Thursday, October 31, 2019

Primary and secondary infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis Essay

Primary and secondary infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis - Essay Example transformation from a less fatal disease to a fatal disease with less chance for survival. So, it is important to go through the histopathological changes taking place in the lung related to primary and secondary infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Primary infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis mainly affects human respiratory system (lungs). Besides, the main symptoms of this infection are similar to other common diseases and the real problem gets unnoticed. Anderson et al. (2014, p. 1713) state that ‘Since the symptoms and signs of childhood tuberculosis are seen in a range of other conditions, clinical diagnosis is unreliable’. As the initial infection or Primary TB is seen among children, the infection may affect their immunity and may lead to other diseases in general. One can see that vaccination is not effective for this infection because it spreads through air and direct contact with the infected person. So, the best possible treatment for primary infection is to diagnose the same and to provide proper medical treatment. Warner & Mizrahi (2014, p. 1642) state that ‘In the absence of a vaccine to provide long-term protection, control of drug-susceptible tuberculosis is largely dependent on a standa rd 6-month chemotherapy regimen that has been in use for more than three decades’. In addition, proper medical treatment can cure this infection because modern medicine proves to be effective while dealing with the same. From a different angle of view, treatment for primary infection can hinder the rapid spread of secondary infection because. Sterling et al. (2011, p.2156) state that ‘More than 2 billion persons are infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and from this reservoir active tuberculosis will develop in millions of persons in coming decades.’ For instance, medical treatment can hinder the spread of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from person to person and can save millions of people. Nowadays, treatment for this disease is

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Critically examine how effective the Single European Act has been in Essay

Critically examine how effective the Single European Act has been in creating a European Internal Market - Essay Example Through a historical overview of the treaties upon which the EU is founded, followed by a discursive analysis of the enlargement process, the creation of joint borders through the Schengen Agreement, and the formulation of a monetary regime whose outcome was he implementation of a single EU monetary unit, the research shall demonstrate that while the SEA contributed to both the deepening and the fortification of the integrative process, it is hardly single-handedly, or even primarily, responsible for the evolution of the EU of 2005. The European Union is a unique example of political economic integration. Even though Paul and De Burca date the creation of the EU to the birth of the Maastricht Treaty in 1993, others have contended this to be erroneous, insisting that the evolutionary process spanned five decades. This argument is forwarded by Molle (2001) and expressed in his contention that evolved from a limited common market with only six member states to a regional political and economic bloc, comprising twenty-five nations, in the span of five decades, the European Union provides political economists and legal scholars with a unique insight into the legal strategies and frameworks requisite for the realization of such an ambitious project. The European Union project, as noted by Molle (2001), was predicated on the assumption that regional political and economic unification could restore European global economic and political power and with this assumption functioning as a prime motivator, legislature and tr eaties among towards the realization of the stated goal, entered the formulation stage I 1948 and the implementation stage in 1952 (Molle, 2001). 1952 witnessed the passage and implementation of the EU’s founding treaty, the Treaty of Paris. At this stage, the European integration process was confined to the creation of the

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Evaluation of Sustained Release Matrix Tablets of Cilostazol

Evaluation of Sustained Release Matrix Tablets of Cilostazol Development and in Vitro-in Vivo Evaluation of Sustained Release Matrix Tablets of Cilostazol Keywords:Cilostazol; Pharmacokinetics; ER Matrix Tablet; In Vitro Kinetics; ABSTRACT The objective of this research had to manufacture extended release matrix tablet of Cilostazol and to evaluate its in vitro drug release and in vivo absorption. The dosage form was designed by selection of various polymers such as Hypromellose, Kollidon SR, Xanthan gum, Ethyl cellulose, Eudragit Polymers. Microcrystalline cellulose and lactose as dilutents to build matrix tablets and povidone as granulating binders. The tablets were prepared by Direct compression, wet granulation and Melt extrusion techniques. Optimized formulation of Cilostazol matrix tablets was prepared by using 7% HPMC K100M polymer, 39 % MCC, 3% of povidone as binder. Matrix tablets were compressed with optimized free flowing granules of uniform drug content. This in vitro drug release showed the extended the release period up to as per desired specifications. The matrix formed by HPMC, MCC and Povidone had been showed satisfactorily with the controlled resistance. Bioavilability study of this wet granulation do sage formulation in rabbit model showed 24 h sustained drug release in vivo. A correlation (R2= 0.9833) was founded between the in vitro drug release and the in vivo drug absorption. The results suggested that wet granulation with is a satisfactory method to develop a sustained release Cilostazol and it can be Performed therapeutically better than conventional IR dosage form. 1. Introduction In this study the Cilostazol sustained release matrix tablet was developed with various polymers. Since the IR dosage form produces and side effect head of ache due to drug oscillation in plasma. The challenge become to develop a matrix tablets are due to drug morphology and highly insoluble in nature . In the present study, a sustained release dosage form of Cilostazol has been developed that enables less frequent administering of drug . Matrix tablets of Cilostazol were formed by appropriate combination of HPMC and Povidone and lactose monohydrate,MCC and Kollidon K30 was chosen for matrix tablet to extend duration of drug release. Cilostazol and its metabolites are inhibit the platelet aggregation and exert vasodilatory action by inhibiting phosphodiesterase activity and cAMP degradation with a resultant increase in cAMP in platelets and blood vessels The objectives of research were: 1) To analyze the physical and chemical characters of prepared Tablets 2) To elucidate the effect of polymers and to study the release kinetics, 3) in-vivo study for the stable formula. 2. Materials and Methods 2.1. Materials Cilostazol was obtained from IPCA lab, Mumbai, India. Hypermellose (Methocel K100M CR), Povidone K30 received as a gift sample from Colorcon Pvt Ltd. Kollidon K30 was obtained from BASF. All other Reagents were purchased from local suppliers, India and were of analytical grade. 2.2. Drug and Excipient Interactions Drug Excipient interaction study was investigated by DSC (differential scanning calorimeter). The DSC Thermo gram of only drug and Drug+Excipient mixtures were noted. The samples were separately packed in aluminum cells and kept a set in Metler TA 4000 Thermal analyzer. 2.3. Formulation 1. Dispensing: All the ingredients were dispensed accurately as per formula quantity. 2. Sifting: Measured quantity (refer table no.4.5) of Cilostazol, Microcrystalinecellulose (Avicel PH-101), HPMC K100M, were passed through 30#, Microcrystalinecellulose(PH-102), Aerosil-200, through 40#, yellow oxide of iron and Magnesium stearate were passed through 60# . 3. Mixing: Measured quantity (refer table no.4.5) of Cilostazol, Microcrystalinecellulose (Avicel PH-101), were mixed in polybag for 15 min, to it added yellow oxide of iron and mixed for 5 min. in RMG at 2.4 RPM . 4. Preparation of Binder solution: Measured quantity (refer table no.4.5) of IPA and Water were poured in stainless steel beaker, to it added PVPK-30 with stirring continuously by glass rod till dissolved completely and clear solution is obtained. 5. Wet Granulation: Granules were prepared by wet granulation method in RMG at 2.4 RPM for 15 min, using step 4 binder solution. Prepared granules dried at 60  ºc till LOD reaches less than 2.5% and finally sifted through 30#. 6. Mixing: Mixed the measured quantity (refer table no.4.5) of Microcrystaline cellulose (Avicel PH-102), HPMC K100M, Aerosil-200, in polybag for 15 min with granules obtained in step 5. 7. Lubrication: Above granules are lubricated with measured quantity of magnesium stearate In the trial 5 concentration of HPMC K100M is reduced from 10% to 8% and trials 6,7,8 from 10% to 7% . 2.4. Physical Characterization of Tablets The prepared tablets were subjected to various physical characterization studies. Weight variation test was performed with 20 tablets with an electronic balance. Tablets hardness was determined using Monsanto (Standard type) tablet hardness tester. Thickness was measured by a venier caliper (Mitutoyo, Japan). Friability was calculated using a Roche friabilator (Basel, Switzerland) 2.5. Drug Content of Tablets (Assay by HPLC) Cilostazol USP: Chromatographic Conditions: The drug content of the formulated tablets was estimated by HPLC method. Column: Stainless steel column packed with octadecylsilane silica gel for chromatography ,c18 ,150Ãâ€"4.6 mm,5 µm(Inertsil ODS-3 is suitable) Mobile phase::Acetonitrile:Mthanol:Water(7:3:10by volume), filter and degas. Flow rate: 1.0ml / min Wavelength: 254nm Diluent: Methanol Injection Volume: 10 µl Temperature: 270C ± 10C Retention time: Cilostazol- about 9.4 minutes. Cilostazol was analyzed by HPLC at a wavelength of 254 nm. 2.6. In Vitro Dissolution Studies In-Vitro dissolution Studies (Dissolution analysis by HPLC) Dissolution testing for the amount of drug-substances released was studied using the following dissolution parameters: Table : Dissolution parameters and specifications for Cilostazol Acceptance criteria : As given table no.4.15 Dissolution Parameters:Medium: 900 ml, 0.3% SLS in 6.8 Phophate bufferApparatus: USP Apparatus 2Paddle Speed: 75 RPM Temperature:370C  ± 0.50c. Duration:1,4,8,12,24 hours Chromatographic Conditions: Instrument: HPLC(Hitachi) Column: Stainless steel column packed with octadecylsilane silica gel for chromatography, C-18, 150cmÃâ€" 4.6mm, 5 µm (Inertsil ODS-3 is suitable) Mobile Phase: Acetonitrile:Mthanol:Water(7:3:10 by volume) filter and degas. Flow rate: 1.0 ml/min Wavelength: 254nm Injection Volume: 20 µl Diluent: Methanol, Dissolution Medium Temperature: 270C  ± 10C. The release studies were conducted in duplicate. Mean % cumulative drug release was plotted against time (hours). 2.7. Drug release Kinetics and Mechanism Kinetics of drug release was determined by fitting data to Table 1. Composition of extended release matrix tablet of Cilostazol different models such as zero order (M = kt), first order equation (M = lnM0+ kt), Higuchi model (M = k√t) and KorsemeyerPeppas equation (M = ktn). The value of n = 0.5 denotes case I diffusion (Fickian), 0.5 n = 1, for case II transport and n > 1 for super case II transport. Where M is the amount of drug (%) released after time t; Where M0is the amount of drug released at (0) zero time; k is the release rate constant, n is the exponent. Drug release following particular mechanism is judged by the linearity of plot 2.8. Stability Studies Stability studies were conducted on SR Tablets of select batch to assess their stability with respect to their physical appearance, drug content and release characteristics after storing at 25ËÅ ¡C under 60% relative humidity (RH) and 40ËÅ ¡C under 75% RH for 6 months [8]. 2.9. Pharmacokinetic Evaluation The animal studies were performed as per guidelines for the Care and Use of Animals that were approved by the Animal Ethics Committee. Male rabbits (Albino) with average weight of 2.5 kg were housed in standard cage individual, which well ventilated with air, humidity and temperature control. 50 mg equivalent weight of Cilostazol sustained Release Tablets with and 50mg equivalent weight of Cilostazol 50mg IR tablet was administered to 2 groups orally (N = 4) via silicone rubber gastric intubation tube. A wooden rod was kept between the jaws of rabbit’s mouth. A gastric tube was centrally placed over the hole in mouth (21.22). With the help of gastric intubation tube the tablets were administered in to the stomach of rabbit by set on the tip in it. After administered the oral dose, 5 ml of water was given to facilitate the admittance of the tablets. Rabbits were kept fasting over night but access to water ad libitum; In a heparin zed branule (G22, G24) 2 ml of blood samples were collected, which placed in the marginal ear vein , at each of the pre determined times i.e., 0.25 Hr, 0.5 Hr, 1 Hr, 2 Hr, 4 Hr, 6 Hr, 8 Hr and 24 Hr after administration:Samples were transferred to eppendrof centrifuge tube and centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 10 min. The separated organic layer will be collected and evaporate to dryness under a gentle steam of nitrogen gas. The obtained residues will be reconstituted in organic solvent with vortex mixing, from which aliquot will be injected to HPLC system . supernatant plasma was separated and transferred and stored at –20ËÅ ¡C until Analyzed. in to 96 well plate 2.10. In Vivo Data Analysis The maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) and the time to reach the maximum concentration (tmax) were directly obtained from the observed values. The area under the curve up to 24 h after administration (AUC) was calculated by the trapezoidal rule from the observed values. 3. Results and Discussion In this study, the matrix tablets were prepred using various types of polymers and different composition. of polymers (Table 1) of matrix forming polymers (HPMC, sodium CMC and MCC) with the help of granulating agent, PVP was used as Binder. In vitro studies conducted for all the formulations. Extended release of drug was in the order of CW1 Figure 1). Rate of drug release was significant (p Figure 1, CW5). It seems the mechanism is by diffusion method. Physical characteristics of matrix tablets were shown in Table 2. There was no any significant burst effect in the optimized HPMC matrix tablets that showed a low possibility of dose dumping and avoids toxicity (in vivo). The Release kinetics of matrix tablets was determined by fitting the drug release data in different established models they are zero order, first order, Higuchi model, Korsemeyer-Peppas equation.Table 3shows values of regression coefficient, release constant and exponent n. First order release data was not satisfactory. The data suggested that kinetics of drug release of DVF5 was best explained by Korsemeyer-Peppas equation (R2= 0.991, n = 0.60). This indicated combined effect of diffusion and erosion mechanism on the release of drug. The stability results of storing at 25ËÅ ¡C/60% RH and 40ËÅ ¡C/75% RH for 6 months as per ICH guidelines evidenced any change in physical parameters and appearance and very slight change in dissolution pattern. Based on the available stability data 2 years shelf life can be provided. Figure 1. In vitro release profile of Cilostazol SR tablets. Table 2. Drug release kinetic of Cilostazol SR tablet formulations. Next, the stable formula were designated for its in vivo test in rabbit. Plasma concentration and pharmacokinetic parameters after oral administration of formulated ER matrix tablet CW5 and Cilostazol IR tablets 50mg were summarized inFigure 2andTable 3. No sustained blood level was observed after oral administration of the IR formulation. The formulated matrix Tablet (CW5) showed significant lowerCmaxthan the IR formulation (P max(tmaxis 6 hr) as compared with immediate release formulation (tmaxis 0.55 hr). The AUC increased from 11190.30 hr*ng/ml to 295396.49 hr*ng/ml for ER tablets. Values of Cmaxand tmaxclearly indicated that the drug release was sustained to about 24 hours after oral administration in rabbits (n = 4). CW5 Tablets maintained prolonged plasma concentration up to about 24 hours. The sustained plasma concentration of new formulation (CW5) indicates its extended drug release in vivo absorption. The Results demonstrated that the hydrophilic polymers were successfully utilized for formulating Cilostazol extended release matrix tablets. By wet granulated with povidone . Moreover the extended release matrix tablets have a unique advantage of lessening chance of dose dumping and to avoid side effects. The investigated extended release matrix tablets were adequate to maintaining constant plasma level of Cilostazol up to 24 hours in rabbits. Figure 2. Profile shows mean plasma concentration of Cilostazol against time, following oral administration of IR tablets and SR Tablets (CW5) to rabbits. Data are represented as mean  ± SD (n = 4). Table 3. Mean ( ±SD) pharmacokinetic parameters of Cilostazol in Rabbits (n = 4) orally administered with IR tablets and ER tablets CW5 (50 mg). 4. Conclusion A new sustained release formulation of Cilostazol has been developed for its in-vitro drug release and in-vivo absorption. Extended release matrix tablet were found to be an effective to maintain the drug level in plasma. Bioavailability studies can be carried out to assess the usefulness of this formulationand in comparison with existing IR products in the market formulations on healthy human volunteers.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Underlying Corruption :: Underlying Corruption Short Story Essays

