u need it, WHERE it is to be sent. 2) Conciseness Conciseness means â€Å"convey the message by using fewest words†. â€Å"Con ciseness is the prerequisite to effective business communication. † As you know that all businessmen have very short time. Hence a concise message saves the time and expenses for both the parties. How to achieve the conciseness? For achieving the conciseness you have to consider the following. 1. Avoid wordy expression 2. Include only relevant material 3. Avoid unnecessary repetition. Avoid Wordy ExpressionE. g. Wordy: – at this time. Instead of â€Å"at this time† you can just use only a concise word: – NOW, Always try to use â€Å"To the point Approach† in business scenario perspective. Include only relevant information †¢? Always try to provide only relevant information to the receiver of the message. Let’s say one of your customers requested †¢? For clients of the company o in reply you should provide simply list of clients at the panel of your company. o No need to provide detailed business information about client at all. â₠¬ ¢? Observe the following suggestions to â€Å"Include only relevant information. †¢? Stick to the purpose of message Delete irrelevant words Avoid long introduction, unnecessary explanation etc. Get to the important point concisely. Avoid un-necessary Repetition Sometimes repetition is necessary for focusing some special issue. But when the same thing is said without two or three reasons, the message become wordy and boring. That’s why try to avoid Un-necessary repetition. Some ways to eliminate unnecessary words Use shorter name after you have mentioned the long once. e. g. Spectrum communications Private limited use spectrum. Use pronouns or initials E. . Instead of world trade organization use WTO or You can use IT for Information Technology. (Keeping in views that receiver knows about these terms) 3. Consideration Consideration means – To consider the receiver’s Interest/Intention. It is very important in effective communication while writing a messa ge you should always keep in mind your target group consideration is very important â€Å"C† among all the seven C’s. Three specific ways to indicate consideration †¢? Focus on â€Å"you† instead of â€Å"I† or â€Å"We† †¢? Show audience benefit or interest of the receiver †¢?Emphasize positive, pleasant facts. Using â€Å"you† help you, but over use lead a negative reaction. Always write a message in such a way how audience should be benefited from it. †¢? We attitude: â€Å"I am delighted to announce that we will extend to make shopping more. † †¢? You attitude: â€Å"You will be able to shop in the evening with the extended hours. † Readers may react positively when benefit are shown to them. Always try to address his/her need and want. Always show/write to reader†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ what has been done so far as his/her query is concerned. And always avoid that his/her need and wants.Always avoid that has not been done so far. 4. Concreteness It means that message should be specific instead of general. Misunderstanding of words creates problems for both parties (sender and receiver). When you talk to your client always use facts and figures instead of generic or irrelevant information. The following guidelines should help you to achieve the Concreteness. †¢? Use specific facts and figures †¢? choose image building words e. g General He is very intelligent student of class and stood first in the class. e. g. Ali’s GPA in B. Sc Electrical Engineering 2k3-f session was 3. 5/4. 0; he stood first in his class. Always write on a very solid ground. It should definitely create good image as well. 5. Clarity Accurately is purpose of clarity In effective business communication the message should be very much clear. So that reader can understand it easily. You should always choose precise words. Always choose familiar and easy words. Construct effective sentences and paragraphs. In business communication always use precise words rather longer statements. If you have a choice between long words and shorter one, always use shorter one.You should try your level best to use familiar/easy to understand words so that your reader will quickly understand it. Familiar Next familiar words 1-after subsequent 2-home domicile 3-for example e. g. 4-pay remuneration 5-invoice statement for payments 6. Courtesy Knowing your audience allows you to use statements of courtesy; be aware of your message receiver. True courtesy involves being aware not only of the perspective of others, but also their feelings. Courtesy stems from a sincere you-attitude. It is not merely politeness with mechanical insertions of â€Å"please† and â€Å"Thank you†.Although Appling socially accepted manners is a form of courtesy. Rather, it is politeness that grows out respect and concern for others. Courteous communication