Underlying Corruption Long shadows meandered through the darkened house, lightning strobing their actions on the walls. Jeremy stood in the dark kitchen, holding a small emergency candle and a box of matches. Barefoot in jeans, and an unbuttoned flannel, his relaxed look belied his state of mind. The sights and sounds of the night made him pause. Holding stalk still, he listened intently, hoping for the sounds to be the dog or maybe some farm animals. The noises that greeted him were nothing of the sort. The wind and rain made the trees creek and the windows rattle. Moving through the old house, Jeremy tripped over assorted furniture, trying to navigate in the random illumination. The electricity had gone out a couple of minutes before, leaving only the lightning to help Jeremy find the kitchen. Outside, the wind was hammering at the windows. Soft grass crumpled under foreign, unliving feet. Around the house, the creators of those shadows moved slowly past the windows. Jeremy finally got the candle lit and headed toward the silverware drawer. The wandering flame of the candle painted more eerie shadows on the kitchen walls. Grabbing a hand full of knives, he selected the largest, and armed himself. Slow feet trudged along the cracked sidewalk, outside. A torn pantleg dragged behind, snagging the bushes. The smell of wet concrete mixed with noxious odors. Another strange shadow passed the kitchen window. Jeremy caught only the tail end of it in a random flash of lightning. Tightening his grip on the knife, he stood listening. The sounds that came were not encouraging. As the pale, torn hand snatched at the screen door handle, a ragged foot slapped flatly on the first step, outside. Pieces of insect-eaten flesh hung lifelessly. A bony finger slowly groped for the screen door button. The dull white bone scratched along the black metal. Inside, the sound echoed in the heavy silence. Jeremy froze, then turned toward the door. A low groan rose up in his throat as terror wrapped its icy fingers around his heart. Another strobe of lightning silhouetted a dark figure in the doorway. Jeremy stared at the door for a second, then ran to the master bedroom, down the hall. Knife in hand, he rounded the corner and into the room. Throwing open the closet door, he dove in. Nervously, yet trying to be extremely quiet, he rifled through the closet.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Brain functions

Brain provides wider function in terms of biological changes that take place in one person; it is the central nervous system thus, it is responsible to overall functional development of the body. Moreover, the brain serves as the indicator of all the responses made by man, and so, any behavioral and/or psychological development coincides with his mental development. Scientists have made a very significant study on brain functioning of adolescents. A teen’s brain develops more rapidly according to them than what most people thought.Through the use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), they have found out that the human brain â€Å"undergoes changes after sensitive period,†1 and develop throughout adolescent. Brain continues to develop until the age of twenty, and this development is remarkable and must be given enough attention by concerned individual, for in this period lies the future of these teens. Many mental health experts believe that these changes that occur in on e’s brain to prepare them to adulthood.2 It is a crucial stage in the development of brain because, along the physiological changes that take place in the brain, the psychological and emotional functioning of an adolescent carries with it also. These health professional had commented that, â€Å"adolescence and young adulthood is a time of great potential for change and development – then policymakers need increasingly to focus in the opportunities for helping and influencing young adults that this crucial stage presents. †3 Biological Changes that Occur in an Adolescent BrainThe brain controls the overall function of the body: the basic instinct, immune system, sexuality, language capacity, and even abstract thinking. Not only has that, even a person’s behavior or responses depended largely on how his brain functions, specifically, his capacity to adapt to changes brought about by external forces. Adolescent period is the turning point in the life of any person to adulthood; many could observe how differently a person when he turns to this period. Not all can understand these changes, even the person himself.In the biological development of the brain, renowned Biologist and Psychologist Jean Piaget observed that â€Å"the developing child builds cognitive structure. †4 He meant the child develops mental ‘maps’ scheme, or network concept for â€Å"understanding and responding to physical experiences with in his or her environment. †5 Piaget confirmed that cognitive structure increases with development moving from instinctive baby responses to highly complex mental activities of adolescence. In his theory6, he identifies four development stages and processes by which children progress through them.These are: 1) the sensorimotor stage (birth – 2years old) is where the child first learns through physical interaction with his or her environment and forms a set of ideas about ‘reality and how it wo rks. 2) The preoperational stage (2-7 years old) is the stage that the child needs ‘concrete physical situation because he can not yet conceptualize abstractly. 3) The concrete operation (7-11 years old), at this ages, the child is able to conceptualize creating ‘logical structures’ that gives him idea of his or her physical experiences.4) The formal operations (11-12 years old), the child already develops cognitive structures like those of an adult which include conceptual reasoning. Piaget further explains that during all development stages, the child experiences his or her environment using whatever mental maps he or she has constructed. By this, he said that repeated experience easily fits or assimilated into child’s cognitive structure that maintains his or her mental equilibrium.But if it is a new experience, the child loses equilibrium and alters cognitive structure to â€Å"accommodate the new conditions. Through this, the child develops more and m ore concrete cognitive structures. †7 Men and women differ in many aspects not only in physical attributes and sexes. They also differ even in the way of solving intellectual problems. The differences accordingly are minimal and were merely consequence of â€Å"variations in experiences during development before and after adolescence.†8 They pointed out that recently, evidence suggests that the effect of sex hormones on brain organization occur so early in life that from the start, the environment is acting on differently wired brains in boys and girls. †9 These then, make evaluating the role of experience independent of physiological disposition which is a difficult task. The basis of biological sex differences in brain and behavior â€Å"have become much better known through increasing numbers of behavioral neurological endocrinological studies. 10 These studies also emphasized that observations show that males are more aggressive than females.Males engage in m ore rough play while females are more ‘nurturing. ’ It was also noted that males are better at a variety of spatial tasks. It concludes that male and female are better differentiated in the â€Å"level of exposure to various sex hormones early in life. †11 According to the studies conducted by Dr. Elizabeth Sowell, Assistant Professor of Neurology Laboratory of New Imaging, UCLA, â€Å"the discoveries particularly of post adolescent frontal lobe motivation provides new insight for interpreting occasionally trouble some behavior.She noted that â€Å"teens in typical western society are notorious for being poor planners, having difficulty interpreting potential consequences of their actions. 12 That these teens have difficulty controlling their emotions and having trouble inhibiting inappropriate behaviors. Dr. Sowell pointed out that â€Å"frontal lobes are responsible for planning, organization, and impulse control all functions typically underdeveloped during adolescence. †13 The result of the studies suggested that on-going changes in brain structure play a role.She said that â€Å"patterns of cortical maturation and degeneration between childhood and old age likely to reflect changing behavioral functions and cognitive abilities across the human life span. †14 The study used computerized brain image analyses to create three dimensional maps of gray matter change in the human cerebral cortex across a decades (7-87 years) involving 176 normal individuals and studies with MRI. Findings showed gray matter increase until about age 30. Whereas gray matter is also observed because of synaptic pruning, and continued myelination occurs during adolescent period.Both synaptic pruning and increased myelination are â€Å"cellular changes that result in a more fine tuned efficient brain. †15 It was also observed that pattern of gray matter loss were more rapid between 7 and 60 years old. Results of this study show that the †Å"trajectory of maturation aging effects vary considerably over the cortex with primary visual, auditory and limbic cortices known to myelinate relatively early in development showing a more linear pattern of aging. †16 Psychological Adjustment Due to Changes in BrainA group of health professionals explained some remarkable changes that take place in the behavior of a youth17 such as: sense of independence and exploration; formation of social bonds (they would choose to be with friends than with family members); they have powerful urges for sexual behavior; they have powerful emotional responses; they have greater tendency to acquire high-risk behavior because they cannot sustain with reason their impulsive behavior; youth are also vulnerable to addiction such as drugs and alcohol, their brain is sensitive with these elements; they also have inclination to materialism or consumerism; and in rare instances, some may experience mental illness or psychological disorder especially if the thinning of grey matter is greater, such as in the case of schizophrenia and bipolar. Conclusion Environment should not be blamed for what the behavior manifests in youth. Young people should not also be blamed for they themselves cannot comprehend what is going on inside them.At this crucial stage in their lives, they can experience different impulses and changes in their behavior. Sad to say, many of these youth have gone astray choosing a different path for them, which in turn, did not benefit them at all. Youth is the future of the nation, a country must invest on them, their energy and potential must be realized for greater benefit of all. But this could become possible if the government and the society must work hand in hand to meet the basic needs of the youth. As mental health professionals pointed out, services for these youth should be made available or else, we may never realize their full potential, they noted:18Commissioners need to consider the specific needs o f this age group when planning and commissioning services; failure to do so may contribute to the development of mental health service users being stuck in a cycle of hopelessness, unable to realize their full potential. Footnotes 1 â€Å"The Adolescent Brain. † http://www. sfn. org/index. cfm? pagename=brainBriefings_Adolescent _brain 2 â€Å"The Adolescent Brain. † http://www. sfn. org/index. cfm? pagename=brainBriefings_Adolescent _brain 3 â€Å"The Adolescent Brain. † http://www. sfn. org/index. cfm? pagename=brainBriefings_Adolescent _brain 4 Funderstanding. http://www. fundertanding. com/piaget. cfm5 Funderstanding. http://www. fundertanding. com/piaget. cfm 6 Funderstanding. http://www. fundertanding. com/piaget. cfm 7 Funderstanding. http://www. fundertanding. com/piaget. cfm 8Kimura, Doreen. â€Å"Sex Differences in the Brain. † SideBar. http://www. sciam. com/article. cfmID=00018E9D-1D06-8E49809EC588EEDF 9 Kimura, Doreen. â€Å"Sex Differences in the Brain. † SideBar. http://www. sciam. com/article. cfmID=00018E9D-1D06-8E49809EC588EEDF 10 Kimura, Doreen. â€Å"Sex Differences in the Brain. † SideBar. http://www. sciam. com/article. cfmID=00018E9D-1D06-8E49809EC588EEDF 11 Kimura, Doreen. â€Å"Sex Differences in the Brain. † SideBar. http://www. sciam. com/article.cfmID=00018E9D-1D06-8E49809EC588EEDF 12 Sowell, Elizabeth, Ph. D. â€Å"adolescent Brain Development. † http://www. loni. ucla. edu/-esowell/PBS. html 13 Sowell, Elizabeth, Ph. D. â€Å"adolescent Brain Development. † http://www. loni. ucla. edu/-esowell/PBS. html 14 Sowell, Elizabeth, Ph. D. â€Å"adolescent Brain Development. † http://www. loni. ucla. edu/-esowell/PBS. html 15 Sowell, Elizabeth, Ph. D. â€Å"adolescent Brain Development. † http://www. loni. ucla. edu/-esowell/PBS. html 16 Sowell, Elizabeth, Ph. D. â€Å"adolescent Brain Development. † http://www. loni. ucla. edu/-esowell/PBS. html 17  "The Adolescent Brain. † loc. cit. 18 â€Å"â€Å"A Work in Progress: loc. cit.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Asset Classes Paper Essay

The mutual fund chosen is Merrill Lynch Global and the Dow 30 organization chosen is McDonalds. The asset classes for both the mutual fund and Dow 30 organization will be determined. The following will explain how classifications and the current investment environment impact organizational decisions concerning the composition of these portfolios. _Merrill Lynch Global_ Merrill Lynch (2006). Merrill Lynch is a company that helps individual clients achieve financial success. With a professional advisor, customers can receive a customized strategy with the customer’s goals in mind. It makes available to its clients a wide range of investment products and services. When selecting the fund that best suits the clients need, some key factors to consider include a fund’s investment strategy, risk profile, investment performance, and relationship to the overall asset allocation strategy and investment time horizon. _Class A Shares_. Typically, the most preferred tier of classified stock, offering more voting rights than Class B shares. Class A shares are designed to insulate management from the short-term swings of Wall Street, by allowing those in management to control a small amount of the equity of the company but still maintain voting power. These types of shares are not sold to the public and cannot be traded, which supporters say allows management to focus on long-term goals. Class A shares’ annual operating expenses typically include an annual asset-based distribution and service fee of up to .35% (Mutual Funds. 2006). This annual fee is used to compensate the fund’s distributor and firms like Merrill Lynch for shareholder servicing  and distribution-related services. Class A shares are generally more economical for investors who seek to invest larger amounts and have a longer term time horizon. _Class B Shares_. Class B shares typically do not charge a front-end sales charge, so all of the assets are immediately invested in a fund. Class B shares usually impose a contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) which may be charged to shareholders who redeem Class B shares within a certain number of years. This charge declines over time and is eventually limited. Class B shares are more economical for investors who have an intermediate to longer term time horizon and have less than $100,000 to invest in a fund family’s equity funds or less than $50,000 to invest in a fund family’s fixed income funds (Mutual Funds. 2006). _Class C Shares_. Class C shares usually do not impose a front end sales charge at the time of purchase. All of the client’s assets are immediately invested in the fund. It is common for Class C shares to impose a CDSC up to 1.00% of the redemption amount during the first year or longer (Mutual Funds 2006). Unlike Class B shares which convert to Class A shares after a period of time, C shares generally do not have a conversion feature. Compared to Class A and Class B shares, Class C shares generally become less economical for investors who plan to invest over a longer term. Merrill Lynch’s compensation differs by share class. The fund share class specific compensation is the basis upon which Merrill Lynch Financial Advisors are paid. Some funds may set higher sales charges and asset based fees for a particular class than do other funds for the same class. Merrill Lynch policy sets a limit as to the maximum sales charges or asset based fees included in the Financial Advisors’ compensation formula based on the share class and size of investment to minimize potential conflicts of interest based on differential compensations (Mutual Funds. 2006). Merrill Lynch is a diversified financial services company. It can be expected to pursue additional business opportunities with the firms whose mutual funds Merrill Lynch makes available to its customers. _McDonald’s (MCD)_ The Dow 30 organization chosen for this paper is McDonald’s. McDonald’s was founded in 1948 and is based in Oak Brook, Illinois. McDonald’s Corporation operates as a foodservice retailer worldwide. It operates and franchises McDonald’s restaurants, which offer various food items, and soft drinks and other beverages. As of July 14, 2006, it operated approximately 31,000 restaurants in 100 countries (Yahoo Finance). McDonald’s change in cash and cash equivalents is a difference of $2,718,200. In 2003, the cash and cash equivalents were at $162,400 and in 2005 the cash and cash equivalents were at 2,880600. The total cash flows from financing activities was (1,736,800) in 2003 and 361,600 in 2005. The cash flows grew substantially throughout the three years (Yahoo Finance). McDonald’s Income Statement shows a revenue of 21.23B, and quarterly revenue growth of 9.40%, a gross profit of 6.32B, a diluted EPS of 2.22 and quarterly earnings growth to be at 57.30%. The balance sheet’s total cash in 2005 is set at 3.29B. The net income for 2003 was $1,471,400 then greatly increasing in 2004 to 2,278,500 then increasing a little more to $2,602,200 in 2005 Yahoo Finance (2006). The stock price history for McDonald’s shows Beta, a measure of security’s or portfolio’s volatility or systematic risk, in comparison to the market as a whole, to be at .92. In my reading for this past couple of weeks, I have learned that many utilities stocks have a beta of less than 1. McDonald’s 52 week low on September 21, 2005 was set at $31.31 while its 52 week high on February 8, 2006 was set at 36.75 Yahoo Finance (2006). Overall, McDonald’s has been growing since 1948 at a great pace. McDonald’s second quarter operating results was fueled by strong sales and margin performance worldwide. McDonald’s EPS compared to competitors is much higher at 2.218 with Burger King at .235 and Wendy’s at 1.056 (Yahoo Finance. 2006). McDonald’s has done an excellent job with their employees, stocks, investments, an  d all aspects of the fast food organization. REFERENCES Mutual Funds Investing at Merrill Lynch (2006). Retrieved on August 12, 2006 from http://askmerrill.ml.com/publish/marketingcenters/products/MF_DisclosureDocument_0406.pdf . Merrill Lynch (2006). Achieve Life on Your Terms. Retrieved on August 13, 2006, from http://askmerrill.ml.com/fa_front/1,2280,,00.html?pg=cnp. Yahoo Finance (2006). Retrieved August 13, 2006, from http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ pr?s=mcd.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Free Essays on DNA Testing