generates a special tone in their writing an d speaking. How to generate a Courteous Tone? The following are suggestions for generating a courteous tone: Be sincerely tactful, thoughtful and appreciative. Use expressions that show respect for the others Choose nondiscriminatory expressions be sincerely Tactful, Thoughtful and Appreciative Though few people are intentionally abrupt or blunt, these negative traits are common cause of discourtesy.Avoid expression like those in the left hand column below; rephrase them as shown in the right-hand column. Tactless, Blunt More Tactful Stupid letter; I can’t understand I should understand it, as there is no confusing word in this Letter, could you please explain it once again? It’s your fault, you did not properly Sometimes my wording is not precise; let me try again read my latest FAX. Thoughtfulness and Appreciation Writers who send cordial, courteous messages of deserved congratulations and appreciation (to a person inside & outside) help to build goodwill. The alue o f goodwill or public esteem for the firm may be worth thousands of dollars. 7. Correctness At the core of correctness are the proper grammar, punctuation and spelling. However, message must be perfect grammatically and mechanically. The term correctness, as applied to business messages also mean three characteristics o Use the right level of language o Check the accuracy of figures, facts and words o Maintain acceptable writing mechanics. Use the right Level of Language We suggest that there are three level of language 1. Formal 2. Informal 3. Substandard. Take a quick guess:What kind of writing is associated with each level? What is the style of each? Formal and Informal Words Formal writing is often associated with scholarly writing: doctoral dissertations, scholarly, legal documents, top-level government agreements and other material where formality is demanded. Informal writing is more characteristic of business writing. Here you use words that are short, well-known and conversa tional as in this comparison list: More Formal Less Formal Participate Join Endeavor try Ascertain find out Utilize Use Interrogate question. Substandard Language Avoid substandard language.Using correct words, incorrect grammar, faulty pronunciation all suggest as inability to use good English. Some examples follow: Substandard More Acceptable Ain’t isn’t, aren’t Can’t hardly can hardly Aim to proving ai m to prove Desirous to desirous of Stoled stolen. Facts and Figures Accuracy Check Accuracy of Facts, Figures and words it is impossible to convey meaning precisely, through words, from the head of the sender to a receiver. Our goal is to be as precise as possible, which means checking and double-checking and double-checking to ensure that the figures, facts and words you use are correct. A good check of your data is to have another person read and comment on the validity of the material† †¢? Figures and facts †¢? Verify your statistical data †¢? Double-check your totals †¢? Avoid guessing at laws that have an impact on you, the sender and your †¢? Have someone else read your message if the topic involves data. †¢? Determine whether a â€Å"fact† has changed over time. Proper Use of Confusing Words! Our Language (Any) is constantly changing. In fact, even dictionaries cannot keep up with rapid change in our language.The following words often confusing in usage, an is used before consonants and consonants sounds or a long† u† sound. Use an before vowels. Accept, except accept is a verb and means to receive. Except is a verb or a preposition and relates to omitting or leaving out. Anxious, eager Anxious implies worry, eager conveys keen desire. CONCLUSION These 7 C’s help a person to compose a message in such a way that brings back the positive feedback from the receivers. That’s why it is advice able for everyone to understand and apply these 7C’s whether he is a teacher, doctor, businessman or a student. 7 C’s of Effective Business Communication 7 C’s Of Effective Business Communication PRINCIPLE OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION – 7C’S To compose effective written or oral messages, you must apply certain communication principles. These principles provide guideline for choice of content and style of presentation, adapted to the purpose and receiver of your message. These principles are not only limited to a sentence level, they are also applicable to all forms of communications, from mere utterances and sentences to complete documents or presentations.To some extent the principles overlap because they are based on a common concern for the audience, whether that audience consists of listeners or readers. These principles are called â€Å"Seven C’s†, these are completeness, conciseness, consideration, concreteness, clarity, courtesy, and correctness. The Seven C’s are as follows: 