DNA will let a Montana man put prison behind him, but questions linger By Adam Liptak, NY Times National Report, Tuesday, October 1, 2002 This article reports the news of a Montana man ¡Ã‚ ¯s release from prison, after serving 15 years of a 40 year sentence for raping an eight year old girl. Jimmy Ray Bromgard was wrongly convicted based on the testimony of the manager of the state ¡Ã‚ ¯s crime laboratory, who assigned a quantitative value to the possibility that hairs found at the scene belonged to the defendant, when such quantitative measurement had not been scientifically established. The victim was not able to say with any certainty that Mr. Bromgard was the man who raped her, and there was no other evidence to link him to the crime. The laboratory manager, Arnold Melnikoff, testified that the hair found at the scene was indistinguishable from the defendant ¡Ã‚ ¯s sample hair, and the possibility of that occurring was 1 in 10,000. Mr. Melnikoff has acknowledged that there has never been a thorough study that would allow the kind of quantification he used, and that his figures were based on his personal experiences. Mr. Bromgard ¡Ã‚ ¯s attorney has asked for an audit of the cases in which Mr. Melnikoff testified. The danger that he gave similar misleading testimony in other trials, or that because he set the tone for the rest of the lab employees, others under his supervision might have given misleading testimony, is troubling. Mr. Bromgard was also the victim of careless lawyering. His court appointed lawyer only met with him once, never prepared him for testimony, nor challenged any of the state ¡Ã‚ ¯s evidence. He promised to appeal the decision, but did not. The state of Montana and several of its counties have been sued by the American Civil Liberties Union for failing to spend enough money to ensure that poor defendants receive adequate representation. Since Mr. Bromgard ¡Ã‚ ¯s trial, some of the counties have res... Free Essays on DNA Testing Free Essays on DNA Testing DNA will let a Montana man put prison behind him, but questions linger By Adam Liptak, NY Times National Report, Tuesday, October 1, 2002 This article reports the news of a Montana man ¡Ã‚ ¯s release from prison, after serving 15 years of a 40 year sentence for raping an eight year old girl. Jimmy Ray Bromgard was wrongly convicted based on the testimony of the manager of the state ¡Ã‚ ¯s crime laboratory, who assigned a quantitative value to the possibility that hairs found at the scene belonged to the defendant, when such quantitative measurement had not been scientifically established. The victim was not able to say with any certainty that Mr. Bromgard was the man who raped her, and there was no other evidence to link him to the crime. The laboratory manager, Arnold Melnikoff, testified that the hair found at the scene was indistinguishable from the defendant ¡Ã‚ ¯s sample hair, and the possibility of that occurring was 1 in 10,000. Mr. Melnikoff has acknowledged that there has never been a thorough study that would allow the kind of quantification he used, and that his figures were based on his personal experiences. Mr. Bromgard ¡Ã‚ ¯s attorney has asked for an audit of the cases in which Mr. Melnikoff testified. The danger that he gave similar misleading testimony in other trials, or that because he set the tone for the rest of the lab employees, others under his supervision might have given misleading testimony, is troubling. Mr. Bromgard was also the victim of careless lawyering. His court appointed lawyer only met with him once, never prepared him for testimony, nor challenged any of the state ¡Ã‚ ¯s evidence. He promised to appeal the decision, but did not. The state of Montana and several of its counties have been sued by the American Civil Liberties Union for failing to spend enough money to ensure that poor defendants receive adequate representation. Since Mr. Bromgard ¡Ã‚ ¯s trial, some of the counties have res...

Monday, October 21, 2019

Awesome Google Tricks You Didnt Know Existed [Infographic]

Awesome Google Tricks You Didnt Know Existed [Infographic] Google is an integral part of our lives. Whether we’d like to admit it or not, we rely on Google for many things. It has become an encyclopedia for most of us. But how can we take our use of Google to the next level in order to truly make the most of theis valuable tool? The folks over at whoishostingthis  have compiled an infographic detailing some pretty awesome  Google tricks  that you probably are not  familiar with. Check them out below:

Sunday, October 20, 2019

The Location and Legend of Alba Longa

The Location and Legend of Alba Longa Location and Legend Alba Longa was a region in the area of ancient Italy known as Latium. Although we dont know exactly where it was, since it was destroyed early in Roman history, it was traditionally founded at the foot of the Alban mountain about 12 miles southeast of Rome. A doublet legendary tradition, found in Livy, makes King Latinus daughter, Lavinia, the mother of Aeneass son Ascanius. The more familiar tradition credits Ascanius as the son of Aeneas first wife, Creusa. Creusa disappeared during the escape of the Trojan band led by Prince Aeneas, from the burning city of Troy the story told in Vergils Aeneid. (We know she died because her ghost makes an appearance.) Harmonizing the two accounts some ancient thinkers say there were two sons of Aeneas with the same name. Be that as it may, this Ascanius, wherever born and of whatever mother it is at any rate agreed that his father was Aeneas seeing that Lavinium was over-populated, left that city, now a flourishing and wealthy one, considering those times, to his mother or stepmother, and built himself a new one at the foot of the Alban mount, which, from its situation, being built all along the ridge of a hill, was called Alba Longa.Livy Book I In this tradition Ascanius founded the city of Alba Longa and the Roman king Tullus Hostilius   destroyed it. This legendary time period spans about 400 years. Dionysius of Halicarnassus (fl. c.20 B.C.)   provides a description of its founding along with a note about its contribution to Roman wine. To return to its founding, Alba was built near a mountain and a lake, occupying the space between the two, which served the city in place of walls and rendered it difficult to be taken. For the mountain is extremely strong and high and the lake is deep and large; and its waters are received by the plain when the sluices are opened, the inhabitants having it in their power to husband the supply as much as they wish. 3  Lying below the city are plains marvellous to behold and rich in producing wines and fruits of all sorts in no degree inferior to the rest of Italy, and particularly what they call the Alban wine, which is sweet and excellent and, with the exception of the Falernian, certainly superior to all others.The Roman Antiquities of Dionysius of Halicarnassus A famous legendary battle was fought under Tullus Hostilius. The outcome was decided by a variation on single combat. It was a battle between two sets of triplets, the Horatii brothers and the Curatii, perhaps respectively from Rome and Alba Longa. It happened that there were in the two armies at that time three brothers born at one birth, neither in age nor strength ill-matched. That they were called Horatii and Curiatii is certain enough, and there is hardly any fact of antiquity more generally known; yet in a manner so well ascertained, a doubt remains concerning their names, as to which nation the Horatii, to which the Curiatii belonged. Authors incline to both sides, yet I find a majority who call the Horatii Romans: my own inclination leads me to follow them.Livy Op. cit. Of the six young men, only one Roman was left standing. Dionysius of Halicarnassus describes what may have been the fate of the city: This city is now uninhabited, since in the time of Tullus Hostilius, king of the Romans, Alba seemed to be contending with her colony for the sovereignty and hence was destroyed; but Rome, though she razed her mother-city to the ground, nevertheless welcomed its citizens into her midst. But these events belong to a later time.Dionysius Op. cit. Survival The temples of Alba Longa were spared and its name was given to the lake, mountain (Mons Albanus, now Monte Cavo), and valley (Vallis Albana) in the area. The territory was named for Alba Longa, too, as it was called the ager Albanus a premium wine-growing region, as noted above. The area also produced Peperino, a volcanic stone considered a superior building material. Alba Longan Ancestry Several patrician families of Rome had Alban ancestors and are assumed to have come to Rome when Tullus Hostilius destroyed their hometown. Alba Longa References Alba Longa Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) William Smith, LLD, Ed.Ascanius Mother, by Robert J. Edgeworth; Hermes, 129. Bd., H. 2 (2001) , pp. 246-250.Religions of Rome: Volume 2, A Sourcebook, by Mary Beard, John North, and S.R.F. Price; Cambridge University Press: 1998.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

International Relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 11

International Relations - Essay Example The French economy, however, is among the strongest in the world and Europe. France, in coordination with the World Bank, has a commitment to device development policies aimed at enhancing food security in the country, combating climate change, enhancing infrastructure development, improving the health sector and education sector. According to the IMF, unemployment rate, consumer prices, and Gross Domestic Products are among the greatest key indicators of growth in France (Fig. 3). All the key indicators affect the progress of French economy since the 2008 crisis. The number of new businesses registered in 2008, in France, was 147, 049. The number reduced to 128, 906 in 2009, while in 2010 there were 132, 696 new businesses registered against 132, 293 in 2011. The most recent number of new businesses registered is 132, 293. New businesses density is reducing in the country with the highest density per 1,000 people ages 15-64 being 3.5 in 2008 compared against the latest value of 3.1. The implication of few new businesses registrations is slow creation of jobs in the informal sector from entrepreneurial avenues (fig. 4). Primary total is the enrolment is an age-specific enrolment rate of the of the official primary entrance age. An analysis of data indicates an average of 98.9 % over a period of the last 5 years. It is an indicator that France is only a step away at attaining a maximum adjusted net intake to primary schools. A succinct analysis of the gender distribution statistics indicates a balanced intake between male and female. The country is not gender biased as it relates primary education. On an average, both genders have risen over time, from 2008 to 2013. The female gender hits at an average of 98.7 while the male have 99.1. There is however, a need for the country to engage in more sensitization programs to balance the figures. The current dependency

Friday, October 18, 2019

Appraisal Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Appraisal Systems - Essay Example Performance appraisal of employees resorted to by organizations has many objectives. Mohrman, Resnick-West and Lawler (1989) identify increase in motivation to perform effectively and to increase the self esteem of the employees as essential objectives of performance appraisal methods. They usually enable the organization to maintain a reliable record of the performance of each employee in order to determine the wage levels, incentives, salary increase, transfers and promotions. The performance appraisal methods also bring out the needs for training of employees at various levels in the organization. By studying his/her performance appraisal report the employee is able to improve upon his performance by rectifying the mistakes he/she might have committed earlier. There are various methods usually employed by progressive organizations to make appraisals of employee performance. These can be divided into three different groups; (i) individual evaluation methods, (ii) multiple person evaluation methods, and (iii) other methods. The individual evaluation methods are based on an assessment of the performance of the individual employees. ... The report is not data-based but merely represents the impressions of the superior about the subordinate. Since the report is mostly subjective the employee may not be sure of his strengths and weaknesses and is also not guided for rectifying his mistakes. Essay evaluation is a non-quantitative technique in which the rater is asked to prepare an essay based on the job knowledge and potential of the employee and the employee's understandings of the policies and programmers of the company. The attitude and perceptions of the employees are also taken into account while preparing the essay. This method has serious limitation of being a subjective one and sometimes the rater may be found to be poor in expressing his views correctly. Under critical incident technique the effective and ineffective behavior on the job of the employee is observed by the manager who prepares a list of incidents representing the poor or outstanding behavior of each employee. The manager periodically records the incidents and at the end of the rating period these incidents are summarized to evaluate the employee performance. This method is more suitable to assess the job of the supervisors rather than that of the employees at low levels. In the check list method a list of objective or descriptive statements about the employee behavior is included and the rater makes his observations on the employee performance by checking the particular trait of the behavior which he assessed the employee to possess and other traits are left blank. A variation of the method is to assign weights to different traits and summarize the assessment of the rater. One serious limitation of this method is that the rating is normally biased by the

Science Lab Research, Predictions, & Observations Report

Science Research, Predictions, & Observations - Lab Report Example The force of gravity is greater on objects that have a heavier total mass. 2. When a rock and a feather are dropped on the moon, they are going to float in the air rather than falling, for a much longer time. There is no friction from the air to influence the feather, on the moon. â€Å"The weight of an object is different on the earth and on the moon since the strength of the gravitational field is different† (Newton, 2009). The hammer still has greater mass, so it will still hit the ground on the moon, faster than the feather. 4. The containers fall at the same rate, apparently. I dropped them from about five feet: a drop of several stories may have been different. When the objects are in the containers, the air resistance is equalized. 1. In terms of the logic of the horse, when the horse pulls, it puts force on the earth. It contacts the earth with its hooves, and pushes against the earth. At the same time, the earth exerts force itself. Meanwhile, the horse is exerting force on the wagon. It is a system of pushing and pulling, in which various forces have an impact on each other. The logic of the horse is that it will cause the wagon to accelerate, because of the force of the horse. 2. This may seem to make sense, but what the horse is stating incorrectly is the relative importance of its force on the wagon. The wagon and the horse are separate, so they have different levels of force acting on them, independently. The forces at work on the horse, are not the same as those at work on the wagon. The relation between the horse and the wagon is incorrect. 3. The force between the cart’s wheels and the road is another force that can be added to the picture. From this perspective, the force exerted by the horse on the ground, has an effect on how the wagon moves. This then questions the fallacy of the

Read the requirement carefully Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Read the requirement carefully - Essay Example An increased number of public as well as private sector firms in the period of 1980s started the utilization of teams for task completion. Soon after a decade, this trend spread rapidly as small manufacturing enterprises started developing effective and strong managerial and production teams in order to yield better performance and enhanced job satisfaction. It appears that the usage of teams has disseminated to the extent that now the mechanistic and bureaucratic organizational designs have become an exception instead of being a norm. This paper attempts to explore the impact of deployment of teams rather than individual employees for organizational task accomplishments over the organizational success. Moreover, the factors that may hinder in the effective performance of a team will be assessed as well as the ways to overcome such issues will be sorted (Maxwell, 2002). Team Defined A team may be defined in terms of work groups that are appointed with the accomplishment of a performa nce job that necessitates joint cooperation. Thus teams are distinguished from other group types as it emphasized collective performance instead of focusing on individual learning outcomes that may be acquired while working in groups (Ryan, 2012). Levels of a team In order to accomplish desired level of performance, teams are assessed at various levels. These are individual member level, issue or content level, psychological or interaction level, procedure or method level and the outside relation level. Individual member level is an affair of individual perceptions, personalities, ideas and concepts, emotions, behaviours and intentions. Content level focuses on the content of the task undertaken by the team; the psychological level focuses on the mutual group members’ attitudes as well as the state of affair between them, roles, behaviour pattern as well as the observed climate. Method level ails problem solving techniques such as decision methodologies, rules or regulations within team analysis and creativity skills. The outside group relations deals with the relations or contacts as well as information cultivated with the other members of organization taking into consideration the deputizing rules (Harvey, Millett & Smith, 1998). Relevancy of Teams in an Organization Teams are relevant to organizations in various situations such as when competing organizations are utilizing teams, when organization is required to be flattened, when improving quality is the main focus of organization, when teams are needed or desired by employees, when in order to provide quick response to organization flexibility is needed and when the tasks needed to be completed require diverse knowledge and skills (Guzzo & Dickson, 1996). Working in a collaborative manner as team now proves to be catalyst that accelerates the process of realization of the complete potential of an organization. So being such a driver for growth, progress and development in the organization, the proc ess of team building is strategically imperative. Developing teamwork is based upon facilitating a dedication to working together on the objectives of the company and adjusting the opportunity and circumstances for employees to bestow their best (Katzenbach & Smith, 1993). But in order to efficiently perform the team must be developed keeping into considera

Thursday, October 17, 2019

People in middleast don't want to workout to get in shape so they look Essay

People in middleast don't want to workout to get in shape so they look for easy ways - Essay Example ks on weight loss, and more gymnasiums have opened more than ever before, but the number of people losing weight around the world is not adding up to an appropriate number who should be fit due to the technology. For this paper, I will go by the thesis statement that people in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia do use alternative methods of losing weight rather than working out. Residents of the Middle East do not want to work out to get in shape, so they look for easy ways. According to the World Health Organization, obesity in the Middle East is a notable health issue. WHO results showed that approximately 1.6 billion people were overweight, and 400 million residents were obese. According to probability statistics, by the year 2015, 700 million individuals will be obese, and 2.3 billion people will be overweight; this number includes both adolescent and adults (World Health Organization 60). The spread of the Western lifestyle usually defined as the consumption of attractive energy dense meals with undesirable composition, elevated consumption of animal fats and sugars and decreased or non- consumption of dietary fiber, along with a lack of sufficient physical activity- is one of the principal origins of obesity and overweight problems in the Middle East (Roya 439). In as much as there are great numbers of individuals in the US who are obese, it is not bizarre to see people working out to get in shape. In the US, most people take exercise seriously and they exercise extensively and religiously as opposed to people in the Middle East especially Saudi Arabia (Al-Hazzaa 663-670). The difference in culture could be the reason as to why people in the US work out as opposed to those in Saudi Arabia. People do not necessarily work out in a gymnasium, but they run around their neighborhoods in the morning or afternoon. This routine makes the obesity situation in the US better than that of the Saudi Arabia. It is almost impossible to see people in the Middle East working

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Financial Reporting Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Financial Reporting - Case Study Example In a brief history of the cases, Enron, On October 16, 2001 Enron declared to SEC a net loss of $ 618 million for the third quarter effectively reducing share holder equity by $ 1.2 billion. SEC opened enquiry the very next day and called for details from Enron officials who in turn notified their Auditor Arthur Andersen. Pursuant to this, Andersen had his team destroy Enron-related documents. As a result, Enron, Andersen and his lead partner Duncan were convicted of obstruction of justice. Enron's Chief Financial officer faced indictment on 98 counts of fraud and related offences. Besides Enron is now bankrupt, and civil and criminal investigations continue to examine Enron's complex accounting practices and byzantine financial schemes. (Brickey) Close on the heels of Enron episode, WorldCom's fraud surfaced dwarfing the former. Both the cases involved accounting frauds with the companies managements' sole aim of keeping the share prices higher in spite of huge losses which they covered by manipulation of accounts. But for the whistle blowers from both the corporations, the frauds would not have come to light though bubble would have ultimately burst by the operation of economics. But more money would have been swindled, more would have fled the scene had it not been for the whistle blowers who had little protection prior to Sarbanes -Oxley enactment. Sherron Watkins, a Vice-President at Enron who discovered accounting fraud disclosed it to its Chairman Ken Lay in five memos detailing Enron's off-book partnerships, special purpose entities and urged him to disclose a ccounting irregularities. Though he agreed to engage a law firm to conduct preliminary investigation, he appointed the firm of Vinson & Elkins in spite of Watkins' advice not to engage them as they were also party to structure some of the questionable deals. And the law firm not surprisingly gave clean chit to the questioned transactions. Watkins preferred to depose before congressional hearings probing the Enron's affairs. Similarly Cynthia Cooper, Vice-President, Internal Auditing, WorldCom exposed a larger accounting in her corporation when she came to know of a sample fraudulent transfer of $ 400 million from Reserve account to inflate the corporation's earnings. Here again Arthur Anderson was the Auditor for the corporation. While he tried to convince her by insisting no abnormality, the CFO Scot Sullivan literally tried to silence her. (Ripley Amanda) She therefore independently conducted inspection of account books and found that the management had capitalised operating expen ditures and converted a $662 million loss into a fictitious $2.4 billion profit.CFO Sullivan learnt of her attempts to unearth such manipulations and warned of her dismissal if she did not stop. "After going to the audit committee, she and her audit team remained hopeful that they could find something they might have missed that would explain the unorthodox accounting. But Cooper's hopes were dashed when she confronted WorldCom Controller David Meyers, who conceded that the entries could not be justified. " (Brickey) The charges against Andersen were that he had knowledge of accounting irregularities at Enron, and fraud relating special purpose entities used by Enron, that he hired an out-side law firm in anticipation of