1) Completeness Message Receiver- either listener or reader, desire complete information to their question. e. g. suppose you are working with multinational company who is engaging with engineering goods, like A. C.Now let say one of your major customer wants some technical information regarding â€Å"thermostat† (because he wants to convey the same to the end users). In this case you have to provide him complete information in a short span of time. If possible, provide him some extra information which he does not know, in this way you can maintain a good business relation with him, otherwise he may switch to another company. Five W’s: One way to make your message complete is to answer the five W’s. †¢? WHO†¢? WHAT†¢? WHEN†¢? WHERE†¢? WHY The five question method is useful when you write requests, announcements, or other informative messages.For instance, to order (request) merchandise, make clear WHAT you want, WHEN u need it, WHERE it is to be sent. 2) Conciseness Conciseness means â€Å"convey the message by using fewest words†. â€Å"Con ciseness is the prerequisite to effective business communication. † As you know that all businessmen have very short time. Hence a concise message saves the time and expenses for both the parties. How to achieve the conciseness? For achieving the conciseness you have to consider the following. 1. Avoid wordy expression 2. Include only relevant material 3. Avoid unnecessary repetition. Avoid Wordy ExpressionE. g. Wordy: – at this time. Instead of â€Å"at this time† you can just use only a concise word: – NOW, Always try to use â€Å"To the point Approach† in business scenario perspective. Include only relevant information †¢? Always try to provide only relevant information to the receiver of the message. Let’s say one of your customers requested †¢? For clients of the company o in reply you should provide simply list of clients at the panel of your company. o No need to provide detailed business information about client at all. â₠¬ ¢? Observe the following suggestions to â€Å"Include only relevant information. †¢? Stick to the purpose of message Delete irrelevant words Avoid long introduction, unnecessary explanation etc. Get to the important point concisely. Avoid un-necessary Repetition Sometimes repetition is necessary for focusing some special issue. But when the same thing is said without two or three reasons, the message become wordy and boring. That’s why try to avoid Un-necessary repetition. Some ways to eliminate unnecessary words Use shorter name after you have mentioned the long once. e. g. Spectrum communications Private limited use spectrum. Use pronouns or initials E. . Instead of world trade organization use WTO or You can use IT for Information Technology. (Keeping in views that receiver knows about these terms) 3. Consideration Consideration means – To consider the receiver’s Interest/Intention. It is very important in effective communication while writing a messa ge you should always keep in mind your target group consideration is very important â€Å"C† among all the seven C’s. Three specific ways to indicate consideration †¢? Focus on â€Å"you† instead of â€Å"I† or â€Å"We† †¢? Show audience benefit or interest of the receiver †¢?Emphasize positive, pleasant facts. Using â€Å"you† help you, but over use lead a negative reaction. Always write a message in such a way how audience should be benefited from it. †¢? We attitude: â€Å"I am delighted to announce that we will extend to make shopping more. † †¢? You attitude: â€Å"You will be able to shop in the evening with the extended hours. † Readers may react positively when benefit are shown to them. Always try to address his/her need and want. Always show/write to reader†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ what has been done so far as his/her query is concerned. And always avoid that his/her need and wants.Always avoid that has not been done so far. 4. Concreteness It means that message should be specific instead of general. Misunderstanding of words creates problems for both parties (sender and receiver). When you talk to your client always use facts and figures instead of generic or irrelevant information. The following guidelines should help you to achieve the Concreteness. †¢? Use specific facts and figures †¢? choose image building words e. g General He is very intelligent student of class and stood first in the class. e. g. Ali’s GPA in B. Sc Electrical Engineering 2k3-f session was 3. 5/4. 