People in middleast don't want to workout to get in shape so they look Essay

People in middleast don't want to workout to get in shape so they look for easy ways - Essay Example ks on weight loss, and more gymnasiums have opened more than ever before, but the number of people losing weight around the world is not adding up to an appropriate number who should be fit due to the technology. For this paper, I will go by the thesis statement that people in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia do use alternative methods of losing weight rather than working out. Residents of the Middle East do not want to work out to get in shape, so they look for easy ways. According to the World Health Organization, obesity in the Middle East is a notable health issue. WHO results showed that approximately 1.6 billion people were overweight, and 400 million residents were obese. According to probability statistics, by the year 2015, 700 million individuals will be obese, and 2.3 billion people will be overweight; this number includes both adolescent and adults (World Health Organization 60). The spread of the Western lifestyle usually defined as the consumption of attractive energy dense meals with undesirable composition, elevated consumption of animal fats and sugars and decreased or non- consumption of dietary fiber, along with a lack of sufficient physical activity- is one of the principal origins of obesity and overweight problems in the Middle East (Roya 439). In as much as there are great numbers of individuals in the US who are obese, it is not bizarre to see people working out to get in shape. In the US, most people take exercise seriously and they exercise extensively and religiously as opposed to people in the Middle East especially Saudi Arabia (Al-Hazzaa 663-670). The difference in culture could be the reason as to why people in the US work out as opposed to those in Saudi Arabia. People do not necessarily work out in a gymnasium, but they run around their neighborhoods in the morning or afternoon. This routine makes the obesity situation in the US better than that of the Saudi Arabia. It is almost impossible to see people in the Middle East working

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Tesco. Ligeher Essay Example for Free

Tesco. Ligeher Essay Opening: Hallo, Ladies and Gentleman Thank you for inviting me to speak at this conference. It is a pleasure for me to be here today at the London School of Economics and it is great to see so many business students at one place. Introduction: My name is Sir Alen Iverson and I am the PR assistant at Tesco, the largest British supermarket chain. And today I would like to talk a little about retail market general. How it has developed the last couple of years. And I talk about Tesco’s current problems and finally I will comment on the company’s efforts to solve them taking the changing consumer behavior into consideration. I expect my presentation will last about 30 to 45 minutes Feel free to ask any questions, speculations or something that you cannot understand you might have during my presentation. The world and the  retailing is different from what it used to be. People wants bigger things now and that is the reason why we need to gather all the stores in one place. Shopping malls are the new today. All the small convenience stores cannot compete with the big shopping malls where you have the oppurtunity to shop all what you want. Many consumers do not have the time to run around from one shop to another to find what they are looking after, therefore the consumers prefer to shop in one big shopping mall. An example of a very successful retail outlet is Tesco. Tesco is a supermarket which contain pretty much everything you need. Tesco is gathering information about their customers through a club card, so if the customers change their way of buying Tesco will be first to know it. But you cannot knpw everything.. As the most of you probably know, then Tesc o had some of our worst years in history. In Januar we came out with a profit warning showing that we have hadlower profits as expected. Tesco’s shares have fallen 20 % and it has an expected loss of the market value of 5 billion pound sterling. After Tesco ´s many successful years we have changed our boss, CEO Chief Terry Leahy who had been CEO from march 1997 until march 2011. He made Tesco expand so much, that some thought of him to be â€Å"too successful† and he was criticised a lot because of this. The critics thought that he had forgotten to tighten the economics, and to keep focus on our driver’s values, which is Quality and Service. The new CEO is Philip Clark who ´s expected to get Tesco back on the right track. He will obviously be facing a long and hard task. We had an ill-fated price drop, which means that we went from being a quality store, to a discount store. This also meant that we did not live up to our costumers expectations. The consequences of this was that we decided to drop 182 of our branches. Then we could reconnect with the costumers and change our corporate culture. Another way that we thought we could make this possible was by introducing the new private label called Every Day Value. This would give the customers a chance to buy quality products for a reasonable price. Further more we opened a few bakeries in our stores to give the customers a better experience. Then we made some further research on our products, by asking our costumers what they thought of them, referring to design and colours. It turned out that our costumers thought our colours to be â€Å"too hard†. A result of this research was that we added softer colours of course. We at Tesco have received a lot of complaints from our customers referring to the lack of employees to give a better service and empty shelves. Thats why we ´ve planed to employ twenty thousand extra employees. So far we ´ve managed to employ an estimated 8000 new employees to improve the service and to avoid the empty shelves. In the year 2007 Tesco founded Fresh Easy in the United States of America. But Tesco should have waited. It was a really bad timing. Fresh Easy failed to take off and you could probably blame it on financial crises. Therefore we decided to shut it down. To solved these problems we have invested 150 million pounds in online shopping, which mainly is for selling non-food products. Then we made an app for the use on your phone. This will make it possible for you to shop from your phone, and go straight down to our stores and pick up our products, which of course is ready to go. By doing these things and keeping on we can now all ready see that our sales has increased by 1,3% and we will keep on investing in the stores on the United Kingdom market with about 1 billion pounds. In Tesco, we have chosen to make it possible for our customers to become members of the shop chain. That gives our customers benefits every time they shop in our stores and create loyalty to Tesco. And at the same time memberships give useful information about the shoppers purchase patterns. The weekday is very stressful for many people, so we need to make it easier to do the daily shopping. One option could be to use Internet based shopping to help the customers save time. In times where the number of smartphones are increasing, a free application that enable users to easily order product from the stores with a few finger clicks, would help people to save time and use their spare time for other useful things. One problem when you are shopping in a retail store is that you might end up in a long line. Most people shop at the same time of the day, that is, when they are getting home from work. That creates problems with long lines at the cash disk. To prevent all that wast of time waiting in line, you could install small cash disks with self-service to make the payment much faster for the busy customers. We have already seen self-service cash disks but in Tesco we think that self-service cash disk will be a part of the future shopping to a much higher degree. Finally, let me sum up the main points of my presentation on this subject: * How the retail market, the world and us customers has changed. * Tesco terrible 12 months and how we will solve the problems * Ideas of shopping in the future – E-business, but still physical stores I believe that we at Tesco have done a great job so far. But there is still a long way to go. If we want to keep on being one of the biggest companies in the world we have to keep on focusing on the constant changing culture and behaviour of our costumers. Every one of you is different and you all have different desires. We will make Tesco just the right shop for you! Thank you for listening and again my name is Alen Iverson and I hope you liked or join my speech. Thank you! [ 1 ]. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shopping_mall [ 2 ]. http://www.tesco.com/ [ 3 ]. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesco_Clubcard and Tesco, Philip Clarke 1 (4:03) [ 4 ]. Tescos Terrible 12 Months [ 5 ]. Tescos Terrible 12 Months [ 6 ]. Tesco: Domestic Turnaround a Priority [ 7 ]. Tescos Terrible 12 Months [ 8 ]. Tescos Terrible 12 Months and Tesco: Domestic Turnaround a Priority [ 9 ]. Tesco: Domestic Turnaround a Priority [ 10 ]. Tesco: Domestic Turnaround a Priority [ 11 ]. Tesco, Philip Clarke 1 (4:03) and 2 (4:53) [ 12 ]. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2135553/The-self-service-checkout-The-site-new-middle-class-rebellion.html [ 13 ]. Tesco, Philip Clarke 1 (4:03) and 2 (4:53)

Monday, October 14, 2019

Bribery In International Marketing Marketing Essay

Bribery In International Marketing Marketing Essay Bribery and corruption is a way of life in many countries and these practices affect the way international business is regularly conducted. However, in most of these countries, it is illegal to offer or receive bribes or engage in corrupt practices. Yet these corrupt practices are a part of the culture or normal way of doing businesses. Unless companies conform to such practices, in many cases, international business cannot be transacted. This essay will try to provide discussion about bribery and corruption in international trade, with examples from very different point of view in according to the principal ethical system, despite whatever religious, realistic and nature. Analyses of the case of Siemens bribery scandal related to ethical issues will be investigated. Bribery is an important issue of concern for many companies. Confrontation of bribery vary across many countries, but everyone has a different concept about it, such as in Hong Kong and Greece, here, managers are less critical of bribery in certain situations than that of the Americas. Paying bribery carries with it a great risk to damaging the companys standing with the country which the briberies are paid, and at home too. Moreover, there is also the risk that the commercial culture of the company will become more open-minded of several of other practices at the legal issues. There is also evidence to suggest that those countries with the reputation for bribery and corruption damage themselves, as it reflects in their economic growth, has a low rates for high level of corruption, like that of Nigeria. It is true to say that bribery in international markets can lead to astonishment, bewilderment and misunderstanding for expatriates, at both organisational and personal levels. This essay examines bribery from two viewpoints and tries to develop procedures to bridge them. The first viewpoint is relativist, accepting that different cultures have different ethical values and not imposing an expatriates values onto another culture. The second viewpoint is universalist, averring that ethics apply anywhere in the world, and is based on psychological and economic grounds. To resolve these two approaches, it is suggested that trying to understand the cultural forces that determine home and overseas attitudes to the many forms of bribery, this is a first step to adjustment. The next step is the development of a global or regional code of conduct that allows flexibility within a gray zone. The result could be an evolving code that adapts to the many dimensions of bribery for each countrys situation, in a manner that is a negotiation between the cultural, psychological and economic values of an expatriates organisation and of local officials. Introduction International marketing is complex as foreign environments are different from home environments, as they differ on physical, cultural, legalpolitical, economic, competitive and distributive dimensions (Ball and McCulloch 1996). Due to these environments, marketers can adapt parts of the marketing mix for each overseas country or region (Hoang 1997), for example, a company might alter its packaging, distribution channels and advertisements in each of its international markets. These marketing mix issues are not the only ones facing international marketers. Cultural management issues are important too, and bribery is the most important of these, at least for Australian and US marketing managers (Armstrong et al. 1990). For example, should a firm pay a customs official to process a shipment through normal channels? Should a firm pay education expenses in its home country for the child of a prince in an overseas country that the firm wants to enter? Should payments to distributors be paid into two separate accounts when one is apparently illegal? Should funds in the public relations budget be paid to someone who appears to do nothing for public relations other than being related to someone in power? Issues like these are important to someone from a culture where these activities are unusual. 1937 Nevertheless, little research has been done on the ethics of international marketing (Armstrong and Sweeney 1994), and interest in ethical issues in general has been mainly empirical (Donaldson 1989). Moreover, levels of corruption vary widely around the world, as seen in a survey of 52 countries by Transparency International (1997). Furthermore, the issue of bribery in particular is often considered within only one of the six different environments above, and bribery is sometimes discussed in the legal environment chapter of a textbook for example, Keegan and Green 1997), where the effect of the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) on that countrys ability to compete with Europe in international markets is covered (Graham 1984). Alternatively, bribery is sometimes in the public relations part of a textbook (Phillips Doole and Lowe 1994), where it is discussed along with concern about corporate citizenship and employee safety. In addition to this, bribery can be treated as a separate, ethical issue, usually based on cultural issues (Donaldson 1996). However, the aim of this essay is to consider bribery from across several environments such as legal, cultural, economic and competitive, in order to develop a managerial approach to the issue. Contribution is an integrated and up-to-date review of these several viewpoints in a form that international marketing managers might find useful. As well as, the review is from a non-US view, while several other papers have a US view that is different from other developed countries (Donaldson 1996; Mayo 1992; Across the Board 1993). It is concluded that managers can develop a code of conduct for the several dimensions of bribery that bridges the relativist and universalist views. This essay has four main sections. Firstly, bribery in developing countries is looked at from a Western view point that aims toshow the roots of bribery may be common to both. This leads into a cultural, relativist view of bribery, which suggests that bribery is appropriate if it is normal in the culture of an overseas country. However, counter arguments to this relativist view are then presented, including psychological and economic arguments. Finally, facing these two contrasting positions, the essay considers how management could handle bribery. In this essay, bribery is defined broadly: bribery is offering, or promising to pay, anything of value to influence an act or decision by officials in a foreign government, including politicians, a political party or a bureaucrat to assist in obtaining, retaining, or directing business to any person (based on the FCPAs definition). This definition does not cover issues such as human rights or child labor use, sexual harassment or industrial espionage. Our definition of dealing with officials about business matters is the one of major concern to marketing managers in particular. 1938 Four Roots of Bribery From a Western point of view, bribery sometimes appears to be caused merely by the greed of locals, especially poor locals. however bribery has four, more complex roots which appear to exist in both Western and developing countries. Firstly, a bribe can be simply linked to a tip to insure promptness at a restaurant, just as a restaurant kitchen can sometimes have inefficient processes that require human involvement to overcome, so can the bureaucracy of a developing country. Bribes may be seen to be a way of purchasing government services when a government cannot afford to provide salaries that are adequate for the service to be provided free to every person (Tullock 1996). Thus, bribery may be a form of privatisation that makes the wealthy who can afford it, pay for a service. Indeed, the relatively high-principled FCPA that tries to limit the involvement of US firms in bribery, actually permits payments to officials to do their normal duties while disallowing payments to high-level officials for special favors. A prime example is a US business person can bribe a customs officer to expedite an inspection but not to skip it altogether. However, the next three roots of bribery may not be allowed by the FCPA. Secondly, a bribe can be considered to be a normal promotion activity. Such as that of BMW cars are provided free to family members of politicians in Western countries for the spillover effect on the prestige of the car. If the wife of the Premier of Victoria, Australia has free use of a BMW, why cannot officials in overseas countries who are close to real power also be given gifts to help promotion. Similarly, many Western companies provide corporate hospitality at sporting venues such as at the Ascot, Henley and Wimbledon in the name of promotion (Ramsay 1990). Therefore, how is this kind of promotion different from some bribery in developing countries? This leads to the third root of bribery, which is related to the general idea of gifts to show respect and gratitude to a person in a relationship, at certain times. Gift giving is common at Christmas time in Western countries, and gift giving at birthday and holidays may serve the same purpose in overseas countries (Onkvist and Shaw 1997). As interactions between buyers and sellers proceed, a social relationship is developed that can be enriched by gift giving. Social relationships are often characterised by the exchange of gifts and hospitality as trust develops between the parties. In seeking to build relationships of trust, the exchange of gifts may be seen as an entirely appropriate act of social bonding. (Wood 1995, p. 11). This reciprocal gift and favor giving is more important in some Asian countries than in the West, simply because of their cultural values (Hofstede 1991, p. 169). Finally, in food and other markets in developing markets, the occasional expatriate customers are usually asked to pay more than locals because the stallholder knows that his or her usual price is usually a far smaller proportion of the discretionary spending of an expatriate than that of a local. A dual price system 1939 reflects the dual economies that exist in many developing countries and do not exist to the same extent in western countries. That is, a poorly paid overseas official with an extended family living in his small house may consider it reasonable to ask a wealthy foreign business person staying at a five star hotel to pay more than the usual low prices for labor and other services in his or her country. Thus a bribe may be seen to improve equity just as a progressive taxation system aims to do in developed countries. The inequity without bribes in a developing country may be even greater than in a market or a taxation system of a developed country, because the official will have high local power from their immediate and extended family, friends and political party despite having low monetary wealth. In contrast to this , the foreign business person has lower power despite having higher monetary wealth. That is, bribery may not violate the Christian but sometimes be considered to be a universal doctrine of love you neighbor like yourself, but actually affirm it (contra Coady in Way 1996, p. 19). Overall in brief then, bribery is seen to exist and has roots that exist in both a Western and an overseas countries. Cultural View of Bribery Implicit in the discussion above is a relativist, cultural understanding of bribery that what is right or wrong, good or bad, depends on ones culture. However, this argument implies that there are no golden rules underlying most human behavior (Way 1996, p. 19), that is, ones own culture is the major influence on views about bribery. This concept of culture therefore deserves to be explored further. Culture has five dimensions: the relationship between the individual and the collective group, power differentials within society, masculinity and femininity, dealing with uncertainty and Confucian dynamism (Hofstede 1991). Several of these dimensions strongly influence views about bribery. The first dimension of individualism/collectivism would appear to be the most related to bribery (Tanzi 1995; in Onkvist and Shaw 1997, p. 175). Developing countries are more collective than developed countries, that is, officials place greater emphasis on their responsibilities to their own extended families and friends, than do Western business people. However individualism/collectivism is not the only cultural dimension affecting bribery. Developing countries are often high on the second culture dimension of power distance, that is, individual officials with which marketing managers deal have major obligations to their supervisors. Thus, the officials will support a bribery culture if it is related to power as some of the four roots of culture above were shown to be, and especially so if their own superiors accept and foster bribery. In addition to this, some Asian countries are more concerned with 1940 virtuous behavior than the abstract truth (which is related to the dimension of Confucian dynamism). An officials actual behavior toward his or her immediate and extended family, and toward friends and superiors is more important than abstract universal values applying to all humans, to which some Westerners cling (Hofstede 1991). Onkvist and Shaw (1997, p. 175) appropriately sum up this relativist, cultural view of bribery: the concept of arms-length relationships would seem strange and alien. It would even seem immoral. The idea that, economically speaking, one should treat relatives and friends in the same way as strangers would appear bizarre. In brief, a cultural view of bribery initially suggests that expatriate marketing managers should simply fit in with local bribery practices wherever he or she goes. However, the cultural relativism approach to bribery developed above cannot be the basis for a marketing managers approach to bribery, because awareness of cultural differences is only the starting point for international cooperation. That is, a marketing manager cannot completely adapt to a different culture and deal in bribes with no regard for his or her own cultural values, for an appreciation of anothers culture does not mean forgoing ones own culture. Successful intercultural encounters presuppose that the partners believe in their own values. If not, they have become alienated persons, lacking a sense of identity (Hofstede 1991, p. 237). To handle the issue of bribery comprehensively for a real world individuals involved in business, managers need to consider issues other than cultural differences per se, and we turn to these relatively universalist issues next. Economic and Managerial Issues of Bribery Economic advantages of bribery for the receiving official and for the company that receives preferential treatment ahead of its competitors, are obvious. However, there are economic disadvantages for both the taking and the giving country. First, bribery can send incorrect signals about demand price and supply cost in a market economy. More directly, bribery adds to the cost of contracts and goods roughly by five percent in Asia (Kraar 1995), this could perhaps be even more in some instances. Secondly, it distorts the decision-making processes too. When contractors are selected on the basis of what the decision-maker will receive personally rather than the contractors ability to do the best, lowest cost job, then the whole economy suffers misallocation of resources. This form of bribery was perhaps a major influence in the recent meltdown of some Asian currencies. Thirdly, bribery can lead to industrial standards being dropped with social and economic repercussions upon the firm. For example, workers may work in substandard conditions that may impair productivity, people may die in buildings that collapse due to building standards inappropriate, and the environment and firms future may be hurt by over-zealous timber-felling. 1941 Moreover, there are other disadvantages of bribery that are particularly important for the giving country. Firstly, home and foreign customers help pay for uneconomic spending in bribes, often for the enrichment of a few overseas individuals who become more wealthy than ordinary citizens of the giving country. In 1995, bribery cost businesses almost $45 billion worldwide (Kaltnhauser 1996). Secondly, bribery could be used against the giving organisation, in the case of managers returning to the home country and rejoining the salesforce at home could accept bribes for practices that the giving organisation does not want done at home. That is, a relativist position that allows a match between expatriate individuals and the corrupt organisations overseas, may also foster at home the separation of personal and organisational moral standards, with consequences at home that the organisation does not want. In brief then, bribery has economic and social disadvantages that a purely cultural understanding leading to a relativist attitude to it, may hide. How Can Managers Handle Bribery in a Competitive Market? Given the two contrasting views about bribery above, what can managers in a non-US company do to bridge the gap between a relativist and a universalist approach to ethics. The practices and what managers in a US firm do is clear, they obey the FCPA or get around it by channeling funds through an agent who then handles the bribery behind a screen. Some managers might try to offset a competitors bribe with a better, total product You might offer a lower price, a better product, better distribution or better advertising to offset the benefit of the bribe to the decision influencer (Keegan 1989, p. 201). This US position is an idealist position that many non-US managers may not adopt, for it assumes that the better, total product will win the contract, when in fact, bribery occurs to oftentimes successfully ensure that it does not. Moreover, competing firms from European countries and Australia are allowed to treat bribes as a tax-deductible business expense, reducing the after-tax effect of the bribe. In April 1996, the OECD passed a resolution saying bribes should not be taxdeductible and in 1993, Transparency International, a not-for-profit organisation with chapters in 40 countries, tried to increase awareness of briberys existence, but anti-foreign bribery legislation outside the United States does not yet exist. Moreover, one is never sure of the level of bribes that competitors are offering for a project, and so deciding on how much to improve the total product to fight bribery is difficult. In addition, bribery is sometimes paid for day-to-day operations as well as a project, and so discussion of a better, total product may be of limited usefulness. For instance, if bribes are not paid by an individual firm, it may experience bureaucratic delays on wharves and in warehouses and its goods may 1942 be stolen, while its bribe-paying competitors do not experience these costly problems. In brief, curbing bribery from an idealistic position may be quixotic until the United Nations or a similar organisation arranges for a multinational, legal approach to it. Given the present, imperfect world within which companies operate, some more options to handle bribery are available. One option is to choose to internationalise into the less-corrupt countries. Clear examples of corrupt countries are China, Indonesia and India, which are rated among the most corrupt countries to do business in the world after Russia; indeed, corruption in Indonesiaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦is almost a way of life. Only Singapore is more squeaky-clean than most Western countries (Hard graft in Asia 1995, p. 61). Organisation code of ethics. There is another option to approaching the ethical gaps in international marketing. Firstly, within the home firm, managers could develop an organisation code of ethics for any non-home country within which it operates, or maybe for a particular region of many countries. For all these countries, this code would outline the degree of standardisation and adaptation in each of eight or so dimensions of bribery, such as expediting bureaucratic processes, promotion, corporate hospitality, gifts, dual prices, wage rates, occupational health and safety standards, and lobbying to influence government policies. The code would take into consideration the cultural, legal-political, economic, competitive and distributive environments of each foreign market and the home organisation. For instance, it might specify when bribes appear on an invoice and when they may not (adapted Cadbury 1987). Moreover, acknowledging the greatest differences between an expatriates and his or her home organizations ethical systems, and the local environments ethical standards, this code might specify when some purchases or tenders are outsourced away from the organisation to a local agent. familiarisation tour of the home organisation would help home country managers appreciate overseas operations, and helping with scholarships to home country universities would foster long-term links when the students return. Of course, managers need to know relevant national and international laws or hire reputable lawyers who know local laws and customs. Although local legal and judicial systems can be underdeveloped, flawed and flouted (for example, with bribes), a firm may have in its global code that local laws will always be observed, even if the risks involved in flouting them, even though competitors may be prepared to take the risks. Finally, to help implementation of the code, the organisation could institute and code of ethics sensitisation training before managers enter an overseas country and when they return, based on cross-cultural sensitisation sessions like those discussed in Hofstede (1991, p. 232). Ethics audits could also be carried out, emphasising improvement and learning about the processes used, such as TQM continual improvement programs do. Furthermore, these audits would foster an evolving awareness of ethical considerations for each of the eight dimensions in a particular organisation, and in a particular country. Conclusion Evidence suggests that bribery is a fact of life in international marketing that can lead to astonishment, bewilderment and misunderstanding for expatriates at both organisational and personal levels. Two viewpoints about bribery were examined. The first viewpoint was relativist, accepting that bribery has the same roots in Western and other countries and so different ethical systems may be simply the result of different cultural values. In contrast, the second, universalist viewpoint is that a set of ethical values applies anywhere in the world, based on psychological and economic grounds. To bridge these two views, it is strongly suggested to try to understand the cultural forces that determine home and overseas attitudes to the many forms of bribery, which will indeed be a first step to adjustment. The next step is to develop a global or regional code of conduct that allows flexibility within a gray zone for some situations in particular countries, based on win-win adjustments. The result could be an evolving code of conduct that adapts to the many dimensions of bribery for each countrys situation, in a manner that is a negotiation between the cultural, psychological and economic values of an expatriates organisation and of local officials. 1945