0; he stood first in his class. Always write on a very solid ground. It should definitely create good image as well. 5. Clarity Accurately is purpose of clarity In effective business communication the message should be very much clear. So that reader can understand it easily. You should always choose precise words. Always choose familiar and easy words. Construct effective sentences and paragraphs. In business communication always use precise words rather longer statements. If you have a choice between long words and shorter one, always use shorter one.You should try your level best to use familiar/easy to understand words so that your reader will quickly understand it. Familiar Next familiar words 1-after subsequent 2-home domicile 3-for example e. g. 4-pay remuneration 5-invoice statement for payments 6. Courtesy Knowing your audience allows you to use statements of courtesy; be aware of your message receiver. True courtesy involves being aware not only of the perspective of others, but also their feelings. Courtesy stems from a sincere you-attitude. It is not merely politeness with mechanical insertions of â€Å"please† and â€Å"Thank you†.Although Appling socially accepted manners is a form of courtesy. Rather, it is politeness that grows out respect and concern for others. Courteous communication generates a special tone in their writing an d speaking. How to generate a Courteous Tone? The following are suggestions for generating a courteous tone: Be sincerely tactful, thoughtful and appreciative. Use expressions that show respect for the others Choose nondiscriminatory expressions be sincerely Tactful, Thoughtful and Appreciative Though few people are intentionally abrupt or blunt, these negative traits are common cause of discourtesy.Avoid expression like those in the left hand column below; rephrase them as shown in the right-hand column. Tactless, Blunt More Tactful Stupid letter; I can’t understand I should understand it, as there is no confusing word in this Letter, could you please explain it once again? It’s your fault, you did not properly Sometimes my wording is not precise; let me try again read my latest FAX. Thoughtfulness and Appreciation Writers who send cordial, courteous messages of deserved congratulations and appreciation (to a person inside & outside) help to build goodwill. The alue o f goodwill or public esteem for the firm may be worth thousands of dollars. 7. Correctness At the core of correctness are the proper grammar, punctuation and spelling. However, message must be perfect grammatically and mechanically. The term correctness, as applied to business messages also mean three characteristics o Use the right level of language o Check the accuracy of figures, facts and words o Maintain acceptable writing mechanics. Use the right Level of Language We suggest that there are three level of language 1. Formal 2. Informal 3. Substandard. Take a quick guess:What kind of writing is associated with each level? What is the style of each? Formal and Informal Words Formal writing is often associated with scholarly writing: doctoral dissertations, scholarly, legal documents, top-level government agreements and other material where formality is demanded. Informal writing is more characteristic of business writing. Here you use words that are short, well-known and conversa tional as in this comparison list: More Formal Less Formal Participate Join Endeavor try Ascertain find out Utilize Use Interrogate question. Substandard Language Avoid substandard language.Using correct words, incorrect grammar, faulty pronunciation all suggest as inability to use good English. Some examples follow: Substandard More Acceptable Ain’t isn’t, aren’t Can’t hardly can hardly Aim to proving ai m to prove Desirous to desirous of Stoled stolen. Facts and Figures Accuracy Check Accuracy of Facts, Figures and words it is impossible to convey meaning precisely, through words, from the head of the sender to a receiver. Our goal is to be as precise as possible, which means checking and double-checking and double-checking to ensure that the figures, facts and words you use are correct. A good check of your data is to have another person read and comment on the validity of the material† †¢? Figures and facts †¢? Verify your statistical data †¢? Double-check your totals †¢? Avoid guessing at laws that have an impact on you, the sender and your †¢? Have someone else read your message if the topic involves data. †¢? Determine whether a â€Å"fact† has changed over time. Proper Use of Confusing Words! Our Language (Any) is constantly changing. In fact, even dictionaries cannot keep up with rapid change in our language.The following words often confusing in usage, an is used before consonants and consonants sounds or a long† u† sound. Use an before vowels. Accept, except accept is a verb and means to receive. Except is a verb or a preposition and relates to omitting or leaving out. Anxious, eager Anxious implies worry, eager conveys keen desire. CONCLUSION These 7 C’s help a person to compose a message in such a way that brings back the positive feedback from the receivers. That’s why it is advice able for everyone to understand and apply these 7C’s whether he is a teacher, doctor, businessman or a student.