Sunday, October 13, 2019

The Political History of Italy Essays -- History of Italy Essays

The political history of Italy is quite extensive. The Greeks were the first to settle in Italy and established colonies in the southern part of the country and in Sicily. There was not a sense of political reality as much as there was a civilization (Windows on Italy- History). While the Greeks controlled the south the Gauls, or Celtic people, ruled the north and the Po Valley. But the most important group to settle in Italy was the Etruscans. Because of their advanced civilization, the Etruscans were the only ones to establish political and cultural ideas before the Roman Empire (Windows on Italy- History). At the end of the Etruscans rule, Rome began a unification of Italy and established Latin to be the general language (Defusco). By 6th century BC, the city of Rome came into power. During this growing power, Rome began fighting other civilizations to expand its territory. Amongst these populations was Rome’s long time friend Carthage. Rome soon became greedy and made war on Carthage in the Second Punic War (Defusco). The Punic Wars lead Rome to gain territories along the Mediterranean basin. At the end of the Third Punic War, Rome defeated Carthage and became the major Mediterranean military power (Windows on Italy- History). In all of Rome’s defeats, Greece was the most significant. The Romans adopted Greek customs and ideas as their own. This changed the society of Rome by developing a new culture and way of thinking. The Roman Empire was soon developed by the ideas of Augustus, leading to a more democratic way of governing. The Empire created an expansion of Roman civilization by its leaders conquering other civilizations. The Empire ruled for many years under many different Emperors. During this time there was a mixture of rule between a hereditary Emperor and a Senate. With the fall of the Empire after the death of Theodosius, Italy was then attack from neighboring civilizations in the north and west. These invasions soon lead to the rising of power in individual city-states (Defusco). The citizens of the cities abolished the ideas of feudalism and searched for their own identity. Their searching lead to violent acts amongst themselves in determining who should govern, but despite the fighting, each city contributed greatly to the economy and helped to raise the cultural energy of Rome (Defusco). By the year 1861, a unified Italy was... ...e the beginning of its unification, Italy has battled with the differences of the north and south. It will take a long time to achieve economic stability in the south, but one that must be reached in order to increase the economic growth for the whole country. With its strong nationalistic views, Italy is well on its way to achieving its goals. Works Cited CIA-World Factbook-Italy. 2001. http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/it.html (26 Nov. 2001). Defusco. Italy-Culture and History. 2001. http://www.defusco.ch/en2_italy.html (26 Nov. 2001). Electric Library. Columbia University Press: 2001. http://www.encyclopedia.com/articlesnews/06518.html (26 Nov. 2001). Embassy of Italy in the United States. Washington D.C.: 2001. http://www.italyemb.org (26 Nov. 2001). U.S. Department of State. 2001. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/bgn/index.cfm?docid=4033 (26 Nov. 2001). Windows on Italy-the Constitution. Italian National Research Council: 2001. http://www.mi.cnr.it/WOI/deagosti/constitu/const1.html (26 Nov. 2001). Windows on Italy-the History. Italian National Research Council: 2001. http://www.mi.cnr.it/WOI/deagosti/history/tribes.html (26 Nov. 2001).

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Nursing Process Change Paper -- pre-operative management

The pre-operative stage is an important phase in patient’s surgery process. This is the time where the patients is experiencing a lot of anxiety issues and have questions regarding the impending procedure. To help ensure good patient outcomes, it is imperative to provide complete preoperative instructions and discharge instructions (Allison & George, 2014). It is the nurses’ duty to safe guard and protects the patient’s welfare during the surgical experience. Effective preoperative preparation is known to enhance postoperative pain management and recovery. Health professionals need to be cognizant of the contextual factors that influence patients’ preoperative experiences and give context appropriate care (Aziato & Adejumo, 2014). This essays attempts to address the elements of pre-operative management and issues that could potentially cause surgery delays or cancelation at the Veterans Affairs Southern Nevada Healthcare System (VASNHS) Surgical Spec ialty Outpatient department. Moreover, it also depicts the need for a new pre-operative management system. Assessment New consults for the Surgical Specialty Outpatient department comes from the primary care provider. During the initial visit the surgeon evaluates the patient and discusses the plan of care. If patient requires surgery, the surgeon orders pre-operative tests such as blood work, urine test, electrocardiogram (EKG) and chest X-rays. After completing the â€Å"buck slip,† a hand written operating room (OR) request form, the surgeon hands it to the primary care nurse of that particular Surgical Specialty clinic. The nurse then turns in a copy of the buck slip to the operating room scheduler and another copy to the nurse pre-operative unit. There are instances... ... 26, 2014. Mitchell, M. (2013). Anaesthesia type, gender and anxiety. Journal Of Perioperative Practice, 23(3), 41-46. Retrieved from http://ozone.nsc.edu:8080/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=2012030991&site=ehost-live on on April 27, 2014. Pritchard, M. (2012). Pre-operative assessment of elective surgical patients. Nursing Standard, 26(30), 51-56. Retrieved from http://ozone.nsc.edu:8080/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=2011513584&site=ehost-live on April 26, 2014. Shapiro, F. E., Punwani, N., & Urman, R. D. (2013). Putting the Patient Into Patient Safety Checklists. AORN Journal, 98(4), 413-418. doi:10.1016/j.aorn.2013.08.003. Retrieved from http://ozone.nsc.edu:8080/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=2012318462&site=ehost-live on April 26, 2014.